Just Lucky

"Nagito, where are you taking us?!" I demand as he continues to drag both of us helplessly down the hall.

"Shuichi, you come too!" He shouts instead, ignoring me completely. The sound of footsteps pounding against the tiled floor echoes as he hurries to catch up to us.

"Nagito!" I snap.

He flinches. "Hajime, there's no time to explain this second but you'll see." He responds sharply, increasing his speed.

He pulls us all throughout the school, coming to a stop in front of a familiar classroom. Wait. . .isn't this where we gambled with Junko?

Nagito whirls around rapidly, a grim expression on his face. He takes a deep breath.

"Something bad has happened," He begins, "it's Chiaki."

I frown. "Chiaki. . ? Isn't she sick today?" I point out. He shakes his head.

"That's what I thought. But that wouldn't explain Mukuro Ikusaba leading a bound and gagged Chiaki into this room," He frowns, looking troubled, "I think it's my fault."

"What? Why?!" Sonia gasps.

"Mukuro wanted me to do something for her. She wanted to gamble for it. I turned her down. Hajime was there, in fact. I imagine she thought she could get it by threating someone close to me." He explains.

"Then wouldn't she take Hajime?" Sonia suggests, "or Shuichi?"

My cheeks go pink. Nagito sighs.

"Now is not the time to discuss that," His face darkens dangerously, "she messed with one of my people, I will not let that slide."

Without another word, he turns around and practically rams down the door.

The first thing I notice is Chiaki sitting in a chair in the back of the room. Her wrists are bound with some kind of rope, a gag in her mouth and a blindfold over her eyes. Next to her is Mukuro, without Junko this time. In her hands are two guns.

"Chiaki!" Sonia and I cry, seemingly in unison. I move to rush towards her but before I can Shuichi grabs onto my wrist and tugs me back.

Mukuro grins. "Nagito Komaeda," She says, "I was just about to contact you. I've got a gamble for you~"

Nagito glares hard at her. "You lost any hope for that when you took my friend." He spits back. Mukuro begins to casually stroke her hair.

"Oh, I guess you don't get it, do you? Oh no, this gamble is for your precious Chiaki. Prepare yourself, Nagito, we're going to play the ESP game."

Nagito's entire body tenses.

In the ESP game, the players have to guess the order of the cards chosen by the dealer, gaining one point for every correct card. It is played in two different rooms: a room where the dealer chooses the cards, and a second room where the players gamble. The rooms are soundproof and are only connected by cameras. A monitor in the dealer's room shows the players as they play the game, while the monitor in the other room only shows the dealer's hands and cards Before the showdown, each player has to load their gun. They can load any number of bullets they want, with a maximum of six. The one with the most matches picks a random gun and shoots the opponent the amount of times that corresponds to how many they got right over their opponent.

". . .Heh Heh. . ." A soft laugh comes from Nagito. He now has this incredibly dark expression on his face, including an ominous smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

"Heheheh. . ."

His body begins to tremble before his head suddenly snaps up.

"HA," He barks, "HA HA HA! THIS IS AWFUL, TRULY AWFUL! A LIFE THREATENING GAMBLE FOR A DEAR FRIEND, HUH?! VERY WELL, I ACCEPT, WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE?!"

Mukuro grins. "Then shall we all travel to the ESP game room?" She offers.

"Of course, Mukuro!"

-

Nagito and Mukuro sat directly across from each other at a table, five cards in front of each of them. The desk had a compartment in its center where the guns, once loaded, will go. A camera is pointed at them and below them a monitor, which will display the cards in the next room over, where Chiaki has already been stashed.

"Before we begin, we need to decide on a dealer." Mukuro states.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like for Hajime to be the dealer." Nagito replies, making me visibly flinch. Her nose wrinkles in disgust.

"Really? The Housepet?"

My fists clenches. Nagito nods.

"Please." He insists. Mukuro groans.

"Fine," She allows, "but only because I can tell he isn't smart enough to pull any tricks. And if those other two friends of yours leave," she glares at them, "they're distracting."

