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It was a really, really desperate move, but at this point, Yuu is a man made out of pure desperation.
The sign hanging above the psychic parlor is cute at least, a wooden sign of a black cat sitting on a swirling blue and purple crystal ball, the words sonos angelorum styled neatly across the bottom.
Yuu passes the sign every day during his local commute to school and work, his apartment building tucked neatly around the corner just half a block away. He’d always been curious since the strange store popped up a few months back, wondered who was really stupid enough to step foot inside, to believe that someone has the power to unlock the secrets of the future.
In his pocket, Yuu’s phone buzzes. An Instagram notification from Shinoa. The filtered picture features her lounging on a sectional, cozied up with her new girlfriend—and also Yuu’s ex.
Dignity utterly destroyed, Yuu steps into the shop.
The door closes behind him with a gentle tinkling of a bell, and somewhere in the back a voice calls, “ be there in a moment! ” Yuu hums in reply, taking in his surroundings with increasing skepticism.
The place certainly doesn’t look how he expected, devoid of scattered cobwebs and glittering crystals and wind chimes hung to and fro. The decor is much more professional; the walls are painted a soothing shade of sage green, and the sitting area is decorated with sleek black furniture and modern art fixtures hanging on the wall. At the center of it all sits a round, dark wood table flanked by four comfy-looking chairs. Yuu almost helps himself to sit down before a figure appears from behind a beaded curtain in the back.
The moment their gazes meet, Yuu just sees blue. It is an exquisite color, the color of the sky on a warm spring day, not a cloud in sight. It makes Yuu feel safe, warm, fills him with all of the squishy childhood feelings he thought were long past.
The spell is broken when the man makes a startled noise, and Yuu is able to look away from blue eyes long enough to take in the rest of him.
Again, he doesn’t look like a typical psychic. His golden hair is neatly coiffed, curls tucked softly against his face and ears, and he is dressed in a smart navy sweater-vest and tan slacks combo. If Yuu hadn’t read the sign outside, he would think the man was more qualified to file his taxes rather than look into the future.
“Mikaela?”
The man’s eyes widen, as if his own name has startled him.
“I, uh, Googled your shop before coming here,” Yuu clarifies hastily. “The website had your name listed on the top so...”
The explanation seems to settle whatever was going through Mikaela’s mind.
“Oh! Right, of course. Nice to meet you..?”
“Yuu.”
He approaches Yuu with a warm smile and extends his hand. Yuu accepts, fighting down a shiver when he notices how soft Mikaela’s palm feels against his own callouses. Those blue eyes are crinkled at the corner as Mikaela bounces their hands once, and Yuu takes his hand back as quickly as he dares to hide the way it has started to sweat.
Seriously? He has a few bad breakups and he loses his cool at the first attractive person he sees? Yuu needs to get his shit together.
“So,” Mikaela says, sparing the Yuu the task of unsticking his dry mouth. “Yuu. Tell me what brings you by my shop today?”
After a deep inhale, Yuu is recovered enough to manage a coy smile. “Shouldn’t you already know that if you’re a psychic?”
Mikaela levels him with an unimpressed look but still chuckles. The sound is another blissful dosage of warmth, and something in Yuu’s chest loosens in its wake.
“You are not the first person to make that joke, nor will you be the last. Please.” Mikaela gestures to one of the leather chairs by the table, and Yuu sits with a muttered thanks. “First things first: coffee or tea?”
Yuu is tempted to make the same joke twice in a row, but restrains himself for both of their sakes. “Coffee, if you have it.”
A twinkle shines in Mikaela’s eyes. “Ah, I knew you were going to say that.”
Yuu’s eyes get big, just before Mikaela sticks his tongue out.
“Just kidding.”
Yuu begins to splutter something indignant, but Mikaela is already trailing out of the room with another laugh, and Yuu is able to sustain himself on the sound until he returns with two cups in his hands and a crystal dish balanced into the crook of his elbow. He places one of the cups, a black steaming mug, in front of Yuu and sets the other, an ornate teacup balanced on a saucer, in front of the chair on the other side. In the center, Mikaela places the glass dish which is filled with a variety of sweeteners and dairy-free creamer.
