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Celeste sighed as she sat in the middle of the school atrium. Around her was her various classmates being visited by their parents. Makoto, Byakuya, Ishimaru, Aoi, Hagakure... all of them had at least one parent that had bothered to even show up. Even Kyoko had the headmaster as her father and could stop by anytime she wanted. Their relationship was slowly healing. Not that all of those relationships were healthy. Byakuya's was purely checking if he would meet their expectations for the heir. Toko and her mom were simply sitting around not speaking a word to each other.
Then there was her: All alone with parents that really did not care for her. She was happy that her classmates had parents that did care, but right now all she had was her own thoughts as she spiraled in her misery. Her partner, Chihiro, was off with their own father currently. As much as she loved them, she would have felt awkward interrupting their time together. So she sat, wallowing in her own sadness hoping her friends would mistake her expression for irritation and anger and not bother her.
Celeste decided she had had enough of waiting in vain for either of her parents to bother even showing up, and got up to walk to her dorm and take a nap. Might as well sleep off the depression.
"Celeste?" She turned around to see Chihiro and their father behind.
"Oh, hello Chihiro and Mr. Fujisaki. I trust the both of you are enjoying your day?" She asked.
"Are you ok?" Chihiro was very clearly concerned for her.
"Of course I am, why do you ask?" She lied.
"I can see your tears."
Celeste hadn't realized that she had been crying at all. She moved her hand to her cheek and felt that the tears were indeed there.
"Ah, well, this is nothing I assure you. My allergies must be acting up, yes?" Chihiro wasn't buying it. They turned to their father.
"I'm gonna walk Celeste back to her dorm really quick." He nodded. Chihiro took her hand. "Let's go."
The couple entered Celeste's dorm room. It had been a quiet walk as Chihiro led her back.
"Do you want to talk about it now? Nobody here to judge you."
"Just you." She answered curtly.
"You know I wouldn't."
Celeste sighed.
"No, I suppose you wouldn't." She answered.
"So what's going on?" Chihiro prompted after she had gone silent.
"Surely you've noticed that my own parents never bother to visit when the academy hosts these events." She answered at last.
"Yes, I have. I wanted to let you talk about it on your own and not pry."
"Thank you. Well, the truth is they're really not proud of me. They think I'm a disgrace even, and want nothing to do with me. I'm bitter and envious of the rest of you that have parents that even bother to show up. That's about it really."
Chihiro nodded in understand. They had figured it was something like that ever since Celeste had confessed the truth prior to the start of their relationship. They moved closer to the gambler and hugged her.
"Do you want to let it out now?"
Celeste nodded and began to sob into Chihiro's shoulder as she returned the embrace. Their physical comfort was always welcome. They collapsed onto the bed together.
"You should get back to your dad." She whispered as she stroked their hair.
"He's worried about you too."
"That's very kind of him. Very kind of you too. You're too nice to me."
"You deserve it."
"I really don't, but thank you."
Drowsiness overtook her as she let out the pent up emotions from the years. The warmth of her partner and the best comforted her as she drifted off to sleep.
When Celeste woke up again Chihiro was gone. She felt a slight pang of betrayal, but quickly shoved the thought to the side. Chihiro no doubt had their own reasons. She sat up straight in the bed and noticed a note on her nightstand.
'Celeste,
Went to go talk to dad. Meet me at my dorm.
-Chihiro'
She smiled softly as she composed herself. She made sure to wash herself up and reapply her make up that had been messed up by her earlier catharsis of emotions. It always helped her feel better to at least look good. Once she was satisfied she made sure nothing was off about her clothing and disembarked.
Along the way she greeted her fellow classmates. Some had been a little concerned about her, but saw that she seemed to feeling at least a little bit better and more composed. Internally, most of them had assumed that their programming classmate had done the hard part of cheering her up.
Celeste knocked on Chihiro's door, and was greeted by Chihiro. Their father was still here.
"Oh, hello again Mr. Fujisaki. Am I interrupting?" She awkwardly asked.
"Not at all, Chihiro was just telling me about you actually." He reassured her.
"Ah, well I apologize for my earlier appearance in any case It was unbecoming of me." Despite being Chihiro's father he was still largely a stranger to her. It was easy to fall back on her persona even a little bit with strangers.
"No need to worry about it. I'm proud of Chihiro for how they went to comfort you, and I'm glad you're feeling better."
"A little bit." She mumbled unintentionally.
"Any progress is good progress." He said sympathetically. "Actually, Chihiro was telling me about what you two talked about."
"Actually, I'm going to go use the restroom." Chihiro suddenly said, excusing themselves from the conversation.
"Is that so?" She asked. "Well, I trust my partner to have been discreet and understanding of my issues."
"I assume they just wanted to give us some privacy." He chuckled. "They really love you, I can tell you two are very close."
"I'm often unsure what they see in me, but I care for them." She wasn't sure why her walls were so easily breaking down around Mr. Fujisaki. "A lot more than it might seem to some."
"I'll admit I was worried when they told me that you two were dating. Not so much anymore." He cleared his throat. "In fact, considering your relationship and what I now know about your parents if you want to spend time with us during these visits and think of me as something like a parental substitute..." He was rambling.
"I wouldn't mind." She smiled. "Thank you, the both of you are too kind."
Chihiro exited the bathroom.
"Everything go ok?" They asked as they walked across the room and gave her a hug. Celeste continued to smile.
"Yes, more than ok even." She hugged back.
"Do you mind if I join this hug?" Taichi asked.
She contemplated it. Physical touch with others was often difficult for her.
"I think that I would not mind." Taichi wrapped his arms around the couple.
"Welcome to the family."
Celeste felt her mischievous side return at that.
"Oh, we will be marrying soon then, Chihiro?" She teased. Chihiro's face went red.
"W-what?"
"Oh wonderful news, I'll start planning." Taichi had evidently picked up on what Celeste was doing.
"I mean, I wouldn't mind." Chihiro admitted, twiddling their fingers together.
Now it was Celeste's turn to go red.