When Shoichi Kano cut the unknown male Curse User into a heap of flesh, Hiroshi Yamakawa suddenly felt much lighter in his ward at the University of Tokyo Hospital, far away.
If he had to describe it, it was as though some burden that had been weighing on his chest had suddenly vanished. All he felt now was the weakness left by his depleted energy, rather than the pain he had suffered before.
That reminded Hiroshi Yamakawa of his strange experience the night before. Half asleep, he seemed to have seen a woman wearing a mask who called herself "Shoichi Kano's mom." Too groggy to question her identity, he had believed her and answered a few questions in fits and starts.
Only when he recalled it that morning did he realize that Shoichi Kano's mother seemed to have died long ago, so he dismissed the experience as a strange dream. As for the woman's parting words, "You'll be better very soon," he took those as the nonsensical ramblings of a dream.
But... the relief he felt after that burden vanished was real. It left him confused, unable to figure out what had happened.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman had only just arrived and had yet to destroy the evidence when a phone rang inside the taxi.
Shoichi Kano slowly dragged himself to his feet and shuffled over to the driver's seat, where he found a flip phone tossed on the seat. Perhaps it belonged to that man?
He picked it up and flipped it open. The caller's name on the screen was "Mr. Bayer." If Kano remembered correctly, this was the leader of the Q Organization.
"Who's calling?" The Slit-Mouthed Woman had just deployed a Simple Domain and used Cursed Energy to annihilate the scraps of flesh. Seeing Shoichi Kano staring blankly at the phone, she asked out of curiosity.
"This guy's boss," Shoichi Kano blurted out instinctively, then added, "He told me during the fight that he was with the Q Organization."
"The Q Organization?" The Slit-Mouthed Woman put her mask back on. "That rings a bell. But as far as I remember... they didn't have anyone particularly strong."
Shoichi Kano pressed the answer button.
"Hey! Kobayashi! Explain why your Cursed Technique stopped working!" The moment the call connected, before Shoichi Kano could speak, a gruff voice exploded over the line, making his ears ache. "Our clients are demanding answers! Do you know how much compensation we'll have to pay?! And quite a few of them are rich and powerful!"
Shoichi Kano suddenly felt numb-he hadn't expected even the rich and powerful to hire Curse Users to use that life-draining Cursed Technique... for their own benefit.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman actually laughed. "Sometimes, the things you humans do to other humans aren't any different from what we Cursed Spirits do to you, are they?"
"Oh, right." She suddenly slapped her thigh, as though something had occurred to her. "Whatever else we Cursed Spirits might do, we don't pay other Cursed Spirits to harm our own kind."
Shoichi Kano's mouth twitched. Unable to argue, he could only sigh.
Only after the man on the other end finished rattling off a torrent of abuse did Shoichi Kano speak. "Hello, are you done? Could you let me say a few words?"
The man finally noticed something was off. "Oh? Who are you? Where's Kobayashi?"
"If the Kobayashi you mean is a Jujutsu Sorcerer with a life-draining Cursed Technique..." Shoichi Kano steeled himself and decided to take responsibility for the killing. After all, he had killed to save his friend, so he could justify it both morally and logically. "Then I killed him."
"..." The other end went silent for over ten seconds. Just as Kano thought the man would fly into a rage, he laughed instead. "Hahahaha! You sound pretty young. Are you even an adult?"
"If you could kill Kobayashi, you must be at least a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Interested in joining us?"
"No." Shoichi Kano was ready to hang up. "You go your way, and I'll go mine."
Mr. Bayer apparently lacked the education to understand that Chinese saying translated into Japanese, but he could still grasp what "not interested" meant, so he immediately cut Kano off. "What do you want? Money? Status? Women?"
"As long as you join us, you can have all of those."
Shoichi Kano's eyes lit up-money? That was exactly what he needed!
With the advantage of having read the script, he also knew that this organization would end up being wiped out as easily as stray dogs by Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto during the Star Plasma Vessel Incident. He therefore felt no guilt whatsoever about scamming them out of their money.
So he immediately agreed. "I've changed my mind."