“Alright then,” Mikaela says as he settles into the chair opposite Yuu. He snatches a packet of honey and squeezes the contents into his cup, looking at Yuu as he stirs with a tiny ornate spoon. “I suppose we can get started.”
Yuu glances around and notices the table is empty apart from their cups and the crystal dish. He looks around briefly before settling back on Mikaela with a raised eyebrow.
“So...are you gonna, like, read tarot cards or look into a crystal ball or something?” he asks. His eyes catch as Mikaela’s lift his teacup to his lips. “Oh! You’re gonna read the tea leaves!”
Mikaela smiles as he swallows, an amused look softening his features in a way Yuu can’t help but appreciate. He sits his cup down and steeples his fingers beneath his chin, staring into Yuu with those magnificent baby blues. Not for the first time today, Yuu feels a jolt under their scrutiny, like he is being peeled back to the very essence of himself under Mikaeala’s eyes. Yuu shifts nervously but does not dare break the gaze.
“Not exactly,” Mikaela clarifies after a beat. “My gift is more...ephemeral than that. You and I will just start by talking and I will see if anything is revealed to me over the course of our conversation.”
Despite Mikaela’s charm, Yuu’s skepticism begins to bubble back to the surface. He takes a sip of his coffee, forgoing sugar and creamer, and leans further back into plush leather.
“So we just talk and then—what? You magically get a vision of my future?”
Mikaela hums. “Not exactly. It is more about listening rather than seeing.” He smiles softly, fondly. “My father calls it ‘listening to the angels.’”
So it seems Mikaela’s alleged gifts are inherited. “You believe in angels, then?” Yuu asks.
“I don’t know about that,” Mikaeals admits with a shrug. “I guess it’s just like—something out there in the universe know things we don’t, and I just happen to be able to hear the messages it sends. It’s not exactly a reliable science.”
Not exactly reliable is not what Yuu was hoping to hear, but he supposes he was desperate enough to walk into a psychic’s shop for a reason. Reliability has left right alongside dignity at this point. Perhaps sensing his growing tension, Mikaela takes another sip of tea and straightens in his chair, his eyes back to piercing through every one of Yuu’s barriers.
“So really,” Mikaela says, “tell me why you’re here, Yuu.”
Yuu releases a long breath, chest beginning to ache and cellphone weighing heavy in his pocket. He knew he was going to have to explain the whole nasty affair from start to finish, but that doesn’t mean he will enjoy reliving the emotional turmoil. Yuu braces himself and rips off the bandage.
“My girlfriend dumped me.”
With Yuu’s confession out in the open, Mikaela does not seem all that fazed. Yuu thinks he must get this kind of thing a lot, so he quickly adds on.
“I mean,” he rambles. “Let me start from the beginning. So there was this girl, Mitsuba, who I met in class—she was pretty and smart and I decided to make my move, you know? So I did, and she and I started going out, kind of—I invited her to a lot of things with my friends, but we also went on dates by ourselves too and I thought things were good—but I guess I didn’t pick up on some signals or some shit because out of the blue she wants to talk to me and says she doesn’t think it’s working out, but it was so random and weird! But I respected her, and we broke up but still kind of hung out occasionally, and yeah, I still had some feelings but I was trying to get over it, but then all of a sudden—”
Mikaela, who had been intently listening to Yuu’s rant up to this point, jolts as if shocked, and Yuu quickly shuts up. It is clear to see that something has popped into his head with a near audible ding , and Yuu half expects a lightbulb to appear over Mikaela’s gold curls.
Mikaela’s eyebrows furrow, then raise, then he levels Yuu with an affronted look. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Your best friend did that to you?”
Any lingering skepticism leeched away in the wake of Mikaela’s words. He hadn’t just hit the nail on the head—he clearly had constructed the entire fucking landscape of Yuu’s prediciment in his mind, the angels or the universe or whatever filling in the rest of the details of his story without Yuu having to even explain the juicy parts.
Holy shit.
