Sunday, August 15, Past Midnight

The Hanged Man

It wasn’t a dark and stormy night. No, the skies were as clear as could be. And given the glow of the streetlamps and the light from inside the 24-hour restaurant, calling it ‘dark’ would be something of a stretch, too.

Kind of a shame, really. I’ve always wanted to say that line.

Putting that aside, though… conditions of this particular night meant that it was very easy to see. It would be a pity not to take advantage of that, either. I set down my glass, looked up from the table, and spotted our guest of honor, crossing the street.

A young lady, about my age, pulled in on a bike and pulled off her helmet to reveal her dark hair, cut in a long bob. After chaining it to a rack, she made her way into the restaurant where we were seated.

The overworked, sleep-deprived night-staff greeted her. “Welcome to Genny’s…”

Our guest pointed to us. I waved her down. The staff seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Not another guest to worry about. I cracked a half-smile. I felt that the other two didn’t, but I found it funny.

“You’re… Wait and Hope?”

“Please, have a seat.” I motioned to the chair in front of her. “Obviously not all of Wait and Hope, no, But yes, at your service. You must be Miss Rowe.”

The young lady eyed me curiously. I just laughed, and reached across the table. “By the way. I’m the Hanged Man. We’ve been in touch.”

After a long pause, she took it. “Yes…”

“It’s a pleasure to finally get to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

I thought Miss Rowe was going to say more, but it seemed my intuition was off. “These are my companions. I don’t believe you’ve spoken to them before.” I motioned to my left, at a boy with glasses and long hair. “This is the Hierophant. You’ll have to forgive him, he’s got a nasty cough.”

Hierophant waved without saying a word.

“And this is the Strength.” I pointed at Strength, sitting on a wheelchair to my right. I would describe her as ‘looking like a princess.’ Of course, save her atrophied limbs, hidden under a blanket.

“How do you do?” Strength asked.

Miss Rowe didn’t answer. She just looked at us with a look of growing incredulity.

I couldn’t help but grin. “What’s with that look?”

“Well, I just expected you to look more like…”

“More like what, a bunch of mafia goons?” I burst out laughing. I thought it was funny. No one else laughed. They say true visionaries are ahead of their time.

Miss Rowe said, “I was going to say a group of professionals. Not… er, a bunch of high schoolers my age.”

“Heh… Miss Rowe. We are professionals. In our line of work, those aren’t mutually exclusive. So, Let’s get down to business. There’s a few matters we need to check. Strength, can you pass me the CLFED?” I motioned to her.

Strength opened one eye. Her bag flipped open, and a baton-like object floated over to me. I grabbed it out of the air.

“Thank you.” I spared a glance at Miss Rowe. She rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Before she could ask any unnecessary questions, I handed it to Miss Rowe. “Do you know what this is?”

She shook her head.

“I’m going to run a couple of tests,” I said. “You might feel dizzy for a moment, but that’s normal. And also, it might help if you close your eyes.”

I grasped the device in my hands and pushed the button on the top. Miss Rowe seemed to be covered in static, then she disappeared into thin air.

“I’ll be right back,” I said. “Enter Command Level.”

There was a familiar falling sensation, like the floor opening up and giving way beneath my feet. After a moment, I opened my eyes to see Miss Rowe looking about the restaurant.

“W-where did they--” she pointed to Strength’s wheelchair and blanket, then to the Hierophant’s seat. “W-what--”

“They’ll be right back,” I said. “This is part of the test. Now, I’m going to recite a string of numbers. I want you to memorize it. Are you ready?”

“Uh… sure? What does this have to do with my request?”

“A lot more than you might think.” I chuckled, but shook my head. “But don’t think too hard about it. It’s mostly for administrative purposes on our end.”

After a long pause, Miss Rowe nodded, slowly.

“One, Nine, One, Zero.”

“One, Nine, One, Zero,” she repeated.

“Okay, Now close your eyes again,” I said. This is where the real test begins. Whether or not Miss Rowe has the potential to become an Esper. And… of course…

I couldn’t help but grin maniacally.

And, of course, whether or not she’ll make a suitable pawn. I pushed the button on the CLFED again, and said, “Exit Command Level.”

