On a certain holiday. We, students, received a certain message from the school. It's about an amusement facility that had been constructed in the basement of Keyaki Mall. It apparently is a combination of an arcade and a casino. Having been selected from the lottery, I went to participate in the opening of the facility right away.
Whilst there were only a few, the figures of students who'd accepted the invitation could be seen here and there.
But amidst such a scene, I discovered my homeroom teacher who was being surreptitious to remain inconspicuous but couldn't help but stand out due to the eccentric outfit she was wearing.
"Did you perhaps resign as a teacher and land a new occupation or something?"
"A-Ayanokouji!?"
Chabashira-sensei was shocked to the point of almost falling backwards. She was cladded in her usual suit───or rather, a bunny girl custom.
"May I inquire what this is about?"
"…This is…work…"
"Well, I did not think you were wearing a bunny girl costume out of foppery or a bizarre interest…"
Probably being able to regain some composure due to my being calm, Chabashira-sensei cleared her throat.
"A casino in the middle of the school. Don't you think it's like water and oil?"
"Of course, I do think so."
Looking around, there were pokers and roulettes and such; entertainments that were too stimulating to be letting students play were made available in mass.
"Right now, the movement of educating how to handle money is taking off in our society.
To bring in a more familiar example, it's similar to teaching how stocks work and having students experience buying and selling. This casino too is one of such experiments."
"So it is something akin to having us gamble, which would in turn teach us the value of money, I suppose. It would be fine if it goes smoothly, but is there not a concern about it having the opposite effect?"
"That's exactly why we invited a portion of the students. Seeing that you're also one of those selected, you could think of it as the school having only hand-picked students who could exercise moderation in their participation."
Now that she tells me that, that certainly might be the case.
Many of the participants have high academic ability and possess great qualities. This might be rude, but students like Ike and Honda couldn't be found here.
"Well then, I will go wander about and look around."
Since I was interested, let's try various things.
That's what I was thinking, but Chabashira-sensei grabbed me by the shoulder(s).
"What is it?"
"I was helped by your calmness. Whilst it might not be much of a gratitude, your induction shall be done by me."
"No, I am fine, thank you."
I tried brushing her hand(s) off and walking away.
However, Chabashri-sensei came circling around me in a panic.
"My bad, I'll come clean so cooperate with me."
"That is what I thought. I can tell you are in a tight spot just by looking. Most likely, things are operating in the form of a teacher accompanying a student whilst giving them a lecture, right?"
By looking at the other students, a teacher attended to them in a man-to-man fashion, so that conjecture had stood.
"…You tried running away whilst knowing that?"
"It was not like I was trying to run away, but I just thought that I did not need Chabashira-sensei to teach me."
"By all means, I'd like to teach you, Ayanokouji."
"Is it because being seen in that outfit by other students is embarrassing? It's just a maybe, though."
Answering in that manner resulted in me being glared at intensely.
"Alright, we're going, Ayanokouji."
Apparently, she has no intentions of talking about this matter in a bunny girl costume any longer and starts walking.
Since it couldn't be helped, I followed her to which we ended up stopping at the poker table.
"This seat is available, perfect timing. Are you familiar with the rules of poker?"
"More or less. I'm familiar with a number of variations."
"Here, the simple game of closed poker is being played here."
Receiving a deck of all five cards in the beginning, exchanging an arbitrary number of cards to develop a hand. Players would compete against one another under those rules.
"I'll have you compete against me."
"I do not mind, but does one get anything?"
"Unfortunately, you get nothing. However, there's also no penalties if you lose, so you don't have to be vigilant."
In that case, I'll simply be enjoying myself, but…
At Chabashira-sensei's signal, cards were dealt to us by the dealer.
"Well then, let's confirm our decks."
"Before that, may I say something?"
"What is it?"
"With nothing to gamble with, this is lacking a sense of interest."
"I won't deny that but───that's the arrangement. At the current stage, the school hasn't decided on the contents of the wagers."
"If that is the case, would it not be fine if Chabashira-sensei and I simply decide on a wager independently between ourselves?
"…Well, that's true, but we're not going to gamble over money."
"I understand that. In the event that I come out victorious, please allow me to take a picture of Sensei in that bunny girl outfit."
"W-what!?"
"If money is not involved, whilst the school shouldn't be able to say anything, a sense of tension could also be engendered from this, right?"
To Chabashira-sensei who desires to return to her original appearance as soon as possible, it's unavoidable that this battle would become one that she cannot lose.
"If that's the case, I'll have you dressed in an embarrassing outfit if I win. Are you fine even with that?"
"Understood. Well then, let us begin."
"T-that easily…? Alright!"
I checked the five cards in my deck in a way that Chabashira-sensei couldn't see them.
On the other hand, the bunny in front of me…no, Chabashira-sensei also exhibited the same action as me.
With a slightly unpleasant expression, Chabashira-sensei requested an exchange of three cards.
On the other hand, I requested for two of my cards to be exchanged.
"Having something on the line makes it good, doesn't it?"
With that said, we're just exchanging and turning our hands around on this occasion. We're not dealing with chips in our gamble, so one could say that it simply comes down to the luck of our draw.
"My hand is───a two pair."
Saying that, she turned over her hand. It seems that two cards she'd kept were one pair, and she was able to get another pair with the three cards she drew.
"It was close. My hand is a three card."
I was actually aiming for a flush, but in the end, I was able to beat Chabashira-sensei by luckily drawing two cards with the same number.
Whilst seeing the bunny girl hit the table in frustration in my peripheral vision, I took out my phone.
"Well then, as promised───you understand, right?"
"Ku…! Kill me!"
(TLN: くっ...殺せ! It's a trope/cliche line you see a lot in that kind of media when a female knight gets beaten in battle before they get───you get the point.)
I don't know what Chabashira-sensei was misunderstanding, but I had her—who shut her eyes in indignity—stand at the wall.
Then, I mercilessly took photo(s) of her figure.
"This is humiliating… This is humiliating!"
For a while, Chabashira-sensei continued to mutter that.
And then, I woke up in my bed.
"Well, of course that was a dream… it has to be."
However, I was horrified later after looking at the photos saved on my phone.
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Courtesy to .freak1234 (Discord) for providing the raws.
Translated by Drago (dragololo on discord)
Thanks To COTE Merchants Discord Server to provide the Translation.