2.4
“Next, please.”
It was the middle of the afternoon when I heard that small voice come out of the temporary tent.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
In the end, fortune-telling for each pair took approximately fifteen minutes, which forced Ibuki and me to stand in line for even longer than anticipated. Just as I started to wonder if I even cared about fortune-telling anymore, I passed through a curtain and entered the room where the fortune-teller waited.
When I entered, I found a chamber that looked like something out of a television show. It was dark inside, probably around 30 lux. The fortune-teller appeared to be an elderly woman, but a hood obscured her face, so I couldn’t make out her expression. She sat with a thick book, the contents of which I couldn’t guess, and some kind of crystal ball. It looked like one of those balls you chuck around in the hammer throw in track and field.
This was excellent atmosphere.
The crystal ball immediately began to glow, as if it would reflect my and Ibuki’s futures. There were two backless seats in front of the fortune-teller. When we sat down, the fortune-teller chuckled lightly and moved her right hand.
“First…you must pay,” she commanded.
She pulled out a small card reader from under the table and placed it before us. Such a product of modern civilization felt out of place, especially in contrast to the scene around me. Not that I expected the reading to be free, of course.
“What kind of fortune are you going to read?” asked Ibuki, presenting her student ID card.
“It can be about your academics, career, love life, or anything you like,” the fortune-teller answered with an unsettling grin. The expression lent itself nicely to the atmosphere, but she seemed less like a fortune-teller, and more like a witch.
The list of prices she showed us seemed oddly mismatched. They were separated into several categories. The “Basic Plan” package seemed to include the services the fortune-teller had already mentioned. There were several packages, one of which seemed to be related to tenchuusatsu. There were even options that let you see the end of your life. Of course, since this was a couples’ activity, many options were related to romance.
I wondered what a couple would do if the fortune-teller divined that they had poor romantic compatibility. Regardless, every option was rather expensive. We’d be spending well over 5,000 points.
“It’s a lot of money,” I sighed.
For a Class D student like me, who struggled with points daily, this was a tough pill to swallow. Even so, it probably would’ve been pointless to go home without finding out more about tenchuusatsu. I could just listen to Ibuki’s fortune and head back, but then I wouldn’t know how reliable the fortune-teller was.
Just in case, I checked my private points balance on my phone. I had roughly 6,000 points remaining: barely enough.
“I’ll do the Basic Plan,” said Ibuki.
Despite her unexpected interest in fortune-telling, she didn’t seem to want a detailed fortune.
“And you?” asked the fortune-teller.
“I’ll take the same,” I replied.
It felt as though I was placing an order at a restaurant. I presented my student ID card, and the card reader beeped, indicating that it had deducted points.
“Very well, let’s start with the young lady. What’s your name?”
“Ibuki. Ibuki Mio,” she answered flatly.
“When I tell fortunes, I see the face, the hand, and then the heart of the person I’m reading. I may see something that you won’t like. Are you prepared for that?” asked the fortune-teller.
“Do whatever you want,” Ibuki replied.
I saw a bit of the fortune-teller’s wrinkled skin under her hood, along with the sharp gleam in her eye. She instructed Ibuki to extend both hands, then revealed her fortune.
“First, a palm reading. You have a long lifeline. You have a long, long life to look forward to. I cannot see you suffering any major illness so far,” the fortune-teller began.
A typical start. I couldn’t imagine that a person could divine such things just by looking at the lines on someone’s palm. Maybe the fortune-teller based her readings off personal experiences?
If it were me, I’d simply base my answer on the customer’s apparent health. I’d come to a conclusion based on their complexion, build, and so on.
But the fortune-teller continued her reading at length, carefully providing Ibuki with predictions about academics, financial success, love, and so on. The predictions sounded ordinary and innocuous to me, but Ibuki listened with seeming satisfaction. The fortune-teller didn’t have anything particularly negative to say. Most of her predictions were of a bright future. She occasionally issued warnings, but they didn’t seem to pose a significant threat.
“Thank you very much,” said Ibuki. She bowed her head gratefully.
It now seemed to be my turn, a chance for me to understand this fortune-telling business.
The fortune-teller followed the same process she’d used with Ibuki, and the answers I received were largely indistinguishable from Ibuki’s. Things seemed fundamentally good, but the fortune-teller said that there would be a future time when I would need to be careful to avoid disaster.
“I see… It seems that you had a harsh childhood,” she continued.
A rather broad statement. Most people would claim to have gone through one or two harsh experiences during their youth, especially boys. I wanted her to give me more concrete answers. More importantly, I found it mysterious that a fortune-teller, who should have been divining the future, was instead talking about the past.
Ibuki sat without once interrupting, or even yawning, and listened intently. Perhaps this was what fortune-telling was supposed to be like. Or perhaps this was a necessary ritual? Maybe the fortune-teller needed to visit the past first.
Humans were creatures of convenience. Once people got the idea into their heads that they’d been promised “good luck,” they freely interpreted the next thing that went their way as a sign of their fortune coming true. Ah, so my fortune was right, they would think. However, the reality was that everyone had “good luck” at some point, because life delivered both happiness and unhappiness in great and small amounts.
“This is…” The fortune-teller stopped moving her hands. “You’re the holder of the fate tenchuusatsu!” she exclaimed.
“Wha—? Seriously?” Ibuki balked.
Even though it was my fortune, I was the least surprised person there. Tenchuusatsu wasn’t a word I’d even been aware of until the day before. The fortune-teller and Ibuki seemed way more shocked by this revelation.
“To put it simply, you’ve lived a life of constant misfortune since you were born,” Ibuki explained.
“This is incredible!” the fortune-teller exclaimed.
It might have been pure coincidence, but that claim was accurate. Still vague, though. Besides, from a cynical viewpoint, more than a few people would call themselves constantly unlucky. I supposed it was risky for the fortune-teller to make an unhappy prediction, though.
“So, is this fate tenchuusatsu going to apply to me from here on out?” I asked.
“The little girl wasn’t quite right when she said that the tenchuusatsu meant you lived a life of misfortune,” the fortune-teller replied.
“Little girl?” Ibuki repeated, annoyed.
“Fate tenchuusatsu is certainly rare. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your entire life will be marked by misfortune. It’s true that the overall outlook is bad. There are negatives: you won’t have the blessing of your parents, or your family. However, the rest is up to you, individually. You alone decide what you can do and can’t do,” the fortune-teller explained.
She had a grim expression on her face, but I could see compassion in her eyes.
“You don’t need to be pessimistic, and you don’t need to act like you’re starring in a comedy, either,” she continued.
I’d heard some interesting things today, but in the end, it was just fortune-telling. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat with anticipation. When I tried to get up, though, the fortune-teller stopped me.
“I have one more piece of advice for you. Go straight home, without taking any detours. If you stray, you might be stuck for quite a long time. Even if you do get stuck, don’t panic. If you stay calm and work together, you should be able to overcome it,” she told me.
What prophetic words.
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