19 Chapter 19: Realization

Kanata's eyes darted to the little girl, Solomon, confused. Chips piled up in front of her like mountains, with a calm expression on her face as she surveyed the other players, her eyes flickering over their cards and chips. The table was made of rich mahogany, and the chips were made of heavy ceramic piled up in front of the other players, the pile of the man sitting beside Solomon notably bigger.

When he left in the morning, she was still working on her AI, saying something about gathering data. What was she doing here? Was this what she meant by investing their money?

Now he understood why the 'child' managed to earn over six billion over a few hours. With how intelligent Solomon was, she could do it. 'But winning six billion in gambling?' Kanata couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

How intelligent is the man who is now in control of his daughter's body? How did he manage to win that much? How could she turn a mere nine hundred million to six billion in a few hours? That was about seven times the money they had. 'I thought he was only good at S.T.E.M related things--'

"Don't try." The man beside him whispered, drawing Kanata's attention. He was a chubby black-haired man, a head shorter than Kanata, wearing a gold Rolex watch and an expensive red tuxedo.

"What do you mean?" Kanata asked, keeping his voice low.

"I can see the confusion on your face. You're new to the world of gambling, aren't you?" the man asked, returning his attention to the poker table. "People with intelligence-based quirk don't play in the same realms as us when it comes to things like this." He said with a sigh.

"Honestly, I am jealous." He continued. "If I had a quirk like that instead of my stupid quirk, my business wouldn't be struggling right now."

"...Right." Kanata nodded, returning his attention to the table. 'Does he even have an intelligence-based quirk?' He asked himself, and he knew the answer. 'No. So, how can he go up with them?'

He tried to think of something but couldn't. 'Maybe he used to gamble in his old life. After all, he is a forty-four years old man in control of his daughter's body.'

Kanata wondered what he had to offer Solomon. He was a criminal with a record that he knew would never go away. He had hoped that discovering his quirk would change things, but it didn't. How exactly would the quirk be of use to Solomon? A bodyguard?

"..." His mind went blank as he looked down at the clothes he was wearing and then at Solomon. "Damn." He mumbled with a light chuckle. 'I am just a parasite leaching off him.'

"This is boring." One of the two women sitting at the table suddenly spoke, rolling her eyes. She left her card face down and took a pipe from her pocket, lighting it with a snap of her fingers. "Let's just go all in."

"Keep the pipe. There is a ten-year-old amongst us." The man to the right of Solomon spoke as he pushed his thin-framed glasses pushed up on his nose. He appeared to be the most reserved of the group and stood about 182 cm with a sharp jawline, long blond hair slicked backward, cold blue eyes, and a lean yet muscular build. He wore a simple navy-blue suit, white undershirt, blue tie, and black shoes.

"I agree, this is boring." The second woman on the table leaned back in her chair, a sly smirk playing at the corners of her lips. She pushed all her chips forward. "All in."

The room fell silent as all eyes turned to the woman, who kept her eyes focused on her card. Soon the room burst out into an uproar.

"Is she for real!?"

"That's about nine billion yen down the drain if she loses!!"

"I know I am rich, but going all in on nine billion? Couldn't be me."

"Then you aren't rich enough."

"She has got to have a Royal Flush." The man beside Kanata mumbled, causing him to nod.

"There is no way she is that brave without being certain she won." Kanata agreed, hoping Solomon doesn't bet and lose all she had earned. 'I doubt he is that stupid.'

The room erupted into chaos as the other players stared silently at the woman. The woman's bold move had clearly caught them all off guard, except the man in the navy-blue suit, who kept staring at his cards. Even the first woman who had brought up the idea they should go all in hadn't thought someone would actually do it.

Smiling, the first woman pushed forward her chip. "All in." She knew she wouldn't lose. With the card in her hand, it would be dumb not to go all in. "Now, will the rest of you fold or bet?" She asked as she tapped her foot impatiently.

The burly man with a white beard sitting beside her and across from Solomon chuckled as he pushed his chips forward, his eyes glinting with amusement. "I know I lost, so let's have fun. All in." He seemed to be enjoying the excitement of the game, even though he knew he was going to lose.

