Chapter Text
Interrogating people gave Celestia the chance to show everyone (ahem, Kirigiri) how useful she could be in an investigation. Without the need to resort to a lie, a bluff or whatever trick she had up her sleeve, the gambler went with memory and intelligence alone. The plan, simple enough, was to build trust and let others (Kirigiri) know how indispensable she was to the killing game.
Or at the very least, to unveiling the mystery they had been faced with in order to survive.
That would make them think twice about accusing her in the future; not to mention it would be easier for her to be marked as one of them and an ally instead of a potential enemy. Sure, she herself wasn’t naive enough to think that no one would succumb to murder—as already proven otherwise by Maizono’s killer—but the other students didn’t need to know that just yet.
The more in the dark they were about her ulterior motives, the feelings which truly coursed through her veins at every moment spent locked in that eerie school, the better it would be for everyone in the end.
Still, it didn’t mean things were easy. Maintaining her persona, encouraging others and forcing herself to think about nothing but the murder in their hands was hard enough. After all, there was no escape from that game: the character she had chosen to go with couldn’t be abandoned after a few hours, like it happened in the poker matches she was used to playing. Just as there was no downtime between investigation and the classroom trial, announced by Monokuma a few hours later, she would have no moment of respite to allow her emotions to run free.
Thinking of the long game, and in this case a very long game, would have to be enough in order to soothe her nerves.
It did help that she had done nothing wrong that time. The one fear Celestia had in mind was not being enough to outsmart the true culprit, meaning she and the others would be killed in the process. As the cramped elevator silently moved downwards to a yet-unexplored part of what was supposed to be Hope’s Peak Academy, the Ultimate Gambler held on to the belief that it would be nothing more but the matter of exposing a liar.
And who was she, but someone adept in lying and spotting untruths?
Somehow another source of strength was the girl standing beside her, impassive. Well, perhaps it would be more correct to assume that Kirigiri was lost in thought, something that had started as soon as the two of them were done interrogating people. Finding inspiration in that, Celestia did her best to mimic her body language—slightly tense shoulders, faraway eyes, head held straight, feet apart—and leaned in just a bit, trying her best to forget the others around her.
Or better yet, trying even harder to forget how her heart was beating as fast as it usually did before a life-or-death gamble.
“You seem resolute. Have you reached a conclusion yet?” Celestia whispered, voice neutral.
A few people were muttering, hugging their own selves, unsure of who they could trust. The uncertainty that followed something that nefarious, when hope and calm had been shattered by an unknown member of the group.
“Perhaps.” Kirigiri answered, distant. A few seconds later her gaze moved, focusing on the gambler’s. “I believe that some things will come to light during the trial, such as elements we haven’t observed or haven’t given the attention they deserve. But I do have a few suspects, yes.”
“Oh? Am I one of them, perchance?” Celeste couldn’t help but ask with a coy smile.
One that was reciprocated by the other girl, the mood between them suddenly lighter. Almost as if they had been in such a situation before and knew what to do in order to make it easier.
“Maybe. The evidence doesn’t suit you and you do have important alibis, however, but there is always the possibility that some or all of those could be fabricated.”
“In other words, I could deceive you.”
“I welcome you to try.”
The fact that they had arrived at their destination and those last two sentences were whispered didn’t take the joy away from the banter. Even if they both knew it was neither the time nor the place for any of that.
It was an issue Celestia would consider later, truly, but what was it that made talking to Kirigiri something so simple? Sure, she was known for misleading others into believing they were her friends, companions for life or whatever. The main difference here was intent: if before she was using people to fulfill her own end, that wasn’t the case with the purple-haired girl. At the very least she couldn’t point out one good result that would come from her being in Kirigiri’s good graces: the girl wasn’t popular by any means and it didn’t seem like she would be able to swerve others into following her as the game went on.
Sure, the group hadn’t been together for enough time so that some people would be more prone to become a leader or anything of the sort. She was intelligent, beautiful and knowledgeable, true. The others did listen to what she had to say, especially during the investigation, yet her usually dry words weren’t the kind to inspire a following. Leave that to Makoto, who would be more charismatic if he weren’t under heavy suspicion in that particular murder case.
“Welcome, welcome to the trial grounnnnnds!”
Monokuma’s cheerful voice broke through Celeste’s reverie almost as much as the hand that shot forward to stop her advance. Far afield as she had been, the Ultimate Gambler almost walked straight into a circle of podiums; Kyoko’s palm painfully curling around her shoulder, the one thing that detained her. With a sharp inhale and a grateful look to the other girl, she gave a small step back and stayed with the group, on the outskirts of the weird place they had been taken to.
