Fateful Encounter

My head slowly lifted off the desk. A few seconds later, I breathed a heavy sigh and forced my eyes open. Slowly, they began adjusting to the bright sunlight piercing through the window next to me. Outside, birds were chirping nonstop, but it wasn't nearly as loud as the other students scattered around the classroom.

I pulled my arm over the desk and pushed my elbow down upon the surface, leaning my head on my hand as I peered out onto the campus courtyard beneath. Empty, as it always is whenever class sessions are going on. Anyone found down there at this time is immediately brought to the headmaster for a scolding.

Suddenly, a trio of girls appeared from an underpass to the left, steadily making their way toward the building. I've never seen them before. Then again, I don't really pay attention.

They're wearing our school uniform. Students, huh? And here I was thinking it was about to get interesting with some intruders... is not actually what I was hoping would happen. I was just making a joke. Spare me, O' great gods above.

What are they doing down there? If they get caught, that's the headmaster's office for them. Not like it's any of my business, so I'll keep my mouth shut. A simple strategy, but it has kept me out of trouble so far. I plan on keeping it that way.

My head tilted carefully around the classroom to assess everything that was going on. In one corner, a small group was talking about the latest episode of a new mystery slash slice-of-life anime. Against the back wall, the self-proclaimed 'cool' guys were sitting on top of the desks and gossiping about girls. The group at the front of the classroom was by far the largest. Among them are some of the most popular students in the entire school, from the most handsome guy to the prettiest girl. I've spoken to them maybe once, but that was all I needed to figure out that I don't belong with them at all. They're too... noisy.

"Alright, kids, sit down," the homeroom teacher said as he entered the door.

The chatter began to die down as everyone rushed back to their assigned seats. Finally, complete silence.

"Everyone," he spoke again. "We've got some new students that transferred here from overseas just today. Eyes forward and listen. I don't want anyone showing any disrespect, got it?"

The entire classroom agreed in unison, albeit not with much enthusiasm. Great, new students to add to the already chaotic classroom. Can't wait to see how this will turn out.

One by one, the transfer students walked in and lined up at the front. My eyes immediately widened, as I'm sure it was for pretty much everyone here.

Three of them, girls, all with their own unique characteristics. As far as I've seen, there isn't a single other person in the entire school who shares any commonality with them. If I could venture a guess, I'd say there isn't anyone in the entire city of Tokyo who comes close.

"Hello," the leftmost girl bowed her head with the softest smile. "I'm Chloe. It's truly a pleasure."

The way my mind melted as soon as she said those few words is probably not healthy. Chloe's short hair fell to her shoulders and had the unnatural color of bright salmon. However, there seems to be no traces that it's hair dye. Her bangs split into three sections across her forehead, the middle strand being the largest cluster, and the locks on both sides of her head were much longer than the rest. Her round, silvery-blue eyes seemingly glowed with a jeweled pattern like water refractions.

"Hi, hi!" the middle girl greeted us with a peace sign. "I'm Lana. Nice to meet you!"

Even now, almost all the boys in the classroom have their jaws down to their desks, and I can see why. Lana's wavy hair of cyan was unevenly tied in a ponytail towards the right side of her head. The side locks formed a perfect frame around her face, which highlights the bangs that were unevenly spread. Her huge yellow eyes had the same jeweled pattern as Chloe's. The way she grinned gave her somewhat of a carefree look, enhancing that already bubbly personality.

The girl on the right didn't bother giving an introduction. Instead, she simply bowed. Those sharp emerald eyes were squinting slightly with a subtle smirk, and already, it was as if I had fallen under a spell. Her long silvery gray hair fell a long way with a small braid at the back. A single strand reached passed her right cheek, and as she bowed, the locks on the sides drooped over her shoulders.

"Oh! This here is Alice," Lana suddenly stepped in to say. "She's still learning Japanese, but I hope you'll treat her as you would anyone else!"

"I have a question," one of the guys in the back said. "Are you three friends?"

"Friends? Nah! We're sisters!"

