At the start of the night's activities, the girls found themselves at a serious impasse. They all agreed it would be a good idea to open with a game, but they couldn't agree on a single game. Everyone had a few different games, but they all agreed the games wouldn't be fair. Each game carried some sort of bias towards one of the girls. If only they hadn't agreed that the game had to be decided unanimously.
"Poker?" Chie asked.
"Naoto-kun's a detective," Rise answers. "That's a major advantage in poker. How about Blackjack?"
"It's been mathematically defeated since the 1950's," Naoto-kun reminded them. "Certainly I'm not the sole party-goer who knows basic strategy or the deviations to it in accordance with the count. Perhaps team charades?"
Yukiko looked at her junior, flashing a look that made the genius look feel like replacing her hat with a white conical cap. "With Rise-chan here? That's like asking for a fight with Kanji-kun. Besides, there's five of us here, one team would be short."
"Well, there's gotta be something we're all equally good at and wouldn't need teams," Chie stated, knowing that such a game must exist.
A long silence spread over the room as the five girls racked their brains, hoping to find something that matched Chie's description. Unfortunately, the problems continued, only this time as an internal debate, with the only external sounds being a group sigh. It took Naoto's analytical mind to break this stalemate.
"Perhaps we're approaching this in the wrong manner. It would suffice to find something at which we're equally poor."
"Ah!" Nanako exclaimed, much to the chagrin of her friends. She had to admit, an idea popping into her head immediately after Naoto's suggestion already told them Nanako's feelings. Then again, once she revealed her idea, they were bound to agree with her. After all, Yukiko had shared similar opinions last time they tried this. That didn't alleviate her fears, though.
She began, "I-I don't know about Naoto-kun, but the rest of us are about the same at cooking dinner."
Three faces quickly fell, and Naoto's was not one of them. Besides the statement's truth, all three of them flashed back to their cooking contest: three inedible omelettes while the boys teased them with each bite. Each of them were fairly certain they've made some improvement since then, but they weren't prepared to subject Nanako to a taste test again. Additionally, someone did mention that Nanako only knew how to prepare breakfast, which could make dinner about equal, but her successful breakfasts gave them the idea Nanako had a slight advantage. Worst of all, this time there was Naoto. She's never made a meal for them. For all they knew, she was comparable to Souji.
"I'll acknowledge that I'm not much of a cook," Naoto replied, making her schoolmates less apprehensive. "However, even as a contest, that's not much of a game, Nanako-chan."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a game," Rise interrupted. "We could use it to decide who picks the game. Best chef picks any game, no one can object."
"It seems like a fair contest, but how do we ensure there's no bias in the scoring?"
"We'll make a five-course meal: soup, appetizer, noodles, entree, and side dish. We'll each draw one of these courses out of your hat. For the one we draw, we don't cook it. Instead, we're a judge, and we decide what the chefs make before anyone starts cooking. We'll arrange the dishes randomly with a letter in front of them in this room while the judge waits in the room across the hall. When we're done, we get the judge to score them while we wait in that room for her to get us. And the judge scores them in secret on a piece of paper until every course is scored. That way no one has any clue about everyone's standing until it's all over, and we have Nanako-chan read off the results. And let's keep it simple: every dish either passses or fails, the winner is whoever makes the most passable meals."
"That's not really a five-course meal," Yukiko stated. "It's a four-course with the fourth course divided in two. A five-course meal usually involves dessert."
"There's a dessert to this meal," Rise continued. "In the event of a tie, the leaders make a dessert for the rest to judge, and the best dessert is the only one that passes. Unless there's three leaders, it'd be impossible to have another tie, and even then it's unlikely. The only problem would be a five-way tie, and we could make Nanako-chan the judge; we know she'll be honest."
"I suppose that would be fair," Naoto concludes. "Although, in the event the leader wants to play something physical, I propose we partake in a movie and digest before we jump into any additional games."
