"You handled yourself well. You made it sound like a simple thing, but reading your opponents like that requires a keen eye." He glanced around, admiring the cherry blossoms. "Have you ever considered trying out for the dueling team?"
Jin shrugged, looked away. "I'm no duelist. I only know a few parlor tricks."
"Kotei Jin. 'Thousand-Devil' Kotei. Champion of no less than seven Junior tournaments. And in the Junior Grand National..." He looked back at Jin. "... runner-up."
Jin's expression hardened. "Those days are behind me." He shouldered his bag. "Get out of my way."
"When you duel, you can't hide your true heart. It shines through in every throw." Ryoichi swung his fan off his shoulder, slicing through the air, and pointed it straight at Jin. "I saw your eyes when you fought those two. You came alive. It's obvious that you yearn to duel again." He paused, pushed his hair out of his eyes with his free hand. "What is holding you back?"
Jin pushed the tip of the fan aside. "That's my business." He walked past Ryoichi, his face a mask.
"I'll make a deal with you," said Ryoichi without turning.
Jin paused. "Why would I bargain with you?"
Ryoichi smiled. "I'm sure you know that with a few words to the right people, I could let the whole school know you've spurned my offer. They would pester you endlessly, wanting to know why, wondering what could be so terrible that you'd turn down a position among the elite of Bosatsu. You wouldn't have a moment's peace... and at that point, there wouldn't be anything I could do about it."
Jin turned on him. "You wouldn't...!"
"Of course, that wouldn't be very polite of me, would it? That's why I want to make a deal."
"... What sort of deal?"
"Now you're listening to reason." Ryoichi raised one hand in the air. "Mizumigawa-kun?"
Behind Jin, outside the courts, there was a rustling sound. Then, a girl dropped out of the trees.
She landed expertly in a crouch, stood, whipped her hand to her face in a lightning-fast motion, lightly adjusted her sunglasses with the edge of her hand.
She had short, spiked hair and dark sunglasses, she wore pants with her uniform, unlike most girls at the school - though Jin could see why, if she planned to jump out of trees with any frequency - and she exuded supreme confidence. Mizumigawa Shin, one of the stars of the dueling team.
She grinned, sizing Jin up. "Here's the 'deal'. You play a single throw against me. If you win, we leave you alone. If you lose..."
"Then all you need to do is come visit the team during tomorrow's meeting, and introduce yourself to the other members," finished Ryoichi, turning to face them. "Very reasonable, don't you think?"
Jin eyed Mizumigawa warily. "If I win, you'll leave me alone for good?"
"I promise," replied Ryoichi.
A breeze blew through the area, and no one spoke for a long moment.
"Tch, fine. If it'll get you off my back." Jin walked back onto the tennis court, then turned to face his opponent.
Mizumigawa wandered over towards the court, then sprang into a one-handed handstand, before tumbling into position. "Thanks for being a good sport!" She winked and stuck out her tongue.
Jin just held up his fist.
"Fine, fine..." She held up hers in kind. "I'm ready when you are."
"Rock!" Their fists went down for the first time. Jin studied his opponent carefully - her stance, the trajectory of her arm, the expression on her face.
"Paper!" They went down a second time. Jin expected she would base her throw on how he had played the last two matches. He had opened with Paper each time. Would she expect him to use Paper again? Or was she thinking that he wouldn't dare begin three matches in a row with the same throw, locking him into Rock or Scissors?
"Scissors!" The third "priming" fist-pump. She looked confident. She was a professional, she wasn't going to betray her strategy easily. He ran through the possibilities. If she expected he would use Paper, she'd throw Scissors. If she expected Rock or Scissors, she'd throw Rock. It looked like Rock would be a safe throw for him, at worst resulting in a tie, because Paper was too risky a throw for her. But if she predicted he would perform that analysis, she'd definitely throw Paper, and his strategy would be ruined.
Then he saw it.
As she was raising her hand for her throw, her index and middle fingers twitched slightly. A tell, one he almost missed, but its message was clear - she was going to throw Scissors! She had noticed his pattern of starting with Paper, expected him to notice it as well, and thought he would think she wouldn't expect him to use it a third time. Of course, this meant that she thought he would throw Paper again, so she would throw Scissors and defeat him. It was a clever plan, but her eagerness had given her away. Jin would throw Rock, and ruin her plan completely!
"SHOOT!"
Jin stared blankly at her outstretched hand.
Paper.
He fell to his knees.
"You were right, Ryoichi-kun." Mizumigawa tilted her head, peered at Jin. "He fell for the fake tell."
It had been a trap! She had deliberately led him to think she would throw Scissors, and he had played right into her hands.
Ryoichi and Mizumigawa walked off the court while Jin was still replaying his failure in his head.
Ryoichi waved. "We'll see you tomorrow after classes... Kotei-kun."
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