"S-sisters?!" pretty much the entire class exclaimed.

"Yup! Sisters!"

I would've never expected that considering the massive difference between each of them.

"Alright, go have a seat in those empty chairs back there," the teacher said. "We're about to begin."

"Yes, sir!" Lana cheered as she rushed towards the back.

"Thank you, teacher," Chloe bowed her head and said.

Alice walked down the aisle next to me, and for a single moment, I thought I saw her tilt her eyes to look at me. It's way more likely that it was just my imagination.

"Class is now in session," the teacher announced.

The next hour was filled with some of the most boring things a teacher could teach us. In fact, it's on par with sitting down and listening to one of the headmaster's hour-long speeches about how and why we should be good students.

The next two hours weren't that great either. We cycled through the main courses like clockwork, but at least there was a variable this time. In math class, I sat behind one of those transfer students from before. Chloe, I think her name was. She sometimes tilted her head back to greet me with a smile, but she did that for everyone around her. No shortage of watchful eyes gazed upon her beauty during the entire period. It wasn't any better for me since I sat right behind her.

Finally, the bell rang for lunchtime. After the teacher left, almost everybody in the room crowded around Chloe, asking her so many questions. Despite her best efforts, she had a hard time answering even one of them. I stood up and left. Like always, It's way too noisy in here.

As I walked through the hallway, many students were passing by with their friends. As for me, I was alone, and honestly, I wouldn't prefer it any other way. I can't handle having to talk to someone for the duration of our walk. Losing interest easily is one of my greatest weaknesses.

A short walk later, and I made it to the library, where even the hallway outside was empty. The inside was no different. Not many students come to the library, making it the perfect place for some peace and quiet.

I sat down on a table in between two large bookshelves so that if someone does come in, I'll be hidden. My hands reached into my schoolbag and pulled out three onigiris. There's a nice little shop on the way to school that sells these for pretty cheap. For the last couple of years, I've stopped by that shop without fail at least once every two days.

I lifted my arm with an onigiri in my hands, ready to feast. Right as I was about to take the first bite, the library doors suddenly slammed open.

"Was it really necessary to open it that hard?" I whispered under my breath.

Again, I opened my mouth for a bite until a familiar voice stopped me.

"Empty?" asked a girl.

"Looks like it," said another. "Where's Alice?"

"On her way. Should be just a couple of minutes."

I carefully made my way to the bookshelf and peeked through a small gap between some books. My heart began racing with each passing second. It's Chloe and Lana, two of the three sisters from earlier! They sat down on a nearby table with Lana pulling her legs up to rest them on the table.

They sat in silence for a minute while on their phones, and it was only then that I realized I had been watching them like some kind of stalker this whole time. My morals overcame my curiosity as to why they were here.

I stood up and readied myself to leave, but as soon as I did, a faint light caught my attention. Particles of light formed a bright apparition next to the girls and out popped Alice, the third of the sisters.

My hand instinctively grabbed onto my mouth to cover what very audible gasp would've come out. What was that? Magic? Does magic exist outside of anime? Surely not... maybe it's my eyes. I have been reading too many fantasy mangas lately. Yeah, that must be it. At least, that's what I would've believed had Alice not raised a finger, which caused the others' phones to float into the air.

"Hey!" Lana shouted.

"What did I say about getting too comfortable with human technology?" Alice said in a scolding manner.

"Who's getting comfortable?! I was just looking at some funny cat videos on the internet."

"I-I was just... browsing... on... social media," Chloe said with each word getting quieter than the last.

"I expected that from Lana, but you, Chloe?" Alice sighed. "You didn't make an account, did you?"

"I... may have."

"Chloe..."

What in the world is happening? Why are they acting as if a smartphone or the internet weren't invented decades ago? What... did she mean by 'human' technology? These girls... they can't be demons, can they? Most importantly, how am I supposed to get out of here?!

"Look, it's no big deal. We're just living how humans would. Now, give me my phone back!" Lana yelled as she reached up to grab her phone. Immediately after, her face lit up as she fixed her attention on another video.

