Chapter Text
Once again, another mission complete.
Geto Suguru is lucky this time around. Or maybe it’s the other way around, judging by how you look at the situation.
There weren’t many high-grade curses around, but an unusual amount of Grade 3s and 4s lurking around in the same spot. He’d made relatively good work of the swarm, taking in some spirits he hadn’t seen before and simply exorcising the rest, but the ones he’d consumed were weak and didn’t have many special abilities. They would be useless in his arsenal, perhaps only good for cannon fodder. But he’d consumed them anyway, as they might be useful in the future.
Exorcise. Consume.
It’s a cycle Suguru has known for what feels like forever. He’s done it too many times, constantly adding to the cursed spirits in his collection, consuming them without a second thought. It almost feels like a habit, really.
Although familiar, it’s impossible to truly get used to it. The sickening sensation as the sphere slides down his throat is unforgettable, and the horrid aftertaste lingers like burnt-out coals for what feels like an eternity.
It’s disgusting. Exactly the reason why he braces himself as the wailing spirit he’d just exorcised- the last one remaining from the massive swarm- morphs into a familiar shape, one he’d seen too many times before.
Suguru isn’t sure why he should do this in the first place. That cursed spirit, although new, was only a Grade 3, barely strong enough to hold its own alone. That was one of the reasons why it had grouped up with other spirits of similar Grade Level, so it would have had a higher chance of survival.
But he has to catch up to Satoru. He has to get strong enough to protect the weak. He can’t let what happened with Riko happen again.
But were they even worth protecting in the first place?
Suguru shoves down the thought- and his disgust along with it- and grasps the sphere in his hand. Exorcise. Consume.
The cycle continues once more. Except this time- this time, something feels different.
The taste is as horrid as always. But this feeling…
This feeling has never happened before.
The world spins as Suguru stumbles backward, the taste of the curse melting like poison into his mouth. He coughs violently as the cursed energy flows into his body, flashes of light blinding his vision.
What is this?
Suguru attempts to recover. Instead of fighting back, he shakily sits down, resting his back against the wall instead of struggling to retreat. Steady, he tells himself, Steady. I’m adjusting to this variant. Fighting will only make it worse.
As he predicts, soon enough, his vision returns and the world clears as his condition stabilizes. Suguru takes in a few deep breaths, surveying his surroundings and running a physical test to check on his health before standing up.
He should report this incident. It may become an issue if it happens again.
Rummaging around for a while, Suguru finds his phone and punches in a familiar string of numbers. The line rings for a few moments, but eventually, somebody picks up.
“Oh, Geto,” says Ieiri Shoko with a nonchalant tone. “You got sent out on a mission, right? Did something go wrong?”
“You could put it that way, Shoko,” Suguru responds as he steps out of the alley on the way back to the vehicle the school had sent to pick him up. “I may need you to run a few tests once I get back.”
“Hmm? Why?” she asks. “Did something happen?”
Suguru contemplates. His ride is here.
“I’ll tell you once I get back.”
-
Shoko runs a medical examination on Suguru when he arrives. According to her sources, nothing in his cursed energy or body seemed out of the ordinary, but all the same, she encouraged him to take a few days off to rest to improve his health.
“Highly possible that what you experienced earlier is a sign of stress,” Suguru remembers her saying. “It’s also proven that stress can affect the brain to some extent. You should take a few days off so you don’t experience that again.”
That’s how Suguru finds himself sitting on the side of his bed, contemplating the earlier hours of the day.
It feels wrong not to do anything productive. Normally during this time of day, he’d be practicing outside in one of the school’s training yards or filling out excess paperwork documenting his progress. But…
Maybe if he took a short rest, he’d perform better in the future.
Suguru decides to stay inside his room. He reads a few books stacked on his shelf as time passes by, the early hours of the morning melting into late afternoon.
Only when the clock in his room ticks 5:00 does he realize what time it is.
Satoru’s return from his mission.
Suguru quickly puts a bookmark on the page he was reading and heads outside to sit on the bench he regularly comes back to, watching the birds fly across the golden sky while he awaits his best friend’s return. It’s odd having this amount of time by himself. Before the incident, Satoru would normally hang around Suguru’s room to dodge assignments or keep him company.
But now, Satoru has become the strongest. And everything has changed. There’s barely enough time for both of them to be together- mission after mission being assigned keeping them busy.
Since Satoru is the strongest, he handles missions on his own now.
And since Satoru is always busy, Suguru is assigned more missions of his own.
It’s not an issue for Suguru. He does well on his own, exorcising curses and adding them to his arsenal to grow stronger. But…
He’s been doing this alone. He’s been doing this alone for a very long time. He doesn’t remember when exactly he started doing this alone.
When exactly did the taste of curses become familiar?
“Yo, Suguru!”
Suguru raises his head as he recognizes Satoru’s voice. “You’re back, Satoru,” he says, shifting to the side of the bench to let him have a seat. “How was your mission?”
“Not that bad, honestly!” He grins. “Wasn’t as boring as the others.” Satoru shifts and adjusts his sunglasses, taking a look at Suguru. “But I heard about what happened earlier from Shoko. You okay? No weird sickness or side effects?”
Suguru pauses and thinks. “It was an odd experience. I’ve never reacted that way when consuming a curse before. However, Shoko checked up on me and found nothing out of the ordinary, and she only told me to get a few days of rest.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t too serious. Besides, since you’ve got a break, why not hang out with me for a little bit? There’s this Ramen restaurant pretty close to here that I’ve been wanting to try, and since you have free time, you could come over too!” Satoru suggests.
Suguru ends up tagging along with him to the restaurant. He doesn’t eat that much. He’s been losing his appetite recently. He hopes no one notices.
Eventually, it goes dark. They return to the school and wave each other goodnight. Satoru has… yet another mission to take care of the next morning so he has to leave early, and since Suguru is feeling tired himself, he decides to go to sleep.
As he closes his eyes, he thinks back to what happened at the start of that day. He doesn’t know when he passes out.
But all he knows, the next time he opens his eyes, he is standing on a stage.