Celes twirled her hair between her fingers as she looked down at the Othello game board sitting atop the table. She looked across at Hifumi Yamada, whom she was currently in a game with. She put her head in her hands and sighed. They were only about two minutes into the game, and Celes was already one step away from beating him. Yamada took his turn. She smirked; he was such an easy opponent. She took her turn and stood up from her seat. She had won. Yamada frowned and looked down at the game board.

"Impossible! We hardly just started," he exclaimed, a frown on his face.

Celes yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. "I have been playing Othello since I was 4 years old. You will find it quite difficult to beat me." She laughed, pushing the board away from her. She started to make her way to the Recreation Room door.

"Master Celestia Ludenburg? Why are you leaving so soon? We have only been in here for about 10 minutes," he called after her.

She sighed. Celes truly didn't want to be around him. He was such a pest, such a nuisance. She shouldn't be wasting her time on him. She turned around to face him. "I have some things to attend to, Yamada. Thank you for sparing the time to play a few games with me. I will see you later." She pushed open the door and let out a sigh of relief. The truth was, he was the one who had asked her to accompany him to the Rec Room. Not really wanting to, but not having anything else to do, she had reluctantly agreed to accompany him. Though, he did think she was having a good time with him, she was actually dying inside. She hated spending time with him.

As she walked through the halls, she saw a couple people here and there, but not many were out. Most people were either finishing up their late dinners or already back to their rooms. She passed Sonia Nevermind, who was deep in conversation with Gundam Tanaka. They hardly noticed her as she walked past. Byakuya Togami was just exiting the library and heading to his room. She saw a few other familiar faces, but did not care to take the time to observe what they were doing or where they were coming from.

Looking down, she was about to pull her key out of her pocket when she bumped into a figure in front of her. She took a step back, staring at the tall figure in front of her. Mondo Oowada stood there, a scowl on his face.

"Watch where you're going, asshole," he muttered under his breath. She glared at him. She generally disliked Oowada, but he was not as bad as most of the other men in this school. He had a certain aura to him that she found appealing. Maybe it was the part that he didn't make a fool of himself, and wasn't annoying. Sure, he had his moments, but everyone did.

"I could say the same to you, Oowada. You weren't exactly looking either, now were you?" She smiled at him, cocking her head.

He rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Whatever. See you around Celes." With that, he stalked off down the hall towards the direction of his room. She went back to getting her key out of her pocket as she began to approach her room. When she looked up, key in hand, she was surprised to see that someone was at her door, intently knocking.

Celes looked at the back of Kyoko Kirigiri's head, covered in long, flowing, lilac colored hair. What was Kirigiri doing at her door at this hour?

"Kirigiri," Celes called, frowning. "What are you doing at my door at 8'o clock in the evening?"

Kirigiri turned around, startled by Celes standing there. "Oh, there you are. I was wondering why you weren't answering the door." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I just was…" She trailed off, looking confused. "I'm not even sure anymore… I just felt like I wanted to talk to you." She rubbed her chin, a confused look on her face. Celes felt just as confused. She rarely conversed with Kirigiri, and never had Kirigiri asked to have a conversation with her on her own free time. This was peculiar.

Celes thought for moment. "Well, I was just going to get ready for bed and relax, possibly read a bit. Do you think we could rendezvous tomorrow morning, instead?" She took a few steps closer to the door and Kirigiri.

"Yes. Can I come by your door tomorrow morning, say, 8 o'clock?" Celes wasn't sure but she thought she saw Kirigiri blush.

Celes nodded. "That would be excellent. Well, then. I assume that I will see you tomorrow." She walked past Kirigiri and opened her door. As she turned back around to shut it, Kirigir was already gone, almost like she had just disappeared out of thin air.

Kirigiri was strange. Celes could read basically anyone like an open book, but she could never tell what Kirigiri was thinking, and she didn't like it. Kirigiri was almost as mysterious as her. She pushed the door shut and went over to sit on her bed to think for a moment.

What was it that Kirigiri could have wanted with her? It was all a very peculiar thought. But she would have to wait until tomorrow, when Kirigiri came by her door. Celes stood up and walked over to her bathroom door. She pulled out her key to unlock it, then slipped inside. She started to undress, taking out her hair extensions and revealing her short, cropped hair. She slipped into the shower, hot water cascading over her. As she cleansed herself, she thought about the events of the day. She wasn't sure what to make of the events.

She stepped out of the shower, dried herself off, and threw on her night clothes. She opened up the bathroom door and steam flowed out into the open air of her room. Celes walked over to her bed, pulled back the covers, and slipped into the warmth and safety of her dorm room bed. She laid back her head on the pillow and looked at the clock. It read 8:30 PM. Celes never went to bed this early. She knew there was no chance of her being able to sleep right now. She threw back the covers and stood up.

She wasn't sure what to do with herself. She couldn't go back in the hallway; she wasn't dressed and she didn't have her hair attached, and she could not bare to reveal herself to others like this. She began pacing around her room, suddenly restless. Not feeling like getting dressed again, and not feeling like laying down, she wasn't sure what she could do to entertain herself. She sat down on the bed again and picked up the book that lay on her bedside table. Opening it up to the place she was at, she began to read.

She sat there like that for about 30 minutes. She looked up at the clock again. It now read 9: 13 PM. She carefully placed her bookmark back in the spot that she had finished reading, and stood up. Most people returned to their dorms at 9:00. Besides, no one would be in the halls at this hour.