Sonia steps forward with purpose. "Not without Chiaki!" She insists.

"Sonia," Nagito speaks up calmly, gaze not breaking away from Mukuro's, "leave with Shuichi. Everything will be fine. I promise I'll return Chiaki to you."

Sonia huffs as Shuichi gently tugs on her sleeve. "Everything will work out," He promises in a murmur, "I've seen him do way worse."

The blonde hesitates for a moment before reluctantly allowing herself to be led out of the room. Once the door slams shut behind them I turn my attention back to the facing-off opponents.

"Now then," Mukuro says, "let's send our dealer into his room."

I flash Nagito a look. He merely responds by smiling all carefree-like and having the audacity to give me a wink.

"Nagito, I don't thin-"

"I trust you," He cuts me off, "we're going to get Chiaki back."

"Nagi-"

"Go." He orders calmly.

I slowly turn away from him and enter the Dealer's Room, letting the door fall shut behind me. Sitting in the corner on the floor is the still-tied up Chiaki. Standing next to her, keeping guard I presume, is a nervous-looking man with shoulder-length light brown hair. He doesn't really look like he could inflict any serious damage, so then why is someone like him the guard?

I turn my attention back to the monitor where Nagito and Mukuro are staring each other down. Mukuro picks up a walkie talkie so that the timid guard and I can hear the last-minute rules. Said guard holds up his own walkie-talkie.

"Hajime, meet Ryota Mitarai. He's just a helper of mine," She says, "I understand you already know the rules of the game and the wager. We'll do three rounds. Nagito, you'll really want to win the wager otherwise something bad may befall Chiaki and you'll have a debt to pay off!~ Of course if you win, you three are all free to go."

"Mukuro," Nagito responds, a dangerous gleam in his eyes, "have you really thought this through? You could die-I will be aiming for vital organs."

Mukuro smirks. "I expect nothing less from you, Komaeda Nagito."

ROUND ONE

Ryota steps forward and hands me the cards. "Place them down in any order you wish. Uh, face-down of course." He instructs. I take the small pile in my hands.

Any order is fine, huh? Alright, I can do that just fine.

Nagito, please read my mind. . .

NAGITO POV

"I'm putting six bullets in my gun," Mukuro announces, "there's no need to tell me how many you load, I like to be surprised."

I smile back at her. "I never intended to tell you in the first place so no worries." I reply. She rolls her eyes.

Once we both finish with our guns, we drop them into the slot. Then, we lay out our cards.

When we're both satisfied, Mukuro lifts the walkie talkie.

"You can flip them over now, Hajime." She says into it. He reaches forward with his dominant hand (it's shaking a little, poor dear he's nervous!) and flips them over one by one. Once he's done, Mukuro gestures for us to do the same.

And so we do.

We take our time, comparing our cards to the ones my Hajime has laid out. In the end, Mukuro has two matches while I only get one.

I look over at Mukuro, chuckling. "It appears lady luck is not quite on my side." I comment cheerfully. She grunts, reaching into the compartment for a random gun. It's impossible to say which gun is which.

How thrilling. . .

HAJIME POV

My entire body goes rigid.

He-He lost the first round?! WHAT?!

N-No. . .he's going to get shot at. . .he's probably going to get hit!

I move to run to shield him but before I can get any further, two skinny arms wrap around my waist.

"You can't interfere!" Ryota exclaims, "you'll only make things worse!"

I continue struggling in his grip for another brief moment before going limp in defeat.

Ryota's right, a shot will be fired whether I run in there or not.

Atua, watch out for him. . .

NAGITO POV

"Are you going to tell me how many bullets you loaded into your gun now?" Mukuro asks, pointing her selected weapon at my chest.

I don't flinch. Instead I smile.

"No," I respond, "come on and shoot me, darling."

She smirks. "With pleasure."

She takes aim and fires. No bullet comes out.

She throws the weapon down on the table, frustrated. "Dammit!" She hisses.

