The Fortune Teller

After returning to school, Lezheng started lazing around. His only activity was playing chess with Sakayanagi now and then.

But he had to go out today, because he had run out of food in his fridge.

In the supermarket's fresh food section, Lezheng pushed a shopping cart piled with fruit but no vegetables, because he did not know how to cook them. He did, however, buy quite a few eggs.

Rounding a shelf, Lezheng spotted Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji. Horikita was choosing vegetables, while Ayanokoji served as her shopping basket.

The three of them met each other's eyes.

"Hello," Lezheng greeted them politely.

"Hello," Ayanokoji replied.

"Class A should have plenty of Private Points, right?" Horikita said.

"Yes, plenty, but I spend everything I get each month." Lezheng spread his hands.

The three exchanged a few words before parting ways.

Katsuragi stopped in front of a shelf. His younger sister outside the school would be celebrating her birthday soon, and as her older brother, he certainly had to do something for her.

The shelf was filled with dazzling accessories. After much deliberation, Katsuragi finally picked something he liked and held it in his hand, examining it carefully.

"Katsuragi, are you giving that to a girl?" Lezheng asked softly.

"Oh, Lezheng. My sister's birthday is coming up, so I'm picking out a present for her." Katsuragi abruptly turned around.

"A birthday present? Then I'll give her something too."

"Uh... thank you."

Lezheng looked over the accessories on the shelf and eventually chose a very girlish headband, a pack of cartoon hair ties, and several finely made hair clips.

"The headband and hair ties are for your sister. The hair clips are for other people," Lezheng said frankly.

"Thank you on my sister's behalf."

"Individuals can't mail things out of the school. We need to use the school's official external delivery service. Follow me."

After paying, Lezheng led Katsuragi to an inconspicuous door in the supermarket. Horikita Manabu had mentioned this place in passing.

After making arrangements with the staff inside and providing the delivery address, Katsuragi insisted on dragging Lezheng to a restaurant to treat him, so Lezheng could only apologize to his rice with fried eggs.

In front of the vending machines downstairs in the dormitory building, a girl with long blond hair was choosing a drink.

With a thud, the drink dropped down. The girl bent over to pick it up, then turned to head toward the elevator.

"Good afternoon, Karuizawa." Lezheng waved.

"Le... Lezheng, good afternoon." Karuizawa was a little surprised.

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes. Wait a moment."

Karuizawa used the vending machine again, and a bottle of soda soon dropped down.

"Here, this is for you." Karuizawa held out her arm.

"Thanks. Take this hair clip as a return gift." Lezheng handed her a blue hair clip.

"It's so pretty. Thank you," Karuizawa said appreciatively as she accepted it.

"I picked it out 'especially' for you."

Karuizawa said nothing, but her face reddened, so she could only change the subject.

"Do you cook for yourself?"

"Yes. I'll let you try it sometime."

Although Lezheng could only make two dishes, that still counted as culinary skill. It was enough to bluff other people.

"Ding." The elevator arrived.

"Press the third floor for me." Lezheng stepped inside first.

"Which room is yours?" Karuizawa asked.

"321."

"That's a nice, smooth sequence."

"When I first came to collect my key, I thought the dorm manager was counting."

"Pfft. My room is 1221," Karuizawa said, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Your room number is pretty nice too."

"Ding." The elevator opened on the third floor, and the two said goodbye.

Karuizawa watched Lezheng walk up to a room where a white-haired girl stood. He exchanged a few words with the girl, and then Karuizawa's eyes widened as she watched them enter the room together.

"Egg fried rice again?" Sakayanagi sat down in her designated seat.

"No, I ate out for lunch today." Lezheng neatly put his purchases in the fridge.

"So you do know how to change things up."

"Although I consider my egg fried rice the best in the world, even I get tired of eating it every day."

"So that's why you bought all those instant noodles."

"The person who invented instant noodles was really something."

The two began their usual game of chess again.

One evening, Lezheng received a meeting notice from Horikita Manabu.

"Tomorrow, a fortune teller from outside the school will be coming to the mall to tell students' fortunes. Consider it a summer perk from the school. Our Student Council will need to be there to maintain order." President Horikita displayed a photo of the fortune teller on the screen.

"I didn't expect a fortune teller to require the entire Student Council to turn out." Nagumo smacked his lips.

"New things are bound to attract attention. Besides, I hear this fortune teller is very accurate when it comes to testing love," Asahina said with some excitement.

Tachibana's eyes lit up, her gaze glued to President Horikita.

"Of course, Student Council members may also participate as long as order is maintained. I'll pair up with Tachibana, Nagumo with Asahina, and Kiriyama with Lezheng." President Horikita announced the pairings.

Even the most ordinary product would undergo a staggering change in price once love entered the equation.

The homeroom teachers had already informed their respective classes of the fortune teller's visit.

That day, before the fortune teller had even arrived, students had already packed the mall. The Student Council members stood in six separate corners of the mall, wearing armbands and maintaining order.

"Lezheng, want to join us?" Hashimoto waved from the queue.

"Oh, if it isn't Hashimoto. How come you're with a different girl today?" Lezheng walked over.

"You mean the one from last time? She ran off with someone else."

"Try to look on the bright side. (Serves you right.)" Lezheng patted Hashimoto.

The girl beside Hashimoto immediately began comforting him, which annoyed Lezheng greatly, while Hashimoto smiled rather smugly.

There were plenty of familiar faces in the area Lezheng was responsible for: Ichinose, Kushida, Hirata, Kanzaki...

The fortune teller made her entrance under everyone's gaze. She was an elderly woman dressed in fortune-teller robes exactly like those on TV, with two young attendants carrying props beside her.

In theory, each year had a hundred and twenty students, but the second and third years had both lost a few students to elimination. At five minutes per person, it would still take nearly two days.

On the third day, the mall became somewhat quieter, which also meant it was finally the Student Council members' turn.

Because the fortune-telling sessions were all done in pairs, Tachibana finally got her wish and pulled Horikita Manabu into the fortune teller's little room.

"Kiriyama, didn't you find someone to pair up with?" Lezheng asked with some curiosity.

"Are you not interested in this, Lezheng?" Kiriyama thought Lezheng was uninterested in fortune-telling.

"No, I already arranged to go with someone else. I'll head over now." Lezheng waved and left.

Kiriyama stared wide-eyed as Lezheng walked toward a girl with silvery-white hair and an exquisite red hair clip. He felt as though he had become a circus mascot.

"Sorry for the wait, Shiina."

"It's all right, Lezheng. Getting our fortunes told today means we don't have to queue, and we can ask more questions too." The corners of Shiina's lips lifted.

"That's true, but President Horikita and Tachibana probably won't be out anytime soon. Let's sit on that bench over there for a while."

As for Miyabi Nagumo and Asahina, they had already jumped the queue and had their fortunes told on the first day.