Chapter 90
[121]
“The rules of the King’s Game are as follows!” Futaba stood up and explained in her best announcer voice. “Number one: At the start of each round, players must draw a chopstick from the bowl without looking at its number or lack thereof. Whoever pulls the red stick is the king!” She held the red tipped chopstick high above her head like a sword.
“Number two:” She continued. “The king must order one of their subjects to perform a task. Usually an embarrassing one! Number three: The king can’t choose a person by name, only by number, so they don’t know who is who! And finally number four: As the game progresses, the commands must become increasingly embarrassing or risque! It’s no fun if they’re all tame and boring!”
Makoto seemed hesitant to play. “I...I don’t know about this guys. Maybe we should play something else…”
“No way!” Ryuji exclaimed, sitting up excitedly. “That sounds awesome! We’re doing that!”
“Oh this sounds fun!” Haru clapped her hands together happily.
Ren put an arm around Makoto’s shoulder, much to the girl’s surprise.“Aren’t you always saying how you want to do stuff regular students do?” He reasoned. “This could be a great opportunity for study. Eh Makoto?” He smiled.
“W-Well I mean…” She hesitated, blushing furiously. “...Okay, but can we keep the requests reasonable?”
“Nope!” Ryuji and Futaba replied in unison.
With the rules set and everyone sitting on the sofa, the game began and everyone drew the first round of sticks. There was a pause as everyone checked to see what number they were this turn before looking around at the others.
“YES! I’m the king!” Morgana cheered, holding up his chopstick. “My order is that Lady Ann must kiss me!”
“You have to pick a number, genius.” Futaba reminded him.
“Fine. Then I will let fate guide me and Lady Ann together!” He closed his eyes and began to think hard. “...Number two!” He finally said, opening his eyes.
“...”
“...”
“Very well.” Yusuke sighed, standing up. “If we must.”
“N-NO! I changed my mind! Number three!” Morgana pleaded, stepping away from the approaching boy.
“You can’t change the number or back out of your order.” Futaba stated. “The king’s orders are absolute.”
“But...I don’t wanna kiss Yusuke, I want Lady Ann!”
“If you continue to draw this out, it will only be longer for all of us.” Yusuke said.
“Why are you okay with this?” Morgana questioned the artist.
“Dude,” Ryuji rolled his eyes. “This is the guy who asks random people on the street if he can paint them naked. I don’t think he has an ounce of embarrassment in him.”
Finally backed into a corner, Morgana’s face became red as Yusuke slammed his hand against the wall next to him and began to lean in. When Morgana turned to look at Yusuke he was met with an intense gaze that showed no fear. Before he knew it the gap between their faces had closed.
“Holy shit dude.” Ryuji turned to the others. “Yusuke’s a player.” The two boys began walking back to the others. “How was it?” He asked Morgana as he and Yusuke returned to their seats, the former with red cheeks and the latter looking as if nothing happened.
“Shut up.” Morgana said, grabbing a large glass and downing it in one go. “Let’s just start the next round.”
“Alright people!” Futaba said with a smile, setting down her empty glass. “Round two, draw your sticks!”
The group did as they were instructed and drew the shuffled chopsticks from the bowl.
“Ooh! My turn!” Haru cheered, holding up the red chopstick.
“What are your orders Haru?” Ryuji asked.
“Hmm…” She paused to think for a moment. “Oh! I know! Number four has to take off their shirt!”
“Do I really have to?” Ren asked, showing his chopstick that read ‘4’ on it.
“Yes!” Ann and Futaba responded, possibly a bit too enthusiastic.
“Yay!” Haru said with a small clap. “I got the one I wanted!”
“Haru!” Makoto turned to the girl next to her, surprised. “What if number four had been a girl?”
“I wouldn’t have minded that much either.” She said happily, taking another swig from her drink. Ann and Makoto’s eyes went wide as they looked at Haru then each other having gained some new insight on their friend.
