News of the accident had not reached my side of the city yet. The farther from the manor I walked, the more noise dissipated until it ceased altogether. Now the starless sky frowned down upon me in its morose silence. Black heels were suspended above the cracked sidewalks by my fingertips, and if anyone would happen upon me with my clean face and silk dress, these gray bricks and this gray air would be sullied with red.

I decided that it was the best night of my life, an impossible night. Playing over the events over and over again in my head, a vague melancholy crept in through the seams. I told myself it was for that poor woman, collapsed on the floor with wine glass in hand on the edge of her life. That and something else, something even more impossible that it would get me hanged just to think of it.

My march halted in front of the dreary gate that served as my front door. I had no idea what the time was or if Gakupo would still be awake, but no matter. A shadow unlocked it and retreated back into the saturnine garden. With two fingers, I pushed the gate open, a cacophony of squeaks and squeals accompanying it, and stepped in.

A fierce rustling followed by the spark of a match. I could see my friend's blurry face through the dark. He lit one of our precious candles. "I was starting to believe you actually were kidnapped, you know," he whispered, dramatics voided from his voice for the first time in a very long time.

"Worry any more and I'd start to think you really are my father, old man." I went over to the blankets on the cold dirt floor, my bed for the night.

He let out all of his suppressed tension in a sigh. "Did everything go well?"

"Mostly. I never blew my cover, but at the night was cut off short by a woman collapsing. I'm not sure if she had health issues or what, but she gave everyone a scare. I became lost after the crowd of people forced me into streets I weren't familiar with."

"Maybe it was attempted murder. Those aristocrats are vicious creatures-" he cut himself off with a coughing fit. Eventually, it subsided. "Did you find your Prince Charming?"

"...No."

"I can't believe it! There was hesitation in your voice!" He hopped onto the mattress beside me and held the candle up to my face interrogation style. "Tell me all about him. Was is he rich? Handsome? I hope he was a gentleman or else I would have to have a firm conversation with this man who stole my darling Mayu's heart-"

"There is no man!" I shouted, maybe a bit to forcefully. "Even if there was, it's not like anything further could happen! He thinks I'm some foreign affluent whatever with multiple houses and a respectable upbringing, besides the fact that he is engaged-would. He would think that and be that if there was such a person."

"You have never been so transparent in your life. Don't worry about those things! Cinderella stories happen more often than you think, and fiancees are not wives. Did he seem to take an interest in you?"

"Maybe."

"There you go. It's not like you're vying for the Duke or anything."

I kept my mouth shut.

"Mayu?"

"...Not exactly the Duke himself."

"Oh my God."

"Okay, bedtime! Goodnight!" I pinched the flame to engulf us in darkness, faced away from him in the dirt, hugged the thin blankets to my chin, and attempted to calm my rampant heart.

Gakupo woke me from my dreamless sleep even earlier than what I was used to. He motioned to our sitting area in the center of our home and silently demanded an explanation. I gave one, all of it. Rin, my hair, my dress, Miku, Len, Luka, that woman on her deathbed. Nothing was omitted, save for how the duke's son actually made me feel. I didn't truly know myself.

When he stumbled and coughed back to his bed, concerned but somewhere underneath, a little happy that I experienced such a night. He had spent a great deal of time examining my alien hair and gown, already muddied by my slumber on the ground. I realized I couldn't go out in this. For once, my old clothes sounded really good at the moment.

A shaky knock rattled the gate. Making sure to edge against the wall to hide my appearance, I peeked around the corner to see if anyone was there. A woman in a servant's outfit, finicky and constantly looking over her shoulder, golden hair leaking out of her hood, a bundle of torn and dilapidated clothing in her arms, stood in the faded blue morning light. I cautiously stepped out from my perch and unlocked the gate.

The girl turned around and nearly gave me a heart attack. Face hardly concealed in her cloak, Rin Kagamine looked me up and down with distaste. "You have managed to dirty the dress, I see."

"Sorry! Really, sorry, but why are you here?" I sputtered, checking behind me to see if Gakupo had awoken again.

"To return these rags and retrieve the dress, of course," she answered.

"I know that, but why didn't you just send a servant?"

She huffed. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Rin sashayed in the same way she would enter the Queen's palace. I did not think she noticed the breathing lump of blankets in the corner. "I didn't send a servant, because there is a personal matter I wish to discuss with you."

"And that is?"

"I saw that you were talking with my brother, Len, last night."

At the unsurprising mention of this, I swallowed my jitters to keep my voice stolid. "Yes, I did. I apologize if that was out of line. He approached me."

"I witnessed that, too. The problem is, though, that my brother yesterday after the party was ended early would not stop alluding to 'the girl with the rainbow hair.' I presume he was talking about you."

"I suppose so."

"Now you see the dilemma. He has gotten the idea that I was the one who invited you to the party and has endlessly nagged me well into this morning for information. He is doing it subtly and with discretion, but I know that he will not let it go. I agreed to meet with you and confirm that you politely decline any offer of meeting again."

"That's...well..."

"Because certainly a homeless girl would never even dream of anything like that."

"...Certainly. Of course. It's impossible for us to meet again, so why encourage him? I bet it's just a day's fascination. He will have forgotten me by next morning and gone back to devoting himself to his fiancee."

"That is the plan. I am so happy you agree with me. This could have gone much differently, but I knew you were smart. Here, change into these clothes and we can depart ways forever."

I slipped out of silk and into rough cotton. I rubbed dirt in my hair to hide its rainbow gleam, the gleam he seemed to have noticed. When everything was done and Rin headed for the gate, I asked, "Did you win the bet?"

She turned to look at me and smiled. "You did very well, Mayu Hidari. You have played all of your roles perfectly."

Rin soon vanished into the streets, back to her extravagant home, back to playing her role perfectly. I examined my surrounding and myself, how it looked like nothing had ever happened at all the night previous, and wondered if I would be able to play mine again.