Ieiri Shoko reached out and poked Satoru Gojo.
"Hey, your brain is smoking."
"What?" Gojo still wore a smile, but his eyes were vacant.
*Kind of stupid,* Shoko thought.
"I said your brain," Shoko said, reaching out to tap the top of Gojo's head.
"Your brain is smoking," she added.
"Oh, right." Gojo dropped his smile and reached up to put his sunglasses back on, though his brain was probably so fried that he nearly shoved the temple right up his nostril.
"Need help?" Shoko sighed.
"Sure, thanks."
*So obedient?* Shoko felt a bit suspicious.
Hearing Gojo, Yaga Masamichi also turned around and said sternly, "Shoko, hurry up."
It would be great if Gojo were a little obedient, but that only applied if he wasn't acting like an idiot.
………………
"Technique: Theory of Truth and Falsehood." Sanlu Mu's voice sounded beside Suguru Geto's ear. Geto threw a punch, only to find nothing there.
"So aggressive, Suguru." Sanlu Mu's voice carried a hint of a smile, gentle and pleasant like a spring breeze.
Geto tilted his head slightly. Sanlu Mu was standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at him with a smile.
"I said I'd go all out, so of course I can't break my promise." Geto smiled too, and the next second, his fist flew straight toward Sanlu Mu's face.
*Not real.* Geto pulled back his fist. That punch had just hit empty air, and if nothing went wrong...
"Nice reaction, Suguru."
Geto crossed his arms in front of his chest just barely in time to block Sanlu Mu's sneak attack.
"Why are you resorting to sneak attacks?" Geto's voice sounded somewhat helpless as he shook his hands.
"You didn't hold back at all either. If I hadn't reacted in time to that punch, I'd have to ask classmate Ieiri to heal me." Geto rubbed his wrists and hopped in place a few times.
"Since I'm sneaking up on you, of course I'm hoping to land it in one hit." Sanlu Mu's figure appeared in front of one of Geto's cursed spirits. He still had the exact same look as when he tricked Geto into throwing a punch, except for the smile on his face, which was even wider.
"Oh, right, Suguru." Sanlu Mu's figure vanished once more.
"If I'm not mistaken, you can share senses with your cursed spirits, right?" Sanlu Mu stood beside Geto, murmuring softly.
"Yes." Geto threw another punch.
"Tch." As expected, this Sanlu Mu was fake too.
"If that's the case, why doesn't Suguru try using your sensory link with the cursed spirits to find me?" This time Sanlu Mu stopped right in front of Geto.
"In the eyes of a cursed spirit, humans and cursed spirits are very different. My clones and the cursed spirits I replicate are the same kind of thing—use your sensory link and look closely." Sanlu Mu reached out and patted Geto's shoulder.
"You're kind of tall." Sanlu Mu stood on tiptoe, then finally pulled his hand back.
"You're just a bit short." Geto replied subconsciously.
"S—Sorry." Realizing what he had just said, Geto awkwardly scratched the back of his head. After Sanlu Mu suggested this method earlier, he had been thinking about it so intently that he had accidentally blurted out the raw truth.
"Hah..." There was no way Sanlu Mu couldn't tell what this guy was thinking; he shook his head.
*I can't be bothered to argue with you.*
"Give it a try, Suguru." Sanlu Mu's figure vanished again.
"Start by telling whether the me you see is real or fake."
Geto followed the sound. By now, Sanlu Mu had reached the edge of the athletic field.
"Of course, Suguru."
Geto turned his head mechanically.
Not far away, a second Sanlu Mu had appeared. This Sanlu Mu was quite lively, bouncing up and down in place, with tears flying everywhere.
"If you can't tell the real one from the fake one right away..."
Geto reached out toward his right ear.
*Fake...*
"You're going to get beaten up." Geto turned around and met the gaze of a tear-streaked Sanlu Mu floating mid-air.
"Why are you in the sky?" Geto was numb. He poked Sanlu Mu gently on the forehead with one finger, and predictably, classmate Sanlu Mu turned into a puff of smoke and drifted away.
This Sanlu Mu actually didn't have many tears on his face.
"I replicated myself the exact moment I jumped off the cursed spirit, so I ended up in the sky." Sanlu Mu explained amiably.
"Oh." Geto withdrew his finger and stood up straight.
"Come on." He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I'm ready," Geto said.