She walked over to the door, opening it up with one hand. She peeked out into the hallway. Like she had suspected, the hallway with everybody's rooms was deserted. Crossing the threshold into the hallway, she ran her hands down her bare arms. It was slightly cold out here in the hallway, and all she was wearing was a light white tank top and black shorts. Celes started walking down the hallways, always on the lookout to make sure no one was around to see her like this.

As she turned the corner into the main hallway, she collided with someone. She fell down on the ground, cursing under her breath. She looked up to see who it was that her true self would be revealed to.

Her red eyes met the gaze of a pair of sharp purple ones. It was Kirigiri. What was happening all the sudden with her and Kirigiri? They were hardly even acquaintances. She heard a sharp intake of breath as Kirigiri gasped.

"Celes?" She breathed out in disbelief, "What happened to your hair?" She reached out a hand to help Celes up. Celes reached up and took her hand, pulling herself off of the ground. She stood up and brushed herself off.

She gulped. This was the first time she would ever tell someone, but with Kirigiri… For some reason it felt so right. "It's… It's fake." She let out a sigh, waiting for Kirigiri's response.

Kirigiri's face slowly went from shock back to it's normal impassive expression. "I see," was all she said.

Celes cocked her head. "I thought it would shock you, make you even resent me possibly." That was a lie. She felt like Kirigiri would understand any of the secrets she told her.

Kirigiri laughed shakily. "No, not at all. Yes, it shocked me a bit, but I would never resent you for something so stupid." She paused, as if contemplating what she was about to say next. "I think you look beautiful like this."

Celes's eyes widened. This was not the response she had been expecting. "T-thanks.." she spluttered. Celes hadn't stuttered once in her life before.

Kirigiri looked down at the ground. "Hey… Do you… Do you want to come to my room for a bit?" she asked, hope in her electric purple eyes when she looked back up.

Celes looked down, contemplating what she should say. She looked up and met Kirigiri's bright purple gaze with her deep red one. "Yes, I would very much enjoy that." Celes smiled, then blushed as Kirigiri reached out and grasped her hand. She started dragging her back to her room.

Kirigiri pulled out her room key, Celes's stark white hand still grasped in her gloved one. She unlocked her door and pushed it open. They both stepped into Kirigiri's room.

Kirigiri's room had an identical layout to Celes's, except where Celes's was customized with what she loved, Kirigiri's was completely devoid of anything but furniture. Celes let out a small gasp. She had thought that all students' rooms were customized with what they resembled. But apparently Kirigiri preferred her room to be simple.

She pulled Celes over and sat down on the edge of the bed. Celes sat down next to her. She felt so vulnerable without her hair or her busy clothes.

Kirigiri smiled at her. "So, this is my room, and yes, I am assuming you are probably wondering why there is nothing that decorates it…" She laughed a bit, waiting for Celes to respond.

"Well, yes, Kiri-"

"You can call me Kyouko." Kirigiri cut her off, grinning at her.

Celes swallowed. "Well, Kyouko," she said, grinning. "I was wondering that, actually. Mine is covered with what represents who I am, while yours…" She trailed off.

Kyouko smiled that bright smile at her. "I prefer for everything to be orderly. I don't really want for my room to be busy."

Suddenly, Celes felt like she didn't want her room to be busy anymore. She felt like she wanted it to be like Kyouko's. The feeling overwhelmed her, leaving her confused.

"I like that idea," Celes said, smiling. "It makes me want my room not to be so busy anymore."

Celes and Kyouko sat and talked about the things they were interested, what they were not interested in, staring into each other's eyes the whole time. Celes broke eye contact with Kyouko to look up at the clock. Her eyes widened, startled. The clock read 12:46 AM. Seeing Celes's expression, Kyouko turned to look at the clock to. She started laughing.

"We've been talking for over 3 hours!" She exclaimed, giggling. Celes joined in the laughter. It was so easy to talk to Kyouko. How come she had never really gotten to know her before? Away from each other, they were both mysterious, and simply different from all of the other students. But together, Celes felt like she could tell Kyouko everything about herself. She stood up from the bed, looking down at Kyouko.

"I had better get going," she said, still laughing. "I will be extremely tired tomorrow morning if I do not get to bed soon."

Kyouko nodded her head, agreeing, "As will I." She paused, and looked up at Celes. "I had fun talking to you."

Celes felt heat rise to her face. "I did, too" She smiled, then held out her hand. Kyouko took it and stood up. Then, out of nowhere, Kyouko leaned forward and hugged Celes. Celes grew stiff, but then stopped resisting and hugged her back. They stood like that for 3 mintues.

When they finally broke apart, tears were running down Celes's face. She had forgotten what it had felt like to truly have a friend. She turned away from Kyouko, waving over her shoulder as she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. She walked down the hallway back to her dorm, not even paying attention to if anyone was there to see her like this. She opened up the door to her room and immediately sank into bed.

She pulled herself under the covers, trying to go to sleep, but she couldn't shake the image of Kyouko's purple eyes from her mind. What was going on with her? Maybe… No, it couldn't be… But, maybe, just maybe, Celes was in love with Kyouko Kirigiri. She quickly shook the thought from her head and tried to bring herself to sleep. When sleep had finally taken her down, she kept dreaming about blazing, purple eyes. That night, for the first time in a long time, Celes had trouble sleeping.