Toji was puzzled when his wife, Yuna, asked him if she could go grocery shopping again that afternoon. He remembered that she had already done that yesterday.
What was she up to?
He couldn't help but notice that she was dressed nicer than usual and had a glow on her face. She looked like she was excited about something. Toji felt a twinge of suspicion as he watched her. He trusted his wife and knew she would never cheat on him.
But he wondered why she was acting so differently just to buy some groceries. He hoped she wasn't getting into trouble like the last time.
That time, she had gone to a high school reunion with her old friends, who had ditched her at a bar with a huge bill that she couldn't pay. She had to sell her gold jewellery to cover the cost of their drinks. Toji was furious when he found out. He sneaked out at night and tracked down all of her friends who had been at the reunion.
He visited them one by one and demanded that they pay him back for what they did to his wife. Some of them agreed right away, while others tried to resist or call for help or call their rich mommy and daddy. They changed their minds when Toji pulled out his Glock and aimed it at their heads.
So when Yuna said goodbye and left the apartment, Toji decided to follow her. He quickly changed his clothes and grabbed his cursed worm, which contained several cursed weapons, diapers for his son, and a bottle of milk.
He also took his son, Megumi, with him using a baby strap. He didn't want to leave him alone at home and he didn't trust anyone else to look after him. He put on a tennis hat that he had forgotten he owned. Then he stepped out of the house with his son strapped to his chest and followed Yuna.
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Yuna walked towards the city park with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. She was eager to see Kushina again, the red-haired woman who had befriended her yesterday. They had agreed to meet at the same spot where they had their first conversation.
Yuna arrived early and sat on a bench, looking around for any sign of Kushina. She checked her watch and saw that ten minutes had passed since their scheduled time. She felt a pang of anxiety in her chest.
'Did she change her mind? Did something happen to her?' Yuna wondered nervously. Suddenly, she heard a loud yell from behind her.
"BOO!"
Someone shouted, making Yuna jump out of her seat in fright. She spun around and saw Kushina standing there, grinning and giggling.
"It's you! You scared me to death! I almost had a heart attack!" Yuna exclaimed, putting her hand over her heart and glowering at Kushina.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm so late. I took the wrong bus and had to run all the way here, dattebane." Kushina apologized, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that you got hurt or had some trouble and couldn't make it today." Yuna said, relieved. Kushina sniffed and thumped her chest proudly.
"Don't worry, as an Uzumaki I always keep my word, dattebane!" She declared. Yuna chuckled at Kushina's antics.
"Are you ready for today?" She asked, smiling warmly.
"Heck yeah, I'm always ready, dattebane!" Kushina answered, flashing a big grin at Yuna.
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"Hey, look at that guy. He's really tall." One of the mothers pointed at Toji, who was hiding behind a tree with his son strapped to his chest. He was watching his wife from a distance, wondering what she was doing in the park.
"What is he doing behind that tree? It's crawling with ants," another woman said, wrinkling her nose.
"Maybe he's an idol artist in disguise." The first mother lowered her voice and leaned closer to her friend. "He's wearing a mask and a hat."
"How could he be an idol?" The second woman scoffed. "He's clearly carrying a baby. And look at his clothes. They're so shabby. No artist would wear that."
"That's true. Even if they're trying to blend in, they wouldn't dress that ugly." The third woman nodded in agreement.
"But, even if he's not an idol, he's definitely handsome. Just look at his shoulders. He must have big muscles under those clothes." The first woman licked her lips and eyed Toji with lust.
"Ugh, you're in your mid-forties and your son has a kid. You're practically a grandmother. Get your mind out of the gutter!" The second woman scolded her friend.
Toji heard everything they said from this distance, but he didn't care. He rolled his eyes at the horny grandmother and focused his attention on his wife.
She was sitting on a park bench, smiling to herself. She looked excited and nervous, as if she was waiting for someone. Toji felt a surge of jealousy.
