Chapter Eleven

Rainbow Pancake was a legend in Shibuya. It opened in mid-2010, around two months after Keiko graduated from Jujutsu High. Some people knew them as the first shop in Tokyo that introduced the famous Japanese souffle pancakes, while the rest applauded them for staying in business for almost a decade when many of their younger competitors had closed their doors. The only reason Keiko and Satoru could get a seat on Sunday morning was the reservation the latter had made a day before.

Like its name, the lower half of the café's curtain walls were stamped with six colorful rainbow layers. Keiko had only visited the place once or twice eight years ago—both times were with Shouko. Of course, she could hardly remember anything about the interior. She didn't think the inner walls were built of polished woods, and the positions of the tables had changed a lot. She used to sit in the narrow hallway at the back near the restroom. Right now, she had a nice spot next to the entrance where she could watch the street.

"I know you don't like eating in crowded places, but I'm craving for their pancakes. You don't mind, do you?" Satoru asked after ordering two stacks of souffle pancakes topped with mixed fruits, whipped cream, and orange sauce. As if that wasn't enough sugar for one meal, he also got four slices of cute-looking strawberry sandwiches and a tall glass of chocolate banana milkshake. Keiko herself had the same amount of souffle pancakes with only maple syrup and a cup of lemon squash.

"Senpai, we're already here. Why did you need to ask that?" Keiko replied.

"I'm just making sure, but obviously, Keiko is the sweetest person on earth," Satoru spoke in a childish manner that didn't match his giant posture and all-black suit. While they waited for the breakfast to be served, he propped his chin on his hand and smiled at the woman in front of him.

"What's the matter? Is there something on my face?" she asked.

One corner of his lips arched higher. "I realized that your face hasn't changed much since high school. Oh, even the way you blush when I praise you stays the same."

"You're such a flirt!" she hissed as she grabbed her phone and looked down. She hadn't checked her phone again after she got into Satoru's car. There was only a new message from Hidemi, who asked about her whereabouts, which she would ignore as long as she had to. Shouko had to work late, so she must be sleeping. Even though sorcerers and auxiliary managers didn't have a fixed working schedule, today was still Sunday. Kiyotaka and Kento should also be resting longer than usual.

"Shouko and the rest haven't texted you yet?" Satoru predicted, and Keiko immediately chuckled at how accurate his guesswork was. When people in other relationships could finish each other's thoughts and sentences, Satoru could straight up tell her precisely what she was thinking.

"A few days ago, before I decided to get back here, I was terrified this would happen because I knew it would. Look at me now." She locked her phone and put it down. "I'm not sure if I'm scared or thrilled, but I'm already here. I can't just back out."

"I can't promise you that none of them will die soon," he said, forcing her to languidly meet his eyes. "But for sure, nothing will happen to the person you're holding on to the most."

Although the reassurance warmed her heart, she opted to shake her head in disagreement. "Don't be too confident. You're not indestructible."

"Copying your own words; you're already here. I have a new reason to be more careful, but anyway." He slapped her hand lightly. "Stop being so gloomy! Let's enjoy the pancakes and everything else that we have now. Save your tears for when bad things do happen. The Keiko that I know smiles more than she frowns."

The warning was gentle, and she understood that he started to get uneasy with where the conversation was heading. It was pretty difficult talking happily about other things when most of her life was clouded in sadness. After a short pause, she brought up her ex-coworkers in Okawa. Young people who grew up in villages almost always preferred to move to bigger cities once they saved enough money. She started with several kids of her age, then by the time she turned twenty-six, she became the youngest person left.

Satoru had always known this, but there were some crazy stories that he wasn't aware of. Usually, it happened because she told her father first, then Satoru wasn't available for a call, and she was too lazy to type a long message until she forgot about it. For example, one quiet woman in her forties was dating their coworker's son, who was almost twenty years younger than her. It became a huge problem until the coworker decided to leave the job and village altogether and was never heard again.