With three people going all in, the pot now held more than twenty billion yen, enough money to last anyone a lifetime. Solomon's expression remained neutral as she studied her cards. After a moment, she pushed all her chips forward as well.

'IS HE STUPID!' Kanata roared in his mind, grabbing his head as he watched Solomon push all her chips into the pot. 'I hope he knows what he is doing.'

"Woah!" The burly man clapped with a grin. "Look! The little lady went all in!" He shouted as if the others didn't notice.

"Well, I know I would win, so better get as much as I can." She said, looking at the other players. 'I doubt Noah would lose to any of you. If he tells me to go all in, I will do it.'

"Tell them, little lady!" The burly man nodded. "Stop being a bitch and go all in already. Don't you have pride? Even a child has more confidence than you."

"There is no place for pride in this game." The man beside Solomon rebuked, pushing up his glasses as he discarded his cards face down. "I fold."

"You literally are the richest on that table." A balding man with a thick mustache spoke as he glanced at the man beside Solomon. "At least you could have bet five billion."

"Right? He has already won nine billion yen from the other rounds. Why not bet at least a few billion." Someone in the crowd added.

"What would it mean to you if you lost a few billion yen?"

"Where is the fun in folding?"

"Should have betted like a man."

The onlookers murmured, agreeing with the man, but it didn't seem to bother him. "I have no reason to lose my hard-earned money in a bet that there is a chance I would lose."

"Agreed." The man beside Kanata nodded.

"But there is no fun in that." Someone mumbled in the crowd.

"I am not here to have fun." He said in an icy tone, glancing at the person through the side of his eyes, causing them to flench and hide behind another person. "If you gamble for fun, you are a stupid creature, and you and your family should be exterminated to stop those genes from being passed down."

"Sheesh." A woman in the crowd mumbled.

"He is right." The man beside Kanata said with a shrug. "Gambling for fun might be one of the stupidest things someone can do."

"You must be really confident in your skill or not afraid to lose money to do that." Kanata agreed, his attention moving to the man sitting beside Solomon. "But I can see where that person was coming from. He should at least bet a few thousand yen. To keep it fun."

"Thousands?" The man glanced at Kanata, chuckling. "On that table, the minimum bet a player can place on a single hand is five billion yen. Thousands are too low for them."

'...' Kanata stared at the table silently, mumbling. "Damn. Rich people."

"Am I right?" The man nodded, smiling. "I wish I could be like that."

"Now, now." The balding man chuckled as he pushed all his chips into the pot. "All in." He said while glancing at the other two men. "Bet or fold. Hurry."

"Alright, old man." One of the men, who seemed to be in his mid-twenties, said as he raised his hands up in submission. "All in."

With that, everyone's attention turned to the last man, who sat in silence, staring at his card. "Check." He finally spoke, placing his card face down.

The room went silent as tension hung in the air, with everyone staring at each other. "Let's reveal our hands in the count of three." The burly man grinned playfully, his hands on his card.

"One, two, THREE!" His voice boomed through the room, and the players revealed their cards in unison. Solomon's eyes darted from hand to hand, trying to decipher who had the best hand.

"Four of a Kind." The burly man shook in defeat.

The other players glanced at each other's cards, a Jack high straight flush, Queen high straight flush, another queen high, a king high, and another kind high.

"Welp, I lost." The second woman, who had a Queen high straight flush, sighed, immediately standing up, taking her purse, and leaving without saying anything else.

The room fell silent as the eight players revealed their hands. Solomon smiled as she laid down her cards, revealing a King, Queen, Jack, 10, and 9 of spades.

Solomon glanced at her own card, a King, Queen, Jack, 10, and 9 of spades, and then at the first woman's card, a King, Queen, Jack, 10, 8 of hearts. "Close, but look like I win," she said, looking at the shocked woman.

"HOLY SHIT!" The burly man roared, slamming the table. "A fucking child beat us!!!"

The crowd busted out into cheers and applause, which kept growing louder as people congratulated Solomon on her win.

"Watch out, world, this kid's going places!"

"Her quirk hasn't matured, yet she beat those bastards."

"This is why most casinos ban people with intelli-based quirk. Holy FUCK!"

"That's my future wife!"

