Chapter 53
Apple juice?
Kazuma Hatori's gaze fell on the glass of apple juice.
It was held in Gojo Satoru's palm, the glass material under his fingertips was a wave-like embossed pattern, the liquid inside was light in color, making it reflect shimmering gold under the warm light, mixed with tiny bubbles that kept rising and ice cubes gently knocking against each other, presenting an extremely attractive coldness and sweetness in his eyes.
If you take a sip, you can indeed taste a refreshing sweetness that is completely different from the grape juice in his hand.
Kazuma Hatori slowly moved his gaze upwards, fixing it on the lips of Satoru Gojo, who was chuckling softly at him, and did not look away.
Perhaps, perhaps that apple juice will have a touch of just the right amount of acidity, making its flavor even more appealing.
But his mind was almost blank at this moment. Calm, rational, and intelligent, all the elements that could keep his thinking running were now turning into a thunderous heartbeat.
The air seemed to carry the smell of alcohol, along with sticky, sweet syrup and bubbling soda water, making Kazuma Hatake's movements unsteady.
He was practically recklessly half-supported, acting solely on his instincts.
"—?"
In the dim and ambiguous light, in this secluded corner, the beautiful pale eyes behind the sunglasses reflexively widened, as if about to express surprise—but before the black-haired youth could touch her, her body reflexively and actively deactivated the endless, automatically operating spell.
The temperature difference caused a thin layer of condensation to form on the glass of apple juice in his hand, and even the fingertips pressing against it felt icy cold.
But after gripping the glass tightly for only a moment, until the nails revealed a hint of white beneath the pale pink, the fingertips released their grip completely.
Immediately, those icy fingertips landed on the other person's shoulder and back, leaving several dark, indulgent water stains on the pure white shirt.
The taste of grapes and apples... is quite sweet too.
Five insights were gained.
The unstoppable smile in my heart is like countless bubbles blown into the clear sky, dazzling and light, yet shimmering with a translucent iridescent hue under the sunlight.
Yes, this feeling is also very good.
…………
The next day in class, it was obvious to everyone that Kamo-sensei was in a very high mood.
"So happy?"
During a break in training, Kugizaki Nobara sneaked up to Kamo-sensei and gave him a little thumbs-up and a shake—ever since she barged into the classroom and discovered the obvious pink bubble between the two, she had been keen to find out about the progress of her teacher's relationship.
"Is it already... um?"
However, the content that piqued my curiosity was quite inappropriate for minors.
However, this seems to be normal for Japanese high school students.
At least Kazuma Hagoromo could immediately understand what she wanted to ask just by looking at that gesture, and his expression became somewhat silent.
Isn't she thinking too fast about how their relationship is progressing?
Last night, he and Wu both went home feeling dizzy. When they were paying the bill, the waiter gave them several more looks with an ambiguous and teasing gaze, clearly noticing their secret little actions in the corner.
As for his memories after that... Kazuma Hatoshi would say, without exaggeration, that they are a complete blank.
For the first time, he realized that being too excited or too happy could cause intermittent amnesia, like the blackouts described in the book, where one couldn't remember what happened afterward.
When I came to my senses again, I was already lying in bed in my apartment, hugging the blanket and laughing to myself.
But this joyful happiness probably wasn't reflected on his face, because Wu described his expression at the time as "like being charged at by a wild boar at high speed and thrown more than ten meters, not only looking dazed, but also a bit stunned."
Kazuma Hatake accepted the description entirely, but felt something was off—he shouldn't have been knocked away by a wild boar.
In short, when he and Wu came to class today, their expressions were probably different from usual, which made Wild Rose curious and come over to ask them questions.
"No."
Kazuma Hato shook his head slightly, which elicited a sigh of deep regret from Nobara Kugizaki.
"You don't even have this? What stage do we have to go before we get it?"
Kazuma Hatake: "…………"
Does he not understand what high school girls are thinking? How come she's even more excited than he is...?
Besides, the game might not even have a similar feature module. Even if he and the beautiful Daigo really got to that point, it might just be like a sudden darkness followed by a sudden light for him, and the process would end abruptly.
As for the favorability rating, Kazuma Hatake no longer specifically checks the value.
For him, his time with Wu was real enough, and even if he didn't know how much affection Wu had for him now, he was very happy during this period.
"What are you talking about—?"
An arm reached out and pressed heavily on his shoulder, yet the gesture, like the lighthearted smile in his words, conveyed intimacy and casualness.
