❝she's a good friend and pet owner❞

"marri, what are you doing?", satoru asked, about to go upstairs to his room until he saw the little girl sitting with the curse in the middle of the living room with a whole bunch of blankets and pillows.

"well...you said that inu's not allowed to sleep in my room, not even on the floor, so I thought that I'd just camp out here with him...and BUILD A FORT!", the little girl smiled.

"by the way, can you help me papa? it's a little hard getting all the sheets and stuff to stay", marri asked.

satoru grinned as he nodded, feeling his inner child spill out.

"say no more!!", the white-haired male replied as he hopped over the couch and landed in the middle of the living room, to which he had pushed the coffee table out front, so that it was right under the t.v. that was mounted onto the wall.

"okay, so first we lay out the blankets so that the ground isn't too hard to sleep on", satoru instructed, to which marri had nodded meanwhile the curse stood there — in some old clothes of satoru's because marri claimed that he didn't cover up enough — as he wondered if this was really the strongest sorcerer as of currently.

"inu!! come here and help", marri waved, to which the curse had awkwardly laid out a blanket as he watched the two gojōs set up the fort, placing many pillows here and there.

"thank you papa!"

"anytime my little hime!", satoru smiled as he kissed the top of marri's forehead.

"oh and before you go shower, can I borrow your phone please? I'll give it back once you're done", marri asked.

satoru wasn't sure what marri wanted to do with his phone, but he nodded as he gave his daughter the device, leaving as he was going to be back soon anyways.

marri patted the space beside her as the curse sat beside the girl, wondering whether he'd be able to escape once she fell asleep.

"so you'll be sleeping here from now. if you ever feel lonely, you can always come find me at night and I'll camp out with you in the living room", marri instructed.

"and to be honest, you're my first curse friend that's not stuck in someone else's body, that's still alive, that's living here with me...and yeah!! I'm very excited", marri smiled as she propped the phone up against a nearby pillow.

"so I want to take a picture to remember this. I usually say cheese and make a peace sign like this", marri said, showing the curse as he hesitantly did the same.

"now look at the camera!! we have three seconds", marri hurried as indeed, the phone quickly snapped a photo of the two.

marri crawled over to retrieve the phone as she pulled up the picture, showing inu as she asked what he thought.

inu scratched the back of his head as he let out a weird sound — like a mixture of a duck and a crow.

"yeah, I like it too!!", marri giggled as she then sent it to nanami, who had immediately called, making marri confused.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! ARE YOU USING YOUR DAUGHTER AS BAIT, I SWEAR TO GOD, SATO—"

"UNCLE NANAMIN!! IT'S MARRI!!", the girl laughed, hearing nanami clear his throat as he regained he composure.

"I see. how are you, marri?"

"I'm good!!", the girl replied. "and you?"

"I'm well, just a bit confused on the picture that you had sent".

"oh yeah!! his name is inu and he's at my house right now. he's like my pet but also my friend if you know what I mean", marri explained.

"I do hope you're staying safe, marri. one can never be too careful", nanami warned.

"thank you for the concern, uncle nanamin!! by the way, are you free tomorrow?", the little girl asked.

"I'm sure I can find some free time in my schedule. is something of the matter?", the blonde man asked.

"I'm having a pool party tomorrow, and I was hoping you would come. it's also like a welcoming party for inu", marri seriously said, to which the curse was even more confused now.

a welcoming party? for him?

it truly made the curse wonder whether he was going to get exorcised tomorrow and they're just having a pool party to serenade his death.

"does satoru know about this?", nanami asked, seeming a bit doubtful.

"mmm...welllll, papa doesn't know yet, but you know he can't say no to me", marri giggled. "so will I be seeing you tomorrow?"

there was a moment of silence on the phone.

"I'll be there".

"THANK YOU NANAMIN!! I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW THEN!", the girl widely smiled as she quickly hung up, spending the rest of her time calling the other contacts in satoru's phone as the man almost had everyone's numbers.

"aren't you excited, inu?! no worries, I'll have papa get you a swimsuit or something", marri reassured as the curse just nodded, awkwardly staring at the girl as he couldn't say anything anyways.

"are you ready for bed, my little princess?", satoru cooed, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, making the curse flinch meanwhile marri was used to it.

"but I'm not tired yet", the girl yawned, rubbing her eyes as satoru chuckled.

"then can you give me hug right now?", satoru asked, to which marri of course nodded and fell into the shaman's embrace.

marri immediately fell asleep as soon as satoru held her, much to her own dismay that she won't realize until next morning.

before satoru left, he turned around and lifted his blindfold slightly.

"if you're not here tomorrow morning when she wakes up, I will personally hunt you down and cut you into pieces. do you understand?"

the curse shook as he nodded, to which satoru had grinned as he commanded it to lay down.

"sleep well then. goodnight~", satoru sang as he tucked the shivering curse in, turning off the lights as he headed upstairs with marri.

"and goodnight to you, my little princess".