Tsukumodo:Volume 1 Coincidence

Chapter 1 - Coincidence

If a coincidence occurs several times, does it become a necessity?

For instance, pretend you're walking in the city and happen upon someone you know. You haven't arranged anything beforehand , nor does he share or know where you are headed.

In that case, you'd probably mark it down as a coincidence the first time. The second time you may find it a funny coincidence and the third time, perhaps you'd be surprised by such a remarkable string of coincidences.

But if the number grows too big, you may come to think that this person were pursuing you.

But meeting someone you haven't arranged anything with, who does neither share nor know your destination, is pure coincidence and stays that way no matter how many times it reoccurs.

If you meet someone who knows where you go and who is pursuing you, then it's by no means coincidence.

Which brings me back to my question.

If a coincidence occurs several times, does it become a necessity?

The answer.

The way I see it, a coincidence does not become a necessity no matter how many times it occurs.

Coincidence stays coincidence even if it occurs repeatedly, and necessity stays necessity even if it occurs only once.

Coincidence is never going to become necessity and necessity is never going to become coincidence.

Coincidence is mere coincidence, necessity is mere necessity.

"So what?" you may ask, and you're actually right.

But there is one thing I can say.

That we met was nothing but pure coincidence.

♦

If I named a coincidence while swinging my pendulum, it came true.

"By chance, I pick up a lottery ticket and win."

The pendulum gave off a ring.

I picked up a lottery ticket I found by chance and won. While it wasn't the first prize, I had no financial problems anymore.

"By chance, eighty percent of my answers in the entrance exam happen to be correct."

The pendulum gave off a ring.

I easily passed the bubble sheet type entrance exam for middle school even though I had hardly studied at all.

"By chance, I learn about the secret of my school."

The pendulum gave off a ring.

Right after entering the middle school, I found by chance a log listing all students who had bought their way into school. When telling the director about this, I was promised special treatment in exchange for keeping the secret. Since then I always got away unpunished even when breaking the rules, and I didn't have to repeat any exams when getting bad marks.

Going on like this, I obtained various things by chance.

But there is a limit to what you can obtain by chance.

You cannot obtain everything by chance.

By chance, I couldn't win the heart of that girl that happened to become the same class as me.

By chance, I couldn't win the heart of that girl that happened to sit next to me.

By chance, I couldn't win the heart of that girl that happened to be in the school committee with me.

I could not obtain the thing I wanted most by chance.

---I could not win anyone's heart.

I can only think of you as a friend.

I can't see you in such a way.

With such words my feelings kept being rejected. They never got concrete, but they always looked at me with disgust.

Back when I was in elementary school, I feared nothing and made no pretense of my feelings. The time I noticed what this brings about, I found myself left alone.

There were also times when I wondered if the problem was my looks, my personality or something else. But there were a lot guys who won someone's heart, no matter how bad they looked or how bad their personalities were.

Be it because of the inner or outer values, it was not rare to see someone and wonder why such a person could win someone's heart.

(At the end of the day, it's me who's at fault. I'm different by birth.)

With these thoughts, I was about to give up.

In middle school I payed attention not to commit the same mistake again and suppressed my real feelings. I also changed the way I talked and, due to my resignation, I let time go by without confessing my feelings to anyone.

But I couldn't endure being alone. I could not give up so easily.

So I started thinking:

How could I win someone's heart?

How could I win someone's heart by chance?

And then I begged, oh I begged.

To meet someone by chance of the same mind.

Shortly after, I met by chance a girl called Miki Kano.

She was of the same kind. She sought for the same thing as I. She was one of my very few kindred spirits among the countless people in this world.

We were attracted by each other and came together.

This and only this was a necessity.

Finally I had managed to obtain what I wanted most -- or so I thought.

But time went by and our bonds were divided. By her.

I felt betrayed. There was no envy or such an ugly feeling.

It was a much more pure and sublime feeling that was betrayed by her.

And the day she betrayed me, she fell on the tracks on the way home and was run over by a train -- by chance.

Until that day, I had summoned coincidence without losing my rationality.

Until that day, I had kept a healthy distance from coincidence.

Until that day, I had only used coincidence to help make the little things happen.

But only until that day.

That day marked a line for me.

I changed after that day.

After the day when I caused a murder accident---

♦

"Do you have some kind of good luck charm?"

"A good luck charm?"

