The border of the Entertainment district – Tokyo – 1:15 PM – Japan – 1912
The two individuals drifted through the crowd like fish in water, a few rattled commotions would be spouted as Sukuna would take no care to avoid the people moving past him, instead bumping into them at full force, even knocking some people over and onto the mud of the street. Yet before the people affected could even shout, the perpetrator had disappeared into the populace without a trace. They continued like this for a good few minutes, tracing in and out of tiny alleys and street-sides. Ichinose would sweat and pant, burdened with carrying his overweight demon slayer back, full of cooked human body parts. Sukuna insisted on having them with the two way back when they were in the carriage.
Ichinose was carrying death with him, if he was caught it'd truly be over. 'The monster wouldn't care though, he's waiting for me to slip up. I know it. I'm dead.' Were the only thoughts piercing his brain at the moment.
"Have you ventured inside Tokyo before?" Sukuna queried, he seemed to have an odd expression currently etched onto his face, one that Ichinose had never sighted before.
Sukuna was rather lost.
"It depends what you intend on looking for, Sir." The Slayer replies politely and with a tiny bow, though that proves troublesome for his spine with a massive sack on his back.
"Get me to an Inn." Sukuna would squint his eyes as he covered his forehead with his hand as a means to shield his eyes from the radiant sunlight currently echoing down from the heavens. This was followed by a great, terrible grin. Sukuna had a horrid epiphany, to Ichinose's dismay.
"Never mind, I've found one." Sukuna would crack his neck, looking around the empty street. Ichinose noticed a short tug on the back of his collar, before he was lifted off the ground in mere moments, hurtling through the glass window of a building, a sharp shattering as pieces of glass filled the floor now beneath him. Various gashing cuts could be seen covering his body. Sukuna landed softly through the now broken window without a scratch on him.
It was clear Sukuna had just done this for Ichinose's torment, nothing more, nothing less, though at least they were in a second floor room of an inn. However it seemed to be occupied. The room's occupant, sat on the bed, sat with his mouth agape in what could be described as a horrified expression. His body did not allow him to move. Though now Sukuna began to inch closer to him, causing both the minds of Ichinose and the room's occupant to race. In an instant, the man's shirt was grabbed and he was tugged along towards the now broken window.
"You'll be alright." Sukuna would re-assure the man with a pat on his shoulder as he now faced the shattered window. The King of Curses then proceeded to force the back of his head downwards with his palm, the occupant's head and subsequently throat was sent straight down into the jagged glass still in the window frame. A gushing of blood and a sick gurgle filled the air. Sukuna then used one arm on the back of the man's foot to tip him out of the window. A small thud could be heard outside.
Ichinose dropped his bag, retrieving multiple cloth wipes from it. He walked over to soak up the blood from the floor, the cloths were stained with crimson as they dragged across the gored floor. He then proceeded to dump the cloths outside of the window too, not very practical for covering up murder, as there was now just the slit-throat body of a man that had just fallen out from a broken window, but hey-ho. However as Ichinose observed the outside of the window, he noticed multiple beggars dragging off the corpse of the man, probably to run him of all his valuables, they didn't even care if he was dead. This city truly can be sick, though nothing compares to the plague of suffering that is currently sharing the room with him.
Ichinose walked into the bathroom, the inn's room was quite cozy, only one bed though, he'd have to sleep on the floor obviously. As he now faced the cracked and dirty mirror, showing the various injuries he had just sustained from Sukuna's deeply immoral antics; he wondered what the end result of that thing's actions would be on him. Whatever the case, it didn't look good. Not even sickness overcame the Slayer's senses when the man's throat was cut, the disturbing reality of death being the normal was setting in. What was the point of holding compassion when the person you are surrounded by is the very antithesis of it? It would just get him killed. Be kind or be killed was the choice for Ichinose, he would have to follow this monster until he can find an opportunity to escape.
A short exhale of breath, the Slayer wiped off the now dried blood in the sink, bandaging himself up with whatever contents lied in the cabinet. It would do for now. He examined his stump of an arm with disgust and anger towards himself, before his self-loathing was interrupted by a whistle from the other room, as if he was a dog it was an order to come over from Sukuna.
As Ichinose walked into the main room, he saw Sukuna sat cross-legged on the bed, his chin rested on his fist in utter boredom.