What was pleasant about talking to Satoru was how invested he was in listening to her. He cracked some jokes when the timing was appropriate and responded thoughtfully when he had to. Shouko was also nice, but she could become too neutral when Keiko needed some affirmations. The closest person who could be compared to Satoru was Kento, but Keiko hadn't been with him in a long time. Even after their meeting in the kitchen last night, she couldn't decide if Kento was still the same person as he was back then.

As soon as Keiko was done eating, she opened Hidemi's message. Please tell me when you're ready. I'll be waiting for you, he had sent. Meet me at the school, she replied and kept her phone away to focus on her way to the parking lot with Satoru. He opened the door for her and patted her cheek when she entered the car. As if they would be separated, they exchanged a smile for a couple of seconds before he went to the other side and took his seat behind the wheel.

"I'm finally going to work with you again!" he shouted right after he began driving. It made her chuckle. She thought that if facing her fear would make him this happy, she didn't mind suffering through it. If it wasn't because she was deeply in love with him, she didn't know a better reason for her willingness.

Hidemi must have been impatiently waiting for hours because he had stood outside his car in front of the temple. After Satoru parked in the private area inside that could only be accessed by the highest members of the faculty, he told Keiko to stay close to him and they walked out to meet the auxiliary manager. Hidemi was of an average height of a Japanese adult, looked as plain as a stranger they would see at a road junction, and seemed to be about the same age as them.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Saionji Hidemi." He bowed deeply and only lifted his head when Keiko and Satoru did it first. "It's my first time working with you, Gojou-san. I'm very honored. Also you, Shiraishi-san. I'm delighted to assist your first mission in a long while."

"Likewise. Let's do our best." Keiko forced a smile because she couldn't shake the odd feeling that she got from Hidemi. His greeting was humble and professional, but his approach on their text messages should also add to his true personality.

"What a bootlicker," Satoru whispered to Keiko, making her snicker before they both entered the back seat of the silver sedan. He, of course, opened and closed the door for her again.

"Is it cold? Do you want me to turn on the heater instead? It'll take us about an hour and fifteen minutes to arrive at Hinohara, so please tell me if you want to stop somewhere else on our way there," Hidemi gushed before Keiko even put down her folding fan. She glanced at Satoru who couldn't hide his grin, but Hidemi wouldn't be able to see since Satoru sat right behind him. She knew that Satoru and her shared the same thought; he was right about Hidemi trying too hard to win their respects.

"Everything's good. Just drive," Satoru said.

"Yes, of course. Pardon me, but these are important too." Hidemi grabbed two brown clipboards from the empty seat beside him and gave them to Keiko. "They contain the information of the two sorcerers who got sent to Hinohara two weeks ago."

One was a chubby man with curly shoulder-length hair, and the other one had darker skin and dyed his undercut light blonde. Both of them were in their mid-thirties, so they could be married with kids. Keiko wasn't familiar with their names, but she still read the data briefly because she didn't want to feel awful and put herself under pressure. There was no point in learning about their entire backgrounds, so she handed the clipboards over to Satoru barely a minute later.

"What was your theory again, Keiko?" Satoru asked, switching his gaze between the clipboards in each of his hands.

"The construction workers broke the talismans that protected the temple from a vengeful spirit," Keiko said.

"Hmm…" Satoru studied the papers more before looking at her. "Can you imagine if there'll be a centuries-old vengeful spirit, a special grade curse that was born from the villagers' fears, and these two sorcerers also became their own high-level curses? Do you think you can handle them?"

"That's the reason you're with me, Senpai. When things get out of control, you can simply annihilate the entire area and call it a day," she casually replied.

He smirked. "I'm capable of doing that, but this is your mission to get licensed again. I'm a fair person. You'll fail if you run away."

"I won't run away."

"All right. Just remember that there'll be huge consequences if you do."

"I won't run away!"

"Cute." He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and dropped the clipboards between them.

Hidemi suddenly giggled, which sounded like lousy voice acting. "The two of you are very sweet."

"Aren't we?" Satoru grinned. "How old are you, Saionji?"

