It can only be said that the epithet "cheap cat" has never been undeserved.
Ten minutes later, when Hanakain Reiji emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his neck, he looked over and saw that a certain cat-eared girl by the dining table had already opened the box containing the sealed item. She was sitting in a chair, holding the purplish-black, talisman-wrapped finger up to the ceiling light, examining it repeatedly.
"Hey, hey, Hana-Hana, come look! Isn't this something from you Onmyōji?"
"...Let me see."
Although he had explicitly told her not to open the box before going into the bathroom, the young man knew that a simple request would never curb Kuroka's curiosity. Thus, he wasn't particularly surprised by the sight before him.
Hanakain Reiji walked over to the dining table and sat down beside her.
However, Kuroka didn't hand over the sealed item right away. Instead, she sat down on his lap entirely.
Through the thin fabric of her kimono, she could clearly feel the young man's body temperature. The faint scent of steam mixed with the fragrance of shower gel lingered around her nose.
As if she had found her favorite spot, Kuroka raised the corner of her lips in complete satisfaction, turned sideways, rested her cheek on his chest, and then presented the sealed item.
"Here."
"Hmm..."
Hanakain Reiji took the talisman-wrapped finger from the cat-eared girl's hand. After just a quick glance, he shook his head.
"It has nothing to do with Onmyōji. This should be the work of a Curse User (Jujutsushi)."
"Is there a difference? They all look like random scribbles to me."
Kuroka pouted toward the densely wrapped talismans on the finger.
"...It's because they're all random scribbles that they're the work of a Curse User."
Hanakain Reiji gently scraped with his thumb, picking up the end of a talisman near the fingertip of the sealed item. With a light pull, he unwrapped the entire talisman strip.
Round after round, no one would have guessed that the densely wrapped talismans covering the whole finger was one single sheet... Ah, no, it should be described as a 'strip.'
It looked exactly like a plastic water pipe wrapped in duct tape due to disrepair, with one strip of tape coiled from end to end.
Hanakain Reiji placed the finger back on the dining table and straightened the talisman strip from end to end, displaying it in front of Kuroka.
"Now, should you be able to see the difference?"
"To be honest, I can't."
"How is that possible... haven't you noticed how much repetitive content there is in the talismans written by Curse Users? In contrast, our Onmyōji talismans are never that long-winded. They're all concise; as long as they can achieve the intended effect, that's enough."
"I feel like you get very aggressive whenever you talk about Curse Users, Hana-Hana."
Kuroka raised her hand and gently poked the young man's cheek with her fingertip, blowing a breath.
Hanakain Reiji shrugged: "It's not aggression, I'm simply stating facts. After all, most of the world's Curse Users are ordinary people who awakened their power later in life. Leaving aside the lack of inheritance, an ordinary person suddenly gaining superhuman power... it tends to affect their personality, to put it harshly, they're nouveau riche. Furthermore, most Curse Users are of the 'wild growth' type. Almost no one helps them organize, simplify, or improve their Cursed Techniques (Jutsu-Shiki). Basically, whatever their power looked like when it awakened is how it will stay for the rest of their lives. A single word to describe it is crude."
"Even the so-called 'Big Three' families of the Jujutsu world, who claim to have the best inheritance, aren't much better in this regard."
"Firstly, there's the Zenin family, which goes without saying. The Zenin family's signature is the Ten Shadows Technique (Tōshinjyutsu). It's said that anyone who learns the Ten Shadows Technique can unconditionally become the head of the Zenin family. Yet, the current head of the Zenin family didn't even inherit the Ten Shadows Technique himself."
"Secondly, there's the Gojō family. The Gojō family's signature is the Limitless Cursed Technique (Mugen Jutsushiki), but the prerequisite for using the Limitless Technique is having the Gojō family's uniquely inherited Six Eyes. Otherwise, you still can't use it. It is said that the Gojō family produced a 'strongest' thirty years ago, who was born with both the Six Eyes and the Limitless Technique, but the problem is that such an anomaly only appears once every few hundred years. The Gojō family was able to survive the last century because of their skill, but whether they can survive the next century after that 'strongest' one kicks the bucket is hard to say."
