Faced with her questioning, Inuyama Heita knew she was asking if he had been following her or something. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, so he simply told Miss Suzuki how Matsui had invited him and how he'd made time to come have a look. He didn't mention anything about the supernatural.
"Just make sure you don't get tricked!" Suzuki warned him. "Those people are nothing but frauds! They spout all kinds of nonsense about gaining good fortune, but that's completely impossible."
Suzuki's words surprised Inuyama Heita. He hadn't even gotten around to telling her to come to her senses, and she was already warning him to be careful. Confused, he asked, "If you know that, why did you come here too? And why did you take several days off school?"
"It's my mother... She insisted I take part in this ceremony, or she'd go to my school and withdraw me." A trace of sadness crept into Suzuki's voice. She shook her head. "Forget it. I've already attended this so-called ceremony, so she has no reason to make a fuss anymore."
Curious, Inuyama Heita asked, "Why is your mother so determined to make you attend this ceremony?"
"Because the president received a 'revelation.'" Suzuki answered sarcastically, "Apparently, I'll have a chance to turn my luck around sometime soon. If I seize it, I'll keep having good luck, and my family will become lucky too. Once the ceremony is over, I'm supposed to feel my good luck arriving... What a load of nonsense. I'd never believe something with no basis in fact. Anyway, I've dealt with my situation, so don't let them fool you either. My mother's waiting for me. I have to go."
Inuyama Heita nodded and was about to say goodbye when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw a text message.
By the way, I forgot to tell you. If you run into Miss Suzuki, take a few photos of her pendant.
It was from Qian Xiaoyi. Inuyama Heita hurriedly called after Suzuki, who was about to leave. "Um... Could I take a look at the pendant they gave you? I'm curious."
Suzuki frowned. She reached up, took the pendant off her neck, and handed it to him, grumbling, "What's there to look at? It's cheap junk. If I weren't worried my mother would make a scene, I'd have thrown away this ugly trinket ages ago. If anyone saw me wearing this, they'd laugh at my old-fashioned taste."
Inuyama Heita examined it, then took a few close-up photos with his phone before handing it back to Suzuki. "That's all. Thanks."
Suzuki found Inuyama Heita's behavior a little strange, but she didn't say anything. After they parted, Inuyama Heita took the train to the Lingkong Exorcism Office. His claim to Matsui that he'd be working part-time had been a lie. To attend this gathering of the Lucky Mutual Aid Society, he'd specifically asked his manager for the day off.
It was already evening, and the office door stood open. Inuyama Heita called out, "Excuse me," and walked in. Qian Xiaoyi was sitting behind the desk, head down as he worked on something. When Inuyama Heita came closer, he saw that Qian Xiaoyi was doing some kind of craftwork, making something like a wooden plaque. His phone lay to one side, displaying an enlarged photo of the pendant Inuyama Heita had just taken.
When Qian Xiaoyi didn't acknowledge him, Inuyama Heita sat in the chair across the desk and asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Yes." Qian Xiaoyi answered briefly without looking up, then said nothing more. Silence settled over the office.
"Um..." Inuyama Heita continued, a little awkwardly. "Could you tell me?"
Qian Xiaoyi paused his work and looked up at Inuyama Heita. "Why should I?"
Inuyama Heita was taken aback. He couldn't understand why Qian Xiaoyi was using him and then discarding him. "But we were working together... I get it. I can hire you. I've earned some money from my part-time job lately..."
"You seem to have gotten something wrong," Qian Xiaoyi interrupted. "We were never working together. This time was just a chance encounter. I didn't know you'd be there, and you didn't know you'd run into me, right? More importantly, why do you want to get involved in this? To save a classmate you barely know and never usually speak to? You've never been the kind of person who goes out of his way to help others, have you, Heitaro?"
Inuyama Heita looked at Qian Xiaoyi without a word. He didn't even correct Qian Xiaoyi for getting his name wrong.
Qian Xiaoyi continued, "If it's because I helped you a few days ago and made you feel some warmth, and now you've decided to help someone else, then you can leave. You've done enough. From here on, the professionals will handle it. That would be me. Or is it that, as a high school student, your chuunibyou spirit has flared up and you want to play hero? If so, I'm sorry, but I don't need some amateur high schooler trying to save the world... But the question is, is that really why you want to get involved?"
"..." After thinking it over, Inuyama Heita finally shook his head. "Both of those reasons are part of it, but they're not the main reason."
"Tell me, then." Qian Xiaoyi set down his work and fixed his gaze on Inuyama Heita. "I'm curious. What's driving you to get tangled up in this?"
Inuyama Heita fell silent for a while, seeming to wrestle with whether he should reveal his reason. But after a long pause, he made up his mind and confessed, "...Actually, my family once went through something just like this."
Qian Xiaoyi showed no surprise. "I remember you telling me your mother died of an illness a long time ago, and your father disappeared, leaving you alone in Tokyo."
"Right." Inuyama Heita nodded. The office lights were off, and the setting sun shone through the window onto the desk, its light stopping just in front of him. In the shadow, his eyes were dull, like a stagnant pool. He recounted it calmly. "After my mother died, my father was devastated. Things weren't going well at work, and he didn't know what to do about the fact that I could see things ordinary people couldn't. So, on the recommendation of someone he knew, he joined a fairly well-known religious group and became one of its followers. Back then..."
"You don't have to tell me the rest." Seeing the mood grow heavier, Qian Xiaoyi waved a hand. "I can guess what happened: he got in deeper and deeper and poured all his assets into it. If you ask me, you were actually lucky. Your father didn't leave you with any loans, and the house was still there. Otherwise, you wouldn't even have a place to live, much less be able to keep going to school. So when you saw your classmate caught up in the same kind of thing, you couldn't help stepping in to keep her from going through the same thing. But there must be a deeper reason too, right? Like..."
"—Wanting to destroy an organization like this." Qian Xiaoyi stared at Inuyama Heita, then slowly spoke, seeing the hatred and anger hidden beneath his calm expression.
Before you continue