Chapter 53, Section 2: Your mother is... Rika?

Karin Oriyuki's voice was too soft, and Yuuta Otsuko hadn't gotten close enough to hear what she said.

Neither Gojo Satoru nor Natsuyuki heard it, but they could tell what Oriyuki Karin was saying just by looking at her lips.

Okay, you didn't make a mistake. This thin, somewhat gloomy and dejected-looking boy really is the child's father.

When Yuta saw Karin Ootori, he was somewhat dazed.

Li Xiang?

No, it's not Rika.

Although they are somewhat similar, the other person's eyes are not similar to Rika's, and Rika does not have this kind of seemingly reserved personality.

With that thought in mind, they had already arrived in front of the girl.

"Hey Hanari, sorry to keep you waiting." Gojo Satoru greeted her right away.

Xia Youjie said helplessly, "Wu, at least pronounce other people's names correctly."

What is Kohanari? Her name is clearly Sorahanari, right?

Gojo Satoru didn't seem to care: "What does it matter? Jetsu, don't meddle too much. Are you addicted to being a teacher? Hanari herself didn't say anything. Hanari, is it okay for me to call you that?"

Okiyuki Karin nodded slightly and replied softly, "Y-yes, it's okay. That's what Grandpa Satoru calls me too."

"Look!" Gojo Satoru looked at Natsumi with the air of a victor.

Xia Youjie didn't want to say anything more about him.

Yuta listened to how Gojo Satoru addressed the girl in front of him.

It seems they just mentioned this name.

Is this girl... the one who traveled from the future?

The other person noticed his gaze, turned to look at him, and gave him a shy smile: "Dad, I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Yuta Otsuki froze, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Huh? Dad? Me!?"

This can't be calling him, right?

To his surprise, Gojo Satoru had already put his hand on his shoulder and enthusiastically introduced, "Yes! That's right! This is your daughter from the future, Otokotsu Kuka Ri, Hanari! How about that? Surprised? Unexpected?"

Yi Gu You Tai's eyes widened in fright: "No, but... I... I..."

He's only sixteen! A daughter and all that...

An even more ominous expression appeared; seemingly having overheard something about her daughter, Rika began to stir with restlessness.

An aura of curse emanated from behind Etotsuyuu, and a ferocious cursed spirit appeared, displaying a somewhat crazed state as if it had stepped on a landmine.

"Daughter? Yuta's...other woman's daughter? Yuta's been with another woman...and has a daughter? No! No way! Yuta is mine! Yuta belongs to Rika!"

Seeing Rika suddenly appear and become extremely agitated, Yuuta Otsukotsu panicked and quickly turned around to comfort her: "No, it's not like that, Rika... don't get agitated! Let me explain..."

Xia Youjie was quite surprised: "You and this cursed spirit... so this is your relationship?"

Xia Youjie, a user of the spell spirit, was greatly shocked.

Gojo Satoru, who was watching the drama unfold, said, "Hey~ that's totally the talk of a scumbag."

Xia Youjie also complained, "But it's a fact that we have a daughter, right? How do we explain that?"

Egoku Yuta was almost in tears. These two were not only not helping, but they were making things worse!

Karin, standing to the side, paused for a moment, then looked as if she had just realized what was going on, and asked in surprise, "Rika?"

She looked at Rika with a puzzled expression and asked, "Dad, do you mean... this is Mom?"

Upon hearing this, Otsuko Yuta was stunned, Gojo Satoru and Natsume Yuuki were stunned, and even Rika was stunned.

Rika pointed to herself: "Me...me? Mom? I'm Mom?"

Yuta Otsuko also looked at Karin Oriyuki in surprise: "You...your mother is...Rika? Rika Kimoto?"

“Qi Ben…” Zhi Xueya blinked, then nodded slightly, “Yes, my maternal grandparents’ surname was Qi Ben, but my mother married my father, so she changed her name to Yi Gu Li Xiang.”

