Chapter Text
In the land of Ingary, where magic exists and monsters roam the land, Suguru leads a very ordinary life.
It's a small, ordinary life, where he helps out at his parents' bakery, pulling out fresh dough to knead early in the morning.
He wakes up every day before the sun rises, splashing cold water on his face before he goes downstairs to start preparation. The bakery has its bestsellers - the usual bread loaves beloved by the townspeople, his mother's signature apple pie, his father's croissants.
The smell of baking bread and sweetness never quite leaves his clothes or hair, as though Suguru is baking himself over and over again, into the crust of the bakery.
Being the only son of two bakers has its perks though - over the years, he's eventually become friends with the usual first customers, ever-ready with their coin and gossip as always.
Manami and Miguel are the first to arrive just as the bakery opens, chattering loudly as they step over the threshold. The door chime jingles merrily as it opens and closes.
"Suguru," Manami calls when she spots him, her face creased in delight. "Miguel has a proposal for you."
"It's not a proposal," Miguel says. "I was just suggesting something, because the last time Suguru mentioned he was bored-"
Suguru dusts the flour off his apron with his hands. "What are you talking about?"
"It's Wizard Gojo," Manami seems overly excited, bouncing around the shop. Suguru wonders if she's taken too much of that herbal tea she's been buying from the magical tea shop down the street. "He's back. He's back in town!"
Suguru blinks. He doesn't know what's supposed to be the appropriate response to that - and Manami keeps looking like she's waiting for one.
"I - That's not good," He says at last, to the immediate groan of Manami.
It's not like Suguru doesn't know who Wizard Gojo is.
Everyone in Market Chipping knows who he is, from the fish stall vendor at the wet market that Suguru frequents on the weekends to the young apprentice that his parents have recently taken up to help out at the Getos' bakery.
Everyone knows about the infamous Wizard Gojo, and his penchant for eating girls' hearts, the fresher the better. They say that he's contracted with all sorts of devils and dark magic.
A wicked, wicked man. The worst kind, as Suguru's mother used to say.
Manami turns to Miguel. "Such an unexciting response, Miguel," She says, sighing deeply. "I guess you don't have to bring Suguru, after all."
Miguel clears his throat. "Suguru," He says in his usual unaffected way of speaking, "I will be tasked to ask for Wizard Gojo's help with a cursed object. The King has specifically requested for me to go. Would you be interested to tag along? I remember you mentioned you were interested in magics, previously."
While Miguel is nowhere near the status of the Royal Magician, Suguru has more or less ascertained that he's one or two classes below that, in which the King still seeks for his help to attend to issues that require magical resolutions.
They're usually small, mundane jobs that don't require much skill or magic really, but the King must have been extra anxious about something to have finally sent Miguel to Wizard Gojo to see what's up.
And Miguel - Miguel is really one of the kindest friends Suguru's ever had. He's known for a while now, that Suguru's always been interested in magic, in the way witches and wizards merrily use their spells and abilities, in the way magic is so deeply woven into the fabric of their society. Being born to two non-magical folks that were bakers didn't allow for much magical exploration, after all.
Suguru hesitates, trying to not let it show on his face. He's never seen Wizard Gojo up close, not really, and he's never accompanied Miguel on such an important sounding task before. As exciting as it sounded, Suguru doesn't want to embarrass his friend unnecessarily.
"Are - Are you sure you want me to come?" He asks, unable to keep his pragmatic nature out of it. "I mean, I don't know how I can be of help to you over there, Miguel."
Manami and Miguel exchange looks.
"Darling," Manami ventures, looking as tentative as Suguru's ever seen her, "I worry for you, sometimes."
Before Suguru can open his mouth, affronted, Miguel cuts in, reaching into his satchel that's currently hanging over one broad shoulder. "Look," He says, pulling something out.
There's something small in his wide palm, something that looks delicate and shiny, dwarfed by Miguel's hand. It looks something it's made partially of tiny gears and metal, and some parts of it is glass - the expensive kind, as far as Suguru can tell.
If Suguru had to describe it, it looked almost like a pocket watch, except that there were no numbers on the dial, nor were there any minute hands. He tilts his head, trying to make out what exactly is it.
"This is the cursed object," Miguel announces proudly.
Manami and Suguru both take a tentative step back.
