[AQ] The Wrong Kind of Pool [Kazuki/Mitsuo]

[Kazuki]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
[LOW LEVEL]

Pool, Pool, Po--Wait, Other Pool.
Description: The Second year’s arcade lounge has plenty of games--and the students running it are in part expected to play with guests to entertain! Be it other attending students, adults, or even… hunters.

+ Play a perfectly respectful host, regardless of who you’re in front of: +1 Guardians, +2 Faberge, -1 Roost

+ Try to fish for information from your guest: -1 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +2 Roost

+ Your nerves are a bit frizzed. Passive-aggression is coming out: +1 Guardians, -1 Faberge, +1 Roost

+ Attend as a guest!: +2 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +1 Roost
Requirements: At least 1 Second year participant, tag for Admin mod if hunter attendance.

Despite his flawless grades and his otherwise perfect personality, Mori Kazuki wouldn't ever in his right mind call himself a fan of 'school events'.  There wasn't anything wrong with them, persay.  They marked the epitome of casual rivalry between school and students alike, pitting them against each other in a fierce battle of food, talent, and fan-service.  The fact that these sorts of things weren't shut down for the sheer reason of dressing students up in costumes was unknown.  Knowing Seiyo, that incredibly quirky chairman had something to do with them getting away with all this ridiculous nonsense.

Not that West Otonoki High School was any better.  Kazuki nearly cried when he learned he wouldn't have to dress up in a ridiculous butler outfit for either school and wait on guests like an idiot.  The Haunted House wasn't much better and he sure as hell wasn't going to waste time at a manga cafe.  This wasn't grade school after all.

Gambling wasn't his first choice either but it was doable.  Standing behind one of the tables shuffling cards, he waited patiently for the school gates to open and for guests to start arriving.  He was fairly nimble with his hands but could he cheat during this event?  What were the chances he could convince all his patrons to hand over all of their money without even trying?

Mitsuo Takahashi

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo was no stranger to culture festivals. In fact, he loved them - it meant he got to spend time with his friends, eating all of the festival food cooked by the students of the school (and his friends too, if they were the ones cooking), and play lots of games - and probably failed netting any prizes, but who cares about that? As long as it was fun and everything, it didn't matter what exactly they were doing! In fact, he was just as excited about the whole culture festival in Seiyo; after all, it was different school, surely they would have activities that were different from his old one, right? And food that was different too! The boy was already salivating at the idea.

Though, he hadn't thought that the whole of his year would be doing something like an arcade. To be honest, Mitsuo found the whole idea rather...strange. Wasn't something like this more reserved for the older years? Were they even of age to do this? And - well he had never even been to anything remotely similar to this; so he had no clue what he was even supposed to do. Help out on the games? Play host? Serve drinks? Uhhhhhhhhh.

The second-year really wanted to ask what they were doing, but everyone else seemed occupied...except for this strange looking boy with bright orange hair. He didn't look that friendly...but hey, it wouldn't hurt just to try his luck right? "Hello!" he said cheerily as he approached him. Now that he was walking up to him, he only then noticed that this particular boy was taller than him. "Sorry if I'm disturbing anything but...I really don't know what to do in here." He soon gave a sheepish laugh, scratching his cheek a little. "Maybe you could like, show me the ropes?"

[Kazuki]

Kazuki was surprisingly nimble with his hands when he wanted to be, shuffling the cards with the ease of a trained dealer. His family was big on Friday Game Nights and had years of experience with all sorts of games. Since his sister had a bad habit of peeking and his parents were too nice for their own good he was usually left with the job of shuffling, cutting, and distributing the cards to everyone. He was perhaps the most unbiased person in this school when it came to a job like this.

What surprised him however was a single boy approaching him, dressed up in a similar outfit and asking for help. No one really talked to him in their year outside of a select few individuals and this boy had just asked him for assistance. Blinking a few times to make sure this wasn't a trick to try and punch him, Kazuki stopped his shuffling and nodded at the other.

"Do you have a stack of cards?" he asked at first, realizing for a moment he had an extra set under his table. "Ah, wait. Nevermind, just take these and I'll open up a new pack..."

He slid the shuffled deck across the table while reaching underneath for another, ripping open the top to pull out a crisp set of playing cards. Holding them neatly in his hands he looked to the other boy. "Alright, um... this is surprising actually. I'm guessing you're a second year as well? Do you know what kind of table you're in charge of? Blackjack or poker... not that it matters much for shuffling but those two games are entirely different if you don't know how they're played."

