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The deck of Tarot cards had been handed to Hinao as a gift from a one-time client — she couldn't remember his face or name, only that he seemed to be trying to awkwardly flirt with her. When she pretended not to notice, he silently moved the box of cards toward her and retreated.
Then she spent a couple of hours faithfully looking at the pictures: each card had a different, brightly colored one, depicting a person or a whole scene. Most of the cards were divided into four suits — just like regular cards, only with strange symbols. Another twenty or so cards were unique, each with its own name and number.
0. The Fool
I. The Magician
II. The High Priestess.
And so on.
Not knowing what to do with the deck, Hinao quickly lost interest in it, stuffed it back in the box, and tossed it on the dresser in her room, where it would have been lying until the next general cleaning, if not for Char.
Or rather, if it hadn't been for Hinao's desperate attempt to save her.
Dying of boredom in the hospital, she almost begged Shiba to bring her something to amuse herself with. To the question of "what exactly" she flippantly replied: "anything from my room," not realizing that by doing so she had set the man an almost impossible task.
Needless to say, it was that damn deck of cards he'd brought. It had probably caught his eye when he was getting the other things out of the dresser that the girl had asked for.
"Why would I want this?"
"I thought you were into it."
"Are you kidding? I have no idea what to do with this!"
"Why do you... Look, Hinao, you could've said you needed something specific, but..."
"Fine, thanks for that. Get me a book about the Tarot, so I'll know what to do with it."
Shiba got the Tarot manual in less than half an hour.
And then Hinao was left alone with the newest addition to the brood of hurt children — Hakuri. It was almost impossible to look at him without tears: he was always trying to occupy as little space as possible, even when he had no one to share it with, rushing to apologize after every phrase he said, and if you asked him to help, he would rush to action so zealously as if he would be punished for a second's delay.
A beaten puppy, no other way.
He also didn't speak to Hinao until she talked to him, and she had no idea what topic to keep him occupied. The inconsequential small talk was fading fast, and she was afraid to ask anything about Hakuri's past, not wanting to accidentally hurt any unhealed wounds. Of course, she could always talk about Chihiro — Hakuri would talk about him endlessly (and sooner or later he would probably decide he was allowing himself too much and apologize again) — but that almost seemed like cheating to Hinao. Moreover, she'd still like to talk about Hakuri himself, so that the beaten puppy would relax a little, realizing that his new acquaintances care about him.
Who knows how long they would have sat in awkward silence before Hinao had an epiphany:
"Hakuri, shall I tell you a fortune?" He looked up at her, eyes wide as if the girl was suggesting something obscene. Sensing the still unspoken refusal in his guilty smile, Hinao added: "I've been diligently studying Tarot cards in the hospital, I'd like to practice now. I'd appreciate it if you could help me!"
"Oh well... Okay," He was still smiling guiltily as if he was causing an inconvenience, but at least he agreed.
"That's great!" Hinao smiled wide. "Then wait here while I'm getting the deck."
In the hospital, Hinao had been able to learn the meanings of all twenty-two major arcana, the unique cards with names and numbers, and now she was picking them out of the deck, looking like an experienced fortune-teller. She was tempted to leave the cards with bad meanings in the deck because it didn't take any guesswork to tell her that Hakuri was sure he'd get a bad card. After all, he always did. Hinao had already prepared a speech about not taking the cards seriously, saying that it was just fun.
There were no special spreads that came to mind. Hinao decided to let the puppy pick one card and she would see what to do with it. It was preferable to find an interpretation that would make Hakuri feel a little better, the rest was details.
She shuffled the cards and spread them out like a fan in front of Hakuri, offered to pick a card that "looked at him", and while he slowly and tentatively studied the completely identical card shirts, there was only one thought in Hinao's mind, "pick something good, come on". And she exhaled in relief when he finally pointed to a card without a black background.
Relieved that she wouldn't have to be coy, Hinao, without even showing the card to Hakuri yet, loudly gave out:
"Zero. The Fool," And only belatedly realized that it might not sound very encouraging, especially if you said the card number out loud. And of course, the puppy got the wrong conclusion.
"Oh," He tried very diligently (but slightly unconvincingly) to pretend that he wasn't affected by the cards at all. "I expected that," He smiled, but his voice trembled and his eyes started getting wet. He knew it was just a stupid card, and there was no reason to be upset, but he couldn't help it. However, he could be understood: his self-esteem was so low that to raise it, he had to dig it out from under the ground first.
"No no no, you've got it all wrong! It's a good card, trust me, look!" Hinao shoved the card under Hakuri's nose as if the mere sight of it was enough to make him realize everything. "See how bright it is? Colors are very important in Tarot, you know?" The card is indeed bright, with lots of yellow and blue. The young man on the card was walking, exposed to the sun and the world.
He was walking into an abyss, but that's just a detail.
"This card means exposure to the world and risks, as well as new beginnings. And you know, he," Hinao pointed to the young man on the card, "reminds me of you, very much so. See, he too left from somewhere," she moves her finger to the bag on the young man's shoulders, "and his life is just beginning. Just like yours, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, I guess so," Hakuri gave a very shy smile. Did it work to dig up his self-esteem just a little bit?
"And what I said 'zero' is just a sequential card number, and if you ask me, it's also the symbol for the beginning. Everything starts at zero, right?"
