Horikita was currently in her room, reading a book to pass the time or just a method to try and relax.

She was still a bit affected by how Ryuen managed to get the biggest victory in the zodiac exam but she can't dwell on that for long. After all, she could've faced this type of fate way earlier during the closing of the island exam.

' If Ayanokoji-kun hadn't lend his hand......' Horikita thoughts trailed off towards her friend, Ayanokoji Kiyopon- I mean, Kiyotaka.

Her unusual classmate and friend, someone who stays silent and prefers to communicate by his notebook, sign language or even his little gestures.

Suddenly, she began to giggle about how ridiculous of a person he can be.

" Seriously.....I just couldn't understand him...." she said to herself with a small smile.

As she was about to turn to the next page, her phone had suddenly received a message notification.

Horikita checked the message and she was suprised by who texted her....or rather the contents of the text.

he texted.

Horikita rose a brow as she sent her response.

she sent.

Kiyopon quickly replied,

It said.

Horikita sighed and replied.

she sent.

He quickly replied.

Horikita was curious on where he was going with this, but she replied nonetheless.

Sent.

he quickly replied.

' Fortune-teller? I have heard some news about it, quite an uproar. Is he perhaps interested in going?' She thought as she began to type her response.

She sent.

he replied.

" Ah, so he is interested in going...." she muttered.

She replied.

She didn't particularly believe the literal power of fortune-telling that these fortune-tellers " hold ". But she is impressed by their ability to cold read and notice things that the other person couldn't, and with that, all they had to do was to mix a few words here and there to make it sound convincing.

Horikita thought their conversation was over until Kiyopon sent an unexpected text.

it said.

Horikita felt her cheeks warming as she read the message.

" Am I seriously feeling this way....from a mere text message?" She said to herself as if she was going insane.

' Well, it's not like I have anything to do....and spending time with Ayanokoji-kun was never something I disliked.......' she thought as her thumbs had already automatically typed her response.

She sent.

He replied instantly.

Kiyopon was in his room, staring at his phone, waiting for Horikita's response.

She replied.

Kiyopon did a mental cheer to himself as he successfully managed to invite Horikita. He began to type his response.

annnndd sent.

Kiyopon immediately switched to his private message with Sudo.

Kiyopon texted to Sudo.

Sudo texted back.

he sent.

Sudo responded with a conversation ender.

Kiyopon turned off his phone and began charging it, in order for him to use tomotrow.

Kiyopon checked the time and it was currently . He didn't have much to do as of now, but he was curious on what the fortune-teller was like.

So he decided to check it out for himself first.

He grabbed his trusty pen and notebook before leaving his room.

S-So hot... Kiyopon thought to himself as he began to slowly regret coming here at this time.

Even with the air-conditioning inside the mall, Kiyopon was still sweating due to the walk from the dormitories to the mall in the scorching heat from the sun during the intense late-August.

He made his way to the fabled fortune teller and he immediately paused in his tracks as he saw the long line of students for the fortune-telling.

This.....wasn't what Kiyopon had envisioned the fortune-telling to be like.

He didn't expect fortune-telling to be THIS popular!

As Kiyopon took slow steps and observed his surroundings, he noticed something a bit off.

Most students were in pairs.....they looked like couples. Kiyopon wondered if that was the requirement.

He then stumbled upon a sign with a written notice,

It read.

It was then, that Kiyopon managed to piece everything together. From Sudo inviting him and convincing Horikita to join in, to the reason why this fortune-teller has become popular among the students.

I needed a partner.... he thought.

But his usual blank face turned into a small frown of disappointment once he realized something else.

Yep.

Sudo planned to abandon Kiyopon tomorrow in order to pair up with Horikita to get their fortunes read.

Kiyopon sighed.

Kiyopon now felt bad for convincing Horikita to join in, without a doubt, if she knew the entire context......she would've left for sure.

Kiyopon released another silent sigh and made his way back to the elevator.

Well, nothing to be done about that....he thought to himself. Maybe Horikita wouldn't entirely reject the idea of pairing up with Sudo? Maybe it was false hope from Kiyopon's end but he'd like for them to get along better.

Still, he would've liked to join in.....

But he had no partner and he couldn't exactly bother one of his other friends.

Mori was probably too busy hanging out with her group.

Karuizawa was probably doing the same.

Ichinose.....well he didn't want to disturb her.

Shiina? She's probably too busy reading....

Amikura would've been nice.... but.....she's part of Ichinose's friend circle and will most likely be not available.

Sakura, perhaps? But he didn't want to bother her too much since despite her confidence boost after changing her appearance.......Kiyopon can tell that she's still too shy.....

He couldn't ask Ike and Yamauchi since well......it'll be pretty awkward to bring a guy here. Especially when you're not in THAT type of relationship.

That also immediately ruled out Hirata.

Kiyopon was nearing the elevator until he heard a familiar voice.

" Huh? So you're saying I can't have my fortune read alone?" An angry voice said.

Kiyopon's head snapped towards the originator of that voice and his eyes landed on Ibuki Mio of Class C.

She looked visibly disappointed, she too hadn't expected this to be " couples only". The world was unfair.

Kiyopon silently stared at her until Ibuki noticed his familiar....awkward stare....

" Could you stop staring at me like that? You're such a weirdo." Ibuki said in an annoyed tone as she went towards Kiyopon with her arms crossed.

