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Gambler Chapter 8: Heroism
🕑 Added 2025-08-05 16:05:51 +0000 UTCThe Gambler's Guide to Heroism
Chapter 8: Hero Time
~Kotaro Hakari~
I woke up to the feeling of my entire body being one massive bruise and the smell of toast invading my nose.
As would be expected, my first thought was-
'It's way too early in the morning to be dying of a stroke now.'
Strokes were more like afternoon activities. I had gone through too much last night to just go out from a random stroke, but then I noticed the sound of fire and the smell of eggs and sausage and... feminine humming?
"Hmm~ hmm~~ hmm~"
I cracked an eyelid open from my resting position on the couch to see Toga shaking her hips to the rhythm of the song she was humming while standing in my kitchen, with quite a few plates already set on my table.
...I am too hungry to question anything right now. Normally, I wouldn't be as hungry as this but before sleeping I had pulled out Hypnos' Mask and put it on, since it did talk about increasing regeneration while sleeping. And it certainly did what it said on the tin, despite looking like an otherwise mundane and unnoteworthy mask.
"Good morning, Toga."
Cracking my neck, I pulled myself off my bed. I felt pretty darn stiff and bruised but my lacerations were doing way better. I was glad of my self first aid expertise since I had to continue patching myself up after Toga fell asleep. Seeing me up and awake Toga jumped in place and gave me a bright smile.
"Goood morning Hakari-kun~! Your cute girlfriend has prepared breakfast for you! I'm sorry I couldn't stitch your wounds properly yesterday. Just give me a minute to finish with the eggs~."
Hearing the guilty undertone of her voice I noted that she probably made breakfast for me out of remorse for leaving me to tend to my own wounds and maybe even because she simply wanted to. Heeding her words, I went to the bathroom and washed up, splashing my face with water and feeling alive, aside from my grievous injuries I actually felt rather well rested. The sleeping mask was already showing its worth. I wouldn't die anytime soon.
I came back to the kitchen and living room mix to find Toga waiting for me eagerly while presenting a full breakfast to me. Seeing me, she skipped over and hugged me tightly.
"I made you breakfast, I didn't know what you liked, so I made a little of everything. A good meal is the key to recovery, so dig in!"
We both seated ourselves at the table with Toga sitting across from me, chin on her palms as she eagerly watched me take a bite out of the sausage and eggs paired with rice. They tasted pretty good to give her credit. Seeing the satisfied expression on my face she basically preened.
Not even 24 hours and she already seemed into the girlfriend routine.
"Whoa, this is pretty damn good. Thanks for the meal Toga. But... how did you make it? I don't think I had anything in my fridge."
"That's great to hear Hakari-kun~ if you like my cooking I will cook any day for you~. As for the ingredients..." She averted her eyes as I raised an eyebrow.
"I transformed into you while you were sleeping and bought all of it to stock your fridge. I didn't want to get seen leaving as myself. Of course, I used my own money."
I nodded, not really understanding why she would feel apprehension about such a topic.
"Nice thinking, having a full fridge and a proper breakfast for once is really nice. You're great at this, Toga." She preened even more, seeming to almost melt under my attention. I noticed that Toga seemed to enjoy being praised and being called cute and such. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a kink, but it was cute.
"Alright then, I'll make sure to cook for you anytime you want, I'll make sure to keep your fridge stocked too, it's my duty as your girlfriend after all~."
Surprisingly, Toga was nice to talk to when she wasn't trying to stab me. She was an attentive listener and good at carrying on conversation like a social butterfly so we made conversation as we ate, mostly me eating, I ate a lot to compensate.
I learned that Toga taught herself how to cook after her parents abandoned her, and it became a hobby for her over time. She was also good at sewing and such due to having to take care of herself. A bit of a worrywart too, as she insisted on checking my stitches after breakfast.
From what I have seen so far. Although Toga was happy beyond belief, she still seemed insecure about her relationship with me, so she tried to cement herself in the position of my girlfriend as securely as possible.
After breakfast, I had her help me clean whatever was left of my ruined living room after our little... case of domestic dispute. What I did not expect was for her to offer to pay for all of the repairs.
As I had found out shortly after, thanks to her short yet rather fruitful career in professional villainy, that she had some good savings. And good savings, as in several million yen. And that meant more, considering this world's Japan's economy was considerably better than my previous one.
Anyways, as she had left to go buy some paint for the apartment that she spontaneously decided to move into, I sank into the couch and opened the Chaos Gacha interface.
Feat Achieved! Take Toga Himiko's virginity
+1x Gold Trait Gacha Ticket
Truly, this girl was truly the gift that keeps on giving. As I was about to roll the ticket, she came back into the apartment holding several buckets of paint in her hands.
"Hey Hakari-kun! I'm back!"
"Perfect timing, Toga, can you sit on my lap?"
"Sure~? I don't get why, but I won't miss the chance."
Upon hearing my strange request, Toga did not question my intentions one bit, instead seeming a bit elated as she trotted over and plopped herself on my lap before I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in.
"Whoa! I didn't expect you to be such a cuddler but I really like it~."
I rubbed my face against Toga's hair, trying to soak in all of the luck I could get from her.
"It's related to my quirk, I'm trying to absorb some of your luck."
Toga nodded and hummed.
"Uh huh~ I understand nothing from that but take all you want from me Hakari-kun~."
Luck absorption complete, I rolled the ticket.
Rolling Gold Trait Gacha...
An Uncommon Trait.
