Chishiya x Reader | Oneshots

The Winner Takes It All

At long last, this oneshot was a request from the lovely @Breedawnwriter, the original prompt being a oneshot where the reader beats Chishiya to stealing all the cards. Please forgive me, I did take quite a few liberties with this! At the time of writing I was interested in exploring manga Chishiya's backstory, so it deviates from the request quite a bit. It's a lengthy one, but I hope it's still enjoyable nonetheless. Thank you for your patience!  

One of the Beach residents almost becomes an executive.

Chishiya finds this out through Hatter, who invites him to play a round of poker in the empty executive room. 

"The executive position was turned down?" Chishiya repeats absently, reaching down to place a card on the low-legged table separating him and Hatter. This proves to be a more difficult task than he'd expected; taking care not to rattle the assortment of teacups and cake platters on it with the movement, he takes note of Hatter's evident hunger for luxury items. The pieces of porcelain are mismatched but all English antiques, funnily enough, laid haphazardly over the table's polished surface for the Hatter to pick up at his leisure. From the gilded chandelier hanging from the ceiling to the plush velvet seat cushions beneath him, everything in this room is far too opulent for a seaside resort. 

Pretentious. It's obvious why this is Hatter's favourite room. 

"Can you believe it?" Hatter sighs before taking a long sip from his liquor glass. Chishiya has never seen him without that glass - full of a mystery amber liquid that must run in his blood by now, it's made of cheap fibre and noticeably more humble than the expensive antiques on Hatter's table. "What a pity...I was offering such a high number, too. It's really a shame."

"Oh yes, such a shame." Chishiya parrots, not meaning it at all. He's not really sure that "a shame" is the right word to use in this situation. Hmm. Admirable might be a better fit. From what he's seen of the Beach so far, the people in this place would scramble at the chance to be stamped with an executive's single-digit number. "Do you know why?" 

He asks less out of curiosity, more out of boredom. As expected, Hatter isn't the poker mastermind he'd made himself out to be. It doesn't take a genius to pick apart his defenses, but Chishiya does it anyway; when he's worried, he twists the obtrusively large ring on his index finger. When he's confident, his lips twitch into a repressed grin. Even now the man's bluffs are overly theatrical, and by the way his eyes flicker uncertainly over his hand, Chishiya can tell his cards aren't that great. So much for his claim to a perfect winning streak. 

It's a pity, though. While Chishiya agreed to be here for different reasons than his opponent is aware of, he'd have preferred a more evenly matched game. It would be much more entertaining that way, especially since he had to spend the better part of his afternoon sitting in front of this bold-faced clown. Occasionally, he even thinks about suggesting they play a game more suited to Hatter's skill level, like go fish. 

"Do I know why the offer was turned down? Don't have a clue. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are!" Hatter exclaims. Chishiya raises his brows, but says nothing more. Hatter must mistake his expression for something less skeptical - he takes another unnecessarily long sip from his glass, a badly suppressed grimace twisting his lips behind the rim. "What, are you intimidated? Afraid you'll be replaced?"

"Oh no. Just curious, that's all." Chishiya's lips curl upwards with humour. "I'm interested to know who could've turned down such a...prestigious position."

If Hatter picks up on the thinly veiled amusement beneath Chishiya's words, he does a good job of hiding it.

"Exactly what I said to Ann! You're asking the real questions there, man. Not to worry, though," he remedies, leaning back against his plush red cushions with flair while massaging his temples. "I was only offering Sakamoto's empty spot to the newcomer. We've been needing a new number eight, ever since he died." Hatter sniffs, clearly choosing to take Sakamoto's death personally. Chishiya finds the notion rather unfair; he doubts Sakamoto's death had been the result of a conscious decision. He was probably no different to anyone else Chishiya has ever met, all of whom treat their lives like precocious children. They ravage it and tear it to shreds, then beg for it to be whole again. "Unlike him, I do keep my word. As long as you keep winning against me, there shouldn't be any problems with your position as an executive."