"I... I would like my phone back as well... please," Chloe slightly raised a hand and said sheepishly.

"Seriously... What am I supposed to do with you girls?" Alice muttered as she sat down next to them. "So, how has day one been going?"

"I don't think there was a single second where I didn't have somebody's eyes on me," Lana said boastfully. "Especially during the break times. I had like twenty boys ask to exchange Line IDs."

"I had... t-twenty-seven," Chloe stuttered.

"What?! How did you get more than me?!"

"And you didn't accept any of them, right?" Alice asked.

"Nah," Lana shrugged. "None of them caught my attention. I even remember some of them when I delivered their threads."

"Come to think of it, there was that one kid... what was his name?" Chloe pondered. "Ah, Inoue Goro! Have you guys met him yet?"

"He was one of the boys who tried to exchange line IDs with me," Lana said.

"Same here," Alice added. "What about him?"

"His fate is to die in a car accident seven years from now," Chloe said. "I remember when Lana was super depressed, so she measured a whole generation's worth of threads that reeked of death. That kid happened to be one of them."

"C-can we please just drop that?!" Lana shouted.

Fate? Threads? Death? Just who are these girls, and why do they talk as if they aren't humans? Could they really be demons? If so, I'm dead if they find out I'm here, but that won't happen. I just need to relax and wait until lunchtime ends. If I'm lucky, they won't even hang out here for much longer.

Suddenly, as if my own thread of fate willed it, my foot smacked against the leg of the table behind me when I took a step back. The ensuing thud, as quiet as it was, echoed in the silent chambers of the massive library. My heart seemingly stopped, and I forgot how to breathe. At that exact moment, only two words were present in my head. 'I'm screwed.'

A hand burst through the bookshelf in front of me, grabbing me by the collar and pulling me through the mountain of books. My back slammed onto the ground, sending a painful vibration across my body. Before I could even process what just happened, Alice shoved her foot onto my chest.

There I lay with the current most popular girls in the entire school, the three sisters who just transferred today, standing before me with eerie glares.

"My, my. What do we have here?" Alice smirked with a truly sadistic face.

"An eavesdropper?" Lana asked, her displeasure visibly oozing from her expression alone. "How did we not sense him?"

With Alice's foot still pinning me down, Chloe knelt over next to me. Her soft hands rested on my cheek as her eyes glowed a sharp hue of blue. It felt as though my soul left my body the moment our eyes connected.

"Huh? W-wait..." Chloe mumbled.

Her eyes glowed even brighter than before. Once more, she backed away with wide eyes.

"That's odd," she said. "He... doesn't seem to have a thread attached to him."

"What?" Alice questioned.

"Is that even possible?" Lana asked.

"Well... there have been moments where I fell asleep while spinning, but I still completed the thread, albeit very lazily," Chloe admitted as if she worried about how her sisters would react. "This one... doesn't have a thread at all. Lana?"

"Unlikely. I make sure to measure every thread you spin. Even now, those threads are being distributed, and I know of every single one of them. This... this is beyond me."

"Certainly explains why we weren't able to sense him at all," Alice said. "Now... You. What's your name?"

"Y-Yoshino Asahi, ma'am," I answered as diligently as possible.

"Yoshino-san. What were you doing back there?"

"It's where I normally eat lunch."

"Eh? Don't you have any friends to eat with?" Lana asked.

"Well... N-no, I don't."

"Eh? Not one?"

"I'd be surprised if there is somebody out there who knows my name."

The girls looked at each other for a moment before turning back to me.

"By any chance, do you... have a family?" Chloe asked.

It took me a couple of seconds, but I answered, "No. If I do have a family somewhere out there, I'll probably never know."

Their expressions dropped as if feeling pity. Alice removed her foot from my chest and turned her attention to Lana, who was frowning at the ground. It seems that even demons can feel shame.

"No friends, no family, no one in his life to call him by his name," Lana muttered. "He really doesn't have a thread."

"What do we do?" Chloe tilted her head up to ask.