"Yes, a good friend of mine has recently had multiple traffic accidents... so I thought I'd buy him a lucky charm."

"I see. How about this article?"

"This?"

"Yes. This is a doll that enables you to transfer your ill luck to someone else. Insert a strand of someone's hair into this doll and if your friend is to die, the owner of the strand will die in his place."

"Um... do you have something more normal...?"

"I see. Then how about this?"

"This?"

"Yes. This is a pendant that lets you use your luck in advance. Your friend may be able to avoid his death. In exchange, if his luck is used up, the rest of his life will proceed without any good events whatsoever."

"Um... do you have something more normal...?"

"I see. Then how about this?"

"This?"

"Yes. This is a ring that inverts the future. If your friend is to die, he will survive. On the other hand, if he is to live, he will die."

"Um... do you have something more normal...?"

"I see. Then...," she started and pointed away, "There's a shrine over there. I recommend getting a charm from there."

After receiving a 100-yen stone as a welcome gift, the completely put-off customer, a middle schooler judging from her looks, left the store.

Having waited for this, I entered the rather dim shop. Not as a customer, though.

This old and small shop, the "Tsukumodo Antique Shop (FAKE)", was where I worked part-time.

"Tokiya," whispered Saki Maino, the shop assistant who had introduced some products a few moments ago, upon noticing me.

While she had pale hair that reached about to the middle of her back and shone silver in the light, as well as clear white skin, she was all clad in black, wearing a black shirt with frills, a long black skirt and black boots. She was rather short and so slender that she might break when embraced. Not that I planned on actually embracing her, of course.

She was sixteen and thus one year younger than I. She did look her age, but because of her demeanor she seemed a little more mature. A brilliant smile like a blooming flower, as the meaning of her name would suggest, did absolutely not adorn her face, instead she was perfectly expressionless as if to deny the saying "nomen est omen".

"You don't even want to sell anything, do you?"

"Why would you think so? You should have seen my sales talk just now."

"I'm asking because I've seen it!"

"Then everything should be clear, right? Employing a wide article knowledge to select the article that best matches the customer's needs and professionally introducing it to him. The basics of customer service."

"But you haven't sold off anything, now have you?"

"Because we unfortunately did not carry the article the customer was looking for. It was by no means my fault."

"And in the end you even told her to visit a shrine."

"The article could not be found here, so I introduced an alternative to suit the customer's needs, even though I redirected her to a competitor. I did so because the customer always has top priority. I even threw in a power stone for free. So yes, I couldn't sell anything this time, but such a happy customer is bound to visit us again."

"You won't see that girl ever again, you know? She's obviously gotten the creeps."

"The creeps? Why so?"

"Because you made it look like all we sell is cursed stuff!"

"But they're fakes, so there is nothing to worry about."

"That you should have told her!"

"...How careless of me," Saki whispers bitterly in shock while putting her hands on the counter, "I would have committed a fraud if she had bought anything believing that it's real. I clearly made a mistake again."

(Listen to me for Christ's sake. And anyway, you consider that the problem? Before worrying about authenticity, you should think about whether it's a good idea to recommend cursed stuff to a customer who wishes to buy a lucky charm... In the first place, don't just start from the premise that her friend is going to die!)

While blurting out some remarks in my thoughts, I pressed the button on the register to print today's sales. The slip just popped out a few millimeters.

The short length was proof that we were not selling.

A look at the cash register slip revealed that our sales that day came down to a perfect zero.

Well, nothing to make a fuss about.

The shop was located in a dark and lifeless side street away from the main street, and the few customers that came by from time to time had to deal with Saki's "customer service", and the biggest problem of all was the articles we carried.

Since the name was "Tsukumodo Antique Shop", the shelves did contain stuff like old Japanese glasses, Western crockery, or tube radios and pocket lamps.

However, that was just a small portion.

Most space was occupied by stuff like dolls, pendants, rings, and other miscellaneous goods that had nothing to do with the antiques in the shop's name whatsoever.

Of course they didn't possess any special powers like in Saki's explanations. They were only fakes of things that appear in tales and rumors.

To be more exact, the articles in the shelves were fakes the owner of this shop had purchased, believing they were real, which were now put up for sale for a tiny fraction of their original prices.

The "FAKE" part in the shop name was likely to originate from that fact.

