Ch 23 reunion part 2

As Megumi and Tsumiki stepped into their cozy home, a sudden aroma of curry wafted through the air, causing them both to instinctively gulp. Megumi, leading the way into the room, spotted the simmering pot of curry but noticed the absence of the person who usually prepared it.

"Did they leave?" Tsumiki inquired, her voice tinged with concern.

"Yeah, as if. There's no way that could possibly..." Megumi began, his words trailing off as they both heard a voice from behind them.

"Are you looking for me?"

Startled, Megumi and Tsumiki spun around to find themselves face to face with a figure from their past—a young boy whom they thought had left them for good. Disbelief washed over them as they struggled to comprehend the sight before their eyes.

The young boy, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, stood before them, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Surprised to see me?"

"Ichiro!"

Tsumiki's voice rang out with a mixture of surprise and joy as she greeted the unexpected visitor.

"Hey Tsumiki, how have you been?" Ichiro responded with a warm smile.

"I'm doing alright, how about you?" Tsumiki replied, returning his smile.

"Same as usual," Ichiro said casually.

Meanwhile, Megumi stood by silently, his expression reflecting a mix of shock and disbelief at Ichiro's sudden appearance. Noticing Megumi's demeanor, Ichiro turned his attention to him.

"What's the matter, Megumi? You look like someone who saw a ghost. So, how have you been?" Ichiro asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Megumi, still in a daze, suddenly snapped out of it and replied to Ichiro, "Yeah, I'm alright."

Ichiro raised an eyebrow at Megumi's monotone response. "What's with that monotone of a reply? You sound like a robot."

"Hah, what kinds of rep-" Megumi began, but before he could finish his sentence, Ichiro lifted him up into the air.

"Hey! Put me down!" Megumi protested, his voice filled with a mixture of surprise and indignation.

Ichiro chuckled heartily at Megumi's reaction. "Hahaha, now that's the kind of reaction I wanna see." He then gently set Megumi back down on the ground.

"Alright, I bet you guys are hungry, so let's head inside and eat," Ichiro suggested, changing the subject smoothly.

"Umm, Ichiro," Tsumiki interjected, her curiosity piqued.

"Yeah? What is it, Tsumiki?" Ichiro responded, his expression attentive as he turned to face her.

Tsumiki hesitated for a moment, gathering her courage before speaking. "I, uhh, ummm, do you know where our parents are?" Her voice quivered slightly, betraying her reluctance to ask the question.

The sudden inquiry caught Ichiro off guard, and he paused for a moment, searching for an answer. "Uhh, you see, Tsumiki, I haven't had any news about them yet. I don't have an inkling of where they could be, so it's hard to answer your question. I'm really sorry, Tsumiki," Ichiro apologized, bowing slightly in deference to her.

Tsumiki was taken aback by Ichiro's sudden gesture of contrition. "Ah, umm, it's alright, Ichiro. It's not like I'm blaming you, so there's no need to apologize. Oh! That's right, we should get inside before the curry gets cold," she quickly interjected, attempting to steer the conversation away from the awkward topic.

Meanwhile, Ichiro pondered silently to himself. *Honestly, I don't know where her mother is, but one thing is for certain—Toji is now dead, and Gojo has now met Megumi. Given the natural canon of the anime, I can suspect that now I have been born here means that me and Megumi are indebted to Gojo, which honestly doesn't sound so bad compared to being tied to the Zenin.*

However, Ichiro kept his thoughts to himself, choosing not to burden Tsumiki with his speculations as they made their way inside, leaving the unanswered question about their parents hanging in the air.

"Hey, you two, hurry up!" Tsumiki's voice broke through Ichiro's reverie, pulling him back to the present moment.

"Yeah, we'll be there. Let's go, Megumi," Ichiro replied, shaking off his thoughts and following tsumiki inside.

"Yeah," Megumi muttered quietly, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

*It's already been two years since we last saw each other,* Ichiro thought to himself as they entered the house.

