Becoming Sukuna

"Could this truly be the third-tier cursed spirit that Sukuna mentioned earlier?!"

Yukinoshita's earlier defeat of the cursed spirit had been nothing but a minor threat, but this new foe was something entirely different.

The sheer size difference between them indicated that this monstrous caterpillar-like spirit was far more powerful than that fish-man creature. The mere appearance of its head from the ceiling was enough to rival the size of three fish-men combined, and that was only the head—its body remained hidden, suggesting even more terrifying proportions.

"Give me... overtime... overtime!!!"

With a violent tremor, the insect-like superior shrieked and burst from the ceiling, crashing to the floor with a thud. Its immense bulk nearly filled the entire space, splitting Yukinoshita Yukino and Hachiman apart.

It writhed, and several of the support pillars were immediately crushed under its weight, cracking apart as debris fell.

Hachiman gritted his teeth and swung his fist at the close range, but his strike barely dented the creature. The punch felt like it had landed on the belly of a heavy man, with the impact severely reduced. Instead of inflicting any real damage, Hachiman's strike only seemed to provoke the cursed spirit.

"No overtime... you're fired!!!" the creature bellowed, its massive, round body sprouting multiple sets of legs, transforming from a caterpillar into something resembling a centipede. A terrifying swarm of legs moved in unison, and anyone with a fear of tight spaces might have passed out at the sight.

Realizing his blow had no effect, Hachiman immediately retreated, widening the gap between him and the cursed spirit. Had he stayed any longer, the suddenly sprouted legs could've eviscerated him.

Yukinoshita was equally startled by the transformation, but the cursed spirit's focus remained on Hachiman, its enormous body twisting as its head lunged towards him.

However, the creature's colossal size made it difficult to move in the narrow space. The reinforced concrete pillars could barely withstand its movements, and one of them snapped under the pressure.

The shattered pillar fell with a tremendous crash, sending dust flying, which forced Yukinoshita into a coughing fit. Her vision was now completely blocked by the cursed spirit's bulk, and she couldn't tell what was happening with Hachiman. She shouted, "Hachiman, run! This building is going to collapse from the impact!"

The cursed spirit, now facing Hachiman, opened its massive mandibles. Its jaw opened and closed menacingly, with thick mucus clinging to its fangs, and a putrid, foul odor hit Hachiman's face.

He stood frozen, seemingly paralyzed by the terrifying sight.

Before he could even catch his breath, the creature's mouth gaped open, revealing rows of spiral-shaped fangs, and a thick, muscular tongue shot out like a spring-loaded arrow!

Hachiman's pupils constricted. Acting on pure instinct, he dove to the side, barely avoiding the deadly strike. However, his sudden movement caused him to lose his balance, and he tumbled down the stairs, banging against the steps, pain shooting through his body.

The cursed spirit's tongue, however, had already pierced through the wall, the debris from shattered stone raining down on Hachiman. Had he not managed to dodge, the tongue would have impaled him.

There was no time to stay down. Hachiman, bruised and battered, scrambled to his feet and dashed for the stairwell. He barely paused to think about the pain in his limbs, rolling and stumbling to reach the first floor and escape to the outdoors.

He barely had time to catch his breath before he saw Yukinoshita leap out of a second-floor window, landing and rolling to soften the impact before rushing to his side.

"Are you alright?" Yukinoshita asked, worry evident in her voice as she looked at the state he was in.

"...I'm in so much pain. Sukuna, please save me," Hachiman groaned, baring his teeth.

Suddenly, the building trembled violently. A massive hole appeared in the side of the structure, and the cursed spirit roared as it crawled through, having abandoned the narrow stairwell to break through the walls.

"Oh no, this is bad," a voice suddenly cut through the chaos—it was Sukuna, who had appeared unexpectedly. "I forgot to lower the curtain."

"Do you mean...?" Yukinoshita recalled the lesson he had given them earlier.

"This is getting out of hand," Sukuna said with rare awkwardness. "But it's fine—normal people can't see cursed spirits."

"This is a huge problem!" Yukinoshita snapped, momentarily breaking her calm demeanor. She had only just realized the enormity of the situation—this was her family's property at risk.

A cough.

Black lines began to form on Yukinoshita's face, and as her second set of eyes opened, Sukuna waved his hand. The cursed spirit that had been chasing Hachiman was swiftly sliced into pieces...

Along with the unstable building.

"Let's go," Sukuna said, casually lifting Hachiman by the collar and disappearing into thin air.

Soon after, several fire trucks surrounded the wreckage of the building, now reduced to rubble.

Soon after the construction accident, Yukinoshita Yoshino's phone rang.

"Collapsed!?" Yukinoshita Yoshino doubted her ears, her tone rising slightly, "What do you mean by 'collapsed'?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like, Miss Yoshino… the site has already been cordoned off by the fire department, and they're investigating the cause of the collapse," came the reply, the voice tinged with an odd, almost absurd complexity.

"I understand. I'll be there right away."

After hanging up, a colleague at the scene sent a photo of the site.

The photo showed the site cordoned off by caution tape, with several helmeted firefighters working diligently. Some were walking police dogs, searching for victims, while others inspected potential fire hazards. Onlookers gathered around, curious, while what used to be an old office building now lay in a pile of rubble.

"Ah?" Even the sharp-witted Yukinoshita Yoshino couldn't comprehend how a building that had been fine just hours ago had collapsed so suddenly.

Suddenly, it struck her that her younger sister, Yukinoshita Yukino, had been nearby that afternoon. She quickly dialed her number.

