01 Sakurako
I wonder when I first learned about magic?
By the time I was old enough to remember, it was naturally just… there.
It wasn’t something “convenient” or anything like that. My grandmother would chant long incantations like she was telling a story and light a tiny flame on the palm of her hand.
It was so beautiful and fantastical that I was completely captivated.
But when I said,
“Magic is so amazing!”
my grandmother would look happy, yet also a bit sad.
“Yes, magic is amazing, but… it isn’t very useful.”
“It isn’t useful?”
“In the old days, things like fire and water were precious, so it seems it was helpful. But today is an era where anything can be done easily. A room gets bright with a single switch, and water comes out if you turn a faucet. There is almost no need for magic anymore.”
That was a shock to me, since I looked up to magic, and I remember feeling a bit dejected.
Seeing me like that, my grandmother smiled apologetically and said in a small voice, as if revealing a special secret:
“But you know, there is one magic that will grant a wish just once.”
“Grant a wish? Any wish?”
“Well, it depends on the wish, but you might even be able to do something incredible.”
“Why only once?”
“Because there is only one truly important wish in a lifetime. That’s why the magic that grants that wish is called the [Last Magic]. Also, you must never tell anyone about this. It’s a secret from your mother and father, too. It’s a secret just for the two of us, me and Sakurako.”
Saying that, Grandma winked and put her index finger to her lips.
I did the same and laughed.
Grandma was a mage, but her job was as a fortune teller.
She had a “Fortune Telling Hall” in the basement of a nondescript building near Urayasu Station. There, she wore a black hooded robe like the Evil Queen from Snow White. Of course, only the outfit was “evil”; her face was as kind as Santa Claus.
Inside the shop, it felt a bit dark and scary.
When I asked, “Why do you make it so scary?”
she said:
“Atmosphere is important for this kind of thing. People think it’s more mystical if it’s a little scary. When they do, customers start telling me all sorts of things, which makes it easier for me to give advice.”
“Advice? Aren’t you using magic to tell their futures?”
“I can’t see the future with magic. All I can do is give them a tiny little push on the back.”
With that, Grandma smiled.
If she wasn’t using magic, what was the point of fortune-telling?
I thought it was strange, but it seemed Grandma’s shop was surprisingly prosperous.
Furthermore, the people who had their fortunes told by her always left with relieved, peaceful faces. That made me proud.
However, Grandma, who said she couldn’t see the future, did clearly foresee the future exactly once. It was my grandfather’s illness.
Grandpa was a man who wore black-rimmed glasses and had a straight back; he looked like a difficult person.
He had already retired, but he had worked at the city hall for a long time. He was exactly as he looked—a serious man who could be a bit inflexible. But I liked Grandpa’s dignified air, and it’s because of him that I started keeping my posture straight; I think I was quite influenced by him. Most of all, he and Grandma got along very well.
When my grandparents were visiting my house, Grandma suddenly grabbed Grandpa’s hand and shouted:
“Go to the hospital right now! You have cancer!”
Everyone was stunned. Grandma was a mage, but she was a sensible person and had never said anything so outrageous before.
Hearing this, Grandpa frowned behind his black-rimmed glasses.
“Don’t say such foolish things so suddenly. I get my checkup every year, so I’m fine.”
However, my mother, who was their daughter, was very worried because it was the first time Grandma had ever said something like that.
“Dad, let’s just go for now. If nothing’s wrong, then we can at least be relieved.”
I also felt uneasy and said to Grandpa:
“Grandpa, let’s go to the hospital? I’ll go with you.”
Then, Grandpa said:
“If you all go that far, I’ll get tested tomorrow. But Sakurako, you must go to kindergarten properly.”
He gently stroked my head.
Grandpa was a meticulous man who always did what he said, so the next day he went to the hospital and had an exam.
──And cancer was discovered.──
He was hospitalized immediately.
We went to visit him right away. Grandpa, lying on the hospital bed, softened his serious face a little and said:
“They caught it early, so it’s no problem. I guess I should trust what a mage says after all.”
I remember seeing his face and thinking, “Ah, he really is going to be okay,” and feeling relieved.
Grandma, sitting by the bed, said nothing and just peeled the visitor apples for all of us.
Actually, the surgery seemed to go well. Grandpa was discharged after a few months in the hospital and returned to his healthy self right away.
Since we didn’t think magic could do such a thing, we asked Grandma over and over, “How did you do it?” Since she only found the cancer and didn’t cure it, I didn’t think it was the [Last Magic].
But every time she was asked, Grandma looked a bit dazed and said:
“I don’t really remember it well.”
She looked troubled. She didn’t look like she was lying; it seemed she truly felt that way.
A small problem also arose. The story spread to various places and became a rumor (I had also told my friends at kindergarten).
“A mage predicted cancer.”
Actually, stories of mages making prophecies had apparently existed for a long time, and even now, that hasn’t been fully explained. This is because the mages themselves don’t understand it either.
It was the same as with Grandma.