"I'm home," ichiro announced as they stepped into the warmth of their home.

"Yeah, welcome home," Megumi replied softly, his words almost a whisper.

Though Megumi's response was subtle, Ichiro's heightened senses allowed him to catch the faint murmur, which brought a faint smile to his face.

After enjoying a hearty meal of curry, the trio settled in to catch up on the events of the past two years. Among the stories exchanged was one about a man who had visited them the previous year and shared some information about Toji's past.

"Really? That man stopped our sale with the Zenin?" Ichiro exclaimed, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah, and apparently, we are from the Zenin clan," Megumi confirmed, his expression thoughtful.

*Damn, it's hard playing dumb here, knowing already the full story,* Ichiro mused silently, keeping his newfound knowledge to himself.

"I see. It must have been a great shock to you, Megumi," Ichiro remarked sympathetically.

"Not really. Based on what that man told me, I get the gist of what he means," Megumi replied, a hint of understanding in his voice.

"I see. Oh! That's right, I have a souvenir for you guys," Ichiro announced with a grin, reaching into his bag.

"Really?" Tsumiki's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Yup, first, here's yours, Megumi. A book, since I know you like reading," Ichiro said, handing Megumi a neatly wrapped package.

"Thanks, Ichiro," Megumi replied gratefully, accepting the gift.

"No problem," Ichiro replied with a smile.

Tsumiki eagerly interjected, "Hey, hey, what about me? Do you have something for me as well, Ichiro?"

"Why, of course, Tsumiki. Here," Ichiro said, handing Tsumiki a delicate necklace with a heart-shaped pendant.

"Wow, it's so beautiful. Thanks, Ichiro," Tsumiki exclaimed, admiring the necklace in her hands.

"You're welcome," Ichiro replied warmly.

*Well, on the surface, it's just a normal necklace, but that necklace is imbued with my cursed energy. The moment a foreign curse spirit or even curse energy tries to get close to Tsumiki, it will automatically be absorbed by it. This way, I can make sure Tsumiki will be safe,* Ichiro thought to himself, keeping his hidden protection a secret.

"Oh, by the way, Ichiro," Megumi spoke up.

"Yeah? What is it, Megumi?" Ichiro turned his attention to him.

"How long will you be staying?" Megumi inquired.

"A couple of days maybe, since I came back for a reason. One of the relatives of the person who took me in under their wings will celebrate their child's first birthday here. If you'd like, you can attend the birthday," Ichiro explained, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Really, Ichiro?" Tsumiki's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah, and you come as well, Megumi," Ichiro insisted.

"Why do I have to?" Megumi grumbled, clearly reluctant.

"Because I said so," Ichiro replied firmly.

"Fine," Megumi begrudgingly agreed.

"Great! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, since you guys have school tomorrow. So, sleep early, alright?" Ichiro instructed.

"Yeah, bye, Ichiro," Tsumiki waved.

"Yeah, bye, Tsumiki. Bye, Megumi. See you tomorrow," Ichiro waved back before heading out.

Once Ichiro left Megumi and Tsumiki, he made his way to Kyle's parents' residence. As he walked, thoughts swirled in his mind.

*Sigh, the truth is, I want to spend more time with them, but Kyle would get mad at me for being late since it's nighttime now. And I only told Kyle that I'll be going out so sighh, I know, maybe I could ask Kyle tomorrow if I could spend the whole day with my siblings. I'm sure he'll understand. Yeah, that's right. Since it's only for a day, I can spend more time with them starting tomorrow, hmm?*

Lost in his thoughts, Ichiro suddenly felt a surge of cursed energy emanating from an alleyway nearby. His curiosity piqued, he ventured into the alley.

*Blood? And judging by the curse spirit, its cursed energy is around second grade, hmm?*

As Ichiro assessed the curse spirit, he noticed an unconscious person lying on the ground.

