Even in Hell 7

Tsumugi: Hey, wait! You’re Sakasaki Natsume-kun, aren’t you?

Natsume: Yes, I am the magician of Yumenosaki Academy... Sakasaki Natsume. If you pay the price, I can make all your worries disappear ♪

Tsumugi: I knew it! So, do you remember me?

Natsume: Um...?

Tsumugi: Well, it figures you forgot~ We were both little kids back then.

I thought I might have the wrong person, but you have a pretty unusual name, right? Sakasaki Natsume.

Natsume: Excuse me? I’m sorry, but I don’t really know what you’re talking about...?

Did you not hear a rumor about me and come to discuss your problems...?

Tsumugi: Oh, well I’ve heard rumors that you’re a fortune teller, yes.

But that isn’t why I was interested in you; it was your name!

Natsume-kun—I can call you that, right? Since I’m older than you? Natsume-kun, is your mother a fortune teller, too?

Natsume: Um, yes. My mommy is the best fortune teller the world over, but...?

Tsumugi: Of course! There’s no contest when it comes to blood: apples never fall far from the tree!

I’m also pretty spiritual, myself! I put a lot of trust into charms and divination.

And just like your mom is a fortune teller, my parents also have an affinity for those sorts of things...

A looong time ago, they even fell into a certain, rather suspicious new religion.

During that time, my mother sought out someone’s advice. It turns out, that someone was your mother ♪

Natsume: Ah... Mommy loathes when businesses use spirituality as a guise to scam people.

They’re her rivals in commerce, so she’s put plenty of fraudulent psychics and religious groups out of work.

She’s taken down more than I can count... So I can’t possibly remember all of the people she’s helped.

We make a business out of helping people, so it’s more trouble than it’s worth when those people start thinking we’re giving them special treatment.

It’s misguided, as in cases where patients fall in love with their counselors.

I’ve only recently begun helping Mommy with her work.

So I apologize, but I’d rather you not thank me for something she’s done. Well, I can’t say I hate it, either.

Tsumugi: Oh, but I wanted to thank you, too! I appreciate it!

Natsume: Then why wouldn’t you thank Mommy? Though she has become rather famous nowadays...

I only get to see her every now and then, myself.

Tsumugi: I see... You must be lonely without your mom around, right?

You poor thing! You can think of me as your mother, and I’ll spoil you rotten! Come here and give me a hug ♪

Natsume: Um, this is getting very annoying, very fast...

I don’t understand what your end game is; you should sort that out before you start speaking!

Tsumugi: Oh, sorry... I got excited. So, Natsume-kun: I might be wrong about this, but...

When you were younger, didn’t you dress up in girl’s clothes?

Natsume: ...And how exactly do you know about my dark past?

Mm. It’s true that Mommy forced me to act as a girl for the purpose of her work; it was a performance. But why are you bringing this up?

Tsumugi: Aha! So you are Natsume-chan, after all... ♪

Natsume: What? Don’t tell me, you fell in love with me when you saw how cute I was—Was I your first love?

Tsumugi: Ahaha, that would be pretty romantic if it were true.

Natsume-cha—Natsume-kun, didn’t you go to an idol training school for a while?

Natsume: Umm...?

Tsumugi: Well, in name it was a dance school.

My parents ran the business, but it’s closed down now.

Natsume: Oh, I remember something about this. I think I was about five years old? I did something like that for a few weeks.

It did come off as an idol training school, like you said...

Tsumugi: Ahaha. Compared to Yumenosaki Academy, though, it was a sham of a training school, lacking in pretty much every regard.

It was more like a tiny cram school in the town.

Natsume: Hmm, back then I traveled all over the country for my parents’ work.

I don’t remember every town we visited. I was forced to take lessons in so many different fields that I nearly died.

But maybe... was it the school managed by those completely hopeless proprietors?

I remember they did ask my parents for some advice with their troubles.

But they were unable to pay the fee... so they gave me a month of free tuition at their school to cover the cost.

They had already begun the consultation, but they thought about abandoning the project altogether.

But in the end, they forced me to go to the school because they thought it would be a good way to pass the time. It was an irritating experience.

Tsumugi: Ahaha, well, I’m sorry to hear that... But you must have had the talent for it after all, huh~

You caused quite the stir back then. You really stood out from the crowd as an idol.

People talked for a long time about the mysterious, beautiful girl genius who appeared out of the blue one day.

We even used video footage of “Natsume-chan” as a reference in our classes ♪

Natsume: Couldn’t you have let the memory of my humiliation die?