Incidentally, the Tsukumodo Antique Shop apparently had a sister shop. The "FAKE" was probably appended to distinguish them.

"By the way, where's Towako-san?" I asked because I didn't see the owner, Towako Setsutsu, anywhere.

"Making purchases. She said she won't be back for a week."

"And I bet we'll get to see yet another fake."

Towako-san's interests are self-explanatory, seeing that she was away seeking the real counterparts of the articles here. Well, she pretty much never got her hands on real ones, though. I was still wondering if I should be happy that she found as much as a blind man or not.

"Tokiya, hurry up and get dressed. I want to change shifts and do the shopping for today's dinner."

Unlike me, Saki did not only work here, but also called it her home, so she had to do all the housework like cooking, washing and tidying apart from her normal work.

"Got it," I said and headed toward the room in the back after changing the hold on my bag. "Ah, almost forgot," I added while passing her by, "The basics of serving a customer is not only putting your article knowledge to display, you know?"

"What else is there?"

"A smile!" I taught her while pushing up the corners of my mouth.

"That goes without saying, doesn't it?" Saki answered expressionlessly.

♦

I used to hate coincidence.

I considered them to be ambiguous, uncertain and unsure.

I hated those coincidences that were brought forth by "god" or "fate" or whatever they are called -- those coincidences you cannot avoid whatever you do, however strong your will is and however hard you wish.

No, perhaps you can say that coincidence hated me first.

After all I was betrayed before I was even born -- by a certain coincidence a baby being born does have no influence on.

Therefore, I hated coincidence.

Therefore, I detested coincidence.

And yet... it was but a mere coincidence that I obtained it.

On the way back from school I found a wallet by chance. There were only 5000 yen in it, but that was a nice little sum for the elementary schooler I was.

Not a second I thought about returning it to its owner.

I had been on the edge that day, so this was a heaven-sent opportunity to relieve some stress. I pulled out the five 1000-yen notes, threw the wallet away and went to an video arcade.

I was all ready to enjoy myself and squander my money, but funnily enough I was on a roll that day and still had more than 3000 yen on hand when I started thinking about going home.

I didn't want to carry the money I picked up back home. If my parents had found out I had got so much coin before getting my allowance they were going to question me out.

Eating something before dinner was out of question. I thought about buying something, but I couldn't decide on anything.

When I walked along a back street after leaving the game arcade, still wavering what to do with the money, a certain shop caught my eye.

The building was so small and old that I thought it had gone bust at first glance.

Still, as though attracted by something I entered the shop.

The interior was as old as it looked from the outside and there were no articles on the shelves that looked it.

Behind the counter sat a woman.

I don't remember what she was like. Well, there are some vague first impressions I remember. For instance, she was about in her late twenties, looked somewhat listless and wore something like a long black dress. But all these memories are ambiguous -- as though veiled by fog. In particular I can't recall her face.

The single thing I remember vividly is that she was gazing at a small pendulum she held aloft as if in a trance.

After a while she noticed me and asked, "Are you looking for something?"

Only then I finally assure myself that you could actually buy something there.

Half out of interest, half out of spontaneousness I asked, "Do you have something interesting?"

"I do have something uncommon," she replied and showed the pendulum she was just holding in her hand. "I was just thinking if someone might drop in by chance."

It was a simple pendulum consisting of a chain and a sphere -- it was neither interesting nor did it look uncommon.

"Is this a key holder or something?"

"It's up to you what you use it for. But that's not how you would normally use it, is it?"

I had no idea what one would normally use a pendulum for.

"You use it like this!" she said and held the small pendulum aloft by its chain. The sphere started to swing left and right in a regular rhythm.

(Well, that's how you use a pendulum. Sure.)

"Then you say this", added the woman with a smile as if she had read my mind, "By chance, the boy here finds a wallet."

"?"

(Does she know that I found one?)

Even while being sure she couldn't possibly know, my conscience pushed me back - and made my foot bump into something.

I unwittingly dropped my gaze just to find a wallet lying there.

When I picket it up, the woman, still smiling, said, "I'm delighted to see that you found a wallet by chance."

I thought I heard a bright ring then.

"This is a Relic that can create coincidences. It's called Pendolo."

"Relic? Pendolo?"

A "relic" could mean something like an antique or an item of classical art - I got the idea. "Pendolo", on the other hand, probably was "Pendulum" in some other language.

