"Celestia Ludenberg…"
She whispered her own alias as she twirled her finger around the rim of her teacup, the steam from the cup dancing around the paleness of her face. As the taste of earl grey lingered on her tongue, she replayed the way she introduced herself to her classmates in her head.
"My name is Celestia Ludenberg. Gambling is my specialty, and luck has done me well. I hope it may bless you all as well this coming year and beyond."
Then, a curtsy she had rehearsed in the mirror two hours before homeroom.
This was all her fifteen other classmates knew at that point. Her fake ass name, with a talent that one could just barely classify as a talent. The more she rewound it, the more she noticed the distorted faces of her classmates. The more phony she felt.
The silver claw on her index finger tapped anxiously against the porcelain, the bustling of her new peers around her growing blurry as she focused intently on the sound of her own name. The rhythm of the clinking kept distracting her from her surroundings, almost like some form of hypnosis.
"…luck has done me well."
What kind of bullshit was that? A sharp gulp went down her throat, and a second later, her tongue met the rim of the cup. Mounds of sugar and bitter leaves slithered downward, her taste buds seething from the impact. Her eye twitched. How in the fuck was she supposed to know there was a kid in her class that won an unfathomable lottery? Or the fact that there was a student at this damn academy whose talent was literally luck?
The second she put her cup down, she exhaled, closing her eyes and letting the religious clinking sync with her breath. It slowed, and she smiled to herself. No matter. This was only the first day of class. She looked confidently to her left and right as if her classmates didn't terrify her to her core, then peered down back at the cooling, brown liquid.
"Celestia Ludenberg."
Celestia was above these common folk. She may as well be their queen, no?
(*)
A yellow backpack darted through the sea of elementary schoolers, duck-faced rain boots clashing against the puddles like stones against glass houses. Young Taeko mapped out these two miles strategically. First, the gyoza on the street corner near the flower shop. Then, stop by the manga store to report to her father about the spoils she finds. Finally, feed the cat sitting under one of the several cars rotting away in the apartment's parking lot.
This point-by-point schedule she enforced each Friday was meant to distract her from the uninspired life of academia. She scratched the stuffy, blue sweater that two hundred other children had to slide over their heads each morning. Her panting made visible breath that mingled with the clouds above her.
She handed Mr. Akiko four hundred yen, (a small chunk of her monthly allowance,) and with a big, toothy smile, he handed her a big, steaming bowl of the dumplings. Her taste buds watered, and she didn't care how much the sticky web of beans burned her tongue. She was satisfied all the same.
It was a time where the heavy, sagging clouds of rain were still castles and kingdoms to her. She was satisfied with anything.
(*)
He fumbled to her like an egg rolling down the hallway outside the dining hall.
"Afternoon!"
The clinking stopped abruptly, her eyes darting upward from the book under the table to the towering bubble of flesh above her.
"Miss Ludenberg, may I sit here?"
He smelled like spicy Cheetos and carbonated diabetes. It would be easy to gag not just at the overwhelming smell of transparent calories, but at the idea of him even thinking of approaching her.
She smiled softly. The face of an angel. The soul of nothing.
"No, Hifumi. Sit somewhere else."
Her words cracked against the back of his head, and he gagged on his own saliva. Like a limp puppet, his head pivoted to his left and then to his right, the jeers he would get from across the dining hall manifesting itself into the sweat on his forehead. With a heavy gulp, he chuckled awkwardly. The verbosity crumbled.
She sipped softly as she watched him stumble away uncharismatically like a lost puppy. As he shifted off, Celestia looked around at the crowded tables, with fellow ultimates chittering away about initial expectations of their new classmates. She could hear it.
"That Celeste girl seems like a bitch."
"She's so distant. How come she doesn't talk to anyone without being so condescending?"
"I feel so bad for her roommate."
"Would you call an addiction like gambling of all things a talent?"
The voices were so real in her head that she could hear it in their gossip.
