Chapter 33
"GOJO!"
Yua stood in the empty kitchen, despite the fact that no more than an hour ago, all the tabletops and standing islands were full of the homemade tarts. She had just gotten Eso to come along to try them out, after all, he tends to have the chef's pallet when it comes to food. And yet, when she returned, the tarts were gone.
"This brings back memories…" Eso said offhandedly. "Especially if Suiryu came to visit us hungry. I would make dinner ahead of time… only to have him eat it all…" he said with the shake of his head.
"But there were a few hundred here!" she protested to him.
"Yes, and please don't underestimate my little brother on that aspect. Suiryu can pack them away…"
"I am thinking more along the lines of Satoru at this point."
"But hundreds of tarts? Is he capable?"
She ho hummed the notion, but she also nixed Eso's culprit as well. "Despite his eating habits, Suiryu does have a sense of respect. I don't think he ate them either. But this is strange…"
He nodded in agreement. "So… you are going to share that recipe right?" he asked with a grin on his face.
Yua snickered. "Of course, if it's this good, I want this recipe to go on. You'll outlast me so keep it alive okay?" she said.
However, he saw Eso face alter rather drastically, he was stunned and yet somber about it. "Please… don't say that," he said gently. "I don't think I would outlive you…"
Yua wanted to joke about it, but realizing how upset Eso was, she didn't push the matter. "I got to make more, Choso has been looking after Shin for me. I greatly appreciate his help…"
"Oh, big brother is happy to help, he wants to train himself up for when Suiryu and Yuuji have children too. He insists on helping to raise them."
She giggled at the notion but nodded. Choso would make a wonderful father himself.
They left the communal kitchen, with a defeated sigh, Yua decided she better go find Choso and get her son back. Eso would make more of the tarts to test the recipe out himself.
As Yua strolled to the Curse womb's manner, she paused when she heard something odd.
"I have to… I am remembering… but… Is it worth it?"
Curious, she approached the odd sound, she found Sukuna sitting behind one of the residences, he appeared… startled in a sense. "You look like shit," Yua said aloud.
Remarkably, it caught him off guard! He snapped to his feet before glaring at her. "What did you put in those!" he demanded. "I had nightmares!"
She froze.
At first her mind was trying to process what he was saying, then… "Wait… nightmares? YOU… RYOMEN SUKUNA…. Had a nightmare?!" she asked in a bewildered tone. But then snickered. "Are you shitting me right now?"
"You think I wanted to speak such a thing to you?" he snapped back at her. "You laced those with… something!" he said with great determination. "I've never had a nightmare like that before!"
She continued to snicker at him, the great King of Curses… had a nightmare… did he… wait…
"You took them… the tarts in the communal kitchen… you took ALL of them?" she demanded of him.
He said nothing, he didn't confirm or deny these allegations. But at the moment, it appears he did, she still sees crumbs on the cusp of his robe… in fact that demon mouth on his stomach has some of the tart filling in the corner of its lip.
Yua glared at him oddly. "You gave yourself a stomach ache for eating all of those damn tarts." She said bluntly. "But why did you eat them all? If it was out of spite, well played."
"I wish I did…" he growled. But he wouldn't say anything more than that. So, something else is going on here.
"Well, next time, don't take them all…" She said offhandedly, Sukuna sulked away. Still he looks to be suffering, she'll let him to continue to do so. She refocused, after all. Shin has been with Choso all day and perhaps, Choso would like a break by now for all his hard work…
#
The images haunted him.
Sukuna had gone back to the kitchen when no one was looking, he took ever last one of those treats before Yua or anyone else returned and devoured them in a single sitting. He didn't regret his actions at the time, since he began to remember more and more as to how he got stronger, more powerful than any other sorcerer who had come before him.
He was so close!
Yet as he went to bed that night, the nightmare he had…
It started off with him being small, almost like a child, and he saw the pastries within reach. He was quick to snag some of them before he heard a voice shout aloud. "ARE YOU TAKING MORE?!" this voice… he hears this voice haunt his dreams!
Instantly, he froze, his hands went behind his back. "No, not at all!" he protested.
... Why did he speak in a child's voice?
"Show me…"
He did so, his hands were empty, but no one noticed him using jujutsu. He had the tarts floating just behind his back, out of view of the one interrogating him. However he got away with it. "Okay, don't spoil your dinner!" he nodded quickly and ran off with the spoils.
'wait, why am I dreaming this?' Sukuna thought to himself. He could think in his dream and yet, he couldn't control what was happening within it.
He came to a stop with the spoils in hand. "Whoa! You got a lot this time! How did you do it?" came a very stunned voice. It was another child and yet, he knew this voice!
"I think I got my levitating jujutsu to work! I hid them behind my back."
"You are going to show me how you did it right?"
"Yes, of course!"
"Let's see, there's eight. You take four I'll have two."
"Why only two?"
"You did all the work,"
"But I have eight!"
"I know, but you also share with my little sister too…"
BADUM
He snapped out of bed, his heart ached as Sukuna broke out in a cold sweat. "What the hell was that!?" he demanded of himself.
That dream… it felt so real to him… how… why… What's going on?
He tried to fall back asleep, but he kept having the dream pick up where it left off. He saw no faces, but heard the voices clear as day. But… how could he remember the voices so clearly? Who were they? Why are they in his head?
By morning, he was a mess. Sleep did not happen for him, nor would these nightmares stop. They refused to allow him a moment's peace once his eyes closed. He stumbled out of his hut and went to the communal kitchen, when he arrived, he sneered at the brat's family.
"You look like hell."
"Shut up brat," he muttered.
He didn't even go for his seat at the small table set up for him. Instead, Sukuna just walked out the door without having breakfast. It wasn't like he was hungry anyways.
For the rest of the day, he tried to figure out the nightmare he had. Wondering if it was something to do with that binding vow on his heart. Or perhaps… perhaps his mind really was slipping. "I have to get out of this place… I have to break this curse upon me… I need a new vessel!" he muttered.
He pondered the notion. A new vessel… yes… that's his ticket out of here. He even knew the moment he died in this body, whatever essence remains of his will activate. He will use what remains of his soul to find a new body… but there's one right here too.
That brat's brat… Kiyoshi… he's a vessel! He had sensed it the moment his eyes came upon the boy, and it would be perfect. For not even his former vessel or that knock off of himself would dare harm him.
"I need to make arrangements…" he thought to himself and grinned deviously. But it all needs to be done discreetly and the timing has to be perfect. The brat and the knock off can't be here for when he makes his attempt. So perhaps, it would be best if he takes an interest in their activities and times it perfectly…