"Just looking at it kills my appetite. It's going to ruin perfectly good ice cream."
Betty stared at the cursed spirit in disgust, her brows knitted tightly. She didn't even feel like drinking her milkshake anymore.
Ever since she'd come to this world, nearly every cursed spirit she'd seen had been as ugly as could be. They were all strange and twisted, and they gave off a nasty aura.
Sometimes she even thought these cursed spirits looked worse than the Gastrea she'd seen before. At least the Gastrea had a kind of ferocious coolness to them. These cursed spirits were nothing but ugly and creepy.
Running into something like this while eating was especially bad. It killed your appetite instantly and made even good food taste like nothing.
"Aw, don't be so grumpy," Gojo said with a grin, saying something weird as usual. He still had a firm grip on the cursed spirit's arm, and his tone was relaxed. "It's still a living thing, you know. Don't be so cruel."
Betty rolled her eyes even harder, sounding even more disgusted. "If you're not going to do it, I'll do it myself. All I did was secretly watch a video of you getting owned. Do you really have to be this petty and take it out on a cursed spirit?"
"Fine, fine, I'll do it, okay?"
Gojo shrugged helplessly. His smile faded a little, and he sounded a bit disappointed. "Too bad it's not our mission target. Otherwise it'd save us a lot of trouble and some effort too."
With that, he looked down at the cursed spirit in front of him. The playful, easygoing look in his eyes disappeared, replaced by pure contempt. His voice went cold. "Yeah, I can see you. So what?"
As he spoke, a terrifying wave of cursed energy erupted from Gojo, like a dormant volcano suddenly blowing. A powerful gust swept through the whole ice cream shop, and the tables and chairs around them shook slightly.
The temperature seemed to drop several degrees in an instant. The heavy pressure made the other customers stop what they were doing on reflex. They looked confused and uneasy, but they had no idea why.
Feeling Gojo's terrifying cursed energy, the cursed spirit, which had been so excited a moment ago, froze. The black haze around it became unstable, and its body started trembling.
Before it could react, Gojo tightened his grip slightly, and a massive force surged into the cursed spirit.
The cursed spirit was slammed into the floor with a dull thud, kicking up a little dust.
Right in front of Miko, the creepy thing that had terrified her so badly started breaking apart the moment it hit the floor. It turned into wisps of black smoke that slowly faded into the air, until it was gone completely without leaving a single trace.
The ripple of cursed energy vanished along with it, and the pressure in the air slowly lifted. Everything went back to normal, as if the cursed spirit had never been there at all.
"Huh? What are you guys talking about? That sounds weird. What's this about ruining your appetite?"
Hana had finally finished her own ice cream, and she'd eaten most of Miko's too. She looked up, confused, at Gojo and Betty, then at Miko, who was staring blankly.
She'd been focused on her ice cream the whole time and hadn't really heard what they were saying. All she'd caught was something about appetite, and it made no sense to her.
"Nothing, nothing."
Gojo immediately pulled his cursed energy back and put his sunglasses on again. His bright smile was back, and he answered Hana cheerfully, like he wasn't the one who had just unleashed that terrifying cursed energy.
"Right, Yotsuya?"
He turned to Miko and winked at her with a smile, signaling her to play along.
But Miko didn't respond.
All her attention was fixed on the spot on the floor where the cursed spirit had disappeared. Her eyes were blank, and her face was full of shock and disbelief. She'd even forgotten to breathe.
She couldn't believe it. The creepy thing that had terrified her for so long, the kind of thing she'd always tried so hard to avoid, had been wiped out so easily by this guy. And he hadn't even looked like he was trying.
She'd felt that terrifying wave of cursed energy too. The pressure had made her whole body go cold, and yet that guy could control that much power with no effort at all.
"Miko? Miko?"
Seeing how dazed Miko was, Hana got even more confused. She reached out, gently touched Miko's arm, and called her name a few more times.
It wasn't until Hana's hand touched her arm that Miko snapped back to reality. Her eyes slowly focused again. The shock faded from her face, replaced by intense excitement and a barely noticeable tremble.
"What is it, Hana?" She forced a smile. Her voice was still a little hoarse, and she tried hard to sound normal.
"Why are you acting so weird? Did they put something strange in the ice cream?"
Hana glanced at her empty bowl, then back at Miko, puzzled. "I ate it too, and I don't feel anything. Actually, I thought it was really good."
"No, no, it's nothing."
Miko quickly waved her hands, explaining a little too urgently. She was afraid Hana would notice something was off.
She didn't want Hana to know about these creepy things yet. She didn't want her best friend to get dragged into this same endless fear and trouble.
"Oh, right, Hana, didn't you say you wanted more ice cream? If you don't mind, you can have the rest of mine."
Miko quickly changed the subject. She knew exactly what her best friend loved. All she had to do was bring up ice cream, and Hana would instantly forget whatever she'd been confused about.
Sure enough, Hana was a total foodie. As long as there was something tasty in front of her, every worry and question went straight out the window.
Hana's eyes lit up at Miko's words. Her confusion disappeared without a trace, and she looked thrilled. "Really? I can?"
