"I want to know... who that person is, exactly. Right now... I really don't know who else I can ask for help, or what I should do..."
Her voice grew quieter, the disappointment in her tone almost impossible to dispel. Her hands clenched tighter, and her knuckles began to turn faintly white.
"I really want to join the Student Council. I want to use that platform to help more students, and to learn more about the school.
Maybe... that way, I could secure more opportunities and resources for Class B. But now..."
She didn't continue. She simply lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting a small shadow beneath them as they concealed the tears that might be welling up.
Lin Mu looked at her, so fragile after losing her way, but he felt no particular stirrings in his heart.
He had seen glimpses of her future through his precognitive ability, and on that day, he'd caught a glimpse of her private thoughts during the fortune-telling.
He more or less understood that Ichinose Honami was far too gentle and kind.
She was also accustomed to shouldering everyone's expectations and needs, wanting to take care of everyone and prove her worth, afraid of being abandoned or letting others down.
In his eyes, living that way was exhausting, like a string kept taut without pause. And the shadow of the "dishonest past" he'd seen during that fortune-telling might have been the string's weakest point.
(We see things differently at different times, after all. We're all just ordinary people.)
If she didn't change this fixation, it might one day become the final straw that broke her.
He looked at Ichinose Honami and spoke in a calm voice, without a hint of comfort or sympathy. "Time will give you the answer, Ichinose."
After a brief pause, as if remembering something, he added, "Also, that fortune-telling the other day was free. Consider it thanks for helping me carry my things.
"But if you want to know the answers to any follow-up questions, you'll have to pay the corresponding points.
"Tarot Cards are one hundred thousand, and the Crystal Ball is one hundred and fifty thousand. Those are my rates."
He pointed to the small blackboard beside him, which he hadn't yet put away.
Ichinose Honami was taken aback. A moment later, an embarrassed blush spread across her face.
She'd been so focused on finding an answer that she'd forgotten Lin Mu's fortune-telling was an expensive service with clearly posted prices. The free reading that day had been an exception.
She subconsciously touched her Student Terminal. One hundred thousand points wasn't a small amount for her, especially when she was already feeling low. It seemed like an expense she needed to consider carefully.
And Lin Mu didn't seem to actually expect her to pay right then.
He changed the subject and spoke again in a casual, almost nonchalant tone:
"But since you're feeling so down today, I can give you a kind little reminder."
He paused. Ichinose Honami immediately looked up, her eyes filled with surprise and anticipation. In a calm voice, he offered her a startling remark.
"Among the 'possibilities' I saw in my fortune-telling, you might actually be better off not joining the Student Council. Class B might be better off, too."
Ichinose Honami's eyes widened, disbelief filling her violet gaze.
But Lin Mu paid no mind to her reaction. In the same tone one might use to discuss something trivial, he continued, "Maybe you could try... giving up on the idea of joining the Student Council."
Seeing Ichinose Honami frozen in place, he added in a flat voice:
"Of course, if you think I'm talking nonsense, or just saying something comforting to help you stop agonizing over it, you can take it as a joke and forget about it."
He even shrugged, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"After all, who in this world can really see someone else's future?
"Something as supernatural as that usually only happens in manga and novels, doesn't it?"
(You have to strive for the future you want yourself, not rely on some so-called fortune-telling to get it.)
(I've already seen the future...)
He said just enough, but no more.
He just thought Ichinose Honami was making life too hard for herself. Based on that tiny bit of goodwill from her "helping out," and an inexplicable impression he had of her, he'd casually offered a suggestion.
Whether she listened and what she chose to do was ultimately up to her.
He had never been one to meddle or interfere in other people's lives. He'd already offered a reminder, since she seemed like a decent person.
Ichinose Honami sat completely frozen on the little stool, staring blankly at Lin Mu. She seemed not to understand what he meant, and yet every word seemed to strike her heart.
Not joining the Student Council... might be better?
She had never considered that possibility.
Joining the Student Council had been her goal ever since the school confirmed her admission. It was a key step in her plan to "help more people" and "make the class better."
She had poured all her effort and expectations into it.
But Lin Mu's words were like a cold, hard stone thrown abruptly into the calm, warm lake she had worked so hard to maintain. The disturbance wasn't a ripple, but a raging swell that shook her to her core.
She lowered her head without thinking and looked at her hands, twisted together so tightly that her nails nearly dug into her palms.
A silent but fierce battle began in her heart.
On one side was the goal she had held onto for so long, almost to the point of obsession: the ardent desire to help her classmates, learn more about the school, and secure opportunities for Class B.
On the other was Lin Mu's fortune-telling, which had already come true once—and she'd even heard from other people that Lin Mu's predictions were practically one hundred percent accurate.
His fortune-telling was so precise and frightening, and now he'd given her a seemingly casual reminder that somehow sounded so certain.
Join or give up? Hold onto her fixation, or consider another possibility?
For a moment, a vast confusion and inner conflict swept over her like a tide and engulfed her.
Her brow furrowed tighter, her lips pressed pale, and the disappointment in her heart was replaced by an even more complicated struggle.
Lin Mu watched Ichinose Honami lower her head, her shoulders drooping slightly as her fingers unconsciously clenched until they turned white. His lollipop rested gently against his left cheek, making it bulge a little.
He was silent for a few seconds. Just as Ichinose thought he wouldn't say anything else, his lazy yet clear voice sounded again.
His tone was still calm, but there seemed to be an ineffable clarity to it now, though he remained detached, as if it had nothing to do with him:
"You're fixated on the Student Council only because you think it's the one place where you can 'legitimately' help lots of people and prove your worth."
He idly tapped the table with his fingertips. The Crystal Ball reflected a faint, hazy glow in the fading light.
"But there's never just one road—the one you can see right in front of you."
(As long as I want to walk, the road is right under my feet. But then I realize I don't have any legs, haha.)
He paused, his gaze seeming to pass through the tent fabric and settle on the distant campus, hazy in the distance.
"You keep trying to take everyone's problems onto your own shoulders, afraid you won't do enough, afraid of letting down anyone who has expectations of you.
"You're afraid that if you stop or change course, you'll lose your reason for being—or disappoint the people around you."
(People are always moving toward their goals, but losing them leaves them feeling empty, while having them can also bring them trouble...)
(Activity period: May 1 to May 5)
Before you continue