“Holy shit,” Yuu whispers. “You are the real deal.”
Even amidst his outrage, Mikaela manages a laugh. “Usually it take more than that to convince people, but I’m flattered.” His brow furrows again, eyes slipping closed. “I can’t quite tell her name but—she’s short, lilac hair, very clearly and obviously into your girlfriend the entire time you dated her?”
Yuu groans, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Yep, that would be the one. And to be fair, she did ask if I would ever be upset at her for dating one of my exes and I didn’t technically say no—”
“That doesn’t matter!” Mikaela inserts. “That is a textbook example of what not to do to your friends, especially only—” Mikaela mouths something to himself, eyes still closed—“only three months after your breakup! Jesus, Yuu, I’m sorry.”
Yuu wonders just how much of the whole situation Mikaela is seeing, but based on the occassional wince and pity in his eyes it is probably enough. Yuu knows Mikaela is probably seeing him at some of his lowest moment, but for some reason he doesn’t mind. In fact, the whole situation unloaded, the knowledge that someone else has seen it from a cosmic perspective, has a weight sloughing off of Yuu’s shoulders he did’t realize existed. He pratically deflates into the chair, making idle circles with fingers against the leather arm rest.
“I know they are really good together, better than we ever were,” Yuu mutters. “And I’ll get over it eventually, but I just feel like nothing has ever worked out for me. Not in high school, not in college, and I just want to know—”
Mikaela has returned to his intense stare, and Yuu returns his gaze just as strongly, embracing the naked truth of it all.
“—when am I going to find someone to love me?”
Mikaela’s mouth parts, pink lips glistening enticingly from the remnants of tea, and Yuu hardly notices when Mikaela leans across the table and extends his hands palm upward. Yuu sits up and looks down at the offering, his own hands coming to hover just above for fear of misreading Mikaela’s intentions.
However, Mikaela simply smiles, something like melancholy in the upturn of his lips, and he lifts his hands higher toward Yuu’s.
“Let me see what I can see, what I can hear,” Mikaela encourages gently. “I am sure I will be able to help you find the answers you seek.”
Mikaela could have told Yuu anything in this moment and he would have believe it, eyes like molten sapphire igniting any doubt, any insecurity that might keep Yuu from what he wants most. It is the easiest thing in the world to let their hands join together, savoring the feeling of Mikaela wrapping his fingers around him tightly.
Mikaela’s eyes flutter close at the contact, and a moment later Yuu too lets his eyes slip shut, his only tether to the outside world they place where they are touching.
Yuu isn’t sure what Mikaela is trying to do, what he is looking for, what the rough bumps and lines of Yuu’s palms are telling him, but Yuu can only focus on the warmth. The warmth is overwhelming, and he nearly doesn’t notice the electricity beginning to prickle between them, spreading first from where they touch then up Yuu’s arms until his whole body is wracked with a delicious shudder. Yuu can’t help it—he gasps, and Mikaela grips onto him even tighter and Yuu grips him back just as hard as the electricity rachets higher and higher and higher.
Then, all at once, it’s over as Mikaela pulls his hands free.
Yuu blinks his eyes open, still shivering, and wonders if the power of suggestion can really be that strong. But then he sees Mikaela, and his heart restarts in double time.
Mikaela’s face is beet red, all the way from the base of his neck to the tips of his ears. It is really a sight to behold to be honest, the red a beautiful compliment to the blue, and Yuu would appreciate it more if not for the way Mikaela is staring at him. His eyes are wide and glossy, pupils blown so only a thin ring of sky blue remains.
“W-what?” Yuu asks when he can’t take the silence anymore. “What did you see?”
Perhaps Yuu’s voice pulls Mikaela back from wherever he had just gone. He clears his throat and attempts to drink another gulp his tea, but his shaking hands impede the process. Tea spills down the side of the cup as it clatters back into the saucer, but Mikaela’s flush has begun to retreat slightly, and he sits up straighter in his chair. With a steadying breath, he looks Yuu back in the eye with a modicum more calm.
