Only two hours in, Yuji's arms had become racks for Nobara and I's shopping bags. Plus, he balanced a few bags on each finger while Satoru followed us throughout the mall close behind, the source of payment for our frivolous shopping.
"Fushiguro...Please! Take just a few bags!" Yuji whined, making Nobara and I giggle as he only rolled his eyes in response.
"No. They can carry their own bags. You shouldn't just let them walk all over you." He replied flatly, his only proof of spending money a small can of cola in his hand.
"I-I'm not!" Yuji defended, "I'm just being polite!"
Megumi rolled his eyes in response before Satoru finally picked up his pace so he walked in line with the rest of us. "You guys are hungry, right? I'm hungry. Let's eat already!" He insisted.
Before any of us could agree or object, he was already in a ramen shop ordering. "Wait for me, Sensei!" Yuji called, laughing as he ran inside followed by Megumi and Nobara. Just as my fingers wrapped around the cool metal handle of the door to enter, a man in the street, seething with anger shoved past me. His rock hard shoulder jabbed into mine, causing me to stumble back a few steps.
"Hey, caref-" I began, but was interrupted by quiet, steady tone coming from the watch on my wrist. As realization dawned over me, I froze for a moment before letting my eyes fall to the face of the watch where the two hands of the clock face spun awry.
The small red hand stopped with a tick suddenly, pointing towards me, indicating that the curse was either directly above, below or behind me. The engravings morphed slowly until the number "1" was legible. I wasn't sure what the grade meant about the curse just yet, so I just hoped this meant it wasn't too strong.
A shudder shot down my spine as I slowly turned to face the direction of the hand. There was nothing there for me to see, yet I could sense something daunting.
I took a step forward, reaching for a cursed dagger that Satoru gave me shakily, but before I could fully grip the handle, the sewer cap beneath my feet liquified. I screamed as I began to drop into the cold depths of the sewer tunnels, luckily catching the paved sidewalk to hold myself up.
People walking by who caught sight rushed over to try to help me, but before they could reach me, my fingers had slipped. I choked as I was submerged into the disgusting sewer water and I clawed my way to a dry ledge on the cold sewer wall. The watch was still emitting a low frequency and I turned slowly to face the dark nothingness.
A squeezing, suffocating feeling suddenly surrounded my body.
***
"Where's Y/n?" Nobara asked between large bites of mushy ramen noodles, looking around. Yuji had already devoured his second bowl before he shrugs at Nobara's question.
"Uhm, maybe she went into that shoe shop she said she wanted to visit?" Yuji frowned slightly as he looked around for me, while Satoru put down his chopsticks. His lips turned down into a slight frown before he let out a steady breath.
"Right, probably." Satoru responded flatly, "I'll be right back."
The students eyed him inquisitively as he suddenly left the shop. Dumbfounded at the realization that he didn't finish his ramen, the students exchanged glances.
***
As blurry dark circles splotched my vision and I aimlessly swung my hands around, a familiar voice cut through my gasping and gagging.
"You know, it's bad etiquette for curses to kill in private. Doesn't even let a sorcerer get a chance to try and exercise it!" The low voice mocks, accompanied by steady footsteps.
The squeezing seemed to hesitate, giving me a chance to gasp for air. "Satoru." I whispered as both a plea and sigh of relief. He didn't respond to me at first, though
"Do you know what I call a curse like that?...Weak. Weak as shit."
Before I could take in another breath, the suffocation was gone, and there was a large flash followed by something being smashed into the sewer walls. The frequency on the watch halted, and the silence was followed by strong arms enveloping my breathless body.
A faint voice echoed from above. "Gojo! I-is she okay? Oh my god!"
"She's okay, Yuji. She's perfect, actually."
"What?..."