Their brows furrowed as they fell deep into their own thoughts. I don't understand any of this. Giving me a thread? What's that supposed to mean? I want to speak up, but my tongue keeps turning back. They might just kill me on the spot. It's not like I lived a very eventful life, so it doesn't sound overly terrible.

I think I'm about to regret this, but my curiosity is getting the better of me. No matter how afraid I am, there are too many questions.

"W-who are you guys?" I asked with a slight stutter, turning their attention toward me. "Are you really... demons?"

"Demons?" Alice scoffed. "I forgot that humans like to believe in that kind of stuff. I can see why you'd come to that conclusion, but no. We are not demons."

"Then who?"

Chloe and Lana looked to Alice to speak. She gave them both a momentary glance before shrugging.

"We are the Moirai," Alice said. "Or I guess, to put it in a way for you to better understand... we are the Goddesses of Fate."

"W-wait... we're just going to tell him? Chloe asked.

"I mean, he already saw us using magic," Lana interjected. "It's not like we can explain it any other way."

The Goddesses of Fate... The Moirai... as in the Greek goddesses? They exist? As much as I wanted to call it a bluff, the weird magic that Alice displayed before made it believable.

"I... could've sworn your names were different," I said without thinking.

"Oh, they are, but we can't just go prancing around in the human world with our actual names," Lana immediately shot down.

"How come you're here in the human world?"

"The heavens tend to get boring after a while," Alice said while scratching her nails. "Sometimes, we take an impromptu vacation to the human world just to relax. You happened to catch us at just the right moment."

"Is it... really the right moment?"

"That depends."

Alice effortlessly picked me up and pushed me onto a bookshelf. She slid a single finger under my chin with a seemingly murderous smile on her face.

"If you're a follower of fate, then it most certainly is the right moment," she whispered into my ear. "If you fear us... probably not so much."

"P-please don't kill me," I begged. "I won't tell anyone."

"Damn right, you won't," Lana said with a long strand of thread weaving around her fingers.

She waved her hands in front of her, forcing the strand to untangle. When she pointed at me, the thread quickly wrapped itself around my entire body, and panic began to overtake me.

"W-wait!" I shouted. "Please! I won't say a word!"

Suddenly, the threads dispersed, and my body was free once more. I rapidly brushed my whole body to find that I still had every part of it.

"Gosh," Alice huffed. "You really think we'd kill you just like that? You're the most interesting thing that's happened so far. Although, your little panic attack was... overly dramatic."

"I thought it was cute," Chloe giggled.

"What did you do to me?" I grunted, my heart still beating faster than ever.

"Not much," Lana said. "I just gave you a thread of fate. Now that you actually have one, you should be able to live a normal life."

"However..." Alice walked up until she wasn't even a full step away from me.

One arm rested on my shoulder while the other was now holding a pair of silvery scissors right in front of me. A single piece of thread became visible between the two blades.

"If you so much as mutter a single word about our true identities to anyone else... snip, snip," she whispered.

"I... understand," I gulped nervously.

"Good."

The girls sat back down on the table as if nothing had happened just now. Lana was back to watching her cat videos, Chloe was browsing through social media, and Alice was resting her eyes.

Really? Just like that? I still can't believe any of this.

"I have a question," I said. "You're goddesses, aren't you? Why not just erase my memories or something?"

"We don't have the power to do that," Lana replied, her eyes still fixed on her phone. "Anything that happened to you before you received our thread is beyond our domain."

"So am I expected to simply forget any of this ever happened?"

"That's the best thing you can do," Chloe insisted. "I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help, but we did the most we could."

"Now, be a good little boy and run along," Alice said. "No need to come close to dying again, hm?"

She's right. There's no reason for me to continue involving myself with them if it means that I could die at any given moment. One near-death experience is enough for the rest of my life. From now on, I'll just avoid them and keep my mouth shut. As Chloe said, that's the best thing I can do.

"Then... Farewell," I said for what I thought would be the last time.

However, what I truly wasn't prepared for was how this encounter with the three Goddesses of Fate would completely turn my life upside down.