After a moment's hesitation, Asahina took the dice from him.
It was small, seemingly unremarkable die.
"Go on, give it a toss."
Clack—
The dice tumbled across the ground, wobbling a few times before settling on four dots.
"It seems senpai luck has quadrupled," Kaoru picked up the dice and rolled them again himself.
"Alright, my luck is sixfold now."
Asahina Nazuna looked puzzled as he handed the dice back to her, saying.
"Senpai, try again. Let's see whose luck is better."
"What's the point of this?"
"The essence of fate is luck, isn't it? Like pies falling from the sky, meeting someone you like, or having lost items returned to you. If you're really unlucky, such things wouldn't happen."
"The shrine says it's inevitable coincidence—something bound to happen within a certain timeframe."
"What is coincidence?"
"..."
Asahina Nazuna hesitated, glancing between him and the dice in her hand before finally making up her mind.
"This time it's three, lower than before."
"Another six for me. Your luck is pretty good."
"Senior's luck is great too—it's five now."
"No, no, yours is better. Still six."
"One."
"..."
At first, she had merely been humoring Kaoru, but as it went on, Asahina Nazuna's expression grew increasingly serious—especially when she saw him roll sixes every single time.
Her composure began to waver.
After about twenty rounds, Kaoru finally stopped, and the girl before him stared at him with disbelief.
"Senpai suspects I'm cheating, don't you?"
"I've never seen someone roll sixes continuously like this."
"It's destiny. Fate decreed that today, here, at this exact moment, I would roll sixes while competing with you in dice."
Asahina Nazuna instinctively disbelieved his explanation, but seeing was believing.
As someone who had always held faith in the mystical, she couldn't help but waver.
Yet, she didn't know this world had effects akin to cheating.
"Lying to your senior comes with consequences, you know?"
"In your eyes, your meeting with Nagumo-senpai must have been the same, right?" Kaoru smiled.
"Since elementary school, your numbers always matched. That's why you became classmates, friends, attended the same middle school, came to ANHS together, and just happened to end up in the same class."
"Because our grades were similar, and our deviation scores fit ANHS requirements." Asahina Nazuna touched her omamori.
Kaoru's gaze darkened.
Had he not overheard some crucial information today, he might have actually believed that.
No—even without knowing the secret behind their enrollment, it was obvious ANHS didn't admit students based on academic performance alone.
"I see. The version I heard was that Nagumo-senpai was the most popular guy in elementary and middle school. Life got too boring for him, so he applied to ANHS. And you, Senpai, were afraid of losing him, so you chased after him all the way here."
Here, Kaoru showed a reflective expression.
"Seems I trusted the wrong rumors. My apologies."
Though he apologized promptly, Asahina Nazuna's expression turned uneasy, as if he had touched a sensitive nerve.
"You didn't mishear. From the first time I met Nagumo, he was always the center of attention—whether at school or anywhere else, he was the most popular boy." Asahina Nazuna unconsciously tightened her grip on the omamori.
"Even now, I still think Nagumo is a wonderful guy."
"Sorry, I—"
"Therefore, I want to add that the reason I've never worried about him is precisely because Nagumo is such an incredible guy." Asahina Nazuna took a deep breath.
"The reason I came to ANHS is because I was intensely curious about this place. I wanted to go somewhere completely unfamiliar."
"Was it senpai's decision alone?" Kaoru observed her reaction closely.
"I talked to my parents about it. At first, they didn't really understand, but they eventually agreed since Kouyou guarantees 100% employment and university admission." Asahina Nazuna cracked a small joke to avoid appearing too awkward in front of her junior.
"But then, Nagumo-senpai also ended up at ANHS. It almost feels like fate."
At Kaoru's remark, Asahina fell silent for a moment.
"Miyabi motivations are different from mine... He just wants someone who can defeat him..."
Kaoru's expression turned odd.
So the guy was a masochist—no wonder he kept pestering Horikita Manabu.
"Senpai, want to try again?"
Asahina gave him a puzzled look.
Were they going to play dice again?
"This time, you'll roll the dice, and I'll guess the number. Let's see if I can get it right." Kaoru handed her the dice with a faint smile.
"Aren't you curious how I did it earlier?"
Now that he mentioned it, Asahina was genuinely intrigued.
"What if you guess wrong?"
"Then I'll just have bad luck."
"That's too sneaky."
"Because you don't believe I can guess correctly."
"..."
Asahina felt a bit indignant—after all, the dice were in her hands now.
But then a thought occurred to her, and she eyed the dice suspiciously.
