-A Hug in the Morgue-
-From the Perspective of Satoru Gojo-
I had just delivered Sukuna's finger to the cursed vault and turned my back on that ominous dungeon as quickly as possible.
That room? More cursed vibes than a gothic club at midnight. No wonder I never stayed long – too much cursed energy and zero charm.
Internally agitated, I wandered back toward the infirmary. It went without saying that I had to know how Mayu was doing.
Sure, I respected Shoko's space, the one she explicitly demanded earlier, but I wasn't fine with it. Not at all.
I leaned against the cold wall. Moments later I was pacing the bare concrete floor. At some point, I fished my phone out of my pocket and answered Kiyotaka's concerned inquiry about Mayu's condition – which was still uncertain – while trying to distract myself by any means possible. In vain.
I was still trying to unravel what had happened earlier and searching for a plausible explanation for her rapidly deteriorating health.
I refused to believe it was just poisoning. After all, when Shoko healed her leg, she had also healed any cursed energy that might have been lingering in Mayu's body.
So there had to be another reason. But what?! The fact that she had found the finger of the King of Curses wouldn't let me rest.
Absolutely not!
I had to find out as quickly as possible whether she knew about Sukuna – and if so, what she knew!
If she even woke up again...
And didn't react to me with hatred. Even if I could completely understand if she were angry with me or even hated me.
Resigned, I ran my warm hands over my face.
Even though I hadn't wanted this. In the mere two months she had been here, I had let her closer than anyone else – more than even Megumi, and that had already been just a fraction.
All because Megumi and I had walked past that damn sports field together. We both immediately sensed that it was surrounded by hopelessly cursed energy.
Our first encounter – and she had captivated me, Satoru Gojo, instantly.
All the more delighted I was when she agreed to a second meeting in a much calmer setting. The one at the café, where we could talk calmly about our... peculiarities. Together with Megumi.
I still remembered it clearly.
Her facial expressions had more range than an entire theater ensemble. From "wow – how cool!" to "what the hell are they talking about?", everything was there. She probably thought we were completely nuts, some esoteric weirdos with combat training.
But there was this one thing – this crucial commonality with us.
The ability to see curses.
And suddenly we were using terms that she apparently understood. Now, after all the other conversations I'd had with her, I knew she had previously had no exposure to this surreal topic.
How could she?
But that's why it happened pretty quickly that she let us invite her to visit the academy.
True to her open-book nature, she inspected everything with joy and excitement sparkling in her eyes.
So, we had made our impulsive proposal that she move in – followed shortly by the actual move.
Since then, she had brought order to all our lives in a quiet, unobtrusive way.
Just small things – but noticeable.
Like how she cooked for us almost every evening. Previously, it had mostly been Kento who often provided a delicious meal, but ever since Mayu arrived, we could hardly wait for her to get into the kitchen. And she did it without us ever asking.
We also noticed, or rather, Kento did, that our daily routines had become more structured at key points.
She organized things in the background. We didn't see it, but we felt it. It helped.
For instance, she took care of our uniforms – washed them, folded them neatly and placed them on our beds.
Usually when we weren't home – but she was.
Even Megumi wasn't the same anymore. That walking ice block was slowly thawing – and not because of summer temperatures. No, it was obvious.
By now I could already say I had a good idea of how my unofficial foster son ticked.
He became more open – almost approachable.
His looks toward her were underlined by a gentleness I had previously only seen when he talked about Tsumiki, his sister. Rare, but unmistakable.
Exactly that kind of gentleness was in his expression – as if he saw Mayu as a kind of sister.
Far-fetched, maybe, but it wasn't just my imagination. Why else had he helped her earlier with his shikigami and even defended her against me?
Megumi – the one who stood protectively in front of Mayu and defended her.
That wasn't the guy who had previously only shown me the cold shoulder.
The two of them seemed to share a special bond.
Even Kento's tough shell began to crack. He had been incredibly skeptical at first – though respectful.
But even that didn't faze Mayu. She stood her ground in her own way. Not confrontational – rather quiet and subtle. Through action and conviction – without sweeping her principles under the rug.
By now I'd caught them several times cooking together or shopping for household stuff. Or just going on curse hunts – whenever he took her along.
Which seemed to happen more and more lately.
And I wanted more.
I needed to see how she would react to Maki, Panda, Toge – especially Yuta.
It would've only been a few more days until they came back from their long-term exchange at the sister school in Kyoto.
…
I glanced down at the floor.
