COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

The first ray of morning sunlight gently knocked on the balcony door and spilled onto the pristine white bedding.

Fuyuji Mikage, his eyes forced open by the glare, groggily turned his head to gaze at the street trees outside the balcony, their leaves rustling intermittently.

With a casual click, he pressed the switch for the incandescent lamp on the bedside table. Nothing changed; the room's brightness remained exactly the same.

After a series of faint pops from his bones, Fuyuji tossed aside the soft sheet, propped his arm against the mattress, and tried to raise his upper body. His eyes naturally drifted toward the bedside—

"Thud—!"

A muffled, somewhat abrupt sound rang out, and his vision spun wildly.

He... was shoved back onto the bed, forced once again to stare at that familiar ceiling.

His pupils shifted. A pale pink foot, its nails trimmed round and clean, was planted squarely on his chest. Following the smooth, startlingly sleek line of the calf upward, over the rounded knee, and finally, the well-proportioned thigh extended deep into—

"Where are you looking?!" a cold, sharp voice snapped.

Kamuro Masumi stood with her arms crossed, a trace of embarrassment and irritation on her face. She lifted the very thigh that had been touched again and again last night and stamped her foot on Fuyuji's chest, grinding it forcefully as if venting frustration.

Beside her, Morishita Ai stood with her arms folded, looking down at him with disdain. Her small, delicate nose flared slightly, making it seem like she was considering whether she should join in with a kick of her own.

Yamamura Miki timidly hid behind Morishita, one hand tightly gripping the other girl's shoulder for support. Half her body was nearly entirely tucked into Morishita's shadow, yet Yamamura's gaze secretly slipped out through the gap, fixed on him, a sly smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

Shiraishi Asuka stood elegantly to the side, one hand gracefully holding her beautifully contoured chin, the other arm hanging casually by her side. She watched the scene with a beaming smile, showing no intention of intervening whatsoever.

Fuyuji blinked, paused for a fraction of a second, and then immediately returned to normal. A cheerful grin spread across his face, as if last night's simultaneous confessions to four girls had been nothing more than a fantastical, unbridled dream.

"Morning!"

"Morning my ass!" Morishita erupted in fury.

Another jade-like foot, gleaming under the sunlight, shot out and planted itself accurately with a "smack" onto his face before his smile could even fully form!

In that instant, he was knocked out of commission completely.

Hmm, as expected, it feels a little soft...

"What's the matter?" pressed flat against the bed, his cheek squished, Fuyuji cheerfully continued playing dumb, his voice slightly distorted as he spoke.

"When Lady Morishita woke up, her stomach hurt for a second," Morishita declared, puffing out her modest chest with all seriousness. "Fuyuji Mikage must have put poison in last night's ice cream."

"Huh?"

"My thigh cramped when I got up. You must have used your superpowers on it," Kamuro stated with a cold laugh.

"Ha?"

"Um, um..." Yamamura lowered her head, fiddling with her index fingers. Shutting her eyes tight, her face flushing red, she said, "My head feels a bit dizzy now. Fuyuji-kun must have done it." Her voice grew softer and softer, the last syllable practically vanishing into the air.

"..."

Fuyuji silently looked at the last person.

Please, state your reason.

"As for me," a gentle voice rippled through the room. Lake-clear eyes reflected his confused expression. Shiraishi Asuka lowered the hand not holding her chin and raised it, her slender, pale fingers carrying a touch of elegance, and lightly tapped her lips. Their color was a healthy, rosy red, glistening faintly. "They're a little red. Probably sick. Fuyuji did it."

Fuyuji Mikage: "..."

Okay, that one I actually did do.

Silence permeated the room for a few seconds, broken only by the rustle of leaves outside the window and the faint sound of their breathing.

He cautiously probed, "So?"

Morishita cleared her throat, kept her small face taut, and declared with severity:

"The defendant, Fuyuji Mikage, employed exceedingly cruel criminal methods. The act poses extreme danger to society, the consequences are particularly severe, and his subjective malice is profoundly deep. He is guilty of heinous crimes and utterly beyond pardon. Lady Morishita rules that the charges stand and decides—"

In the next second, the feet pressing on his chest and face withdrew. The four girls, as if by unspoken agreement, turned and headed for the exit.

"—to sentence Fuyuji Mikage to three days of solitary confinement!"

He froze for a moment, then hurriedly propped up his upper body, craning his neck to shout after their retreating figures: "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've been ditched by the four of us. For the next three days, sort things out yourself."

The four continued walking without looking back. They needed some time to digest the earth-shattering shock someone had given them, and incidentally, to teach a lesson to someone who had been far too arrogant last night.

"Huh? You can't just do that! What about dinner tonight then?"

"Sort it out yourself."

"What about the afternoon plan to hit the Keyaki Mall together?"

"Cancelled."

"If the power's still not back tonight, will you come back here to sleep?"

"In your dreams!"

