Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat
Clack, clack…
Celestia's heels graced the school's tiles with their trademark sound.
"Celes-kun!" The Super High School Level Hall Monitor marched over to the girl, his own boots tapping briskly.
"Yes, Ishimaru-kun? How may I help you this fine day?"
"I would like for you to remove your shoes."
"My shoes? I wouldn't have pegged you as being interested ladies' feet. It seems the hall monitor 'monitors' something else in his free time?" Celes smiled sweetly enough to make a person want to discard any candy on their person.
"High heels are inappropriate for school! Perhaps if there was more order in this school, the students would find themselves less inclined to murder each other."
"Yes, that's all well and good, but what about stocking feet on the school floors? That can't be allowed either, can it?" She continued to simper.
Ishimaru crossed his arms in consideration. "That's true. I suppose I have no choice but to confine you to your room for failure to comply."
"Aw, that's no fun. I can think of another option."
"Oh? Let's hear it, then."
"Would you perhaps carry me?"
"Hmm. I suppose that would be the best option." Ishimaru uncrossed his arms and knelt down on the floor, back to the girl.
Celes's brow creased. "What are you doing?"
"Preparing to carry you, of course."
"Piggy-back!? You will carry me princess-style or I will go back to my room and find some scissors, which I will proceed to run up and down the hallway with." She demanded mildly.
"Alright, then. We certainly wouldn't want that."
Ishimaru managed to cradle the lolita quite securely in his arms, if he did say so himself. Carrying a person could be quite dangerous. He would not be able to live with himself if her were to drop her. Especially since he was doing this in order to save her from perils of wearing shoes with tall heels. Celestia wasn't helping much, however. She didn't put her arms around neck to brace herself or anything so romantic. She simply kept her arms crossed, like a fussy toddler.
"Make certain no one sees my bloomers!"
"True, that would be very indecent… But aren't you wearing underpants under the bloomers? They are like shorts, am I correct?"
"How did you know about that? Most people think they're the same as underwear."
"I overheard Yamada-kun talking about the finer points of gothic lolitas. I think he might be confusing you for one of his anime characters."
"Oh? And how do you see me?"
"I admire your individuality, even though it isn't always appropriate in a school setting. Your confidence is also not something to sneeze at."
Celes's eyes widened. The qualities Ishimaru had listed were the things that she herself had always been very proud of. She had thought that Ishimaru was poor at reading people, but perhaps she was somewhat mistaken.
Ishimaru suddenly came to a stand-still in the middle of the hall.
"Why are we stopping?" Celes demanded.
"You never told me where you need me to take you."
Celes's cheeks warmed. It was a good thing they were covered by a generous slathering of pale foundation. She had not given any thought to where he should take her! She must be losing her knack for giving orders, being locked in this school for days on end.
"Tea! I would like some tea!"
"Aha! A good choice. I do love tea myself. To the kitchen, then!"
Celes's skirt fluttered as Ishimaru made an about-face. "No."
"No?" Ishimaru raised an impressive eyebrow.
"No. Take me to the cafeteria. I would like for you to make the tea."
"I see word has gotten around that I make a swell cup of tea! Very well. Celes-kun! Preparing yourself for the greatest cup of tea you have ever known!"
Upon reaching the cafeteria, Ishimaru paused expectantly by a chair.
"My shoes aren't supposed to stand on the floor, remember?"
"Yes, that's true…" he continued to hesitate as he considered whether he could simultaneously hold the girl and pull out the chair. The hall monitor hated to doubt the intentions of the other students, but he was seriously beginning to think that the gambler was intentionally trying to make things difficult for him.
With a swift movement, Ishimaru hefted the girl into one arm and pulled out the seat with the other, gently placing her onto it, as if returning a baby bird to the nest.
"…Straighten out my skirt." Celes was impressed. She had never expected 'Mr. No-Running-in-the-Halls, Jr.' to be that brawny. She had been bracing herself to be fumbled. Not bad at all, she thought, Now if only he weren't such a push-over. Of course, she enjoyed being waited on hand-and-foot immensely. It was like a bowl of ice-cream for her decadent little soul. On occasion, however, she did wonder what it would be like for something new to happen when she spoke to a man.
The boy began to bend his knees, presumably to kneel down, but he instead straightened back up and crossed his arms. "Celes-kun…you are not an invalid. If your clothing is causing you this much of a problem, I suggest that you borrow something else from one of the other girls. I've already acted inappropriately enough by carrying you here. I don't feel comfortable fiddling with your skirts too. I apologise. I'll go and make your tea to make up for it."