"I need to cleanse my pallet, it's getting dark, we're going to a bar." The boredom on his face replaced by anticipation, a small smile cracked as he leapt up off the bed, dust leaped from the wood boards of the floor as he landed. He would walk towards the window, silently leaping out from it and disappearing from sight to land on the street. Ichinose precariously attempted the same, once again accidentally cutting his palm on the way down from the window. He landed hard, almost twisting his ankle. He grunted as he landed, earning a small chuckle from Sukuna.
"Your presence is akin to a small rodent." Sukuna commented, before gesturing for Ichinose to follow.
Sukuna would dart through the streets, the Slayer struggling to keep up as he navigated each winding alley, Ichinose was under the impression that they would go to a popular bar on the main street of the entertainment district, but it appeared they were in the deep back-ways now, various rough looking women and men lined the street, either sitting with a cigarette or delirious and drunk shouting god knows what.
A dilapidated bar, it's sign barely hanging on was what caught Sukuna's attention. He slid into the small opening that was meant to be a door. It was much more difficult for Ichinose, as Sukuna once again insisted that he had to bring his large bag, full of human body parts.
"A drink isn't the same without a good snack." Was what he would say regarding it.
He finally was able to stuff himself through the opening, being greeted with a surprisingly full bar, many people gathered around tables and the counter its self, however the atmosphere was far from lively. Smoke clouded vision and snaked through the interior of the bar from various people's pipes. Sukuna wafted the smoke away calmly, approaching the counter and bartender, Ichinose followed behind sluggishly with his noticeably large bag.
Sukuna proceeded to lean over the bartender's counter, everyone around him sat, mouths agape in shock as he reached over to snatch a large bottle of alcohol.
"Come, let's sit." Sukuna would command of Ichinose, promptly followed, they both iched into a table in the corner of the bar. And as the slayer sat down, looked at how dirty the table was, then finally looked back up to the rest of the bar, a horrifying sight greeted him. Everyone was pivoted to look at the two. The scowls on their rough and dirty faces enough to unnerve anyone.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" A man stepped up, seeming to be the leader of a large group who was now approaching the table which Ichinose and Sukuna sat at.
Sukuna was fiddling with the large bottle of alcohol, aiming it up to the light to see if it refracted through a different color. He was practically in his own world. Ichinose was made to deal with it he supposed.
"He just wanted a drink." Ichinose mustered up the courage to shrug and give such a nonchalant statement, when really, emotional calm was far from what he was experiencing.
Sukuna would nod without looking up, still enraptured by the bottle, clearly Ichinose's statement was on the right track for him. He just needed to sell it a bit more.
"We don't mean any harm, if you'd just be on your way-"
The leader of the group would snatch the large bag that Ichinose laid in front of the table, the Slayer's leg began to shake uncontrollably as a worse case scenario now presented its self.
"And what do we have here? You got money in here? I'd love to have a look." The man grinned, his statement earning a few chuckles from his followers. He then began to dig through the bag roughly, and as he felt a large object, he grabbed it in order to pull it out, revealing a charred black human hand from out of the sack.
"Shit!" Ichinose exclaimed, it was all or nothing now.
"Fucking end these sick bastards!" The leader threw the arm aside in disgust and shock as he blurted out the order to his companions, which in actuality, turned out to be the entire bar, as they all proceeded to stand up sharply from out of their seats.
At this moment, Sukuna gave out a great exhumation of laughter. He rested his right foot on the small table, flicking his leg upwards, causing the table to spiral through the air into the face of the leader sending him flying. His companions would begin to rush forward in a great flurry of shouts, some had picked up glasses or brandished knives to use as lethal force.
Ichinose's leg reached under the table, pulling the large bag back towards them as quick as he could before they could be upon them, Sukuna had already disappeared form where he was sitting, god knows where he was in the bar now. A life or death decision was made, which pocket of the bag he had placed his sword in. He guessed right, diving for the sheathed sword in the front pouch of the bag, however one of the faster ones was already upon him in a moment's notice. He rather comically lobbed a charred head from the bag to slow the first one, before swinging the large bag horizontally into the side of the man's head, knocking him onto the floor.
This gave Ichinose enough time to finally brandish his sword, the blade came out of the hilt with a shrilling of metal. Making some of the smarter ones back up in apprehension, however those remaining who still rushed forward did so with weapons and fury. The Demon Slayer pivoted with his left foot and delivered a vertical slash. The closest person's nose was torn clear off, a bloody stump remaining as he now backed up in horror. Ichinose rushed forward, cutting the noseless man's throat open with a quick slice and shoving him into two other men behind him as a means of stunning them for a moment, he ducked around the falling corpse to deliver a clean cut through a right leg, cleaving it in two. Ichinose spun on his back leg, using the momentum to carry his blade through both men who were side-by-side, as he withdrew it from their now falling bodies, it's shining silver had transfigured into a deep red. Handling his sword with his off-hand would not come easily.
