WE HIT 500K READS!!
crazy, right? thank you all
so much! Here's a little something to
celebrate this milestone we
reached- art & info of the new
character!
Again, apologies for the veryyy
late updates.
Enough talk. Thanks again
for all the support & love!! Enjoy!!
Had he known she was going to be this annoying, he would've ended her the moment Nue dropped him to the ground.
Fushiguro's eyes twitches as he continues listening to Remi talk. He wanted to tune her out so badly- but that would be a stupid thing to do since she might accidentally slip and reveal the whereabouts of Higuruma before she even takes him there. That way, Fushiguro will just need to go by himself and abandon this girl.
That's a very specific scenario and is most unlikely to happen.. But after knowing Remi even for a few minutes, Fushiguro can already tell she's someone who talks big and have nothing to back it up.
She feels like the type, but he's not sure.
"Can you stop?"
"Ha? With what?"
Remi looks over her shoulders briefly before palcing her attention back to the road in front of her. She can still see the big sword that Fushiguro has- the girl gulps, a bit nervous to have such sharp weapon near her.
She can try to fight back and she's not scared of it either.. Though Remi definitely doesn't want to get hit again.
"Talking." Fushiguro answers, "Focus on leading the way."
Remi's brows furrow, not pleased with how the boy commanded her. The girl huffs, crossing her arms.
"You're so bossy!" she complains as a response, continuing to talk even if Fushiguro asked her not to, "This is why no one would want to be with the likes of you."
'???' the shikigami user was confused. What was the girl saying? People liking Fushiguro doesn't connect with why he doesn't want her to talk.
'I'm only sparing her because of Higuruma. She should keep that in mind.' he thought, 'Bossy? She's reaching.'
Fushiguro thought that after that, Remi would finally stay quiet. It must be satisfying to have the last laugh, huh? In their case, Remi was the last one to speak while the boy has no rebuttal. He'd rather waste energy on fighting instead of bickering with this girl.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Just as he was enjoying the peace..
Irked, Fushiguro rolls his eyes. Of course, Remi who's waiting on an answer, doesn't see this.
"You don't need to know." he doesn't give a clear reply- talking or even saying Y/N's name to a stranger who was previously going kill him isn't something he'd do. Well, Preventing the two from crossing paths is for Remi's sake. The girl wouldn't want to get beaten up by a twenty pound hammer encased with cursed energy, right?
Wow.. How nice of a guy Fushiguro is.. He's so considerate.
"Ugh, fineee." Remi says before muttering words from below her breath, "Not only is he bossy, but he's also cold and boring. As expected of a guy who hits girls!"
It's clear for Fushiguro that Remi had intentionally wanted the boy to hear her trash talking about him. He doesn't react since that's probably what she wants from him- though something about what Remi said made the shikigami user think.
'Does Y/N think i'm boring?'
Silly question.
But does he have a clear answer that tells him the girl doesn't atleast find him not so interesting? Nope.
The girl showers him with both her attention and affection while also managing to focus on other things. The boy being flustered or cringing because of a cheesy pick up line is enough for Y/N to swoon and do the same thing again. It feels like his girl is more entertained than bored.
Fushiguro's way of showing love is through his actions and maybe he'll reassure the girl once in a while when she needs it, and hers is more of..
'..Being her.'
The boy thought.
Y/N is not the same as she was when they first met, but despite all that horrible and stressful situations she's been through in only a couple of months, the love she gives is still the sweetest. It's as if nothing changed and he hoped that part of her stays that way.
The part where she has playful banters with Itadori, Kugisaki, or the second years. She never fails to make them or herself smile.
The part where she gets shy when Fushiguro's the one telling her cheesy pick up lines or when they hold hands, hers starts to fidget. Maybe embarrassed? Flustered? Every time Fushiguro turns to look, Y/N has her head down and her eyes on the path they're walking- the boy would always catch a glimpse of a wide and giddy smile that she doesn't want him to see.
Yeah he's cold, bossy, and boring for Remi.
For Y/N, that's just how Fushiguro is. The boy is confident enough to say that his girl accepts every part of him just like he does with her.
The boring side.. Cold.. Everything that makes him the Fushiguro Megumi that she knows.
'That's why i need to find her too.'
But she's responsible enough and reassured the boy that she'll be fine handling herself, so Fushiguro's choosing to head straight to Higuruma. Maybe him, itadori and Y/N would all meet there.
'If i want to hear her dumb flirting..'
He looks down on the weapon he's holding.
'..Then i should make this quick.'
Unbeknownst to the now motivated dark haired boy, another competition aside from the culling game is yet to begin.
