Top. (Reader x Various Kakegurui)

83: Let Me Go First

"Let me go first! I can't hold it any longer! That's fine, right? You made me wait this long..." Midari exploded.

"...Sure. Go ahead." Yumeko responded calmly.

"It's the same thing either way." Erimi replied. "All right. Go ahead and make the first cut."

"Ehehe! Thanks so much!" She grabbed the scissors and held them up. "Oooh, which should I cut? I better pick reeeal carefully. Someone's finger could be riding on this! Ehehehe, this is too much! Yumeko... I'm so happy that I got to gamble with you again."

Yumeko turned her nose up at her.

"...Oh. Are you?"

"Ehehe! I know full well too! This time we're both in this! We both have 20-to-1 odds at losing a finger! We can feel the same kind of pain together!" She suddenly snipped a rope. "Guess that's 20-to-1 odds for ya."

Nothing happened.

"Hmm!" The referee looked. "A 'miss' then? If you're giving up, take your finger out at any time. Nobody yet, though, huh?"

"Next then! Yumeko Jabami-sama, you're up!"

"Okay!" She cheered.

And the game went on for a few minutes, everyone casually snipping away at their chance of keeping their fingers. You had removed a shoe and had Ryota rubbing the sore piece of your body. His eyes still trained on the game, but his mind a little less preoccupied with it.

"You..." Erimi spoke up. "Midari Ikishima, right?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you join this gamble, anyway?" She asked.

"Why?"

"I heard you had lost a bet against Yumeko Jabami in the past."

"You're willing to go against her again, even if it means betting your finger... Is that all just for revenge?" Erimi looked satisfied but you could hardly contain your laughter.

"Revenge... Yeah... That might be it. She's really been teasing me, so I want to see some real bullying now..." Her voice drifted to that dreamy place where you knew her mind was full of fantasies.

"...What?" Erimi's face dropped.

"GO ON! DO IT! I'm not gonna bitch if you snip the right cord, okay?!" Midari pushed. "You're the one who so kindly prepared this stage for me, anyway!"

"You don't need to tell me." Erimi snipped one.

With a laugh and a slammed fist on the table, Midari spoke out again.

"No diiiiiice! Another miss! Ehehehe, this is so great!"

"Hee hee! This is nice. It's fun to feel the danger grow with each move." Yumeko added.

"Oh you think so too, Yumeko? We're more alike than I thought, huh!?"

And the game continued.

Eventually, however, the conversation drifted over to how Erimi came to be in possession of such a device in the first place.

"You really know nothing, don't you?" Erimi spoke to Yumeko.

This was a bit true. Yumeko was part of the Hundred Devouring Families, so you'd think she'd have paid attention to what the Mushibami's were in charge of. But then again, you thought, Yumeko doesn't pay attention to anything she doesn't want to.

"Torture is the Mushibami family business." She smiled. "Using this on someone... snipping the strings, one by one, in order... why it'd make anyone sing like a bird. But how long can you hold out, hmm?  I can't wait to see..."

"And I, the princess of Japan, didn't hear any of that." You chimed in. "Nothing about illegal methods of torture at all."

"Ooh! Sure are a lot of weird jobs out there!" Yumeko smiled. "But in that case, this'll be easy. You'd have no complaints if someone turned the tables on you... especially for this massive election. It's not that you don't care if you lose a finger... But it wouldn't stop you. Am I right? Yamamoto-san..."