"Our Inn's kitchen can even be divided into four smaller kitchens, so I could close them to keep us from peeking and sabotaging. Throw in Naoto-kun's idea and I think we're golden."
"It sounds all right," Chie adds, "but there doesn't seem like much of a sense of urgency. What's a contest without that?"
"Well, I know how we could fix that," Rise says grinning. "To keep us on our toes and bring our best cooking skills, how about we add in a forfeit. Every time we make a dish that fails, we strip."
"What!?" the other girls exclaimed.
"D-Doesn't that create greater motive to lie?" Naoto asked, a blush spreading across her face.
"Not unless you want everyone clothed or bare," Rise answered. "There's no way to target one person. Even if you think someone's up to something, you can't get revenge without hurting everyone else. Plus, last time I checked, you were a human lie detector."
"I-I'm not sure," Yukiko said.
"You all agreed it would be a good way to decide the real game, and we need a motive to push us. What other method is there?"
While the other girls are mulling over this over, Rise's strip game got an approval.
"I like it!" Nanako jumped up. The idea of showing her body around the other girls wasn't appetizing, but this feeling was overruled by her own desire to play a game like this. None of my friends ever proposed a strip game, so this has to be an adult game, she reasoned. Nanako was overjoyed to be playing something like this.
The rest of the girls had to admit it: this was going to be a strip contest. Rise was adamant during the school trip to play The King's Game, and she's practically an adult. Nanako's feelings to play something like this could only be stronger. Even the eloquent Naoto was fully aware that any sense of reason would be countered by an unintentional guilt trip. Instead, she tried something that just might work.
"How do we make this fair for Nanako?" Naoto asked. "Based upon how she's dressed, it couldn't be a very fair contest with some stipulations."
"For starters, we could take our slippers off and let her keep hers. Each slipper matches for our jackets and accessories. After that...I'm not sure. If we go with socks, it's not really a motive, so those are out. With no slippers and socks off limits, we'd be showing real skin. But the rest of us would still be covered while Nanako is either topless or bottomless."
"I guess it doesn't work, after all!" Chie commented, flashing a relieved smile before hiding it behind faux disappointment. "Man, if only there was some way to keep it even."
Yukiko's condescending face returned, but aimed it at Chie this time. It was almost as if she completely forgot how the boys got them in swimsuits during the camp out, she thought. Even without this experience, Naoto was quick to join in the assault on Chie's unthinking remark. The contest wasn't officially closed, and for all they knew there was still a way to make it fair. Worst of all, there actually was a way.
"I could put on my night shirt," Nanako added. "It's just a tanktop, it would fit under my sweater fine, and I'd show my arms like the rest of you."
"That would be perfect," Rise exclaimed. "Okay, so we go without slippers and gamble our jackets, accessories, tops, and bottoms while Nanako gambles each slipper, her dress, and her sweater. If we need a tie-breaker, we'll let the winner decide what her competition takes off. I know Chie-senpai and Nanako-chan are in. How about you two?"
"Deal," Naoto and Yukiko sighed simultaneously.
This was the conversation that led the girls to their current position: around Nanako in a semi-circle awaiting the results. Even Nanako was noticeably flustered. Earlier, her face went pale when she saw that she was judging...
Chie Satonaka -
Gambled Clothing: Green jacket, sailor tie, skirt, blouse
Remaining Clothing: Socks, sports bra, panties
Yukiko Amagi -
Gambled Clothing: Sailor tie, red cardigan, skirt, tanktop
Remaining Clothing: Black nylons, lace bra, lace panties
Rise Kujikawa -
Gambled Clothing: Sailor tie, school jacket, skirt, blouse
Remaining Clothing: Stockings, bra, thong
Naoto Shirogane -
Gambled Clothing: Hat, school coat, pants, button up shirt
Remaining Clothing: Socks, bra, panties
Nanako Dojima -
Gambled Clothing: Left slipper, right slipper, dress, sweater
Remaining Clothing: Socks, night shirt, panties
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