The Explaining Girl

Cover

**The Explaining Girl** is the 44th chapter of Kakegurui Twin, written by Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Kei Saiki.

## Summary

Soutarou was a housepet. Nagi gave Soutarou one million yen to free him, and made him join the Full-Bloom society. Soutarou emphasizes that abandoning the call to action is betraying Aoi. Nagi believes that he knows what Mary is capable of and is convinced that he won’t lose. Soutarou tells Nagi that he’s a level above other people and can’t even imagine him losing.

Sakura is surprised to hear that Mary already went against Nagi. Yukimi tells her that it didn’t go well for them. Sakura says that nothing is a sure win in gambling, but those who struggle all the way to the end for victory are stronger. Mary is confident that she’ll win. Sachiko explains Full Count Blackjack’s rules. The Setup phase begins. Mary and Nagi each create five hands with thirteen cards in three minutes. Every hand has two or three cards. To hide which decks have two cards, a blank card can be used. All non-players leave the room during this time. Kurumi explains to Tsuzura and Yukimi what kind of hands Mary and Nagi should try to make.

There is no reason not to make a natural blackjack with an ace and a ten or face card since it’s the strongest hand. That leaves four hands. If a player uses ace and king, the rest of the cards add up to 74. So it’s possible to make three hands of 21 with 11 remaining. Sakura believes that Nagi noticed that, as he’s good at tricky games like this one. Meanwhile, Mary thinks Nagi is scheming something, and that there is only one way to beat him: to come up with an even more surefire scheme. After the selected hands, round 1 began.

Mary bets one chip. Nagi raises to three chips. Mary calls. They both have 21. Neither of them have a natural blackjack, so it’s a draw. Yukimi finds Mary betting three chips to start crazy. Kurumi says that they both caught on to the best strategy. A 21 can only lose to one of five hands if they’ve used the same strategy as Kurumi, so it’d be crazy to fold. She explains that the key to Full Count Blackjack is to win big with a natural blackjack and keep the losses from the weak hand to a minimum. Round 2 starts. Nagi bets one chip. Mary raises two chips. Nagi tells Mary that she’s weak-willed and goes all in. Tsuzura thinks Mary has to fold. Sakura brings Tsuzura away to talk to her. She explains that folding costs chips, which gives the player a disadvantage in the later showdowns. Also, if Mary folds, neither hand will be revealed. Mary didn’t instantly call, so she surely doesn’t have a natural blackjack. If Mary folds, for the rest of the game, she’ll have to think: “Does Nagi still have his natural blackjack?” That doubt can be lethal. Sakura would have called if she was in Mary's place.

According to Nagi, Full Count Blackjack is about reading your opponent. He thinks that this means victory is his. He believes that the things his opponents do suggest what they think. Nagi is convinced that he knows Mary’s thoughts really well now, as she folds. Nagi receives two chips.

## Plot

### How Soutarou joined Full-Bloom

An upperclassman bullied Soutarou for money when he was a first-year. Another upperclassman asked him to stop, as Soutarou was a housepet. The former explained that Soutarou’s family runs a huge construction firm, so he must have money. Soutarou answered that his parents are rich, not him. Soutarou wants to be free by himself, not by clinging to his parents. Nagi arrived and took a short bamboo sword. He hit Soutarou in the head, shocking the upperclassmen. They ran away as Nagi started bullying Soutarou.

Nagi explained to Soutarou that little violence sends people like them running. He then told Soutarou that he’d free him by giving him one million yen. Soutarou answered that he doesn’t take charity. Nagi asked him to pay him with his body. He said that he knows the perfect place for self-improvement: the Full-Bloom society.

### Full Count Blackjack Game

Soutarou emphasizes that abandoning the call to action is betraying Aoi. Nagi believes that he knows what Mary is capable of and is convinced that he won’t lose. Soutarou tells Nagi that he’s a level above other people. He can’t even imagine Nagi losing.