Could there be something controlling it?
Like those remote-controlled dice in movies—seemingly ordinary, but actually manipulated to land on whatever number the user wanted.
"I don't have a controller." Kaoru raised both hands. "See? Nothing here. It's not like I can will it to obey me, right?"
"I wasn't suspecting you!" Asahina's cheeks flushed slightly, embarrassed at having her skepticism exposed.
"Shall we begin?" Kaoru asked.
Convinced there was no trickery, Asahina cupped the dice between her palms and shook them vigorously until even she had no idea what number they'd land on.
"Five."
Asahina gave him a doubtful look before slowly lifting her hand—revealing five dots on the dice.
"That's amazing."
Though impressed, she refused to accept it.
Maybe it was just a fluke.
Soon, the second round.
"Three."
"Your luck is too good, isn't it?"
"One."
"No, no—one more time!"
"Six."
"..."
Before long, Asahina fell completely silent.
In just over a dozen rounds, Kaoru had guessed wrong only twice—hitting the mark every other time.
Had he gotten every single one right, she might've suspected some hidden cheating method.
But the fact that he'd actually missed twice made it all the more convincing.
Now, Asahina was thoroughly bewildered.
She'd never met someone with luck this uncanny.
"Senpai, do you think I'm just really lucky now?"
"No matter how you look at it... this is a bit exaggerated..."
"Perhaps it's because I'm quite good at this sort of thing," Kaoru smiled.
"What we call fate is probably like this—you can't help but think things like 'what a coincidence' or 'how lucky.'"
Asahina Nazuna lowered her voice, "Beyond that, good luck can also help avoid misfortune."
"If there's a puddle ahead, would you step in it or go around it?" Kaoru asked.
"I'd go around it?" Asahina tilted her head, not quite understanding his point.
"But what if after going around, a car appears? Trying to avoid it, you accidentally step back and end up stepping into the puddle anyway." Kaoru paused.
"What would you think then?"
"That sounds terribly unlucky," Asahina murmured.
"Indeed it is. Now let's rewind—suppose the puddle is so big you have no way around it. Would you just step right in?" Kaoru pressed further.
"Maybe I'd turn back?" Asahina said cautiously.
"Sure, but then someone bumps into you, and you still end up in the puddle. What would you think then?"
Hearing this, Asahina began to grasp his meaning.
"Is this puddle my inevitable fate?"
"Exactly. This is your destiny."
"In that case, I'd be incredibly unlucky."
"Beyond just bad luck, though," Kaoru smiled faintly, "wouldn't you also think—'Great, now I can finally leave this destined puddle behind, because ahead lies a smooth, open road'?"
Asahina froze.
She had never considered that perspective.
If stepping into it was inevitable, why not just do it and keep moving forward?
"Fate, luck, coincidence, destiny, karma... the world is full of inexplicable phenomena. But what truly matters is how we choose to respond."
A quiet realization stirred in Asahina Nazuma heart.
She sensed Kaoru was hinting at her connection with Nagumo Miyabi.
Her lips pressed together tightly—childhood friends like them were seen as the perfect couple in others' eyes.
Whether classmates or even her own parents, everyone thought the same.
Yet she herself felt lost.
Her feelings for Miyabi were only what any childhood friend would have—to call it romance seemed unrealistic.
But no one else shared this view.
And no one knew the real reason Asahina Nazuna had come to ANHS.
"Senpai, I've studied palmistry. Would you like me to read your fate?" Kaoru's lips held a faint, translucent smile.
Asahina Nazuna snapped back to reality.
Perhaps the earlier miracle had left a deep impression on her.
After only a brief hesitation, she extended her hand to Kaoru.
Kaoru didn't hold back, gently grasping the small hand—warm, delicate, smooth, and soft, as if boneless.
It was tiny and pliant, a sensation that could be described with countless adjectives, making it impossible not to linger.
And so, Kaoru kept holding on without letting it go.
"W-Wait… Didn't you say you were going to read my palm?" Asahina Nazuna blushed, belatedly pulling her hand back.
In response, Kaoru flashed a thoroughly mischievous grin.
"Actually, I don't know how to read palms at all. After all this, senpai should already understand what I'm thinking." He deliberately paused for a moment.
"If senpai stays as defenseless as before, I definitely won't let the chance slip by. Without meeting the right person, fate is completely meaningless."
Asahina Nazuna stared at him blankly before her heart began pounding uncontrollably.
Her mind finally cleared—this guy had been targeting her all along.
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