【 CHAPTER 7 】The Festival

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Inari's POV

The night was eerily quiet, the air thick with humidity as the four of us stood outside an abandoned shopping mall.

The building loomed over us, its broken windows resembling hollow eyes staring into the abyss.

"Okay, so explain to me again why we're the ones doing this?" Kugisaki huffed, arms crossed.

"Because," Fushiguro replied deadpanned, "Gojo-sensei said, and I quote, 'This should be easy enough for you guys. Also, I have a dentist appointment.'"

"That lying bastard," I muttered, rolling my shoulders. "Alright, what's the mission brief?"

Fushiguro pulled out his phone, reading the details.

"There's been a string of disappearances around here. Witnesses say they've heard weird noises—scratching, whispering, and... get this... uncontrollable laughter. The higher-ups classified it as a second-grade curse, but it's tricky to deal with."

"Tricky how?" Itadori asked, adjusting the strap on his wide-edged dagger.

"People say it messes with your head. Those who came close to it felt lost, confused, and—"

"Enough stalling! Let's just beat the thing and go get ramen after!" Kugisaki interrupted, already marching toward the entrance.

We exchanged glances before following her in.

Inside the Mall

The deeper we went, the colder it became. Our breath was visible, and the fluorescent lights flickered weakly. The air smelled of mildew, old food, and something off—like rusted metal mixed with sour milk.

Then, we heard it.

A giggle.

Low and raspy at first. Then, it multiplied. The sound bounced off the walls, surrounding us.

"Nope. Absolutely not. This is ghost movie nonsense," I declared, pulling out a set of talismans.

"Yeah... I take back what I said about this being easy," Itadori muttered, his fingers tightening around his sword hilt.

"Stay close. It's trying to mess with us," Fushiguro warned.

The laughter grew into shrieking cackles as shadowy figures began flickering in and out of sight.

"Great, an annoying curse," Kugisaki grumbled. "Come out and fight already!"

As if on command, something shifted—a blur of motion, then—

BAM!

Something tackled Itadori, slamming him into a rusted elevator door. The impact left a dent.

"I'm okay!" he wheezed, gripping his dagger tighter.

I barely had time to react before something grabbed my ankle. Looking down, I saw a hand—pale, elongated fingers digging into my skin.

"HELL NO!" I shrieked, slapping a talisman onto it. "Barrier: Hex Bind!"

The paper glowed bright red before the hand crumbled into black mist.

Fushiguro's divine dogs materialized beside him, snarling at the shifting shadows. "It's blending into the environment. It's everywhere."

"Then we just hit everything," Kugisaki growled, raising her hammer.

A form flickered into sight—a grotesque humanoid figure with too-wide eyes and an unsettling grin stretching ear to ear. It let out a wheezing giggle before lunging at Kugisaki.

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