Noobs I Got 26

noobs i got 26

This could be fun. I scored 11. How about you?

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

AO3 Link

Start Here

“I’m going to fucking murder you, Sukuna.”

“That’d kill you too, dumbass.”

“I don’t care! How could you NOT do the ONE thing I requested of you?!”

“Oi! It ain’t my fault that I didn’t notice!”

“You were supposed to tell me the second you sensed Yuuji’s presence! For fuck’s sake, you made a binding vow with me!”

“And nothing’s happened to me, right? I didn’t tell you about Yuuji on purpose. I didn’t sense him, so the binding vow wasn’t broken. I did nothing wrong!”

“YOU’RE SUCH A– I JUST– AGH! I HATE YOU!”

“WHAT?! I GOT US BACK HOME, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!”

“Yeah, you did get us home, but you want to know what you also did? YOU ALERTED ALL THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS IN JAPAN! YOU PRACTICALLY INVITED THEM TO OUR HOUSE!”

“THEY AREN’T GOING TO COME! HAVEN’T YOU HEARD OF INTIMIDATION TACTICS?! THEY’LL BE TOO BUSY PISSING THEIR PANTS TO EVEN TRY TO FIND US!”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL-”

An ear piercing wail made all arguing screech to a halt. Ryomen glared murderously at Sukuna before heading to the baby’s room. The much taller being followed the man with a scowl that was more resemblant of a pout.

-One hour Earlier-

Once Infinite had deposited the group to the requested location, Ryomen had immediately gotten to work on cleaning up his long lost son of any grime he had collected when at the forest with soft baby wipes. The infant whined in pain when Ryomen gently brushed his finger against the dark markings on his chubby face and arms. A million questions flooded the man’s mind, but he ignored all of them due to the teary, golden eyes looking up at him. Ryomen’s heart melted and twisted at the same time at the sight. He soon began to prepare the formula for the hungry infant. The moment the bottle was placed in Yuuji’s mouth, the baby quickly devoured the meal greedily. As the infant drank, his loyal protectors were in a circle, watching him dutifully. At some point, Overtime used one of his wrappings to wipe off the mess of milk from Yuuji’s face due to the baby’s clumsy drinking. It caused the baby to squeal with laughter, causing everyone in the room to soften at the sight. Even Sukuna had to bite his lip in order to hide a smile at the happy squeals.

Once Yuuji had finished his meal and was burped, Ryomen carried the baby to the bathroom to give him a much needed bath. While the wipes had done well to clean off the dirt, a proper, warm bath was needed to help sooth the baby’s irritated skin and get rid of the tiny sticks in his hair. His six guardians had tried to follow them into the bathroom, but Ryomen was quick to scold them. Only Supernova was allowed to enter due to his small size. The cat purred loudly before jumping onto Ryomen’s shoulder. Yuuji made grabbing motions towards the purple feline. Because Supernova had been the first being that the baby saw, the boy had imprinted on Supernova. An undeniably smug look appeared in Supernova’s eyes as he peered at the other guardians while Yuuji’s attention was fully on the cat. Infinite squawked loudly in pure offense, the colorful feathers along his back raised to show just how unhappy he was at Ryomen’s decision. When the draconic creature tried to use his long body to steal Yuuji, Chimera was quick to summon one of his frogs to wrap around Infinite's beak before it could make contact. The dark goop immediately began to stick into the white fur of Infinite’s back, eliciting another affronted squawk.

“Damn, he’s loud. Think we’re going to have trouble with that in the future?” Ryomen raised a brow at Sukuna. Fortunately, the noise did not scare Yuuji in the slightest. In fact, the baby giggled and cooed at the draconic bird amalgamation. This made Infinite shake off the black goop and try to nuzzle the baby’s head, responding with coos and trills of his own. However, a swipe from Supernova’s paw caused the larger creature to whine with disappointment.

“It will definitely be a problem moving forward. That thing cannot live without annoying someone else. He never knows when to shut up. You can chop off his upper half and he’d still be a pain in the ass.” A glare was sent to the dramatic bird, who had used his smoky tail to hit Sukuna in the face. Sukuna suppressed a growl, not noticing that Ryomen was looking at him oddly from his choice of words.

Ryomen sighed, more than used to the ancient curse’s weird phrasing. He adjusted the now wiggling baby in a more secure grip and looked at the other guardians. He was briefed on the names and purposes of the guardians that would accompany Yuuji long ago, but nothing could have prepared him for how strange they looked. Any grievances he would have had disappeared once he heard his son’s happy squeals as Supernova began to groom the small amount of pink hair on Yuuji’s head. The cat was clearly different from the average feline. Not just from his purple fur and spikes, but also his behavior. All the cats Ryomen had interacted with in the past had no qualms with biting or scratching him if he so much as breathed the wrong way. In contrast, Supernova let the baby grab at his tail which most cats would have clawed someone for doing. His purrs were somehow much more soothing than other cats. The purring Supernova was emitting made vibrations go through Ryomen’s body, causing him to unconsciously relax. It had the same effect on Yuuji, so he knew he had to act quickly. Bathing a cranky baby was something Ryomen had no desire to deal with at this time of night.

To his chagrin, the five guardians that weren’t allowed to enter the bathroom were sulking. Boogie and Infinite were the loudest with their complaints, one was howling in pure agony while the other was chirping as pitifully as possible. The rose on Resonance’s left eye wilted at the edges while the green lights on Chimera’s face had dimmed considerably. It was nearly impossible to read Overtime’s body language, so Ryomen paid attention to the looser wrappings around his body. The wrappings were subtly reaching out in the direction of Yuuji. He felt terrible for separating the guardians from their precious ward.

Catching onto Ryomen’s internal dilemma, Sukuna rolled his eyes. “The guardians will not disappear if they are away from Yuuji for five seconds. I suggest you bathe Yuuji now, considering how sleepy the brat is getting.”

“He’s not a brat!” Ryomen responded instantly. Although, he knew that Sukuna was right about Yuuji’s sleepiness. “Just make sure they don’t break in, okay? They can watch by the door if they get too restless.”

“They’re already restless, so that is a given” Sukuna responded with a scoff.

Ryomen shook his head and flipped Sukuna off as he turned to enter the bathroom. The snarl that followed made Ryomen smirk as he closed the door. Big, honey eyes looked at the new space in complete awe. Yuuji was staring at the sink as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. A warmness that Ryomen hadn’t felt in centuries blossomed in his chest at the sight of his precious son’s curiosity. He had waited so long to have Yuuji in his arms again. If he wasn’t careful, he knew that he would be sobbing his heart out at any moment once being reunited with his long-lost son. However, duty calls, and Ryomen could not be bursting into tears while his baby needed him.

The bathroom had long been baby-proofed, so some of Ryomen’s many anxieties could be eased. He first took out a blanket from one of the cupboards and placed the fluffy material on the tile floor. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen booped his nose after placing him on the blanket. It took all of Ryomen’s self control not to cry and not to cradle Yuuji in his arms and never let go. He shook his head again, focusing on getting the supplies needed for the bath. Considering Yuuji’s sensitive marks, Ryomen chose the gentlest products he had. With that sorted, Ryomen knelt on the floor to turn the faucet on the tub. As the water warmed up, the pink-haired man stood and went to the cupboards beneath the sink. To start, he collected the foldable baby tub he’d bought online and placed it to the side. Afterwards, he grabbed three soft towels that had never been used before. Ryomen pointedly ignored the mirror of the sink, knowing just how rough he looked from his eventful day. If someone had warned him that he would be alerted of his son’s presence while buying groceries, causing him to run out of the store with one bag in hand as he forgot the rest of his groceries because he was too busy running down the street with Sukuna screaming directions in his ear, which then led to him looking like an insane person as he shouted at the parasite in his head for all to see, further fueling his determination to get to his son’s location as fast as possible, making him throw up at least four times from the overexertion as he sprinted about ten miles to the forest his son was in, only to find his baby boy wailing in fright and hunger whilst being surrounded by the most powerful and influential sorcerers in the country…then Ryomen would have drank all of Sukuna’s stolen saki until he forgot how to feel feelings.

I should still find the time to steal Sukuna’s saki. He stole it from the finest restaurants in Japan, so stealing it again shouldn’t count as a crime. Not like he can get drunk anyway . His musings were interrupted when a paw incessantly tugged on his pants. Ryomen snapped back to reality, and he was surprised to see Supernova sitting on his leg, nodding his head towards the tub with a disapproving gaze. Somehow, the sharp meow Supernova let out felt like a harsh reprimand. Shit, I really need to focus. Can parenting skills get rusty after a thousand years?

Ryomen breathed in deeply for a few moments to get his frazzled nerves under control. He placed one towel on the floor where he’d be kneeling, another on the edge of the tub to clean up splashes and bubbles, and the third was resting on the counter of the sink to be used at the end. Luckily, the water was the perfect temperature without Ryomen’s interference. At the same time, Supernova was being used as a living plush toy by a giggling baby. Yuuji was on the cat's fluffy back with a smile. His tiny hands gripped at the fur, and his head was buried into the purple softness. Golden eyes started to flutter as he further burrowed his head in the warmth. Supernova never once growled at the baby, only nudging the boy’s cheek to keep him awake.

When Ryomen turned to place Yuuji in the tub, a snort left his lips to see his adorable son trying to use Supernova as a bed. He gently plucked the baby from Supernova’s back and removed the baby’s diaper and dirty onesie. Part of him was worried that Yuuji would start wailing at the separation, but his fears were put to rest as his boy made grabby hands at Ryomen’s face. The father and son duo had matching smiles that could rival the sun in their brightness.

This time, Ryomen could not stop his tears from flowing when chubby hands grabbed at his nose. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen nuzzled his nose into the baby’s soft grip. Dark honey met golden honey, and Ryomen finally felt complete. One of Yuuji’s hands patted Ryomen’s cheek, coos of shere delight escaping the boy’s lips. His baby boy giggled again and looked back at his crying father. Ryomen let out a watery laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Oh…Hi…Hi, Yuuji … Hi …I’m your Papa, remember? I’m going to take care of you from now on, okay? You already have so many people who will always love you and protect you. You’ll never be alone. You’ll always have someone to dry your tears. You’ll forever have someone to hug you when you’re scared. You’ll always have a roof over your head. You’ll always be warm and cozy. You’ll never have to go hungry ever again. You won’t get sick anymore. I promise.” Memories of a long forgotten plague filled Ryomen’s mind. The helplessness. The pain. The grief. The rage-

Another pat on his face broke Ryomen from his spiraling thoughts. This time, Yuuji was patting his forehead repeatedly. His chubby cheeks were puffed out in pout. The baby looked just as disapproving as Supernova had earlier. Tears of pure joy soon streamed down Ryomen’s face as a much more pleasant memory surfaced.

“No sad, Papa! I hit sad away!”

“Yuuji, hon, you’re hitting me- OW! Stop it, sweetie, you don’t need to- OW! OW! Okay! Okay, the sad is gone! Good job, Yuuji! You can stop hitting Papa’s head now.”

“No!”

“N-No?”

“You still sad! Need more hits!”

“Wait, Yuuji- OW! OW! You’re doing this on purpose- OW!”

A genuine laugh burst from Ryomen’s chest. “I should have expected your lack of tolerance for sadness.” Ryomen kissed Yuuji’s forehead, remembering what he still had to do. He switched to holding Yuuji with one arm and placed the smaller baby tub inside the larger bathtub and waited until the tiny tub was at the appropriate water level. He also placed a stopper in to prevent the surrounding warm water from draining out. After testing the water’s temperature again, the pink-haired man carefully placed Yuuji into the baby tub. In an instant, Supernova jumped onto the rim of the bathtub in order to watch the baby like a hawk. There wasn’t much need to do so because the baby tub was shallow enough that drowning was impossible with Ryomen there. However, it was still nice to have someone care for his son so much.

Yuuji was confused at first from the new sensations, but he quickly relaxed into the warm water. Ryomen got out the baby wash and squeezed it into the water. As he swirled the water with his hand, Yuuji squealed as bubbles appeared. The baby was ecstatic as he slapped his tiny palms into the water. However, Yuuji had always been a boy with excess strength, even as a baby. Soapy water hit Ryomen in his face. He sighed and grabbed the towel on the corner of the bathtub. When he opened his eyes, he was relieved to see that no burn came, proving the gentleness of the baby wash and shampoo. He’d definitely be buying from the brand in the future.

Yuuji wiggled around and splashed some more, even managing to soak Supernova. The attentive cat simply shook his head to rid himself of the water and went back to watching Yuuji. The sight of the purple feline’s droopy, wet fur made Ryomen snicker. Eventually, Yuuji would calm down enough to allow Ryomen to properly wash him without making an ocean out of the bathroom. A mild scent of honey could be detected from the soap and the same was seen in the shampoo.

Maybe I should start calling him little bee. Ryomen thought to himself. With the stripes on Yuuji’s tiny body, it was easy to compare the baby to a bumblebee. However, he could not abandon his favorite nickname of all. The black stripes along his son’s face and body resembled a tiger much more than a bee. “Seems like my tiger cub finally got his stripes, hm?”

As cute as the stripes were, Ryomen knew that it wasn’t normal for a baby to have. There were two stripes on each side of Yuuji's cheeks, six stripes of varying length on his arms, three stripes along the length of each leg, and one circular marking on his chest. What was most concerning was that it was painful if he touched Yuuji’s tattoos. He was hoping the pain was temporary and would go away with time. For now, Ryomen would continue to use the gentlest products for his boy. When he began washing Yuuji’s tattoos, he treated them like they were more fragile than porcelain. Yuuji had initially whined at the touch, causing the spines on Supernova’s back to raise in anger. Fortunately, Ryomen’s face would not get mauled as the tiny whines stopped after a few seconds. On closer inspection, there was a faint outline of redness surrounding each marking. He frowned, but Ryomen knew of the many lotions he had bought specifically tailored towards irritated skin in infants. Turns out his many online shopping sprees in the middle of the night would prove useful.

When it was time for shampoo, Yuuji had splashed most of the water from his tub. Ryomen used a small pitcher attached to the wall on his right to scoop out the warm water surrounding the larger bathtub. It was still warm, so Ryomen gently poured the water into the near empty baby tub. Yuuji squealed with the additional water. Before he could splash Ryomen and Supernova for the umpteenth time, Ryomen plopped a dollop of shampoo on Yuuji’s head. Immediately, the baby cooed and tried to reach for his head. The man and cat both sagged in relief. Not wanting to have the shampoo run down Yuuji’s face, Ryomen used one hand to block Yuuji’s eyes and another to scoop water onto the baby’s head. With great care, Ryomen lathered the shampoo into the pink hair, making sure that every speck of dirt was gone. He had thought that he would need to spend ages removing each tiny splinter and stick from his boy’s hair. It seemed like Supernova had taken care of that when the feline had groomed the baby’s pink-hair earlier. Ryomen looked at the cat, who was still watching his boy with great focus. Thanks to Supernova, the bath would go much faster than Ryomen anticipated. It made sense that the cat would be so attentive according to Sukuna’s brief descriptions of the guardians.

Supernova will be Yuuji’s bodyguard in a sense. His regular form is smaller than the rest, but he is large for a cat. That’s why he can alter the size of his form to fit the situation, so Yuuji can take him anywhere. Supernova is capable of both long range and close range attacks with his blood manipulation technique. He’s the ‘all-in-one’ guardian and will protect Yuuji with his life. I doubt that protection will spread to you or me because that cat does not give a shit about what happens to anyone besides Yuuji. He doesn't even seem to care that much about the other guardians. Oh, and before I forget, don’t try petting him either. If you’re not Yuuji and you pet him, the little fucker will slice your hand off.

For once, Ryomen was grateful to Sukuna. If he hadn’t warned him, Ryomen would have pet the fluffy cat upon seeing Supernova. It was a good thing that Yuuji had shown nothing but happiness towards Ryomen. Any tears would spell his doom.

Yuuji luckily only continued to coo at Ryomen’s gentle ministrations. Once the shampoo was fully washed off, the peach locks were vibrant. Ryomen smiled as he realized that he, Yuuji, and Sukuna all shared the exact shade of pink. Additionally, they all had tattoos of their own. Sukuna had the most, but Ryomen had his fair share as well. He had the same markings on his forehead, nose, cheeks, and shoulders that Sukuna had. He had two black bands on each thigh and two on each calf. The two bands around each of his wrists were the most unique. They were thinner than the other bands on his skin. The top band separated into five lines that spread to his hand and fingers. In fact, the lines even grew onto his nail bed. No amount of filing would rub off the marks, so Ryomen got into the habit of painting his nails with the darkest polishes he could find. The lines would then travel down to the pads of his fingers, forming a perfect square on each one. He had an identical black square on the sole of both feet. All the squares were a symbol of the technique he has. While Sukuna had all the brutality and strength, Ryomen had the firepower so to speak.

“Oi, dumbass! Are you done yet or have you finally succumbed to your stupidity?” Sukuna’s muffled voice broke the peaceful environment. The curse had been relentless in teasing him when Ryomen had continued to puke during his dash to get Yuuji. He kept talking about how Ryomen would die any second with his ‘shitty’ endurance.

“Shut up, Sukuna! I thought you had ‘the patience of a god’!”

“I do, but not with these fucking demons throwing tantrums!” After Sukuna said that, Ryomen heard various whines and scratches coming from the other side of the door. A large claw tried going through the crack under the door with a miserable squawk. Infinite continued his mournful cries until a spotted wrapping yanked his claw from the door.

Seeing as his time was up and not wanting to have Yuuji’s skin get pruny, Ryomen grabbed the towel from the counter and wrapped Yuuji securely. He got out a soft cloth and began to dry Yuuji with it. He would have used a normal towel, but Ryomen was taking no chances in irritating his baby’s sensitive skin. Yuuji was quickly starting to fall asleep, so Ryomen used all his focus to be even more gentle. Behind him, Supernova was grooming himself to rid his fur of the soapy water. The cat went to the door crack and hissed. In response, the very tip of Infinite’s beak poked through. Based on the muffled swears from Sukuna and the sounds of things crashing, Infinite’s large body had knocked several things over in his attempt to peek under the door.

“Looks like our time is up, little tiger. Let’s get you to bed. You’ve had quite the day!” Ryomen carried a now dry Yuuji in his arms wrapped in another towel. The shirt Ryomen had been wearing was so soaked that he had to use the towel he had first bundled Yuuji in to wipe the slippery tile. He took off the wet fabric and threw it in the sink’s basin, too tired to clean the messy bathroom. It was a problem for future Ryomen. Current Ryomen was on his way to passing out like his sleepy son.

Supernova backed away from the door, shrinking in size before jumping on Ryomen’s shoulder again. His smaller form allowed the cat to curl up without having most of its body hanging off. To his relief, Infinite had removed his beak from the door. He took a deep breath in and opened the door and was met with a disaster.

Several vases lay shattered on the floor, spilling dirt everywhere. A few nails had been stabbed into the walls, and there were claw marks along the floor. Some of the paintings on the walls had been knocked over or were covered in slobber. Black goop managed to stain the ceiling. Shreds of spotted fabric also littered the floor. At the center of the mess was a tense Sukuna. He had his four arms crossed, refusing to look at Ryomen. It was clear that the guardians let their anxiety get the best of them, and Sukuna was a horrid babysitter. Before said curse could let a word out, Ryomen raised a hand. Whatever expression Ryomen was adorning was enough to shut Sukuna up and make all the guardians sheepishly back away.

Tomorrow. It’s tomorrow’s problem. That was the mantra running through Ryomen’s head. The only source of solace for the poor man was the weight in his arms. Yuuji was completely knocked out with his tiny head buried in Ryomen’s right shoulder. On his left shoulder, Supernova was purring again with his warm fur tickling Ryomen’s neck. In silence, the others followed the pink-haired man into the nursery.

The nursery was made with love and care. Yuuji’s crib was meticulously carved by a certain curse with a tendency for slashing. Intricate swooping patterns were carved into the wooden crib. Flames outlined the edges of the crib with sharp notches between each flame. On the front of the crib was the symbol on Sukuna and Ryomen’s foreheads. According to the ancient curse, it was actually a rune marked into their skins to offer strength and bravery. He didn’t entirely believe Sukuna, but Ryomen let it slide.

“If anyone messes up the nursery, I am killing every last one of you.” Ryomen whispered to the others as he placed Yuuji on the changing table. Even with the room being so inviting with its beautiful abstract paintings of flowers and tigers, an army of animal plushies, fluffy blankets with matching pillows, and impossibly plush carpet, all the creatures in the room felt like they were facing death itself.

The exhaustion of a single father was not to be messed with.

