It was a scorching summer day. July's heat was relentless, and Eichi and Satoru, now on summer vacation, arrived at the beach together.
Eichi spread his arms wide and relaxed his whole body as he lay in the shallows, feeling the waves repeatedly push him.
A cool sensation came from his arm. He turned his head and found a translucent object pushed onto him by the waves.
He reached out and picked up the strange object, discovering it was a dead jellyfish.
Its clear body and extremely elastic feel made him unable to resist squeezing it.
"It's a bit like an unbreakable jelly, bouncy and springy."
Sitting up and playing with it for a while, Eichi suddenly thought of a few questions.
"I remember jellyfish are poisonous, aren't they? I've been holding this for so long, am I okay?"
Although he now had a strong physique and could use Reverse Cursed Technique, Reverse Cursed Technique was relatively ineffective against attacks with a poison attribute.
Just like Uraume, who could use Reverse Cursed Technique and was not weak among Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers, it still took a long time to handle Choso's poison.
This was because the procedures required for Reverse Cursed Technique to detoxify were more complex.
Unless your Reverse Cursed Technique was fully automatic.
"It seems jellyfish venom can only be delivered through their tentacles, right?"
After checking himself and finding no signs of poisoning, Eichi began to examine the jellyfish in his hand again.
Having lived in the mountains in his previous life and having seen the sea only a few times, he was curious about everything related to the ocean.
"Don't always stay here alone like an old man, come play with us!"
Slap.
A jellyfish much larger than the one in his hand was placed on his head, making it look from afar as if he was wearing a jellyfish hat.
"SA. TO. RU."
He slapped the jellyfish off his head. A stinging sensation spread across his face, and a "#" symbol appeared on his forehead.
"Don't you know jellyfish are poisonous, you idiot?"
Eichi roared, clenching his fists.
"It's fine, it's fine. I was stung by that kind of jellyfish when I was six, and I was completely fine."
Saying this, Satoru extended his right hand and gave a thumbs-up, a mischievous grin under his sunglasses, his exposed white teeth faintly reflecting light.
His fists hardened again.
"Very well, let's have a match."
After speaking, Satoru waved his hand, and the suction from Cursed Technique Blue pulled two surfboards emblazoned with palm trees and waves into his hands.
"Alright, be prepared, Satoru."
"You too. Don't cry if you lose later, okay?"
"Ha, you're the one who's going to lose."
When Suguru returned from underwater, he saw his two best friends playing like crazy.
He walked to the temporary small camp on the beach.
Suguru opened the cooler, took out a slice of watermelon, sprinkled some salt on it, and watched the two frolic while eating.
In the island nation, watermelon was a noble fruit, more expensive than meat, and rarely eaten by ordinary people.
You ask why?
How could such a small island nation grow watermelons? It relied almost entirely on imports, so of course it was expensive.
In his previous life, Eichi's method of scooping and eating large mouthfuls of watermelon every summer would surely be deemed extravagant if people here saw it.
In fact, they also liked to eat it that way, but it was too expensive to afford.
So they chose to cut it into small pieces and eat it bite by bite, and they would sprinkle salt on it beforehand to enhance the sweetness.
However, Suguru's leisurely time was soon interrupted.
A dark blue, almost black water ball flew onto his head and burst with a pop.
The bursting water drenched him completely.
"Suguru, come play!"
He looked up, and sure enough, an annoying Satoru was waving and shouting.
"Satoru, we are still working."
Suguru was strongly suppressing the urge to rush over and argue with him.
Because of Eichi, Suguru met Satoru earlier than before, but also because of Eichi, he adapted to Satoru a bit slower.
He was used to Eichi, who was at least usually serious, so at first he was a bit prejudiced against the never-serious Satoru.
However, after a few interactions, that prejudice quickly faded.
Moreover, Suguru found that when he was with Satoru, he always felt a sense of freedom and carefree joy.
This greatly alleviated the pressure he usually felt from ingesting Cursed Spirits.
The world is so wonderful, yet I am so irritable, this is not good, not good.
Repeating this phrase in his mind, Suguru's urge to get up lessened significantly.
But the next moment, Satoru's special, highly compressed Cursed Technique Blue water bomb hit him again.
Eichi turned to look. Cursed Technique Blue had already been activated again, seawater being sucked in like a miniature black hole.
This time, the water ball burst at a lower position, and the upward impact pushed Suguru's bangs up, merging them with the hair on top of his head.
###
Silently restoring his hairstyle, Suguru got up and took a volleyball from a nearby box.
"Take that."
The volleyball flew with immense force, carrying Suguru's anger toward Satoru's face.
"Beach volleyball, this is good."
Dispelling the water ball in his hand, Satoru unceremoniously hit the ball toward Eichi.
Eichi, who had been about to watch the show, paused. However, his movements were not slow. He aimed at Satoru's face and hit the volleyball back.
Satoru, preparing to receive the ball, noticed with his Six Eyes that something seemed to be flying from the beach's direction.
He quickly ducked, and the volleyballs from Suguru and Eichi's directions simultaneously appeared where his white hair had been, then crashed violently into each other.
"Hey, hey, 2 against 1, that's not fair."
Satoru shouted in protest, grabbing the two volleyballs that had collided and were about to bounce away.
"What, are you giving up?"
Eichi provoked, and Satoru immediately took the bait.
"Huh? You're the ones who should be giving up, right?"
The next moment, Satoru hit both volleyballs back.
Happy times flew by, and soon the group gathered back at the small campsite.
After a quick rinse to wash off seawater, they began to set up the camp again.
Suguru and Eichi set up the parasol and spread out the mats.
Satoru opened the cooler and laid out the food and cold drinks one by one.
However, many of these snacks disappeared after being placed on the beach mat.
"Suguru, have you found the target?"
Eichi, who had set up the parasol, sat on the beach mat.
"Not yet, the ocean is too vast."
Suguru opened a bottle and poured out some iced fruit juice.
"Are you sure the Rainbow Dragon is active in this area?"
Eichi turned to look at Satoru, who was still openly sneaking snacks.
"I'm sure. As expected, edamame fresh cream kikufuku is the best."
After eating a dozen different desserts, Satoru made his assessment.
"It seems we're in for a long battle."
"Indeed."
Eichi and Suguru sighed.
"That doesn't matter. If the Rainbow Dragon comes out, we'll catch it. If it doesn't, we'll just enjoy our vacation."
Satoru looked nonchalant.
Eichi thought about it and agreed. It was a rare trip to the beach, and it would not make sense not to have a blast.
(To be continued.)