With that, she ran out of the ice cream shop first. On her way out the door, she turned back and waved at Miko, then quickly disappeared into the crowd on the street.
"Looks like your best friend decided to give you some space."
Gojo walked up beside Miko and looked at her teasingly, a grin in his voice. He'd obviously heard what Hana said and understood her misunderstanding.
Miko rubbed her forehead, looking exasperated, and let out a small sigh. "She's always like this. She loves jumping to conclusions."
Still, since Hana had already left, there was no way to call her back now. Miko could only pray silently that Hana would get home safe and not run into any danger.
"Forget it. Let's just go take care of your mission first."
Miko pushed the exasperation aside and spoke seriously. "If I get home too late, I'm worried I'll run into those things again. I can't protect myself yet."
She still couldn't stop thinking about cursed spirits. Just thinking about those ugly, terrifying monsters made her go cold all over.
"Let's go, then."
Gojo nodded and waved Betty over. "Betty, come on. We're going to the shrine to take care of a cursed spirit."
Betty stood up, grabbed her milkshake cup, tossed it into the trash can nearby, and followed Gojo and Miko. "Fine, I know. What a pain."
The three of them walked out of the ice cream shop together. The sunlight outside was a little harsh, and Miko squinted on reflex until her eyes adjusted.
"Which way is the shrine?"
Gojo looked at the busy street in front of them, a little lost. He'd never been to any of the shrines around here.
"It's up on the hill, not far from here. About ten minutes away."
Betty pursed her lips and set off in one direction first.
Gojo and Miko hurried after her. The three of them walked down the street at an easy pace, and Miko was a lot more relaxed than before. After about ten minutes, they reached a narrow path leading up the hill.
The path wasn't very wide, and both sides were lined with thick, leafy trees. Sunlight came through gaps in the leaves and left patches of light on the ground that shifted gently in the wind.
There weren't many people on the path. There was only the occasional birdsong and the rustle of wind through the leaves. It was quiet, even a little creepy.
Miko's heart started beating faster. She edged closer to Gojo without thinking and warily looked around.
"Normally, when sorcerers deal with a cursed spirit, they put up a 'curtain.'"
Gojo explained as he walked up the path. "A curtain is a special kind of barrier. It seals off the area around it so normal people don't wander in, and so they don't see the fight between the cursed spirit and the sorcerer. That way nobody panics for no reason."
"But for me, it doesn't really matter."
He paused, and that confident smile came back. "Those cursed spirits are all weak. I can take care of them fast, so there's no need to bother putting up a curtain. Even if a normal person sees something, they'll just think they imagined it."
But as they kept walking, Miko suddenly looked tense. She slowed down and then stopped completely, staring at the path ahead with fear in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
Gojo and Betty stopped too and looked back at her. Gojo's smile disappeared, and he sounded concerned. "Did you see something?"
Miko's body was trembling slightly. Her lips moved, and her voice was full of fear and unease. "I've... been here before. I came here once."
"There's a really powerful cursed spirit here... I, I think I even made some kind of contract with it..."
As she said it, a look of deep dread crossed her face. Her eyes were full of panic, like she was reliving that terrifying moment.
"That cursed spirit was different from all the others I've run into..."
Her voice got quieter and quieter, and her whole body was shaking. The fear went so deep that she could barely stay on her feet.
The wind on the path seemed colder now, and the birds had gone quiet. There was only the rustling of the leaves, and it felt eerie, like something terrible was in the trees ahead, silently watching the three of them.
"Relax, relax."
Gojo's voice was gentle in a casual sort of way. He bent down a little so he was at eye level with Miko, who had her head lowered.
"I told you, I'm the strongest."
He straightened up and ran a hand through his trademark white hair. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes were openly confident. He said it lightly, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. He wasn't trying to show off, but it was strangely reassuring.
"I promise it won't hurt you. All you have to do is watch how I deal with that thing."
Gojo comforted her, sounding completely certain.
To him, it was just a cursed spirit. No matter how well it hid or how strong it was, it couldn't cause any real trouble.
While they talked, the three of them kept walking, and soon they reached the end of the secluded path.
A shrine stood in front of them.
It wasn't exactly run-down. The wooden torii gate was still standing, but its red paint was peeling off in patches and showing the dark wood underneath, like it had been worn away by time and some strange power.
Compared to the shrines she usually saw, full of incense smoke and peaceful calm, this one didn't feel warm at all. Instead, a biting, chilling cold blew over them on the wind and wrapped around all three of them.
It wasn't sharp like a winter wind. It was damp, with a rotten smell that got into their noses. It made them shiver, and the chill seemed to sink right into their bones.
Coming here felt like walking into a carefully set trap. The air around them felt thick, and it filled them with unease. Even breathing felt like something to be careful about.
Miko's body tensed. She moved closer to Gojo without thinking. Her palms were sweaty, and even her fingertips were trembling.
"Looks like this is the place."
