What am I even thinking about?
I shrugged and stretched my arms.
"Whatever…"
After everything that had happened today, my brain probably just needed a reset.
"I should shower."
I looked down at my clothes. They were torn in several places, stained with dust and a little blood from the earlier fights.
I then smelled myself...
"Yeah… definitely shower."
I started wandering through the mansion again. The place was absurdly large, and honestly, snooping around rich people's houses was starting to feel like a hobby.
Eventually, I opened a random door.
And froze.
"…What the hell."
The entire room was filled with clothes.
Not a closet.
Not a wardrobe.
An entire room.
Shelves, racks, drawers—dresses, coats, skirts, shoes, handbags. Everything is neatly organized like a luxury boutique.
"Oh, my god…" I muttered.
I slowly stepped inside.
"I knew whoever owned this place was rich, but this is ridiculous."
I started checking sizes.
Then another.
Then another.
Forty minutes later, I walked out of the room with a dead expression.
"…Nothing fits."
Every skirt was too large.
Every shirt hung like a blanket.
Even the smallest shoes were too big.
"I'm too small for everything…"
"No wait... It's not that I am small, it's just that they are big."
I nodded to myself.
I sighed and dragged myself down the hallway.
Eventually, I checked another bedroom.
This one felt different.
The posters, books, and messy desk gave it a teenage vibe.
I opened the closet.
"…Jackpot."
Inside were clothes that actually looked like they belonged to someone my size.
"Thank God this family had a daughter."
I grabbed a few things but paused.
"…Wait."
I looked down at myself again.
"Yeah, no. Shower first."
I walked another 10 minutes as I searched for a bathroom.
The bathroom I found was huge.
Marble floor.
Large mirror.
And a shower big enough for three people.
I turned the handle carefully.
"Rich people really live in another world."
I stepped under the shower.
Hot water poured down my shoulders.
"…Damn."
I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.
"This is heaven."
The tension from the last days slowly melted away.
Fighting.
Running.
Almost dying.
Almost dying again.
Getting chased by Takaba.
The warm water washed it all away.
By the time I finished, nearly an hour had passed.
When I finally stepped out and dried my hair, I went back to the teenage room covered in blankets.
I changed into the clothes I "borrowed".
A brown skirt that reached just above my knees.
A clean white shirt.
Long black socks.
And a pair of Converse sneakers that somehow fit perfectly.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
"…Huh."
I turned slightly.
"If my friends from my past life saw me like this…"
I imagined their reactions. This gave me a small shock.
"…Well. They're not here."
I left the room looking a little dejected.
And immediately realized something important.
"I'm starving."
I hadn't eaten anything proper for more than a day
So I followed the smell of food downstairs.
The kitchen was massive.
Like something out of a cooking show.
But the moment I walked in—
I froze.
Yuji and Choso were standing in front of the open refrigerator.
Eating.
Random things.
Bread.
Cheese.
Cucumber slices.
A bottle of milk.
Yuji was chewing while reading a snack label.
Choso was calmly eating slices of ham directly from the package.
"…What are you two doing?"
They both looked at me.
Yuji raised a hand.
"Oh, hey Ikuyo-san."
He casually popped an M&M into his mouth.
"We were eating."
"I can see that."
I slowly walked closer and stared into the fridge.
Half the contents were already gone.
"You two eat like kids whose parents left them home alone for the first time."
Yuji scratched his cheek.
"…Is that bad?"
"YES. Move!"
I shoved both of them aside.
"Move. Move. Out of the way."
They stepped aside obediently.
"I'm cooking," I announced proudly.
Yuji blinked.
"…You can cook?"
"Of course I can."
He squinted suspiciously.
"For real?"
I puffed out my chest, looking proud of myself.
"For real real."
Choso looked mildly impressed.
"That is... useful."
I began searching through the ingredients.
"Alright…"
Tomatoes.
Garlic.
Olive oil.
Pasta.
Fresh herbs.
"Let's make pasta."
Yuji and Choso sat at the table watching.
Yuji whispered to Choso.
"Why does she look so confident?"
Choso whispered back.
"Confidence does not always equal skill."
A few hours later.
Yuji and Choso stared at their plates in silence.
The pasta looked… wrong.
