Red eyes looking deeply into the mirror, a hand hovered over her face as Celestia checked every contour of her face. Several times she had lost her composure back there...it was truly a shame she had been lumped with a fool such as Osamu.

Stepping back, she beamed proudly at her own image before adjusting her finger guard and returning to the hall outside. Heading down to the game room, she caught faint conversation of her opponents through the door of their retreat, though their conversation quieted as her dainty step became audible. Celestia didn't blame them in the slightest: were she ever in a tight spot, she would do whatever she could to keep her strategies under tight lock. Though it was not as though she'd ever been in such a pinch...

Scents of candles wafting to her nose as she sat back in her seat, she briefly glanced at Osamu, sitting lazily in the light from the window, though she quickly averted her eyes, as if she might catch his slobbishness like a disease. Reaching off to the side, she took her teapot, draining the last of it into her cup. It was really no mystery as to why she had to take a toilet break at this juncture.

Before she could take a sip, Akiyama and Nao returned, the break concluding shortly thereafter. Celestia felt her heartbeat begin to quicken as she grew excited for the conclusion. She glanced at her pile of poker chips: the largest by a fair margin. How much higher could it go?

From her left, the dealer gave Celestia her blue backed Six of Diamonds before shuffling well and releasing the hands. Celestia let an eye rest on Nao sitting across from her, the woman clearly nervous, but determined.

"Do you think you can pull that off again?"

Celestia looked over to Akiyama, querying, "Whatever do you mean?"

Akiyama noted, "The Royal Flush of Hearts. For that matter, you seem to get Hearts and Queens almost too often."

Celestia giggled, "If the cards choose to play favorites, then I am not guilty."

Akiyama was silent as the last of the cards were passed. Celestia took a light sip of her tea before taking a look.

Akiyama may have been on to something: her dear friend the Queen of Hearts had come for another visit. The Six of Hearts was along too, and it would pair nicely with the Six of Diamonds Celestia so dearly wished to take off the table. It was such a troublesome child. A pair of Threes, one of Hearts and one of Spades, seemed to be a plus, but as things were they wouldn't fit into her hand. The Seven of Spades was yet another boorish obtrusion.

Holding on to her Queen and Six, she readied herself to pass along the Threes and Seven. Of course, she was not so hasty: what was the rush? It was her policy not to move first if it was not required.

Osamu, naturally, already put his passes down near Celes. Such unsightly speed, though Celestia expected no more of him at this point. Nao had her three passes prepared as well, but that was not all as she placed the Ace of Spades down. "I'm making a tribute."

Once Nao pushed chips from her shrinking pile to the pot, Celestia felt her eyes narrow a shade as she took stock of that Ace. It was pointing at her rather than Nao. Last time she had tributed an asymmetrical card, it was the Nine of Clubs, and her hand resulted in a Straight Flush. Before that, the only instance had been the Seven of Diamonds of forgotten orientation, which had resulted in Four of a Kind, while tributing the symmetrical Ten of Diamonds ended with her Full House. With those in mind, Celestia had a picture of their strategy: Nao sought a Flush of Spades.

Glancing back at her hand, Celestia's eyes idled on her Three and Seven of Spades. In no way would the Seven be involved in a straight Flush with an Ace, but the Three was a shade dangerous. Celestia could take up her Six of Diamonds and pass that along with her other Six, but Celestia had a feeling that letting the Six of Diamonds go forgotten by sitting there for such a length could work in her favor.

Always one to follow her inner feeling, Celestia made no changes to her passes, handing over the Threes and the Seven. Nao was not as lucky as her: the other pieces for the Straight Flush were simply not on the board, Celestia was certain! For that matter, if Akiyama were to receive Spades, he would continue to believe that Celestia had yet to pierce his strategy, which could become invaluable in the next hand if not in the current one.

After the dealer so kindly gave the signal, Celestia took the cards offered by Osamu. He knew his place: Celestia now possessed the Queen of Diamonds, and the Three and Five of Hearts. While the idea of holding on for a Straight Flush continued to prod her, Celes chose to bet on her ladies, passing on the Three and Five of Hearts. Akiyama was likely to pass on his Three of Spades, so the risk of him holding on to a pair was low.

Nao however looked like she was struggling a bit. While she'd made her passes, she kept glancing sideways at Akiyama, who was still. Osamu's eyes were wandering...

Once Nao made her passes, Akiyama and Celestia made theirs, as per usual. Celestia didn't need to wait long to receive her next two cards: the Queen of Clubs and the Six of Spades. How she wanted to keep her two triplicates, but the fat had to be cut. Celestia severed her Six of Spades, as if to mock Akiyama: perhaps it was the last card Nao needed in her hand?

The final round went quickly, Celestia picking up her King of Clubs from Osamu. The dealer still at her right, she began, "My turn to open once again? I shall." Ten chips joined Nao's fifteen.