With the threat in all their heads, the remaining guardians were very careful as they maneuvered around the nursery. Chimera headed towards a dark corner, hiding himself in the shadow with only his green eyes visible. Boogie laid his large body on the side of the carpet in the center of the room, tailing gently wagging. The canine laid his head on his paws and got into a comfortable position to sleep. Resonance was the most cautious, knowing her sharp appendages could do great damage to the room. She sat down on the red rocking chair in another corner and curled up as much as she could. Overtime loosened the wrappings on his body to plop down next to the crib. This allowed him to take up less space. His more solid left side began to glow brighter, heating up the room as Overtime allowed the magma inside his body flow along the cracks of his body. Being the longest and largest, Infinite had the most trouble fitting into the nursery. He chirped in irritation before he saw the stone rafters on the ceiling. The ancient origins of their home had its apparent perks. Infinite trilled softly as he used his lengthy form to reach the rafters that fortunately supported his weight. The high position allowed Infinite to have a bird’s eye view of the room, which was quite fitting for the draconic bird. Infinite let his smokey tail dangle from a gap in the rafters. The tail opened slightly, revealing six eyes that were bright enough to be a nightlight. Each eye was focused on the sleepy baby in Ryomen’s arms, now dawned in a yellow onesie and fresh diaper.

Despite his fatigue, Ryomen’s eyes were bright with happiness as he rocked Yuuji in his arms, patting his back. In seconds, the baby went back to sleep. He had been woken up when his father dressed him and was eager to fall asleep again. Ryomen delicately placed the baby into the crib as if the boy was made of glass. A small, pink blanket was draped over the infant. All the occupants in the room were momentarily frozen as each was immersed in watching the small baby’s rising and falling chest. Supernova shrunk again and curled around the baby, giving Yuuji one last lick.

Eventually, the exhaustion within Ryomen grew too great to handle. His limbs subtly trembled with the effort to remain standing. What broke Ryomen from his slight trance was a notification from his phone. He had left his phone on the changing table when Yuuji had first arrived. Seeing how the baby was in nothing but a bundle and diaper, Ryomen ran to get something to put on his son. The man reluctantly walked away from the crib to see what kind notification would pop up this late at night. He stared at the bright screen for about a minute, his eyes widening the more the information settled in his tired mind.

It was a message from an unknown number.

Congratulations on the reunion! Your odd little family has made quite the impact on Jujutsu society! Word spreads quite fast among sorcerers, you know? You’re the hot topic of discussion! Say hi to Yuuji for me :) -K

The phone shattered in Ryomen’s hand.

Without a word, Ryomen stormed out of the room, harshly grabbing the curse by the door so hard Sukuna felt his arm pop. The guardians were startled by the sudden fury in Ryomen, but they stayed where they were. Yuuji continued to sleep, unaware of the doom upon them.

Ryomen had dragged Sukuna into the living room. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand. His breaths were rapid and harsh. It took a couple minutes for Ryomen to gather the energy to speak. The rage in Ryomen’s eyes overtook the fatigue. His first words to break the tense silence were snarled, sounding more beast than human.

“I’m going to fucking murder you, Sukuna.”

-Present-

Sukuna was fond of the home they had found.

The place they were currently in used to be an old shrine dedicated to Sukuna. This allowed the massive curse to exist outside of Ryomen’s body. While Sukuna’s form in the shrine was visible, it was not tangible by any means. Ryomen could stick a hand through his form, much to the curse’s displeasure and Ryomen’s amusement. If he reinforced his ghostly body with cursed energy, he would become more solid. However, once the curse was outside the shrine’s given boundaries, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remain corporeal. The only way that Sukuna could return to his physical form was if he used Ryomen to do so. Over the years, the two had developed a give and take method. If Sukuna wanted to take over when Ryomen didn’t want to switch, he would need to do a favor for the man. The same applied for Ryomen if he wanted to take back control. Sukuna could take over the man’s body easily and never give it back, but it was counterintuitive to his goal of keeping Yuuji happy and safe. This goal alo prevented Sukuna from going on a mass murdering rampage as any large-scale attacks from the curse would garner too much attention from the sorcerers.

So much for not alerting the sorcerers.

With how angry Ryomen was at Sukuna, he doubted that the man would allow him to take over any time soon. For now, he would have to be satisfied as being a ghost for the time being. He leaned against the doorframe of the nursery with his four arms crossed over each other. The guardians Sukuna had wished for were just as unruly as he remembered. While the six creatures were dedicated to protecting Yuuji at all costs, they still had no intention of respecting or listening to Sukuna’s orders. In fact, they were all glaring at him from the floor of the nursery. He rolled his eyes and glanced at Ryomen. The tired, pink-haired man was cradling a crying Yuuji, rocking him gently to soothe the child. It wasn’t the cry of a hungry baby or a baby that needed a change. No. It was the cry of a baby in pain. Two other marks had appeared on Yuuji’s face. Marks that made Sukuna tense up considerably.

A mark on the tip of his right eyebrow, splitting it.

A mark on the left corner of his lip.

That’s where Yuuji’s deepest scars used to be.

Sukuna cursed under his breath. The curse was well aware of what he had done in a world that no longer exists. While most of his memories had become foggy, he had a general understanding of his actions, especially of the times he made Yuuji suffer. Ryomen was unaware of what Sukuna had done to the world, and the curse had no plans of ever telling him. This new world was supposed to be completely different but it seemed like there were some ‘stragglers’ that refused to go. Events that could not be erased. People that would not disappear.

He had a feeling he already knew who this ‘K’ was. The random message sounded friendly on surface level, but Sukuna wasn’t an idiot. The hidden threat woven into the amiable text was easy to detect. There was only one person that Sukuna knew who was crazy and powerful enough to mess with Sukuna and not die.

Only time will tell if I actually made things worse . Sukuna looked at the cursed souls surrounding Ryomen as the man continued to comfort the distressed infant, all anger from his previous encounter with Sukuna gone. Due to the nature of their souls, Sukuna knew everything there was to Ryomen. He had originated from the man, afterall. Even so, there were stark differences between the two. Sukuna hated children while Ryomen had an immense soft spot for them. Yuuji didn’t count . Ryomen was impatient while Sukuna was willing to wait decades for a plan of his to come to fruition. Sukuna kept his composure while Ryomen had a temper that would go off at a moment's notice. Ryomen was violent when he needed to be while Sukuna reveled in the bloodshed he caused.

However, there was one thing that both beings could agree on: Protecting Yuuji at all costs .

It was a pathetic goal for one as powerful as him to have, but Sukuna had made peace with it long ago. The curse glanced at the baby, whose wails had turned into soft sniffles, and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Ryomen was soothing his hand against Yuuji’s tiny back. He was humming a nameless tune with his eyes closed and a soft smile on his usually stressed features. It was likely that Ryomen had not noticed what he was doing as he hated whenever Sukuna caught him doing something ‘weak’. Likely too tired to be aware of his surroundings. Normally, Sukuna would have shouted at Ryomen to startle the high-strung man and laugh at his misery. This time, the curse stayed silent to allow Ryomen time with the boy he had been waiting for for centuries. His beloved son. Sukuna noticed the guardians for the baby gently copying the tune Ryomen was unknowingly humming. There were soft purrs, rumbles, chitters, and trills in the air. The small symphony of sounds began to lull the baby back to sleep.

The sight was utterly domestic.

This was not a place a curse was welcomed in. Sukuna knew that he did not belong among such a peaceful sight, but he was prideful enough to remain where he was by the door. Nothing would force Sukuna to do anything he did not wish to do.

Infinite looked at him.

All the warmth that Sukuna felt had turned to ice. No one aside from Sukuna himself noticed the change in atmosphere, meaning that the annoying entity had targeted him and him alone. The cocoon of adoration and protection had been closed off in order to prevent Sukuna from entering. It wasn’t like the curse had any intentions of entering such a pitiful environment, but it was still irritating to see the obvious attempts at pushing him away. Out of all the guardians Yuuji had, Infinite was the most ‘aware’ so to speak. Each creature was wired to perform a different duty in caring for the boy. They were beings that operated on pure instinct, complex thoughts practically impossible for their fragmented minds. What little remained of their souls aided in their jobs as Yuuji’s protectors, yet it also caused the entities to have leftover feelings towards certain people. All of them showed great disdain for Sukuna, but Infinite’s disdain was different. Of course, the others' dislike of him specifically was more due to a personal instinct than anything else. In contrast, Infinite looked at Sukuna with nothing but clarity in the many blue eyes within his tail.

Stay away.

You’re not wanted here.

Get out.

I’ll kill you if you get any closer.

Those were the messages Infinite was sending Sukuna with nothing but his piercing gaze. The blindfold attached to the creature’s face did not hinder in his staring contest with Sukuna. His tail had more than enough eyes necessary to stare the curse down.

If the sorcerer Infinite originated from was completely aware in that draconic bird form, then Sukuna would not be still standing. Gojo Satoru was currently an eighteen-year-old boy who recently entered his third-year in Jujutsu High. Infinite was not Gojo Satoru, simply the minute remains of a long dead man. While Infinite was the strongest out of the six cursed souls, the creature was also the most intelligent. Sukuna could see the gears in Infinite’s head turning at all times, analyzing any potential threats to Yuuji and his fellow protectors. The bird’s ability to have somewhat coherent thoughts would likely be a pain for Ryomen to deal with in the future. Sukuna had long gotten accustomed to Infinite's infuriating habits.

No matter what form he took, Gojo Satoru would always be a thorn in Sukuna’s side.

With a deep sigh, Sukuna made his way out of the nursery. He did not have the energy to deal with Infinite’s aggression. Ryomen’s exhaustion was caused by the man barely eating, running several miles with no breaks, and the overall stress of today. Sukuna was different. His fatigue was perpetual, something Sukuna had gotten used to over the years. In his previous life, nothing was capable of tiring Sukuna out. He could keep going whilst all his enemies collapsed from exhaustion. No one was powerful enough to challenge Sukuna in a meaningful way. This did not mean that his current strength and cursed energy had been weakened in any way, but his exhaustion had caused Sukuna to ‘settle down’ so to speak. While Sukuna still enjoyed causing mayhem, he did not seek out as many opportunities to do so anymore. In his previous life, Sukuna had hated sitting still and being lazy. Now, Sukuna took naps and meditated often.

He did what he wanted, and Sukuna wanted to relax.

Ryomen would likely ignore him for the rest of the night. Additionally, the curse knew damn well that the stubborn man would refuse to sleep in his own room tonight. Sukuna mentally prepared himself for the crankiness to come since there was no way to get Ryomen to sleep on anything but the nursery floor.

The cool air of the night greeted the curse’s translucent skin. Sukuna could not properly feel the wind as a specter. It felt like a thin barrier was between him and the breeze in this form. He shook his head and continued walking until he saw a great pond in the center of the shrine’s gardens. The pond acted as a well of cursed energy for Sukuna. Whoever had created the shrine clearly dedicated every detail to the King of Death. Sukuna found himself liking this title so much more than his previous one. Crimson, wooden poles surrounded the shrine, a bovine skull on the top of each one. The poles also served as a visual marker for the area Sukuna had to stay within. Anywhere beyond the poles would cause Sukuna to discorporate and be sent back into Ryomen’s body.

Two large torch towers stood on each side of the back entrance of the shrine. The inferno on each tower was contained with a basin of human bones. When Sukuna had first discovered this shrine several years ago, Ryomen had lit the tower with his flames, and he had yet to relight it. It was one of the very very few times Ryomen had managed to impress Sukuna.

His supposed followers had sacrificed countless people in honor of their king. The remains of the sacrifices were buried underneath the ground, in the ashes and structure of the torches, carved into the wooden poles, and placed in the pond Sukuna was sitting in front of. Sukuna had a faint memory of the cults that were created to worship him, mostly done out of fear, which was a massive ego booster. However, Sukuna never paid them any mind, so the curse had been very surprised yet pleased to see a shrine dedicated to him that had remained intact in the modern era. At Ryomen’s many complaints, Sukuna let the human update the interior of the shrine with the technology of the time. It took a long time due to the unique layout of the temple. Stone had been used to build many support beams and even rooms. With Ryomen’s revamping the entire insides, Sukuna had full control over the decorations of the outside. Sukuna changed nothing, much to Ryomen’s displeasure. He only added one thing. Koi.

With the pond already built into the ground, Sukuna simply stole several koi from the many luxurious ponds of rich establishments and homes. Ryomen had yelled at him when he realized that Sukuna had been using his body to take priceless fish away from their owners in the dead of night. The man had said how important those fish must have been and other nonsense that Sukuna ignored. If those fish were so precious, then it shouldn’t have been so easy to pluck each one out of their pond! Sukuna tossed all the fish into the large pond with little care, promptly returning control to Ryomen. Despite wanting to argue with Sukuna about his terrible decisions, Ryomen had to care for the many stressed koi fish. He had always been fond of being a caretaker, so it was easy for him to fall in love with the colorful fish. Eventually, the koi would swarm to Ryomen each time he approached the pond, reminding the man of how his late son would beam at him and run into his arms. On the other hand, it had taken a few weeks for the fish to stop scattering in Sukuna's presence. During those weeks, the fish began to change in appearance. The immense cursed energy inside the pond began affecting the koi. Instead of their vibrant oranges and whites, the fish were either fully black, red, or a mixture of the two. Their fins got longer and more elegant at the price of having spikes emerge from their entire dorsal fin. Ryomen was upset at the change, but the koi’s bright personalities had, at least, remained. They still swarmed to the surface for food, but they now had sharp teeth in their mouths like piranhas. Sukuna preferred the change and began to sit at the pond every night, which he was currently doing.

Sukuna’s form became more solid at the proximity to the pond. It was wide and deep, allowing the fish ample space to swim in. At this hour of the night, the water looked pitch black, but Sukuna had no troubles seeing in the dark. His superior vision allowed the curse to see the depths of the pool. Skulls could be found everywhere beneath the waters. Some of the smaller koi used the skulls as a makeshift cave while the larger fish used the remains of rib cages as hiding places. Many plants in the pond grew out of or around the many bones at the pond’s bottom. It was a human graveyard with aquatic life.

The presence of death would never hinder the growth and birth of life.

How stubborn.

The koi were not very active at this hour, but some swam to the surface to greet the large being observing them. Four fish had come to see him. One was entirely black while the other two were red with varying black patterns. In contrast to the darker fish, there was a pink koi that swam eagerly to the hand Sukuna submerged.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” Sukuna smiled at the small koi. It was fitting that the pond would have a new arrival to match Yuuji’s own arrival. The curse knew the pond had become something akin to the supernatural from the cursed energy of the sacrifices, but he did not care as long as they stayed in the pond. The tiny koi matched the color of Sukuna’s hair. The familiar peach was present in Ryomen’s and Yuuji’s hair. Having pink hair was a shared trait the three had, and Sukuna took pride in their unique hair color. He knew that Ryomen secretly held the same pride. It immediately made the pink koi Sukuna’s favorite. Small pecks tickled Sukuna’s large palm as the smallest koi tried to investigate what the strange object was. It was endearing to see such a young creature be so eager to go near a curse like him. One reason that Sukuna frequented the pond so much was something he would not tell a soul even if he was tortured.

Interacting with the koi helped Sukuna learn how to be gentle.

There were a few accidents where Sukuna was too rough and injured or killed the fish. He used his reverse technique to heal them, which his old self would have guffawed at. Slowly, Sukuna learned how to control the strength of his grip. Now, the curse had no worries of hurting the young koi that was swimming through his fingers. While he did prefer to have claws instead of his blunt nails, it was necessary for the safety of the delicate fish. More importantly, his lack of claws was vital if he wanted to hold Yuuji without cutting the poor baby’s skin. Skin that was already marked up.

Because Sukuna knew he was alone in his shrine that was in the middle of nowhere, Sukuna let his body deflate. Ryomen and the others were too preoccupied with Yuuji, so no one would be coming to see Sukuna any time soon. With solitude came comfort for the curse. He had always preferred being alone than wasting his time with the weak. The koi were his only company, and they could not speak of the troubles plaguing the ancient being. Sukuna caressed the pink koi before retracting his hand. With practiced ease, the man folded his four arms and placed them in his lap. As if knowing that Sukuna would no longer pay attention to them, the small group of koi swam away into the depths of the pond. Without the fish’s movements, the dark water stilled. The combination of the calm waters and bright moon made the pond turn into a makeshift mirror. It was something Sukuna did not appreciate whatsoever.

Seeing his reflection within the dark waters made Sukuna’s features twist into a grimace. In a forgotten world, Sukuna used to have two eyes and one pair of arms. After his planned death, his cursed form reflected the monstrous crimes Sukuna had committed. This was not to say that Sukuna was self conscious or had low self-esteem. Sukuna did not care about his ugliness whatsoever. It was a fact that he was unpleasant to look at. His looks had no effect on his power, so he offered them no further thought. Additionally, he had never had an interest in courting someone and never will. Yorozu was the only person who had wanted him as a suitor, and he met all of her advances with boredom, disgust, and a fatal slash to her heart. His deformities irked him because of the memories that they brought forth.

He had had more than enough time to accept his deformed face and body. However, Sukuna was not delusional enough to say that his unique features were what made him attractive or that he had some ‘hidden beauty’ within. Absolutely not. His two left eyes were a demonic crimson while his two right eyes were a gaudy pink. A wooden slab of sorts had fused into the right side of his skin, causing his right eyes to be more vertical. It was the same wood that Sukuna had carved runes into that would ensure his new life after being burnt alive. Both the wood and his new pink eyes were a harsh reminder of his forgotten origins. While the wood represented his birth as a curse, the pink of his eyes were a symbol of the cause of his death. Itadori Yuuji.

Going against the rules of nature and time had its consequences. Besides the new color of his right eyes, Sukuna had several new tattoos adorning his skin. A thick, black band wrapped around each of his ankles. On the outside of his left leg, a blood red chain that emerged from the band on his ankle marked his skin. The same pattern appeared on the outside of his right leg, but the tattoo was black instead of red. Each of his hands had their own unique mark at the center of his palms. His bottom right hand had Mahoraga’s spinning wheel which had allowed Sukuna to reach new heights in power, his bottom left hand had the outline of the volcano that resided on the head of the cyclops disaster curse he’d fought, his upper right hand had an eye that represented the annoying Six-Eyes user, and his upper left hand had the horizontal stitching pattern that plagued each of Kenjaku’s stolen bodies. It was fitting. The markings on his bottom set of hands were a harsh reminder of the destruction Sukuna had wrought while the markings on his upper set represented the two people that had troubled Sukuna the most.

None of the new markings plagued Sukuna as much as the tattoo on his chest.

A red spider lily seemed to grow out of the center of his chest. The flower was there for all to see since Sukuna refused to cover his top half. It was a simple drawing, but its simplicity only bothered him more. Such a delicate design had no place on his monstrous body. The deep reds of the flower blended perfectly into the blacks of the tattoo’s outlines. Sukuna knew damn well what the stupid flower symbolized. Death and Rebirth. He had no desire to look further into the supposed meanings. From what he had gathered over the past few centuries, this flower was poisonous, often grew or planted in graveyards, and only bloomed for a short period of time during the Autumn Equinox. It was also ugly in Sukuna’s opinion. The crimson of its petals were its only redeeming quality. Everything else was horrendous. The petals themselves were so thin and spindly. It looked like a spider with too many legs had gotten tangled with the shredded remnants of a better flower. However, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remove any of his new markings. He had killed the world, and then started it anew. Sukuna more than deserved the reminders of his misdeeds bashing him on the head for the rest of time.

It was strange to think of his actions as misdeeds. Even now, the regret did not come to Sukuna naturally. He was not a creature made for sympathy or guilt. The only reason that Sukuna looked at some of his prior acts and winced was the effect they had had on Yuuji. At the time, he had laughed at the boy’s misery and went out of his way to torture him. He had taken great pleasure in breaking the child back then.

I’LL DO ANYTHING! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME! THIS IS JUST LIKE WHEN YOU FIXED MY HEART! PLEASE HELP JUNPEI!

NO. HAH! YOU’RE MINE! YOUR FUTURE AND EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER POSSESS! YOU DON’T HAVE A SAY IN THIS! YOU’RE HELPLESS! HOW SAD! YOU’RE SO PATHETIC, YOU STUPID BRAT!

Hey, brat. Take a good look.

…Die…Only me…Just me…DIE! DIE! RIGHT NOW! DIE! JUST ME! JUST ME!

Remember when I said…we’d see…something interesting…brat?

…Fushiguro?

SUKUNAAAAAAA!!!! YOU!! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LIVE A NORMAL LIFE?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SPREAD SO MUCH MISERY?!

Well, allow me to ask you this…Why are you so weak? You’re weak, yet you cling to life!

How can a creature that falls apart with one touch say that it always wants to be happy? The helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them.

Then let’s see if you can swallow… my suffering.

I miss them, Sukuna! I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with them! Let me be with them! PLEASE !

He had never tortured someone as much as he had tortured Itadori Yuuji. Hell, Sukuna had gone out of his way to hurt Yuuji like it was his sole purpose in life. It was extraordinarily difficult to balance the feelings he has now towards his actions and his feelings he had in the moment of his murderous actions. Now, seeing Yuuji wail in pain from markings that weren’t supposed to be on the baby’s smooth skin, broke something in Sukuna.

