120 Chapter 119: Interference

"N-nobu-kun?!"

Bocchi-chan made a surprised expression.

"Yours truly." I said before I added, "You aren't hallucinating."

"Since when—?

"Two days ago. I had to settle some things when I arrived in Tokyo."

My attention went to the three girls that came with her.

"Greetings, Bocchi-chan's friends."

"H-hello!"

"Ah."

The blue-haired girl stopped as her gaze went at me.

"Have we met before?" She asked.

"Are you the girl with seven basses?"

"Yes."

I can still remember our meeting when I bought Bocchi-chan's custom guitar.

"Ah… You must be the childhood friend!"

I sent a curious look at the red-haired girl before shifting back to Bocchi.

"T-that..!"

"There's no need to explain. I understand." I replied. "You used me as a bragging right. That's totally fine."

She became dazed as I mentioned these words. Her same old monologues must've been happening at this moment.

"But… I'm glad you found new friends. Your parents didn't bring you to the shrine this time, no?"

"N-no!"

After her vehement refusal, I invited everyone to sit down.

"Everyone might know me but I'd still like to introduce myself." I spoke. "I am Akasaka Nobu… Bocchi's childhood friend."

"Ah."

"Akasaka-san, was it? So it was you…" Nijika-san muttered. "Bocchi-chan's childhood friend…"

"How did you come up with her nickname?"

The blue-haired Ryo-san asked me straightforwardly.

"It slipped off my tongue. Hitori and Hitoribocchi simply matched each other well enough. That was gradually converted to her actual nickname."

"That's better than being called a ghost."

Ryo-san…

She's still as blunt as ever.

"The pictures…"

"Ack?!"

Upon the mention of Kita-san, Bocchi started behaving oddly—not like she didn't do this before.

"All these times, you still remember it…"

"Haha…"

The red-haired girl could do nothing but laugh wryly.

Pictures, hm..?

Don't tell me…

"Did you happen to plaster your entire closet with our pictures?"

"..?!"

This time, her mental breakdown was more obvious. Her soul left her body… literally. She blankly headed to one of the corners of the room and sat on her knees.

"I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead…"

In the end, I facepalmed. Bocchi was still the same old person. I have taught her communication skills dozens of times…

From a standpoint, she looked helpless.

Then again…

'My absence might've partly caused it…'

Although there were many positive things during my return, I had continuously faced the consequences of it.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't shy away from them.

Standing up from my seat, I squatted on her side.

"Did you think a social death would make our friendship awkward? How many times did you have a social death in front of me? There's that time in elementary grade when you failed to make new friends after asking me to supervise you. There's also another time at a guitar store…"

I listed her embarrassing moments one after another. It was proven to be effective when her depressed looks were replaced with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Awawawawa…"

Just like before, her reactions are comical. I could see her face turning red at an extreme rate. Her eyes started to turn into a spiral. The only thing lacking is a gloomy effect along with a steam coming off from her head.

Thinking about it, Bocchi does make a strange combination at times.

'Really…'

I am far different compared to my normal self. Interacting with my friends and family made me regain some of my liveliness. I am aware of how rigid I am when it comes to the supernatural side.

Moreover, those three years might have affected me. In a sense, it is a kind of refreshment.

"What about my gift?"

Bocchi's body jolted as she heard it.

"Ah? I brought it here…"

She stood up and opened the guitar case she brought earlier. I followed after her.

When the case was opened, it revealed a pristine state of the guitar I gifted her three years ago.

"You took good care of it."

"Of course!"

Her aura changed into that of an extremely proud one. Her nose is pointing towards the sky with her level of pride.

"I want to see your progress…"

*****

A height of 188 centimeters could warrant you attention in Japan.

If you are good looking?

That would be further amplified several-fold.

Coincidentally, Nobu had everything. From his ingrained mannerisms up to his way of speaking, it is totally enough to make school girls swoon.

In that case, another description for him would be…

"A prince…"

"A rich prince."

Ryo immediately corrected Kita's murmurs.

"At least, he knows how to manage his finances well."

Nijika took a jab at her friend.