However, the world wouldn’t leave it at that.
Predicting cancer was, after all, such a sensational thing.
The rumors grew and grew, and about a year later, she was finally invited to appear on a television program. Honestly, we thought Grandma would refuse because she didn’t remember the prediction well, but for some reason, she agreed to appear.
“I thought it would make for a nice memory,”
Grandma said with a gentle smile.
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On the day of the TV recording, our family and Grandpa watched Grandma’s magic from the audience seats. My heart was pounding, wondering what would happen.
Even in front of the TV cameras, Grandma chanted her incantations gently as always and produced fire and water. She wasn’t doing anything particularly grand, but perhaps because she was a fortune teller, she was good at the presentation, so it looked impressive in its own way.
After proving she was a real mage, the show’s host, who wore an oversized bowtie, asked:
“So, how did you predict the cancer?”
Grandma said cheerfully:
“I don’t really remember that part very well.”
At that answer, the host acted out an exaggerated look of disappointment before pressing her further.
“Then, can’t you use any other kind of ‘amazing’ magic?”
His words were a bit provocative. He probably wanted to hype things up for the show.
But Grandma replied,
“Oh, I can. I have a very special magic.”
as if it were no big deal.
Our family hadn’t heard anything about this, so we were shocked.
Naturally, the host jumped on it, looking like he’d just secured a great bit of footage.
“Then please, use that magic right here, right now!”
“I don’t mind. But nothing will happen. Is that still okay?”
Grandma responded softly, as if teaching a child.
Special magic, but nothing would happen. It made no sense.
The host felt the same way.
“Eh? Nothing happens? Even though it’s magic?”
“Rather, no one will notice. Because it’s too amazing.”
Grandma smiled mischievously.
“I don’t really get it, but for now, could you give it a try?”
Hurried by the confused host, Grandma began to chant an incantation sonorously.
They were special words that only a mage would understand, unintelligible to ordinary people.
It was performed with a solemn, mysterious melody—like a hymn or a folk song—and just seeing and hearing it was a spectacle in itself. For some reason, tears were streaming down Grandma’s face, and the TV camera captured it in a zoom-up.
Eventually, the incantation ended, and the studio became quiet.
And then──just as Grandma had said, nothing happened.
“Um… is that it?” the host asked timidly.
Grandma answered with full confidence.
“Yes, that’s it. Because the magic was a success.”
Ignoring the buzzing studio, Grandma’s expression was brighter than I had ever seen it, and her gaze was directed at us in the audience.
It was a very gentle look, full of affection, as if she had accomplished something great.
Surely, something incredible had happened. Even if we didn’t understand it.
I could never forget that look in her eyes, and that was when I decided I wanted to be a mage.
That program was broadcast almost exactly as it was recorded. People thought, “As expected, magic is useless,” and it didn’t get a very good reputation.
I was teased mercilessly by the kids at kindergarten who had watched the show.
“Sakurako’s grandma is a fraud.”
It was so frustrating and sad that I started staying by myself.
My dad and mom also had various things said to them by people at work and in the neighborhood.
They tilted their heads in confusion, wondering,
“What on earth was Grandma trying to do?”
So, when I said,
“I want to be a mage, too,”
they didn’t look happy about it.
“It’s more impressive to work hard at your studies and sports,”
they said, brushing me off.
Both my dad and mom liked Grandma and didn’t hate magic, but they didn’t want their daughter to pursue it.
Since I only wanted to be a mage for a vague reason myself, I couldn’t argue strongly. And so, carrying that internal gloom, I welcomed my elementary school entrance ceremony in a gray mood.
That’s where I met her: the energetic girl with a ponytail sitting in the seat in front of me.
The moment the teacher finished her explanation, she spun around with great momentum and asked:
“Hey, can you use magic?”
Here we go again, I thought. There had been many kids who had asked if I could use magic just for the sake of asking. Those kids would quickly lose interest once they found out magic wasn’t that big of a deal.
“I can’t. Only my grandmother can. My dad and mom can’t use it either.”
“Will you be able to use it someday?”
“…Don’t you know? You can only use magic for exactly ten seconds. That’s why it’s useless.”
I didn’t actually want to say that. I wanted to say magic is amazing. But I had been told it was “useless” so many times by the people around me. If they were going to be disappointed in the end, it was better to disappoint them at the start. That’s what I thought.
But the ponytail girl smiled brightly.
“Being able to use it for ten seconds is amazing! Even the 100m dash in the Olympics takes about ten seconds, so ten seconds is a long time!”
“Ten seconds is… long?”
It was the first time anyone had ever said that to me.
“It’s long, it’s long! That’s plenty of time!”
As she said it, she nodded violently. Because of that, her ponytail bounced around like a real horse’s tail. She was the kind of girl who could make you feel energetic just by being around her.
And then, she declared it for me.
“Then, Sakurako-chan, your future is definitely going to be as a mage!”
Shiba Rin.
That was my meeting with my lifelong friend.
—
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