@writingbutneverfinished ‘s Kakegurui au is on my mind
MatchaGear/JoeReki Kakegurui!AU with Reki as the transfer student (Reki as a first year and Joe as a third maybe)
Reki gets his ass beat (game wise) by Shadow and ends up on the edge of debt. Joe befriends him and puts him at ease, until Reki asks him to help him get better (cause if someone below him manages to pay their debt he’s got no chance of coming back)
It all goes well until Reki challenges him to a real game, for the sake of it and to prove that he’s better. He asks Joe to not go easy on him, and it turns out that was a huge mistake. He loses the little he had left and turns out Joe doesn’t help him. “You have to learn to fend for yourself”, pats his head and leaves him in the dust
Shadowblosson with Shadow trying to take down Kaoru, but one of them is much better at cheating when they’re alone in a room. Shadow doesn’t lose all his money but tries to avoid gambling with Kaoru from then on. But Kaoru has a special way of provoking him and letting Shadow’s anger obscure his rationality
He bets sn insignificant amount of money, letting Shadow win the first time. He gains a little confidence, betting a big chunk of his money and then Kaoru strikes and wins