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Kirigiri knew by the way she caught Celes staring at her. That wasn't uncommon, but typically her catching Celes would follow with a sheepish smile and small laughter between them. Now, it was only met with solid eye contact, tainted with desolation. She knew by the way Celes crept into her room, late into the night time hours, and crawled into bed with her. She knew by the way they made love that night, the passion between them building to levels they'd never experienced before. She knew by the way Celes held her close and seemed to savor the taste of her lips and her skin. She knew by the way Celes left an hour later, hesitantly but hastily.
She knew Celes was guilty for the deaths of Ishimaru and Yamada.
She went through the motions. Under the excuse of her search for Justice Robo, she secluded herself from the others as much as possible without hindering the investigation. She let herself brood over things. But she had to help with the investigation, because that's what was important, right? Justice over all else? If she saved Celes, she would be killing everyone else, including herself. That wasn't in accordance with her principles, and it was out of the question to sacrifice all those innocent people. She repeated it to herself so she'd believe it. Justice was more important than her emotions. Justice... was more important than her love.
When Celes started to press the blame onto Kirigiri during the trial, she wasn't upset. She felt like she deserved it. Yes, she deserved all the despair in the world, for sending her girlfriend to death, for not stopping her from committing a crime in the first place. She could've prevented this... She could've prevented this...
Accusations and hard evidence turned Celes into something she'd never seen before. Hell, she even had a different name. A furious, shouting monster named Taeko stood where the girl she loved most was merely seconds prior. She didn't want this to happen. It was all this place's fault, this Hope's Peak disaster. She detested it. But - she had to adapt. Adapt like Celes couldn't.
Celes accepted her loss and explained herself, and Kirigiri felt like she was suffocating. "... I have one final thing to give to Kirigiri-san," she said as she came over to her, sparkling like the day they first talked to each other. Celes held Kirigiri's hand between the two of hers, slipping a locker key to her, the hiding place of Alter Ego. Their hands stayed together, and it felt like emotions and memories of their love were being given to Kirigiri to keep safe, instead of a locker key. To think that this was the last of the warmth she would feel from Celes.. She desperately wanted to kiss her one more time, but she couldn't. She reminded herself to stay calm and to not make a scene like Ishimaru did - but oh, he was dead by Celes's doing. No, she wasn't to remind herself of the wrong Celes did. There was no need. She'd only remind herself of Celes's heartbeat against hers, or her lips on her neck, or her arms around her waist. The things that no one else would remember.
And then Celes was being led off to her execution. She stared, dreading, as the flames crept up towards Celes, who was tied to the stake with her hands clasped daintily, like a figurehead on a ship. She felt the tears on her face, but didn't wipe them away. Then the firetruck came, smashing in with a final insult to Celes from that son of a bitch bear.
That's it. She wouldn't let this go any farther. No matter how great the risk, she was going to find the mastermind. She was going to find him and kill him. For Celes.