Stacked deck

"... Why I gotta answer your questions?" Rodeo mumbled.

"Gorou-kun, Tanabe-kun seems to be quite flustered about this. I'm not sure how we can help him other than humoring him, so could you please answer his questions?" Mimoko pleaded.

"It's actually a good thing he's acting normally. So do you remember Yuusuke Shousen?" Okisato asked.

"I don't know who you're talkin' about," Rodeo snarled.

"Yuzuha Zenihara?"

"... What do you want with her?"

"Is she fine?"

"... Yeah..."

"Did you see anything happen with Maida-sensei at the school?"

"... No... She never came to club, so me n' Zenihara just called club since we were the most senior members n' all."

"She's here with us, but doesn't know how she got here. Remember Skaberghast, the guy who helped us get an express trip to London nearly a month ago?"

"... What about him?"

"Was he roaming the area?"

"... Nah, didn't see him."

"Thanks, that's all I wanted to ask. Onto Carol. Everything fine with you?"

"Guess so. I don't feel any difference," Carol shrugged.

Iori quickly lifted up Carol's bra top, eliciting Carol to do the same to her. "Hmm, passed the tit check. Think she's fine," Iori nodded.

"And how long are you two going to keep exposing each other's breasts?" Mimoko glared.

"... As long as- Wait, we can't stream here. Fuck," Carol frowned as she let go of Iori's bra top.

"Yeah, she's acting normal. Don't think you need to worry about her," Iori grumbled as she let go of Carol's bra top.

"In that case, I'll be taking a walk around the place," Okisato nodded as he headed out.

It didn't take long for him to stumble upon Skaberghast, lounging in a hammock in the library.

"Why the glare, boy? Still pissed about the Muzio draw?" Skaberghast asked.

"No, this time it's because of what you did to Yuusuke Shousen."

Skaberghast blinked for a second before a malicious grin appeared on his face. "Yuusuke? Like YUUSUKE! The first line in that song by SoldierGuy?"

"No, Yuusuke Shousen, son of Hagemi Shousen."

"Describe him."

"Tall, blonde, an irritating personality and one who struggles on the chessboard due to the shadow of his mother."

Skaberghast let out a whistle. "Were you in a DESPER match at all in the past 24 hours?"

"Yes, against a tiki named, Phil Ur."

"What a riot. So he's the reason my plan might fail. Keyword, might."

"What do you mean?"

"The full punishment. Upon his loss, Yuusuke Shousen shall be erased from existence. Though if we want to get real technical, it's more like everyone forgets he exists, with his soul being sent to the Ultima-master. The DESPER can't rewrite reality to where he never existed and things managed to reach this time, so it went with the next best thing. However, since you were in a DESPER match at the same time as me, you weren't effected by Yuusuke getting wiped from the world's memory banks, hence why you still remember him. And the better news, I couldn't make it irreversible, or rather, I set a deadline for when it will become irreversible."

"When is it?"

"The day of the final round. In order to bring Yuusuke "back into existence", you'll need to challenge me to a DESPER match at the start of the final round, or more realistically, convince my opponent to act as proxy for you. But even then, if my opponent's a fellow Desperado, no dice. We can't challenge each other to DESPER matches. And thanks to the barrier here, the final round is the only chance you'll get to try and save Yuusuke."

Okisato clenched his fist, yet there was nothing he could do. "I only have one more question; why'd you drag Maida-sensei into this?"

"Oh? To shave her bald. And speaking of her punishment, check the hotel salon every now and then. Girl just might have urges to get creamed n' waxed to arouse her smooth skin. You're welcome."

Okisato shook his head and headed out all while Skaberghast watched and smirked.

"And the best part? You don't save Yuusuke, Hagemi will be in for some big trouble, assuming Kuon fails to "save" her that is," Skaberghast thought.