Seeing the cold expressions of the people around him, the frustration of being ignored finally dissipated from his heart.
Under the slanted winter sunset, his emerald-green eyes, tinged with a pale yellow, flashed with excitement.
Ha, why are you so excited? What, are you and he involved with each other too?
Zenin Naoya activated his Cursed Technique, but instead of attacking, he rapidly increased the distance between them, his gaze landing blatantly on Suguru Geto's bangs.
It seems Kobe's tastes are not only foul, but also mediocre—
Before his provocative words could even finish, he let out a short "quack" like a duck.
As his neck was lifted by an invisible force, he saw Satoru Gojo, who had just been about to speak, raise his hands, his five fingers spreading and curving into different arcs.
Like a puppeteer manipulating a marionette, the fingers moved, the Cursed Energy stretched out like flowing water, eventually taking the form of thin threads.
Those blue threads were like the tentacles of a highly poisonous Jellyfish Cursed Spirit; as they approached, space would infinitely compress and distort, one would be intimidated by the surging power within the slender "threads."
Zenin Naoya had bet that Satoru Gojo would not use large-scale Cursed Techniques within the Jujutsu High complex, which was why he spoke so provocatively.
As members of the Three Great Families, they knew each other's Cursed Technique strengths and weaknesses better than anyone.
Such a move, such precise Cursed Technique manipulation—he had never heard of anything like it before.
Zenin Naoya froze in place, finally feeling fear.
Throughout the history of the Six Eyes, no one has ever reached this level; it is simply like a mon—
Suzuo replied to my message!
The hand sign Satoru Gojo was using to manipulate his Cursed Technique instantly vanished.
Running over to Suguru Geto and Nobara Iori with a blissful smile, he held his phone out to show them.
He invited me to meet him in a bit, saying he has a surprise for me.
His gloomy mood finally cleared, Satoru Gojo tilted his head back, his eyes bright and his hair messy.
A smug expression that said, "I knew it would turn out like this."
A surprise prepared by Suzuo~
Chapter 82: That Gift
He's just leaving like that?
Suguru Geto watched Satoru Gojo's blissful departing figure, rubbing his head in a headache, his gaze falling upon Zenin Naoya, who was crouching on the ground with his head bowed.
Then what about this guy?
It's not the first day that Satoru has been this willful.
Nobara Iori shrugged, pulled out her phone, took photos of Zenin Naoya's whorl and profile, then sent them to the account of Kobe Suzuo's secretary.
"Forget it, this is fine too," Suguru Geto said, circling behind Zenin Naoya and delivering a knife-hand strike.
Rather than dealing with a mess, I'd much rather not be dragged into his teenage angst.
I only hope that this kind of plot, which even Suguru and Nobara Iori haven't experienced, never repeats itself.
Nobara Iori glanced at Zenin Naoya lying on the ground, acknowledging the efficient and ruthless methods of her peer.
“How long will he be unconscious? The secretary said he could arrive in ten minutes.”
Suguru Geto was very measured in his actions. He rotated his wrists and replied, "Just in time, about ten minutes or so."
Nobara Iori nodded, explained the cause and effect to the secretary, then put away her phone.
Then I'll head out first. I've made plans to go shopping with Suguru-senpai and the others.
After saying that, he waved his hand and left without any lingering attachment.
Suguru Geto stared at the vicious male supporting character on the ground and contemplated for two seconds.
The sorcerer's Schrödinger's sense of morality manifested, in the end, he did not "dump the body in the wilderness" Zenin Naoya; instead, he pulled up a chair and stood guard for a while.
Unfortunately, the ones who arrived were not the easygoing employees of the Kobe Family.
When Masamichi Yaga appeared with a dark expression, just as the self-criticism meeting was about to begin, Zenin Naoya woke up.
Just as he was about to start making a scene, three little brats happened to pass by, trailing right behind Fushiguro Toji. Zenin Naoya's eyes lit up, he followed after them.
Because he hadn't been able to contact Kobe Suzuo for two days, Fushiguro Toji, who was forced to work high-intensity overtime (babysitting) due to the lack of shift changes, was so resentful that his frustration was practically manifesting as a Cursed Spirit.
By the time Zenin Naobito received the news and rushed over to pick him up, Zenin Naoya was bruised and looking completely dejected.
In short, Suguru Geto and Nobara Iori had shaken off the annoying Satoru Gojo; Zenin Naoya had finally met the Fushiguro Toji he had been longing for.
Fushiguro Toji took his anger out on some blind idiot; Zenin Naobito finally convinced his youngest son to become a transfer student at Tokyo School.
Everyone was satisfied, a truly joyous occasion.
..
Meanwhile, Satoru Gojo arrived in Ginza around sunset after a winding journey.
Kobe Suzuo has many properties within the Tokyo area.
In addition to the suburban manor where he resides, he has detached villas or large, open-plan apartments in Minato Ward and Shibuya Ward for his convenient use at any time.
When Kobe Suzuo gave away that house the first time he explained his Cursed Technique to Satoru Gojo, it was just one randomly selected from these properties.