"Based on the condition of that person, he must have received a concussion. Pretty lucky compared to dying," Ichiro muttered to himself.

He glanced at the curse spirit, feeling a pang of remorse, then made a decision.

"Let's hurry and quickly send that person to the nearest hospital, Baku," Ichiro commanded, summoning forth a monstrous creature from within his shadow.

"Do it," he ordered.

Baku then obeyed, growling at the curse spirit. Within moments, ten nightmares appeared and attacked the curse spirit, swiftly defeating it. Ichiro absorbed the defeated curse spirit.

"What a poor curse spirit. It can't do anything against Baku's nightmares," Ichiro mused to himself as he walked away from the alley. "Since no one can damage the nightmares, as every attack would just go through them, it's really impossible to beat them unless you know their weakness."

With a heavy heart, Ichiro called for an ambulance. Within minutes, the ambulance arrived, and Ichiro explained his side of the story to the paramedics, detailing how he had heard the man's hoarse voice inside the alley and rushed to check on him.

After ensuring that the man was in good hands, Ichiro finally made his way home. As he approached Kyle's parents' residence, he couldn't help but feel a pang of envy as he noticed the happy scene unfolding inside. Kyle, Will, and Margarette were happily talking with their parents, their laughter echoing through the house.

"There really is a happy bunch, huh?" Ichiro thought to himself as he watched them for a moment before quietly slipping into his room.

Feeling a mix of emotions swirling within him, Ichiro sighed and retired for the day, eager to rest and prepare for the events of the following day.

On the same alleyway that Ichiro had left, a group of people wearing black suits guarded the perimeter, ensuring no civilians could enter. Among them, a young woman with yellow hair emerged from the alleyway and approached a tall young man with distinct white hair, who wore a round black lense glasses.

"Gojo-san," the woman greeted respectfully.

"Yo, so what happened?" Gojo responded casually.

"That's what we're trying to figure out as well. Based on the report, the man had a concussion and was sent to the hospital. The doctor who attended to him said that he got hit by a blunt object in the head, causing his injuries," the woman explained.

"I see. So it's just a normal incident then," Gojo remarked, appearing unperturbed.

"I hope we could leave it at that, but the recent reports mention a curse spirit roaming around here. When we heard that there was an injured civilian in this area, we suspected it might have been a curse spirit. But to our surprise, we couldn't find one. Since curse spirits are bound to their respective areas, I doubt a curse spirit would roam outside its boundaries," the woman continued.

"Hmm," Gojo hummed thoughtfully, pondering the situation.

As Gojo contemplated the incident, he turned to Nitta for more information.

"What about the CCTV?" he inquired.

"There's none. I mean, who would put a CCTV in the alleyway anyway?" Nitta replied.

"I guess you have a point. Let me check it," Gojo decided, stepping into the alleyway.

To his surprise, there was no trace of anything unusual—no CCTV cameras, no remnants of a curse spirit. It was as if everything had vanished in an instant.

"Gojo-san?" Nitta called out.

"Nitta," Gojo acknowledged.

"Yes!"

"Continue the investigation," Gojo instructed firmly.

"Yes, sir," Nitta replied dutifully.

As Gojo entered a car and began to think deeply, a smile crept onto his face.

"What really happened there? With my six eyes, I doubt I could miss anything. So how come I can't even see a trace of a curse spirit? Maybe a curse technique that can absorb or erase curse spirits? Nah, I doubt it. Even if there were such a technique, I should still be able to see the cursed energy. In order for a curse technique to be fully utilized, one must conjure it using cursed energy, so it's impossible," Gojo reasoned to himself, chuckling softly at the intrigue of the situation.

Meanwhile, back at the scene, Ijichi observed Gojo's behavior with curiosity.

'Gojo-san is giggling to himself. I wonder what really happened here,' Ijichi pondered, his interest piqued by Gojo's mysterious reaction.