Chapter 24
It was all coming back to him.
What really haunted him though was the first feast Uraume made him.
He remembered the display they made, how thinly sliced the flesh was, and yet, before he even took a taste of the feast, Uraume insisted on an 'appetizer'.
"BLEH!" he suddenly sat up and was sick. For the first time in many years, Sukuna threw up at the thought of it all. But these thoughts were only getting worst. From remembering the feast, he then began to recall another memory.
But what festered his mind the most was the 'bath'.
Ever since he was young, every third day, Mother Tooru always gave him a 'special bath' as she explained. At first he hated it. It felt strange and unusual. Yet, as he grew older, he began to enjoy it better. In fact, he started to look forward to the bath, but…
His mind pulsed.
"Mother Tooru, why do I always have to take this bath?" he was just a young child at the time, but he did remember asking such a question. For the longest time, he believed that the Tooru family filled his head with lies to use him for their own benefit. But, he remembered her answer clear as day.
"I bathe you because curse energy has an abnormal affect on you, Ryomen. Too much of it makes you become very unstable. I bathe you to cleanse your mind and body of such a thing, you are able to control yourself better, right?" she asked of him.
He nodded his head to her. Before, when he unleashed an attack, it when every which way. No matter the target, everything would have been struck down, even if he tried hard to aim his attack. But, after having a bath every three days, it became a lot easier to control. He understood his power better and it grew the more he trained with it.
But, his power grew anyways and even more so after he bathed.
As he aged, he began to express his independents and wished to bathe on his own. Mother Tooru agreed but she had to prepare the water for him. "I don't mind you doing so, but I must prepare your bath for you. Understood?" she asked gently of him.
He didn't know why but agreed.
For the longest time, he tried to understand the reasoning for this. Why SHE had to be the one to prepare the water despite being old enough to do so himself. Perhaps he needs answer on that too.
When he turned fifteen, he confronted Mother Tooru once more. This time he was doing so as she was preparing the bath water. "Mother Tooru, why can I not draw my own water?"
His back was up, since he figured Mother Tooru still saw him as a child. However, she turned and smiled to him. "Because, I do something special to the water, come"
She showed him everything, each and every time she draws his bath, she takes the water from a stream and heats it up. However, it was the jujutsu she used to do so. Her energy was far different from any other sorcerer, he could still sense it and yet, it didn't feel like true curse energy to him.
"Ryomen, come see," she said gently.
He would watch the process, and of course, this water was mainly used just to wash himself down before entering the hot springs later. But all this effort was for his sake?
"I cast a jujutsu on the water as it heats up, the heat reacts to my energy. When you clean yourself with this water, you remove the surplus energy that has gathered around you, it also creates a small barrier for you too so the energy will stop trying to force its way into you. Your mind is a very vulnerable area, that is the first place curse energy attacks you. The more it affects your mind, the more you lose it. Understood?"
He nodded to her. She didn't hide anything from him, she even explained that this jujutsu was used on her family if they are hit by a terrible curse. "In the right hands, as well as situation, this water can cleanse nearly anything."
Then, his mind slipped.
It was shortly after he fell into insanity, after he devoured Ryoto and then Chusi. He was full and content, yet felt lacking.
"Master? What is wrong?"
It was one of the earliest memories he had of his most devoted follower. Uraume.
They were quick to pick up on his queues, his mood as well as his likes and dislikes. It was if they have known him for years.
"After a good meal, I need to freshen up. A bath, that's what I need." He said.
They smiled. "Of course you do, and I have already prepared one worthy for you, come this way Master."
He was led to what would have been a water reservoir in a village; this was rather a distance away from where he called home. But due to the time and method needed to make this curse bath, it was necessary. Uraume used this village for their own means, there wasn't a soul for miles from what he could remember. Yet, within he saw the bath made for him, it was completely full of black sludge. "Master, this has been prepared just for you. Within are remains of curse spirits, but their power will help refresh you. I promise you that."
He remembered that bath as well as the first one given to him by Mother Tooru.
But this bath did the opposite to him.
He grew more deranged, unstable, mad and vicious. He absorbed everything that makes a curse spirit a curse. The hated, anger, resentment, greed and lack of empathy to those around him. He no longer cared who he harmed, who got in his way or who became his next meal.
These baths became a custom to him, in fact…
In fact… Uraume insisted, he has one after each Tooru he devours.
He did so religiously for the years to come. He would devour the Tooru, only to bathe in the black sludge.
Why is he just remembering this now?
Why is this all coming back to him…
Chusi…
Ever since he saw her again… ever since he knew it was her who had come back to him… these memories now are clashing against one another, trying to remind him of what he has done…
"Every time… Uraume made certain I bathed every time I ate a Tooru or someone powerful… Why…" he couldn't make sense of it. They knew that each time he bathed, his power grew stronger. He became more unstable and couldn't be controlled…
"How did Uraume know I took a bath? Did they know…"
He laid there, remembering it all.
His memories flooded back to him, chipping away at his mind as more and more thoughts, recalls and events became known to him.
Sukuna didn't sleep for three days, he didn't close his eyes once, he merely stared up into the trees blankly as it all came back to him.
#
peck, peck
There was a red crow pecking at his forehead. It peered at him oddly, but he knew this crow belonged to the curse womb Tanso. "Looking for me? Of course you would be looking for me…" his voice went monotone, devoid of emotion or any sort of feeling.
He sat himself up as the crow continued to peer at him oddly. "I remember… everything."