Chapter 172

Is she really planning to invite him to sukiyaki...?

Since that incident, no one has been willing to invite him to hang out for a very long time.

When Yuta Otsukoshi realized that he was really going out with the other person, his expression immediately became extremely flustered; but on the other hand, he could also get a subtle sense of security from Kazuma Hatori's attitude towards him.

Even if Rika escapes, he and his team must have a way to deal with her, right?

Moreover, it was Mr. Gojo who invited him... and even had a way to solve Rika's problem.

Kazuma Hatake waited for him for a moment so that Yuta Otsukoshi could quickly take a shower and change into clean clothes before following him downstairs.

"Ah, Yuta-nii! You've finally come out!"

Yigu's sister was sitting on the living room sofa with Miguel waiting for them. When she saw that her brother had actually followed Kazuma Hatake out of the room, she was so happy that she jumped up.

"I'm sorry... I made you worry." Yuta Otsuko smiled apologetically at her. "I have something to discuss with Mr. Hodori... I need to go out for a bit."

"It's okay, Mom and Dad will be relieved to see!" Yi Gu waved to him. "Aren't you coming home for dinner tonight?"

“Okay,” Kazuma Hatake responded to her, and then said to Miguel, “You can go back now.”

Unlike the oblivious Otsuki sister, Miguel kept retreating towards the gate as Otsuki Yuta approached.

Upon hearing that Kazuma Hatake was letting him go, Miguel felt a great sense of relief. He raised his hand and said, "Then I'll say goodbye first," before opening the door and slipping away faster than anyone else.

Yuta Otsuki watched Miguel run away, then nervously turned his gaze to Kazuma Hagoromo.

"Or perhaps I should..." stay.

"It's alright, trust Wu's judgment."

Kazuma Hatake's expression remained calm, completely ignoring Miguel's reaction, which also eased some of the anxiety that had been hanging over Yuta Otsukoshi.

"Rika won't come out unless someone attacks you."

Yuta opened his mouth again, wanting to ask something but unable to say it. He could only follow Mr. Hatori out to the supermarket to buy two large bags of groceries—he was responsible for carrying one of them—and then take the subway to Mr. Hatori and Mr. Gojo's house.

When he first saw that the subway was heading towards the city center, he was worried that Mr. Hagoromo might have taken the wrong train.

As it turned out, Mr. Hatake actually brought him to a high-end apartment building with excellent surrounding greenery... and it was in a bustling area!

Yuta Ekiku stared wide-eyed as he looked from the outside into the lobby—especially when the receptionist greeted them with a smile, he felt so nervous he could hardly breathe.

The carpet underfoot feels so soft...

"Don't just stand there, come in quickly."

Kazuma Hatake pressed the elevator button, and after Yuta Otsukotsu quickly stepped in, he pressed the floor number.

The sun sets early in the depths of winter. When Kazuma Hatori turned on the lights and heater in his house, a large expanse of neon lights illuminated the floor-to-ceiling windows, and snowflakes began to fall.

Before Satoru got home, Kazuma Hodori told Yuta Otsukoku to sit on the sofa and watch TV, while he changed into some comfortable loungewear and started preparing the ingredients for sukiyaki.

First, wash and chop vegetables such as carrots, baby bok choy, garland chrysanthemum, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu. Then, plate them on the table along with ready-to-use ingredients such as beef rolls and konjac noodles. Wu also bought a large bowl of fried tofu, which he likes.

Before playing this game, he could hardly cook, and even his lunch at school was just bread; now, Kazuma Hatake is becoming more and more adept at it and no longer needs the system's assistance.

Even the chocolate Mont Blanc he made later was praised by Wu for its significant improvement.

Watching Mr. Hatori busy at work, Yuta Otsukoshi, holding the remote control and switching TV channels a couple of times, felt he couldn't sit still any longer and came over to help him prepare.

Seeing how surprisingly skilled he was, Kazuma Hatori did not refuse.

Just as they finished cooking the sukiyaki broth and were adding the ingredients one by one, the door opened, and a tall figure stepped in, enveloped in a chilly aura. "I'm back—wow, it smells so good!"

At the same time, a light and cheerful voice rang out. Yuta Otsuko guessed it was Mr. Gojo—but before he could turn his gaze to the door, he noticed that Mr. Hatori, who had always been expressionless, now had a faint, gentle smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Satoru."

The pupil of the sigmoid bone is affected by an earthquake.

Mr. Hatake's differential treatment was far too obvious... even his voice was different from when he spoke to him!

Finally home, Gojo Satoru took off his all-black coat, hung it on the coat rack in the entryway, and came over to help Hatori Kazuma finish up the last bit of work before dinner.

"Oh—you must be Yuta? That's amazing! I could sense the cursed aura on you from downstairs! Wow, that's incredible, these young people nowadays."

Gojo Satoru also greeted Otsukoshi Yuta, whom he had invited as a guest, using extremely casual language and showing no airs of an elder.

As Yuta Otsuko was carrying an empty bowl toward the dining room, he heard Mr. Gojo speaking to him and hurriedly bowed, "Um, I'm sorry to bother you..."

Of course, it's not that Mr. Hatake was putting on airs towards him, it's just that the other party mostly had no expression and a rather cold aura...

"Haha, it's nothing, it's me who called you over."

