CH ss - 25

SS 25: The Couple Playing an Ultra Dimension ‘Concentration’ Game

Translated by: chocolalaEdited by: Seiryuu

“Hey, Yamato-kun. Wanna play the ‘Concentration’ game?”1

In the literature clubroom, as usual, Yuzu suddenly came up with such an idea. I was simply chilling out after I had just finished today’s homework; I cocked my head to a side at her suggestion.

“I’m okay with that… But why, so suddenly?”

I didn’t mind playing card games, but why must it be ‘Concentration’? And why suddenly ‘Concentration’?

“You see, the second-year students are going on a trip soon, aren’t they? So, one of the senpais I know is asking me to think up some games they can play during the trip. I’d like to run some test play to see if the game would liven up the atmosphere or not.”

“I see. I got it, but is there even a need to test play something as major as the Concentration game?”

‘It’s a popular game, anyone knows how to play it’ I thought in my mind, but there, Yuzu brought out the trump cards very smugly.

“The one we’re about to play is no common Concentration game! I name it… Ultra Dimension Concentration game!”

“Ultra Dimension…?!”

I exaggerated my surprise and Yuzu nodded in satisfaction.

“Yes, thank you for the perfect reaction. Well, as you just heard, this game we’re about to test play incorporates the elements of the original game.”

“Ooo. So, which original element?”

“Rather than verbally explaining it, it’s faster to show it to you.” Yuzu said as she passed me some cards.

Hmm, when I looked closely, these cards weren’t the commercial ones. They were laminated printed papers, very much handmade. When I looked at the back of a card, there was no heart or diamond, it was instead written with [10 pushups].

“Mn? What’s this?”

I looked at the other cards, and written on them were [Drinking juice in one gulp] and [Sing a song you’re good at] etc. They were all something like a penalty.

“Oh… I see.”

There, I tried guessing the game’s rules.

“In short, the person who draws a paired cards has to do things written on them?”

“Correct! Right now, I’m at the stage where I’m trying this and that in order to reach a nice balance.”

“I got it. But, it’ll take a long time just for the two of us to go through all of this. We have to follow the instructions on each card we pick too.”

“Yeah. Then, let’s only choose a set of ten cards and play!”

Yuzu accepted the cards from me and chose some cards at her discretion and laid them on the table.

“Alright…And we’re ready to go!”

“Okay. You can start first.”

I had no idea what kind of instructions were contained in the cards she had chosen to play this time, so I gave way to her first to gauge the situation.

“Um, then, I’ll pick one.” With full anticipation, Yuzu turned over one of the cards.

The thing written on it was: [Confess to the one you like].

Well, that certainly had the vibe of school trips. If this game was played in a group of guys and girls, this would certainly spice up the situation. With the prerequisite that they were a bunch of Riajuus who could casually confess to anyone.

“Anyway, what happens if they are not able to do the instructions on the card?”

“If we allow that to happen, it won’t be called a game. In that case, the player will lose, they’ll rank last.” Yuzu answered as she flipped another card.

The instruction written on it was also [Confess to the one you like]. As expected, since we only had five pairs here, it was easy to find the paired card.

“That was fast. Then, Yamato-kun, I like you!”

“Thanks.”

As I dryly brushed over Yuzu’s confession, she stared hard at me.

“HEY, HEY! Your reaction is too light. You should be more excited!”

“I’m fully excited, you see. Enough of that, go for another card.”

When I urged her to proceed, Yuzu was still disgruntled but she obediently picked the next card.

“Next is… [Have the player in front of you give you a massage]. Here, it can only be Yamato-kun.”

“Unexpectedly there are some safe ones.”

Well, this was nothing but to kill time during school trips. I bet she wouldn’t go too far.

“Then, I’ll pick another… Urm, this one is [Express your gratitude to someone who you’re always indebted to]. What a pity, my turn ends here.”

As I thought, most of the content was friendly. If it was like that, I could be reassured and play.

“Then, my turn next.”

I randomly picked a card in front of my eyes, feeling relaxed about it. When I read the content, it was [Eat a wasabi-filled s’mores].

“…What is a s’mores?” I asked while I shuddered as I saw the word wasabi.

Yuzu then answered with a mischievous look on her face, “It’s a chocolate biscuit sandwiched with marshmallows. It says ‘wasabi-filled’, so instead of marshmallows, it’s wasabi.”

As soon as she said that, Yuzu took out a tube of wasabi and a pack of chocolate cookies from her bag.

