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He was trying to sleep when he heard it. The arguing between his vessel and the other brat. Sukuna knew that it was a bad idea to open his eye in clear sight of them, so he did so on the hand that wasn’t currently gripping the collar of the black-haired brat.
Truthfully, he could understand the conversation just fine. Yuji wanted to bring the body of a man back to his mother, while Megumi refused to even entertain the idea of bringing anything back. Sukuna wasn’t completely heartless.
Granted, he’d do the same thing that this cursed spirit did, but at least he did know more about human emotions than your average curse, even if he couldn’t feel them anymore. Not completely, at least. Because, as he looks upon the body, all he can think about is how there was no meaning to this kill. Sure, he had killed plenty without motive in his time, but even then, there was always an underlying thought. Survive.
This was killing for the sake of killing. Nothing more, nothing less. And Sukuna felt for the first time since he renounced his humanity, the urge to vomit. He didn’t know what was happening to him or what Kenjaku must have done, but the urge was there, stinging the back of his throat. It was all mental at the moment, but that didn’t stop the feeling.
Sukuna paused, allowing his vision to become clearer when he realized a new presence was nearby. He had noticed the girl a few feet away, berating the two boys for fighting at a time like this, something he would agree with. But this presence was malicious in nature.
Without thinking, he forms a mouth on the inside of the hand that Yugi was still using to grip Megumi’s uniform. Both were too busy glaring into the other’s eyes to notice either his actions or the new presence, so he had no trouble using his mouth to pull both boys to the ground, avoiding the near-deadly blow from the special grade.
“Argue later, brats!” Sukuna shouted at them before addressing both Nobora and the Divine Dog. “Move, now!”
Without thinking, both the girl and the dog followed his order, barely missing being sucked into the floor. No doubt at least one of them would have been dead from such a move, while the other was lost somewhere in the bowels of the building.
“Brat, grab the name tag, that’s all you’ll need,” he whispered to Yugi inside their shared head. The boy nods, taking a running leap towards the body. Sliding to a stop, he tears the name tag from the man’s uniform before dodging the attack from the special grade, who was mad that they weren’t paying attention to him.
When Yugi stood back up, Sukuna joined him, letting his cursed energy leak out. Both additional eyes opened, causing Nobora and Megumi to tense before a secondary mouth appeared upon the boy’s right cheek.
“So, this is what they bring me? Pathetic,” he hissed out, revelling in the way the so-called special grade shivered and quaked with fear, eyes locked onto his vessel. “I wouldn’t attack just yet if I were you, boy.” Sukuna grinned at Megumi, who was about to jump into the fight, only to end up in a similar state to the curse in front of them.
“Huh?” Yugi intoned. “Why’s that?” The brat sounded way too calm for the situation, let alone to be talking to the King of Curses, but that was a problem for another day. Sukuna heavily ignored the small voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Yugi saying he saved all three of them and helped him grab the name tag. If the brat believed that somehow made him good, then he’d be sorely mistaken.
Sukuna refused to acknowledge the inner turmoil he was going through, instead focusing on answering the boy’s question. “My presence is terrifying it. It can only work for so long, but if one of you attacks, it will disregard that fear immediately, and I won’t be able to accomplish this result again.” There, plain and simple.
Megumi scoffed, but he wasn’t about to say Sukuna was wrong. That would mean proving whether what the King had said was true or not, and Megumi wasn’t willing to take that risk. Not right now, at least.
Nobora was in the same boat, but at least she also realized they couldn’t take this curse. No way was she taking that chance.
Sukuna sighed. “I’d advise you three to take this time to come up with a plan. Whether that be of battle, or escape, at least you have some time.”
The scowl Megumi gave proved that while he would take this time as Sukuna suggested, he wasn’t going to be happy about it.
“And don’t you dare even think about your suicide tactic, boy!”
The abrupt shout from the curse towards Megumi startled them all, even the curse standing in front of them.
While the group was trying to figure out a plan, one thing stood out to all involved. The best course of action would be to run, but to do that, they would need a distraction.
“Brat, give me control over one arm,” Sukuna stated. He was going to continue when both brats insisted that Yugi ignore him. Luckily, Yugi did not listen. “And I want you to repeat after me.” He began to chant, Yugi following behind him. “Good, now memorize that chant. It will help you while you learn how to use Cleave.”
