Listening to the sound of the waves. The dark sea stretches out beyond. The sky is filled with stars, their fragments trembling on the water's surface. Spring has finally arrived, but the night is still uncomfortably chilly. "This is the last one." After saying those words for what felt like the nth time, the flare of a match momentarily deepens the darkness of the seaside. Inhaling the scent of tobacco brings a torrent of memories tied to that smell flooding back into my mind. We talked about so many things. We went to so many places. Opening doors that might lead to other worlds. Today marks the end of my adventures with her. The end. The end. The end. I look at her profile. She is gazing up at the night sky. I shake my head, as the memory of what happened earlier at the hotel threatens to surface. The two of us sit side by side on the seawall, talking about idlehings. Even a time like this will eventually come to an end. "Hey, do you know any constellations?" The hand holding the cigarette points toward the sky. I strain my eyes against the light scattered across the heavens, but I can't see the lines connecting the stars. "I don't." I'd recognize Orion, at least. But that's a winter constellation. "At a time like this, it would be romantic if I could just casually rattle off a fact or two about the constellations." "I'm sorry." I'll learn them next time. And then silence descends. The sound of waves brushing against the seawall grows louder. I watch a small, glowing red spark roll away as a cigarette butt is crushed under a shoe. "I wonder what kind of thoughts were going through *his* mind as he looked up at the night sky," she said, her voice sounding as if it came from far away. "Looking at stars he didn't recognize." ◆ This is a story I heard from Kyosuke-san. "How does that even happen? There's only the Sun in the seventh house." "Look closely. Mars is in the first house, isn't it? It's forming an opposition, making it an adverse aspect. In this case, it indicates that a relationship with another man or woman, separate from you, is likely to develop for your spouse." "Is this a 180-degree angle? It's a bit off, isn't it?" "How many times do I have to explain this to you? The orb for a major aspect is wide! This is five degrees, so it's well within range." The auntie bangs on her desk. I glare at the paper on the desk. Drawn on it is a shape like a cake sliced into twelve pieces. It's what they call a horoscope. Used in Western astrology, it represents the alignment of the stars at the exact moment a person was born. They say that star alignment rules a person's life. "Ah, forget it. My brain is about to boil." I throw down my pencil and bury my head in my hands. Even if someone tells me that everything in my life is right there on the paper in front of me, the hurdle of figuring out how to read it is simply too high. With tarot reading, the layout of the drawn cards lets you freely divine specific aspects of a person's life at any given moment, but Western astrology is basically just the process of unraveling a person's predetermined life. Come to think of it, that's terrifying. It's a truly terrifying thing. The more I learn, the more I realize that. "Let's take a break. I'll brew some tea for you." The auntie shakes her plump body and stands up. I let out a sigh as I watch her retreating back. I met this fortuneteller named Anda Asaoka this past summer. I had been chasing a bizarre, eerie phenomenon plaguing the city, and along the way, I encountered four other people. All of them, just like me, were pursuing the source of that strange phenomenon. I had thought I was the only one in this city who had noticed, and that was why I had to do something about it. However, even though we might pass each other in broad daylight in this city without realizing it, there were people who kept eyes capable of seeing through the veil of the ordinary, hidden beneath the mask of daily life. People other than me. For some reason, that made me happy. *'Next time we meet, I'll read your fortune for free.'