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo couldn't help but watch as the other skillfully shuffled cards, mouth agape as he stared at the other in awe. He wasn't really one for card games (or much indoor games in general), preferring games out on the open field, but still to see someone being able to shuffle cards like that was amazing to say the least. "Whoa, that's so cool!" he exclaimed, grinning at the other boy. But uh...was it him or did the stange boy not want to say anything at fist? Mitsuo couldn't help but worry just for that split second; did he say something wrong?

Oh no matter, the strange boy had finally addressed him - and he had rather quickly went straight to business. Mitsuo blinked at first, unsure of how to answer the other's question, before the cards were given to him - whoa, that was pretty cool actually, he had only seen it being done in movies, never in real life! - and after an initial panic, he quickly caught the cards on the table. Holding the stack up, he couldn't help but flit through them just to take a look at how they were shuffled.

He jolted back to reality as the strange boy talked to him again; wait what was his name? Surely with an appearance like that, it would be hard to miss. Actually wait, he should answer the other's question first. "Uhh...." The boy stared blankly at the other, glancing first at the stack of cards, before giving him a sheepish grin. "I...don't know much about card games," he admitted, scratching his cheek in a bit of an embarrassed manner. "I don't even know what table I'm in charge of...I just know I'm just two tables across." He pointed over to his assigned table, as if hoping that'll help somehow. "Sorry, I'm new here. But yes, I'm a second year! You're one too right?" Or he hoped he was, as he was playing host in an arcade style lounge, so that must make him a second-year right? He grinned back at the boy either way. "My name's Takahashi Mitsuo. You?"

[Kazuki]

The surprises kept on coming as the boy complimented his shuffling abilities, going so far as to say it was 'coo.' Kazuki felt some sort of strange pride fill his entire being as he coughed into his hand, diverting the attention away from himself and back to the task at hand. If this guy was going to be dealing with him then he had to know how not to get cheated out of all his money. This was a competition after all and he had no intention of losing to West Otonoki.

"Well, if you're two tables over you're probably playing Blackjack. That's what this section is doing at least. You're in luck too, it's a fairly simple game," Kazuki dealt four cards out, two face up towards Mitsuo and one face-down in front of himself. "The object of the game is to have a higher sum than the other player without exceeding the number 21. If they'd like another card to add to their sum, they'll say 'hit'. If they don't, they'll say 'stand'."

Kazuki's own card facing up was a three, while the cards in front of Mitsuo were a four and a seven. He waited for a moment to allow the other to look over the board before speaking again. "If you were to play, it's your turn. You have a four and a seven so your total is eleven. The highest card you can get is a ten and that would leave you a natural 21. Would you want to hit or stand?" He paused again, staring at the other like a hawk watches its prey before realizing how rude he was being. "Oh, are we moving too fast? Let me know if I need to slow down at all, I'm not really sure what your experience is."

He paused once more. "Mori Kazuki, 2-A. Nice to meet you."

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mori Kazuki! So that was his name! He...didn't remember hearing it before, but it was kind of nice to finally being able to introduce themselves. Like he was making friends! "Nice to meet you too!" the freckled boy said cheerily. "What should I call you? Kazuki? Kazu?" he gave a laugh. Though, at the mention of the other's class, he blinked, staring at him a little. He...hadn't expected someone with such...colourful hair to be in the top class. Then again, he did come off pretty business-like, so maybe it wasn't all that odd. "So you're in class 2-A!" he said, grinning. "I'm in 2-C myself," he continued, shrugging a little. "Anyway, just call me Mitsuo! That's easier to say anyway."

As the other began to speak again, the freckled boy placed his stack of cards down on the table. "Blackjack. Got it," Mitsuo said, nodding, though it was more so for himself rather than for Kazuki. He remembered hearing a title like that before, but never in his life had he ever played it before. His family wasn't big on indoor games either, and at best, he did play some card games with his friends back in middle school - though they were usually simple, and for some reason, they all had their own rules that contradicted the actual game itself. As the orange-haired boy began explaining, Mitsuo nodded at every sentence, as if it was some form of acknowledgement of sorts. "So, we have to like...keep adding cards to make sure we're uh...higher than the other player but not until uh..." He paused, eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at the cards on the table. "...Twenty-something?"

