Behind the Mask

Selfish Urges (Part 2)

Ririka seemed a little confused and looked at Mary. The only other person on the table who seemed to know something about the bottle was Ryota who for some reason didn't directly want to look at the bottle like it was cursed or something. "To answer your question Mary... I met Miyo the other day and I thanked her for the exciting gamble she had provided me last week!" revealed Yumeko joyfully.

"She can't be talking about the gamble where she nearly god damned died, can she?" tried Mary to convince herself desperately.

Yumeko continued talking, "She felt really bad for the whole poisoning us drama so to make up for it she gave me this family made mixture as a present! It lets the person drinking it enter an almost drunk like state where they are not really conscious of what they do. Miyo told me that her family uses it to interrogate criminals! Isn't that super cool?" Yumeko looked approval seeking at Mary who had a very cold smile.

"Hmm, is that so? And what are you planning to do with the mixture from the girl who almost killed us?" Mary had a calm voice yet it still sounded like she was about to lose it. "Aww, Mary you know very well what I want..." answered Yumeko in a friendly yet on purpose provoking tone. "Oh, I have my theories but I want to give you the chance to change your mind..." Mary's eyes glowed yellow as she stared at Yumeko very threatening. Her smile was completely gone. Yumeko stared back at Mary unmoved while playing with the card deck in her right hand. The air felt extremely tense.

"So Yumeko wants me to drink Miyos mixture if I lose?"

Ririka's innocent voice broke the silence and Mary looked in shock at the Vice president who had said that way too composed. "See! Ririka understands me." exclaimed Yumeko excited. Mary turned to Yumeko only to see the blackhaired girl triumphantly smiling. Mary gave Ririka a look, telling her not to talk right now. Ririka got a little embarrassed and glanced down at the table. "Yumeko, there is no way that Ririka would make such a bet." declared Mary calmly. Yumeko knew that Mary was only calm on the outside. "Ohh? And why is that?" Yumeko looked inquisitively at Ririka like she was expecting for the answer to come from the whitehaired girl. Ririka noticed the on purpose friendly smile deriving from Yumeko, but knew better than to disregard Mary's hint from just now and therefore stayed quiet. Mary on the other hand now was very annoyed. "What do you mean? We don't even know if the person drinking this won't just die! How can you actually believe anyone would actually take such a risk?" Yumeko went quiet for a moment, almost like she really had not thought of that. But it was only to deceive Mary as not much later Yumeko smiled calmly which annoyed Mary even more. "Don't worry there is nothing to worry about... I mixed some drops of the mixture in Ryota's drink the other day and he is just fine. It actually was really funny!" Yumeko smiled to herself very amused and she seemed like she was thinking about something.

Shocked Mary looked at Ryota and could tell by the way he all of a sudden tried to avoid eye contact with anyone that Yumeko indeed was telling the truth. "I kinda feel bad for him." pitied Mary the dealer. "And by the way he is acting right now... it wasn't a nice experience either." After seeing Ryota's reaction, Mary's eyes wandered back to the bottle which was still on the table. The glass of the baleful mixture reflected the faces of each individual on the table and from Mary's position she could see Ririkas reflection the clearest, which just added even more to Mary's ominous feeling. Mary looked at Ririka who looked interested at the bottle as well and Mary immediately felt very worried. "I don't care what Yumeko says it still seems like a completely moronic idea." thought Mary to herself.

"Why would you even want Ririka to drink this? There would absolutely be no gain at all for you!" it now showed in Mary's voice very well that she was angry. "I have my personal reasons..." informed Yumeko Mary in a puckish way.