The noodles had fused together into strange clumps.
The sauce had an odd color.
Steam rose from it suspiciously.
It looked like a stew more than a pasta.
Choso took the first bite.
Choso had survived wars.
Famines.
Centuries of hardship.
He had eaten things most people would not even consider food.
But this…
This was something else.
He chewed slowly.
"…Interesting."
Yuji tried next.
Two bites in, he froze.
Three bites in, he stood up.
"I'm full!"
Then he quickly walked away.
How do you mess up pasta this badly… Yuji thought.
"WAIT!"
Yuji froze.
I appeared behind him, holding a plate.
"Try the dessert!"
He looked down.
Inside the bowl were neat squares of rich chocolate brownies, slightly warm with melted chocolate chips inside.
They looked perfect.
Yuji hesitated.
"…Did you make this too?"
"Yep."
He carefully picked one up and took a bite.
And froze.
His eyes widened.
"…What?"
The brownie was incredible.
Soft.
Rich.
Perfectly sweet.
Maybe the best dessert he had ever tasted.
He slowly turned to look at me.
Yuji decided not to comment on pasta.
Choso tried one too.
His eyes widened slightly.
"This is excellent."
Soon, the two of them were eating brownies instead of the pasta.
I made a lot, so the entire plate disappeared quickly.
I tilted my head.
"Is it really that good?"
Both of them nodded instantly.
I shrugged and sat down.
Then I casually ate the pasta.
And the brownies.
Without reacting.
Yuji stared at me as he had just witnessed something impossible.
"How… are you eating that pasta like it's normal…?" he asked slowly.
I looked at him with a dangerous glint in my eyes.
"Are you... implying that my food is bad?" I replied instantly.
Yuji looked like he wanted to argue, but then he just gave up and returned to the brownies.
While we were eating, however, another presence was watching us.
Deep inside Yuji's soul, a thousand-year-old demon had been observing the entire scene in silence.
At first, when I pushed Yuji away from the refrigerator and stopped him from eating random things, he actually felt something rare.
A small amount of approval.
At least the girl has some standards, he had thought.
But then he saw the pasta.
Sukuna stared through Yuji's eyes at the horrifying dish.
The noodles had fused together into strange lumps.
The sauce looked… wrong.
Very wrong.
For the first time in centuries, the King of Curses felt genuine disgust.
What in the world is that…?
His expression twisted.
This woman…
Just like that, I moved several places higher on Sukuna's mental hit list.
But then Yuji took a bite of the brownies.
Sukuna expected another disaster.
Instead
Yuji froze.
The taste reached even Sukuna somehow.
Rich chocolate.
Perfect sweetness.
Soft texture.
Balanced flavor.
Sukuna paused.
"…?"
The contrast was so absurd that even he was confused.
She can create that monstrosity…
…and this at the same time?
For a moment, the King of Curses actually considered watching a little longer.
But then he sighed.
This is beneath me.
He leaned back into the darkness of Yuji's inner world.
And just like that—
The ancient monster returned to sleep.
Right at that moment, Kogane suddenly appeared beside us.
"You have been granted 7 points by Yuta Okkotsu."
"Huh?"
I blinked.
Then I checked my points.
"…Oh." I nodded slowly.
"I see."
Yuji looked confused.
"What happened?"
"Yuta probably saw I had ninety-three points."
"So he sent seven more to push me to one hundred."
"A silent message."
I instantly stood up.
"Kogane."
"Yuhuuu!"
Kogane reappeared.
"I want to add a rule."
"What rule do you want to make?"
I crossed my arms.
"Add a rule allowing Culling Game participants to freely enter and exit colony barriers."
Kogane paused for a moment.
"Approved."
I stretched my arms happily.
"Finally." Then I looked at Yuji.
"I want to sleep here."
"Can we rest for a day?"
Yuji shrugged.
"I mean… you're basically the boss here."
I smirked.
"Hmph. Good boy."
Yuji froze.
"Did you just..."
I walked away.
"Yup."
Yuji stared at the ceiling.
"Damn... What is wrong with me..." He murmured as he held his chest.
Choso looked at Yuji with a smile on his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
End of chapter.
(It was 7 points because Yuji and Choso didn't give back their points to her.)