Sendai, Japan
Satoru Gojo used Teleportation to take me into a pitch-black alley. When we stepped out, the street was a sea of heads, so crowded it nearly triggered my trypophobia.
"...So many people. Is this the shop with the new dessert?"
I fell silent as I stared at the line with no end in sight.
"Yep, Edano~ The line is ridiculously long, but their new strawberry shaved ice is ridiculously good!"
"Uh, how about we come back for it later? Get something else to eat first?"
I ventured.
"Nooo, nooo! Satoru wants this one~ Buy it for me, Edano~" Schoolgirl Gojo was back online. He pulled down his blindfold and fluttered his sparkling Blue eyes at me, holding my arm in both hands and swinging it back and forth.
"Okay, okay, fine. Stay right here. I'll be right back."
I can't take this. Satoru Gojo, what are you doing with that magnificent face of yours?!
With that, I squeezed into the crowd, pressing my palms together and bowing as I repeated, "Excuse me," and worked my way toward the dessert shop.
[Xiao Ba, can I buy this place?]
[Let me check... Yes, Host. Your assets are more than enough to acquire it.]
[Okay, then negotiate for me and buy it outright. If they refuse, offer more money. Take it straight from my account.]
[Host, everything has been arranged. I told them you'd be arriving shortly.]
"Phew... So many people. I'm exhausted." I looked down at my sweat-soaked self and considered for a moment. "[Cleanse]." Sure enough, I was clean and refreshed the next instant.
At the entrance, a uniformed woman who looked like the manager came up to me. After confirming my identity, she handed me a black-and-gold VIP card.
"Ms. Taketori, I'm Kiyama Enko, the manager of this shop. This is our highest-tier membership card, and currently the only one of its kind. It allows you to order without waiting in line and be the first to try our new products before they launch."
"Here's my number. Please let me know if there's anything you'd like us to improve."
"All right, Kiyama. I'd like to order one of every dessert for now. I'll be back with someone shortly."
When I returned to where we'd been standing and surveyed the busy street, I discovered a very serious problem.
Satoru Gojo, where are you?!
An even more serious problem: I didn't have his number.
Suddenly, I sensed a cursed presence and couldn't help frowning. With that intensity, was it special grade?
Following that sensation, I ran in a certain direction. Sure enough, deep in an alley, I found a perfectly relaxed Satoru Gojo and a special grade cursed spirit that hardly dared to breathe.
The two faced each other in silence.
"Hey, hey, Edano, you're finally here~ Perfect timing. You can use this special grade cursed spirit for practice."
With that, he used Teleportation to come over, grabbed me, then used Teleportation again to take me along.
"...Gojo-sensei, do all your students have to practice on special grades?"
I couldn't help asking that soul-deep question.
"Hey, hey, of course not. You're just special, Edano~ How could your teacher possibly bear to send his beloved student to her death?"
"..."
I could feel a vein throbbing at my temple.
"Fine. What's the deal with this cursed spirit?"
"A special grade cursed spirit called 'Sweetie,' born from humanity's greed for desserts.
Its cursed technique can control the direction living things grow in, such as making a tree's leaves grow inward or a person's hair grow into their skin. But every time it uses that ability, it loses a portion of its own life.
"Also, it's intelligent but can't speak. It can keep recovering by feeding on people's cravings for desserts."
"Oh, I see... Stand back, Gojo-sensei. I'm going in!"
"Go, Edano! Your teacher will put up a [Curtain] for you!" Satoru Gojo flashed to the mouth of the alley.
I waved a hand behind me, then carefully studied the cursed spirit before me. It was pink and jellylike, but had a hideous face.
"Are you really special grade? You don't look all that dangerous."
"Gurgle, gurgle!" Enraged, Sweetie opened its mouth, charged up a ball of cursed energy, and spat it at me.
Just before the ball of cursed energy reached me, I said softly, "[Disperse]." The next second, it scattered into motes of light.
"That's it? That's all you've got? Come on, hit me~"
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!"
Sweetie's body suddenly swelled, only stopping once it was as tall as a wall.
"Gurgle."
I jolted in surprise. Starting in front of Sweetie, the bricks on the ground kept transforming into spikes that surged toward me.
With a series of sharp swishes, the spikes shot up toward the sky.
Getting impaled by one of those would be no joke.
"[Thunderclap Explosion]!"
As my words fell, the spikes began ricocheting into one another and exploding with a string of cracks and bangs. Once the explosions ended, every spike had turned to rubble scattered across the ground.
My eyes curved as I smiled and spoke words that made the cursed spirit shudder. "Now it's your turn."
"[Split]."
The springy, jiggly Sweetie tried to flee, but something like an invisible hand had caught it, leaving it unable to move at all.
It could only despair as an unseen force split it into eight pieces. Then it vanished from the world.
Clapping, Satoru Gojo walked over. "What a spectacular fight~ You're amazing, Edano!" As he spoke, he rested his arm on my head and leaned against me like I was a wall.
"..." I fell silent. I was speechless. I couldn't take it anymore.
"Gojo-sensei, if there was a mission, you should've just said so! Why trick me into coming for dessert?"
"Aww~ You caught me, Edano~"
"You're the worst!" Puffing out my cheeks, I pulled the black-and-gold VIP card from my pocket and slapped it into Satoru Gojo's hand.
"Here! It's yours!"
"Oh? What's this?"
"The highest-tier membership card for that shop. Didn't you want to try their new dessert? There. Whenever they release something new, you'll be the first to try it," I said irritably.
"Oh my, has Edano become my sugar mommy? I'm so embarrassed~"
"...Who could afford to keep the head of the Gojo Clan?" I curled my lip.
Satoru Gojo tugged at my cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Edano. I promise I won't hide it from you next time."
"Mmph, yew fink dere'll be a nex' time? (You think there'll be a next time?)" I wrestled with Gojo the cat's paws and finally escaped his clutches. "Ahem, ahem. Unless... you treat me to all the good food in Sendai!"
"Hahaha, sure! Let's go, Edano! Your teacher will take you on a food tour of all Sendai!"
"Wait, wait! Satoru Gojo, if you carry me under your arm like this, I'm going to throw up all over you!!!"
"Hey, hey, no problem~ Your teacher has Limitless!"
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