But as Kazuki started to explain again, the freckled boy simply stared at him. Uh uh okay, um - what? He looked back down at the cards on the table, trying to make sense of the orange-haired boy's words. So he had four and seven and...wait Kazuki said what total? Natural 21? Huh? It was very clear that the boy was stuck, staring puzzledly down at the table. Hit or stand? Oh he was supposed to make a decision? Wait, what did they mean again? Something about taking a card or leaving it be? "I think uh...you could say my experience is at zero," Mitsuo said, laughing sheepishly. "What am I supposed to do again?"

Oh but, wait a second. Weren't games all about winning or something? "Wait, how do you know who wins then?"

[Kazuki]

Kazu...... the boy made a face at the nickname, clearly unused to anyone calling him by it. He couldn't say he was ever in a position where he had friends to call him by anything other than what he was given. The fact that the other considered it a possibility was nonsensical. His shuffling stopped and for a moment he pursed his lips together before looking down at the cards in his hand. It took only a few moments for the strange expression to slide into a more neutral one. "Kazuki works just fine. It's nice to meet you, Mitsuo.

Now that formalities were over, it was time to get down to the nitty, gritty stuff. "Twenty-one, that's right. It's a game of knowing when to take chances and when to hold back. There are other rules regarding changing your bets in certain situations, but I don't think those will apply as much here. This is only high school after all. For now, you just have to worry about adding up the cards and seeing who has the higher hand." It was for reasons like this he couldn't understand the reasoning behind a casino for this event. There weren't many students that understand the mechanics of card game.

Poker was even harder than this. He couldn't imagine what it was like at those tables.

Maybe the other should just stick to serving drinks....

"Alright, let's slow down a bit then. Your card total equals eleven. My cards are a three and some other card that is unknown. You decide the winner with who has the higher sum at the end without exceeding twenty-one," He flipped another card out, placing it by Mitsuo's side. Sliding it next to the other two, he counted the three in his head. "If you were to take a chance and ask for another card, you would get a seven. That means you have eighteen in total. If you go above twenty-one, you lose automatically so it would be a good idea to keep your cards at that."

He looked up at Mitsuo again, an eyebrow raised. "Does that.... help at all? At least with understanding from the player's point of view?"

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo blinked at the other's reaction and he furrowed his eyebrows slightly at the strange face that the boy pulled. Although it was for a moment, it honestly was kind of funny - he didn't know Kazuki very well, but it felt to him like Kazuki was a person that often got down to business pretty easily and exude a kind of serious aura. To see him pull a face like that honestly made the boy snorted a little in amusement. Oh jeez, that was probably rude though; hopefully Kazuki didn't notice. Then again, he seemed the kind to notice it....Mitsuo shook it off mentally; surely it'll all be a-okay in the end! "Kazuki it is then!" he said brightly.

He gave a slow nod at the orange-haired individual, glancing back at the table and then at the cards in his hands. Knowing when to take chances and when to hold back...wow so it was one of those thinking games kind of thing? Mitsuo was terrible at those games; he was the kind that was far too impulsive to think much about what the best course of action would be. "Okay," he said in the end, though it was still laced with a tone of uncertainty. Maybe he'll get better by playing the game?

He nodded once more at Kazuki's words, nodding at every single sentence the boy said, as if by doing so it would help him retain and process the information properly. He stared at the cards on the table, watching the other flip a card out and placing another by his own set of cards, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He soon took a moment of silence, flitting back at the cards on Kazuki's side and then back at the cards on his side once more, counting in his head. "Ooooh, so it's math then," he said, frowning a little. Math wasn't his greatest subject. Then again, aside from Home Ec, he didn't really do that well in any other subject. But counting to twenty-one shouldn't be hard, right? If anything he could use his fingers! Yeah! "So basically, uhhh either side keeps taking cards to try to get close to twenty-one...but if anyone exceeds that amount, they'll lose?" he asked, looking back at Kazuki for confirmation. "And uhh...when you placed a card on my side, that was the hit right? And uhhh....the other term, meant I don't take a card?"

He paused once again, staring at the cards right down at the table. He wasn't one for games of this type, but he didn't want to waste Kazuki's efforts in teaching him. Besides, he was assigned this card game right? He should at least try to do it properly. "So uhh, okay so if I don't take another card, what happens now?"