Fortune-Teller

"Hello, Ms. Takizawa. My name is Sagara Zoya. Welcome to Advanced Nurturing High School." Sagara greeted the stylish, sexy beauty before him, a trace of hesitation in his eyes.

"Hi, Sagara. Surprised? Am I not quite what you imagined a fortune-teller would look like?" Takizawa immediately spotted what he was hesitating over. She'd encountered this reaction plenty of times.

"Fortune-tellers are women who enjoy looking beautiful, too. Of course I like to dress up." Takizawa explained casually. "People probably imagine fortune-tellers as old women wrapped up in layers, holding strange-looking tools and saying strange things."

"Sorry. That was rude of me."

Keyaki Mall, fifth floor

The school had set aside this entire floor for events, such as idol performances and concerts—occasional events like the fortune-telling session they were holding this time.

The school really understood its students. Kids this age were fascinated by things with a touch of mystery, making this the perfect way to get them to spend their points.

The school was always coming up with ways to tempt students into using up their Private Points.

At Ms. Takizawa's request, he had the staff prepare the venue. Then he gave her a temporary school pass and arranged a place for her to stay.

Once he'd finished showing her around, Sagara said goodbye to Ms. Takizawa. As he was leaving, she said something to him.

"See you tomorrow, Sagara."

"Huh?" Sagara paused in confusion, then caught on. "Was that the fortune-telling you just did, Ms. Takizawa?"

"Well, you could say that." Takizawa nodded. "I'm looking forward to giving you a proper reading tomorrow, Sagara. My intuition tells me something interesting is going to happen."

"Is that so?"

Sagara only smiled. He didn't take Takizawa's words to heart; he wasn't interested in fortune-telling.

"Sagara, Ms. Takizawa said she'd like someone to help keep things orderly on opening day tomorrow," the president said over the phone that evening. "She also said she'd prefer someone she knows, so it'll be easier to communicate."

"..." So this was Ms. Takizawa's "fortune-telling." She really was good.

The only person she knew at this school was the one who'd handled her reception: him. No wonder she'd been so confident in her prediction.

"Can I refuse, President?" Sagara made one last attempt.

"You don't want to go? Then it's settled. Make sure you uphold the Student Council's image," the president said, issuing a direct order as soon as he heard Sagara didn't want to go.

"..."

Sagara suddenly regretted not making more of a fuss earlier. He should've gone further—maybe even called Vice President Nagumo over.

"Good morning, Sagara," Ms. Takizawa said with a cheerful smile.

"Good morning, Ms. Takizawa. Your fortune-telling methods are certainly unique," Sagara said, his voice heavy with implication.

"Ahahaha, no need to flatter me!" Takizawa laughed heartily. "What do you think of my outfit?"

"You're almost unrecognizable, Ms. Takizawa." Sagara was impressed by her makeup skills. The mature, glamorous woman now looked like a woman in her fifties, wrapped in a black robe. "You do look like a fortune-teller, though."

"I get the feeling that wasn't a compliment," Takizawa replied in a slightly hoarse voice.

At nine in the morning, once all the preparations were complete, the fortune-telling event the students had eagerly awaited finally began.

Perhaps because the event had been so well advertised, a long line had formed by the first morning.

Ms. Takizawa had set one rule: customers had to come in pairs. As a result, most of the people who showed up were couples.

That fortune-teller was pretty crafty. She could use the third person in the pair to glean more information, and she could dodge questions that were harder to answer, like whether someone had a secret crush.

After all, fortune-telling was just a prediction based on the information available, not actual visions of the future. It was difficult for a fortune-teller to answer questions when there wasn't enough information to work with.

What was worse, if the fortune-teller made an encouraging prediction and the person got so excited that they confessed their feelings, only to end up rejected, that would make things even more troublesome.

"Ibuki, I didn't expect you to be interested in fortune-telling." Sagara hadn't expected to run into someone he knew here. He'd always thought of Ibuki as a not-so-bright version of Ryuen, and had almost forgotten she was a girl, too.

"Here to find out about your love life?"

After all, that was the question teenage boys and girls were most likely to ask. This fortune-teller was crafty, blocking off the trickiest kinds of questions in advance. No wonder people had been saying her readings were so accurate.

"No. I'm not interested in that kind of thing. I just wanted to ask about the Heavenly Killing, but she won't read for just one person, so I have to go back." Ibuki irritably swung a fist. She'd come full of anticipation, only to leave disappointed. Naturally, it didn't feel good.

"If you don't mind, I'll go with you," Sagara offered.

"But aren't you working for the Student Council? Won't that cause problems?" Ibuki's eyes brightened at Sagara's offer, then quickly dimmed. "It's not like I care that much, anyway. Fortune-telling isn't all that reliable."

Ibuki waved a hand, indicating that she didn't mind at all.

"What problem? I'm just slacking off on the sly. Who's going to see?"

"I will!" A girl with purple hair tied in a bun, standing in the nearby line, glared at Sagara and shouted.

"..." Sagara fell silent. He'd only just said he was going to slack off, and now he'd run into Tachibana. He had a feeling his luck wasn't great today.

Still, Tachibana had probably come here to ask about her and the president.

"Please don't shout, student." Sagara's silence lasted only an instant. He quickly recovered and turned the tables, scolding the adorable Tachibana.

"Secretary Tachibana, as a member of the Student Council, you should hold yourself to high standards even in your free time. Don't damage the Student Council's image."

Tachibana stared, dumbfounded, as Sagara—who was planning to skip work—pointed fingers at her.

You're the one damaging the Student Council's image!

After sternly admonishing Tachibana, Sagara leaned in and whispered to her.

"Secretary Tachibana, you wouldn't want me to tell the president you came here to find out about your compatibility with him, would you?"

Of course she didn't want Manabu Horikita to find out. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come with her best friend—she'd have come with the president himself.

She wasn't ready to reveal that she had a crush on the president. Since she didn't know how he felt, she was afraid that if she confessed, their relationship might not stay the same.

In the end, she could only lower her head indignantly and grit out,

"I'm sorry."