Almost like she was running away from a boulder rolling full-speed towards her, she clopped out of the dining hall. What was she running from? Where was she going? Heads turned. Her book loosened in her grip.
The hall expanded further downward as she ran to her room, and finally, with a clink of keys and a creak of the door, Celestia Ludenberg collapsed on her silk sheets, startling the cat under the bed. With an air of almost frustration, she clipped off her twin-pigtails, her pixie bob being all that remained atop her throbbing, aching head.
Her fists tightened so much that she felt her nails pierce into her skin. How long could she keep this up?
Celestia tightly closed her eyes to avoid the confrontation of the blaring overhead light. And as she shut the world out…
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
It found a way to reel her back in.
With a moan and an expletive, she clipped back on the pigtails she thrust onto her dresser and opened her door forcefully to find that same wandering puppy with a treasure to bring her.
"Hello, Miss Ludenberg. You, uh…" he showed her the silver claw, adding, "You dropped this as you sprinted down the hallway."
She bowed her head, delicately grabbing the claw like the silver paint was still wet.
"Thank you." she muttered.
Before Hifumi left, he said, "…Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow, feeling her foundation practically melt off with each second. She wanted to rip it off her own skin.
"What is it?" her accent purred along her lips.
After clearing his throat, Hifumi beamed, like he suddenly found a well of confidence bursting throughout the rest of his body.
"What manga were you reading earlier?"
With a huff, she demanded for another cup of tea to make up for her sudden leave. Celestia, then, turned around from the door, picked up the book and regained her posture.
"Then we can talk, Hifumi."
(*)
The jingle of silver bells welcomed Taeko into the store.
A whirring fan was all that cooled the concrete room, with some of the pages on the displays fluttering daintily in the breeze it created. The young man at the counter was unresponsive, wrapped up in his rhythm game with idol stars a decade younger than him.
No matter. Taeko was only here for one reason, and that wasn't to acquaint herself with a stranger.
Her small, pudgy fingers flipped through all of the manga her father had already owned. The blaring light above her pierced through the newsprint, as Taeko winced to herself. She even got on her tiptoes to grab at the mech manga, but since these past few months of unemployment had rolled past, her sullen father had already at least skimmed through all of them.
"I-Is this all you have?" she piped up, turning to the counter that advertised cigarettes and adult magazines. The clerk huffed.
"Yeeeup. Sorry kid."
"Could you…" she gulped, her voice slightly louder. "Could you check in the back please? It's important."
The clerk abruptly paused his game, adjusting his glasses and swerving his head up to face the girl on the other side of the store. He pasted on a fake smile, a gold tooth glimmering obnoxiously.
"Anything specific you're looking for?" Taeko ignored the condescension in his tone.
"Anything…you know…new." Taeko didn't think she'd make it this far with him. The clerk put his game down almost forcefully.
"Kid," he groaned, "All of the newer stuff will be all we have on display. We don't have anything 'newer' than that."
"B-But I-"
"If you've read it all, great. You read more than all of the children in Japan combined."
"But it's not-"
And before she could finish, he went right back to his idol game, the squeaky, robotic voices giving him the encouragement his poor soul needed.
With a scowl, she stormed out, but not before kicking that stupid Pudgy Princess display she hated so much.
"Thank you, come again." the clerk droned as she left, door slamming with a clang of bells behind her.
The clouds were heavier than she thought they would be, as she munched on a dumpling in defiance to that clerk's sour attitude. Her father would have to make do without for today. Tough customers aren't worth pleasing sometimes, but she'd do a whole damn lot to see her father smile again.
(*)
If there was one thing that peeved Celestia more than her lack to read minds completely, it was the completely blank mind of her own roommate.
"Hey, could you pass me my pen, Celeste? It's on my side table."