"I'll turn twenty-eight next month," Hidemi said.

"Oh, you're only a year younger than me! I'll be twenty-nine this December." Satoru motioned a hand toward Keiko. "Do you know that she's two years and two days younger than me? Sadly, I was born in the evening, and she was born at dawn. It would have been perfect if it were two years, two days, and two hours."

Hidemi's next laugh was more genuine. "Nonetheless, it's still lovely, Gojou-san. I wonder why two fated soulmates who have been together since high school aren't at least engaged by now. Or did I hear it wrong?"

There he goes, bringing up the rumors, Keiko thought as she placed one leg on top of the other and relaxed her back. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Satoru's cheeky smile as a sign of how amused he was with the question. She would rather ask someone to stop when they made her feel uncomfortable or ignore them completely when they weren't face-to-face. Most people would do the same thing as her, but she knew that Satoru had always had the tendency to play around with intrusive people.

"Soulmates are fated. Putting those two words together is redundant, don't you think?" Satoru smiled at Keiko before leaning forward, positioning his head behind Hidemi's seat. "Keep this a secret, okay? Not many people know about it, but you're a rare exception. Actually, Keiko and I made a binding vow a long time ago."

Keiko frowned. "Huh?"

"A binding vow?" Thankfully, Hidemi's response was almost like a roar that hid Keiko's confused reaction. However, just like Hidemi, she also didn't understand a thing about the aforementioned binding bow.

"If one of us dies, we'll become a curse that'll stay with the other person," Satoru began. "Do you follow? So, let's say I die, I'll become a curse that'll protect Keiko. Since I'm the strongest being on this planet, I don't think I'll end up as your everyday special grade curse. What will they name a category that's higher than special grade?"

Hidemi seemed shaken after hearing the explanation, while Keiko was simply lost. Was she drunk when it happened? She had never touched alcohol every time she was only with Satoru, but she didn't remember hearing the pact that was equally romantic and twisted either. Even though there were only a handful of sorcerer couples and even fewer that could last for longer than a few years, she was sure that none of them had agreed to haunt each other for eternity.

"Uh, what will happen if the two of you die, then?" Hidemi asked.

Satoru chuckled. "I wonder! We'll probably become a legend, but who's able to stop us? I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."

Keiko lightly shook her head and heaved a sigh, but despite looking disappointed, she knew why Satoru had to lie. If Hidemi was really sent by the higher-ups to spy on them, he would report everything he saw and heard today. Their non-existent binding vow was the same as warning the higher-ups not to do anything wrong to them because their combined strength could easily end the world. For now, she thought it was brilliant, but she couldn't be too sure if there wouldn't be a downside in the future.

"If that's the case… No, even if that isn't the case, you should be more careful, Shiraishi-san," Hidemi added, and it was his first time in a while speaking to Keiko.

"Yes?" Keiko responded. Perhaps she should have picked "why" instead.

"Overnight, everyone in Japan has heard the news about your return. They've put a price on your head on the dark web. Two hundred million yen. It's higher than last time, and they also want you alive."

Keiko got stunned for a moment before parting her lips again, but the only thing that could come out was a weak "ah". There were plenty of anti-jujutsu organizations in the world, individuals such as curse users who had enough money to eliminate their nemeses, and those who were simply fascinated by the gifted people and wanted to do some research on them. What Hidemi meant by "they" must be the professional bounty hunters who got hired to kill or capture jujutsu sorcerers.

Throughout growing up, she had heard that Satoru's life was worth ten billion yen when he was born. Compared to that, two hundred million was nothing, but seven years ago, that person managed to sell her for as little as thirty million yen. At that time, she was also required to be alive. She squeezed her folding fan with both hands, a weapon that she couldn't use because that person drugged her drink. Nobody ever doubted him. He was one of her favorite people, someone she treated like an uncle she had never had.