She hadn't just brought order to their lives – but especially to mine.
Besides the time-consuming training, we had spent countless hours together – as Shoko had teasingly alluded to earlier.
And she had been absolutely right.
I'd caught myself far too often secretly waiting in the evenings for Mayu to show up with snacks and two cups of coffee, ready to spend the evening with me – if I wasn't out exorcising curses.
And those evenings had become important.
We had conversations.
Trivial, relaxed, funny conversations – at first only about the complex topic that brought us together. Until we gently peeled back the layers and started touching on deeper topics.
Like yesterday at dinner in that restaurant in Ginza.
That evening, I revealed more of myself than I had in a long time.
I wasn't entirely comfortable doing it, but Mayu's unexpected reactions left behind a strange sense of comfort – and understanding.
Feelings I had buried long ago. But it had felt surprisingly good. So good that I wanted more. I wanted to find out how far I could go – how much I could show of myself before she, like everyone else, turned away and left me alone at the top.
I wanted to enjoy it as long as I could. The genuine attention she gave me.
No. Dammit! This couldn't be the end. Not with me. Not now. I was just beginning to understand her – and the universe better keep its mouth shut until I was done!
Beyond all the meaningful conversations, I wanted to watch movies late into the night with her again.
Especially when I needed to unwind – like after a long, exhausting day spent rushing from one appointment to the next.
Preferably a horror flick. Mayu unwilling – for me, pure delight.
Especially the ones with the highest scare factor.
I wasn't trying to toughen her up or torment her with them – I simply needed something to laugh about.
And what better way than with this skittish person next to me, who jumped at every predictable horror scene? Even while covering her pretty face with pillows or her hands?
Bingo! Her bizarre rants were pure comedy gold.
Who needed Netflix when you had a jumpy insult machine sitting next to you?
This majesty of the stinky-foot-sniffers... Did he get a whiff of a clean foot and get parole from the chamber of horrors, or what?! – was just one of the sentences she angrily threw around.
My personal highlight.
However she came up with it, it brightened my spirits in no time. That had an unspoken, great meaning to me. Just like how she had recently fallen asleep during the last movie, leaning against my shoulder.
Calm. Breathing louder and completely relaxed.
It whispered to me that she felt safe and comfortable with me. Of course she did – after all, she was with me.
Too bad she hadn't spent the night with me as well. Barely had the film reached its abrupt end when Mayu woke up again and, half-asleep, dragged herself back to her room.
I wasn't interested in exchanging any kind of affections whatsoever, but truly just in being able to quietly and secretly enjoy Mayu's presence.
Just like I had all the time before that.
Once again, I exhaled heavily and in bursts.
By now, 37 minutes had passed in which I was hanging in the ropes and had no idea how she was doing. On the one hand, that was good, because the longer it took, the longer Shoko was trying to fight for her life. But on the other hand, it simply made me sick with worry.
My head?! A Hollywood catastrophe. Three hours of drama, nominated for four Oscars. Only, I wasn't the hero, but the poor sap in the audience who couldn't do anything.
Disgusting!
I rubbed my face again and peeked through my now slightly cooled fingers at the examination door. I imagined the handle being pushed down and Shoko coming out to relieve me from this miserable waiting. But I wouldn't have accepted any bad news!
But that remained just my wish, because nothing happened. I didn't even hear anything. Not even the loud beeping of her recorded heartbeat.
Shit!
The next scene forced its way into my thoughts. Shoko, dejectedly turning off the machine because Mayu hadn't made it.
My heart tripped over its own rhythm. Inhaling deeply, I threw my head back, closed my eyes and ran my hands through my hair, before letting them come to rest, intertwined, at the back of my head.
That mustn't happen!
I had just begun getting to know her from the ground up.
I wanted to secretly and randomly catch her dancing through the dorm while cleaning one more time. Or rather dancing, with some cleaning steps thrown in between.
In an untypical style of clothing. We were used to seeing her in extravagant outfits. Lots of lace here, flared skirt there, tight-fitting but unfortunately high-necked tops and not to forget her playful romantic look.
But while cleaning?
Her unnatural flowing mane tied into a makeshift bun, from which some strands of hair messily fell out. In sweatpants and a plain T-shirt.
And the special thing about it?
Even in that, I found her sexy. Irresistible.
Kento, who had witnessed the scene at the same time as I did, silently and secretly wondered with me what style of dance it was – to the melodic tunes of Lady Gaga or The Weeknd playing in the background.