The grueling techno-pop leaking out of Sayaka Maizono's headphones was enough to make the pseudo-European gag. Her big, blue doe-eyes, the fact she had posters of her own band over her bed, the gaudy pink tea lights circling her bed; even how she'd say "Celeste" instead of "Celestia," as if the fact that she heard her and her punk-ass of a boyfriend discreetly bone every other night made them friends or something.
Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg growled softly as Celestia gently reached over to Sayaka's side table, as she used the nails of her other hand to calm the feline back down into her lap. "Here."
She tersely passed over the silver pen with a chipped engraving of the idol star's last name that was now on t-shirts, magazines, and even a soap commercial Celestia had seen two days prior.
Sayaka grabbed the pen from her with her bright pink nails just barely grazing over Celestia's palm. She exclaimed, "Thank you very much!"
Then, she swiveled back around in her office chair, writing furiously while maintaining her posture.
What a bitch.
It had been a month since she made a mockery of herself in front of the class and ran gracelessly from the dining hall. Since then, she had gotten questions about her own so-called "talent." How much money she gained from gambling, if she herself considered something that disdainful to society a talent, etc. Sayaka, however, seemed to hook everyone from day one.
"My name is Sayaka Maizono! I'm the Super High School Level Idol Star! I hope that we all have a wonderful three years together!"
As if she had to introduce herself. Everyone knew who she was by that point, especially the guy who would later walk with her every day from homeroom, to lunch, then back to homeroom, then to her dorm.
"Name's Leon Kuwata. I play baseball, but maybe I won't be for much longer!"
A wink and a smile was all he needed to stay in their room every night.
Celestia had figured that idols had some code against dating or something. It's not like she cared that terribly much, but Sayaka stressed how much trouble she would be in if her agent ever found out. The couple's "dates" were within the confines of Hope's Peak, and so she didn't entirely see the point of going to the effort of lying that tremendously.
Especially when your boyfriend was someone as robust and gaudy as Leon Kuwata.
Sayaka, meanwhile, never missed a beat. Laughed cheerfully at every joke, her simple humming in the morning while brushing her soft, almost navy hair sounding so lovely. Her feet would bounce like she walked across clouds, and the way she would look at her classmates despite knowing so little about them were looks of admiration. In return, everyone wanted to be around her. Hina would invite her to her swim meets, Chihiro fixed her computer free of charge, and even that Makoto boy would buy her a coffee every other day until American eye-candy rocked her world. (And even then, they'd still chirp over recyclable coffee cups while strolling around in the courtyard outside the window).
In a way, she was jealous of her, even when she knew that Sayaka wasn't real, either.
The idol suddenly shut her notebook and bookmarked her place with a business card, her cell phone vibrating furiously on the desk. She bolted up from her seat, trotting out the door after bidding Celeste farewell.
"Let me know if you want me to bring you back some gyoza from the dining hall!"
Sayaka locked the door behind her. Another "outing."
Same routine.
(*)
With a shake of the bowl and the faint aroma of the grease wafting through the air, Taeko beckoned for her companion.
"Here, kitty! Heeeeeere, kitty kitty kitt-yyyyyy!"
Sure enough, the large, grey tabby zoomed out from under one of the sedans in front of the apartment complex, trekking across the cracks in the pavement and brushing along the grass growing from it to meet the young girl.
The cat was elated to see her, and it took months for this to occur. Months of bribing and begging and coaxing, and now, over that past month, the cat had suddenly decided to meet with her for a snack and a few pats of affection.
Taeko knelt down to the cat with a dumpling in her palm, which the cat gratefully munched on while Taeko combed her fingers through his matted yet thick coat. She read in school that do-meh-stick-ated animals know when humans are sad and thus grow more attached to them as companions.
Is that what happened? She was uncertain, but grateful still.
(*)
"Isn't this show AWESOME, Celeste?!"
"I suppose."
