After hearing Zhang Yiyi's account, Hayashi let out a cold laugh. "No wonder Fushiguro hates the Zenin clan so much. It seems they have good reason."
"Who's Fushiguro?" Jie Zhiyong couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked.
Hayashi ignored him. During their trip back, Hayashi had realized that Jie Zhiyong was quite the chatterbox, always asking questions non-stop. It was no wonder Zhang Yiyi always threatened to bash his head in.
"Don't worry, Sister Yiyi. If the Zenin clan ever crosses my path, I'll make sure to teach them a lesson for you," Hayashi declared confidently, patting his chest.
He wasn't afraid to say that in this setting. He didn't intend to provoke the Zenin clan right now, but if they ever messed with him in the future, he wouldn't care about their status. He'd punish them if they deserved it.
"Hehe, save it. I know you're capable, but you're still a long way from dealing with the Zenin clan," Zhang Yiyi's mood brightened slightly after Hayashi's comment, and she got up to head for the bathroom to shower.
"Didn't she look pretty sloppy before? Why is she showering twice today?" Hayashi couldn't understand it. Zhang Yiyi's feet had definitely looked like they hadn't been washed in days.
"Hehe, you don't know about this, do you?" Jie Zhiyong chuckled mysteriously. "Wanna know why?"
Hayashi shot him a glance and said, "Nope."
"Come on, you have to want to know! Why wouldn't you want to know? I have to tell you!" Jie Zhiyong couldn't believe Hayashi wasn't interested, which only made him more eager to share. "Actually, Yiyi has this quirk. She always has to shower before and after a mission."
"But we didn't even go on a mission today. We just went out for a meal."
"True, but there's another reason—she feels dirty, so she has to shower."
"What a pointless explanation," Hayashi scoffed.
Jie Zhiyong was the kind of person where, if you said he had no brains, he'd sometimes show that he did. But if you thought he had brains, he'd quickly prove otherwise.
"Hayashi, even though today wasn't a mission and we didn't get paid, you did the right thing. Come over here, I'll show you our next task—someone's placed an order," Yan Island called Hayashi over.
Hayashi looked at the job details carefully. It was a straightforward task: help remove curses from afflicted individuals so they could return to their normal lives.
These curses varied in strength, and the fee for removing them depended on their difficulty. For lower-grade curses, the fee was lower, but for stronger, more dangerous curses, the fee increased. However, Night Owl generally avoided extremely dangerous tasks.
Now that Hayashi had joined them, he felt they could take on more challenging missions. He believed he could handle most special-grade curses and suggested teaming up with Zhang Yiyi for tougher tasks to avoid revealing too much of his strength.
Yan Island agreed, but he felt it was still a bit risky. After all, Hayashi was still a student, and if something went wrong, it wouldn't just affect his peace of mind—Jujutsu High might also take issue with it.
As everyone was discussing their plans, the elevator showed that someone was coming down.
"Oh, that guy finally made it back!" Jie Zhiyong laughed and grabbed an inflatable hammer from behind a pile of boxes. Holding it with both hands, he positioned himself at the elevator door, ready to strike.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Jie Zhiyong swung the hammer down, but it seemed to rebound against some invisible force, bouncing back into his own face.
"Ouch!" Jie Zhiyong rubbed his nose. Fortunately, the hammer was inflatable, or else he'd be bleeding.
"Can't you come up with something new? I'm always prepared for this," came a voice from inside the elevator. A boy, no taller than 1.6 meters, stepped out with an annoyed expression.
"This is the guy I told you about—Kong Yue, second only to Zhang Yiyi in terms of strength," Yan Island stood up and introduced him to Hayashi with a smile. "Congrats on finishing the mission."
"I'm going to shower first. We'll talk later." Kong Yue entered the room and looked up at Hayashi, who towered over him. "You're the new guy, Hayashi, right? I've heard about you."
"Nice to meet you," Hayashi extended a hand, and the two shook briefly.
Kong Yue seemed to be about the same age as Hayashi, but much shorter, like a little kid. He dressed casually but neatly.
"You might want to wait—Yiyi's in the shower right now. Unless you want to get beaten up," Jie Zhiyong warned, tossing aside the hammer. His sneak attack had failed once again.
"It's not like I haven't seen her shower before. What's the big deal?" Kong Yue's nonchalant reply caught Hayashi off guard, though the others didn't seem surprised. It seemed this guy really had seen it before.
Jie Zhiyong leaned over and whispered in Hayashi's ear, "Yeah, he's seen it, but he got beaten black and blue for it. Trust me, that's not the way to go."
"Pfft!" Hayashi couldn't help but laugh. So Kong Yue had been beaten for it—he must still hold a grudge.
"Jie Zhiyong, if you keep running your mouth, next time I'll be the one attacking you," Kong Yue warned. Though he'd said he was going to shower, he decided not to after hearing that Yiyi was in there and instead sat on the couch, pulling out his phone.
"Who's afraid of who?" Jie Zhiyong shot back playfully. Kong Yue was the only one he could joke around with in the group, though it seemed like Hayashi was starting to fit in too—he seemed like a pretty easygoing guy.
"Did you guys go on a mission today?" Kong Yue asked, glancing at Yan Island.
Yan Island looked toward the bathroom, nodded, and said, "Kind of. How did your mission go?"
"The usual. I don't like dealing with people, so I just finished the job and left," Kong Yue replied, sounding disinterested.
"As long as it's completed safely. Some people just aren't worth dealing with, so let them be," Yan Island said knowingly. He understood that Kong Yue wasn't great at dealing with people, and it was a weakness of his.
"Is everyone here?" Zhang Yiyi walked out of the bathroom at that moment, dressed casually in a tank top and shorts, her hair tied back.
A faint but pleasant fragrance accompanied her. It wasn't overpowering, but it was refreshing to smell.
"Taking a shower does wonders—no more dirty feet. Now she looks more like a proper beauty," Hayashi thought to himself, but he wasn't close enough to Zhang Yiyi to say something like that out loud—he didn't want to get beaten.
"Yeah, Kong Yue's back," Yan Island confirmed with a nod. Though he was used to Zhang Yiyi's casual demeanor, he couldn't help but admire her appearance in the moment.
However, Yan Island never had any improper thoughts about Zhang Yiyi. He had always treated her like a little sister, especially since there was a considerable age gap between them.
"Now that everyone's here, what's the status of that mission, Brother Island? Do we have an order?" Zhang Yiyi asked nonchalantly, not caring about the stares. She was the only woman in the group, after all—it was natural that they'd look.
"I was just getting to that," Yan Island's expression turned serious as he addressed the group. "We've recently received a mission in a remote area near the coast of Hokkaido. Several organizations are aware of it, but no one's dared to take it on yet."