"UNO! Hah, eat it, Cockbrain!"
He had resisted the urge to cheat with his shadow, and everything paid off in the end! Truly, there was none other who understood the heart of the cards as well as he did.
Sunny got a few strange looks from the other three men sitting at the table. Aventurine nudged his glamorous sunglasses, before placing his card down into the pile.
"Plus four. Let's go with yellow. Bet you can't guess why—"
"Cuz you're blonde. Duh. Oh, how much were you going to bet there?"
"…Nothing. It's a figure of speech."
"Liar! You were totally about to do so!"
Aventurine shrugged with an innocuous laugh as Dan Heng pulled a card from his hands. He tilted his head for a moment, as if considering something crucial, before allowing the card to fall atop the pile.
Another plus four.
Sunny raised a brow.
"You're supposed to pick up your cards before you play one. Come on, four cards. I'll count if you can't."
Dan Heng shook his head.
"Using a plus four after being hit by one lets me pass it on to the next player."
Sunny blinked a few times, before closely scrutinizing the faces of his opponents.
"…You made that up, didn't you?"
"No."
"You definitely did!"
"No."
Sunny engaged the green-eyed man in a staring contest. After a few tense seconds, as well as the approval of the final player among them, he scowled.
"Well, whatever. It's not like you guys are going to beat me when I have one card lef—"
"Plus four."
"…Say that again?"
Bloodshot eyes honed in on what he believed to be future fried chicken. Sunday blinked owlishly, before sending him a consolative smile.
"I don't plan on taking eight more cards. Sorry, but not really."
"It's 'sorry, not sorry,' you… you cocksucker!"
Sunny grit his teeth. Who would have thought that at the final lap, his adversaries would set aside their differences just to get rid of him. Admirable, really, but…
It simply wouldn't be enough.
"Hey, Gambler… how many plus fours are in a deck?"
Aventurine tilted his head.
"Four of them out of over a hundred cards. Not that it matters… though, finally beating you in a game of luck feels less meaningful than I thought. Ah, I suppose that's what it's like at the to—"
He paused his eyes widening as his lips curled up into a manic grin.
"No… you wouldn't…!"
A smirk graced Sunny's face as he stood up to his feet, behind leaving the soft, velvety embrace of the party car's seats. Holding up his final card, the radiance of his grin completely blinded the three sets of eyes gazing upon his majestic form, drowning out their excitement, exhaustion, or utter confusion.
"Have fun getting second place, losers!"
The one who began the plus four chain, and ones who continued the endless cycle.
Those present are forced to bear witness to the bare flesh of the one who completed the cycle of karma… and his overwhelming intensity.
Slamming the final plus four down, silence reigned over the party car.
Just to be broken by Aventurine's chuckles.
"You bastard… I really thought I had you."
"My parents were married. Bastard."
"Huh. Mines too."
Sunny basked in his victory for… maybe three seconds, before glancing between the three others present.
"…I probably should have asked when the slave pulled up with a deck of cards, but… why are you three awake at this Unholy hour, exactly?"
As if on cue, their expressions darkened. Dan Heng sent Sunny a meaningful glance.
"Mental conditioning. Dealing with you is more difficult than anything else I could face in life."
"I try my best. You two?"
Aventurine looked down at his knees, cards long forgotten.
"Not even luck can save me on this one. This might be my last gamble… if I disappear, don't look for me."
Sunny narrowed his eyes in confusion, before turning to Sunday — also known as Sunny the Inferior. The Halovian folded his hands together.
"I must make sure that I don't get too… hasty later. Better to spend all my energy now."
As per usual, Sunny had to resist the urge to punch the sis-con. There were some things that didn't have to be said.
'Hm? What does Robin got to do with the other two, though?'
"You guys going to actually explain, or should I just make my own assumptions?"
***
"Oh, it's the day, eh?"
That… made a lot more sense. Although Sunny wasn't too sure why Robin had anything with whatever Sunday was planning, he could at least understand why Aventurine and Dan Heng were so bothered. Women hated the former — though, he seemed to somehow snag a date — and there was nobody in the world who would ever try to steal HIS Dan Heng.
Right?
As Aventurine put all the cards back into their box, he smugly explained:
"Every second spent with a woman is a gamble, you know? So, I've been thinking… wouldn't their natural habitat be a casino? I'm sure she'll be impressed by one of mines, and once I hit the jackpot, I'll end up hitting another jackpot, if you know what I mean."
Sunny resisted the temptation to laugh.
"Pfft—!"
Nevermind. He lied.
"You're definitely getting dumped!""
"I'm with you on that one."
"Agreed."
Faced with three denials, Aventurine's face froze. Then, without a hint of maturity, pouted as he asked:
"I don't hear you three giving out any better ideas."
Sunny counted off of his fingers.
"I could give you six, but they only work because I'm me. And even if they did work for you, I wouldn't reveal a trade secret."
