Fic written for the Pointless but Original Talking Forum Secret Santa Fic Exchange.
Request Number: 11
Pairing/Groups: Pretty, Thrill, Platinum, Sweet.
Squicks/Turn Offs in Fic: Nothing
Interests in Fic: Gambling, cheating (at games and such, not on people!), thievery
Gen/Het/Slash/Smut/None/All-of-the-above?: All of the above.
Request: One half of the pairing is gambling and the other is either A.) cheated by the gambling party B.) Owns the casino C.) guard trying to catch cheaters or D.) Helping the other half con the house. And yeah. Somehow they end up with a romantic scene.
Notes: I just think this would work with the more diabolical or snarky pairings.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year Slacky ! I enjoyed writing your request for the forum's Secret Santa Fic Exchange. I swear I didn't mean for it to be over 3 thousand words long. I was typing and typing and typing and typing and typing and, next thing I knew, I was on page 8 of my Word document. I would like to say that I stole the university name from KHR. It was that or start moving onto the JE boys and naming it after them. I wonder what would have happened if I had named it Akame University.......

ENOUGH OF MY RAMBLINGS! I hope anyone that reads this story had a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

As long as I could remember, I was alone. Every memory always involved me working on my own to survive. No mother, no father, no siblings, or friends, I was alone. Although I seemed naturally friendly to others, the walls I placed around my heart wouldn't allow a single person in.

To loneliness, I digress from that topic. To be truthful, I was a bright student in high school. I was at the top of my class, even if it was in a public school (I couldn't afford to pay for a private school with the minimum wage at the bookstore I worked part time at.). My peers may have complained that my isolation from the rest of the class was due to being intelligent. That is not the reason. My isolation from them was due to the fact society had cast me out. They had caused my loneliness.

There it is again. Loneliness. No matter how I try to separate myself from that word it always pops back up. It had been the epitome of my life. Until after high school ended.

For my entrance exams into the university level, I tried for Arcobaleno University, a prestigious college on the main land that had barely one thousand students. I didn't believe that I would be accepted, but it was worth the try. When the results were released, I was surprised to find that I had been accepted. Due to the fact that the school was large with such a small student body, the college tuition was outrageously high. There was no way I could pay the price for even a week of schooling there.

With a month until the first semester of tuition, I was struggling to find a way to make money until I was approached by a group of students who also were accepted into the university. They had a plan to get the money for the tuition, and they were gathering clever individuals who were also accepted. With their plan, I would be able to receive the money I needed. Hopefully, I thought to myself, this would work.

Staring up at the building, Yagyuu felt intimidated by the looming building that towered over him. The other boys around him where talking excitedly. This was the moment. This was what they had prepared for. Staring up at Foxwood's Casino, the place where they were going to cheat their way into being millionaires.

"Yagyuu,"A firm hand gripped the purple-haired boy's shoulder, "you okay?"

"I'm fine," Yagyuu brushed Oshitari's hand off his shoulder. Oshitari was a nice guy, but the way he was coming onto him was just wrong. Even if he was just being nice, Oshitari didn't need to include all of the unnecessary touches to go along with it.

Looking back at the crowd of guys behind him, Yagyuu located his partner for this event, Niou Masaharu. Niou was a strange person. He enjoyed toying with people and using them for pranks.

"I know you think I'm a sexy beast, but I would suggest you stop staring at me." Niou's voice resonated in Yagyuu's ear.

Showing no signs that he had been surprised, Yagyuu calmly said," How do you know I was staring at you?"

"Because I'm a genius," Niou replied in Marui's voice before disappearing into their crowd.

No matter how hard he tried, Yagyuu could never understand how Niou could copy other people's voices. No matter what the gender or age, Niou only needed to hear the voice once before he could copy it perfectly. It was almost as if his brain was an answering machine. Once you hear the message you could either save it or delete it. Niou, in Yagyuu's opinion, was the type of answering machine that always saved his messages, but, one day, his memory would eventually fill to its capacity. Whenever that happened, Niou wouldn't be able to save any more voices in his mind.

"All right everyone," Yukimura's high, male voice rang out amongst their crowd, "let's begin."

Walking into the casino, Yagyuu was met with an onslaught of new voices and clinking machines. There were girls in skimpy outfits bringing alcoholic drinks to old, perverted men. Dealers were dealing cards and taking bets. To Yagyuu, this place seemed like utter chaos. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to spend their time in such a place.

"Come on." Niou gripped the upper part of Yagyuu's right arm, "We're on the roulette table."

