Sulfur rain

"What's wrong, Yuji?"

"I don't remember teaching you to make such a pathetic face. How disappointing."

Xia Xia's voice was calm, devoid of any emotion.

The hand holding the knife was steady.

"Xia Xia, what have you done?!"

"Why..."

"Why would you do this? Answer me... why, why!!!"

Yuji's expression was delicious.

Hurt, sorrow, fear, and so much disbelief. How adorable. Had he already resorted to denial and running away because he couldn't accept it?

He was only a child, after all.

I'm sorry, Yuji.

But I have to do this.

To save you, to save this world, to save those who shouldn't have to die needlessly in a disaster.

"Why? Stop asking questions like a little child, Yuji. You should find the answers yourself."

"As for why I'm doing this-just think of it as me testing my limits."

Xia Xia frowned and pointed the carving knife at his young little brother, as though he had spotted some filth that needed removing. There was disappointment in his expression, along with a deliberately displayed bloodlust and cruelty.

He was about to do the last thing he would ever do in his life.

"Yuji, start running."

"Run like a stray dog. No one will blame you for being a coward. Get away before I catch you."

That was what he said.

"Prove to me that you aren't worth killing. Prove to me that you're a complete and utter waste."

"Otherwise... you won't end up much better than they did. I guarantee you won't want to find out what happens next..."

It began to rain.

The rain poured down through the dim night. The boy's panicked footsteps and the murderous intent closing in behind him all vanished into the curtain of water, leaving only the continuing screams and wails.

Yuji's mind was a tangled mess.

He wanted to ask Xia Xia why, yet through the connection between twins, he seemed to understand Xia Xia's heavy sorrow, something too profound to put into words.

He could only run, and keep running.

Past the streets, past the familiar market, past the little park, past the school.

The streets were deserted.

Who knew where everyone had gone? They had left Yuji in an empty world, with no one he could ask for help and no safe place to hide.

The killer behind him swept through the pitch-black night, his steps steady, his bearing imposing, like a seasoned hunter chasing a rabbit toward a waiting trap.

"Run, Yuji! Run faster!"

"Stop blubbering like a weakling! Shut your mouth and run!"

Xia Xia kept up the pressure as he ran.

Why, why?

Those words echoed in Yuji's heart, but when he opened his mouth, his body's survival instincts made him say only:

"Don't kill me!"

"Anyone, please, help me!"

He didn't know why he was being such a coward.

He didn't know why he was begging like this.

He only knew that he would die if he stopped.

Behind him was Xia Xia's reassuring presence, yet in these circumstances, he couldn't get far enough away from it.

Behind him was his warm home, yet he would never have the chance to return, and returning would never mean anything again.

On his ninth birthday, Yuji Itadori lost everything and found himself facing certain death.

Just two hours earlier, this child had been looking forward to a happy birthday with his big brother, wondering what presents he would receive after dinner.

Before opening the front door, he had still been wondering whether he would get to eat the newest cake from the bakery on the corner, and whether his brother had skipped school to prepare a surprise for him.

If all this is a nightmare...

Please wake up.

If everything that had happened could just be a nightmare, Yuji was willing to go the rest of his life without his favorite rice bowls or noodles, without reading manga, without playing Aeroplane Chess.

"What are you mumbling about?"

"Only now do you think of making a binding vow? You're actually thinking of making a binding vow at a time like this, Yuji?"

"You really are a talented child."

"In that case, I can't let you live!"

He was caught.

A swift, clean flying kick struck him from behind before he could defend himself, sending Yuji flying and slamming him onto the concrete. The friction scraped a small patch of flesh from his arm, leaving it instantly drenched in blood.

Yuji felt as though a car had hit his back. His bones, his organs, his whole body erupted in agonizing pain.

He opened his mouth and coughed up blood-flecked foam.

He had no strength left.

He'd had enough.

His face ashen, he stared at the figure holding the knife with a pale, hopeless gaze.

"I'll say it again. You've disappointed me, Yuji."

"Look at this pathetic state you're in, clinging desperately to life. You've disgraced the Itadori bloodline. You've failed to live up to the special training Mother gave you."

"Let me end your suffering, Yuji."

"Relax. The pain will only last a moment."

Bloody tears flowed from Xia Xia's eyes. Looking down at the boy on the ground, he knew it was time to bring this performance to an end.

"Hate me, Yuji."

"Resent the fact that you're weak. Curse yourself for being so lazy and unambitious, then carry that despair and helplessness into hell."

Xia Xia counted down the time.

"No, I can't die..."

Yuji heard someone speaking softly beside his ear.

