As a multitude of opponents had before, Yumako produced a deck of playing cards. Unlike the others however, she also pulled out a second deck of cards with a different colored back. “We each get our own. Red or blue, which deck of cards will be the one to seal your well-deserved downfall?”
“I assume you’ll let me inspect the decks before making my decision?” Yumako simply nodded with a vicious smile as she handed both to the gambler. Shino fanned both stacks of cards out and examined them carefully, looking for any hidden marks or defects that his opponent might have counted on.
“By all means, take your time,” grumbled Toshiko, as the sound of another seam failing beneath her beach towel was audible to the entire crowd of students that had gathered to witness Shino’s latest match.
Shino finally conceded that if there were any marks, he couldn’t spot them. “I’ll take red,” he said, handing the blue deck back to Yumako.
“Yumako giggled despite herself; finally at long last she would destroy her nemesis!” she whispered. Then, in a more normal voice. “Ahem. The game that shall be your undoing is called Contraction. At the start of the game, both of us will select a card from our decks and hand it face down to a referee. This card is your ‘Identity Card’. The first player to correctly guess their opponent’s Identity Card wins.”
“Two separate decks and a referee all for a guessing game? Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable playing Twenty Questions?”
If Shino’s attempt to get under Yumako’s skin had been successful, she gave no indication as she excitedly pressed on. “The game is played in two stages which we repeat until we have a winner. The first stage is the Conflict Stage, where I will get the opportunity to humiliate you over and over again directly. The second stage is the Interrogation Stage, in which I finally get to make you squirm.
“For the Conflict Stage, first we reshuffle our decks every time.” As she spoke she shuffled, and Shino followed suit. “Then, we draw the top five cards. From these cards we select three and lay them face down. Once we both have chosen, we flip them over,” Yumako demonstrated with her own hand. “…and compare. High card wins.”
Shino’s eyebrow raised. “It can’t be that simple,” he said in disbelief.
“Truly, her opponent’s witlessness was startling to behold. Defeat is long overdue to someone this daft.” Yumako self-narrated, before turning her venom directly towards Shino. “Of course it’s not that simple, you idiot! We wouldn’t bother picking three cards if we only went with the highest card!
“Let me explain, in a manner a drooling imbecile might someday hope to comprehend. Each of the four suits corresponds to a season, and in the fashion world, nothing is worse than wearing a dress that was in style months ago. Spades are the winter fashions, hearts naturally are spring, clubs represent summer styles, and that leaves diamonds as fall wear. Any card we play will automatically render any card the opponent played from the previous season valueless. So if I select an eight of hearts, that makes any spades you played yesterday’s news.”
“…except for the purpose of eliminating your diamonds. I get the idea. So what happens after we identify the high card?”
“Whichever card wins is removed from the victor’s deck permanently. Then, we move to the Interrogation Stage. The victor, me probably, has the right to make two guesses as to the nature of their opponent’s Identity Card. Each guess must be either a value, like a seven or a jack, or a suit like hearts or clubs. The guesses are done together, and the loser, i.e. you, must deny one of the two. If you can’t, or if the referee catches you lying, you lose.”
“So I would say, ‘I think your card is a five and a diamond?’” Shino ventured.
“Correct, although both guesses could be different values or different suits if you chose. Once one of the guesses is proven false, play returns to the Combat Stage. Please tell me that was simple enough, even for you, you swine.”
“Actually,” Shino replied, leaning back slightly as though completely unconcerned, “I was wondering…”
Mon Feb 06 00:46:03 2012
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