SUBMIT

11

"Master, what will you do now?" Kitsunemen asked as they exited out of the place where Geto's plan just took place. Menreiki looked around, her eyes watching some humans walk away from the barrier to rest. Some continued to bang on the barrier and cried to be let go, and Menreiki turned her head away from them, closing her eyes shut as if that would cease their loud pleas.

She sighed quietly as she floated past the humans, following the black trail that Uraume informed her beforehand that was a road. The world truly had changed greatly from when she was still alive; the last she saw of a road was it being completely made of dirt and framed by vegetation or weed. She followed it away from the crowd of humans, the masks rotating around her as usual.

The curse hummed thoughtfully at the mask's words, "I have to fulfill Uraume's wish."

Sukuna.

It was a name that she tried to forget after meeting him the first time.

However, no matter what, his name just continued to roam her mind like an annoying fruit fly. Every letter of his name pulled apart and put itself together again until it reformed over and over to the point it cemented itself in the back of her mind. It was such a nuisance to have, especially since she had yet to fully remember the way he looked when they first met.

Although her memories of her time as a human had returned to her, it appears that her mind had deteriorated over time since she and the masks had been sealed away, dusting away the earlier times of when she became a curse.

She could vaguely remember his mocking smile and the odd glint in his eyes when he looked upon her. She could make out some of the words that spilled out of his lips, and whenever she did, the feeling of irritation always bubbled up from the base of her bosom. Sometimes, if she tried hard enough, she could faintly recall the phantom touch of his hand clasped tightly on her wrist, a tingling burn on her skin that made her unconsciously move her hand to grasp onto it.

She inaudibly sighed.

How had she allowed someone like him to be so close to her?

It was a simple question with an even simpler answer.

Loneliness.

That was how.

Since she was young, Menreiki never had any friends.

Her father, whom she loved so dearly, sheltered her from the outdoors to keep her away from danger. Her servants were all nice and treated her with care when they weren't gossiping about how they pitied her or how odd she was.

Kunitake, the head servant, was always by her side when her father left, and many could say that he was her first friend. But, in her heart, Menreiki didn't see him as a friend; he was kind, yes, and he took note of her feelings often and handled her with care. However, there was always a wall of professionalism and the relationship of servitude that kept the two from pursuing a sense of a friendly bond.

That's why, when the masks offered themselves as her lifelong friends, Menreiki had lept on the chance to take them for herself to chase away the thorny solitude in her heart.

Even after acquiring the masks and calling them her friends, she was still so selfish and greedy for more.

Some could say that the first friend she had was him.

But Menreiki would rather bite her tongue and be sealed away again than to claim that man.

That man who had caused so much turmoil in her mind and so many more thorns to appear in the depths of her chest.