There was that familiar falling sensation. After the feeling subsisted, I opened my eyes once more to see the Hierophant and Strength sitting on either side of me. And, of course, Miss Rowe in front of me, looking very confused.

“Now, once more. Can you repeat them to me again?”

Again, she nodded warily. I suppose to the uninitiated, it would seem like something of a strange request. “One, Nine, One, Zero.”

My eyes trailed towards the Hierophant. Through his glasses, his eyes remained trained on Miss Rowe. The Hierophant wasn’t coughing. So she wasn’t lying, I noticed. Which means, of course, that Miss Rowe is telling the truth.

I grinned, a wide-mouth, toothy, vampire smile. And since, she’s telling the truth, she remembers the numbers… which means, she has the potential to become an Esper. “Strength. Could you pass me a pen and pad, please?”

Miss Rowe’s eyes widened. Perhaps she was frightened by my grin. I get told that a lot. Or, perhaps she was wondering why those numbers were important. They weren’t by the way. Though, 1910 is the year the Waite-Rider Tarot deck was first published. Though, that’s neither here nor there.

Perhaps it was because of the floating pen and paper, gently gliding through the air. I gently plucked them.

“Thank you,” I said, and turned to Miss Rowe. “Were you wondering how she did that?”

She leaned back in her chair, and wiped the sweat off her brow. “What on…” Her head turned, and she looked at the night-staff of the restaurant. “Did they--”

“They’re with us,” I said. “They have powers, just like us. And, just like you.”

“Just like… me?”

“Yes, Miss Rowe. You are special. You were chosen. You have the potential to be an Esper.”

She stared directly at me. The edges of her lips curled, wider, into a twisted smile. It was like looking in a mirror. All those people who told me that I had a creepy smile were right: it was terrifying.

Excellent.

Miss Rowe began to laugh. “Me! Special! An Esper!”

“Yes.”

“You’ll teach me, won’t you?”

I shrugged. “We can’t just say something like that and then not, now can we? However…”

If looks could kill… “What?”

“There’s just one more administrative hurdle we need to clear. Miss Rowe, on your application…” I opened the pad and looked at the record. “Ah, here we go. Under, ‘why are you requesting our services?’ you just listed, ‘revenge.”

She stiffened.

“I won’t mince words. The boss hates when I put it this way, but Wait and Hope is primarily a revenge website,” I said. “ You come to a revenge site for revenge… well, yes, water is wet. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“How so?” Miss Rowe looked away.

“For starters, who might the lucky winner be?”

“Lucky winner?”

“The one who has wronged you.” I leaned on a fist.

She still couldn’t meet my gaze. “My… ex-boyfriend.”

At that moment, the Hierophant broke into a fit of coughing. Miss Rowe jumped back, clearly rattled.

I exchanged a look with him.

“Miss Rowe. I’m sorry. We can’t help you if you don’t tell the truth. There’s a certain degree of trust we must have, between ourselves and our clients.”

She bit her lip and adjusted her glasses.

“So, the lucky winner,” I said. “Who might that be?”

The restaurant was very quiet.

“You can trust us,” I said. “We’re special, just like you.”

Her lips quivered. I thought she was going to cry. Thankfully, she didn’t. I hate making girls cry. Instead, her face contorted again, into that twisted smile.

“There’s a girl I know,” she said. “She’s a thief.”

I snuck a glance at the Hierophant. He gave a slight nod. I chuckled softly.

“Go on,” I said. “The more we know, the more we’ll be able to do for you.”

“A holier than thou, conniving…” she was biting her nails as she spoke. And yet, still grinning, somehow. My goodness, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. “Thinks she’s so much better than everyone else…”

I couldn’t stop myself. I covered my mouth with one hand. “A name would be helpful.”

“Kotone,” Miss Rowe said. “Kotone Koizumi.”

I scribbled the name down in the notepad, and showed it to her. “Can you confirm the spelling?”

She nodded. “You’ll help me, then? And teach me to be like you?”

There is an old proverb. ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ But that’s boring. I’m sure everyone’s heard of it. I prefer this one: ‘Give a man a fire, and he’s warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.’

“To the fullest of our abilities.” I smiled. “To the fullest of our abilities. Welcome to Wait and Hope, Miss Rowe.”