The Evenly Matched Girl

Cover

**The Evenly Matched Girl** is the 45th chapter of Kakegurui Twin, written by Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Kei Saiki.

## Summary

Mary has three chips left after folding. Nagi has seven. Yukimi is worried. Nagi is certain that Mary’s hand wasn’t worth eleven. He believes that if this was the case, Mary wouldn’t have raised to two chips. Round 3 begins. Both players select their hands. Yukimi believes that the key to Full Count Blackjack is how the players use their weakest hand. She believes that neither Mary nor Nagi have used theirs yet. Yukimi envisages the worst-case scenario: Mary’s natural blackjack against Nagi’s weakest hand. Mary bets one chip. Nagi quickly folds, surprising every spectator. Tsuzura supposes that Nagi’s hand was worth eleven. Nagi knows that Mary thinks it’s weird he folded right away.

Nagi read Mary perfectly and figured out that she had a 21. Mary is frightened. Yukimi calculated that if Nagi’s prediction is right, his win is already set in stone. Nagi believes this too, as he’d have one natural blackjack and a twenty-one left. Mary would have one natural blackjack and an eleven left. He’ll just play the blackjack next to guarantee that he can’t lose. Nagi would go all in, and his blackjack would defeat the eleven or tie with Mary’s blackjack. If round 5 happens, Nagi’s 21 would beat Mary’s eleven.

Nagi tells Mary that there is no guarantee he read this 100% right. He suggests that Mary doesn’t have to join Full-Bloom, and they won’t join the call to action, but in exchange, they’d give Nagi the Beautification Committee chair. Soutarou is shocked by Nagi’s proposition. Nagi ignores him and adds that Mary would emerge unscathed, and Sakura would get to interfere with the call to action. Sakura is convinced that Nagi wanted this from the beginning. He only joined Full-Bloom for his own gain.

Soutarou attempts to convince Nagi to take his offer back. Nagi answers with a question. He asks him if he thinks that the call to action will actually work. Nagi is certain that the call to action will fail. He admits that he thinks Sakura is way stronger than Soutarou. Nagi doesn’t believe that Soutarou stands a chance. Soutarou gets angry. Kurumi also believes that the call to action will fail, but doesn’t say it. Mary declines Nagi’s proposition. Nagi asks Mary if she doubts his logic. He believes that he has got the advantage even if his last guess was wrong. Mary tells him that she only has one reason to turn down his proposal: she is convinced that she will win. Nagi finds Mary’s refusal idiotic, as he’s certain he gave her a good offer.

In round four, they both go all in. They both had natural blackjacks, so the chip count remains unchanged. Mary has four chips, and Nagi has six. Round 5 starts. Mary makes an offer to Nagi. She suggests that he folds on the spot. If Nagi folds, it’ll be a tie of 5 chips against 5. Nagi, who’s convinced he’ll win, refuses. He thinks Mary is bluffing, and that her remaining hand is worth eleven. Nagi lied about his hand, he actually has nineteen. He doesn’t have the same idea as Kurumi of the best hands in this game. His five hands were a natural blackjack, two twenty-one, a nineteen, and a thirteen. If he plays his weakest hand against an eleven, he’ll certainly win. Nagi believes that there is a 100% chance that Mary’s hand isn’t a twenty-one. Mary tells Nagi that he read her correctly, but he’s only half right. She goes all in. Nagi goes all in too. Mikura asks them to reveal their hands. Whoever wins this round wins the entire game.

Mary’s hand is worth twenty.

## Plot

Mary has three chips left after folding. Nagi has seven. Yukimi is worried. Tsuzura tells her that Mary has still got a chance if she’s played her hand worth eleven. Nagi is certain that Mary’s hand wasn’t worth eleven. If this was the case, Mary wouldn’t have raised to two chips. Soutarou asks Nagi if Mary could have been bluffing to mislead him. Nagi answers that Mary calculates her moves and wouldn’t take risks in a fair match. He has tested that during one of their Little Max games. Mary is angry, as Nagi is right. She doubts her approach to this game.

