Celestia wants something.

Chihiro stumbled back from the careless collision, falling all the way back onto the seat of his skirt. Sitting, he was in the shadow of the sun-backed figure who had come out of their meeting with more dignity intact. The figure wasn't tall, but it was wide. That was because, in spite of the woman's thin figure, she had two enormous, drill-like ponytails framing either side of her body. Celestia Ludenburg, the Ultimate Gambler, was staring down at him with unreadable red eyes, almost as though she didn't know what he was doing down there. Despite the obvious heat, she looked cool, composed, and most importantly, covered: she was fully outfitted in her usual gothic lolita dress, and her pale skin was shaded by a parasol she carried in one hand, while her shoes and stockings were neatly gathered in the other. If Chihiro didn't know Celeste's self-centered personality, he could have generously assumed that was the reason she hadn't bothered to break his impact or help him up with his fall.

For a moment, Chihiro was transfixed. His current position provided a bit of a rare view: Celestia's porcelain legs and dainty feet were fully exposed, and this angle let him get a look that was quite well past the knees, in spite of her usual flared skirt. It was a bit silly to fixate on when he'd been seeing women in bikinis or even less up until now, but in terms of his quest for manhood, he thought it was important to appreciate it.

His timing, however, was probably not the best. Celestia was regarding him silently and smilelessly. For an uncomfortably long period, neither of them said anything... Chihiro realized, with an internal curse, that she must certainly know where he'd been looking. Panicked, the young man carefully adjusted his skirt to a decent angle and rose to his feet. "Celestia! S-sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Clearly," the young woman's frigid voice agreed. A small resting smile appeared on her face now that she'd expressed that displeasure. "I suppose when you program an entire digital world for our vacation, I can hardly blame you for being in a rush to enjoy it. Such childlike enthusiasm." Without her heels on, Celestia was nearly the same height as Chihiro; regardless, her refined giggle suggested she saw him as a kid. Her laughter lasted for only a moment before she returned to her resting, scanning smile. Something seemed to be on her mind. "Yes, you're in quite a rush, aren't you?" She leaned forward, her red eyes seeming to become more intense. "You were in quite a hurry to get dressed, I'm certain, yet you picked out a very fetching ensemble!"

"Oh... H-hehe! Thanks, Celestia." Chihiro took a step backwards. He didn't know why Celestia was making small talk with him, but he'd known her long enough to know that was probably a bad sign. She didn't seem like the type to give out compliments for free. "You know, I think this outfit would actually look great... on..."

Suddenly, realization hit him. He gulped.

Still leaning forward, Celestia smiled, tilting her head slightly. "Would look great on me? Why, how kind for you to say so. Yes, when one has a truly dazzling artisan-designed display case, one naturally wishes to display their finest rarities within it. It would be most unfortunate to see it used, instead, to display a homely doll." She kept her smile frozen on, looking like she wanted to fold her hands below her chin, but unable to do so with her hands full. "Yes, I'm sure you remember programming it at my request, do you not? Then, of course, it ended up on the rental rack only because I didn't choose to wear it from the outset and have no private changing room. Given your role as the lead programmer, you surely must understand these things." Her smile had faded and her eyes had gone wide. "Surely?"

"Y-yeah." Chihiro gulped again, taking another step back. "You're right. But, um, there's a long story behind it!"

"I hardly have time for so much as a short story, Chihiro." Celestia took another step forward. "It appears that, fortunately, however it came to pass, you have only just changed into my designer swimsuit. That means we are currently in the precious seconds before your commoner sweat seeps from your commoner pores and stains that designer swimsuit with your commoner stench. And, fortunately, we are next to an abundance of available changing rooms and a rack with many, many swimsuits more appropriate to your status and station. You're a smart girl. Are those logical neural pathways of yours finally firing up? Do you understand your responsibility?"

Chihiro nodded and began looking through the rack. "I'm really sorry for grabbing yours by accident. It's just-"

"I did not ask for an apology," Celestia interrupted with a sigh. "I asked for my swimsuit. On the double, if you'd be so kind."

The programmer nodded and bit his lip, turning back to the rack behind him and looking absorbed with finding a fitting replacement. The truth, however, is swapping swimsuits was the last thing on his mind. "Celestia, you know I programmed you two swimsuits, right?"

"If you're implying I should be happy to wear my second when my perfectly good first is available, I'll thank you not to waste my time. If you're asking if you can wear my second, I'm afraid you are categorically denied. You're simply too low-tier to pull it off, my dear!"

Chihiro sniffed and squeezed back his tears. He wasn't thinking about what swimsuit he was going to change into, nor was he thinking about how to wring empathy from the stone that was the Ultimate Gambler. No, he was thinking to himself that this was the perfect time to check in on Custom Girls.

Before even checking his options, he checked the personal mission for Celestia:

[MISSION - Use a purchase to make Celestia lose a gamble. Reward is 10 gems and a bonus mystery effect.]