[Four Leaf Clover]
|Rarity: Uncommon|
You are pretty lucky, not to the point where it's blatantly supernatural, but the scales of fate are skewed towards you.
Hell yeah, statistically it wasn't all that, but this is way better than some rare trait that would give me something like lightning resistance. Toga is really my lucky charm, maybe literally, considering she just upgraded my luck.
"Thanks, Toga, I got something really good."
Toga looked up and smiled.
"Well, I don't get what you are talking about, but I'm glad it went well."
⚀—⚁⚂⚃—⚄—•⚅•—⚄—⚃⚂⚁—⚀
~Himiko Toga~
It had been a few days since she had met her boyfriend, and Himiko could say she had never felt happier before in her life. She had never felt this feeling of contentment and sheer adoration towards someone before. Not even her former crush.
Hakari was the most wonderful person she had ever met. Even after she tried to hurt him and admitted to being a villain, he was willing to look past that and still wanted to be with her. He didn't mind her licking his blood; he seemed ready to accept her in any and every way.
She couldn't have asked for someone better to have given her first time and her heart to, despite it sounding stupid due to having only known him for less than five days, he was definitely more important to her than anything else.
She would do anything it took to preserve this domestic life she had going on.
Just like now, as she lay on his bed that was wonderfully filled with his scent and read manga while he sat on the chair, scrolling through the internet and taking notes. She noticed that despite living with him, she never really asked what he was studying for. She squinted her eyes and saw the words hero course, and her heart felt like it was filled with lead.
"Hey... Hakari-kun, what are you studying for?"
He replied to her nonchalantly, not even looking up from his desk.
"UA, Hero Course, they have a nasty written exam. My quirk is exceptionally good for hero work, so I wanted to try it out." Hearing no response from her, he lifted his head up from his desk and swivelled his chair to face her. Seeing the look of concern on his face, she couldn't help but feel a sense of elation despite her dread. She had never seen someone look so concerned for her before.
"Why do you ask Toga?"
Himiko sat up and couldn't help but pout a little.
"It's just... going to a school with friends and training your quirk to be a hero sounds so good and all, but I don't want to stay away from you for so long..."
Toga hated how much of a clingy girlfriend she sounded. She wanted to be a supportive girlfriend, as much as Hakari supported her in every matter, she did not want to be the anchor to drag him down. He deserved better than that.
He tilted his head at her.
"You don't have to, though? We can just go together."
Himiko blinked.
"What do you mean Hakari-kun? You know I'm..."
The statement that she was a violent villain was left unsaid. She had already hurt a lot of people, while she hadn't killed anyone yet. Being a hero was not a dream she was allowed to pursue.
"Why not? It's not like you have records, do you?" She blinked and shook her head. As a doppelganger, it was nigh impossible to catch her and convict her of crimes with just how comprehensive her transformation was, paired with her stealth skills. Although she had a mark on her record due to her incident in middle school, it wasn't a guarantee that it would ruin her chances of getting into UA.
He left his desk and sat down on the bed with her as she hugged her knees. Remembering the jeers of her former friends and the disgusted looks her parents threw at her before they abandoned her.
"Maybe, but do you really think I could be a hero? Despite hurting so many people and having such a demonic quirk?" She felt his manly arms wrap around her and pull her body into his embrace as she struggled to hold her tears in.
"I don't believe in the existence of an evil quirk; a quirk is not inherently evil. It is simply another part of your body, like your organs. Just like how your hands and legs can't be evil, your quirk also can't. You can use it for evil, but you can use it for good, too. If we counted evil, Endeavour's scarier than you, Vlad King's is gorier, Midnight's allows her to produce roofie gas. But they can all be heroes, why can't you?"
She clutched his shirt. The only thing she heard right now was his heartbeat and his words. She had never had someone speak to her like that before. Never had her dreams been validated. She never thought she would hear words like that after being abandoned by her parents.
"As for the hurting people part. Well, it's a secret, but I have hurt far, far more people than you Toga, worse than you have hurt them even." She lifted her head up from his chest, wiping her tears away to see his expression. Although it was buried under a stone-like stoic expression, she could see the complexity beneath.
"But I'm still going to try. Nothing is stopping either of us from trying to become better. Can we really be heroes? To be honest with you? I don't know if we can."
He smiled bitterly.
"But nothing is stopping us from finding out if we can."
She looked at his eyes with hope, as if a ton of weight had been lifted off her shoulders; those words reached her like nothing had before. He reached out and gently wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"So, Toga, want to find out together and try to become heroes?"
She didn't even need to think as she nodded fast enough for her vision to blur, hugging him almost to death.
"Yes!"
Toga Himiko also wanted to try becoming a hero.
A/N: Let's go Gambling!!! It's so fitting that Hakari, out of all my MCs, get the luck boost trait. It's almost meant to be. We are closer to a fever than ever! A general luck boost is one of the best traits despite being lower rank than a gold ticket.
Hakari employs talk no jutsu! He is great at inspiring fellow criminals and social outcasts because he has been in the exact same place as them before. But hey, now Toga is fully in on in the hero business. Now they just have to get in. Did you guys like Hakari's speech?
Comments
BronzDeck
Now Hakari finally has someone to share his braincell with.
BronzDeck
Nope, gacha luck is completely irrevelevant of that stuff. The only thing that can affect it is the tried and true Toganium.
SpankMyBeef
Ahhh, I love Hakari! I love that his relationship with toga was preserved. Looking forward to seeing what those two knuckleheads get up to. Keep up the amazing work!
Messiah Forbes
Does the luck boost effect the gacha?