"Only two hundred million yen? That's very low and insulting." Satoru patted her head, stopping her thoughts from overlapping everything else. "I could give them that amount of money and ask them to leave you alone, Keiko. Also, Saionji…"

"Yes, Gojou-san?" Hidemi asked.

"I don't know what it is you're trying to achieve, but I've told you not to forget your position as an auxiliary manager in this mission. You're working for us, not the other way around. I thought you could be a fun person, but congratulations, you just crossed a line and ruined the mood," Satoru said sternly. If he removed his blindfolds, his glare would be contemptuous that it would send shivers down Hidemi's spine.

"I-I'm sorry, Gojou-san." Hidemi got panicky. "I didn't mean to—"

"Just. Shut up," Satoru stressed each word, showing that he was certainly angry at what just happened, and enraging someone who could commit murder without leaving a trace wouldn't be wise.

But Keiko noticed one thing from the heated exchange. Satoru clearly said, I've told you not to forget your position as an auxiliary manager in this mission, but Hidemi claimed that this was their first time working together. Since the beginning, Satoru had been aware of Hidemi's identity. Could it be that Satoru had called Hidemi beforehand and told the younger man to watch his tongue around her? She wouldn't forget how careful Satoru was around her in case she actually decided to run away.

"Senpai, it's fine." Keiko touched Satoru's arm to calm him down. When he instantly smiled at her, she scooted over to him, then hugged and rubbed the same arm. "It's fine," she said again, but she really meant it. The anxiety of being a sorcerer would never cease, but she would be extra cautious now. Regarding the massive reward to kidnap her, Satoru and all of their friends wouldn't let the same mistake happen twice.

"Of course, you'll be fine, Keiko," Satoru made sure. At last, he no longer sounded like he would kick Hidemi out of the car in the middle of nowhere and took over the wheel.

Hinohara's landscape was similar to Okawa with the lakes and forests along the main road that could only fit two cars in a row, but it was crowded with more houses and people. Since Tenkoji Temple was located far on the northern side of the village, everywhere else seemed lively. People laughed and walked with their groceries as if an unresolved accident hadn't occurred, but these people must have been told about the carbon monoxide poisoning. At this point, only the government and jujutsu society knew the truth.

They didn't need to stop by an inn and book a room because this job should be done in less than an hour, but they had to leave the car near a freezing cascade surrounded by cliffs because it couldn't go any further. Three old men in their fifties or sixties were waiting for them on the bank of the loud river. The one with grey hair and thick glasses introduced himself as the village head. He looked like he hadn't slept for weeks with the heavy bags under his eyes. Considering the village's situation, it would have been weird if he was vigorous.

"I understand that you have received the details about the incident, but is there something else that you would like to know?" The person who led the conversation was the leader of the village guards. The more Keiko stayed here, the more she noticed that the village head seemed very disturbed. She only wished to get everything over fast.

"Yes," Keiko said. "Were there any talismans in the temple? I'm afraid that the construction workers destroyed them by accident."

"Were there?" The guards' leader turned to the village head.

"No," the village head murmured. "I'm not aware of such things."

"All right. We'll get going. Don't worry." Keiko smiled, took out the folding fan in her hands, and gave the white casing to Hidemi, asking him to take care of it. She lightly swayed the cursed tool, feeling the breeze against her chin and neck. She shouldn't have done it because standing near a waterfall was already cold enough.

"Please be careful. The previous sorcerers didn't make it," the village head cooed.

"Don't worry. If the temple really is haunted by the cruelest vengeful spirits, this woman is your go-to person," Satoru declared.

"Senpai, come on!" She hit Satoru's back with her folding fan and walked uphill to the only pathway to the temple. Satoru gripped her unoccupied hand when they landed their feet on the uneven rocks and kept reminding her to be careful. If they fell, he would be the only one who wouldn't get hurt. She wasn't worried at all because she knew he would be ready to catch her.

As soon as they reached the top, she had to halt in place because of what she saw. She had expected the sinister atmosphere, but she had thought of finding the temple and several buildings that acted as the sanatoriums instead of a sub-village with around thirty tiny houses. There was even a small pasture and a large area filled with chicken coops—all had been emptied. She wanted to thank the higher-ups for letting her bring one person because she wouldn't want to be alone in a place this eerie after so many years of living peacefully.

