Chapter 3
"I'll give you one tip that you may find helpful. If you don't want people to know you're a detective, don't show off like that in the class trials."
After Sayaka's trial, Kyoko was wandering, not wanting to go to bed, and not wanting to retreat to her room until she had too. That was until she walked in on Celeste in the dining hall, leaving the kitchen.
Kyoko was startled when Celeste said this, quickly looking around as if she wasn't to be seen here with Celeste.
"You look restless." Celeste said, walking a few steps closer before she stopped right in front of Kirigiri. "Come back to my room."
Celeste walked past Kyoko as her gaze was fixed to Celeste, turning as subtle as she could while she passed her. She stopped at the door to the dining hall, turning back around to face her once again. "Well, are you going to follow me or stand there staring." She turned around ready to continue.
Kyoko grinned, "I have no reason to follow you."
Celeste froze before turning around once again to face Kyoko. She cocked her head to the side, almost as if she was challenging, or even mocking Kirigiri, it was as if she was asking where's your proof.
"Well you have no reason not to follow me."
"That's not entirely true though is it." The small smile on Celestes face dissolved into a frown, making her look more challenging as she straightened her neck. The innocent gleam in her eyes was gone.
"Oh?"
Kyoko slowly took a step forward. "It's really a compliment if you think about it. You think I'm smart enough to be a threat during the class trial."
Their gaze was fixed to eachother, unwavering eye contact even as Kyoko slowly maneuvered her way around tables and chairs.
"But you wanted to make sure nobody else would be a bigger threat and now that the first class trial has happened you've come to the conclusion that I'm your biggest threat."
Whoever blinked or allowed their eyes to wander the slightest first would be the one to admit defeat.
"But I'm not dumb, Celestia Ludenburg."
The name rolled off her tongue perfectly. This time Kyoko was the one doing the mocking, it was her way of getting back at Celeste for something she couldn't even prove she did.
"And I'll give you one tip, if you're planning to lure someone to their death, don't tell them exactly why you may want to kill them."
Kyoko had almost reached the door where Celeste was standing.
"I mean in another way it's also an insult. You say I'm smart and that's why you want to kill me, but then, yesterday you were saying how killing me would be your best bet to commit the perfect crime and expected me to not catch on?"
She stopped, inches away from Celeste's face.
"I thought you'd be smarter than that."
They stood like that for a quick but long moment, inches away from each others face not cracking a hint of a smile before Kyoko spoke again.
"So tell me, Celeste, why should I follow you into your soundproof room while there's no one in the halls to see us knowing that you may very well want to kill me?"
A grin appeared on Celeste's face, almost a smirk though not quite.
"Well, looks like you'll just have to trust me."
"Trust you?"
"Yes."
"Wouldn't that be foolish of me, to trust someone who's known for lying, not to lie."
"Let me put it this way, you trust me and in response, I trust you. I don't know that you won't take advantage of the opportunity back at my room. I mean, wouldn't that be perfect?I'm found dead in my room tomorrow morning, but everyone was so tired from the idols death that nobody saw their sweet special detective come with me to my room when I was last alive. It would be more convenient for you to kill me in my own room than it would for me to have your body and blood on my carpet."
"And let me put it this way." Kyoko smirked back. "Only one of us is known for being a liar."
The bickering wasn't real. They both knew and it could be told from the smitten smirks on their face.
Kyoko honestly wouldn't mind if Celeste made her cave, and brought her back to her room for whatever reason. But she wasn't just going to do it because she was asked nicely, Celeste had to earn it if she wanted it.
And if Celeste caved first then she really didn't deserve to take Kyoko back to her room. If she wanted Kyoko to follow her she had to earn it.
Just like Kyoko would have to earn it if she wanted Celeste to follow her back to her room.
"Maybe I lie to everyone else, but who says I would lie to you?"
Neither of them really thought of it in the moment, but this back an forth was the most themselves they'd been since they got to the school.
This was the most of her facade Celeste has let down in front of Kyoko so far. Kyoko had achieved what she was hoping to gain from Celeste but she was too busy to notice.
She was too busy letting her own guard down to really think about whether this part of Celeste was real or another one of her lies.
"That's total bullshit." Kyoko smiled, a real smile that she would make before she started to laugh. "I'm insulted you'd think I'd fall for that."
Celeste smiled back. Her own real smile.
"Well, looks like I took a gamble and lost."
"So I'm the only person ever to out-gamble Celestia Ludenburg?"
"Looks like it, but I'm sure it's just beginners luck."
They both paused for a moment, not really knowing what to say, until Celeste spoke again.
"So have you decided to trust me?" Her smile was smaller now, it wasn't the same as the one she had when on the verge of laughter. But this one was still real
"Have I decided whether or not I should trust a liar?" Kyoko said, still slightly grinning, though her face had become more serious like Celeste's. "It would be foolish for someone to do that."
"Well you just had some good luck with gambling, maybe it's your turn to take a gamble."
It was then that Kyoko realized just how smart Celeste was. Celeste never lost a gamble, she knew right away that Kyoko would catch her in a lie, she wasn't gambling on Kyoko believing her, she was gambling on her saying something. She was gambling on her calling out her lie.