A question I wanted to ask at the next opportunity.
She therefore had no other choice but to wake up and be healthy again! I wasn't done with her yet. Not even close.
Again, I threw an exasperated glance at the door, as if it were to blame for all the misery. No movement. Still.
Damn it! Shoko, just come out already! If anyone can save her, it's you! But ...
It wouldn't have taken much more and I would've stormed back into the examination room. It was driving me crazy! I didn't want her to be gone. Not just because I would've been the one to blame.
Suddenly, the door opened, the very one I had been staring holes into. Leisurely. Almost too calmly. I had expected Shoko to come rushing out.
"Satoru?!" Shoko, now standing in the doorway, spoke to me peacefully, "you can come back in now."
Finally!!
But the considered tone of Shoko's voice, behind whom I was now following, brought me a queasy feeling. First thing I did was look at the black surface of the examination bed and noticed how panic overtook me.
No sign of Mayu!
Shoko hadn't moved her two rooms over, had she – the ones that only had stainless steel tables in them?! The ones with the built-in drains, right?!
We walked without stopping and without the person I was desperately looking for, through the passage room where Shoko had earlier wanted to begin the blood analysis. The heavy scent of disinfectant creeping into my nose could not be ignored.
Without stopping, we moved on to the next door – inscription: Autopsy.
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
So cold, in fact, that it made me tremble all over.
In that room, where invisible blood stuck to the tiled floor.
In the one where death bore its scent.
The final examination before the final bed of infinity.
"... Isn't that Kento's handwriting?!", Mayu's questioning voice suddenly interrupted my dreaded train of thought, as she addressed Shoko, "but how is that possible? How can you have a cursed spirit lying here, when they dissolve upon being defeated?"
In disbelief, I observed the woman with lilac-colored hair as she stood at the dissection table – not on it – inspecting the altered human in front of her.
Alive and well. In her dark blue skirt uniform.
As if the threatening emergency from earlier had never happened.
Speechless, I cast a brief and concise glance at Shoko, who calmly answered Mayu's question right away.
"Because that wasn't an ordinary curse spirit."
Shoko gently placed her hand on my shoulder. Of course she didn't miss that I needed to process what I had just seen and push away my worst thoughts.
"Who does shit like that?!" Mayu exclaimed as she turned toward us.
Her gaze immediately landed on me.
"Satoru!" she said with a wide smile and covered the short distance between us in a few quick steps, throwing herself into my arms without hesitation.
I remained frozen in place.
She snuggled against me—closer. Wrapped her arms around my back.
I was too stunned to push her away—or even want to.
On the contrary—surprised and hesitant, I eventually wrapped my arms around her too.
No anger. No fever. No slap in the face—just... Mayu.
Soft and comfortingly warm.
Her fingers gently stroked my back, while I rested my cheek against her head.
The weight that had just been lifted off my chest could've knocked down a few walls. Hell, the entire dorm... Finally, a wave of relief washed over me—something I had desperately needed.
Who would've thought she'd become so important to me that I nearly lost my composure…
Pah, nearly!
"How are you?" I whispered, looking down at her.
At the same moment, she tilted her tired-looking face up to me. A happy smile on her lips.
By now I had completely tuned Shoko out, so I thoughtlessly placed my hand on Mayu's cheek. I was just immensely relieved that I didn't have to find her lying on one of those uncomfortable tables.
"I'm fine again, but I still feel weak and exhausted."
I guided her face back to my chest and held her more tightly. Once again, she started with that comforting caress—the very one I had definitely needed more of.
"So…" Shoko cleared her throat behind us, making her presence known. "I couldn't find any signs of poisoning in the blood analysis."
Oops!
Guess my emotions had gotten the better of me—enough to make sure I'd be dissected later by the world's best doctor. And not just physically... I mean my whole damn inner self.
"So no poisoning?" Mayu asked, glancing past me toward Shoko. "Weird... Then what caused that life-threatening almost-death?!"
"To be honest," Shoko began, puzzled, as I gently let go of Mayu, "I was actually hoping you—or rather, the two of you—could answer that."
Almost death… The images from earlier still ached inside me.
Mayu shook her head calmly, gaze dropping to the floor. As expected. I wondered if she had noticed anything at all.
"We should head back to the examination room. I want to keep monitoring Mayu."
Back in the suggested room, which now struck me as neat and orderly, I sat next to Mayu on the cot—where she had fought death just a short while ago.
Only now did I notice that Shoko had cleaned up the chaos from before. The vial, the IV, and the needles were all gone.