The woman, however, shook her head slowly, indicating that I was wrong.

"I'm not talking about antiques and art objects. What I mean are tools with special abilities created by mighty ancients or magicians, and objects that have absorbed their owner's grudge or natural spiritual powers. Things like a stone that brings ill luck, a cursed voodoo doll or a triple mirror that shows what your death will look like. I believe you've heard of many of them, and this coincidence-calling pendulum belongs to them. So? What do you say? It's yours for as much as you have on hand."

It's not that I believed her. I even doubted if she was in her right mind. But it was just money I had picked up anyway, and I couldn't take it home. On top of that, I had entered the shop because I wanted to buy something, so there was nothing that stopped me from spending it.

Nice to have as an accessory for my bag, I just thought.

"But why would you give this to me...?"

"It's not my decision. The Relic has chosen its owner. I was merely a go-between."

"That makes me wonder even more -- why me?"

"Mmm...", she grumbled and, shortly after, flashed a mischievous smile, "By chance, perhaps?"

I payed with the remaining 3000 yen I had and a 1000 yen note that was in the wallet I had just picked up, and obtained the Pendolo.

Strangely enough, I had the feeling it had been mine all along.

"A pendulum that can call forth coincidences..."

Not that I believed her -- elementary schoolers these days aren't fanciful enough as to believe such nonsense. Nevertheless, I found myself imitating what she did.

"By chance, I find a wallet", I said and couldn't help laughing at myself.

(What am I doing? No way you can actually make coincidences happen at will. I guess I'm best off using it as an accessory.)

I took a step toward the entrance to go home, when I suddenly kicked something away.

A ring echoed throughout the shop.

"!"

(Impossible...!)

Even so I slowly dropped my gaze... and found a red wallet.

"What the..."

I looked up at the saleswoman. She was smiling. Calmly. As if nothing had happened.

Put off by this, I rushed out of the shop.

In the very last moment, her words caught up with me:

"Keep one thing in mind: the Pendolo can only call coincidences. Should you try to call forth a necessity, you will create a conflict. It's up to you how you use it!"

Unable to let go of the pendulum even while considering it eerie, I kept wavering what to do until sunset.

In the end, I went home without throwing it away and got a scolding from my mother for coming too late.

"What time do you think we have?!"

(Only seven o'clock. Nothing against curfews, but that's way too early.)

I told her something along these lines, against which she responded, "I'm worried about you, you know? You just..."

I couldn't stand her jabbering anymore, so, ignoring her, I sped up the stairway. She didn't let this happen, however, and held me by the arm on the way. I tried shaking her off, but I was too weak. Instead, I whispered without thinking:

"By chance, mom falls down the stairs."

I don't know why I said this.

Hadn't I believed that nothing would happen?

"Eh? I didn't quite hear you. What did you say...?"

The next moment, her tight grip loosened and her hand slipped away.

A ring resounded.

The ring was, however, drowned by a much louder sound of something rolling down the stairs. It goes without saying what had fallen down. My mother.

That day, my mother suffered a sprain that took a week to heal.

On the next day, I visited the shop once more.

To complain of receiving an original instead of a fake sounds like a bad joke, but the pendulum had gotten too scary for my taste, so I wanted to return it.

However, the shop wasn't there anymore.

No, to be exact, the shop was still there.

But the shop assistant who had sold the Relic to me was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, the shop's interior looked completely different that the day before.

Had it all been a dream? But in my very hands I held the proof that it was not. Along with her words.

---It's up to you how you use it!

(Exactly. As long as I don't use it the wrong way!)

I didn't return my coincidences-calling Relic. Neither did I throw it away.

In the end, I failed to resist the temptation to tame and take advantage of coincidence, which I had used to hate.

Since then I haven't visited the shop anymore. I even forgot where it was.

(What was its name, anyway?)

A siren woke me from my memories of the past.

From the footbridge I stood on, one could see the devastated car that had crashed into a power pole and blood splatters. The crash site was circled by police cars and the ambulance, and farther off by a bunch of onlookers.

This was my second murder accident.

But it was her own fault. She shouldn't have made fun of my feelings to Miki.

(Why, thanks to me she was able to suffer the same as her beloved boyfriend. She must have wished for this to happen. Besides, she can count herself lucky that she didn't have to realize that she had been betrayed to the very end.

She should actually be grateful.)

...Bad memories had come to mind.