Who was she meeting in the park?
Ten minutes passed.
Toji saw his wife's expression change from anticipation to worry, and then to disappointment. He saw her fiddling with the end of her necklace, her head bowed. It looked like she had been stood up by whoever she was supposed to meet. She would surely walk home soon, if the person didn't show up.
Toji, who had planned to leave first so that his wife wouldn't find out that he had followed her to the park today, stopped in his tracks when he saw a woman with long red hair running towards the park at a breakneck speed.
To the eyes of non-jujutsu sorcerers, the woman's movements were barely visible. They only caught a fleeting glimpse of red hair in their peripheral vision. They didn't pay much attention to it. But Toji, who had keen senses, saw that the red-haired woman was moving faster than any normal human could.
Her speed reminded him of his own, when he ran at full throttle. There was no way she was using cursed techniques to run that fast. She didn't look like she belonged to any of the Jujutsu Clans. The only logical explanation was that she had Heavenly Restrictions, like him.
His worry level skyrocketed from 10% to 99% when he realized that the woman had stopped near his wife. He quickly and stealthily drew a cursed weapon from inside the cursed worm, ready to attack the woman who seemed to be about to kill his wife from behind.
His hat fell to the ground, as he moved too fast for anyone to notice. But it seemed that fate had other plans for Toji, when he was about to strike the woman with his weapon from distance.
Suddenly, a blob of bird poop landed on his face, blinding him with its stench and sting.
"Fucking bird!" He cursed, as he rubbed his eyes with both hands, trying to clear his vision.
He opened his eyes, fearing the worst for his wife. But what he saw was even more shocking. Yuna, his wife, was chatting with the red-haired woman as if they were old friends. His wife's face was glowing with joy and excitement as she listened to the woman's words. Then, to his disbelief, his wife and the woman clasped hands and ran off together, leaving the city park for some unknown destination.
Toji was speechless. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. His mind was racing with questions, trying to make sense of the situation.
'Who the hell is that red-haired woman? How is she connected to Yuna? When did they become so friendly? Is she an assassin hired by Zenin to kill my wife? Or is she after the bounty on my head and planning to kidnap Yuna as a leverage? Or maybe she's a rogue curse user with some hidden agenda? Damn, I need to find out more about this!' Toji thought as he pulled out his flip phone from his jacket pocket.
He dialed a number and waited for the other person to answer.
Ring..
Ring...
Ring....
"Hello," a voice said from Toji's phone.
"Shi, I need you to do some digging on a red-haired woman. I'll send you her photo. Make it fast," Toji said.
"Alright, anything else you need me to do? I have another client to meet in half an hour. Don't bother me then," Gong Shi Woo asked.
"Check if there's a new bounty on my head. That's it-.." Toji's words were cut off when he saw Megumi, his son, wake up in his baby carrier and vomit all over his jacket and clothes.
"What was that noise?" Gong Shi Woo asked, hearing the sound of Megumi's puking from the phone.
"..Shit, my son just barfed on me. Transfer the rest of my money. I need it, now."
He heard Gong Shi Woo snicker softly before hanging up the phone.
The smell of his son's vomit on his clothes and the bird droppings that had landed on his eyes and face earlier made Toji's nose twitch. Today was not his day. He saw his wife and the red-haired woman enter the supermarket together from a distance.
'I can't follow them now. I need to change into something clean. This stench is fucking unbearable!' Toji thought as he walked towards the clothing store that was across the street from the supermarket. It looked like an expensive place that he usually avoided. The prices of the clothes in the store made Toji feel like he was being ripped off.
But what choice did he have?
It was the only store that sold clothes nearby and had large windows that allowed him to see what was going on outside. A perfect spot for him to keep an eye on his wife without being noticed or attracting attention. Toji reluctantly bought some clothes at the store so that he wouldn't be kicked out by the salesperson for loitering too long without buying anything.
"This day fucking sucks," Toji muttered to himself.
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