The Demon Slayer carried himself through the crowd with half-confidence, his skill set could only carry him so far in a large fight as he ended up having his arm nicked by a blade, a wince of pain coursed through the man as he attempted to back-up but was met with the dismal sight of a table and wall behind him. As a crowd of many now closed in on the distance. However, quickly turned to look towards what appeared to be a loud crash. A large hole in the window had appeared from where Sukuna had sent one of the men hurtling outside with one hand.
"Let's dance!" Sukuna cackled, before raising his right leg and having it crash to the floor, raising one of the wonky wooden floor boards up to one of the men's chins, pummeling him into unconsciousness. Ichinose used the distraction to his advantage, a great inhale and exhale, how he was taught to breathe in order to maximize his prowess. All Demon Slayer's had some kind of innate knowledge of breathing, even if he wasn't taught one of the styles, he still knew how the foundation of it worked. He had picked up a small table by clenching it under the stump of his hand as a shield, using his sword in the left, looking like some kind of strange medieval knight except with a table for a shield. And he bolted forwards, using his katana as a lance and the table as a club, he rendered 3 to the floor with multiple wild swings of his table, using his body as opposed to his hand to twist the table and gather the momentum needed, one of the men had their teeth clobbered out of their mouth on the edge of the table as it smashed into them. The next part had arrived, Ichinose's blade made contact and passed through the flesh of 2 people's chests, he kept up his charge, catching another on his blade as he finally let go, allowing the three people to fall on top of each other, dead. 6 people lay on the floor from this latest assault, however he wasn't done.
Sukuna had his own ideas, he outstretched his arms as if to lull them into attacking him, before delivering a standard right hook to one of them, however Sukuna's hand appeared to render the man's face red mist upon contact, his head literally exploded. The crowd stood frozen, fear piercing through their bodies more prominently then weapons ever could. However the fear gave rise to anger, and the rest of the crowd decided to charge Sukuna as one body. What happened next lasted only 5 seconds. If one was extremely keen of the eye, like Ichinose as a Slayer, here's what happened:
Sukuna passed through the crowd like he was ice-skating, a flurry of palm strikes rendering one man's entire body into mushy paste which splattered over the others, blinding them and coating each man in what looked like red paint. The King of Curses' nails passed one's throat, decapitating them, he latched onto the separated head with his hand and through it into another man with enough force to make the head explode, along with half of the alive victim's face upon impact. This was a man who could level the entire room in the matter of a moment yet chose to savor every last dying expression one by one. He was not fixated upon the honorable fight, nor the fierce fight, only the enjoyable fight. The fleeting state of life was viewed by Sukuna as a game to play, the emotions like pain and misery just dice to roll and place upon other people.
The King of Curses grabbed two by the collar, hoisting them up and sending them hurtling through the ceiling, probably through the roof with what remained of them. A left jab left another's face contorting into unrecognizable meat, a few straggler on the other side of the room would also be pursued by a crazed Ichinose, who proceeded to chase them around with a knife he had picked up from the floor, madly jabbing them with it when he reached them.
When the whines and groans of those suffering had finally fallen silent, 30 lay dead in the bar, 3 people remain, one of which had just fallen to the floor with a knife through their brain.
The next 2 were calmly approached by Sukuna, who proceeded to play eeny meeny miny moe with them, the one who was moe had his face crushed by the force of the King of Curses palm constricting. The one who was not chosen was given a rough pat on the shoulder and left in a mountain of bodies as the only one alive. It was not mercy, but rather another of Sukuna's sick momentary instincts, after all, he did not operate on what was conventional, but rather what entertained him the most.
Ichinose snapped out of his violent trance, starting to look around at the damages. The entire bar was fucked. The one that Sukuna had just left alive finally, and smartly, sprinted out the door. Even the half finished beers on the tables had turned a blood red after mixing with the spouting blood of fallen men.
"It appears the small rodent has rabies." The monster in front of the slayer would muse as he always does, sitting cross legged on an intact table. He had watched Ichinose handle the situation in the bar with some amount of interest. The main reason for keeping him alive, apart from entertainment, was to ascertain the nature of breathing and the demon slayers. Sukuna had begun to fathom from the fight that they could prove not useless.
