The beach was exactly as everyone remembered it.
Warm sand.
Clear water.
A bright sky.
And, most importantly…
food.
Takeru stepped onto the sand carrying several pizza boxes.
"Alright!"
Behind him came everyone else, carrying drinks, snacks, bags, and whatever else they'd decided was necessary for a beach trip.
Hakari had somehow brought an absurd amount of food.
Takaba was carrying enough snacks to feed a small village.
Yuji opened one of the pizza boxes.
"YES."
Takeru laughed.
"Dig in."
Before anyone could even sit down—
WHOOSH!
Several curses came rushing out from farther down the beach.
They stopped when they saw everyone.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then the curses erupted with excitement.
"You're back!"
"Everyone came back!"
"It's been so long!"
The curses immediately started crowding around the group.
Some waved.
Some cheered.
A few practically tackled people into the sand.
Takeru laughed.
"Hey! Hey! Careful!"
One of the curses hugged Yuji.
"It's good to see you again!"
Yuji smiled.
"Yeah! Good to see you too!"
Even some of the quieter curses looked genuinely happy.
The beach quickly became noisy.
Laughter.
Talking.
Music.
The smell of pizza.
Then—
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!
Everyone turned.
Fred came sprinting across the beach.
"FRED!"
He suddenly spotted a group farther down the beach.
His entire face lit up.
He took off.
ZOOM!
"WAIT!"
Fred ran straight toward the group.
"MY FRIENDS!"
Several curses turned around.
"FRED?!"
Fred practically crashed into them.
"You guys are still here!"
"We thought you weren't coming back!"
"I'M BACK!"
The group immediately started talking over each other.
Takeru watched from a distance.
"…He's happy."
Yuji smiled.
"Really happy."
Takeru nodded.
"Good."
He opened another pizza box.
"Now let's see how long it takes before someone eats all of this."
Takaba appeared beside him.
"I give it three minutes."
Takeru looked at him.
"Two."
They shook hands.
"Deal."
And just like that…
the curse beach was alive again.
Everyone had returned.
The curses were happy.
Fred had found his friends.
And an enormous pile of pizza was about to become a battlefield of its own.