"Call," Akiyama followed.

Nao looked at her hand, face sour, before she lowered it. "Fold..." Celestia giggled at her expense. Such an inconsistent strategy they had!

"Call," Osamu said, putting his chips in. Celestia appreciated the patronage to her lead.

"I will raise no further," Celestia concluded. Holding her hand tightly, she requested, "Nao-chan?"

Nao looked hard at her Ace, likely wondering whether or not she should pick it up or use it in the final round. She decided to take it up, however, showing a Flush of Spades: the Ace, Seven, Eight, Nine, and the Queen, and an out of place Five of Hearts. Had she held the Six at one point, Celestia wondered? So close yet so far...

Still, how curious: Celestia had held that Five of Hearts: why would Akiyama pass it to her? Perhaps he simply had nothing better? Yet he bet, and showed his hand next: aside from the Six of Spades she'd just passed, he had the Twos of Diamonds and Hearts with the Threes of Diamonds, Spades, and Hearts. A Full House.

Celestia was suspicious: why did he hold on to that Three? Not that it would have improved Nao's had...perhaps he noted her unease and held it on to himself for a higher chance at winning? Despite their strategy, he lacked trust in her as a partner. Perhaps they should have come up with a signal for 'let us give up hope and take our needless idealism with us as we declare bankruptcy'.

Celestia picked up her Six before dropping her Full House, giggling, "Perhaps you are on to something, Akiyama-san, as the Queen of Hearts simply cannot keep herself out of my hands."

She waited for the dealer to pass her the chips, but Osamu mumbled, "Do we have to show our hands?"

The dealer was silent for a moment, before he sputtered from behind his mask, "You are still in the pot, Osamu-san."

Osamu dropped his hand, Celestia not even bothering to give it a look as she took a sip of tea, but Akiyama let out a light chuckle. Celestia leered an eye down and choked on her drink.

Osamu had all four Fours, along with the Seven of Clubs and the Five of Spades.

Nearly tossing her teacup at him, Celestia jabbed her hand at him as she hacked, "What do you think you're doing!?"

Osamu flinched as he was splashed with tea, brushing it away before growling, "I didn't do it on purpose!" He jabbed a finger at Nao as he explained, "She passed me half of them! I would have passed some to you but I had better stuff! Then I had too many. If I'd tried then we'd both have useless cards!"

Celestia threw herself back in her chair, feeling heated. Placing her sloppy cup down, she realized it wasn't only her anger: some of her tea had ended up down the front of her dress. Celes grimaced, reaching for her tea table, but there was nothing there to clean up the mess. The bathroom was rather poorly stocked as well: she would have to take it to the cleaners as soon as humanely possible. Snatching up her tea set, she glowered at the dealer: "Clean up this table and deal the final hand. If my dress doesn't reach the cleaners in time I'll have someone's head!"

Once the table was clear of teacups and tributes, the dealer cracked open the final red deck of cards, shuffling before passing out the last cards. Tapping her finger on the table, she snapped up her hand once it was in place, not wanting to take a moment too long. She'd brought her favorite dress today, and it was not going to be irreparably ruined over Osamu's folly. She had fair lead: 140 to Osamu's 100, Akiyama's 90, and Nao's 70, but she could not play recklessly at this stage. If Celes and Osamu were to drop out of betting, then Akiyama and Nao would simply be able to bet everything they had and surpass her lead

Glancing at her hand, she was a bit curious. She had two Queens, one of Spades and one of Diamonds, along with the King of Hearts, the Jack of Diamonds, the Ten of Hearts, and the Seven of Hearts. This was not the shape of a Royal Flush by any means. Yet, while she was the only one to see her hand, the others seemed to have a different preconception.

"Tribute," Akiyama said lazily, placing down a Jack of Hearts.

"Right," Nao added with a bit more determination, placing down an Ace of Hearts.

Celestia giggled, "You two are adorable in your paranoia. There are three other suits, you know~"

"Only one of them is 'Heart'," Akiyama stated.

Celestia briefly narrowed her eyes, but she knew it was he who was blind. And Celestia was keeping the 'theme' she'd accumulated over the course of this game. She had two of her Queens: the other two would come: she knew it! As the passes were being made, Celestia set aside her Ten and Seven of Hearts. Then, for Akiyama's enjoyment, she passed along the King of Hearts. The Queen was destined to fall into her hand once again: Akiyama would not have anything more than a standard Flush.

However, in Osamu's haste, he seemed to have failed to get the message. He'd passed along the Queen of Hearts, which Celestia so dearly desired, but the Eight and Nine of Hearts were...superfluous. While Celestia needed that Queen, she didn't want to pass on the Jack quite yet: Akiyama already had the Jack of Hearts, so instead she pushed along the Eight and Nine of Hearts. Let both him and Nao 'Flush' as Celestia so graciously ruined them!

