Konoha, Sukuna, And Meiro

“Anyone is fine… please, just kill me.”

The silver-haired girl pleaded with me in a hollow voice. Looking around, I saw dozens of girls, the charred remains of something that had apparently been burned earlier, and some kind of flesh and blood, blood, bloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodbloodblood.

“Please… kill… me. Ple… ase…”

“—!?”

The girl suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. I instinctively rushed forward and caught her. Ugh, she’s heavy… huh? She’s light. Does she even eat properly?

I looked down at the girl sleeping peacefully in my arms. Cute. No, it was more than that. For some reason, my heart would not stop pounding. This girl stirred my emotions far too deeply. It felt as though I had met her somewhere before. As though somewhere in my forgotten memories, the existence of this girl still remained.

“Who… are you? Why do you shake my heart like this? And who… am I?”

Even though I knew no one would give me a proper answer, I could not stop myself from muttering those words. The eerie draft flowing through the throne room was cold. She would catch a cold here.

“The throne.”

I lifted the girl and seated her on the throne. It was covered in soot and ash, but it was unmistakably a throne, and the silver-haired oni girl sitting upon it was truly—

“A Demon King…”

Her status screen was still open, probably because she had forgotten to close it after the battle. The words written there left no room for doubt. Yet I felt no fear. Somehow, I accepted it as though I had already known.

And yet, somewhere inside me, I felt as though I had been waiting for this. Ah, no good. I could not remember anything at all.

“Who… am I?”

I whispered the question one more time.

“…Wh-Where am I?”

“You’re inside a dream. Literally.”

When Konoha opened her eyes, she saw the familiar sky and grasslands. And then—

“Sukuna!”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s Sukuna. Konoha’s Sukuna, Sukuna’s Konoha.”

“…Hey, Sukuna. What am I?”

“What do you mean?”

Konoha lowered her eyes. Sukuna answered expressionlessly.

“A Demon King. Konoha, you’re a Demon King. A Demon King burdened with a certain destiny.”

“Destiny?”

“Destiny. Until then, Sukuna will make up for what Konoha lacks. Konoha is kind. Strong and weak at the same time, so Sukuna will compensate for that.”

“I’m… weak. I can’t even control myself. I don’t understand anything about myself. I’m weak.”

“Yeah, you’re weak. But it’s okay. Close your eyes and count to ten. Just like before. Okay?”

“I…”

At that moment, Konoha’s consciousness began fading away. Sukuna looked up at the leaden sky and murmured.

“For now, I purified Konoha’s darkness. Yes, Sukuna will shoulder the burden that a single human could never endure. But Konoha isn’t strong enough to bear the guilt that still spills over even after that. I wonder if you understand that, __________.”

The fog thickened. The dream ended.

“You awake?”

“Mm… I… huh? Uwaaaaaah!”

Konoha sprang upright. Looking around, she found herself back in the throne room. It had been restored to its state from before it became drenched in blood.

“It was filthy, so I cleaned it. What in the world did you do to make it look like that?”

“Um… who are you?”

Konoha stood up from the sofa and faced the girl before her. She had vivid blue hair and deep sapphire-colored eyes, giving her a mysterious air.

(She’s so pretty. Her eyes look like gemstones… wait, huh?)

“Ah, I’m back to normal.”

“You startled me. Your hair suddenly changed from white to brown, and your eye color went back to normal too. Seeing me make a surprised face is rare, you know?”

“Ehehe, sorry for causing trouble~”

“You certainly did. Is your body all right, Konoha?”

“Yeah!! I’m totally fine! I feel completely refreshed after sleeping! …So, who are you?”

The girl hesitated. Then, as though resolving herself, she spoke.

“I’m sorry. I have no memories.”

“Huh?”

“My name, my past, my memories—everything is completely gone.”

“T-That’s terrible! We have to get you to a doctor right away!”

“There isn’t exactly a doctor inside a labyrinth. I looked around, and this place is apparently in the mountains near the Neutral City of Lichten. I think it was called the Respega Underground Labyrinth, but I barely remember.”

“Ah, right. I was brought here, and then… huh? I don’t remember anything.”

“You don’t remember? When I found you, your eyes were completely hollow. I assume something happened, but…”

“Hmm… ah, wait. I’m starting to remember little by little… I used this sword to…”

Konoha’s eyes began clouding over again.

“Well, I suppose even a Demon King has her own hardships. You shouldn’t force yourself to remember something painful, should you?”

“No! I… just now, I killed all those demons with my own hands…”

“Skill: 《Mental Stabilization》! Calm down!”

The nameless girl cast magic on Konoha. Konoha felt her heartbeat gradually slow.

“S-Sorry.”

“It’s fine. But Konoha, the people of this world don’t hesitate to kill demons. They kill humans, after all.”

“But! They have hearts too, don’t they!? And I… I killed them…”

“But you saved these girls because of it. Didn’t you?”

“…Ah.”

The nameless girl pointed toward the girls who had been brought in as slaves. They were all lying down after receiving treatment.

“B-But there were girls I couldn’t save too!!”

“They’re all alive.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know what you did, but they were all still breathing, so I healed them afterward. There might be lingering aftereffects, but I can’t do anything about that. They’ll just have to consider being alive a blessing.”

“But I definitely saw one of them die… ah…”

Konoha remembered. She had returned the energy that had been poured into her back to the girls. But that meant…

“Resurrection?”

“That seems to be what happened. It probably helped that not much time had passed since they died. Somehow, you miraculously managed to save and protect every single one of them. That’s something you should be proud of.”