Sixteen podiums displayed on a raised, crimson platform, funeral portraits standing on top of two. One for Junko Enoshima, so bravely trying to put an end to it all, the other for Sayaka Maizono, the current victim. The floor was all checkered tiles in black and white, dizzying if glanced at in a quick manner. Blue walls contrasted with red curtains, windowless; the one thing that stood apart from it all was a velvety seat that Monokuma occupied after that simple introduction.
“Now, now, don’t be shy. Find the stand with your name on it and make yourself comfortable. Chop chop, we don’t have all day! Gotta get to the important part and soon!”
Most of the kids remained still, trying to decipher just what was going on—not a new sensation ever since they had woken up at that school, truly. To no one’s surprise it was Kyoko who moved first, hand brushing against Celestia’s as she took her first step away from the others.
The touch that was once again familiar, as many things regarding Kirigiri seemed to be, burned within the gambler’s mind while she found her own place.
It wasn’t the time to think about it, to think of anything aside from the crime they had investigated together. As soon as… whatever that was came to an end, however, Celeste was sure she would approach the other girl and ask for her opinion. Surely she wasn’t the only one experiencing that, was she?
What was the point of that brief contact, of the words they had exchanged in the lift and while working through the crime scene if it was all in her mind?
Everything about it made her weary. The gambler wasn’t one to form deep connections; the people she called friends were just those she could talk to on a casual level, without the intimacy that others seemed to crave from such relationships and others. It wasn’t in her nature to do so: people were bothersome, more burdensome than it was worth, really.
Some, like her family, had tried to exploit her talent the moment they realized it meant getting easy money in a fast, effortless manner. Others that had called themselves her best friends at school and the like, were quick to ask her to buy them stuff after she started becoming richer and richer due to her own gambles.
It was her life on the line, but they would have the spoils of her endeavors.
Yeah, no more. That, her family’s poor origins and those awful people who mostly thought about themselves… they wouldn’t be in her life anymore. It was easy to distance herself from them, to start building her own empire by playing more and more dangerous games. One day it would be worth it. She would have her castle, loyal servants who wouldn’t question her orders, instead admiring her every act and word.
So why was it that Kirigiri and her…
“Let the trial beginnnnnn!”
Monokuma’s voice and the terrified whispers from everyone else around her made the gambler realize she had missed some sort of explanation. Well, no matter. There couldn’t be many variations to what a class trial was and she had read the rules beforehand in order to know what was at stake. Lives. Theirs or the blackened, depending on who was voted as the culprit. All they had to do was unravel the mystery and vote right.
It seemed simple enough, yet it didn’t stop a wave of nausea from curling around her stomach.
Or for her gaze to linger on Kyoko as someone finally managed to start discussing the case, the other girl briefly meeting her stare before turning her head to whoever was speaking.
Let the trial begin, indeed.
Baseball balls.
They flew around at a terrible, sickening speed. One could only imagine how much it must hurt the moment they made contact with the person ensnared at the pole in the middle of the secluded room.
If that was a horrible punishment befitting the blackened, as Monokuma had named it, it also didn’t fail to strike fear and despair at the hearts of the spotless who were forced to bear witness. Some couldn’t help but avert their gazes, whereas others sobbed and whimpered, uttered discombobulated words about what was going on.
The select few who showed nothing more than slight discomfort were Byakuya, Kyoko and Celestia herself.
For the latter it was easy to lie, to still her heart and pretend that it was nothing more than justice being made. After all, wasn’t it the same as what happened whenever one of her dangerous gambles finished and she was declared victorious? To the victor went the spoils and to the loser…
Execution. Death. The end of a miserable life that could have been hers if she hadn’t read the room, played her cards correctly.
The same as it was going on right then and there. Exactly the same.
Or so Celestia kept repeating to herself as the whole ordeal went on, though her eyes were unable to fall on the battered, bloodied body the moment Monokuma finally stopped.
No, something was awfully wrong and she knew it. Somehow that death, just as Maizono’s a few hours ago, couldn’t be accepted with the same ease and grace that her opponents’ in some deathly game.
“Th-this is awful…” Someone mumbled next to the gambler. It was her clue to look away from the room, from the smiling Monokuma that was already ordering them to go back to their lives.
As if doing something like that was any easy after everything they had uncovered and witnessed.