Occasionally, Bocchi told them stories about her 'childhood friend'. They managed to grasp some characteristics from there—all of which are true when they saw him personally.

For once, he is a college graduate at the age of sixteen. He is also well-versed in arithmetics and economics which is his way of making 'pocket money'. While Ryo also came from a rich family, her poor management made her look like she wasn't.

Who would spend 300,000 Yen on a single Bass purchase?

Worse, it happens monthly.

Just then, their sight shifted to the person with the least presence inside this room—Ryuunosuke. He was forced to meet their gaze. The longest one came from Kessoku Band's drummer, Nijika.

"That was a great performance, uhm…"

"Akasaka Ryuunosuke. I'm his brother."

"Bro…ther..?"

For the second time, they received their shock. Throughout this entire time, the 'girl drummer' turned out to be a guy!

"I know. That happens to others too."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, it's fine. That's an honest mistake."

Everything came to a standstill after that. Ryuunosuke became socially awkward after being scorned by his former friends. He became more conscious about the things he should say.

"Your brother… Is he Shichi?"

"..?"

Kita sent an inquiring look to them. Strangely enough, Nijika and Ryo had this suspicion for a while ago.

"Well… Yes."

"Um."

"I knew it."

While the two processed this fact, Kita was surprised.

"Wait, wait! Hitori-chan's childhood friend is Shichi?! That Shichi?!"

"Yeah. Wasn't it obvious from the guitar?" Ryo replied. "He used it for the majority of his performances. The mango box, too."

"Right? That's why it looked familiar… He wore that box in the 2015 Yokohama Fest."

Suddenly, she paused and looked at Ryuunosuke.

"Then, you must be Kyu!"

"Uh… yes."

During the said event, Ryuunosuke made his debut as a drummer. It even continued after the said event. He continuously posted new videos on social media platforms until he stopped a year ago.

He had many unique quirks, but one of the things that made him stand out was that during his life, people would ask him to play a drum cover of a song he'd heard for the first time.

Much to their surprise, he was able to do just that.

Under her sparkling gaze, Ryuunosuke felt even more awkward.

"Many people thought you stopped playing drums."

"That's true. I stopped playing them."

"Ah…"

This tricky situation was something unsolvable even by Nijika's bright and optimistic self. It was as if she met her polar opposite.

"But there's no need to worry. I… I'll come back."

"That's good!"

On the day of his brother's return, Ryuunosuke managed to recapture the sparks of flame once more.

*****

"It's a long day…"

Meeting Ryuu, Bocchi-chan, and her friends took a while. It is fortunate that Mashiro took a school tour right now.

Looking at the digital watch on the motorcycle, it is already 5:02 PM.

Vroom-!

Five minutes later, I arrived in front of Suiko. Mashiro was waiting in the front gate along with another school girl (Joshi kousei). After removing my helmet, I waved at her.

She talked to the girl beside her for a while before coming at me.

"How was your first day?" I asked.

"Good."

Mashiro rearranged the length of her skirt before riding the motorcycle.

"We'll go somewhere before we go h—?"

My words were briefly interrupted by the 'aura' I sensed miles away from here. Judging from its location, it is somewhere along Tokyo's intersection. That kind of cursed energy fluctuation made it evident as to who they were.

'What should I do?'

Melusine's voice rang in my head.

'They would try to pull off a teleportation to escape. I will leave the decision to you. However, keep in mind NOT to engage a box made with red flesh. It serves as a prison once your perception of time surpasses one minute.'

It is those bastards who appeared just now.

The special-grade curses Jogo, Hanami, and Mahito.

Most importantly…

The vilest sorcerer since the Heian Era, Kenjaku.

'Alright. I will do as you say.'

'Thanks.'

'...'

I stealthily drew a straight line with my left fingers. A moment later, Melusine passed through the 'door' I made.

Next, I connected to the communication line embedded on my helmet.

"Nobu? What's the matter?"

"I might need some help here. There are three special-grade curses present in Tokyo."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah. They might escape any time soon. I'll be engaging first."

"Got it."

Lastly, I contacted a certain someone that should've been enjoying his cold soba back in Kyoto.

"Hm? Oh, it's you. Why the call?"