* When we accidentally crossed paths in the city, she remembered the promise we made that night. "Oh, my," I was taken aback when a woman in her fifties suddenly spoke to me, but I remembered her immediately. However, that only meant I recognized her face. After all, we didn't even know each other's names. We shared wry smiles and properly introduced ourselves. She called herself *Anda Asaoka*. It was a name I had heard before. She ran the horoscope corner in the local information magazine. That very horoscope had been what sparked my realization of the bizarre phenomenon closing in on the city. Anda Asaoka said she had time right now and practically dragged me off to her shop. *"Anda's Kitchen"* That was the name of the place, a chic shop occupying a first-floor tenant space in a building near the station. It looked just like a coffee shop, but it featured a rare style where you actually ordered light meals and discussed your fortunetelling concerns while eating and relaxing. I couldn't tell if she was good at cooking, good at fortunetelling, or both, but it seemed to be a pretty popular place nonetheless. While Anda did use tarot cards and other methods, Western astrology was her main focus. Even her tarot readings, however, far outstripped the scraps of knowledge I had dabbled in. As expected, she was a true professional making a living in this field. On the day we reunited, rather than reading my fortune, she gave me all sorts of advice because I had expressed an interest in fortunetelling. It was clearly different from how she would treat an ordinary customer. The gentle gaze she fixed on me seemed filled with the familiarity of a fellow companion sharing a secret. "Come by and play again sometime," she said as I left. The flavor of the tea lingered sweetly in my mouth, and I thought to myself that I wouldn't mind coming back. Then, after visiting her shop a second and third time, before I knew it, I had become her pupil. I had no intention whatsoever of becoming a successor. I was simply interested in a system of divination unknown to me called Western astrology. Unlike the mystical traditions using playing cards or tarot, the unchanging birth chart—the natal map—was presented right before your eyes. The sheer purity of it made me feel an unfathomable depth instead. After killing time after school, I would drop in at *Anda's Kitchen* just past 7:00 PM when it closed, and spend days learning all sorts of things inside the empty shop. "Hey, Anda. What does this actually mean?" One day, I spread out the local information magazine and pressed Anda for answers. It was the horoscope corner she was in charge of. It shared the same name as her shop, *Anda's Kitchen*. Just like the usual ones, it predicted the month's fortune for each of the twelve signs of the zodiac, starting with Aries. In the past, I would simply read my own birth sign or the sign of someone I was interested in. However, as I properly studied Western astrology, I realized that such horoscopes were something entirely different. First of all, in Western astrology, the ruling sign of the first house—the starting point of the horoscope—is the constellation that was on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of a person's birth. This is called the Ascendant, and it serves as the key to understanding a person's true essence. I was supposed to be an Aquarius, but when I looked up my Ascendant, it turned out to be Gemini. Whenever I used to read personality horoscopes sorted by zodiac sign and saw things written under Aquarius like, *"Not bound by common sense or morals. Excellent reasoning and insight, cool and carefree personality,"* I had always thought, *That's so true!* Yet, the Western astrology I was being taught did not use a method that placed the Sun's position at the exact moment of birth into the first house. I learned that there is a method called Sun-sign astrology, which uses the Sun's position as the starting point, and that if you know your birthday but not your birth time, placing the Sun in the first house is an option you learn about—but in Anda's Western astrology, the Sun sign was clearly not emphasized. Furthermore, a horoscope is, so to speak, a complete map of a person's life; it is not something meant to predict narrow ranges of time like this month's or this week's fortune. As I gradually began to understand such things, I noticed the contradiction in that horoscope corner all over again. "Hey. Why do you write such sloppy, made-up stuff?" When I shoved the magazine at her, Anda remained silent for a moment before smiling and saying: "If a parishioner consults a Buddhist priest, saying, *'Last night, my dead father appeared at my bedside and said this,'* the priest will say, *'He is saying that out of worry, to protect you.'* But according to the teachings of the Buddha, after humans die, they don't become spirits and wander this world. Still, if you preach that logic and tell them, *'What you saw was an illusion, an optical delusion,'* do you think that person would be convinced? They came to consult you believing you're an expert in such matters. Do you know what it's called when you play along with the other person and give them the kind of answer they want in a situation like that?" "I don't. What?" "An expedient means." What on earth is that? So it's the old "the end justifies the means" lie, huh?