Complying with the rules, Ren unbuttoned his (already torn from earlier) shirt before setting it next to him. This was the first time that anyone in his friend group had seen him like this, even in Hawaii he wore a hoodie for the whole trip to hide his scars.
Every person in the room couldn’t help but stare at Ren’s chest, most with gaping mouths. The muscles he’d gained from receiving the spider bite and months of fighting crime, as well as the scars he’d gained from his various battles were on full display to the other teenagers.
“Jesus!” Ann said as she admired the boy’s abs. “I knew you were built but goddamn! You could grate cheese on those things!”
“He’s got those um, what do you call them? C*m gutters!” Futaba pointed to Ren’s obliques. “The fish gill things on the sides of his abs!”
“Futaba, don’t be gross!” Ryuji chided the girl.
“That’s what they’re called though!” She protested.
While normally, Makoto would’ve stepped in to stop such crass language, she was sitting directly to Ren’s right and thus had the closest view. Without even thinking or meaning to, she ran her fingers across his chest to feel him. Turning her gaze downward, she noticed that Ren also had that V-shaped muscle that led down to his-
“Uh Makoto?” Ren asked. “What are you doing?”
“Huh?” She snapped out her hypnotized state. “OhmygodI’msosorryIdidn’tmeantoI’msorry!” She immediately hid her face in her jacket.
“Ren, you simply must model for me after this!” Yusuke interrupted. “I must make a portrait, nay, a sculpture to capture your image!”
Haru meanwhile was drooling at the mouth with a grin on her face. This had been a good use of her power as king.
“Okay people, why don’t we start the next round?” Ren asked, buttoning his shirt back up, his face blazing red in embarrassment.
“Fine…” Futaba grumbled. “Next round! Everybody draw a chopstick!”
“Oh, it’s me!” Ann said in surprise. “How about...Number seven has to...hold hands with the person to their right for the rest of the game!”
“What!?” Ryuji shouted, standing up. “No way is that legal! She can’t make us do that for the whole game right?” He turned to Futaba who was smiling like a gremlin.
“The king’s orders…” She began.
“Are absolute!” Ann finished with a smirk towards Ryuji.
Seeing as how he had no way out of this, he grumbled and sat back down. Looking to his right, he saw Ren holding out his hand while looking the other way, hiding his embarrassment. With his own face red, Ryuji reluctantly grasped his best friend’s hand in his own.
“This game sucks.” He grumbled, looking down.
“Round four!” The group took a drink before they drew their sticks once more to determine this round’s king.
“Finally!” Futaba cheered, swaying a bit in her chair. “I’m the *hicc* King!” She held up her chopstick before losing her balance.
“Are you okay?” Ann asked, not exactly seeing straight herself.
“I’m good…” She picked herself off of the ground before reaching into her jacket pocket. “For my order,” She pulled a small rectangular device out. “Number two is getting tased!”
“Futaba no!” Makoto protested, getting off of the sofa and using it as a shield. “You’re not tazing anyone! That’s too far.”
Ren turned his gaze down to the chopstick Makoto had dropped and saw that it read ‘2’ on it.
“Too bad Makoto!” Futaba got out of her seat and began to chase the other girl with a taser in hand. “King’s orders!”
“No!” The two of them ran in circles around the couch as the others watched, laughing as they took more drinks.
As she tried to catch Makoto, Futaba lost her balance and fell to the floor. The older girl turned around and approached her cautiously. Seeing as how the girl wasn’t moving, Makoto began to panic and kneeled at the girl’s side.
“Futaba! Futaba are you oka-AGH!” Makoto cried out in surprise as Futaba tased her leg. The older girl fell to the ground, clutching her leg. “What the hell!? I thought you were hurt!” She yelled at the small girl.
“Too *hicc* baaad!” She smiled teasingly before helping the angry girl up and back onto the couch. Mad that she got tricked, Makoto downed another glass when she took her seat next to Ren.