With a bang, the door shut crisply and decisively. The doorframe seemed to tremble slightly, shaking loose a few unseen specks of dust.

The large room was instantly plunged into absolute silence, leaving only the continuous rustle of leaves outside the window and Fuyuji on the bed, still somewhat dazed and not yet fully recovered from the surprise.

...

And so, a breeze swept through, snatching up a few withered yellow leaves from the campus path and sending them swirling off into the distance.

Once again transformed into an empty nester, he sat on a bench under the shade of a tree, a drink cradled in his hands, desolately gazing at the scenery of the Advanced Nurturing High School campus.

Becoming utterly alone—is this the price of having a harem?

Thinking this, Fuyuji patted his chest, still gripped by lingering fear. Luckily, he hadn't shattered that final layer of unspoken understanding. All the girls had tacitly glossed over the matter. If they had actually started dating, he might have really been stabbed to death.

Still...

He quietly fished out his phone and glanced at the time, a smile breaking onto his face.

They said three days, but in truth, he could still smooth things over and shorten his sentence a bit. He'd just wait until their mood had settled a little, their anger subsided some, and then slowly work on it.

As for tonight, he had texted Katsuragi earlier to ask; the power would probably be back around noon.

With that, Fuyuji stood up from the bench, twisted his arms a little, turned around, and started walking toward the Keyaki Mall.

Before that, he'd find a way to kill some time—

"Clatter—!"

A deep purple cane slipped and clattered to the ground, rolling a few times before bumping into his foot and stopping.

He looked down at the cane by his feet, then followed the sound. An elderly woman with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles sat on another bench opposite him, forcing out a strained smile as she cast a pleading look toward him.

"..."

The air around him seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Fuyuji slowly turned his head away, pretending not to have seen anything. He stepped forward, right over the cane, and began walking quickly away.

"Hey, hey, young man, don't go!" The old woman waved her hand repeatedly. "According to the style of your Advanced Nurturing High School, shouldn't you help this old one pick up her cane?"

"As if I'd help you! Don't think changing your robes means I can't recognize you, you black-hearted swindler from the fortune-telling shop who's tricked me three times!" He quickened his pace without looking back.

"At least help this old one call your school's ambulance! I ate something wrong just now. Being new here, I don't know the number for your school's ambulance service."

"Serves you right! You scammer who cheated me out of tens of thousands of points!"

"This old one will return the points to you."

"I don't want them anymore!"

"I'll add 50,000 private points as a reward!"

As if an invisible pause button had been pressed, Fuyuji's striding foot abruptly halted mid-air, his left leg frozen in its forward swing.

In the next second, he slowly turned around. His face had already, like a master of face-changing opera, instantly blossomed into a radiant, sunny smile.

"Oh~ Master, this is truly... the mountains don't turn, the water turns; the water doesn't turn, people meet. It seems there is a curious fate between us."

"Ho ho~" The old woman also laughed, her voice hoarse. "This old one also felt an instant kinship with you, young friend. So, can you call the ambulance now?"

"Of course."

Within a few short breaths, the two swindlers swiftly concluded their deal. After helping retrieve her cane, Fuyuji efficiently pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance.

"Well then, goodbye forever, you swindler."

"W... wait!" A withered, thin hand, but one that was exceptionally strong at this moment, suddenly clamped onto his wrist like an eagle's talon just as he was about to lift it.

"What now?"

"Young friend... this old one has one more favor to ask!" The back of the hand, dotted with age spots, showed bulging veins from the exertion. The old woman looked up, her face pale from pain and effort, but her eyes fixed on Fuyuji with strange enthusiasm. Gasping, she said: "This old one sees that you, young friend, have remarkable bone structure and clever eyes, a natural-born fortune-teller! This old body... fears she cannot open her stall today... cough cough... could you... temporarily watch over this old one's fortune-telling stall? Just... just for this afternoon..."

"...Pfft."

He laughed helplessly. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned to leave, "Goodbye!"

"After the deed, we split the points fifty-fifty!"

"But then again," Fuyuji once more performed the lightning-swift face change worthy of Cha-Cha, turning back with deep affection, "actually... I've had a dream since childhood of becoming a fortune-teller."

"That's wonderful then. As long as you dream, you can succeed."

"But I don't know how to tell fortunes."

"That's easy. This old one will teach you."

"This stuff can be crash-coursed?" He looked incredulous.

"It's very fast." Gesturing for him to come closer, the old woman extended her palm, covered in age spots, and spread it open in front of Fuyuji. "You... you look at this old one's palm reading. How... how many years can this old one live to?"

He skeptically scrutinized the old person. Although she was somewhat pale, her speech carried strong energy, and her lips still held a healthy, blood-red color. After pondering for a moment, Fuyuji said uncertainly:

"Ninety-nine?"

Hearing this, the old woman pulled out her phone again. After a flurry of tapping and clicking.

