Chapter 22

After getting off the tram and walking along the road, Tsukimi Higure followed behind Renji Yanagi and felt utterly dejected, suddenly biting into a large apple with frustration.

Crunch, crunch—

The crisp sweetness of the apple burst in his mouth, yet it could not dispel the gloom weighing on his heart.

The few people trailing behind, upon seeing the two enter the library, also sank into disappointment.

Akaya Kirihara wore a face full of letdown. “What the heck, it’s just a library visit.”

“So disappointing. I was hoping to catch the manager and strategist slipping, piyo~,” Niou lamented.

Yagyu pushed up his glasses. “Niou, saying that so casually is rather inappropriate.”

Niou gave an innocent fox-like expression. “Not at all, puri~.”

Marui suddenly jumped out from hiding. “Come on, Yanagi and Higure’s date is way too boring. Let’s call it quits.”

“Is there not a chance this isn’t even a date?” Wolf-san bluntly exposed the truth.

If it weren’t for Yukimura mentioning it was a date, no one would have thought in that direction… well, Yukimura must have misunderstood as well.

“I heard there’s a famous dessert shop nearby,” Marui stated matter-of-factly. “Jack, you’re treating me!”

Wolf grimaced. “Huh? Why me again?”

“Oh, don’t be so calculative!”

I think my wallet will beg to differ…

“Wolf-senpai’s treating?” Kirihara cheered. “Yay, I’m coming too!”

Wolf hurriedly denied, “No, I didn’t say that…”

“Alright then,” his partner accepted on his behalf, then turned to the other two. “Want to join us?”

Picky Niou immediately declined. “No thanks, I’m not interested in sweets.”

Yagyu politely declined as well. “I have other matters to attend to.”

Whew—

Wolf breathed a sigh of relief for his wallet.

Marui was unbothered. “Alright then, see you later~”

Inside the library.

Renji Yanagi returned his books and browsed for new ones. Tsukimi Higure found a seat and idly played on his phone, bored.

After about twenty minutes, Yanagi approached carrying a stack of books. “Atsuki, we can leave now.”

Higure helped carry half. “That’s a lot. How long will it take to read all these?”

Originally a casual remark, but Yanagi replied seriously.

“About a week. I’ll come back to exchange them on my next day off.”

Higure: “…”

The black-haired youth examined the thickness of the books, seriously pondering: could he finish reading one in a week?

Having completed the checkout at the desk, the two left the library.

“Renji, let’s get some dessert,” Higure suggested. “I just checked; there’s a new dessert shop nearby with great online reviews.”

“There’s a green tea mousse cake that’s very popular. I think you’d like it.”

Yanagi naturally did not refuse.

So, they ended up running into Marui and the others at the dessert shop and simply sat at the same table.

Yanagi immediately noticed the plates piled before Marui. “If I recall correctly, your last health check showed high blood sugar. Didn’t I remind you to cut down on sweets?”

Marui, feasting happily, was speechless.

At times like these, the strategist was far scarier than the department head or deputy.

The red-haired youth’s mind raced, conjuring an excuse in less than a second. “I haven’t had cake recently. Today I was just craving it, so I ate a bit more.”

He distanced himself. “Not all of this is mine, there’s Jack’s share too!”

He shot a glance at the dark-skinned, bald youth.

Wolf: “...Ah, well, I ate more.”

“Huh?” The innocent Kirihara failed to notice the tense atmosphere, opening his mouth to say, “Aren’t these all…”

“Akaya!” Marui shouted.

Kirihara was startled. “W-what, Marui-senpai?”

“Weren’t you still craving yogurt puffs? Order another one!”

His emerald cat-like eyes sparkled. “Really?!” 

“No problem. Right, Jack?”

“...Yes.”

Tears welled up in the bald youth’s eyes.

Yanagi quietly observed the bribe being offered but neither exposed nor planned to intervene.

Though unchallenged, Marui felt the matter was far from over. He sorrowfully took a bite of the half-eaten strawberry cake… sigh, it no longer tasted as sweet as before.

“Did Niou and Yagyu leave?” Higure asked.

“Yeah, they left,” Marui replied absentmindedly.

Only then did he realize, “Higure, how did you know they were with us?!”

Higure admired the three’s shocked expressions and whispered devilishly, “Did you really think you were hiding well?”

Awkward, to say the least.

Wolf’s face flushed dark red; his toes began a major operation.

Luckily, at that moment, the waitress brought out the chocolate lava cake and green tea mousse they ordered.

The rich aroma of chocolate immediately caught Higure’s attention. “Looks delicious!”

At the bottom was a brown cake base, topped with a lighter layer of molten chocolate, sprinkled with cocoa powder and dark chocolate nibs—an absolute calorie bomb.

He picked up his fork, scooped a piece, and devoured it with satisfaction.

