A few days later, in the evening, Masashi and Kazumi arrived at the ballroom where the class reunion was being held.
The ballroom was large, and as soon as they walked in, they felt a warm atmosphere. There were many guests inside, the music was blasting, and young people could be seen drinking and dancing everywhere.
The two approached the front desk and spoke with the receptionist, who then escorted them to a large private room.
Inside, they saw many familiar faces. However, for Masashi, he only recognized them through the memories in his mind. He didn't feel any emotional connection to them—just strangers he had once known.
"Excuse me, are you..." A young man walked over when he saw Masashi and Kazumi enter.
"Hello, you must be Nagashima, right? I'm Masashi," said Masashi.
"What? You're Hirota Masashi? You've changed so much!" Nagashima exclaimed.
"Have I?" Masashi unconsciously touched his face.
"You must be Masashi's sister, Kazumi? You don't seem to have changed much," Nagashima said, turning to Kazumi.
"Hello," Kazumi said indifferently.
Nagashima smiled. As expected, she hadn't changed much in terms of personality either.
Masashi's relationships in middle school weren't outstanding, but they were better than in high school. Several classmates he had cheated and copied homework with were surprised to see him, but they quickly warmed up and started chatting.
The high school students' topics were typically about who was studying where, which new girlfriend someone had, which celebrity had been caught in a hotel room, what new games had been released, which beauty they'd met at school, and so on. Masashi held back yawns and listened with half an ear.
Masashi initially came to the reunion to encourage Kazumi to socialize more and improve her reclusive personality, but it didn't seem to have much effect. Kazumi wore a cool expression and had an aloof demeanor, creating a vacuum of space around her.
"How is it? Bored?" Masashi quietly asked her.
Kazumi didn't answer, but her gaze clearly answered the question.
Masashi didn't know what to do with her. He scanned the room and saw a deck of cards on a table, so he stood up and grabbed them.
Sitting back down, Masashi shuffled the cards with practiced hands.
With a confused look from Kazumi, Masashi held the shuffled deck with the back of the cards facing him and extended it toward her.
"Pick one. Don't let me see which one you choose," Masashi said with a smile.
Encouraged by his look, Kazumi randomly picked one.
"Remember the card you picked?" Masashi asked.
Kazumi nodded.
"Place it face down in the middle of the other cards. Remember not to let me see," Masashi instructed, laying the full deck in front of her.
Kazumi followed his instructions and inserted the card into the middle of the deck.
Masashi shuffled the deck again, twice, then spread out all the cards, faces down.
"My sixth sense tells me this one…" Masashi said with a smile, flipping over a card— it was the 2 of Hearts.
"This one isn't it," he said, flipping another card.
"This one isn't either."
Masashi continued flipping five cards.
Kazumi smiled and asked, "Are you going to flip all the cards?"
Just then, Masashi pulled out a card, "This one, right?"
Kazumi looked surprised and nodded. It was indeed the card she had picked.
Masashi smiled and placed the card down, continuing to shuffle as he said, "That was just a warm-up; the real fun is yet to come."
He handed the full deck to Kazumi, asking her to hold it tightly with both hands. Then he spread his hands to show her, "Look, I don't have anything in my hands, but..."
Before he could finish, a 7 of Diamonds unexpectedly appeared in his palm.
"Ah," Kazumi exclaimed, unable to stop herself.
"Strange, this isn't the card I wanted," Masashi muttered.
He flipped his hand, revealing a King of Hearts.
"Wrong again."
The King of Hearts turned into a 2 of Spades.
"How is this wrong again?" Masashi said helplessly.
The 2 of Spades instantly transformed into a Queen of Flowers.
Kazumi watched in shock as Masashi kept changing the cards.
"How are you doing this?" Kazumi asked as she grabbed his hand to examine it.
"It's a secret," Masashi said mysteriously, winking.
"You're such a tease! Tell me!" Kazumi pouted.
"The best part hasn't come yet, no need to rush. Here, shuffle the cards yourself," Masashi said, handing her the deck.
Reluctantly, Kazumi began shuffling the cards.
"Are you done?" Masashi asked.
Kazumi nodded.
Masashi took the deck, divided it into four piles, and suddenly snapped his fingers. He revealed the first card of each pile—each was an Ace.
Kazumi widened her eyes, about to speak, but Masashi shook his head, flipped the four Aces over so their backs faced up, and placed the remaining cards on top of them. Then, with another snap of his fingers, he revealed the first card of each pile again—and they were the same four Aces that had been at the bottom.
"Brother, please tell me how this works!" Kazumi whined, holding his hand.
Just then, a clear voice interrupted them, "That's amazing! How did you do it?"
Masashi turned to see two beautiful girls, one in a lavender dress and the other in a white skirt. The girl in the lavender dress had spoken.
Behind them were two handsome boys.
"Just a little trick, nothing special," Masashi said casually.
"What's your name? I don't think I've seen you before," the girl in the lavender dress asked.
"My name is Gennai Masashi, and this is my sister Gennai Kazumi."
"Gennai? There's no Gennai in our class. Did you know that?" The girl in the white skirt shook her head, and the two boys behind them also gestured that they didn't know.
"Sakurako, he used to be Hirota Masashi, but changed his surname," one of the boys who had talked to Masashi earlier interjected.
"Ah, so it's Masashi! I remember now. You've changed so much!" Sakurako said, unable to connect the plain boy she once knew with the current Masashi.
"Can you show us another trick?" Sakurako asked, curious.
"Sakurako, let's go dance outside. What's the point of watching this childish trick?" one of the boys in a denim outfit said, looking at Masashi with a provocative smile.
"This may be a childish trick, but unfortunately, some people just can't figure it out. Such a pity," Masashi sighed dramatically, staring at the boy with an irritating smile.
"You dare do it again?" The boy in the denim outfit sneered.
Masashi smiled and casually split the deck into two piles, then expertly shuffled the cards. The cards flew through the air like they were dancing, drawing gasps from the others.
When he finished, Masashi laid the cards out in a row, face down as before. "Pick a card, and remember it."
The boy picked a card, glanced at it, and placed it face down on the table, hiding it from Masashi.
"Place it in the middle," Masashi said, placing the remaining cards in front of him.
The boy carefully put the card in the middle and handed the deck back to Masashi.
Masashi shuffled the deck again, then spread the cards out. The boy stared intently, trying to find a flaw.
Just as Masashi was about to flip the first card, he suddenly said, "Oh, I forgot. The card isn't here. Please check your pocket."
The boy, confused, opened his jacket pocket and was shocked to find the card he had picked inside. He stood frozen, speechless, as the others cheered loudly.