"Miguel - good gods! Put that away!" Manami cries out in alarm, looking horrified. "You don't even know-"
"Relax," Miguel grins. "It's not going to affect you. I don't even think it's working, anyway."
Suguru squints at the tiny object, then at Miguel. "What do you mean?" He asks, scratching his head. "Then how do you know it's cursed?"
Miguel shrugs in a nonchalant manner, looking unconcerned. "Theoretically, it's cursed," He says. "At least, according to history. However - I've run trace spells all over it, and it doesn't seem to contain a single ounce of magic, let alone constitute as a cursed object. The King's gotten some information about it recently, and dictated that someone bring this item to Wizard Gojo to figure it out, since Gojo technically isn't part of the Royal Magicians."
Manami is still looking as though she'd rather hide behind a shelf of bread than stand near the object. "Put it away, Miguel," She begs. "There's all sorts of things around nowadays - let's be sensible and put it away until we can pass it off to Wizard Gojo."
The words 'until we can pass off this dangerous item to Wizard Gojo,' go unsaid, and Miguel dutifully pockets the item again.
"If I am to accompany you," Suguru starts, hesitant, "Then I will need to inform Nobara about the change of shifts."
Miguel slaps Suguru on his back. "Atta boy," He booms, approving. "I'll come get you when it's all been confirmed." He and Manami pay up for their usual items, and leave the bakery, the door chime jingling in their wake.
Suguru sighs as he stretches his arms over his head. Nobara will have many words to say about this.
Nobara has a good deal of many words to say to Suguru, and then some.
"I don't understand what's so good about taking a whole day off just to visit a man," She says, her face sullen at the news. "A man, Mr Geto. You'll never catch me doing any of that, no sir."
Suguru tries not to grimace.
Sometimes, it feels as though he's the apprentice while Nobara is the disapproving master, quick to share her opinions and cutting remarks on nearly everything she sees and hears. If it wasn't for Nobara's innate talent at learning how to bake quickly - Suguru sighs. He doesn't want to go down that particular train of thought.
"Don't - Don't make it sound like that," Suguru says. "I'm accompanying my friend to resolve an issue that the King needs help with."
"And what's a baker going to do there?" Nobara wrinkles her nose. "Stuff Wizard Gojo with your croissants?"
Try as he might, Suguru admits that Nobara has a point. To be honest, he still doesn't know why Miguel's insisting that he come with him. Manami says that it's because Suguru doesn't have a life and Miguel's secretly worried about him.
He tries not to sigh again. "It doesn't matter, maybe he does need some of these Geto bakery croissants. Go put the ready ones into the oven now, will you?" Maybe it's a good idea, bringing over some baked goods. Nobody turns down baked goods, especially free ones. Suguru would be useful, after all.
Nobara gives Suguru a look before she trots back into the kitchen.
The door chime jingles again, and a tall man with a thick, bushy beard enters the bakery. He's so tall that his head nearly brushes the top of the doorway, his shoulders broad and wide, broader than Miguel, even.
For some reason, the man stops just as he enters the shop, staring at Suguru in silence. He looks almost shocked to see Suguru, and for the life of him, he can't understand why - he's never seen this man in his life.
They both look at each other - one looking shocked, the other, highly confused.
The silence feels like an eternity, awkward and pressing. Suguru is starting to feel nervous. Was this man after something strange?
He coughs to dispel the awkwardness. "Hi," Suguru says, trying his best to maintain his customer service persona. "What can I get for you?"
Suguru's voice appears to break the man out of his reverie, as he physically shakes his head a few times before he glances around the store. Suguru can see the moment he catches sight of the display of neatly arranged pastries, beautifully crafted and gleaming.
The man waves a hand towards the display. "I'll have all of them, please."
Suguru tries not to stare. "Excuse me?" He asks. "I'm sorry - all of them?" The entire display has almost thirty different pastries, all lovingly made by Suguru this morning.
The man gives Suguru a strange, long look. "Yes, all. Is there a problem?"
"No, none at all," Suguru replies automatically, biting the inside of his cheek. This has been the fastest the bakery's been out of stock. "I'll pack them for you."
As he's placing the pastries carefully into the boxes, the man speaks up again.
"The strawberry tarts," He starts, sounding displeased. "Where are the strawberry tarts?"
It seems like he's finally gotten his shock over seeing Suguru, his focus completely directed to the other issue at hand now.
Suguru looks up at him. "We do a different fruit tart every week, sir," He says. "This week is blueberry."