"I will wait eight years for you, little girl!"

"I hope you won't mind having a wife."

"SHUT UP, YOU PEDOPHILES!"

"I am rich. Who gives a FUCK if I am a pedo?!"

[This wasn't a wise idea, sir. This amount of attention from this elite class would bring more harm than good.]

'I know.' Solomon replied as she climbed down from her chair, eager to leave with her winning. 'But one good hack from you will retrieve their browsing history, even those from the dark web. We don't have to worry.'

"That was a great game." The first woman smiled, drawing Solomon's attention. "Who would have thought I would lose to a child?"

"You got some serious quirk, kid." The balding man sighed, slumping down on his chair. "Shame you aren't my daughter. You could have been my heir."

"Haha, thanks." Solomon laughed nervously, fixing her hoodie and sweatpants. 'It was all thanks to Noah. No one can beat him.'

[Thank you, sir.]

"I am jealous." The man in his mid-twenties mumbled, cleaning the un-existing tears from his eyes. "I wish my quirk was that good. I had to train to get to this point of intelligence."

"You are a great seedling." The burly man chuckled, grinning at Solomon. "I hope you don't let your pride fuck you up."

"Don't worry. I won't." She replied with a smile as she looked at one of the guards surrounding the table. "Can you please help me with this?"

One of them nodded as a purple aura surrounded all the chips in the pot, causing them to rise into the air. Without saying anything, he walked away, with Solomon following beside him.

'And once more, he earns us money while I stand at the sideline.' Kanata sighed. 'I can't believe I'm lucky enough to know him.'

"Great meeting you." The chubby man smiled at Kanata, patting his shoulder. "I hope we meet again, but I have some matters to attend to."

"Likewise." Kanata nodded, bringing out his buzzing phone as the man walked away. Looking at the caller ID, he noticed it was from Solomon's new phone. He glanced up from his phone and noticed her staring directly into his eyes, her amethyst eyes seeming to glow, causing him to shiver.

'Fuck, that was scary. How did he notice me in this crowd?' Kanata thought as he picked up the phone while Solomon turned away. "Hello?"

"Go to the cashier cage and tell them your name, adding the code double nine, eight, four, six. The cashier you tell that would lead you to a room where you will meet me." She said as she and the guard, with all her chips floating beside him, disappeared from view. "I need you to check out the chip since you own the bank account."

"Ok. I will be there." Kanata replied as she hung up. 'Damn. How did he see me?' He wondered, still spooked at how their eyes met. 'His mystery increases.'

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he followed her instructions and went to the cashier's cage, telling one of the men his name and the code 99846. As she said, the man led him into a VIP waiting room reserved for high rollers or players who have won large sums of money near the cashier's cage.

The room's walls were black, and the tiles were reflective obsidian, giving the room an austere, almost otherworldly atmosphere. Three white couches surrounded a glass coffee table, with a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall across from them. Elegant décors adorned the walls and shelves, and there was even a door leading to a private restroom.

Solomon was already there, sitting on one of the couches with a glass of water behind a servant bell on the coffee table and her eyes focused on her phone in hand.

"Is this your father?" The cashier asked after closing the door behind them.

Solomon, who had noticed them entering, nodded as the cashier smiled. He held out a pen and paper, handing it to Kanata. "Please fill out this form, and I would also need your Non-Driver ID Card or driver's license."

Kanata silently took the forum and sat on one of the couches, quickly filling it out while the cashier waited patiently. 'I never thought I would be filling up a form to get more than twenty billion yen transferred into my account, but here I am.' He thought as he selected the money to be directly transferred into his bank instead of them giving him a check. 'Damn. A lot has changed in only a week.'

He was finished after five minutes, handing it back to the cashier with his ID. The cashier scanned the forum before bowing. "Please wait while we count the chips. As your forum said, we will transfer the money to your bank account. While you wait, do you need a personal concierge service to attend to your needs?"

Kanata said nothing and glanced at Solomon for an opinion since he felt like he had no say in this. After a few seconds, she realized what was happening and looked up from her phone, shaking her head.

"I don't." She replied, turning at Kanata. "Do you?" She asked, to which he shook his head.

