In the Academy as Sukuna

"The greatest battles are fought not on the battlefield, but within our own minds"

(POV: Ryomen Sukuna)

"You really like cake, huh?" I said, picking up a piece of cake with my fork and taking a bite.

"Speak for yourself," the girl in front of me, Nect Arine, said, not looking at me while she devoured her cake.

Well, that sentence was true, I loved cake, but I was referring to manners.

When she first came to me, her brows were furrowed, her expression radiating off anger.

It seemed too exaggerated, but I went with it and ordered her two cakes, red velvet and chocolate.

She wasn't talking to me, 'angry' that I had defeated her so badly.

But once the cakes arrived, her attitude took a 180 as she said, "As expected from my best friend!"

A truly unordinary person she was.

I pulled out my phone, opening a recording of the match of Ryogaku and Eva.

I could not see it in real time as this girl had insisted on having cake at that exact time.

Observing the match, I could already tell that Eva had put into practice some of my tips. Her movement and slashing technique was a little smoother.

Even though I was focused on Eva, Ryogaku was not a person to be missed.

He had improved drastically over the past months, his fire sword technique, which is Hinokami Kagura and you'll not convince me otherwise, had gotten even better.

His match with Eva went on for 12 minutes and 54 seconds, him finally succumbing to injuries at the end.

Eva, too, was quite worn out, panting as she walked out of the arena.

The arena, however, had sustained severe amounts of damage, with slash and burn marks all across it.

One of Ryogaku's techniques, which makes flames erupt from his sword in whichever direction he swings, had caused extreme damage, melting some part of the arena.

Although, it seemed that move required a lot of mana, which resulted him in being unable to withstand the following blows from Eva.

My thought process was broken by a poke to my cheek.

Taking my eyes off my phone, I could see Nect leaning on the table with her hand out towards me.

Noticing that she had my attention, she sat back and said, "Can I have one more?"

"No," I replied instantly, a little smirk on my face.

"Not fair! You punched me a thousand times, I should get at least three cakes for that!" She said, pouting as she leaned back on her chair, arms crossed.

"No," I said again, enjoying her reactions as I put the phone down on the table.

She paused for a moment before saying in a loud voice.

"I know! No one can resist my cute face!" She covered her face with her hands.

I figured she was trying to make a cute face to lure me in, fortunately, I had watched too many isekai's with mcs that were child predators, and was now completely immune to these types of a–

My brain blanked out as she put her hands down, her face with an expression that emphasized her cuteness quite a lot.

But it was not because of how pretty she was that I was distracted, it was because she reminded me of someone.

I couldn't remember her face, but a memory of a conversation suddenly went through my mind...

"Onii-chan!"

"Your accent sucks, stop watching so much anime."

"Oh come on! I practiced that a lot!"

"Yeah yeah, what's in that bag?"

"Swimsuit"

"Why a swimsuit?"

"I know that if I wear this, you'll get aroused and pounce on me, maybe I can finally use that to get you into jail."

"I would if you were half as ugly"

"Oi"

"Seriously though, why a swimsuit?"

"You promised to take me to our pool today, didn't you?"

"Oh right, I forgot"

"I knew you would, so I packed your swimsuit already!"

"Who gave you permission to touch my belongings?"

"I'm waiting outside!"

( A/N: I wrote this in case I want a development arc for the mc or smth, unsure whether this will be important in the future or not :P )

I didn't notice that my fists were clenched under the table.

Those were memories from my previous life, of me with my sister.

But, I couldn't remember her face. Actually, I couldn't remember things about my last life in detail.

It's as if my memories were disappearing slowly.

I was brought back to the present by a voice.

"It's hard to hold this face y'know?"

"Fine, I'll buy you another one, order it." I said, my voice low and detached as I thought about the fleeting memory.

"I knew that my cute face was unmatched!"

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(A little while later...)

I was standing close to the arena as my fight was about to begin.

This was the finals of the Tournament, me vs Eva. The spectators were pretty overhyped.

Some even got my tattoos on their body. I wonder if someone actually got permanent ones.

The match was delayed because of Ryogaku burning the stage, which took a little which to rebuild.

Seeing Eva walk into the arena, I too, walked towards her.

The cheers multiplied as we stepped inside.

A cool breeze went by, I looked into the sky, it was cloudy, the sun was hidden, but there was no sign of rain.

On the opposite end of the arena, Eva stood, unbothered by the distraction of the audience.

She got into a stance, which felt...off. It had a few openings, one that anyone moderately skilled could notice.

She locked eyes with me, then raising her hand, pointing to herself, and then to the ground.

I understood what she meant and, put my hands in my pockets, waiting for the match to start.

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IT'S BEEN 5 MINUTES WE'VE BEEN STANDING LIKE THIS AND THEY ARE STILL HYPING UP OUR MATCH.

It's so hot even though there's no sun, I should have ice-cream after this, how about I try the mixed flavor I saw displayed in the canteen when I was with Nect?

"And after the long wait, the final battle shall . . ."

"BEGIN"

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(A little while ago...)

Inside a VIP room, the Head of the Hunter Association, and the Principals of the ITAAS Academy and the Evan Academy were sitting.

The two principals could be seen discussing about the match starting soon.

They were trying to fully break down the abilities of both the participants, the Principal of Evan academy coming to a conclusion that this battle will be really close as both Eva and Sukuna are at the same level.

Blaze, who knew more about Sukuna, knew the outcome already, but didn't voice any such opinions, not wanting to spoil the fun.

The Head was just slightly smiling looking at the arena, not giving attention to the conversation happening.

Even though he looked calm on the outside, his brain was working on overdrive...

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(POV: Aiden Arceid)

Head of the Hunter Association, one of the most prestigious and the highest positions in all of mankind.

It was given to me after decades of hard work and...planning.

I made plans, so many plans, plans that were absolute. My ability, in addition to my intelligence, made them perfect.

But, the anomaly, Ryomen Sukuna, was the first inconsistency, he scrapped away at the bits of my schemes.

Now, he had Eva Helion under his command, taking into control a useful pawn.

Thankfully, the demonization plan of the boy went well, he willingly went into the other realm and would be trained, because he has something 'special', which the ones of the other realm will probably find after a few experiments on him.

I hadn't forgotten the torment inflicted on me, the pain I felt those years back.

I will pay back to this world every single drop of that pain. The world shall go through the torment I went through.

I looked at the boy leisurely standing behind the television screen.

And no one, NO ONE, can stop me.

I had become agitated remembering those days. I calmed myself down.

Even though my ploy with Eva has been interfered with, the events that were to take place in the following days shall go the same as planned.

I got up from my seat and walked away, I could see the two Principals glancing at me, their expressions confused as they tried to understand the meaning behind my actions.

"And after the long wait, the final battle shall . . ."

"BEGIN"

As soon as the words were said, another voice echoed throughout the silence it created itself in the stadium...

There is no need to watch this battle anymore.

After all...

Eva Helion will...

"I SURRENDER"

A grin formed on my face, and my calm façade was broken after a long while.

Everything not going according to your plan is . . . fun

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[Report]

Taking advantage of the unrest after the Tournament, ______ attacked the academies.

The situation is now under control.

Students have been transported into the ITAAS Academy for refuge, which was the least damaged out of the three.

Following are the casualties in students:

213 Injured

18 In a life threatening condition

23 Dead