Uneasy daily life

What happened? The minister suddenly updated?

Hachiman Hikigaya looked up.

[The Adventures of Bell Cat is a children's animated film, labeled as lighthearted, joyful, fairytale-like, and dreamlike, suitable for young children and adults who can easily lower their age. While the film certainly carries these labels, its actual performance is unsatisfactory. The animation is too realistic, failing to highlight the magnificent romantic imagination; the greatest sense of fantasy comes from the anthropomorphic animals, which are rather simplistically portrayed. The lighthearted atmosphere is insufficiently developed, and to create plot twists, the writers had to resort to numerous elements such as villains, battles, and separations, resulting in a disjointed and disjointed narrative. Fairy tales are never simple, shallow, or simplistic; they contain traces of realistic reflection and adaptation. They should be written with mature strokes to depict innocent romance, which this work clearly fails to achieve.]

[A mediocre film by a second-rate director attempting to prop up a third-rate script using modern filmmaking techniques.]

【Come and argue if you are not convinced! 】

A challenge sign, a plastic stool, a small table, and a middle-aged man.

This strange style, treating everyone else as if they don't exist... oh no, the other person is looking at him with such longing eyes, hoping that passersby will pay attention to him, but people coming out of the movie theater silently move to the other side or walk past as if they didn't see him.

Koga Tomoe tried to walk past as if she hadn't seen anything, but after taking a couple of steps, she suddenly realized that she had turned into a person. When she turned around, she saw other people looking at the strange middle-aged man.

"Hey, weren't we supposed to be going to see the filming location?"

She took a few steps back.

"Well..." Yui Yuigahama wore a strange expression that she couldn't understand.

"Gentlemen, would you like to have your fortune told?"

The middle-aged man suddenly spoke up, pulling a crystal ball from his coat pocket: "For just one hundred yen, for just one hundred yen, you can get the most accurate divination and prophecy!"

“Sir,” Yukino Yukinoshita said directly, “are you from the Crimson Theatre Company?”

"Official member of the Crimson Troupe, codename: The Fortune Teller." The Fortune Teller smiled warmly. "Would you like your fortunes told?"

Sakuta Azusagawa bluntly asked, "Did you come here for nothing?"

"Xu Bai? That guy only sees me as a charlatan. He never believes in divination or anything like that." The fortune teller shook his head and sighed. "Even though my predictions are so accurate, he always ignores the results and insists I'm a charlatan... Would any of you like your fortunes told?"

Azusagawa Kaede scratched her head: "Fortune telling? You mean... predicting the future?"

The fortune teller replied, "It is possible."

Could it be? What kind of opening move is this? I'm not kidding you!

Koga Tomoe rolled her eyes, noticing the serious expressions on everyone else's faces, and was utterly bewildered: "What's wrong? You guys really believe this weirdo can do divination? How does he seem like a diviner?"

"What about me doesn't seem like a fortune teller?!"

The fortune teller glared at him and said, "You're questioning my professional ethics!"

"Look at what this sign says!" Tomoe Koga pointed. "It's clearly a movie review!"

"This is just a small trick to attract customers."

The fortune teller reached out and turned the upright sign around, revealing the contents on the back.

[Finding lost cats and dogs, predicting fortunes, divination for the future! Astrological analysis to predict blessings and misfortunes, the Five Elements to inquire about gains and losses, the ever-changing Yin and Yang, and the tortoise shell to determine the outcome! I may not be proficient in any of these, but I can offer you professional psychological comfort, helping you regain confidence and courage. My predictions have a 100% success rate to date! You may not believe in yourself, but you can believe in me, believe in a professional diviner, and I can help you believe in yourself!]

【100 yen/person. 】

The suspicious atmosphere is off the charts!

Tomoe Koga really wanted to retort, but everyone else seemed unfazed, even curious... Hmm? What's going on? This atmosphere is like only I'm acting strange!

"So, would you like a fortune telling? What kind of fortune telling would you like? Anything is fine."

The fortune teller asked with a smile.

Kaede Azusagawa looked at the crystal ball curiously, blinked, and asked, "Um... will my brother be happy in the future?"

"Wait a moment." The fortune teller raised his hands and frantically touched around the crystal ball. To Azusagawa Kaede's surprise, the crystal ball gradually brightened, emitting a faint glow. He observed it intently for a moment, then said mysteriously, "Happiness or sorrow, everything is a fleeting illusion. No matter how sad something is, it will be dispelled by a moment of joy, and no matter how joyful something is, it will be buried by a moment of grief. So there's no need to ask the future, just look to the past—do you think your brother was happy in the past? If so, then he will be happy in the future; if not, then he won't be happy in the future."