"Beep… Hello, sis?" Yukino's clear voice came through the phone, sounding strangely unaffected. Yoshino let out a breath of relief.

"Yukino, where are you right now?"

"At home, why, what's going on?" The voice from the phone had an odd tone, almost laced with guilt.

"One of our company's buildings collapsed for some reason. Were you and your classmates at the scene? Are you hurt?"

There was a long, strange silence before Yukino spoke again. "Collapsed? It was fine this afternoon. We were just passing by, we didn't stay there."

Yoshino instinctively sensed something off in her sister's tone, but she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. She decided to brush it off for now and replied, "I'm just glad you're okay. It's probably because the building was old. I'm not sure; the cause is still under investigation."

"I need to go to the site now. I'll hang up."

After the call ended, Yukino put her phone down, her face stiff for a moment before she slowly exhaled.

"You're hopeless. You really can't lie, can you?" Sukuna muttered. "I remember you were pretty skilled when you were faking sick to get time off from that Hiratsuka teacher."

"Hiratsuka-sensei can't compare to my sister…" Yukino replied, sounding like she was facing an opponent she couldn't even hope to compete with.

When Yoshino called, Yukino's mind went blank. While she struggled to figure out how to hide the truth, Sukuna took over her body and used her voice to cover up.

If Yukino had answered the call herself, she would have stammered, unable to say anything coherent. The truth would have slipped out eventually.

"By the way, with these acting skills, I should join the entertainment industry and walk away with a trophy," Sukuna teased.

"I can't believe you're making lying sound so polished," Yukino retorted lightly, her gaze unfocused as she sat on the couch. "I didn't know my sister could speak to me so kindly."

Yukino wasn't sure when, but her sister Yoshino had always spoken to her in a teasing or stern tone, usually delivering messages from their mother. The way she spoke earlier, with a hint of concern, felt foreign to Yukino. It had been a long time since she'd heard that kind of tone from her sister.

"What are you talking about? Isn't it perfectly normal to worry about your little sister?" Sukuna continued, trying to redirect Yukino's attention and avoid the subject of the building collapse.

Yukino didn't notice Sukuna's subtle manipulation. She continued, a little dazed, "Normal, huh…"

Could their family even be considered ordinary anymore?

Although, in her opinion, her strict mother, kind father, and excellent older sister all felt rather ordinary...

"Since we were kids, my sister has enjoyed teasing me," Yukino said, her voice tinged with a faint nostalgia. "Although I've gotten used to it, I still can't deal with it."

Leaning back against the couch, the young girl gazed up at the chandelier, the warm light spreading in her eyes, turning into a blur of soft crosses.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind," Sukuna advised. "You should try living a little more freely."

"Yeah, if I could be like Parasite-kun, without a care in the world, just causing trouble for fun, I could probably have a much easier time," Yukino chuckled, suddenly feeling that Sukuna was a bit like her older sister.

Thinking of Sukuna and Yukino's older sister, the memory of the phone call from earlier surged into her mind, and with it, the image of the old office building that had been torn apart by Sukuna.

Her frustration bubbled up immediately.

"Speaking of which, you probably have something to say to me, right?" Yukino's tone turned cold.

"Ababa?" Sukuna said, feigning innocence.

"Stop pretending!" Yukino scolded under her breath, furrowing her brow.

"Is this how you thank the person who saved your life!?" Sukuna tried to turn the tables, raising her voice. "This was supposed to be your trial with that kid from Hikigaya. If you two had defeated that cursed spirit, none of this would have happened!"

"Putting the facts aside, don't you think you made some mistakes too?" Yukino shot back, her voice losing some of its previous edge.

"I..." For a moment, Yukino faltered under Sukuna's forceful tone. "Even so, there had to be a better way, right?"

"Do you want me to slice that cursed spirit into pieces?" Sukuna smirked, leaning back with exaggerated calm.

"Wait, what you just said was an attempt to justify yourself, wasn't it?" Yukino finally snapped, realizing her mistake. "What do you mean, putting the facts aside?"

"Could you explain properly?" Yukino demanded, her frustration rising.

"I know you're upset, but calm down first," Sukuna said, deciding to take a more reasonable approach. "Although I accidentally destroyed the building, think about it — if I hadn't acted, the building wouldn't have stood for much longer under the curse's damage. It was going to collapse anyway, I just accelerated the inevitable."

"Looking on the bright side, that building might have been scheduled for demolition anyway. By doing this, I saved your sister some demolition costs. You should be thanking me."

"And most importantly, if I hadn't noticed that cursed spirit, once construction started, the workers would've been killed by it. Your sister could've been caught in the crossfire too. Given all that, you should be even more grateful to me."

Sukuna spoke with increasing confidence, oblivious to the scowl on Yukino's face.

"Still not thanking Big Brother Sukuna!?" Sukuna teased, a mischievous smile on her face.

...

"Has the cause of the collapse been figured out?"

Just after returning to her apartment in Tokyo, Yukino's older sister, Sukuna, was once again on her way back to Chiba.

Her subordinates had been waiting for her at the scene and hurriedly approached. "Not yet, but we discovered something unusual."

"Unusual?" Yukino's expression tightened.

"Yes, the firefighters found that the cracks in the wall were unusually smooth, almost as though..." He hesitated, then continued, "As though it had been sliced through, like cutting butter with a knife."

"You're not joking, are you?" Yukino said, about to say something else, but then noticed something more concerning.

At the perimeter of the barricade, a bicycle stood alone at the roadside.

If she remembered correctly, the bicycle that the boy with Yukino had been pushing earlier that afternoon was identical to the one in front of her now.