The wilderness on the outskirts of Tokyo – 07:23 AM – Japan – 1912
Sukuna leant on the side of the carriage, his arms crossed as he waited for the demon slayer to get on with the job assigned to him, to carry the bodies out of the cabin and prepare a fire for them.
The horse had been leashed onto a tree, the carriage put on the side of the road, Sukuna had insisted upon a stop to rest, and more importantly, to cook.
The demon slayer proceeded to grab the corpses by their legs, dragging them clumsily outside of the carriage, the sound of clunking was heard as both bodies landed stiffly on the ground. Sukuna would give a snicker as he turned to look at the demon slayer's efforts.
"You humans cast off your ideals so easily in order to cling to life, it reminds me of how a lizard's tail detaches in order to escape a predators clutch." Sukuna would comment upon the state of the demon slayer at this moment as blood trailed in the grass where Ichinose had tugged the corpses along.
Ichinose would choose the best option regarding the dialogue Sukuna had shared with him, and simply dared not to comment back. A single word out of line would have likely made his grave.
He continued to drag the corpses into a small clearing just a few metres away from where the carriage was stopped.
Sukuna had left his position beside the cabin and was now sitting cross legged in the grass in what seemed like an instant for the demon slayer, who had now turned to see the King of Curse's presence next to him, he would instinctively freeze.
"Those dead girls move more then you, pick up the pace." Sukuna berated the man, which would cause him to carry on with his duties of preparing a fire with even more haste then before.
"What are we going to do with these bodies, sir?" Ichinose politely asked of Sukuna, and waited patiently for the man's response.
"You hungry?" Sukuna's comment instantly had the man cold as ice, he dared not argue with the point.
"Cut them up with that blade of yours, specifically the legs and brain, those tend to house the most flavour for me, do a good job and I may be inclined to share." Sukuna would shoot the man a sinister and creeping grin.
And so Ichinose got to work, beginning to dismember the legs and chop them up into equal pieces, and as a fire was prepared, so too was a little pot that the demon slayer usually carried with him for cooking on the go, although, the man who set out on his journey with that pot would never expect what contents would fill it today, and yet the man now has little left in form of protest, what can he do after all? He would really cook humans?
The fire had begun as Ichinose used two rocks to begin a spark, which he would cultivate into a proper flame, it began to spread around the various dead branches and leaves set out on the fire, a warm orange hue was now given off, and the rather comforting sound of crackling was also present, however the purpose of it would set aside all the comforts of a warm fire to the demon slayer, and instead be a symbol for the horrid cannibalism that was about to take place. The tears that formed on the man's face was not due to the smoke from the fire that now blew into his face, it was in memory of the life of these women, cut so short. That he just might have to eat.
Searing flesh drowned out the comforting sparking of the fire, and most disturbingly it smelt of cooking chicken to Ichinose. Sukuna grinned, his face lit up by a pallet of warm oranges as he peered over the meat being roasted in the flame.
"We could call this our little barbecue, couldn't we demon slayer?" Sukuna stated, he had a proud and sick look across his face.
Ichinose simply nodded in silent acceptance of the fact. His only focus at this point was his own self-preservation.
A few minutes would pass, and the food seemed to be done, at least according to Sukuna, because he would reach into the fire to grab a seared section of leg, each incessant chewing noise made the demon slayer sick to his stomach, he had to look away for a moment.
"You try some." Sukuna would gesture over, offering him a piece of leg.
The man's stomach both growled in obvious hunger, but also turned in utter disgust.
He would pick up the piece of leg, closing his eyes as he tasted it… it was like chicken.
"You're no better then those demons now, you know, eating your fellow man. How evil!" All Sukuna would do is chuckle at the man's unfortunate situation.
"I'm willing to bet the depths of despair runs quite far for you, isn't that right?" The disgraced one would pry the man's emotions, gaining quite a lot of insight from his experiences with the demon slayer so far.
"I'll do as you wish, of course." Ichinose replied with a pretend conviction, he thought it would add more sincerity.
The experiences of despair this demon slayer had been taken through by the monster has taken its toll on the man's perspective on things. Because all of this man's aspirations, emotions and actions were under the subjugation of this being of evil, and because of that, the man thought to himself, surely that would make him no better then the man he followed, a pure hearted soul would have sought death by now, instead of going along with such malice. He did not place other lives over his own, he was not a perfect man like those Hashira.
Ichinose would begin making excuses for himself though. 'I am being made to do this… it isn't my fault, I can't control this…' Would be a continuing thought that would prevail in his mind, his only way of coping if you will.
And so this man accepted his new prison on this Earth with much despair, the key to his cage in the hands of the thing this demon slayer deemed an absolute monster.
Ichinose's mental battle was interrupted by the words of his captor.
"How fascinating?" Sukuna would be seen looking down at a part of the brain of one of the women.
"It appears a small slice of latent cursed energy ripples through the mind of non-sorcerers, I understand there is no presence of Jujustu, so this is a very unexpected surprise, this world is keeping my interest well after all." Sukuna would start a drawn out monologue to himself, as he would usually do, the man just sat and listened.
"All human's have at least some amount of cursed energy disregarding cases of heavenly restriction, if you consume the brain, then naturally that cursed energy will seep into you upon digestion, a very inefficient but at least present means of increasing one's reservoir." Sukuna would continue to mumble to himself, before this devolved into an even quieter murmur.