"Yeah, sure, I don't know why I thought at first that..."
"Never mind, I can imagine what you might have thought without any context. By the way, here's a closer look," Hinao solemnly handed the Fool to Hakuri.
"Thank you," Hakuri softly uttered.
"Don't thank me, thank the cards! They don't lie, you know?"
The boy smiled gently, ran his finger over the glossy picture, and looked briefly at the dog that accompanied the young man on the card, as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind.
"It's beautiful..." He said, handing the card back to Hinao. Then he hesitated for a moment, obviously wanting to ask something, but feeling embarrassed.
"Go ahead, ask whatever you want," Hinao went to help him.
"Can I ask, have you ever-" He faltered, remembering that Hinao had asked him to address her not so formally. "Have you ever... Well..."
"Did I read the fortune for Chihiro?" Hinao's guess was accurate: a fortune-teller's talent is unmistakable. The boy blushes like a tomato and nods quickly. "Well... Not in person... You know he's always running around and is extremely busy," Also, Hakuri was the first person she'd ever read a fortune to, but she wanted to maintain the illusion that she knew what she was doing. "But I practiced asking the cards about him — as I did about Shiba and little Char."
"And what did they say? If it's not a secret, of course..."
"Well... The cards really don't like it much when other people's secrets are revealed..." The cards just didn't seem to particularly favor Chihiro, and time after time asking about him, Hinao didn't get anything good. It might be nothing, but the poor puppy would be upset if he found out. "But maybe... If you ask, will it work?"
In fact, Hakuri picked a good card once, maybe it'll work out again for Chihiro. Maybe it was Hinao who was just disastrously unlucky.
Hakuri smiled and nodded happily. That's great.
"Come on, repeat after me," Hinao winked with a sly smile, stirring the cards like an experienced fortune teller. "Cards, tell me about..."
"Cards, tell me about..."
"Rokuhira Chihiro..."
"Rokuhira Chihiro."
After finishing mixing, Hinao once again placed the cards. The gesture was even more graceful than the first time. Hakuri already knew what to do, and readily chose a card, seemingly inspired by the responsibility he had been given. With a deft gesture, Hinao pulled out the card he had chosen and wrinkled her nose when she saw it.
"Just don't worry, okay?" Hinao was well aware that Hakuri could be more upset about Chihiro than himself.
And why didn't it occur to her to lie something along the lines that Chihiro should ask himself? She hoped she'd get lucky.
"What is it?" Indeed, the boy showed more interest in that unfortunate card than in his own: leaning in close to Hinao, his voice was trembling with excitement.
Hinao placed the card on the table.
An eloquent enough picture: a horned winged monster, fire, underneath it two people with chains around their necks, all against an abysmal black background.
Hakuri gasped loudly and covered his mouth with his hands.
"The Devil," Hinao voiced the name of the card.
It fits Chihiro, the girl thought, and she was almost ready to believe that the cards actually knew something.
Especially since Hinao was pulling out The Devil, thinking of Chihiro every freaking time.
"The bound will, the doom. The bestial part of a person, anger... cruelty... obsession," It sounded a bit pathetic, and Hinao was already somewhat regretting that she had managed to get Hakuri interested. However, it was a bit late for the whole 'no need to take the cards seriously' thing.
"Well... maybe he really doesn't have much of a choice now," Hinao continued switching to her fortune-teller mode. "The path of revenge, the search for his father's legacy is strewn with corpses..." Her own words gave her goosebumps. Was she getting into character?
"Maybe... it's about the people who get in his way," Hakuri suggested timidly. "I mean... They're violent... And Chihiro has to fight them whether he wants to or not."
Hinao shuddered, remembering how Sojo had walked into her cafe and wrecked the hell out of it. What was Chihiro supposed to do then?
Or afterward, when he had taken the lightning strike to save people's lives? What else could he have done?
"... hence the bound will," Hakuri finished his thought, blushing as if he had said something stupid and was now leaving it to Hinao to judge.
"That makes sense! You're catching on right on the fly!" If given the time and materials, it seemed to her that he could figure it out faster than she could. If he didn't get too fixated on the bad cards.
"Oh, I just rambled what came into my head," Hakuri didn't know how to take compliments at all, and looked away embarrassed.
Shall they try again?
"Look here," Hinao returned to the card, pointing her finger at the people with chains around their necks. "See, the chains are loose enough that they can be removed," How lucky she was to have memorized that from the book! "Do you know what that means?"
"Can... Can chains be removed?" Hakuri uncertainly suggested.
"Exactly!"
"You mean, you think Chihiro will be able to take them off... To stop before it's too late?"
"If that's how you interpret it, then that's how it is."
"Good," Hakuri smiled silently, presumably calm for his samurai's fate. Hinao smiled herself and exhaled a sigh of relief, deeming her task complete.
"Anything else you'd like to ask?" The girl tucked The Devil back into the deck.
Hakuri hesitated, frowned, and shook his head.
"No. I guess not."
"No problem! If you think about it, ask," Hinao winked at Hakuri. "Or I could show you all the cards sometime."
"Yeah, that'd be great," He smiled again and didn't sound as unsure as before. And he didn't even apologize for his existence!
Hinao triumphantly put the cards away in the box. Mission 'melt the ice and support a beaten puppy' successfully accomplished.