A Vegas Story (Part 8)
Title: Part 8: The Craps Table (Luck Be A Lady)
Fandom: Eyeshield 21
Characters: Hiruma/Mamori, Random Characters
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG-13 Potty mouth.
Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.
A/N: Like I said before, this doesn't end well, but it's not half as angsty/bitter/angry as the previous part. Enjoy!
He hadn’t seen her come off the elevator. The fucking shrimps had his attention the whole time gabbing away about all the different rollercoasters they rode on. You would have thought they had spent time in Disneyland instead of on the Las Vegas Strip. Monta stopping in mid word, and both midgets walking away as if they were in a trance, caught his attention first.
He was grateful that he hadn’t been paying attention to the elevator when he caught a glimpse of Mamori as the team gathered around her. He hadn’t expected her to look so stunning, and apparently neither did anyone else. He forced himself to be composed and distant. The task at hand was too important for him to be distracted by his feelings, and a glimpse was all his photographic mind needed.
Her hair was pinned up, exposing a lovely neck that beckoned him to trail kisses down. She was wearing the necklace and earrings he had given her, and the red dress must have been the one Suzuna had mentioned earlier at breakfast. He committed the vision of her to memory as he crossed over to the black jack table.
Contrary to popular belief, card counting is not illegal. Using devices to assist in counting, hiding cards up your sleeve, or under the table is illegal, but card counting just by using your mental capacity is a skill. It’s certainly frowned upon in Las Vegas casinos, and they are notoriously aggressive in their tactics in dealing with card counters.
That’s why it takes a certain high level of concentration to pull it off. You can’t get too greedy too fast, because you have to fool the dealers, the cameras, the pit bosses, the computer sensors at the table, and still keep a good count. He sipped his coffee, stacked his chips, and blocked out everything around him. Others came to sit down; he kept track of their hands, adjusted his counts according to the shuffle, and placed modest bets.
As he played hand after hand of black jack, he heard the cheers rise from the craps table, but paid no attention. Craps was a game that depended largely on luck. One roll of the dice could determine everything, and statistically speaking, it favored the house. Even though he knew it existed, luck was something he just couldn’t rely on.
“Wow, that craps table must be on fire tonight.”
“It looks like the lady in red over there is the one on fire.”
“More like lady luck. I think I’m gonna go over there and get a piece of that action.”
Hiruma watched absently as the three men got up, and cross over to the craps table. As the sea of onlookers parted for a second, he stole another glance. Watching her blow on someone’s dice for luck had to be the most seductive image he had ever seen. He filed it away in his brain, and focused again on his own game.
The pit boss came up, and whispered something into the dealer’s ear. Hiruma prepared himself to flash his phony passport, but as the pit boss walked away the dealer turned to him and smiled.
“So where are you from?”
So this was the game they were going to play. They were on to him fast, and it didn’t surprise him, it was Vegas anyway, so he hadn’t expected things to go smoothly.
“Japan,” he said plainly as he beat the dealer’s hand again.
“I’ve always wanted to go there. I hear it’s very beautiful. What city or what part of Japan are you from?” She continued to smile, and this time she actually batted her eyes. Was she trying to flirt? He had to restrain himself from a demonic laugh, because he wasn’t intent on scaring anyone. Instead he grinned broadly, baring his teeth.
“Your attempts at conversation are failing miserably, because I can actually walk and chew gum at the same time,” He downed the rest of his coffee then popped a stick of gum into his mouth.
“You know that they can always ask you to leave.” In spite of his devilish grin, the dealer continued to smile. Vegas casino employees were unshakable. They had to be, because only the best survived, and in order to survive you had to know how to read a player.
“I doubt they will do that right now,” Hiruma shuffled his chips then rolled one across his knuckles. “See, I can talk to you, chew gum, and walk my chip across my hand, while I get black jack again.” Hiruma grinned as the dealer laughed.
“You should be careful, because I tend to fall for the punk type,” the dealer purred as she dealt him another hand.
“Why should I be careful? Go find a punk to fall for.” He detested groupies, but knew that this dealer was nothing like that. There was a method to her banter, and her flirtatious conversation was so amusing to him that he decided to play along. At least he it helped him from wanting to look over at the craps table every time he heard a cheer.
“Those dice must be loaded. I’ve never seen someone with such a lucky streak!” A guy came to sit down at the table next to Hiruma.
“Then why are you here and not over there?” The dealer laughed.
“I’m waiting for it to come back around to the lady in the red dress again. Even though she’s blowing on everyone’s dice, except for one loser, I win double when she rolls.” The guy placed a modest bet. The news from the craps table had invaded Hiruma’s bubble and his curiosity was peaked. Yet and still he kept his attention focused on the count.
He didn’t need to watch to hear her laugh. The melodic tone of her voice floated up from the craps table to where he sat. It made a picture of her standing there right next to him all the more vivid in his mind. He lost the next five hands on purpose, content to just listen to her laugh, and joke with the crowd. At least she was having fun, and that made him genuinely smile.
“Well, this table is shot, and it looks like the lady’s roll is coming up soon,” the man took his chips and crossed back over to the craps table. When the crowd parted again, he braced himself to steal another look, but he hadn’t been prepared for what he saw.
All the laughter and jokes he heard while he sat there imagining her bright cheery smile had all been a ruse. There she stood; the picture of sadness, and Hiruma instantly knew it was because of him. He certainly knew it wasn’t because of the clumsy fool who had his arm around her. She was the fucking manager, she knew how to handle herself, and he was never worried about that. He had been more worried about how he would handle himself by just being around her.
He had never intended for her to be saddened by his actions, and he believed she above anyone knew what his intentions were. But obviously she didn’t, and that made him angry. His anger was at himself because he hadn’t been clear, and now she was unhappy. As their eyes met he felt as though those deep pools of sapphire blue were looking straight into what little soul he had.
She had to know that he just wasn’t the sentimental type. He wasn’t going to fawn all over her and fall at her feet like everyone else did. While he appreciated her beauty just as much as everyone else did, if she was looking for someone to pet her, she was looking at the wrong guy. She was better off with the cowboy, than she was with a devil like him in the first place. Hell, the thought even crossed his mind to whip out his camera phone and take a picture for the threat book.
“So that’s your weakness. Lady Luck over there,” the dealer smirked.
“I have no weakness,” he glared as he quickly gathered his chips into a rack. “And if he asks, you can tell him I said that.” Hiruma got up from the table, and walked off to find another, less talkative, black jack dealer. He had a mission to complete after all.