"Alright. Please, have a wonderful stay." The cashier bowed once more before turning and leaving the room. "If you need anything, ring the bell and someone will be on their way to you." He said as he closed the door behind him.

They both sat in awkward silence before Solomon cleared his throat. "You might be wondering why I decided to gamble our money." He mumbled, turning off his phone. "It's because it was the best way to make our money 'clean.' This way, we won't have to be limited to spending that won't draw suspicions since we won this amount of money fare and square from the casino---"

"Not we." Kanata sighed, cutting her off. "You."

"???" Solomon tilted her head. "What? I know I won it, but we are a team, aren't we..." She froze, her eyes widening. "Don't tell me you don't want to be friends anymore since I decided to gamble without your permission."

"Wha! NO!" Kanata quickly shouted, calming her. "How could you come to that conclusion?"

"That's how a lot of friendship ends." She said matter of factly. "When someone says, 'now we, you.' It means they want to end a relationship."

"...Where did you learn that from?" He asked, staring at her.

"From movies." She replied.

The room fell into silence before Kanata burst out into laughter, holding his stomach. "From movies?!" He asked in-between laughter. "I forgot you never had any friends even after living forty-four years."

"Come on. You didn't have to rub it in." She sighed, leaning back on the couch. "If you didn't want to end our relationship, why did you say that?" She asked, continuing the conversation.

Kanata calmed himself down, staring at her. "I just feel like a parasite, leeching off your success. You got us our interview, earned us our first nine hundred million, and now billions of yen will be deposited into my account, and I did nothing to help." He looked down at the ground, clenching his hands together. "And in any of those, I wasn't any use."

Solomon nodded. "You forgot that I would be sold in the black market if it weren't for you." She pointed out, causing Kanata to freeze. "But let's ignore that."

"I mean if you were with someone else. Nothing would change." He added, his voice low.

"Possible." Solomon replied, shrugging. "I mean, I don't really need you to succeed in this life."

"I knew it." Kanata chuckled, clenching his hands tighter.

"So, why do you think I am keeping you around?" She said, looking down at her phone. "Because we are friends."

The room fell into silence, which felt like it spanned hours, with Kanata's clenched hands softening. "That was cringe."

"I know." Solomon mumbled, covering her face. "I should have said bros, not friends..."

"Yeah." Kanata nodded with a chuckle. "Bros would have definitely been better."

"But what I am saying is that you shouldn't worry." She glanced at him. "No matter how useless you are to me, I won't throw you away. You are, after all, my first human friend."

"...I feel like I will fall in love with you," Kanata said with a straight face. "You need to stop seducing me."

"The fuck?" Solomon shivered, shrinking back on the couch. "I am literally a child right now." She pointed out, squinting at Kanata. "And, technically, your biological daughter."

Kanata stood up and opened his arm wide. "Love is the one force in this universe that transcends all boundaries, breaks down all barriers, and defies all limitations. It cares not for the gender, race, species, age, or any other characteristic of its object, for it simply is." He grinned, clenching his right fist. "Love is love, and it is the most powerful, transformative, and liberating force in existence."

"..." Solomon stared at the grinning Kanata as they stayed in silence before Kanata finally sat down. "You suddenly turn wise when you want to say the dumbest thing."

"I know." He sighed, smiling. "But don't worry, Solomon. You are smart, more than seven top dogs with an intelligent based quirk. I am your friend, but I am more like a parasite."

Before she could say anything, he continued. "If you find an opportunity that you can't bring me along, please go and leave me behind."

"I can't---"

Kanata cut her off, clenching his hands together. "Let me not be a shackle that chains your potential, but rather a stepping stone to help you soar higher." He looked at the ground. "Please, Solomon. Let go of me when the time comes and sore higher."

Solomon stared silently at her first friend before smiling. "Alright."

"Thank you..."

"I hate how profound you get when you are serious."

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Author's Note

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Holy shit, this chapter is long. 3420 words without author's note. I didn't even realize this until I posted it from docs to Grammarly for edition. Damn. I should probably not make it this long again because people, including me, don't like reading a chapter that's too long.

Update schedule might return to normal on the 11th instead of the 17th, because it turned out mid-term week was this week and not next week. Almost shat my pant when my roommate told me.