Gojo Satoru smiled and waved his hand, then took off his sunglasses and carefully examined Otsukoshi Yuta with his beautiful blue eyes—until the latter, who was stiff all over, couldn't help but take a step back.

"Um, Mr. Gojo..."

“Hmm, I think I understand,” Gojo Satoru nodded slightly. “You’re definitely being entangled by a formidable Class-A curse.”

"Eh!?"

"But don't worry, as long as you can learn to control the curse power and gradually absorb this curse for your own use, it's not an insurmountable problem. It's really bad that Rika has become your cursed vengeful spirit, which is why you have to work hard to break the curse, not only for yourself, but also for her."

"I...I understand, I'll try my best." Yuta Otsuko gripped the bowl in his hand, and still asked Mr. Gojo, "Why, why is it that only I know how to do this..."

Kazuma Hatori placed the boiling sukiyaki on the induction cooker on the dining table, also curious about the reason why Yuta Otokotsu was cursed.

Well,

After thinking for a moment, Gojo Satoru spoke again in a low and serious tone.

"In my personal opinion, there is no more twisted curse in the world than love."

The air was silent, save for the bubbling sound of the sukiyaki.

Yi Gu You Tai looked like she was about to cry, and raised her hand to grasp the ring pendant around her neck.

"I will try my best."

He repeated what he had just said, his eyes filled with unwavering conviction.

"Good luck," Gojo Satoru patted him on the shoulder, smiling and raising his index finger. "By the way, Yuta, how about considering coming to the vocational high school next year?"

Yi Gu You blinked blankly: "Huh, a vocational college?"

Gojo Satoru hummed twice: "I specifically called Principal Moth this afternoon. He said that the commotion you caused a few days ago was too big, and the General Affairs Department also received the news. They originally planned to send a sorcerer to investigate, but I took the initiative to take over."

Yuta Egoku: "But I'm worried..."

Gojo Satoru: "Your classmates at the vocational high school are all peers who need to learn about curses. They won't look at you strangely. Besides, you need to learn how to control your curses, right? The vocational high school is a place that teaches you about curses and how to exorcise them."

Gojo Satoru's words made a lot of sense. Otsuko Yuta struggled for a moment before being convinced and agreed to go to Tokyo Jujutsu High School next April.

In fact, Yuta Otsuko knew that when Rika stuffed the four bullies into the locker, he could no longer continue attending that school.

"Are you alright?" Only Kazuma Hatori asked Satoru Gojo quietly, "Did those old men give you any trouble?"

Although Gojo Satoru spoke lightly to Otsukoshi Yuta, Hatori Kazuma knew Satoru's habit—he never put pressure on his students and always spoke with great consideration for their psychological state.

Kazuma Hato was also well aware of the rules of the sorcery world: after causing a serious incident that resulted in the serious injury of several non-sorcerers, Yuta Otsukotsu was more likely to be convicted of being a sorcerer and then executed.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” Gojo Satoru said with a smile, whispering in Hato Kazuma’s ear. The two were very close. “I felt like they wanted to object to my decision, but after a long time they didn’t make a sound. It’s like they’ve kept quiet and held back.”

—If it were before, I would have been so angry that I would have jumped up and scolded him on the spot.

"That's good."

Hato Kazuma chuckled to himself, recalling the orders he had given to the chief, which seemed to have come in handy at this moment.

But that's still not enough. I'll contact Zenji Naoya later and see if any old geezer dares to complain about Sō behind his back.

As for tonight, the sukiyaki meal was exceptionally lively. Yuta Otsukoshi was quickly put at ease by Gojo Satoru, and occasionally let out a few embarrassed laughs.

"Haha, there's that one too. Isn't that prophecy that's been super popular lately, the Nostradamus Prophecy? When I showed it to Yizhen before, he actually said he'd heard of it four years ago!"

Gojo Satoru first picked up a piece of sweet and juicy fried tofu and put it in Hatori Kazuma's bowl before picking one up for himself—the whole set of movements was so practiced that it seemed to have become a kind of muscle memory etched into his habits.

“Yes, it’s really popular,” said Yi Guyou, carefully picking up a wobbly piece of tofu from the pot.

"The phoenix that has risen from the ashes has transformed into a vengeful spirit, and it possesses the power to destroy the entire world... The classmates are all quite frightened, feeling that Japan will be destroyed in two years."

“It’s really that popular,” Gojo Satoru pondered for a moment. “With so much negative emotion piled up, how come no cursed spirits have been born? Hmm… that’s a bit strange.”

“Strange, peculiar?” Yi Gu You Tai asked.

"Well, the time and place of this rumor are too specific. As long as nothing happens in Shinjuku two years from now, this rumor will completely disappear."

Gojo Satoru took a bite of the fried tofu, squinted his eyes contentedly, and said, "Just like the Mayan prophecy before."

Not to mention, with his strength, even if a powerful cursed spirit did appear in Shinjuku, Gojo Satoru was confident he could exorcise it.

Until that day comes, it's more enjoyable to eat sukiyaki with everyone now.

"Oh my, the snow outside is falling so beautifully. By the way, is Christmas coming soon?"

"Um... tomorrow is Christmas."

"What? Oh no, I've been so busy lately I lost track of time, I haven't had time to prepare anything...!"

"Actually, I had a gift prepared for Satoru..."

"!!!"