"During training, you can't slack off and pry into the teacher's private affairs, okay?"
Gojo Satoru was all smiles, clearly in a great mood as well.
"Hey—what does it have to do with anything?"
Kugizaki Nobara drawled out her words and secretly winked at them.
"Those two boys are sweating profusely, so it's understandable that I came over to check on the teachers during my break, right?"
Kazuma Hatori looked towards the playground and could see Yuujin Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro sparring with each other not far away, but their moves had become quite half-hearted, clearly indicating that they were also secretly listening to what was happening.
"Since everyone has so much time to pry into my private affairs with Kamo-sensei,"
Gojo Satoru raised his index finger and smiled slyly.
"I just received a level 3 quest that's perfect for gaining experience! Let's go, let's set off now!"
"Ugh, so stingy—"
Immediately, the three students present all expressed their deep regret.
Kazuma Hatori also looked at Satoru Gojo, and saw the other man hook the edge of his blindfold with his fingertip and pull it up a little, then wink triumphantly at him with one eye.
So cute, so cute that Kazuma Hatori silently looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
Kugizaki Nobara, who witnessed the whole thing: "…………"
The pink, bubbly atmosphere, where no one else could get a foothold, made her feel a little out of place standing there.
Hmph, even if nothing has happened between them now, it's probably only a matter of time.
However, for Kugizaki Nobara and the others, it was easier to exorcise the several level-three cursed spirits entrenched in the abandoned factory than to inquire about the progress of Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma's relationship.
Even though Yuujin Itadori was just starting to practice physical techniques, he made rapid progress. With his exceptional physical condition and combat talent, he could easily exorcise a cursed spirit.
The only inconvenience is that he has to wear glasses to see the cursed spirits, and he also needs to use cursed tools containing cursed power.
To paraphrase Kugizaki Nobara, it's a bizarre mix of refined elegance and savage violence, like a gorilla wearing glasses wielding a knife, that sends chills down your spine.
Although Hisahito Itadori responded pitifully, "He's not a gorilla at all," Megumi Fushiguro also agreed with the description "gorilla."
Even Maki-senpai couldn't beat him in an arm wrestling match, and he could punch through a concrete wall without reinforced steel bars—it was absolutely terrifying.
After easily completing the task, Gojo Satoru, being extremely wealthy, generously treated his students to a lavish meal.
Even the most luxurious sushi feasts in Ginza are no problem!
"But remember to go home by yourself after you finish eating,"
Gojo Satoru smiled at them, then put his arm around Hato Kazuma's shoulder. "It's rest time tonight. Kamo-sensei and I are going fishing!"
"Why are you still fishing? Didn't you guys go fishing last time too?"
Kugizaki Nobara stuffed herself with sushi, her cheeks bulging, and her pronunciation became muffled as she casually asked, "Didn't catch anything?"
Gojo Satoru: “…………”
Hatori Kazuma: "...cough."
To be precise, I'm just one short of having ten fish... Tokyo truly lives up to its reputation as a big city; even the fish in its rivers are much smarter than those in smaller towns. They can even easily manage to eat the bait without biting the hook.
He was unwilling to go fishing at the artificially bred fishing grounds in the tribe's territory or at a dedicated indoor fishing area, saying that it would be taking a shortcut and breaking the rules.
Since the other party remained so enthusiastic about fishing, Kazuma Hatori was naturally willing to spend time with him sitting by the Arakawa River, waiting for the fish to bite, and enjoying the night scenery together while chatting about other topics.
On the way, Gojo Satoru also bought a large bag of fruit candies, opened the seal, and placed it between the two of them.
"By the way, where are Ryomen Sukuna's fingers?"
Almost a month has passed since the major event of the release of the seal on the special-grade cursed artifact and the resulting surge of cursed spirits occurred. Gojo Satoru slowly recalled that Fushiguro Megumi said he had given the finger of Ryoumen Sukuna to Hatori Kazuma, and it seems that it is still with the latter and has not been handed over to the high school.
"It's with me, do you want it?"
Facing the river surface reflecting the neon lights, Kazuma Hatori, sitting side by side with Satoru Gojo on the riverbank, nodded in response.
"Hmm...no, just keep it with you for now. It's getting harder and harder to seal it now, so we can't keep putting it away as a talisman."
Gojo Satoru thought for a moment, a smile playing on his lips.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t even find where you were hiding. [Six Eyes] couldn’t see a single clue.”
He winked at Hatori Kazuma with his unobstructed blue eyes, his expression quite adorable.