"So basically, you're just making up nonsense to make money." "Not nonsense, an *ex-pedient means*." Anda raised a finger and slowly corrected me. "Even so, I research and do this properly in my own way. The methods are a trade secret, so I won't tell you." I wasn't convinced, but even so, she seemed to consistently maintain a stoic approach to fortunetelling inside the shop. Anda would often use her own horoscope as an example to explain things to me. "My Ascendant is in Aries, but what is my ruler?" "Mars." "Correct. And that Mars is in the eighth house. Mars, a malefic star, is in the house governing sex and death, and it's afflicted. Furthermore, this Mars forms a square with Saturn, another malefic, creating an adverse aspect. This is an indication of a short life. Moreover, Pluto, the ruler of the eighth house, is in opposition to the malefic Uranus, and in semi-square to Neptune. Do you know what this means?" That's harsh. When I frowned, Anda said, "Indeed," and continued. "It won't be a natural death of old age. Without a doubt. The only saving grace is that the eighth house isn't in a cardinal sign, but a fixed sign." "Um, in that case, does it mean dying in a hospital, or something like that?" "At the very least, I don't think it will be instant death. It would still be better if someone is by my side to watch over me." Watching Anda talk so nonchalantly about her own death gave me a strange feeling. It wasn't as though she didn't believe in her own Western astrology. Perhaps making a living by reading people's destinies from the alignment of the stars simply leads one to such a detached state of mind. Seeing her profile as she read into and explained even the tragic event of her husband's death from years ago through her own horoscope made me feel strangely heavy at heart. I passed Kyoko Masaki in the school hallway. This arrogant isolationist still rubbed me the wrong way, but because we had unexpectedly teamed up to chase the mystery during that creepy incident where hair from someone unknown was mixed into the wind, we were currently in a state of a truce. "Yo," I said, trying to walk past, but she gently stepped closer and brought her mouth near my ear, as if confiding a secret. "I hear you've been getting into fortunetelling lately?" Hearing that made me flinch. Why on earth does she know about that? "What kind of teacher is it? Won't you introduce me sometime?" "No." After saying that, I tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing good came to mind. Feeling strangely embarrassed, the words that popped out of my mouth on impulse were, "What's your sign?" "Oh, so it's that kind of fortunetelling." Kyoko Masaki looked as though she had lost interest. No. It's not some low-level fortunetelling like ordinary horoscope columns. I impulsively wanted to make that excuse, but then I realized, *(Why do I care so much about being looked down on by her?)* and thought, *Who cares! Let her think whatever she wants!*—giving in to my own contrarian nature—and as a result, I kept my mouth shut. Then Kyoko Masaki said, "You know, I don't really like horoscopes or astrology," while putting her hands behind her back and playfully kicking out her foot with a pout. "Never mind that. What's your sign?" When I asked again, she gave a small, amused laugh and said: "...The Whale." What on earth is that? When asked what sign they were, answering "Yakuza" used to be a standard kid's joke, but this is just so half-assed... "Oh, that's right. I'm going to have a birthday party soon. I'm inviting you too, so make sure to come." With that, Kyoko Masaki walked away. A birthday party? *Hers?* I hadn't been invited to such a girly event in years. And furthermore, *hers?* Left standing there in the hallway, I scratched my head—even though it didn't itch—and stood rooted to the spot.
That day after school, after stopping by Anda's shop and returning home a little past 9:00 PM, I found a note stuck to the front door. *'To Chi-chan and Ma-chan. Daddy and Mummy have gone out to eat at a restaurant.'* It featured cute caricatures of the two of them with sly-looking expressions. It was a drawing made by my mother. My younger sister, Mahiro, apparently hadn't come home yet. I pulled the newspaper and flyers out of the mailbox, unlocked the front door, and tossed them onto the table. Suddenly, my eyes caught a word on one of the flyers. *"The Whale Theater Company"* It was a flyer advertising a performance by a local theater group. Come to think of it, I see that name from time to time. The moment I thought that, I recalled the strange words Kyoko Masaki had said earlier in the day. *'What's your sign?'* *'...The Whale.'* Ah. So that was it. She makes those kinds of jokes, too. Finding it somehow funny, I let out a laugh. Only my own voice echoed through the empty living room. After laughing for a while, I thought to myself that I really should have laughed along with her back then instead of being awkward.