The passing round was one of the fastest, Celestia quite grateful as she picked up her next two cards. Her Four of a Kind was set with the addition of the Queen of Clubs, and the King of Spades gave her solace.

She only needed to make one pass at this point, and it was obvious. Akiyama had, if only briefly, held on to both the Jack and King of Hearts at minimum, but only one of them would lead to Akiyama beating Celestia's hand. She passed on the Jack of Diamonds. Let him have a Four of a Kind if his luck granted it, but it would not.

Picking up her last card, the Six of Hearts from Osamu, she looked her cards over, before she said, "Let's not dawdle. I'll open the betting with fifteen chips."

"Call," Akiyama said before she'd finished.

Celestia glowered momentarily, but Nao said, "Call."

Osamu shrugged, "Call."

"Oho~" Celestia giggled, before proclaiming, "I rais-"

"Call," Akiyama said.

Celestia hissed, "I have yet to even declare the amount you-"

"You're the one who's in a rush," Akiyama noted.

Celestia felt her eye twitch as she nibbled her lower lip, but she refused to let that ugliness get the best of her. Readjusting her arms, she finished, "I raise by an additional thirty chips." She moved a bit of her pile, now 45 chips smaller, but Akiyama didn't flinch, moving a sizable chunk of his chips forward.

Nao was clearly sweating, but she continued, "C-call."

As she moved forwards, Osamu shrugged, "Fold."

Celes looked at the pot. Nao's 60 chips, Akiyama's 55, Osamu's measly 15, and Celestia's 45. 175 million (and one stained dress) riding on this hand: the highest stakes Celestia had ever found herself in. She giggled, "Shall we show our han-"

"Actually, I want to raise," Akiyama said, pushing in ten more chips. Celestia would have stumbled.

"O-okay," Nao said, calling.

Celestia looked at the pot, before confirming, "Call."

"All in."

Celestia scoffed. All 90 chips to his name were in that pot. Though her head was low, Nao pushed in everything she had as well, though it was only 70 minus her tribute fee. With Osamu's 15, Celestia stood to gain 200 million in this hand alone.

Was he mad? He still held the Jack of Hearts: there was zero possibility of him passing Nao anything remotely capable of defeating Celestia's average hand. Her expression showed as much!

"I will call," Celestia said, matching the 80 Akiyama had put during the betting round. Thinking to her suffering dress once again, she began, "On the count of three, we shall reveal our hands. One-two-three!"

As she flashed her cards, Nao dropped her hand almost out of fright while Osamu was a bit slow, putting his down almost out of afterthought. Osamu's was predictably pathetic: Ten of Diamonds and Spades, Sevens in the same two suits, the Six of Spades, and the Jack of Clubs. A Two Pair.

Nao had scooped her hand under her tributed Ace, giving her a triplet, next to a pair of Twos and the King of Hearts to make a Full House.

As Celestia waved about her Four Queens, she saw that Akiyama hadn't moved. "Hah!? Keep up, Akiyama-san."

"My bad, I'm just having trouble sorting things out."

Osamu shrugged, chortling, "Yeah, I could see a 100 million debt being tough to-"

"To be honest, I didn't want to believe your luck, but it's kind of hard to deny. If I ran the odds, the probabilities of you getting the cards you got today would be astronomical. I was sure you were cheating, but if you were then it would be...perfect. There would be zero error."

Celestia puffed out her chest, giggling, "At last, the plebeian sees the light.."

"You handed me everything I needed to bring me down, right from your own hand."

Celestia's mind went fuzzy, but Akiyama didn't let up, picking up his tributed Jack and showing his hand.

Her eyes ran across it several times. The Jack of Diamonds was off to the side like an unwanted stepchild to an ideallic family: the Seven of Hearts, the Eight of Hearts, the Nine, the Ten, and the Jack.

No, one of them had to be a Diamond, it...they were all Hearts.

Celestia's own heart seemed to sink into the pit of her stomach. Akiyama was right: she'd passed him almost all of those cards herself. Her hand gripped her Six of Hearts tightly, bending it, crumpling it, crushing it

She gritted her teeth roughly, enough that there was a straining sound and a taste of iron.

She saw the wrong shape of her hand.

It was him. He ingrained the image of the Queen in her mind. No, he'd won with Hearts, the ones she'd thrown aside...the one's she'd needlessly sacrificed...

"Kku," Celestia gagged, eyes spinning. Her fallen heart seemed to have upset her stomach, making her nauseous. Why couldn't she have held on? She felt her dreams of Hope's Peak slipping away.

Curling forwards, she slumped in her seat. She heard some faint words as she saw the blot of color that was the pot of chips being passed to Akiyama. Then her eyes focused on the splotch of brown staining her dress, starting to dry.

"Ah, it's set..." Celestia droned.