Chapter Nine
Cards
I woke up covered in sweat, again, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. I had had another dream about that strange girl who was me, but not me, and to be honest, I was getting pretty sick of it. The dreams left me feeling disturbed and uncomfortable, like I had been trespassing or something. I sat up and rubbed at my face, trying to clear away that feeling of intrusion.
"Are you alright, Yashiro? You thrash around a lot in your sleep, did you have a nightmare?"
"Don't watch me sleep," I said, trying to distract from this line of conversation. For whatever reason, I didn't want to tell Hanako about the dreams. I couldn't say why, but he didn't seem like the person to talk to about them, not now anyway. He seemed to notice my hesitation, he fished around in his pocket and produced a deck of red playing cards. He shuffled them absently for a moment and then asked.
"Do you want to play a game?"
"What sort of game?"
"Do you know how to play war?" he asked, a mischevious smile appearing on his face.
"No."
"That's fine," he sat cross legged on the end of the bed. I felt the weight of him, but he had no body heat, he wasn't cold, he just had no temperature. It was strange. "I'll teach you, loser has to play a punishment game."
"That's not fair!" I said, but I was smiling, despite myself, "If I'm new I'm definitely going to lose. You have how many years on me?"
"It's a game of pure luck, no skill required." he patted my legs underneath the covers, "come on, sit closer, I promise I won't cheat."
"Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical," I laughed, dream momentarily forgotten, "I've watched you cheat at solitare."
He adopted an expression of hurt, "A gentleman never cheats."
"Since when are you a gentleman?"
"Since now, come here."
I did as he said, and sat next to him, watching with fascination as he shuffled the cards, he did it well, and quickly, but I supposed he had a lot of practice. The deck he was using was worn and old with numerous little tears around the edges of the cards (possibly the result of a mouse), but he regarded them like old friends, dealing them with an expert, yet gentle hand.
"Okay, here's how you play," he said, after all the cards had been dealt and we were uncomfortably close to eachother. "We both play a card at the same time, and whoever's card has the most value wins the other person's card, the game ends when one person has no cards." He flipped over his first card, a 2 of clubs , and I flipped over my card "See, you have an 8, 8 has more value than 2, it goes 2-10, then Jack, King, Queen and Ace, the suits don't matter." He pushed his card over to me and flipped over his next card, it was a Jack, he quickly snapped up my four, and before long he was winning almost every round.
"I thought you said this game was luck based," I said, eyeing my ever decreasing stack of cards.
"It is," he said, re-shuffling his pile, "you just have no luck."
"Yes, I'm aware of that, thank you," I played my next card, King of Hearts, I sat back and grinned at him, unless he had an Ace, his card was mine. He flipped over his card, King of Diamonds. I looked at him, confused.
"Oh, this is the best part," He reached over to my deck, his hand brushing mine, and took three cards, laying them all face down on top of my king. His proximity was making my heart race, I tried to shake of the feeling. He looked up, his golden eyes boring into me, I watched the color rise to his cheeks and realized that he had just noticed how close we were too.
"Oh!" He jumped back, startling me into dropping my cards, "I'm sorry, I just...I remembered." He began gathering up the cards, he was fidgety, hands moving fast, keeping his eyes focused on the task at hand. I was grateful he wasn't looking at me, I didn't know how much more of that otherworldly stare I could take, "I have to go." He attempted a smile, "official ghost business."
"Oh, I see." I was both relieved, and oddly disappointed. It was comforting to have him here with me, it made me feel safer at night. He lingered for a moment, not saying a word, and then slowly dematerialized.
~oOoOoOo~
I went to work the next day, miserable, I had been unable to sleep, after Hanako left. I had spent the rest of the night wandering aimlessly around the apartment, unsure of what to do to occupy my time. And now I was utterly fried.
"You look dead," said Sakura, bluntly as I walked into work.
"Are you alright, Nene-chan?" Aoi put a cool hand to my forehead, "you don't feel feverish."
"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well last night, that's all, I keep having these weird dreams."
"Weird dreams about what?" Asked Sakura.
"I don't know, they're hard to explain, I only started having them once I moved here." I hadn't really given that fact much thought before. I had never really wondered what triggered the dreams, only the contents of the dreams. Were they somehow triggered by the apartment? By Hanako? I remembered the girl in the dream telling me 'we're home!' "I just wish I could get like a dream reading or something." I laughed, trying to hide how unsettled I felt about the whole thing.
"I can't do a dream reading," Said Sakura, "but I can do a tarot reading, it might put you at ease, a little." I was touched by her concern, Sakura was so cool and aloof that I hadn't thought her capable of it.
"Alright, I've never had a tarot reading done before."
~oOoOoOo~
After work, Sakura and I sat in the break room across from each other, Sakura carefully shuffling a deck of cards. She didn't do it as quickly or as deftly as Hanako did, but she had her own sort of grace. Aoi and Kou hovered near by, watching curiously. " I usually do this one on one to avoid outside influence, but in this case I don't think it will matter," said Sakura she passed the cards to me, "here, cut the deck." I did as she told me, she shuffled the cards again, and then lay 6 cards face down on the table. She let her hand hover over the cards for a moment, before flipping the first one over.
"Judgement," she said, "facing upright it means that you're facing an awakening or reflection, this indicates that you're at a cross roads, you'll be required to make an important, maybe life-changing decision down the road, be careful of which path you choose."
A chill traveled down my spine, I nodded, fascinated, behind Sakura, Kou peered over her shoulder looking at the card.
"That's kinda creepy," he said. Sakura shot him a silencing look, then flipped over the next card.
"The Moon, Reversed, this card deals with fear and confusion, you need to work through these emotions, not run from them, you can't bury your dark shadows, bring them to the light and examine them, this is the only way you will progress."
"Fear, huh?" I had that feeling already, not strong enough to drive me away, but I was afraid, I was afraid that Hanako wasn't my only ghostly visitor. I was afraid that my dreams meant something ominous. Sakura let her hand drift over to the next card and hesitated for a moment, she flipped it over with some hesitation.
"The Tower, Upright, this card means chaos and destruction, you're heading for a major upheaval. You can't run from it, it will find you, the best you can do is let this experience strengthen you rather than let it tear you down. I don't want to linger on this card overlong," she said, flipping over the next one. "The Devil, Reversed." I shuddered, despite myself, "don't worry," she said, "this is a much better card, read this way it speaks of freedom, regaining control, whatever disaster you're facing it looks like you'll come out better on the other side." She allowed herself a brief smile, then turned over the next card, "Death, Upright."
"Death?" Aoi put a hand to her mouth, startled.
"Tarot cards are seldom literal," said Sakura, "death doesn't mean the end, it means Metamorphosis, it means shedding your past and embracing your future, this is actually one of the best cards in the deck, your luck is looking up, Yashiro-chan." her hand hovered over the last card, she smiled again but this time it was a bitter smile. I forgot about it when she flipped over the last card, on it was painted a picture of two people wrapped in a passionate embrace beneath the picture, printed in letters I could read even upside down were the words, The Lovers. "This card is a little bit more literal, it looks like some sort of romance is in your future. Whether or not you nuture this union or let it die is up to you."
I stole a quick glance at Kou, remembering what Hanako had said about him being the perfect guy. He was definitely cute, and hard working, but…
"All done," said Sakura, returning the cards to her deck and shuffling it. "You have a very interesting future, Yashiro-chan, I'll be watching to see what you do with it.