“It was...” he starts. Then he stops, take another sip of tea, and tries again. “I saw a happy future for you. Very happy. In fact—I think you may be finding the love of your life very, very soon.”
Yuu’s heart stutters. “Really?”
More heat climbs into Mikaela’s cheeks, but he nods. “Really?”
“Well, what else?” Yuu presses, leaning across the table. “Who is it? When do I find them? How will I know?”
Yuu only realizes how close he’s gotten when he feels his thighs hit the edge of the table. Mikaela’s has taken to sealing himself as far back as he can into his chair, redness returned nearly full force. Realizing his imposition, and just how much better Mikaela looks up close, Yuu murmurs an apology and flushes himself, plopping himself back down into his seat.
“I can’t tell you all of that,” Mikaela says. “It’s not a tutorial or a map of how to get there. The things that are meant to happen simply will.”
Yuu isn’t quite satisfied with the answer, but the soft curve Mikaela’s smile makes him feel reassured, like he can already see the love his life right in front of him.
Mikaela looks at his watch and clicks his tongue. “I have a client scheduled to come in soon, so I should probably start preparing if that’s alright.”
Yuu stands and grabs up his coffee mug, barely drank. “O-oh, of course! Where should I—?”
Mikaela takes the mug from Yuu’s hand, and the brief contact has an echo of the static from earlier running along his fingertips. Yuu thinks he sees Mikaela shudder too as he gathers everything else from off the table.
“Let me take care of it,” Mikaela insists. “And as for payment...let’s just call first session free.”
Yuu’s eyebrows raise, but the free session isn’t the only detail to intrigue him. “You want me to come back?”
Mikaela nods shyly. “Only if you want. If you need more advice or just want to talk.”
Yuu must be just as red as Mikaela was before, and he is eager to make his retreat before he does something to completely embarrass himself. He blindly stumbles backward toward the shop entrance, but he smiles as wide as he dares.
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” he says. “Thank you for everything, Mikaela.”
Mikaela tucks a blonde curl behind his ear and levels Yuu with a gaze that has him drowning in cerulean. “Just call me Mika. All my friends do.”
Holy shit.
“Holy sh—uh, yeah. Mika. See you later. Um. Yeah, bye.”
Yuu swears he hears the the angelic tinkle of Mikaela’s laugher beneath the chime of the bell, but he doesn’t stop to consider it as he beelines from the shop and toward his apartment, already planning his next visit.
Perhaps the future is bright after all.
The moment Yuu disappears out of the shop door, Mika nearly collapses.
He manages to make it to the tiny kitchenette in the back to dump the dishes before sliding down the counter and burying a scream into the back of his knees.
Somewhere in the great beyond, the angels laugh at him.
Mikaela doesn’t know if its the angels teasing or his frazzled psyche that replays the visions he had just seen a few minutes ago, the same visions he has been seeing since childhood when his gift first developed, the same visions of the same man with charcoal black hair and glittering emeralad eyes and a smile that could turn Mika’s heart into mush.
The same visions that were amplified even more vividly with physical contact with the person he has seen himself fall in love with for his entire fucking life.
Mikaela had elected to keep that tidbit of information hidden in his first conversation with Yuu. It had almost stumbled out, the shock of seeing him in the flesh rendering him near incoherent, but he wasn’t about to have Yuu screaming for the hills because he dumped too much on him at once.
No, this will need to be a slow revelation. Just enough information at a time to keep Yuu from thinking he’s a deranged stalker, regardless of how readily he had accepted Mikaela’s gift as truth earlier. For now, Mikaela can only savor the lingering sensation of their hands clasped tightly together and let the universe take its toll. Mikaela is not one to test the hands of fate.
Recovering enough of his sanity, Mikaela makes to stand, really needing to prepare for that next client, but his phone rings just as he begins to rise. He fishes it from his back pocket, and ethereal giggling once again filters in from a far off realm.
Damn angels. They really can’t keep anything to themselves.
With a sigh, Mikaela hits the answer button and holds the phone to his ear. “What do you want, dad?”
“I just heard,” his father croons from the other end of the line. “Tell me everything. ”