Kakegurui: Ten Consecutive Guaranteed Hits

Volume 1 Chapter 23: Mary's Misery

Mary Saotome, why did she run out of the classroom during class? As this question arose, Kiyohei quickly formed a guess in his mind. It seemed that all the freshmen in his class had been taken to gamble, and their class was probably no exception. Could it be that Mary was also forced to gamble with others? Judging by her current state, did she lose the gamble?

With these thoughts, Kiyohei once again left the room. The teacher seemed to be accustomed to student rebellions and completely ignored his actions. In fact, there were only three or four students willing to stay in the classroom, while most of the others remained in the nearby gambling hall. Perhaps, in the teacher's eyes, reciting the lesson plan verbatim was considered a success.

Kiyohei followed Mary from behind and noticed that she was heading towards the restroom, not far from where Kiyohei had recently come out. Mary turned on the tap, appearing extremely distraught. Instead of washing her hands, she leaned over the sink, gasping for breath.

"Mary, are you okay?" Kiyohei called out to her from outside.

Mary was startled and quickly turned her head. Kiyohei saw that her expression was extremely unpleasant, as if she had just tasted something bitter.

"You're Kiyohei Ayanokoji, right?"

Seeing a familiar face, Mary's eyes brightened. She hurriedly walked over to Kiyohei and pushed him against the wall, anxiously asking, "Kiyohei, do you know that this school has a gambling culture?"

Kiyohei nodded, "I found out after coming here. Judging by your appearance... Did you also get involved in gambling with someone?"

Reluctantly, Mary nodded. "I didn't expect this school to promote gambling. Damn it, why did I choose to come to this kind of school!"

Mary crouched down on the ground, holding her head and shouted in an undignified manner, "Am I an idiot? The kind of people this school can produce are definitely twisted gamblers. How could they possibly cultivate students into elegant young ladies? What have I been striving for all these years...!"

It seemed that upon seeing a familiar face, Mary couldn't contain her emotions, and she vented her frustration while squatting on the ground. Kiyohei awkwardly watched, unsure of what to say.

"...Mary, are you okay?"

Suddenly, a girl cautiously approached the two of them, wearing a concerned expression as she looked at Mary crouched on the ground.

"What are you doing here? Don't you think you've caused me enough trouble?" Mary quietly wiped away the tears from her eyes and stood up abruptly. She pointed her finger at the girl, appearing very angry. "Why didn't you stop me from gambling? It's because I stood up for you that she targeted me. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered me, and I wouldn't have lost so much money!"

"...Because, Mary, you looked really happy while gambling, so I didn't stop you," the girl cautiously spoke up.

"Happy!? I lost money, how could I possibly be happy?" Mary raised her eyebrow and angrily stared at her. "Are you saying that this is the expression of happiness!?"

The girl, feeling slightly intimidated by Mary's angry expression, shrunk her shoulders but still spoke her mind.

"At the beginning, when you were winning, Mary, you were indeed very happy. But later on, when you started losing money, you became unhappy. I did try to stop you, but you wouldn't listen and wanted to continue gambling..."

Mary stumbled over her words. It was true that the girl had tried to stop her when she was losing, but at that time, Mary was determined to win back the lost money and didn't listen.

When she came to her senses, she had already lost terribly.

"Mary, can you tell me what happened? And also, is this person your friend? Can you introduce us?" The atmosphere had become somewhat tense, and Kiyohei spoke up, breaking the heavy mood.

Mary's friend, just like her, was a beautiful girl. She had shoulder-length wavy light blue hair and wore a pink headband. She had delicate features and no unnecessary embellishments on her clothes. Her posture was reserved, giving the impression of a well-mannered girl from an educated family.

[ Tsuzura Hanatemari : https://i.imgur.com/UgqWcDj.jpg ]

However, her hair and clothes still had wet stains, making her appear somewhat disheveled.

What caught Kiyohei's attention was the name tag hanging on her chest - "Stray Cat." Kiyohei's spirit tensed up the moment he saw the livestock tag. He secretly took a step towards Mary's direction.

Having learned from the previous experience with Kurume, Kiyohei became more cautious towards this girl. Mary crossed her arms and glanced at her with great reluctance. "She's not my friend, she's just my former elementary school classmate, Tsuzura Hanatemari. After graduating from elementary school, she moved away and transferred to who knows which school. I didn't expect her to be in this school, and unfortunately, we ended up in the same class."

Upon hearing Mary say that she wasn't her friend, Tsuzura looked a bit disappointed but gently corrected her, "That's not true, Mary. I've been attending this school since middle school, so it's more accurate to say that you were assigned to our class."

Mary, visibly annoyed, retorted, "Why do you have the audacity to say that? Unlike you, I'm actually good at building social connections now. If it weren't for encountering you, I would have become the most popular person in this class within a week!"

"Mary, you might not be aware, but gambling is a longstanding tradition at Hyakkaou Private Academy. Students here are not only free to gamble but the school also encourages it. The higher-ups believe that true leaders need to overcome their opponents' strength and rely on luck. Therefore, in this academy, status is determined by gambling skills. So, almost everyone who has been here for a while is good at gambling. Many people target new students like you to win against them..."

Even though she received no response, Tsuzura continued to calmly explain the situation at the school, which even Kiyohei hadn't heard of before. As her voice came to a sudden halt, she unexpectedly lifted her gaze and looked directly at Mary, her eyes shimmering with clarity as they reflected Mary's cold and somewhat disdainful profile.

"Mary, do you understand now? Even without me, you would have been targeted because you're a new student." Her tone carried a hint of sadness.