“We have to get outta here and fast. Before, before…” Asahina, the swimmer, stammered as she leaned against a concrete wall. It was clear to see that her knees were trembling, her whole frame shaken by that whole day. “We can’t, we shouldn’t have to—”
“We will make it through this. There has to be a way out.” Sakura mumbled, her voice lacking its usual conviction. She glanced at Monokuma the longest before offering the other girl a hand. “For now, it’s clear that we need to regain our strength.”
Other people tried to say something encouraging, to take their minds away from despairful thoughts. It was harder to remain optimistic after two deaths, however, to the point that even Makoto couldn’t come up with something truly motivational.
In the end, no one could tell which was tougher: the elevator ride towards the trial grounds, or back towards the dim school area.
Celestia herself was somber, allowing some of her grief and uncertainty to show up in hooded crimson eyes. While the others uttered some words about going to their rooms and resting, she tried offering empty smiles—white lies that could cheer them up, make them see her as someone reliable in such terrible times.
When only one person stood beside her in the hallway that led towards the dorms, the gambler didn’t need to turn in order to know who it was.
“Thank you for your aid in the trial. You were keen to see things most people didn’t have a clue about.”
She turned at the sound, her heart warming up a little in response as a true smile covered her features. Unsure if it was safe to keep that, to show her earnest emotions for someone she wasn’t supposed to trust, she covered it up with a sad, grateful beam and more hollow words.
“It was nothing; I am merely the Ultimate Gambler, after all.” She looked Kyoko up and down, noticing then how tired the other girl seemed to be. The whole thing had taken a toll on all of them, undoubtedly, though perhaps some showed that easier than others. “You however, seemed to be made for the courtroom. And for investigating, too.”
“It was mere logic, nothing more.” Kirigiri shook her head, crossing her arms.
“Really? There is a limit to logic, no? And for me it felt as if you went beyond it in both parts of the case.” Celeste took a step towards her companion, their bodies so close they were almost touching. “Were it not for your deductions and quick thinking, mayhaps none of us would be up here, alive.”
“You’re clearly exaggerating.”
Kyoko’s hand played with a strand of her hair for a brief second—long enough that Celestia registered the gesture, the way she was looking at the ground while saying it. Cute. Unexpected. And something that the gambler wished to see more of, for some reason or another.
“All I am saying is, if somehow you never remember your actual talent, you should consider becoming a prosecutor. Or a private investigator, perhaps? I feel like you would succeed in something like that, yes.”
“Only if you remain as my… never mind.” Kirigiri shook her head, averting her gaze for good. Her posture alone was enough for Celestia to know she wouldn’t open up no matter how much she pressed her for it. “In any case, I’m going to my room after talking to Naegi for a bit. It seems like he has the wrong idea regarding Maizono.”
Celestia nodded even though the other girl couldn’t see it. Information about the whole ordeal was still fresh in her mind and somehow, it didn’t take long for her to understand what Kyoko could be referring to. “Ah, the dying note? Yes… I suppose you could interpret it that way. Especially since he is so downcast after everything that transpired.
“I, too, would be saddened if someone I considered close did something like that.”
The sentence echoed around them for longer than it should, to the point that Celestia almost took the words back or tried to elaborate on them. It would be easy to twist them into a lie or another. To make a whole thread of lies, ones that painted her as a poor victim instead of someone who was potentially planning to escape via Monokuma’s set of rules.
There was no need to do so, as Kirigiri did the unexpected and leaned a bit to face her for one last moment, offering an answer Celeste didn’t think she would get.
“People are finicky creatures, as you and I both know. And trust is a shallow, dangerous thing when given in excess or without cause. I suppose that I speak for the two of us when I say that it’s foolish to go around creating bonds with no reason, without knowing who exactly the other person is.” She took a deep breath, exhaled silently, then faced Makoto’s room with a faraway expression. “And if someone I deemed worthy to earn my trust were to break it in any shape or form, I would…”
Shatter? Never trust someone ever again? Celeste’s brain whirred with the possible responses, though most of them would fit everyone else other than her companion. True, it was stupid to consider that she was indeed heartless—a being made of nothing but logic, emotion veiled by the mind. Still, such heartfelt responses wouldn’t fit the gambler, let alone someone who had probably solved a murder before the group took their first step into the trial grounds.
But well, everyone has their weak spots, so maybe one of hers was—
“... never forgive them.”
The lie was punctuated by Kyoko’s steps, precise, powerful, resolute. For the time being Celestia watched her go, unwilling to break her facade at such a point in the game. Maybe the day would come in which she would unmask Kirigiri, when it would be necessary or beneficial to do so in order for her to have her way.
Right then and there, the gambler could and would live with the knowledge that there was more to the mysterious girl than what met the eye. And that perhaps it spoke to something within her, too.