I didn't want to recall Miki anymore.

She, who was the same as me.

She, who stopped being the same as me.

She, who is not needed anymore.

She, who is not here anymore.

I fiercely shook my head to shake off these thoughts.

Many times I had tried to forget her, but I would always keep recalling her. I was irritated at myself for being so wimpy.

(Please, someone overwrite my heart.)

In fact, I'd had in mind to stay by myself for a little longer, but I couldn't seem to put up with it.

I took the pendulum out of my pocket.

"By chance, I meet someone of the same...", I started, but then I paused.

(I mustn't rely on something so uncertain as the "same mind". This has already failed once. Feelings can change. You don't necessarily keep being of the same mind.)

Hence, I begged for something unshakable.

"By chance, I meet a kindred spirit."

The next moment, a certain girl caught my eye.

Her hair was silver, whereas her eyes and clothes were black. She stood out quite a bit.

(Is she the kindred spirit I come across by chance?)

As if to answer my question, a ring reached my ears.

There was no doubting it. She was the kindred spirit I was looking for.

She went past by me without even deigning to look at the crash site. I turned round and followed her.

While doing so, I started thinking.

(How should we encounter each other?)

(The more dramatical, the better. So I guess it would be best saving her when she's about to have an accident. I know how effective that is.)

When she had reached the end of the bridge and had climbed down the stairs, I did so, too.

She leisurely walked along the pavement.

Also on this side there were rubbernecks, who were watching the crash site opposite the road, but she ignored them as well. I followed her again.

Unlike everyone else, we were the only ones that weren't distracted by the accident and went on.

After making sure there weren't any onlookers around us anymore, I took out my Pendolo and whispered:

"By chance, she almost has an accident."

A ring resounded, and moments after, the screeching of tires was added to it.

A driver, who had apparently made a steering mistake, had cut a sudden curve and was speeding at full tilt toward the sidewalk.

Just in front of the car -- she.

As I was prepared, I was able to react quicker than anyone else and made a dash.

(I save her when she's about to have an accident!)

That's what I had imagined -- but there was someone who did so before I was able to.

That person seized her and immediately leaped away, enabling him to evade the out-of-control car by a hair's breadth.

(Who on earth is this? I was the one to save her!)

While holding her in his arms, he patted her cheeks to help her come to. Finally gotten a grip on herself, they exchanged one or two words. The guy had apparently sustained an injury, which is why she cupped his hand with concern in her own.

Judging from their conversation and their attitude, they knew each other. He had come to ask her to make a purchase which he had forgotten to mention.

(Damn coincidence.)

Even now that I could call forth coincidences, I still found myself unable to grow fond of it.

They seemed to be quite familiar with each other, I had to note. Most likely, they were friends. Maybe more, considering that he just asked her for a purchase.

(Such a barnacle. I'll first get rid of him. Now that's a good idea.)

He explained to her what he needed and then went off in the other direction.

Just when I was about to pursuit him, my mobile phone started to vibrate. The name of a class mate was on the display.

"Hello? It's horrible! Manami just had an accident!"

(Mm? That's all? That's no news to me. I've been watching, after all. Well, I haven't only watched, though.)

The information hadn't been long in coming. I suspected the ambulance had called the most recent contact in the call history of the victim's mobile phone.

The person on the other end told me what hospital the culprit had been brought to. The class was planning to assemble there. At first, I wanted to decline, but then I had the feeling that this would hurt my social contacts.

So I had no other choice but to leave it at this for that day and go.

(Well, I can meet her anytime -- by chance. And next time we will have a dramatic encounter for sure. One she will never forget.)

(For this, I shall exercise patience.)

♦

Reflected in the glass of a shelf, which was stuffed with porcelain and ceramic crockery, one could see a young man.

That young man had somewhat disheveled hair -- it was apparent that he hadn't blown them dry -- and wore a unironed black shirt and a pair of black jeans. In fact, it was me.

More than anything, my eyes, which were famous for looking listless and sleepy, looked a lot sleepier than usual.

In other words, there was that little work -- as always.

In concreto, not a single customer had been here since I took over from Saki. To be honest, I was doubting if an employee was even necessary, while I was not in the position to say that.

But despite the poor sales, the owner, Towako-san, didn't fire any of us.

And as long it stayed that way, I wasn't going to quit of my own accord -- which had a reason.

