After finishing his introduction, Arashi sat down next to a girl. That girl looked a little uneasy, fidgeting, nervous, and even a bit too embarrassed to look at him directly.
"You uh… I'm Arashi. May I ask how I should address you?"
"Ah… you-you're talking to me?", The girl turned her head and met Arashi's gaze, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Hehe, yeah," Arashi smiled.
"Oh, I-I'm Yamano Momoe. Please take care of me," Yamano Momoe immediately introduced herself, then quickly turned back around as if nothing had happened.
"Hey hey… did you see that? Momoe, that loudmouthed, violent gorilla, actually has this side of her?"
"Who said she didn't? She's always acting so tough in front of us, but now, in front of a new guy, it's like she's a whole different person."
At that moment, the two boys gossiping about Yamano Momoe suddenly felt a chill down their spines, as if a tiger's eyes had locked onto them.
They glanced toward her, and saw Yamano Momoe smiling sweetly at them, a very 'harmonious & non-threatnening' smile.
"It's over. Don't look at her. We're gonna die."
"She's gonna kill us!"
Arashi could tell. This Yamano Momoe's personality was definitely not as mild as she was acting right now. But that wasn't his problem. Although she was quite good-looking, she wasn't his type.
Class went smoothly. The students all listened attentively, except for a few who seemed lazy or distracted.
After school, Arashi didn't chat much with his classmates and just went home alone.
A few days later, the class collectively decided Arashi's image was that of a quiet, cold, aloof person, someone mysterious and proud.
So, the male classmates liked him even less, while the girls, of course, liked him more. They kept trying to get close to him.
That gave Arashi a headache. He just wanted to live a peaceful life, he wasn't trying to date anyone.
If his inner conscience could talk, it would definitely curse at him, ["Not trying to date? My ass! You just don't like these girls! If you met one you actually liked, you'd be chasing after her in a heartbeat!"]
Of course, Arashi wasn't the type to act like a desperate simp, that didn't suit his image.
A week later, as usual, Arashi went home after school. But he noticed that Kugisaki Nobara, who he normally ran into around this time, was nowhere to be seen. Normally, they'd meet no later than ten minutes apart.
But that day, even after waiting half an hour on purpose, she still hadn't shown up. Arashi couldn't help wondering, 'Could something have happened to her?'
The only kind of trouble that could give Kugisaki Nobara a hard time would be something involving curses or cursed objects. Ordinary problems in life couldn't possibly stop her, with that bold and fiery personality, no one could.
In the end, Arashi just went home and cooked dinner himself. Even if she really was in trouble, he had no idea where to find her. He couldn't help anyway. Besides, he believed Kugisaki Nobara would be fine.
Dinner was simple: stir-fried cucumber and sausage, shredded spicy and sour potatoes, and a sushi set from the nearby convenience store. Plus, of course, a pot of rice from the cooker.
Arashi really enjoyed the process of cooking. Even though it wasn't anything fancy, he could still find some fun in it.
After eating, he washed the dishes and glanced at his phone, it was already 7:30 p.m. Normally, at this hour, Kugisaki Nobara would definitely be home. But now, she still wasn't back.
"I'll go upstairs and take a look," Though he had a feeling she wasn't home, Arashi still wanted to check.
When he reached the fifth floor, he noticed there was a small note stuck on Nobara's door. He leaned closer and read the tiny writing.
[I've left. Don't miss me.]
Arashi stared blankly at those short words, 'Just like that, she left?'
"Left without a word…", Arashi had been here almost a month now. He'd seen Nobara almost every day, morning or night. They weren't close enough to hang out, but sometimes he'd even pick up her deliveries and leave them by her door.
So their relationship was definitely better than strangers. Yet even so, that girl… just up and left without saying anything. Not even a word about where she was going.
'And that last line, don't miss me?'
"Tch! Really now. You think you can just run off?", Arashi muttered, tearing the note from the door with a snort. A few days ago, she'd promised to buy him dinner as thanks for helping her with her packages, and now she'd run away?
Still, Kugisaki Nobara definitely wouldn't have imagined that before long, the two of them would meet again.
And that meal? Arashi wasn't planning to let her off the hook for it.
———
"Still dreaming of mooching a meal off me? Keep dreaming, Arashi. Bye-bye!"
At that moment, Kugisaki Nobara was sitting on a high-speed train, watching the city lights blur past the window, a faint smile on her lips.
After wrapping up the situation in Sendai, she headed back to her hometown to pack up. Then she'd go to the city she'd always dreamed of, her real stage. The place she longed to live in, full of delicious food, developed transport hubs, and all kinds of new and strange things waiting to be discovered.
Still, after spending those days with Arashi, she could tell he was a good person. Just… not someone who walked the same path as her.
When Arashi realized she'd left, he actually felt relieved. It was better this way than having her run into a curse out there.
The days went on as usual. Arashi continued training hard. His physical strength improved day by day, and his ability to control his cursed energy grew steadily.
He often ran into Itadori Yuji, but they didn't talk much, just exchanged brief smiles, the kind between casual acquaintances.
It wasn't that Arashi didn't want to get close to Itadori; rather, he couldn't afford to. He didn't want his existence to change the world's original course too much.
Though honestly, ever since he came to this world, things might have already started to change. The future could shift in unexpected ways, different from what it once was.
That's exactly why Arashi wanted to keep some distance. Especially from Itadori Yuji. If his presence somehow prevented Itadori from swallowing Sukuna's finger, that would stop the entire chain of future events from happening.
Arashi's goal was for Itadori Yuji to remain the front-line container that both curses feared and coveted. That way, attention would stay off him.
The key was that Arashi had to keep his power hidden. At least until he was strong enough to stand on his own. Until then, Itadori had to be the public face.
It might sound like he was using Itadori as a shield, but Arashi would never let him die. Even if one day Sukuna fully seized control of Itadori's body, Arashi would fight to help him regain it.
Even if it meant risking everything, he'd fight Sukuna head-on if he had to.
He believed that once he mastered his domain, fighting Sukuna wouldn't be impossible.
He didn't yet know what his future domain, Sun and Moon, would truly be like, but as long as it wasn't weak, that was enough.
If by then he had enough points, he'd directly exchange for the deluxe version of his domain expansion, "Sun and Moon Cycle." It'd probably be insanely strong.
He even wondered, 'Can it rival Gojo's Unlimited Void(Ryoiki Tenkai)?'
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