The man tsks softly under his beard, but the sound is still caught by Suguru's sharp ears. "Fine," He says, not sounding fine at all. "That's fine. I was just - never mind."
Suguru's feeling vaguely confused. He's getting the impression that the man appears to be a big fan of the bakery's products, but he's never seen him before - and Suguru is pretty sure he'll remember such a memorable (and strange) customer.
"We'll be selling the strawberry tarts two weeks from now," He offers to the man, partly to placate him. "Next week it's going to be apples." He places the last of the pastries in the boxes, satisfied by their near packaging.
The man snorts, placing the coin on the counter. "Apples? I hate apples." He grabs the boxes, somehow managing to fit all of them between his two long arms. "Who even eats apple tarts?"
Suguru's eye begins to twitch. "Lots of people," He says curtly, before he can stop himself. "They're one of our best sellers. In fact - I think we're going to be selling these for the next two weeks, instead of one."
The man doesn't bother replying as he kicks the bakery's door open, his arms full of the boxes. The door slams shut after him, the bell bouncing around crazily, jingling non-stop.
Suguru's never been so irritated in his life.
"Nobara," He calls out. "Nobara - please take note that we're not going to be selling strawberry tarts for the rest of the month."
Miguel comes by later, as promised, and picks up Suguru.
There's thankfully minimal grumbling from Nobara as Suguru leaves the bakery to her capable hands. He leaves feeling slightly guilty - it does feel like he's just cooked up an excuse to ditch work and play hooky, after all.
It's a lovely day to be out, walking through Market Chipping - Suguru doesn't have the luxury of taking off like today usually, and he hums a soft tune as he watches the townspeople bustle around, merriment in the air.
"It's going to be May Day," Miguel notes, gesturing to the decorations around. "Lots of festivities. Many girls wanting to be accousted."
Suguru nods, only half-listening. "It's going to be crowded," He says. "Many people love buying cream cakes, for some reason. Nobara will need to buy more fresh cream."
Miguel pauses, cutting Suguru a look. "I know it's not my place, Suguru - but as Manami's said before - are you happy, Suguru?"
They walking towards the area where there's a general portal to go through to get to other, further places without much hassle. The path is sandwiched between many tall buildings, made of brick and sturdy-looking.
Suguru turns to Miguel, feeling bewildered. "What do you mean?" He asks. "I - Am I supposed to not be?"
Miguel presses his lips together. "It's - It's nothing. Forget it. We're here."
They're standing at the end of the path, where the entrance awaits them.
For an area that harbours a magical portal, Suguru always feels that it's lacking a little pizzazz. The portal is drawn with a crude hand, an ugly drawing on the brick stone of the nearest building, the lines shaky and uneven.
When Miguel touches it with a hand and announces their destination, the lines glow slightly, a dim light that traces out the entire drawing. The light fades as Suguru stares at it. As he's mentioned, it's really lacking in pizzazz.
"After you," Miguel offers.
Suguru places a hand in the heart of the drawing and closes his eyes. The magic portal always makes him feel queasy - it's worse than riding in a bumpy carriage, in his opinion.
He opens his eyes to see himself standing in the outskirts of town, tall grass poking his shins, the rolling hills at a far distance, green and tall against the clear blue sky. There's also the overwhelming feeling of nausea that's overriding all of Suguru's senses right now.
As he dry heaves against the grass, his hands clutching his knees, Suguru distantly notices that Miguel's popped into existence next to him. Suguru enviously notes that he appears unaffected by the portal.
Miguel's attention is captured by something that's moving among the hills, something large and black, with smoking emitting from the top of it. It looks terrifying, and Suguru hopes that this isn't where Wizard Gojo resides.
"That is Wizard Gojo's moving castle," Miguel says, to Suguru's eternal chagrin. "I don't think it looks very much like a castle, though. Is this your first time seeing it, Suguru?"
He starts walking towards its direction, not noticing how Suguru's still staring at the horrid black moving thing. Somehow, Suguru's starting to regret following Miguel.
They walk for what feels like forever, Suguru's shoes catching on the back of his heel, rubbing uncomfortably.
As they approach the castle, Miguel suddenly turns to Suguru. "I forgot to say this earlier, Suguru - you need to be careful, dealing with Wizard Gojo."
Suguru resists the urge to raise his eyebrows. "Is that so?" He asks. "May I ask, why?"
