Chapter 14
58.
Shiori Tadano rubbed her cheeks gently, thinking to herself: It turns out that even Gojo Satoru would get upset when people say he is old. I didn't expect he would care about this.
Gojo Satoru put his hands back into his pockets, walked forward, and said in a light tone: "Let's go and have something sweet to celebrate the completion of the mission."
Tucked away deep in the alley was a small, unassuming shop. Warm yellow light spilled from inside, casting a blur of light and shadow on the road. Gojo Satoru raised his hand, lifted the curtain at the door, and walked in first.
"Boss, two servings of red bean-filled taiyaki." He placed the order with familiarity and turned to look at Shiori, who was still in a daze. "Shiori, would you like some ice cream?"
Shiori snapped back to her senses and waved her hands hurriedly: "Huh? No, thank you."
The owner, a smiling old woman, looked them over as she served them the taiyaki and said, "It's great to be young."
Gojo Satoru took the plate and deliberately dragged out his tone to act coquettishly: "But I was just called old. It was so sad~"
The old woman laughed out loud at this, but Shiori was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. She could only lower her head and pretend to concentrate on studying the taiyaki in her hand. When the crispy crust was bitten open, the hot red bean filling gushed out, with just the right sweetness.
When I emerged from the shop, the night was already as dark as an inkstone, but the streets of Shibuya were still bustling. Couples walked hand in hand, their chocolate gift boxes gleaming delicately.
Gojo Satoru suddenly stopped and pointed at the claw machine not far away: "Let's go grab that one."
Shiori looked over and saw a bunch of sitting kitten dolls in the machine, their white fur looking soft.
Gojo Satoru tossed in a coin and aimed his claw. Shiori stood nearby, watching as the claw wobbled down, hooked onto the kitten's tail, and then dropped again.
"What's going on?" He frowned in dissatisfaction and tossed a few more coins, but the result was the same.
Shizhi found it funny and couldn't help but say, "Teacher, let me try."
She took the joystick, her eyes fixed on the screen. Under her control, the claws fell steadily, accurately grasping the kitten's neck, then slowly rose and landed steadily in the exit.
"Wow! Shiori is amazing!" Gojo Satoru clapped his hands exaggeratedly, bent down to pick up the kitten doll and stuffed it into Shiori's arms, "This is for you."
Shiori held the doll and asked doubtfully, "Isn't this what the teacher wanted?"
"I caught it to give it to you," Gojo Satoru said as a matter of course, ruffling her hair with his hand. "It's a return gift of chocolate."
Eh? But she clearly scratched it herself... Shiori rubbed the blue eyes of the kitten doll, thinking that the blue color was very similar to someone's eyes that occasionally appeared behind a bandage.
59.
Lazy and soothing jazz music played in the restaurant as Shiori Tadano and Megumi Fushiguro sat opposite each other. A few flowers were placed in a glass vase on the table, with tiny water droplets condensing on the petals.
In a month, Megumi Fushiguro will be entering his first year of technical high school. Currently, he's being guided by Shiori through a mission, their target this time being a mysterious group of curse casters.
Hidden within that group was a particularly troublesome individual whose technique could erase the remnants of cursed energy. With this ability, they had collaborated to murder several politicians and businessmen, yet remained at large.
After days of careful investigation, they finally figured out that this group of people always met at this restaurant. So the sorcerers disguised themselves and sneaked in, and Shiori and Fushiguro Megumi were the first group to arrive.
Shiori supported her chin and her eyes fell on the hair of the boy opposite her. She counted several small pointed corners on Fushiguro's head.
"Shiori-senpai?" Fushiguro Megumi raised her eyes. "You stared at my hair for a long time."
"Nothing." Shiori smiled and pushed the menu over. "Sitting there alone is too conspicuous. Let's order something. Xiaohui, what do you want to eat?"
"A cup of black coffee will be fine, thank you." Megumi Fushiguro's voice was as steady as usual.
Shiori raised her hand to greet the clerk, and at this moment, the wind chimes at the door suddenly jingled.
"Welcome, how many people are there?" came the waiter's gentle voice.
She inadvertently raised her eyes while placing her order, and her peripheral vision happened to glance at the door.
Nanami Kento, having changed out of his suit, donned a gray sweatshirt. Ino Takuma also finally shed his all-black suit and donned a casual pullover. Their gazes briefly met in mid-air, then shifted away in unison, as if they were just strangers.
Shiori ran her fingertips across the menu and continued to softly read out the names of the dishes.
"Your black coffee." The waiter gently placed the bone china cup in front of Fushiguro Megumi.
"Thank you." The boy raised his hand to grasp the handle of the cup, his posture calm and composed, a calmness beyond his years. Shiori looked at him as he lowered his head to drink his coffee, sighing that this child already looked like an adult.
The two chatted quietly about trivial matters at school, maintaining their pretense with a relaxed tone. Until the wind chimes rang again, Shiori's fingers curling the ends of her hair paused slightly.
It turned out to be Senior Mingming and her younger brother Youyou. They were wearing ordinary light gray sportswear, with a light sweat on their foreheads, looking like an ordinary sibling who had just finished playing ball and was out looking for food.
"So boring." Shiori sighed softly. "When will the curse master come?" Today is Yuta Otsutsuki's birthday. I really want to finish the mission quickly so I can take Xiaohui to eat some cake."
She pulled out her phone and asked in the high school freshman group: "Where is Yuta celebrating his birthday? I'll take Xiaohui there after the mission is over!"
