The air still felt heavy from what had just happened.
Not dangerous heavy.
More like the world was waiting to see what Takeru would do next and regretting that it asked.
Takeru stood in the middle of the training grounds.
Then—
he casually lifted one foot.
Paused.
Balanced.
Then switched feet slowly, like he was testing gravity out of boredom.
"…What now?"
He tilted his head.
"I'm bored."
From the balcony above—
Utahime snapped.
"IT HAS BEEN THREE MINUTES!"
Everyone flinched slightly.
"READ A BOOK OR LET THOSE GIRLS FIGHT OVER YOU BUT DO NOT—AND I REPEAT—DO NOT ANNOY ME!"
Silence.
Takeru blinked.
"…That's very specific options."
Down below—
Hana, Yorozu, Reina, and Akai all froze.
Then—
all of them subtly turned red at the same time.
Yuji noticed instantly.
"…Oh no."
Hakari leaned in.
"…OH YES."
Megumi sighed deeply.
"…This is going to get worse."
Reina looked away immediately.
"…I'm not fighting over anyone."
Yorozu crossed her arms, trying to recover her composure.
"…As if."
Hana muttered quietly.
"…I didn't agree to that part of reality."
Akai just stared at the ground.
"…This is humiliating."
And Takeru—
did not notice any of it.
At all.
Instead he scratched his neck.
"…I could read a book."
A pause.
"…But I'd probably argue with it."
From the side—
Gojo was already laughing.
"…HE SAID HE'D ARGUE WITH A BOOK."
Utahime pointed furiously.
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!"
Takeru looked over.
"…Then what is the point?"
Utahime opened her mouth—
closed it—
then just pointed harder.
"YOU ARE HOPELESS!"
Immediately—
the entire group echoed it without even thinking.
"…Hopeless," Megumi sighed.
"…Hopeless," Hakari agreed.
"…Hopeless," Yuji added.
"…Hopeless," even Higuruma admitted quietly.
Sukuna smirked faintly.
"…Unfixable."
Takeru blinked slowly.
Then pointed at himself.
"…Me?"
"…YES YOU."
A beat.
Takeru shrugged.
"…Fair."
And somehow—
that made it worse.
From the group of girls nearby—
Reina, Hana, Yorozu, and Akai were still visibly flustered from Utahime's comment, though none of them would admit it out loud.
Gojo leaned toward Geto.
"…This guy causes emotional damage without even trying."
Geto nodded slowly.
"…That might be worse than cursed techniques."
Takeru stretched again, still bored.
"…So no fighting?"
Utahime immediately screamed again.
"NO FIGHTING! NO CHAOS! NO—"
Takeru already walked away mid-sentence.
"…Cool."
And the worst part?
Nobody stopped him.
Because everyone knew—
whatever he did next would be worse than whatever they were trying to prevent.