The party's end

As the Bermuda party reached its final minutes, Maccabee decided to take the mic and collab with some of the others in order to play Mayim Mayim for one final group dance. After that, everyone happily began heading out. 

And as for Xiu, who came to the party bitter after her loss to Mimoko, left with a smile on her face, thankful Raymond had let her come.

"I'd say a nice little miracle happened here with everyone, well, mostly everyone joining in the song and dance at the end," Maccabee smiled as he placed a pe dreidel atop the stage.

"I see. I'll have the hotel staff frame that dreidel so as not to misplace it," Raymond nodded.

As he turned, he came face-to-face with Xiu. "Hmm? You need a word?"

"Yeah... Thanks for letting me attend this party. If I had missed it... I probably would have spiraled down lower than Xiao Lin. Oh, and dreidel guy, thank you. Your music got me dancing like crazy, and smiling more than I ever have in my life. Really made attending this party worth it," Xiu smiled.

Maccabee smiled and nodded. "And that's why a great miracle happened here. With the power of Mayim Mayim, we all came together to smile and dance, leaving behind grudges and problems stressing us out. Glad the song that brought me and my wife closer than ever was able to touch your heart."

Xiu smiled and thanked him once more before running out to try and catch up with Mimoko.

"Mei-mo-san? Why are you out of breath?" Mimoko nervously asked as Xiu caught up with her.

"Just had to do one thing, while I've got a conscience in control," Xiu smirked as she grabbed Mimoko's hand, giving it a quick shake, before releasing it, and heading off. "Now we're even, but don't think you'll always get this kind of respect from me. That dreidel guy's song was the only reason I'm in such a good and charitable mood," she waved.

Mimoko stared stunned for a few seconds, before a smile fund it's way to her face. "Then I look forward to our rivalry, Mei-mo-chan," she nodded.  

...

"Ugh, this stuff really doesn't wash off," Mimoko frowned as she stood in the shower.

"That's the point, you gotta stay blue for a day or two," Daria grinned from behind the door.

Mimoko pouted, but had no choice but to deal with it.

...

In the men's rooms, Okisato sat around anxiously, waiting for Ginji to show up. Despite all the festivities that had occurred, Okisato hadn't forgotten about his primary objective of confronting Ginji about his actions throughout the tournament. However, the minutes continued to tick by with no sightings of Ginji.

"Perhaps you should try again in the morning," Ryonosuke suggested.

Okisato decided to wait for just a bit longer, but when that proved fruitless, he threw in the towel for the night and headed to his room.

...

In the early hours of the morning, Ginji giddily skipped through the hotel's outdoor courtyard. He looked as though he was in his own little world, but he was completely aware Okisato was about to confront him. Nonetheless, he giddily skipped past Okisato as he stepped forth.

"Oi, you really planning to piss me off further?" Okisato snarled.

Ginji stopped and turned around with a bashful smile on his face. At this moment, he held all the cards, and could choose to run off with them if he so pleased. But today, he felt like slapping one of them down.

"I got a grudge against you. But we both knew that."

"And that's the reason your sabotaging us?"

"Oi, oi, Oki-chwan, sabotaging the "oni-tiger" is an easy clout mine within the Desperado league. I wanna be a bigger dog than I already am."

And that right there would have sufficed as a viable response from Ginji to explain his motives. Sure they were petty and vain, but they were perfectly on brand. However, Okisato wasn't stupid.

"What's the REAL reason you're going so far to sabotage us so badly?"

Ginji relaxed his face and simply smiled. "What you think it is?"

"Oh, so then it is related in some way to the death of Kana Tanabe."

The mention of Kana's name caused Ginji's muscles to briefly stiffen. His face did return to normal, but it was too late, Okisato had gotten a hit.

"Tch, Oki-chwan. You know why it's dangerous to dig into conspiracy theories? If you do, the ones you're digging up the theories on will come to kill you, or worse. You're only being so bold because of who you are, but what if I said this grand plan will drag others in, and you won't be able to save them. Try digging into that one! There's plenty of hard bedrock between it to keep you from reaching it easily," Ginji snarled as he turned and stormed away.

Once out of sight, Ginji let his anger take over his face. "Damn shit. He's more perceptive than I thought, but I can't risk him spoiling this. The future of ILU is with Deep Blue," he thought.

As for Okisato, he was unable to make sense of what Ginji was hiding. Being aware that a greater conspiracy was in the works was vital information, however, he had the faintest idea on what it truly entailed.

"He said he was going to target the others. I'd like to see him try. I have confidence most if not all the members of both Japanese teams, barring him, could mate his ass three ways to Sunday. He must feel confident thinking he can sway me into making rash emotional decisions, but now I'm calm. No matter if he throws the match before even moving a piece, I won't let him mess with me anymore throughout this tournament!" Okisato thought as he headed back inside to get breakfast.

Little did he know that he was underestimating both how nefarious the plan Ginji was in on was, or how grand it's scale was. A dark shadow, or rather a Deep Blue one, was looming over the tournament.