"Ahem... that's enough for today. Remember that we have a practical test tomorrow. Don't be absent..." Iruka finally said, ending his boring lecture before promptly making his exit from the class.
As soon as he was gone, the class erupted as if a magnitude 7 earthquake had struck the village.
Noisy children were everywhere. The only area with any semblance of peace was the back row.
Quite the contrary to its reputation—the back bench is often notorious for housing the most mischievous children. However, among these troublemakers sat Sukuna, who valued his peace after enduring a long lecture.
A hard objective to achieve, considering that among the troublemakers was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. That was part of the reason Sukuna kept his daily training restricted to early morning before the academy started.
He made sure to drain any lingering energy Naruto had during training, leaving the blond passed out during Iruka's lectures, thus saving him from enduring Naruto's relentless questions and antics.
However, today he didn't mind. Because unlike most days, he was willingly stepping into the monkey's nest to hunt a female monkey for himself.
"YO! Kiyomi..." he shouted from the back, bringing everyone's attention to him.
Kiyomi, who had been busy chatting with a few civilian girls, jolted upon hearing who had called her. It was him...
Her body stiffened. She knew he'd come for her eventually—he said so himself—but Kiyomi found herself unprepared for whatever it was he had in mind.
She couldn't help it; that name alone was enough to instil fear in anyone born into a Jujutsu family. Children there grew up hearing stories of the man who ruled the golden era of Jujutsu:
The most malicious cursed spirit in the history of Jujutsu. The King of Curses. Ryomen Sukuna...
"You free after academy?" he asked, turning the heads of other students who were now on high alert for gossip toward the girl who wanted to be anywhere but here.
She wanted to say no. But the grin on the pink-haired boy's face told her it wasn't really a question.
"Yes," she replied reluctantly.
Sasuke, who had been brooding the entire class, finally showed some interest. His eyes moved to his sister and then to the boy who had beaten him—not once, but twice. Complicated emotions surged inside him, but he suppressed them.
"Cool... then care for an ice cream date?" Sukuna asked cheekily.
As soon as the words dropped, the classroom erupted like a volcano. Students were left gaping at the completely straightforward confession.
Here they were, planning day and night just to say "good morning" to their crush—and then there was this guy.
What's next? A honeymoon package to the Land of Snow?
Naruto looked like he had just been betrayed by a fellow comrade. He suddenly remembered that he had asked this guy to help him impress his sister, right? How come he never taught this kind of thing to him?
Sasuke, on the other hand, had veins popping on his forehead. Someone was flirting with his sister right in front of him. 'This shameless guy...' His Sharingan almost popped out another tomoe then and there.
Today, Sasuke Uchiha would beat him up, no matter what.
Sakura stood frozen, mouth agape. Something was definitely wrong with her brother. Since when did that menace—who only cared about training and bullying her—start asking girls out?
"Huh..." Kiyomi herself was speechless. This might have been the first time a boy had asked her out—across both her lives. And it had to be him.
"Troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed, knowing that nothing but chaos awaited if he stayed there any longer.
…
Later that day, in Konoha's market street...
Sukuna waited for his date to show up. He wore simple, casual clothes while still sporting his glasses to hide his eyes. Now wasn't the time to reveal them. A few years down the line, when the Uchiha incident was old news, that would be the best time to toss the glasses.
Soon, he spotted the girl approaching with a stiff expression and awkward steps. Sukuna noticed Kiyomi had applied mild makeup, and her outfit—while still casual—was new.
Her hairstyle had changed, and she kept glancing back as if she had a headache.
"Let me guess—Ino," Sukuna smirked, watching Kiyomi sigh at the usual culprit behind her unusual transformation.
"Not just her. Other girls too. They dragged me out to extract anything gossip-worthy from me. When I had nothing to say, they insisted I do my makeup and change up. This was the minimum they were willing to accept before letting me go." Kiyomi, for once, looked more horrified by the enthusiasm of those little girls than the pink-haired boy standing in front of her.
