"A chance encounter"

"Megumi, have you finished your homework?"

Tsumiki Fushiguro came out after cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless.

It was hard to believe the person before him was an eight-year-old girl.

Whoever married her would be one lucky man. Looking at the spotless kitchen, Sukuna secretly gave Tsumiki Fushiguro a thumbs-up.

What a shame that someone so good had been turned into Uraume's vessel by Kenjaku.

And then killed by him!

By that reckoning, there shouldn't be much time left, should there? Sukuna watched the siblings doing their homework around a small table.

An absolutely brilliant idea suddenly popped into his head.

Watching the heartwarming scene below, Sukuna vanished in a flash. When he reappeared, he was already at the gates of Jujutsu High.

He also had the latest model of phone in his hand. Don't ask too many questions. If anyone asked, a kind shopkeeper had given it to him.

The moment he stepped into Jujutsu High, he spotted Shoko with her short, tawny hair, a cigarette between her lips and a drink in her hand.

Beside her was a box containing some unknown creature's hoof. Half of it had already been gnawed away, so Sukuna couldn't identify it either.

"Hello, Shoko."

Running into a protagonist like Megumi Fushiguro on a casual stroll had genuinely put Sukuna in a good mood, so he took the initiative to greet her.

"Hello, Sukuna. You're back?"

Holding her glass, Shoko waved at him from quite a distance.

Sukuna strode over on his long legs and sat down beside her.

Then, as though performing a magic trick, he pulled a red can of Coca-Cola from his pocket. With a hiss, he pried it open with his fingernail.

Although this body was excellent, there were still a few things Sukuna disliked about it. Other people's nails grew in an oval shape.

His alone always grew into sharp points, though they weren't black.

For convenience, he generally trimmed all his nails right down.

He left only one thumbnail, trimming it into an oval. Naturally, he kept that thumbnail to make opening Coca-Cola easier. He didn't want to simply slice the can open.

To him, drinking Coca-Cola that way was no different from pouring it into a cup. It lost its soul.

Soulless Coca-Cola wasn't even as good as plain water.

Looking at the unidentified hoof with only half of it left, Sukuna hesitated briefly before using Dismantle to slice off a portion that didn't look as though it had been chewed.

To avoid hurting his hand while eating, Sukuna even cut the unknown animal's hoof into small strips.

Shoko paid no attention to such details and started gnawing on the other half.

Even with the hoof in her mouth, she didn't forget to ask, "Where did you go today, Sukuna?"

Sukuna swallowed the meat with a satisfied expression. He had to admit that after eating so much fried chicken, having something braised now and then was delicious.

At Shoko's question, he answered without hesitation. "I met two particularly significant people today."

He smiled as he spoke. After all, those two really did mean a great deal to him.

The meticulous plan in his mind became a little more airtight.

"Oh? You look pretty happy. They must be especially significant people."

"That's right. Extremely significant."

Hearing Sukuna's answer, Shoko didn't ask any further questions and simply focused on the hoof in her hand.

She also raised her glass, offering Sukuna a taste of the fine liquor.

Naturally, Sukuna shook his head, though he had no idea why Shoko, who never used glasses, had suddenly started drinking from one.

He continued drinking his Coca-Cola, constantly chewing on the braised hoof he had pilfered from Shoko.

And so the two finished their portions of hoof in silence.

"Ah, I'm sleepy. I'm going back to bed early tonight."

Shoko said her goodbyes, gathered up the dishes on the ground, and stood to leave.

Sukuna tossed his empty Coca-Cola can neatly into the trash, then returned to his dorm.

Finally... well, there was no finally.

Sukuna fell asleep as soon as he collapsed onto the bed. Being young really was wonderful-his head hit the pillow, and he was out.

Sukuna got up very early the next morning.

He went to the cafeteria for a fried chicken breakfast and got another portion to go.

Then he headed straight to Megumi Fushiguro's home. Just as he had expected, they still had school today.

Jujutsu High had started its break early because it had held the Goodwill Event, so judging by the schedule, they still had at least another half month of school before their vacation.

He leaped onto the roof of Megumi Fushiguro's house and found a comfortable spot to lie down.

He secretly watched Megumi and Tsumiki Fushiguro go about their morning. Soon, Tsumiki went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

Compared with dinner, Tsumiki was clearly much better at making breakfast. At least her fried eggs were golden brown on both sides.

Rather than burnt into lumps of charcoal.

After finishing breakfast, the siblings left home, checking repeatedly to make sure the front door was locked.

Each carrying a schoolbag, they headed off to school. Only after watching them leave did Sukuna vanish from his spot.

