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II: Lily of the Valley
Chapter 83: Wander Around
Some things won’t stay where you are forever.

＊＊＊

Sumida City, Tokyo

The flat bridge spanned the Sumida River. The black river water undulates under the bridge, and the stars were shining brightly on the Skytree Tower not far away.

The black car stopped in the night breeze.

The howling wind pushed the river water up and down under the bridge, and the sound of rushing lingered in the ears.

Through the transparent car window, the bright lights of the Skytree came into view.

Light and shadow floated on the skin, Yayoi lowered her eyes, and a shallow silhouette was formed under her eyes.

The assistant supervisor sitting in the driver's seat was silent for a moment, then took the information from the passenger seat and handed it to Yayoi.

"Yayoi-san." Ijichi paused and then spoke thoughtfully, "The task to be dealt with this time is the serial disappearance cases in Sumida District."

Yayoi took the file that was handed over and briefly browsed the contents. After eliminating the meaningless information, her eyes rested on a photo of a red phone booth.

Yayoi rubbed her fingers over the photo a few times, and her fingertips rested on something dark and stain-like on the phone booth.

There was a sound of paper being scraped from the back seat. Ijichi squeezed the steering wheel and couldn't help but look through the rearview mirror at the red-haired girl sitting in the back seat, flipping through documents.

To be honest, Yayoi was not short among women, but her figure was too slender, and she didn't look like she had much flesh on her body.

Her wrists were slender, and her thin arms and legs couldn't help but make Ijichi worried. Could this girl really exorcise the evil cursed spirit?

Yayoi had not yet conducted the sorcerer assessment. If the person sitting behind was Maki Zenin, Ijichi might not have so many worries. Although Maki’s grade had been suppressed to the fourth grade, with her strength, she could easily defeat even the second-grade cursed spirit. In the final analysis, it's just that the Zenin were unwilling to admit, and they regarded a Heavenly Restriction as a waste and deliberately suppress them.

Ijichi did not detect any trace of the curse power on Yayoi, so the assistant director subconsciously believed that Yayoi's cursed energy was probably not even lower than Maki's.

"Yayoi-san..." Ijichi tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Worried about Yayoi's life, he couldn't help but ask, "How many missions have you been on?"

To defeat magic with magic, curses must also be exorcised with curses. If there was no cursed technique, it's already a very fatal flaw. Fortunately, Ijichi saw Maki, who even with this flaw was able to chase and beat up the cursed spirit vigorously with cursed weapons, so his mentality was a little more relaxed.

If there were no cursed energy and technique, and one could only rely on the curse attached to the cursed weapon to exorcise the curse, and with the assistance of rich combat experience, then it was not impossible to exorcise the cursed spirit.

After all, he had already seen a precedent before.

"First time." Yayoi lowered her head and turned over the paper in her hand without looking up.

Ijichi: ???

Ijichi: !!!

"Wait..." Ijichi was a little confused, "Have you had any experience facing cursed spirits before?"

"Yes, but most of the time Gojo and Geto were present." Yayoi replied casually, her eyes resting on the phone booth in the photo, and her sharp eyes found the water-stained patches of color left by the raindrops in the corner below the phone booth, "So they are also the ones responsible for solving the cursed spirit."

At best, she was just a red-haired girl who specialized in fighting curse users.

"...wait a minute!" Ijichi hurriedly took out his mobile phone from the pocket of his suit and found Satoru's phone contact information from the contact list. When he wanted to call Satoru's contact number, the movement of his hand stopped.

Ijichi subconsciously looked through the rearview mirror to see Yayoi sitting in the back seat. He held it in for a long time before speaking, "Gojo-san, is he serious?"

Yayoi raised her head and handed the thing back to Ijichi, "Serious."

"The cursed spirit is very dangerous, Yayoi-san." Ijichi took the document, "The cursed spirit is more dangerous than the murderer."

When taking Yayoi to perform the mission, Satoru casually said a few words to Ijichi. This red-haired girl was the sister of Yuji Itadori, who was a "Sukuna vessel", she had been living in the society of ordinary people before.

"Then it's up to you, Ijichi!" Ijichi recalled the ungrateful and frivolous look of the boss, Gojo-san, who put his arm on his shoulder. "Yayoi doesn't know much about the rules of the curse world. This time, I’ll leave you with the task~"

Gojo-san, were you serious?!

