This chapter is a bit shorter, but I'm dreading writing the next part I have in mind, so have this for now :))
(also I still have no idea what Sukuna's technique really is, but he's wielding flames in this chapter for some reason) (oh, and Uraume goes by non-binary pronouns there, because we do not know their gender in canon and also I need more enby characters in media)


Sorcerers were not regarded kindly in these times.

That's something Yuuji was more or less conscious of since Sukuna's knowledge tends to bleed into his own almost without him noticing, but that's also painstakingly obvious from the scenes he witnessed during his little trip. There is fear bordering on hatred in the eyes of commoners – they believe sorcerers are bearers of bad luck, attracting curses, maybe even threatening to turn into some themselves. (They aren't entirely wrong on that, but constant rejection certainly doesn't help reduce this threat.)

Or, most exactly, unregistered sorcerers are ostracized. The others are gathered into a few places, serving as elite soldiers, respected as long as they keep to themselves.

"Say, Sukuna… why didn't you enroll into one of the sorcerer schools? I'm sure they would have valued your technique there."

It's Uraume who finally asks the question, one day they are traveling to another town where they aren't known yet.

"They don't accept murderers."

"Ah."

Again, the image of that black-haired woman flashes before Yuuji's eyes, quickly replaced by one of a teen hiding around a corner, cursed energy seething around his clenched fist. There is a finely-dressed man on the other side, talking, an ornate dagger at his side. It's the same that slit the woman's throat.

Yuuji furrows his brow, unsettled by the imagery, and nearly misses the rest of the conservation:

"I can return the question to you."

"Enrolling means no more contact with outsiders," Uraume explains. "I couldn't leave Umeo behind."

"I see."

The twins and Sukuna are almost always alone. The moment someone realizes they are sorcerers, they leave town. Their prematurely white hair and his tattoos certainly don't help either.

Yuuji hops from memory to memory, listening to some conversation here and there. It's weird to see that the curse inside his head lived a pretty ordinary life at some point. He has some trouble making the two visions fit together; he still has vivid memories of Sukuna threatening him, and that doesn't quite go well with the image of him laughing.

(He wonders if what he's seeing right now will later appear in his own mind. If so, and if Sukuna ever stumbles upon them, he's definitely done for.)

His attention is drawn to another setting, because that's not the first time he has seen this room, far from it. It takes a few minutes of prodding to discover they seem to have settled there for good. Hida province. Yuuji isn't sure, once again, how he knows this, but he does – even though he is not sure he could place it on a map.

He also knows that Hida is isolated enough that their beliefs are a bit different from the rest of Japan. Maybe the fact that there are fewer curse-related deaths there helps – it's not like the population is dense enough to produce much negative energy anyway. A perfect place for sorcerers that don't find their place anywhere else.

In the same way, Yuuji is aware there is going to be a war even before the clanking of steel even begins to ring in his ears.

The uniforms are straight out of a museum, to Yuuji's eyes at least. Some have decorations that mean there are emperor men, the others are a bit more heterogeneous and a lot more worn out. Hida province is poor and underpopulated – mountains cut it off from the rest of the country, and it mainly survives thanks to its forests.

And in this particular conflict, it turns out its main assets are two young special-grade sorcerers.

Sukuna and Uraume fight on the front lines, with Umeo not far behind. Yuuji has no idea who started the war; however, he can't help but empathize with the seemingly less fortunate side – Hida's – and therefore, he can sit back and admire the cursed techniques without too much guilt. (That, plus the fact that it all unfold like a millennium back, so even if it's currently playing before his very eyes as if it was yesterday, he can't shake off the feeling that he's watching a movie.) To be fair, it's absolutely astonishing – and he's suddenly a bit more worried about what would happen to his world if Sukuna ever gets free with as much power as this.

But power doesn't solve anything, especially when you are outnumbered – and someone you care about very much is currently held hostage in front of you with a katana pressed against his throat, harshly enough to draw blood.

It's Uraume's voice that draws Sukuna's attention to their twin and his less-than-ideal situation.

The flames die at his fingertips and he just stares. What else is there to do?

"Surrender."

In their immediate surroundings, the fight has stilled.

"Or he dies."

Umeo's ruby eyes are blown wide, darting from his twin to his friend, his lips parted slightly open. He himself doesn't like he knows if he wants them to save him, or on the contrary to ignore him and save themselves – though that's not his choice to make.

The icepicks impaling nearby soldiers dissolve back into harmless water.

The fires continue to burn down on the trampled ground. (He can't snuff it out, even if he wanted.)

They don't know where it comes from, nor that it even existed for that matter, but the emperor men have two lengths of rope binding cursed energy. Sukuna and Uraume let them tie up their arms behind their backs. Umeo is crying.

Hida has lost this battle, and probably the war too, but that's not what's on the two sorcerers' minds right now.

"Now, you can releas-"

Uraume doesn't get the chance to finish their sentence.

The sun catches on the sharp blade, makes the shed blood glint, while the light fades out from ruby eyes. His twin falls to their knees, Sukuna shouts. His body hits the ground nonetheless.