Unholy Acts

Celestia

Kokichi

My jaw hangs open before dropping off of Shuichi's shoulders. "I need you to help me right now, Shuichi." I say, my voice frantic. Shuichi looks at me, most confused. I shake my head and grab his hand. "This can't wait, we need to get back to my house, now. You need to call off your watch dogs and tell them you're handling me."

"Kokichi, what did you just see?" Shuichi asks me as I drag him outside. I shake my head as Shuichi unlocks the car. He jumps in the driver's side, me on the passenger. "Kokichi! Answer me!"

"Celeste! She's the one on TV! She's coming to my place, come on, go! You have to hurry!" I exclaim, shaking his arm in a pleading manor. Shuichi sighs before starting the car and flooring it out of there. I told Celeste if she ever get's caught doing anything bad, come to me. People talk shit, but we strippers have money. Whatever she just did happened on the other side of town, and a half hour ago. She's probably almost to my house! I tap my foot nervously, but in an instant, Shuichi puts his hand on my thigh to make me stop.

"Stop. You're stressing yourself out too much. Relax a little bit." Shuichi says, moving his hand to turn on the radio, but it goes right back on my thigh. Space Song by Beach House plays as I sit back. I can't be worked up when dealing with this. It won't help matters at all. "So, what's this all about? I'm putting my job on the line right now, so I need to know."

"Celestia Ludenberg, my lovely lovely sister." I grit my teeth on the word lovely. Shuichi turns his head to the side before looking back at the road. "Go on." He says, nodding a bit. I suck in a deep breathe before leaning my head in my head in my hand. "Well, Celeste is in some business I'm strictly not allowed to tell anyone about. It's nothing like murder, drugs, or stealing! I promise! But, Celeste is definitely in some illegal deep shit... Not by choice. None of it was by choice with us..."

"Kokichi, you need to know whatever you're about to say to me could result in me going to Kyoko. I'm not a lawyer." Shuichi reminds, a sympathetic look on his face. "Maybe we can help her. You said it wasn't by choice right?"

"Shuichi, you don't understand. You can tell Kyoko all you want because she already knows. She's been in Celestia's position before."

"What?! My boss has done illegal shit?!"

"No, no, no! She's just been in Celeste's position. She was sucked into the game as well at one point, but what she doesn't know, and what she will never know is that they let Kyoko go in exchange for Celestia." I explain, vivid memories playing in my mind.

"Kokichi, what? What game? Who's they?" Shuichi throws these questions at me. I look at him before sighing.

"You said you're not a lawyer, right?" Shuichi nods, his eyes widening. "Well, you can't know unless you're a lawyer."

Shuichi sighs before clicking the radio off. "You have 5 minutes to tell me everything. I'll be your lawyer for 5 minutes."

"The game. It's run by my boss—not Angie Yonaga, but it's her boss I guess." I explain, my eyes trained on the road. "I don't know who that is, all I know is that they're in charge."

Shuichi looks down at the steering wheel as we come to a red light. His face was puzzled, clearly searching for answers. I bounce my leg restlessly. "Are you mad?" I blurt, my anxiety overtaking me entirely. It feels like an eternity at the red light before Shuichi looks over, shaking his head with a frown.

"No, no, never! You telling me the truth right now makes me anything but mad!" Shuichi confirms, resting his hand on my thigh.  His touch is comfortable and reassuring. I look down, grabbing his hand. Shuichi's face flushes red at the action. I wonder what runs through his head when his heart skips a few beats.