15 years after the death of Himmel the Hero, in the Great Sanft Forest, located in the northern lands
His sleep was interrupted by his blanket being whipped off of his prone body, letting the cool autumn air invade the warmth of his bed. Two eyes cracked open, showing his mom stooped over him, face stern.
"Senken, you aren't gonna sleep all day!" She berated him, folding the blanket in front of him. "Get up and help your sister."
He groaned, slowly sitting up. Another old dream.
It was dark, the space around him a vast expanse of nothing, occupied only by him, and the thing in front of him. It looked like a man, covered in stitching that latticed its body into sections and subsections.
He spoke, continuing a conversation he couldn't remember. "If there is to be a next time, perhaps I would walk a different path."
The patchwork man stood, indigent and offended. "But that's boring!" He shouted, incredulous "You're gonna settle down?!"
He turned away from the patchwork man, walking into the darkness.
"Of course," He answered plainly. "After all, I lost."
These dreams had been a constant companion for Senken, depicting such a fantastical story of someone who looked just like him.
Because it was him. He knew, before he was Senken, he was Sukuna.
However, despite the dreams, and having his body be just like how he had been in the Heian era, he had no cursed energy.
His cursed technique was, as far as he knew, gone.
'Perhaps that is the cost paid for a second chance at life.'
He got dressed, his shirt cut along the sides to let his secondary set of arms out, and he moved out of his room to the living room.
He had been born as the first son of the headman of the village Sanft, meaning he was as close to nobility as a peasant could get. He looked around for his sister, and saw her by the front door, holding a basket his mom had made him help weave last year.
She rounded on him, visibly annoyed. "I would've gotten the chores done if you weren't sleeping in." She said, palm landing on his head as she ruffled his hair. "Hope you got your beauty rest, brat."
He huffed, running a hand through his hair once she stopped. "What are we even doing?"
"We gotta go check on dad, grab a few things from the market." She said, stepping out. "Bye mom! We're heading out!"
"You two stay safe!" Their mom called out, poking her head out of the kitchen to watch them leave.
"Why bother even making me come then?" Sukuna asked, his lower arms tucking their hands into his pockets, his upper arms cradling his head from behind.
Heben, his sister, was almost a decade older than him. She could have done this all on her own, easily.
"Because you aren't allowed to be a shut in, Senken!" She answered in that tone that she had when she said something obvious. "You aren't gonna make any friends if you think everyone is gonna make fun of you."
Sukuna rolled his eyes behind her. His family's attempts at having him socialize had never panned out. At best, he never interacted with the kids he played with. At worse, it was insults, from adults and children alike. One woman had told his mother that she should have left him out in the fields when he was born.
He had never seen his mother so mad in his life. That woman was lucky she only had her hair pulled.
Their home was a walk out of town, where they could better care for their three fields. The village of Sanft was mostly agriculture, but their uncle helped run a printing press in the town proper, and they were situated next to a river, letting them brave the current for possible market time in a larger city.
In time, his dad hoped that Sanft would grow from a village into its own town.
As they walked into the village proper, people waved at his sister, who waved back. He hazarded a few waves himself, and while many of them probably weren't comfortable with how he looked, none were so impolite to not wave back.
Sukuna frowned at his sister as she moved further from him on their walk, forcing him to have to speed up to stay close. Puberty was starting for her, her legs growing quite a bit over the summer, making her nearly double his own height. He couldn't blame that on her; he was sadder at having to be so short.
They approached their father's office, stepping inside with the familiarity of those who had done so before and were expected. His office was a small, single room building, fit with a hearth, a desk, chair, and enough paperwork to make anyone think twice about being a headman.
Their dad was behind the desk, and got up when he saw them, smiling wide as he moved over to them. He took them both into a hug, pressing them tightly against himself, though Sukuna kept all four of his arms by his side, feeling a little awkward.
As father and daughter talked, Sukuna walked over to the desk, looking at the writing. Some of it was basic arithmetic, calculating the yield of the fields and how much they could sell them to the empire for. Projected highs and lows in the market. Some tax statements, giving notice to the raising and lowering of fees.