Sakura is surprised to hear that Mary already went against Nagi. Yukimi tells her that it didn’t go well for them. Sakura says that nothing is a sure win in gambling, but those who struggle all the way to the end for victory are stronger. Mary is confident that she’ll win.

### Rules

The rules are explained by Sachiko. First, you set up your hands. You'll use all thirteen cards in a suit. Using this full set of cards, you'll create five hands of two to three cards. These hands follow Blackjack rules- the closer they come to twenty-one, the better. Aces can be one or eleven, and face cards are ten. An ace and a ten or face card form a natural blackjack, the strongest hand. Once you finish setting up, it's time to play. You'll put your hands against each other in any order you like. This is the 'showdown'. With each showdown, you'll place bets. Each person starts with five chips. You must bet at least one chip per turn. You can bet one chip and fold, or you can bet more to make your opponent fold. If one side folds, there's no need for either player to reveal their cards. After five of these showdowns, whoever has more chips is the winner.

### Setup Phase

Mary and Nagi each create five hands with thirteen cards in three minutes. Every hand has two or three cards. To hide which decks have two cards, a blank card can be used. All non-players leave the room during this time. Tsuzura and Yukimi don’t know what kind of hands they should try to make. Kurumi finds it easy. There is no reason not to make a natural blackjack with an ace and a ten or face card since it’s the strongest hand. That leaves four hands.

If a player uses ace and king, the rest of the cards add up to 74. So it’s possible to make three hands of 21 with 11 remaining. Sakura believes that Nagi noticed that, as he’s good at tricky games like this one. Meanwhile, Mary thinks Nagi is scheming something, and that there is only one way to beat him: to come up with an even more surefire scheme. The setup phase ends.

### Round 1

They select hands. Mary bets one chip. Nagi raises to three chips. Mary calls. They both have 21. Neither of them have a natural blackjack, so it’s a draw. Yukimi finds Mary betting three chips to start crazy. Kurumi says that Mary’s decision wasn’t dangerous, and they both caught on to the best strategy. A 21 can only lose to one of five hands if they’ve used the same strategy as Kurumi, so it’d be crazy to fold. She explains that the key to Full Count Blackjack is to win big with a natural blackjack and keep the losses from the weak hand to a minimum.

### Round 2

Nagi looks at Soutarou. Soutarou is very confident that Nagi will win. Nagi bets one chip. Mary raises two chips. Nagi tells Mary that she’s weak-willed and goes all in. Tsuzura and Yukimi are shocked. Either he’s taking a risk to make Mary fold or he’s going all in because he has a natural blackjack. Tsuzura thinks Mary has to fold. Sakura brings Tsuzura away to talk to her. She explains that folding costs chips, which gives the player a disadvantage in the later showdowns. Also, if Mary folds, neither hand will be revealed. Mary didn’t instantly call, so she surely doesn’t have a natural blackjack. If Mary folds, for the rest of the game, she’ll have to think: “Does Nagi still have his natural blackjack?” That doubt can be lethal. Tsuzura asks what Mary should do then. Sakura answers that she would have called.

According to Nagi, Full Count Blackjack is about reading your opponent. He thinks that this means victory is his. He believes that the things his opponents do suggest what they think. Nagi is convinced that he knows Mary’s thoughts really well now, as she folds. Nagi receives two chips.

## Quick References

### Character Appearances

* Soutarou Ibuki
* Nagi Kamishimo
* Tsuzura Hanatemari
* Mary Saotome
* Sakura Miharutaki
* Yukimi Togakushi
* Kurumi Kurume
* Sachiko Juraku
* Mikura Sado

### Chapter Notes

* Soutarou can’t imagine Nagi losing.
* The first round of Full Count Blackjack ends with a tie.
* Nagi wins the second round of Full Count Blackjack because Mary folded.
* Nagi earned two chips from Mary folding.