'I'll just come up with an excuse to brush it off for now.'
Saiki thought to himself, preparing to send a message to the two of them.
But just then, Saiki caught a familiar voice.
[Kusuo-kun... will come, right...?]
'No way...?'
Saiki was momentarily stunned, his eyes widening in surprise.
The place was crowded, and even with his telepathy, it was hard to distinguish individual voices—but Saiki could clearly hear Sakura Airi's thoughts.
This meant Sakura Airi was very close by.
Saiki turned his head slightly and saw Sakura Airi standing nearby, looking timid, as if waiting for someone.
'This is bad. I hope she didn't see me...'
Saiki thought to himself, then turned away as if he hadn't noticed her.
But at that very moment, Sakura Airi, as if she had telepathy too, turned around at the same time and saw Saiki trying to turn away.
"Kusuo-kun?"
Sakura Airi was surprised, her eyes showing a hint of delight. She hadn't expected to see Saiki here.
"Sakura..."
Saiki had no choice but to reluctantly greet her.
But then, Sakura Airi's gaze shifted to Karuizawa Kei's face. She hadn't expected Karuizawa Kei to be here.
[Why is Karuizawa-san here...? Could it be that Kusuo-kun came here with her for the fortune-telling?]
[On Kusuo-kun's birthday... Karuizawa-san came alone too...]
[Could it be... that Karuizawa-san and Kusuo-kun are already... in that kind of relationship?]
Sakura Airi felt a sense of discomfort in her heart. She really wanted to ask, but she didn't have the courage to say it out loud. She could only manage to greet them.
"Karuizawa-san... you're here too..."
"Good afternoon, Sakura."
In terms of personality, the two of them were polar opposites, but compared to before, Sakura Airi had improved a lot. At least now she had the courage to greet others proactively.
"Karuizawa wanted to try the fortune-telling here, but since it requires two people, she asked me to come along."
Before Sakura Airi could let her imagination run wild, Saiki quickly explained, hoping to prevent her from coming up with even stranger ideas.
"Oh, I see!"
Sakura Airi nodded. After confirming that Karuizawa Kei and Saiki weren't in a relationship, for some reason, she felt a little happier inside.
'Yare yare, let's leave it at that for now. Thankfully, it's just Sakura. If Shiina were here too...'
"Saiki-kun!"
Before Saiki could finish his thought, Shiina Hiyori's voice rang out nearby.
'???'
Saiki's mind was filled with question marks. For the first time, he felt like there might actually be a god in this world.
'Looks like I really have to go through with this fortune-telling.'
"I just saw Sakura and was about to go say hi... I didn't expect you to be here too, Saiki-kun."
Shiina Hiyori's eyes showed a hint of surprise. She hadn't expected to see such an unusual group here.
[Karuizawa and Sakura are both here? Judging from their expressions... they both seem to care about Saiki-kun's presence.]
Shiina Hiyori thought to herself.
'Shiina's observational skills are truly terrifying. But then again, Shiina is a very rational person, right? Why would she be interested in something like fortune-telling?'
Saiki thought to himself.
"It's supposed to be two people per group, but it doesn't seem to specify that it has to be a boy and a girl—"
Shiina Hiyori looked at Karuizawa Kei and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"If the four of us go together, it shouldn't be a problem~"
"Isn't four people a bit too much?"
Karuizawa Kei's eyebrows twitched slightly, seemingly displeased with Sakura Airi and Shiina Hiyori's sudden appearance.
"I think... it's fine..."
Sakura Airi, who rarely spoke up, surprisingly voiced her opinion.
"Then let's go as a group of four. It should be fine."
Saiki said directly. Being alone with one of them for the fortune-telling would feel incredibly awkward, but with others around, it might ease the tension a bit.
And so, the four of them stood together and joined the line.
Saiki quickly began to regret his decision.
[This guy brought three girls with him?]
[All three of them are so cute. I'm so jealous.]
[I've seen him before. He's Saiki from Class B!]
The previously chaotic thoughts suddenly became more unified, and their attention almost simultaneously shifted to Saiki.
'Yare yare...'
Saiki's desire to leave grew stronger.
After a long wait in line, it was finally their turn.
'Yare yare, it's finally our turn?'
Saiki shook his head helplessly.
"Hello, it's two people per group here."
The staff member assisting them said.
"The four of us are together, and our spots in line are next to each other. It should be fine, right?"
"Hmm... alright, come in."
The four of them finally entered the shop, and what greeted them was a girl with a striking figure.
Aiura Mikoto.
'Yare yare, she looks about our age, right?'
Saiki thought to himself. He believed she was just spouting vague statements to scam people, but high schoolers were easily fooled by this kind of thing. Saiki just wanted this to be over quickly.
"Um... could you tell my fortune..."
Sakura Airi, who was at the front, wanted to ask Aiura Mikoto about love.
But before Sakura Airi could finish her sentence, Aiura Mikoto suddenly smiled meaningfully:
"It's definitely about love, right?"