Kaede Azusagawa frowned, racking her brains. Was her brother happy in the past...?

Koga Tomoe smirked. This... this is just a way of fooling the question, isn't it?

“Of course it’s happiness.” Sakuta Azusagawa tapped his sister on the head, interrupting her wandering thoughts. “Fortune teller, I’d like to ask how to treat decision-making difficulties? What’s the solution to the trolley problem?”

"That's simple," the fortune teller said seriously. "Just get rid of the person who invented the trolley! As long as there are no trolleys, there will be no trolley problem!"

Sakuta Azusagawa nodded in agreement with an air of seriousness. It seemed that there was really no way to rely on some mysterious power to perfectly resolve everything... However, he was unable to make a choice, unable to think about how to choose, and even less aware of what he wanted to choose.

"I want to see someone. When and where can I see her?"

Azusagawa Sakuta asked.

The fortune teller smiled and said, "Now, in the hospital."

Sakuta Azusagawa's brow furrowed. Was the other person talking about Shoko? Shoko was hospitalized? How come he didn't know? Was he making things up, divining, or using known information as a prophecy?

In short, we must ask that Xiao Xiangzi who just started junior high school.

"So, are there any other customers who want their fortunes told?" the fortune teller asked enthusiastically. "Whether you're a girl who has someone she likes but doesn't know how to make them like you back, a girl who can't wait to spend time with her boyfriend, or a boy who's full of vigilance and wants to go home, you can have your fortune told by me! Although Xu Bai says I'm a charlatan, my predictions are always accurate!"

Yui Yuigahama, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Hachiman Hikigaya all fell into a subtle silence.

It's confirmed! This is Bai Ying's accomplice! Did that guy reveal something to his accomplice? Or is mind reading and observation skills standard equipment for the Crimson Troupe?

"Ah, don't misunderstand." The fortune teller shook his head and said, "I'm just a fortune teller. I don't have the same observational abilities as Bai Yinghua and Xu Bai. Bai Yinghua told me all this when she returned to the troupe. Everyone was shocked and curious. Anyone who can like Xu Bai must be a potential star in our Scarlet Troupe!"

Yukino Yukinoshita's eye twitched slightly, feeling that she had been slandered the most so far: "Fortune teller, it's normal to fall in love with someone, isn't it? It doesn't meet the standards of a national first-class protected animal."

"It's not normal to genuinely like someone~ I believe in you."

The fortune teller gave Yukino Yukinoshita a thumbs-up and looked at the clueless Tomoe Koga: "This guest, let's have our fortune told!"

Koga Tomoe took a step back and gave a polite smile: "I don't need it."

“I think you can give it a try,” Sakuta Azusagawa suddenly said. “Although he seems strange, he should be someone who knows unusual things.”

"Um... shall I give it a try?"

Koga Tomoe approached the table strangely, and at the fortune teller's prompting, placed her hand on the crystal ball, asking in confusion, "What do I want to have divined?"

"I must admit, this question has stumped me." The fortune teller frowned, his expression grave. "Fortune telling is a contract that places one's fate in the hands of another, and the fact that you can ask such a question clearly means you've already grasped your own destiny—no wonder you're the one who manipulates the dice, the one who has become my nemesis, the one whose death is prophesied in the future… This power to manipulate fate and possibility is the mortal enemy of prophecy and fortune telling…"

Tomoe Koga: "?"

Is this person suffering from late-onset chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)?

"The divination is over. I need to find some time to die."

The fortune teller smiled as he put away the crystal ball, politely nodded to the group, left the item behind, and turned to leave with a flourish.

Tomoe Koga was full of questions: "What did he divine for me?"

Yukino Yukinoshita gently shook her head: "Don't worry about it, these are just members of the Scarlet Troupe."

"I need to go to the hospital next," Sakuta Azusagawa suddenly asked. "Kaede, is it alright if I leave for a bit?"

A hospital? That kind of place...

Kaede Azusagawa opened her mouth, wanting to say she wanted to go together, but then chickened out: "Okay! Brother, go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the zoo with them!"

"Next time, I'll go with you."

Sakuta Azusagawa smiled and said, "Koga, come to the hospital with me too. I'll introduce you to someone."

Introduce someone? Who? That Ms. Shoko that the senior likes?

Koga Tomoe was quite curious and immediately nodded: "Okay!"

……

……

Hospital, single room.

