Title: The Bet
Chapter: Oneshot/Ficlet
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: X (by CLAMP)
Character(s): Kotori, Kamui, Fuuma
Genre: General, Humor
Word Count: 800
Notes: For shineko.
Summary: Kamui loses a bet.

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The Bet

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Once, while Kamui was sitting amongst the gazillion stuffed animals on Kotori’s bed, Kotori confided in him that she had an idea. As with most of Kotori’s ideas, Kamui was wary. Once, they had tried to bake cookies for Fuuma, and the Monou home had been barely saved by a flustered Saya. The last – a climb up a tree to restore a baby bird to its home – had ended in near-fatal disaster. So, when she produced a deck of cards from behind her back, Kamui was, to say the least, very relieved.

“Let’s play cards!” she chirped happily, bouncing up and down on the mattress and sending many of the stuffed animals toppling forward.

“O-okay,” Kamui stuttered, looking hopelessly out the window for signs of Fuuma.

She handed the cards to him and waited with expectant amber eyes.

“Well?” she trilled, smiling. “Shuffle!”

Kamui flutteringly tried to shift the cards around in the expert manner he had seen his mother do it when she had been playing cards with Aunt Saya. He wound up dropping most of them. Kotori sighed and took them back.

“Silly Kamui,” she giggled, shuffling them around in her baby fingers. “It’s done like this!”

She wasn’t the expert that the adults were, but even Kamui had to admit that she was pretty good. He applauded enthusiastically, and she looked rather pleased with herself.

“Now,” she instructed, doling out the cards, “we are going to play Go Fish.”

Kamui had played this with Fuuma once before, so he nodded to show his understanding.

“But,” she said seriously, leaning forward and widening her already huge eyes, “there is going to be a bet.”

“A bet?” Kamui wondered aloud, staring at the little girl dubiously.

“A bet,” she confirmed, staring at him intently.

“O-okay, Kotori,” he said uneasily, afraid to tell her otherwise.

“If I win, you have to do what I say,” she laughed, “and if you win, I’ll do what you say!”

That didn’t sound so bad, Kamui thought. He nodded quietly, and they began to play. The game went both ways in the beginning, with Kamui and Kotori both pulling a number of cards from each other’s hands. But then, Kamui’s luck changed. For some reason, no matter what kind or what number he asked for, Kotori had nothing to give him. And for some reason, it seemed that she could see through his hands to what he had! She was winning, and she was winning big. In the end, her points tripled what he had. She clapped her hands and danced with a stuffed bunny, singing something about flowers and brides. Then, she ran out of the room.

Kamui was left to his own devices for a matter of seconds before the girl returned. In her hands, she grasped a ruffled dress and a crown made out of flowers. Kamui’s eyes shifted nervously to the window. Fuuma had explained “brides” to him the other day, and he was no longer comfortable with the notion. Then, the feared words came spilling out of her mouth.

“You have to dress up in this and be my bride, Kamui-chan!”

The words echoed over and over again in his head, and for a moment, he contemplated acting like a brat and refusing her. But he had lost, after all. He had lost the bet, and he had to do what she said. So, he wound up slipping the dress on and wearing the crown on his head. Kotori thought he looked pretty and said so. Kamui wanted to hide under her bed. She gripped his arm and led him around as if he were her personal pet. She even made him dance with her, which wouldn’t have been so bad if he wouldn’t have kept tripping on the dress.

He wanted to shrivel up and die when Fuuma came into the room. The other boy’s eyes bugged out of his head, and Kamui could tell he was holding back peals of laughter.

“Kamui,” he said lightly, “you look very pretty today.”

Kotori started jumping all around Fuuma, yelling about how Kamui was her pretty bride because he had lost at Go Fish. Kamui averted his eyes. Fuuma walked over to Kamui’s side and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“I always lose to Kotori at Go Fish, too,” he chuckled, winking. “She likes to keep her cards even when you ask for them, sometimes.”

Kamui’s eyes widened in disbelief and he couldn’t fight the blush that stained his cheeks.

“Now, you’re a blushing bride,” Fuuma laughed, slinging an arm around Kamui’s shoulders.

Kamui tried to hide his face in Fuuma’s armpit, even though it smelled of sweat. Kotori stopped bouncing around for a moment to stare strangely, and them she barreled over the both of them, giggling about something they could only imagine.

END.

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