Ding-dong
At the entrance of the Jujutsu Dessert Shop, Gojo had rushed back at full speed, pretending to be out of breath!
The instant he returned to the shop, both Nekomata and Ellen turned to look at him with piercing intensity!
Nekomata had a face full of grievance and helplessness!
Ellen had a face full of disdain!
Seeing Gojo arrive, Ellen even went as far as petulantly slamming her shark tail onto the counter stool with a "thud," making a whole lot of noise as she faced him!
Seeing this, Gojo felt that things were really bad!!
The only reason Ellen would be this resentful was if his long streak of skipping class had gotten her harshly scolded by the teacher while she was asking for leave on his behalf, she wouldn't normally act this way otherwise.
Speaking of which, it was only because he had nothing better to do that he decided to enroll, and now he often slacked off and didn't want to go to school, resulting in this situation...
Knowing Ellen was throwing a tantrum and unable to let the atmosphere stay so awkward, he took the initiative to speak!
"Ellen, don't you have class? You're actually here so early today."
"Hmph, of course I don't have class. Thanks to a certain someone, I got scolded by the teacher. I'm in a bad mood, so I'm thinking of eating all the plates and furniture in a certain someone's shop to vent my anger… oh, and the cakes too. I'll eat all of them."
Ellen blatantly mocked Gojo as she ate a Sukuna-style dessert cake, plate included, swallowing half in a single bite and then sliding the half-eaten plate over to Nekomata.
"Another one?"
"Meow..."
With drooping ears and trembling hands, Nekomata stood frozen as the "monster" placed another half-eaten plate into her arms.
For a moment, she didn't move.
Then, slowly carefully she pulled it close to her chest, as if afraid it might break even further.
Her fingers tightened.
Her shoulders shook.
Step by step, she forced herself forward, each movement slow and unsteady, as though her body no longer wished to obey.
In front of Gojo stood a growing pile once-beautiful plates, now half-eaten, carelessly discarded.
Her "children."
Each one she had made with care. With pride.
With love.
Her vision blurred.
She placed the plate down gently, almost reverently
as if it still mattered.
As if it could still be saved.
But it couldn't.
Another step.
Another breath.
Her chest tightened until it hurt.
Her ears drooped lower.
And somewhere deep inside
something quietly began to break.
"There's nothing I can do," she whispered, tears consuming her face as despair consumed her heart.
Her remembrance carried her back to a time when things were still simple when she washed her "children" slowly and meticulously, leaving no nook or cranny untouched, so the world could see how beautiful they were. Now, those days existed only in her remembrance.
"I'm nothing but a failure of a mother."
Gojo watched her in silence, at a loss for words.
In the end, he could only sigh helplessly.
Then, with a heavy heart, he marched with determination toward Ellen the {Monster} who had devoured Nekomata's "children" and sat down right beside her.
Of course, he avoided her tail.
Because once upon a time, back when his role-play value wasn't high enough to keep the Limitless Cursed Technique active daily, he had touched Ellen's tail, and she sent him flying with a single flick of it. If not for his excellent physical fitness, he'd probably be permanently disabled. Truly, as expected of a monster who ate the "children."
Naturally, after that time, Gojo never approached carelessly again, and naturally, his wicked desire to touch the shark tail had never died!
Seeing Gojo approach, Ellen only gave him a faint glance and continued eating.
Seeing her like this, Gojo was helpless.
"Hey, deskmate," Gojo sighed, "you've already eaten a bunch of my furniture and Nekomata's beloved 'children.'"
His gaze shifted slightly to the side.
From his angle, Nekomata stood half-hidden beneath the shadow of her ruined "children."
Her face was covered in tears. Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably, small, uneven shakes running through her stiff, fragile frame.
She didn't make a sound.
She simply stood there, as if even breathing had become too heavy.
"Even if you got scolded, shouldn't you be over it by now? And you finished all the cakes too."