Even after everything he had done to give Yuuji a better life, Sukuna had still failed.

Yuuji’s suffering had been too great. Restarting the world was not enough to erase all the trauma the boy was put through. His pain clung onto his infant self, who was supposed to be free of the pain of the past. Considering Yuuji had appeared far sooner than Sukuna expected and the message from an unknown number, the curse knew that there was trouble afoot. A third party had likely inserted themselves to ruin what Sukuna was trying to repair.

Sukuna couldn’t help but dig his nails into the stitching on his upper left hand.

Losing was equivalent to death. It was a belief that Sukuna still held, so this new failure affected the man greatly.

He had thought that all the ‘mushy feelings shit’ that he had felt when he had held a sobbing Yuuji was from the reappearance of Ryomen’s soul. In a way, it was from Ryomen. The long buried memories of a man losing his child and the overwhelming fondness for the teen were all Ryomen. In this new world, Sukuna was confident that he would not be subjected to the softness ever again. Once more, the world rightfully hated Sukuna. Emotions that Sukuna still could not place raged in a violent storm inside Sukuna’s mind at all times.

All the times where he had laughed while Yuuji sobbed uncontrollably from a vicious nightmare. All the times where he had relentlessly reminded Yuuji that the boy’s existence only caused pain. All the times where he had screamed within Yuuji’s head about his uselessness and weakness. All the times where he had denied Yuuji’s broken pleas to stop after barraging him with the reasons why the deaths of his loved ones was Yuuji’s fault.

The satisfaction he had when he saw the light in the boy’s eyes fade away.

The glee he had when he saw the smiles the boy was known for disappear.

The pride he had when he saw the unbreakable boy shatter further and further with each death of his loved ones.

He saw the memories of a younger Ryomen playing with a toddler Yuuji, causing the child to squeal with laughter. He saw the memories of the utter adoration Yuuji had shown towards his father and anyone around him. He saw the memories of the agonizing decline of Yuuji as an unknown sickness sapped his light until it was completely extinguished.

Because of Sukuna’s mistakes, Yuuji might have to go through that suffering all over again.

Small ripples agitated the calm surface of the water. The reflection of the massive curse was muddled as more droplets broke the crystalline waters of the pond. Its prior reflectiveness had vanished.

The mind of the being sitting before the pond had vanished as well.

A very, very long time ago

When Sukuna had requested for the rebirth of the world, he did not mean it literally. He imagined that the new timeline would begin the same year Yuuji swallowed his first finger.

It seemed like the world had other plans.

Sukuna had no recollection of when he had ‘appeared’. The best way for him to describe it is the moment he had properly gained consciousness. His first memories were laying on an empty beach with nothing but the clothes on his back. At first, Sukuna was confused as to why he was at an empty beach. After a few seconds, the knowledge of what Sukuna had done and the life he lived prior came rushing to him all at once. Once he remembered, the man had briefly panicked that his attempt at time travel had not worked. This was mainly due to the beach being identical to the one that Sukna had been at during his last moments with Yuuji.

At the thought of the pink-haired boy, Sukuna jumped to his feet, mind frantic, and looked around. Immediately, the curse knew that the world was indeed different. Yuuji was nowhere to be seen, and there were no buildings or roads in sight. The only thing that Sukuna could observe were trees as far as his four eyes could see. However, the grand forests were barren of life. There were no birds chirping in the air or the rustle of animals in the trees. This lack of life made Sukuna remember that he had eliminated all life on Earth. He was confused, though. The plant life had returned, so where was the wildlife?

His question was unfortunately answered in the worst way possible.

A strange creature began to crawl out of the ocean on tiny flippers. Sukuna stared at the fish-like animal with his mouth agape. The thing’s body was long and slender with a wide head that resembled an alligator’s. Thick scales covered the creature, who was slowly emerging from the sea with uncoordinated movements. It was unlike any animal Sukuna had seen before and he had been alive for thousands of years.

It looked like a rough draft of an animal that had escaped before it was finalized. Something one would see in prehistoric times.

…Prehistoric.

“Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO !” Sukuna screamed at the clouds as the realization dawned on him. Surprisingly, the lizard-fish-thing did not react in the slightest to the loud roar Sukuna let out. When Sukuna went to kick the sand in pure frustration, he froze when he saw his foot go through the white particles. The sand showed no hints of being disturbed.

The world had restarted.

He was a ghost again.

The evolution of wildlife had begun.

Over the years, Sukuna would watch the rise and fall of so many species that he could not be bothered to remember. His previous experience being a cursed object for over a thousand years helped immensely in dealing with the excess of time Sukuna had. He had to spend millions of years waiting for the era of humans to come with nothing to do. Going into a dormant state for as long as he could was the only way Sukuna could deal with the waiting without going mad. Sleeping until he was awoken at some point had become his main activity. Time had become a mystery to Sukuna. He would sleep and wake up without knowing how much time had passed. Usually, he was able to keep track by seeing if there were any new creatures or evidence of further evolution.

At the start, Sukuna had used his excess time to explore the beginnings of the young planet. Traveling across the world had been easy due to his abilities remaining intact. His true form was Sukuna in his prime afterall. It was the strongest and the fastest. Sukuna could explore vast lands with his inhuman speed. There was no rush to explore every inch of the world, so Sukuna would only go on these excursions when he felt like it. Most of the land was the same as there were no distinguishing landmarks at the time. He had gotten bored of the plant life and unimpressive wildlife and decided to space out like he did when his soul was split into his twenty fingers without a vessel.

His first ‘nap’ had him awake in an entirely new era. Giant creatures roamed the land with their superior adaptability and strength. Sukuna’s boredom had disappeared as he saw the head of a dinosaur appear over the cliff he had chosen to rest on to eat the leaves off a tree next to him. It was the first time that Sukuna had been truly enamored by an animal. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and crawled to the edge of the cliff to see the dinosaur in its entirety. When he looked down, he saw that the head was attached to an impossibly long neck that belonged to an even bigger body. Other dinosaurs of the same species could be seen feasting on the vibrant leaves of the many trees. Because his presence did not affect his surroundings, he could get as close as he wanted to observe the new creatures. The only reason why Sukuna recognised the massive reptilians as dinosaurs was because Yuuji had been fascinated by all things jurassic as a child. As his vessel, Sukuna was able to see through his memories, something he never told the boy. He had done this as soon as he could to familiarize himself with his vessel while trying to find anything significant about the teen that could work out in Sukuna’s favor. At the time, he had found nothing useful and labeled the boy as a boring waste of space.

Being face to face with the grande creatures made Sukuna see all the reasons why Yuuji had been so intrigued by them. While there were curses he’d seen that could rival the dinosaurs in size, no curse could beat the grace and beauty of the animals. Curses were made from negativity, so their appearance would reflect that. Curses were ugly, vile creatures that were deformed and perverted. The animals before Sukuna were the complete opposite.

It was the first time Sukuna had been fond of a life other than his own.

The slow evolution of the world was making the man experience many firsts.

Sukuna enjoyed studying the fearsome creatures that dominated the land. His favorite specimens were those with intelligence and bloodlust. He would sit and watch packs of tiny dinosaurs overwhelm a much larger opponent, eating them while they were still alive. He found great humor in the small arms of the biggest carnivore of the era. The maddening boredom that had been plaguing him was momentarily cured as Sukuna took the time to learn about each new species. The old curse made up his own names for the many dinosaurs he saw. The faded memories of the book Yuuji loved only served to make Sukuna recognize the basic shape of certain creatures. In his head, Sukuna called every reptilian creature a dinosaur.

For once, Sukuna found himself appreciating nature. Waiting millions of years alone was a punishment, and it was affecting Sukuna more than he anticipated. He had always been indifferent to everyone and everything besides himself. Uraume was the closest Sukuna got to appreciating another’s existence. In the past, Ryomen only valued strength and nothing else. Without strength, one might as well cease to exist. His forced isolation made Sukuna rethink many of his prior beliefs. The only belief that remained unchanged was his belief that losing was equivalent to death. However, said belief only applied to Sukuna. He would never let himself forget his failures that led him to his current predicament.

One day, when Sukuna was watching his favorite specimen, he heard strange noises he had not heard before. The creature Sukuna was looking at was an old, battle-worn triceratops, but Sukuna had named the animals ‘Tri-horns’ in his head. The triceratops snapped its head at the same time Sukuna’s did. Sukuna’s eyes widened as he detected large amounts of cursed energy coming from the bushes. Humans were not supposed to exist yet, right? The man cursed himself for never bothering to learn the history of…well… anything .

Sukuna summoned his trident in his lower right hand, a manic smile on his face at the chance to finally interact with something. There was a tense moment of silence before multiple blurs burst from the bushes and trees. The triceratops snorted and went back to eating its meal of leaves.

Meanwhile, Sukuna’s brain was malfunctioning. Six entities stood before him. They were making direct eye contact with him, meaning that they could see him unlike every other creature. He stood tall with his trident. “Who are you?”

No response came, disappointing filling the old curse. He had hoped that they were capable of speech. Millions of years without talking to anyone was taking its toll, even for an antisocial person like him. Sukuna swallowed his disappointment and began observing each entity. The more he looked, the more distressed he became. There were too many similarities.

A black stripe across a nose.

The muscular physique of a meat-headed gorilla.

Deadly nails and roses.

Spotted fabric and peculiar glasses.

Bright green eyes and shadows.

A blindfold and six blue eyes.

“Goddammit.” Sukuna dematerialized his trident to rub at his temples. He recognized each one because of the brat’s many memories of them.

At the center of the group, a white dragon with bird-like qualities was putting on the most smug expression Sukuna had ever seen. The draconic bird got up and personal to Sukuna, pecking at his head while letting out shrieks of laughter. For the time being, Sukuna allowed it as his mind was still recovering. His stress only grew worse when a familiar voice spoke into his head.

Y̶̮͌o̵̮̎u̴̯̅r̶͙͑ ̶͍̓g̸̠͒ṳ̴̐a̴̙͊r̶͔̅ď̸̘i̴͈̊a̷͙̐n̸̞̽s̵̟̍ ̸̱̍h̶̤͝a̵͖̔v̷̦̚ê̶͈ ̷̣̋ā̵̞r̶̺̓ŗ̸͋ḭ̷́v̷̡͛ȇ̶͍d̸̥̅!̵̧̈́ ̶͈͂I̴͎̾ ̶͔̕c̸̡̿ḁ̷̽n̸͚͑’̸͕̎t̴̊͜ ̵̭̄w̵͍̒a̷͜͝i̵̺̒ẗ̷̳́ ̶̹̍t̷̢̕o̴̫̅ ̷̦͌m̷̦̓a̴̲̎k̷͙͠e̴͙͋ ̸̣̌t̵͇̕h̵̦͌e̴̬͒s̷̛̩e̶̤̍ ̶͓̚n̵̜͐ę̵͘x̷̝͑ț̵͝ ̷̫̚c̶̞̓é̷̲n̶̕͜t̵͖̕u̸̜͗r̷̙̐í̸̩e̵̝͊s̷͇͐ ̶̫͒a̵͍̽b̴̘̐s̶̩̿ò̸͎l̵̩̐ų̵̊t̷̨͊e̶͈̍ ̴̛̳h̵͙͌ë̵̻l̷̬̾l̶̥͂ ̵̼͝f̴̪͂o̸͔͘r̴̗̒ ̵͚͆ỹ̸̼o̴̹̎u̷̗̅,̷̛̭ ̴̰̋S̶̪̕u̷̝͠k̶̥͌ų̷̂~̴̗͛

That stupid bird would keep his promise.

Sukuna would have to endure countless assaults from each entity. The battles often lasted for hours that left each muscle of his throbbing in pain. Sometimes they were individual battles, other times it was six against one. Or three against one. Or two against one. And so on. At first, Sukuna despised the constant battles, but he soon realized that being idle for millions of years had made Sukuna soft. After he realized this, he gladly participated in the battles. It felt incredible to fight again, feel his cursed energy flowing through his veins. As they fought more and more, Sukuna became familiar with each entity’s personality and abilities. Their names had been ingrained into Sukuna’s head the moment he had encountered the beings.

Boogie was a beast in every sense of the word. His thick fur coat could not hide his muscular body whatsoever. He was surprisingly perspective as well. Anytime Sukuna thought he had caught the dog off guard, the beast would bark before he could land a hit. His bark would cause him to switch places with someone with a certain amount of cursed energy. Due to the lack of curses and humans, the only sources of cursed energy were Sukuna or the other guardians. It was disoriented every time his technique took hold. However, each time Sukuna thought he had gotten used to it, Boogie would surprise him with another trick. His most impressive trick was his ability to remove one of the tusks on the second skull on his head. Once dropped, Boogie would imbue it with cursed energy and switch himself or someone of his choice with the tusk. Out of all the guardians, it was the easiest to get along with Boogie. Sukuna and Boogie lived to fight. The canine was always energetic and tended to annoy his other guardians, especially Chimera. Overall, Boogie was a simple yet intelligent creature who fueled Sukuna’s will to battle.

Resonance was unsettling to look at first. Her body moved like a marionette, but was capable of moving at incredible speeds if needed. The sharp ends of her limbs allowed Resonance to stay rooted to the ground, giving her great stability. She was quick to launch a nail at Sukuna or anything that annoyed her. She had awoken Sukuna many times with a barrage of nails aimed at his head. Her nails always hit with deadly accuracy. Sukuna’s reflexes were put to the test each time he engaged with her. Additionally, she could control the direction of a nail until it snatched a part of her opponent. Once gathering the material, she would make the nail return to her, creating a makeshift hammer with her roses and vines to hit the nail into a straw doll she kept hidden within her body. She was as tough as the metal she was made of, but Resonance wasn’t all sharpness and violence. The cursed soul frequented places with loads of flowers, sitting amongst them for hours in a content state.

Supernova rarely interacted with Sukuna outside of battle. He looked at the curse with burning hatred at all times. When attacking, Supernova put effort into making his attacks as painful as possible. His blood manipulation technique was more advanced and deadly than any other Kamo-clan sorcerer Sukuna had ever seen. He wasn’t afraid to get physical, Supernova could grow to the size of a horse and charge at Sukuna with bloodied claws. His spikes could be removed if Supernova had no other choice. During one particularly gruesom battle, Sukuna had lost himself in rage after Supernova managed to cut off two of his arms with his Piercing Bood attack. The cat snarled and spit at Sukuna. He separated his longest spike from his back and shot it directly into Sukuna’s heart. The spike was still attached by a thin strand of blood, but it didn't take away from the force of the attack. It surprised Sukuna to see the cat land such a hit. Of course, Sukuna healed himself, only to see Supernova walking away from the fight with a bored expression. In fact, the cat was practically in a perpetual state of apathy. The only time that Sukuna had ever managed to see emotion on Supernova's features was when he had spied on the cat and saw that the cat was whimpering over several stones. There were ten in total with the three in the middle marked with a bloody paw print. Supernova let out soft whines as he tried his best to nuzzle the rocks. The rock in the very center had a pinkish hue and was the one Supernova was nuzzling the most. No longer wanting to watch the painful sight, Sukuna left with a new perspective on the cat.

Overtime stayed far from Sukuna. Not out of fear, but out of disinterest. The mummy-like creature spent most of his time by Infinite’s side, though it looked like it was often against his will. When not being dragged to places by Infinite, Overtime enjoyed being on the beach Sukuna first woke up at. They had the entire world at their disposal, so Sukuna and the six guardians would travel to the most remote areas. Any place with a beach was favored by Overtime. Though, as long as it was peaceful, Overtime would enjoy it. If the others were intruding on Overtime’s resting spot, he would use his wrappings to constrict whoever had dared disturb him. The most common offender was Infinite. However, the draconic bird would be allowed to stay once he gave Overtime a fruit and didn’t squawk. A few times, Sukuna had caught the often rambunctious bird sleeping in the sand next to Overtime. If anyone could calm the storm that was Infinite, it was Overtime. This ability to calm spread to the other guardians. He was the one that separated squabbles or forced the others to settle down. In turn, the others seemed to respect Overtime the most. Sukuna had even respected the volcanic mummy after engaging him in battle. Despite never seeing him fight, Overtime attacked like a seasoned warrior. His wrapping would lengthen at his request and would be shot out at Sukuna. Despite looking like cloth, Overtime could make his wrapping become as sharp as a blade when in combat. He hit with ferocious strength, speed, and accuracy. When hit by his ratio technique, Sukuna could feel the weak spot being forced to form on his body. When wanting to deliver a stronger attack, Overtime would use his wrappings to form a blunt sword. Each swing carried great power that shook the ground below. Although, if Overtime thought the battle was dragging on for too long, he would stop and go to the nearest secluded area.

Chimera was the second most frequent attacker. It was obvious as to why, considering the person Chimera originated from. Sukuna had always seen the great potential in Fushiguro Megumi. As a cursed soul, the fragments of the ten-shadows user could still be seen within the dark creature. Without any morals to hold him back, Chimera attacked with total abandon. He would summon armies of frogs just to see how much he could overwhelm Sukuna. He would mix up his strategies each time they fought. Chimera enjoyed seeing Sukuna caught off guard and made it his job to startle the curse at any given moment. When Sukuna tried to rest, usually because there was nothing else to do, Chimera often manifested out of the shadows to summon a pool of darkness underneath the curse. The only touch of color Chimera had were his green eyelights. The light would shift into the form of the shikigami Chimera was summoning. Despite the disadvantage it gave Chimera, the shadow monster did not give Sukuna a chance to prepare for the oncoming shikigami. Chimera was perfectly capable of fighting without the help of his shikigami. The fact that Chimera did not need to keep his hands free to maintain his technique, Chimera had no problems barraging Sukuna with blows and strikes. Besides his shikigami, Chimera could summon a pair of tonfas, a sword, and a blade. Each was made of the goopy material that Chimera himself was made of, but it did not take away from the sharpness of the weapons. It was exhilarating to battle Chimera. Sukuna could fight the cursed soul for hours with no victor in sight. The way that their battles usually ended was when Overtime physically dragged Chimera from the area. The mummy would use the magma burning inside the left side of his body to force the shadow creature into giving up.

Infinite, as always, took great care in being as infuriating as possible. While fighting the others was exciting and invigorating, fighting Infinite was more akin to torture. Both Infinite and Sukuna were equal in physical strength and speed, but Infinite had a new advantage that the sorcerer he was based on never had. Gojo Satoru’s Infinite Void was a domain that overloaded the victim with so much information that they were struck frozen and vulnerable. Sukuna remembered the overwhelming sensation well during their fight. However, Infinite used this ability to overload an opponent with information much differently. If Sukuna made eye contact with Infinite, the creature was capable of plaguing the curse with violent hallucinations. If Sukuna made eye contact with the eyes on Infinite’s tail when it was fully spread, the hallucinations given were so vivid that Sukuna would think his real body had been attacked. Infinite could construct the hallucinations he caused to his liking. In other words, Infinite personally created the most horrific images to infect Sukuna’s mind. The hallucinations always contained Yuuji in some way since Infinite wanted to make Sukuna suffer. The need to make Sukuna hurt was an instinct engraved deeply in the feather dragon. It pushed the cursed soul to attack Sukuna the most. He did not give Sukuna hallucinations every time they fought, unknowingly preventing Sukuna from preparing his mind for the onslaught of horror. Most of Infinite’s attacks were petty in nature and meant to annoy Sukuna. Infinite would use his smoky tail to wip Sukuna across the face or use the eyes within to stalk the man. His beak would be used to deliver quick pecks to every inch of exposed skin. There were more than twenty times where Infinite dragged a rabid animal with his claws to throw it at Sukuna. Other times, Infinite would screech loudly when Sukuna tried to nap, not stopping until one of his fellow guardians forced him to. The only proof that Infinite had the capability to be anything but insane was when he interacted with the other guardians. He showed great affection towards Overtime, Chimera, and Resonance. The other two did not appreciate the dragon’s touchiness whatsoever, so Infinite begrudgingly let them be. Though, the bird would still try to mess with them from time to time. Infinite seemed to take pride in how irritating he was.

Eventually, the exhilarating battles and spars grew old. Sukuna had allowed himself to fight each cursed soul as long as he could. He knew he could end the battles in moments, but the curse had been desperate for something to do. Infinite was the only one whose battles Sukuna never tried to drag on. The thrill Sukuna had felt vanished. It seemed the group of cursed souls noticed as their attacks stopped. One day, it became too much for even Sukuna to bear. He turned to the six creatures and spoke with exhaustion clear in his tone.

“I cannot wait another million years like this. It’s mind numbingly boring, and I am sick of such monotony. I am going to rest for as long as I can. Do whatever you wish, I don’t care. Ideally, I do not want to wake up unless it’s finally the Heian Era. Do not bother me until then if you wish to keep your heads.”

Thankfully, the world would give the sleep Sukuna had wished for. The only memories he had of his self-induced hibernation was the smell of smoke in the air, then sudden feeling of everything being ice cold, and the occasional noises from the six creatures who would periodically check on the massive curse. Sukuna did not dream the entire time. It felt like he closed his eyes, got stuck in a void that had no light, noise, smell, or surface, then woke up to a screeching bird.

Sukuna had to listen to the loud squawks until his muddled mind regained its sharpness. Once awake enough, Infinite dragged Sukuna out of the cave he did not remember falling asleep in. Outside of the cave, the other guardians were waiting with excitement clear in their features. When he looked around the place the cave was situated in, he felt a wave of familiarity wash over him. The villages nearby were identical to the ones Sukuna remembered of the Heian Era. More importantly, the cursed energy he senses indicated the birth of sorcerers and curses. Instead of getting to familiarize himself with ancient Japan again, Infinite grabbed Sukuna and tossed him onto his back. Before Sukuna could react, the dragon leaped into the sky with great speed. Like the prior blindfolded maniac, Infinite was able to float. Infinite had grown to his full size, allowing his fellow guardians to fit on his body. Boogie and Supernova were clinging desperately to Infinite’s long neck while Resonance and Overtime were tightly gripping Infinite’s white mane like the reins of a horse. Chimera had simply hidden himself within Sukuna’s shadow. It had happened so fast that it took Sukuna a few minutes to realize what had happened. Eventually, Sukuna began to watch the clouds fly past them. The air was thin, but it was crisp and fresh. It ended much too quickly in Sukuna’s opinion, but Sukuna was immediately distracted by the familiar village they were heading towards.

It was Sukuna’s village when he was a human.

Infinite landed in an empty field to prevent anyone from seeing the cursed souls. Unlike regular curses, cursed souls could be seen by all. At the time, this was unknown to Sukuna as he only knew that animals could see the guardians.

Based on the insistent nudges Infinite was giving Sukuna, the curse knew that something crucial was about to happen. He adorned a stern expression and arrived at the village in the blink of an eye. It was obvious when he was due to the stench of death and sickness in the air. Sukuna walked through his village, looking for his human counterpart. The human that had become Sukuna was long gone in an erased world. The Ryomen of this world was about to reach his point of no return if Sukuna did not act quickly.

It was easy to find Ryomen. No one had ever looked like them with their pink hair, but Ryomen stuck out even more with the tattoos etched onto his skin. That was new, but Sukuna did not dwell on it as he reached the scene that broke Ryomen unfold. It was almost pathetic to see his former self kneeling in the dirt as he begged the village elders and healers to help his boy. The sight of a lifeless Yuuji made Sukuna feel sick. Seeing a child version of the boy he had hurt was horrible, but it was even worse considering the evidence that the child had been dead for at least several days. Ryomen continued his begging like a madman. His grief was so great that Ryomen had become delusional. Sukuna watched silently as the villagers surrounded the suffering young man.

“TAKE THAT INFECTED CORPSE OUT OF THE VILLAGE THIS INSTANT, RYOMEN!”

“THERE IS A PLAGUE. WE DON’T NEED YOUR ROTTEN CHILD MAKING IT WORSE!”

“WE SHOULD GET RID OF BOTH OF THEM. RYOMEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BAD OMEN WITH THOSE MARKINGS!”

“WE SHOULD GET THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS TO EXORCIZE HIM! HE’S CLEARLY NOT A HUMAN! WE WERE FOOLISH TO EVER BELIEVE HE WAS!”

“CURSE!”

“DEMON!”

“MONSTER!”

The crowd quickly turned into a riot of angry villagers too paranoid to see the clearly human man sobbing for help. The Ryomen from Sukuna’s old world was never treated this badly, nor was he so dangerously thin. Then again, this Ryomen had tattoos that old Ryomen never had. Such a supposedly insignificant addition must have caused the young man’s life to become worse than ever before. Sukuna could not interact with any of the humans, so he continued to wait patiently until Ryomen’s cursed energy reached its peak. It had been steadily increasing with each new insult from the villagers.

All it took was a small torch to make Ryomen snap.

A man had thrown a lit torch at Ryomen in an attempt to rid the village of the infectious corpse and the black sheep of the village. In an instant, the rags both Ryomen and Yuuji wore caught on fire. Cruel, sick smiles were present on the elders of the village as screams of agony erupted from the grieving father. With Ryomen set aflame, one of the healers grabbed Yuuji and ran to throw the child into the mass grave pit.

Before the healer could get very far, maniacal laughter made her stop in her tracks. Despite his flesh peeling off and blistering, Ryomen began walking to the healer. It was a gruesome sight. Some of the villagers were already throwing up at the sight and smell of Ryomen’s burning flesh. Sukuna was amazed by the man’s ability to remain standing.

Even though Ryomen could not speak anymore or really see, he smiled wide with bloody cracked lips. The aura of his cursed energy grew potent enough that all the villagers, no matter how old, were left trembling and unable to move. Ryomen raised his arms, seemingly ignoring the layers of skin being burnt off, and mimicked how one would draw a bow and arrow. Sukuna recognized the motion and grinned. The flesh on his hands and fingers were nothing but blood and muscle, but the squares on each fingertip had remained, even without the layer of skin. With gums bleeding and skin peeling, Ryomen spoke with a broken voice.

“F u g a.”

An arrow made out of fire formed between his burning hands, but Ryomen did not waver once. The villagers were still paralyzed in terror as the arrow grew bigger. A myriad of colors could be seen within the flames, it was a beautiful sight. That was until Ryomen released the arrow aimed directly at the healer who had stolen Yuuji.

In less than a second a once thriving village had been reduced to nothing but ash. The charred corpses of the villagers were unrecognizable and the smell was unbearable. Sukuna stood among the destruction, simply admiring Ryomen’s power. His pleased observations were overtaken when the wail of a tortured man filled the air.

This bastard better not be dead. Sukuna ran towards the noise and easily found the source of the cries. Blood pooled from every orifice and inch of Ryomen’s burnt skin. However, the wails were not caused by pain but grief as Ryomen knelt by the incinerated remains of his son. The fire had been so strong that the boy was nothing but bones and ash. Sukuna looked at the horrific sight with an intense sadness he had never felt before. Without a word, the massive curse knelt next to Ryomen and placed a hand on his back. Unlike every other living being he had encountered, Sukuna’s hand did not pass through upon contact. Ryomen jolted at the unexpected touch, his grief-filled screams stopping.

“Your son is going to be okay. I promise.” Sukuna spoke softly at the man, not reacting to the gore underneath his palm. The curse let his reverse cursed technique flow through Ryomen. His skin began to stitch back together, and his bleeding stopped entirely. Considering the extent of the damage to Ryomen, Sukuna took extra care when healing him. Most of his nerve endings had been fried, so Sukuna focused immensely on fixing them without error. After some time of meticulous healing, the only proof that Ryomen had been hurt was the ash on his face and body and the bloodstains.

Ryomen passed out immediately upon becoming fully healed, collapsing against Sukuna. Again, Sukuna’s body remained solid against his human counterpart. Sukuna reached out another hand to scoop up one of the charred bones that had once belonged to a lovable boy. Sukuna felt pain in his chest again, but he refused to break. With even greater care than before, the monstrous being poured as much of his reversed cursed technique into the tiny bone. Eventually, the cracks on the bone disappeared and it regained its ivory color.

Without looking up, Sukuna already knew that the guardians had arrived. They had perfect timing as always. When a beak gently nudged the hand that had Yuuji’s bone fragment, Sukuna raised his gaze.

For the first time, the blindfold that was supposed to be permanently attached to Infinite had disappeared. Six eyes, a pair of three on each side, looked at him imploringly. There was no cheekiness or teasing to be found in Infinite’s gaze. Sukuna nearly refused to give Infinite the last piece of Yuuji, but he then remembered the purpose of the guardians. It was in the name, they protected Yuuji in every sense of the word. He knew how much the people the cursed souls were based on loved Yuuji. They would never wish any harm on the boy. With a great sigh, Sukuna opened his palm to reveal the bone shard. Infinite cooed at the tiny piece and delicately picked up the fragment with his beak. When Infinite turned to walk towards his other guardians, he paused and looked back at Sukuna. There was gratefulness in those eyes and Infinite bowed his head in thanks.

Sukuna would never see the guardians again after that.

It did not matter as he had a new person to focus on. Ryomen would be Sukuna’s proper vessel, but the curse would make sure that the human would stay alive no matter what. He knew in his soul that Yuuji and his guardians would come back, so the boy would need Ryomen. Yuuji needed his father and Ryomen needed his son.

As Sukuna sat in the remains of the village, he made a binding vow with himself that he would never fail the two people who would become his most precious treasures.

Things would be different.

Things would be happier.

Present Time

“Sukuna.”

“Suuuukuuunaaaa!”

“Dumbass!”

“Fuckface!”

“Uh…Suku?”

In an instant, Sukuna grabbed at the hand poking him and twisted. Ryomen yelped in pain and wrenched his arm from Sukuna’s grip. “I told you to never use that infernal nickname.”

“Well, it woke you up, right?”

A grumble was the only response Sukuna gave. He opened his eyes that he hadn’t realized he closed and was surprised when he saw a sunny sky and fluffy clouds. Sukuna glanced at his left, where Ryomen had been poking him, and guffawed at the outfit the baby in his arms was wearing. Ryomen held Yuuji like the lion cub from the movie Ryomen forced him to watch a few months ago. He looked extremely proud of himself, and Yuuji squealed as his father raised him high in the air.

The baby was wearing a tiger onesie with detachable paws and ears on the hood of the outfit. Yuuji giggled like a hyena as Ryomen bounced him. “He’s finally in his true form.” Ryomen chuckled to himself as he looked at his adorable tiger cub. It was a slightly delirious laugh, and Sukuna saw the reason as to why. The usual bags under Ryomen’s eyes had darkened so much it looked like a bruise. Ryomen desperately needed to sleep, and Sukuna had just woken up from an accidental nap.

Sukuna sighed and raised his two upper arms towards Yuuji. “Give him to me, idiot. You are going to blackout any second now, and I do not wish for Yuuji to sustain an injury so soon after acquiring him.”

There were still many issues to talk about, especially the concerning message Ryomen received, but his sleep deprivation caught the best of him. When Ryomen was about to refuse, his vision started to blur, and he knew it was his body screaming at him to rest. “Fine. Wake me in ten minutes. I’ll make this a test for you.”

“Mhm.”

“I’m serious. Once I come back, there better not be a single hair misplaced on Yuuji’s head.”

“Alright.”

“If there is even a-”

“Ryomen. Go. To. Bed.”

“...Ten minutes.” The pink haired man gave one last glare to Sukuna before walking back towards the house. However, his walk was more of a stagger.

Sukuna rolled his eyes at the stubborn man’s antics. The tiny baby in his lap made any irritation the curse would have felt disappear. Yuuji held one of Sukuna’s fingers with a curious expression. He looked so impossibly small compared to Sukuna. Yuuji’s hands could not even wrap around Sukuna’s finger. Despite the size difference, Yuuji showed not a hint of fear towards the curse. His bright, wide eyes looked at Sukuna with so much happiness. No being had ever looked at Sukuna like that. A warmth blossomed in Sukuna’s chest at the smile Yuuji was giving him. This time, Sukuna relished in the warmth instead of suppressing it.

With great care, Sukuna picked up Yuuji and stood. The baby was small enough to fit in Sukuna’s palm, but there was still no fear from Yuuji. Sukuna breathed in the fresh air. For a moment, he was worried that his form would dissipate, but Yuuji’s presence only strengthened Sukuna’s ability to remain tangible. He couldn’t help but nuzzle his nose into Yuuji’s hair, dislodging the hoodie. Yuuji grabbed at Sukuna’s nose with his chubby hand, and the warmth within the curse grew like a welcoming hearth. The happiness Sukuna felt could not compare to his past life. Doing what he desired and killing who he wanted had never brought Sukuna such a feeling of warmness and joy.

Sukuna’s smile was the brightest it had ever been. He let out a content hum as he held Yuuji close to his chest. The baby responded to his hums with happy coos.

He was happy.

No matter what, Sukuna would make sure that the smile on Yuuji’s face never disappears again.

Tags

jjk gojo satoru itadori yuuji jujutsu kaisen geto suguru megumi fushiguro nobara kugisaki satosugu jjk choso nanami kento ryomen sukuna sukuna shoko ieiri kenjaku jjk yuuji todo aoi jjk fic yaga masamichi Cursed Guardians Fic CG fic

34 notes View Post

water9826

10 months ago

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

AO3 Link

Start Here

Kenjaku had a good memory.

There was no such thing as an insignificant detail to Kenjaku. No. Knowledge was knowledge, and it was this knowledge that had allowed Kenjaku to reach the power that they did. Countless centuries had given them the opportunity to hone in their craft, acquire new knowledge, and create plans for the future chaos they would wring. After so many years, there was nothing that could surprise Kenjaku. It was a driving reason for their countless experiments. They wanted to make something utterly unique. Something to entertain them for the rest of time. However, this search for the exceptional only led them to the mediocre. It did not matter how bizarre their research became, it always ended in Kenjaku’s boredom. The Cursed Wombs had disappointed them. The Disaster Curses had disappointed them. The Culling Games had disappointed them. Itadori Yuuji had disappointed them.

But there was one who never did.

Ryomen Sukuna.

Oh, how they still remember the feeling of awe they felt when they first gazed at Sukuna’s abominable form. The Heian Era had been such an amusing time for them. Just when they thought it couldn’t get better, along came the perfect combination of sorcery and humanity, seemingly dropped into their lap to play with. Kenjaku was an ancient being, far older than Sukuna. Due to this, they relished in being able to watch something like them, too corporeal to be a curse but too monstrous to be a human, decimate hoards of sorcerers as if they were flies. There was nothing similar to Sukuna except for themselves. Kenjaku was enamored by said fact. They had always experimented on other creatures, but they had not gotten around to experimenting on themselves yet. Sukuna provided Kenjaku the perfect opportunity to test out new theories on cursed energy on an entity nearly identical to them. The best part was that Sukuna had no inkling to what they were doing. For how intelligent and cunning Sukuna was, Kenjaku had something he didn’t: A good memory.

It had taken a while until Kenjaku realized why Sukuna’s face seemed familiar. His face was covered in tattoos and deformed after all. However, when Kenjaku analyzed the large being’s features up close, they saw a familiar nose, a familiar eye shape, familiar eyebrows, a familiar jawline, and a very familiar hair color. Their realization washed over them like the waves of a tsunami. It took all their self-control to not burst out in hysterics in order to not wake Sukuna, who was lazily sleeping in the bloodied grounds of a battle he easily won. Sukuna sleeping where Kenjaku could hurt him was not a sign of trust. It was a show of power. By resting his eyes, Sukuna was telling Kenjaku that he knew he could defeat them in his sleep, that he did not view them as a threat to take seriously. It had been thrilling to see his arrogance!

Especially when they remembered a time where Sukuna had been the exact opposite of prideful.

They had a good memory. With this memory, Kenjaku remembered the young man that had been the stain on his prosperous village’s name. He was a scrawny thing that had to sleep in the dirt and eat what scraps he could find. It had been so amusing to watch the pathetic rat scamper about in order to survive. At the time, Tengen had been their close companion. The two of them had appeared side by side the moment jujutsu sorcery had sparked into existence from the dark powers of the Great Vengeful Spirits. Tengen had always been the more cautious one and had admonished them for their poor treatment of others they deemed boring. When they told her of their new pathetic, pink pet, she disapproved greatly. They had wanted to use the boy to experiment with, but Tengen made them refrain from doing so. She was the better fighter of the two, so Kenjaku relented and settled for simply watching the rat until it perished. Tengen’s ire was the last thing Kenjaku wanted to deal with, yet it became more difficult over the years to not put the pest out of his misery. No villager gave the boy any kindness or even pity, often beating him severely if he was caught stealing. Kenjaku watched from afar as the boy became an unruly teenager that grew more ambitious in his crimes. Now, he stole for both survival and revenge. The emaciated child had filled out enough that he towered over the villagers and could retaliate with equal brutality. It was interesting to see the teen become a young man, barely in his second decade of life. Where there used to be fear, there was now a fierce determination to live. No matter how inhospitable his life became, he clung to it with everything he had. He was so weak, yet Kenjaku could not ignore the growing fire within him. The inferno would have been unleashed if it was not for the impossibly stupid mistake the man made. Kenjaku was furious that the entertainment they had received was waning due to the impossibly small infant the man cared for. All creatures needed to reproduce, Kenjaku knew that, but they failed to see why someone like him would bring a child into the world when his existence was hated by all. It had been a mistake, likely with another street urchin like him with rotten sake to further dull their judgment. When the sickly woman died in childbirth, Kenjaku was not surprised. While it did not surprise them, they were…perturbed when the young man wasted all of his limited resources on providing for the baby.

Somehow, the baby survived its first year. Then its second. Then its third.

It died in its fourth year.

Kenjaku had grown the slightest bit fond of the drooling thing, but they did not shed any tears at its death. It had lived for such a short time that Kenjaku did not see it as a human. Just a tiny being of flesh that used to toddle around its father and giggle every time he picked it up. The man had named it Yuuji. Permanence, benevolence, and humanity . The meanings of its name were too significant for something so helpless. However, the death of his child made the inferno that Kenjaku had waited years to see burst from the man. His madness had led to the villagers screaming at him like they used to when he was a defenseless child. With that, Kenjaku was able to finally learn the man’s name.

Ryomen.

What a terrible name. It was more of a title than a name, meaning ‘two faces’. Kenjaku had heard the name before with other two-headed creatures. However, they did not know why a man with one face would be given such a name.

They wanted to find out.

And they did .

After the utter failure the healers did to save his son amongst the plague the village was having, Ryomen had lost his heart and warmth, Yuuji taking it with him. Needless to say, Kenjaku was elated to see his hatred turn into something tangible . If they dropped certain scrolls pertaining to cursed energy, cursed runes, and cursed techniques…well, that was no one’s business except Kenjaku’s own.

Before they could see the power Ryomen fully developed, Kenjaku was called away by Tengen to discuss a serious topic within the lands. Curses were growing stronger as were the sorcerers that would combat them. Namely, the three major clans: the Kamo Clan, the Zenin Clan, and the Gojo Clan. The influx of cursed energy was cause for concern as there was nothing stopping curses from spreading to other parts of the world. Kenjaku wanted cursed energy to envelop the globe. There were so many possibilities with a planet filled with millions! Their insatiable curiosity would be fed with the endless subjects they would have at their disposal. However, their plan to experiment on the world was halted before it could even start by Tengen. She disagreed with Kenjaku’s attitude like she always did, but she went a step further in her attempts to stop them. Instead of lecturing them or giving them a roll of her eyes, Tengen sacrificed her form to become an eternal barrier to keep the cursed energy contained within Japan.

It was appalling to Kenjaku to see an immortal being waste their lives for such an idiotic cause. Kenjaku and Tengen were immortal, they were supposed to keep each other, all of jujutsu, balanced. Kenjaku was a being of chaos while Tengen was a being of harmony. It was her responsibility to reign in Kenjaku’s mayhem with her peace while it was their responsibility to grant excitement into the world with their disorder. Though, no one had been there to tell them what their purposes were. They both assumed them naturally. Tengen was always there to keep Kenjaku in check, and they helped loosen Tengen’s uptight tendencies. With her now being hidden away in the new Tombs of the Star Corridor, Kenjaku had no one to hold them back anymore.

They had been so distracted that their disappointment about not being able to see Ryomen’s true power did not affect them in the slightest. If their memory was not as good as it was, they would have forgotten all about Ryomen.

But they didn’t.

When they realized that Ryomen and Sukuna were one and the same, Kenjaku was excited. To them, Sukuna was a perfect being. Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from an unassuming cocoon, Sukuna had shed his former human self to become the strongest sorcerer in history. There was no sign that Sukuna remembered anything from his original human life, including the son he had adored so much. In fact, Sukuna hated children. Whenever Sukuna would invade villages for his own amusement, he never showed an ounce of compassion for the young lives he was ending. Kenjaku had asked Sukuna if he would ever want a child just to see if there was a sign of the four-armed curse remembering Yuuji.

“Why the hell would I want an annoying, useless brat to care for? They’re a waste of time and effort, pathetic beings who only live due to the pity of others or their mothers. It is disgusting. ”

Kenjaku was delighted .

The King of Curses had lost all of his memories of the weak boy Kenjaku had observed all those years ago. Sukuna knew he had originally been a human, but that was the extent of his memory. It was interesting. So, so interesting . All the suffering and loss Ryomen endured had driven him into becoming such a monster after his death. Kenjaku knew that places with negative memories like battlegrounds or graveyards would bring curses into their world. With Ryomen, the boy had lived a life of misery that was equivalent to the pain a thousand burial sites could bring. So much negativity for such an insignificant being. All of the cursed energy accumulated during Ryomen’s tortured life was the reason Sukuna was as powerful as he was. While they had seen humans live terrible lives and become terrible curses, this was the first time that Kenjaku had seen a human become a curse of such might. To them, Kenjaku saw Sukuna as the Earth’s cautionary tale of what the worst of humanity can create. Just like Kenjaku was born into this world to give Earth the ability to change and excite, Sukuna was formed to punish and warn the humans who had taken the Earth for granted. At least, that was what Kenjaku believed. They were not entirely sure, and that mere fact thrilled them. Sukuna was special. He finally gave Kenjaku the chaos they had been craving.

When Sukuna entered a binding vow with them to become a cursed object, Kenjaku was even more ecstatic. He still had no inkling to his origins, which Kenjaku used to their advantage. Uraume had been rightfully suspicious of Kenjaku’s motives with their plan to reincarnate countless sorcerers and curse users after one thousand years. Even so, Uraume would follow Sukuna like the loyal dog they were. Unlike his loyal servant, Sukuna did not see any reason to be wary of Kenjaku as he believed that he was too powerful for Kenjaku to mess with. In a way, he was right. Kenjaku knew that it would be idiotic to try to engage Sukuna in combat, they only found fighting entertaining for observing the abilities their most recent host carried. However, Kenjaku would always have the upperhand in experience. It was their experience that led them to figuring out how to imbue an object with a soul after all. Sukuna had become increasingly bored of his life in the Heian Era and wanted to plan something new for the sorcerers to deal with. It was a selfish reason done for Sukuna’s own pleasure and amusement, which Kenjaku had always respected about Sukuna. He did whatever he desired.

So Kenjaku fulfilled his wish. Sukuna sliced off all twenty of his fingers for Kenjaku to split his soul into. The binding vow ensured that Kenjaku could not use any of his fingers for their own gain.

The binding vow said nothing about splitting Sukuna’s soul into twenty pieces. Just that his fingers were to be imbued with his soul, which Kenjaku did. They just left two extra portions for themselves. Twenty-two pieces of Sukuna’s soul. The last two were the smallest, mere slivers that would not be detected by any curse of sorcerer. Kenjaku loved the number. Twenty two. A pair of identical numbers. Two twos. Twins.

Oh, how they loved the irony!

Ryomen and Sukuna would be the twins that never met, yet were always together.

Because at the core of Sukuna’s cursed soul, hidden so deep that even Sukuna had not known of its existence, was a human soul that refused to fade away.

With the two slivers of Sukuna’s soul that Kenjaku kept for themselves, one piece was kept within the brain that had become their true form. By doing this, Kenjaku permanently tethered themselves to Sukuna. It was both a contingency plan and an experiment. The other piece was used for a far simpler purpose. Kenjaku released the minute fragment into the world to see if anyone would be born with a piece of Sukuna’s soul.

And someone was. Itadori Jin.

Centuries of research and tests made Kenjaku know everything about souls. They were more vital than any organ, yet most did not know of their existence. Being able to see the shape of one’s soul was impossible for non-sorcerers and a majority of sorcerers. Souls were stubborn things. Whatever shape they took on could not be changed unless the soul itself was forcibly changed. Souls were fragile things. Any damage to it could end up in the death of the being the soul belongs to. Souls were vengeful things. They would not forgive nor forget easily even if the owner of the soul did. Souls were clingy things. It was unnatural for a soul to be in separate pieces, so they would do everything they could to become whole again.

The last fact was what led Kenjaku to meeting Jin.

No matter how miniscule the pieces of Sukuna’s soul Kenjaku and Jin held, they still wished to reunite. It led Kenjaku to stalk the man and wait for the right moment to steal the body of his wife, Kaori. Jin had been so relieved that his wife had miraculously survived the car crash that he did not see the warning signs that something was very wrong with her. Kenjaku was fond of Jin, they really were. He was a loving man who was too kind for his own good. They would always be grateful to him for giving them the perfect opportunity to start the plan they had been concocting for centuries.

The plan had been so close to succeeding. Kenjaku had been so close to seeing the merger of Tengen and humanity come to fruition. It would have been fun!

Yet they had been left disappointed.

By Sukuna.

Kenjaku’s plan had failed.

Because of Sukuna.

No other event had ever caused Kenjaku to feel such disappointment, such shock, such fury, such disgust.

Nothing had surprised Kenjaku so much.

After everything that Sukuna had done, he had thrown it all away in a mindless fit of rage. He destroyed everything . The entire planet was ruined as Sukuna burned it all down and carved through the lands. He was like a god throwing a tantrum because he could not control himself. It was stupid . Kenjaku had never once thought of Sukuna in such a way before.

Then Sukuna did something even stupider.

With the last remaining threads of their consciousness, only able to exist due to the sliver of Sukuna’s soul, Kenjaku witnessed the King of Curses kneel before a broken shell of a boy. Itadori Yuuji. They had named him such for their own amusement . As a joke only they understood. Yet here Sukuna was, embracing and apologizing to Yuuji with a gentleness of a father .

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna gave Yuuji a painless death.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna took Yuuji’s soul to form it into a mass of swirling pink light.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s mighty form grew smaller.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s infamous tattoos disappeared one by one.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s last wishes went into giving Yuuji a happy life.

Kenjaku saw as Ryomen appeared for the first time in over a thousand years.

Once the last traces of Sukuna’s soul vanished, Kenjaku vanished with him.

Throughout all their years of existence, Kenjaku had never seen someone turn back time to the extent that Sukuna did. He restarted the world. He made the Earth go back millions of years into the past. He had erased everything.

Well, almost.

Kenjaku was still there. They still had a good memory.

And they wanted to try something new .

Instead of going down the same path as they did in their previous life, Kenjaku decided to go down a different route. They kept themselves hidden from Sukuna this time, waiting throughout the years as life evolved from the prehistoric to familiarity.

Seeing how nature changed and improved gave Kenjaku inspiration for future experiments. Survival was the most important goal in nature. To succeed in said goal, one must fight or become extinct. They had never taken the time to observe the normal life Earth had to offer. It had always been boring to them. However, they had nothing better to do until the Heian Era returned. With so much time, Kenjaku realized how even the plants fought for survival, developing increasingly creative ways to thrive. If something was not working, then the plant or animal died. Simple. If something was working, then the plant or animals survived and spread its improved genetics or knowledge to the next generations.

Kenjaku kept to their studies as they were even less corporeal than Sukuna’s ghostly form, biding their time. They were not meant to exist. They were not meant to remember. They didn’t care. If they were nothing more than a tangle of conscious wisps, so be it. Nothing would make them let go of the fraction of life they still had.

Once Kenjaku learned of the beings Sukuna had created, their grip on the last shreds of sentience became unbreakable. Cursed Souls. A completely new species that Sukuna made for the sole purpose of protecting Yuuji. They were so interesting. So new. Finally, something new. Something to cure their boredom once again.

Kenjaku did not make themselves known to the six creatures nor Sukuna once the Heian Era returned. Instead, they decided to find the boy that Sukuna had once been.

He was even more pathetic than before. With stark tattoos on his body, the villagers saw him as a bad omen to be rid of. Kenjaku did not know that Ryomen could be treated even worse than before. Yet he was. Even if he was doing nothing, people went out of their way to harm the apparent demon in their village.

It had been so easy to manipulate the poor soul.

With their last shreds of existence, they found a suitable host from a powerful clan. They were uninterested in the more well known clans like the Gojos or the Zenins. Kenjaku needed a sorcerer with powers that would serve them well in their plan. A plan that had many inspirations from their original one, they still had yet to see the Merger come to fruition. However, there were also many revisions and improvements. To start, Kenjaku decided to make the first step of their plan far earlier. They needed Ryomen for this step, so they made sure their host was as beautiful as she was powerful. Itadori Ren was the host they chose, a stoic woman who held the inherited techniques the Itadori Clan held. As a smaller clan, not many knew of the Itadori’s technique. Kenjaku felt like the Earth was giving them a blessing by having the Itadori Clan have the perfect technique for their plan.

Body Manipulation. This inherited technique allowed an Itadori to directly change the qualities their body had. It could not be used to manipulate the body of another due to it being both taboo and nearly impossible. The most common way this technique manifested was an Itadori sorcerer’s ability to change the way gravity affected their body. It either made their body lighter than a feather or heavier than stone. Itadoris were skilled at seeing their own soul, but they were a humble clan that kept to themselves. It was not knowledge any outsiders knew of. Kenjaku only learned of the true depths of their technique once they inhabited Itadori Ren’s body. The Itadori Clan was unique for another reason besides their technique, their kindness. Everyone in the clan seemed to be genuinely good people, which was unheard of in sorcerer clans. This kindness made Itadoris refuse to use their abilities for cruelty. Luckily for Kenjaku, they had no such morals to hold them back from seeking out the darkest possibilities the Itadori Clan’s technique had to offer. With their prior expertise in souls, Kenjaku learned how to use the reverse of the technique like he did with Itadori Kaori. Instead of just gravity manipulation, Itadori Ren could use her technique to affect her memories by changing certain areas of her brain. It reminded Kenjaku of how the Zenin Clan was known for their Ten Shadow’s Technique, but it was far from the only technique with members having Projection Sorcery. Ren was not the only member with the memory manipulation technique, which Kenjaku used to further their knowledge. It was typically used to make users of this technique incredibly fast learners, able to prevent the memory of whatever they learned from fading. Additionally, it aided them in being more resilient to psychic attacks.

There were so many possibilities for Kenjaku to explore with Itadori Ren’s techniques, but the second reason for choosing her was even more crucial to their plan. Ren was beautiful. With her beauty, Kenjaku used it to attract Ryomen like a bee to a fresh flower. This new world had been far more cruel to Ryomen, so the boy had been desperate for a loving touch. When they had found him, Ryomen had been so shocked that they were being kind to him. Kenjaku was quite amused, but knew better than to break character. Ryomen was in his second decade like he was when he had Yuuji the first time. However, the mother would not be a nameless woman he got drunk with. No. This time, Kenjaku would be the one to have Yuuji. They had done it with Jin, mostly for their own curiosity. Having Yuuji was far more imperative now. It had been a mistake on Kenjaku’s end to not see the potential the boy held. They would never make such an error again.

After getting drunk like he had previously, Ryomen had become a father. While they did want to do new things, Kenjaku still wanted other aspects of time to remain the same. They needed Ryomen to grow extremely attached to Yuuji or else their plan would not work. So they faked their death by exiting their host.

From then on, Kenjaku watched and waited.

They waited and waited and waited and waited until-

“Hello, little one. I take it you’re my last student? ”

It had been a tedious process to become a teacher in such a prestigious school, but it was worth it. In the modern era, they decided to inhabit Kaori Itadori’s body once again. This time, however, they stayed with her for much longer. They also got rid of their dear Jin and old Wasuke to ensure that no one questioned Kaori, who was now a poor widow. As Kaori, Kenjaku decided to explore the world in search of the evidence of the creatures they had longed to study. For years, they traveled across the globe to find every piece of evidence pertaining to cursed souls. Eventually, they wrote a book about it, placing it in the catacombs for someone to read. And they knew that someone would be Getou Suguru. From inhabiting his body and memories, Kenjaku knew that Getou came to the catacombs to study what was meant to be forgotten. In this new world, Getou would likely have the same habit. With their knowledge from traveling, they were able to become a respected scholar in both history and biology. Soon enough, they received several degrees that Kenjaku could care less about. The pieces of papers were only useful in getting Kenjaku into the school Yuuji would attend as a teacher. Ryomen had been so careful to keep Yuuji hidden, but this paranoia was what made him predictable. The only school that Ryomen would ever allow his son to attend would be the one that required each teacher to have multiple degrees and yearly background checks. The only school that Gojo Satoru allowed was his adopted son, Megumi, to attend.

Their theory was proven correct once the little boy entered their classroom. Kenjaku found Yuuji adorable, he was all pink hair and smiles. He looked at them without an ounce of fear. In fact, he had stuck to their side for most of the class. Yuuji was drawn to Kenjaku for a reason. Before Yuuji had originally been born, Kenjaku had given a piece of themselves to the boy in a binding vow. The only thing needed for the binding vow to be fulfilled was Yuuji being born. As long as that occurred, then a piece of Kenjaku’s soul would be sealed within Yuuji. It would allow Kenjaku to be linked to Yuuji like a more unethical version of a normal mother’s intuition. A binding vow between two people needed full consent, but that was boring to Kenjaku. They had not studied for thousands of years about souls, cursed energy, and more to follow the rules and limitations of jujutsu. In other words, Kenjaku cheated their way around a proper binding vow. They were quite proud of themselves for that one! It had been a stroke of brilliance!

While this linking did come with its risks, Kenjaku knew that the benefits outweigh the risks tenfold!

There was so much to do now that another step of their plan was complete. It would be four more years until Mahito would be spawned, which was the main reason as to why Kenjaku kept to the same timing as before. The curse would be imperative later on. Even though they no longer had Getou Suguru’s cursed technique, they had developed something even better after centuries of experimentation.

Science was all about testing new theories, learning from failures, and improving prior methods.

And Kenjaku had always been a scientist.

Walking down a dilapidated block filled with nothing but dried weeds and rotting houses, Kenjaku smiled to themselves. The first day of class had been a success. It felt almost painful to have to return to their home after meeting Yuuji and the cursed soul cleverly hidden within his backpack. The purple cat was quite familiar, and Kenjaku could spot that distinct stripe across the nose anywhere. Besides Sukuna, they were the only other beings in existence who knew of the people that inhabited the world they originally came from. The similarities the six cursed souls had were only evident to Kenjaku and Sukuna.

It would be hilarious to see how their old failure would react to his superior counterpart.

They entered a house that looked just as abandoned as the others. Kenjaku walked through the dirty house, ignoring all the bugs and rodents scattering about, and stopped at a metal door with a large lock. Humming a nameless tune to themselves, Kenjaku took out a key to unlock the door. Nothing but darkness existed outside the threshold. They called into it. “Subject Thirteen?”

After about a minute of waiting, Kenjaku could hear the quick footsteps of his newest project ascending the stairs. A jellyfish-like shikigami floated above their project, illuminating the old staircase with cyan light. The shikigami belonged to their recent experiment, a small boy with dark hair and sad eyes. He trembled as he gazed at Kenjaku. It made a sadistic delight fill them to see the fear in the boy’s eyes when the children of their class were not scared of them at all. Subject Thirteen was only a few years older than the six-year-olds Kenjaku taught, but he knew better than to start crying or whining for his parents.

Because they were dead.

Kenjaku approached the shaking boy, placing a thumb underneath the eye that was not covered by the child’s messy bangs. They wiped the tears away and cooed at them. “There’s no need for that, remember? I’ve already given you your water portion for the day, and it would be dreadful to deal with you if you dehydrated yourself.” Subject Thirteen nodded obediently at their words, unconsciously leaning into their touch. Pathetic. Humans were truly such needy creatures. Since Kenjaku was in a good mood, they decided to provide the affection his experiment desperately craved. Plucking the pale boy from the floor, Kenjaku carried them on one hip. “Come along. I have much to discuss with you and Subject One!”

Another meek nod. Subject Thirteen kept silent as they descended the staircase, the boy’s shikigami there to light the way. Finally, once they crossed the last step, the underground lab Kenjaku had created greeted them.

As did several others.

“What took you so long?!” Jogo, a curse with the destructive power of a volcano, shouted. Immediately, Subject Thirteen flinched and tried to hide by burying his face in their shoulder. Only to be unceremoniously dropped onto the concrete floor. The volcanic curse looked ready to kill Subject Thirteen, which made the boy squeak and scamper off to another part of the lab. With the experiment gone, Jogo continued his interrogation. “What was so important that you had to drop everything and leave us here for hours?! Neither of your twisted experiments wanted to tell us anything!”

“Because I ordered Subject One and Subject Thirteen not to.” Kenjaku replied simply, sitting down on the large couch the other curses were sitting on. On either side of Jogo was a curse that resembled a tree and another that resembled a squid. Hanami and Dagon. They could not speak, so Jogo needed to do all the talking. They looked at their painted nails with a bored expression. “Is that all you wanted to say, Jogo? Or is there more whining I will have to hear?”

Smoke rose from the volcano molded into Jogo’s head. His singular eye glared at them with malice. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever your ugly head thinks it means!”

“Why you-” Jogo growled in rage. One of his hands glowed with an orange light, intending to blast Kenjaku with a deadly ball of lava. “I’ve had enough of your disrespect, sorcerer! I’ll burn that smug grin off your face!” A wide smile spread across his features, revealing the black teeth he had. The ball of magma and flames made the entire lab start to heat up, but Kenjak felt no fear.

Just as Jogo was about to throw his attack, his hand was cut off by a beam of blood.

Subject One had intervened like Kenjaku knew he would. He was truly the perfected version of what Choso failed to be. He was ruthless, powerful, reliable, and most importantly…

Dark purple eyes gazed at them. “Are you alright, Master?”

He was under their complete control.

“I’m fine! Amazing even! The next step of our plan has been completed, and there is much to do. Subject One?”

“Yes, Master?”

“Go get Subject Thirteen, will you? He’s imperative to the next phase of my plan!”

Kenjaku could not wait to start this phase as it would be far more entertaining than the previous steps.

Infiltration.

How fun!

The room was both freezing cold and blistering hot. Countless candles acted as the only source of light, their fire causing an uncomfortable heat. In contrast, the atmosphere did not match this warmth whatsoever. Despite the barriers hiding the faces of the elders behind them, their harsh gaze could still be felt easily.

“Yaga. Do you know why you have been summoned here?” A feminine voice spoke from one of the several wooden panels. The disdain in her words was so clear that Yaga could see the scowl the crone had.

Suppressing a sigh, Yaga responded as respectfully as he could. “I have not been informed of any recent issues, ma’am.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t see any issues with your students.” The same voice snapped.

“You’ve always been far too soft on them, Yaga.” Another aged voice rumbled.

My students? For a moment, Yaga was confused as his most recent students were too inexperienced to go on missions. Then the realization hit him, and Yaga could not suppress his frustrated sigh this time. Why is it always those four…

The barrier placed in the center of the room held the only person who Yaga knew the identity behind. Over the years, Gakuganji had become a thorn in Yaga’s side. As the principal of the only other school Jujutsu Society had, Yaga had believed that he would be able to have a rapport with the elderly man. However, Gakuganji was far too close minded and cowardly for Yaga to ever think of befriending. He avoided the other principal as much as he could. One reason was because Yaga simply did not enjoy the man’s company. However, there was another purpose for ignoring Gakuganji like the plague. A much more pressing reason.

Satoru.

After the fateful Sendai mission, all of Yaga’s oldest students changed for the better and for the worst. The easiest example of this was in Satoru. While the once petulant teenager had grown into a competent sorcerer, Satoru had also become far more unstable . The day that Satoru had woken up after the mission was a day that Yaga could never forget. While Nanami and Suguru were still comatose, Satoru had been thrashing and screaming in his slumber. Yaga was the only person who knew the extent of Satoru’s mental deterioration. He had forced Shoko to rest as the girl’s eye bags were dark enough to be bruises. During his nightwatches, Yaga had seen Satoru grow more and more distressed until he had to be restrained by his wrists and ankles. The boy would wake up at random intervals before falling unconscious several seconds later. When Satoru had properly regained consciousness, Nanami had woken up as well. Instead of hearing the annoying quips Satoru was known for, the white-haired teen had silently stared at his surroundings until his cloudy eyes landed on Suguru, who had yet to wake up.

He had never seen the boy so infuriated before. Satoru roared in rage as he lunged for his closest friend, snapping the leather restraints like paper. The heavy miasma that came with Satoru’s cursed energy made it difficult to breathe. A still recovering Nanami had tried to reason with the older teen, but was only met with Satoru attacking him like a feral animal. At that point, Yaga had tackled Satoru before the teen could kill either Nanami or Suguru, causing Satoru to scream nonsense in his teacher’s ears.

“NO! NO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO KILL HIM! THEY’RE GONNA TAKE HIM! THEY’RE GONNA TAKE SUGURU! LET ME KILL HIM! HE HAS TO DIE!”

With his own wounds sustained from the mission, Yaga struggled to hold onto the lanky teenager. Fortunately, Shoko had arrived just in time to inject Satoru with enough tranquilizer to put an elephant to sleep. Once Satoru went limp, Yaga and Shoko had been at a loss of what to do with him, considering how powerful the teenager was. The answer came to them by Gakuganji, who had been staying at the infirmary to watch over his own students' recovery, storming in. The elder ordered Yaga to give him the unconscious boy, but Yaga had refused immediately. Instead, Yaga followed Gakuganji into Tengen’s Corridors while holding a far too-light Satoru. If it was not for Tengen themselves opening a barrier to contain Satoru, Yaga would have refused to ever force Satoru in such a situation. When Yaga had left temporarily to redo the torn stitches in his stomach, he returned to an awake Satoru banging his head against the invisible barrier. The teen was doing everything in his power to escape while simultaneously screeching about how he would slaughter Gakuganji for something that the elder apparently did.

