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[Cheat] Chapter 21: Yuji Itadori
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 17:22:52 +0000 UTC"The Paimon Crew? Uh... yeah, never heard of it."
"Mm-hmm, well, thanks! See you~"
"Bye-bye~"
Lumine found a secluded spot and changed into the new outfit.
The shirt had two large characters printed on it: "Most Adorable".
Her face instantly flushed red. "What kind of outfit is this? No way, I need to change again."
"There’s no time — just go with it. You can switch later when you have the chance."
Paimon puffed up her cheeks. "Traveler, why didn’t you let me stand with you back there?"
"Because there’s no such thing as a ‘pixie’ in this world."
"Hmph, what a backward world!"
...
An hour later, Lumine finally boarded a train.
Where’d she get the money? Well... that’s a story involving a punk who tried to mess with her.
As for Paimon? She was stuffed inside a backpack.
"Protest! Protest!"
"Protest denied."
Paimon clenched her teeth in frustration. When will Emergency Food finally get some respect?
In the end, Lumine successfully arrived in Miyagi Prefecture — two hours earlier than expected.
That said, after hours of running around, she was both starving and exhausted.
Zephyr felt bad watching her suffer. He thought about pulling out a Sweet Madame, but then reconsidered — those were valuable healing items. Best not to waste them.
Just then, his eyes landed on a familiar sight — the golden arches of McDonald's.
"Welcome!"
...
Meanwhile, on a pedestrian bridge late at night, two figures sprinted across.
"Is it really that easy to peel off a talisman seal?" asked a boy named Yuji Itadori.
The dark-haired boy, Megumi Fushiguro, shook his head. "No, a regular human without cursed energy shouldn’t be able to. Normally, that’s how it works."
"But this object is so powerful, and the seal's worn down after all these years... it’s practically like paper now."
"Still, hearing you talk about curses... I’m having a hard time believing it’s real."
"Where are they!?" Megumi asked urgently.
"Fourth floor."
The two of them sprinted toward the school.
Suddenly, Yuji stopped abruptly, as if he’d collided with an invisible wall.
"This is... what the heck?!"
The school hallway was empty, yet a low, eerie voice echoed through the air.
"What... time... is it now..."
A frightened girl hid behind a wall, clutching her mouth tightly, her entire body trembling with fear.
"The short hand... points to... 11 o'clock..."
The girl’s voice shook as she whispered, "W-What... is that thing...?"
Her name was Sasaki, a member of the Occult Research Club. She had formed the club out of curiosity, but truthfully, she was incredibly timid — too scared even to walk home alone at night.
But today, curiosity had gotten the better of her. Late at night, she and another clubmate had sneaked into the school, intending to investigate a strange object they'd obtained from Yuji Itadori.
She had assumed the item was just a fake.
But to her horror... it turned out to be real!
When they unsealed the object, they found a withered, purplish-black finger inside. Immediately after, they were attacked by some bizarre, terrifying creature.
Sasaki had no idea what that monster was, but one look had been enough to fill her with dread.
Luckily, they had barely managed to escape at the time.
Unluckily... that thing was still nearby.
At that moment, regret gnawed at her.
"Why did I open that seal? Why did I even start this occult club...?"
Just then, a voice called out to her.
"Sasaki?"
Her heart leapt with relief.
"Inokuchi? Oh, thank goodness! Where did you go just now?"
It was her friend and fellow club member, the one who had come to the school with her.
As the figure drew closer, Sasaki suddenly felt that something was... off.
"He... help... me..."
Sasaki froze in place.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that Inokuchi’s face was distorted — a small, grotesque curse spirit was clinging to it, as if devouring him.
Before she could react, things got even worse.
A chilling voice whispered from behind her.
"What... time is it now..."
"Ah!" Sasaki shrieked in terror. She instinctively tried to run, but her legs buckled under her fear.
Desperate, she bit down hard on her tongue, the sharp pain jolting her back to her senses. Fueled by adrenaline, she staggered to her feet and stumbled away.
Meanwhile, Megumi Fushiguro was racing toward the school. He clenched his teeth tightly.
"The curse has been activated... and its presence is overwhelming!"
In the hallway, a grotesque creature emerged — limbless, headless, and covered in countless eyes. Beneath the topmost eye, a twisted mouth gaped wide.
Ugly, terrifying, and filled with a hateful aura — the atmosphere around the curse was suffocating.
Megumi Fushiguro scoffed, "Out of my way!"
He pressed his hands together in a summoning gesture.
"Divine Dogs!"
Like an onmyoji's spell, two wolf-like beasts appeared out of thin air. One was pure white, the other jet black — both known as the Divine Dogs, Megumi’s shikigami.
"Tear it apart, Divine Dogs!"
In an instant, the Divine Dogs lunged, swiftly ripping the low-grade curse to shreds.
Without pausing for a second, Megumi rushed straight to the fourth floor.
The moment he stepped in, the sight before him made him suck in a sharp breath.
A massive curse loomed there — grotesquely obese, covered in twisted eyes and disfigured hands.
Four of its monstrous hands tightly gripped two unconscious figures — Sasaki and her friend.
"Damn it, it's using them as hostages!" Megumi clenched his teeth.
Just then, a figure suddenly leapt down from above — Yuji Itadori.
With a powerful punch to the curse’s chest, Yuji wrenched both unconscious students from its grip and dove aside with them.
The curse staggered, only to be pounced on by the Divine Dogs, which viciously tore it to pieces.
Megumi walked over slowly, sighing. "I was going to ask what you were doing here, but... nice work."
Yuji quipped back, "Don’t act so cool. You were scared out of your mind just now."
"Who was scared?! I was just being careful not to hurt those two!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
A vein bulged on Megumi’s forehead.
Yuji suddenly pointed, "By the way... what's that thing eating the curse over there?"
Megumi replied, "That's my shikigami. I'm surprised you can even see it. Normally, people can’t see curses unless they’re on the brink of death... or during special situations like this."
"Yeah, now that you mention it... I've never seen ghosts or anything like that before."
"You're not scared?"
Yuji shrugged. "I was at first... but you know, people really die."
"Huh?" Megumi stared at him, confused.
"So I figured... at the very least, I want the people I know to have a proper death."
"Well... I don’t really get it myself," Yuji added with a sheepish smile.
Megumi silently thought, If you don’t get it, why are you even saying it?
Keeping his usual cold demeanor, Megumi said flatly, "What are you, one of those... 'edgy teens' people talk about nowadays?"
Yuji shot back, "Huh? No way! I’m a high schooler now, okay?"
"Then why do you sound so edgy? Wouldn't it be simpler to just say, 'They're my friends, so I wanted to save them'?"
///END
