That night Arashi slept fairly soundly; the room's soundproofing was pretty good, and the couple next door didn't do anything outrageous.
Don't look at Arashi being only fourteen, but his height was already 182 cm. Outside, people might only know him as a young boy, but they definitely wouldn't think he was only fourteen. Who at fourteen could grow this tall? Except in Netflix series.
Even Fushiguro Megumi at ten-ish was only 175. Standing in front of Fushiguro Megumi, Arashi, with that height, looked like the older brother.
But standing in front of Gojo Satoru, hmm, he was still the little brother.
Arashi spent half a day finding a place to live near a big company.
Rent around the company hadn't risen because this firm had had some paranormal incidents in the past, which drove many residents away. Only in recent months, after rents dropped, did people start moving back.
Arashi didn't care about what paranormal incidents had occurred, he'd rather they happened. Nine times out of ten they'd have something to do with cursed spirits and curses.
After the landlady took Arashi's money, she briefly warned him not to go out at night, then hurried away, as if afraid Arashi would change his mind and leave.
Arashi watched the landlady's retreating back and smiled, 'She really left fast.'
"Looks like this area really isn't safe. In this building I'm only one of two people living here...", Arashi suddenly took a strong interest in the other tenant. Before he arrived it had been only him living here, bold, or maybe not an ordinary person?
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Arashi lightly knocked the neighbor's door, only then remembering it was Monday. If they were office workers or students they should've already left.
Then Arashi returned to his own room. It wasn't big or small, about forty square meters. More than enough for one person: a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen.
The room was pretty clean; maybe the landlady cleaned often. After tidying his things briefly, Arashi organized his stuff and then went out to buy supplies.
Transport in Sendai was convenient compared to the Hijikata crematorium; that place was basically countryside, and to shop you'd have to take a bus.
Of course, Kanagawa was more developed, the crematorium was just in a remote spot.
After buying daily necessities and food at a large supermarket, Arashi returned home. On the way he'd been stared at a lot.
Big bags, small bags, he was nearly buried under them. Although tall, with so much stuff people assumed he couldn't carry it all. In fact Arashi was only slightly strained, not really struggling.
Buying everything at once felt better; he didn't like making many trips, which made him stand out.
After putting everything away, Arashi put the ingredients into the fridge, and the pots and pans were ready. He'd cook at home from now on.
When he had money later he could eat out and try local delicacies. If you have money, why worry about not getting what you want to eat?
With nothing to do, Arashi had planned to go see the nearby big company, but instead decided to summarize his abilities at home first.
"Right now I can use Blue-Black Flash six times. If every hit connects, even a Grade 1 Curse would die. If I miss a few it gets troublesome...", Arashi knew his shortcoming.
If the Blue-Black Flash all hit during a fight it was fine, but if the opponent was nimble and dodged his attacks, he'd be in a dangerous spot.
However, that worry had been replaced by the newly obtained Cursed Energy Armor. Arashi clearly understood the armor's power: first, it's called Cursed Energy Armor because it focuses on defense.
Its defensive level can block simple attacks fromGrade 1 and 2 curses, and that's enough. Arashi wouldn't always be taking hits; as long as he could defend briefly, he could counterattack.
Of course the armor wasn't only for defense, its strengths surprised Arashi.
The armor could absorb some cursed energy and convert it into defense; this was a permanent enhancement. That is, whenever he used the armor in battle with curses and engaged them, the armor's defense would permanently increas. The speed of increase depending on the curse's grade and fight duration.
The armor's last use was to convert its defensive power into offensive exhaustion: to create the final one or two, perhaps one, attacks when he was about to collapse.
Each time he called the armor's defense to convert into cursed energy for exhaustion, the armor's defense would drop. So this was a last-ditch counterattack and needed to be used cautiously.
With these three major advantages, Arashi was genuinely delighted. Leaning back in his chair he felt extremely comfortable. Now he only needed to defeat one more Grade 4 curse to claim the next reward.
Cursed Energy Emission.
Getting that reward, Arashi felt his attack range would expand and handling cursed energy would become easier. Overall, as long as he didn't run into a Special-Grade curse or an unusually powerful Grade 1, he'd be very safe.
This world wasn't only dangerous because of Special-Grades. There were evil sorcerers and cursed objects too. If he ran into those, things could get tricky.
So Arashi kept a low profile. Before he was fully grown, it was better not to show off and attract attention from strong enemies who might target him and lead to an early end.
Well, with someone like Itadori Yuji, the vessel of Sukuna, most evil forces would be drawn there, reducing attention on others.
Besides Itadori Yuji, there was Gojo Satoru as top combat power. Most evil forces were trying to figure out how to deal with this bug; in such times, who'd bother with Arashi?
After analyzing his situation, Arashi felt much more relaxed. He didn't need to pander to anyone or deliberately avoid anyone, just follow the world's trajectory.
As for whatever unexpected changes might come later, he'd adapt when the time came. The world was full of unknowns, and the unknown gave him the drive to keep going.
Clack!
"Someone's coming?", Arashi's ears were sharp; he heard footsteps going up from below. It was already getting dark without him noticing.
After hearing the stairs, Arashi decided to go out and see who this bold "neighbor" was.
Soon footsteps appeared on the fourth floor. Arashi pretended to be going downstairs and finally saw the mysterious neighbor.
'A girl, of all things?', Arashi was slightly stunned, one foot still on the step, watching the girl walk down.
Yes, this person could indeed be called a girl. At most two years older or younger than Arashi, about under 160 cm, wearing a well-fitted dark blue outfit. But what stood out most was her orange hair and that delicate face.
'Who does this girl look like?', Arashi had an impression but suddenly couldn't recall; seeing her in person made it feel unreal.
Kugisaki Nobara had already noticed Arashi, but now he was just staring at her like that, she frowned.
'Could this guy be a pervert?', Kugisaki Nobara thought, and her gaze slid off him. Although she hadn't lived here long, she knew places like this rarely had many residents.
Cheap rent was one thing, but no matter how cheap, few people would choose this spot; she lived here for peace and convenience and to handle some private matters.
'So what is this boy doing here?'
'Maybe he asked about me?'
'Or he's deliberately following me?'
'Or is he really a pervert?'
Kugisaki Nobara frowned and climbed the stairs step by step. Her hand had already balled into a fist; if this kid dared make a move, she'd give him a good beating.
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