Chapter 25
The after-school café was filled with the aroma of coffee beans and soft jazz music.
When Eriri pushed open the shop door, Utaha Kasumigaoka was already sitting by the window waiting.
The black-haired girl wasn't wearing her school uniform today. She had changed into a simple black dress covered by a light gray knitted cardigan. Her slender legs were still wrapped in black stockings that gleamed softly in the afternoon sun.
In front of her was a cup of black coffee. She held a notebook in her hands and was writing something. When she heard the door open, she looked up. Her crimson eyes swept over Eriri, then… lingered on the empty air beside Eriri.
"You're here," Utaha closed her notebook and said in a calm tone. "Sit down. I ordered coffee. See if you want anything else."
Eriri sat down across from her and glanced nervously at her side—Genji had already appeared and was looking at the shop's decorations with great interest. However, he had used a technique to hide himself. Apart from Utaha and Eriri, the other customers and staff couldn't see him.
"Well…" Eriri hesitated. "Kasumigaoka-senpai, about this morning—"
"Order first," Utaha interrupted, pushing the menu toward her. "Eating something sweet when you're nervous helps you think. I recommend their tiramisu. I heard they use mascarpone cheese imported from Italy."
Eriri took the menu, glanced at the exquisite dessert photos, and finally settled on the "Classic Tiramisu."
"Then… this one," she returned the menu.
Utaha raised her hand to call the waiter, ordered the tiramisu, and added, "I'll have another chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream."
The waiter took the order and left. Only then did Utaha look back at Eriri—or rather, at the "empty air" beside Eriri.
"So," she said, her voice very soft, but each word terribly clear, "is this Mr. 'Zen'in Genji'?"
"First meeting, Miss Kasumigaoka Utaha. This one is Zen'in Genji, a ghost who shouldn't appear in this era."
Utaha's pupils narrowed slightly. Although she had been mentally prepared, seeing a person in ancient robes appear and disappear out of thin air was still very striking. But her expression quickly calmed down.
"A ghost… or a shikigami?" She asked, her voice as if discussing an academic question.
"To be precise, a sorcerer in the form of a shikigami," Genji corrected. "But we can discuss those details later. Let's talk about the purpose of your invitation to Eriri today—it's not just to treat her to cake, is it?"
At that moment, the waiter brought the desserts. The tiramisu was served in an elegant glass, covered with a thick layer of cocoa powder. The chocolate lava cake was hot, and when cut, thick chocolate sauce flowed out, the vanilla ice cream on the side creating a hot-and-cold mix.
Utaha pushed the lava cake toward Eriri—and then made a move that stunned Eriri.
She placed another spoon on the empty side of the table.
A few seconds later, Genji's voice sounded, with obvious satisfaction:
"Delicious." The bittersweetness of the chocolate was well balanced, and the vanilla flavor of the ice cream was pure… much better than the sweets of the Heian period.
Eriri watched this scene and suddenly felt a little surreal. A thousand-year-old sorcerer, a sharp-tongued literary prodigy, and a tsundere artist sitting in a café, discussing supernatural threats, interspersed with cake-tasting commentary.
The scene was too strange.
The jazz in the café changed.
From a lazy saxophone solo to a more energetic piano trio, the notes jumped in the air like droplets of water. Eriri stared at the half-cold cup of coffee in front of her, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the rim of the cup. The sunlight outside the window shifted from noon to dusk, casting growing shadows on the wooden floor.
Utaha sat across from her, her notebook spread open on the table. She wasn't writing anything, just tapping the page with her pen. Her crimson eyes were fixed on the "empty air" beside Eriri—where Genji was using a floating spoon to cut the last piece of lava cake.
"So," Utaha said, her voice calm but sharp, "according to your speculation, the jujutsu world will send someone to find us next?"
"Most likely," Genji's voice sounded in the air, the spoon lifting the last piece of cake into the "air." "The technique used this morning should be something that exists in the jujutsu world. It wouldn't have disappeared in a thousand years."
Eriri's throat felt a little dry. She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. The bitterness made her frown.
"What… what should we say if they really come?"
"Tell the truth," Genji put down the spoon—it landed softly on the table with a crisp clink. "Just say you can see the cursed spirit, but you don't know why. As for me… if they ask, say that an invisible being is helping you, but you don't know what it is."
"Will they believe that?" Utaha raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like a perfunctory answer."
"If they don't believe it, they'll have to," there was a hint of cunning in Genji's voice. "There are many strange techniques and beings in the jujutsu world—ghosts, shikigami, cursed corpses… one more 'existence' that can't be clearly seen is nothing. The important thing is to confirm that Eriri is not a threat and doesn't possess anything dangerous."
He paused and added, "Besides, I'll be watching from the sidelines. If their attitude is wrong, I'll intervene."
Eriri felt a slight sense of relief. She looked out the window. The number of pedestrians on the street was gradually increasing—it was almost time to get off work. A few students in Toyonoki Academy uniforms passed by the window, chatting and laughing, completely unaware that just minutes ago, in this seemingly ordinary café, a conversation about the supernatural world had been taking place.
"But, on the other hand," Utaha suddenly said, shifting her gaze from the "air" to Eriri, "have you ever thought about… learning jujutsu?"
Eriri was stunned.
"Look," Utaha picked up her pen and quickly wrote a few lines in her notebook. "You can see cursed spirits. You have a 'teacher' like Zen'in Genji. And judging from this morning's situation, cursed spirit attacks may continue. Instead of passively waiting for protection, it's better to take the initiative and gain some control—even if it's just for self-defense."
This proposal made Eriri's heart beat faster. A sorcerer? Like Genji, able to casually exorcise monsters, heal wounds, and even… fly?
"I…" She opened her mouth. "I don't know if I can…"
"You can try," Genji interjected. "Your ability to perceive cursed energy is stronger than that of ordinary people—otherwise, you wouldn't be able to see me. Although it's weak now, with training, it should improve. However…"
He paused, his tone becoming serious. "Jujutsu training is very tedious. And once you step into this world, you can never return to a completely 'ordinary' life. You need to think carefully."
Eriri was silent. She remembered the black hands on the bus this morning. The cursed spirit that Bright Moon had killed in the Ginza hotel last night. Her father's tired face. Her mother's worried eyes.
If she had the power to protect herself, and even others…
"I want to try," she finally said, not loudly, but firmly. "At least… at least learn some self-defense."
The corners of Utaha's lips curled into a faint smile. She closed her notebook and picked up her coffee cup. "A wise choice. Although I can't help much, at least I can be the recorder of the 'sorcerer's apprentice' story. It should be good creative material."
"Hey, don't treat me like an observation subject!" Eriri glared.
"Why not?" Utaha tilted her head. "The story of a thousand-year-old sorcerer possessing a modern high school girl, combined with the daily life of a tsundere blonde heroine and a sharp-tongued black-haired senior sister—if I wrote that into a light novel, it might become a big hit."
Genji smiled. "Sounds interesting. But before that—"
His voice suddenly stopped.
It wasn't just a pause. It was… a freeze. As if time itself had momentarily stopped in that "air." Eriri felt the temperature around her drop a degree. The traffic noise outside the window became muffled. Even the music in the café seemed to be coming through a thick layer of glass.
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.
Genji didn't answer immediately. A few seconds later, his voice sounded again, but this time without its usual lightness and casualness. Instead, there was an almost icy calmness:
"We have company."