Temporal Paradox - Suguru Geto x OC

Chapter 8

'Vomit usually tastes sour and bitter due to the presence of stomach acids, digestive enzymes, and digested stomach contents,' Torako thought as she found herself standing at the entrance of Tokyo Midtown's food market.

She stared down at the map on her phone, then up at market's name plastered on the storefront sign; 'Precce', it read.

Torako stuffed her phone back into her pockets, exhaling a rather tired sigh. "Eh, it better be in there somewhere."

The item she was referring to was none other than the spectacular Miracle Berry, nature's flavour magician. Turn sour into sweet, and bitter into bliss! The (hopefully) perfect solution to junior Suguru's crisis of having to consume curses!

Oh, how smug she was last night when her online quest for this life-changing fruit only took twenty-minutes.

'And unlike other numbing substances such as benzocaine, Miracle Berry fruits don't have a strict dosage recommendation, so it wouldn't cause any harmful side-effects to Bontan. There's no better remedy than this.' Torako strolled towards a particular aisle in search for the fruit.

The phone in her pants' pocket buzzed.

She picked it up curiously, expecting it to be Shoko asking about her whereabouts.

Agent Smith: Wouldn't it be better just to buy the tablet version?

Torako raised a brow at the question. This person seemed to know her every move that it was quite terrifying.

Torako: The fruit has a slightly more potent and immediate effect.

Agent Smith: I see.

Seeing no further incoming messages, Torako went back to inspecting the shelves. Her eyes trailed from top to bottom, right to left until they finally landed on a transparent box filled with bright red berries.

'That's it, right?' She picked it up, shaking the container gently.

The berries had an oval to elliptical appearance. They had smooth skin and were considerably small, about one to two centimetres in length, around the size of an eraser or a tic tac mint.

"Huh," she huffed out softly.

Under a more careful inspection, they genuinely could've passed as cherry tomatoes. Torako wondered if anyone had ever bought them on accident, having mistaken them for the vegetable.

"Cool. Mission accomplished." She reached out for another box of the fruit, then proceeded in a saunter back to the cashier.

"Next stop is home."

○○○

Suguru was strong. In Torako's opinion, it was both a blessing and a burden. Everything came with a price, you see. And being strong just happened to come with the biggest price.

In pursuit of her mission, Torako had been diligently seeking to gather every conceivable detail about Suguru. From his likes and dislikes, to his motivations and ideals. And according to her limited profiling skills, a rigid sense of duty was most of what drove him. The obligation of the strong to protect the weak - an endearing yet, backhanded mindset.

The price he had to pay was to walk a path of self-sacrifice. To exorcise, then absorb. Rinse and repeat, over and over. It was quite surprising how his tongue hadn't already been destroyed by now. This much endurement was truly commendable. What a truly special individual, deserving of the 'special grade' title.

If she could, she wanted to cut open his brain and study every crevice and curve till she could predict his every thought. A comically terrifying thought that was outside her field of expertise, but it would've made the mission way simpler. Furthermore, she could finally live the slacker life she had always dreamed of. Torako wanted to cry and flip a table every time she thought about it.

She could do that later, though, in the comfort of her own room. For now...

"Have you swallowed the curse you exorcised today yet?"

Suguru blinked, "Yes."

"Son of a..." Torako said flatly.

"What did I even do?"

She held out a box of the Miracle Berries and opened its lid.

He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Have you tried these before?"

"Cherry tomatoes? Yes, I have."

Torako almost facepalmed.

"These are Miracle Berries. They contain the protein miraculin that temporarily modifies the shape of your taste buds by causing subsequent bitter and sour food to taste sweet," she explained carefully.

Suguru nodded along.

"What does vomit taste like?" Torako quizzed.

"Bitter and sour..."

She waited for Suguru to catch on. To her satisfaction, it did not take long, and when he did, a rare glimmer swirled in his dark, purple eyes.

For a few moments, he seemed out of words to say.

"You're... trying to-" Suguru began carefully.

"I'm no doctor, but... I think I can get you better. That's what I do," Torako exhaled, a soft smirk on her face.

Suguru slowly took the box from her hand.

Torako continued, "Of course, you'd still taste a lot of the cursed spirit - they won't mask one-hundred percent of it, but... I'll workshop something with Shoko so that they eventually will. For now, keep on having these ones."

"... I see.

"Thank you, senior Murakami."

It was a soft, quiet mutter of gratitude, but Torako heard every syllable of it.

"I've never even thought of this."

Despite the restful exterior with which he said that sentence, in her eyes, Suguru looked as though he was in denial.

No. From the way his brows furrowed, she would say that he looked rather ashamed of something.

But then she blinked, and now there was a new, pleasant smile adorning his lips, radiating a warmth and charm that surpassed every other smile he had even worn in her presence.

Torako fought against the urge to gawk, and so, she blinked again. But the smile was still there, bathing in the afternoon sun. It wasn't just a mere upturning of lips, no, brighter had its soft and rosy hue become, with a subtle gloss, like morning dew on flower petals.

How come she had never notice how pretty he was before?

'What a pretty individual,' she thought in silent envy. 'Both you and your best friend.'

"Good thing I'm here," Torako shrugged, pulling her attention back to the conversation at hand. She pointed to the box that was now in Suguru's palm, "Don't forget to read the instructions and... tell me if it works even a bit."

Suguru tilted his head, eyes closing in playful spirit.

"Will do."