♡ Gamblers to lovers♡ (Mary Saotome x reader)

Chapter 30

Time has passed, while a conflictive dilemma was growing bigger and bigger in your heart. You felt in the middle of a problem that you couldn't solve, part of a riddle that had no solution.

There were two sides in that dilemma. In one of them, there is a person that taught you happiness like almost no one ever taught you in your life. In the other one, there was an idol you would struggle to compete against. And those sides were suddenly enemies. Enemies for a problem that doesn't exist. Enemies for a danger that is harmless. And there you were, questioning the reason why.

You wanted to make Mary happy, but you didn't want to give Yumeko up either. That was your dilemma. That was your inner distress.
But you had to choose eventually. You had Yumeko in front of you, and you were supposed to compete against her.

—Welcome everyone to the first game of the Ultimate Gambling Tournament —Kirari said, staring at nothing —. On this occasion, we have two teams facing each other at The Tower of Doors. From the team Saonojo, we have (Y/N), and from the team Yuzui, we have Yumeko Jabami! —She made a short pause after saying Yumeko's name.

—As you might know, the objective of this game is to descend to the first floor and then come back to this one, taking a lily as an evidence. For this, you'll have to open doors that display specific questions. If you reply correctly, the door will open. Does anyone have a question?

No one said a thing.

—In that case, let's start the game. Yumeko will start. Each turn is five minutes long. Remember, answering correctly is the key to life.

Mary would keep watching you during the game, along with Suzui, since there was a screen on the fifth floor displaying the position of the players. She directed a sagacious gaze at you, as if she was saying "You better defeat this person". You replied with a little smile, as if you were saying "I'll do my best" weakly.
Yumeko went directly to the door that was in the center of the tower. You didn't manage to see the question nor the answer. You did see, though, that the numbers that were on the doors rotated before her move. You started to wonder the reason for that. You thought about hexadecimal numbers, but you still had to find a way to prove that idea.

Your turn came unexpectedly quick when the door Yumeko opened led to nowhere. She found an empty wall with no hints at all.
You decide to go to a trap door, since you noticed that the number there didn't change. The question displayed was "How many queens are in a Chess game?". You replied "One", and the door opened, letting you descend one floor.
The second turn was quite similar. Yumeko chose to open a wall door, and she realized that it led to nowhere as well. It wasn't a door. It was a window. Mary wanted to laugh when she saw that, but she knew how to control herself.
You, on the other hand, tried to open a door with the question "How many children did John Lennon have?". You replied "Two", and you were able to descend two floors. You realized that the numbers on the doors were actually angled, which made you want to scheme a plan. You couldn't see Yumeko's position anymore, she could perfectly be at the first floor already and you had no way to know it. The pressure was high, and you knew, in that moment, that you needed to be smart if you wanted to win.

However, did you really want to win?

You followed your instincts, and you kept descending answering the questions properly. You didn't fail any question. Mary's face started appearing as a reminiscence in your head. You couldn't see her, but she was seeing you. Expecting everything from you, since she bet the closest thing to everything she had at that moment: Your friendship.

You were suddenly unsteady, but you had to keep going. Every step you gave was important, every second marked a difference for your future. And then you realized you were on the first floor already, with a pretty little lily flower below you. Did you smile to see that? You don't know. But after you took the lily, your body started to feel lighter.

Your turn arrived, and there was only a path
to follow: You had to go to the central door. As you walked into the door to reply to the question, the fear was taking hold. That didn't matter. At least until you felt a strange force holding you back from going back to the fifth floor.
It wasn't magic. It wasn't the wind. It was Yumeko, hugging you to avoid your victory. At that moment, the world seemed to stop.

But not for you, for Mary.