Celeste wasn't sure when this routine with Hifumi began. He would go on tangents for hours on end about Demon Angel Pretty Pudgy Princess until one day, he grew the fortitude to ask her to watch it with him after she had asked him for a cup of tea like always. It would normally be on Saturdays, particularly on Saturdays where it would rain, and the two of them would watch the mindless magical girl saga together. As the weeks would pass, she would teach him different card games he had never heard of,
"What do you mean that you've never played Mao?"
"These normally aren't the kind of card games that I play and you know it!"
while he would teach her his kind of card games,
"This deck is arbitrary."
"Well, this 'arbitrary' deck costed me over ten thousand yen total!"
all while watching Demon Angel Pretty Pudgy Princess, a show that, after these past three months of watching it with Hifumi and hearing his hard-hitting analyses on the most miniscule lore, Celeste still knew nothing about.
That night, the two watched the show quietly after Hifumi's exclamation, and it shocked Celeste that he had no commentary to give like he normally did. His watch beeped, and he got up from the couch. The weight of the couch shifted dramatically, and it made Celeste realize just how frail she was in comparison.
"Tea's ready!"
He waddled to the counter, grabbing the two steaming mugs of earl grey he let steep. While he would load Celeste's mug with sugar and honey, as she preferred it, he'd leave his plain with a cookie straw to slurp it from. Gingerly, he handed Celeste her mug shaped like a Pokéball he painted when he was smaller. It was his favorite mug.
With a sigh, Celeste grinned softly. It was a softness she only felt when drinking from this mug.
"Thank you, Hifumi."
"Mm-hmm!"
The two resumed to watching the show quietly, and after a minute or two of her finger quietly tapping along the edge of the mug, Celeste turned to Hifumi, who was entranced in the show he had seen at least a thousand times. Cheri used to growl whenever another man was around, but now he had no choice but to get used to Hifumi's harmlessness. He sprawled over the fragrant fanfiction creator's lap, something she had never seen the feline do so comfortably. Maybe that was what allured her to him. He was soft, delicate, like a giant pillow. It was what she needed in her sharp-edged world.
"I…"
She never wore her pigtails around him during these intimate hang-outs, and wasn't as excessive with her attire like she normally was. Hifumi Yamada wasn't a man of high standards. She could learn a thing or two from that.
Hifumi turned to her, asking, "Yeah? What's up?"
Celeste quickly turned her head, huffing, "Nothing. Never mind."
He chuckled to himself, leaning back into the couch a little. As he did, he noticed some of the artistic details in Celeste's room. Her red, velvet curtains that were always drawn closed. Her soft, silken sheets that were washed every two days. The aroma of lavender candles that strike you the second you enter the room. The difference between her half of the room and Sayaka's was striking.
"Do you…"
Celeste bit her lip shut. No, she would never dare ask something so stupid.
"Do I what?"
He knew how exhausted she was. It was difficult and took months, but he figured out more about her than she ever admitted herself. Dating simulators and his own attention to detail gave him that kind of intuition.
She violently shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Forget it." she huffed, accent wavering.
A hard gulp of tea later and she scooted herself a little ways away from him, eyes glued to the television screen. She rested her hand on her palm, elbow balanced on the armrest while holding the mug in her other hand.
"You know…" Hifumi adjusted his glasses, letting out a deep exhale. "You can tell me anything, right? I know you don't really think so, and heck, you probably don't want to, but you can if you need to."
No response.
"We haven't spent that much time together, I know, but..." he sighed. "I…I still consider you as a friend, in a way."
She sneered.
"A friend?"
"W-Well…yeah. No one listens to me go on about anime for this long in real life, much less watch it with me, so…" he shrugged. "Maybe you've been enjoying this too?"
Celeste didn't look at him, her eyes fixated on the bright colors and high-pitched cheering from the pudgy princess herself. As the colors consumed her, she swam around in her own thoughts. How he greeted her every morning with a cup prepared, how he brought over his favorite mug just for her to drink out of, how he'd always wander back to her like a helpless kitten, like the one sprawled over his knobby knees.
