As though only just remembering someone was there, the pink-haired boy turned at the sound.
Despite his wholesale slaughter, not a trace of blood stained his pure white kimono.
The cold wind, laden with rain and snow, swept his short pink hair upward. He raised his eyelids slightly, cast a languid glance her way, then sauntered over to the altar and clamped a hand around Alluka's pointed chin.
Sukuna's crimson eyes casually looked this supposed younger sibling up and down.
They were siblings in name, but they looked nothing alike.
The black curse markings on his cheeks were wild and fierce, much like his personality.
And this weak sibling, without a shred of cursed energy, was his complete opposite.
Quiet, ignorant, and innocent as a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Not-quite-dried blood still clung to Alluka's cheeks. She gazed at the pink-haired boy for a long moment, then tilted her head slightly and gave a somewhat innocent smile, a hint of tentative trust in her gray-blue eyes.
She couldn't help feeling a little secret delight.
Was this her older brother?
But...
Seeing her expression, the pink-haired boy nonchalantly released his grip on Alluka's face.
"Boring."
His tone was casual, his voice deeper than his age would suggest.
As he withdrew his hand, his sharp nails inadvertently grazed Alluka's cheek.
Tiny beads of blood welled up like gleaming rubies, spilling onto Sukuna's fingertips.
He raised his fingers and paused for a second, then lightly rubbed their pads together before bringing that smear of red to his mouth and licking it.
It tasted salty and damp, with a rusty tang.
It seemed no different from anyone else's blood.
Her body lacked muscle and was utterly fragile, yet something unusual existed within it.
With the mystery solved, he withdrew his gaze, bored.
As though she were an irrelevant stranger, Sukuna turned without hesitation to leave.
The scratch on her face burned.
Twins born together should have shared an inseparable bond, yet they were about to pass each other by like strangers.
Alluka called out to his retreating back.
Sukuna did not turn.
His broad figure looked distant.
Alluka tilted her head in bewilderment.
Had she been abandoned?
She didn't understand what she had done wrong.
Lost and dejected.
At that moment, she was deeply confused.
A single glance had been enough for Sukuna to notice the presence of that thing inside Alluka.
Unlike the presence within her, the child before him was an inhuman monster, just as he was.
Though he had seen the innocent trust hidden in those watery eyes, he had no intention of bringing along such a physically feeble piece of trash.
Snow continued to drift from the sky, as though trying to cover that glaring blood-red expanse in white.
Yet every fleck of white that met the eye melted into the crimson.
As that figure grew ever more distant, Alluka unconsciously called out again.
"Brother... what's your name, Brother?!"
She instinctively tried to step toward him, but her bound legs had gone somewhat numb in the wind and snow.
The pink-haired figure did not look back.
The little child didn't quite understand her own feelings. She wondered in confusion whether she wasn't good enough, or whether it was because she looked different from her brother.
Snap, snap.
Two explosive slashes tore through the air.
Invisible blades of wind severed the ropes binding Alluka's wrists.
"Brother..."
Alluka raised her hands and looked at the almost black-red bruises around her wrists, then lowered her head and murmured to herself.
She lowered her hands and gazed in confusion toward where his figure had disappeared. She wanted answers to things she didn't understand, but the person who could give them to her had already gone far away.
She stood in the wind and snow for a long time, until her brows, lashes, and long hair were frosted white, until only white and scarlet remained on the hem of her dress.
The person she waited for never returned.
Alluka stayed in the mansion full of corpses for three days.
Hunger and cold made her dizzy, and she collapsed into the bedding, sleeping in a daze for three days.
She knew she was sick.
The high fever brought on by the chill lent a flush to her pale face.
She tossed and turned through dark dreams, walking hand in hand with Nanika through a forest shrouded in thick fog. Layers upon layers of dark shadows surrounded them, and no matter how far they walked, they could find neither light nor a way forward.
When she woke again, Alluka knew it was all over.
She patted her cheeks, knowing she was free now.
No one would ever confine her to that cramped, dilapidated courtyard again. She had never really wanted to look at the same scenery day after day, repeating the same life. She wanted to see what the sky outside looked like, too.
But where could she go?
Alluka felt lost and confused.
Just as she was about to do something, a bustling group of people arrived at the mansion.
They wore woven straw and rattan armor, with the leader's armor somewhat finer than the others'. All were dressed as warriors, bundled up tightly.
Alluka had never seen anything like this.
Hugging her knees, she peeked timidly through a gap in the window lattice. Their swords, banners, and armor bore the four-petaled Flying Plum Crest, a design she had never seen before.
"Tch, there's a survivor here? With this much blood in the air, someone's still alive?"
The group found Alluka's hiding place, and the tightly bundled uninvited guests crowded in from outside.
The wooden door banged as they forced it open, and the cold wind swept mercilessly through the gap.
Alluka shivered at the rush of cold air.
"It's a little brat?"
The leader swaggered up to Alluka and looked down at the sickly-faced child.
He couldn't quite understand how anything could still be alive in this mansion steeped in blood.
The group took Alluka with them.
Through spending time with them, she learned that they were the Neeshi Suppression Squad, which served the Sugawara Clan of Kyoto. They were not the clan's elite troops, but a band of rank-and-file soldiers who scouted ahead for the elite forces.
Most of them had been forcibly conscripted. Only the boy dressed as a warrior who led them belonged to a branch family of the Sugawara Clan.
While passing through Hida, a small frontier country ravaged by endless warfare, they had unexpectedly discovered such an intense stench of blood.
The Sugawara Clan's troops had initially thought a powerful curse might arise here.
But after barging in, they found the place clean. Apart from a little child, there was nothing at all.