Chapter 6: The Boring Girl II
"—Ooh, and you're the Yumeko-senpai everyone has been talking about?"
"Say, say. Would you like to gamble with me, senpais?"
—The Boring Girl II.
"This bitch—" Kinji said with an annoyed smile. "Emiya-san?" Yumeko tilted her head with a smile towards Kinji. "Ahem, nothing," Kinji coughed as he looked at Sumeragi condescendingly.
"So, you want to gamble with us? Did the Student Council send you?" A frown crossed Kinji's features as he asked.
"Eh? No way, Yumeko senpai has been all the talk since yesterday, and Kinji senpai is somebody I respect very much, after all, your family runs the—" Sumeragi said excitedly as she pranced from Kinji to Yumeko.
—Seems like a coincidence, or maybe not. The Student President had never gone out of her way to make things tough for him since he donates a large sum of money to the council.
… Or maybe not.
'At the very least, I'm sure if the student council wants to antagonize me, they'll send someone more capable, then, why don't I—' Kinji's lips curled up in a smile as he looked towards Yumeko.
"You up for a game? Seems like we get to play against each other sooner than we expect." Kinji grinned, of course he was carving a game with Yumeko since yesterday, this only made things quicker.
Yumeko smiled back in return, "Ara, Emiya-san, if you're inviting, then I have no intention of declining your invitation."
"There you have it." Both Kinji and Yumeko stood up from their seat as they faced Sumeragi, "we'll take you on."
—Gambling.
Yumeko, Sumeragi, and Kinji moved to an upper section of the cafeteria, accessed by a small staircase.
Only the three participants—Yumeko, Sumeragi, and Kinji—went up the stairs, as they didn't want any extras around them. Besides, the match was being recorded and broadcasted to every student.
"Then? What are we gambling on?" Yumeko asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Hmm... How do you feel about Double Concentration?"
Hearing Sumeragi's words, Kinji raised an eyebrow and rested his hand on his chin. "What's that?"
"Hehe, as the name implies, we're going to use two—ah, since we're three, we'll be using three decks of cards," Sumeragi explained.
"In normal concentration, we match numbers, but in this game, we match number and suit. But in this case, the rule gets even more complicated." Sumeragi paused, looking at Yumeko and Kinji, who looked at each other and nodded.
Kinji then smiled as he continued the explanation. "In other words, the three decks of cards both increase and decrease the chances at which we get to pick."
"For example, if there are three King of Hearts cards, and two of them have already been matched, the third one becomes useless and acts as an obstruction."
"In other words, it all comes down to memory—Gah! I almost bit my tongue," Kinji exclaimed in annoyance, waving his hand in front of his mouth. "As expected of Emiya-san."
Sumeragi was surprised at how quickly Kinji understood the rules. The game is essentially the same as normal Double Concentration, but with more cards to deal with.
The objective is still to be the first to collect the highest matching cards. "Simple, right?" Kinji and Yumeko nodded. "Now, about how much we bet..."
"Twenty-one-million-yen chips issued by the student council," Sumeragi dropped some brown-yellowed patterned chips on the table. "What do you say about twenty million yen?"
There was a silent pause. Kinji was already expecting Yumeko to speak first, but to his surprise, she shook her head lightly. "Unfortunately, I no longer have that much money on me."
'Huh?' Kinji was taken aback by her words. "I can't possibly raise 20 million yen." He looked at her, surprised. "What? Then, should I—"
"Don't worry, I have that covered. I'll cover for Yumeko's funds," Kinji interrupted before Sumeragi could finish. Yumeko was also taken aback by his words. "Emiya-san, I can't possibly—"
Kinji raised his hand, stopping her from speaking further. "Hold it right there. Of course, I have a condition, and that is to... take this game seriously."
"... then, I wouldn't stand on ceremony, Emiya-san." Hearing her reassurance, Kinji smiled as he looked towards Sumeragi, who seemed to be looking at him with annoyance crossing her features.
"Haah, then..." Sumeragi sighed as she picked up her bag, bringing out a deck of cards from her bag. "As I explained just now, I'll be breaking out three brand-new decks of cards."
She threw them towards Kinji, who inspected them. "Seems legit," Kinji said as he threw the decks back to her.