It was moments like this where she thought of how she and her father would watch anime like this together, and how, even when she was with him, she felt so helplessly alone. Since she had entered this academy, it was as though every classmate she had was a new opponent. A new character that would mean nothing to her in the grand scheme of things. Then he showed up so willingly to help her, like a tutorial guide, or a sidekick, or…
"Do you…want me to leave, Celeste?"
Her eyes welled up as she reached for his fingers, her black nails tracing softly along his sausage fingers. They slowly coiled around each other, his thumb tracing along her hand as though he was drawing it. As she was about to answer, the softness of the bright anime shattered with the door clashing open.
"Why in the FUCK would you say that, Leon?!"
"I didn't think it was a big deal, Sayaka! What the hell's your problem all of a sudden?"
"My problem? My problem?! What if you're the problem here?!"
Their hands immediately shot back, with Sayaka slamming the door straight onto Leon's face. Sayaka collapsed on the bed, wallowing into her pillow. The gambler's eyes glazed over with memories long erased.
Celeste and Hifumi decided to call it a day.
(*)
She remembered how her mom stormed out with nothing but a single suitcase. Her father never tried to stop her, and every tug of her mother's skirt only seemed to agitate the woman further.
"I…I'm still sorry, Akira. Truly I am."
The door slammed behind her with the wind, and that was the last she ever heard from her mother.
Screenshots of text messages scattered across the floor. Glass strewn along the coffee table where mahjong night would commence. A devastated man who outed his wife for cheating with a fellow lawyer at his firm. All thanks to Taeko, of course.
It stormed heavily that day.
(*)
Sayaka and Leon still saw each other throughout the next few weeks, albeit not as often. He'd still make attempts to woo her back over. Drop off flowers at her door, bring her coffee before homeroom, and there was even an atrocious incident where he tried serenading her. Keyword: tried.
Sometimes, these attempts worked. Other times, they didn't. But one thing was certain to a third-party like Celestia Ludenberg: the honeymoon phase, after months of dopey teenage fodder, was finally over.
She and Hifumi would text every now and again, and with each message she sent, she felt less natural in her costume. While she played solitaire, her phone would buzz as if on intervals.
hey! wanna meet up today? i've been reading up on spades! :3
To which she would reply,
No, not today. I am rather busy.
She clicked the red two of hearts against the black three of spades like she was angry with the deck. Then he'd say,
oh….ok. it's all good! You ok?
Yes.
Her desk lamp flickered, and she growled; she had just changed out this bulb. With a firm yank, she unplugged the lamp like something was genuinely wrong with it. The cards began shaking in her hands, knowing that Hifumi probably didn't believe her.
Ok…..all good
Celeste sighed, and before she could respond to him, the door creaked open with Sayaka bouncing on the balls of her feet, humming with such a passionate cadence that it was hard to believe this was the same girl who collapsed in her pillow after an out-of-context lover's spat.
"Helloooo, Celeste!" Sayaka exclaimed, going into the bathroom to get changed. The elation peeved Celestia so.
"You seem happy." she huffed, going back to her shaky game of solitaire, a nail chipping slightly when she put a black queen over a red king.
"Yeah, I guess I am! Anyway," she stepped out of the bathroom in a short, blue dress with heels. She had never seen her roommate in such a confident, almost overbearing outfit. "I have to go! See you later!"
She left as soon as she came in. Perhaps she and Leon made up after all? But why would she dress up for a luxurious evening at the rec room? Not even a minute had passed, and she got another buzz.
did you see sayaka just now? Do u know where shewas goin?
The chip on her index finger distracted her from her own typing.
She left almost as soon as she came in. We did not talk so much.
Celeste stood up from her chair, getting another text the second she moved. Grabbing the phone with such gusto messed with the rest of the cards.
oh man….you dont think
Celeste didn't read the rest of the text.
