Curse Return: Demon Void Girl Doesn't Want to Be a Weakling

Just a moment ago, Itadori had a deep and serious expression, but the next second he was back to his usual optimistic smile.

He turned his head to look at Shunping and said, "Do you have any interesting experiences at school? Like in PE class or something?"

"I'm not very good at physical education. I'm slow at running, and I'm even worse at ball games."

"Then I can teach you to run. I'm not bragging, I'm pretty fast." Itachi gave himself a thumbs up. "Fifty meters in three seconds."

"Three seconds?" Shunpei looked at Itajō with surprise, sizing him up. "Are you a sports student? Or Superman?"

"I don't think so, I just used to run a lot when I was little."

Just as Shunping was about to say something, a woman's voice came from behind him.

"Shunping?"

The three of them turned around at the same time. A woman with her hair tied up stood on the riverbank, carrying a bag from a convenience store.

She was wearing a light blue shirt, and her eyebrows and eyes resembled Shunping's; she had a gentle demeanor.

Yoshino Nagi, Yoshino Junpei’s mother.

She glanced at Shunping, then at the silver-haired girl and the pink-haired boy sitting next to him.

"Your friend?" Yoshino Nagi asked, her tone tinged with surprise.

Shunping stood up, somewhat flustered. "Mom...who are they...?"

"I am Itadori Hisahito." Itadori stood up and bowed. "This is my older sister, Mashiro. We are friends of Junpei."

"Friend?" Shunpei looked at Itajō in surprise.

But after glancing at his mother, he nodded and did not deny it.

Kujo Mashiro stood up and nodded to Yoshino Nagi. "Excuse me."

Yoshino Nagi walked down the steps, her gaze lingering on the two visitors for a few seconds.

One had a bright smile that didn't seem malicious, while the other had a calm expression but a maturity in his eyes that seemed beyond his years.

My older sister is actually shorter, she's so cute.

She smiled slightly and looked at her son again.

Shunping stood next to Huzhang. Although he still had that slightly hunched posture, his expression was more relaxed than usual.

"You guys haven't had dinner yet, have you?" Yoshino Nagi picked up the convenience store bag and shook it. "I bought too much. Junpei, invite your friends over for dinner."

"No need, Auntie, we—"

"Stay, Junpei hasn't brought any friends home in a long time," Yoshino Nagi said with a smile. "Although you two are new acquaintances... um, how did you meet?"

Mashiro spoke before Itadori could say anything. "At the movie theater entrance. He recommended 'Seven Samurai' to us."

Yoshino Nagi's eyes lit up. "Akira Kurosawa? Junpei's favorite director."

She patted Shunping on the shoulder, her voice tinged with pride, "This kid has a good eye for movies, but he just doesn't like going out. You should encourage him to go out more often."

"Mom." Shunping's ears turned a little red.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore." Yoshino Nagi smiled and turned to walk towards home. "Let's go, the curry will be ready soon."

Yoshinoya's apartment isn't big, but it's very clean.

Three pairs of slippers were placed in the entryway, and a movie magazine, half-open, lay open on the coffee table in the living room.

There were several rented DVDs piled up next to the TV cabinet, most of which had foreign movie covers.

Yoshino Nagi was heating curry in the kitchen, the sound of the spatula clattering and the aroma of curry wafting into the living room.

Shunpei put away the magazines on the coffee table and poured water for Itari and Mashiro.

"Your home is quite comfortable." Yuzhang sat cross-legged on the floor and took the water glass.

"……Thanks."

"May I take a look at the movie magazine?" Mashiro pointed to the magazine on the coffee table that hadn't been put away yet.

Shunping handed it to her.

Mashiro opened the book and found a long article about bizarre movies, with several corners folded off the page.

She turned to one of the pages, paused, and asked, "How many times have you read this?"

"...Four or five times, I guess." Shunping sat down, scratching his face. "How did you know?"

"The creases at the corners are different."

Shunping nodded and said, "I'll be more careful next time."

Dinner was curry rice with miso soup and fried chicken. Yoshino Nagi said that she usually cooks very bland food and was worried that the guests would not be used to it, so she specially made extra fried chicken.

After taking his first bite, Itajimaru exclaimed that it was delicious, and Yoshino Nagi smiled and served him another bowl of rice.

Mashiro sat next to Itajō, quietly eating her portion.

Yoshino Nagi glanced at her and then put two more pieces of fried chicken on her plate.

Mashiro said thank you without refusing.

"Where is Itadori-kun from?"

"Sendai." Itadori swallowed the rice in his mouth. "I just moved to Tokyo last month and transferred to a school here."

"And how fair-skinned is she?"

"He came to Tokyo with me," Mashiro said.

She didn't explain further about the difference between her surname and that of Itadori, and Yoshino Nagi didn't press the matter.

"Where are you staying now? Around here?"

"Hmm, it's not far from here." Mashiro scooped up a spoonful of curry and put it in her mouth.

Yoshino Nagi nodded and turned to look at Junpei, who was curled up in the corner of the sofa eating curry.

"Shunping has never been a very sociable child since elementary school. He changed classes several times in junior high but still didn't make any friends. It was the same in high school." Her tone wasn't one of complaint, but rather one of wistfulness.

"So I was quite happy to see him sitting with you all by the river when I came back today."

Shunping buried his head in his rice and muttered softly, "Mom, why are you saying all this..."

"I'm not going to say anything more." Yoshino Nagi smiled and said, "Anyway, you guys can come and play often in the future. Next time, I'll make tonkatsu."

"Definitely!" Tiger Stick was already adding the third bowl.

After dinner, Itadori insisted on helping with the dishes, but Yoshino Nagi pushed him out of the kitchen.

Shunping took out three boxes of pudding from the refrigerator, one for each person.

While eating, Huzhang said, "This pudding is good, better than the one I bought at the convenience store in the vocational high school last time."

Shunping glanced at him: "A vocational college? Which school?"

Itadori paused for a moment, looked at Mashiro, unsure if he could speak.

Mashiro looked into Junpei's eyes and said, "The Higher Specialized School of Cursed Arts is related to cursed arts."

Shunping stiffened and remained silent.

Mashiro didn't intend to say anything more. After finishing her pudding, she stood up and said, "Hirujin, let's go back."

"Are we going back already?" Yoshino Nagi asked, peeking out from the kitchen.

"Yes, I won't bother you any longer."

Yoshino Nagi saw the two to the door and stuffed two packets of instant curry seasoning into Mashiro's hand: "Just heat it up when you get home, it's better than convenience store bento boxes."

Mashiro looked down at the packet of ingredients in her hand, put it in her pocket, and said, "Thank you."

Huzhang waved to Shunping from the doorway: "Shunping, let's go see that motorcycle movie together sometime! I've seen the one you recommended too, let's exchange our thoughts!"

Shunping stood in the entryway and nodded.

His answer was mostly muffled by the sound of the wind on the street, but his slight smile was clearly visible under the porch light.

The door closed. The living room fell silent again.

Yoshino Nagi began clearing away the dishes, the sound of running water coming from the kitchen.

Shunping stood motionless in the entryway, looking down at the three pairs of slippers that had just been taken off on the floor.

A pair of tiger-shaped ones and a pair of pure white ones were placed together with his.

His mother peeked out from the kitchen, glanced at him, and then smiled and retreated without saying a word.