Betty jerked her chin toward Hana Yurikawa, signaling for him to look. "That girl seems to be really popular with cursed spirits."
Satoru Gojo followed her gaze. His eyes passed over the two Fly Heads on the table, and his confusion quickly faded. His tone stayed relaxed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, that's normal."
He pushed his sunglasses back into place and leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. "Some people have really strong life energy, so they naturally attract cursed spirits," he explained lazily.
"But for something as weak as a Fly Head, life energy that strong burns them like fire. That's why they don't dare get close and just hover around."
Betty frowned. "So does that mean someone like that has a lot of talent?"
"No, no, no." Gojo waved a hand casually. "Strong life energy doesn't mean you can become a jujutsu sorcerer. If anything, people like that are the least suited for it, because life energy is the opposite of cursed energy."
He paused and tapped his chin with a finger, like he was trying to remember something. After a few seconds, he went on. "Hmm, let me think. It's kind of like that Toji Fushiguro guy I ran into last time."
"If I had to compare, that girl's pretty similar to him. She doesn't have a drop of cursed energy, but her life energy is off the charts. If she became an athlete or something, she'd be amazing."
"I see."
Betty nodded, finally understanding. Her confusion was gone.
She still knew too little about jujutsu, cursed energy, and all that. Compared to Gojo, who had been dealing with cursed spirits for years, she knew basically nothing.
While the two of them talked, Gojo's ice cream boat had already hit the bottom.
A whole boat of ice cream obviously couldn't last long against Gojo's ridiculous appetite.
He scraped the inside of the glass boat with his spoon, digging out the last of the chocolate sauce and cookie crumbs and shoving them into his mouth. When he was done, he licked the spoon, still wanting more.
Then he grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped the cream and chocolate from the corner of his mouth. He stretched contentedly, letting out a small, satisfied sigh.
"Okay, energy recharged. Now I can get back to work, full of pep."
The moment Gojo finished speaking, a clear wave of cursed energy rippled through the air. It wasn't especially strong, but it definitely wasn't weak either. It was nothing like the presence of those two Fly Heads.
Betty and Gojo looked up at almost the same time, their eyes on the wall of the ice cream shop.
A second later, a tall, thin figure walked straight through the cold wall like it was a sheet of paper, entering the shop without any resistance.
The figure was hunched, with long, thin limbs and grayish-black skin. Its face had no real features, only two sunken black holes that gave off a faint black haze. The cursed energy around it was getting stronger.
Without any hesitation, it headed straight for Hana. Its steps were light and made no sound at all, like it was floating above the floor.
Gojo and Betty exchanged a look. They'd both sized it up instantly.
It was a Grade 4 cursed spirit. It wasn't anything special, but it was well beyond the Fly Heads from before, and it was capable of hurting people.
The cursed spirit stopped beside Hana and looked down at the two Fly Heads on the table. Its movements were stiff as it reached out a long, thin finger and casually grabbed one of them.
Its fingers were ice cold and incredibly strong. The Fly Head struggled desperately in its grip but couldn't break free, and all it could do was let out a faint screech.
Then the cursed spirit pressed the Fly Head against the top of Hana's head.
Hana was busy eating her ice cream and didn't notice anything strange above her. She kept eating happily.
The moment the Fly Head touched Hana's powerful life energy, it let out a piercing shriek. Its body started melting fast, sizzling like it had been dropped on a hot griddle, and wisps of black smoke rose from it with a burnt smell.
Once the Fly Head was completely charred black, the cursed spirit slowly let go. It stuffed the cooked Fly Head into its featureless "mouth," and a faint swallowing sound came from its throat, like it was savoring something delicious.
Gojo froze for a second at the sight. Then he burst out laughing. His laugh was loud and carefree, and it stood out in the quiet ice cream shop.
It wasn't just him. Betty couldn't help smiling either, letting out a small laugh with a mocking look in her eyes.
She hadn't expected this Grade 4 cursed spirit to be such a weirdo. It was treating Fly Heads like snacks, and it even "cooked" them in this bizarre way before eating them.
When she heard their laughter, Miko Yotsuya, sitting across from Hana, flinched hard. Her whole body went stiff.
Her eyes darted over her best friend, then flicked on reflex to the Grade 4 cursed spirit beside Hana. Her heart clenched, and a chill shot from her feet to the top of her head.
She could see it perfectly. That horrifying cursed spirit was standing right next to Hana, wrapped in black haze, and she'd seen everything it had just done.
But Hana didn't seem to notice anything at all. She was still looking down at her ice cream, completely happy.
The thin cursed spirit was about to turn toward Gojo and Betty, who had laughed. But right then, it seemed to sense something. It suddenly thrust its head forward, right in front of Miko's face.
It was extremely close to her. A bone-chilling cold hit her face, mixed with a faint, nauseating burnt smell.
"You can see me?"
The cursed spirit's voice was hoarse and cold, like rusty metal scraping together. It was like the sound of nails dragging across a chalkboard in an empty classroom in the middle of the night, shrill and grating.
Hearing that voice made Miko's skin crawl. Every hair on her body stood on end, and a wave of intense fear swept over her. It felt awful.
Her body visibly stiffened at the question. She froze in place like she'd been turned to ice, and even her breathing became careful.
