Perceptions and Perspectives

The twilight trips we took for the home visitations—the most prominent being to Fujiwara Shinosuke's estate—still needed some getting used to, especially because it's the time for Lady Yuugure to appear. The esteemed lady was the same Senna, but at the same time, different.

She's still wearing a furisode although this time, her hair was done in a bun with a golden kanzashi adorning it. Perhaps she's fine with showing her neck this time as the marks had fully healed. Added with her natural beauty, it seemed that twilight was a time made specifically for her… any other time would ruin such ethereal piece of art.

After a bit of research, I found out she became a local celebrity hence her absence at the shop during times when we're open for business. It came off a bit surprising for Kiyoko to actually hide one of the shop's attractions though from a familial standpoint, she's in the right. I also might not want my sibling to be some circus attraction.

“You must be used to it by now,” she said as we're crossing a street, the incessant clicking of the shutters all around us.

“To be completely honest, it's been great. People now recognized me and it's easier to initiate conversation. Too bad I still haven't bumped into my soulmate despite your help.”

Her walking stick stopped feeling the next step. She stopped. In the middle of the road. “That must be fate telling you to put an effort…”

“What more do the gods want?” I followed as she began walking again. There's a long line of vehicles now that some began fixing up traffic behind us. “I've been taking notes from you guys, embarrassing as it is to admit, and it's been effective. It's just…”

“…Idiot.”

“Huh? Did you just say something? Hey, Se—Lady Yuugure!”

***

‘Consume the beauty of another in order to gain love,’ huh.

People could only see what's immediately in front of them that's why visually appealing things were more picked up. The metrics for such standards differed from each person, yet a general consensus would be formed one way or another which, like personal tastes, further divided us into groups. For example, there's a minority who found Yuugure to be an attention seeker and me a clout chaser. Fortunately, it only went as far as the message boards and nobody outright harassed us.

“I'd like to see them try though,” I raised my fist and blocked the light at the ceiling of my apartment. I'm going over notes I've taken but for some reason, it transformed into happily thinking of beating someone.

Ah, I don't know anymore! Maybe I'll try asking her tomorrow.

“Oh, what is it?”

Kiyoko was fitting some ceramic cups and saucers into boxes for shipping. I never knew the antiques were actually bought.

“I'll help,” I said but my hand was swatted off.

“You treat these babies like common household utensils. I can answer your question as long as you behave.”

What? I don't… How the hell am I the one who treated those antiques as common household utensils?!

I took a deep breath. “About your matchmaking, do you guys do astrology stuff?”

“Finally showing interest at the inner workings of your fate, hm?”

“Nope. Just wondering how on earth am I not paired yet. Maybe my stars and whatnot were faulty or something.”

She stifled a chuckle. “Pfft—please don't crack jokes right now, dear. You'll make me mess up the packaging.”

“…”

“I know you're being serious. I just found it funny you blame the tools for bad craftsmanship.”

She took a pad of bubble wrap and popped one before putting a saucer in. She then continued to place a layer of the wrap in an ‘s’ fashion. After which, she did a bunch of other stuff, most of which involved a lot of foam. The box ended up being quite large with all the cushioning included. I guess these fellows would be going overseas.

I forgot I was supposed to make her expound since the activity was fun to watch. The process was interesting. It might be sad to see them go but she's preparing them for the long and hard trip so they'd all be fine.

Noticing my silence, she handed me a pad of bubble wrap. I thought she had a change of heart and would let me try but—

“Go help yourself with that for a bit.”

“Nah, I think I get what you mean, more or less,” I returned the item (but not before pinching one, of course).

“That's what I like about you. You become perceptive when you need to.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Too bad it only happens when you're with me. It would be beneficial for you to train that facet, considering your honest nature.”

“That or maybe I just so happen to say the right words at the right time so there’s nothing to train.”

Her hands stopped moving. When I looked at her, those copper eyes were staring straight at me. Then, her cheeks puffed up and her laughter soon exploded around the four corners of the shop. Some customers at the café checked at what's happening downstairs for a bit before the light chatter resumed.

On the other hand, I was so flush with embarrassment at her sudden outburst. She could've laughed all she wanted if there's nobody else around.

“Ah, to be young and naive. Although,” she said. “On a more serious note, ours is not astrology. The things we do in order to find your matches are all based on perceivable, concrete variables, unlike the inconsistencies of divination.

“Think of it as magic. Walking through water is magic, but so is pulling a rabbit out a hat. It's a matter of perspective. For you, it'd seem fantastical, unreal, but for us, it's merely a bunch of numbers and words to calculate and analyze. You too can try studying it, though the aptitude needed to make whit of anything is rare.”

Hold on. Was she implying their techniques were some sort of science? I'm pretty sure only someone from the Hoshii bloodline could understand how their magic worked but to think anyone, even someone like me could affect the future…

If that's the case, why did Senna look so crestfallen? And why was Madam Asako too wary of them?

I tried confirming something. “But in the end, you can't interfere with fate, right?”

“Let's just agree that nobody knows the future—or let's say the ‘unknown inevitable’ to be able to. Do my actions affect anything? In the grand scheme of things, not one bit.”

“How about in the not-so-grand scheme of things?”

“Same. You don't need to be me to notice something jarringly off if that happens. Oh,” She threw me a mischievous look. “If you become perceptive enough, that is.”