The girl at the front was petite and slender, with skin so fair it seemed to shimmer faintly in the sunlight.
She had a delicate, doll-like face, and her violet eyes were as clear as polished crystal, yet impossible to see through.
Her long silver-white hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, the ends curling slightly and catching the light with a silky sheen.
She wore the standard girls' uniform of Advanced Nurturing, though every detail had been carefully attended to. Her slender legs were clad in pristine white over-the-knee stockings.
She gave off an air of refined coolness, utterly at odds with the lively atmosphere around her.
She was none other than Sakayanagi Arisu, the central figure of Class 1-A and the biological daughter of Chairman Sakayanagi Nari.
She had probably heard about the fortune-telling booth that had become famous among the first-years and even attracted the attention of upperclassmen. Finding it rather novel and interesting, she had come to investigate with her companion in tow.
Her crystal-clear violet eyes calmly swept over the bustling booth and the people waiting in line.
At last, her gaze settled on the white-haired boy beneath the tent, seated on a little stool. Even amid all the noise, he looked languid and unconcerned—almost as if he didn't belong there.
A flicker of curiosity passed through the depths of her eyes.
Lin Mu sensed her gaze almost the instant it fell on him.
He looked up and met her eyes calmly.
He didn't need to deliberately activate his abilities. His extraordinary perception and a brief touch of Telepathy were enough to tell him who she was and where she came from.
Sakayanagi Arisu, one of Class A's two leaders, the chairman's daughter. Brilliant, apparently somewhat physically frail, and a young lady who liked to control the situation and enjoyed intellectual contests.
(Congenital heart disease.)
So he knew. And then what?
He felt nothing. If anything, he found her a little troublesome.
People like her, who plainly had complicated minds and unusual backgrounds, tended to bring more attention—and the potential for entanglements.
Still, she had come to the booth, which made her a potential customer—or at least a potential "card."
With a lollipop in his mouth and his cheeks puffed out slightly, he lifted his chin and spoke in a lazy voice that still carried a hint of salesmanship:
"Want a fortune told? Card reading is 100,000 points, and the Crystal Ball is 150,000."
He pointed to the small blackboard, then added, his tone strangely enticing, "My readings are very accurate.
"I can give you a definite answer about whatever's troubling you right now. Even the secrets from your distant past that you've buried deepest—I can read them all~"
The final note rose slightly, delivered with an offhand teasing lilt that nevertheless made people's hearts tighten for no clear reason.
Sakayanagi Arisu stopped about a meter from the booth.
Her pale, slender fingertips brushed lightly over the hem of her pleated skirt, the movement as graceful as if she had rehearsed it a thousand times.
A kind, flawless smile appeared on her face. Her voice was soft and pleasant, like wind chimes stirred by a breeze, but her words carried unmistakable distance and composure.
"Sorry, but no, thank you."
She tilted her head slightly, her silver hair swaying with the motion. "I think... this sort of vague fortune-telling is ultimately just a way for people who feel lost to seek comfort. I don't believe I need it."
Kamuro Masumi stood beside her—the purple-haired girl Lin Mu had caught trying to steal alcohol at the convenience store the other day, and warned at the time.
She immediately stepped half a pace forward, her delicate brows furrowed. With an air of arrogant disbelief, she chimed in:
"Exactly! Fortune-telling isn't realistic at all! It only exists in novels and manga. How could it possibly be accurate?"
As she spoke, however, she seemed reluctant to look Lin Mu directly in the eye. She clearly still remembered the embarrassment of being caught the last time.
Sakayanagi Arisu gently raised a hand, signaling for Kamuro Masumi to calm down.
Her gaze passed over the ornately patterned Tarot Cards and the crystal-clear Crystal Ball on the table.
Finally, it returned to Lin Mu's handsome face, its features sharply defined and stern, yet made somewhat unusual by the lollipop in his mouth.
The smile at her lips deepened slightly. Her voice remained gentle, but she carried herself with the presence of someone born to be in control.
"After all, I've never needed to rely on something like this to confirm what lies ahead.
"Every step I take is guided by my own calculations and kept under my control."
Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. The lollipop shifted beneath his tongue, turning slowly in his mouth.
He stayed relaxed against the little stool, but his words held a sharp precision beneath their careless delivery, like a fine needle lightly puncturing the surface of her confidence.
"Control?" He gave a soft scoff, his voice quiet but clear.
"The world is unpredictable. There are always hidden currents beneath the surface. What you think you're holding firmly in your grasp might slip away with a single little nudge from some unexpected factor lurking in the dark."
He paused, his gaze seeming to pass casually over Sakayanagi Arisu's calm violet eyes. "My fortune-telling might not be good for much else, but helping people see the hidden reefs and unexpected turns beneath the surface? That happens to be one of my specialties."
That wasn't entirely made up. His Precognition had indeed shown him fragments of the complicated relationship and unpredictable clashes that awaited the young lady and a certain "special person."
He simply couldn't be bothered to look into the matter. For now, he was using it as a sales pitch.
A flicker of clear surprise flashed through Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
She evidently hadn't expected this seemingly laid-back, carefree D-class boy, who even seemed a little frivolous, to say something so suggestive and laden with implication.
The always-composed mask she wore shifted ever so slightly.
Then her smile grew, and the curiosity in her crystal-clear eyes nearly spilled over.
She took an elegant half-step forward, and the innate air of nobility around her seemed to press closer with her.
She lifted her chin slightly to look at Lin Mu where he sat, then spoke softly. Her voice was still gentle, but her words had the force of peeling away a disguise.
"Oh? It seems Linmu Fujimiya of Class D is unusually confident in his fortune-telling."
She had called Lin Mu by name with perfect accuracy. Clearly, she had learned the basics about him through some channel before coming here.
"I just wonder whether this confidence that draws so much attention comes from some genuine ability no one knows about..."
She let the words hang for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the tools on the table as if by chance. "Or whether it's just a gimmick you've devised to attract attention?"
The probing intent in her voice spread toward Lin Mu like a fine web woven by a spider.
Lin Mu wasn't fazed in the slightest. An ordinary person might have grown nervous or hurried to prove himself after being addressed by name and probed by someone like Sakayanagi Arisu.
But who was he? A hardcore slacker, and a superpowered esper with the template of Saiki Kusuo.
Sakayanagi Arisu's thoughts and background—and even parts of her future—held few secrets for him.
Before you continue