Part 2
The feeling during divination seemed to vary enormously depending on the person. Of course, since there were extremely few people with the power of divination, that was very difficult to say, but at least there were huge disparities in the impressions that Miyo and Kyouko explained to each other.
Miyo's situation was apparently colors. She read the meaning of a bright, vibrant painting. It seemed to be that kind of feeling.
In contrast, Kyouko was light. A different universe overlapped with the reality before her. Letting her spirit float in that universe, she 'saw' the light of her targets - stars.
First, she used the Liu Ren board to stimulate her consciousness.
It was an inexplicable feeling, as if her soul was floating away from her body. She heard the wind roar and was released from all her attachments to the earth, starting with gravity. Kyouko slowly floated in the truly empty world that seemed like a universe overlapping with reality.
An instinctive fear and a burst of liberation as she alone was pushed down from high up in the sky. Excitement and chills spread through her body as she was released from the cage enclosing her.
But Kyouko was as calm as if it were happening to someone else - as if she were in a trance watching a Kurahashi Kyouko whose mind was filled with the same sensations as hers was going through various oscillating emotions. It had that kind of dreamlike, unreal feeling. The room of the residence annex and the boundless, vast universe. Gaps floated between those two worlds, and Kyouko's standards, common sense and knowledge were all twisted askew because of those huge, large-scale disparities. Yin and yang merged.
What was true and what was mistaken? What should she do and what should she desire? Who was she exactly? Kyouko's consciousness expanded and became thin as the sound of the universe's wind swept through her heart.
But--
"Kyouko-san."
Kurahashi Miyo spoke.
Kurahashi Kyouko didn't respond. But Kyouko turned her attention to the voice that called to her. She solidified because of that attention.
"Focus your mind and firmly maintain your consciousness. You can't be swept away. You won't be able to return."
Kurahashi Kyouko and Kurahashi Miyo sat in a Japanese-styled room on the second floor of the annex. Kurahashi Kyouko was sitting in seiza [9] before a small Japanese-styled desk, casting her gaze on the Liu Ren board with a half-awake expression. Kurahashi Miyo sat to her side, patiently speaking to her granddaughter.
"You don't place yourself in the flow, you create a flow. You can't be engulfed by the sensations that you feel. In contrast, you have to put them under your control. You can't just see things, you have to consciously 'look'."
Kyouko tried to respond to Kurahashi Miyo's instructions. She firmly maintained her 'sense of self' while further departing from the reality before her, turning her gaze towards the depths of the universe. Gaps of space had no meaning there, and even the concept of time was different from normal. Everything was spread out everywhere.
Kyouko's thoughts were reflected in the universe, and she allowed a shadow of the distant reality to appear before her. Perhaps one could say that she condensed everything in the real world and mapped a thumbnail of it. Kyouko gradually looked around the universe with a sensation similar to clairvoyance.
But it was a scenery exceeding human comprehension. Never mind words, it was even difficult to perceive them as images. An overly vague whirlpool of impressions outside of the scope of her understanding. Kyouko gazed at it, desperately trying her best to read the 'meaning' of it.
They should be there. Natsume. Harutora. The stars of the two of them were mixed somewhere in with the swirling universe that Kyouko summoned. But to the current Kyouko, finding them felt as impossible as choosing grains of sand.
The roaring wind of the universe suddenly gained in force.
This again. She was blown flying. Kyouko reflexively resisted, trying to stop, but the strong wind whipped mercilessly and slowly twisted the surrounding universe. Kyouko was also easily picked up by the wind and her consciousness started rapidly fading.
"......Ah."
When she came to her senses, Kyouko was in front of the Japanese-style desk where the Liu Ren board was placed. She was sitting in seiza with her hands on her knees, leaning forwards lightly and staring at the Liu Ren board.
She was dizzy and chilled. Also, her body was astonishingly stiff. But it seemed that she had only lost consciousness for a moment. A year and a half ago when she had divined for the first time, she had fainted and hadn't awakened for a period of time. Anyways, she was already 'used to' this.
Also, she had become able to quite consciously enter the divination state. It was evidence of progress as compared to before.
That said, it hadn't reached the level where she could call it a 'fighting power'.