"Are you perhaps interested in three unregistered special-grade curses? Add Suguru Getou on top of that."

"..."

The other side was silent until a while later.

"I'm coming."

Beep-!

The call abruptly ended. I sensed the seriousness hidden in Satoru-san's voice. After all, his supposed to be dead best friend came back to life. It was the reason why he got trapped inside the Prison Realm in the first place.

'I should…'

"I forgot. We need to buy some supplies. Mind if we make a stop first?"

I should ensure Mashiro's safety first.

*****

"It's fortunate we didn't choose an expensive restaurant."

Kenjaku commented as he briefly scanned the piles of ashes all over the restaurant. All of them were customers and staff that were caught in Jogo's heat—something comparable to the inside of a volcano.

His eyes formed a slit as he started to form the mudras necessary to activate one of his cursed techniques.

His plethora of previous hosts allowed him to amass several of them. His ability to keep track of the cursed energy movement of a technique allowed him to undermine one of the fundamental principles of sorcerers—that is, the fact they could only have one cursed technique.

Although exceeding a certain limit could spell his doom, Kenjaku still has a lot of tricks aside from these techniques.

Just then, he sensed a magicka field distortion. It completely disrupted his plans to move away from this place.

More shockingly, it was modified to suit cursed techniques better.

'Magicians?' He thought. 'They started to interfere as well.'

Either way, he foresaw that a fight was about to occur.

Buzz-!

Hum-!

The world turned grey. From the wooden tables up until the entire restaurant, they were robbed of their colors. Only the cursed spirits as well as Kenjaku managed to retain their states.

"Huh. What is this?"

Jogo's overflowing confidence remained even in this situation.

"It is the magicians' doing." Kenjaku replied.

"Didn't you say they have a vow?"

A thousand years ago, all of the magicians made a vow not to interfere with Japan, as per Tengen's request. Turning the said country into a concentration of cursed energy is already the biggest sacrifice that they made. They can't have magicians studying people born in Japan with their experiments.

"Yes, but it doesn't apply to the whole. There are various exceptions."

"Are they planning to make us wait?"

"It doesn't seem so."

Zoom-!

A small black silhouette came out of nowhere and slammed against Jogo, in turn launching him beyond the restaurant's walls.

Buzz-!

A blue glow appeared on her sheathes before sending another mana blast to Hanami. She followed suit on Jogo's trip across Tokyo's walls.

"You…"

Mahito reacted swiftly. He tried touching the armored young girl. It is the activation condition of his cursed technique that could reshape a human by manipulating their souls.

"What?"

Unfortunately for him, the young girl is by no means a human.

Bam-!

Thus, he was the third one to join Jogo's trip. The only one left was none other than Kenjaku. When their gazes met, they knew the other side was not simple.

"So, what do you—"

Bzz-!

A third party had suddenly interrupted his words. A starry crack appeared out of nowhere. There, someone stepped up. It was a man in black overcoat carrying an antique-looking blade.

Pssshk-!

Without hesitation, the man used it to cut Kenjaku's neck from his body. Only a fraction of a second had passed on this attack.

Soon, the second attack came. It was a straight thrust to Kenjaku's flying head.

Pssshk-!

Just as the tip of the blade managed to burrow a bit into the brain, a black orb appeared on Kenjaku's right hand.

[Maximum output: Uzumaki]

BAM-!

BUZZ-!

A huge torrent of cursed energy assaulted the man. It broke his momentum. As a result, Kenjaku was able to reconnect his neck to his body.

Everything took less than three seconds to occur.

Seeing this, Melusine charged at him.

Hum-!

An extremely strong gravitational pull hindered her advance. Her fists were stuck midair, unable to penetrate through the antigravity barrier he pulled out.

Before she could even use a stronger attack, a ray of cursed energy was aimed at her. She was about to brace herself when she found the man standing in front of her at some point.

Immediately, a seven-layered magicka barrier manifested.

Buzz-!

It perfectly blocked the barrage of cursed energy launched at them.

When it died down, Kenjaku managed to meet eye-to-eye with his sudden ambusher. The man calmly lowered his arm.

"It seems I have interrupted your performance, Noritoshi Kamo."