Pain {Kakegurui FanFic}

9.

Panting, I raced down the stairs towards the Culture Club, almost tripping over my own feet as I ran harder and faster. I was barely able to dodge the other students in the halls as I raced faster towards the doors of the Culture Club. One of the club members was stood outside and placed their arm out, blocking my entracnce.

"I'm sorry but there's an important match going on right now." She said and I hissed at her, ducking under her arm and pushing the door open. I froze as I saw what was happening, unable to process what was going on. Yumeko and Suzui were sat on the floor in front of a board with chips placed in particular spots. Yuriko was also sat on the floor, her and her assistant glaring daggers into my head as I interrupted their match. The thing that confused me the most was the three people stood in the middle of the room, observing them.

Runa was stood there, a gleeful little smirk on her face as she watched me with a harsh glint in her eyes. I almost gasped when I saw Igarashi Sayaka (the Student Council secretary) and Momobami Kirari, the Student Council president. I willed my body to show no repulsion as her icy blue eyes stared deep into my soul, carefully scrutinising me. I didn't really have anything against Momobami but something my mother told me once leapt out at me when I saw her for the first time: "a cold eyed snake smiles before it bites." In this case, Momobami seemed like the snake in my eyes and I knew better than to get close enough so she could bite me. I stood my ground as Momobami smiled and approached me, tilting my face up to hers by my chin.

"Aiko it's been too long, I wish you would stop by the Council meeting room more often." She softly said and her words sent ice through my veins, freezing my heart. I felt like she knew that I despised her with every bone in my body and she often played on that fear, inviting me to tea and silently watching me. Something about her sent shivers up my spine but I knew I had to play nice.

"Momobami, I'm sorry for my absence and I'll promise to stop by more." I gently said as I leaned into her hand more. I could play nice as long as possible, so long as it kept her from catching on and making my life hell. Momobami seemed satisfied with my answer and released my chin, smiling at me with a deadly cool smile.

"Please, call me Kirari, we're friends after all." She said and I tightly smiled, trying my hardest not to show any signs of distress. She finally turned her attention away from me and to Yumeko and I relaxed slightly, still keeping my guard up. Its not that I was scared of her, it's just that something about her makes me slightly uncomfortable and I'd rather not get caught up in her games.

"You've come at the right time big sis!" Runa chortled and I glared at her, not wanting to hear her voice. However, I was slightly intrigued, wondering what had happened to Mary and why Yumeko was gambling Yuriko. Yumeko smiled at me, waving her hand to call me over too sit with her. Sighing, I slipped off my shoes before walking over and kneeling on the floor in between Suzui and Yumeko. Yumeko grabbed me, hugging me close as a deep blush spread across her neck and cheeks.

"You arrived just at the right time Aiko! The betting amount is 2.17 billion Yen!" Yumeko squealed and I looked at her like she was crazy. I knew about this game from the many rumours that the other students had circulated around and I knew that the Life or Death element was the key to the game. Bets were placed on numbers form 1-30 each round and a cup with 30 swords inside is shaken by the dealer. If a sword lands upwards in your number, the player receives "Life" which means the number of chips bet on that number is 30x increased and so you would win more money. However, having a sword land downwards and getting "Death" means that they lose the chips they bet on that number, multiplied by 30. The worst thing about this game is the betting amount of each chip. Knowing Yumeko, she probably agreed to 1 million Yen for one chip.

I averted my eyes from Yumeko and looked over at Yuriko and her assistant who seemed quite stressed for some reason. I could only gather that Yumeko had pulled some crazy stunt and now had Yuriko in a tight spot. I shook my head and narrowed my eyes at Yuriko, set on getting the answers that I required.

"You gambled with Satome earlier. What happened?" I said bluntly and Yuriko looked at me in a confused panic before finally regaining herself and coming back to her senses. The mention of Satomes name seemed to cause her to sit up straighter and I scowled as I realised that the outcome of their match was probably not good.

"She increased her debt to around 50 million Yen." Yuriko blankly said and I froze up, not moving at all. Mary was deep in debt now and I was furious that Yuriko would act so calmly about it.

"Lift the cup." I quietly said and everyone looked at me in shock, wondering where that had come from. "I said lift the cup!" I yelled at the assistant who recoiled slightly as my loud voice filled the room. I was shaking like a fragile leaf in anger, wanting to know the outcome of the game. How I hoped that Yuriko would suffer a massive loss. The assistant sat there with wide eyes and a quavering lip, looking over at Yuriko in distress, her fingers trembling above the cup.

"You heard her. Lift the cup." Kirari commanded and the assistant screwed her eyes shut tightly and lifted the cup up. The results were Death on 10 and Life on 7. I glanced at Yumekos board which only had chips on 24 and Yuriko had 5 chips on 7, therefore making her have 195 chips in total.

"Yumeko has lost 115 chips. With 310 million Yen, Yuriko is the winner." The assistant said and the Council President smiled before leaving the room, Runa and Sayaka following behind her. Suzui was in shock and I looked over at Yumeko, noticing the blissed out look on her face. She didn't care about winning or losing, she was doing it for the thrill  I thought and I shook my head before getting up and putting on my shoes, intent on leaving. The other two followed suit and we went to leave but I stopped and turned to Yuriko who was holding her head in her hands in shock.

"One day, no one will be there to save you and you'll slip and fall into a deep, dark pit, unable to pull your pathetic self out it." I hissed at her and swiftly left, walking down the halls. In a flash, Yumeko was beside me, tugging on my arm.

"Aiko, let's go and gamble with the other students! It'll be fun, leaving everything to fate! Everything could change in a second!" Yumeko gushed and I scowled at her, pushing her slightly.

"I don't gamble." I snapped and Suzui winced as I said that, leaving Yumeko confused. Sighing, I opened a door that lead into an empty classroom, allowing the others to walk in before closing the door. Hopping up onto the desk, I sighed and glared over at Yumeko.

"You really want to gamble more when you've clearly annoyed the Student Council and now all of them will be out for your blood! The Student Council is dangerous so if you really want to get tangled up in this, be my guest." I hissed as Yumeko smiled at me. Suzui stood between us, acting almost as if we were going to attack each other and spoke to Yumeko in a gentle tone.

"Aiko, I think you should tell her." Suzui said and I tensed up for a split second before relaxing slightly. It was only a matter of time before Yumeko found out and I'd rather have her hear my events of the past and what had happened to me. Crossing my legs, I placed my hands behind me, leaning back slightly and observing Yumeko and Suzui with a sad smirk on my face.

"Settle in Yumeko; this is the story of my sad and pathetic life."

Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I've been away for ages without any type of explanation and I sincerely apologise for that from the bottom of my anime, cats and food loving heart. It exam season which means that I have a lot less time to upload but now that I have a week long break, I'll be able to post a lil bit. Only about 3 more weeks until exam season is over and I can post again normally! Anyways, I'd like to thank you guys for 2.4k reads which is crazy and I was so shocked to see that! A special chapter is going to be dedicated towards the 2k reads along with a thank you chapter  and the thank you chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow in the evening (the 2k chapter will take an extra day or two but don't worry its coming guys)! This chapter felt a little bit all over the place and I apologise for that but the next chapter will finally show Aiko's past because I've made you guys wait eons to hear it! Before I wrap this up, I'd once again like to thank all the people who have commented, voted, read and added my story to their library over the past moth, you guys rock! See you next time.

Opalft x