As we sat there in silence, a minute passed.
Hinode's gaze was fixated on me, while Kinoshita's eyes roamed restlessly around the room.
Abruptly, the creaking of a door hinge shattered the stillness. Kinoshita turned to see who it was, but Hinode and I remained still. It was just the waiter, carrying a tray with two glasses filled with an unfamiliar liquid.
Hinode must have ordered it, but I didn't bother to ask what it was. He placed two brimming glasses on the table with a gentle clink and exited the room, shutting the door with care.
Hinode's gaze shifted from me to the drinks, his eyes now fixed on the two glasses of liquid that had been set down beside Kinoshita. I followed his gaze and finally took a closer look at the beverages. - one looked like a classic Coke, while the other was a colorful concoction of fruit juice.
But what really caught my eye were the straws - long, weird, and bizarrely twirling straws that extended far above the rim of the glasses.
The unconventional straws were identical in both drinks.
"Hm, can you bring the fruit juice to me?" Hinode requested, his gaze now fixated on Kinoshita.
"Uh, yeah, sure..." Kinoshita attempted to reach for the juice, but it was slightly out of her grasp.
It was positioned at the center of the table, closer to our side, while what appeared to be a glass of Coke sat closer to Kinoshita.
"Nevermind."
The situation now felt awkward, as Kinoshita stood slightly hunched with her left arm holding the table for balance, and her right arm extending toward the glass.
"Mmm..." she murmured.
"I said forget it," Hinode repeated with a raised tone.
Kinoshita was taken aback and quickly withdrew her arm, causing her to lean back abruptly in her seat, and her elbow accidentally hit the table. In a split second, one of the glasses wobbled precariously, and the contents spilled towards Kinoshita.
Kinoshita's hands trembled as she raised them up in a gesture of apology, her eyes widening in surprise as the dark liquid spilled over her dress, leaving spreading black stains in its wake.
"Ah..."
"What are you doing," Hinode's voice cut through the tense silence.
"I-I'm sorry," Kinoshita stammered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
"I'll take some napkins," Hinode said as he rose up from his seat.
With a quick stride, he reached the door and turned the handle, allowing it to creak open. He stepped out into the hallway, his right hand fiddling with something on the door, as he slowly and strangely pulled it shut with his left.
His actions were strange and almost robotic, as if he were programmed to perform this task in a specific manner. I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing, but before I could voice my curiosity, he had already disappeared out of sight.
"..."
Not a word was uttered, and the only sound was the faint hum of the air conditioning unit. Another minute passed, and Hinode was still nowhere to be seen.
As we sat there, the realization that the spilled drink might have left a permanent stain on the tablecloth slowly dawned on Kinoshita.
"I-I think this is gonna be a stain..."
I gave her a nod, and she stood up from her seat, revealing the black stains on her dress. She made her way towards the door, her steps hesitant and her head hung low.
As she left the room, Hinode finally returned, holding a pile of napkins in his hands. He looked at the empty seat where Kinoshita used to sit, then turned his gaze to me.
"You took your time."
"Sorry about that, I couldn't find them at first," Hinode replied as he began cleaning up the spill that was on the table.
After a moment of rubbing the napkin against the table, he released it and withdrew his hand, settling back into his seat once more.
"What do you say about joining the student council?"
"What do you mean?"
"You, join, the student council."
"..." I shook my head. "I'm not interested."
Hinode let out a rough breath, chuckling under his breath as he looked down.
"Not surprising, but why not?"
"Like I said, I'm just not interested."
"I see," he nodded slowly, his gaze drifting away momentarily before returning to me. "Well, do let us know if you ever have a change of heart. The student council would welcome you with open arms."
I gave a slight nod, acknowledging his words without making any promises.
With a slow and deliberate movement, he reached out his right arm to retrieve the tablet, his eyes fixed upon it for a few moments before returning it to the table.
"We still have plenty of time..." he mused, his voice trailing off. "Hm, how about a game?"
"What do you mean by that."
"We have one hour," he replied, his tone relaxed. "Don't worry, I won't keep you for more than an hour."
It was not hard to guess what he meant by that - the karaoke session would likely end in an hour.
But why didn't he just say so in the first place.
"I guess I can't refuse, can I?"
"The choices are entirely yours. Perhaps if you play the game, you may find a flicker of interest in winning."
As for me, I don't really mind engaging in a small game.
"I don't mind."
He then dipped his hand into his pocket, retrieving both a pen and a piece of paper.
"Shall I explain the rules?" he inquired, his gaze piercing into mine.
"No need."
He squinted his eyes, his expression somewhat annoyed.
"Well, I wouldn't want to win that easily," he remarked.
"Okay."
"The rules are simple," he began, placing the pen and paper onto the table. "It's called Mastermind, or atleast it's what I call it," he continues. "There are two players, that face off against each other. Which is the code-maker, and the code-breaker."
Code-maker and code-breaker, huh? I must say, it doesn't sound very interesting to me. It's actually really simple, at least from my perspective.
"The code-maker creates a secret code using these four color markers, is what it supposed to be. But since I don't have four color markers, we'll just use a normal pen and a piece of paper." he explained. "The code-maker arranges them in a specific order, the code-breaker shouldn't know the code."
I just nodded as Hinode explained the game, but it's been a while since Kinoshita left. Not that it held any great significance for me, but the situation was strange, to say the least.
"The code-breaker says a sequence of four colors," Hinode continued. "Then, I'll provide feedback to the code-breaker, which is you, based on the accuracy of the guess. I'll tell you the number of correct colors in the correct position and the number of correct colors in the wrong position."
"I must say, that's a rather simple game," I commented as soon he was done explaining the rules.
It seems that this game shares some similarities with the classic board game called Mastermind. However, it is distinct in that it only requires two players without special equipment, which adds an extra layer of simplicity to the gameplay.
"—The ability to outsmart your opponent by deducing their thought process is a skill that can be honed and perfected with practice. It's not just a game of chance."
"Well, you certainly make it sound a little bit more interesting."
Interestingly, the original Mastermind game was invented back in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, a highly accomplished Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. The game has since become a classic in its own right, and it has an interesting history.
"Hmm, let me think... to add some excitement to this game, how about this: if you fail each guess, you'll have to answer any questions I ask."
"Sure, I don't mind."
A faint chuckle escaped his lips, hardly audible if not for the sound of his breath that accompanied it.
It seemed as though he had a plan in mind.
"Why don't we settle on our roles through a game of rock-paper-scissors?"
In this scenario, the code-maker held the upper hand since they had no stakes. Nevertheless, I didn't really mind which role I took on.
After all, I can win regardless of my position.
Mastermind (Two players face off against each other: the code-maker and the code-breaker) :
The code-maker creates a secret code using four color names (written on a piece of paper) and arranges them in a specific order. The code-breaker does not know the code.
The code-breaker tries to guess the secret code by saying a sequence of four colors. The code-maker then provides feedback to the code-breaker based on the accuracy of the guess.
The feedback is provided orally. The code-maker says the number of correct colors in the correct position and the number of correct colors in the wrong position. For example, the code-maker might say "You have one color in the correct position and two correct colors in the wrong position."
The code-breaker uses the feedback to make another guess, and the process repeats until the code is cracked (i.e., the correct code is guessed) or until the code-breaker runs out of guesses. The code-maker keeps the secret code hidden on a piece of paper throughout the game.
If the code-breaker gets the code wrong, they have to answer any questions that the code-maker asks.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel