CHAPTER 30: THE CRACK WITHIN
The days after Reiner's confession were strange.
He still trained with the others. Still ate in the mess hall. Still nodded at Bertholdt across the courtyard.
But something had shifted.
Reiner was no longer pretending to be a soldier. He was becoming one.
Sukuna watched him closely.
"He's looking for redemption," Sukuna thought. "Fools always do."
Mikasa noticed Sukuna's distance.
"You've been staring at the wall for an hour."
"I've been thinking."
"About what?"
"About whether any of this matters."
She sat down next to him.
"The war? The Titans? Zeke?"
"All of it."
"It matters to me."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because you're here. And I don't want to lose you."
Sukuna was quiet.
Then he said, "In another world, I would have laughed at that."
"And now?"
"Now I don't know what to do."
That night, Sukuna dreamed again.
Not of fire. Not of curses.
Of a throne.
A golden throne in an empty room.
And on the throne, a figure.
Himself.
But older. Harder. Eyes like burning coals.
"You're wasting time," the figure said.
"Who are you?"
"You. The you that never left. The you that still wants to burn everything."
"I don't want to burn everything."
"Liar."
The figure stood up.
"You're bored, Sukuna. Bored of these walls. Bored of these Titans. Bored of these pathetic humans who think they can fight."
"You want to go back. To your world. To your revenge."
"You want to kill the ones who betrayed you."
Sukuna's fists clenched.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't."
"Can't? Or won't?"
The figure laughed.
"The great King of Curses, trapped in a child's body, playing soldier for a world that isn't his."
"Pathetic."
Sukuna woke up.
He sat on the edge of his bed, breathing hard.
"A dream," he whispered. "Just a dream."
But his hands were shaking.
"Or a memory."
The next morning, Hange found him in the training yard.
"You look terrible."
"I didn't sleep."
"Nightmares?"
"Something like that."
Hange sat on a bench.
"I've been thinking about what you said. About Zeke's plan. About the euthanasia."
"And?"
"I think he's wrong. But I also think you're not telling me everything."
Sukuna stopped swinging his sword.
"What do you want to know?"
"Who are you, really? Not Eren Yeager. The other one. The one inside."
Sukuna stared at her.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
He sat down next to her.
"I'm from another world. A world with curses. Real curses. Not Titans. Monsters made from human negative emotions."
"I was the king of those curses. The strongest. The most feared."
"Then I was betrayed. Killed by the people I trusted."
"I woke up here. In this body. In this world."
Hange's eyes were wide.
"That's... insane."
"I told you."
"But I believe you."
Sukuna raised an eyebrow.
"You do?"
"Your eyes. They're not the eyes of a boy who grew up inside these walls. They're the eyes of someone who has seen too much. Someone ancient."
She leaned forward.
"Do you want to go back?"
Sukuna was quiet for a long time.
Then he said, "Every day."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because I don't know how."
"And if you did?"
Sukuna looked at the wall.
"Then I would have a choice. Stay and save this world. Or leave and destroy my old one."
"That's not a choice. That's a sentence."
"Maybe."
Hange stood up.
"Well, until you figure it out, we have a war to prepare for. So stop moping and start training."
She walked away.
Sukuna almost smiled.
That evening, Armin brought him food.
"Hange told me about your conversation."
"Of course she did."
"I think you should stay."
"Why?"
"Because this world needs you. Not the King of Curses. You. Sukuna."
"I am the King of Curses."
"No. You're more than that now. You just don't see it yet."
Armin left the food and walked away.
Sukuna stared at the bread.
"More than that," he repeated.
He took a bite.
"Maybe."
END OF CHAPTER 30