"I can rule out the existence of Jujustu in this world, as there isn't a sufficient amount in the environment for it to exist, and of course the lack of cursed spirits, however I can clearly see it within the souls of living things, perhaps in those demons there exist a larger quantity of negative energy, seeing as if I kept eating regular humans, I'd say up to 10,000 would be required for a single finger's worth of cursed energy, simply not worth my time." Sukuna would mumble, much to Ichinose's dissatisfaction
( - The amount of cursed energy that exists is not a measure of their power, simply the amount of negative emotions surrounding that person, a demon with more negative emotions will have a higher cursed energy amount within their body, obviously not being able to use it because the specific section of the brain in which allows for sorcery, does not exist within this world, apart from within Sukuna, as he was able to incarnate and change his body at will. - )
Sukuna would continue to chow down on his meal after his revelation, which consisted of two human beings, Ichinose would eat half-heartedly, only picking at certain bits in order to satisfy his hunger as quick as he could. The demon slayer looked over to see Sukuna stand from his sitting position, he appeared to be picking his teeth with a sharpened bone, before throwing it to the side.
"Leave the bones there, we're back on the road." Sukuna commanded of Ichinose, before proceeding back to the carriage, with the demon slayer following close behind and without pause.
A widening path outside of Tokyo – 08:47 AM – Japan - 1912
A carriage hauled by a horse continued down the now widening road leading towards Tokyo, the forest made way for a few houses littered on the side of the road, they would soon be entering the city.
"Sir, there's going to be a problem upon entering Tokyo, the law enforcement within the city has cracked down on those coming in and out due to minor demon attacks being misinterpreted as criminal activity, what if they check inside the carriage? There's still that sleeping woman and all of that blood."
"Are you doubting my abilities, fool?" Sukuna would grow impatient with the man's constant worry.
In this moment Sukuna would ponder regarding how much the weak must plan ahead, afraid at their own short-comings and failures in the possible future, but what also annoyed him as of late was how much he needed to think ahead, especially in this situation, where he was reduced to one finger, and in such an uncertain world, much like the fool he had just criticised, yet he still did not doubt his own power, he needn't not, for he now knows he'll be able to reach it again.
Sukuna welcomed the challenge of his possible 'weakness' and yet rejected it at the same time, he would not think ahead regarding possible failures, but rather possible successes, and how much joy the future would bring. The strong do all they can to reign supreme, however they cannot do it by going on their knees and cowering.
The King of Curses relishes in change, which is why the new experiences of this world are so rich to him. He is not given that title of King without reason, and it's not because he commands innumerable subjects, or exerts overpowering influence, it is through his strength and will alone.
A small checkpoint outside of Tokyo – 08:56AM – Japan – 1912
The carriage came to a halt, Ichinose would hide his sword under a piece of cloth under his seat, as demon slayers were not allowed to possess swords inside of the capital, as their organization was not officially recognized nor known by the government. He'd also attempt to hide his stump of a right hand, now wrapped in bandages blackened by old blood.
Two policemen, dressed in grey uniform and caps would approach, they appeared to both have a revolver, as well as a sabre on them. They looked to be the only ones present at the checkpoint.
"Any problems officers?" Ichinose would state, trying to come off as casual as possible despite the situation.
"Where are you headed?" One of the officers would ask, he was a short, rough-looking man.
"For the entertainment district, my client wishes to make it there as soon as possible." the demon slayer would reply, twiddling the fingers on his remaining hand out of nervousness.
"Uh huh… well, we've been ordered to document anyone coming in and out of Tokyo, so we'll have to ask your client as well, and of course inspect the cabin." The short policeman would comment, rather fed-up with his job it seemed.
"Ah, there's no need… my client… well…" A short twiddling of Ichinose's fingers later.
"He has an infectious disease… it wouldn't be wise to expose him to the open air." The man gave a thumbs up as if it validated his excuse any more.
"We'll at least be inspecting it anyway, I'm sure your client can comply at a distance." The short police officer gestured over to the taller one, he would swiftly walk over to the side of the cabin, whilst the shorter one would stay with Ichinose.
As the policeman went to open the carriage door, a panicked woman had burst from it, almost knocking the man over as she leapt into his arms, clutching at his uniform.
"PLEASE HELP ME! A-A MONSTER… A MURDERER...!" The woman would cry, almost unintelligibly as she sobbed in the policeman's arms.
The shorter policeman at the front would obviously raise his gun at Ichinose, causing the demon slayer some degree of alarm.
"Wait.. wait-" Ichinose would attempt to talk his way out, but the policeman wasn't having it.
"Now just what were you planning with that woman?" The shorter one scowled as he aimed his revolver up to the man.
However the supposed kidnapping situation had just turned into one of further horror, as the sobbing of the woman subsided, rather being replaced by the gasp of the taller policeman, and a heavy thud.
The woman's head was no longer present, it practically evaporated into a red vapour before their eyes, and as the policeman dropped the woman's body in shock, his head pivoted to see the absolute picture of evil exit the carriage.
"You can't even blather your way out of situations slayer. All this talk has clearly made both me and that woman irritable, can't you see her frustration as she lay down on the floor? Maybe she would have still been with us it if it weren't for the incessant noise outside that caused her to wake."
The policemen both raised their revolvers at Sukuna, their arms shook with hesitation and fear as they tried to aim for a clear shot.
END OF CHAPTER 2
Hope you enjoyed the second chapter!
I like the idea that Sukuna is able to replenish his cursed energy in a slower but still believable way then just having another finger teleport randomly into the world.
We won't have Sukuna just steamroll through the verse though, I plan to take my time and drive the story well, I hope you enjoy what I have so far! I don't delete any reviews so feel free to give me your thoughts and feelings on it, I've taken your advice from last time as well.
This will probably be my last big author's note, as I don't want to clutter the later chapters much.