When Ijichi saw Yayoi, who had red hair and looked easy to bully, his whole body collapsed. He couldn't help but wonder if Satoru had any deep grudge against the redhead.

If you let such a red-haired girl perform a task for you, do you want her to die?

If Ijichi hadn't understood Satoru's personality, he would have thought that Satoru was determined to kill her.

"I know." Yayoi picked up the long leather bag placed on the seat next to him, "Gojo told me."

"Then why are you still...?" Ijichi's brows were about to knit into knots.

There were no cursed energy nor cursed technique. The best place to live was in the society of ordinary people. Entering the world of curses was simply seeking death.

"Because I am poor." Yayoi said.

Ijichi: "..."
Ijichi: ???

"I smashed up the principal's house," Yayoi said. "Gojo helped me pay off the debt, but if I didn't work hard to pay back the money, even Yuji's marriage fund wouldn't be able to saved."

Ijichi: "..." Gojo-san, are you really trying to trap this red-haired woman?!

*click—*

Yayoi opened the car door, and the wind from the Sumida River flowed into the car. The messy hair from her temples brushed her face, which made her feel itchy.

Yayoi closed the car door, and the gurgling river flowed through the bottom of the Sumida River. At the other end of the river bank, the sharp spear-like handle of the Skytree rose from the ground, and the stars sat like the moon in the wilderness-like city with scattered bonfires.

Yayoi bent her arms and slung the backpack strap over her shoulders.

The passenger seat window was slowly lowered, and Ijichi's slightly serious face came into view.

"Please come back alive, Yayoi-san." Ijichi said.

Yayoi smiled softly, like the melting snow in spring.

Ijichi paused. His first impression of this girl was that she was a red-haired iceberg beauty who didn't like to smile or talk. Even though she had bright hair color, the impression she gave was the opposite.

When she smiled, she was like a handful of snow melting under the sun.

"I will." Yayoi said, "There is a tea house near here that has good snacks. You can try it."

"...tea house?" Ijichi was confused.

"Yeah." Yayoi said, "My mother used to take me to their tea house to buy daifuku cakes and tea, but I don't know if it's still there now."

Yayoi remembered that the tea house was run by an old couple. The old man and the old woman were both old and had silver hair. When they smiled, fishtail-like wrinkles would appear at the corners of their eyes.

But some things wouldn’t stay where you were forever.

Ijichi watched Yayoi, who was carrying a black leather bag, plunge into the night wind.

•

The location of this mission was a phone booth somewhere in the city on the banks of the Sumida River. According to the information provided by "Window", missing people began to appear frequently near the phone booth at three points in time: mid-to-late May and early June.

People who disappear generally have one thing in common, they have all been to that phone booth and answered the phone.

At first, it was an office worker who lost his job. When he was feeling depressed, he dialed the number in the phone booth. After the call was hung up, he was never been heard again. As of today, he had not been found.

After that, the Metropolitan Police Department received similar missing persons cases one after another, and investigators were excluded from investigating nearby, but no news was found.

On a clear night with thin clouds and mist, the stars were fading, and the warm orange streetlights fall on the deep night curtain, creating a faint glow.

The moonlight was like a delicate silver satin, falling slantingly on the vermilion roof of the phone booth.

In the lonely night, the shadows of the trees dance in the night wind, and the cries of night owls rise and fall.

The quiet and unmanned phone booth and its surroundings seemed to have been separated from the noisy world and placed alone. The bright neon lights and noisy electronic sounds were silently separated to the other end of the world, and the bright sparks embedded in the Skytree Tower that towers into the clouds.

"Moshi moshi—"

The electronic sound from the microphone was like pebbles hitting the lake, breaking the silence and tranquility of the night.

"Moshi moshi?"

In the phone booth, a hesitant voice came from the microphone suspended in mid-air by the phone cord.

"Matsuyama-kun? Matsuyama-kun, are you there?" The person on the other side of the phone couldn't help but ask.

Yayoi pushed open the door of the phone booth, reached out to catch the ringing phone, and said to the person inside, "Don't call, the person you are looking for is not here."