Gojo let out another helpless sigh.
"If you keep eating like this, this shop's definitely doomed," Gojo sighed dramatically, though there was a joking edge to his voice. "I might end up becoming some weak, handsome guy who has no choice but to go into the Hollow for commissions."
His tone was casual, but his gaze still slipped briefly to the side toward Nekomata.
She stood there quietly, still trembling.
Ellen's movements stopped for a moment.
At the mention of the Hollow, her body subtly tensed, her eyes sharpening as they fixed on him.
But the next second, she caught the tone in his voice.
A joke.
The tension in her shoulders eased almost immediately.
"…Don't say strange things like that," she replied flatly, returning to her usual calm as she resumed her eating.
"Don't you like role-playing as the {(The Honored One)}" she said calmly. "From what I remember, your reputation in New Eridu isn't low. You're practically an idol. Plenty of people admire you, so why did you thinking about taking commissions in the Hollow?"
The plates were empty.
No cake remained where the "children" supposed to be.
Nekomata stood frozen, staring at them as if her mind lagged behind what her eyes already knew.
"…They're gone," she rasped, voice hoarse and fragile. "The cakes… are empty."
Ellen calmly set her utensil down.
"…Then the plate will do."
For a moment, Nekomata did not understand.
There was no cake left at all only the bare plate, cold and empty.
But still…
Slowly, carefully, something fragile stirred in her chest.
A twisted hope.
Not relief.
Not safety.
But the desperate idea that maybe Ellen meant she would stop here, that no more "children" would be taken.
Her trembling fingers lifted slightly.
"…Then… the plate…"
Her voice wavered.
For a moment, hope flickered in her eyes again small, broken, and painfully fragile.
Maybe… it meant she would stop here.
Maybe there would be no more "children" taken.
Her fingers lifted slightly, hesitant, as if testing whether the world would allow her to believe it.
A faint, uncertain hope lingered in her eyes.
Ellen still had not looked at her.
That absence of attention itself felt like permission.
But then
Ellen finally raised her gaze.
Their eyes met.
And everything collapsed.
There was no softness there.
No acknowledgment.
Only a cold, flat indifference that looked through her rather than at her like something observing a problem it had already decided was irrelevant.
In that instant, Nekomata understood.
Not through words.
Through presence.
The hope she had just built shattered completely.
Her breath stopped.
Her hands fell limp.
Her body trembled as if something inside her had been cut loose and left to fall endlessly.
"…Ah…"
No words followed.
Only silence.
Ellen watched her for a brief moment.
Something faint passed through her expression quiet satisfaction, like a routine confirmed.
Then it vanished.
She looked away as if nothing had happened.
"…Bring another one," she said calmly.
And continued eating.
Clearly, {(the Monster)} wrathful feast showed no sign of ending. It forcefully snatched the brand-new beautiful plate from its "mother's" embrace and devoured it whole, leaving the "mother" to despair over the loss of yet another of her "children."
Ellen continued eating without pause.
Her gaze briefly drifted toward Nekomata, who stood trembling in silence beneath the shadow of her ruined "children."
No change appeared in her expression.
She simply continued.
"Ah~ it's not like you don't know," Gojo sighed. "Rent on Sixth Street is very expensive. Those people in New Eridu only know I'm role-playing as the 'Honored One,' so even though plenty of customers come, our cakes are only 1,000 to 2,000 Denny each, ingredients already cost 800, and rent here is 160,000 every month!"
At that, Ellen's eating slowed barely noticeable, like a pause between breaths.
"…That is expensive," she said flatly.
Then silence returned.
Gojo leaned back slightly, his expression no longer playful.
"If this keeps up," he said more seriously, "I might have to head into the Hollow for commissions."
The moment the words left his mouth
Ellen's head snapped toward him.
Fast. Sharp. Clean.
Like a sudden crack of thunder splitting still air.
Her hand froze mid-motion.