Oh, but don't worry- Fushiguro already has the title of winner secured.
"Was it hard?"
"Hm? To what?"
"Sew."
You were making small talk with a guy that would've let you plummet down the ground if he wasn't just loosing a few loose screws in the head. Did it bother you? Not really. By now, you're used to talking with crazy people since you are also one.
After leaving a dead body on one of the streets inside the colony, you decided to trust Shōhei and let him lead you to where Higuruma might be staying at- of course, you weren't dumb. Shōhei has saved you multiple times in the first few minutes of meeting him. That's enough to make you let your gaurd down for now.
But if worse comes to worse and he just leads you to an abandoned building to corner you and choke you with his ribbons, then you'll use force. For now, you're trying to make him not go against you.
On the other hand, Shōhei kept his smile. This is his first time willingly leaving the district he stayed and used as base, so he was a little excited. He wonders how many new players have smashed their heads on the stone pavement because he wasn't there to save anyone.
This goes to show how scared he actually is of getting murdered..
"Oh, it's not! Sewing isn't hard if you really want to learn how to." Shōhei says, "Just get used to being pricked by needles, having to untangle thread, and ripping your pin cushion that was previously filled with sawdust."
You sweatdrop, 'He's talking more about the bad stuff than actually telling me how it's not hard.. Would it be different if i knew the basics on how to sew but still can't?'
"You seem too joyful about this.."
Shōhei chuckles, "What can i say? Pain only hurts more where you least expect it."
He raises his hand up to his face, looking at what seems to be another bandage around his finger. He had changed it before entering the culling game and surprisingly, it has stuck well. Shōhei lowers his hand.
An image of his own bleeding limb flashes. He was surrounded by white fabric stained with crimson, his chest heaving and tears pouring out his eyes as he realized the mess he made.
He shakes his head, wanting to erase the spine chilling memory.
"The last time i was confident about not being pricked, i got hurt lots." he mutters before shaking his head, "You, Hoshino? Do you have any hobbies?"
You shrug, dragging your hammer.
You tried to think about what you've been doing on your spare time aside from eating curses and doing sorcery related activities- you occasionally teach Inumaki how to cook, right?
Does hanging out with your goofy friends count as a hobby? Thinking about it makes the corners of your lips tug into a small smile.
Shōhei, who has been glancing at you from time to time to see if you have an answer ready, "You look happy.. Now i'm really curious about your hobby."
His heart skips a beat.
You take a look at the boy, seeing that he's still smiling. You shake your head, focusing the road ahead while he leads the way to who you assume is Higuruma.
"I prefer if you don't.."
You trail off, stopping in your tracks as you and Shōhei round a corner. The two of you hear a gun being cocked from behind you- it seems like someone has been following you and was waiting for the right time to attack.
From Shōhei's sleeve, you start to see a faint purple glow. You keep silent.
"Hey.."
The person from behind the gun begins, their hoodie covering up their face. They gulp, now noticing the heavy looking sledgehammer that's in your possession.
You notice another person, who seems to be a man, with them- a katana in his hands. He seem to let his partner do the talking.
"Sorry, but i'm not gonna let you proceed.."
You raise a brow, "You think some gun will stop me from smashing your bones with this?" to emphasize, you swing the hammer over your shoulder, also showing how lightweight it is.
The person gulps, "I'm sure you can't.. Dodge bullets, hm?"
Shōhei steps in, pulling down his sleeves to reveal multiple ribbons now starting to unwrap themselves from his arm, "I can help her block them if i like."
The person and their partner exchange glances. No words were said between the both of them and neither left you and Shōhei alone.
'They're crazy. What's a bullet gonna do when i get to them with a hammer, huh?' you thought, 'Not my problem.'
You rushed to them.
As if they were ready for this, the one holding a katana makes his way to you. Just as you raised your weapon to strike him, you're suddenly hit with overwhelming feeling of anxiety.
What if you killed them?
You quickly hold your weapon sideways- the man wielding the katana hits the surprising strong handle of your weapon. You were now on the defensive and trying not to murder anyone yet.
'This is such a hassle!' Shōhei whined internally as he looks away from you, preparing to defend himself from the bullets that were about to shoot him.
Holding the opposite sides of your weapon, you push the man forward while he stumbles backwards yet still kept his balance.
"DIE! So we have it!" they shout, desperately shooting at Shōhei who's narrow fabrics are protecting him, "The bounty! I WANT TO WIN!"
For a guy who hasn't had a technique for long, his control and cursed energy is strong. That's one of the things you noticed about Shōhei.