"Of course it is, this is our leading product, Raclette." She tapped lightly on the deck of cards, going to the nearest wall with a camera on it.
As mentioned earlier, their game is being broadcasted throughout the whole school.
"It's the third-most popular brand in Japan." She also used this chance to shamelessly advertise her family's product. "They fit in your hand like a glove! I hope you buy them!"
—After the shameless ads.
Sumeragi unpacked the decks of cards, shuffling them before spreading them across the table. "Triple concentration... let's begin. After you, senpais. You can make the opening move," Sumeragi handed down the first move to Kinji and Yumeko.
Both of them looked at each other. Kinji raised his clenched hand. "Shall we?" Yumeko nodded in response. "Yes..."
"Rock-paper-scissors."
"Rock-paper-scissors." Both Yumeko and Kinji dropped their choices at the same time. "Oh? Seems like you're first then," Kinji said with a shrug as Yumeko nodded. "Then, I'll go first."
Yumeko moved her hand towards the cards as she started the game by flipping a four of hearts and a four of diamonds. "They're both fours, but this doesn't count as a match, right?"
"That's correct," Sumeragi nodded with a smile as she shifted her gaze towards Kinji. However, she flinched as she saw Kinji looking at the cards scattered around the table. His eyes were eerily dead. '…'
He looked towards Sumeragi, causing her to tense slightly before Kinji released a sigh. "Haah, guess I'll make do without this then..."
Kinji muttered as he moved his hand across the table as he flipped a seven of spades and a two of clubs over. "Hmm, alright," Kinji subtly nodded, still focusing his gaze on the cards on the table.
Sumeragi went next, flipping a three of spades and a six of spades. "Ahh... so close."
The cards continued to be flipped, reaching a point where none of them said anything anymore. The three of them gave the game their full concentration.
The game is probably hard, isn't it? If there's only one matching pair, the odds of achieving it through luck are literally one in one hundred and fifty-five.
That means your only hope is to memorize the cards that have already been drawn, but with the one extra deck of cards mixed up, it only makes it trickier.
If there were only one hundred and four cards, it would be somewhat manageable. However, with an extra fifty-two cards, it would be even more challenging.
However, there's no way anyone can memorize 155 cards, is there? Normally, the answer would be yes for ordinary people.
"Oh, another one," Kinji sighed as he flipped two matching kings of diamonds. "My turn again..." Kinji muttered as he flipped another card, but this time his expression dropped.
"Too bad."
"I'm next. I'm sure I've seen that four of clubs, ah! Over here!" Sumeragi filled two fours of clubs, adding them to her stash.
After going for the second time, she tapped her forehead lightly and sighed.
Yumeko, once it was her turn, flipped two matching aces of spades. "Sumeragi-san, thanks for the ace of spades," Yumeko said with a bright smile directed at the girl who simply shrugged her shoulders.
Sumeragi simply shrugged, "Gah!"
After flipping another card, Yumeko sighed. "King of diamonds... ah, not quite."
"I have already picked that," Kinji crossed his hand, shaking his head. "As expected, adding another 52 does make it interesting, doesn't it?"
"Hehehe."
—With the student body
"Woah, they're all keeping up. None of them is falling behind!" Some students murmured as they watched the broadcast.
"Again... they're doing it again," one of the extras in the background muttered as he fixed his eyes on the television broadcasting their game. "What do you mean?"
The student near him asked, "Maybe it's just me, but they're getting more accurate. There are still misses, but..."
"Don't tell me … They're memorizing the cards?!" He exclaimed as a sweat ran down his cheek. "Huh...? That's not—" Another student tried to deny it but the other shook his head.
"No, that's exactly what's going on. It's like after they flip a card once, the three can remember what the card is. That's why they are quick to pick cards after the other finishes."
"From there, whatever they pick matches without fail."
"Are you kidding me?"
Their mouths were left agape as they stared at the overwhelming intensity of the three participants, as each of the three has brought out 120% of their memory potential.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Rhenhwa_est_Empero
Rhenhwa_est_Empero Since I was motivated, plus the fact I'll be having test next week, had to quickly write down this ones and stock them before I go awol for a few days.
Would probably release two tommorow too...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone