“Control?I wish. I am presently being sewn up with a fishing hook and twine.”
“Ah, I see. Should I order us more beers?” Ramesh asked. “Or maybe we should get something stronger?”
Keishin shook his head. “I just need a distraction.”
“From your Frankenstein surgery?”
“From the dice game I am about to lose.” He sighed. “I have the worst luck. I never win at that sort of thing. Any tips?”
“Are you planning on cheating?”
“No.”
Ramesh shrugged. “Then I don’t have any advice for you.”
“Ah, Ramesh. What would I do without you?”
“Right now? Probably be screaming in pain.” Ramesh scooped a spoonful of nasi goreng.
“I wish you could see Hana’s world. I can’t even begin towrap my head around it. It’s beautiful and…” Keishin ran his thumb over the droplets that had condensed over his beer.
“And what?”
“Frightening at the same time.”
“The best mysteries are,” Ramesh said. “And how about Hana? Does she scare you too?”
“More than anything ever has.”
Ramesh’s brows shot up. “Well, that was honest. I wasn’t expecting that from you.”
“If I can’t be honest with my oldest and dearest imaginary friend, who can I be honest with?”
“I have good news for you then.”
“Oh?”
“You will win the dice game.”
“I just told you that I’ve never been able to win at that sort of thing.”
Ramesh rolled his eyes. “What kind of physicist are you? Haven’t you heard of Ramesh Kashyap’s Second Law of the Universe and Dice Games?”
“I must have skipped class that day.”
“It states that the probability of winning a dice game is directly proportional to what the player has at stake.” Ramesh lifted his beer bottle in a toast. “And for the first time in your life, Kei, there is something every atom in your body is completely and utterly terrified of losing.”
—
Keishin held the blue pearl between his forefinger and thumb, watching the sun set over the little ocean inside it. It was difficult to imagine how the hours he and Hana had spent discovering each other’s bodies fit inside something so small.
Natsuki held out her palm. “I will keep the pearl safe until the game is over.”
Keishin reluctantly handed the stone over to her.
Natsuki admired the stone against a lantern’s light. She glanced from Keishin to Hana with a knowing smirk. “Definitely a prize worth winning.”
“What now?” Keishin said.
