Suddenly, the door was thrown open with force and noise.
I turned hastily toward Mayu, who was just coming out, and was startled at first glance.
The sight before me deeply displeased me, and I quickly closed the few steps between us.
She sank to the ground, leaning weakly against the door, and carelessly placed the blood-smeared scythe on the floor.
"Mayu!" I let my panic out on her, knelt down beside her, and pulled my blindfold down to my neck. "What happened?!"
Immediately, the large and gaping wound on her leg caught my eye.
"…! Why didn't you call out?!" I scolded her, almost angrily and upset.
"I-I… didn't… think of it anymore," she replied weakly and slumped against me, exhausted. "The cursed spirit… got me with its… claws."
I didn't hesitate any longer, quickly pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Kiyotaka's number.
As I listened to the brief ringing, I was shocked to notice the immense number of cursed spirits floating through the air of the department store hall. Big ones. Small ones. Angry ones. Terrifying ones. Colorful cursed spirits.
"I'll be there in two minutes," I heard Kiyotaka say firmly in my ear.
"One!" I countered threateningly, hung up, and stowed the phone back away quickly without taking my eyes off the chaos.
I gathered my cursed energy in the blink of an eye—but paused briefly.
Some of them seemed to be approaching us, but then immediately… fled?!
Why weren't they attacking?
It almost seemed as if they were afraid of us.
I must have imagined that—cursed spirits attacked at every opportunity.
But they didn't come closer.
With furrowed brows, I tightened my arm around Mayu, included her in my Infinity, and finally released my gathered cursed energy on those bastards.
They dissolved within seconds, and the shopping center could finally take a breath.
Having just brought a hint of order into this chaos, I clearly noticed that the little bundle of nerves in my arms was unnaturally warm. More like glowing.
I placed my hand on her forehead, which immediately confirmed my suspicion.
"You're burning up! Are you feverish, Mayu?"
She didn't respond right away, so I looked down at her and laid my hand on her flushed cheek.
"I don't… know," she stammered, looking up at me with glassy eyes, "but yeah… I feel hot… and dizzy."
What in the devil's name had happened?!
"It must be from your open leg. Damn it, you silly goose. I told you to call out. … I should've just gone in to check on you!"
Carefully, I slid my arm under her legs and lifted the dazed featherweight, who weakly nestled against me and barely clung to my uniform.
Just then, the sound of an approaching car engine reached my ears. It came to a quick stop beside us, and Kiyotaka got out.
He took a quick and suspicious glance around before we got into the car.
Meanwhile, Kiyotaka stowed the cursed tool in the trunk and hurried back behind the wheel.
Wordlessly, he understood what needed to be done and revved the engine again.
"Should I contact Ms. Ieiri?" he offered, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.
In response, I was already shaking my head with the phone at my ear.