Sukuna would suddenly hold an annoyed expression on his face. He had still not found another demon since the night in that village. They were of most interest to him, even more so then the demon slayers themselves. The miserable existence of these beings are an insult to himself, a symbol of strength unwavering against the brightest of forces, compared to the false strength which wavers to the faintest of forces. It reminded Sukuna a large amount of the low-level curses of his world, pitiful things. He had surely thought causing all this bloodshed around the city would have begun to draw them out, perhaps he's being to impatient though, they're sure to come. Night is prime for exploration, especially in such a large city as Tokyo.
The Slums Surrounding the Entertainment District in Tokyo – 7:40 PM - Japan – 1912
A large estate sat nestled in the numerous dirty slum huts of the city conversation could be heard from inside as many now gathered.
In the interior, an air of evil seeped throughout the human group, who sat opposite each other cross legged, 5 against 5. And one sat at the end, tired eyes and an etched bored expression, the leader of them all. A total of 50 people within the estate. The rulers of the slums and this city's underworld. Separate from the evil of demons, the evil of humans still rears its head as it always does, through crime and sin.
A bloodied man sprints inside the estate, earning a few shocked gazes, some went to draw their swords in order to punish this insubordination, however froze in confusion when they heard the news.
"The bar got fucking hit! Everyone inside is dead Two monsters inside, they're crazy I'll tell you, we need to get them, please!" The man drops to his knees in desperation, scratching at the floor as he begs his leader to aid them.
"Hm? What the fuck? Looks like the dogs of the slums weren't satisfied with just bones, they really do want to go for the meat huh? This is the end of the line. It's war. I want you all to move out." The leader gave a swift swat of his hand, all 10 leaders instantly rose, sheathed swords by their sides.
The noticeable thump of many boots down upon the estate floor as the entire gang mobilized for what they saw as a rival gang's declaration of war. They would rush out and towards the hit bar.
A bar on the border of the Entertainment District in Tokyo – 7:55 PM – Japan – 1912
Sukuna had spent a rather long time just sitting in silence observing the dark surroundings of the city. They both had not moved from the bar, standing just outside it.
"The smell of blood is bringing them nothing. What a shame." Sukuna sighed, genuinely disappointed.
The King of Curses grumbling would be interrupted by an interesting sound making its self known in the distance, slowly getting louder as the source crept closer to their position. The orange hue of torches lit up the dark alleyways and cast the shadow of so many people upon the walls it looked as though they were crawling insects. The crowd finally revealed themselves as they spilled from out the last alley into the large opening outside of the bar.
The leader presented themselves, they all seemed to be armed with mainly swords, however a sparse through carried rifles with them. Ichinose would grow rather anxious at the appearance of firearms, a demon slayer of his level could do nothing against those.
"Are you the ones who attacked this here bar?" The middle-aged and dirty looking man spoke up, his voice hearse, only harshness in it.
"And what if we are?" Sukuna beamed a grin at the group, causing a large upset within the crowd.
Sukuna opened his mouth to say something, but raised his hand as if to stop all noise. He cupped his ears to the silence of the night. A large grin forming on his face, the scream of a woman from not too far, the others hadn't heard it, he had. It's time to test this world. The leeches had finally come out to play.
Sukuna pulled Ichinose by the back of his collar, running off, but in a slow enough manner for the large group to be able to pursue them, they trailed through various slum alley-ways being shot and shouted at all the while until they found themselves in an incredibly long and wide alley in some tucked away corner of Tokyo, it was beginning to creep into the late hours now, and the street its self was empty apart from two distant silhouettes at one side.
The King of Curses and Ichinose had progressed through the long alley, with the large group of ruffians following close behind, a bullet whizzed past and skimmed the Demon Slayer before embedding its self in a wall. And as they finally progressed through, they caught a better sight of the silhouette at the end. The being was feasting on the woman's corpse, blood gushing out of the corpses wounds as the demon stared up at them with dried blood covering the edges of it's damnable smile. Their eyes had something etched into them. The Kanji signifying a lower moon.
Ichinose froze at the familiar but horrid sight for all demon slayers. They were truly stuck in a rock and a hard place. The crowd roared behind them, approaching quickly. But he also forgot that he was in the company of the King of Curses, whatever happened next would be drastic.