Shoko tucked Mayu's finger back under the pulse oximeter's sensor. I stared at the monitor, instinctively hoping it wouldn't show those dramatic readings again.
A steady heartbeat sounded.
And the values—unlike before—now appeared completely normal. A heart rate of 72 beats per minute, an oxygen saturation of 97%, and blood pressure settled at 120 over 80 mmHg.
Another little weight fell from my heart.
I definitely didn't want to go through such a dramatic scene again. Not with a comrade, let alone one of my students—and especially not with Mayu.
"So, Mayu," Shoko began thoughtfully, "what exactly happened? In the department store. Start from the beginning."
A justified question—I didn't know either.
"Well, I was honored with the task of exorcising the curse spirit in the department store," she said happily, "alone. While Satoru waited on standby outside. Al—" Shoko interrupted.
"Why alone?!" As if I'd sensed it already, my scolding was about to begin.
"You shouldn't have left her alone!" Shoko threw at me.
"..." I was just about to defend myself when Mayu interjected in a firm tone.
"Yes! It was absolutely the right thing, Shoko. We train pretty much every time Satoru is home. Every. Minute. Every. Day. And without success. None of what he tries works. If I hadn't really wanted that mission, I would've said so."
I grimaced—only slightly. Yeah, she was defending me, but still… That move ranked somewhere around 'Satoru Gojo, impulsive idiot'. Though I did feel a little proud that she was slowly starting to spread her delicate wings.
I glanced subtly over at Mayu, who continued explaining.
"I really believe in the method—just throw someone into cold water but still keep an eye on them. And that's what Satoru did. I was supposed to call for him, like we agreed. But I didn't. On purpose. It was my mission, and I wanted to finish it—and I did!"
"Stubborn," Shoko snorted, echoing my own thoughts, "you almost died in my hands, kid! Do you know what a scare you gave me—no, us?!"
Us. Shoko wasn't exaggerating. Not one bit.
"It was closer than close, Mayu. You were already a case for the ICU! Just a few more minutes and you'd have suffered multi-organ failure. And I wouldn't have been able to fix it."
That fact hit like a massive slap to the face.
"... What kind of readings did I even have?!"
Shoko shot her a sharp glance, tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow.
"Fever of 41.6°C. Blood pressure 85 over 50 mmHg. Pulse at 158 beats per minute, and oxygen saturation at 72%."
Mayu froze. Her mouth opened in shock, about to speak.
"... That was... me?!"
"Yes!" we both confirmed in unison. Same scolding tone.
She bit down on her bottom lip, scrunched, "Honestly a miracle I didn't die."
"You said it!" Shoko emphasized, "a real miracle! No idea how you—or better, your body—managed that, but it started regulating itself incredibly fast. I strongly suspect this wasn't a normal fever."
Silence. A short but heavy silence embraced us.
"Honestly," Mayu began thoughtfully, "it didn't feel like a fever either."
"Then what?" I looked over at her, intrigued.
"Like I was burning inside. Like fire spreading through me."
Silence again.
I immediately got caught up in a tangle of thoughts, a confused web of possibilities – and one of them stood out brightly.
"Maybe your cursed technique?" said Shoko, voicing exactly the possibility I had been thinking of.
But then I remembered, "That can't be it. She didn't show any traces of a curse earlier, when she was still lying here. No residues. Nothing. If that had been the case, I would've seen it."
Puzzled silence. That possibility simply couldn't have been possible.
Damn. A small bubble of hope immediately popped.
"Here," said Shoko and handed Mayu a bottle of water.
"Oh no, I already need to pee," she protested, pulling a face.
"All the better. You really need it despite the IV. But now first tell us exactly what happened at the mall."
She visibly sank into her memories before beginning to speak. I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms.
"At first, of course, not much happened. And now I, unfortunately, have to betray myself after all," she began theatrically, caught in the act, and turned to me.
"Hellhound, right?" I beat her to it knowingly.
Megumi had already clarified that with me over the phone when I confronted him about it shortly after.
Her cheeks, caught red-handed, turned red.
"He already told you?"
I nodded while Shoko joined in with interest.
"What exactly was going on with Megumi's hellhound?"
I held back on purpose now to hear Mayu's version of events.
"Oh, I had recently talked with Megumi about his shadow technique and did some brainstorming. And this morning he gave me a capsule in which he had extracted his cursed energy. That allowed me to manifest his hellhound in the shadows, and I basically had help."