◆ A few days later, Kyoko Masaki actually brought me an invitation. For her birthday party. November 20th. According to the solar zodiac, that would make her a Scorpio. I recalled the typical personality traits associated with Scorpios in general horoscopes. *"Exclusive and secretive. Jealous, tenacious, proud, possessing excellent insight and psychic sensitivity..."* That really fits. It almost makes you feel like *this is the only possible option*. So solar zodiac signs *do* work well enough after all, don't they? Thinking that, I suddenly wanted to find out her Ascendant sign, too. "I hope you'll come." The venue was her own home. From childhood memories, the kids who invited friends over to their houses for so-called "birthday parties" were only the ones from wealthy families. I had always wanted to see Kyoko Masaki's house, too. To see what kind of environment could raise a kid like her. "Who else is coming?" "Aside from that, two friends from my class. You're welcome to bring a friend of yours, too." Knowing her friends, they were probably just her entourage. Venturing all alone into completely hostile territory like that was definitely unappealing. "I'll think about it." When I replied, Kyoko Masaki looked pleased and said, "Please make sure to come." "Hey, do you happen to know what time you were born?" I didn't know mine. To draw a horoscope in Anda's Western astrology, the exact time of birth was essential information. The Earth spins round and round. The alignment of the stars at the exact moment of birth varies completely depending on the time. I had gone out of my way to ask my mother and look it up. In response to my question, Kyoko Masaki rattled off the date and time of her birth right on the spot. 6:00 AM, huh? I can draw her horoscope with this. I'll look it up. As I was plotting this, I realized there was something odd about the birth year she had just recited. The Western calendar year of her birth was two years older than mine, and I was born early in the year. *Eh?* I thought. That meant she was a grade above us. "I had to take a year off school due to illness when I was in junior high." "Then you'll be turning seventeen next?" Oh. So she was actually a year older than me. I had thought she seemed unusually mature for her age, but she really *was* older. As I stood there surprised, Kyoko Masaki said, "Well then, I'm counting on you," and walked away. I involuntarily answered, "Yeah." ◆ November 20th arrived in the blink of an eye. Feeling somewhat dragged along by circumstances into having no choice, I ultimately decided to go to Kyoko Masaki's birthday party. After much agonizing, I decided to invite a friend just in case. As someone who tended to be an outcast in class, the only person I could really call a friend was a classmate named Shiho Takano. Shiho was a quiet, unassuming girl who, though frightened by my rough attitude and foul language, always worried about me in various ways. Regarding Kyoko Masaki in particular, Shiho had become quite sensitive because of a certain incident at the beginning of summer, and she had quietly played the role of trying to rein me in whenever I attempted to get too deeply involved with that witch-like girl. I tried inviting her while putting on as casual an air as possible, but as expected, Shiho opposed the idea. "It's dangerous." She said it with a completely serious expression. Dangerous...? "Come on. It's just a regular birthday party." I said that to emphasize how casual it was, but it didn't seem to register with Shiho. After looking down for a while, she raised her head sharply and said: "Fine. I'm coming with you." Her expression was set with the resolve of someone facing certain death. That actually started to scare *me*, too. Since the 20th was a Friday, after stopping by neither place nor person on my way home from school, I hurried home to change clothes and head toward Kyoko Masaki's house. I rendezvoused with Shiho at a supermarket we had agreed to meet at. Shiho was on the volleyball team, but apparently she skipped practice today. The old man who coached the volleyball team was notoriously strict, so I couldn't help worrying if she'd be in trouble. Kyoko Masaki's house was located at the extreme northern edge of the city. Shiho's maternal grandmother's house was apparently somewhere around here, so she had a good sense of direction, meaning I didn't even need a map—I just had to follow her. In fact, Shiho even knew where Kyoko Masaki's house was. "Masaki-san's house is a famous mansion." After the Meiji Restoration, the ancestors of the Masaki family, who had been granted the title of Viscount, invested in the raw silk production industry, succeeded, and built a fortune. In Kyoko's great-grandfather's generation, they moved away from the city center and built a Western-style mansion in the suburbs. "My grandma says she even worked as a maid at the mansion when she was young." When Shiho told her grandmother about today's plans, her grandmother had panicked as if it were her own affair, meticulously picking out a birthday gift so Shiho wouldn't commit any rudeness. Shiho laughed, saying she had almost ended up being followed all the way to the mansion to be seen off. Despite boasting such glory, the Masaki family entered an era of decline following World War II. Real estate ventures they had dabbled in failed, and to pay off their debts, they parted with all the companies they owned, sliding steadily into ruin. Furthermore, starting with the death of Kyoko's grandfather, a series of misfortunes befell the family, including early deaths and accidental deaths among their relatives. Local residents began whispering behind their backs about the "curse of the Masaki family." Come to think of it, Kyoko had mentioned before that her mother died when she was born. Were there many other such misfortunes, too? "Masaki-san's father is a ship's doctor and is always away overseas, so it seems like she's almost always all alone in that huge house." Instead of racking his brains to rebuild the tilting fortunes of the Masaki family, her father was obsessed with collecting strange things—almost out of a bizarre hobby—and rumor had it that while working as a ship's doctor, he hunted down such items all around the world. Local rumors whispered that the curses of those suspicious objects were why the Masaki family had ended up like this...
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