The Slit-Mouthed Woman was taken aback, too. This kid had just been spouting one "righteous" declaration after another, yet the moment the other party offered money, he switched sides? Humans really were strange creatures!
Following Mr. Bayer's directions, Kano drove Mr. Kobayashi's taxi-its owner certainly had no objections-and took the Slit-Mouthed Woman to a designated hotel in central Tokyo.
Although Kano didn't have a driver's license in this life yet, he had driven in his previous life and learned about Japan's traffic laws through some driving games. Taking the car out on the road was no challenge for him.
After he parked, exchanged the password with the front desk, and took the elevator to the designated floor, two security guards giving off fluctuations of Cursed Energy immediately approached the elevator to greet them.
They looked a little startled at the sight of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, but quickly forced themselves to act normal and gestured for them to proceed.
As the two walked past the guards, the Slit-Mouthed Woman remarked quietly, "Cursed Energy but no Cursed Technique. Their potential is probably capped right there."
The staff led Kano and his companion to the door of a Presidential Suite. Someone politely knocked before opening it with a master key card.
The instant the door opened, the tall man waiting inside froze for a moment, then immediately dropped into a fighting stance!
The man had long hair and wore a white military coat draped over his shoulders, giving him the flamboyant look of someone playing at being a high-ranking officer.
His reaction was mainly because... he had initially thought Shoichi Kano would come alone. He hadn't expected him to bring a Cursed Spirit who looked rather difficult to handle!
And since the room was clearly far larger than an ordinary hotel room, quite a few other people were inside with him. They all instinctively adopted their own fighting stances, surrounding Shoichi Kano and his companion!
"You must be Mr. Bayer." Considering that this man might become his future financial backer, Shoichi Kano remained reasonably respectful. "Um... please calm down. We mean no harm."
"This... this Miss Cursed Spirit is..." Kano wanted to introduce the Slit-Mouthed Woman, but struggled for a long time without getting the words out.
He felt he still couldn't bring himself to say that word in public. Indulging that particular kink in a little private play was one thing...
Seeing Shoichi Kano stammering for so long without managing a complete sentence, the Slit-Mouthed Woman simply gave his backside a "kick of love." At most, it had enough force to kill a cockroach-not Kurourushi-so it only made Kano stumble.
In her eyes, Bayer was the only person in the room with any real ability. The rest were worthless small fry. Even if negotiations broke down, she and Kano could easily join forces and withdraw safely.
She was therefore perfectly relaxed, without the slightest tension at being surrounded by sorcerers.
"What's your relationship with this Cursed Spirit?" Bayer stared straight at Kano and pressed him for an answer.
Kano stammered for ages and still couldn't say it. The Slit-Mouthed Woman was visibly about to give him another kick.
"She's a woman who could become my mother!!!!" Figuring that everyone here would probably die later in the plot anyway, Kano hardened his resolve and threw his dignity out the window.
His sudden shout even startled Bayer, who had leaned closer.
After that, the misunderstanding was naturally cleared up. Bayer asked him about some details of the battle to confirm that Kobayashi really had died at his hands.
Once that was confirmed, under the Q Organization's unwritten rules, Kobayashi's unclaimed bonuses and assets automatically passed to Shoichi Kano.
"There's one more thing I need to confirm." With the tension gone, Bayer, Kano, and his companion naturally sat down to talk. A maid even brought them tea. "If things work out, I can also arrange a chance for you to make a fortune."
The Slit-Mouthed Woman didn't even remove her mask, clearly having no real intention of drinking the tea. She merely toyed with the teaspoon in her cup, stirring it over and over.
"If there really is a chance to get rich..." Worried that her boy would throw caution to the wind at the mention of money and leave her with no one to play with, the Slit-Mouthed Woman immediately cut in. "You're the one calling the shots in this organization. Why not keep it all for yourself? Why share it with anyone else?"
"Well, naturally," Bayer answered honestly, "I can't handle such a big prize on my own. I have no choice but to share it with everyone."
Kano sniffed the black tea in his cup, made sure it wasn't drugged to knock him out, then cautiously took a sip. "So... Mr. Bayer, what is it you want to confirm?"
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