Satoru had never been fond of authority, but his hatred for Gakuganji was something else entirely. When Satoru had tried to summon Red, the reversal of his technique, Gakuganji and the elders he had notified enchained Satoru as if he was a criminal to be punished. Despite how aggravating the boy could get, Yaga harbored no ill feelings towards Satoru. To see one of his students be so terrified and hurt , all because of the higher-ups' paranoia, made something within Yaga snap. What little respect Yaga did have for the elders disappeared the moment he saw them laughing about finally putting ‘the brat in his place’ and scheming about making Satoru’s imprisonment permanent. How the higher-ups could see a sobbing boy being tortured with hallucinations and only think about keeping Satoru bound like a weapon only meant to be used when needed…It was disgusting. No matter how his wounds throbbed or how exhausted he was, Yaga refused to leave Satoru alone. Shoko would share his sentiments and keep a protective watch on her friend.

The damage Sendai had done to his students manifested in different ways. For Nanami, it was his withdrawal from Jujutsu Tech, only loyal to Yaga himself and his upperclassmen. Despite Yaga’s pleas for Nanami to return as a full-time sorcerer, Nanami refused with an unexpected amount of resentment and anger from the normally stoic blonde. For Shoko, she worked nonstop as one of the only reverse-cursed technique users, studying for her medical license in less than legal ways. While the sorceress had dedicated herself to quit smoking, she still took poor care of herself, putting all her energy into the sorcerers she had to heal. For Suguru, the long-haired teen had stopped being as distant, but he also became obsessed with studying cursed souls, the beings that haunted them all. The compassionate boy who was a role model for his underclassmen now had tattoos and piercings and spoke with barely-hidden disgust about non sorcerers. The elders were quite displeased at Suguru’s new appearance and attitude, their supposedly perfect sorcerer no longer perfect. The long-haired boy had been the happiest that Yaga had ever seen, so he had no opposition towards Suguru’s more rebellious-alternative self. However, Yaga had gotten quite frustrated with Suguru when he tried to pierce one of his cursed corpses for the millionth time.

As always, Satoru was the outlier.

He became stronger, but he also became unstable. If it was not for Suguru calming Satoru down, all the higher-ups would have been killed in a heartbeat. Early into Satoru’s recovery, the teenager would constantly snap at his superiors, even Yaga on occasions. At some point, Suguru had to be by Satoru’s side at all times until the risk of the elder’s being murdered ebbed. Over time, Satoru regained most of his self-control, but was still prone to outbursts if he was overwhelmed or overstimulated. He had abandoned his blacked-out sunglasses to thick, black wrappings that acted as a blindfold. Having his eyes covered to such an extent helped Satoru’s fractured mind immensely. While he would never be as composed as his younger self, Satoru had enough self-awareness that he would leave before he endangered anyone.

Except for Gakuganji.

About six years had passed since the Sendai Mission, and Satoru’s aggression towards Gakuganji had not faded in the slightest. Satoru hated the elder with a passion that Yaga had only seen in Satoru’s love of zunda and cream kikufuku. Which was saying something considering how Satoru would go on hour long spiels of how perfect the stuffed mochi was. Hell, Satoru had written an entire thesis about his favorite dessert just because he loved it that much!

So for Gojo to commit to hating Gakuganji as much as he committed to loving kikufuku…

Needless to say, Gakuganji was easily the most hated person in Japan.

“The Gojo Clan has expressed their concern about the evolution of Gojo Satoru’s technique. They state that Gojo Satoru is using Limitless and the Six Eyes in ways unbecoming of a member of the Gojo Clan. As the only holder of such techniques, the Gojo Clan are perturbed by Gojo Satoru’s defilement of their clan’s most sacred power.” Gakuganji rumbled behind his barrier. His own resentment towards the younger sorcerer was palpable in his words. There were several sounds of agreement that came from the other elders. “You have the most contact with him, so we expect you to tell us as to why he is acting in such a manner.”

Yaga wanted to bang his head against the wall. This . This is what the higher-ups had summoned him for. They were worried that Satoru was being untraditional with his technique, an ability that had not been seen for over five centuries?! Of course, the ways in which Satoru used his Limitless and Six Eyes would be different from the sorcerers from an entirely different era! With his teeth clenched, Yaga responded. “Satoru’s strength and control over his technique has improved exponentially. I fail to see how this is a problem. Forgive me for asking, but is it not a good thing for Satoru to find new ways to use his Infinity? Jujutsu techniques went through advancements and innovations just like the world around us.”

“That lunatic has no control whatsoever!”

“He is a risk to us all!”

“He is likely the reason behind Getou Suguru’s downfall!”

“And Kento Nanami. He drove that boy away, costing us another sorcerer!”

The voices clashed against each other, saying worse and worse things about their most vital member. Indignation was the only thing Yaga could feel. How dare they. How dare they speak about his students in such a way?! Do they not know what they went through-

Gakuganji’s callous words broke through the chaos. “We have reason to suspect that your former students are conspiring with the King of Death.”

His heart stopped.

It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.

“What are your sources?” Yaga asked numbly.

“Mei Mei.” Another elder answered, sounding almost smug. “Her services are far easier to acquire now. All we have to do is threaten her crows or her younger brother to make her comply. This is your only warning that we are keeping a close eye on those four sorcerers.”

Just when his disgust at the higher-ups could not become any higher, it skyrocketed with the admission. During the Sendai mission, the cursed soul resembling a feline had shot beams of blood at Yaga, which then went through his torso and onto Mei Mei. Utahime was also slashed, but it was a minor cut across her nose. The older girl was much less fortunate. Her eyes had been injured by the feline’s piercing blood attack. It seemed that the cursed soul could control the toxicity of its blood as Mei Mei suffered from poison while Yaga and Utahime did not. There was no antidote and Shoko could only do so much as a novice healer. Mei Mei would become permanently blinded from the attack, having to use her crows for daily use instead of strictly sorcery. Additionally, her baby brother would be born a few years after the attack. He became the young woman’s guide, always describing the scenery around them. His love for his sister was immense. If she still had her sight, Mei Mei would have taken advantage of that blind adoration. Instead, her little brother aiding her just because he could and not due to any ulterior motives caused Mei Mei to be fond of her sibling. He was useful to her, but he also was the only person that Mei Mei was attached to. In the past, Mei Mei had no ties or loyalties to anyone besides herself and whoever was paying her the most. She still worked as a mercenary, but the higher-ups were now freed from her high rates.

It was not surprising that the elders would use this opportunity to take advantage of Mei Mei’s permanent injury. For years, Mei Mei had been a loose cannon of sorts, someone that the elders had no control over. Even Satoru was obligated to go wherever he was assigned. Now, they had earned Mei Mei’s loyalty through force and fear. Self preservation was as sacred to her as money, so she did not take lightly to threats on her life or Ui Ui’s.

Part of Yaga wanted to be furious at Mei Mei, but he knew better than to question the higher-ups. With one word, they could make someone disappear or be labeled as a traitor. If they felt threatened, then they would do everything in their power to be rid of said threat.

Cowards . Yaga hissed to himself. “Sukuna has not been spotted in years. He disappeared along with the cursed souls. We’re fortunate that we’ve been left in peace for so long.”

“Peace does not exist as long as curses continue to exist. We will enter a war the moment Sukuna reveals himself. He is just biding his time. We cannot afford anymore sorcerers defecting nor betraying us.”

Yaga felt like his mind was going to explode. Defection. Betrayal. Conspiring with the King of Death.

Just what the hell had his students gotten into?!

“ You’re weak. All four of you. If my son is to be protected, then I will make sure that his human guardians are as strong as his monstrous guardians. I am not going to allow any more sorcerers, so you better be prepared to become a one-man army. ”

Ryomen words were far more literal than any of them anticipated.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE CODDLED IN A WAR! EITHER YOU RUN THROUGH THIS COURSE OR I FEED YOUR CORPSES TO THE KOI FISH! NANAMI, YOU’RE UP FIRST!”

Nanami had never received formal training like Satoru or Suguru. Even Shoko had been an apprentice to a reverse curse technique user before he died after a fatal encounter with a special grade curse. They had someone to introduce them to Jujutsu, whether they wanted to know about it or not. At a young age, his upperclassman knew of their cursed techniques. For Nanami, he was not aware of his technique until he was thirteen. It had been a life or death situation with a group of armed robbers threatening to kill him and his family if they called the authorities. At the time, his parents complied with the request, holding his baby sister in their arms while hugging his terrified brothers and sisters. It was a smart decision to make, but Nanami did not view it as one. Not at all. In fact, he can still remember the intense rage he had felt at his parents lack of retaliation. While Nanami had never been an aggressive person, he had always valued the lives of his younger siblings far more than his own. As the eldest sibling, it was his job to look after them when their parents were at work. He had seen how vulnerable children are, how they needed to be protected by the adults. Nanami, in a reckless act befitting of an angry preteen, shouted at the robbers. They wanted to steal the valuables that would help send his siblings to school, and that was unacceptable. His protective fury made him sprint to the kitchen and grab the largest knife he could find. The roaring of his frantic heart deafened him to his parents' pleas to stop. He hadn’t cared. Nanami charged towards the thieves, something within him igniting like an inferno. In a panic, one of the robbers tried to shoot at his family. Before the thief could pull the trigger, Nanami slashed his kitchen knife in the air as if it was as natural as breathing. Despite the blade not making contact, the man still screamed in agony as his arm was sliced off. The other criminals tried to retaliate, but Nanami was already reading another blow. Blue light engulfed him as he dealt the final strikes.

He had killed the entire group.

When Nanami had realized what he had done, he dropped the knife and tried to go towards his family. His siblings cowered away in fear while his father barked at him to step back. It was the first time that Nanami had heard his father raise his voice. After living a life of mundanity and routine, his parents did not know how to handle something new, something different . Neither did Nanami as he had lived the same life of rules and normality. He grew up in a middle class family, lived in a middle class town, took care of his siblings, went to school, participated in sports, did his homework, received high marks on tests, listened to his parents, behaved in a polite manner, and always respected the rules. There was nothing remarkable about Nanami. He was not extraordinary or special like Satoru. He had no larger purpose or goals like Suguru. He could not heal others or be irreplaceable like Shoko. Nanami was prepared to live exactly like his father. Get a job, make money, have a family, and then retire to a foreign country. However, the choice of a normal life was ripped away from him the night he killed several armed robbers without even touching them. After that night, a rift had formed between Nanami and his family that could never be fixed. He became the black sheep of his family, the one that could slice someone into pieces and see ‘demons’. The only person that did not treat him like a ticking time bomb was a boy he had met after running away the same night as the robbery. Nanami could not bear the looks of fear from his family, so he ran from his house until his legs could not move anymore. His frantic sprint had led him to an abandoned park in a completely different side of town. He had always been gifted physically, but Nanami had never thought he could run so far. On numb legs, Nanami sat on a rusty swing, hearing the old chains squeak in protest of his weight. Just as he was about to stand, a voice appeared from behind. It belonged to a boy with brown hair and wide eyes. Haibara.

It was thanks to Haibara that Nanami learned of Jujutsu High. He had to wait a few years until he could apply, so Haibara recommended that he talk to the teachers to learn more about sorcerers. Nanami declined. An actual sorcerer would need a teacher. He was just a kid with a weird slicing ability. Even so, he still kept Haibara’s words of training in mind. Several times a week, they would meet at the park and go to the nearest open field to spar. Nanami often trained alone as he figured out his ratio technique. He practiced until he knew the ins and outs of his technique and cursed energy as a whole. His tool at the time had been the kitchen knife he used on the robbers until Haibara surprised him with a new weapon on his fourteenth birthday. Apparently, Haibara’s father worked for Jujutsu High as a blacksmith, so he crafted a short blunt sword for Nanami. The man had even created a custom-made case and harness to hold the blade and wrapped it in white fabric with black spots for extra protection. It took several weeks until Nanami became accustomed to the new weight of the sword and how to make the most efficient strikes with it. He had never shown his family his abilities, and he had accepted the fact that they would never see him the same way again. In recent years, their relationship had become slightly less strained. Either way, Nanami didn’t care. He would still protect and provide for his family, but he wouldn’t keep himself awake at night from the hurt his family had caused him. It wasn’t worth the energy.

As a sorcerer, Nanami kept this ideal of efficiency over anything else. It allowed him to make life or death decisions without freezing and gave him a level-headedness not seen in his other peers. He had tried to use this mindset when he left Jujutsu High and sorcery all together, working as a salaryman like his father had. The schedules, deadlines, calls, and more mind numbing tasks were easy for him to become accustomed to, but there was something nagging his mind every day he was living ‘normally’.

He had left his upperclassman to fight against six creatures of hell. Entities that had bested Satoru and Suguru, the strongest sorcerers that Jujutsu society had to offer. Beings that haunted him like they haunted his upperclassmen.

After seven months of working a corporate job, Nanami quit to return to his job as a sorcerer. However, there was a key difference in his loyalties than when he had first defected. He refused to work under the corrupted higher-ups. The only people Nanami took orders from were Yaga and his three upperclassmen. If they needed him, he’d be there.

The fateful Sendai mission had made him, Gojo, Getou, and Shoko become closer. In the past, they were a group that were on friendly terms, but each had their preferred person to hang out with. Haibara had been the heart of the group, bringing joy and laughter to them all. When he passed, no one could fill that void. They grew distant until the elders ordered him to accompany Gojo on a mission despite it involving a special grade curse. He had barely started his second year and was completely outmatched when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse. Neither he or Gojo were faring well against the six aggressive entities trying to kill him. With a stroke of luck, Nanami’s phone had not broken after being slammed into the wall by Overtime. He dialed Getou’s number with shaking fingers before he was ensnared by spotted wrappings.

Nanami barely recalled the events of what conspired after being taken. The only memories he had were of being placed surprisingly gently onto a patch of grass. Distant sounds of screeching and shouting were not enough to snap Nanami out of the catatonic state he had adopted. No curse had ever made Nanami freeze. He was known for not hesitating, yet he found himself not able to move a muscle.

That’s when he had felt it.

A puff of breath, as cold as the winds of a blizzard, was felt behind his neck.

The first time that he had gotten a proper look at Infinite was a moment that had caused him countless nightmares. Like a ghost of death, the feathered dragon had loomed over him with a hoard of eyes watching him and several ear piercing shrieks of laughter. Nanami had been completely certain that he would be killed, but he remained unharmed. It had happened so quickly, Infinite appearing to tap his beak against Nanami’s forehead before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, that Nanami had thought he had dreamed it.

He wished it had just been a dream or hallucination.

It wasn’t.

The words Infinite had whispered to him would resurface whenever Nanami least expected it.

“Be selfish. You deserve it.”

“Be angry. You have every right to be.”

“Be reckless. You’ll be limiting your potential if you aren’t. ”

Selfish. Angry. Reckless. Those were words that would describe the complete opposite of Nanami. He had always kept his composure and was strategic in battles, but…

“STOP THINKING! ACT! YOU’LL DIE IF YOU DON’T.”

All six of the cursed souls were charging at him at varying speeds. Each had widely different physical builds and abilities. Nanami did not have the time to make a proper plan when he was seconds away from being killed in Ryomen’s intense training. This was the test that would make Ryomen give Nanami, Shoko, Gojo, and Getou his full respect and trust. If any of them failed at whatever task they were given, then Sukuna promised that he would train them personally. Ryomen’s training was already difficult enough. Sukuna’s battle training would likely be impossible since the curse enjoyed messing with them as much as he could. Today was important. Nanami and the others would be tested to their limits. It would show if their four years of constant training was either for naught or worth the blood, sweat, and tears.

Nanami breathed in deeply, allowing all of his thoughts to fade into the back of his mind.

He could only feel the weight of his blade in his hand. He could only smell the dew covered grass beneath his feet. He could only hear the cracking of leaves as the cursed souls ran over them. He could only taste the leftover coffee he had drank and the pancakes Yuuji had made for him. He could only see Overtime lunging at him with a razor sharp wrapping aimed at his neck.

Be selfish.

Be angry.

Be reckless.

It went against everything Nanami believed in, but for Yuuji he would do it.

He’d do anything to protect Yuuji.

Tags

jjk gojo satoru itadori yuuji jujutsu kaisen geto suguru megumi fushiguro nobara kugisaki satosugu jjk choso nanami kento ryomen sukuna sukuna stsg shoko ieiri kenjaku jjk yuuji todo aoi jjk fic yaga masamichi Cursed Guardians Fic CG fic

18 notes View Post

water9826

1 year ago

Cursed Guardians Masterpost!

Hello, dear readers! For any visiting from AO3, hello :D! For those reading exclusively on Tumblr, here is a guide to the cursed souls that are in this fic. This will include a guide to the names and inspirations behind the cursed souls, concept art of the characters (particularly the cursed souls), fanart I have received :D, likely a future Q & A or FAQ, and more! Let's get started!

AO3 Link

Start Fic On Tumblr Here

CURSED SOUL NAMES

Gojo = Infinite

Nanami = Overtime

Choso = Supernova

Todo = Boogie

Megumi = Chimera

Nobara = Resonance

CURSED SOUL DESIGN INSPO

Gojo = Infinite (Based on Eastern Dragon for overall design, Harpy Eagle for talons and beak, White Peacock for vibes and tendency to spread his tail)

Nanami = Overtime (Based on Mummies for his wrappings, Lava Monster for the left side of his body (I pictured Te Ka from Moana the most), Daki from Demon Slayer for her ability to control and weaponize her cloth sashes)

Choso = Supernova (Based on Black Main Coon for overall body, Porcupine for his spines (but I also wanted to incorporate his iconic spiky spacebuns with the spines), Antman for his ability to shrink and enlarge (purely bc I really like Paul Rudd)

Todo = Boogie (Based on Tibetan Mastiff and Grizzly Bear for overall body, Cubone from Pokémon for the skull helmet he wears, and his pendant is a reference to the pendant Todo is seen wearing during the Shibuya Arc (he's seen kissing it in the intro for anime-onlys)

Megumi = Chimera (Based on Hexxus fom Ferngully bc of his goopiness, Susuwatari from Studio Ghibli bc of his ability to shrink into his own shadow and his sea urchin-ness, Gaster from Undertale for more goop inspo)

Nobara = Resonance (Based on a Marionette Doll for her body and movement, Biollante from Godzilla for here weaponized roses, and Mannequins from Resident Evil 8 purely for the creepy factor she can have)

CURSED GUARDIANS CHARACTER CONCEPT ART (Not Complete)

Infinite

Chimera

Overtime

Resonance

Boogie

Supernova

Sukuna

Ryomen

Baby Yuuji

CURSED GUARDIANS FANART!

I received some beautiful pieces of fanart from one of my readers who is an incredible artist. All the works so far featured are drawn by @n0bluev! Check them out on Tumblr!

All fanart is tagged with #cursed guardians fanart

Fanart by @n0bluev: Infinite Chimera Baby Yuuji Cursed Soul Shenanigans

I am honored by all creations made from this fic! I'm always open to any submissions or questions! This fandom can be quite unhinged at times, but also very sweet. Y'all are the best!

Tags

27 notes View Post

water9826

6 years ago

Sander Sides: At the Beach

Logan: This environment is quite unpleasant. I believe going somewhere cooler would be optimal.

Patton: Don’t be such a downer, Lo! The kids are having so much fun! *points at Roman and Virgil*

Logan: Patton... Roman is currently burying Virgil in the sand.

Virgil: (an intellectual) I AM THE SAND GUARDIAN. GUARDIAN OF THE SAND! *spits out sand*

Roman: POSEIDON QUIVERS BEFORE HIM!!

Virgil: *looking at ocean* FUCK OFF

Logan: ...

Patton: See! Fun!

Logan: I hate all of you.

Tags

first post sanders sides incorret quotes sander sides

4 notes View Post

water9826

1 year ago

Just wanted to say your jjk fic is AMAZING! Tumblr recommended it to me on my fyp and I’m so happy to have picked it up,,,v excited to see how “Mr.Grey” contributes to the story 🫶🏼🫶🏼💕

Thank you!!! That means a lot to hear that! The reception of this fic has been incredible <3

Mr. Grey will be VERY important to the story. Not yet tho ;)

Tags

anonymous kicking and screaming jjk fic water answers Cursed Guardians Fic CG fic all these comments have been so wonderful

2 notes View Post

water9826

9 months ago

I’m happy you’re feeling better!! At least better enough to post lol I just wanted you to know your blog was one on my rotation to check for any updates (on anything, not just writing) 🤗

Awww thank you 🥰

I’m doing better! Progress on the next chapter is FINALLY getting somewhere!

Tags

anonymous water answers Cursed Guardians Fic CG fic

3 notes View Post

water9826

1 year ago

Cursed Guardians (A JJK Fic)

AO3 Link

Start Here

He had won.

