Before I could respond, she disappeared back into the fitting room. When she returned, she was back in her new lingerie which was sexy showing off her mature curvy body. "I'll take it," she announced, her confidence clear from my impressed and stunned expression. She packed up more clothes as she headed to the counter.
As we left the store, Sayo linked her arm through mine. "Hungry?"
"Not much, but I won't mind a free meal," I admitted shamelessly. *She was rich enough that paying for thousands wouldn't make her poor,* I reasoned.
The food court was crowded, but we managed to find a secluded corner table. While Sayo went to get our food, I watched the people around us, my instincts still on high alert despite the casual setting. *I need to refine my bloodline. I can't wait to unlock the three great clan curse techniques.*
Soon Sayo returned with two trays of food, setting them down before taking her seat. "Stop that silly cute grin—you're turning me on," she said gently with a hungry stare.
"Just for today, can we pretend we're normal?" I forced myself to relax, focusing on her instead of our food.
"Normal's overrated." She smiled, reaching across the table to take my hand. "So is constantly looking over your shoulder. Let them watch. They're not going to do anything here."
We ate in relative silence, occasionally making small talk about classes or mutual acquaintances. The food was mediocre mall fare, but Sayo's company made it enjoyable.
"Satoru texted me this morning," Sayo mentioned casually, watching my reaction closely. "He wanted to know if we were busy today."
I paused mid-bite. "And what did you tell him?"
"That I had plans with someone important," Sayo replied, her thumb stroking the back of my hand. "He seemed... disappointed."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. The last conversation with Satoru had been unexpected, to say the least. His boldness and directness had caught me off guard, but I couldn't deny his friendship had its own benefits.
"Are you still thinking about getting stronger?" Sayo's voice pulled me back to the present. Her expression was easy to read.
"Just wondering what he wanted," I hedged. *The last match with him showed me I need to be more serious. I wanted to fix his loneliness issue, but the invisible barrier between us wouldn't allow that.*
Sayo's expression softened. "You know, if you're interested in anything, I can and will help..." She squeezed my hand. "I'm here with you, aren't I?"
She seemed satisfied with that answer, and we finished our meal with lighter conversation. After eating, we wandered through the mall, occasionally stopping at stores that caught Sayo's interest. Our last stop was an electronics store where Sayo spent considerable time examining different headphones.
"Which ones do you think?" she asked, holding up two different pairs.
"The wireless ones," I replied immediately. "More practical for training."
Sayo nodded thoughtfully. "Good point. You're always so practical."
"Someone has to be," I teased.
As we left the store, the mall was beginning to close. Outside, the evening air had cooled considerably.
"Walk me home?" Sayo asked, her voice hopeful.
"Of course. But mine or yours?"
"You're naughty. Yours, of course."
The walk back to my place was quieter than our time at the mall, but comfortable. The streetlights cast long shadows as we made our way through the residential area.
"Today was nice," Sayo said as we approached her house. "Normal, even."
"Normal's not so bad sometimes," I admitted.
She stopped at her gate, turning to face me. The soft glow of the porch light caught in her eyes, making them shimmer. The comfortable silence between us was charged with an unspoken question, the same one that had been simmering all day.
A slow, knowing smile spread across her face. She took a half-step closer, closing the small distance between us until I could feel the warmth radiating from her body. "Then let's make it a little less normal," she murmured, and then she was kissing me.
It wasn't a chaste, goodnight peck. It was deep and claiming, her lips parting against mine with a soft sigh. Her hands came up to cup the back of my neck, her fingers tangling in my hair as she pulled me closer. I responded in kind, one arm wrapping around her waist to press her against me, my other hand cradling her jaw. The taste of her, sweet and faintly minty, was intoxicating.
The world, with all its dangers and bounty hunters, melted away. There was only the soft press of her body against mine, the gentle night air, and the desperate, hungry need in her kiss. My bloodline, which usually hummed with a restless, violent energy, seemed to purr in contentment. For the first time all day, I wasn't analyzing threats or refining techniques. I was just here, with her.
That's when the first shot rang out.
The crack of the gunshot was an obscene violation, tearing through the intimate moment. A bullet, humming with the distinct, acrid tang of cursed energy, slammed into the brick wall just above Sayo's head, showering us with dust and fragments.
My body moved on pure, primal instinct. I wrenched my mouth from hers, spun us around, and slammed Sayo back against the wall, shielding her with my own body as another bullet ricocheted off the pavement at our feet. The intimate warmth of our kiss was instantly replaced by the cold, sharp adrenaline of combat.
"Bounty hunters," Sayo gasped out, her eyes wide with fury and shock, not fear. Her hands, which had been caressing my neck moments ago, were now clenched into fists, her own cursed energy flaring to life around her.
From the shadows across the street, they emerged. Three humans in dark tactical gear, their assault rifles raised, barrels glowing with that same sickly purple light. Flanking them were two sorcerers, their auras flaring like dark beacons. One was a Grade 2 I presumed from the curse output he was oozing from him, a smug-looking bastard with a puppetry technique. The other was unknown, but his energy felt sharp and unstable, like frayed electrical wire.
The Grade 2 sorcerer clapped his hands together mockingly. "Aww, did we interrupt something? Don't worry, we'll make it quick. Hand over the prodigy boy, and the rich girl gets to keep her pretty little house."
The casual cruelty of his words, the way he dismissed her, ignited a cold fury in my gut. They hadn't just attacked us. They'd defiled the one moment of peace I'd allowed myself.
"You shouldn't have done that," I said, my voice dangerously low. I could feel my emotions thrumming, no longer purring but roaring with a violent, eager energy. The pain I wanted to inflict on them was sharp and immediate.
I shoved Sayo toward her door. "Get inside! Now!"
But she didn't move. Instead, she moved to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me. "I'm not leaving you," she stated, her voice like steel. "Moreover they need to learn not to mess with Gojo clan"
The gunmen opened fire. I didn't bother with a curse technique. I slammed my foot on the pavement, pouring raw, unrefined cursed energy into the ground.
The bullets froze mid air and I halted whatever I believed I was doing and looked at her, she used her Curse Technique to defend. 'She can use infinity?'
While the humans reloaded, the sorcerers attacked. The puppeteer flicked his fingers, and a nearby park bench was ripped from its bolts and hurled toward us like a missile utilizing his puppetry.
Sayo was faster. With a sharp gesture, a shimmering, violet barrier appeared in front of us, and the bench shattered against it. 'Holy shit she's a Special grade I don't know that.'
The second sorcerer slammed his hands together, and a net of crackling, pure lightning shot toward me.
I met it head-on. I threw my hands forward, and my own Cruse energy exploded outwards, a raw, vortex-like force that met the electric net. His technique and my reinforced strength collided in a blinding flash of light and the deafening crack of opposing energies.
The flash died down, revealing the puppeteer sorcerer's face, now contorted in rage. He was done playing.
"Enough!" he roared. "Kill them both! The bounty's dead or alive!"