“Damn you, you’re sure to be fully prepared with the most peculiar things…”

In just a blink of an eye, my speculation that it was going to be nothing extreme had fallen through. I should brace myself as if I was challenging a death game.

“So, what’ll you do? Yamato, please flip another card,” Yuzu gleefully taunted me.

I made a face as if I was chewing an undelectable bug, and subconsciously I picked the one Yuzu had flipped earlier—[Express your gratitude to someone who you’re always indebted to].

“Oh, you skedaddled, huh? What a coward.”

“Shut up.”

If I just randomly chose another card and it happened to be the matching pair to that [Eat a wasabi-filled s’mores],the outcome would be too terrible. Here, it’d be a good idea to defend myself by reopening the card Yuzu had drawn earlier.

“Darn, this game needs more strategy than I had initially thought…”

This was not like the normal Concentration where you only had to draw a card you know that will be a pair. Here you needed to draw them while considering whether the instructions on them were something you can do or not.

“Then, my turn next!” Yuzu drew another card with unknown content.

Written on it was… [Massage].

“Yes! Now it’s a pair!” Yuzu made a fist pump and opened the other [Massage] card that she had drawn before and paired them up.

“Well, Yamato-kun, please.”

“There’s no other way…” I moved myself to be behind Yuzu and started to massage her shoulder.

“Mm… Yamato-kun, you’re good.”

“Yuzu, your shoulders are stiff.”

“Well, I’ve been studying hard most of the time you see,” Yuzu’s reply was laced with boasting.

“Oh, is that so?” I responded and glanced at the bumps on her chest that were visible from over her shoulder.

They have quite a size, I bet this also contributed to her stiff shoulders.

“Ah, Yamato-kun, you just thought of something dirty, didn’t you?” Yuzu turned her head towards me and had that incredulous joyous look as she read through my mind.

“Are you an esper…”

“Yamato-kun, you’re too easy to read. Geez, your mind sure is dirty.”

“Shut up. Hurry up, draw another card,” as I made an obvious attempt to change to another topic, Yuzu giggled as if enjoying her victory.

“Alright, alright. I’ll just let that slide,” Yuzu gave me an out and she drew yet another unknown card.

And the content was…

“Ah, it’s the other card with [Wasabi-filled s’mores].”

With that, both cards of this pair had appeared. If Yuzu felt like it, she could draw the matching card.

“But this one is a bit…” Yuzu twitched her face and instead of drawing the other [Wasabi-filled s’mores] whose position was already known, she intentionally picked another unknown card.

“Aren’t you escaping as well? Coward.”

“Shut it. I’m a weak girl…”

What a double standard. Rather than that, I was more curious about the content of the new card.

“Oh, this finally appeared,” Yuzu smirked as she confirmed its content.

“…[You may order anything you like to the player who ranked last in the game]… Huh?” I frowned as soon as I read the instructions written on the card.

This girl, just what kind of card did she mix in here?

Yuzu gleefully observed my reaction and she teased me, “How about it? Did this hype you up? If you win, you may order me to do anything you wish. I wonder what the lewd Yamato-kun might be thinking…”

“Say, Yuzu, how many do you have in your savings?”

“Whoa, in no time you even thought of ripping me off my money! Rather than money, you should be attracted to my charms!”

Ahaha, I was just asking for reference sake. I had no ulterior motive, ahaha.

“Hm… forget about that. Come on, it’s Yamato-kun’s turn. Choose your card.” Yuzu urged me to make my choice.

“Well…”

—Now there was no way out of this.

If I wanted to, I was in a position where I could go for victory by opening all remaining cards2. However, that would mean I had to eat wasabi-filled s’mores. Otherwise, if I try to escape by not pairing any cards, next in Yuzu’s turn, she would pair all the cards except the s’mores and still win. Then, as the victor, surely she would use that [Order] card to ask me terrible things later.

“But, wait…”

At this moment, the remaining unknown cards that were facing down were each [Gratitude] and [Order]. In order for Yuzu to win while avoiding the s’mores, she needed to open a card and match it with its pair and after that, also get the other pair correct.

“W-what should I choose…?!”

If Yuzu drew the [Gratitude] card first, the [Order] card wouldn’t be paired. In that case, even if I lose, it wouldn’t cause me any loss. On the contrary, if she happened to draw that [Order] card first, it would be the worst outcome for me.

It was either a 100% possibility of winning by eating the s’mores or betting on that 50% if I wanted to avoid the s’mores. Alternatively, I could take a gamble and draw an unknown card first, and bet on getting the [Order] cards matched. That way, I would substantially win.