Hearing Aiura Mikoto's words, Sakura Airi's face turned bright red in an instant.
[So accurate!]
Sakura Airi exclaimed inwardly.
'She hasn't even started the fortune-telling yet. Most high school girls who come here probably ask about love.'
Saiki inwardly complained.
But just then, Aiura Mikoto suddenly moved. She picked up a bucket from the shop, used her terrifying arm strength to spin it rapidly, then set it down. She then took a pencil lead from the table and threw it into the water.
[???]
Everyone present couldn't help but have a big question mark pop up in their minds.
'What is she doing?'
Saiki's expression gradually became serious because he saw and heard something unexpected.
"You have a boy you really care about, don't you?"
Aiura Mikoto immediately said, and upon hearing this, Sakura Airi's heart began to race.
"Your compatibility with him isn't very high, but what happens in the future depends on you... Wait, it seems like you have a hidden side that others don't know about. Maybe that's your true self, and if you..."
Aiura Mikoto then said a lot of things, and the word "shock" was written all over Sakura Airi's face.
'Yare yare...'
Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on Aiura Mikoto.
Because he had just realized that this young fortune-teller was definitely not an ordinary person. While performing those strange actions, various keywords related to Sakura Airi appeared in her mind.
This person was a psychic!
'I didn't expect there to be another psychic here...'
Saiki was slightly surprised.
"...In terms of career and studies, you might have faced a major crisis, but it seems like something unexpected happened, and you'll manage to overcome it."
"Th-thank you so much!"
Sakura Airi nodded vigorously, expressing her gratitude.
"I should have been able to see more of your fortune, but for some reason, starting about an hour ago, I couldn't see anything anymore."
Aiura Mikoto sighed and shook her head slightly.
'Yare yare, this is troublesome. If I interact with her, she'll probably figure out I'm a psychic right away.'
Saiki's mind raced as he thought about how to handle this situation.
He hadn't expected this fortune-teller to actually have real abilities.
After Sakura Airi's fortune-telling, it was Shiina Hiyori's turn.
[Her words are quite vague, and since it's about the future, there's no way to verify it.]
Although Shiina Hiyori had come here out of interest in fortune-telling, in reality, it was only because a book she had read recently mentioned something about it. Shiina Hiyori didn't actually believe in fortune-telling.
"...You really want to make friends, but it seems like you only have one person you can truly call a friend right now. And you care deeply about that person..."
[So accurate!]
'She gave in so quickly...'
While Saiki was thinking, Shiina Hiyori's fortune-telling also ended, and it was now Karuizawa Kei's turn.
"...You've experienced something truly terrible in the past... It caused you a lot of pain... But recently, someone you didn't pay much attention to before changed everything, helping you step out of the shadows. Your attitude toward that person has also changed dramatically... Your compatibility isn't very high, but it's not low either—about 50%."
Aiura Mikoto spoke seriously to Karuizawa Kei.
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Karuizawa Kei looked at Aiura Mikoto in surprise.
"I always thought fortune-tellers were elderly women. I didn't expect someone as young as you... You seem about our age."
"Yep, we're the same age!"
Aiura Mikoto said with a smile.
"I actually came here because I foresaw that my soulmate would appear at this school. But since the enrollment period had already passed, I could only enter the school as a fortune-teller to see if I could meet him. In theory, I can see people's auras—but earlier, I suddenly couldn't see them anymore. It's really strange. I feel like my energy is off today."
"Oh, you foresaw your soulmate?!"
Hearing Aiura Mikoto's words, the outgoing Karuizawa Kei immediately asked curiously,
"What kind of person is he?"
'Should I find an excuse to run away?'
Saiki was still thinking of a way out.
"He's an incredibly talented person."
'Should I use a stomachache as an excuse? Or just teleport someone else here?'
"His initials are S.K."
'???'
A sense of foreboding washed over Saiki.
"And he has pink hair."
'??????'
Saiki was now certain that fate was playing a cruel joke on him.
After Aiura Mikoto finished speaking, the other three turned their gazes toward Saiki.
[Isn't that... Saiki?]
[Could it be... that this fortune-teller's soulmate is Kusuo-kun?]
[Is this for real...? Saiki-kun fits all the criteria.]
'Yare yare... This is really troublesome...'
Saiki was completely helpless. Everyone's attention was now on him, and he had no way out.
However, to his surprise, the other three didn't mention his name.
"Hey, you over there, it's your turn for a fortune-telling... Wait, you have pink hair. What's your name?"
Aiura Mikoto finally noticed Saiki's presence and called him forward.
'There's no avoiding this now. I should've just stayed home today... Oh well, I might as well come clean.'
Saiki had no choice but to step forward.
The moment he got close to Aiura Mikoto, she immediately sensed something unusual.
Although she couldn't see people's auras anymore, part of her abilities still worked, allowing her to detect certain traits in others.
"You..."
'Don't show any surprise. Pretend you didn't notice anything.'
Saiki directly transmitted his voice into her mind.