"From Megumi?!" Shoko asked in surprise, and Mayu nodded, "That's amazing. So I only have to shorten Satoru by half a head."
Mayu burst out laughing, while I could only manage a resigned twitch of my mouth.
"No. You don't need to shorten his head, but mine. This was my doing. Anyway, with the hellhound I kind of made the mall unsafe. We found a few residues together and eventually also the cursed spirit – but it didn't come from the hellhound."
"But from what then?!"
"We were on the middle floor. In a small restaurant. Just when I wanted to take a closer look, a bell rang out from the main hall. Short and to the point. Not too loud, more like... gentle?! At first, I thought it must have come from the cursed spirit, but it didn't. When we checked, the ringing came from a lilac-colored butterfly – similar to my hair color," she symbolically untangled one of her hair strands before continuing.
"I'm not sure, but I think it lost a curse particle while flying. It flew in the direction of the room from which the cursed spirit ultimately emerged."
"And you're absolutely sure it couldn't have just been a butterfly?"
Good thing we had a curious Shoko in front of us.
"Absolutely sure. Why else would it fly into exactly that room? Also, it dissolved into thin air, and even the hellhound wouldn't have reacted like that to a perfectly normal animal."
Shoko thoughtfully placed her fingers on her chin, "... Did you feel strange in any way? Different?"
"N-no," Mayu shook her head gently and thoughtfully, "actually, quite normal."
A butterfly, then?
Unusual.
"And then?"
"Then the cursed spirit appeared and let me tell you!" she turned more toward me again, "if it looks like that again, like from The Ring or The Grudge, then I'm out! I'll just leave it standing there! Never again! Like a pale doll..."
Shoko burst out laughing and I? I tried hard not to laugh. Both movies had been pure horror for her. Even her insults were far weaker than usual in that case.
"It's partly because of such ugly cursed spirits that I became a doctor in the first place."
"Maybe I should give it a try too," she mumbled, her eyes shining.
"No, not happening," I interrupted her doctor dream.
"Oh man," she sighed theatrically, "and here I already have such a good hand for emergencies!"
"You? A knack for emergencies?! I agree! You were one yourself just now!"
"What exactly did you do? Sure, I saw the IV, but was there an antipyretic in it? For the fever?"
Medical battle in 3... 2... 1...
Shoko's gaze flickered. Began to sparkle skeptically, "yes, it was. I started with ibuprofen and switched to metamizole as the fever increased."
"Novalgin," shot out of Mayu, "into the infusion or directly i.v.?"
Shoko crossed her arms and leaned back a bit in her stool.
"Intravenously. Slowly titrated… to avoid a dose-dependent peripheral—", Mayu interrupted and finished the sentence.
"Peripheral vasodilation with consecutive hypotension."
And there she was again – the silence. More question marks added to all that medical gibberish.
"Hypotension, translated?" Shoko began.
"Low blood pressure."
"Tachycardia?"
"Fast heartbeat."
"Hemochromatosis?"
"Iron overload in the body."
"Nephrolithiasis?"
"Kidney stones."
"Hypotensive crisis?"
"Severe blood pressure drop with circulatory collapse."
I flinched. After this brief and heated exchange, the images of Mayu instantly rushed back into my head. Shoko had mentioned that term on purpose. Yet she kept firing at Mayu, who swiftly gave the correct answer to every term thrown at her.
"Doctor?"
"Medical assistant."
"Which field?"
"Ten years in general practice and just recently a good half year in trauma surgery."
"For that, you know an astonishing amount."
"I've acquired the knowledge over the years. Some through work experience, a lot through learning. I worked in a general practice in a networked medical center – so I had the opportunity to get insights into other specialties."
"Why don't you study and become a doctor?"
"To be honest, that's too much responsibility for me. I love this job, no doubt, but I couldn't do it. I'd rather be a helping hand at a doctor's side."
Suddenly, a sharp and concise pain shot through my thigh.
"Hey! Did I do something wrong?!" I looked at Shoko in shock, who had suddenly smacked me out of nowhere.
"Yes! Why didn't you tell me earlier that I'm getting the assistant I wanted?!"
I grinned mischievously, "Come on, you know I'm still the best when it comes to timing. But now that you know – maybe you feel like thanking me a little?"
"Well, if this isn't the perfect time to leave you two alone for a moment," Mayu interjected, placing the half-empty water bottle beside us and hopping off the bed.
