Absent Threads, Tight Weaves - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Absent Threads, Tight Weaves

Five days.

Gojo Satoru had searched for Ren Sato for five whole days.

And somehow, everyone acted like that wasn't weird.

"Still no response," Gojo muttered, standing in front of a shrine. Empty. Just like yesterday. And the day before.

He slipped his hands into his pockets, his white hair fluttering in the breeze as he turned away.

He'd asked the higher-ups. Gotten some vague, irritating answer.

"Ren Sato is under control."

"There is no need to track him."

Gojo had squinted hard enough to crack stone.

"They wanted to execute him last week," he muttered to himself. "And now they're acting like he's on vacation?"

He didn't buy it. Not for a second.

And then there was Mei Mei.

"Her? Really? Her of all people?"

Gojo paced along the street, sunglasses tilted slightly as he scrolled through his phone.

Message not delivered.

Still. That same blank screen.

Then, suddenly—ding.

A message.

Ren:

"Hey, don't look for me. I'm out on leave, right? Don't worry, I'll come to school on Monday once my leave ends. Also, don't go after Mei. She didn't seduce me."

Gojo stared at the message like it had kicked him in the shins.

"EH?!"

A few passersby looked his way.

Gojo didn't care.

He typed fast, thumbs flying like a man in crisis.

Gojo:

"What?! Ren-kun!! You're telling me you and Mei Mei are… No, impossible. You did this without telling me. How could you???"

"Are you eating well?"

"Is she feeding you?"

"Do you love her, or is it just hormones?"

"ANSWER ME, YOU COLD-HEARTED CHILD!"

…

Message not delivered.

Again.

Gojo looked up at the clouds.

"Fine! But when you come back, we're having a long talk! And Mei Mei… I'm watching you, temptress!"

Meanwhile, in a high-end Tokyo café, Mei Mei stirred her coffee with the same grace she used slicing curses in half.

But her phone?

Her phone was getting nothing.

Mei Mei:

"Where are you today?"

"Want me to come over?"

"Still hiding?"

"We should talk. I have something to report."

"Hey."

Ren:

"Ok."

"No."

"Shut up."

Mei Mei blinked slowly at the screen.

"...You brat."

She sat back, folding her legs. She was dressed casually, for once—just a black top and jeans. Her long hair was tied up.

She expected more. Honestly.

She was used to more.

Men and women threw themselves at her. Especially the younger ones. A little flirtation? A small promise? They melted like butter.

Ren? Ren seduced her and then cut her off like a faucet.

That wasn't how the game was supposed to go.

And now she found herself checking her phone every few minutes. For a guy who texted like a cold-hearted hostage negotiator.

"Is this some kind of reverse seduction?" she murmured. "You manipulate me into wanting your attention just to deny me?"

It should have made her furious.

It did.

But…

She smiled a little.

"…You annoying, manipulative, brilliant boy."

She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, honestly... Mei Mei was weirdly not angry at Ren, and she knew this... Even though he pretty much made her his slave with the binding vows and everything, Mei Mei weirdly always smiled when thinking about Ren...

Elsewhere—far elsewhere—Ren Sato blinked awake to pale morning light leaking through shattered windows.

Dust drifted. His cursed curtain still cloaked the broken apartment like a second skin.

No sound. No cursed signatures. He was still hidden. Still safe.

Ren sat up slowly, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand.

Kai2 squeaked from the corner, flopping onto his chest like a half-fish, half-loyal golden retriever.

"Morning," Ren muttered, patting it once. "Don't drool on the notes, freak."

The creature chirped and spun in a slow circle on his stomach.

Ren stared up at the ceiling, where his final diagram was pinned. The last paper in a web of theories and testing and preparation.

Today was the day.

No more trial runs. No more hypotheticals.

Today, the Red Cursed Circuit would be born.

Ren smiled faintly.

This technique… He came up with it when he was still a no-name nobody. When he had nothing. No, Rika. No, Mei Mei. No recognition. Just an idea. A theory that cursed energy could be internalized, purified, and mastered through force of will and cursed knowledge.

Now?

He had everything he needed.