InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fireside Chats ❯ Part Four: Just to Pass the Time ( Chapter 4 )

Update: A few clarifications added, fixed some nonsequitur moments, adjusted some grammatical inconsistencies and streamlined the punctuation.

Inuyasha broke a few twigs and tossed them into the fire to keep it going. "How long 'til sunrise, do you figure?"

Kagome checked the contraption on her wrist. "Another four hours or so, I think."

"Ugh," Inuyasha crossed his arms peevishly. "Humph."

Miroku eyed them both. "So.... I don't think anyone much wants to sleep now; what do you guys want to do?"

Sango mimed a slap at him; "Not what you want to do, you pervert!"

Miroku just glared at her; "For once, I was being serious. I wasn't even thinking of that."

"Uh huh," Kagome chuckled. "I have an idea! Anyone up for some poker? I just learned how to play last time I was home."

"Poker?"

"Yeah. It's a card game. Actually, it's kind of a form of gambling, too."

"And what will we be using for wagers?" Miroku got a look in his eyes that indicated to Kagome that the idea behind "strip poker" was far older than she'd realized. She blushed even as Sango mimed another swat at him.

"We could use leaves for poker chips, and the winner gets bragging rights."

"Are you as confused as I am, Shippo?" Inuyasha turned to the kitsune.

"More so, I think," the little fox cocked his head inquiringly. Kagome grinned as she dug out a pack of playing cards.

"Here, let me explain how you play it." Kagome privately thanked whatever deities had possessed her to introduce playing cards and card games before to the gang. This wouldn't be so difficult now, having played other card games with them before. Recently she'd taught them how to play Blackjack and Solitaire, so they understood suits and card ranks. It was just another step up to teach them poker.

"First of all, let's review the basics. Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The cards are ranked from high to low in the following order: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 down through 2. Aces are ALWAYS high. Aces are worth more than Kings which are worth more than Queens which are worth more than Jack, and so on. The cards are also separated into four suits, which I've already taught you. The suits are all of equal value, meaning that no suit is more valuable than another. It's a very democratic game, you know." She winked.

"Democratic?" Inuyasha cocked his head. "Wuzzat mean?"

"It means fair. Anyway: first you're dealt two cards. Glance at them and memorize them. Hide them. Then make your bets. You can bluff your way through. Poker is a thinking person's game."

"Inuyasha better stay out of it, then," Shippo said as he dove sideways out of Inuyasha's reach.

"What did you say, furball?!"

"With your two cards," Kagome went on, trying to ignore their hijinx, "and the 'flop' as it is called, you want to make one of the best 'hands' -- as good as you can. The Flop is what is called 'community cards'." She flipped out three cards. "That's the flop. Then there's the Turn, which is the fourth card, after the round of bets. And then the River, the last card.

"You want to make one of these hands, in descending order: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, or failing all that, the High Card."

She then laid out a series of card combinations. "This is a straight, Jack high. See? There's a 7, 8, 9, 10 and Jack. This beats anything below a Straight Ten High." She laid out another one. "This is a full house. See? Three jacks and two queens. If two people have full houses -- which is rare -- whoever has the most higher cards is the winner."

Miroku nodded thoughtfully. "Very intriguing."

"I'm fucking lost," Inuyasha said helplessly.

"AIIIEEEEE!!!" Shippo suddenly jumped and yelled, as Kirara growled. Miroku lunged to his feet, staff at the ready.

"Who goes there? Show and identify yourself!"

"Master Miroku! Don't hit meeeee!" a familiar high-pitched voice keened as the raccoon cowered in the shadows.

"Hachi! What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood and heard voices. I came to see what was happening and saw you. What are you doing?"

"I was just teachin' them how to play poker," Kagome said.

Hachi burst into gales of laughter. "Master Miroku, she's teaching you how to play poker?! You, the champion poker player of Sengoku Jidai?!"

Miroku konked the raccoon on the head hard with his staff; "Shut UP, you pest!"

"I thought as much," Kagome said with a sly grin. "You weren't asking any questions at all. Put your money where your mouth is, Miroku. Let's play a round or two!"

"Crooked monk," Hachi snickered. "Serves you right."

"I oughta suck you up for blowing my cover," Miroku snapped peevishly, toying with the prayer beads on his right hand. Kagome had just cleaned him out of money. Inuyasha and Sango had gotten into the game after a couple of plays, once they got the hang of it. Inuyasha couldn't bluff for shit, and so folded about every hand, but Sango and Kagome were trading "chips" (leaves) back and forth with carefree abandon. Shippo was cheerleading them.

Inuyasha stepped away after several hours of poker. Miroku watched him move across the campsite to the easternmost part of the site. The sky was getting lighter.

"Where'd Inuyasha go?" Kagome asked as she shuffled the cards together and put them back in their little box.

Miroku pointed, and just as they all looked, the first rays of daybreak speared through their camp. Inuyasha's hair billowed out from his shoulder blades as a misty aura pulsed momentarily around him. His hair faded within two heartbeats from black to silver. From the top of his head arched two pointed canine ears, and from his fingers now arched a set of sharp talon-like claws. When he turned to look at them, his eyes were their normal citrine gold. With a single upward thrust, he leaped up onto a tree-branch thirty feet off the ground.

He was back to normal. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. It was a nice change, to have an uneventful transformation back into his hanyou form. It seemed like Inuyasha was in dire straits by the time the sun came up, at least on the last several that they'd been with him on. Only that one time against Kagura had he not been wounded or battered, or half dead after a long night of fighting. And even then, he'd nearly gotten killed as it was. Koga could have easily turned on him and taken his head from his shoulders.

"Oh, fuck!" Inuyasha leapt down from the tree branch and landed beside Kagome. He drew Tetsusaiga.

Kagome froze in alarm as she saw what had drawn his attention.

Sesshomaru was back.

Disclaimer: Don't ask me where the hell the whole poker idea came from. It just struck me that I needed to draw out the night somehow, and figured I'd throw something random in.

Author's note: The poker form used here is Texas Hold'em Poker

Credits: instructions on how to play poker are paraphrased from
- http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/poker/poker.html
- http://www.playwinningpoker.com/articles/03/23.html

last updated: August 28, 2005