I was still indebted to Towako-san. Until I settled that debt, I could not possibly quit.

While I had never asked Saki for her reason to stay here, I supposed it was a similar reason for her.

At the moment she was having a break in the back section of the shop.

A door at the rear wall of the room connected the shop to a dwelling, whose ground floor consisted of a living room, a kitchen and a restroom. One floor higher, there were Saki and Towako-san's rooms as well as a storage room.

Beyond the open door I spotted Saki in the living room, absorbed in a book. Incidentally, the title of the book was "Charismatic Customer Service made easy!".

On the cover was a woman, all tarted up like in Shibuya and its environs, who gave a peace sign while smiling at the camera. ...It's important to improve ourselves. It's bound to come to good use.

Hence, I said nothing and watched her caringly. Not that I couldn't bother correcting her!

"There's just too little to do..."

Out of boredom I carefully touched scab on the back of my hand.

Because I had saved Saki from an accident the day before, I had grazed my hand. As one day had passed since, some scab had formed.

While wavering whether I should already scrape it off or not, and then deciding against it, the entry door opened and the attached bell rang.

Two middle schoolers, who wore the same uniform as the girl on the day before, entered. As far as I knew, the uniform was from a private middle school nearby.

Saki's words crossed my mind.

---Yes, I couldn't sell anything this time, but such a happy customer is bound to visit us again.

(Did she really advertise us to her friends or something?)

"Never."

While I was in such thoughts, one of the students sharped her piercing glance and stomped toward the register while shaking her twin tails loose.

"Hey, do you remember the girl yesterday with the same uniform?"

"Uh? Err, yes. We certainly had such a customer."

"She had an accident," she said out of the blue, catching me off-guard.

"Well, I am sorry to hear that," I replied without finding any soothing words.

"Are you saying this while knowing whose fault it is?"

"Whose fault...?"

"This shop's, of course!" she shouted as she banged the counter.

I was once again surprised by her unexpected accusation, but I couldn't stay staggered all the time.

"You say our shop is at fault... I am afraid I cannot quite follow you?"

"She told me by phone that this shop mocked at her by proposing only eerie cursed stuff to her although she only wanted to buy a lucky charm. Can you believe it? In the end some scary stone was forced upon her and she was driven away to a shrine!"

I looked at a small basket on the counter that was filled with 100 yen stones. We were selling stones with strange shapes or colors for 100 yen, just like cheap accessory shops often do. If memories doesn't fail me, Saki gave her one as a welcome present, but apparently the girl thought it was a cursed stone.

(Fair enough, if you are attended to like that...)

"Apologize right now for forcing such a cursed stone upon her!"

To be honest, I couldn't help sighing. Cursed stone? That was complete bullshit. A false accusation taken to the extremes.

I could understand that the shock of a friend's accident would make her want to cast the blame on somebody, but she was completely misdirected. If anything, she should have gone to the one who made the accident.

"Listen, I'm sorry for your friend. I really am. But it's absurd to blame the accident on such a stone, you know? Besides, the articles our shop assistant proposed weren't really cursed or anything. There's no connection to that accident whatsoever. It's pure coincidence!" I countered, stopping to bother about a polite tone.

The girl, however, shook her head.

"I thought so, too. At first."

"?"

The girl banged the counter once more. Under her hand, which she pulled away, appeared another stone that looked the same.

"Another friend bought this stone here! The day she bought it, she fell on the tracks and was run over... Coincidence, you say? Two people had such a stone and both of them had an accident! Do you still claim it's coincidence?!"

(It is. It is but mere coincidence.)

It was easy to say so. But making her accept it seemed difficult. I'd gotten into trouble.

"Anyway, calm down. You've scared your little friend over there, too, after all..."

"What can I do?" asked Saki, who had stopped reading and come here without me noticing. She had probably overheard us.

"What can I do to make you happy? Please, say whatever you want."

I had thought she would take offense by such a false accusation, but apparently, Saki felt responsibility in her way.

"As I said, apologize right now!"

"I'm sorry. I can't apologize for that."

You just did, I was about to remark, but I didn't want to be a faultfinder.

"There's no such power to these stones. I am sorry for your friend, but I can't blame this stone and apologize," Saki said and took one of the power stones (fake) on the counter. "So I'm afraid I can't say sorry, but if there is anything I can do to make you happy, please tell me. What can I do?"