Foreign Lands (BC X HxH)

51 The art of gambling

Killua sputtered, but Gon laughed. "yes" Killua flushed, splashing Gon, "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FUCKING SECRET!" Kurapika chuckled. "Well, when you decide to make out in front of five people-" He hissed and threw up his middle finger at Kurapika. "That's not what it was!" Killua huffed, then sat down on the bank and removed his damp shirt. Finral's eyes widened, "Damn" He huffed. "Yall saw my life. Surely you saw this" Gon shook his head. "We saw everything you did I think" A-All of it... He shook his head to clear it, then cleared his throat as well. "Well, now I don't have to explain shit for the most part." Then he shot a glare at each of the bulls. "You are to keep your damn mouths shut and not spill a word about my life. Or I'll kill you, got it?" He said, with a slight smirk. "Hai!"

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"Straight Flush" Killua slammed his hands on the table, "Damn it!" The man sitting across from him chuckled, then pulled over the 500 Yule that they had bet so far. "He has that straight face of his so why isn't he using it?" Finral muttered. Captain Yami had taken Killua, Gon, Magna, Vanessa, and Finral to a casino. They had played 5 hands, Killua lost them all. Little do they know, I'm setting up my victory. He made his face obvious, showing exactly what he had in his hand. He did this to keep playing, observing his opponent. Well, he didn't make it obvious exactly but he made his tells easy to read. The man sitting before him was a professional gambler, he would definitely catch on. "One more hand! I'll beat your ass this time around" He said, putting out another 50 Yule. He had stocked up on it for betting, had about 800 from pickpocketing.

The man smirked and put in his own coins. "That's what you've said the last three hands" Killua grabbed his new cards, then glanced down at him. He puffed his cheeks out slightly in a 'frustrated breath' when he saw he only had a Three Of A Kind. He watched the man's face, his lips parted slightly. That's a negative tell- suddenly he shifted slightly, and settled back slightly in the chair as his negative tell disappeared. He's cheating. That wouldn't really make a difference however in the end. Killua pretended to smirk a little to hide his doubt, then some cards got shifted. "Royal Flush" he said, throwing the cards down. Killua growled as he slid the money over to his side. "I thought you said you were good at gambling" Magna said with a grin. He was about to snap when he saw Gon smirking slightly at him and he flushed.

Improves my odds. "Oi! I am! This guy's just one of those damn professionals with their unreadable bullshitty expressions" he grumbled the last part with a slight scowl as he put in more Yule and picked up another set of cards. Vanessa and Gon both snickered, then Magna taunted him again. "Oh really? Because it looks to me like your losing. You haven't even won a single hand" He pretended to flush in embarrassment and shot him a dirty look. "I bet your even worse! Probably got so desperate you started betting your own damn clothing!" Magna paused, and Killua smirked. Heheheheh, struck a nerve did I? Then he growled. "Your gonna start betting clothes soon as well it seems" He said gesturing to the table. Killua looked, and saw that the man had a Straight Flush. Killua hissed and then reached into his bag.

About 5 minutes later, he was out of Yule. Well, out of Yule he was going to bet. He still had 50 backup Yule in one of his pockets instead of the bag he usually kept it in. Killua made a show of reaching into his bag and gritting his teeth when he didn't have any Yule in it. The man chuckled, then stood up. "Well, I think that's it fo-" Killua slammed a hand on the table, making him pause and look over his shoulder in amusement. "I aint fucking done yet, put down the damn cash" He turned with a slight smirk. "What else you got?" Killua slipped his backpack off his shoulders and dropped it on the table with a thump. The man grinned and slid in about 80 Yule, but Killua held up a finger as he grabbed his cards. "Ah ah ah, put in all your money bitch"

He frowned slightly. "Why?" He gestured to the bag. "I'm going all in, this damn thing's worth more than whatever the hell you've got in that" He said, pointing to his big ass suitcase. He frowned slightly. "Show me what's in it first" he unzipped it then laid out the items on the table. It was a med kit, his 20 KG knife, his Yoyos, his taser, a few shiny expensive looking knives Gon had bought for him, and a ring made of pure silver. The man's eyebrows raised, then he set his suitcase and the rest of his money on the table. "Winner takes all?" He nodded and slipped the items back into his backpack, then Vanessa spoke up. "Kiddo, I think you should just drop out." She said worriedly. He glanced over with a slight frown at his companions, Finral and Magna also looked kind of concerned. "Your literally giving up all your weapons and possessions, isn't that all you own?" Magna said.

The man's eyes widened slightly, and he turned back to the table with narrowed eyes. "We're both going all out, whoever drops out now gives up everything" The man grinned. "I know all your tells brat, your walking away from this empty handed" No, I know yours and I can fake my own as easily as breathing. This game was over, it was the final stage. The cards were dealt, Killua shifted slightly and bit the inside of his cheek. Almost. He glanced up and saw the man lean back a little, looking at Killua. Almost. Cards got shifted around one more time, this was it. The man grinned, then threw down his cards. "Straight Flush" He heard a few mutters and disappointed murmurs from the spectators. Then he pouted slightly, as the man reached for the money he threw down his own cards. "Royal Flush"

There was a collective gasp from the spectators, it wasn't just the bulls who were watching. Half the damn casino was watching this match, the guy was one of the more popular gamblers. The man froze, eyes on the cards. "Wh-" Killua laughed, "You were so easy!" He looked up at Killua. "B-But, your tells, they were so easy to read! And-" Killua grinned, "When you have a good hand, you lean back in your chair a little. A bad hand, your lips part slightly. Somewhere in between, both" He chuckled, the man's eyes widening. "I pretended to have tells. Also, you were cheating." His eyes narrowed slightly as the spectators started to doubt him. "You have no proof" Killua smirked, hands behind his head. "Your negative tell would turn positive if you shifted in a certain way, I bet there's a bunch of cards stuck under the table with magic. I wonder why you conveniently suggested to hold our cards in our laps during the game?"

1239 words

To be continued...