Sunday placed a hand under his chin, eyes closed as if he was in deep thought.
"Robin and I would always spend Valentines together, but today is a Thursday, and I am not around anymore. She should be practicing today, but her schedule says otherwise. She must be meeting with someone, and I'm going to find out who…"
Sunday's rambling continued as Dan Heng inched slightly further away.
"…I feel sorry for Robin."
Sunny tilted his head.
"Why? If anything, she should be grateful to have a brother willing to do the bare minimum."
Dan Heng blinked.
"…That's the bare minimum?"
Aventurine hummed.
"Ideally, killing the competition would be the go-to move, but that's illegal. Awakened laws don't apply here, either."
Sunny wisely continued.
"Understand this, Dannie. Sexual harassment, murder, espionage… these are all tools to let your sister know that if the two of you weren't related, you'd make her your wife. If you can't even do that, did you truly love your sister?"
"Well said."
"That takes me back…"
As Sunday stopped talking to himself to nod in acknowledgment, a melancholic aura seemed to consume Aventurine for a few moments. He then smiled, enlightened.
"Like a sister, but without the barriers of blood, huh? I've changed my mind. I'll have to go…"
Sunny nodded with a sage-like demeanor.
"I won't say I believe in you, because I don't. But don't let my lack of belief stop you. Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
Aventurine didn't look back, stepping forward with endless resolve as the compartment doors opened.
Then closed.
Turning to face Sunday, Sunny continued:
"As for you, are you going to allow some low-birthed spawn of a Daemon take your sister, your soulmate, your life partner, even… on a date?"
Sunday stood up from his seat, hands clenched.
"You're right. There's a point where I must stop scheming, and take direct action, instead."
Sunny snickered as Sunday left the compartment.
"We'll see about that, Cockbrain."
Dan Heng had a terrified look on his face, an expression that didn't seem to so much as twitch in that last couple of minutes.
"…There is a special place for you three. We call it prison."
Sunny shook his head.
"You just wouldn't get it… either way, guess it's just you and I on a bromantic date, huh? Don't worry, I have no problem with keeping a strong, handsome man like you company~"
Dan Heng's face soured.
"Listen, don't overreact when I tell you…"
Sunny blinked.
"What?"
"I have plans."
They gazed at eachother. Never losing eye contact, Sunny pulled out his phone, quickly scrolled through his contacts, tapped on one, and turned the phone towards Dan Heng.
"Did you know? I almost never call March. We only text eachother. It'd be pretty weird if I called her at this time. If only someone else besides her would talk like their life depends on it…"
Beads of sweat rolled off Dan Heng's face. His mind darted between different ideas and explanations… but none of them were suitable — and could easily be seen through.
So, he came up with a deal. One that would likely come back to bite him, but it was his only choice.
"Sunny, should you still be here?"
In response, he thrummed his fingers against the table.
"Depends. Elaborate."
Dan Heng focused.
"You weren't paying attention to the date, and now you're caught off guard. Most guys wouldn't struggle when it comes to making things up on the spot, but you… are in a very delicate situation. Tell me… has anyone messaged you yesterday?"
Sunny's fingers stopped moving. Smiling that usual eerie smile, he responded.
"No."
Dan Heng nodded. Time to add some flattery.
"You're being tested. Your memory might be perfect, and your ability to multitask is very impressive, but you can only have so many thoughts at a single moment. Your… whatever you want to call it—"
"Fanclub."
"…That sounds horribly one-sided, but sure. The individual members of your fanclub are attempting to see if they're at the forefront of your thoughts. You could tell them what they wish to hear, and they'd have no choice but to believe you, but your actions are still very important. In their minds, a single day cannot possibly be enough to adequately satisfy the hearts of multiple women, and they would be correct."
Sunny dismissively waved his hand.
"I've already realized that. So what? I'll just use my Incarnations to split up my attention…"
Sunny trailed off.
"…I don't have enough bodies."
He has never regretted not being a Titan as much as he had now. Besides his main body, which would need to go solo due to certain reasons, he only had his six shadows to rely on.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Dan Heng pulled out a whiteboard and a marker. He first began to list some names.
"…It's only five. Don't you have enough bodies?"
Sunny sighed, shaking his head.
"Not only do I have to worry about my pet dragon, but I also have an unrelated outing to go to. I also have a game I was told to play… actually, let me look at that."
Snatching the whiteboard and marker, Sunny raised a brow. He erased everything Dan Heng wrote down.
"Codenames…"
Firefighter.
Reaper.
Dragon.
Songbird.
Thief.
Mermaid.
Fool.
Sunny gulped. That was all his bodies already. He still had to concern himself with his non-romantic outing, and there was even the threat of those standing on the border! One person in particular.
Looking up at Dan Heng, who simultaneously looked both exasperated and smug at the same time, Sunny scoffed.
"Alright, deal. I won't bother you, as long as you help me with my plan… my master plan."