Shoko caught her sleeve lightning-fast, "your first shift starts the day after tomorrow at nine o'clock. Here, in forensic medicine."
"Forensic medicine?!" she began to grin from ear to ear, which Shoko echoed with a nod.
Hardly had the door clicked shut softly when Shoko stormed toward me like a wild fury. Her hands landed beside me on the bed – no, almost slammed down – and she glared at me from her doe-brown eyes. A whiff of cigarette smoke clinging to her clothes drifted to my nose.
"What's going on between you two, Toru?!" she growled threateningly, using for the first time in a long while the nickname she had given me, "you're wiping blood off her leg. She hugs you – and you? You hug back?! Are you sure it wasn't you who had the fever, instead of Mayu?"
Inwardly, I grinned sheepishly. Too bad she knew me way too well.
"Maybe I'm sick. Really sick. Not physically, but... you know. Heart flu. Is that a thing?"
There it was – the traitorous eyebrow. Paired with that dissecting look she had already hinted at earlier. And under the cold white beam of light shining down, it felt threatening. Her scalpel of intuition twirled in her fingertips. And I hated it – especially when she operated on me.
"Heart flu, huh? That's easily treated!"
"Curable?"
She shrugged her left shoulder. The left one! Men knew exactly what that meant.
"Conditionally," the word slid conspiratorially from her lips.
Pardon! Hopefully she wouldn't make me the enemy. Or worse – become an ally of Mayu. Speaking of.
"How did you pull that off?"
A tiny question mark flickered across her stern gaze before she furrowed her brow. Deep wrinkles – had she just realized what I was hinting at?
"Not me. And I hope you can give me some answers to that. As soon as you were out of Sukuna's reach with your finger, Mayu Ryomen's values and health condition quickly stabilized again. Just as fast as it came – it went. And believe me, it wasn't the meds. Otherwise, she'd still be lying here."
…
Once again, the threads of my web of questions spun out toward me. Was that an attack? Against Mayu? Or maybe something from her herself — something even she couldn't name?
I glanced stealthily into Shoko's eyes, framed by her violet eyeshadow. Purple.
Mayu Ryomen — Ryomen Sukuna.
Shoko's gaze darkened, and a cold shiver ran down my spine. She expected my answer, and I silently refused with a shake of my head.
With momentum, she pushed herself off the examination table, but not without throwing me a look that said 'I'm watching you' before settling onto her stool and crossing her arms.
"Do you think she'll become like him?" Shoko cut the silence coldly.
I looked at her in horror.
Mayu? This little, loving chaos? Like Sukuna?
Immediately, the door opened again and Mayu reentered smiling. Purposefully, she sat down next to me on the table, and I observed her subtly from the corner of my eye.
"Never!" I said to Shoko — maybe a little too loudly.
Even with a vivid imagination, I couldn't conceive it.
Maybe out of fear it might come true, or because I simply didn't want it? Even if it did, it would be my challenge to bring her back on the right path.
Maybe that was crazy. Maybe it was me. But hey — heart flu, after all. Or simply — that wasn't the Mayu I was beginning to know.
"Say, Mayu," Shoko started in her questioning tone, "you picked up that finger from the curse spirit."
I sensed something bad. Ominous.
"… Oh, right!" she suddenly remembered, "No idea what got into me, but I felt it was important to take it with me."
She shook herself disgustedly, as well as her hands.
"But," she continued without letting the word escape her, "that was really strange."
Shoko and I shared the same interested expression.
"When that finger appeared — whoever it belonged to, because the curse spirit had a completely different skin color — suddenly countless curse spirits appeared around me. Out of nowhere! So many at once. I couldn't explain it, but I knew one thing. They were ravenous for that finger, like pigeons thrown a piece of bread."
Sukuna's power.
But did I hear that she didn't actually know who Sukuna was?
"That's typical for that finger," Shoko sighed, one finger resting on her chin, "a special-grade cursed object. It attracts other curse spirits who want to absorb it. … But what happened next? Didn't they attack you?"
Mayu frowned and seemed to think deeply.
"N-no," she stammered with effort, subtly shocked, "it was more like a mixture of wanting to approach me, but not too close. As if they were afraid of me."
So she noticed it too?! That made it clear to me that this couldn't just be an illusion.
"What?! Are you sure you didn't imagine it?"
Now Mayu and I shook our heads in sync.
"I noticed it too," I joined in, "as soon as they got close, they fled or retreated again."
"Mayu," Shoko began urgently, inhaling tensely, "… Do you know who … Sukuna is?"