Whether it was a preference or a quirk, if circumstances allowed, Kobe Suzuo preferred to choose a space that belonged entirely to him for resting.
Satoru Gojo followed the address sent to him by the butler and rode the elevator to the top floor with the waiter. Standing before the door, he felt it was somewhat unbelievable.
Because this place was a famous hotel in Ginza.
As far as Satoru Gojo knew, this hotel had close ties with the internationally renowned culinary school Itsuki Academy, Kobe Suzuo was not among the actual controlling shareholders.
Although he harbored doubts about whether Kobe Suzuo actually liked Satoru Gojo, Satoru Gojo believed he still held some weight in Kobe Suzuo's heart.
A so-called birthday surprise would be reasonable if it were a candlelight dinner meticulously prepared by a chef from Itsuki Academy.
If that were the case, Satoru Gojo's destination should have been the dining table rather than the suite.
This was somewhat contrary to Kobe Suzuo's usual logic.
The waiter took out the room card, handed it to Satoru Gojo, bowed his head, explaining, "Butler Ford instructed that if you arrive, you may enter directly."
Satoru Gojo hesitantly took the thin card, the waiter bowed to him, then turned and stepped into the elevator, departing.
The hallway was empty. Satoru Gojo pushed his sunglasses down his nose with his index finger; aside from him, there was only one living person on the entire floor, they were inside a room.
Based on his cursed energy and aura, that person was Kobe Suzuo, who had been missing for two days.
To be honest, this matter was more or less strange.
Vague missions from the mouths of people like the butler and the secretary, followed by a mysterious loss of contact, then that brief message from Kobe Suzuo, finally, this hotel.
It was too strange, far too strange, almost as if there were some conspiracy afoot.
Satoru Gojo stood before the door, thought for a moment, then placed a call to Kobe Suzuo.
The ringtone sounded twice, only just before it was about to disconnect did the other side finally answer the call.
After a few short gasps, a male voice spoke, sounding faintly panicked, "Satoru? Are you almost here?"
Then the voice suddenly grew distant, rising in pitch before dropping low again: "What! He's already arrived? When? Where is he now?"
After a sudden electronic beep, the voice on the other end of the line grew increasingly frantic, breaking down:
I get it, stop rushing me. I underestimated my own strength, but you can't slander me like this..
Satoru Gojo gripped his phone, his voice pitched high in a sweet, syrupy laugh as he asked, "Suzuo? It's so noisy over there. Are you preparing a surprise for me?"
Kobe Suzuo braced herself and picked up the phone again: "It.. is, I guess. At least half of the surprise is correct."
"Really?" Satoru Gojo took off his sunglasses.
Kobe Suzuo felt guilty: "Really.. right?"
With a series of crackling sounds, the voice from the sound tube faded into the distance once again.
“Huh.. Assassin? I dare you to say that again!”
What do you mean, don't be impatient? I clearly.. followed the steps strictly.. it was precise down to the gram, this isn't scientific!
Shut up. Things have already come to this; is there really no Binding that can handle a situation like this?
Across the building, the cursed energy on Kobe Suzuo's body was still conspicuous, flickering like golden candlelight, a brightness that could be extinguished by a single gust of wind.
The room card the waiter had handed to Satoru Gojo flipped between his knuckles before finally being placed against the sensor lock.
Satoru Gojo, as if he hadn't heard the chaos on the other side at all, asked with a smile, "Suzuo?"
"Present!" Another sound of metal clashing rang out.
Satoru Gojo pressed the doorknob. "Do you need me to leave you some time to prepare a surprise?"
Kobe Suzuo paused for two seconds before letting out a sigh as if resigned to her fate, her voice returning to its usual composure when she spoke again.
“Forget it, if we're any later, we really won't make it.”
Satoru Gojo tilted his head, his shoulders shrugging as he held the phone between them, his voice remaining perfectly calm. "I'm looking forward to it, so it's worth the wait."
He hung up the phone after he finished speaking.
In winter, the sky always darkens quickly. In the time it took to take a phone call, most of the sunset outside the window had already vanished, a layer of shadows had fallen over most of the furniture in the room.
Kobe Suzuo looked at the mess on the table, slowly finished reciting the sentence, "You'd better not get your hopes up," let out another long sigh, turned to close the refrigerator.
He walked barefoot across the floor, stepping around pots, pans, the mess everywhere, removed his messy apron with a weary tone.
I don't believe you anymore, Merlin.
The smart speaker sitting on the refrigerator emitted two "beep-beep" sounds in protest.
Don't play dead, Merlin. At least the first eight failures were your fault. When Mr. Nakiri gave me the recipe, he guaranteed it would be absolutely fine.
As Kobe Suzuo spoke, his fingers brushed against the unfortunate, thick patches of sticky, semi-solid residue clinging to his cuffs and collar.
He gasped, his hand instinctively wiping his cheek, the melting, warm sensation against his skin sending chills all over his body.
Only then did he realize, with a sense of belated shock, that this accident was even more disastrous than he had imagined.