Yi Gu You Tai's head went completely blank.

His... his and Rika's... child?

Rika was also struck by the name "Ottokoro Rika," and her entire spirit blushed with embarrassment. She stammered, "I... Ottokoro Rika? I married Yuuta? I married Yuuta! Yuuta—it's so great, Rika and Yuuta got married! And, and she became a mother!"

Gojo Satoru and Natsume also felt that the world was somewhat magical.

This is the first time that a child who has traveled through time has a mother.

No, that's a bit ambiguous. To be precise, this is the first time they've been able to know the identities of both their parents at the same time.

Is it because they know both parents?

But that doesn't seem important; the problem is—

How could your mother be a cursed spirit?!

Humans and cursed spirits... is it really possible?

Gojo Satoru looked at Natsume Yuuki: "Yuuki, you... haven't gotten married all these years, it wouldn't be because..."

Did you find yourself a cursed spirit wife?

Xia Youjie: = =#

"Shut up, who do you think is older between the two of us?"

Who's the older single guy?

Meanwhile, Rika reached out, her voice trembling with emotion, almost touching Karin Ooyuki: "The child... the child... Rika and Yuta's child..."

Yuuto was so afraid that she would hurt Karin Ootori that he became anxious and hurriedly tried to stop her: "Rika, don't!"

However, Karin Okiyuki wasn't so worried, since Satoru Gojo and Natsumi were there.

Moreover... Rika didn't point her sharp claws at her, like a cat with its claws retracted, trying to touch a human.

Karin Origami cautiously placed her hand on Rika's hand, looked at her, and tentatively called out, "Mom? I...I'm Sora."

The next moment, she was pulled into a tight embrace by the excited Rika. Rika rubbed her face against her head frantically, crying out, "Kukkari! Kukkari! The baby! Rika and Yuta's baby! The fruit of Rika and Yuta's love!"

Seeing this, Gojo Satoru and Natsume, who were tense and ready to make a move, relaxed.

Although I felt it was somewhat absurd.

It really is... the child of this cursed spirit?

These days... can humans and cursed spirits really have children?

Gojo Satoru's gaze towards Natsumi Yuuki became increasingly strange.

Xia Youjie: "..."

He also felt very uncomfortable.

Yuuta was completely stunned. He never expected that Rika would... not hurt anyone. She even seemed to like this girl so much...

Karin was so tightly hugged by Rika that she felt a little breathless.

No, well... we can be a little less enthusiastic and a little more distant.

Her face flushed red, and she whispered, "Um... Mom, could you let me go first? You're holding me so tight I can't breathe..."

Upon hearing this, Rika quickly put Oriyuki Karin down and anxiously surrounded her, apologizing and asking if she felt unwell.

Karin Origami smiled slightly, "It's alright, Kūka is fine."

Yi Guyou stared blankly at the interaction between the two, still not in a daze.

Karin Origami turned her head to look at him, and seeing that he was still standing there, she wanted to laugh, but she held it in.

She tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Yuta Ekiku was brought back to his senses, but he was still somewhat dazed: "No... I... I just... no, it's nothing..."

He was just having a hard time accepting that he suddenly had such a big daughter, and that she was... his child with Rika...

Gojo Satoru, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but raise his hand and speak: "Hey, Hanari, I have a question. It may be a bit presumptuous, but I really want to know."

Karin Oriyuki obediently turned her head to look at him: "What?"

“Yeah…” Gojo Satoru pointed at Otoko Yuta and Rika, “Do you know how your dad and mom…”

Xia Youjie quickly covered up the second half of his sentence.

Facing the questioning yet clear gaze of Oriyuki Karin, Xia Youjie smiled slightly: "It's nothing, he has nothing to ask."

Yi Gu You Tai: "..."

No, it doesn't look like it...

Both Yuta Otsuki and Karin Oriyuki looked at Satoru Gojo.

Gojo Satoru struggled to say something: "Ugh... ugh..."