Kiyopon began to write....

It said.

Ibuki sighs and averts her gaze, " I didn't expect to see you here..."

Kiyopon nodded and began to write in his notebook....

It said.

Ibuki nodded as she spoke, " I didn't know that I needed a partner to get my fortune read. Tch. It's annoying." She said.

Kiyopon nods.

" What about you? Did you get your fortune read?" She asked.

Ibuki wondered why it felt easy talking to Kiyopon like this. Her guard's down and despite noticing that, she refuses to let it up.

To her, Kiyopon was one of the most confusing human beings to exist.....

Kiyopon shook his head ' no' and wrote his response.

it said.

Ibuki laughed, " Man, you and I have no luck, do we?" She said in an amused tone.

Kiyopon stares at her silently as he began to think about something.....

' Why is he staring at me like that again...' Ibuki thought as she began to shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

" Hey, could you seriously stop doing tha-" But before Ibuki could tell him off, he had suddenly written something in his notebook.

It said.

Ibuki's face tinged with red due to embarassment as she began to splutter her words.

" W-What?!" She said.

Kiyopon tilted his head in confusion as he wrote in his notebook.

It said.

Ibuki glares at him, " Could you at least write it in a way where I wouldn't mistake it for something else entirely!" She roared.

Kiyopon was taken aback by her sudden tone of voice, but he was mostly confused. He didn't think he wrote anything wrong, right?

He just asked her if she'd like to be his partner in fortune-telling......

But apparently, they both seemed to have experienced a misunderstanding...

Ibuki regained her composure before looking at him with narrowed eyes ,

" What about Horikita? Aren't you two close? You could ask her." She said.

Kiyopon began to write...

He had written.

Ibuki made an expression full of disgust as she read what he had written.

" Don't. Don't ever ask me that again. I'm only working together with him because I owe him. That's all. I hate his guts." She spoke bluntly.

Kiyopon was suprised by her honest answer but nodded in understanding.

After thinking for a bit, Ibuki sighed.

" Okay, I have no problem with coming with you to have our fortunes read. When are you planning it?" Ibuki asked.

Kiyopon nodded approvingly before writing down his answer.

It said.

Ibuki nodded in agreement. " Okay, see you then....I guess..."

Looks like Kiyopon had managed to snatch a partner during his time of need.

Truly an interesting creature....

Sudo and Kiyopon waited outside of the line for the fortune-teller.

Sudo was looking around, nervously while Kiyopon stared at nothing in particular.

" Hey, is Horikita really coming?" Sudo asked anxiously.

Kiyopon turns toward him and nods reassuringly to which Sudo nodded in understanding and tried to calm himself down.

" Ayanokoji-kun, sorry for being late." Horikita's voice called him.

Both boys turned around to see Horikita in her casual clothing, walking towards them.

Sudo's simp heart went to a new high since this is the first time he saw Horikita in casual clothing.

Kiyopon waved in greeting.

Horikita finally arrived and looked at Sudo with a confused look before looking back towards Kiyopon again.

" What is Sudo-kun doing here?" She asked.

Kiyopon wrote in his notebook.

Kiyopon lied..

Horikita nodded slowly, " I see..."

' I thought it was going to be just us.....' Horikita thought to herself.

" Since everyone's here, why don't we line up now?" Sudo initiated.

Kiyopon nodded and no complaints from Horikita.

As the three went to line up for the fortune-telling. Sudo had initiated phase two of his plan to get himself and Horikita alone.

" Ah....wait....look at that!" Sudo pointed at the written notice.

Horikita read it with narrowed eyes.

" Guidance....for couples only..." she read.

" Ah....what a shame....I guess the three of us couldn't go in together..." Sudo did his best to act. And it was horrible.

Horikita glares at Sudo, " Were you planning to abandon Ayanokoji-kun?" She said in a pissed off tone.

" W-Well-" Before Sudo could respond, Horikita interrupted.

" You were. I can't believe you." She sighed and also looked towards Kiyopon. " Ayanokoji-kun, did you know about this?"

Kiyopon shook his head 'no' to try and play dumb but Horikita stared at him with a serious look.

" I'm serious." She spoke.

Kiyopon stared back at her before glancing at Sudo who wore a nervous look.

Already knowing the obvious answer, Horikita had enough.

" I'm leaving." She said.

" W-What? Wait, Horikita! Don't you want to get your fortune read!" Sudo yelled.

Horikita looked at Sudo with a cold look, " No. You were going to abandon Ayanokoji-kun just like that. I'm not stupid." She spat out.

" B-But Ayanokoji was in on it too! C'mon tell 'er, Ayanokoji!" Sudo pleaded to Kiyopon.

Sudo had never actually told him about this but Kiyopon already found out about his plan yesterday when checked out the fortune teller.

Still, Kiyopon went along with it and nodded to Horikita, confirming that he was ' in' on it.

" So Ayanokoji-kun was in on it, hm?" Horikita wanted to confirm.

Sudo took this as a chance and nodded furiously, " Yes! He was!"

" And you were planning to use him as an excuse for us to be alone, right? You asked him to play the part for being abandoned. How does that exactly make anything better?" She shut him down coldly.

Sudo's eyes widened as he had realized that there was no escape out of this. Horikita was going to leave and he couldn't do anything about it.

Well, except one person....