Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Two Capped Knees and One for the Future

A single golden bling telegraphed the profound joy that overcame Tokui once he glared at his cards. Mana had not noticed the few golden teeth that the young man had before despite his affinity for growling. The source for the joy of the Kumogakure shinobi was revealed when he dropped a pair of nines onto the table – a nine of hearts that started each game and a nine of spades. Mana closed her eyes, breathed in and out. Tokui, in his mad combination of gleeful glares that he gifted each player around the table, looked baffled by the magician's bitterness.

"What's wrong, isn't me ridding my hand of two whole cards right out of the gate a good thing?" the Voice of the Cloud shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll call a niner..." one of Jagaimo's clones responded, dropping a nine of diamonds atop of the pair of nines and bittering Tokui's face once more as he realized why Mana was so displeased by the relatively lucky start for the Kumogakure ninja.

It was not the fact that Tokui got a bunch of strong cards he could drop right from the start that frustrated the magician, it was the position of the Kumogakure power-man in relation to her – with Tokui starting, she was the last one to get a move.

"Ooh, that must sting..." the middle and the real version of Jagaimo grinned his teeth in a mocking, upside crescent-shaped smile while he gently and as derisively as possible placed his ten of hearts atop the pile, shutting off all the options for Mana to get rid of her nine of clubs.

"It's fine, I can give you one more to scoop up..." the second clone mocked Mana again by placing a ten of diamonds atop of the pile.

"Remember, the longer you ignore the pile, the more of it you'll have to scoop when push comes to shove..." the original Jagaimo winked at Mana while the rest of the duo chuckled in a staged fit of laughter.

It was fine... Mana just needed to breathe and think clearly, don't let her frustration or desperation to rid her decent hand of the nine cause her to make matters worse. There were still only two tens placed on the table, that meant that two of the worst card to get were still in the players' hands. Mana looked at Tokui wondering if he fostered any tens. If she asked him outright, he'd tell her... Along with everyone around the table.

"You laugh at me and yet..." Mana closed her eyes and placed her hand onto the table face-down. "You've made a bunch of water clones, no doubt to plan the game ahead, see what your clones have in their hands but you forgot that the knowledge of your clones will not return to you until after the clones are dispelled."

Jagaimo brushed it off. He may have gotten flustered by Mana's taunt before but now he was in too strong of a position to lose too much of his cool. Psyching the Voice of Kirigakure out was completely out of the question at this point, Mana needed to strengthen her stance on the board before all of that. With a somber face, Mana slipped out a queen of spades onto the board. Tokui's glare widened and both of Jagaimo's clones whistled out.

"Still using the same strategy? A shock raise to make someone scoop? I only let you win with that last time to get your hopes up!" Jagaimo's left clone taunted the magician. He saw the negativity and respectful fear that the beginning of the game invited in the previously peaceful face of Mana. With just a pair of moves, the magician went from an experienced gambling shark to a desperate lowlife that has bet their liver on a single roll of a die inside. The heat from her breath, the flicker of her eyes and the occasional tremble of Mana's hands betrayed her...

"Sadly... There are no useless cards in my hand!" Tokui almost hummed out while slamming down a queen onboard.

"W-What? Don't tell me!" Jagaimo's left clone looked properly shaken by the sudden switch in Tokui's reaction. There was no mistaking it – Tokui was happy like a waffle with a streak of snow-white ice cream on top. The type of easygoing happiness that only came from the assurance of victory, but was it proper? Was Tokui not overlooking something? As much as Mana wanted to trust her ally's good luck... What if the matter was still not settled?