He had finally won.

Sukuna let out a sigh and let his body relax on top of the warm sand. The beach he was currently resting in was surprisingly tranquil. The waves were calm and the breeze was comforting. Such sensations had nearly been forgotten by the ancient curse. During his destructive rampage, he had paid no attention to the environment around him. He was too focused on killing those wretched sorcerers and any who defied him. Now that he had won, he could appreciate the new world he had created. He’d be the true King of Curses. King of the World.

There was a problem, however.

He was a king with no subjects.

After defeating the limitless user, no one was left to stop Sukuna’s plans to subjugate the entire world. His power had returned to him, restoring his true, godlike form. No vessel needed. Because of the overwhelming surge of power Sukuna received once the white-haired freak was killed, he entered a mindless state. He was so caught up in his own destruction and violence that he didn’t notice who he was destroying. The plan he had concocted for centuries was tossed to the side as he committed a genocide to all forms of life on Earth. There were no humans left to terrorize or curses to dictate.

Even Uraume was not spared of his senseless cruelty. When he had realized that his most loyal assistant was killed by his own hands, it was already too late. Sukuna had slaughtered everything. The plant life had no hope of recovering, any wildlife had been incinerated, and the oceans were empty. Such destruction was not in his plans. Sukuna knew he was seen as an irredeemable monster, a psychotic murderer, a megalomaniac through and through, and the list of titles continues. While Sukuna did agree with most titles, he did not agree with being called mindless or anything that insinuated he was an idiot.

It had taken time to become the curse he was now known as. Sukuna had been human once, a fact he forgot more often than not, which meant that he was not born with his incredible powers. He was patient and persistent in his journey to grow stronger. Eventually, entire villages fell at his hands and his hands alone. With his intellect and abilities, he became a one man army. No one stood a chance against Sukuna. Even his public execution had been planned, convincing the townspeople to burn him at the stake with a piece of wood Sukuna had carved ancient runes into. The runes imbued him with cursed energy as Sukuna perished to the flames, ensuring he would be reborn as a curse.

Sukuna never did anything without a plan. He was strategic and the strongest. The former aspect was often forgotten by his opponents. While the sorcerer with the six eyes technique was born strong, Sukuna was not. He was not an arrogant fool who would deny such a thing as having no weaknesses. Such delusions would make Sukuna more vulnerable. Gojo was born a prodigy, Sukuna made himself a prodigy. His efforts had paid off in the end as he had become the most feared creature in the world.

And yet…

He had acted like a mindless beast until the world he was supposed to rule over became nothing but a hollow husk.

There was nothing Sukuna could do. There was nothing Sukuna could do to reverse it.

This was not part of his plan. He was not supposed to be the only inhabitant of this planet. The desolation he had wrought was too much . Sukuna had gone too far. Such a concept was foreign to the curse, but it was true. No one survived his wrath. He would have to live out the rest of his existence in solitude.

“Are you happy?”

If Sukuna had regular hearing, he would not have heard the weak whisper of the boy next to him. Fortunately, his senses had always been heightened, and his godlike form only served to strengthen his senses even more. Even so, a weight settled in his gut when the boy, who was known for being anything but silent, spoke in such a manner.

Yuuji sat next to the giant entity without an ounce of fear. In fact, there were no emotions that could be detected on the teen’s scarred face. The normally expressive boy had been reduced to a shell of his former self. Itadori had been so quiet that Sukuna momentarily forgot about his existence. He had let the teenager live as a form of revenge. As his vessel, Sukuna learned things about Yuuji that he never wanted to know. Most notably his morals, something that annoyed the curse to no end.

Despite his many years of living, Sukuna had never seen someone as selfless as Itadori Yuuji. He could not remember a single soul who had even a fraction of the boy’s kindness. Above all, the pink-haired teen prioritized the lives of others far more than his own. It infuriated Sukuna to have such an idiotic being as his vessel. At first, Sukuna planned to kill Itadori immediately after regaining his true form. When Sukuna went to end the boy’s life once and for all, he had paused at the broken look in Yuuji’s eyes. Yuuji had been staring at his beloved sensei’s and best friend’s lifeless forms with such agony that Sukuna found himself unable to harm the teen. He had expected Itadori to stand up in a fit of rage and initiate a battle that Sukuna had been craving ever since Yuuji ate his first finger. Nothing of the sort came. Yuuji was kneeling on the bloodied ground with a stream of silent tears flowing down his face. He was in a completely vulnerable position, yet Itadori did not seem to care as he continued to look at Megumi’s and Gojo’s mangled corpses.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” Yuuji spoke so brokenly that his words were nearly indecipherable. He bowed his head until his forehead touched the muddy ground. His arms wrapped around his waist as sobs began to wreck his body. It seemed like Yuuji had no control over the force of his sobbings, which were so strong that his ribs seemed to strain with each heaving breath. Tears and snot started to flow in a nonstop current. Between his sobs, painful whimpers and endless apologies left the boy’s quivering mouth.

Sukuna stood there as if he was paralyzed. The boy he had come to know had been shattered beyond repaired. The boy whose morals were so strong that Sukuna’s own dismantle technique could not slash through. The boy who never backed down from a fight, even if the odds were not in his favor.

The boy who had shown an amount of kindness that Sukuna had never experienced before.

He could not bring himself to kill Itadori Yuuji.

“What?” Sukuna was brought out of his thoughts as he remembered the question Yuuji had whispered to him. A question that Sukuna had no proper response to.

“I asked if you were happy.” Yuuji whispered in the same lifeless tone as before. He continued to look at the waves and the horizon in the distance with a glossed over look in his eyes. His arms were wrapped around his knees, his head sat atop them. “Are you?”

Sukuna, for once, was struck silent. Of all the questions that Yuuji could have asked, this was the one that he would have least predicted. A strange feeling coursed through his chest, moving to wrap around the base of his throat. It was heavy and painful, not allowing him to speak anymore. All he could do in response was glance at Yuuji with confusion clear in his four eyes.

At the curse’s abnormal silence, Yuuji lifted his head to make eye contact with Sukuna. It felt like the first time that Sukuna had seen the teen in years. So much had happened that he felt like centuries had passed. Yuuji’s face seemed wrong to Sukuna. It was covered in scars, along with the rest of his body. When he had forcibly removed himself from Yuuji after consuming the twentieth finger, the teen had suffered immensely. All the tattoos that Sukuna had showed up on Yuuji in the form of thick, ugly scars that caused the teen constant pain despite the scars looking fully healed. The fact that Sukuna had not noticed until now disturbed the curse in a way he did not expect. What troubled the curse even more was that no sadistic glee had arisen from seeing the damage Sukuna had caused. Instead of pride or smugness, the feeling in Sukuna’s chest and throat got worse. It hurt .

Itadori let out a breathy chuckle, moving to sit with his legs crossed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked such a stupid question. Of course, you wouldn’t ‘dignify it with a response’.” The teen paused. He put his hands in his lap in a desperate attempt to hide their trembling. His head hung low, and he broke eye contact with the stunned curse. “Can I ask another question though? Promise it won’t be as dumb as the first one.”

With no refusal from the powerful curse, Itadori took it as a sign to continue. “All I want to ask is why. Why did you do this? I thought you wanted to kill jujutsu sorcerers and humans…not everything . Why go this far? I..I don’t understand... And above all else…Why haven’t you killed me yet? That’s what frustrates me the most. You killed EVERYONE except for me!” A spark of the fire Yuuji used to have reappeared. He looked back at Sukuna with a fierce glare. However, just as soon as it came, it left. The fire died inside the teen instantly. He looked back down, wrapping his arms around himself. His voice grew wobbly as tears filled his eyes. “ Why? Why haven’t you killed me? Is it to prove some p-point? Because there is no one left to prove it to! I know I failed! I know I’m weak! You killed everyone, and I c-couldn’t protect them! I just want to see my friends again…… Please …… I-I…I don’t want to be here anymore…” The last part broke Yuuji into a fit of agonizing sobs. His hands covered his face while his fingers were pulling harshly on his hair. His body trembled from head to toe. Pleas left his lips, but it was like the boy was speaking gibberish with how unstable his voice was. To make things worse, Yuuji began hyperventilating along with his frantic sobbing. The poor teen could not get in a single breath. It was a sight Sukuna could not stand.

The painful weight constricting his throat and chest suddenly disappeared. Sukuna grasped the folds of his kimono tightly with one of his clawed hands. Before the horrid feeling could return and silence him, Sukuna blurted out his response. “I can’t!”

That seemed to shock Itadori so much that his rapid breathing and sobbing began to slow. It was enough for Yuuji to get the air he needed. Of course, Yuuji was nowhere close to being calm, but at least he was not in danger of passing out. Bloodshot eyes locked onto Sukuna’s with a look so utterly lost and devastated that Sukuna felt his body moving before he could register what exactly he was doing. Four strong arms wrapped around the smaller boy in a secure embrace. Instantly, the sharpness in his throat and chest returned with such an intensity that Sukuna let out an audible gasp. With lack of a better term, Sukuna felt bad . Very bad.

Then it dawned on him.

Sukuna felt bad for Yuuji. The curse that had slaughtered billions felt guilty.

Despite the absurdity of the feeling, Sukuna felt his eyes burn.

As the strange embrace continued, Yuuji’s breathing became normal, and his sobs stopped completely. Tears still leaked from his eyes, which were opened wide in shock. While Sukuna did not enjoy the sensation of his kimono getting wet from the tears and snot, he could not bring himself to reprimand the crying teen. Even as the boy buried his head into Sukuna’s torso in a poor attempt at hiding, the ancient curse found himself not feeling disgusted at the touch.

Meanwhile, Itadori felt absolutely pathetic. He was hugging the curse responsible for the death of his loved ones. Of the world . Sukuna was the sole being responsible for the disappearance of all life on Earth. And he was hugging the entity so tightly as if he was terrified of Sukuna letting go . He probably was terrified. In all honesty, Yuuji could not remember the last time he was embraced in such a way. It felt like he was betraying his friends by clinging onto the curse who killed them. And yet…Yuuji continued to melt further into the warm embrace. It was completely out of character for Sukuna, but Itadori was not in a state to care. He was always a touchy person that had gone most of his life touch starved. Gramps usually yelled at his attempts to hug him as a kid, so Yuuji refrained from hugging his grandpa ever again. Most friends he made in school were from sports and calling them friends was a stretch. The best he would get was an arm around his shoulder or a pat on his back.

Then there was Jujutsu High.

Megumi rarely hugged him. It just wasn’t in the teens' nature. The hugs he did receive were awkward and short. Yuuji enjoyed them, but he would feel terrible if Megumi continually forced himself to hug Yuuji when the introverted boy was uncomfortable with it. Instead of hugs, Megumi showed his affection through threats or brief shoulder pats. The sorcerer would also summon his remaining Divine Dog, named Cocoa by Kugisaki, for Yuuji to pet or his rabbits for Yuuji to hold. Expending his cursed energy in such a way just to make Yuuji happy was more than enough affection for the pink-haired teen.

Nobara hugged him slightly more often than Megumi but not by much. She hugged him tightly and for several minutes after punching him for ‘faking’ his death. She also hugged him after he helped her with her many shopping trips or if he did her hair. He had learned how to style hair because his hair was quite long when he was little due to Gramps constantly forgetting to schedule a haircut. Eventually, Yuuji taught himself how to style and eventually cut it. His skills proved useful in getting Nobara into a good mood or forgiving him whenever he accidentally ruins one of the girl’s clothes. Her hugs were strong and warm just like Nobara herself.

Gojo’s hugs were quite frequent, especially during Yuuji’s time living in the basement. Out of everyone, Gojo and Yuuji had the most in common. He knew his sensei was an experienced sorcerer with an intelligence that Yuuji could never hope to achieve. However, the times where his teacher let himself goof off with Yuuji were the teen’s favorite ones. Because of Gojo’s technique, it meant so much more when Yuuji hugged him. Gojo would willingly turn off his Infinity so Yuuji could embrace him or the other way around. Whenever the older sorcerer hugged him, Yuuji felt extremely cold but secure. It might be due to his technique that Gojo constantly felt like he was made of ice, though Yuuji had never thought to ask. Even so, Yuuji knew he was the safest with Gojo closeby.

Nanami’s hugs were secretly Yuuji’s favorite. They were extremely warm and lasted as long as Yuuji wanted. He knew Gojo would go crazy if he found out that Yuuji favored Nanami in something and not the Infinity user. It was hard not to indulge in Nanami’s hugs, something that Yuuji realized was a privilege that no one else had. When Yuuji had first met the blonde, he had thought that Nanami hated Yuuji’s guts. In fact, it was the opposite. Nanami protected Yuuji with such ferocity that could scare the most powerful of beings. He always reminded Yuuji that fifteen is a child’s age, so he should act like one. He always said how it was an adult’s responsibility to put a child’s life above their own. He said this with such certainty that Yuuji nearly cried every time Nanami said it. Nanimi always prioritized Yuuji’s health and happiness above all else. For instance, after the failed mission to kill the curse with the patchwork face, Nanami had hugged Yuuji when he saw the teen breakdown and blame himself for the death of Junpei and the curse escaping. Ever since, Nanami allowed Yuuji to hug him without complaint. In fact, Nanami would wrap his arms around Yuuji and soothe them down his back. Each time, Yuuji would start crying into Nanami’s chest, resulting in the man humming to Yuuji until the boy felt better.

Gojo was incredibly protective of Yuuji, and the teen saw him as a silly older brother most of the time and a caring parent during quieter times. However, Nanami acted like an attentive father all the time, making it impossible for Yuuji to see him as anything but. Nobara and Megumi were his family as well. They both acted like older siblings that kept him out of danger or younger siblings that always squabbled with each other. Ijichi was caring in his own nervous way, reminding Yuuji of an uncle he’s always wanted but never had. Despite his over the top mannerisms, Yuuji adored Todo as well. Todo had taught him so much and taught him in a way that Yuuji’s thick-headed self could understand. It had taken a while, but Yuuji loved Choso and saw him as his older brother. Choso loved Yuuji as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Learning that both of them were Kenjaku’s biological children was strange, yet it only served to make their bond stronger. He also loved the second years, especially Yuta who had the most soothing voice Yuuji had ever heard. He had even been incredibly fond of Junpei, the boy who he failed to save. Still, the brief time spent with Junpei was full of so much laughter. Junpei’s bright smile was something Yuuji would never forget.

He loved them so much.

He had people that cared about him.

He had friends.

He had family.

He couldn’t imagine his life without them.

Yet he had to.

They were all dead.

They weren’t in his life anymore.

They would never be in his life ever again.

Yuuji let out a soft whimper as he tried to hide himself completely in Sukuna’s embrace. He wanted to be angry. He had every right to be angry at the monster before him. The monster who spared him instead of letting him see his loved ones again. Sukuna was horrible. He had committed such atrocities that were forever burned into Yuuji’s mind. Despite this, no anger came.

There was nothing left inside of Yuuji. He was numb. He was so tired . He didn’t want to fight anymore. There was no point in defending an empty world. There was no one to protect or help.

He just wanted to die already.

His grandpa had wanted him to die surrounded by loved ones. Those were his last words, and Yuuji had done everything he could to honor that request. Having and giving others a proper death became Yuuji’s strongest goals. It was what fueled him to continue on despite the cruel world he was living in. It was what kept a bright smile on his face and hope in his soul.

If Yuuji died now, he would have no loved ones to hold his hand or say comforting words on his deathbed. He would die alone . The one thing that Gramps begged him not to do. It was his last request. Gramps used his last breaths to tell Yuuji to help others and have people surrounding him when he died. Yuuji failed his grandpa. He couldn’t even honor his promise to his grandpa. He never thought he would fail in that of all things. Yuuji was supposed to do everything in his power to keep his promise. But he didn’t.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

The speed that Yuuji used to snap his head to look at Sukuna should have broken his neck. It was like the world had been flipped upside down. Left was right. Up was down. Hot was cold. And Sukuna had apologized .

Sukuna sighed, further surprising the teen. “I’m sorry. I can’t kill you, and I don’t fucking know why. I just can’t.” The curse’s words were soft and sounded defeated. His four crimson eyes stared at Yuuji with a maelstrom of emotions that the boy had no energy to decipher. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“You didn’t?” Yuuji wanted to rage at that. Out of all the times that Sukuna chooses to be merciful, it was when Yuuji wanted to die the most . He wanted to scream at Sukuna that the curse was lying and that Sukuna did mean to kill off the entire planet. All that Yuuji could manage was a whisper as numbness settled into his soul again.

“No. It was never in my plans to leave this planet devoid of life. I didn’t intend to touch anything outside of Japan either. Jujutsu sorcerers and curses only reside on this island, nowhere else. I had no reason nor want to exterminate all life on Earth.”

“Then why did you do it anyway?”

The emptiness that returned to Yuuji’s features and voice displeased Sukuna. Now that he had identified the guilt that had been suffocating him, Sukuna noticed how said guilt became heavier. “To put it simply, I lost control. Once my true form was regained, the amount of power I gained blinded me to everything besides total destruction.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what exactly?” Sukuna responded carefully. He knew that saying yes to such a vague question would be misleading, and Sukuna had no need to lie.

Yuuji went quiet for a long, long time. His expression remained empty and his dull golden eyes held no hints of what the teen was thinking. A shivering breath left the pink-haired boy and he buried his head into Sukuna’s torso again. “Do you regret not getting to try ice cream?”

At first, the curse was incredibly confused by the odd and seemingly random question. It took him several long moments before a memory resurfaced with such force that Sukuna could not even try to repress it.

Hey, Suku!

Don’t ever call me that again, brat. The fuck do you want?

I have a question for you, and it’s really really important that you answer it!

Hm. It is quite bold of you to assume that you are worthy enough for your brainless questions to be dignified with a response.

That’s a shame. Well, I’ll go ask Gojo-san because he’ll definitely answer my question ‘cause you-

Ask me the damn question this instant, brat. Don’t you dare call for that insufferable sorcerer.

Okay, I won’t. Now, I have to know, O Lord Sukuna. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

What.

C’mon! I know you have one!

Brat, I have no knowledge of this ‘ice cream’ you are referring to.

Oh yeah, you’re old as shit. Well, ice cream is this really awesome dessert that comes in a lot of flavors like chocolate or vanilla. It’s cold and really creamy and perfect for when it’s hot out. The flavors are usually sweet, but I have tried some weird ones that aren’t. I think I tried one that tasted like chicken-

Why are you talking to me about such nonsense?

Because I’m bored, that’s why! We have been in this basement for weeks, and I don’t have my phone anymore!

Tsk. Of course your pathetic mind would grow restless after such a short amount of time.

Hey! You’re still responding to me, so that must mean that you’re bored too.

I am not.

You are. You’ve been much more chatty ever since we started living in the school’s basement. I don’t think there is any harm in learning more about each other.

I will never cease to be amazed by your stupidity, brat.

Rude. BUT! You still haven’t answered my question!

I do not care about such pointless things! I am an immortal curse, food is not necessary for me and hasn’t been for thousands of years!

So you didn’t have any form of dessert when you were alive?

The era that I was born into was horrid. I have no fond memories of it, and if there were any confectionaries, I do not remember the taste of it.

Maybe I can help! What if I make or buy a dessert, and you summon one of your mouth things to eat it!

That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.

You didn’t say no.

……

Yes! I’ll ask Gojo to purchase some ice cream to start off! I bet you are going to get such a bad brain freeze! It’s pretty painful, you know. I think you won’t be able to handle the coldness.

How dare you assume such a thing?! I am not weak! I can handle temperatures so low that it would make your very blood turn to ice!

You’re on!

They would never have that ice cream competition or any other fond talks for that matter. The months they spent in the basement were the most peaceful moments Sukuna had ever experienced. It was shocking how easy those memories faded away once Sukuna gained more and more of his fingers back. Remembering those many talks the two had made Sukuna squeeze Yuuji tighter.

Yuuji hated being alone, so he enjoyed asking Sukuna questions about his life and interests. In the curse’s mind, this was Yuuji’s way of trying to get information to use against Sukuna. When he realized that the simple questions Yuuji asked held no information that would benefit the sorcerers, he interacted with the boy often. No one had ever shown such an interest in Sukuna’s life before. Uraume was more of a loyal assistant than a friend. They never asked him about what his favorite color was or what his favorite type of flower to smell was. Yuuji had done so with such enthusiasm that Sukuna found himself indulging the teen with endless answers. When Yuuji was not asking him a random question, Yuuji would cook for himself and Gojo. The teen was an incredibly talented cook, receiving constant compliments from Gojo and hums of approval from Sukuna. Yuuji always made large portions because of how much Gojo had to eat to sustain his bottomless pit of cursed energy. At the same time, Yuuji made so much so that he could give Sukuna a taste of the meals he created. It was a kind gesture that the curse never anticipated. He was introduced to the world of comforting cuisine and addictive junk food thanks to Yuuji.