For the first time, her expression shifted not exaggerated, but sharply altered, a flicker of surprise cutting through her calm like a blade.
Her eyes locked onto Gojo.
Nekomata remained completely outside her awareness.
"…The Hollow?" she repeated.
That single word seemed to sharpen the air.
Ellen did not answer immediately.
Instead, she studied him.
Not his words alone—but his face.
His posture.
His eyes.
Any trace of looseness. Any hint of a joke. Any familiar lazy tone he often used to soften things.
She searched quickly, almost instinctively, as if trying to confirm that what she just heard could not possibly be real.
But there was none.
No playful curve in his voice.
No careless smile hiding behind seriousness.
Only quiet intent.
Ellen's fingers tightened slightly for a brief moment.
"…You're serious," she said at last, quieter than before.
Not a question anymore.
A confirmation she didn't like the answer to.
When he first met Ellen, Gojo had claimed to be an orphan to make things easier. As for the schooling that followed, Ellen's family took care of the enrollment procedures for him.
back then he had just started role-playing [(The Honored One)] and was just a child on the day he transmigrated, so he didn't have [(The Honored One)] obvious characteristics at first. Later, as the role-play degree increased, his appearance became more and more similar to [(The Honored One)], to the point where now, it was completely impossible to tell the difference between him and [(The Honored One)].
The two had known each other since childhood. Although they saw each other very, very rarely in between, they were considered childhood friends who grew up together.
The reason they met frequently now was that they went to school together and had more contact, so when bored, they would also get together.
Even as childhood friends, Ellen had never known Gojo's identity as [(The Honored One)] and for good reason. As Gojo grew gradually stronger, he had noticed the authorities closing in on him. Not wanting to bring trouble to Ellen and her families, he had always kept himself hidden under the identity of [(The Honored One)].
"You really are…" Ellen started, but the words didn't come out properly.
After a brief pause, she forced out a single sentence.
"No matter what, don't take commissions that go into the Hollow. It's too terrifying there. It's not a place an ordinary person like you can go."
Gojo rested his chin on his hand.
"Actually, I'm kind of curious about how Ethereals look," he said lightly. "Maybe I could defeat them just as easily as [(The Honored One)] does."
His tone was joking again, as if trying to soften the weight of the topic.
In truth, he was quietly watching her reaction.
Wondering what would happen if Ellen ever realized the truth about him.
But at his words, Ellen looked at him with a mix of open anger and concern.
"Just focus on running your shop properly," she said flatly. "That place is dangerous."
Her gaze didn't soften.
"If you get careless, you'll die."
Then she added, as if switching topics to something trivial,
"Besides, I heard Eleventh Street near you has broken through Level 5 control. I came over to check it."
Gojo's expression quieted slightly.
"…I see," he said after a moment.
No more jokes. No more playful tone.
Just quiet acceptance.
Ellen watched him for a brief moment longer.
When he didn't argue, didn't joke back, didn't brush it off.
the tension in her shoulders eased slightly.
Just a little.
Almost unnoticeable.
But it was relief.
Ellen's gaze shifted to the vegetables and fruit Gojo was holding.
"Nekomata said you were sleeping, but you don't look like you were sleeping…"
With a casual flick of her shark tail, a strawberry was sent flying straight into her mouth.
She chewed calmly, as if nothing had just happened.
Her eyes instantly lit up!
So sweet, so delicious!
Ellen wagged her tail!
"Like it?" Gojo noticed this.
"I don't."
"Oh." Gojo nodded upon hearing this, inwardly mocking her tsundere nature, and then deliberately said, "Since you don't like it, I'll eat them all."
As soon as these words fell, Ellen frowned, and her shark tail lightly hit Gojo's hand again, taking all the strawberry from his hand.
Seeing this, Gojo frown, holding a laugh.
The moment he saw Ellen, he had already deactivated the Limitless Cursed Technique as a precaution.
