Outsider Syndrome | ✓

Chapter 29 - "Forget Me Not Hug"

Leon Hirawa.

Born January 31st. Aquarius. Magician-wannabe.

Magic tricks were sketchy. Card skills, horrible. Personality, off-putting.

To the majority, Leon was someone you gave the go-by—avoided at all costs, no matter the occasion.

Amidst his disconcerting nature, his fortunes were especially notorious.

Unlike the rest of his tricks, they consistently tallied a one hundred percent accuracy. Every one has become a reality. The sole drawback was that he only foretold fortunes portraying hardship.

Getting booted off a treasured sports team or committee. Losing all possessions until nothing remained. Flunking a grade. Acquiring injuries or ending up in the hospital.

Some disbelieved, dubbing it as superstition. Others insisted it was the devil's luck.

Whatever it may be, Leon was 'hazardous'—a threat to anyone's well-being so long as he peered into his keepsake crystal ball.

. . .And I happened to peer into that crystal ball alongside him.

Clueless as I was, I received it.

A fortune.

A prophecy foreshadowing my death.

I only had eleven hours left.

"You have to take it back," I pleaded with Leon.

Promptly after the fire alarm had went off, the entire school was evacuated and attendance was taken by each respective teacher. From there, Naru and I had singled him out, splayed out on the grass in another makeshift nap.

"Hirawa," Naru added.

"Nnn, I can only predict the future." Leon, contrast to our panic, was a ball of tranquility. He swayed back and forth like a plant in the stark February wind, and smiled. "Once I do, I can't withdraw it. Not until it comes true."

"She's only in this mess because of you." Naru's indignation was unsettling. He'd made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me, yet now he was going this far. I'd linked it was because as a class rep, he had less tolerance to stuff like this, but I hoped it also meant he didn't hate me as much as I thought. "You should know better than anyone your fortunes are bad news. Why would you tell another one?"

He tittered. "You must care a lot about the kitty cat, huh, Umi. Earlier you were being sooo cold to her, too."

Naru stiffened, pink rising to his cheeks. "That. . ." He shook his head. "Fix this!"

"No need to be so snappish, Umi. Smile, smile. It'll cheer you up!"

"The fact that you even expect me to smile in this situation means you've really lost your marbles!"

"Leon," I urged, butting in. "There has to be something you can do! Please!"

Staring up at me, then back at Naru, his demeanour shifted. Finally, he retained some means of solemnity. "Like I said, once I tell my fortunes, your only choice is to ride it out until it becomes a reality. I've practiced and practiced but each and every time, I can only foresee terrible futures. Yours in particular, kitty cat, is of a greater scale than I've ever seen. Even if I could undo it, this jinx is too strong."

Colour drained from my complexion. "N-no way. . ."

I was going to meet my end, then? At the measly age of sixteen, I'd kiss this world goodbye.

"You said you barely avoided being crushed by the ceiling, right? Truthfully, that incident adds up a lot more to what I predicted when I gave you my fortune. Yet, for some reason, it didn't transpire."