“…I see. Thank goodness. I’m so glad everyone is alive.”

Konoha smiled in relief. It was a genuinely gentle expression, filled with happiness from the bottom of her heart.

“Wait, huh? How did you know I’m the Demon King?”

“I saw your status. Sorry. I caught a glimpse of it while I was treating you.”

“Waaaaaaaaah!! What did you do that for!? I-I mean, yes, I’m technically a Demon King, but I just became one! I’m like an apprentice! A beginner! A newbie!”

“Calm down. I’m not going to look at you strangely just because you’re the Demon King.”

“Huh?”

“That kind expression you showed just now was genuine. That’s enough for me. Even if your occupation is Demon King, you’re still a normal, kind girl.”

Konoha’s face brightened instantly. Deep down, she had been worried that the girl might fear her because she was a Demon King.

“N-Nameless-chan!! Thank you!!”

“Don’t give me some weird name.”

“Then Memory-Lost-chan!”

“That’s plenty weird too.”

“Then Meiro-chan! You’re mysterious, your memories are lost, and we met in a maze-like underground place, so Meiro-chan!! Yeah, that feels perfect!!”

“Rejected. That’s stranger than Nameless.”

“I think Meiro is a cute name!! I like it!!”

Hearing Konoha say “I like it,” the girl felt her heart suddenly leap.

(What is this? Why am I happy about that?)

“C-Call me whatever you like. Meiro or anything else is fine.”

“Okay, I will! Nice to meet you, Meiro-chan♪”

“Y-Yeah. Nice to meet you, Konoha.”

“Meiro-chaaan!!”

“Kya! Hey, don’t suddenly hug me!”

“Meiro-chan smells so nice~♪ Is that lavender?”

“L-Let. Go. Of. Me! It’s embarrassing!”

It was the moment Konoha’s friendliness claimed its first heroine as a victim.

“Oh, there’s something I have to tell you too.”

“Being a Demon King was already quite a surprise. Is there somehow something even more shocking?”

“Apparently, I have something called a split personality.”

“What?”

“Um, maybe it’ll make more sense if I actually show you? Skill: 《Oni Princess》! Sukuna, come out!”

Konoha activated the skill, and her body shimmered.

“Konoha, don’t summon me like I’m some Poké○on. Special skills put a strain on your body, you know?”

“Um…”

Meiro tilted her head.

“Nice to meet you, Meiro. Sukuna is Sukuna. Sukuna is another Konoha. Nice to meet you.”

“Y-Yeah. Your way of speaking isn’t that different, but your whole atmosphere changes completely. Is this really a split personality?”

“You can think of it that way. Technically, I’m currently being summoned into her through Konoha’s skill.”

“Haa… well, you don’t seem dangerous, so I suppose it’s fine.”

“That helps.”

“So, Sukuna, we need to free those girls and get them outside. What should we do? Doesn’t the Demon King have some kind of teleportation ability?”

Konoha pointed toward the girls who had been held hostage.

“No. And like I said earlier, I don’t recommend summoning Sukuna too often. It isn’t terribly inefficient, but conserving energy is still better.”

“Energy efficiency?”

“The skill called Ryomen Sukuna exists to support Konoha’s mental strength. More specifically, if there’s something Konoha can’t do herself, use Sukuna, and Sukuna will accomplish it no matter what.”

“Something I want to do…?”

“More like something unavoidable. For example, killing someone.”

“—!? K-Killing people is wrong! Because that’s…”

“Demons aren’t the only evil people in the world. Humans can be absolutely despicable too. If a time comes when someone truly has to be killed because there’s no other choice, Sukuna doesn’t want Konoha to be the one who does it.”

“Is it… okay for Sukuna to do it?”

“That’s what Sukuna exists for. When it comes to humans, that’s one thing, but when it comes to demons, saying otherwise is just idealistic. As long as Konoha is the Demon King, someday she’ll have to come into conflict with them.”

“But I don’t want Sukuna killing either.”

“Sukuna has no emotions. I told you, didn’t I? That’s why Sukuna exists. Sukuna’s reason for existing is to take Konoha’s place when doing something would hurt Konoha’s heart. Besides, as ‘Ryomen Sukuna,’ Sukuna has already killed humans.”

“Wha—!?”

“Um, what have you been talking about this whole time?”

Meiro asked. Indeed, the conversation between the two of them had been taking place inside Konoha’s mind, and only Sukuna’s side had actually been spoken aloud.

“Ah, sorry. Anyway, carrying all these girls out isn’t possible. The labyrinth entrance is probably sealed. I think our only option is to catch that Janikoro guy from earlier and force him to show us the way out.”

“Janikoro?”

“A demon man. A serial killer who escaped when Konoha went on a rampage here earlier.”

“I see. Then let’s put a barrier around this place and go search for him.”

“Sounds good. While we’re on the way, I’ll explain a little about Sukuna too. Konoha is curious, right?”

“Yeah, please!”

And so Konoha—or rather, Sukuna—and Meiro placed a simple barrier around the throne room.

For the record, it was a type of basic magic. Normally, low-level enemies would never enter a throne room occupied by a king, so there was little need for a barrier in the first place, but they decided it was better to be safe.

They also cast sleep magic on the girls, since they would need to remain asleep for a while longer.

“Okay then. Let’s go hunt demons.”

“Don’t phrase it like that. You make it sound like you’re having fun.”

The two opened the door and proceeded into the dark labyrinth.