Games and sweets

After Satoru Gojo made a scene, he whisked me out of the Gojo Clan estate.

Now we were on the streets of Kyoto.

"You just left like that? Aren't you afraid they'll lock you up for even longer when you get back?"

"No way," Satoru Gojo said firmly. "They only managed to seal my cursed energy before because I was still unconscious. Now that I've fully recovered, there's no way they can seal it. Besides..."

He pointed proudly at his eyes. "My Six Eyes saw every step you took to undo the seal, clear as day. I know how to undo it now!"

Seal his cursed energy again and lock him up? Not! A! Chance!

Me: "..."

I'd heard so much about the Six Eyes and read plenty of the clan's records on the Three Great Families, but this was the first time I'd felt so directly just how absurd the Six Eyes were.

-I'd only managed to get that method to work after several attempts, using an old text I happened to find at the Zenin Clan, and he learned it just by watching once!

I admitted I was a little envious.

If this world had a consciousness, he had to be its favorite son.

So I casually changed the subject.

"What are we doing here? Are you looking to buy something?"

The streets of Kyoto were as bustling as ever, no different from my last visit. The only difference was the people passing by.

Satoru Gojo said, "Of course. Why else would I come here? Speaking of which, Kuang Wu, you've been out before too, right? Are there any games you like playing?"

He'd come out this time to buy something he'd only recently discovered at a shopping mall: a game console.

The Six Eyes, sheltered away in a great feudal clan, had gone to a shopping mall to exorcise a cursed spirit on his last outing. After finishing the mission, he'd passed a store specializing in game consoles, and they'd caught his eye almost instantly.

Unfortunately, everyone had been evacuated beforehand because of the cursed spirit, and all the stores were closed. He could only look through the glass.

-This time, he was definitely going to buy the one he liked!

"Gojo, please call me Zenin," I said, correcting his overly familiar way of addressing me. "And I don't play games."

Satoru Gojo said, "Then do you read manga? Watch TV?"

I shook my head.

Everything he mentioned was popular with children this age. Although my body was still young, I really couldn't work up any interest in those things anymore.

He looked incredulous. "Then what do you do all day without ever going out? Don't tell me you're living like a retiree?"

I gave it some thought, then slowly nodded under his stunned gaze.

When I stayed home, I liked lying in the sun, eating snacks, and letting my shikigami roam around. Sometimes I'd pet the Divine Dogs, too.

-That probably wasn't much different from retirement, was it?

Still, he wasn't quite right about one thing, so I offered a small objection. "I do go out."

"What?"

"I've gone out to buy sweets, do missions, and..."

...And I'd been to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department when I hadn't quite mastered the shadow portals yet.

But that was too embarrassing to say aloud.

In any case, it wasn't like I never went out. For all I knew, I'd been out more times than he had!

"Sweets!" Satoru Gojo's eyes lit up, and he instantly forgot about his game console. "Then let's go have some sweets first!"

"Sure," I said. "But before we go, you have to answer me. Were the sweets we served you at the Zenin Clan any good?"

The taste came back to Satoru Gojo in an instant.

With a hint of disdain, he declared confidently, "Not to be rude, but Kuang Wu, your clan's cook is terrible. The desserts weren't even sweet. I've never had such-"

"If you dare say they tasted bad, I'll tell the Gojo Clan where you are right now, and I'll never spar with you again." I smiled faintly.

"-delicious sweets."

It was an extremely awkward change of course.