No, I doubt she would be that kind of a person. She is nowhere near smart enough to hide something like that.
Clopping over to the window behind her bed, Celeste pulled her curtain back to see Sayaka's head pivot left and right and left again. Her hair billowed with each gust of wind, as she clutched her pocketbook tightly. Finally, a black sedan pulled up to her, and after darting her eyes anywhere but up to the god who would later be ashamed with her, she got in the car that speedily drove away from the academy.
Luck did her horribly and amazingly at the same time.
Celeste's sweat grew cold. She swerved around to her side table to chug down the remains of tea in her sordid tea cup after letting it nearly slip from her grasp.
Perhaps an outing would be decent after all Hifumi.
A minute passed.
yeah i uhhhhh agree. Idk if i wanna see leon rn, hes still angry sooooooo deffinitely not my room lol
Right. That's a discrepancy she forgot about.
Rec room. Five minutes. We'll meet there.
Ok!
She peered down at Sayaka's desk as she locked the door, being sure not to forget anything. Away she went, trying to forget about the intrusion she made on Sayaka's life and the mold this would leave on Leon's pride.
(*)
After the cat was satisfied, Taeko took a hearty breath and pet the cat, bidding it farewell.
"Later, Cherry!"
She wasn't sure where that name came from, but it was what the cat learned to respond to over time. The rain boots under her squeaked with each step she took up to the third floor of the complex, which gave an incredible view of the parking lot and the dumpster Cherry would take refuge in once it rained later.
Taeko plucked around in the front pocket of her book bag for her spare key, all while sprinting to the door at the end of the hall while the hall itself vibrated with the thunder. A click of the door, a traditional greeting.
"Daddyyyyy, I'm hooooome!"
No response. Strange.
Since he quit law, Taeko's father didn't do much throughout the day. He would clean and do the shopping, and they had enough from the firm for him to live comfortably until he were to find another job; something he never did look for. His spare time was spent watching anime and playing video games Taeko's mother got her for stormy days like this one.
No beeping came from the console. No dishes in the sink. The overhead light in the living room was off.
Taeko, finding this perplexing, called for her father again as she plucked off her boots and took off her sweater. Her pigtails poofed with static.
"Daddy?"
Again, no response.
She skittered to her room, a crack of lightning across the sky outside that illuminated the apartment for a moment.
(*)
"Oh my god…are you sure that wasn't, like, her dad or something?" Hifumi tapped his meaty fingers on the edge of the pool table very anxiously.
She handed him the card, his jaw slightly agape. With a quivering hand, he gave the phone number, the hotel location circled with hearts and exclamations points.
"No. I know for certain that wasn't her father. The windows were tinted. She almost looked scared."
"Well…she and Leon are still seeing each other, from what I know."
"Correct." A sip.
"Are you gonna tell him?"
"No. Of course not."
"Well, why not?"
(*)
Taeko dropped off her bookbag in her room, twirling on the balls of her feet to her father's room across from her. A few knocks, nothing. A yell. Nothing. She jiggled the knob. Locked.
With quickened breath, she pounded on the door, finding that wouldn't help her. No matter how many times she called for him, Taeko's father remained unresponsive. Tears ran from her eyes as she slammed her small, frail body against the wooden door repeatedly. Taeko could feel her bare shoulders bruise, the straps of her white tank top sliding off with each slam.
"Hey! Dad?" Slam. "Come on!" Slam. "This isn't funny!"
He wouldn't leave his bedroom door locked if he just "went out." He was never gone when Taeko got home from school. Did he leave? Why would he?
"Daddy!" she cried. Slam. "Daddy!" Slam. "Please!"
One last kick of the door let the lock give way. Exhausted, she collapsed to the floor.
(*)
She didn't even bother with the accent. Hifumi hardly noticed.
"Because I've seen what the truth does to people, Hifumi."
