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Natsume did that thing with his hands, moving them in circles above the crystal ball, warming up for the upcoming activity.
"What do you wish to knoW, senPAI?" He asked Tsumugi, his eyes closed.
The question drew Tsumugi's attention away from the hypnotic scene. He was sitting in front of the magician, legs crossed and still wearing Switch's training suit.
"Eh... I don't really know." He answered.
When he heard Tsumugi chuckle softly, Natsume opened his eyes and intensely stared at the other.
"You suggested tHIS." He reminded him, his voice more severe.
His unitmate apologized profusely, but there wasn't a single idea running through his mind. Indeed, he had asked Natsume to show him how the crystal ball worked. He didn't think about the question part in advance though.
"I'm waitiNG..."
Tsumugi could feel Natsume's golden eyes on him despite intentionally directing his gaze to the floor. The only thing that he remembered wanting to know at some point was how Eichi was doing, but it was not intelligent to ask Natsume about that. Therefore, he had nothing.
The magician sighed and stood up, walking away from Tsumugi and his crystal ball. He turned on the lights, and while the other was getting used to their intensity Natsume left the room.
"Wait, Natsume-kun? You're forgetting this!" Tsumugi yelled, not knowing if it was okay for him to touch the crystal ball.
"I"ll be right bACK." Natsume's voice stated from far away.
"Okay..."Tsumugi mumbled, his attention drifting between the door and the magic object he had in front of him.
It was beautiful, but so it was everything Natsume worked with. The magician owned a wand, antique sorcery books, a tiny cauldron and more than one tarot deck, and everything always left Tsumugi mesmerized. The crystal ball was no different from those other objects, and Tsumugi admired its delicacy from a distance. He saw his reflection on it, quite distorted, and wondered how did Natsume see the answers inside of the sphere. Did they appear in words? Did it show a scene, like a movie?
Once again, Tsumugi tried looking for a good question and failed. He wanted to see the crystal ball glow and to answer his doubts really bad, he just didn't have any. Not in that moment. Natsume had all the right to be upset, after all it was Tsumugi who saw the divination tool inside of his backpack and asked the magician to stay after practice with him.
If he kept being impulsive and bothering Natsume constantly, would he leave his side? Would Switch disband because of Tsumugi?
He shook his head and tried to push away that thought, but in that same moment the crystal ball lit up and its shine augmented gradually until it was hard for Tsumugi to keep looking at the object directly. Still, he forced himself to take a quick look out of curiosity and fascination mixed together.
When his eyes met the glowing sphere he felt like he was being pushed inside of it. His surroundings disappeared, as he wasn't in the practice room anymore. Tsumugi was looking at himself, dressed in Switch's performing outfit and struggling to tie his hair. Then, he saw Natsume walking towards him (the other him) and silently offering his help.
Natsume was... unexpectedly taller. His hair had also grown a little and his facial expression was more mature. Tsumugi analyzed himself as well, though the biggest change in him was the length of his blue hair. He was also not wearing his glasses.
"You should just cut iT." Natsume said, admiring the little ponytail he had just made.
"I don't want to." The other Tsumugi replied, smiling.
The genuine happiness drawn in the other Tsumugi's factions surprised the viewer. It had been a long time since he hadn't felt that joyous. He didn't know what he was witnessing, if his near future or an alternative universe, but he envied the confidence that the other him had achieved.
"Do as you wISH, theN, Tsumugi."
His heart skipped a beat. Natsume, that other Natsume, probably older than the one he knew, hadn't called him senpai, or nii-san, or even insulted him.
What he saw next left him speechless. Tsumugi number two put his hand on the back of Natsume's neck and pulled him closer. The magician didn't complain about it and just let Tsumugi kiss his forehead.
What on earth was he seeing?
Sora's laughter was heard by the both of them, announcing the entrance of the blond boy. He had also grown taller (how was Tsumugi the only one who had not grown an inch?) and had a very little scar under his right eye.
"Shisho and Senpai's colors are pretty." He pointed out. "Are we going to perform soon?"
"In a few minutES." Natsume predicted.
Sora started speaking fast, excited about something, but Tsumugi suddenly felt he was being dragged out of the scene. Both the image and Sora's voice were blurry and distant. He fought to stay for a little more, but before he could do anything he was back in the practice room and the crystal ball only showed his own atonished expression.