By doing that it Celeste seem a bit more "human" to her, it made it seem like even though she may be an ultimate, a liar and a gambler even she lost at times. It also would make Kyoko feel special, knowing that she was the one that outsmarted her, it would make Kyoko feel superior to be the one to beat Celeste at her own game.
By doing this most people would sympathize with her, and give her what she wants.
Celeste wasn't just a liar, she was a manipulator, she got what she wanted by playing other people strings and making it seem like they wanted to give her what she asked for. She planted the idea in their head that it was their idea all along to be used as a footrest.
Celeste was controlling the conversation from the moment she brought up the word trust.
Knowing this made Celestia Ludenburg a bit more scary to Kyoko, but most of all it made her excited.
It made her more curious as to what Celeste was like when she wasn't pretending to be a French girl with Japanese parents who raised her in Japan. It made her more curious to see who she was and why she was like that.
And either Celeste bet on the fact that Kyoko wouldn't find out her manipulation tactic, or this was part of her plan. To have Kyoko figure out just a little bit more and have her wanting more.
All Kyoko knew was that Celeste was the ultimate gambler for a reason. She didn't lose bets.
Now Kyoko had two options, continue to feed into Celeste's manipulation tactic or say no.
Saying no would most likely cut off Celeste. Celeste would think she'd lost interest, or wasn't as invested as originally thought, and Kyoko would say goodbye to figuring out the mystery that was Celestia Ludenburg.
So really it was Kyoko's duty as a detective to trust Celeste, even if it was just a little bit.
"Well, maybe my beginners luck will last a little longer."
Celeste smiled before turning around and leaving the dining hall with Kyoko following closely behind.
The two walked through the halls. Celeste leading slightly, while Kyoko stayed cautiously by her side.
When they reached her room Celeste cracked the door open slightly. She paused before looking back at Kyoko.
"Come Inside." She smiled.
She opened the door the rest of the way.
The base of the room was the same as Kyokos. It had the same red walls and blue floor and all the furniture was laid out in the same way.
Unlike Kyokos room, Celeste's had decorations reflecting her aesthetic. Her bedspread was black with intricate white and black lacé designs. There were blood red roses neatly scattered in every corner of the room, some sat on her bed with an elegant yet unsettling black stuffed rabbit.
There were two mannequins in one corner that we're currently empty. They were places their to hold her detailed gothic gown and her under wiring that kept its shape.
The table had a black lace tablecloth covering it. The shelves were decorated with all sorts of materialistic trinkets, such as fine China, a Diamond crown, a few books and a holder for her jewelry.
When you walked in there was a portrait of Celeste to your right.
The room oozed of personality that Kyokos room lacked. Kyoko wondered if the others room's were decorated like this. She wondered if the lack of decorations in her own were to keep her memory suppressed.
Celeste began to remove her white headpiece. She carefully placed it next to the rest of her hair tools.
"You can make yourself comfortable." She said without looking at Kyoko. "Sit down, anywhere."
Kyoko looked around the room and eventually settled on the chair by the table. She watched as Celeste began to removed her jacket. She did it delicately, as to not create a wrinkle in it.
"The irons in the laundry room are no good, if I have to use them they will burn the material."
She lays out the jacket on her bed and continues on to her tie. She wore a renaissance styled white blouse. The sleeves ruffled and so did the collar. She started to work of the buttons on the front of the blouse.
"Did you know women's clothing has their buttons on the left side because while men always dressed themselves, Royal women such as queens and noble women would have a servant or a handmaiden dress them."
Kyoko did know that. She wasn't surprised Celestia did as well.
"Yet here you are, undoing the buttons by yourself."
"For now." She looked at Kyoko with her signature smile. "Maybe soon someone will be able to help me."
There were a few things Celeste could have meant. Kyoko settled on the conclusion that Celeste hoped to have a handmaiden one day.
Celeste was left with the upderwiring of her dress showing over her corset and white frilly sleeves. She pulled her skirt over her head, revealing the rest of the dress' skeleton. She carefully pulled the hoops and wiring over her head and placed it on her mannequin.
She started to arrange the pieces of her outfit on the other mannequin. The skirt going first, followed by the undershirt, followed by the jacket.
She was left in a gorgeous white lace up corset that had white frilly sleeves all the way down her arms, and small black bloomers that left quite the gap before her over the knee socks.
She sat down on the bed to undo her shoes and looked over at Kyoko.
"I cannot possible be comfortable in all those layers, you are welcome to get, comfortable, as well."
There was a sultry tone in her voice. Celeste made a show of undressing herself, as if to trick Kyoko into thinking she was making herself vulnerable. Kyoko saw through it thought. Celeste had layers, and shedding them still didn't leave her as vulnerable as she wanted Kyoko to think. Even in her underwear her body was mostly covered, she could have more hidden layers underneath. She hadn't even taken off her fake hair that Kyoko couldn't imagine wasn't making her uncomfortable.