His father spoke. "Senken!"
Sukuna looked up, seeing his father and sister looking at him.
"Get away from that, you don't need to be reading that." his dad said, motioning over to them, which Sukuna obeyed. With no technique, he wasn't much stronger than a regular four year old. Best to not risk a beating.
His dad fished in his pocket for a moment, and produced from them a silver coin.
"Here, while your sister gets the groceries, go get yourself something to eat." His dad said, dropping the coin into his palm.
Sukuna left, at the behest of his dad, wanting to talk to Heben a little longer. He wandered into the market proper, rubbing the coin between his fingers, looking around at what he wanted. Part of him would rather just hold onto the coin, start saving cash. It wasn't like they were going to go hungry or anything.
Even still, he approached a stall, looking up at the shopkeeper. An older lady, selling baked goods. He set the coin down.
"What can I get for this, ma'am?" he asked. She leaned down, squinting at the coin and him, before smiling.
"Oh dearie, so polite." She said, "I could cut you some strudel for that much. I have apple and blackberry right now."
"Blackberry, please." He responded. She nodded, and turned, the sound of something being cut, and the crinkling of paper came from the stall before she turned back around, offering him the parcel. He took it, gave a quiet "Thank you", and left, even as she spoke about how polite he was for such a young boy.
He was pretty sure she was only being kind because he was the son of the headman.
He walked further into the village, towards the church of the goddess. It was here, in front of its steeple, where there was a small fountain, that people congregated and met up. Sukuna wandered to the lip of the fountain and took a seat, unwrapping and enjoying his treat.
The blackberry filling was great, the flavor forward and bright, with some bits of slightly soft berries within it. The crust was buttery and flaky, the dusting of powdered sugar on top adding an extra bit of sweetness. If it had been warm, it would have been perfect.
His secondary eyes allowed him a greater field of view, meaning he saw in his peripheral vision a few kids near his age playing some form of game, running from each other and laughing happily. He lowered the strudel to his stomach and lifted his shirt, letting his abdominal mouth take the treat in one great bite. He could still taste it, chewing it thoroughly, as he got up and walked to those kids.
"Hey," Sukuna said, lifting only one of his hands in greeting. "Can I play with you?"
Yuji had shown him that he could have people around and still be strong. His family wanted him to socialize.
He might as well try. What was the worst that could happen?
"No," One of the kids said, taller than him by a head. "Go away, freak."
Sukuna controlled every impulse to slap this brat inside out. Instead, he took a deep breath.
"Hey, that's pretty rude." he said. "Let me play with you, or I'll tell on you to your mom."
The kid frowned, before lifting both his hands and shoving Sukuna in the chest. He saw it coming, he was still quite perceptive, so he had braced.
How the fuck could Yuji deal with shit like this?! Sukuna clenched his fists, getting ready to throw a swing.
Thunder clapped. A shrill wind carried through the courtyard, carrying a single word.
"HEY!" Heben yelled, stomping over. She wore the face of a terrible demon, brows furrowed and mouth slightly open like something found in kabuki. Her body moved to stand in front of him, looming over the other kids, hands on her hips, basket left where she had been standing earlier.
"Who do you think you are, huh?!" She shouted again, and Sukuna could see the brats in front of her recoil at the energy of someone older than them having a problem with what they did. The scene was drawing the eyes of shopkeepers and shoppers alike.
Sukuna let his abdominal mouth grin as he garnered all his will for this exact moment. He had to center himself, to pull upon every bit of inner strength he had. His opponent was weak. He had to capitalize on it.
Heben was ready to say something else, breathing in deep, when she paused, hearing a gentle noise behind her.
A sob.
She turned, braid whipping over her shoulder as she saw Senken standing there, doing his best to hold back tears, face screwed up in concentration as a few tears rolled from his smaller eyes.
She saw red, turned, and redoubled her efforts. The things she shouted made children and adults alike flinch. She was much like her mother.
All the while, Sukuna felt that grin on his stomach widen as he wiped his face.
Fucking brats didn't know who they were messing with.