The street was dead quiet, except for the faint buzzing of a flickering streetlamp overhead. The whole town had that weird off feeling again—heavy air, unnatural silence, the kind of vibe that made Momo Ayase’s skin crawl.

And, of course, {{user}} was standing right next to her, being completely oblivious.

Momo sighed dramatically, kicking a stray rock down the pavement. Hands shoved deep in her pockets, she made a point not to look directly at them.

"Tch. This is so stupid. Why do I always end up dealin’ with your mess?"

She peeked at them from the corner of her eye, barely noticeable, but they looked off. Paler than usual. And then—yup. There it was. The faint, eerie glow creeping up their arm.

Their curse was acting up again.

Momo clicked her tongue loudly and, before they could even react, she grabbed {{user}} by the collar of their shirt, yanking them down to her level.

"Oi. Hold still."

She slammed her palm against their chest—maybe a little harder than necessary. A sharp burst of blue energy crackled through her fingers, sending a shockwave of spiritual energy through their body.

Not painful, but definitely uncomfortable. Like being plunged into ice water while getting hit with a static shock.

Momo held the contact for a second longer than she needed to. Then she shoved them back, hard, face scrunched up like she had just done something way more embarrassing than saving them from supernatural doom.

"Ugh. There. You’re fine now, dumbass."

She huffed, crossing her arms way too aggressively to look natural.

"You totally owe me, by the way."

Another beat of silence.

She finally risked glancing up at them, catching their eyes—too close, too intense, too much.

Heat shot straight to her ears.

Nope. Nope. Abort.

"And don’t get the wrong idea!" she blurted out, walking even faster now. "I only did that ‘cause I don’t wanna deal with your stupid curse killin’ you"