Dokeshi March ~ 21!

Grant was awakened by a stream of light coming through a crack in the rafters and hitting him in the eyes. The blinding glare made him wax philosophical as his brain kicked into gear. Namely, the thought flowed through his mind like water: How did the sunlight always find a way to get him, no matter how perfectly he tried to hide? It acted like a beam when going through a window, and a wave of water when skirting objects just to annoy him.

He sat up with a groan of pain, his sore body complaining. His left arm still wasn’t perfectly healed yet, and the training last night hadn’t helped his torn muscles to heal. The ten percent boost in his pain sensations certainly wasn’t allowing him to ignore the issue either. At least the training had helped him wake up less stiff than sleeping on the ground usually merited.

“I let you sleep in, in consideration of the fact that we don’t have to travel far today.” Suki was preparing something with the fresh fruit from Grant’s pack, slicing it up with expert motions. “We should probably practice our story and work on a plan for some of the games that are sure to be there.”

She hadn’t met his eyes the whole time, so his neophyte social skills informed him she might, just possibly, still be mad at him. He got to his feet and immediately started strapping on his armor. Just in case someone attacked them. Or she punched him. “We should also work on not being mad at one another. Being at odds over making sure he would never be the head murdering clown just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“See, that’s the problem.” Suki slammed the cooking knife down on the table, and finally looked up at Grant. “The murdering clown is exactly the kind of thing we should be at odds over. You walk a slippery slope, one that ends as you filling the role of leader as a tyrant your citizens will fear, and not a benevolent ruler people respect.”

“What?” Grant couldn’t see how making sure Tatters couldn’t get a-head in life would end with him becoming a tyrant. “How does slaying a headstrong killer like him turn me into a bad king? We don’t even know if I will become the next Calendar King!”

“It’s the mindset you have.” Suki picked the knife back up and started brutally chopping the fruit into smaller pieces. “Sure, yesterday you murdered a Vassal that was a known killer; someone that publicly abused their power. Today, you might kill a Vassal who stands in your way. A year from now, you could be ordering the deaths of hundreds that challenge your right to rule them.”

When she looked up into his eyes, hers were red around the edges, as if she was fighting back tears. “Don’t you see how this ends? The other Wielders responsible for the safety of their people would band together and put you down. Not because they wouldn’t want you as king, but because it would be their duty to put down a savage dictator! You can’t become the kind of person who I need to hunt down and stop.”

<Just saying, if all the Wielders came after you… you’d get so strong when you defeated them.> Sarge was practically salivating in Grant’s mind, a distinctly strange sensation. <Can you imagine all those Cultivation Achievement Levels?>

“Hey, calm down.” Grant shook off the intrusive thought and walked over to place his hand on Suki’s shoulder. “First off, I will not apologize for doing what I’ve needed to do. That’s the only reason I’ve lived this long. It’s also why I’ve been able to defeat not one, but two District leaders. Think back, Suki. I could have killed a lot more people. I haven’t, and now I have you to help make sure I never get to that point. Right?”

<Pre~e~ety sure she’s gonna think you just told her to calm down when she's upset because she’s worried about you. Then a direct admission that you won’t be apologizing?> Sarge sounded like he was choking back laughter. <It was nice knowing you. We had a good run, kid. Try to put up a good fight.>

“Is that how you see me? Am I only the moral compass keeping you from shifting from hero to villain?” Suki took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the tension draining out of her. “I know how to do that much, at least. It’ll be easier with one person than an entire District, at any rate. Now, this isn’t exactly what I had planned, but I shouldn’t be terribly surprised. I’ll add social norms as a part of your training, and I expect you to ace every single test I give you.”

<No. What? How did that work?> Sarge seemed baffled for some reason. <That literally never works. You should be in the middle of a fight by now! Boo~o!>

“All I’ve been doing for the last few months is training and learning. What’s a little more?” Grant was trying not to look down at the now ‘finely-diced’ food Suki had been preparing. It looked more like a mashed mess than anything, but he was hungry enough to give it a try. “Whatever it is that keeps me from being a monster, and keeps you around… I’m all ears.”

It was the perfect time for his stomach to growl like an angry tiger. Suki forced a chuckle and grimaced down at the mess she had made. “Sure. All ears, huh? More like ‘all stomach’. This… it was going to be a tart. Let’s eat the fruit paste and then try some new things.”

“I’d love to bring you to January someday. Then you’ll see what ‘all stomach’ really is.” Grant chuckled at the thought of the highly active, incredibly fit District leader encountering January for the first time. The two of them ate quickly, both wanting to move past the awkwardness as rapidly as possible, then got down to learning the business of gambling.

Suki laid out a deck of cards that had been included in the supplies they’d bought, running Grant through the different types of games he could expect to see. It didn’t take long for him to realize how much trouble he was in.

“How do you keep all these rules straight in your head?” He pointed at the game they were practicing at the moment. “I am supposed to slap the Jacks and Jokers, but not the others? Then this one: the one where I have to count to twenty one… I don’t slap, I hit? What am I supposed to hit again? The dealer?”

“No. No, don’t hit the dealer.” Suki massaged her left temple as her eyelid twitched. “You say the word ‘hit’ when you want another card.”

“But in this game, I’m supposed to hit.” Grant pointed at the pile of cards in front of him. “Do I get to hit the dealer in this game, then?”

“No! No hitting actual people!” Suki picked up the cards and shuffled them. “Let’s stop worrying about the games where you might get us kicked out, and focus on just one. The most important game to learn is poker. It’s known as the gentleman's game, and it focuses more on reading other people than the cards themselves.”

“Poker. So, I… poke them with my sword?” Grant placed his hand on the hilt of his uchigatana and leaned forward in excitement. “I can probably win that game with my Iaijutsu skill!”

“Oh, may the late Lord February preserve me…” Suki sighed and put the cards down. “You don’t poke anyone with your sword. You don’t poke them with your finger, or a fork, or spoon, or anything!”

She hadn’t mean to raise her voice at the end, but she was starting to get very frustrated. “The game is called poker, but there isn’t any actual poking at all. Don’t worry about the name! It is a game about trying to get the best hand.”

“This sounds gruesome. Now I have to cut people’s hands off?” This time Grant genuinely was teasing her, but by the way her hands kept shifting into metal, she didn't seem to think it was funny. “Just… trying to have some fun with this! Ah… who decides what makes the best hand? Is there a hand judge of some kind? Or do we bet on which player has the best hands, and then fight to cut them off?”

“Are you actually trying to make me punch you in the face?” Suki’s gauntlets flickered into existence. “Because right now, I would love to play your version of poker with you.”

<Here’s a thought; how about you just listen and stop talking?> Once again, Sarge was having a hard time sending along his thoughts because he was laughing too hard. <Or don’t. This can only get better—for me, that is—from here.>

“Okay, how about you just explain the rules, and I stay quiet until you are done telling me which person gets their hands cut off.” Grant leaned back, just in case Suki decided to attack him.

“May the Pugilist Deities guide him to a better life… no, no.” Suki picked up the cards again after allowing her gauntlets to fade away. “Let’s start over. This game is called poker, which doesn’t involve any poking whatsoever, and the person who wins has the best hand, which is most definitely not a literal hand.”

<I’m beginning to think Suki really should have woken you up early.> Sarge sounded as though he was heaving for breath. <At this rate, you won’t be walking into that casino until dark!>