Chapter 181: If Nothing Unexpected Happens, Something Unexpected is About to Happen
Sometimes that's just how it is: when you don't defend yourself against a bad rumor, others assume you're staying quiet because of a guilty conscience. And when you finally do choose to explain the truth or the reason behind that bad thing, others then assume you're only explaining because you're feeling defensive and guilty.
The proverb "Good news stays indoors, but bad news travels a thousand miles" exists for a reason.
Originally, the people in the room might have still held a shred of doubt regarding the story Itadori Yuji just described, as it was simply too contrary to their established image of the [King of Curses].
When you know of a demon who once ruled an entire region, acted with ruthless decisiveness, and spent a lifetime unrestrained while killing countless people, would you ever associate him with a role that requires clutching a doll just to fall asleep?
But when Ryomen Sukuna's mouth suddenly manifested on the side of Itadori Yuji's face—the side he couldn't easily cover—and began a bout of impotent fury, the authenticity and credibility of the story instantly skyrocketed.
It wasn't because physical evidence had appeared, but because people's hearts began to lean toward that conclusion.
In many cases, results are like this: the truth and the facts aren't what's important; what matters is how the majority of people perceive and view the matter.
When the mouth first popped out, the students sitting nearby were still a bit frightened. But as they gradually realized that this mouth couldn't actually bite them, their courage began to grow.
Setting aside the mythologized parts of him in the long spans of history, Ryomen Sukuna was ultimately just a slightly more powerful male jujutsu sorcerer.
"How amazing... so this mouth really is Ryomen Sukuna?"
"Can he really only do this and not take over Itadori-kun's body? It still feels a bit dangerous."
"But having said that, the things he eats should still be inside Itadori's body, right? Could it be that there's a tube leading directly to the stomach..."
As time passed, the topics discussed by the group became not only bolder but even more bizarre.
The group quickly split into two factions during the discussion: the Fantasy Faction and the Realist Faction. The Fantasy Faction believed that Sukuna likely converted the food he ate into pure energy to replenish himself, biding his time.
Meanwhile, the Realist Faction believed that behind Sukuna's mouth was actually Itadori's own oral cavity, meaning that whatever Ryomen Sukuna ate actually ended up in Itadori's mouth or stomach...
Yeah, that was honestly a bit disgusting.
When Ryomen Sukuna finally realized that no matter how much he threatened them, he would only appear to be in a state of impotent rage—which only made these students even bolder—he decisively retreated.
There is a method in the world called the "Spiritual Victory" method. As long as he shut off his senses and didn't allow himself to hear these things, he could act as if they didn't exist at all.
It didn't matter.
There would come a day when he could get out, and at that time, not a single one of these brats who dared to laugh at him would be able to run away!
To be honest, Ryomen Sukuna's verbal skills were also quite lacking. With this level of rhetoric, let alone protecting his parents' honor, even his ancestors eighteen generations back would likely be dragged out for a verbal lashing.
Though the party concerned had indeed disappeared, this novel experience still made it impossible for the group to suppress their desire to talk. After all, such a "living" figure from ancient times wasn't that easy to encounter.
The topic of conversation quickly shifted from the relationship between Sukuna and Itadori to an evaluation of Sukuna's actual combat power, and then somehow got tangled up with Gojo Satoru, forcing him to issue yet another victory declaration: "I'd win."
When a group of acquaintances gathers together, time flows very quickly. They unknowingly chatted for dozens of minutes, and just as they were feeling a bit fatigued, they suddenly smelled an aroma wafting into their nostrils...
Gurgle—
The sound of stomachs growling rose one after another, and without exception, every student in the room was "hit."
During that period just now when they didn't feel much hunger, it was still tolerable. But when a continuous stream of fragrance began to flood their minds, that heartfelt sense of hunger became unbearable.
Anyone who has experienced this feeling can probably understand what kind of torture and agony this is.
At this point, the group all stopped talking in unison to conserve energy, because their eyes were all fixed on Emiya, who was busy in the kitchen, fantasizing about when he would step out the door carrying the delicacies.
As for how long they actually waited in the end? Nobody really knew.
Because in this excruciating moment where every second felt like a year, they had lost almost all sense of time. They only knew that after a long wait, Emiya finally brought plate after plate of prepared dishes to the dining table.
After squeezing the last dish onto the packed table, Emiya gently took off his apron and looked curiously at the group, whose eyes were fixed squarely on him.
"Why are you all looking at me? Aren't you going to start eating?"
"Emiya-sensei, you've worked hard for so long. Of course, you should be the one to start first."
Fushiguro Megumi had to use a considerable amount of willpower to successfully say those words.
"Even if you say that... haven't you noticed that Gojo over there has already started eating?"
Emiya tilted his head slightly, gesturing for the group to look at Gojo Satoru sitting on the other side of the table.
It was only then that they realized that this guy, Gojo Satoru, had at some point already started stuffing various dishes into his mouth, and he hadn't made a single extra sound.
After realizing that everyone had started looking at him, far from holding back, his hand movements actually became even faster.
One couldn't help but wonder if those chopsticks were actually limiting his performance.
As it turned out, there was a reason why a teacher was a teacher.
"Ah! Gojo-sensei, so sneaky... wait, no, why are you eating too!"
"You're not allowed to snatch from me, I saw this one first!"
"Hey, hey, you're clearly a Panda, just go eat bamboo!"
"Who would want to eat something tasteless like bamboo!"
"Mentaiko!"
The entire dining table had effectively become a miniature "Dark Forest." If you showed even a little bit of modesty or hesitation, your favorite dish might just be snatched away by someone else.
Although the students' chopsticks often clashed in mid-air, in Emiya's eyes, this was actually a sign of their good relationship.
"It's really nice, student days..."
Emiya almost forgot that he himself hadn't even officially graduated from high school yet.
Unfortunately, happy times like these are always short-lived.
After the competitive dinner time ended, everyone still had to return to their own rooms. Emiya's place couldn't accommodate so many people for sleeping.
Fortunately, the students were still very filial; they took over the chores like washing the dishes and scrubbing the pans—though the plates had actually been licked clean by them already.
When all the antics ended and Emiya looked at the empty living room alone, he couldn't help but feel a bit of loss.
However, this feeling of loss only lasted for a moment before disappearing. After all, thinking about such things was useless.
He didn't even know how long he would stay here, and the time he would spend with the students was still long. Why worry now about a separation that would only occur in an unknown future?
And rather than dwelling on the sadness of parting, it was better to think about how happy it would be when they met again.
Looking at the living room and shaking his head, Emiya was just about to return to the bedroom when a series of vibrations suddenly came from his side pocket.
Ring ring ring!
Very few people ever called Emiya directly, and a communication choosing to come in at this midnight hour obviously meant some urgent matter that needed to be resolved immediately.
Emiya originally thought it would be Ijichi notifying him to urgently handle a dangerous cursed spirit somewhere, but after picking up the phone, the voice that came from the other side was Romm's—
"I'm sorry to contact you at this time, but if nothing unexpected happens...
It seems something very unexpected has happened over here."