2025-09-27: Spin the Wheel of Fortune
- Cutscene: Spin the Wheel of Fortune
- Cast: Jun Kashihara
- Where: Hirasaka Ward - Sumaru City
- OOC Date: Sat, Sep 27 2025
- IC Date: Tue, Jul 17 2012
- Summary: It's Tatsuya Suou's birthday. Jun Kashihara knows this, and wonders what to do. He finds his answer in the stars, and in the turning of a wheel of fortune.
- OOC NOTE: Tatsuya's birthday is actually July 27, not July 17. However, at the time, both players had misremembered it at the 17th. Just pretend!
Early, early in the morning, before the sun has even risen, Jun opens his bedroom window to gaze at the stars. It's a common enough act for him--but today it isn't merely for the love of the stars; it's because he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, though the past two hours of tossing and turning are testament to the fact that he tried.
Today, according to the calendar on his wall, is July 17. That... is the day Tatsuya Suou told him was his birthday. Jun has been watching that date for a while now, but now that it's actually here, he's... restless. Ichika promised him she'd have some of her people look into Tatsuya for him, and he's truly grateful for that, but there hasn't been word yet, and... now the day is here.
Jun leans his elbows on the window frame, protected by his green pajamas, and gazes up at the North Star. Also known as Polaris, it's guided sailors for millennia when traditional maps would have been no use. It's part of the constellation Ursa Minor, framed by both Ursa Major and Cassiopeia... So easy to find if you just know what to look for.
...No, it would hardly be that easy for him. As a metaphor, it fails. He moves on.
His brown eye falls towards the Summer Triangle next--though as far as the Japanese are concerned, only two of those stars really matter. Altair and Vega, or Hikoboshi and Orihime, separated by the Milky Way, desperately in love and yet they can only meet on the night of the Star Festival... and only if the weather is clear. A cruel fate, to be sure. Why must those lovers be kept so far apart for so long, with only the vagaries of the weather permitting them to meet?
...But he and Tatsuya are hardly /lovers/, are they? They barely know each other. At least... Jun purses his lips. He... barely knows Tatsuya. Is that really true the other way around...?
He moves on.
At last, Jun's gaze rests on Antares... the red heart of Scorpio. According to Kenji, Scorpio went about his life killing and eating until one day it was his turn to be killed and eaten. Panicking, he fled into a well, but that wasn't his salvation; there, he would only drown. He lamented his selfishness and cowardice, for if he'd let himself get caught, at least his body could have provided sustenance for another. This way, he won't be any good to anyone. And so he had looked to Heaven and begged God to let him not waste himself and instead use his life for the good of all... Perhaps moved by his prayer, Scorpio's body burst aflame, and their heart remains aflame to this day.
Giovanni and Campanella had talked about it afterwards, riding along on the Galactic Railroad together. Campanella's friendship had been steadfast, but Giovanni had grown jealous as more companions boarded and ultimately left the train. However, once they had gone, Giovanni had come to understand...
"'If it would make people happy,'" Jun whisper-quotes, "'I wouldn't mind if my whole body burned to ashes...'"
Like Campanella, his eyes fill with tender tears. He can't help it, and he can't stop it. Not that it's all that strange, but for some reason, the idea of a life consumed by flames--a death consecrated to guide others to true happiness--makes his heart ache so painfully that he can only weep.
~ * ~
During his walk to school in the morning, Jun happens across a neighborhood raffle. He got a little bit more sleep afterwards, and dreamt of watching the rain from his window as a canary flew by. For one of his dreams, it was unusually calm and clear. He'd looked it up in his dream dictionary, and apparently dreaming of watching the rain from one's window can symbolize becoming aware of spiritual ideas... or also, fortune and love. Perhaps it'd only been on his mind because he'd been crying while stargazing from his window, though.
As for the canary... apparently /that/ symbolizes a desire for a new relationship, or that a new relationship is blossoming. No need to interpret that. Jun understands its meaning quite well already.
Those thoughts are on his mind as he covers a yawn with one hand and smiles blearily at the neighbor manning the raffle booth. An older man with a towel wrapped around his head, he gestures to Jun with a hearty smile. A hand bell stands on one side of the booth, within his reach. Housewives are chatting nearby while other neighbors come and go; judging by the packets of tissues in their hands, the typical consolation prize for losing these sorts of things, they already tried their hands at the raffle and lost.
"Morning, morning, Jun-kun! You look like you're still tired! What's that about, eh?"
"Oh... good morning, sir. I was just up late studying," Jun lies. Well... not a complete lie. Finals are next week, and he /was/ studying until late last night. "I should be more careful."
"That's too bad! Maybe just the thing to turn your luck around is a go at the wheel." The neighbor gestures at the raffle wheel--a device one spins by hand-crank to produce a colored marble. One wins a prize depending on the color, with gold being the grand prize. Jun glances at the board behind him; there are a variety of prizes listed, including a state-of-the-art robot vacuum cleaner, most likely what those housewives were after. The grand prize is... a motorcycle. Impressive, but it's a step down from previous raffle booths from previous years, where he's seen grand prizes like trips to Hawaii or luxurious cruises... things he wouldn't have been able to win on his own anyway. His mother or father would have had to spin the crank. This is at least something he can strive for on his own--if he so chooses.
"How about it?" the neighbor prompts again. "The worst that happens is you get a packet of tissues!"
Jun smiles. He brushes his long bangs back, albeit not quite out of his eye. "Why not?" he says, thinking of Tatsuya and his burned motorcycle leathers. "Maybe it's just the thing to wake me up."
He grips the crank and takes a deep breath. Watching rain from the window can symbolize both fortune and love... Today is Tatsuya Suou's birthday, and the grand prize is a motorcycle. Have the stars aligned to bring him to this moment? ...Eyes shut, Jun turns and turns and turns and turns and /turns/ and TURNS that wheel of fortune, long after his arm aches from the stubborn, willful effort; when it stops, it stops because he chooses it, his heart ablaze with his feelings.
The marbles within tumble. He can feel the shift of their weight, until at last one catches, and rolls out the spout into the tray next to it...
It is gold. Like the Sun that rules over Leo.
"Wh-wha..." the neighbor stammers, gaping at the grand-prize marble. Recovering his wits, he raises his bell and clangs it uproariously as if to alert the entire neighborhood--which, in point of fact, it does. "WE HAVE A WINNER! WE HAVE A WINNERRRRR!!!"
After the fuss has died down, Jun keeps his hands held palm-out placatingly. "Thank you very much! I feel truly honored to have won! But... I don't have a driver's license yet. I can't accept this prize."
"That's all right! We don't have the motorcycle right here anyway," the neighbor replies. "Instead, you get this voucher to pick it up at the car dealership we partnered with for this! It's good for a year, so make sure to study up so you're ready by then!"
Jun accepts the voucher, but his thoughts aren't on studying to get a driver's license. It's instead on someone who might well be able to use this better than him--if only he can find him.
Still, while he doesn't have a means for doing that still, Jun arrives at school along with the rest of his classmates with a refreshed smile. July 17... and he has the perfect present in hand. Today will be a good day. No, he decides; it already is. A day for hearts on fire, as the stars foretold.
And so the wheel of fortune turns on...