That shut Megumi and Nobora up, their mouths clamping closed with an audible click. Sukuna could understand why they had such a reaction; he had never thought to teach another his cursed technique. Mainly because it was impossible if one did not share the same blood, but due to both of them sharing a body, it should work.
It had to work. Sukuna was betting on this to allow their escape with minimal bloodshed.
“Once we send out the first Cleave, you two will need to run,” when they went to protest, Sukuna spoke over them. “After a few minutes, we will follow behind. By the time we all reach the outside, all curses should be exercised.”
It was a solid plan, but there was one thing Sukuna wasn’t saying. There was the possibility that Yugi might not make it out of this alive or uninjured. Sukuna would do what he could to avoid that, but one cannot do everything at once. That was why he was going to be chanting with Yugi, to allow a strong Cleave to take effect.
It took a moment before all parties agreed. Megumi left with a, “If you die, I’ll kill you.” Which Yugi thought was both terrifying and sweet. Nobora agreed, and with that, they began running, causing the special grade to move again.
Unfortunately for it, Sukuna and Yugi had begun chanting, letting loose a wide Cleave in its general direction. It was a lot more powerful than either had been expecting, cutting it clean in five pieces at the waist.
It attempted to reform itself, but Sukuna shouted the words, not wanting to give the special grade a chance of getting to them. With three more Cleaves sent its way, that was enough to bring it to its knees, or what was left of it. Yugi quickly moved forward, stealing the finger from its chest cavity and making a run for it down the hallway.
They both knew it wasn’t dead, but it was severely weakened without the finger. Yugi placed it in his pocket for safekeeping upon Sukuna’s suggestion. Neither liked the idea of the cursed spirit getting a hold of it again.
With one final Cleave behind them, a shriek of pain was heard. Yugi cringed at how human it sounded, but forced the thought down. This cursed spirit was going to kill him and his friends, and he could not have that.
It was finally dead.
Sukuna didn’t give control of the arm back to Yugi right away, stating he wanted to make certain it wasn’t coming back. When it was clear it wasn’t, that was when he let go of the reins.
Finally, they made it outside where Megumi and Nobora were standing, waiting for them. Well, waiting for Yugi.
But Sukuna wasn’t done just yet. He had something to say to Megumi, and he was going to say it whether the boy liked it or not.
“What do you think you were doing back there, Fushiguro?” He demanded. He interrupts when the brat goes to respond, fury written all over his face, Yugi getting ready to intervene if necessary. “Were you trying to create more cursed spirits, or did your teachers not tell you how cursed spirits are created?”
That brought the boy up short. Of course, his teachers had taught him that, but in the moment, it was clear he hadn’t cared. “Why should you care?” The boy demanded.
“I don’t, but you’re supposed to.” Sukuna snapped back, causing Megumi to flinch. “Bringing a corpse back wasn’t the best option, no, that I can agree with. But to demand Yugi ignore someone simply for a transgression that he wouldn’t have known had you not told him is inconceivable.”
No one wanted to speak. What was there to say? They were getting lectured by the King of Curses himself, and yet they couldn’t find a logical reason to ignore it. “I told Yugi to grab the name tag because that would at least cause the man to know someone thought enough about him to do that. That his mother would know something had happened to him. But what you suggested was to leave him to sit and fester in that resentment of not being saved. To tell him point-blank that his life didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”
At this, Megumi finally gets a word in. “But he doesn’t! His life doesn’t matter-”
“Then no one’s life matters.” Sukuna ground out through gritted teeth, anger setting in. He was reminded of all the people who called him terrible names, thought of him as a bad omen and a blight on society for the way he was born. This was beginning to hit too close to home. But he needed to make his point. He needed to get the brat to understand. “You cannot have it both ways. Either all life matters, or no life matters. You are a Jujutsu Sorcerer, yes. But what you are not is the judge, jury, and executioner of human lives.”
There was silence with the group, all three realizing that something major had just occurred.
Sukuna was glad that they wouldn’t have much time to dwell on that, as the manager from earlier pulled up.
He had a feeling he shouldn’t have said all that he did.