"Son, it's already your last year in Mustafa Private Middle School. What's your plan after this?"
Ryomen Sukuna stared up at his father, Jin, as he and his family ate breakfast at the dining table. This was a regular question his father always asked, and it seemed to turn into a daily occurrence as he reached his last year of middle school.
Sukuna remained silent, chowing down his rice, not because he didn't want to entertain his father, but it was more like he didn't have a single answer at all. His mother, Kaori, sighed at her husband's antics.
"Dear, let's give him a break shall we? He has midterms coming up, we wouldn't want to stress him out with existential questions." Kaori advised. Jin crossed his arms.
"Well I say he needs to think about it now. High school one the most important parts of your life, it would literally decide what you want to be and where you want to go in the future." Jin grumbled. Kaori sighed, shaking her head at her husband's stubbornness.
Sometimes, Jin can be too pushy. She understood his reasons, but that doesn't mean one should rush in life. She looked at her son, silently eating with a contemplative look in his eyes.
"How about heroics, son?" The entire room went dead silent at Jin's suggestion. Kaori looked between him and Sukuna with a grimace. Sukuna just raised an eyebrow.
"Dad, I know you're already 40, but your memory couldn't possibly be this bad. Have you already forgotten what my Quirk entails?" Jin laughed at his son.
"Relax, I haven't forgotten one bit. Your quirk is one of a kind, its impossible to forget it." Sukuna sighed, rubbing his neck at the mention of his Quirk. 'Demon King' was the name of his Quirk.
When his parents had brought him to the doctor's office, they had presented him with this information. Demon King was a quirk that funnily enough, was considered an anomaly in the world of anomalies. Sukuna was expected to inherit a quirk that was similar to his parents, but the results was completely different than expected. And what's worse is that they had no idea how the quirk worked at all.
His parents had begged the doctor to keep it a secret, only registering it as a simple power up quirk. They wanted a normal life for Sukuna, not wanting him to be in a lab for the rest of his life. Thankfully the doctor obliged.
Sukuna himself had a good idea on how the quirk worked. From age 4, severed mummified fingers would appear mysteriously. At first, he didn't know what to do with them, but after a dream-like vision, he found out he was supposed to eat them.
It was a disgusting to say the least, the fingers smelled like death, and had a taste similar to soap since they were covered in grave wax. So far, Sukuna has consumed 3 fingers. He found that his physical abilities outside of the activation of his quirk improved tremendously. It was a good disguise to say the least, up until now he had never activated his quirk in public or during quirk assessments at school.
Though, his immense strength at such an age, added with his cold personality caused Sukuna to be avoided by most of the people. He didn't care that much, but being lonely wasn't a good feeling either.
"But that's exactly why you need to try, Sukuna." He looked back at his father smiling at him. "Who knows, maybe you could create a legacy." Sukuna only remained silent, not knowing what to say. A guy like him becoming a hero with a quirk like that? Wouldn't that just make people scared of him?
'And the hero society is flawed in the first place. I'm bound to do something that's against my moral code, and the Hero Association would definitely keep an eye on me due to my quirk. So what's the point?' Sukuna mused.
"If you do, never become someone you know you aren't. I've seen many people lose themselves and their morals chasing fame and fortune, instead of focusing on the real reason why they should be heroes." Jin spoke from experience, he was an ex hero after all. He wasn't famous for his work per se, but what's important is that he got the job done.
"I see, dad... I'm heading to school now. See ya..." He muttered as he got up, grabbing his bag while heading to the shoe rack.
"Sukuna, you forgot something!" He looked back at his mother who was grinning at him, holding out her arms. He sighed, placing down the bag while going in for a hug.
"I love you okay? Do your best." His mother whispered before kissing his cheek. Sukuna nodded before he went and hugged his father.
"Listen to your mother alright?" Jin grinned at him, patting his son's back. Sukuna nodded silently before he went back to the shoe rack.
As their son headed out, Kaori sighed as she was now alone with her husband. "I can't tell what our son is thinking sometimes." She mumbled. Jin chuckled.
"Yes, our son is different from his peers, but what's important is that he knows what's best for himself, so we should trust his judgement and see where it takes him."
"I just don't want our son to think we don't care for him... He doesn't have many friends, I don't want him to think we're distancing from him because we keep pushing him to think for his future..." Kaori whispered as she gathered the empty plates, her insecurities showing. Jin shook his head, gently dragging his wife to sit on his lap.
"Honey, whatever you're thinking in that head of yours, get rid of it. Sukuna isn't like that at all, I'm sure of it. He's just at a stage of his life where he's confused about what he wants. I'm sure he'll reach for a decision very soon. You have to trust him." Kaori nodded silently at her husband's reassurance. Jin kissed her cheek affectionately.
"Let's go clean these plates shall we?"
...
Sukuna silently sat in his seat near the window, taking out his textbook for the first period of class. He remained silent, staring pensively at the scenery outside, while his classmates all chatted away with each other.
No one approached him. Though he liked the peace it brought, the loneliness wasn't a good trade off. Though he partially blamed himself and his poor socializing skills for not having the courage to socialize with others, but it was already the final year, it would be weird if he tried to join a friend group or make a friend.
Well, he says that, but...
"Sukunaaaaaa!!!" Sukuna snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the person who called him. He blinked, as a pink skinned girl with thin yellow horns protruding from her head, dashed towards him with a panicked expression all over her.
"You gotta help me!" She demanded, slamming a couple of books on her desk. Sukuna stared at the workbooks before looking at her.
This was Mina Ashido, a pink skinned girl sitting at the table to his right, and the only person in this school aside from another that voluntarily tried to have a conversation with him.
"Is this yesterday's homework?" He asked. Mina nodded, a large smile on her face.
"Uh huh, so I kinda forgot to complete them. So I was wondering..." She grinned at him, intertwining her hands. "Can I copy your homework? Hehehe...." She laughed nervously, noticing Sukuna's deadpan.
"No." Sukuna shut her down. Mina pouted.
"Aww!! Pleaseeee!!!" Sukuna widened his eyes as she gave him the puppy doll eyes.
"No." He resisted. He was familiar with her tactics, and this time, he won't falter for sufh trickery.
"Pleaseee with a cherry on top?" Her square-shaped eyes with black sclerae and yellow irises seemingly became more sparkly as her whole face became cuter. Sukuna clenched his fists, still fighting.
"No, Ashido. You do this every day. Go find someone else."
"Nuuu!! I want your homework! Help me! Pleaseee Sukunaaaa!" Sukuna gritted his teeth, her voice becoming softer, more cuter.
"Alright fine!" He exhaled, secretly frustrated that he fell for it again. Mina cheered amd gave him a peace sign.
"Thanks! You're the best!" She took his workbooks before sitting on her seat next to him. The class, witnessing this, sweat dropped at the scene. It was a daily occurrence, though still funny nonetheless.
"Although... You should seriously call me Mina. Calling me Ashido sounds wayyyy too formal. We're friends right? We should be more casual with each other." Mina requested, smiling at him.
Sukuna glanced at her, before looking down at his desk again.
"Sure... Whatever you say... Mina..."
"Hihi!"
To be continued...