Miguel blinks at him in incomprehension for a few moments, before he tuts loudly. "Don't we always talk about this? Wizard Gojo is a wicked, wicked man - I've momentarily forgotten about his degeneracy with all the excitement about the cursed object - don't forget this, Suguru! Don't forget this!"
"I'm not the one who's going to be dealing with him," Suguru replies, feeling slightly put-out. "Look, all I brought was a box of croissants and some tarts. He won't curse me if I give him these for free."
Miguel rubs the bridge of his nose, but somehow he doesn't seem to want to stop cautioning Suguru against Gojo.
Suguru wonders if he's regretting bringing him along, after all.
When they're nearly at the entrance of the castle, Suguru's at a loss for words. The castle is so much bigger up close, towering over them, an enormous and monstrous looking entity.
It's so big and ugly. The walls are crude blocks haphazardly stuck together, as though the person who created this monster didn't have the slightest clue on how to build a house properly, or started at one end of the castle each time he worked on it, creating a lopsided mess of a building. It's a wonder that the castle is able to hold itself together, moving as one unit without falling apart at the seams.
Suguru's horrified.
"...Can we not go inside?" He asks Miguel, raising his voice slightly, as the castle creaks loudly as it inches further down the valley. "How about you ask Wizard Gojo to come out, where we can all have a nice discussion in the open air? It's summer, anyway - he must want to get out-"
"Let's go, Suguru," Miguel interrupts, taking off after the moving castle, leaving Suguru in the dust.
Suguru huffs and holds the box to his chest tightly, praying that none of his pastries will get squashed as he runs after Miguel.
Somehow, by some miracle, they manage to get inside the castle after much struggling. Suguru's never run so much in his entire life. He's so tired.
Bizarrely, the inside of the castle actually appears to be smaller than Suguru had initially expected; with such a huge outer shell, Suguru was expecting something else. Maybe even a grand castle inside, to make up for the horrible outer design.
It's almost - cosy, for a lack of a better word - the walkway from the front door in which they'd entered opens up to the living room with a moderately high ceiling, with a fire crackling in the hearth.
It's much more casual than what Suguru had imagined it to be; there is a long wooden table filled with many items, books, papers, crystal balls, and even some broken quills; there are coats thrown hastily over the chairs, and there's dirty dishes stacked on the edge of the counter, looking like no one's washed them for some time.
It's so much dirtier than Suguru had expected, too. Shouldn't it be easy for wizards to magic away all this dirt? It can't be very impressive, telling people that you're a wizard, if it meant you still had to scrub your own floors every weekend.
Suguru shifts from foot to foot, looking around in silence.
He exchanges a look with Miguel. Now what?
Miguel opens his mouth to say something, but a voice suddenly speaks, crackling and low, like fire in the grate.
"What do you want?"
Suguru looks around. He isn't sure where the recipient of the voice is, except that he's definitely sure that he did not imagine it, if Miguel's confused expression is anything to go by.
"Over here," The same voice continues, and it's near the hearth.
Suguru leans over to inspect the hearth, trying his best to avoid all the ash that's collected there - and oh! He sees a pair of eyes, staring at him. And there wasn't just two eyes - there were five, no, six -
The fire peers at him with all six eyes, and something that looks like a mouth opens and leers at Suguru. "Cat got your tongue?" The fire asks.
"Miguel!" Suguru hisses. "Miguel, the fire is talking!"
Miguel bends over and stares at it as well. "Well, I'll be!" He exclaims. "That's a, a fire demon. What's Wizard Gojo doing with one?"
The fire demon hisses and spits at Miguel, tiny sparks of flames going near his skin. "I'll show you," It says, grinning in a rather unkind way. "Come closer and I'll show you."
"Can we seek an audience with Wizard Gojo?" Suguru asks the fire demon. "And how do we address you, by the way?"
The flames grow taller for a second before they retreat to their usual height, and there are two thin flames and sprout from the fire demon that reach out to grab a nearby log. They almost look like two spindly arms, extending from the centre of the heat. "You may address me as Six Eyes," It says. "Gojo Satoru is currently out - oh, but Megumi should be here. Megumi!"
Suguru and Miguel flinch as Six Eyes suddenly raises its volume, loud enough to boom through the entire room. It's startling, and apparently rather effective as well, because there's a loud bang upstairs and then hurried footsteps running down the steps.
