Notes - For the gx_100. Set post-GX with established Ryo/Fubuki. I must note here that I'm not trying to make any sort of statement into peoples' beliefs with this; it was simply my thoughts on how the characters would feel about such things.
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He lived in a day and age where a lot of people believed that things happened for a reason. Which was surprising, really, since he also lived in a time of technological advancement – the digital age. The age where holographic images not only felt real but had been around so much that people just accepted them as being as normal as anything else.
You'd think that an era like this would let go of traditional notions of fate and other superstitions. But there was always something popping up every now and then to give people a reminder of where they stood in the grand scheme of the universe.
He'd seen those things happen a bit too much.
One of those such events, recent enough to merit being remembered but old enough to be overshadowed by later near-death-encounters, had been specifically centred around the belief that everything happens for a reason. The man being controlled by the alien parasite had said that the world was destined not to have free will. The boy gifted with more skill than any other, it seemed, had said that he rather liked free will, thank you very much.
The boy had won, but somehow people still believe that everything happened for a reason. They thought the boy must have been fated to win and always will be. Somewhat a tough life for a child to live up to.
But this person was not at all connected to that incident. He knew of the incident, he knew of the people involved, but he was not part of it in any way.
And he didn't believe that things happened for a reason.
To him that was the coward's way out. He accepted that he had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but those mistakes weren't destined to happen, they were mistakes he'd made by his own choices. He had lived with them, he had even grown because of them, but at the end of the day everything that had happened had been down to him – not some mystical cosmos from space or whatever else.
He was surprised to find out that his partner Fubuki felt the same way.
"But you were a host to the essence of iDarkness/i, surely that's got to pull you in favour of the supernatural," Ryo commented to his friend, as they walked down the busy Domino central street.
"I didn't say that I didn't believe in the supernatural," Fubuki corrected, "After everything that's happened it'd be hard not to. What I was saying is that I don't believe in destiny as such. It was me who became one of his hosts but it didn't ihave/i to be me. It could have been someone else, I was just the most suitable candidate at the time."
Ryo made a small nod as his eyes started to scan across the crowd. Though it was packed with people the roads were actually closed off today – for there was a travelling carnival in town and the path was covered in brightly coloured tents. Fubuki enjoyed this sort of event, so Ryo had humoured him by coming.
It felt strange that they'd come so far that Fubuki now spoke openly of Darkness as if it was all a thing of the past. It also felt strange that Ryo could now walk as opposed to having to be wheeled around everywhere, even if he did need some help from a cane to keep his balance.
It really, more so even than the other two things, felt strange that the two of them now had a relationship with each other. But then, going from leading a life of being involved in near-apocalyptic experiences to suddenly having to lead a normal existence can have unusual effects on people. Neither of them had fathomed an explanation further than that.
"Talking of that is going to drag us down though," Fubuki yawned, snapping Ryo out of his thoughts, "We came to the fair to enjoy ourselves, so we might as well see what they've got."
After looking around for a moment Fubuki's eyes settled on a tent composed of deeper and richer colours than the others, but still with a patchwork effect. The sign stitched above the entrance said 'fortune teller' in elaborate lettering.
"What about that one?" Fubuki asked innocently.
"You just said you didn't believe in that sort of stuff," said Ryo, indifferently.
"Yeah, but it'll still be fun, and I believe in fun," came the laugh of the other boy.
Though he agreed to go in it felt sort of weird to Ryo. When the term 'fortune telling' was mentioned he thought instantly of Saiou – the poor man who had been the host to that parasite of Light. It was easy to forget that there were other people out there making a living from telling fortunes, whether genuine or not. The whole world didn't stop to change it's ways because something that had happened on a little island out at sea.
As the two of them walked into the tent they were greeted by a lady in sparkling makeup and sequined robes, waving her hand over a crystal ball for effect. It was shocking for them both at first, but on reflection, Ryo thought that if he had never heard of Saiou or the Hikari no Kessha this would have been exactly what he'd expected a fortune teller at a carnival to look like. There was no reason why she shouldn't be a woman. Or why she shouldn't be so overdressed to make herself look more authentic.
Fubuki took the seat opposite her at the table, and motioned for Ryo to sit down next to him.
Upon looking up at them, the lady said in a far-away voice, "You have come for a joint reading. May I ask your names?"
Ryo couldn't stop himself from thinking that if she was psychic she wouldn't need to answer, but politely the two boys gave their names.
"Ah yes, Fubuki and Ryo… the blizzard and the brilliance," she said, pausing for effect.
Had he not already known what his and Fubuki's names meant that might have been impressive, but as it stood Ryo knew that anyone who knew enough about names would know that. If his name had been one letter different she'd be telling him he was a dragon.
"I sense that your connection to each other is also like that of a brilliant storm," she went on.
It was hard for them both to keep a straight face at that one. She really didn't know the half of it.
Fubuki said she was right, and went on to talk casually about little details that they had in connection to each other. This was what she wanted, and Ryo knew that. Regardless of Saiou's own skills in reading lives, the average carnival fortune teller made their statements by knowing a lot about people – and relied on getting people to talk about themselves so she could learn what to say next. So far all she'd done was make some unambiguous comments that could be applied to anyone with the name Ryo or Fubuki, she hadn't made any effort to read their futures.
He thought to himself that Fubuki was possibly aware of this too; he was playing along because for the moment he was entertained.
"I see…" she said, after Fubuki had stopped talking long enough for her to cut in. Waving her hand over the crystal ball once more, she went on, "…I am getting a prediction for you both now…"
In spite of themselves both boys leaned forward to listen to her.
"In the near future you will both be fruitful in a shared endeavour, but… I also see an issue between you both. There is… a girl that you are both close to?"
"Yes, there is," said Fubuki, and he went on to tell her about Asuka. But after a small, shared glance with Ryo he decided not to mention that Asuka was his sister.
She nodded solemnly, going onto say, "You should both be wary of this girl and how she affects you. For one day you may be forced to choose between your connection to each other and your relationship with her. But… I trust you shall both make the right choice."
The reading went on for a short while after that. When it was finished they both thanked and paid her before leaving the tent and heading out and further down the street.
"So?" Fubuki asked, with a smirk towards Ryo.
"I think you already know what I feel about the reading," Ryo commented passively, "All of the statements she made were general ones that could be applied to anyone. Being successful in the near future is easy enough, we're both at the carnival and regardless of how rigged these games are we'll probably win something at some point. Other than both being guys we didn't tell her about the relationship we have, so she made the assumption that there was a girl involved and let us fill in the blanks. She didn't make any statements that could imply that we were either friends or a couple, or even how the girl could come between us. It was all just so… general."
"That's what I thought," said Fubuki, still smiling to himself, "But even when you're being vague about predictions you can get things wrong."
He received an enquiring look from Ryo.
"She made a presumption that this girl would cause problems for us both down the line; and I can say with certainty that Asuka would never hurt either of us in anyway," Fubuki carried on, and Ryo firmly agreed to that.
After they had returned from the carnival that day Asuka found herself presented with a rather large teddy bear wearing a bow that they had won from one of the stalls. She couldn't make sense of why they would get her something at all, but she had come to accept that the two of them were not predictable in the slightest.