"My name is Rika Orimoto. Thank you for saving me!"
"My name is Yuta Okkotsu. Thank you for saving Rika!"
Inside the fast food restaurant, Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto bowed sincerely to Shion, their gratitude genuine. If they hadn't been holding hands, Shion might have been even more pleased. The taro pie in his hand suddenly tasted sour with every thought of love, so he set it down with obvious disgust.
"You're welcome. After all, we're distant relatives, Yuta."
"A distant relative?" Yuta blinked in surprise. Looking at Shion's striking white hair, he wondered when such a relative had appeared. "When did my family ever mention this?"
"Five items," Shion said, pointing to himself, "My surname is Gojo. Your parents must have told you about it."
At that, Yuta's memory flickered. His father had once mentioned a connection to a wealthy, powerful family, though details were vague.
"The Gojo family and the Okkotsu family are both descendants of Sugawara Michizane, though distantly," Shion explained. "That's why you have such potential in sorcery."
"Sugawara Michizane?" Yuta echoed the name, unfamiliar with its significance.
"Yes, Michizane Sugawara is one of the legendary vengeful spirits from long ago, an ancestor of ours," Shion continued. "It's ironic that descendants of powerful spirits now exorcise cursed spirits rather than become them."
Yuta and Rika exchanged confused glances. "This sounds like legend more than fact," Yuta admitted.
"In a way," Shion said with a shrug, "But it's part of who you are."
Then he looked around the restaurant. "Wait here a moment."
Without waiting for a response, Shion walked out.
Yuta and Rika assumed he had gone to the restroom or stepped outside to make a call. But two minutes later, Shion returned, holding something in his hand. To anyone watching, it looked like he was holding nothing at all, an odd posture that drew a few puzzled stares.
"Look at this!" Shion announced, raising the invisible object in front of Yuta.
"Ah!" Yuta screamed when he saw what Shion claimed was there. His reaction drew confused looks from every customer in the store.
Rika looked at him in concern. "Yuta, why are you so worked up?"
Yuta pointed at the air. "Monster… monster!"
"A monster?" Rika looked at the space again, seeing nothing.
Shion let out a small laugh. "What I'm holding is a cursed spirit. It's a being formed from cursed energy driven by negative human emotions. Only people with cursed energy perception can see it."
He then looked at Rika. "Right now, besides you and me, no one else can see this."
"A cursed spirit?" Rika repeated, baffled.
"It seems your family never taught you about sorcery," Shion said, raising his eyebrows. "So listen carefully…"
For what felt like hours, Shion explained sorcery basics, cursed energy, and cursed spirits to them both. Rika was fascinated, hanging onto every odd, unbelievable detail. Yuta listened in disbelief, but his gaze occasionally returned to the tiny cursed spirit flitting in Shion's hand, confirming its existence with his own eyes.
"So, you're saying…" Yuta began, stunned.
"That's right!" Shion said. Without hesitation, he crushed the tiny cursed spirit into dust. "I am a cursed sorcerer. Think of me as someone who protects humans from cursed spirits."
"You have great potential for this," Shion continued, his expression serious now. "So I'd like to take you on as my disciple. What do you think?"
Yuta froze. The moment felt surreal — a stranger explaining monsters and curses had just offered to make him a sorcerer.
To his young mind, it sounded like a breakdown: monsters exist, cursed energy forms spirits, and now he was supposed to train to fight them?
"I… I'll go home and talk with my parents," Yuta finally said.
Shion nodded, then took out his phone. "Hello, connect me to the head of the Okkotsu family. I have something to tell him."
Moments later, Yuta was holding the phone, his face wide with shock as his parents spoke enthusiastically. They were thrilled at the idea of their son becoming Shion's apprentice. They praised him, encouraged him, and didn't hesitate for a single second.
A top‑tier sorcerer? This was no small title, even if it sounded average to those who knew Shion and other powerful sorcerers in the world.
"And Rika," Yuta added after the call, "I don't want to be separated from her."
"I've already bought the school you attend," he said simply.
"…" Yuta's head spun with disbelief. He had just learned about curses and monsters and now found out his fate was changing entirely.
Shion smiled — a grin that sent a chill down Yuta's spine, one that made him instantly regret agreeing.
"Very good, Yuta! From now on, I will be your sorcery teacher. Let's experience the burning passion of youth together!"
Yuta blinked slowly, speechless.
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