“Round *hicc* five!” Futaba announced, her cheeks red and her body swaying.
“Hey Makoto,” Ren turned to the girl on his right. “You said you requested non-alcoholic drinks right?”
“Huh?” She looked at him with half-lidded eyes and pink dusted cheeks. “Oh, yeah totally I’m sure of it.”
“Alright…” He turned back to the drinks and took another swig. Out of everyone, he’d had the most drinks by far and still felt pretty fine, great actually, so it must be okay. Futaba was probably just tired. He then looked over to Ryuji on his left. “Dude, how is it possible that your hand is this sweaty?” He gestured to their still clasped hands.
“Shut up!”
The group continued their game, drawing their chopsticks. This time it was Ren’s turn to be King. Reasoning that he had a 4/7 chance of picking a girl, he decided to take a risk and go for something he’d always kind of wanted.
“Number eight, why don’t you come sit on my lap?”
“...”
“F-Fine.” Makoto said, her cheeks even redder than before. “But...only for a second!” She stood up and stood in front of Ren (unintentionally giving the boy a nice view of her butt in tight pants) before shakily sitting down on one of his legs. The two sat like that for a moment before Makoto stood up and took her seat next to him again.
“Boo!” Futaba said from the sidelines. “Weak sauce! You gotta do it closer. Here, let me show you…” The girl got up out of her seat before crawling onto Ren’s lap like a kitten. “Mmm, nice and firm.” She began to doze off.
“I *hicc* want a turn!” Haru said, scooting Futaba off of Ren and onto the floor before replacing her, putting her arms around Ren and resting comfortably on his lap.
“What the *hicc* hell Haru?” Futaba got off the ground and forced Ryuji to the side so she could wrap herself around Ren. The two girls gave each other a jealous glare as they squeezed harder around the boy.
“Well, I guess if everyone else is doing it.” Ann took another drink before joining in on the fun. She pushed in between Ren and Makoto before grabbing his right arm and wrapping herself around it and using his shoulder as a pillow.
Looking at the boy surrounded by the four girls, the other guys present had varying reactions to the display in front of them.
“Dude, for real!? All four?” Ryuji whined. “Some guys have all the luck. What’s a guy gotta do to get bitten by a spider around here?”
“Incredible.” Yusuke said before he began sketching on a napkin. “Like the mighty Genghis Khan, he surrounds himself with women who are drawn to his power! I simply must capture this moment!”
“Lady Ann!” Morgana began to cry as he took another drink from off of the table.
Back behind the bar, Lala Escargot was wiping down empty glasses when a man in a business suit approached the bar looking furious.
“What the hell is going on here? Why are the drinks in my room filled with damn juice!? You expect me to drink this kiddy shit?”
“Sorry sir, I’ll have a new round of drinks sent to Room five immediately.” The bar owner apologized.
“Room five? No, I’m in Room four!”
“Wait, what?” Lala’s eyes went wide. “Then who did I give…Oh god.”
The next morning:
“What the hell?” Ren groaned as woke up in his bed in the attic of Leblanc. “How did I get home?” He wondered aloud as he sat up in his bed. “I thought Makoto said those drinks were non-alcoholic, so why do I feel like I just got hit by a bus?”
As he tried to remember the previous night’s events, his recollection of events ended just after they were halfway through the King’s Game. Had all of that really happened? Ren had never been drunk before so he wasn’t completely sure. He must’ve had quite a bit last night if it got past his accelerated metabolism. He couldn’t imagine how the others were feeling right now.
Wait. Were the others okay? Had they made it home? What if they were injured? He reached over to grab his phone off of the shelf next to his bed, only to be stopped when he heard a groan in protest. Ren panicked and looked down, seeing that there was another figure lying next to him. How had they gotten there and why were they there? He had no clue, all he knew at the moment was...
There was definitely a girl in his bed.