SUBMIT

25

        Menreiki is a piece of shit.

That was Sukuna's first thought when she kicked the hell out of his face.

Although, he should be thankful that that's all she did to him, even if it was by accident. He had heard a lot of stories about how she ate and ate like a person who has been denied food since she was born. He listened to the way men trembled by her name, often causing disputes amongst themselves about whether or not she could hear them calling her. He had read the numerous stories about her maliciousness, and one that spoke of her geniality like an old friend.

Odd story that one was.

But nonetheless, Sukuna should be grateful that all he got was a throb in his nose, bleeding, but not broken. He shouldn't be scolding her for suddenly appearing from behind some low bushes or be getting more furious about the fact that she was practically inattentive to his words. In fact, he should be the one cowering away and rocking himself in a fetal position instead of her. He should be the one running away, so why is he watching the back of the most fearsome curse to ever live cry as she floated away?

Sukuna was dumbfounded, and even more so when she returned with her masks rotating around her like a makeshift hurricane, "Go away before I hurt you."

"What? Not going to kill me?" He mocked, and sometimes he wondered if he lived off the thrill of his life being on the line. It was an exciting thing for him; to feel his heart beat rapidly against his bones, against the skin that brought him together as if trying to escape the damned cage that was his body, that was the feeling of a euphoria he chased after in this dangerous era. Confronting the curse, this...tyrant...was the most rousing thing he's done in his life because he knew that he had a slim chance of living, and if he had to crawl and bite his way to live, to just drown in the adrenaline that came afterwards, he would do it.

Menreiki merely looked at him, tilting her head with narrowed eyelids. She mumbled to herself, grumbling, and for a moment, Sukuna thought she looked like she was pouting. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out, an evident frown coming to her face, and her narrowed gaze almost looked teary. But just as he was about to further look upon her features, she swiftly turned around with the masks singing her praises about her gentle demeanor; although, there was one mask that groaned about her not teaching him a lesson.

It baffled him.

Truly, it did.

Menreiki — "ate everything and terrorized everyone without apologizing because they were in her way" Menreiki — had just left him in the dust and it bothered him.

Was he not good enough for her stomach?

Did he not fit whatever standards she had?

Sukuna clicked his tongue at the thought before turning on his heels and stomping back from where he came from. It's not like he was scouring the overgrown forest that she was said to reside in for hours just for a chance to catch a glimpse of her. Isn't wasn't like he initially went in search of her to challenge her to a duel and flee when he caught the chance just to have that burn of adrenaline rushing through him. No, he truly didn't come to the forest to search for her, the most malicious curse in the era, only to get rejected for unknown reasons.

"To hell with it." Sukuna grumbled as he swiftly turned back around and started to stomp in the same direction that the curse and her masks floated through.

Unsuspecting grass were trampled by the weight of his heavy feet, fragile branches of a mighty tree bent and snapped at the angry swipe of his arm, and the wind parted as they listened to his irate murmuring to himself. Sukuna felt like he was leaving fire in his wake, but he knew from the crisp breeze that took over where he previously stood that there was nothing but peace in the woodland despite his vex nature. The sorcerer continued to grumble, sending vulgar words towards the curse before ripping away a tangled mess of bramble in front of him.