However, it's not just this one thing that's incredible.
According to Hui, he saw the black-haired youth instantly kill all the cursed spirits, after which countless black crystals fell from the sky, striking the ground and making a dense clanging sound.
Having seen Kazuma Hatori eat these crystals, he naturally understood that they were very useful to Kazuma Hatori. Even though the latter was unconscious, he wanted to quickly pick them all up for him, but found that they had all disappeared in an instant.
For Kazuma Hatake, the game feature of automatically picking up items into the inventory after a period of inactivity was a very strange phenomenon—even more so than spells.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Gojo Satoru is now expressing such sentiments.
Kazuma Hatori pondered for a moment, thinking that it wouldn't matter if he told Satoru the truth, but just as he was about to speak, he was stopped by a pop-up window in front of him.
[It is forbidden to reveal specific game-related concepts to NPCs.]
The truth that needed to be revealed was also stuck on the tip of the tongue; no matter how hard they tried, not a single word could be uttered.
After several attempts, Kazuma Hatake had no choice but to give up, expressing his feelings in a very tactful way.
"I have a kind of concept-based technique."
"Conceptual system...like your [real name]?"
Gojo Satoru laughed, propping his head up and looking at the river. The candy he had been nibbling on his tongue was almost gone, with only a thin layer left between his teeth, making a very slight cracking sound.
"That's a very interesting technique. Those old guys really got what they deserved."
"I'm quite happy to see this development," he said.
"Although I could do the same thing, I would be called a [monster], [arrogant], [a pervert who only wants to satisfy his own desires], and I would never gain anyone's genuine support... Well, actually, that's what I'm being called now."
"Who dares..."
Kazuma Hatori was about to get up in anger, but Satoru Gojo quickly pulled him back.
"Alright, alright, ever since Zenin Naoya was forced to come to the high school to apologize to me at the request of [Binding], I believe no one will dare to speak to me like that anymore."
Gojo Satoru's words were filled with barely suppressed laughter, his lips already turned up high.
Daigo's smile was so beautiful that Kazuma Hatori obediently sat back down with his help.
"So, you are now bearing the bad reputation that was originally placed on me."
“I don’t care,” Kazuma Hatake said without hesitation.
He really didn't care; they were just a bunch of background figures. How could they be as important as Wu?
"This is what I'm going to tell you next,"
Gojo Satoru's expression turned serious.
"From the moment you rudely disrupted the situation in the world of sorcery, the more we investigated, the more we discovered that the mastermind's schemes were far too far-reaching to be investigated overnight."
"Including the time with Kamo Chokichi, you've been outmaneuvered at least three times, right?"
Gojo Satoru's voice could even be described as solemn—looking back on his entire life, he knew that all sorcerers except himself would face various crises, and he rarely worried about someone's life safety so much.
Only Kazuma Hagoromo.
"I have a feeling things won't end so easily. You need to be careful until you've completely caught that person."
“Okay,” Kazuma Hagoromo agreed without blinking. “You too.”
"You agreed too readily; I still feel uneasy—"
Satoru Gojo, slightly relieved, broke the atmosphere again with a smile—he extended his little finger and adorably shook it at Kazuma Hagoromo, his voice as sweet as candy.
"Shall we pinky swear?"
"good."
Kazuma Hatori cooperated by making a pinky promise with him, when suddenly they heard a splash.
The two turned their heads at the same time and found that Wutiao Wuzhi's fishing rod on the shore had been hooked by a fish and was struggling to break free when the fishing rod was also pulled away quickly.
"Stop right there, my dessert!"
This time, Gojo Satoru couldn't tolerate the dessert that was about to be eaten flying away again. He suddenly stood up and used a spell to reclaim his fishing rod!
He has endured so much hardship and patience for so long, without diving into the river to use magic to catch fish to cheat. Now he is just trying to find his fishing rod that was dragged away!
As for the fish on the hook? That's a byproduct of his catch!
When Gojo Satoru carried his prize, which was less than ten centimeters long, and waded across the river to the shore, he saw a black-haired youth sitting on the riverbank looking in his direction. The youth was wearing the shirt and trousers that Gojo had bought for him, and the corners of his mouth were slightly curved, as if revealing a faint smile that was not very clear but was still discernible.
It seems like this is the first time I've seen it...
Gojo Satoru was momentarily stunned. He seemed to want to say something in praise, but instead said something that seemed completely unrelated.
"There's an apple flavor in that bag of fruit candies."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
