Chapter 10, Madame Lumar

I looked back at Hikaru and glowered at him, he raised an eyebrow at me and ushered me in. There was something about the way he looked at me and then at the tent that made me curious. It was as if he knew something else, he kept staring at the woman on the sign out the front, Madame Lumar, I assumed and then he would look down and pull out his phone. I was kind of annoyed now, I hated this kind of thing and here after such a fun hour and a bit I was doing something as dumb as this. No matter, I raised up my chin and marched in the small tent to be presented with a dark red draped room. There were crystals hanging from the roof and all over the bench surface. There was a small table with two chairs, a pack of cards on the table and a crystal on a chain. I looked around the small room for a person of gypsy descriptions before giving up and sitting myself down on one of the chairs. Sighing, I put the money on the table and waited. What a dumb idea.

I heard a tingle and then from nowhere a woman appeared behind me, her dark brown hair loose around her face and her pale body dressed in various fabrics that gave her a majestic look.

"Hello darling, I am Madame Lumar…what can I do for you, my child?" her tinkly voice startled me and I looked her over in distaste and distrust.

To say my voice was less than enthusiastic would be an understatement when I replied, "I'm here for a reading"

She raised and eyebrow and sat down in the chair opposite me, her hands covered in rings started shuffling the cards. "But clearly not of your own free will?" she smiled gently, revealing very white, very straight teeth.

"Very good. You must be psychic" I mumbled, my voice dripping in sarcasm, "sorry, you seem lovely, this just really isn't my thing. I don't want to be rude, I just don't believe in any of this" I said motioning to the tent around us and she chuckled in response.

"Good, well you're not the first. I used to work for a very rich and prominent family, they hired me because of my abilities but I'm going to let you in on a secret…I'm really a fraud" she said smiling and winked at me. I just looked at her blankly.

"Right…you do realise I haven't payed you yet? I could walk out of this tent now…why would you just admit that to me?"

"Because you would think it regardless."

"Yeah? So? That kind of defeats the purpose. You're supposed to convince me otherwise, not assure me of my doubts."

"You seem very sure Haruhi"

"Well, that would be because I am. It's common sense," I said bitterly, this was stupid…wait, "how do you know my name?" She laughed again, the tinkling sound abounded the tent.

"Will you believe it was a lucky guess?"

"No."

"Psychic ability?"

"No."

"Heard your friend say it outside the tent?"

"Okay, yep that works" I smiled, even if she was a fraud, she was friendly and honest. She had finished shuffling the cards looked at me again before setting them on the floor away from us.

"What are you doing?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, I don't think the cards will work for you. We're going to use the crystal instead, see the way this works is you can ask it a question and from the way I hold it it will swing on it's own accord. A circle means yes, a line means no. Simple," she grinned, holding it up for me.

I stared at it seeing it hang motionlessly from her hand.

"Come on, I'm sure you have some questions." She smiled gently, nodding towards the crystal. I sighed, what the heck.

Am I going to regret coming out today?

The crystal began to swing back and forth. I raised and eyebrow and she smiled, her hand perfectly still.

Is Hikaru still outside?

It swung in a clockwise direction.

Does…I took a deep breath...does Kyoya still feel something for me?

Again it spun in a circle, a very large circle.

Should I forgive him?

And suddenly it stopped. It sat still, suspended and motionless.

I looked up at her shocked and she just stared down at the crystal. "Well, what does that mean?" I asked, my voice quivering. She stared blankly at me for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Sorry, that's never happened before. I think it means the crystal doesn't know…"

"What do you mean it doesn't know?" I demanded, a little angrier than I should considering I didn't believe any of it a minute ago.

"Nothing I can do, ask something else."

I sighed and focused again.

Should I trust this lady?

Back and forth, back and forth

I thought for a second, kind of shocked by the answer. Suddenly I got a wave of information flowing back through me, "I used to work for a very rich and prominent family" Hikaru's puzzled face at her picture…could it be?

Is this the lady that ran away from Kaoru and Hikaru when they were young?

It swung in a circle.

Is this why Hikaru wanted me to go in?

Again it swung in a circle…

"You're…" I started and looked back out at the tent door, "Hikaru…" I whispered, looking for him but not seeing him immediately.

"What did you say?" She gasped.

"You used to work for the Hitachiin's"

"How do you know that?" She stood up and backed away.

"Why did you leave them?" I asked standing up with her. She snarled at me, grabbed the money off the table.

"Get out, your time is up. Get OUT!" She yelled and I promptly ran out.

It had gotten a lot darker whilst I was inside the tent, and I looked around the market place for Hikaru.

"Haruhi!" I heard him call, and I turned around to see him standing back where I had left him. I ran over to him and before I could say anything he nodded and said, "yeah, I know."

Apparently he'd called the others and they were on their way, not just the others but Kyoya as well. There had been a break in at the hotel the other night and according to other marketers she had only just set up tonight. Considering her track record for fooling prominent families and stealing very valuable possession it was important she be contained and interrogated.

"Oh…" I said, and bits of the puzzle fell into place.