Just Lucky

Hand Knife Trick

"Oh, look Hajime, there's a crowd gathering over there!" Nagito hisses eagerly in my ear, "let's go check out what's going on!"

I roll my eyes. "It's most likely just some stupid gamble everyone's crowding around. Let's just go somewhere more private." I suggest. He shakes his head back at me.

"Absolutely not! If the gamble warrants a crowd, something interesting is going on," He declares, "come on, Hajime!"

He grabs my arm and begins pushing his way into the sea of Hyakkaou Academy students, coming to a stop as we near the front. Nagito reaches out to the person in front of us and taps his shoulder. Shuichi is the one who turns around.

"Shu!," He whispers, "what's going on here?"

"Hand Knife Trick," He whispers back, "there's this girl who keeps challenging whoever comes by but so far no one's stepped up. Everyone here is just waiting around to see if anyone's up to the task."

Nagito's eyes sparkle dangerously. "How do you play?" He wonders. Shuichi lets out a sigh.

"Keep stabbing between your opponents fingers for a total of sixty seconds. Not stabbing the hand means the stabber wins and getting hit is a win for the injured one." He explains, earning a shudder from me.

"Such a messed-up game." I murmur, shoving my hands in my pockets. Nagito on the other hand, has a completely different view.

"That sounds so exciting! I'll do it!" He decides, beginning to move towards the very front of the crowd. He probably would have made it too if I didn't reach out and latch onto his sleeve.

"No you will not! It's too dangerous!" I insist. He pouts.

"It'll be fun though!" He whines, "you'll see."

"I'd strongly prefer if you didn't participate in this. Let's go!" I hiss, tugging on his sleeve. He smiles slyly.

"Oh, are you worried about me, Hajime? That's incredibly sweet, but, I'll be fine! I have the money to pay my losses." He assures me. I grit my teeth.

'That's not my problem with it, you idiot!'

"Stay here with Shumai." He instructs, prying my fingers off of his sleeve. Once he's freed himself, he pushes through the rest of the crowd.

Sitting at a small wooden table is a brunette with two long ponytails extending from her head. She has piercing red eyes that are fixated on the knife she's fiddling with. Komaeda saunters up to her with a lazy grin sprawled on his face.

"'Heard you were looking for an opponent." He says. She meets his gaze.

"You want to play," She replies, earning a nod, "have a seat." Komaeda accepts the invite, pulling out the chair in front of her and sitting himself down. "I assume you know how to play."

Another nod.

"You can stab at me." He offers, triggering a face-palm from myself.

'You idiot!'

Shuichi gives me a worried glance. "He can take care of himself, don't worry. He'll certainly be able to hold his own against Maki Harukawa." He mutters.

"Sounds like you don't believe in your accuracy." Maki comments dryly. Nagito smiles back at her.

"Oh, no, that's not it. I just didn't want to risk you getting hurt," He explains, "I'd be happy to stab at you, if you wish." She stabs her knife bitterly into the table.

"Spread your fingers. For ten-million yen." She commands. Nagito doesn't need to be told twice. I watch as his pale fingers inch apart slightly on the wooden surface as a white-haired girl steps forward, comically-large timer in hand. She presses the button on top, starting the block.