Chapter 50 (Patreon)

“Brr… it’s freezing.”

Tsumiki Fushiguro arrived at the meeting spot she had arranged with her classmates.

“Tsumiki! Over here, over here!”

Fujinuma, the short-haired girl, waved at her energetically.

Tsumiki let out a sigh. “Seriously… what kind of test of courage even is this? It’s so dumb.”

Even so, she still walked over and joined them.

“Alright!” Fujinuma clapped her hands together. “Now that everyone’s here, let’s go!”

She threw one hand up dramatically.

“Our destination—Eighty-Eight Bridge!”

“Yeahhh!!!”

The other three cheered at once.

Watching them get so fired up over something this ridiculous, Tsumiki could only sigh again.

Fujinuma suddenly leaned in closer.

“Tsumiki… did you know?”

“Know what?”

Fujinuma lowered her voice on purpose.

“It’s about the bridge we’re heading to.”

Tsumiki gave her a doubtful look. “Isn’t it just a normal bridge people use all the time?”

Fujinuma shook her head right away, her expression turning mysterious.

“No, no, no. That was before. Ever since all those people started committing suicide there, the place’s been weird.”

Just as she was getting into the story—

A cold wind suddenly tore through the air.

It was the kind of chill that seemed to sink straight into the bone, making Tsumiki shiver on the spot.

Goosebumps rose across her skin.

“…It’s that creepy, and we’re still going?” Tsumiki asked.

Fujinuma nodded as if it were no big deal.

“It’s fine. The actual spot for the test of courage is under the bridge.”

Another classmate chimed in, trying to laugh it off.

“Yeah, exactly. Those creepy rumors are probably just stories the locals made up to scare people.”

Tsumiki frowned slightly.

“Still… I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Fujinuma waved her off.

“Come on, don’t overthink it. Let’s just go.”

Koinokuchi Valley — Eighty-Eight Bridge

“So this is Megumi Fushiguro’s place?”

In the end, it was Ragnar Kagenou’s old car that brought Satoru Gojo here.

Gojo stepped out first and stared at the slightly worn-down house in front of him.

“If his family hadn’t moved away…”

Ragnar turned to look at him, utterly speechless.

Then he said flatly, “Seriously… what the hell happened to you over the past few years? How did you end up like this?”

Gojo just scratched his head and grinned like it meant nothing.

“Hm? What do you mean? I haven’t changed at all.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Ragnar rolled his eyes.

At this point, he was honestly starting to suspect Gojo had developed some kind of late-stage chuunibyou.

The thick bandages over his eyes, the constant nonsense coming out of his mouth, the way he acted like everything in the world was some kind of joke—

The old Gojo had been arrogant and insufferable, sure, but at least he had felt like a proper menace.

Now all that was left was a human disaster who wandered around acting like an overgrown idiot.

“…Forget it. I’m not wasting energy arguing with you over this crap. Let’s go.”

Ragnar shut the car door and started toward the house.

Gojo just shrugged and followed after him.

Knock. Knock.

A voice came from inside almost immediately, impatient and already annoyed.

“Didn’t you bring your keys? I told you, when you go out, you need to—”

The door swung open.

Megumi Fushiguro stopped cold the second he saw Ragnar standing there.

His whole body stiffened.

What the hell—

Who is this?

Why does it feel like I’m about to get killed?

Megumi’s eyes flicked instinctively toward the baseball bat by the entrance.

Should I run?

Grab the bat?

Right as his brain was racing through all the worst possibilities, Gojo leaned into view from behind Ragnar with an exaggerated expression.

“Huh? You already forgot about me?”

The moment Megumi saw him, he let out a breath.

“Oh. It’s just you.”

Gojo immediately looked offended.

“What do you mean, ‘just you’? I’m the one who helped deal with your family’s debt, you know.”

Megumi turned away and headed toward the sink to splash cold water on his face.

“That’s exactly why I didn’t call the police. Two grown men with dyed hair showing up at my place in the middle of the night is suspicious no matter how you look at it.”

“Dyed hair?” Gojo pointed at himself in disbelief. “This is natural.”

Then he jerked a thumb toward Ragnar.

“And his too.”

Ragnar snorted. “As if we have time to dye our hair.”

By the time Megumi came back out, the two of them were already sitting on the sofa like they owned the place, eating whatever they found.

Megumi’s eye twitched.

“You two really act like this is your house.”

Gojo picked up a bottle of Ramune from the table.

Pop.

He drank it down in a few gulps.

“Ahh… that hits the spot.”

Then, completely shameless, he gave Megumi a thumbs-up as if complimenting the hospitality.

Megumi stared at him in silence.

At that moment, Ragnar—who had been sitting quietly off to the side—finally looked over at Megumi and spoke.

“So you’re Toji Fushiguro’s son. Megumi Fushiguro?”

The moment he heard that name, Megumi’s expression darkened.

“I don’t know him.”

His answer came out instantly, cold and without hesitation.

“So if you’re trying to use that to get familiar with me, don’t bother. I’ve never even met the guy.”

With that, he looked away.

But Ragnar did not react to the hostility at all.

Instead, he said casually, “Then maybe I got it wrong.”

He paused for a beat, then added, “Either way, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Ragnar Kagenou.”

He looked at Megumi with a faint smile, as though waiting to see what kind of response he would get.

Megumi only glanced at him once before answering in a flat voice.

“I don’t care who you are.”

Then he frowned.

“If you’ve got something to say, say it. Don’t drag it out.”

Ragnar let out a quiet chuckle.

“It’s nothing that serious. I just wanted to see what Toji Fushiguro’s son was like.”

Megumi clicked his tongue.

“Well, now you’ve seen enough. So you can leave.”

Ragnar gave a slight nod, then said something that made Megumi stop for just a second.

“Just like I thought. You’ve got more cursed energy than ordinary people.”

Megumi stood up and pointed toward the door.

“…You people are weird. It’s late, so leave.”