A/n: So, the friend who was writing this story asked me if I could continue it for them, as they couldn't find the time to do it themselves, so the writing style may be slightly different from the previous chapters.

Also, I have NO IDEA how to play poker, so, I had to google it and it was EXTREMELY hard to grasp the game from internet instructions, so I may have made some gameplay mistakes there, please forgive me for that if you do know how the game works.

But, I still hope that you enjoy this chapter! :-)

There was so much going on, and Naegi still couldn't see straight. The image of the corpse, suspended in mid air was lodged in his mind. It took him a moment to realise he was shaking, and still slumped on the floor as students and staff members ran past him in a frenzy.
"Come on, Naegi."
He looked up and saw Kyoko with her hand outstretched to help him up. Gratefully, he took it and was pulled, shakily, to his feet.
After taking a moment to collect himself, he followed after the stream of students who were gathering at the Gym.
The smell of blood still permeated his nose, as he mindlessly shuffled forward, carried forward by the current of people until he was standing in the giant Gymnasium. Staff members and teachers were stood around the edges of the corridors pointing students in the right direction, halting curious gossipers and helping along shaken witnesses.

The only thing Naegi could think about was putting one foot in front of the other, until he remembered something, and stopped to scan the crowd of moving faces. Celeste and Komaeda were nowhere to be seen and, now that he really thought about it, were Byakuya, or Kyoko. Recalling the last things that the Gambler and the Luckster had said, surely not; surely, they wouldn't stay behind from an emergency assembly after a MURDER just for a game of poker. Then, Nagito had said that he knew something, and that would explain why both Byakuya and Kyoko were gone too.

The last thing Naegi wanted to do was go back. Behind him was the body, the blood, but also, the answers. He gritted his teeth, tightened his fists and screwed his eyes shut. It was a choice that every single instinct in his body was pulling him away from, but he couldn't just leave them behind, or leave the murder of his peer unacknowledged. In fact, if the culprit wasn't caught, they would most likely kill again. He couldn't let that happen.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and began pushing his way against the crowd. If he stayed in the thicket of people, the staff members wouldn't be able to see him, with the frenzy of panicking students in the way, as long as he kept his head down.

The Rec room was just around the corner and the sound of quiet preparational talk could just be heard from the inside. How, after seeing such a horrific sight they could focus on a game, Naegi would never know; but then, these were the Ultimates.

He burst through the door just as the two challengers were sitting down at the table.
"So, Naegi, you decided to come. Colour me impressed, I thought you would be crying in a corner after seeing the corpse."
Byakuya pushed his glasses up on his nose.
"In any case, I hope they get this over with quickly, that information Nagito may harbour could be vital to the murder."
He seemed way too excited to be normal.

Kyoko was just standing there silently. This much was to be expected from her.

Celeste's mountain of chips sat on the floor next to her (they wouldn't fit on the table), as Nagito's handful was pitifully placed next to him.

"So, Nagito, we will be playing with only a standard pack of cards, and a maximum of 3 games, so you are prepared, I trust?"
The only answer she got was a nod.

To start with, they both threw 4 chips into the middle.
After a couple of glances at each other, both of their hands were dealt by Byakuya, who, apparently, also knew the basics of poker. To be honest, Naegi didn't know why he was surprised. Byakuya was pretty much well-versed in anything, and, having been raised to run a gargantuan business, gambling and taking risks must have been a huge part of that.

Seeing as Naegi, Kirigiri and Togami were all hoping that Celeste would win, she, reluctantly, allowed them to see her had.

Surprisingly, based on Komaeda's unearthly luck, she had been dealt a full house, composed of three 8's and two 4's. Naegi was only hoping that her talent and skill was a match for, quite probably, the luckiest person to ever live.

"I'm not entirely familiar with this game though, so I'll just have to bet on beginners luck! Maybe you should start, to demonstrate."
Nagito's words were all punctuated by, seemingly, uncontrollable laughter, making Naegi uncomfortable.

Not one to pass up an opportunity, Celeste threw 20 chips into the middle, even though the game was limitless, something only the Super Duper High School Gambler would do nowadays, she seemed to be starting off around average.

In response to this, Komaeda slid 21 chips into the middle, seeming to mock her by only raising her bet by one.
Celeste, of course, wasn't fazed.
She retaliated immediately with a raised bet of 40 chips.
Even though they seemed to be playing a rather dumbed down version of the game, the stakes, one could say, could be life or death.

And so it continued for a while, every time, Komaeda would bet just one more chip than Celeste, but his pile was quickly depleting, as she pushed him higher and higher.

"Well..."
He sighed with a grin.
"How could I even compare to the skill of an Ultimate? To be perfectly honest, I was only curious to see if you would say yes to a game with a worthless, talentless student like me. But, through this game, I can see your hope shining brighter than ever!"

To everyone's surprise, he laid down his cards, saying,
"I fold."
Naegi stared in shock, and Celeste seemed stunned.

Komaeda had just folded, when his hand, was a straight flush of an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack and a 10. The highest hand you can achieve with a standard pack of cards.

"Why?"
Even Byakuya seemed flabbergasted.
"Why would you give up a hand like that so easily? You still had a lot more chips left! Even if you just had an average hand you dropped out prematurely!"

He simply shrugged.
"Well, even so, we agreed that it was best of 3 games, did we not?"
Celeste seemed livid. Even though she had won, the victory meant nothing. That was the worst kind of defeat for her. But, she still restrained herself.

"No, no. How could I deny those who will bring hope to the world in light of this bitter despair? It will be my pleasure to be a stepping stone to the shining hope that you will create!"

"But you won't tell us everything, will you?"

Kyoko's words emanated from the corner of the room.
"In fact," She continued "I don't believe that you were going to tell us everything from the start, were you? Not if you would get to see, in your words, 'the Ultimates create hope from this despair'. It wouldn't be us doing it if you simply told us everything, which is how much I assume you actually know."

Silence proceeded.

"Wow, am I really that transparent?"
Again, Nagito laughed. Did he ever stop?

"Well, I assume that you don't need me to tell you the murder weapon, or the culprit, riiiiiight? So, I know that the murder took place at about 1am this morning. There were only some students who were out and about at that time. So, I would recommend that you find out who those were. Also, that the culprit, Genocider Shou, is not hiding somewhere in the school building, or in the outside world. But, they are in the school."

Everyone waited for him to continue until it became apparent that he wasn't going to.
Naegi gritted his teeth. That wasn't much information at all! This may as well have been a waste of time! They would have found out the time of death at the assembly, in all likelihood, and the second half of it was just a riddle!

Byakuya simply left the room without a word. Celeste and Komaeda followed close behind him, probably to the assembly hall.
"Kyoko, did you get anything from that?"
She paused for a moment.

"Well, he obviously told us that it occurred at 1am. After that, he said, 'there were only some students out and about at that time', which means that there are only a handful of students who could be suspects, and, since he specifically said 'students', we can assume that the culprit is a student."

A student commit a murder? That couldn't be right! Naegi couldn't believe it!

"Then, he also says that they are not hiding in the school building or the outside world. However, later on, he said, 'but they are in the school'. the way he said school 'building' the first time and that they are not 'hiding' would suggest that they are not concealing themselves in the school itself, so they are not only posing as an everyday student, but they are one, with legitimate right to be here. This is also proved by him saying they are in the school, not the school building, proving without a doubt that they are an authorised student and they are not themselves hiding, which means that someone else must be hiding them. Do you have anything to add Naegi?"
"Ummmmm..."
All he could do was stand there gawping at her incredible deductive powers.

"No, I think that about covers it."