Chapter 22. LOVE, DEATH + HEIR (Part 2)

"Do you want to go somewhere today?" I asked Maki, who wiped her dirty face with a towel.

"I'm busy today," she shook her head.

"You're not familiar with the word 'karoshi,' huh?" I sighed.

"Shoko is there to pull me back from the afterlife," Maki shrugged, paying no attention to me.

Maki Zenin... I knew it would be challenging with this girl. After all, unlike someone like Mei, she's still on the path to becoming a strong Sorcerer and has not yet figured out her issues. Besides, I underestimated her desire for revenge on her clan, which made her preemptively cut off any possibility of us getting closer. Ha... I had forgotten what it's like to pursue a girl.

Why does it sound like Mei threw herself at me, like she's easy to deal with? Remembering what we went through together before we ended up in bed for the first time, I can't help but shake my head. Girls in the world of "Magical Battle" are complicated: Mei almost killed me, Maki ignored me for more than half a year... Although, girls are complex creatures in any world, and when they also have a goal to dedicate themselves to or the power to choose how to live, it becomes even more complicated.

On the other hand, if it were the other way around, neither Maki nor Mei would be of such interest. Damn forbidden fruit in the flesh. Not for nothing did the old man say, "The more they forbid you something, the more you want it." A biblical plan, perhaps...

"Okay, see you," throwing the towel over her shoulder, Maki gracefully turned around and strode away, swaying her hips.

As Shakespeare wrote: "Love flies from those who chase it, and embraces those who run away."

"Sukehiro, can I ask you something?" Megumi approached me, rubbing his bruises with ointment.

"Haven't had enough beatings, and you decided to listen to me so I could prescribe you a couple of 'love locks'?"

"Why Maki?" the guy asked, ignoring my statement.

"Why is the only girl you talk about your stepsister?" I immediately replied.

"You have a very twisted mind," the dark-haired guy raised his eyebrows.

"I didn't even think about it, but you instantly put that context into my words," I smirked at him.

"You and Satoru are unbearable," Megumi expressed his displeasure.

"Don't argue with love—it's crazy," I patted the guy on the shoulder. "Especially for us Sorcerers. Hardly any of us will find a happy ending if we adhere to societal norms."

"You talk like some criminal," Megumi shook his head.

"I'm not talking about becoming a rapist or anything worse," I replied with a sigh. "Let's approach it from another angle. Do you consider Maki beautiful?"

"Um... she... I haven't thought about it," stumbling, Megumi came up with a hasty answer.

"You see, for you, she's at most cute, definitely better than many other girls, but not a Hollywood actress or a cashier you see once in a lifetime. However, for some reason, she incredibly attracts me. Why? It will sound paradoxical, but I have a thousand answers to that question that I can't explain why."

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo," Megumi dramatically spoke, placing his hand over his heart.

"Go to hell with your Capulets," I replied with a smile. "At least I'm not secretly in love with my stepsister."

"So, was that the underlying context after all?" Megumi asked.

"Have you read 'Domestic Girlfriend'?" I inquired.

"... Maybe," Megumi answered somewhat embarrassed.

"So, maybe, or did you read it?" I pressed.

"Even if I did read it, it doesn't mean anything," Megumi replied.

"Yeah, sure, and hell is empty because all the deviants are here," I added.

◊◊◊

It was a beautiful summer evening in June. In my previous life, during childhood, I used to run around fields, covered in mud and dirt, with friends. When I noticed it was getting late, I'd start worrying that my mother would scold me for coming home dirty. And now? I'm sitting on the roof of a multistory building three hundred and fifty kilometers away from Tokyo, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the "Greatest Curse of All Time and Peoples", "The Disgraced One" — Ryomen Sukuna.

What are you willing to do to travel from one part of the country to another? I, for instance, am willing to do it for one of the main villains of this world. Pretty cool, isn't it?

"It's starting," I smiled with anticipation.

Sitting a thousand meters away from the "Sugisawa Third High School," I didn't even need to strengthen my eyes with Cursed Energy to see perfectly how a teenager with light chestnut hair brought a disgustingly-looking finger to his mouth and swallowed it with a repulsive expression.

Following this, the Curse with three pairs of paws rushed at the boy, clearly infuriated that its evening snack was eaten by some human.

Amazing... At the moment when it seemed like the creature would swallow the "finger connoisseur," an incredibly ominous Cursed Energy burst out of the boy. Although it was about ten times less than mine and still just a part of a larger sinister picture, I was face to face with a monster... No! A disaster!

At that moment, fragments of the manga I read in my past life surfaced in my mind. Once faded and colorless, they now played with entirely new and vibrant colors. There he was, a Sorcerer whose talent could be compared to Satoru Gojo, a Curse whose power defied logical explanation.

Laughter burst out of me. In all of my seventeen years, I had never felt such a strong desire to kill or banish someone.

"I understand now... Ryomen Sukuna, you truly are powerful enough to stand and watch as challenges are thrown at you, justifying it with satisfying your own 'hunger.'"

"Too bad I can't go say hello," I disappointingly shook my head, thinking about the plan I had devised. "It would be foolish if the 'Conspirator' gave in to emotions to the detriment of an already established strategy."

While reveling in my "dirty" dealings, Gojo took the stage, noticing some kind of peculiarity... Probably hidden in the belly, right?

Following that was the first clash of the Strongest against the Strongest, which lasted only ten seconds, as Satoru had requested, clearly testing the poor boy. A couple of sharp lunges, at a speed I had only seen in First Rank Sorcerers, ended in an unconditional victory for Satoru Gojo, who seized the opportunity to boast in front of Megumi and humiliate Sukuna.

So, here it is — the beginning of the end and at the same time, the birth of a new world!