I slumped down on my seat without even turning my head towards the entrance, where Ruby stood with a grin.
Did Professor Zia actually listen to me? I mean, technically, these were people I've met before... but honestly, I'd rather be with randoms.
Ruby and Irene just don't seem like a good combo in any shape or form.
While Zach sat down next to me, Ruby took the last remaining seat across from him. Without technology, all of us awkwardly stared out the window except Ruby, who was staring ahead with a smile.
Did Ruby have something to do with this odd group?
After a couple more minutes, the speakers of the bus announced.
"The bus will now depart and arrive in approximately 8 hours. We recommend that you use this time to get to know your group members and make new friends!"
After that, the bus started moving, but it moved faster than I expected, so I was immediately jerked upwards from my seat and right towards Irene, who was across from me.
Well, Irene didn't notice, as she was trying her best to avoid looking at me. She stared at the floor, the walls, the window, and even Ruby with a permanent disgusted expression.
Seeing an opportunity to end this awkward silence, Zach immediately stepped up and said.
"Seeing as we'll be together for the next few days, why don't we all introduce ourselves and give one fun fact?"
Is he a camp counselor?
Looking at the scenery of the sea that I had dived into not too long ago, I replied.
"I'm good."
Zach's exasperated expression only grew as Irene remained silent while staring out the window; however, his expression did a quick 180 when Ruby responded cheerfully.
"Sure, we might as well."
Sending me a menacing glare that I could only see through the reflection of the window, Ruby said.
"Right, Ren?"
Well, she is technically my boss, so I can't really say no to her. Anyway, looking out the window is giving me a headache. Seeing too much causes my brain to be overloaded with information, which in turn causes me to have a headache.
Closing my eyes, I replied.
"Alright... let's have Irene go first because she's clearly in desperate need of friends."
If I was going down, then Irene was going right down with me.
Silently looking away from the window and back at me, a small flame began to generate on the palm of Irene's right hand. The flame was pure red, and its edges were as sharp as my daggers.
"WAIT, WAIT IRENE, CALM DOWN, HE WAS JOKING."
Letting out a scoff at Zach's panicked words, I looked straight back into Irene's fiery red eyes before saying.
"Don't worry, Zach; I don't think her flames can even cause the fire alarm to go off."
The size of fire extended beyond the palm of Irene, threateningly growing closer and closer to me while Irene replied.
"You wanna test it?"
Interrupting our heated confrontation this time was not Zach but Ruby, as she cheerfully announced.
"Well, since no one else wants to go first, I'll go. My name is Scarlett, but you can call me Ruby. For my fun fact, I enjoy playing knowledge-based games like chess."
Reaching into her backpack, Ruby pulled out a set of cards before continuing.
"I even brought a deck of cards if anyone wants to play cards."
Enticed by the possibility of playing poker, I immediately raised my hand to shuffle the deck, which would give me control over what game we would play, but Ruby stopped me.
"You'll have to introduce yourself to play!"
"I'm Ren, and people say my hobby is harassing girls."
"..."
"..."
"..?
Catching Ruby off-guard by my interesting introduction, I swiftly grabbed the deck of cards from her hand and began shuffling, ignoring the starstruck gazes of the entire group.
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Zach also introduced himself.
"You can call me Zach, and as you can see by the camera around my neck, I enjoy taking pictures. As an avid member of the academy photography club, I have been assigned the task of documenting this trip, so I hope that you'll help me find some interes-"
Still shuffling the deck of cards, I interrupted Zach and turned to Irene.
"Good for you, Zach. Mrs. No friends, what about you?"
Incited by insult, Irene immediately replied.
"Mr. Harasser, you all already know my name, and my hobby is magic research."
"Mrs. Friendless, don't you think you should be good at magic research if it's your hobby?"
The things she said about Lily and the original Ren were still fresh on my mind, so I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to jab back at her.
Of course, she is good, even maybe the best, for her age at magic research, but after not being selected for the student council, I doubt she feels that way.
Also, it was fun to watch Zach's face grow more and more flustered at every exchange. This trip was going to be the most stressful few days of his life.
"Mr. Creep, are you saying that you're good at harassing girls?"
"Are saying that you agree with my sentiment that you are not good at magical research? I was merely pointing out a singular contradiction in your introduction; it does not apply to me."
Before the flames could reemerge from Irene's hands, Zach quickly interrupted while Ruby sat back and laughed.
"a-about the C-card game, Ren?"
Placing two cards in front of each of us, I replied.
"Oh, that, let's play a game of poker. Of course, gambling isn't gambling if we don't lose anything..."
Perking up at my hint, Irene and Ruby asked in unison.
"What exactly are you suggesting?"
