Mary was losing her patience with Yumeko. Not only was Yumeko's popularity growing day by day, gamble by gamble, but she was also trying to gamble with you and get closer to you. Mary could tolerate you being popular since you basically worshiped Mary. But Yumeko? Mary was having none of it.
Mary was very egotistical, so someone else stealing her spotlight was out of the question. She knew she had to do something. Then, she figured out a way to put Yumeko in her place.
Her classroom was like her own little kingdom. Everyone followed her orders and if they didn't, they'd regret it. Especially the housepets. Mary had no sympathy for them. Quite the opposite, she enjoyed humiliating them and ordering them around.
And now she'd make use of it once again.
After classes had ended, before Yumeko could leave the classroom, Mary rushed up to her.
—Hey, you. I challenge you to a gamble.— Mary ordered very straightforwardly.
Yumeko blinked as she wore a surprised expression. She didn't expect Mary to talk to her, as she seemed to dislike her a lot.
—Of course I accept!~— Yumeko answered happily. There was no way she'd decline a chance to have an exciting gamble.
—Great! We'll play it here tomorrow after school.
Mary turned around and walked away, looking very confident.
Yumeko just grinned and bit her finger gently. «I can't wait...»
...
The next day, Mary is sitting in their classroom, waiting for Yumeko alongside her whole class. Yumeko finally arrives and Mary grins, standing up.
—Before we start, I'll explain the rules to you. This game will play out just like ordinary rock paper scissors, but instead of having three options, you only have the options that are drawn in your cards. The cards will be randomly drawn by our classmates. We will then both draw three cards from this box. Then we just play a card and have a showdown! Quite simple, isn't it?— Mary explained.
—What if it's a tie?— Yumeko asked with a smile.
—Then we just play another pair of cards until there is a winner.
—I see! It's pretty easy!— Yumeko giggled and clasped her hands together.
Mary glared at Yumeko. «You won't be wearing that grin for much longer.» Mary thought to herself and they started the game.
What Yumeko didn't know then, was that Mary wasn't going to have a fair fight. She had persuaded 21 of her classmates to work for her, writing down whatever symbol she wanted on the card instead of making it actually random. She had also planned how she was going to tell the others what symbol to draw. And that's where he stepped in.
Behind Yumeko was standing a scared, brown haired, average looking boy named Ryota Suzui. He was sweating and clearly very nervous.
Ryota was on Yumeko's side, but he had to help Mary. He had no choice, no free will. He was a housepet. Ryota was Yumeko's only friend at the academy so far, and he didn't want her to have the same fate as him.
Ryota nervously looked at Mary, who glared back at him as an answer. He knew he had to follow the orders she gave him. And finally, the game started.