A boy, looking no older than a teenager, appears at the foot of the stairs, looking harried. He's dressed in casual clothing, all dark colored, the same shade as his hair, which is sticking out in all directions, like a particularly bad case of bed hair.
Suguru tries not to laugh. The poor boy looks like he's just been forcefully woken up by Six Eyes.
He narrows his eyes at Suguru and Miguel. "Who're you?" He asks, his tone rude and demanding. "How did you get in?"
Miguel holds his hands up in mock-surrender. "We mean no harm," He says calmly. "We're here because of a missive from the King. I believe a letter was sent to you - to Wizard Gojo."
Megumi scratches his nose as he mulls Miguel's words over. Then, he rushes over to the messy table top, and begins rummaging through all the papers. After a moment, he makes a triumphant noise as he lifts out a letter, complete with the King's seal.
"That stupid asshole," Megumi is mumbling to himself as he tears open the letter ungracefully. "I swear, the only reason why I'd even remembered about this-"
His eyes scan the letter quickly and he nods after he's read the entire thing.
"Yes," He says after a moment, turning to address Suguru and Miguel. "You're right - there was an appointment made. However," He pauses, a sour look on his face, "Wizard Gojo isn't home."
"We can see that," Suguru interjects, ignoring Megumi's small glare. "When will he be home?"
Six Eyes take this opportunity to sneer at them from the grate. "Ha! That vain man's out till late tonight; there's no knowing when he's coming back."
Megumi shrugs and gestures towards Six Eyes. "What he said," He sighs. "Make yourselves at home - there's tea in the teapot. Don't wander around, though."
Suguru casts a dubious look at the stained teapot Megumi's referring to. "Let me just - let me just wash it," He says. He looks around and his gaze lands on Miguel, who is broadcasting his discomfort silently.
"Uh, Miguel, would you like to come and help me prepare tea too?" Without waiting for a response, he drags Miguel into the kitchen, where they're further from the prying ears of Megumi and Six Eyes.
He shoots Miguel a look. "Now what?" He hisses, trying to keep his voice down. "And I don't want to wash this teapot - the stains look so hard to remove."
Miguel shrugs, looking like he's at a loss as well. "I was not expecting this," He admits, looking troubled. "If I'd known that Wizard Gojo was going to be this unprofessional, I wouldn't have dragged you here, Suguru. I'm sorry - I just thought you could learn something about cursed objects if I'd brought you along. I can't stay around and wait for him all day either; I have other tasks that need to be completed."
"I-" Now Suguru is the one at a loss for words. "That's very sweet of you, Miguel," He finally says, "But I'm quite alright sticking to magical learning via theory. What if we just explained the whole thing to Megumi and left the object with him? I'm sure it'll be fine."
"This item, the King is particularly interested in. I will need to update him regularly on Gojo's research on it...if we left the object here, we'll need to come back again," Miguel says slowly. "I guess we could hand it to Megumi, first."
They trudge back into the living room, where Megumi is drinking out of a dirty looking cup, sitting next to Six Eyes. Miguel digs into his pocket and pulls out the cursed object, letting the two of them look at it.
"This object - the King is interested in its mechanics," Miguel says. "He needs to know Wizard Gojo's thoughts on it. Are you able to hold on to it until we manage to meet him?"
As Megumi talks to Miguel, Suguru walks slowly around the room, peeking at various objects. It's terribly nosy of him, he knows, but it's so exciting at the same time - was this how all wizards lived? If Suguru was a wizard, would he be like this as well?
His eyes fall on the front door, where he and Miguel had entered the first time. Curiously, there is a dial next to the door, with four different swabs of color painted on it - green, yellow, red, and black. The dial is currently pointing to yellow.
Suguru cautiously opens the door a little.
Immediately, he feels the wind from the outside rushing in, blowing into his face. He sees that the castle is moving somewhere in the valley where he and Miguel had run in, and is currently moving within the tall grass, the sky deepening to a bright afternoon blue. Suguru watches the moving scenery for a moment, before he closes the door.
He looks at the dial again. Yellow.
Slowly, he reaches out and turns the dial, so that it points to green. He looks around the room, waiting for a beat, for something to happen. When nothing appears to be blaring loud sirens or collapsing, Suguru takes it as a good sign, and cracks the door open again.