Gojo glanced at the shrine, then at Miko beside him, who was nervous, head slightly bowed, eyes darting away. He smiled warmly and said it cheerfully.
Unlike Miko, who was panicking, he didn't look nervous at all. He had his hands in his pockets and stood casually, as relaxed as someone taking a stroll through the park after dinner. It was like the ominous shrine in front of him was just ordinary scenery.
"What do we do now?"
Miko looked up, her voice trembling slightly. She kept looking around, wary and afraid, like she was scared something horrifying would jump out of the grass or from behind a tree and drag her into the dark.
That fear of the unknown wrapped around her heart, and it made it hard to breathe.
"Now?"
Gojo raised an eyebrow, still sounding relaxed, even a little lazy.
"It's simple. We find that annoying thing and kill it."
With that, Gojo said nothing more and turned his eyes to the shrine. The laziness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a quiet sharpness. Then he walked straight toward it with steady steps, without the slightest hesitation.
Miko panicked and wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him to be careful. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't be this careless against a cursed spirit he knew nothing about.
But before she could get the words out, Betty spoke first. Her voice was flat and calm, but completely certain.
"Just stay here and watch. The cursed spirit that can threaten that guy hasn't been born yet."
Betty folded her arms and lifted her chin slightly, looking a bit haughty. When she looked at Gojo's back, her face didn't show much, but there was deep trust there.
She'd been with Gojo for a long time and knew how strong he was better than anyone. No matter how powerful the cursed spirit in this shrine was, it was nothing but a joke in front of him.
Betty's words made Miko feel a lot better, and her tense body loosened a little. But the nervousness deep down still hadn't gone away.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time in her life she'd been in an actual face-off with a cursed spirit.
She'd seen cursed spirits before and been followed by them, but she'd never stood this close, waiting for a fight to start. The waiting was even worse than facing a cursed spirit directly.
BOOM!
The moment Betty finished speaking, a deafening roar went off, like thunder right next to her ear. Miko's ears rang, and her head spun.
Miko jumped, her whole body jerking. She covered her ears on reflex and squeezed her eyes shut. It was a while before she dared to slowly open them and look toward where the sound had come from.
What she saw froze her in place. She even forgot to breathe.
The shrine that had been standing there a moment ago had collapsed. The sound of wooden beams snapping and roof tiles shattering mixed together, harsh and grating.
Under that massive force, the wooden shrine had blown apart into countless pieces. Wood chips and tiles flew everywhere, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that covered the whole shrine grounds in gray.
And the one responsible for all of it was the tall figure standing in front of the shrine: Gojo.
He was still standing in the same spot, tall and straight. His white hair stood out even in all that dust, and not a speck of it had landed on him. It was like the power that had just destroyed an entire shrine hadn't come from him at all.
Miko was shocked. Her eyes went wide, and she looked like she couldn't believe it.
Back at the ice cream shop, she'd seen Gojo easily get rid of the cursed spirit that had been following her, so she knew he was strong.
But a cursed spirit and a shrine were two completely different things! Even a small shrine was built out of wood. The power it would take to destroy one instantly was hard to even imagine.
Miko had never imagined Gojo was this terrifyingly strong. Even when he wasn't fighting a cursed spirit, he could unleash that much destructive power. It was beyond anything she'd ever thought of as "strong."
As the shrine was destroyed, an extremely oppressive, terrifying presence burst out of the ruins. It was like a giant beast that had slept for a thousand years had finally woken up, and its overwhelming hostility spread out in every direction.
Miko knew this presence well.
The first time this cursed spirit had come after her and she'd felt her life was in danger, this was exactly what she'd felt. Cold and hopeless, the kind of thing that filled her with dread from deep inside.
Back then, though, it hadn't been this strong or this suffocating. Now it was like it had been completely let loose. It pressed down on her so heavily she could barely breathe. Her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed.
She grabbed the trunk of a tree beside her to steady herself. Her fingertips were ice cold, her face was as pale as paper, and her eyes were full of fear. She didn't even dare breathe loudly.
"Huh, so it's a special grade. No wonder it's so cocky."
Gojo stood in front of the ruins and narrowed his eyes slightly. He took a quick look at the presence building up inside the wreckage and said it flatly, sounding unimpressed. It was like he wasn't facing a terrifying special grade cursed spirit at all, just a buzzing mosquito.
Cocky? It wasn't exactly the right time, but Miko couldn't help thinking it.
Compared to the cursed spirit hiding in the ruins that hadn't even shown itself yet, the one being cocky was clearly Gojo.
He hadn't even said hello. He'd just walked up and blown up its home. Any cursed spirit would be furious about that.
The oppressive presence grew heavier and heavier, like a rising tide swallowing up the air around them bit by bit. When it reached its peak, a huge figure slowly emerged from the ruins of the shrine and stood in front of them.
It was completely white and shaped a bit like a fox. It was enormous, taller than a two-story building, and covered in thick white fur. Under the fur, they could make out the shapes of jutting bones, which made it look grotesque.