Chap 148:lady luck 2
"So… all this time, you’ve been with me?" Takumi stared at her with wide, uncertain eyes, his brows pinched together, unsure.
Lady Luck tilted her head, a playful smile curling on her glossy lips. Her lashes fluttered in that teasing, slow Southern way of hers as she drew out her words.
"Well…" she hummed, stretching the vowel as she placed a hand on her hip, "not always, sugar. Just the lil’ moments. Sometimes I’m here~…" She twirled a finger in the air with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Sometimes I’m there~…"
He opened his mouth to speak, but she wagged a finger at him with a smirk.
"And before you can open your pie-hole," she said, her tone both chiding and affectionate, "I know what you’re fixin’ to ask. Why, right?" She leaned closer, voice dropping into a soft, warm purr. "It’s ’cause you’re my son."
Takumi breath caught, shoulders tensing. "S-son?" he echoed.
Lady Luck’s grin softened into something tender, though still edged with that flirtatious sparkle she couldn’t quite shut off.
"Yup," she said, popping the word proudly. "Molded straight outta the cookie cutter. A lil’ piece o’ my soul tucked right inside ya, hm." A quiet, sweet laugh slipped from her—"Hehehe…"—like jingling silver coins.
"But… I-I—" he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck, his face paling.
She placed two fingers under his chin, lifting it gently. "Had a life?" Her voice softened further, almost mournful for just a second before the charm returned. "Yup, but that’s the old you, hon." She tapped his chest lightly with a painted nail. "This new life? I hit the jackpot with you on the very first pull of the lever."
She winked, her smile blooming like a lucky hand of cards.
*clink* just in time to the sound of the roulette wheel stop spinning. Number twenty two.
Lady Luck let out a slow breath, her shoulders relaxing as she leaned back, gaze drifting upward as though she were watching old memories flicker across the ceiling.
“See, my whole life,” she began, voice softer now, touched with a hint of lonely nostalgia, “I’ve been walkin’ my own lonesome road for a mighty long time.”
Her smile twisted, not quite sad, but carrying the weight of centuries. “And don’t you go askin’ what that road was like, unless you’re plannin’ on tryin’ to do the same foolhardy thing I did.”
She tapped a finger against her temple, then her heart.
“I watch over mortals and gods, demons and whole universes alike,” she said, her tone shifting into something grand yet still sugar-sweet. “I bless folks with good fortune… or I don’t.”
Her eyes sparkled wickedly. “And when I don’t, well, darlin’, that’s where bad luck comes from.”
She paused, folding her arms and tapping her foot as if recalling a sudden burst of inspiration. A blush of pride colored her cheeks.
“So, I got myself an idea one day.” Her smile grew, slow and wide. “Why don’t I make someone like me?”
Her voice dipped into a soft, almost reverent whisper.
“I done chipped off the teeniest lil' sliver of my own self..."
Her hands moved delicately in the air, shaping something small and fragile.
“…carefully craftin’ it, moldin’ it, tendin’ it, until it became a teeny-tiny little soul—small enough to be born as a regular human.”
Her eyes softened with a tender glow, as if she were remembering holding a newborn.
“When that human died… that’s when my power could claim him. When he could be mine again.”
A slow, radiant smile spread across her face.
“My little child,” she whispered, reaching out as though brushing his cheek with an invisible hand. “My son. My ace. My chosen one. Is you.”
Every word dripped warmth and pride, her Southern cadence wrapping around him like a silk ribbon.
“Made just so I could watch over.” A shimmer of golden light seemed to dance in her eyes.
“Someone I could love with all my bein’… someone I could guide, nurture, protect from afar.” Her voice deepened, filled with an immortal, unshakeable devotion.
“Someone who would forever be guarded, cherished, blessed… for his entire life.”
She leaned in close, her smile tender and possessive all at once.
“For you belong to me, sugar.”
Takumi raised a hand between them, gently but firmly pushing her back. His palm trembled slightly. “I’m sorry, but—” He swallowed hard. “This is… a bit fast for me. And there’s plenty you haven’t explained yet.”
Lady Luck blinked at him, then let out a soft, lilting laugh. She fall back to her seat, placing her soft hand on her chest, feigning a dramatic swoon.
“Ask away then, love,” she said with a sweet smile, her eyes sparkling.
“Where is here?” Takumi cast his gaze around, brow furrowing.
“My… hm.” She twirled a loose curl around her finger, thinking. Her nose scrunched in an adorable, almost kittenish way. “I s’pose you’d call it heaven? Not sure if it fits that picture you got in your head, but every god’s got their own heaven. And this one’s mine.”
“Earlier, you said I was between life and death.” Takumi nodded slowly, still overwhelmed.
Lady Luck hummed, tapping her chin with a bright red nail. “Oh, I did.” She gave him a knowing wink. “And you can go back.”
His lips parted. “Wouldn’t you—”
She cut him off with a flutter of her hand and an exaggerated gasp.
“Be mad? No, gosh no, hun.” She shook her head so hard her curls bounced. “The one thing a mama loves to see more than anything is her child bein’ happy.” Her smile softened.
“And of course… I see you have a wife.”
Takumi blinked. “You’re not mad?”
She laughed, warm, airy, amused. “No, nah, honeycake.” She stepped closer, tapping his nose lightly. “Who do you think put you in that universe?” Her grin turned sly. “I don’t mind if my boy’s got a girl. Hell, you can have two, maybe three even.”
"Mama don’t judge.” She shrugged, grinning like she’d just played a winning hand.
Takumi stared at her, speechless. Then, taking a steadying breath, he slowly rose to his feet.
“…So, I’ll be going then.” He hesitated, the word awkward on his tongue.
“Mom.”
Lady Luck’s smile went soft and proud, a glow of affection warming her face. “Uh huh.”
She stepped close, cupping his cheek before giving him a gentle peck.
Then she leaned in, her breath brushing his ear in a whisper soft as velvet. “Let me tell you this, luck is when you take chances, son. I reckon I see why you fixin' to make plans and all… but sometimes, you just gotta take the hand that dealt the cards, ya hear?”
Before he could reply, a brilliant white light swallowed his vision. A warm, blinding light pull him off the floor. Lady Luck’s voice lingered, fading like the last ring of a spinning roulette wheel.