c5 (1/2)

After Story #5 by Raikaku Rei

The rain that was pouring throughout the morning had all but stopped. Sukuna loitered distractedly along the pathway wet with rain. At the moment, he was acting on his own, independently from Yukari.

Ever since losing their clan’s secret base, Sukuna and Yukari had become fugitives and kept moving from one temporary place to another, not getting a permanent address anywhere. They also had yet to have a proper talk about what to do from now on. Should they search for a hideout in this area, or maybe start a life in a place far away from the Kanto region now that the Slate had been gone, or, alternatively, set out on a journey as wanderers…?

To Sukuna, it didn’t matter either way. He was content to just let Yukari make the decision. But it wasn’t like Sukuna gave up on life altogether. His goal at hand was to find a goal at all. Now that Nagare was no more, Sukuna, who had made Nagare’s dream his own and chased it, no longer had anything he wanted to achieve. That’s why, at present, first, he had to find something to live for. He didn’t care much where exactly he would find it.

‘Will there ever come a second time when I have a place I can call home again, I wonder…’ Sukuna gave a small bitter smile at the thought.

Although only by a little at a time, Sukuna’s super power positively appeared to be weakening. When he stopped to think about it, it felt to him like that special something that he got from Nagare was leaving his body and scattering away, and he wanted to cry at the helplessness and misery that a.s.saulted him then. But that was how defeat was supposed to feel like in the first place.

For now, he didn’t really think of himself as weak yet, but at this rate, with his super power gradually fading away, eventually, there would come a day when Sukuna would turn into an ordinary child. One that would only be a burden to Yukari. The fact that Yukari seemed to be determined to stick with the boy despite that came as somewhat of a relief to Sukuna.

He even thought about learning the sword from Yukari. So that he would be able to hold his own in a fight even after losing his super power.

He still had quite some time until the scheduled meeting with Yukari. He had nothing to do until then, but at the same time, he didn’t feel like spending the time in a cafe either, so he chose a street with relatively little traffic and, finding a dry spot, plopped down right onto the road surface. Taking a portable game console out of his pocket, he turned the power on.

The pitch black LCD screen came to life with colors, and the game started. The game itself couldn’t have been more ordinary, with a cheesy plot full of cliches about a hero fighting to save the world. Sukuna, however, didn’t exactly hate that kind of corny setups. They were easy to understand and being a hero who was saving something was pretty cool, he thought.

'Still, what Nagare tried to create wasn’t a game where only the chosen hero gets to fight, shouldering the weight of the world, but a world where everyone - the king, the princess, the old man from the inn and even villager A - has power and lives like he or she wants.’

“Oh great hero, please save us!” Unfocused, Sukuna watched the villagers beseech the hero on the small screen of the game console.

“Gojou Sukuna,” came a clear voice of the reality from somewhere very close suddenly.

Sukuna raised his head, to find a girl with a doll-like face of about the same age as himself peering at him from above, hands on her knees, said knees slightly bent. After a moment of daze, he recognized her and the hair on his whole body stood on end. “The Red King, Kus.h.i.+na Anna…!”

'What a moron I am! This is the territory both Homura and Scepter 4 prowl, and I knew it! How the h.e.l.l could I let my guard down so much as to practically sit on their doorstep!’

Badly wanting to click his tongue at his own carelessness, Sukuna hurried to half-rise to his feet, and Anna took a step back, rising her hands to show that she had no hostility towards the boy. “Wait. I have no plans to fight or capture you.”

Sukuna rose slowly, his eyes never leaving Anna. “Are you sure though? I’m one of Jungle’s leaders, you know?”

“I’m not Scepter 4. For me, capturing you serves no purpose.”

Sukuna straightened from his battle-ready stance, but without relaxing his guard. “…Why did you decide to talk to me then?”

“Because I was curious. About how you are doing these days.”

“As if I’d answer! Why the h.e.l.l should I inform the enemy of my affairs?”

Anna didn’t appear to take offense even at the hard rejection she was given as she just continued to fixedly stare Sukuna down with her big eyes. It seemed that she really didn’t plan to do anything to Sukuna.

What a weirdo, Sukuna thought. When it occurred to him that for her to be chosen a king despite her being just a brat, she had to be a real weirdo, another recognition followed, that when Nagare became a king, he was about the same age as the girl in front of him. That meant Nagare’s reign as a king was longer than Sukuna’s entire lifetime.

Somehow, Sukuna suddenly didn’t feel malicious anymore.

Casting a look around, Sukuna found a vending machine nearby. He headed towards it, and Anna trotted after him. Buying two cans of cocoa, he tossed one to Anna. “Okay, a temporary cease-fire, but only while we drink these,” he said, seemingly groping for an excuse not to take up arms.

Anna nodded and opened her cocoa drink.

“…At present, Jungle is picking up pieces. Then again, it’s not like there’s much for us to do anyway. As to what we’re gonna do from now on… I don’t know,” Sukuna muttered, apparently in reply to Anna’s earlier question that he had refused previously.

Anna only nodded, “Uh-huh. As to us, we’re pretty much the same. But I think we will change little by little soon,” she added as if to return the favor.

“Hmph,” Sukuna made a meaningless noise.

Change little by little, huh. Talk about obvious. Now that the Slate had been destroyed, the system of kings and clans would have to change, whether parties concerned liked it or not.

For a while, the two stayed silent, just leaning against the wall of a building and sipping their cocoa. Anna, despite being the one who had started the conversation, didn’t try to keep it alive. And so, the two mutual antagonists, standing next to each other and making for a bizarre sight, were busy silently emptying their canned drink, content to just let the time pa.s.s.

Sipping the last of his remaining cocoa, sugary with the concentrated sweetness of the dregs from the bottom of the can, Sukuna was the one to open his mouth at last. “Have you ever thought about changing the world with your power of a king?”

Gazing at Sukuna, Anna shook her head slowly. “I haven’t. I wasn’t someone that great. I just wanted to protect what’s precious to me.”

“And for that, you fought Nagare, huh.”

“Since I was the Red King, I wanted to be fittingly cool.”

“A hero wannabe then, are you?” Sukuna meant for it to sound sarcastic, but he wasn’t really repulsed by Anna’s words. If anything, he even found their simplicity pleasing.

Sukuna was perfectly aware that to the world as it was, he and the clan he was part of was evil. A legit evil that messed up the world. Nagare, however, never considered himself to be evil. He just believed that a new and true world would be born out of the mess that was the old one. And Sukuna really adored Nagare and his thinking.

But now they would never know whether Nagare was right or wrong in the end.

Sukuna finished his cocoa and threw the empty can into a garbage bin. Anna followed suit. With that, the cease-fire was over.