Suguru blinks at the sight that greets him beyond the door. It's no longer showing the rolling hills, the scenic greenery from the outskirts of Market Chipping. Instead, it appears to be as though the castle is situated as an ordinary house, sandwiched between similarly looking houses, as he sees well-dressed people bustling down the street. A carriage full of people drive by, noisy and clattering. Suguru stares in wonder for a few long moments, before he closes the door quietly again.
He glances at Megumi and Miguel, who are still talking, along with the Six Eyes, who feels the need to interject their conversation with its comments every now and then.
His fingers are itching to try the other colors. Maybe one more, just one more, before Megumi catches him. Suguru reaches out to change the dial to red, but somehow his fingers slip, and the dial rotates to black.
He hesitates for the briefest moments, then he opens the door, once again.
At first, Suguru's wondering if he isn't opening the door wide enough to see anything. But even as he swings it open, all that's beyond the door is a deep, black, nothingness, with no rolling hills, no bustling streets, no people. There are no sounds or smells, and even as Suguru sticks a tentative finger into the inky darkness, there's nothing there, too. He quickly shuts the door, and turns the dial back to yellow.
Suguru has a feeling that he's probably done something he's not supposed to do.
Just then, Miguel calls his name. "Suguru," He says, "Let's come back in two days. The Wizard should be in, by then."
"Alright," He says, handing the squashed pastries to Megumi as they leave.
As promised, they come back two days later - Miguel, with fresh hopes of meeting Wizard Gojo, and Suguru, with a fresh batch of tarts.
Miguel's been telling Suguru a little more about the townspeople's gossip about Wizard Gojo; apparently, just the other week, he was rumoured to have eaten another girl's heart. Suguru secretly wishes that Miguel will stop telling him stories about the person they have to be polite to later.
They're greeted by Megumi at the door when they arrive, Megumi looking far more put together than the first time they'd seen him. He even pours them some hot tea in two clean mugs. Suguru wonders if he had cleaned them specially, for this occasion. He gets the impression that the castle doesn't get to host many visitors.
True to Megumi's word, Wizard Gojo arrives home about an hour later, smelling strongly like flowers and other sweet-smelling scents. Suguru stares as he talks to Miguel about the King, confident and sure.
This is the first time Suguru's ever seen Wizard Gojo in person.
Somehow - it's not exactly what he's been expecting. Suguru was expecting a half-feral man, more beast than man, salivating at the thought of eating hearts. Wizard Gojo speaks eloquently and is dressed impeccably in a well-tailored suit, with expensive shoes to boot.
He's tall, taller than Suguru had expected. He's also unexpectedly handsome, in the sort of way that Suguru's expecting the young girls in Market Chipping to fawn over.
When Wizard Gojo leaves the room to get something, Miguel pulls Suguru aside, in the sanctity of the kitchen. He tells Suguru that he will probably need his help to visit Wizard Gojo on the upcoming days alone, as he's going to travel for another work related project.
"You must be careful," Miguel insists for the third time today, "for Wizard Gojo is known to eat the hearts of young girls. I don't know if you'll be able to survive his wickedness."
"I'm not a young girl," Suguru points out. "And I don't think he'll be interested in me, anyway."
Indeed, as the Wizard re-enters the room, his eyes meet Suguru's gaze, and his entire expression suddenly becomes pinched, like he's sucked on a lemon.
Suguru understands that not everyone he meets will like him - he's prickly, he's snarky, and all around caustic.
But there's no reason for that sort of blatant visceral reaction from Wizard Gojo. Maybe mother was right. Wizard Gojo is a detestable man.
A strange, detestable man who ate hearts for breakfast.
It doesn't quite escape Suguru's notice that Wizard Gojo is considerably colder to him as opposed to Miguel, and even their introduction today was fragmented with an oddly awkward air, something that Suguru is still confused about. He doesn't remember if he had accidentally offended Wizard Gojo in any way, and he'd made sure that today's box of tarts were in pristine state before handing them over, like an offering to a god.
Wizard Gojo had thanked him, opened the box - and the slightest wrinkle on his nose appeared, even if the rest of his face remained impassive.
He'd called Megumi over, passed the box, and then continued talking to Miguel about the cursed object. Suguru tried not to take it too personally. He'd even tried making the bakery's specials - the apple tarts and the chocolate croissants. Maybe some people just didn't like baked goods.
Suguru looks away. He doesn't know if he can survive the next few days, either.