Ishimaru exited to the kitchen.
Celes was beginning to have an inkling that she had been remiss in not paying more attention to Ishimaru all this time. Sure, his strict adherence to the rules may be on the exasperating side, but she had to grudgingly admire his tenacity at the same time.
He seemed to be taking quite a long time in there. Was he baking a cake to go with the tea?
Finally, she heard to the click of his own boots coming out of the kitchen. Ishimaru did wear impressive heels for a boy. She wondered how he could get away with it.
Ishimaru triumphantly placed a tray on the table. A teapot and two cups were neatly arranged on it. "I hope you don't mind my joining you."
"Keeping an eye on me?"
"No, actually, I'd just like a cup of tea. I thought it might be fun to share. While I was waiting for it to brew, it occurred to me that perhaps if we all get to know each other better, we can attempt to cease the murders and get back to a normal school life."
"What took so long in there?" Celes asked curiously.
"You look like a girl who likes her tea strong!" he looked quite pleased with himself, "Now give it a try."
Celes grasped the cup as she momentarily considered that the tea may be poisoned. She immediately dismissed the thought. Out of everyone at the school, Ishimaru seemed least likely to kill. Murder certainly wasn't something that would be promoted in a hall-monitor's handbook.
She closed her eyes to take in the aroma before sipping. Her nose wrinkled as she set the cup back on the tray and pushed it toward Ishimaru. It may as well be poison, she thought.
"This is green tea. I wanted black."
Ishimaru frowned. "I always drink green. This is Japan after all; it's traditional. Celes-kun, it's not very polite to refuse something without even trying it. I make very good green tea and I really think that you would enjoy it."
He was right. A proper lady such as herself should try to be polite. As hard as she tried to keep up her aristocratic pretence, she could be known to slip up on occasion.
She reached for the cup once again and took a delicate sip.
"There's no sugar."
"Does it need any?
Celes took a longer sip. "…no. No, it does not." She sat the down once again, smiling bemusedly.
"Maybe it's the same as you, Celes-kun."
"How so?"
"Well, maybe you don't need extra sugar either. You put on a sweet show for everyone, but I feel like I got to see some of the real you today, Celes-kun. I like people who are honest!"
"Oh? Does that mean that you don't like me, then? Gambling does require a certain degree of deception, I'm sure you know."
"Quite the contrary, Celes-kun. Even when I don't approve of a person's actions, I am still capable of liking them overall."
"So you do like me then." She grinned like a carnival barker who had just reeled in a sucker.
"Why of course! I like everyone here."
"Uh-huh." Celes finished off the last of her tea and stood to leave.
"Celes-kun, where do you think you're going?"
She sighed in exasperation. We're still doing this?
"Would you care to carry me again, kind sir?" she crossed her arms as she continued to stand by her cafeteria chair.
"Well, no, I suppose we can't continue to do that all day…"
"Oh good, because I have another idea. Take off your shoes."
"If you say so…" Ishimaru found himself curious as to where this was going. This girl was full of surprises.
Once the hall monitor had finished unlacing his boots, Celes sat down again and removed her own. She padded around to his side of the table, black knee-highs picking up dust from the tile floor along the way.
Celestia Ludenberg proceeded casually to settle her frill-adorned behind onto Ishimaru's lap, as if he were an invisible man and all that she perceived was the chair. She laced his boots up on to her own feet unhurriedly, then stood and faced the boy.
"My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru!" the girl put on a tone similar to that of a pre-teen mocking her father. "You get detention, young man! Where are your shoes? You can't let a girl sit on your lap! How indecent! Detention! Detention!" she waggled her finger toward him.
After making the determination that he was properly dumbfounded, she turned to leave. Unfortunately, the great gambler had forgotten to factor something in. Celes tottled for two steps, and then noticed that the floor was rapidly coming to meet her face, like an incoming smooch from a least favorite aunt.
She had expected that Ishimaru's shoe size would be larger than her own, but she assumed that it would be no different than getting used to walking in heels. She wasn't used to making miscalculations.
Suddenly her decent halted as quickly as it began. Instead of the floor, her ruby eyes now saw nothing but white. Surely she hadn't hit her head and gone straight to Heaven? She soon found that she was, in fact, bundled into Ishimaru's arms, face pressed against his uniformed chest.
"It seems Ishimaru-kun is sweet enough for the both of us." Celes smirked as she broke free from his grasp and kicked off the boots.
The end