After dinner, Yuuko was finally able to pick up her beloved pipe.
They had moved from the dining table to the more comfortable sofa. Alcohol and light snacks were on the coffee table. Nanami was tidying up the kitchen, so Akira lit a cigarette himself.
Of course, before lighting it, he had sent Watanuki Kimihiro upstairs to read.
Yuuko was feeling stifled, Akira had things on his mind, and yet the drinking atmosphere was strangely harmonious.
There was no need for coaxing or urging; they could clink glasses without even a glance.
Nanami knew Akira didn't want her to smell the smoke, so after cleaning the kitchen, she quietly returned to her room.
Upstairs, Watanuki also seemed to be reading in silence.
And so, in that wordless quiet, the two drinkers somehow exuded the warmth of lonely elders keeping each other company.
"You must not give too much, nor receive too much. Not more, not less—balanced, equal. Otherwise… you'll get hurt."
Yuuko lay lazily on the single-seat sofa, her head resting on one armrest, her long legs draped naturally over the other.
A little white creature lay atop her body—few beings, even non-human ones, could resist her charm.
She gently stroked the creature's fur. Smoke blurred her features, leaving only her eyes with their piercing gleam.
Akira never disliked women who smoked. In fact, he thought there was a unique beauty in it.
And with Yuuko, that beauty was brought to its fullest.
Especially when a beautiful woman was slightly tipsy—that in itself was a spectacle.
Akira smiled silently as he admired the view. "So I've still received too much, haven't I?"
"Yes, but your karma isn't heavy enough to hurt you—just troublesome. But you have the ability and willingness to handle those troubles. So it doesn't matter."
That may have been true, but still… he had spent three years like a stationary plant. How had things suddenly changed so much?
Lost in thought, Akira suddenly asked, "Yuuko, do you know what karmic merit is for?"
"So you really didn't know," Yuuko glanced at him.
"Simply put: it helps turn misfortune into blessings, rewards good with good, and makes wishes come true."
"Huh…?"
Akira blinked. He recalled that not long after wishing for a maid, Hayasaka Ai had practically delivered herself to him, and then he encountered Nanami.
So, did that mean his meeting with Utaha had also been timed a bit too perfectly? Just when she was at her lowest…
"…So this means I won't be able to laze around at home anymore?" His expression twisted slightly.
"Yes. Karmic merit disrupts causality—but only in a good way," Yuuko tapped her pipe.
"If you hadn't almost cut off your merit source, you'd be seeing even more good things."
She was referring to the large charitable donations Akira had made—nearly all anonymous.
Aside from checking that the money was used correctly in person, he had no contact with the recipients.
Even those who received the money only saw his name from the account but didn't know his identity and were instructed not to reveal it.
At that time, he was still in a mindset of not wanting to get involved with this surreal world, avoiding all cause and effect—even good ones.
But that didn't matter now. What did matter was the idea that had formed in Akira's mind as he pondered the impact of karmic merit.
His expression turned more serious, and he sat up.
"Yuuko, could you take a look at my fate?"
"I can't see your future."
"Not the future. I mean the past."
"The past, huh…"
Yuuko's eyes swept over him again. Though calm on the surface, they held an overwhelming, soul-stirring power.
Before those eyes, nothing could hide.
"The first girl you met was drawn to you by karmic merit—so you met her at the perfect time and broke free of your greatest illusion."
"The second had nothing to do with merit—she came from your own words and actions. What happens next depends on your choices."
"As for the third, that was both your 'wish come true' and her 'reap what you sow'."
Akira focused on that first statement, narrowing his eyes. "It was just the perfect timing for us to meet?"
"Of course. Merit only causes seemingly accidental inevitabilities that ward off misfortune or nudge you toward good things.
It doesn't distort fate just to fulfill your wishes—especially not in a negative way. You're overthinking it, Ogiwara-kun."
Akira sighed in relief.
He had been worried that Utaha's hardships had ultimately been caused by him. If that were true, he'd go right back to being a hermit—he wouldn't dare wish for anything again.
As for that "nudge," it probably referred to how he'd randomly looked up and seen the bookstore, and walked in on a whim.
Akira stroked his chin. "Still doesn't sit right with me."
"What's wrong? Don't like this kind of fate?"
"You're asking someone who grew up chanting 'my fate is mine to decide, not heaven's,' Yuuko."
He raised his glass and leaned back on the sofa, as if toasting someone unseen.
"If there are mountains, we'll move them like Yu the Fool. If there are rivers, we'll break them with whips.
In a flood, we build arks. While others pray and repent, we fortify the dams. Even if I'm an onmyoji who believes in fate, I still don't like it."
Others might find this speech baffling, but to Yuuko—who knew he was from another world—it made perfect sense.