The person on the other end of the phone was suddenly stunned for a moment, and then yelled, "What kind of vixen are you?!"

Yayoi: ???

The redhead was stunned for a moment, "I'm not a vixen."

The female voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became sharp, "Where is Matsuyama-kun? I tell you, people who become mistresses will not end well! Matsuyama-kun is just trying to keep things fresh, the person he loves is me!"

Yayoi: == Got it, it's a family dispute.

Yayoi, who had watched all kinds of bloody scenes in family ethics dramas and idol dramas, realized that when encountering this kind of situation, the more explanations you have, the woman would only think that you were covering up, and the more you explain, the darker it became, and the more you explain, the more confusing it became.

"Don't make that call tonight," Yayoi said, "if you don't want to get dirty."

After saying that, Yayoi didn't wait for the other party to get angry and directly disconnected the phone.

A huge shadow silently enveloped the phone booth, and the clouds above covered the full moon.

Yayoi put her hand on the door handle, but found that the door of the phone booth could not be pushed open.

*rustle—*

It was obviously a summer night wind, but it was extremely cold, and the cold chill almost penetrated into the bones.

The ups and downs of insects all around stopped at this moment. The moment she turned around, Yayoi saw the cursed spirit attached to the glass surface of the phone booth, its twisted limbs, twisted facial features, a huge face with abnormal purple skin. The big dark purple mouth revealed a twisted smile, revealing brick-like teeth.

"Hurry up and answer the phone..."

"So annoying... so annoying..."

"Damn it... answer the phone quickly..."

The arms were as thin as bamboo poles, but had huge palms. The cursed spirit used its thick and huge palms to slap the glass facade hard, it made the entire phone booth made a loud bang. The small red building trembled as if it was about to collapse at any time.

Yayoi raised her leg expressionlessly and kicked the ugly face outside the phone booth.

*bang—*

The flat glass surface shattered with the sound, and the broken glass pieces scattered in the night wind. The moonlight pushed away the stacked dark clouds at the same time, and the moonlight rolled up the broken glass and splashed on the ground.

The sound of bone cracking could be heard clearly, and smelly blood burst out.

The cursed spirit who was kicked out covered its face that was hurt by the kick, and blood overflowed from its fingers. It cried like a child, howling in pain, and the alien monster screamed in pain like a child.
It could be said to be very strange.

Yayoi carried the things in her hands and walked out of the phone booth that was broken into pieces by her kick.

The cursed spirit rolled over and spun rapidly. After getting up from the ground, it opened its smelly mouth and swooped towards her.

At the same time, Yayoi threw away the leather bag in her hand, and the unsheathed sword directly hit the huge head of the swooping cursed spirit, directly smashing its head into the ground, and spider web-like cracks instantly opened on the ground.

"It hurts- it hurts-"

The wind howled in the ears, and the distorted voice of the curse hit her eardrums time and time again.

Yayoi tiptoes a little harder, turning her body over and over, her eyes suddenly turned upside down. Her body seemed to be dancing in the air, the howling wind tore the air, and her red hair was like a rising flame.

The unsheathed sword in his hand was spinning. Yayoi was holding the handle of the knife, holding the sword with his thumb, and pushed open the scabbard. When the black scabbard left the blade, it was filled with silver-white moonlight.

It was a cursed weapon in the shape of a sword.

The sharp blade separated the air, cut through the muscles, and cut off the bones. The smelly blood burst out like a fountain for a moment, and the mournful cry of the cursed spirit who lost its arm echoed in the night sky.

"Hand... hand..." The cursed spirit raised its arm with a flat cut, its tone was mournful, its tone was distorted and trembling.

"My... hand!!!" The negative emotions that were so thick and suffocating were released, like a flood that burst a dam.

The hand holding the sowrod dug out the arc of a crescent moon. The blood on the knife swayed in the misty moonlight and fell on the grass blades like raindrops. The cold moonlight flowed on the bright knife.

In the lampshade beside the path, the orange light flickered and flickered, and a sizzling sound filled the air.

The red-haired woman stood in the moonlight, her expression neither happy nor sad.

•

Ijichi was still staying outside on the bridge when he received Yayoi's call.

