Thirty-First Spell: Dark Prophecy
As the sun set and the stars came out, the Tanabata Festival began in earnest. The courtyard of the school's main castle was full of food stands and different games to play. While the girls wore beautiful kimonos, the boys wore striking yukatas all made from fine silk or satin. In fact, some of the kimonos and yukatas had magical enchantments on them such as swirling patterns or glowing trails.
Haru's yukata, though, was a plain blue one with a yellow sash and a red robe tied around his waist. But when he saw Rui, he almost didn't recognize her. She had tied her medium chestnut hair up using sakura-shaped hairpins and wore a rose-pink kimono that had a sash where sakura blossoms spun like pinwheels.
"Wow," Haru admired.
Rui smiled and spun around. "Do you like it?"
"It's certainly different from any kimono I've seen."
"Don't be modest!" Cheng said, wearing a yukata that was a lighter tinge of blue than Haru's. "Just say you like it."
"Okay, I like it!" Haru caved in.
"You didn't have to force an answer out of him," Rui chastised. "Now I'm embarrassed…."
"Please don't be embarrassed!" Haru insisted. "I really do like your kimono."
Blushing, Rui turned away from Haru. "Thanks for the compliment…. Now let's get something to eat!"
Then Rui ran ahead of Haru, forcing him to catch up to her. She stopped at a food stand that was selling yakitori chicken skewers and used her allowance money to buy one. But when she bit into it, a clucking noise was heard.
"What was that?" Haru said, looking for the source of the clucking.
"Oh, that came from the yakitori," Rui explained. "They've enchanted the chicken pieces to sound like chickens when you bite into them."
"Isn't that a little disturbing, since the chicken you're eating used to be alive?"
"Not really!" Rui bit into another piece, followed by the same clucking. "Think of it as a reminder that you're digesting a creature that was once alive. So therefore, you're honoring the creature by consuming its body."
Unsure of how to feel about that, Haru decided to use his money to buy a grilled squid. When he bit into it, though, he thought he heard bubbles rising in water. He realized his squid was enchanted in the same way as the yakitori and was tempted to not eat anymore. But his hunger overcame his uneasiness and so he continued eating the squid while following Rui.
"Hey, it's the Osozaki!" cried a young female voice.
Haru looked behind him and saw Chio Mika, the girl who accompanied him during the Ceremony of Kimonos, in a pink kimono running towards him while being followed by an elderly woman in a black kimono decorated with multicolored butterflies.
"Chio!" Haru greeted. "I didn't expect to run into you."
"I haven't seen you since the kimono ceremony," Chio said. "Though I've heard from the older Primary Students that you've been fainting a lot. So I brought my grandma to see what's wrong."
"Oh, that's…very considerate of you," Haru then turned to the elderly woman. "You must be Chio's grandmother. I'm Haru Ryuji."
"Nijichō Mika," the elderly woman said, shaking Haru's hand. "But you can call me Granny Niji. I am a Seer by trade."
"So you're basically a fortune teller?"
"Yes," Granny Niji nodded. "But unlike those charlatans, I can actually see the future! And I do it using my cage of butterflies."
From a hidden pocket in her robe, Granny Niji pulled out a small iron cage that had a bunch of butterflies crammed inside.
"These butterflies are completely under my control, so they will not fly away once I let them out," Granny Niji explained. "Depending on which ones land on your hand will determine what your fortune is."
Haru stood perfectly still as he held is left hand out. Granny Niji then let the butterflies out and they fluttered around her not wandering off in any way. Then two butterflies landed on Haru's hand: one was a black butterfly with specks of white, and the other was completely white with black-tipped wings.
"Very interesting," Granny Niji noted. "The Common Raven butterfly means you are destined for something great that will affect the entire Japanese Wizarding Community. But the Forest Quaker butterfly implies difficult times ahead, and losing yourself in the process."
"What does that mean?" Haru asked.
Granny Niji shook her head. "I don't know, but your mark is the key."
"My…mark?" Haru looked down at his chest. "How did you know about that?"
"I told you, I can see the future!" Granny Niji insisted, though her eyes started rolling to the back of her head. "What ails you now is a by-product of your mother's creation, to stop the wheels of fate from turning. He is watching you, and will do whatever it takes to bring you back to him!"
"Who is 'he'? You mean Warumo?"
Nearby students and parents gasped when they heard Haru say Warumo's name, causing them to walk away quickly.
"Granny, you're scaring me!" Chio said. "Please stop!"
As if she heard her granddaughter, Granny Niji's eyes returned to normal.
"Sorry, what was I talking about just now?" Granny Niji asked.
"Nothing important," Haru fibbed. "It was very nice to meet you, Granny Niji. And good seeing you again, Chio!"
Then Haru walked away before Chio or her grandma could question him further. He tried to find Rui again, but was drawn to a big commotion going on. Between two food stands was a series of tables where students and their parents played different games. Though one table had a bunch of students gathered around it with Hikari on one side and Seita on the other. Hikari was wearing a stunning orange kimono with red tsubaki flowers blossoming, while Seita wore a forest-green yukata with glowing bamboo shoots.
"All right," Hikari said. "One more round of Tenbutsu! Whoever loses has to treat everyone around this table to a packet of Exploding Mochi Balls each!"
"You're on," Seita said.
Rearranging the small black cards they had, Hikari and Seita combined their decks into one. Then they took eight cards each face-down and placed six cards in the center face-up before putting their combined deck between the rows of face-up cards.
To be continued…
