Paying for dinner

In the dining hall of the Nagy Paloza Hotel, Okisato scowled as the pairings for the 4th round went live. "The pairings went up for the men. We're playing India tomorrow."

Mimoko's smile morphed into a frown. "Are the women's pairings up yet?"

"Yes, your next opponent will be the United States," Okisato declared as lightning flashed.

"So we're facing the top team... Tanabe-kun, to the hotel room. Strategizing our gameplans outweigh punishing you for what happened with Jadwiga-chan."

"You're not going to let it go?" 

"I want to know why you played her in the first place." 

"She approached me, apparently egged on by Ginji." 

"Inohara-san? Are you sure?" 

"That's what Jadwiga herself claimed, and I doubt that's something she'd distort. Not to mention, our lanyards were left in Ginji's and Hobou-san's room, further implicating Ginji as the mastermind." 

"But why would he want to sabotage us?" 

"Simple; to bring us both down. We're public enemies 1 and 2 to the Desperado League, so him doing all he can to prevent one or both of us from winning a medal would grant him immense clout within the league." 

Mimoko shook her head, but before she could get another word in, a large hairy mountain of a man yelped as he stopped himself just before bumping into Mimoko. However, this led to him bumping into someone behind him, causing them to spill their tray. 

"Sorry, buckos, didn't see ya, eh," the large hairy mountain of a man smiled. 

"Oi, this ain't a playground. I nearly spilled my tray cuz of you," a girl with short brown hair and blonde highlights that obscured one of her eyes snarled.

"What's the harm? Let the energy run wild!" a woman with dark skin and short curly pink hair smiled.

"You seen a mop bucket anywhere? I gotta piss," a man wearing a beanie and sporting a thin mustache snarled as he adjusted his glasses.

This man was known as Justin Beaver, a cynical and newly minted DSPCM from Toronto, infamous for peeing in mop buckets. Nobody knew why he did it, though rumors were that it was due to him losing a DESPER match to none other than Nyoan, but the lack of a game log seemed to disprove the theory.

Beaver's teammate, the large mountain of a man, was known as Grizzly Snuggler. True to his name, he liked snuggling with grizzly bears, and playing chess and hockey with them.

The pink-haired girl introduced herself as Saloni Madhock, while the girl with short brown hair introduced herself as Inez Pereya of Argentina. "Oh, and just because my teammates are all football nuts, it doesn't mean I am. In fact, I can't stand it," Inez growled.

"WHAT!? Such blasphemy! Ayane will tattle on you!" a sporty girl with tanned skin and long wavy blonde hair playfully gasped.

"And you are? Wait, Ayane or-" 

"Ayane is Ayane!" the blonde-haired woman smiled. 

"No you're not!" a voice snarled as a hand clamped down on Ayane's shoulder.

The hand belonged to a girl who looked identical to Ayane, though lacked ab muscles and was clad in slightly different attire. "I'M Ayane Rodrigues. THIS is my older twin sister, Mayane," the girl grumbled.

"Uhp, Mayane's busted. Oh well."

"And just what were you doing masquerading as me this time!?" Ayane fumed.

"Mayane just agreed to have dinner-"

"Offer to buy dinner, you mean!?"

Mayane's sweaty face and nervous laughter confirmed Ayane's suspicions.

"This is why Mayane always wears sneakers, so she can run for it!" Mayane cried as she sped off.

"Get your ass back here!" Ayane shouted as she gave chase.

"And there goes my prime rib benefactor. So anyone else wanna pay up for dinner?" Beaver grumbled.

"Oh? A simple matter of currency? Well, allow me to benefact thee," a voice snickered.

Everyone looked around, but no one seemed to be around.

"Up top!"

Everyone's gazes shifted upwards, but all that was there was a bat. However, the bat then turned into a girl with pale skin and long dark blue hair, and leapt to the floor. Based on her appearance and the fact that she could turn into a bat, it was fair to assume she was a vampire.

"And would the price of dinner be in blood?" Okisato asked.

"Well that's rude, but yes. I do pine for a fine gallon of blood."

"The sun's still up; drag her out," Beaver growled.

"AHEM! While I am a vampire, and one that has evolved to the point where things like sunlight, water, and garlic are unable to phase me, I DO get nasty sunburns and would prefer not to have to spend days at the skin clinic or in bandages, so please refrain from dragging me out until I apply my sunscreen."

Yet before anyone could do anything, servers arrived with plates of prime rib. "Order of prime rib!"

"That bitch! We didn't order shit! Take it back!" Beaver fumed.

"Um, we can't. This is pricey meat and-"

"NOM!"

Before anyone could react, the vampire girl had snagged one of the steaks and devoured it in seconds. "Ah, a delicious appetizer. Now no need to worry about currency. I'm well loaded on that front," she smirked as she flashed a fan of cash.

Worse, the amount of cash she had was exactly the amount needed to pay for the meal, meaning everyone was now in her debt. Okisato attempted to sneak away, but Mimoko stopped him, chiding him for abandoning those in need.

"Uh, we aren't involved, and all they need to do is go after Mayane."

"Oh, and should I excuse the one who was so rude to me? Nonsense!" the vampire girl scoffed as she inserted herself between Mimoko and Okisato.

"Then how about we settle this in chess. You win, we pay whatever, but you lose, we don't have to pay you jack and the meal's on you."

"Fair. Now who shall step forth to challenge me?"

"Me-"

"Tanabe-kun, I'M playing her," Mimoko angrily smiled as she clamped her hand down on Okisato's shoulder.

"Huh? Why-"

"Because you're on probation for that "Jadwiga Gambit" you created. Now watch the match closely. I'm going to show you some proper chess."

"What happened to having fun?"

"Jadwiga-chan didn't look like she was having fun, in fact I'm a bit worried about her, and all the opponents I've faced..."

A somber look overtook Mimoko's face for a brief moment before she regained her smile and faced the vampire girl.

"So you're up. Alright, let's play."

"Then let's summon the board Miss..."

"I don't have to tell you my name!" the vampire girl proudly huffed.

"Mălina Drăculești of Romania. She's on board 2 and has a rating of 2348," Saloni smiled.

"FUCK YOU!"

"Um, she does know her name and rating are displayed on our WWCF cards, right?" Mimoko nervously thought.