When he reappeared, he was on a bustling street. Sukuna hadn't come here to cause destruction.

The fried chicken that morning simply hadn't filled him up, so he bought a few steamed buns to tide himself over.

After enjoying a lovely breakfast, he could quietly wait for the Fushiguro siblings to return from school that afternoon. He stared at the sun and let his mind wander.

If heaven continued to favor him, he might be able to infiltrate the enemy's ranks.

No, wait. He was humanity's greatest common enemy.

After all, what Japanese person with even a little knowledge of history didn't know about the campaign to exterminate the Barbarian People?

That incident had made it into the history books, and Sukuna's image was deeply etched into the mind of every person in Japan.

Speaking of that incident, his deal with Tengen back then had to be mentioned.

As for the details of that deal... those could go unmentioned for now.

Unlike the descriptions of him in Jujutsu Society, ordinary people in Japan depicted him as a completely unremarkable man.

He looked no different from an ordinary person, which also meant that ordinary people had no idea what he really looked like.

Naturally, Tengen had handled the publicity.

Tengen had promised to give Sukuna's image a proper embellishment, after all. It was simply presented to the world in the form of an ordinary person.

Thinking of Tengen, Sukuna pondered for a moment. Should he visit this old acquaintance from so long ago?

But by now, Tengen's body had probably aged to the point where maintaining a human appearance was impossible.

A full-on transformation into a giant thumb!

Time passed quickly, and Sukuna lay in wait at the same hour on that slightly run-down street.

On the street, several older students were holding Megumi Fushiguro down and beating him.

This was entirely within Sukuna's expectations. Yesterday, he had heard that Megumi had fought some older students for Tsumiki's sake.

How could they possibly not retaliate today?

"Stop hitting him! Stop!"

Tsumiki Fushiguro desperately tried to break free, but several girls behind her held her firmly in place.

Yes, these were the same girls who had poured milk into her schoolbag yesterday.

Megumi Fushiguro certainly had guts. Despite being pinned to the ground and beaten for so long, he hadn't made a sound.

"Megumi!"

"Stop it! What you're doing is wrong!"

Tsumiki continued struggling frantically, but how could one little girl possibly break free of several others?

Seeing that they were about to stop, Sukuna hurriedly jumped down. He was here to lend a hand in their hour of need.

The older students clearly hadn't noticed the shadow approaching from behind.

Just as they were about to stop beating Megumi, Sukuna appeared behind them and first knocked all the girls to the ground.

The older students had only just sensed something was wrong and were about to stop when Sukuna picked them all up like chicks.

"Aaah! Who are you? Who are you?"

Sukuna ignored them and casually tossed them out of the street.

After taking that long beating, Megumi Fushiguro stood up again without a word.

Tsumiki hurried over to check his injuries.

"Megumi, are you okay?"

Tsumiki pulled a few tissues from her pocket and wiped the corner of Megumi's mouth.

Although he had been pinned down and beaten, they were all elementary school students, after all. Aside from a little blood at the corner of his mouth, he had only suffered a few scrapes.

Sukuna didn't linger there. His gaze shifted toward the older students.

The three boys and three girls he had tossed out of the street fled as soon as they saw an adult interfering.

While the siblings weren't paying attention, Sukuna also vanished from the spot.

"That brat got off easy. Who knew some nosy adult would pop up out of nowhere?"

The six had entered an even more secluded alley, cursing Sukuna nonstop.

Just then, a black-haired, red-eyed man suddenly appeared behind them and listened to them insult him.

A cruel smile curled his lips. It had been so long since he had killed anyone.

Before any of them realized something was wrong, one of their companions' heads suddenly fell to the ground.

"Aaaah!!!"

"Aaah!!"...

"Were you insulting me?"

At the sight of their companion's corpse, the little brats wet themselves in terror. The three girls in particular were reduced to streaming tears and snot.

How could children who should have been innocent ever have encountered such a horrifying scene?

Their eyes slowly turned backward... almost, almost. They were about to see who it was.

Suddenly, the remaining five heads fell to the ground together, and their bodies were sliced across the waist into three sections.

Blood instantly stained the ground red. An old woman who had heard the noise slowly opened her door.

Before the sight could frighten her to death, her body was reduced to chunks.

Looking at the corpses before him, Sukuna let out wildly arrogant laughter that rang through the silent alley.

"Hahahaha!"

He slowly crouched down and touched the ground. The next instant, despite there being nothing flammable, the street erupted into a raging blaze.

Not a single person in the alley escaped. Every last one died an unnatural death.

Sukuna's wildly arrogant smile faded, and his expression became exceptionally calm. Just like that, he vanished from the spot.