The mind space had gone quiet.
Very quiet.
Sukuna was currently unconscious after receiving the most disrespectful two-hit combo in recent history.
Takeru looked down at him.
Then nodded once.
"…Cool."
He turned away immediately.
Priorities.
The strange mind space stretched out around him.
Dark water.
Open sky.
Ripples of cursed energy moving through the ground.
And nearby—
two figures stood.
The girl from before.
And the guy from the second cursed object.
The girl looked calm.
Completely calm.
Like she'd been sitting there waiting the entire time.
The guy, meanwhile, had his hands behind his head.
Relaxed.
Almost annoyingly relaxed.
Takeru stared at them.
"…Alright."
They both looked at him.
"…Who are you two?"
A pause.
"…And what are your cursed techniques?"
The guy grinned first.
"Oh, introductions?"
He stretched.
"I'm Raiden."
Takeru blinked.
"…Cool."
Raiden pointed at himself proudly.
"My cursed technique is Borrowed Momentum."
Takeru tilted his head.
"…What does that do?"
Raiden smirked.
"I can take force from anything."
A pause.
"A punch."
He raised one finger.
"A fall."
Another finger.
"An explosion."
Another.
"Speed."
He grinned wider.
"And stack it."
Silence.
Takeru blinked.
"…That sounds busted."
Raiden shrugged.
"…I know."
Then Takeru slowly turned toward the girl.
She looked back at him.
No expression changing.
Just watching.
"…And you?"
The girl was quiet for a second.
Then smiled softly.
"…I'm Akari."
Takeru froze for half a second.
No one noticed.
"…Uh."
She tilted her head.
"My technique is Soul Mirror."
"…Soul Mirror?"
She nodded.
"I can reflect possibilities from a person's soul."
Takeru stared.
"…Meaning?"
She looked directly at him.
"Alternate forms."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Takeru slowly remembered the incident.
The trip.
The form change.
The embarrassment.
Very slowly—
very, very slowly—
he pointed at her.
"…YOU."
Akari smiled.
"…Hello again."
Far away—
Sukuna suddenly woke up.
"…Why do I feel like something got worse?"
Fred appeared from nowhere holding a sign:
"New teammates acquired: potential disaster level rising."
Takeru stared at Akari.
"…I'm starting to understand why my life is weird."