I smile. "You got my gun I see. You see, I didn't load any bullets into my gun."

She glares at me. "You coward."

I shrug. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. Then, are we going again?"

ROUND TWO

HAJIME POV

Damn, he really got lucky there, huh? He really is an insane guy with some crazy-ass luck.

I wish there was something I could do to ensure he wins this round. . .

Maybe if I. . .

NAGITO POV

"I'm only doing four bullets." Mukuro informs me. I nod back, fiddling with my gun as Hajime lays out the face-down cards on the monitor above us.

Hmm. . .

I drop my gun in the slot after Mukuro's and begin laying down my cards. Once we're both done Mukuro picks up her walkie-talkie and tells Hajime to flip over the cards.

And so he does. As soon as he finishes, Mukuro and I follow suit.

I get all five right while Mukuro gets none, causing me to smile. So I was correct after all. . .

Mukuro on the other hand is enraged. "How. . .THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT?!" She demands angrily.

I shrug, picking up a gun. ". . .Luck, I guess?" I giggle, before shooting at her five times in a row. Of course, as I predicted she comes out unscathed. "I loaded no bullets into my gun this time either," I explain, "but rest assured I will for our final round. We are at a tie, after all."

Mukuro appears to be trembling with rage. Ahaha. . .is she really that mad?

FINAL ROUND

HAJIME POV

"Ryota," Mukuro's voice crackles through the walkie-talkie, making him flinch, "reverse the images."

I whip my head around. "WHAT?! No, you can't do that, that's cheating!" I screech at him. He shrugs sheepishly.

"Hajime, let it happen or I'll kill Nagito and Chiaki." Mukuro warns. I clench my fist.

DAMMIT!

All I can do is watch silently as Ryota taps away on the monitor. What am I going to do now? How can I help him when they're cheating. . .

There's nothing I can do.

NAGITO POV

I put two bullets into my gun before dropping it into the slot, watching Hajime's arm as it lays out the cards. I imagine he's quite nervous.

I'm so distracted by watching Hajime I don't even notice dropping her gun into the slot on the table, not even mentioning how many bullets she loaded this time.

We then lay out our cards and Mukuro gives the order for Hajime to flip his cards. And then it's our turn.

"You had the image reversed, huh?" I drawl casually as I start flipping over my cards. She stiffens.

"How did you figure that out?" She asks, flipping hers over. I grin.

"It's quite simple, actually. Such a lame easy trick. Hajime is left-handed, why would he suddenly start flipping the cards over with his right?" I point out. She scowls.

"Jerk." She mutters.

Because of this in the end, I get three points over Mukuro's one.

"Well then, loser," I say, picking up a gun, "let's hope you get an empty slot."

And then I shoot.

HAJIME POV

Nagito won. He won! He won the game! Yes!

I turn away from the screen, hurrying to untie Chiaki. I remove the rope from her wrists before ripping off the blindfold. I help her to her feet as she rubs her rope-burnt wrists.

"I'm so glad you're alright, I'm sorry, I had no idea that would happen." I murmur, pulling her into a hug. She squeezes back.

"It's alright. I'm incredibly grateful for you and Nagito saving me. I'll make it up to you." She responds, pulling back to smile at me.

"Even though it was my fault in the first place?" A sweet voice interjects. We both turn at the sound of Nagito.

"Nagito, you did so well!" I exclaim, running and leaping at him. Although he's startled, he manages to catch me.

"Ah. . .I'm glad you think so. And Chiaki, I'm so sorry." He murmurs. Chiaki smiles.

"It's perfectly fine, I promise." She assures him.

"But what happened with Mukuro?" I wonder.

"She didn't get hit. And I'm going to report her actions to the Student Council." He answers, glancing at his watch.

"Ah, look at the time. I have the say this little conundrum almost made us late to our meeting. Ah, I'll have to text Shuichi and Sonia to meet us there. " He sighs.

I frown. "What meeting?" I demand, "I haven't heard anything about a meeting."

He blinks.

"We have a meeting with the Student Council, Hajime."