If Kyoko had shed the same amount of clothes that Celeste did she would be more exposed, more vulnerable and showing more of what was underneath. Celeste had more layers than Kyoko did, she had more hiding what was underneath and therefore could afford to reveal more without actually exposing herself.
"I'm feeling quite comfortable the way that I am."
"You may as well take off your shoes and your jacket, you can relax a little bit."
She hesitated a second, but after some consideration she shed her jacket. She folded it and placed it on the table near her chair. she was left in her white button up. She began to undo her boots.
"Doesn't all that fake hair give you a headache? I'm sure it must after having those on your head all day."
"I don't know what you're talking about, you have the same amount of hair as I do." Celeste began to make her way over to Kyoko. "wouldn't you at least prefer to have it out of your face?"
Celeste grabbed something from a drawer filled with accessories.
"My hair doesn't bother me."
"It could bother you less." Celeste revealed the hairpin she had grabbed. "let me put it back for you."
"Go ahead"
Celeste started running her hands through Kyoko's hair. Her silver-ish purple hair was soft and silky to touch. Celeste used her fingers to detangle Kyoko's hair. Her black almond shaped nails grazed Kyoko's scalp, sending shivers through her body. Kyoko hummed as if she was agreeing with the feeling.
Celeste pulled away.
"I like your hair pulled back."
Kyoko felt her hair, trying to figure out the look without a mirror.
"I don't put all that much time into my appearance."
"I wouldn't have guessed."
They locked eyes for a second. The moment felt natural. Kyoko wasn't trying to uncover anything and Celestia wasn't trying to hide anything. They were just there, in Celeste's room, sitting in the moment with eachother.
Kyoko reached forward and took Celestia's hand. She looked up to meet Celeste's eyes again. Celeste smiled, a curious, yet content look coming over her face.
Kyoko brought the back of Celeste's hand to her mouth, planting a soft kiss and holding eye contact the whole time. Celeste let Kyoko guide her arm as she continued to plant soft and slow kisses up her arm. Kyoko stood up to continue making her way to Celeste's collarbone. she sprinkles kisses up her neck and to her cheek. She made eye contact with Celeste once again. A soft smile had taken over her face.
Kyoko placed a hand around her waist, and the other on her shoulder before planting her lips onto Celestes. Their lips connected in soft kisses. It was never more than the lips touching, their mouths never parted much and their tongues stayed in their respective mouths. It was just soft and tender kisses exchanged between the two of them as Kyoko's hand guided Celeste, while Celestes hands found their way around Kyoko's neck.
Their touches were firm but not desperate. Kyoko never held Celeste, just guided her. Celeste never held onto Kyoko, just placed her hands on her to balance herself. Kyoko let her hand slide from Celeste's waist, over her hips and down her thigh.
Celeste pushed Kyoko lightly. "Sit down."
Kyoko sat back down on the chair. Celeste used her leg to make room in between Kyokos thighs. She straddles one of Kyokos and sat down, letting her weight shift onto Kyoko's leg. She guided Kyokos hands to her hips.
"Just watch."
She began grinding slowly on Kyokos thigh. She hummed in agreement with the feeling. Kyokos hand could feel the movement through her hands on Celestes hips. Celeste stabled herself by planting her hands on Kyoko's shoulders. She continued to move slowly and sensually.
Kyoko watched her face. Her eyes were closed and her expression had become more serious, more focused. She began using her hands to guide the other woman's movements. Celeste hummed in agreement again.
Celeste continues grinding down on Kyoko's thigh through her clothes. her eyes stayed closed and she stayed focused on her own pleasure. She let Kyoko guide her movements only a little, always making sure she was mainly the one in control.
Sounds made their way through Celeste's lips. Small hums and gasps filled the space between them. Even like this, making her way to orgasm Celeste stayed refined and never showed an ounce of desperation.
Her hips continued to move against Kyokos sensually until Celeste's eyes shot open. She began to grind with some more intensity as her hips gradually increased their pace.
Kyoko studied the change in Celeste's face, but before she could get too good of a look Celeste leaned forward to hide her face over Kyoko's shoulder. One of her long black spirals of hair hit Kyoko in the process. Kyoko removed her hand from Celeste's hips for a moment to move the hair out of the way.
Celeste kept moving at a quickened pace, she let Kyoko's hands continue to guide her. Her breath became shallower and faster.
She let out no more than a hitch of her breath as her hips stuttered. Kyoko felt her body tense on top of her while her hips froze in place and her leg was squeezed in between Celeste's thighs.
Celeste's body relaxed with an exhale.
Celeste took no more time than one deep breath before she stood up and removed herself from Kyoko. Her face had returned to her regular mask.
She smiled her regular smile. "You can return back to your room now."
Kyoko put her boots and jacket back. "Alright." She made her way to the door.
"Celeste?" She said before she left.
"Mhm."
"Don't forget to lock the door behind me."
Celeste looked back at Kyoko. Kyoko smiled.
As Kyoko made her way back to her own room to go to bed, she couldn't help but think,
she had discovered more about Celestia Ludenburg in their latest interaction than she had in all previous interactions combined.