Her hands gripped the hem of her clothes so tightly her knuckles turned white, and her palms were slick with sweat. She stared hard at the tabletop, too scared to look up at the cursed spirit in front of her, afraid her eyes would give something away.
"What's wrong, Miko?" Hana had finally noticed something was off with her. She looked up, confused, still eating her ice cream as she talked. There was a bit of strawberry sauce at the corner of her mouth.
"Is the ice cream not good? If you're not gonna eat it, I can eat it for you. I don't know why, but I'm actually pretty hungry right now."
Hana couldn't feel the cursed spirit beside her at all. She even scooted over a little on reflex to give Miko more room, looking hopeful. She clearly really wanted Miko's matcha ice cream.
"If you want it, Hana, go ahead and take it."
Miko fought to keep her fear under control. She swallowed, and her voice had a slight, barely noticeable tremble. She forced a smile and made sure her eyes stayed on Hana, doing everything she could to avoid looking at the horrifying cursed spirit beside her.
Inside, she kept praying. She prayed that this cursed spirit would leave soon, and that it hadn't figured her out.
Miko didn't know exactly when it had started, but at some point she'd discovered she could see these strange things.
They were deeply unsettling. Some were like the ghosts from stories. They could pass through walls freely, like they had no solid bodies, walked without making a sound, and flickered in and out.
Some seemed to still look the way they had when they were alive. They wore normal clothes and even seemed like you could talk to them. But if you looked closely, their faces had no expressions, their eyes were empty, and a cold aura came off them.
But all of them had one thing in common. They wanted people to see them.
Miko didn't know what would happen to someone who saw them. All she knew was that whenever one of these things found out she could see it, it would cling to her. The feeling of being watched by those cold eyes made her shiver all over and kept her up all night.
So every time, she did everything she could to stay calm and not show any cracks. Even when she was terrified out of her mind, she acted like she hadn't noticed a thing.
Otherwise, once they realized she could see these creepy things, it definitely wouldn't end well for her.
Luckily, after so much time spent enduring and practicing, she'd gotten very good at handling surprises like this.
As long as she was careful, careful, and even more careful, and didn't show anything unusual, she'd be fine.
That was what Miko believed, and that was exactly what she did.
She kept her eyes locked on Hana's face and tried hard to make her expression look natural. She even pushed her bowl of ice cream toward Hana on her own to cover up how panicked she was.
But just as she was working to stay calm and wait for the creepy thing to leave on its own, a familiar figure walked over.
It was the guy who had bought them ice cream earlier, Satoru Gojo.
At first, Miko didn't pay him any attention. She simply didn't have any focus to spare for anything else. All her attention was on the cursed spirit beside her, terrified that one slip would give her away.
But once the guy named Gojo got close, she suddenly realized his target didn't seem to be them. He hadn't come over to chat.
"I mean, if there's something gross hanging around, it'll ruin your appetite, right?"
Gojo's voice was still light and amused. It sounded like he was joking.
Miko's eyes flicked over out of the corner of her vision. Then her pupils shrank, and her heart felt like an invisible hand had grabbed it. It nearly stopped beating.
To everyone else, it looked like Gojo was just standing by their table with his hand resting on the back of Hana's chair, talking to them in a casual, natural way.
But Miko could see it clearly. His hand wasn't on the back of the chair. It was gripping the arm of that horrifying cursed spirit!
The cursed spirit had been staring at Miko just a moment ago, asking whether she could see it. Now it realized its arm had been grabbed. Its body jolted stiff, and it turned its head on reflex, only to see the same bright smile on Gojo's face.
Behind his sunglasses, his blue eyes glinted with amusement. There wasn't a trace of fear in them, only playful mockery.
"You can see me."
The cursed spirit growled, its voice even hoarser and harsher than before. Its featureless face seemed to show excitement. The cursed energy around it surged, and the black haze grew thicker.
For these creepy things, being seen by a human seemed to be something worth getting excited about. It was like they'd finally broken through some kind of barrier and could now openly cling to a person.
Miko's heart leapt into her throat, and a strong sense of despair washed over her.
While the horrifying thing wasn't looking at her, she shook her head at Gojo as hard as she could. Her eyes were wide, full of urgency and pleading, as she silently mouthed a warning.
Don't tell it you can see it! Pretend you can't! Pretend you can't see it, now!
Miko was desperately trying to get her point across. Her face had gone red from the effort, and her eyes were even starting to tear up.
She didn't know who this guy was or why he was doing this. But she knew that once the cursed spirit was sure he could see it, it would cling to him, and he might even end up in danger.
She wanted to warn him so he could avoid something terrible, even though they'd only just met by chance.
Seeing how hard Miko was trying, and the urgency and pleading in her eyes, Gojo couldn't help smiling. He slowly took off his sunglasses, revealing his clear, dazzling blue eyes.
He winked at Miko, his look reassuring, as if to tell her not to worry. Then his eyes went back to the cursed spirit in his grip. His smile was as bright as ever, but now there was something cold in it.
Betty, who hadn't moved from her seat the whole time, finally turned around and rolled her eyes at Gojo. She sounded impatient and fed up. "Quit playing around and just get rid of that thing already, okay?"