The group moved through the ruined streets of Tokyo, stepping over broken asphalt and shattered glass. The city was quiet now—too quiet after the battle we had.
We were currently walking toward the place where we believed Gojo and Sukuna had fought.
After Ryu and the others arrived with reinforcements, I felt a lot more confident about our odds. With Yuta, Yuki, Ryu, Yuji, Megumi, Choso—and of course me—our lineup was ridiculously stacked.
Still, something felt… strange.
We followed the direction where we had sensed a strong cursed energy clash that seemed to overlap with what we assumed was Gojo's. As we walked, I suddenly felt something vanish.
I stopped for half a second.
Sukuna's cursed energy.
Gone.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"What happened…?" I murmured quietly to myself as we kept moving.
Yuji spoke, "He is gone... How?"
"…Maybe nothing," I said, though the feeling in my chest told me otherwise.
Then we felt another weaker cursed energy clash. This one seemed like a bunny compared to the feeling Sukuna gave me.
It also disappeared a minute later for some reason.
We kept walking
Then we saw him.
Far ahead on the street, walking casually through the wreckage as if he had just finished a light workout.
Gojo Satoru.
He lifted a hand and waved at us.
The moment I saw him, relief hit me so hard I didn't even think. I immediately rushed forward and jumped straight at him.
Gojo turned off his infinity the instant he saw me charging toward him, and I slammed into him in a full hug.
For a moment, I didn't say anything. I just held on.
I had been genuinely worried about him.
After a few seconds, reality caught up to me.
I froze.
Then immediately let go and stepped back, turning away while my face heated up.
Gojo tilted his head slightly, watching me with an amused grin.
"Ohhh?" he said dramatically. "Ikuyo… are you feeling shy?"
I crossed my arms and turned my back to him.
"Tch. It's not like I miss you or anything. I was worried that I would fight Sukuna. That's all, really."
"I know you missed me," he continued, placing a hand dramatically on his chest. "I'm honored. Truly. Deeply moved."
I huffed.
"No way I'm letting him tease me," I muttered under my breath. "Even if I have to go full tsundere mode."
Behind us, the rest of the group finally caught up.
Yuji, Yuta, and Megumi all looked visibly relieved when they saw Gojo standing there perfectly fine.
Yuta let out a long breath. "Sensei…"
Yuji grinned. "You're okay!"
Megumi didn't say anything, but the tension in his shoulders relaxed.
I studied Gojo for a moment before speaking.
"Gojo-sensei… did you win?"
Gojo immediately clutched his chest as if stabbed.
"You doubted me, Ikuyo?" he said with exaggerated pain. "I'm seriously hurt."
I rolled my eyes.
That ridiculous tone told me everything I needed to know.
Still… Something about all of this bothered me.
I turned slightly and looked back toward the direction where we had fought Kenjaku alongside Uraume earlier—where Yuki, Yuji, and I nearly died.
My brow furrowed.
"This feels weird…" I muttered.
Yuki glanced over. "What does?"
I folded my arms, thinking aloud.
"Why did they attack us like that? Kenjaku isn't stupid. We were obviously stronger."
Ryu snorted. He looked disappointed. "Maybe he just felt like dying."
"…No," I said quietly. "Kenjaku doesn't do things without a reason."
I looked back toward the horizon, where entire chunks of the city had been flattened.
"That was definitely Sukuna," I added. "Even if someone tried to fake him, illusions don't destroy skyscrapers or carve a 90-meter crater in the city."
I exhaled slowly.
"As long as Sukuna is dead… the rest are manageable."
For now.
I turned back toward the group.
Yuji and Yuta were already talking excitedly with Gojo, bombarding him with questions.
"Sensei, what happened?!"
"Did he really use an open domain?"
"Did you land a Black Flash?"
Gojo was happily basking in the attention.
"Of course I did," he said smugly. "Your teacher is the strongest, after all."
Almost everyone looked happy.
Everyone except Ryu.
Ryu stood off to the side with a disappointed expression.
"…Man," he muttered. "I came all this way for a good fight."
Instead, he got nothing but the post-credit scenes.
He sighed and pulled something out of his pocket.
Weed.
Before he could light it, Yuta suddenly appeared beside him.
"Ryu-san, is that OUR weed?"
But before Yuta could finish, Gojo's head slowly turned toward them.
The look on his face instantly froze both of them.
Ryu quietly put the weed back.
Yuta pretended he hadn't seen anything.
Gojo suddenly appeared beside Yuta and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"My dear student…" Gojo said slowly.
Yuta swallowed.
"It seems you've picked up some bad habits."
Gojo's grip tightened slightly.
"As your sensei," he continued loudly, "it is my duty to guide you back onto the right path!"
Yuta looked like he was experiencing spiritual damage.
Honestly… I could feel the sorrow and horror radiating off him.
Alright, time to intervene.
"GOJO-SENSEI!" I called.
He immediately turned toward me.
"What is it, Ikuyo? Or—" he smirked, "—are you trying to rescue your senpai?"
"…No." I pointed a finger at his face.
"I just wanted to ask if you'd help me make desserts. Homemade, delicious, special!"
Everything changed instantly.
Gojo's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
He teleported directly in front of me.
"Tell me everything," he said in a conspiratorial whisper.
I nodded seriously.
"Well… I have some crazy ideas."
Honestly, talking to Gojo about sweets was easy. My past life had left me with way too much knowledge about desserts.
This world was currently in 2018, and I was from 2026 in my past life. I will obviously milk everything I know to the brim. Even trends.
I was a serious sweet tooth as well.
"Imagine giant cookies," I began. "Like ridiculously big. Then there's Dubai chocolate, weird layered cakes, ridiculous sugar bombs—"
Gojo's eyes grew brighter with every word.
I leaned closer and lowered my voice.
"Think about it… dessert domination."
He grabbed my hands immediately.
"We start tonight."
I glanced back at Yuta.
He was staring at me as I had just saved his life.
Well… technically, he saved my life against Kenjaku earlier.
This was the least I could do.
Gojo was already dragging me along as we walked back toward the building where the others were waiting.
Inside were Shoko, Tsumiki, and Kusakabe.
Apparently, Kusakabe had arrived earlier as reinforcement…
…and then decided his best tactical contribution was guarding the non-combatants instead of fighting three special grades.
When I heard that earlier, I couldn't help muttering under my breath as we approached the building.
"Oh wow… how incredibly brave of you."
My mouth twitched.
I was definitely bringing that up later when I need something to attack him for.
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End of chapter