"What's your name? Xiangzi? You're Miss Xiangzi?!"

"Miss Xiangzi?"

Lying in her hospital bed, Makinohara Shoko tilted her head in confusion, "I really am Makinohara Shoko..."

"age?"

"13 is old."

What is your relationship with your senior?

"My friend."

"I mean, a more precise, specific, particular, unique relationship—like relatives or something."

"Hmm... the connection between Sakuta and my parents arranging the marriage?"

"That's it, I understand."

Koga Tomoe took a deep breath, glanced sadly at Azusagawa Sakuta, a complex emotion flashing across her face, then gritted her teeth, took out her phone, and pressed 1 twice.

"Calm down." Sakuta Azusagawa, who was peeling an apple, shook his head upon hearing this. "The way you're questioning me sounds like you're a fake police officer interrogating me."

"This is an act of justice!" Koga Tomoe was still a little skeptical, and asked as if to confirm, "So she's not Miss Shoko?"

"Not yet—put the phone down first."

"Senior! I promise to visit you once a month!"

"Haven't you heard Bai's fake voice before? It's completely different from Xiangzi's voice."

Shoko Makinohara sat on the bed with a smile, watching the two of them talk back and forth. She blinked and asked curiously, "Sakuta, who is Miss Shoko?"

“Miss Shoko…” Sakuta Azusagawa thought for a moment and said, “She’s a big dummy who’s not as cute as Shoko and is just as smart.”

"Does she share my name?" Shoko Makinohara asked softly, a knowing look on her face. "So, is that why Sakuta and I became friends?"

"Of course not!"

Tomoe Koga quickly interjected, "Senpai is such a kind-hearted person, always wanting to help those in trouble—right, Senpai!"

"Is such that."

Sakuta Azusagawa nodded directly and said, "Without Ms. Shoko, I probably wouldn't be able to become friends with her."

Wow! Senior, you're such an EQ idiot! How can you talk to a patient like that?!

Koga Tomoe sat behind Azusagawa Sakuta, nudging his back with her elbow and giving him a frantic look: Say something nice! You've made that little girl cry, or you'll get kicked out of the hospital by the nurses!

"Thank you, Miss Xiangzi."

Shoko Makinohara smiled brightly and scratched her hair with her little hand: "If it weren't for her, Sakuta and I wouldn't have had the chance to become friends—Sakuta, Sakuta, do you know where that Shoko-san is? I want to be friends with her."

"Well, let's wait until the silly older sister understands, and then..."

It seems unlikely that the future Ms. Shoko and the present-day little Shoko will ever meet, right? A classic time paradox, isn't it?

However, Ms. Xiangzi said that the future is uncertain, so it's normal to meet?

Sakuta Azusagawa didn't make any absolute statements: "Whether it's writing a letter or making a video, you can definitely become good friends with Ms. Shoko."

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it."

After a brief chat and some fruit, Sakuta Azusagawa got up and left the ward to go to the restroom.

Koga Tomoe was quite puzzled. Perhaps it was a woman's intuition? She always felt that her senior treated Shoko very differently, and that she couldn't be simply described as a good person.

"Xiangzi, how did you and your senior meet?"

"We probably met by chance... What about my sister and Sakuta?"

"Ahem! We met while helping the kids find their mothers, and he's my boyfriend, you know."

"Boy friend?"

“Yes, boyfriend!” Koga Tomoe joked, “like the kind of relationship where he proposes to your parents… no, that kind of relationship should be called fiancée, right?”

"...Hmm...Is that so?"

"Ok?"

When Koga Tomoe looked up, she saw Makinohara Shoko rubbing her eyes and yawning slightly, looking listless. She quickly said, "If you're tired, take a good rest. Lie down and go to sleep. You need to sleep to recover."

"Um……"

Shoko Makinohara lay down and closed her eyes. Tomoe Koga went over and reached out to straighten the cup for her, tucked in the corner of the blanket, and subconsciously looked her over.

Her long, straight black hair and bob made her look exceptionally well-behaved. Perhaps due to frequent hospitalizations, her skin had a slightly pale complexion. The way she breathed softly in her sleep evoked feelings of tenderness and affection.

Koga Tomoe scratched her head, thinking that from a cuteness perspective, this child was much cuter than herself.

I wonder what illness this little girl has. I hope she gets better soon.

Koga Tomoe was about to play on her phone while waiting for Azusagawa Sakuta to return. She had just taken out her phone while sitting on the edge of the bed when she suddenly noticed a gaze on her and turned to look at the bed.