"Finally, there's the Kamo family. The Kamo family's signature is the Blood Manipulation Cursed Technique (Ketsueki Sōsa Jutsu). The required talent threshold for this one is not high; it's not that difficult to learn. However... they can only use the caster's own blood as a medium. As a result, their family is chronically anemic. Even if they win a fight, it's a pyrrhic victory—harming the enemy by a thousand, but losing eight hundred of their own."
"And in contrast, our Hanakain family—"
Having finished this long discourse, Hanakain Reiji suddenly changed his tone, raising his hand, clenching his fist, and pointing his thumb at himself, his voice becoming impassioned.
"Our Hanakain family's ancestral technique, Hagun (Army Breaker), is essentially a portable, mobile ancestral shrine! The more generations that pass it down, the more previous heads of the family that can be summoned, and the stronger it gets! This is true inheritance, not those so-called Big Three families who, at the end of the day, still rely on mutated nouveau riche!"
"Oh..."
Kuroka suddenly interjected after listening to the long monologue.
"So, can Hana-Hana use that Hagun?"
Hanakain Reiji's voice paused for a second, then he nodded very decisively yet evasively.
"It's alright. It's not that difficult to learn anyway. Even my younger sister, Yura, who is still in middle school, can already use it."
"I see."
Since Hana-Hana's sister can use it, Hana-Hana must surely be able to use it too... Kuroka thought to herself.
Then she refocused her attention on the purplish-black finger on the table, which had been stripped of its talismans.
"Hey, so what should we do with this thing? The seal has been torn off. If we just leave it alone, won't some kind of monster pop out?"
"Theoretically, all we need to do is wrap the talisman back around it. But looking at it, this talisman is about to lose its effectiveness anyway. Forget it, I'll just make a new one..."
Spiritual power ignited at Hanakain Reiji's fingertip, lightly touching the briefcase he had retrieved earlier.
In an instant, the spiritual power transformed into profound characters engraved on the surface of the briefcase. They flowed rapidly as if possessing a life of their own, quickly forming an interwoven sealing array on the case body.
"This should be enough. I'll just drop it in later and close the lid."
"But speaking of which, what in the hell is this thing?"
Hiss, he sighed softly. Hanakain Reiji tilted his head, examining the finger from left to right again. After pondering for a moment without any results, he picked up his phone, snapped a picture of it, and opened a certain online forum app.
Kuroka leaned over curiously, glancing at the screen: "What forum is this?"
"The Occult Forum. It was set up by people from the Jujutsu High School here in Tokyo," Hanakain Reiji explained.
"The main users are mostly Curse Users, and some occult enthusiasts. I've taken a few jobs from here before."
"Taken jobs?" Kuroka blinked her eyes. "But I remember you were very contemptuous of Curse Users earlier, saying they were all a bunch of nouveau riche..."
"Gotta make money. No shame in that."
The young man, currently drafting a post, flexibly adjusted his moral compass. His fingers tapped the screen, composing the text.
[How did you guys know that your bro here caught this while night fishing?]
Then, he attached the photo of the finger he just took and clicked 'Post.'
"...Is that all?"
Seeing the words "Post successful, EXP +3" pop up on the screen, the cat-eared girl also tilted her head.
At this point, Hanakain Reiji had already turned off his phone screen, put the finger and the sealed briefcase aside, and freed up his hand to pat the girl's butt through the kimono.
"Of course. It's not like I'm going to stay up all night waiting for replies, is it? I can check tomorrow morning."
"Mmm..."
Kuroka replied, but she didn't get up obediently as Hanakain Reiji had expected.
Instead, she nimbly turned ninety degrees in the young man's arms, changing from leaning sideways to facing him. She wrapped both arms around his neck, and her legs, hidden beneath the kimono, skillfully dropped to his sides, closing the distance and whispering softly.
"Since you've already eaten and bathed, is it time to eat Big Sister now?"