Chapter 123 (Patreon)

One hour earlier

“Geto-sama, I’m bored.”

Nanako Hasaba lay sprawled across Suguru Geto’s bed, rolling from one side to the other with nothing better to do.

“Nanako, that’s rude.”

Mimiko Hasaba sat quietly on the floor, hugging her teru teru bōzu doll against her chest.

“It’s fine. Geto-sama said we could make ourselves at home.”

Ignoring her sister’s warning, Nanako raised her phone and began snapping pictures of the room.

“Photo of Geto-sama’s bedroom—secured!”

In the living room, Suguru Geto sat in silence, listening to the voices coming from the other room.

Before he realized it, the corners of his lips had curved into a faint smile.

A life like this... isn’t so bad.

Clatter!

Crash!

Geto’s smile immediately froze.

“Whoa! I accidentally broke a vase!”

“Nanako, stop moving around. Otherwise, you’ll—”

Before Mimiko could finish, another vase struck the floor and shattered.

Crash!

“One disaster after another...”

Their anxious voices soon drifted out of the bedroom.

“This is bad! Geto-sama is definitely going to be furious!”

“That’s right. Nanako, you’re going to be thrown out.”

“No! Mimiko, save me! I don’t want Geto-sama to kick me out!”

“Even if you ask me, there’s nothing I can do.”

Mimiko lowered her gaze to the doll in her arms. Nanako had caused the mess herself, so she would simply have to accept her punishment.

How did this happen?!

After hesitating for several moments, Nanako cautiously crept into the living room.

“Um... Geto-sama, I—”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

Nanako’s face went pale.

It’s over!

She hurriedly opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, but Geto calmly continued.

“They were only a few vases. It’s nothing worth worrying about.”

Nanako stared at him.

“No, that won’t do! Mimiko and I will go buy replacements.”

Standing beside her, Mimiko quietly protested.

“I didn’t do anything...”

Nanako ignored her completely. She grabbed Mimiko by the arm and immediately dragged her toward the door.

“Don’t worry, Geto-sama! We’ll find ones that look exactly the same!”

The door slammed shut behind them.

Geto lowered his teacup onto the table.

“Those two are as noisy as ever.”

— Ciallo~ (∠・ω＜)⌒☆ —

“Hmm... Mimiko, which one do you think we should choose?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about this one?”

Nanako picked up a vase decorated with bamboo leaves and shrimp.

“I don’t know.”

“This one won’t work either...”

After searching for a while longer, she found another vase painted with lotuses and a flowing river.

“How about this one?”

“I don’t know.”

A vein twitched on Nanako’s forehead.

“Then take this!”

She brought the edge of her hand down on Mimiko’s head.

“That hurts.”

Nanako stared at her sister’s completely flat reaction.

Could you sound any less interested?

“Forget it. We’ll just buy a couple with more traditional designs.”

She had never expected Mimiko to offer any useful advice in the first place.

After paying for the vases, Nanako stared at the money remaining in her hand and cried out in despair.

“What a rip-off! Two vases cost me a thousand yen!”

Mimiko covered her mouth and giggled.

“Nanako is an idiot.”

“What did you say?!”

The Hasaba sisters continued bickering as they walked down the street, paying little attention to what was in front of them.

Because of that, they accidentally collided with a passerby.

“Whoa—sorry!”

The girl they had bumped into was Riko Amanai.

Or rather, it was Riko Amanai’s body, currently under Hanami’s control.

Riko studied the two sisters for a moment before answering.

“It is fine.”

Nanako and Mimiko apologized once more and turned to leave.

At that moment, thick roots erupted from beneath the pavement.

“What—?! Mimiko!”

The roots coiled around Mimiko before she could react, lifting her from the ground.

Nanako immediately reached for her phone, but the roots moved faster. They wrapped around her arms, legs, and torso, completely restraining her.

“Mmph!”

Clatter!

The two newly purchased vases slipped from their hands and shattered against the pavement.

Suguru Geto glanced at the time.

“They’ve been gone for quite a while.”

He waited another moment before rising from his seat.

“I suppose I should go look for them.”

Geto shook his head and made his way toward the door. As he passed his black monk’s robe, he reached out and picked it up.

After considering it for a moment, however, he placed it back down.

The harsh afternoon sunlight struck him the moment he stepped outside. Geto instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.

“It’s far too bright...”

By the time dusk arrived, Geto had searched the entire shopping district.

There was still no sign of Nanako or Mimiko.

“Where did those two wander off to?”