As soon as the message was sent, the wind chimes rang again, accompanied by a few noisy voices.
"Shiori sent a message."
"Shiori asked where we were, and Yuta quickly sent the address."
“Salmon.”
"Okay, I'll send it right away."
Panda's voice is so loud! Shiori was shocked. Luckily, their table wasn't inconspicuous, otherwise they would have been exposed long ago. She stared at her phone screen and soon received a reply from Yuta Otsutsuki: "At XX restaurant. Thank you for your hard work, senior."
Shiori quickly replied, "Have fun, it'll be a while over here. Happy birthday!"
She looked up and exchanged glances with Fushiguro Megumi, then shook her head slightly. The boy nodded in understanding, picking up his coffee cup to conceal their eye contact.
At this moment, the wind chimes rang again, and a deep voice announced the number of people: "Six."
They're coming. Shiori took a sip of her milk tea, the warm liquid sliding down her throat. Her gaze calmly scanned the group of people who had just arrived. Several of them matched the information, but the one who could erase the remaining cursed energy hadn't arrived yet. He was the key target, and she had to wait until all of them arrived before taking action.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the waiters exchange obscure glances, and her brows furrowed slightly. Something was wrong with these people. Were they the curse master's spies? Had they noticed something?
The lights in the restaurant suddenly dimmed, and the sorcerers lying in ambush everywhere instantly tensed up. Shiori's hand quietly pressed on the short knife on her thigh, but she heard the waiter singing a birthday song: "Happy birthday to you..."
Someone was pushing a cake towards Yuuta Otsutsuki's table. Shiori breathed a sigh of relief.
When the lights came back on, the wind chimes rang again.
"Welcome, how many people are there?"
"My companion has arrived and is at table 4."
"Okay, I'll guide you there."
Shiori raised her eyes and nodded slightly to Fushiguro Megumi the moment she saw who was coming. The target person had arrived.
The sorcerers were about to take action when they heard Panda's voice urging from Yuta Otsutsukota's table: "Yuta! Cut the cake quickly!"
Shiori, who was about to stand up, looked at Nanami and Meimei, and read the same meaning in each other's eyes: let the child celebrate his birthday first.
The restaurant was still peaceful, with jazz music flowing slowly in the air.
Five minutes later, just as Shiori was about to signal for action, the wind chimes at the door suddenly rang violently.
"Welcome, how many people are there?"
"My students are here! Let me see, they're there! Yuta!"
It’s Gojo Satoru!
The curse masters' faces suddenly changed. One of them flipped a table, and the others immediately fled in all directions. The curse masters lying in ambush stood up and intervened. The crisp sound of tables and chairs clashing broke the quiet of the restaurant.
"Damn it, that guy ran away!" Ino Takuma's shouting mixed with the sound of breaking cups and plates came.
"Xiaohui!" Shiori said in a low voice.
"Jade Dog!" Fushiguro Megumi quickly formed seals, and the black and white jade dogs came out and rushed out of the door.
Shiori and Megumi Fushiguro immediately followed the Jade Dog and rushed out, chasing after the escaped key curser.
The curser was extremely cunning and specifically chose to sneak into vegetable markets and garbage disposal stations where there were mixed smells. It was obvious that he was very experienced in escaping.
Shiori chased while casting spells. Seeing that the opponent was about to rush into the crowded commercial street, her heart tightened. Even the Jade Dog's tracking would be hindered in such a place. She would never allow her target to slip away from her hands!
——[Missing Person Umbrella] As long as the user thinks about the person he is looking for, the arrow on the top of the umbrella will automatically point in the direction of the target person.
"Xiaohui, summon Nue!"
Nue spread its wide wings, lightly picked up Shiori and Fushiguro Megumi, and under the guidance of the umbrella, quickly chased after them through the air.
60.
After Shiori Tadano and Megumi Fushiguro handed over the curse master to the assistant supervisor, they turned around and went back to the restaurant they had just been to.
As they entered, they saw Zenin Maki waving at them. The mess in the restaurant had been cleaned up by the assistant supervisor, the broken cups and plates, the overturned tables and chairs gone. Jazz music once again filled the room, as if the chaos had never happened.
After the two greeted everyone, Shiori asked, "Where are Nanami-senpai and the others?"
"I've already left." Zenin Maki responded.
Shiori nodded, pulled out the chair next to Gojo Satoru, motioned for Fushiguro Megumi to sit down with her, and then asked curiously, "Teacher, why are you here?"
Gojo Satoru ate his cake while shaking his phone, the screen still stuck on the chat interface of the first-year students of the technical high school: "I just finished a mission nearby, opened the group chat and saw that you guys said you were coming to celebrate Yu Tai's birthday, so I stopped by~"
"What a coincidence! I didn't expect your mission is right here." Panda replied while lying on the table.
Inujuanji echoed from the side: "Salmon."
"Shiori-senpai, Fushiguro, thank you for your hard work." Otsutsukota said as he handed two pieces of cake to the two of them.
"Thank you, Yuta!" Shiori took the cake, scooped a small piece with a fork and put it in her mouth. The sweetness instantly spread on her tongue.
Fushiguro Megumi also took the cake and started eating it. At this time, Gojo Satoru reached out and poked his hair: "Megumi and Shiori just now cooperated very well~"
Fushiguro Megumi frowned and turned her head away from his hand: "Gojo-sensei, please concentrate on eating the cake."
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