Nobara Kugisaki Leaves Without a Word

After the introductions, Lin Ran sat down beside a female classmate. She seemed somewhat uneasy, fidgeting in her seat and even too embarrassed to look at him.

"Uh... I'm Lin Ran. What's your name?"

"Ah... y-you're talking to me?" The girl turned her head and immediately met Lin Ran's eyes, suddenly unable to speak.

"Hehe, yeah." Lin Ran smiled.

"Oh, oh, I'm Yamasano Megumi. Please take care of me." Yamasano Megumi immediately introduced herself, then quickly turned her head away as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, hey... did you see that? Even Megumi, that violent queen of snark, has a side like this?"

"Tell me about it. She struts around in front of us, but she looks like a completely different person in front of this new student."

Just then, the two boys gossiping about Yamasano Megumi suddenly felt a chill run down their backs, as if they had been targeted by a tiger.

They looked toward Yamasano Megumi and saw her smiling at them pleasantly.

"We're done for. Don't look at her, she'll kill us!"

"Kurusarairu!"

Lin Ran could tell as well that Yamasano Megumi's personality definitely was not like this normally, but it had nothing to do with him. She was decent-looking, but she was not his type.

Class was peaceful, and the students listened attentively. Only a small number of them seemed rather lazy.

After school, Lin Ran did not interact much with his classmates and went home alone.

A few days later, his classmates had come to see Lin Ran as the embodiment of being quiet, aloof, and arrogant.

As a result, the boys disliked him even more, while the girls loved that type and kept throwing themselves at him.

That gave Lin Ran quite a headache. He just wanted to live quietly; he did not want to date...

If the conscience in Lin Ran's heart heard that, it would definitely curse him out: "You don't not want to date. These girls just aren't your type. If you met someone you liked, you'd be all over her, wouldn't you?"

Of course, Lin Ran would not be that much of a simp either. It did not suit his image.

A week later, Lin Ran went home from school as usual, only to discover that Nobara Kugisaki, whom he often ran into, was nowhere to be seen. They normally would have met at this hour, and never later than ten minutes afterward.

But today, Lin Ran deliberately waited for half an hour and still did not see her return. He could not help wondering whether something had happened to her.

The only things that could generally give Nobara Kugisaki trouble were Cursed Spirits or cursed objects. Everyday problems definitely could not stump her; no one could stop that bold personality of hers.

In the end, Lin Ran went home and cooked for himself. Even if Nobara Kugisaki had run into trouble, he did not know where she was and could not help. Besides, he believed she would be fine.

Dinner was simple: stir-fried cucumber with ham sausage, hot and sour shredded potatoes, a serving of Sushi from a nearby convenience store, and a whole rice cooker of rice.

What Lin Ran enjoyed most was the process of cooking. Though the dishes were nothing complicated, he could still find some pleasure in it.

After dinner, Lin Ran washed the dishes and chopsticks, then checked the time on his phone. It was already seven-thirty in the evening. Nobara Kugisaki would normally definitely be home by then, yet she still had not returned.

"I'll go upstairs and take a look." Although Lin Ran knew Nobara Kugisaki was not home, he still wanted to check.

When he reached the fifth floor, Lin Ran found a small note stuck to Nobara Kugisaki's door. Only when he leaned closer could he make out the tiny writing.

"I'm leaving. Don't miss me."

Lin Ran stared blankly at the few short words on the note. She had just left like that?

"She left without saying a word..." Lin Ran had been here for nearly a month. Though he and Nobara Kugisaki only saw each other at night rather than during the day, and were not close enough to go shopping together, he had sometimes helped carry her deliveries to her door.

That showed they were much closer than strangers, yet Nobara Kugisaki had actually... actually left without saying a word, not even telling him where she was going.

Just a simple "Don't miss me"?

"Fine. Just fine. Did you think you could run away?" Lin Ran snorted as he tore the note from the door. A few days ago, when he had helped her carry a delivery, she had promised to treat him to a meal. Yet now she had actually run off.

But Nobara Kugisaki definitely would not have expected that they might meet again before long. Lin Ran was determined to mooch that meal off her.

"You still want to mooch a meal off me? Dream on. Bye-bye, Lin Ran."

At that moment, Nobara Kugisaki sat on the high-speed train, looking at the city beneath the night sky with a faint smile on her lips.

After handling matters in Sendai City, she had immediately gone back to her hometown to pack her things, then headed for the city she had always longed for. That place was her real stage, the place where she wanted to live—filled with all kinds of delicious food, well-connected transportation hubs, and every sort of novelty.

But after spending time with Lin Ran these past days, she could tell that he was a good person. They simply could not walk the same path.

Once Lin Ran learned that Nobara Kugisaki had left, he felt relieved. This was better than her encountering a Cursed Spirit outside and facing grave danger.

The following days continued as usual. Lin Ran kept intensifying his training, and his physical condition improved day by day. It seemed that he could also draw upon more and more cursed energy.

Lin Ran often ran into Yuji Itadori, but they did not speak much. Occasionally, they exchanged a smile. They could only be considered casual acquaintances.

It was not that Lin Ran did not want to get along with Yuji Itadori, but he did not want to get too close to him yet. He did not want his presence to alter the original course of this world.

Though it was possible that the moment he arrived in this world, its course had already changed, and the future could shift in an instant, becoming different from before.

That was precisely why Lin Ran needed to maintain some distance, especially from Yuji Itadori. If Lin Ran's appearance caused Yuji Itadori to miss his chance to eat Ryomen Sukuna's finger, then a whole series of chain reactions would never occur.

Lin Ran's goal was for Yuji Itadori to remain on the front lines, as the vessel feared and coveted by the Cursed Spirits. That way, the attention directed at Lin Ran would decrease without limit.

The premise was that Lin Ran did not reveal too much of his strength. Before he was fully capable of standing on his own, he still needed Yuji Itadori to serve as the public face.

It sounded a little like he was using Yuji Itadori as a shield, but Lin Ran would not let Yuji Itadori die. Even if Ryomen Sukuna gained control over Yuji Itadori's body in the future, Lin Ran would help Yuji Itadori reclaim control.

Even if it meant paying any price to fight Ryomen Sukuna, Lin Ran believed that as long as he mastered a Domain, fighting Ryomen Sukuna would not be a problem.

Though he did not know what his future Sun and Moon Domain would be like, at least it definitely would not be weak.

If he had enough Points by then, he would directly exchange them for the Deluxe Version of Domain Expansion, "Sun and Moon Rotation." It would probably be incredibly powerful.

He wondered whether it could rival Satoru Gojo's Infinite Void.