Yanagi tasted his green tea mousse. The texture was delicate, flavor fragrant and mildly sweet.

Indeed, it suited his palate perfectly.

As he enjoyed it, he noticed Higure’s movements from the corner of his eye and couldn’t help twitching. “Atsuki, be careful not to get chocolate sauce on your clothes.”

Higure barely registered the warning, responding with distracted murmurs.

Then disaster struck.

Looking down at the stain on his clothes, he gave his childhood friend a deep glare. “Renji, don’t jinx me.”

Yanagi: “???”

“Is this my fault?”

Higure defended himself firmly, “Of course!”

“Alright then.” Yanagi didn’t argue, pulling out two tissues. “Wipe it off first.”

Passing the blame away, Higure felt relieved and obediently took the tissues, pulling up his shirt and hastily wiping.

After finishing the cake, Higure felt a bit overwhelmed by the sweetness and gulped several sips of refreshing fruit tea.

“I think Gojo-sensei would really like this,” Higure mused. “A bit sweeter would be even better.”

Yanagi couldn’t quite imagine what even sweeter desserts tasted like nor what kind of person liked such cloying sweets.

Marui, however, was quite interested. “Is Gojo-sensei a teacher from your old school? Does he like sweets too?”

Higure shook his head. “No, he’s a teacher I know elsewhere, a sweets enthusiast even more serious than Marui-kun.”

“Then he must be a good person,” Marui said earnestly.

People who like sweets must be good people!

“Indeed,” Higure said. “Though his personality is a bit catty, he’s very reliable.”

The other youths had question marks floating above their heads: Catty?

By the time they left the dessert shop, it was already 4 p.m. The two took the tram back. Yanagi first went home to put away the borrowed books, only taking one with him, then brought his big orange cat to the shrine.

The orange tabby was well acquainted with the route, leading the way with a graceful gait up the winding steps, finally climbing atop his favorite stone lion’s head, lazily basking in the sun.

Yanagi paid it no mind and headed straight to the backyard.

In the living room, a boy and a kappa awaited his arrival. On the table before Gulu sat a notebook and a pen.

That’s right, starting today, it was officially going to start studying!

Seeing Yanagi arrive, Gulu instinctively tried to hide, but a glance from Higure stopped it.

Yanagi changed shoes and sat opposite them.

Higure cleared his throat twice. “Teacher Renji, where do we start?”

Ignoring his childhood friend’s sudden urge to perform, Yanagi found a video teaching the Japanese syllabary and had Gulu watch it on its own.

“After watching, copy it several times until you memorize it.”

“Makes sense. Practice makes perfect.”

Confused, Gulu clutched the tablet and began studying bewilderedly. It didn’t understand why a cursed spirit had to learn such things, but since it was the master’s request, it had no reason to refuse.

On this ordinary weekend, in the tranquil Higure Shrine, a brown-haired boy read, a black-haired boy played on his phone, and a small green-skinned youkai scribbled diligently.

Gulu gripped the pen with its three-fingered claws, writing carefully stroke by stroke. But its hands were uncontrollable; it took two or three lines just to fit one character, the lines crooked and twisted—if not looking closely, one might think it was drawing some mysterious spell.

The scene was so amusing that Higure couldn’t help but open his camera, snapping several photos in quick succession.

His fingers flew across the screen, sharing the amusing moment on social media.

[Tsukimi Higure: Shikigami of the new era must learn! (Definitely!)

[Photos][Photos][Photos]]

Replies came quickly.

Seniors from Tokyo Jujutsu High responded with strings of question marks or subtle ellipses, clearly baffled by their future junior’s odd behavior.

Then Gojo Satoru dominated five lines with “hahaha,” so loud it was almost deafening.

Others were comments from familiar onmyoji and shrine maidens.

[An Onmyoji: Higure-kun is truly the most talented onmyoji in nearly a century. Such unique ideas! [clap][clap][clap]]

[Shrine Maiden 1: Wow, after working at the shrine for a year, it’s my first time seeing a youkai!]

[Shrine Maiden 2: Should I also have my shikigami receive some normal education? [thinking]]

Afterwards, several more messages popped up.

[An Utakata: Damn you, Atsuki, stop misleading people!!!]

[Gojo Satoru: Utakata, that’s wrong. Improving the education of youkai shikigami benefits social stability.]

[An Utakata: Then the one who should go to school the most is you, Gojo! And call me senpai!!!]

[Gojo Satoru: No way~]

Higure chuckled uncontrollably reading their banter. Just as he was enjoying their quarrel, a sudden message appeared.

[Some Rotten Orange: That’s your stashed cursed spirit, right? I advise you to hand it over quickly. Don’t act recklessly like some people. The Jujutsu Supervisory Department’s wrath is not something you can handle!]

Higure’s features contorted. What filthy thing?

Delete, delete!