A Spell of Good Fortune

By Magnus Prime

"…With the coins still standing, chant "Speedy Keanu Reeves" three times," Miyazawa's voice sounded as I stared intently at the stacked coins.

I carefully leaned back from the coins so I wouldn't blow them over. "Speedy Keanu Reeves… Speedy Keanu Reeves… Speedy Keanu Reeves…" I felt stupid saying the name of an American actor, but that's what the book said, so… "Now, what?" I asked, glancing at her.

She nodded approvingly. "Yes, that should be enough. Now, please think of the person you want to be locked up with. After that, if the coins fall down, the spell is completed."

I nodded. "Okay…The person I want to be locked up with…who am I supposed to choose?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Miyazawa smile softly. "Please don't worry. If something happens, there's a way to neutralize it."

My eyebrows lifted. This was sounding more and more like a curse.

"Must be so nice for you, Okazaki. Falling in a dramatic love with someone," I barely heard Sunohara say.

The person who pops up right away in my mind is…

The girl from the library. 'Kotomi', wasn't it?

Clatter…The ten-yen coins fell, and I jumped at the sudden sound.

"Oh, it's done?" Sunohara asked, more a statement than a question. "I'm jealous. Just which cute girl did you think of?"

I shrugged. "It's someone I should be safe with, so nothing should happen. If nothing else, the conversation should be interesting." I sent him a lopsided smile. "I'll tell you what happened when I come back."

Sunohara looked at me with mild disdain. "What? You're boring."

Kotomi…no, 'Kotomi-chan' was what she preferred to be called. For some reason I felt something like nostalgia when I thought of her. I still felt bad for leaving her the way I did. I could still see her teary face from when I left the library.

I allowed the guilt to gnaw on me for a bit as I headed to the storage room.

I stood outside the shed, feeling more than a little self-conscious. After all, the chances that she would ever...no, that would never happen. She was a fixture in the library; she'd never come out.

"Tomoya-kun?"

I turned at the familiar voice but unfamiliar use of my name and my eyes widened. "Kotomi…chan…?" Wow, this spell really did have potential, didn't it? "How did you know my-Wait, what are you doing all the way out here?"

She pointed toward the school's upper floors. "I saw you from the library window, and…and…" Her cheeks pinked as she rubbed her hands together, clearly nervous. "I was hoping that you would join me for lunch today."

I was touched. Even after the way I had treated her… "Thank you Kotomi-chan, but I-"

*CRACK*

The sound of a bat hitting a ball caused me to look just in time to see a ball flying toward Kotomi's head. "LOOK OUT!" I yelled, grabbing her and throwing us both out of the ball's path.

*CRASH* *THUMP* *SLAM*

I cracked an eye open to find myself in the gym storage shed. I opened the other eye to find the place pitch-black; the door must have shut behind us.

THE DOOR MUST HAVE SHUT BEHIND US?!

It was then that I realized that I was still holding tightly on to Kotomi as she lay on top of me. "Are you okay?!" I asked, somewhat panicked.

"Mmmph," she grunted into my chest. After I loosened my grip enough I felt her look up at me. "I am unhurt, Tomoya-kun. Thank you for saving me."

We sat up and I got to my feet before turning to help her up. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noticed that I could still see some light leaking in from around the door. Good, at least the place wasn't as dark as I thought.

I looked to Kotomi. Other than one of her hair ornaments being slightly out-of-place she looked unhurt. In fact she was blinking at me repeatedly with her large violet eyes even wider than usual. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I am unhurt." She clasped her hands in front of her chest with an expression of wonder on her face. "It really worked…"

"What worked?" I asked.

"The spell."

I had a sinking feeling… "What spell?"

She took a step closer to me, and I felt myself backing away. "Miyazawa-san taught me a spell that would trap me in here with-" She cut herself off, gasping and slapping her hands against her mouth. Even in the dim light I could see her cheeks reddening and tears shimmering in her eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked cautiously. "Is this because I blew you off the other day? Look, I'm really sorry abou-"

"That is not it!" she cried out, hands now covering her face. "I did not believe that it would work!"

"Kotomi-chan…what was the spell supposed to do?"

She lowered her hands to her chest and took a hesitant step toward me, tears freely flowing; I didn't back away this time. "I am sorry; I am too embarrassed to tell you."

"Okay, fair enough; In fact, I'm here because she taught me a spell too, so I understand." I gestured to a folded gym mat; there was enough room for two people to sit. "Well…while we wait for help, why don't we talk?"

"I see; so it is not because of me that you left the library," Kotomi said while dabbing at her eyes with my handkerchief. "That is a relief."

"I just felt like I wouldn't be good for you," I said. "I mean, I've always been good-for-nothing…"

"That is not true!" she exclaimed as she grabbed my sleeve with both hands and looked up at me with earnest eyes, and I experienced that wave of nostalgia again. "You are a good man who has been hurt somehow! You are not good for nothing!"

"Kotomi-chan…How do you know? We only met a few days ago."

"That is…partly true," she replied ambiguously. She looked down between us and nodded, seemingly to herself, before looking back up at me. "I could never forget those eyes," she said as she rested her hand on my cheek.

"K-Kotomi-chan…?" Was this a secondary effect of the spell?

"You came to Mommy and Daddy's backyard by accident. I was practicing my violin when you appeared rather suddenly…"

My eyes widened as my heart started to throb along with my head.

"…we introduced ourselves to each other. And from that day forward we played together every day. Tag, house…we would read together…"

My hand found my forehead and I gasped as a flood of memories crashed over me. "Oh my god…you had white chairs and a table in your backyard…"

"Yes…" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"…and a huge sliding glass door, and a white picket fence…" My heart sank. "I promised to bring a bunch of friends for your birthday, but…I failed." I looked over to see her still smiling in spite of her tears. "I was too ashamed to show up, so… I didn't. And then your parents died, and…oh my god…"

"You remember me…" she said in a trembling voice.

I blinked, and felt a warm wetness spill over my cheeks. "Yeah…yeah, I do." I looked over at her again and chuckled awkwardly. "I'm so sorry. I was embarrassed, so I stayed away so long that…yeah."

Her lower lip trembled as she placed her hands on my cheeks. "I forgive you, Tomoya-kun. Can we be friends again?"

I gently placed my hands over hers. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that. Now that I remember you, I miss you. Funny, huh?"

She shook her head. "Mmmm-mmnn. I think it is wonderful. I have missed you terribly all this time."

I heard the door start to rattle, and voices saying "Hey! The door's stuck!"

Remembering the 'counter-spell' I quickly stood and wiped the wetness from my face. "Could you turn around for a second? I need to unlock the door."

"Huh?" I could have sworn that I saw four question marks over her head. "Oh, certainly," she finally replied before turning her back to me. "Let me know when I may turn back."

"Sure." I dropped my trousers, quickly recited the incantation, then fixed my trousers just as quickly. Then I turned to my old friend. "Okay, it's safe now."

She turned back and, as the door slid open, she wrapped her arms around one of mine.

"Hey, what's this?" I protested, though half-heartedly.

"Tomoya-kun…" she looked up into my eyes, and the intensity I saw in them shut down any further protests. "Just for a while…please?"

I nodded dumbly as light spilled into the room, the opening door giving us our freedom again. "Okay."

We left the shed to catcalls and wolf-whistles, but I didn't care. I had been reunited with a dear friend and, from the way she was snuggling my arm, maybe more in the future. Sunohara was going to crap bricks when he'd hear about this! Maybe I wouldn't tell him.

I guess the spell worked really well, after all.