With the combined efforts of the Jujutsu Sorcerers within the barrier, all the scattered Cursed Spirits were exorcised within a few days.
Aside from Suguru's Spirit Talent Center, there were no other wild Cursed Spirits left inside the Sendai Barrier.
It was evening at the North Gate camp of the Sendai Barrier, under the setting sun.
The Tokyo Jujutsu High students, who had been busy all morning, were gathered together, eating lunch.
"Mmm, this sausage tastes good," Eichi said as he picked up another octopus-shaped sausage and popped it into his mouth.
"It really is good," Mei Mei agreed.
"Huh? Shoko, you don't like this sausage?" Utahime suddenly noticed that the sausages in Shoko's lunchbox hadn't been touched.
"No," Shoko replied after swallowing her food.
"I'm just saving the best for last," she said softly.
"Ah, you do that too? You're the best, Shoko!" If they weren't all holding lunchboxes, Utahime would have hugged her on the spot.
"Here, have mine too," Utahime said happily as she picked the sausages out of her own lunchbox and placed them into Shoko's.
"Ah, no need, Utahime. I can't finish them all."
"It's fine, Shoko. You've been working so hard these past few days, unlike those boys who've been slacking off since this morning."
After saying that, Utahime, who had been providing support all morning, glared indignantly at Eichi and Satoru sitting nearby, especially Satoru.
"Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?" Satoru looked up, sensing Utahime's gaze.
"Ah, could it be you've fallen for me but are too shy to say it?"
"Kawaii, Utahime-chan." Satoru lightly bit his chopsticks, picked up a napkin like a handkerchief, and waved it at Utahime as if pink energy sparkled in the air.
"Hmph!" Utahime puffed out her cheeks even more.
"Hey~, it's okay, Utahime." Shoko gently patted her head.
"Don't mind those bad guys."
"Wuwuwu, Shoko~" Touched, Utahime threw herself into Shoko's arms.
Since they had been temporarily stationed at the North Gate Tokyo Jujutsu High camp for the past few days, they had been seeing each other frequently.
Almost every time they met, Utahime ended up getting annoyed by Satoru.
Shoko had been too busy and fell asleep the moment she returned to her tent each night, so Utahime could only stew in her frustration alone, squatting in a corner of her room and drawing circles.
Only during these brief mealtimes could she receive Shoko's spiritual healing.
However, in her eagerness to receive that healing, Utahime had clearly forgotten that Shoko was still holding her lunchbox.
"Ah!" Shoko suddenly exclaimed, quickly steadying her lunchbox with her right hand.
The box was saved, but a mischievous little octopus managed to escape from the rice section.
"Ah!" This time, it was Utahime who cried out.
Hearing Shoko's voice, Utahime looked up just in time to see the octopus sausage flying out of the box.
'No, Shoko's favorite octopus sausage!' Utahime realized her mistake.
There was no time to complain to Satoru, who had made her angry earlier. In the next moment, Utahime extended the chopsticks in her right hand.
'Catch it!' Utahime shouted in her heart.
Her chopsticks clipped diagonally at the edge of the flying sausage.
The tender and bouncy sausage deformed slightly under the pressure of her chopsticks, then sprang downward with the force.
"Ah!" Utahime's eyes widened.
In the next moment, her expression turned serious, the same look she wore when stepping onto the battlefield.
Fighting spirit burned in Utahime's eyes.
She absolutely couldn't let Shoko lose her favorite octopus sausage.
Her right hand maneuvered the chopsticks toward the sausage while her left hand darted forward to intercept.
The sausage's trajectory was precisely captured by Utahime's sharp gaze.
'Got it!' Utahime lunged forward.
Her left hand successfully blocked the falling path, and her chopsticks jabbed quickly.
However, Utahime overlooked one thing—she was using chopsticks, not her hands.
Chopsticks aren't as flexible and don't move with the same precision.
Moreover, after using her Technique all morning to assist in eliminating the remaining Cursed Spirits, her body was already exhausted.
As a result, her chopsticks narrowly missed the sausage and instead stabbed into her right palm.
"Ouch!" Utahime instinctively flinched, her hands pulling apart.
The octopus sausage, nudged by her hand, altered its arc midair.
"No!" Utahime ignored the pain in her palm and lunged toward the ground.
Slap. The slippery, sauce-covered sausage slipped through the gaps between her fingers.
The only comforting part was that it didn't hit the ground immediately.
Utahime's left arm swept across the ground, right hand still reaching for the sausage, her legs driving her forward in a desperate lunge.
In the next second, she froze in place, completely grayed out like a statue.
Satoru, using Six Eyes, detected something flying toward him and turned in confusion.
He glanced at the flying sausage, then at the sauce on Utahime's hand.
'Huh? A sausage? Could it be that Utahime actually likes me?' After all, the usual things she threw at him were teacups, brooms, textbooks, stones, and bags.
But this time, it was a "normal" item?
Though surprised, Satoru still opened his mouth and caught the octopus sausage.
"Mmm." The sausage landed in his mouth, and he chewed thoughtfully.
"It's okay, but it'd be better if it were sweeter." Incidentally, he was currently eating the Gojo Family's super sweet honey rice. The sweetness and sugar content were beyond excessive.
"Go..." Utahime's trembling voice sounded like a volcano about to erupt.
Unfortunately, Satoru had Six Eyes, not six ears, so he didn't pick up on the tone.
"What's wrong?" Satoru squatted down and poked Utahime, who was crouched in an orz pose.
"Die!" Tears in her eyes, Utahime began pounding on Satoru's Limitless with both fists like spinning wheels.
"Huh? What's wrong now?" Satoru looked at Shoko in confusion.
"Haha, she's probably given up on everything." Shoko calmly picked up the octopus sausages in her own lunchbox.
"Satoru, didn't I tell you not to bully the weak?" Suguru returned from the Spirit Talent Center, lunchbox in hand.
'As expected of you, Suguru. You always know how to push people's buttons. Looks like today's patient count just went up.'
Sure enough, the next second, Utahime's eyes turned red, her hair flew without wind, and her aura turned heavier than a vengeful ghost.
"You die too!"
"What are you even saying?" Suguru asked through a mouthful of food as he ran, glancing back.
"Ahhh, all of you just die!" Utahime screamed in frustration.
Tears in her eyes, she scooped up clumps of dirt and rocks and hurled them at Suguru.
Eichi, not wanting to get caught in the chaos, went to sit quietly next to Shoko.
Years later, when they looked back on that run under the setting sun, they would remember it as the moment their youth quietly faded away.
Incidentally, that evening, Shoko treated Utahime in her tent for muscle soreness caused by overexertion.
(To be continued.)