"Both of you will pay, do you hear me!!!" Amanai shrieked, her face flushed crimson as she kicked uselessly in Naoya's grip. Her sneakers scraped against empty air as he ignored her flailing.
Naoya didn't even glance down. "I'm going to touch you if you don't shut your mouth," he said, voice flat. Then—without so much as a breath—he bent his knees and launched upward, landing soundlessly on the rooftop with Amanai still dangling like an angry kitten.
"W-What the hell?!"
Gojo appeared beside him in an instant, hands in his as he surveyed the scene. Below, the bag-masked curse user's clones cackled in unison, their laughter overlapping like broken speakers.
"This is the easiest thirty million ever," the masked curse user sneered, his distorted voice ringing out as four identical clones emerged beside him, each snickering. "Just two bratty kids guarding the prize? What a joke."
Naoya's eyes narrowed. "Four is your maximum, huh?" His cursed energy spiked suddenly—
"Wait, what are you—"
Too late.
Gojo was already gone from Naoya's side — in a blur of motion, he reappeared behind two of the clones and unleashed Blue, yanking them toward his fists with brutal force. The impact crunched through their cursed flesh with a sickening crack, erasing them instantly.
Naoya, not to be outdone, vanished and reappeared behind the third clone with insane speed — his hand snapped out, twisting the clone's neck with a bone-splitting crack. It dropped instantly.
That left one.
The real one.
Naoya stepped forward, hand raised casually.
"Air Freeze."
The space ahead of him shimmered — twelve razor-thin projection frames, perfectly aligned in a compact cube of suspended air. He'd frozen not only movement but the air particles themselves, locking the space in temporal stasis.
Then—he punched.
The compressed air detonated.
A shockwave roared out, tearing the silence apart. Concentric rings of distorted space pulsed forward, vaporizing rooftop tiles and warping the air like a superheated mirage. The curse user's mask shattered, jaw dislocated, and ribcage folded in on itself like crushed origami as he was launched backwards — crashing through three concrete walls before disappearing into the rubble.
Amanai screamed, shielding her face from the blast wind. Gojo just grinned.
"GURARARARARA—" Naoya attempted a booming laugh, the sound dying awkwardly in his throat like a sputtering engine.
Gojo blinked. "...The hell was that? Sounded like a dying chainsaw."
Naoya's face twitched. "It's Whitebeard's laugh. From—" He caught himself, adjusting his cufflinks. "Nevermind."
"You mean that pirate manga that came out years ago?" Gojo snapped his fingers. "Wait—you read that trash?"
"what did you say???"
Amanai stared at the destruction, then at Naoya, then at the distant rubble where their attacker now resided. "HOW ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT MANGA RIGHT NOW?!"
Naoya ignored her, his right hand already forming the domain expansion sign. "Domain Expansi—"
A vibration.
The world froze. Amanai's phone screen lit up with a notification - a single image of Kuroi bound and gagged in a dark room, her terrified eyes staring directly at the camera. The timestamp read 2 minutes ago.
Naoya's hand dropped. Gojo's grin vanished.
Amanai's breath hitched. "...Kuroi?"
…
Beach Aftermath
The ocean breeze carried the scent of salt and sunscreen as waves lapped at the shore. Amanai splashed in the shallows with Gojo, his sunglasses glinting in the sun while he dramatically dodged her attempts to splash him.
On the sand, Kuroi sat between Geto and Naoya, her expression caught between gratitude and exhaustion.
"You see," Geto explained, gesturing with a half-peeled orange, "once we tracked the signal, it was simple. Satoru handled the front while I flanked from behind with a curtain. They never stood a chance."
Kuroi nodded politely. "That's... impressive."
Naoya flipped a page of his magazine without looking up. "You're welcome."
Kuroi's eye twitched. "You didn't do anything."
"Exactly." He turned another page. "My presence alone was enough to strike fear into their hearts."
Geto sighed, popping an orange slice into his mouth. "He slept in the car the whole time."
Naoya stretched with a lazy grin. "And yet, here we are. Alive. Unharmed. Thriving. Honestly, I should charge you all for the privilege of my presence."
Naoya leaned closer to Kuroi, his voice a low purr. "By the way… your apron strings are untied. Kinda risky, don't you think?" His gaze flickered down, then back up with deliberate slowness. "Unless you want something slipping off..."
Kuroi's hands flew behind her—only to grasp at bare skin, her swimsuit hugging her curves snugly.
Naoya's smirk turned downright predatory. " "Tch… made you touch yourself. Didn't think you'd fall for it so easily, Kuroi. Or maybe you like being teased?"
Her face burned, but before she could retaliate—
THWACK!
A coconut smashed into Naoya's skull with brutal force, sending him stumbling forward. Amanai stood waist-deep in the water, fists clenched. "STOP HARASSING KUROI, YOU DISGUSTING PERV!"
Gojo nearly choked on his laughter, wheezing as he staggered toward Amanai for a high-five. "Hah! Direct hit! Ten points for style!"
Naoya slowly straightened, rubbing his head—then froze. His eyes narrowed. "…There's no way Riko could've hit me without me noticing." A sinister grin spread across his face as he turned to Gojo.
"Domain Expansion—" Naoya snarled, murder flashing in his gaze.
Geto's sweat turned icy. "What the hell, Naoya?! You don't just pop a Domain over a coconut —!"
Gojo backpedaled, hands up in mock surrender, grin never fading. "Whoa, whoa! Chill! It was just a joke—!"
"DIE."
…
Later, behind a rock, in the aftermath of near-carnage…
Gojo, Geto, and Naoya sat in a loose huddle, the ocean breeze doing little to cool the tension.
"You haven't slept for three days, right, Gojo?" Geto asked, arms crossed, eyeing him with concern.
Gojo shrugged, tossing a small pebble. "Sleep is for the weak." His voice lacked its usual bite—just a touch too hoarse, a bit too tired.
Naoya tilted his head, smile like a dagger.
"You're too damn invested in that girl. Staying awake the whole time just to watch over Riko? That's not 'mission protocol'—that's straight-up simp behavior?"
Gojo's sunglasses slid down his nose just enough to reveal one gleaming, unimpressed eye. "Ohhh, so now you care about protocol? Weren't you just trying to peek at Kuroi two minutes ago?"
Naoya smirked. "That's called appreciating the view. You? You're on babysitting duty. Big difference."
Geto massaged his temples. "I swear, I'm the only sane one here."
Gojo gasped, clutching his chest. "Suguru! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I'm on the side of not dying from exhaustion because my partner refuses to sleep like a normal human."
Naoya barked a laugh. "Damn, Geto. Even you think he's down bad."
Gojo rolled onto his stomach, propping his chin on his hands. "Pfft. Jealous I've got the stamina to pull it off?"
Naoya's eye twitched. "I will actually expand my domain this time—"
He exhaled hard, then sighed and lightly tapped Gojo on the shoulder with the side of his fist.
"We're here too, you know. Don't act like we don't exist."
Gojo blinked, then gave a half-smile—just a little less smug this time.
Geto looked between them, raising an eyebrow. "Wow. Did Naoya just display emotional maturity?"
"Domain expansion"