Suddenly, a crowd farther down the street began fleeing in terror.

People screamed as they shoved past one another, desperately trying to escape from something ahead.

Geto stopped.

A cold sense of unease settled in his chest.

“What happened...?”

He moved against the fleeing crowd until the road ahead finally came into view.

His eyes widened.

“Ri... Riko?”

Riko Amanai stood in the middle of the street.

Vines had pierced through Nanako and Mimiko’s bodies, suspending them high above the ground. Blood ran down the tangled branches and dripped steadily onto the pavement below.

Nanako’s unfocused eyes shifted toward Geto.

The moment she saw him, blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

“Geto... sama...”

Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Run... Hurry...”

Beside her, Mimiko struggled to speak.

“Run...”

The thing controlling Riko’s body tilted its head.

“You recognize this vessel?”

There was something unnatural in Riko’s expression—something that did not belong to her.

Geto stared at her in disbelief.

“I recognize the body.”

His gaze shifted toward the flower blooming over her right eye and the grotesque eyeball beneath it.

“But you’re a cursed spirit.”

Hanami regarded him with curiosity.

“How peculiar. You are able to perceive me, yet I sense no cursed energy within your body.”

Geto clenched his teeth.

What the hell is happening?

He tried to call upon his cursed energy.

Nothing responded.

No matter how desperately he attempted to draw it out, the cursed energy inside him remained motionless, like the surface of a stagnant pond.

Hanami raised one hand.

“Then you are merely another ordinary human to be killed.”

Roots tore through the air toward him.

Geto threw himself aside, narrowly avoiding the first attack, but a sharpened branch still tore across his shoulder.

“Ghh!”

He landed several steps away, one hand pressed against the wound.

“My body has gotten rusty.”

Hanami sounded faintly impressed.

“You possess considerable skill for someone without cursed energy.”

Several wooden buds formed around Hanami and shot toward him.

Geto’s expression changed.

“Not good!”

He twisted between the incoming projectiles.

The buds passed beside him, but the moment they struck the ground behind him, roots burst from their surfaces and changed direction.

Several pierced straight through his arm.

Splat!

More roots wrapped tightly around his torso and limbs, locking his entire body in place.

“I can’t move...”

“Cease struggling,” Hanami said calmly. “These restraints cannot be broken by an ordinary human.”

Hanami then seemed to remember something.

The cursed spirit turned back toward the Hasaba sisters.

“I will dispose of the troublesome jujutsu sorcerers first. Their bodies will become nourishment.”

“Stop!”

The roots twisted around Nanako’s arms and legs.

“Ahhh!”

Her scream echoed through the street.

Suddenly, Riko’s body trembled.

The hand controlling the vines came to a halt.

“Ge... Geto?”

Riko’s voice was weak and unsteady.

It was no longer Hanami speaking.

“Is that... really you, Geto?”

A tear slipped from the corner of her left eye.

“Please... kill me.”

Her lips trembled.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore...”

For a fleeting moment, Riko Amanai had regained control of her own body.

Hanami’s voice immediately pushed its way back to the surface.

“Return to your place.”

Riko’s expression went blank.

In the next instant, Hanami had completely reclaimed control.

Geto gritted his teeth hard enough to draw blood.

Damn it.

Power...

I need power!

The vines around Nanako tightened further.

Geto could hear it clearly.

The sickening sound of every bone in her body beginning to break.

Rage. Hatred. Despair.

Every negative emotion surging through Geto’s heart gathered at once, pouring into his body like a violent tide.

Crack!

The roots binding him split apart.

Hanami turned in surprise.

“Hm?”

Before the cursed spirit could react, Geto’s fist was already directly in front of Riko’s face.

Black lightning erupted around his arm.

“What... is this?”

Bang!

Black Flash!

The distorted impact thundered across the street.

Hanami was blasted backward, tearing through the ground before finally crashing dozens of meters away.

Geto remained where he stood, breathing heavily as black sparks faded from around his fist.

“Ha... Ha...”

He stared down at his trembling hand.

“My cursed energy...”

The stagnant pool inside him had begun to move again.

Cursed energy surged throughout his entire body, recovering at an astonishing rate.

“It’s coming back...?”

Hanami forced Riko’s body upright, staring at him in disbelief.

“How is this possible?”

Geto slowly raised his hands and formed a hand seal.

Hanami’s eye widened.

“You are a jujutsu sorcerer!”

Geto’s expression hardened as cursed energy erupted around him.

“Domain Expansion—”

The surrounding space began to distort.

“Kishimojin Hall.”