"Who do you think used to live here?" she asked Satoru as they strolled past the houses, watching the dark rooms through the closed windows. The dust had gathered on the floors and tables. The evacuated villagers must have been dying to go back home.

"Probably the temple's workers? It could be anyone," he replied.

"Yes, and my question is useless. It doesn't matter who used to live here," she muttered.

Right after leaving the village, they passed by a woodlot before finally reaching the main destination. Without counting some sheds, there were only three buildings around; the Buddhist temple itself and two long structures on each side where the patients must have stayed. There were no visible spirits, but anyone who could sense them would be able to tell that they existed inside all the buildings. They might not be able to detect the sorcerers' presence, or they were clever enough to stay away from Satoru's overwhelming energy.

"How many spirits are there?" Keiko gripped her folding fan tighter as she looked around. The empty front yard could hold hundreds of people, so she felt very alienated and not welcomed. Once more, she must say that she could pass out if she didn't have a trusted partner by her side.

"Keiko, wait," Satoru gasped.

Keiko lifted her brows. "Yes?"

He tilted his head to one side. "We're in a danger zone. How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" She blinked a few times. "I'm—huh? I'm… excited? I don't know. Why are you even asking me that?"

"Before we proceed, I need to tell you a few things." He took a deep breath and raised a finger. "First, if you get a single scratch, you'll fail this mission. Do you understand?"

"What?" she squeaked. "Senpai, are you joking—"

"Two." He brought up another finger and smiled. "I need to cast a curtain. Wait a moment."

She couldn't describe how strange their dialogue was, but she watched him use the same stance of having two fingers near his lips and began the technique of enveloping the entire area under a massive, black dome. Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure. She kind of missed chanting the spell and creating the mandatory element that would hide sorcerers' activities from being seen by regular civilians from the outside. Only for this one time, she would let Satoru do it for them.

"All right. It should be good." Satoru put down his hand. "Now, come with me."

"What…? Senpai, what are you actually planning to do? We shouldn't be wasting time," Keiko groaned, but Satoru laughed and walked to the left side. To be precise, to the outer part of the front yard where the curtain ended.

"Keiko, I wasn't lying about the binding vow. It's sick, I know, but when I heard that you were coming back here, I immediately thought of doing it with you. It just makes sense." He turned around and smiled at her for the nth time this morning. "It's so we won't be terrified of losing each other anymore. We'll always be together in this lifetime."

"Huh? I don't know." Her response was spontaneous. She scanned her surroundings as if Shouko or someone else would be there to give their opinions. "H-hold on. Senpai, do we have to talk about it now?" she asked, clenching a fist and pressing it against her chest, noticing her heartbeat that started to pound harder.

"Yes, because I've always been in love with you, and you should know this," he said. "I love you. I really do. I love you so, so much. If someone dares to hurt you again, I won't only kill them. I'll slaughter their entire families, kids or not. Ever since we were students… it's always been us. I've never been gentle to anyone else because I can't stand the idea of another person who isn't you."

"What are you—" Keiko couldn't finish her words. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of anything logical. Didn't Satoru just confess to her? Was she happy? Was she supposed to tell him that it had always been him too in her life? No, she wanted to scream because this was too sudden and far from being perfect. Out of all the times and places, how could he speak about it now? This was frustrating. She felt like she was stuck in a tunnel and couldn't escape.

"Good luck, Keiko." Satoru stepped outside the curtain without trying to comfort her, which was very unlike him. He disappeared from her sight because she couldn't perceive anything through the darkness, not even noises.

"Senpai? Wait!" She stretched out her hand and winced in pain when the curtain electrified her until she had to drop her folding fan. She attempted it again, only to get the same painful sensation. A second later, she realized that it happened for one reason; Satoru had cast a special curtain that prevented her from leaving.