Not letting his disappointment show, Yagyuu allowed himself to be led to the tables. Yukimura had planned all of it out. Each of the ten who could not afford the college tuition was put into pairs: Yagyuu with Niou, Yukimura with Ryoma, Kirihara with Sengoku, Yanagi with Inui, and Oshitari with Shishido. Each of the five pairs was given a different gambling center to focus on and break the code to win: roulette, poker, slot machines, dice, and black jack. Such "games", like black jack and poker, were easy to break. All you had to do was count the cards to tell how many decks the dealer had to predict which cards would come up next. Other "games", like dice and roulette were difficult. One had to create and equation and test it before one could step onto the field. They had to take an average speed of how fact the dealer spun the roulette and apply it to the board to predict where the ball would fall when its speed decreased. The slot machines were more focused on luck but also how to work the crowd around the machines. Kirihara, being the unluckiest of the bunch, would approach a machine and spend all of his pocket money, around a hundred dollars, on one machine and lose it. Then, Sengoku would approach the same machine and win back the money and more through his extreme luck. A half an hour later, Kirihara would present himself to a new machine, and another hundred dollars, and begin again. Every plan the group came up with was utter genius and a guarantee money maker.

Slipping into seat at a roulette table not far from Niou, Yagyuu began their team's plan. Taking a look at his dealer, a muscular man that looked to be not smart at all, Yagyuu began taking in data to predict where the ball would land.

"Ten on black eighteen," he placed ten coins on the table, and the dealer pushed them over to a square which read '18 B'.

The rest of the men and women at the table placed their bets. Then, the dealer spun the roulette fast enough that the two colors blended into one. Yagyuu quickly deduced the speed that the table was moving at.

'Black thirteen,' Yagyuu predicted again.

It came as no surprise to him when the little, black ball landed on the exact number and color the calculations gave him.

The second time Yagyuu put the remainder of his money, one-hundred and forty dollars, on red forty. He was certain that this time he would be the winner.

"Two hundred on black thirteen," a silver haired man, that certainly wasn't Niou, placed his bet on the table, and turned to Yagyuu." Let's see who wins, you or ore-sama."

Taking a look at the roulette board, Yagyuu inwardly gasped. Black thirteen was right next to his own bet.

"Let's make a deal. If you win," the silver haired man began," I'll add another fifteen thousand to your winnings."

"And if I lose?" Yagyuu asked.

"Let's just say you'll be walking out of here fifteen thousand dollars in debt," the man smirked. Yagyuu guessed he was trying to scare him, but Yagyuu sat firmly in his seat. He accepted the silver man's deal.

As the roulette table spun around and around, Yagyuu's heart was beating rapidly in his chest. Fifteen thousand dollars....FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! With that, he would be closer to his goal of attending Arcobaleno University. That little ball held his fate of debt or glorious cash money. Slower and slower it went. Finally, it stopped, and Yagyuu couldn't bear to look at the board to see if he had won. Behind his one-way frames, he had closed his eyes at the last second.

"Red forty," he heard the man next to him whisper.

Yagyuu's eyes shot open. Sure enough, the ball had landed on red forty.

'Stupid,' Yagyuu scolded himself,' your math was flawless. It would have landed on red forty whether or not the guy would have walked up here or not.'

"One-hundred thousand."

"Huh?" Yagyuu head turned towards the man beside him.

"Ore-sama will give you one-hundred thousand dollars if you win again. If not, you have to return ore-sama's fifteen thousand," the man offered, and Yagyuu quickly accepted. With one hundred thousand dollars he would be able to attend Arcobaleno University.

This time, due to his calculations, he predicted the ball would land on black three, and the man placed his bet on red twenty-seven. This time, Yagyuu didn't take his eye off the ball for a second. When it stopped on black three, he didn't take his eye off of it. Shock had come over him. He could officially attend Arcobaleno University! He could-

Yagyuu, after accepting the man's money, was pulled from his thoughts about attending the university when Niou starting dragging him away from the roulette table. Niou didn't stop dragging Yagyuu until they were in a secluded hallway that only led outside.

"Niou-kun, what are you thinking? I was receiving enough money to pay for our college tuition. If I had stayed for one more game then that man would have-"Yagyuu tried to calmly explain but he was silenced. Niou had grabbed Yagyuu's head and crashed their lips together.

Yagyuu stood frozen. What was he supposed to do? He had never kissed a man before, let alone a girl. He had never been so close to one person to be intimate. He didn't even hold hands with a girl before this! What was he suppose to do? Was he-was that Niou's tongue? Was that Niou's hand slowly creeping to the back of his neck, bending it so the kiss was deeper?

Finally, Yagyuu stopped thinking and allowed Niou to lead. Wrapping his arms around Niou's neck, he allowed himself to be pushed against the wall. As Yagyuu kept his mouth glued to Niou's, he allowed the trickster's hands to roam his body. The two took a quick gulp of air before they were back at it. Niou freed Yagyuu's shirt from its prison of being tucked in and quickly unbuttoned it. Yagyuu allowed Niou's hands to roam his chest, he allowed Niou to push him farther up the wall, forcing Yagyuu to wrap his legs around Niou, and he allowed Niou's tongue in his mouth. He drew the line when Niou tried to take his pants off.

"You're impossible," Niou sighed, resting his forehead against Yagyuu's.

"Just because I won't take my pants off I'm impossible?" Yagyuu asked.

"No, I'm not talking about the pants." Niou huffed. "I'm talking about the guy that was sitting next to you at the roulette table. Do you know who he is?"