"You worked hard, Kyouko-san. I'll go make tea right now, so please relax for a while."
Miyo gently patted Kyouko's shoulder, rising and leaving the room. Kyouko's expression was still dazed as she started slowly relaxing her legs from seiza.
After a while, Miyo walked back from the first floor with a tray. Kyouko finally came to her senses when she heard her grandmother sigh after climbing the stairs.
"Ah, sorry. I should have made it......"
"It's alright, my body will quickly become bad if I don't even do this much activity."
After Miyo replied brightly, she returned to Kyouko's side and placed the tray on the tatami. Kyouko hastily pushed the Liu Ren board aside from the Japanese-styled desk and poured green tea from the teapot into the cups that were set out.
Kyouko gingerly pursed her lips and blew the steam from the green tea.
The fragrant green tea seemed to seep into her body. Kyouko's entire body relaxed with a relieved expression.
"Kyouko-san, how was it today?"
Though Miyo asked that, she seemed to have noticed as well. Kyouko shook her head listlessly with a bitter smile.
"No good. It really is difficult to see the stars of people who aren't here."
"Yes. I think it will become easier in the future once you grasp the feeling...... But that alone is something that can't be taught by others."
Miyo spoke regretfully, but she the eyes that stared at her granddaughter smiled serenely. It was so that she wouldn't put any pressure on Kyouko. But to Kyouko, it wasn't very helpful. It had already been a year and a half since Miyo had started giving her special training. She was embarrassed at still being unable to freely control her 'divination' strength.
"Maybe I don't have any talent for astrology."
"Hoho, is that so? The way you think and decide for yourself no matter what is the personality of an astrologist."
"Believing or not believing in astrology has nothing to do with divination, right?"
"Really? Though you can't get fanatic about astrology, isn't it pretty similar how you can feel certain things from the results? Like a hunch about how successful you'll be in the lottery."
"Well, second-class astrology can only be used as a topic for chatting."
"Or like being able to see at first glance what kind of person a guy you meet is--"
"......That can also be called 'instinct'."
Kyouko's shoulders drooped in a dull mood. Miyo smiled at that granddaughter of hers.
"After all, you're very smart, Kyouko-san. But you won't be able to take the last step if you always say only pessimistic things, you know?"
It could be seen that Miyo was still healthy and vigorous from the way she brought up such harsh things with a harmless smile. It felt like the green tea she sipped rapidly increased in astringency.
"It's about whether you can always keep your intuition honed. About how much you can trust that intuition. Divination isn't rational, you know."
Kyouko replied "Yes yes" out of boredom to her grandmother's words.
But the intimate and unreserved conversation still alleviated her heart. Even if it was trivial - no, maybe it was surprisingly touching because it was trivial.
...Honestly, I'm not cut out for this......
She wanted to hurry up and talk like this with everyone. With Harutora, Natsume, Touji, Tenma, and Suzuka.
For this, she hoped to use the power of divination to find everyone's stars. That feeling was so strong, but......
"You can't be too desperate, you know?"
Her grandmother rebuked her as if seeing into her heart. Kyouko came to her senses, her face awkward. When performing divination, it was ideal for the body and mind to enrich each other. Being overly pressured or too emotional were counterproductive.
Her emotions had been unstable recently. It was because she was feeling such a long isolation. Even if she understood that unstable feelings would only affect her divination negatively, she couldn't resolve it on a fundamental level. It was difficult. She could only deal with it by being tough, cheerful, and forward-looking like she had thought while returning home.
"Kyouko-san, you have a good feeling of magic as a whole, so you'll immediately become able to use it feely once you get the hang of it. You don't need to be obstinate, nor do you need to be careless instead. Let's continue training."
The star and universe grew distant. Her consciousness was forcefully pulled backwards. Sensei, Kyouko called out. But her voice also dissipated in the wind--
"Kyouko-san! Get a grip!"
When she came to her senses, Kyouko's strengthless shoulders were being held by Miyo.
An unprecedented feeling of certainty lingered inside her body.
Also, the ominous feeling she had observed from the other part.
"......Just now, that was......"
Miyo revealed a relieved expression, understanding that Kyouko's consciousness had successfully returned.
But Kyouko collapsed where she was, unable to move for a period of time.
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