"Ah, so it went just as intended..." Sukuna smiled.
Yep. He had called Kiyomi out in front of everyone on purpose. He thought it might relax the girl a bit. He wasn't a fool. He'd seen how guarded she was around him. He would've been too if the next guy was called Sukuna or, hell, Gojo freaking Satoru.
Hearing him, Kiyomi pieced things together, and a glare appeared on her face.
"It's your fault," she said, fear slowly fading.
'What will you do? I've already died once. Kill me if you want. I don't care. Got nothing more to lose anyway,' she thought, her glare intensifying.
"Now that's the look I wanted to see. Add that Sharingan of yours to it, and I might just fall for you..." he winked.
She froze.
'How did he know I unlocked my Sharingan?' Even Sasuke didn't know. She'd never told anyone. Once again, her guard was up.
"Seems like you brought company..." Sukuna glanced past her and gave a knowing smile.
She didn't need to be a sensor to realize those brats were tailing her.
"Shush... they're suspicious..." Ino hushed Sakura, Naruto, and the others who couldn't keep their curiosity down and had followed her.
Among them was Sasuke, who looked ready to murder someone; Naruto, who was taking notes—determined that next time it would be he, Uzumaki Naruto, who asked out his Sakura-chan; and a few other academy students, barely hiding behind buildings and stalls, holding back giggles and exposing their location from miles away.
"Whatever. What do you want from me?" Kiyomi sighed and asked with heat in her eyes. Sukuna could easily tell the heat was fake. The girl was nervous.
"Hmm, what do I want... let's see. How about we first get some ice cream—my treat. And then walk around the village, give our giggling little audience over there something to gossip about. And while we're at it, try not to curse each other..." Sukuna gave a harmless smile, making Kiyomi purse her lips.
'Curse you, like I can.' She scoffed internally. Sukuna was suppressing his already 50% reduced cursed energy due to a binding vow, and yet she could feel the tremendous amount of energy radiating from him. A hint of envy flickered inside her.
If only she had a fraction of that cursed energy reserve. Then perhaps she wouldn't have been so useless. She could have helped her sister.
"Come on... which flavor do you like better? Konoha's got many for us to try." He motioned for her to follow. She reluctantly had to—she had no other choice. If she had, she wouldn't have come in the first place.
As for why she had no choice... of course, it was because she lacked strength.
'The weak have no choice of their own.' She learned this the hard way in her first life.
"One vanilla, please." She pointed at the creamy white substance of cold goodness in front of her as soon as they arrived at the shop.
"Vanilla, huh... hmm, I'm more of a chocolate guy." Sukuna hummed, then smiled and handed the money to the shopkeeper, reaching out for two ice cream cones and handing one over to her.
"Kyaa... this is so romantic..." Ino, being the love-brain she was, squealed to herself and gave a longing look at Sasuke, who was seething by now. Just his brotherly instincts flaring up.
As they both started walking around the village, slowly licking from their melting ice cream cones, Kiyomi remembered the times when she just wanted this.
She and her family. A normal life. A boy she had a crush on, to share these moments. It didn't matter to her if she remained weak.
"Is the ice cream not to your standard, or is it the past haunting you?" Sukuna called out. However, the weight of those words was completely lost in his upbeat tone.
"What do you want?" she asked again, just wishing to end this ridiculous date already.
"Is it too much to just ask for the company of a beautiful girl nowadays..." Sukuna grumbled, making a twitch appear on her face. She sent a glare at him.
"You don't have much cursed energy in you, do you?" Sukuna asked, still nonchalant, just as she was about to retort to his obvious cheek from earlier.
She didn't reply, but the silence was answer enough.
"However, your physical strength is a cut above the rest. First, I thought it was a heavenly restriction. However, this doesn't explain the familiar feeling I get from your cursed energy. You have a technique, don't you? There's no way you could have one if you had a heavenly restriction," Sukuna slowly spoke, making her feel like he was uncovering all her secrets one by one.