### Round Three

Both players select their hands. Yukimi believes that the key to Full Count Blackjack is how the players use their weakest hand. She believes that neither Mary nor Nagi have used theirs yet. Yukimi envisages the worst-case scenario: Mary’s natural blackjack against Nagi’s weakest hand. Mary bets one chip. Nagi quickly folds, surprising every spectator. Tsuzura supposes that Nagi’s hand was worth eleven. Nagi knows that Mary thinks it’s weird he folded right away. If Mary played a hand worth eleven, his move would have been the worst.

He explains that Mary is super competitive, and that’s why she accepted his challenge at Little Max and why she’s at the table now. The entire game, Nagi has been riling Mary up talking about how he can read her moves. He figured out that Mary must have thought that she needed to get back at him. He believes that Mary’s senses kept her back, and she bet one chip on a twenty-one. Nagi finds that to be an amateur move.

Mary is frightened, as Nagi was right. Tsuzura finds Nagi to be strong. Yukimi calculated that if Nagi’s prediction is right, his win is already set in stone. Nagi believes this too, as he’d have one natural blackjack and a twenty-one left. Mary would have one natural blackjack and an eleven left. He’ll just play the blackjack next to guarantee that he can’t lose. Nagi would go all in, and his blackjack would defeat the eleven or tie with Mary’s blackjack. If round 5 happens, Nagi’s 21 would beat Mary’s eleven.

Nagi tells Mary that there is no guarantee he read this 100% right. He suggests that Mary doesn’t have to join Full-Bloom, and they won’t join the call to action, but in exchange, they’d give Nagi the Beautification Committee chair. Soutarou is shocked by Nagi’s proposition. Nagi ignores him and adds that Mary would emerge unscathed, and Sakura would get to interfere with the call to action. Sakura is convinced that Nagi wanted this from the beginning. He only joined Full-Bloom for his own gain.

Soutarou attempts to convince Nagi to take his offer back. Nagi answers with a question. He asks him if he thinks that the call to action will actually work. Nagi is certain that the call to action will fail. He admits that he thinks Sakura is way stronger than Soutarou. Nagi doesn’t believe that Soutarou stands a chance. Soutarou gets angry. Kurumi also believes that the call to action will fail, but doesn’t say it. Mary declines Nagi’s proposition. Nagi asks Mary if she doubts his logic. He believes that he has got the advantage even if his last guess was wrong. Mary tells him that she only has one reason to turn down his proposal: she is convinced that she will win. Nagi finds Mary’s refusal idiotic, as he’s certain he gave her a good offer.

### Round Four

Nagi goes all in. Mary too. They reveal their hands. They both had natural blackjacks.

### Round Five

Mary has four chips, and Nagi has six. Mary makes an offer to Nagi. She suggests that he folds on the spot. If Nagi folds, it’ll be a tie of 5 chips against 5. Nagi, who’s convinced he’ll win, refuses. He thinks Mary is bluffing, and that her remaining hand is worth eleven. Nagi lied about his hand, he actually has nineteen. He doesn’t have the same idea as Kurumi of the best hands in this game. His five hands were a natural blackjack, two twenty-one, a nineteen, and a thirteen. If he plays his weakest hand against an eleven, he’ll certainly win.

Nagi believes that there is a 100% chance that Mary’s hand isn’t a twenty-one. Mary tells him that he’s right. Nagi is puzzled. Mary says that he read her correctly, but he’s only half right. She goes all in. Yukimi is surprised. Sakura says that it’s the last round, so it doesn’t matter. Nagi goes all in too. Mikura asks them to reveal their hands. Whoever wins this round wins the entire game. Mary’s hand is worth twenty.

## Quick References

### Character Appearances

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

### Chapter Notes

* Nagi folded during round three
* Round four resulted in a tie.
* Mary won round five, where they went all in.
* Mary won the game of Full Count Blackjack.