Loneliness

Uraume settled Alluka into the residence where they were temporarily staying. Since they had been invited to attend the ritual festivities, and it was already getting late, they had not left Heian-kyō.

"Little Ume! Do you know where Brother went?"

Rain broke through the clouds and poured down, its pattering drops forming threads in the air. Standing beneath the wooden veranda, Alluka curiously stretched out her hand to catch a few drops.

Back at the Shrine, Hengzi had never allowed Alluka to leave her room when it rained or snowed. Obedient as she was, she had always followed those rules imposed on her alone.

Now that she was far from that Shrine, no one would restrict her actions anymore.

"Lord Sukuna probably has something to attend to."

Uraume stood behind Alluka with a somewhat strained expression.

Upon learning that Alluka and Lord Sukuna were siblings, he had been so shocked that he could not speak. Lord Sukuna had left Alluka in his care and gone off again, and Uraume did not quite dare to guess what his lord was thinking.

"Okay."

Alluka nodded, not at all discouraged, and turned back toward her room with light steps. Perhaps she was tired, because she soon fell asleep.

The next day.

A commotion outside disturbed the still-sleepy Alluka. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and slid open the shoji door, only to see a girl wearing nothing but an outer robe standing in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, trading insults with Uraume.

"Where's Ryomen Sukuna? Where is he? I heard he slaughtered half the Fujiwara Clan yesterday and stole someone very important to them! Was it a woman?!"

The girl named Uraume brazenly called Sukuna by his full name, even treating him as her personal possession.

"You lowborn wretch! Watch your mouth!"

At the sight of her, Uraume's expression instantly darkened.

This was the woman who had thrown herself onto Lord Sukuna yesterday without the slightest regard for decorum. He had never seen anyone so shameless.

Unbearable irritation churned in his chest. Cursed energy changed shape at his fingertips, and an ice blade shrouded in a spectral blue glow slashed toward the girl's neck.

"Hah, you're nothing but a servant. Once I become Sukuna's lawful wife..."

The beautiful girl flipped aside to evade his strike. Just as she was about to teach him a lesson, she noticed Alluka, and her lovely face turned sinister.

"It's you, isn't it? You're the one Sukuna stole."

As she stared at the androgynous young figure before her, vicious jealousy burned in Uraume's eyes.

Her twisted malice briefly contorted her beautiful face.

She had fallen in love with Sukuna at first sight during yesterday's Daijō-sai, convinced that she alone could ease his loneliness.

Yet she had never expected that, after she received treatment with Reverse Cursed Technique, half the Fujiwara Clan would be dead, and that old man Fujiwara Michimitsu would look so grief-stricken he seemed to have aged ten years.

None of that would ordinarily have concerned her, but Ryomen Sukuna had been the one responsible. She considered Sukuna her possession and could not accept that he had slaughtered the Fujiwara Clan for someone else.

Two streams of black fluid appeared beneath her. The liquid metal shot toward Alluka like arrows, carrying her forward as she reached out to wrench Alluka's neck.

She moved so fast that she appeared before Alluka in an instant. Just as she was about to strike, a wall of ice materialized in front of Alluka, blocking her path.

Uraume's Ice Formation was a ranged attack, nowhere near as fast as the girl's movements. Just as he was about to unleash his maximum output, a jumble of footsteps approached from outside the courtyard.

"Uraume! What are you doing?!"

A squad of armored elite soldiers from the Fujiwara Clan rushed in behind her. Face guards concealed their features, leaving only their eyes visible beneath stray locks of hair.

"What are you people doing here?" she demanded harshly.

Ever since she had single-handedly driven back the Five Void Generals, the Fujiwara Clan had entrusted her with important duties on the strength of her abilities. Technically, the man leading the squad was her superior, but she had no intention of showing them any respect.

Ever since meeting Ryomen Sukuna, her heart had no longer been with the Fujiwara Clan.

She wanted to marry Ryomen Sukuna as his lawful wife. She would never let his eyes look so lonely again.

Anyone who stood in her way deserved to die. Just as she wielded her liquid metal again, an invisible slash arrived alongside Uraume's ice blade.

A sharp line of blood sliced from her shoulder down to her lower abdomen.

Her body was torn open, though not completely severed. She fell backward onto the ground, blood frothing incessantly from the wound.

"Ryomen Sukuna! Let me ease your loneliness!"

Forgetting the blood gushing beneath her, she wore a sickly flush on her face.

Ryomen Sukuna stood beneath the veranda, light falling across half his face. His scarlet eyes held an aloof indifference as he looked down at her like an ant.

"Who are you?"

As though he did not recognize her, he swept another cold glance over the Fujiwara Clan's elite soldiers.

"Have you come here to die too?"

Shaken by his imposing presence, the Fujiwara soldiers recoiled in terror, ready to flee, only to remember why they had come.

The squad leader forced his trembling legs to hold steady and stammered, "L-Lord Ryomen Sukuna, o-our divine child seems to have g-gone missing. C-could we..."

The girl's arrival here had been no coincidence.

Her naked leap onto Ryomen Sukuna at yesterday's Daijō-sai had already utterly disgraced the Fujiwara Clan.

Fujiwara Michimitsu had been with the Emperor yesterday and had not attended the sacrificial ritual. Upon returning, he discovered that none of those who had attended at the Shrine were still alive. The others were not particularly important; only Alluka mattered...

He had ordered his subordinates to search through the bodies for ages, only breathing a long sigh of relief when they failed to find her.

Cutting people into pieces was unmistakably Ryomen Sukuna's handiwork. Fujiwara Michimitsu did not know whether Alluka's ability had attracted that monster, so before Ryomen Sukuna could leave the capital, he had his men goad the girl into coming here.

He then sent a small squad under the pretext of looking for her to find out whether Alluka was here.

Unless Alluka was dead, she could only remain with their Fujiwara Clan. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, they had to take her back.

The squad leader knew this mission was exceptionally dangerous. Before he could finish speaking, however, his body was sliced into several pieces that slid haphazardly in different directions.

Before the warriors' terrified screams could burst from their throats, the same slashes sent them to join their leader.

"Brother! You're back!"

Alluka was not troubled by the fact that someone had almost killed her.

The Black-Haired Boy tilted his head up, his slightly curved blue eyes pure and clear, sparkling like gems.

"Lord Sukuna!"

Uraume cast a cold look over the dead and bowed respectfully.

These noisy people had come and gone from Lord Sukuna's temporary residence as freely as if it were a marketplace. They truly deserved to die.

"Coming to your deaths when you know you'll die... Is there something special about you?"

Ryomen Sukuna propped his chin on his hand and gave Alluka a casual once-over, the black curse markings lending an even sharper edge to his features.

"Brother, do you want to see Nanika?"

Alluka's eyes lit up, and her smile grew even brighter.

She had known Brother could not possibly dislike Nanika.

Yesterday, being called a nuisance had saddened Nanika a little. But Alluka knew Brother could not possibly dislike them, whether it was when he had rescued her back then or when he had just stopped that woman.

She loved Brother so much!