"How do you know about my..."
"Physical strength? Sharingan? Or you're asking about the cursed technique? I have my ways. Though the last one was just a guess. Glad to know I was right." He interrupted her midway and flashed a smile at her.
"Who are you..." he finally asked, making the knot forming in her gut twist even further.
"I... I'm Kiyomi Uchiha."
"Hmm yes... just like I am Sukuna Haruno. Glad we both acknowledge that fact..." He nodded.
He looked at the setting sun; it was a beautiful view here in Konoha at this time.
"However, until last year, I wasn't completely me." He detected acknowledgement in her eyes. She knew what he was talking about.
"You were afraid of me even without knowing me. Like my name itself brought fear to you. I'll only assume you're like me.
Assuming you got your memories of your past life the same time as I did, it's understandable you have the three tomoe Sharingan. After all, what's a Jujutsu Sorcerer without just a little trauma..." Sukuna kept on going. She had to follow, and the more they walked, the more Kiyomi felt she was completely exposed in front of him.
"Based on my own experience and your condition, I'd say you're a modern sorcerer. Your cursed energy is not refined, and you clearly lack motivation to do anything about it. You would've done so otherwise, since last year."
Her hands clenched hard around the ice cream cone. Her lack of motivation was her biggest grief. She was forced to work hard, to be a jujutsu sorcerer. She never wanted it, but she had to, because her sister chased after strength.
"Maki Zenin..." He slowly spoke those words, finally making her pause in her tracks...
"That's my best guess after observing you. Your reaction says I hit a home run..." Sukuna grinned, almost looking like a predator.
Her breath caught. How long had it been since someone spoke that name?
If he had said her own name, she wouldn't have had the reaction she gave. But her sister's...
Her mind was clouded. How come her last life didn't stop chasing her even after death? What must she do to escape this fate?
"Mai Zenin then..." Sukuna's words brought her back from her daze.
"Ho... how did you know?" Her voice was shaky now. Her outer tough exterior was finally failing.
"I didn't for sure... but now I do." His smile widened. This was indeed just a guess on his part. He just saw the parallels between him and her. The biggest was the twin's fate they shared.
"However, calling you Mai Zenin wouldn't be right either, now would it?" He said, finally gulping down the last of his cone before flashing a big smile at her frozen, pale face and melting cold cone.
"Just like I'm no Ryomen Sukuna, you're not Mai Zenin either." His words made her stiffen further, though this time there was a hint of confusion mixed into her emotions.
"Not many knew, but Sukuna had a brother too... died in his mother's womb. Making Sukuna whole again, but also a monster.
Just like how your sister would become after you gave your life." Those words flooded her mind with the images of the past.
Her sister Maki, their shared fate. Their last kiss and her sacrifice.
And in return, all she wanted was for her to destroy it all. Everything.
"Now I stand here as both of them as one, much like how you inherited your sister's physical might."
"It's funny, almost like the world was trying to fix its mess. Give us another chance—siblings with no shared fate, yet we influence them nonetheless..." He looked at her melancholic face with a sigh.
"It's just as funny how I ended up being the only one talking on this date, got all the answers I wanted, and yet the one speaking the least... she's left with just more questions..." Sukuna smiled softly and turned around.
"It was a nice time spending it with you, miss. Wouldn't mind going out again one of these days if you're willing. Though I would appreciate that you decide by then who you are...
Next time, I would like it if it's Kiyomi Uchiha who's with me—not Mai or Maki Zenin, for that matter." He waved off and walked away.
Leaving behind a completely hollow girl. Eyes almost threatening to spill tears.
"Damn it... I really don't want it..." she muttered again to herself. She didn't want to be part of this kind of scary world again.
However, just as he said it, she remembered the face of her sister Maki, and her mother in this world, Mikoto.
She lost both of them because she was weak. She promised she wouldn't be weak anymore.
So she held her tears back and furiously shoved the almost melted ice cream into her face, to hide them.
xxx
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