"No. Am I supposed to?" Yagyuu asked again.

"He's Atobe Keigo. Sound familiar? It should. He's the son of the owner." Niou carefully unwrapped Yagyuu's legs and placed his partner on the ground. "....We should warn the others, shouldn't we?"

"That would be a smart idea."

"Aw but I wanted to have hot, steamy, fiery-"

"No!" Yagyuu asserted before slipping through the door, back into the casino.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Niou shrugged before following his partner.

"Alright, so we have me, Sadaharu, Yukimura, Ryoma, Kirihara, Yagyuu, Shishido, Sengoku, and Niou. Are we forgetting anyone?" Yanagi asked, surveying the group before him. Kirihara raised his hand. "Kirihara, we're not in grade school anymore. There's no need to raise your hand in order to speak."

"Well," Kirihara cleared his throat," Oshitari isn't here."

'Shit,' Yagyuu cursed. They had forgotten about Oshitari. How could they forget Oshitari? The genius would have been quoting a romance novel he recently finished or talking to Yagyuu. He was the unforgettable person in the group, so how could they forget him?

Out of the blue, Yanagi's cell began to ring with Oshitari's name on the front screen. Without thinking, Yanagi answered the call.

"Hello ore-sama's little cheaters. It's nice to finally talk to you all." Atobe's easily recognizable voice rang out on the speaker.

"What have you done to Oshitari?" Yanagi struggled to keep his cool on the phone.

"Oshitari? Is that the name of this fine bluenet? Ore-sama enjoys his company, and ore-sama will keep him here. Unfortunately, for you, ore-sama has called the cops on the nine of you. Ore-sama predicts that they'll be at your position in about three minutes." The evil in Atobe's voice sent a shiver down each of the boy's spines. "Don't worry. Your friend will be safe with ore-sama. Good-bye." The sound of an ended call filled in the alleyway.

"What are you waiting for? Run! Meet back up at my place in one hour! If you're caught, don't give away the rest of us no matter how much they offer!" Yanagi shouted over the group.

In the confusion, Yagyuu felt a hand grip his forearm and pull him through the chaos. When the two of them made it through the crowd, Yagyuu found his rescuer to be Oshitari.

"Yagyuu, come back with me. With Keigo, we'll be safe from the cops. You won't have to worry about going to jail, and we can attend a university more prestigious than Arcobaleno University, together. Keigo will pay for our schooling. Please, come with me." Oshitari offered Yagyuu.

Pausing, Yagyuu thought about Oshitari's offer. What he had done, gambling, cheating, it was a serious offense. Just as Oshitari had said, he could be placed in jail for a number of years for what he had done. On the other hand, he could have 'Keigo' pay for his schooling and attend a superior university for the full four years. That was a tempting offer.

"Oshitari," Yagyuu spoke," I've made my decision."

After three months at Arcobaleno University, Niou felt he was finally adjusting to this life of a university student. Sengoku, Kirihara, Yukimura, Ryoma, Yanagi, Inui, and Shishido had adjusted within the first few weeks of the first semester. It was difficult for the trickster to transfer into this new life. Before he imagined coming to this school he had lived a poor man's life. Niou had never known when his last meal was or when he father would come home drunk and beat his mother. It was a dreadful life he was forced to live. The only thing that stopped him from taking his own life was pulling pranks on his teachers. Now, his bones itched to prank his stiff, emotionless professors, but he knew his boyfriend wouldn't appreciate him getting kicked out of a university he worked so hard to enter. The promise of a break up kept Niou away from bigger pranks such as flooding the entire second floor or setting the science department's animals loose in the math department. Instead, he settled for placing buckets full of animal feces on cracked doorways. Yes, it was the little things that kept Niou Masaharu sane in this rich man's university.

Sensing someone sitting next to him, Niou remained motionless. He already knew who it was. What was the point in moving just to look?

"Shouldn't you be in class?" the words fell from Niou's mouth before he could comprehend them.

"I could say the same." the voice of Niou's boyfriend replied.

"I thought we agreed on this. You go to class and take notes, and I cheat off off of you on tests so I pass. It's quite simple really." Niou's head was moved from the hard earth onto a soft lap.

"And what if we're caught?" the voice asked.

"Then you'll have to come up with an excuse." Niou answered.

"We need to start thinking about next year. "The voice said after a moment of silence.

"We'll have to think about that when the right time comes." Niou replied.

"And what if the right time is before us?" the voice countered.

"Then we'll do the same thing we did to get us here," Niou sat up and turned himself so he was looking straight into Yagyuu's hidden eyes," We'll lie and gamble our way to the top."

"And what about cheating?"

"Especially cheating," Niou muttered before capturing Yagyuu's lips.

Arcobaleno University was a rich man's world to Niou. It was full of uptight professors and students who only cared about clothes and handbags that made Niou's wallet full of dust. The trickster couldn't survive in a world like that. But, if he was with Yagyuu, he was sure to come out alive.