"Damn it, what's wrong with this body of yours? Why can't I forcibly take control? Is it because there's only one finger-hey, brat, if you don't want to die here, repeat after me."

"Listen closely to yours truly."

[Dragon Scales]

"Dragon Scales."

An invisible streak of light sliced through the wind before him, slashing toward the killer advancing step by step.

It only grazed his cheek.

"You've got to be kidding me. Why is it so weak? Do you have no cursed energy at all...?"

"Even Dismantle with an incantation can't do any damage. So you aren't even at Grade 4 level? What the hell is this?"

Inside Yuji's head, someone let out a helpless cry.

In a thousand years, he had never suffered such indignity.

Back when he was alive, even at his weakest, he could have sliced the brat before him into minced flesh and bloody mist. Yet something was wrong with this finger: he could neither achieve incarnation nor draw on cursed energy.

"Brat, let's make a deal."

"Can you let me use your body to run away? I promise we'll at least both make it out alive."

A trace of resignation crept into that voice.

"Can you do it?"

Yuji was worried. He was badly hurt and could barely even stand. By now, he no longer cared where this lifeline had come from. He only wondered whether he could really survive in this state.

"Guaranteed. Be good and let me handle it."

Unreliable as that voice sounded, it possessed an authority that brooked no argument.

"Then... I'll leave everything to you."

Resolving to try anything rather than wait for death, Yuji surrendered control of his body.

"Good."

Sukuna opened his eyes.

This nine-year-old body, weak, badly injured, and without any potential for development-his luck really was rotten...

Still, something was better than nothing. Setting aside his own incarnation for now, he at least had to preserve this finger's vessel. Everything else could wait.

First, heal these wounds.

Ah, that's children for you. A few little injuries and they think they're dying. Back in my day, I fought so many powerful enemies and could still turn the tables with half a breath left. Kids these days are pathetic.

Within a second of logging in, the old veteran was already berating young people for their inability to endure hardship. They'd never had luxuries like this back in his day...

Reverse Cursed Technique, activate.

The pain and numbness in his body faded. Those irritating distractions ended there.

Now it's my turn to fight!

"Dragon Scales."

"Reversal."

"Paired Meteors."

Sukuna was already eager to see the child before him sliced to pieces, but then he realized that this body had been tampered with. It was just a nine-year-old brat, and that single Dismantle, along with the Reverse Cursed Technique used to heal his injuries, had already drained almost all its cursed energy...

As he recited the incantation, nothing happened.

"Heh, can we make peace?"

Sukuna gave an awkward, strained smile.

Even if ten thousand stray dogs were stampeding through his mind, and ten thousand stray dogs were throwing Hadoukens, he still had to keep smiling. Maybe the other kid would be in a good enough mood to let him off?

At a time like this? You must be joking.

Xia Xia didn't hesitate in the slightest. He pressed the knife to the neck of the Sukuna edition of Yuji Itadori.

"Bro! Big brother! Don't kill me! I'm Yuji!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Sukuna shouted it out.

"I know I'm your brother."

"So you'll even call me your big brother to stay alive? I despise you!"

Xia Xia sneered and applied a little pressure to the carving knife.

"Big brother, I have something to say."

Sukuna still looked pitiful, with a child's peculiar vulnerability. He had no idea how he had managed to make such a revolting expression, but he'd actually done it!

Sukuna honestly thought he was amazing, knowing when to bend and when to stand tall. Anyone else would have failed to find an opening like this.

"Speak."

Xia Xia was curious, too, about what Yuji could possibly try.

In the blink of an eye...

Sukuna jerked his hand upward. The sharp blade sliced open the blood vessels in his arm, sending a torrent of blood spurting out. Under his exquisite control, every drop splashed into Xia Xia's eyes!

Special move: blood-blind!

A second later, Sukuna swept Xia Xia's legs out from under him, catching him completely off guard. Without the slightest intention of continuing his attack, he shot away like an arrow from a bow, fleeing as though his feet had been greased!

Run for it~

Move, you damn legs! Hurry!

Channeling his minuscule reserves of cursed energy into his legs, with no time to heal the wound on his wrist, Sukuna ran through the downpour, slipping and sliding as he went. Somehow, he was eerily fast.

The old veteran couldn't guarantee much else, but one thing was certain-his ability to stay alive and scrape together points far exceeded that of a total newbie like Yuji Itadori. He meant what he said. Yours truly guaranteed that the kid would survive!

Sprint, go! Looking good! Otto! Looking good!

Woohoo, feels like flying! Faster, faster! The hunter's coming, the hunter's coming!!!

Hahahahahaha! This is my struggle to survive, the struggle of Sukuna himself! Didn't see that coming, did you? This is my escape route!!!