- Silas -
Around half an hour later, I heard the ringing of the bell and looked over the counter to see a face I hadn't seen in a week.
Sakura Matou.
She was in her school uniform and drenched in rain.
Was it raining on her side?
I quickly went out to give her a towel but found myself pausing at the expressions in her eyes.
They looked so lifeless.
"Sakura-san?"
"May I come in?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"Yes. Please do." I moved aside and let her enter my restaurant as I closed the door behind her.
I gave her the towel and showed her to the private room to let her dry herself while I hurried to prepare a bowl of ramen so that she can have something hot to eat.
By the time I was done, she had finished drying herself too.
"Here, have a bowl of Ramen. It will help you warm up a bit or you will catch a cold." I put the bowl in front of her.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"It's fine. You are a regular at my place. We could even be considered friends. This is the least I can do."
She raised her head and looked at me and once more I was stunned at the expression on her face.
"Friends?"
"Eh… yes. I would consider myself as such, although if you don't want it then."
"No! I… am happy."
What was up with this reaction?
Did she not have any friends?
Or maybe she had a fight with someone?
A breakup maybe?
It was honestly painful to look at her like this and before I had realised, I had already said some words.
"Sakura-san."
"Yes."
"... are you.. Alright?" I asked, hesitating a bit.
She froze a bit.
It was very slight but I could see it due to my recent training with Cursed Energy as well as eating the high quality food from my Restaurant, my senses were enhanced by a bit.
"Yes. I'm alright. Thank you for asking." She answered with a smile but both her smile and her tone… it almost seemed artificial.
She was lying.
"I… okay. Just in case you know, you have called me a friend and friends help each other. So… if you ever need any help, you can ask me."
Her eyes widened a bit and she looked down.
I was about to probe a bit more when the door to the Restaurant opened again.
The new arrival was a boy with curly blue hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a white and black jacket, a black shirt and blue jeans.
"So this is where you were. Wandering off to a rundown place like this. Who do you think will make dinner tonight, Sakura?" he said in an overly patronising voice.
I looked at Sakura and observed that her hands shook a bit.
She was afraid.
She still got up shakily.
"Yes, I will go and cook." She whispered, not even daring to look up.
The boy walked towards her and held her hand. "Quickly, hurry up."
"Excuse me. Would you please not disturb my customer?" I intervened.
The boy looked at me with a disparaging gaze and then his face took on a smile. "Hahahaha I think you are misunderstanding something. This is my little sister. I am just taking her home."
I looked at Sakura and she nodded, not daring to meet my gaze.
"See, I told you. Now, if you will excuse me." he pulled her by her arm.
At this time, I saw something.
The sleeve of her shirt had gone up a bit when he held her hand, and there was a black bruise like marking on her hand. It was as if….as if she was hit.
"Sakura-san." I called out to her. She looked at me and once more I asked. "Are you alright?"
There was a slight pause and her face took on that same puppet-like smile, "Yes. I'm alright."
The guy turned around, pulling her by her hand but I knew what I had to do.
I caught her other hand, making both of them stop.
The boy turned towards me, first surprised and then with a hint of anger in them. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked, his anger leaking out lightly.
"She still hasn't paid for her food."
….
"Oh." The guy was surprised at the answer, certainly not expecting it.
Even Sakura was taken aback at the statement although there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
I merely looked at the guy.
"I'm sorry, but she will have to pay before she can leave."
"Eh, yes. How much is it?" He asked in an arrogant tone.
"One million yen."
"One hun… what!"
"That will be one million yen, sir."
"Are you joking? Does this Restaurant make jokes instead of food because you need to work at them more?"
"I'm being very serious here, Sir. The food Sakura-san ate was a premium item and the speciality of our Restaurant. It was made up of extremely expensive items and does cost one million yen and… I cannot allow her to leave until she pays."
"Are you one of those scammers? Do you know who you are messing with? I am Shinji Matou. I can crush this tiny Restaurant of yours in a second, you lowly…" he went on a rant.
I didn't wait for his rant to be completed and held his hand and separated it from her.
"You are free to do whatever you want or call whoever you want to." I replied. In fact, I would be happier if he did call the police and they took notice of the abuse on Sakura. It would at least help her in a roundabout way. With this thought in mind, I continued. "But until she pays the bills, I cannot allow her to leave. If she has to stay here and work out her debts… then so be it."
"Silas-san." Sakura looked stunned at my reply.
I didn't look at her and concentrated on the guy before me. "So, if you don't have the money for the bills… get out."
"You!" He gritted his teeth, face red with rage as he tried to punch me only for me to catch his fist with my hand. It was quite easy too.
While not at the level of a martial artist, I did become stronger due to a combination of my special food and daily work. Especially now, with the added Jujutsu training.
"I do not like fighting so I will warn you to control yourself and not force me to resort to violence." I warned before releasing his hand as she staggered a few steps back.
