Unmatched | ᴍᴀʜɪᴛᴏ

Chapter 4

The baseball game of the exchange event had been a success. Everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone. As happy as they could be under these circumstances. Kugisaki had beaten Mai-san's ass in the game, so she was pretty happy, and it had also made Maki-san happy. Itadori seemed like a genuinely happy person anyway, and he was really just glad to officially be back amongst the living. Fushiguro was maybe happy, maybe not, but who could ever tell with that man? I was... well, I was alright. Tired and exhausted, but alright.

Gojo was away again, so both me and Itadori finally had two evenings off. We walked around the school for a bit because neither of us had seen all of it yet. It was still mid-summer, so the air was warm even though the sun was slowly going down. We didn't talk much, we mostly just looked around and sometimes smiled at each other.

It was unusual for him not to talk, but I didn't want to disturb his thoughts, so I didn't ask. I had my own thoughts to worry about. Like so many times, my mind went to my family. My parents. My little brother. The curse that had killed them and spared me. The other curse that had come for me in the alley.

I jumped a little when Yuji finally said something. He asked me what I was thinking about.

"My parents," I replied shortly.

He fell silent again at the look on my face. "Do you miss them?" he asked, completely misinterpreting my expression.

This wasn't the first time that he wanted me to talk about my parents. After I had told him that they had been killed by a curse, he had tried to respectfully ask about them many more times. I have never been able to make myself tell him the truth. Now I think I was. I looked into his eyes and shook my head. We came to a little stone bench, hidden between trees, and Itadori sat down. I did the same.

"You don't miss them?" he asked again.

Okay, maybe I haven't told you the full story. So let's start this again, shall we?

I had started seeing curses a few months ago, but I hadn't been sure what they were then. The first time I ever saw one was when it killed my parents. I was actually glad that it happened and even felt grateful for the curse. My parents had always wished for a boy. Instead, they got me. A girl. A girl who liked boys but didn't want children. A girl who was so stubborn and rude that they pretended this came all from me and not from them. They never loved me. I never loved them.

When I turned fourteen, my parents had another child. A boy. I hated the baby even more than my parents. My parents had loved him, of course, because it was everything I wasn't. A boy. A boy who would grow up to get a wife and have children. A boy who, even as a baby, was calm and never cried. Unlike me. I cried a lot. Not that they ever knew. The boy was killed, too. In front of my eyes.

We had been walking home from a restaurant when it had happened. My parents had screamed at me because apparently I had made a scene. I just didn't want to get out of frame when they wanted to take a picture. It was stupid. I hated pictures. And I hated my brother. He was only two years old, and one might say he had done nothing wrong. But he had been born. That was enough for me. He could have just been another girl, then maybe they would have liked me more. But no, he had to be born as a boy.

I hadn't hated curses then. I was glad that I was rid of my parents and my brother. I could live my life however I wanted. Sixteen years old and without a family gave me all the freedom I wanted. I didn't know why the curse had spared me. At first, I thought that it was just some joke and it would come at me next. But it didn't. After months, I came to see the incident as someone looking out for me. Someone saved me from my terrible family. Someone freed me. Even if it was just a curse.

I didn't tell Yuji that. I didn't tell him that my parents had beaten me. I didn't tell him that they used to lock me into my room for days as a punishment. I didn't tell him that they had barely given me anything to eat. I didn't tell him about the birthdays they had forgotten or the school events they hadn't come to. I didn't tell him any of that because I didn't want him to pity me. I hated pity.

I only told him that my life was better now without them. "Because I'm here now," I added.

I wondered whether Itadori might now have the same worries as Gojo. I didn't exactly know what they thought I would do with whoever had been responsible for my parent's death, but I knew that they wouldn't approve of what I actually had in mind. Not that I would do it, of course. First, I had to know if there was anyone behind this or if it really had been just a random curse.

Was I a bad person for thinking that? For being thankful to a curse that my family was dead? I don't think so. I don't think that wanting to be freed from pain and abuse made you a bad person. I don't think that being thankful to a curse that had given you freedom made you a bad person. I think it made you a strong person. I knew what I had lost when my family had died and it wasn't anything bad.

But Itadori wasn't stupid, even though he liked to say that about himself. "So when you said you wanted to find the person responsible..." he started. "You didn't mean for revenge?"

I only shrugged wordlessly because I didn't know what kind of answer he would have found most comforting. Should I have lied and said no, I was looking for revenge? Or should I have told him the truth? But I didn't even know what the truth was. I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't even know if there had been anyone behind the attack. I didn't know anything about it yet, so I didn't know what I wanted.

Yuji wasn't able to answer or ask any more questions because, in front of my eyes, a second pair of eyes opened, and markings appeared on Yuji's wrists and in his face. I slid back a little on the bench, startled by Sukuna's sudden appearance.

"Good to see you again, little lady," Sukuna said, his voice sounding very different from Yuji's.

I frowned, but the initial shock had worn off. "I thought Itadori kept you inside."

Sukuna laughed. "He does. I only have one minute. The brat doesn't know that this is happening and you won't tell him about it. When he comes back, you act as if he's never been gone. Understand?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do what you tell me?" I asked even though I already knew that I would.

Sukuna laughed. "Because you have questions for me, don't you?"

I pressed my lips together. How did he know?

"I'm only going to be able to answer them if he doesn't know we can talk," Sukuna continued.

"How do I know you actually have the answers I'm looking for?" Now I was just provoking him for fun.

The King of Curses came closer to me, his body emanating such heat that it felt like the sun was shining straight down on me. His face was close to mine, and I wondered what Yuji would say if he came back to find us in this position.

"You know who I am," Sukuna breathed. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

I knew who he was. I knew that he had answers. Before I could reply, he leaned back again, went blank for a second, and the markings faded away. The two extra eyes closed, and Itadori opened his again.

"Well, like I told you: there doesn't have to be anyone behind this," he said as if not a second had gone by since I had shrugged at his question.

It was as if he had merely blinked, and I had imagined the rest. I shrugged again, then put on a convincing smile. "I know, you're right. Let's get back inside."

We got up from the little bench and strolled back to our rooms. Yuji went to his, and I went to mine.

I was glad that I didn't have to train the next morning because I barely slept that night. My heart was racing at the thought of having talked to Sukuna. He had only had a minute. What was that about? And why had he decided to reveal himself now? Why not before? Why now? Because he now knew that I wasn't entirely antagonistic towards curses? What did he want from me?

Maybe I shouldn't trust him.

Maybe I should.