(*)
The door creaked open, and Taeko crawled through the entryway, her joints aching and swelling as she moved them. Finally, she found her father, and like a leaf, she shuddered and fell even further to the floor. Her own vomit choked her and her tears blinded her as the rain clashed furiously against the glass.
Taeko used the fallen chair to prop herself up, her fingers quivering along the bottom rails. Her father's mech figures were broken on the floor, posters torn from the walls. Cold feet dangled.
Do better than me, Taeko. Be something. Don't let them take you down.
And then,
Maybe you shouldn't have told me. I'm sorry.
And that was the night both Akira and Taeko Yasuhiro died.
(*)
"I…don't think I know what you mean."
She snickered. This was some cruel joke all over again. Luck did her in this time, and fate wanted to fuck with her a little, too.
"I…I-I…"
Celeste began to laugh with no explanation. Her knees met the floor of the rec room, as she covered her leaking eyes with her manicure. Hifumi met her on the floor, trying to put his hand on her shoulder, which she kept swatting away.
"Get the fuck away from me," she demanded between her sobbing and maniacal laughter. The polar emotions swirled around in her head. She felt everyone laugh at her, the lights flickering on and off, her own body crack into pieces.
"Celeste, are you okay? Listen to me."
"No. N-No."
"Cele-"
"NO!"
"I can get you water! Would that-"
"Leave me alone! Please!"
She could see his body swing from the ceiling fan above the pool table, which coiled around the parameter of the room like a snake. It coiled around and around and around and around and she couldn't stop her own screaming.
"I'm sorry! I'm fucking sorry, okay?!"
Feet swung from the rafters, continually kicking her.
"H-Hey, is this about Sayaka still?" Hifumi shook her a little, and she was too hysterical, too suffocated by her own world to notice his presence.
"I thought I did the right thing! I'm sorry!"
The lights shut off in favor of the chilling air and pounding rain. Everywhere Celeste turned, she saw her mother with the co-worker, the downtrodden father she told what she saw to. He was gone for poker night, and her mother timed it to a T. Multiple times. Bribes to stay quiet made the young girl grow uneasy.
Her forehead touched the floor, ears ringing from the confrontation, the argument, the evidence her father threw at his despondent and ashamed wife. Taeko watched it like a tennis match. Celeste watched it like it was her own murder.
She whimpered softly, her face resting in her tears.
"Celeste…"
Hifumi curled her into him, her face pressed against the brightness of his tie. Celeste took her earrings out, tore off her pigtails, untied her bonnet. Slowly, surely. Her breath slowed, and she muttered, "What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
Hesitantly, Hifumi stroked the back of her head as if it was Cheri on his lap.
"No…n-no…"
The door swung open to the rec room, with an exasperated, "Is everything okay in here?"
Leon, doe-eyed and freezing at the sight of Celeste, clenched his fists. Hifumi chuckled awkwardly.
"I, uh…" he pointed towards the hallway. "I heard yelling, so…"
"Yeah, we're uh…we're goo-"
"No."
Celestia pushed herself away, grabbing all of her needless accessories from the gaudy, rainbow carpet. She looked up at Leon, wiping her tears that removed most of her foundation and all of her mascara. Celestia let it smear, giving Leon a card to a business card none of them recognized, followed by the softest smile she could muster after one last sputter. Address to the nearest hotel, a stranger's name written in glossy, pink ink. They didn't make eye contact, and Hifumi didn't follow her out.
As Celestia Ludenberg walked gracefully out of the rec room, she could feel the rain drift farther and farther away from her. Every part of Taeko's body hurt, but Celestia was indestructible. She just had to keep reminding herself of that.
She felt her heart tighten as she heard the sound of a pool table being flipped over. A loud phone call and poor Hifumi skittering out of the room like a kitten hiding from the storm. As she headed to her room, she brushed off her dress, and she felt no one's stare.
A deep breath.
A poker face and a smile.
"Celestia Ludenberg…"
It did her well.