What should I do…?! Just what can I do here…?!

“Yamato-kun,” as I was struggling, Yuzu—smiling like a bodhisattva—called my name.

“Won’t you trust me? Even if I win, I won’t do terrible things to Yamato-kun. How can I ever do such a thing to the one I like most.”

“Yuzu…” I stared back at her in amazement and Yuzu looked a little embarrassed, but kept smiling to reassure me.

“Aa… alright,” I smiled back at her upon seeing her face.

And then—instantly I paired the [Wasabi-filled s’mores].

“Yeah! Now it has come to this, I’ll even eat this thing!”

“Why?! How did you even come to that conclusion?!” Yuzu unhappily glared at the determined me.

“You sound so fake! Do you think you’re that credible in the first place?”

“Mmmmmoo…! Damn you, so cheeky!”

“Ahaha! Don’t look down on the dorks so much! When it comes to skepticism and condescension, no one can rival us! Then, I’m digging in!”

I felt a subtle sense of liberation as I took a bite of the wasabi-filled s’mores that was prepared beforehand. The sweetness of the chocolate and the crunchiness of the biscuit filled my mouth—and then all of them were nullified by a sudden burst of hotness.

“Urghh?! Fuh, ngggghhhhh!” I banged on the table.

The hotness… combined with the chocolate’s sweetness made it exquisitely fucking bad; it burned my throat and in a zap, the burning sensation climbed up my nose and eyes!

“It-it’s damn strong… Did I put in too much wasabi?”

Even Yuzu, who had prepared the s’mores, was taken aback by my writhing agony. You lousy cook, you even messed up with how much you should put in…!

While wiping away my tears, I swallowed the wasabi-filled s’mores in one gulp. And then, in rapid succession, I paired up the [Gratitude] and [Order] cards.

“It-it’s my win, Yuzu,” I declared my victory in a sonorous voice that sounded like it was coming from the depths of the earth.

“Well, yes. I don’t know if you’ve won or lost with your wounded body. Well, I’ve got a can of juice, do you want some?”

Perhaps overwhelmed by my spirit, Yuzu honestly admitted her defeat. I pulled open the tab on the can of juice, drank it whole in one gulp, and breathed out.

“Phew… Now I feel better. Shall we move to the other cards’ instructions?” The pain finally subsided, and I moved on; Yuzu’s shoulders jolted like that of a criminal who had just been told the date of his execution.

“Pl-please go easy on me…”

“Well, I wonder how I should do it? I’ve been through so much pain, so I need Yuzu to also do her best, shouldn’t I?” I proclaimed with a smile and this only made Yuzu even more frightened.

“Then Yuzu, firstly—”

“G-god..!” Yuzu prayed with eyes shut.

“—thank you.” I smilingly said those words to her.

“Eh…?” Yuzu opened her eyes and looked at me with a puzzled look.

I continued, “I don’t usually take part in these kinds of games, so it was quite fun in a way. I know you wanted to entertain me, so you proposed to do this for me. I don’t usually say this in words, but I’m… grateful to you.”

Those were sincere words that I would normally never say. When I verbalized them like this, I felt embarrassed.

“Y-Yamato-kun…” Yuzu’s cheeks blushed, slightly moved by my words.

As I saw her in that state, I spoke my last words to her with a smile, “—Then, shall I have you eat the wasabi-filled s’mores too?”

“You ask that now?!”

I put a lot of wasabi in a chocolate biscuit and offered it to Yuzu who was in consternation.

“Come on, the [Order] right is in my hands now. Eat up, it’s my handmade food.”

“NO! Why? What were those words of appreciation you said earlier!”

“I only followed the instructions on the card! Of all things, you left me with that ridiculous penalty! Now, taste it with your own tongue!”

“Devil! Demon! Dork!”

“Call me whatever you want! I’ll even hand feed this for you here! Ahaha, don’t you think we’re acting lovey-dovey like a couple now?!”

“Hot! What the… uhuk uhuk! W-water…”

A few days later, I was informed that the game with a milder version minus the terrible penalties was handed to the second-years.

chocolala: This was one hella long chapter, it took me weeks from starting it until I had enough motivation to finish it…omg, I wonder if this series will continue until they go to the university?? It must be so cute!

Footnotes

From wiki: Concentration, also known as Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Memory, Pelmanism, Shinkei-suijaku, Pexeso, or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards.Yuzu already had 2 pairs, so Yamato needed to get the remaining 3 pairs to finish the cards if he wanted to win