"Why don't we allow the winner to command the ultimate loser of the poker game around the entire trip?"
As I was confident in my poker ability, I believed that I could win the game while simultaneously making Ruby the loser. If I didn't have to worry about Ruby going off and causing some variables, my plans on the cruise ship would be a lot more effective and planned out.
Placing her hands on the two cards in front of her, Irene sighed before saying.
"True to your name, you really are a creep, but I'll play along."
??? How does saying that make me a creep?
Flipping over her two cards, Ruby stared at them before also saying.
"You know, I am really starting to believe those rumors..."
Just then, I felt a pat on my shoulder, so I turned around and saw Zach looking at me with a pitying gaze.
"Don't worry, Ren, I trust you."
"..."
I wasn't even mad at him for trying to sympathize with me; I was more confused about why he trusted me. I mean, I hadn't even denied the rumors spreading about me, so why did he believe me? Just, what the hell is going on in this guy's mind?
Brushing Zach's hand off my shoulder, I glanced at my two cards, a ten-high and an ace, before putting three open-faced cards on the table.
Instead of immediately looking at the open cards, I used my enhanced eyesight to examine each subtle reaction and movement of my group mates.
Looking at Zach, I saw his jaw muscle twitch ever-so-slightly into a grimace, signifying his discomfort or dissatisfaction with his current cards.
He would probably fold under a little bit of pressure.
Glancing at Irene, I saw her rate of breathing increase, probably due to excitement. Her eyes kept glancing back and forth between her cards and the cards on the desk as if she were confirming her good cards.
Turning my eyes towards Ruby, I was ready to examine her when suddenly, two soft and sweet words escaped from her mouth.
"I fold."
Next time, then.
Ignoring Ruby's fold, I raised the bet, causing Zach to fold, and then placed the fourth card on the desk.
The current state of someone wasn't the only thing I used when making bets in poker. Irene clearly suffered from a lack of confidence due to her rejection from the council, so even if she had good cards, she would begin to doubt herself as time passed.
Raising the bet even more, I saw some self-doubt appear on Irene's expression as she tersely bit her lip before matching my bet.
After placing the fifth card on the desk, I called out, maintaining my calm and composed poker face.
"All In."
Instantly, Ruby and Zach's gazes shifted to Irene to await her choice, causing her to feel even more pressure and even less confident as all eyes were on her.
Realizing that she had bet less than 10% of her money, Irene placed her cards at the bottom of the deck and replied.
"I fold."
The next hour progressed smoothly as we continued playing poker. Besides a couple of rounds where I folded early on due to both Irene and Kevin having good cards, I was almost always winning money.
There was one problem, though...
As I glanced at Ruby, who was holding her two cards between her fingers, she calmly replied.
"I fold."
This was the 7th time in a row that Ruby had folded. Not once in the past hour had she made it past the reveal of the 3 cards on the desk.
What good was it winning if Ruby wasn't the one I got to command around?
Both Irene and Zach were almost lower than Ruby in balance, so I had to stop winning. However, Ruby wasn't dumb and would notice if I suddenly started throwing the game.
For the first time, I wished that my luck stat was actually G...
After briefly calculating everyone's balance, Zach announced the results.
"In first place is Ren, who won by a whopping 500 silver coins. In second is me, third is Ruby, and finally, fourth is Irene."
My luck had let me down once again... what's new?
While Ruby winked at me, Irene sent me a death glare as she recalled the reward given to the winner of the poker game and said.
"Don't even think about it."
Ignoring her comment, I got up from my seat, left our group's section, and headed to the bathroom on the bus. After walking a couple of steps away from the section, I immediately turned around and saw Ruby following me.
"What was that all about? And don't answer with another question."
"Shouldn't you be even a little happy? I mean, you get to command that girl around the entire trip."
"You want me to get down on both knees and thank you?"
"I'm not forcing you to, but you know, if you had any semblance of gratitude, you should."
"Oh, shut it."
Squeezing by me, Ruby walked a couple of steps before turning around and saying.
"Oh, is it possible that you wanted to command me around? Now that I think about it... Hmm, I mean, it would be interesting if our roles were swapped."
Did she see right through me at the start..?
Realizing that hesitating while talking to her would bring more suspicion, I replied immediately.
"Where does all this bullshit come from? You seem to have an endless amount of it stored in that head of yours."
"Oh, come onnn, I was just joking around. Unless you maybe took it seriously?"
Disregarding her comment, I turned around and headed back to the section. There was no way I was going to a bathroom on the bus, no matter how luxurious it was.
You may say, Ren, didn't you use the bathroom on a dangerous mountain range for three days straight? But I've come a long way since then.
As I entered the section, I saw Zach trying to sleep while Irene was staring out the window, paler than usual.