He hadn't had enough time to recover when Natsume entered the room again, turning the lights off without warning and taking a sit in front of Tsumugi.
"WeLL? Do you have a proper questION?" He asked, adjusting the purple cloth under the ball and starting to draw circles with his hands.
Tsumugi didn't hesitate, still in shock for what he had just seen.
"Our future. Switch's future, I mean."
"You want to know if we will gain populariTY?" Natsume pondered for a couple seconds before closing his eyes and accelerating his hand movements. "I guess I'll keep it ambiguous. God knows what you mean by thAT, senPAI."
Tsumugi could hear his heart beating too fast, he feared Natsume would hear it too. He held his breath, waiting for the blinding light and for Natsume to confirm that what he had seen was a glimpse of his real future. Of their real future, together as Switch and maybe together in other aspects of life. He needed to know.
However, the crystal ball never lit up. Five whole minutes in silence passed before Natsume gave up and opened his eyes again. He leaned forward and inspected the magic object, but found nothing.
"I just used it this morNING." He mumbled, visibly frustrated.
"Natsume-kun?"
The magician ignored him and kept touching the sphere, searching for any defects. When he lifted the crystal ball and put his hand on the bottom, he noticed something and quickly turned it around.
"Oh, so that's why it won't woRK."
"What did you find?" Tsumugi asked, getting closer to his unitmate.
Natsume showed him the crystal ball. At first he saw nothing, but when the redhead twisted his wrist the light revealed a small crack.
"I knew I shouldn't have transported it in my school backpACK." He lamented. "This kind of things aren't cheap."
Tsumugi remained silent and heard Natsume complain for a while. If the crystal ball was broken, why did it show him that scene earlier. Was it never going to happen, then?
"Natsume-kun." He called, almost whispering the other's name.
"YeaH?"
"Can broken crystal balls work?"
The magician put his index finger on the tiny crack and turned his gaze to Tsumugi. The intensity of Natsume's golden eyes put a weight on the idol's chest.
"Do not trust shattered magic objects or badly-performed ritualS." He warned Tsumugi. "Why do you aSK? Did something happen while I was goNE?"
Tsumugi swallowed and forced himself to shake his head. Natsume was obviously suspicious of him, and if it wasn't for his human need to rest he would probably have asked about it. However, Natsume yawned and decided to not push Tsumugi.
The redhead carefully wrapped the damaged item with the purple cloth and closed his backpack, preparing to leave. Tsumugi, who now had a lot of questions to ask, couldn't let him without formulating one more.
"What do you think is our future, Natsume-kun?"
His unitmate, almost at the door, turned around and frown at Tsumugi.
"AgaIN, that is a incredibly ambiguous questION."
Tsumugi shrugged his shoulders and smiled, not as brightly as his alternative self from the vision.
"You can answer however you like." He stated.
Natsume's eyes met his, the same fierce energy as before wanting Tsumugi to confess even what Natsume wasn't really interested in. He resisted that powerful gaze and patiently waited for his answer.
"As SwitcH, you're stuck with me in retribution for what you did so we'll keep performiNG. I hope that over time we'll gain more fans and make more people haPPY."
Tsumugi felt some tension in the air, as if Natsume wasn't done but couldn't find the right words to continue either. He just waited.
"GeEZ, you're being weirD." Natsume looked down. "Just in case you were asking about us three on a personal leVEL, I can't speak for Sora but I assure you that you are less annoying than I paint you to bE. Don't let it go to your head thouGH."
Tsumugi couldn't help but laugh, making Natsume's face turn a beautiful shade of red.
"You are quite bad complimenting people." He told Natsume.
"Forget iT. Forget everything I said after finding the cracK, will yOU? I will definitely kick you out of Switch tomorrOW. I hate yoU. Just die alreaDY."
Natsume left the practice room slamming the door in the process and Tsumugi's smile widened. Hearing Natsume swear that he would kick Tsumugi out of Switch was exactly what he needed to confirm that they would stay together for some more time. How strange human relationships can be. And, about their potential future, Tsumugi decided that he would not bring it up. Whether it ended up being true or something different awaited them, he couldn't care less as long as he remained by Natsume's side.