[Ding! 50,000 points transferred!]

"Now this old one asks you once more, how many years do you see this old one living to?"

"Desu ne~"

Fuyuji wagged his index finger, a look of sudden enlightenment dawning on his face. He abruptly straightened his posture and declared solemnly: "Just from your appearance, you can clearly live to two hundred years old!"

The old woman revealed a satisfied smile and nodded. "The student is teachable. As expected, you have remarkable bones, a once-in-a-million genius of divination. Very well, you have completed your apprenticeship. You are now a qualified fortune-teller."

Fuyuji Mikage: "..."

Fortune-telling... is this easy?

Just then, the sharp, urgent wail of an ambulance siren drew near from a distance, finally screeching to a halt in front of them, stirring up a gust of air mixed with dust and fallen leaves.

Medical personnel in white coats hopped out briskly and swiftly deployed a stretcher.

"W... wait!" Seeing the medics about to lift the old woman onto the ambulance, Fuyuji dashed to the side of the stretcher in one swift stride, lowered his voice, and asked urgently: "But I don't understand those palm lines and astrological charts at all! I can't fool people with this!"

"Actually..." the old woman, lying on the stretcher, said in a faint but clear voice, "this old one... can't fully recognize those things either... after all, I'm old... poor memory..."

"Then how were you able to speak so convincingly?"

"Behind the table, there's a built-in tablet. Open it, there are illustrated files. Skim through it once to get familiar first. If you don't recognize something, just pretend to frown in thought, then slowly flip through it. It'll have the vast majority of things. If you can't find it, just say the person's future is unpredictable. Alhough, in all these years, you're the only one this old one has seen like that."

"..."

His mouth twitched violently.

This was the secret behind the school's wildly popular love fortunes?

"That's all then." With that, she stuffed two bank-card-like items into Fuyuji's hand. "These are a temporary campus pass and business permit. Use them to open the temporary room in the lower right corner on the fifth floor. There are robes, a wig, and makeup stuff there. Remember to make yourself look convincing."

"That's it? It's that simple?" He confirmed once more.

"That's it. The fortune-telling shop opens at 2, closes at 5:30. If you still can't handle it, look for your colleague next door. This old one will talk to her shortly. Remember to report your battle results tonight. Bye-bye~"

The "bee-boh, bee-boh" sounds started up again. Before long, the clamor receded, and the tree-lined lane instantly returned to its tranquil state.

The afternoon sun still filtered through the leaves. Around him, only the rustle of wind through the trees remained.

Fuyuji stood there somewhat dazedly, staring down at the two thin cards in his hand. After a few seconds of silence, a flicker of eager, peculiar emotion welled up within him.

Slowly, he raised his hand, the two cards clipped between his index and middle fingers. The corner of his mouth slowly stretched wider, like Tom Cat about to get up to some mischief.

...

Inside the fortune-telling tent, an old, dim yellow lightbulb hung above the table in the center, swaying unsteadily and casting the dancing shadow of the crystal ball onto the dark purple velvet tablecloth. The tent walls were made of heavy, deep blue velvet, blocking out most of the external light. Only the occasional sliver of outside light crept in through the gap in the door curtain.

"Croak... croak croak... cough cough..." Pinching his throat, he tried a few times until his voice became hoarse.

Dressed in a black robe with a hood pulled up, the robe's collar raised completely to hide his face in shadow, Fuyuji extended his hand and silently stroked the crystal ball before him.

"Mirror, mirror, tell me how to become light?" His deliberately deepened, beguiling voice echoed in the silent tent.

"..."

The crystal ball wobbled twice with a gurgle, refracting a beam of eerie light. The entire tent was deathly silent.

"Tsk! Do you also think there is darkness in my heart?"

He indignantly withdrew his hand, took out his phone, aimed it at the table, and snapped a picture.

[Fuyuji Mikage: Senpai, come find me for your next fortune-telling. I'll read your palm.]

[Kiryuin Fuka: ? What kind of mischief have you gotten into now?]

[Fuyuji Mikage: It's a long story. In short, I have now officially changed my job to Fortune-Teller, having received the true teachings of the great master.]

After the message was sent, the phone sank into a long silence.

[Kiryuin Fuka: Fortune-telling, after all, is still unreliable, isn't it.]

He frantically typed on his phone.

[Fuyuji Mikage: That's unfair. Why is it that when it comes to me, it's suddenly unreliable? You seemed to quite believe it last time, didn't you?]

Just then, the tent curtain was suddenly lifted. The female staff member who had managed the queue earlier reminded him:

"Master, we officially begin operations in 5 minutes. Please be prepared."

Hastily ending his chat with Kiryuin, Fuyuji quickly put away his phone and pinched his throat.

"Very well."

Five minutes later, the curtain lifted again.

He greeted his first set of customers. A female student with her hair tied up in two buns bowed stiffly towards him.

"Hello, Master. My name is Tachibana Akane."

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