Ellen caught Gojo's change of expression. Slightly flustered, she turned her head away and ate all the strawberries in one bite before standing up!
"I came this time to tell you two things."
"For starters, you've already been on leave for two weeks since this semester began. The teacher said that if she doesn't see you tomorrow, she'll expel you. I'm not sure if she has something against you personally, but she gets furious every time you're brought up and while she's threatened expulsion several times, she hasn't followed through yet."
"Second, about the school clubs the Basketball Club you dragged me into joining is starting a competition, and it comes with point rewards. These are points you desperately need, since a lot were deducted due to your long absence; you need this to make up for it."
What else... um..." Ellen thought for a moment: "Monna and Ruby also miss you a lot. Then, because there's a credit bonus this time, the competition for the Basketball Club will be very fierce. What you need to do is win the championship so you won't be expelled. That's all."
"These club competitions are really annoying."
If Gojo hadn't insisted on her joining some Basketball Club back then, she wouldn't have participated in these!
You should know she found these clubs very annoying; she didn't even have enough time for sleeping and resting!
"Is that all?"
This was pretty much what he had guessed! He had actually forgotten about the basketball competition!
Joining the Basketball Club back then was because he had to do [(The Honored One)] daily role-playing tasks.
"Um... nothing else for now." Ellen footsteps at the door paused for a moment as she looked at her phone.
Seeing the message on the phone, she frowned and suddenly said again.
"There is one more thing. I saw new news saying that [(The Honored One)] has appeared. That guy is very terrifying. If you go to the Hollow and are found by him, he might attack you because you role-play him and look too much like him..."
"Um... hasn't this guy been retired for years? Why did he appear again?" Ellen was very puzzled.
But she didn't suspect Gojo.
Because the vegetables and fruits Gojo had brought back made her subconsciously think he had visited a market or a plantation, and after all the time she had spent with Gojo, she would absolutely never have thought to compare the two.
Gojo didn't care much he was already used to maintaining a relaxed state.
"Who knows? He's so strong he can go back whenever he wants!"
"I really hope the Investigation Team doesn't find him, otherwise it'll be trouble. Originally, I could earn some Denny by role-playing him."
"True, so please don't go to the Hollow right now. Even with your Ether adaptation, you're still too weak. On top of that, roleplaying as [(The Honored One)] is practically asking for trouble... it may only end up provoking him."
"Ok, I know, I know!" Gojo felt she was nagging. Every time he mentioned things about the Hollow, she would always talk incessantly about the dangers of the Hollow.
"This was only natural. After all, they had spent so many years together they were both incredibly important existences to one another. If something happened to either of them, the other likely wouldn't be able to accept it. Part of this, of course, stemmed from the incident where he accidentally fell into a Hollow and was chased by several Ethereal while concealing his identity as [(The Honored One)], leaving him seriously injured and bedridden for an entire month."
After that time, Ellen was always very worried about him going to the Hollow.
"Ease up, I'm never going anywhere near the Hollow. Old age is the only thing that'll take me out my dream to become {(THE BUM)}, after all. I'm lazy to the core, you know me. But hey, what about you? Are you secretly afraid I'll die in there?" Seeing Ellen stress the same point over and over, Gojo leaned in with a grin, clearly enjoying the chance to tease her.
At Gojo's sudden approach, a light blush crept across Ellen's face. Rather than pushing him away, she exhaled softly and spoke, the words coming out contrary to what she actually felt.
"If anything happened to you, Rin and everyone else would be devastated. Lycaon would mourn for a very long time and not just because he never got to learn your dessert recipes."
"Just admit it already you're the one terrified something's going to happen to me, aren't you?"
THUD
Ellen's tail slammed against the table, her face going red in an instant. Gojo,
however, didn't so much as flinch he just leaned his chin into his hand and kept pondering, clearly enjoying every second of it.
"Next time, just say you're worried about me. It's so obviously you who's concerned, and yet..."