"Of course."
Miko nodded without hesitation and pushed the little bit of ice cream left in her bowl over to Hana.
To her, right now, it didn't matter at all whether the ice cream tasted good or whether Hana misunderstood her.
What really mattered was the guy in front of her, and the little girl sitting not far away. They could see those horrifying things just like she could! And they actually had the power to destroy them!
Miko had been through so much torment, and now countless emotions were churning inside her. There was excitement and hope, along with a hidden sense of hurt and relief.
Ever since she'd started seeing those creepy things, they had tormented her constantly. She'd never had a moment of peace, day or night.
They were always there, and she could see them anywhere. At home, at school, or in some little alley by the road, all she had to do was look up and she might see one of those terrifying figures.
She had to be on edge and careful at all times, so that nothing could suddenly pop out, scare her, and prove she could see them.
Living like that was miserable. It was full of trouble and fear, and it had pushed her close to her breaking point.
Sometimes she'd finish washing her face in the shower, open her eyes, and find a horrifying figure in the mirror staring right at her with a creepy smile. Other times, she'd be sound asleep at night, and one of those things would suddenly show up under her blanket or lie at the head of her bed, popping out to scare her. She wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night.
To deal with all this, and to get rid of those horrifying things, Miko had tried everything. She'd tried every method she could think of.
Piles of salt that people said could ward off evil, charms from temples, Western crosses and garlic, even Buddhist sutras and the Bible. If she'd heard something could drive away evil spirits, she'd tried it.
She piled salt at her door and by her windows, stuck charms on the walls and doors, wore a cross around her neck, and carried garlic in her pocket. Every night before bed, she'd read a passage from a sutra, hoping it would drive those creepy things away.
Unfortunately, none of these traditional methods did anything.
Those ghostlike things kept showing up in front of her the same as always, completely unaffected. Some of them even deliberately hovered back and forth in front of her, like they were mocking her pointless efforts.
With no other choice, Miko could only endure it quietly. She tried as hard as she could to get used to it all, to ignore those things and act like she couldn't see anything.
She didn't know how long she'd have to keep living like this, or when those things would find out she could see them. But for now, this was the only way she could get by.
She'd thought she would spend the rest of her life like this, trapped in fear and misery. She'd thought she would never escape those creepy things and would always have to carry it all alone.
But today, in the middle of a life with no hope in sight, something different had actually happened!
This guy, who looked about her age, and that tiny little girl over there with the disgusted look on her face, could see those horrifying things too!
And not only that, they had the power to destroy them completely!
For Miko, after everything she'd been through, this was a ray of light in the darkness. It was a glimmer of hope in the middle of despair.
She didn't want to think about anything else now. Hana's misunderstanding, her own timidity, all of it went right out of her head.
There was only one thing she wanted to do, only one thought on her mind.
She wanted to find out what was going on.
Whether those horrifying things were ghosts or something else entirely, what were they? Why could she see them? Why did they keep clinging to her and refuse to leave her alone?
And was there a way to get rid of all of them, so she could be free of this fear and misery for good and live like a normal person?
If there was, Miko never wanted to go through this again. She never wanted to see those horrifying figures again, and she never wanted to live in fear day and night ever again.
She took a deep breath, mustered every bit of courage she had, and stood up. She looked at Gojo with determination and asked sincerely, her voice trembling just slightly.
"Gojo, if you don't mind, could we go over there and talk?"
"Huh?!"
Hana's eyes went wide at Miko's words, and she looked completely shocked. Her mouth was still full of ice cream, so her words came out mumbled. "Miko, since when are you this bold?"
As far as she knew, her best friend had always been the shy, timid type. Miko normally blushed just talking to strangers, let alone going up to a guy she didn't know, even if this guy really was ridiculously good-looking and hard not to notice.
"It's not what you think! I just need to ask him about something."
Miko waved her hands at Hana and quickly explained, looking a little exasperated.
She knew Hana had definitely gotten the wrong idea and thought she'd fallen for Gojo, and that was why she wanted to talk to him.
"Okay, okay, go ahead."
Hana gave her a wink and a knowing smile. She waved her off while chewing on her ice cream, her tone teasing. "I get it! Don't worry, go on, I won't bother you two!"
With that, she went back to focusing on the rest of the ice cream in her bowl, acting like she didn't know anything except eating. That way, her best friend wouldn't feel pressured to explain.
Miko sighed helplessly and shook her head.
She knew Hana had misunderstood, and in a situation like this, there was probably no way to explain it right now anyway. Instead of wasting time trying, she'd be better off getting answers to the things she wanted to know.
So she didn't bother explaining. She turned back to Gojo, nodded at him, and followed him over to their table and sat down.
She was nervous and hopeful at the same time. Her hands gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, and her palms were sweating again. She didn't know what answers were waiting for her, or whether she'd really be able to escape those horrifying things.
Gojo sat down and ordered another milk tea. Looking at the nervous Miko across from him, he gave her a warm smile and said cheerfully, "So, what do you want to know?"