To be honest, he had no idea whether Yayoi could come back. On the one hand, he trusted Satoru. Satoru was his senior and boss. Although he may not be reliable and stable at his age, Satoru was not the kind of person who did things without thinking. For newcomers, he both oppressed and trained them. On the other hand, death in the profession of sorcerer was not a rare thing. Even if she was a person under Satoru Gojo, it did not mean that she would not die. The God of Death was never stingy with the sickle that harvested life.

The black river water poured into the distance, and the neon lights inlaid on the Skytree were flowing and bright.

When Ijichi was in a panic, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

"Moshi moshi..."

"Ijichi-san..." A steady female voice came from the mobile phone.

"Yayoi-san?" Ijichi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great..." As long as she was safe.

"Do you eat takoyaki?"

Ijichi: "..." Damn it, why would he think that Yayoi-san and Gojo-san were... a bit alike.

No, wake up, Gojo-san wouldn't bring him a midnight snack.

Yayoi actually brought him a piece of takoyaki. When Ijichi received it, the takoyaki was still warm. Apparently not long had passed.

Ijichi took the takoyaki and carefully looked Yayoi up and down. He found that her clothes and hair were a bit messy, but overall, she was in pretty good condition.

His eyes lingered on the sleeves on Yayoi's arms for a moment, and Ijichi found that there were traces of being cut by a sharp weapon. Under the torn cloth, there was a faint trace of blood on the fair skin, but there were no wounds.

"Are you..." Ijichi said thoughtfully.

"We're in a little trouble." Yayoi picked up a takoyaki covered in sauce with a bamboo skewer, put it into her mouth, and answered while chewing the takoyaki.

"Is it a cursed spirit?" Ijichi suggested, "Go back and find Ieiri-san."

"It's not a cursed spirit, it's a human being." Yayoi swallowed the chewed ball, "A very annoying person."

A person who didn't seem to respect and love his mother.

Yayoi thought about it again. The guy had dyed golden hair and earrings. His tone and attitude were very frivolous. They were also frivolous, but Yayoi didn't hate the big white cat she knew at all.

Yayoi paused for a moment, recalling that guy, and felt disgusted.

That person seemed to know Satoru, and he revealed what he thought, "Satoru-kun and I are the same kind of person" in and out of his words. As for whether Satoru recognized him, that's another matter. His behavior seems to be deliberately getting closer to Satoru, but it seemed clumsy.

Yayoi pursed her lips and was in a rare bad mood.

"The speed is very fast, but the physical skills are very poor." Yayoi forked the next takoyaki and put it into her mouth. When chewing, her cheeks bulged like a hamster, "However, he was not able to withstand being beaten, so he was knocked down with just one punch."

"He carried a dagger." Yayoi said vaguely. "If I were slower, it would be bad."

Ijichi felt that this person sounded familiar for some reason, "What you are saying is...?"

"Naoya Zenin." Yayoi chewed the food in her mouth, her cheeks bulging, "That seems to be his name."

Ijichi: "..."

"I called an ambulance." Yayoi puffed up her cheeks unhappily, "He won't die."

She didn’t want to call an ambulance for him after beating him.

Ijichi: "..."

Yayoi, who was chewing the meatballs, didn't hear Ijichi's words for a long time. She looked back in surprise and found that he was still holding the takoyaki.

"Ijichi-san, don't you like to eat takoyaki?" Yayoi tilted her head, her expression innocent and harmless.

Yayoi: redhead confused.jpg

Ijichi shakily took out his mobile phone from his pocket and dialed Satoru's number.

Satoru, who was on a mission somewhere in Tokyo, stepped on the cursed spirit and answered the phone, "Hey, Ijichi?"

"Gojo-san, Yayoi-san beat up the young master of the Zenin family." Ijichi said tremblingly on the phone.

"Just hit him." Satoru didn't think so, "Isn't it the one from the Zenin family... which one?" The name sound familiar.

Ijichi... Ijichi wanted to cry.

＊＊＊

· Genuine translation can be found only in OchatimesBlogspotCom, FanFictionNet, and Wattpad

• Omake •

Gojo the Cat: Why did my wife hit him?

Ijichi: The specific situation is not clear, but he probably provoked Yayoi-san.

Gojo the Cat: What?! I'm going to beat him to death!

Ijichi: Wait, when did you get a wife?! [shocked.jpg]


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