"Don't worry. Just like our contracts can't be forced, karmic merit never forces anything on you. If something good happens that you don't want, just reject it."
Yuuko smiled slightly and said with meaning, "But who would ever complain about too many good things—especially someone who's already begun to move?"
At that, Akira finally let go of the last trace of feeling manipulated by fate and murmured thoughtfully,
"You're right. But speaking of non-coercive contracts—about you keeping Watanuki in the shop…"
"We're done talking. I'm leaving." Yuuko tossed the creature in her lap to Akira and shouted toward upstairs, "Time to go home, Watanuki!"
"Ah, coming, Miss Yuuko!" Watanuki's voice echoed from above.
Akira caught the little white creature mid-pounce—it had just gotten comfortable and was now confusedly flopped in his lap, its cat face filled with soulfully blank surprise.
Nanami, hearing the commotion, came out to see the guests off.
Though Akira had told her not to greet or see off guests, saying it showed closeness between friends, she still felt something was off.
"Come visit again sometime~" Akira waved lazily with a half-smile, then flopped back on the sofa and said to Nanami,
"See them to the door, no need to go further. I've got something to tell you afterward."
Nanami nodded quickly and sent Yuuko and Watanuki out the door.
In the yard, Yuuko suddenly turned and asked, "What kind of person is Ogiwara-kun to you?"
It was an odd question. Nanami thought for a moment before replying seriously, "My master."
"Though not ordinary, still family." Yuuko reached out and gently patted her head.
"Good girl… such a good girl…"
It wasn't like that teasing, scrutinizing touch from their first meeting. This time, it was warm, comforting.
The mysterious sense of familiarity made Nanami unwilling to resist.
She accepted it in a daze, only waving goodbye after Yuuko had floated away.
Yuuko, though facing away, seemed to sense it and waved her hand in return—without even turning back.
At the same time, her joyful voice echoed back:
"Tell Ogiwara-kun, I've claimed your first headpat~"
Nanami instantly clutched her head, her expression slightly troubled—
But then, for some reason, a hint of expectation crept into her eyes.
...
Watching Yuuko walk unsteadily, Watanuki sighed.
"Miss Yuuko, we're outside already. You can drop the act."
"Hm~?" Yuuko drew out the sound, smiling. "Who said I was pretending?"
"Huh? You actually got drunk?"
"When people are happy—or unhappy—it's easier to get drunk. And today, I'm happy."
That confused Watanuki.
Wasn't she just saying she was on the verge of being bullied to tears?
How did it turn into happiness again?
He scratched his head, wanting to ask something, but Yuuko spoke first:
"Watanuki, do you know what a wandering ghost does?"
"A wandering ghost? Umm… haunt people?"
"I don't mean vengeful spirits. I mean a true wandering ghost—neither good nor evil, with no origin and no destination."
Watanuki tried to imagine it, but couldn't figure out what such a ghost would do. In the end, he shook his head. "I don't know."
Yuuko sighed softly. "Yes, exactly. No one knows what it would do."
"Not even you, Miss Yuuko?"
"Of course not. Because aside from maintaining its existence, nothing pulls its strings. And the pull required just to stay existing is too weak to cause any real change."
In her usual slow tone, Yuuko quietly continued.
"Such a wandering ghost might simply drift forever, might vanish on its own one day, might reach out to help a passerby, or might, without warning, become a vengeful spirit and slaughter a village."
"No one knows what it will do next—because its heart is empty, with no direction, and its body is empty, with no strings to hold it."
Yuuko raised her hand, as if pinching something between her fingers, and held it suspended in the air.
"I am the first string—like a tether from above. I can only catch him when he falls.
I once thought of trying something more, but I'm just a fixed string—I can't move him left or right, and he has no intention of climbing toward me."
At this, Watanuki understood.
"Miss Yuuko… are you talking about Mr. Ogiwara? Isn't comparing someone to a wandering ghost a bit much?"
Yuuko shook her head. "That term wasn't mine. 'Wandering ghost'—those were Ogiwara-kun's own words."
"Eh?" Watanuki couldn't imagine someone describing themselves like that.
But Yuuko, on the other hand, looked completely approving.
"It's an incredibly fitting metaphor.
He's just like a wandering ghost—no attachments, barely responsive to joy or sorrow. Even he doesn't know what he'll do next."
"That's why I'm happy to see desire growing in his heart. To see direction, even if it's not quite 'right.'
And in moving forward, he's gotten tangled in more and more strings—and from them, gained nourishment beyond mere survival."
"Eventually… he's becoming more and more like a real person."
With a faint trace of drunkenness, Yuuko looked up at the moon and smiled—genuinely happy.
___
That makes sense for anyone getting isekai'd.
We might see those second chances as nothing more than a game. Especially since we have no one there.
So our actions there will be unpredictable.
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