Isn't he just curious about how this person and the cursed spirit created a child? Jay, aren't you curious too?

Xia Youjie: I'm curious, but you can't ask an 11-year-old how her parents conceived her, can you?

He smiled again at Yuta Otsuki and Karin Oriyuki, and repeated, "See? He really doesn't have anything to say."

Oriyuki Karin, Otsuko Yuuta: "..."

Whatever makes you happy.

──

Fortunately, Gojo Satoru's question was finally answered on the way back to the vocational high school. Because Otoko Yuuta couldn't help but ask Oriyuki Karin, "You...you really are my and Rika's...child?"

He felt a little embarrassed when he mentioned the word "child" at the end.

“Hmm,” Karin Oriyuki nodded obediently, then a slightly conflicted and puzzled look appeared on her face. “But… the mother I know now seems a little different from the mother I know. Was she… a cursed spirit before?”

Um?

Gojo Satoru asked in confusion, "Isn't the Qiben Rika you know a cursed spirit?"

Of course, Ayaka Shiki shook her head: "No, Mom is human, and I've never heard Dad say that Mom can turn into a cursed spirit."

Yi Gu You Tai was somewhat confused about the situation.

Having encountered similar situations several times before, Xia Youjie and Wutiao Wu quickly figured it out.

Xia Youjie: "It should be the difference between parallel worlds. Maybe in Kuka Risa's world, Kimoto Rika is a human."

Yi Gu You was stunned.

Rika... in another world, did she not become like this?

For a moment, he didn't know whether to be happy that Rika from the other world was safe and sound, or to feel sad that Rika from their world had become like this.

Xia Youjie looked at Yigu Youtai and asked his question: "Speaking of which, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now. Why did you think of giving a cursed spirit a human name?"

Yuta Otsuko pursed his lips and said dejectedly, "Because... Rika was originally human."

He told Gojo Satoru and Natsuyu Suke about how Rika turned into a cursed spirit, and expressed his own thoughts—he felt that he was cursed by Rika.

Gojo Satoru and Natsume Yuuki exchanged a glance.

They could all see that it wasn't Rika who cursed Yuuta Otsuko.

Without strong magical power, it would be impossible for one person's obsession to form such a powerful curse. If Rika had such strong magical power, she would definitely have become a sorcerer. How could she have died so easily in a car accident?

On the contrary, Gojo Satoru clearly saw that Etotsu Yuta possessed immense magical power.

So... it was Yuta Otsukoku who couldn't accept Rika's death and used a curse to keep Rika alive.

Seeing Yuta's sad and distressed expression, neither of them said those words aloud.

Karin Oriyuki didn't say anything. She simply placed her hand on Yuta Otsuko's knee and comforted him, "Dad, don't be sad. Grandpa Satoru said that love is the most twisted curse. Dad and Mom just love each other too much. Mom doesn't want to leave you either."

Gojo Satoru glanced at Oriyuki Karin.

He found the child interesting, and she seemed to have already figured out that it was Yi Gu You Tai who had cursed Qi Ben Li Xiang.

And most importantly—this time, Gojo Satoru didn't die! He even disciplined his student's daughter! Hahahaha…

He looked at Xia Youjie, raised an eyebrow, and mouthed silently: "Grandpa Wu said it."

See? Gojo Satoru is still alive!

Jay, you lost this round.

Xia Youjie: "..."

If you're still single even when your students' children are all grown up, do you think that's something to be proud of?

He also mouthed to Gojo Satoru: "Old bachelor."

Gojo Satoru pursed his lips and replied: "The chuunibyou, rebellious, and short-lived cult leader."

Then, the two of them snorted and turned their heads away from each other.

Neither of them would give in; they're both such childish old fools.

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Author's note: I'm so frustrated! I set my alarm for 4 a.m., but my useless Siri didn't turn it on at all, so I overslept and missed my mealtime. Damn it!