He looked outraged but I stood firm and so he turned his target to Sakura. "I see. So this is your plan. Do you really think you can get out like this? Do you think he would let his heir get away so easily? Do you think this… this lowly cretin can save you? Ah, little Sakura wants a knight in shining armour, riding on a white horse to save her. But you will only be disappointed and this bastard will pay. I will make sure of it." he shouted.
I looked from the corner of my eyes and while she looked pained at the first few sentences, she almost lost the colour in her face when he threatened me.
… this only made my determination to help her out more.
"Guest. You are creating a scene in the Restaurant. I will have to ask you to leave." I stared impassively at him.
"You! I will see you. You don't know who you have messed with."
"Please leave." I ordered once more and took a step in his direction.
He cowered back, stumbling on a chair before his eyes lit up and he grabbed the chair, swinging it at me.
"No!" I heard Sakura scream but my mind was clear.
It was as if things slowed down in front of me.
I crouched to dodge the swing of the chair and kicked the ground with my feet, propelling myself with cursed energy and focused my Cursed Energy on my fist instead of my knife as I… punched.
The guy hurriedly pulled the chair in between us but I didn't stop.
What I wasn't expecting was the steel chair, bending with my punch and hitting the guy's face along with it.
The guy went flying towards the Restaurant's door and coincidentally, at the same time, the door of the Restaurant opened.
Two girls entered the Restaurant at the same time. They yelped and dodged to the side while the guy crashed into their bag, face first.
I let out a sigh. "I am sorry. I was just throwing out a troublemaker." I walked towards the guy, picked him up, opened the door and threw him out.
"Oh, and fifty million yen more for the property damage and assault on the owner. Now, get out." With that said, I shut the door on his face.
….
….
There was an awkward silence in the room.
I took a look at the girls. One had long caramel coloured hair tied in a bun while the other had short black hair with a bob cut with equal fringes on both sides. Both of them wore sailor uniforms.
The girls were looking at me, frozen in shock.
"I'm sorry for scaring you two but the Restaurant is closed for today. You can come by some other day, and I will give you a treat, on the house." I bowed and apologised again.
They quickly nodded and ran out of the Restaurant.
I turned towards Sakura. She was still quiet.
Taking a deep breath, I began, "Sakura-san. You called me a friend… and friends help each other. I don't know the situation at your home but it's hurting you. It's… fine to ask for help."
Her eyes watered and she shook her head.
"It's fine. I can… we can help."
"No no. You don't know him. He is… you cannot fight against him. Let me go. I will… I will try to stop him. Please." Her body was shaking as if she was falling into a shock.
I had never encountered such a situation before and did the only thing I could think of.
I walked towards her and hugged her.
She stifled.
"Trust me. You don't have to go there if you don't want to. I will not let you get hurt. I promise." I slowly caressed her back but she was still shivering. "If you are worried about anyone hurting me, then don't be. I will be fine." I pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. "If you want, we can go to the police and complain or you can stay here as long as you want. We can find a way to help you….so, don't let yourself get hurt."
"Oh, did I come at the wrong time?" I heard a voice from behind me and looked to find Gojo-san standing by the door. He had a smirk on his face but it faded away when he saw Sakura's state.
"What happened, Silas-kun?"
- Nanako Hasaba -
They kept running as fast as they could and when that place was no longer in sight, she brought out her mobile and used her Curse to transfer both Mimiko and herself away from the place.
Finally, finding a corner, they collapsed behind a car and breathed heavily.
"W-what… what was that monster? That much Cursed Energy... I don't think even Gojo Satoru has that kind of power. What was that place?" She shouted.
"I don't know. I had just found out that the imposter that took Geto-san's body was seen there, fighting Gojo Satoru. I thought we could find some clues about where he is… I didn't expect to find such a…" Mimiko answered.
"We cannot go back there."
"There is no need to. As long as we have Sukuna's finger, we can make a deal with him to get Geto-san's body back." Mimiko replied and she agreed.
Yes.
They didn't need to worry.
They can get the help of the King of Curses.
As long as they had this… she put her hand in her purse but didn't find it.
"Where is Sukuna's finger!"
- Shinji Matou -
"Cough cough. That bastard. How dare he? Cough cough. How dare he hit me? And what was that thing that I swallowed when crashing into those girls?"
….
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Author's Note:
A day later than expected but I am back with another chapter of 'The Restaurant'.
Life goes on in the Restaurant and without even realising, Silas has caused havoc in two worlds.
As for the amount of Cursed Energy of Silas.
It's due to a combination of several situations, his being a natural born Devil and a reincarnation being two of them. I will explain it later.
Trust me, I put that value after a lot of thought.
Also, just having great Cursed Energy reserves doesn't make him the strongest.
He still needs to learn how to properly utilise it and such things take time.
Anyways, we will see what happens in the next chapters.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.