Your brows furrow. With a swing of the handle on your weapon, you finally disarm the man who's katana clashed with your cursed tool. Eyes widened, he's taken aback when your fist comes to contact with his cheeks.
Not even an ounce of cursed energy was wasted on them.
"Ow!" he winces in pain.
"What bounty?" you ask, now looking at the other person, "I'll spare your partners life if you tell us!"
The one wielding a gun suddenly stops shooting. They try to fire another shot but to no avail- they have no time to change cartridges or else they'll be the one being beaten up.
The ribbons that have been protecting Shōhei looses its cursed energy while it slowly returns to his wrist. The boy has a feeling that whatever this bounty is about, it's not going to look good.
"A bounty on what, huh?" you ask once again.
The hooded person contemplated though eventually, since they were already surrounded, they decided to tell.
"The woman said! She bargained with us and probably a lot of other players.. That she'll let us kill the boy she's with for his points!"
You feel something move on your shoulder.
They continue.
"Me and my friend here.. We don't know how to use these so-called techniques very well and we're afraid they'll get out of control when we do.. When we do activate them.."
"So.. We decided to take the womans offer and find a girl using a hammer with H/C hair and kill her.. As per her request. Hours later we found you guys."
You felt..
You felt sick to the stomach.
It was the same exact scenario outside the barrier- why does it need to happen from inside too? Your execution was on hold because the higher-ups are convinced that you and Itadori are dead for now. You wanted to thank Okkotsu for temporarily giving you some space to breath since you wouldn't have to worry about people looking for you.
But.. What the hell is this? Does Asato have no more shame? Why does he want to make your life hell? Only he will do something as petty as this- You're sure that nobody aside from Itadori, Fushiguro, and Asato knows who you really are.
And a woman? Is he using that same dumb disguise again or did he find a player to team up with?
Shōhei notices the shift in your expression and the sudden silence. You looked disturbed.
The boy gulps before attempting to take over the conversation, "Were they perhaps.. A duo? One with yellow eyes and the other with revealing clothes?"
"R-Right.. Them.." the person replies, "We looked up their names on our Kogane's. They both look legit to us.."
"Lo and behold.. There really is a H/C haired girl wielding a hammer." the man, whom you punched, chimes in. He held his now red cheek.
Just like what you said, you chose to let him go. While you now start to slowly back away from him, his partner approaches- they have hid their gun and has one hand up while the other helped the man stand on his feet.
"She really is sparing them." Shōhei mutters from under his breath, in disbelief.
"What's her name? The woman."
You ask the two players, feeling the weight on your shoulder slowly becoming heavy. It seems like Yūrei doesn't want you asking that.
"Her name's.. Tomi."
The one who's kills are similar to Kashimo Hajime and Higuruma? It's making your head spin.
You sigh.
"So? Do you plan on ratting us out to her and telling the two of them our location?"
The person and the man whom are now at a safe distance, took a while to answer. While the seconds passed by, you grew more impatient. Eventually, the two of them responded.
"Our words mean nothing. You were bound to hear about this information anyway. We'll be repaying you by.. Keeping quiet."
The man says, sending you a nod. No other words were said as they turned their backs- now leaving the street.
'The more he tries to ruin everything for me, the more I want to murder him.'
You have gotten over your shock. Anger is now starting to fill you as your blood boils. You clench your fist, tightening around the handle of your sledgehammer. Your free hand rubs your arm, or more specifically, the jacket you're wearing.
'Oh god.. Megumi, i hope you don't view me as a monster once you witness the horrors i'm willing to do because of Asato's meddling.'
He would accept all your parts.. Right? Even those that are unstable and hard to control?
You take a deep inhale before sighing deeply.
"C'mon, Hoshino."
Shōhei breaks the silence, now encouraging you to move. He shows you a smile, wanting to reassure you.
'What do they want from her..?' So many question that he wants to ask, but to be honest, it's better if they're all left unanswered.
The boy huffs,
"Don't give up now. We're getting closer to Higuruma!"
I'M BACK!
I'm once again here to thank
you all again for supporting
Taberu and making the book
reach 500K reads!!
My time on wattpad as a silent
reader has been both stressful
and fun in the past, but i never
imagined that one day, i'll be the
one writing for an audience. I'm
glad i did it but i regret starting
with little to none experience.
( apologies for readers who has
been with me before i fixed some
scenes and improved some dialog in September 2021.. hehe. I was
very cringey ok!! )
It's been a wonderful experience,
and i hope to share many more
books, laughs, and milestones
with all of you.
☆～（ゝ。∂）