In It To Win(win) It

11. A Trip Down Memory Lane

The Nakamotos were lethal in Uno.

After hanging out with Yuta in his room for a while, and no, they did NOT have sex, Si Cheng has never done anything remotely sexual and was not going to do it first in a whole ass different country, contrary to Ten's belief. However, they did watch anime, because Yuta is a confirmed weeb. Yuta often made Si Cheng say some female's lines for some reason, but probably so that he could improve the three sentences he memorized in Japanese.

Dinner was called and it was delicious. His mother had prepared a variety of dishes that Si Cheng surely wouldn't remember the names but they were so good. He tried to eat as slow as possible so that they don't judge him, but when he saw Yuta eating the same way he always does, Si Cheng let himself relax a little.

But Uno didn't let him relax at all. Yuta's family was so brutal. No matter how kind, how sympathetic, how good of a person they are (course it was reference to Yuta) all of their dignity and humanity would leave with them. Friends, family, loved ones didn't matter in that hour; all that mattered was that you crush everyone in the process and get all the glory directed towards you.

When Yuta's older brother, Naoki, also a college student like Yuta, won the second round in a row, Yuta and his mother both threw their cards across the table, ruining the draw and stack piles, some cards on the floor.

"You bitch!" Yuta yelled. "I had a draw four, I was about to win!"

"I can't call you my son anymore," Ms. Nakamoto said, surprising Si Cheng. This is how they talk to each other while playing Uno? They looked so harmless before.

Mr. Nakamoto, who had 25 or more cards (the whole family lost count), laughed. He didn't care because he knew there was no way he was going to win in this round. The previous round, though, he had been aggressive with Naoki when the other was dangerously getting close to having only one card, and he essentially won the round.

Si Cheng hasn't won yet, but he mentally started preparing himself all the insults he was going to get from the family. Nothing that he hasn't handled before.

Mr. Nakamoto picked up the cards from the floor while Si Cheng grabbed the ones on the table to organize them again. Yuta and his mother were still arguing with Naoki until Si Cheng started passing some new cards out.

"I will beat your ass next round," Yuta gave his last threat to Naoki. "Like, what the fuck, man?"

"You can beat him but you won't win," Yuta's dad said. "I'll make sure of that."

"What are you implying?" Yuta asked him.

The rest of uno went with a lot more bickering, but not in a bad way. Yuta would playfully tease Si Cheng whenever he had to draw, but when Si Cheng made Yuta draw 4 twice in a row, Yuta would cry in agony. Si Cheng didn't win a single round, but it was nice to see how they played.

When the game was over, Si Cheng helped clean up the cards while Yuta went to wash the dishes from dinner. Ms. Nakamoto was asking Si Cheng if he liked the game and how he thought of it, to which he replied that it was cool. He wasn't going to tell her that he was so scared of winning he lost on purpose twice.

Ms. Nakamoto then went to the kitchen, probably to help Yuta, to which Naoki took that time to ask Si Cheng some questions then.

"So, how did you meet my brother?" Naoki said. "Did you say you like anime and he heard it across campus?"

Si Cheng shook his head. "Actually, we have statistics class together, so we study together sometimes," Si Cheng said. He didn't know if his parents knew he was failing statistics, but he wasn't about to out Yuta like that.