Before he could finish, Gojo's eyes landed on Ellen's raised tail. He promptly closed his mouth, swallowing the rest of his words whole.
Fearlessness and painlessness were two very different things. Without his Limitless Cursed Technique active, getting smacked by that tail was going to hurt plain and simple.
The moment Ellen rose to leave, Gojo knew she'd said her piece. He turned and fell into step beside her, making his way toward the door. Then his eyes caught the scene outside the window calm, bustling, ordinary. For just a moment, a faint shadow of melancholy passed through his heart. He hid it behind a joke as he walked,
"I was just thinking being born and raised in a place like New Eridu, if I really did die inside a Hollow one day, what would you do?"
"Huh?!" Ellen's eyes snapped to him the moment the words left his mouth, her expression dripping with exasperation.
Gojo felt a twinge of guilt under her sharp gaze.
"Hahaha, I mean in the case of some sudden, unavoidable accident. It's not like I make a habit of wandering into Hollows I'm not living that recklessly. But this is New Eridu. There are always moments where you get pulled into something unexpected, right?"
"It's just a hypothetical. If something like that ever happened what would you do?"
Gojo pressed, his voice carrying a rare note of sincerity. It was a question he had always been curious about, one he had never thought to voice until now.
"Something like that..." The usual lightness faded from Ellen's expression, replaced by something quieter, more thoughtful, as though she were genuinely turning the question over in her mind.
She pondered in silence.
What would she do?
Ellen looked at the smiling Gojo. Thinking back to how worried she had been when Gojo was seriously injured before, she found herself saying something without even noticing.
"If that ever happened, I'd search for you every single day until I found you. I'd hunt down the Ethereal that killed you… and destroy it. Okay?"
"Wow… that's really touching." Gojo felt his nose sting slightly. He couldn't deny it he was moved.
Realizing her own words, Ellen froze, her face quickly turning bright red.
"Hmph… forget what I said. It doesn't matter to me anyway!"
"You better not ignore me. You and Nekomata are all I've got left. If even you don't care about me, what's a handsome guy like me supposed to do if {(The Honored One)} suddenly comes after me?" Gojo teased, clearly amused by how easily Ellen flustered.
"In a world this dangerous by nature who can really say they'll be safe forever?"
A trace of melancholy crept back in as he followed Ellen to the shop entrance.
Ellen didn't understand why Gojo would ask something like that. For some reason, she let out a quiet sigh of relief, then spoke blushing, hesitant, yet earnest.
"No matter what, you have to stay safe. Don't make me worry. If anything happens to you… I'd be really upset."
She pressed a hand to her chest, her expression softening. The atmosphere shifted, growing strangely tense, and her face burned even hotter.
Gojo's heart skipped a beat, Ellen had never spoken to him like that before.
For a moment, both of them were flustered.
"What's with that? You're getting all sentimental I almost thought my good looks finally made you fall for me."
"Tch."
Seeing Gojo's smug expression, Ellen clicked her tongue in disdain and turned to leave, her steps just a little quicker than before.
Did she like him? she asked herself.
She did.
No matter what, he was someone important to her someone she could never afford to lose.
Gojo was the only person she had truly opened her heart to someone who meant even more than a best friend.
"Don't forget to show up tomorrow, or I'll eat your entire shop plates, display cases, and all. And yeah, the cakes too."
With a wave over her shoulder, Ellen hurried off.
Gojo watched her retreating figure, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he leaned back against the counter and stretched lazily.
An accident in New Eridu? Not a chance. Worrying about that was pointless.
Thinking that, Gojo stretched out on the sofa. The moment he settled in, his phone let out a cheerful chime.
Ding
(100,000 Denny has been credited to your Inter-Knot account)
TBC
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Notes regarding this story can be found in the comments section of this chapter. There should be a button on the right side of the screen for it on PC, while on mobile it can be accessed through the chapter menu. I also make important decisions there