november yumary otp prompt challenge!

roleswap au

"This game is called Ballot Rock, Paper, Scissors," the sweet girl with incredibly long hair smiled. She challenged Mary to a gamble as she was about to leave for the dorms, so there was no telling how genuine that smile truly is. Jabami Yumeko was the strangest name Mary has ever heard, but it was distinctive enough to remember. Serpent Dream-child, huh?

She explained the rules, and Mary tried to listen out for any disadvantages, but everything sounded pretty out of control for both players. Her nerves kept screaming at her that something was off, but her logic couldn't detect anything.

The 28 students would vote for rock, paper, or scissors, and then it was up to them to figure out the most popular card and sketch out the opponent's hand. This game wasn't about making the "best" move. It was about understanding her opponent.

She'd spent hours a day studying the art of gambling and body language since she'd sent her application to Hyakkaou last year, but in terms of wins or losses, they were both at zero. Today was her first time gambling.

Mary knew what to expect when she received her acceptance letter from Hyakkaou Private Academy. Everyone knew that this school lived, breathed, and killed to gamble.

So for the watchful eyes of her classmates and Jabami, Mary did too.

"Shall we do a practice round just for you to see how it works?" her head nodded to the other classmates before Mary could answer.

"Sure," she replied simply.

Two students hastily brought out four stacks of black and red chips each. As one dropped the chips in front of her, the reality of what she was doing dropped onto her like bricks. Mary was only 17, and she was putting the money she earned from her minimum-wage job on the line for this stranger she just met today.

What a warm welcome.

They were both quiet as the students shuffled through their lines. Scribbling a hand onto a card, dropping into the box, and filing back into the audience. Mary didn't notice any hidden whispers or hand signals. The only thing that really caught her attention were the chained tags on way more than half of the student's necks.

Suzui Ryota, the so-called class representative, showed her around the school and basically taught her about how truly messed up this school is. Mary couldn't believe so many housepets were in one class. Were they all just really bad with deadlines or too loose with their money?

"Alright," Yumeko brought Mary's attention back to herself. There was a housepet holding the ballot box toward Yumeko. She pulled three cards out of the opened top, and eyed them before continuing: "Your turn."

The housepet walked to Mary's side of the connected desks. She made sure not to look as she pulled three cards one-by-one, face down onto the desk. Only when the housepet walked away did she look at her cards, holding them as close as possible.

Two scissors and a rock.

"Since we're just practicing, we don't have to place any bets. Let's just skip to the draw. I've always enjoyed that part the most," Yumeko giggled, her hand trailing over her selection of cards.

Mary decided that for the practice round, this would be the time test her opponent. If she threw out scissors, there's a good chance it'd be a loss or tie. Considering her double scissors, it's likely that Yumeko also has one too. Her best option is rock, and it might've been the best card to receive.

"Let's begin!" Yumeko firmly pulled out her card.

"Rock!"
"Paper!"
"Scissor!"

Yumeko revealed a rock. Meaning she had the exact same idea as Mary, but now she had no choice but to play a scissor.