At some point, Sukuna had started initiating conversations with Yuuji instead of waiting for the boy to say something. The curse found great joy in making Itadori burst out laughing in the middle of training with Gojo by telling a horrid joke. A majority of the curse’s satisfaction came from embarrassing Yuuji and catching the Six-Eyes sorcerer off guard. However, a small part of him felt a warmth whenever he would see Yuuji’s bright smile and joyful laughter.

It was as if leaving the basement made Sukuna’s fondness for the teen leave as well.

He had never reflected on their time in the basement until now. Sukuna found it easy to toss away the newly formed bond to focus back on his plans to destroy the jujutsu world and regain his full power. Because his plans had failed from his own forthcomings, Sukuna found himself feeling a sense of guilt that had not existed during any of his genocides or attacks.

All his efforts to be the King of Curses again were for naught. While his power and form were restored, the purpose of doing so was gone. He could not rule over subjects that were dead. He could not enjoy a world that was empty. The reason why he had kept holding onto the mortal realm was the hope of being reincarnated and returning to his rightful place as King of Curses. Not allowing himself to die caused Sukuna to be in a strange limbo for thousands of years. He had to spend so many centuries unable to feel the sun on his skin or have anyone but himself to talk to. Sukuna stayed in that horrid limbo, planning what he would do once he was reincarnated, for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to be alive . He had planned to spend the rest of his immortal life enjoying the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the forests, or even the softness of an animal's pelt whilst conquering his enemies.

Sukuna destroyed all that he was looking forward to. After everything that he had done to ensure that he would win, he still lost. The curse was left questioning everything that he had done, repeatedly asking himself if it was worth it or not. No concrete answer came, which was an answer in its own right. Throughout his many years of living, Sukuna had not experienced this amount of uncertainty or doubt in any of his plans. Although, all of his prior plans succeeded. This was the outlier, therefore, Sukuna’s reaction would be different as a result. This utter failure to execute his meticulously prepared plans left Sukuna’s entire being reeling.

He had lost.

He had finally lost.

It was a lie to say he had won. Sukuna was unfamiliar with the concept of losing. He had prided himself on his ability to come out on top no matter who his opponent was. Whenever he saw beings weaker than him, Sukuna felt so disgusted by them that he killed the pathetic creature without hesitation. The weak had no place in this world, in Sukuna’s world. Failure was one with the weak while victory was one with the strong.

Was Sukuna weak, now? The beliefs he had carried for centuries were being turned against him. The weak failed. Sukuna failed. Such a thought only served to further unsettle the curse. The path he had taken led to the death of Uraume, the death of wildlife, the death of all plant life, the death of humans and curses he was supposed to dictate, the death of sorcerers who were the only ones that could give him a worthwhile fight.

There were endless paths Sukuna could have taken, but he chose the one that would end in the most mayhem and death. An intrusive thought wormed its way to the forefront of Sukuna’s scattered min d. What if he did have that ice cream competition with Yuuji?

Once the thought appeared, it did not go away. Images of Yuuji laughing as Sukuna ruffles the teen’s hair. Images of Yuuji and Sukuna having a dramatic debate over who the best character was in a dumb movie franchise. Images of Yuuji hugging Sukuna only to reveal that he had covered the elder with flour. Images of Yuuji and Sukuna trying to push each other into a pool. The pure happiness and warmth the images emitted were so strong that Sukuna felt like he was looking into an alternate timeline that did not exist. Additionally, Sukuna felt like he was intruding on the memories of a real person despite the images being conjured by Sukuna’s own mind.

It was a path that could have existed if Sukuna had altered his plans. He would have simply planned to regain his body, nothing more. He would not have started a worldwide genocide. But what’s done is done. He could not alter the past.

“Sukuna?”

Said curse was broken out of his downward spiral by the boy he was conjuring joyful memories of. The ancient being felt the tiny arms clutching onto him release. Yuuji’s head was bowed, tear droplets staining the smooth sand beneath them. As tears continued to fall onto the sand, it became darker and heavier from the wetness. It was as if the tears were transferring their burden onto the pure white sand below. Itadori fell to his knees, arms hanging limply by his sides. Caught off guard, Sukuna stepped back. It felt like he was a grand tree looking down onto a mere ant. Seeing the boy on the ground while Sukuna’s monstrous form towered over him made his gut twist unpleasantly. In the past, Sukuna had always seen Yuuji’s smaller stature as pathetic. He reveled in the way he loomed over the teen, whether on his throne upon hundreds of skulls or in his larger form. Such feelings did not arise, which frustrated Sukuna slightly. Unfamiliar feelings and thoughts were infecting Sukuna’s cruel nature. It felt as if his very soul, which was supposed to be colder than the dead, was being enveloped in warmth. Warmth that surely didn’t belong to him. Nevertheless, it seemed like Sukuna had no way to reverse the softening of his whole being. The King of Curses knelt on one knee before the boy. While the curse was still much taller than the boy, the sentiment was still present. Kneeling before a sorcerer, a human, a child. It was something no one had managed to achieve from the King of Curses. Sukuna put one of his large, clawed hands on the boy’s impossibly tiny shoulder. “Yuuji.”

Yuuji’s lips wobbled when he heard the curse say his name for the first time. To make things worse, the ancient being said it was such concern that Yuuji wanted to rage and wail at the same time. The warmth of Sukuna’s hand was a stabilizing presence instead of a threatening one. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Itadori desperately wanted the warmth to come from anyone else besides Sukuna. It should be Gojo’s voice, soft with worry, asking him if Yuuji is okay and saying ‘Sensei’s here, Yuuji-kun. I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re with the strongest after all! Don’t worry, okay? You will always be safe with me.’ While Gojo reassures Yuuji, Nanami would envelop the boy in his comforting embrace without saying a word, simply humming a soothing tune and rubbing the poor boy’s trembling back. Megumi and Nobara would practically force Yuuji to take a day off, showing Yuuji how much they cared for him with Nobara painting his nails and Megumi cooking the chicken meatballs Yuuji had taught him so he’d have something warm to eat. Eventually, he would try to sleep, and Choso would enter his room, kneeling next to Yuuji’s bed, and begin to gently card his fingers through Yuuji’s hair to make Itadori’s tossing and turning cease.

That’s what his family would do if they saw Yuuji in his current state. They would show him how much they adored him, letting them reciprocate the love Yuuji so often expressed to them. It would have been so nice. Yuuji would have the void in his heart be filled with the love of the people who meant the most to him. He wouldn’t be alone anymore.

“Yuuji.”

But he was . Fuck, he was alone . He was really alone. Yuuji bit his lip harshly to prevent any more sobs from escaping. All the strength in his limbs had gone, his once unwaverable will to keep going had been ruthlessly shattered as the reality of the situation settled in. Once he saw Gojo and Megumi’s corpses, his will to live died with them. The steady weight of Sukuna’s clawed hand was offering comfort that his pitiful body accepted. He did not have the strength to shove the curse’s hand off or lift his head to glare at the monster. Another hand went in his hair, smoothing his messy hair with soothing strokes. The void within him grew bigger. Choso was supposed to do that. Not him. Not him. NOT. HIM.

“I want to leave…” Yuuji murmured with his broken voice. “Please…”

“I know, Yuuji.” Sukuna felt pain surge through him that was more agonizing than any other injuries the curse had ever experienced. “I know.

“ Please . I want to go. I want to leave! I want to see G-gojo-san and Megumi-mi and No-Nobara and N-N-Nanamin! I want my brothers back! Ch-Choso a-and and Todo a-and Yuta! I want to be with them , Sukuna! Please! I don’t care what you do, just let me die!” Yuuji’s lip split from the amount of force the boy was using to restrain himself. Blood pooled from the deep wound, but Yuuji did not stop with his frantic pleas. “I miss them, Sukuna! I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with them! Let me be with them ! PLEASE!” His last pleas had become shrill as Yuuji’s pleading intensified, his voice cracking from the strain.

The pain within Sukuna was indescribable. Said pain should not exist, but it did. It felt like the pure agony that a father felt for their sick child, unable to help their little one feel better. The hopelessness as the child’s pain grows, and the father has no way of soothing the precious child. The fury the father feels as his child is seen as a lost cause, tossed aside as other sick children are prioritized by parents that can pay better. The father is incredibly young and stands outside the medical hut helplessly. The desperation the father has to heal his ill child, who grows weaker as his pain grows stronger. The horror of seeing his child wail about how much it hurts and how he wants it to stop. The emptiness the young father feels once he feels the sunshine his child emitted fade away. The pure torture the father feels as the healers he travels days to see state that the light of his life, his baby boy, his little tiger was already dead.

‘I’m sorry, Ryomen-san. He has been dead for days. There is nothing we can do.’

‘We know the grief you feel is immense, Ryomen-san, this plague has been hitting the entire valley quite hard.’

‘Ryomen-san, you must let go! That child is infected. We must burn it with the others!’

‘Yuuji is gone, Ryomen!’

Those memories were not his. They couldn’t be his. It should be impossible. Sukuna’s human life was nothing but a blur. He could not remember a single thing besides his last deeds and execution. What came before did not matter in his quest for power. His past was insignificant.

He felt Yuuji lean into his hand that had been stroking his hair unconsciously. Sukuna had not realized he had done such an action. The boy had gone silent again. Somehow, Yuuji’s silence had a sense of finality to it. It was as if the shattered pieces of Yuuji had been further shattered until it had turned into dust. Dust that was blown away by the breeze of the beach, becoming one with the countless grains of white sand.

Sukuna decided to ignore the calamity within his mind and soul. He stopped kneeling to sit on the sand, placing Yuuji on his lap. The boy’s smallness continued to shock the god-like curse. There were no more vengeful, sadistic thoughts. He didn’t want to use the boy’s vulnerability against him. He didn’t want to harm the boy anymore. The defeat Sukuna had experienced was immense. Once the curse accepted his loss and banished any more violent desires, he felt a strong wave of pure adoration and regret for the broken teen in his arms. The affection he had for Yuuji was so familiar to Sukuna despite the curse never experiencing such an emotion. He often ridiculed the behavior of humans. Deeming their emotions and companionships as pathetic. For the umpteenth time, Sukuna’s own beliefs had turned on him.

Despite seeing himself as above all other beings, Sukuna still experienced the very emotions he had despised. Humans were not supposed to turn into curses the way Sukuna did. Perhaps this was his punishment for going against the rules of nature. The human self he had once forgotten was now returning with a vengeance.

Yuuji’s form was limp for the most part. The only proof that he had not died were his shaky breaths against the curse’s kimono. With his soul being pulled in opposing directions, Sukuna was at a loss of what to do with the boy. He couldn’t bring himself to kill him, yet he also knew how horrid it would be to live on this desolate planet. Sukuna hated both options.

Sukuna could make a third one. There had to be a way for him to start over and undo what he had done. He could create a new world that would not end up the way this world did. Briefly, the images of Sukuna and Yuuji laughing and smiling popped up again. That feeling of the images being memories from a different world. A different time.

In this form, Sukuna had seemingly endless powers. He was a god. As a god, Sukuna should be able to make a new world, a new timeline. If he couldn’t, then Sukuna and Yuuji would be stuck on this miserable planet with no hope of happiness. Happiness. That is what he wanted for Yuuji.

He had to try

“Yuuji. I never got to answer your question earlier. My apologies.” Sukuna kept his voice low since it felt like he would spook the poor boy otherwise. Yuuji did flinch at the curse’s sudden words, but he quickly went back to being limp and motionless. Although, Yuuji did give the slightest nuzzle into Sukuna’s torso, the only source of warmth the boy had left. He used his lower set of hands to hold Yuuji and the upper set to card through his hair and rub his back. As gently as he could, Sukuna placed his chin upon Yuji’s hair. It felt necessary to have as much contact as possible since this would be the last time this world would exist if everything goes right. “I do regret not getting to have that competition with those frozen confectioneries with you.”

Yuuji stiffened the second the words left the curse’s mouth. As Sukuna’s answer was processed in Yuuji’s tired mind, the teen let out a quiet, amused huff. A few tears slipped down Itadori’s already stained cheeks. However, the smallest of smiles made its way onto Yuuji’s scarred face.

“I have lost this battle that I started. I am not delusional enough to say I experience any degree of victory. All my efforts were wasted, and I have only myself to blame. Now, I find myself doubting my prior actions, wondering what could have been if I hadn’t been so power-hungry.” Sukuna felt a twisted grimace appear upon his features at the admittance. “I felt such a sense of contentment during my time spent with you in that dreaded basement. I have not experienced such serenity ever since. I should have realized how much more fulfilling my existence felt when I was not focused on violence and cruelty. That contentment, that serenity, that fulfillment was all due to you, Yuuji. You are truly an incredible boy, and I am ashamed that I never told you that. I am ashamed that it took the destruction of the entire world to see your extraordinary self. The amount of strength and kindness you possess are unmatched compared to the many, many beings I have encountered these past several centuries.”

The more Sukuna spoke, the easier it became for him to speak of his regrets and the apparent love he had always had for the small boy. Sukuna saw the small smile on Yuuji’s face wobble in the attempt to contain his tears. It did not work as more tears fell, but Yuuji’s smile grew a bit wider. Sukuna paused for a moment, considering how he should go about explaining his plan to Yuuji. When he glanced down at the boy, the answer came to him. “I have failed, but I may be able to try again. However, I will not use this chance to redo what I have done. Quite the opposite actually, I want to return this world back to its former glory. I do not think I can make our world the same as it used to be. There will be fundamental changes to everyone because there are always consequences with meddling with time.” He felt Yuuji gasp sharply, starting to shift beneath him. Sukuna lifted his head off the boy, only to be met with Yuuji’s astonished gaze. The once dull color of his eyes brightened, returning to its golden glow. A genuine smile appeared across Sukuna’s lips for the first time in centuries. “If all goes well, you will have a new life with your friends and family again. I can’t guarantee how your new life will go, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are protected and cared for.”

Yuuji’s smile grew even more until it was the same bright smile the teen was known for having. Hope had returned from its once extinguished flames. There was a hint of confusion in Yuuji’s eyes, but it was overshadowed by the sheer joy of possibly getting to be with his loved ones again. Nevertheless, Sukuna noticed the teen’s bewilderment. “I am well aware that such actions are out of character for me. However, I find my soul softening as memories and feelings I had once forgotten resurfaced. I don’t know when in this conversation that this change occurred, but I know I do not feel like the curse I was previously. There are various reasons for this, but I don’t wish to burden you with such information.” Sukuna could feel his power beginning to fade. It was an infinitesimal amount, something that would have almost gone undetected if Sukuna were any less aware. But he was aware. The curse took the feeling as a warning that he was running out of time. If he waited any longer, he would not be able to reform the foundations of time.

“The window of opportunity I have to make such a fundamental change seems to be growing smaller by the minute. It was foolish of me to believe that my true form would last. I am supposed to be dead, afterall.” Sukuna placed a hand on the center of his chest. His soul was both changing its shape and growing weaker. It began to resemble the pitiful souls humans were supposed to have. His time as a curse was truly ending. “We must act quickly if this plan will work.”

To create a new world was completely different than summoning a domain. However, the base concept was similar. Sukuna must create something from nothing. His main priority was to give Yuuji the lives he had lost. His Malevolent Shrine was a physical manifestation of Sukuna’s soul, it became the primary place where Sukuna resided. Each detail that his innate domain had was due to Sukuna’s will and his will alone. If he were to create a world that prioritized Yuuji’s happiness above all else, he would need the boy’s soul. Only Yuuji’s own soul would know what would make the boy feel the safest and happiest. Taking his soul would come at a hefty price.

In other words, he would have to kill Yuuji.

It was laughable that the time where he needed to kill the boy the most was the only time where Sukuna didn’t want to kill him. However, he knew there was no other way. If there was another option, Sukuna did not have enough time to think of one. He released Yuuji from his tight hold. The boy knelt on his knees on the ground, his hands on his laps. Unlike last time, Yuuji did not tremble, and he was smiling. The words Sukuna wanted to say were trapped in his throat. His left hand on his upper set of arms was raised in the air. He felt paralyzed.

Itadori placed his head on Sukuna’s palm. He looked at Sukuna with nothing but gentle acceptance in his golden eyes. The teen nodded at the frozen curse.

Yuuji already knew.

Gathering his fading resolve, Sukuna steeled himself and pressed his palm firmly into the boy’s forehead. He tried to show as much reassurance in his features as possible. The hope of a second chance was too powerful for the both of them to ignore. Sukuna let out a breath and closed his eyes, not knowing that Yuuji had done the same.

There was a moment of silence between them. Yuuji was completely relaxed, looking more at peace than Sukuna had ever seen him before. Sukuna breathed deeply and readied his cursed energy.

With one strike, Itadori Yuuji was no more.

Sukuna caught the boy’s lifeless body. A hole was in the center of his forehead, the wound pouring out rivulets of blood. The teen’s tortured life had met a painless death. Even after killing the boy who had made such an unexpected impact on Sukuna’s damned existence, Sukuna had to do something worse. He needed the teen’s soul, not his body.

Flames began to envelope the corpse of the child Sukuna had made suffer. Unlike his other times setting his enemies ablaze, there were no screams of pain from his victims or laughter from Sukuna. The flames took on the peach color of Yuuji’s hair. Each flick of the flames were caresses to the boy’s scarred body. His flesh wasn’t being melted off in the gruesome way Sukuna was familiar with. Itadori’s limp form simply turned into small sparks of pink light. The brightness the boy was known for was now more literal than metaphorical. Sukuna could not help but smile at that.

Eventually the only thing left of Yuuji were the bright pink sparks. They were formed into a large sphere with several tendrils reaching out. Each tendril had peculiar characteristics. The sparks had taken on different shapes and colors for each item found on a tendril. For instance, one had roses while another had wisps of shadows, both were curled around their chosen tendril in a protective embrace. There was a tendril that was wrapped in spotted fabric. There was a tendril that had blood shielding its entirety along with a purple scarf. The brightest of all the tendrils was one that had black and white rings with blue spots. The rings interlocked with one another, resembling an unbreakable shield. There were many more tendrils that had the oddest of items wrapped around them. A human-shaped earthworm, a pair of glasses with purple frames, a miniature pachinko machine, and even a miniature set of hands that seemed to be clapping.

This boy was truly loved by many. Sukuna could not recognize who each corresponding tendril represented. He had a suspicion that the one with the interlocking rings with eyes belonged to the Six-Eyes sorcerer and the one with the shadow wisps belonged to the Ten-Shadow user. Even though he did know the names of those particular sorcerers, he felt like he was not allowed to speak their names anymore. No matter, he would not need to for this plan to work.

As gently as he could, Sukuna grabbed the soul. Yuuji’s soul was so fragile, and Sukuna was not accustomed to handling such delicate things. Warmth welcomed him the moment he touched the soul. Some of the tendrils backed away while others were in a striking position one would see on an aggressive snake. With his current power level, Sukuna knew he could conjure things with a wave of his hand. Additionally, he had summoned whatever he had wanted in his innate domain. Willing a new world to manifest with the help of Yuuji’s soul was the only method Sukuna had thought of. It had to work. It had to.

“Please fucking work.” Sukuna murmured to himself. He sunk his hands deeper into the soul, going at a pace that a tortoise could rival. When he felt like he had a stable hold on such an intangible object, he made his bottom set of hands begin to stretch the soul. He gathered cursed energy into each of his four palms. The soul brightened at the additional energy, strength returning to its wavering form. Carefully, Sukuna withdrew his upper set of hands. A crimson outline of Sukuna’s cursed energy surrounded the curse. He lifted the soul into the air.

The sunny beach turned dark and the waves stilled. Yuuji’s soul was bright enough that the sun no longer needed to light the world. Sukuna noticed the darkening of the sky and the stillness of the air. Despite killing all life on Earth, Sukuna still felt like he was being watched. It felt ironic that Yuuji made the world pause instead of Sukuna. What remained of nature all stopped to observe the boy’s soul. Sukuna closed his eyes to concentrate on the boy’s now pulsating soul. He breathed deeply several times until the curse entered a meditative state.

A calmness enveloped Sukuna’s mind, allowing all other thoughts and distractions to fade away. His arms copied the waves of the sea, back and forth and left and right. Each movement caused Yuuji’s soul to grow wider and taller. After copying the motions of the ocean, Sukuna began to have his arms resemble the twirling winds. His lower pair of arms curled upwards to the right and his upperset curled upwards to the left. He would rotate which set of arms moved left or right. This caused the soul to swirl until it resembled a portal. The curse stopped his circular movements once he realized Yuuji’s soul was the appropriate shape. It was time. He brought forth every ounce of power and will he had left. All he had to do was say what he wanted. That is how it always worked.

“Let this world restart. Let life return to its surface. The life I had taken away.” Once the last word left his mouth, Sukuna felt power drain from him rapidly. Unbeknownst to Sukuna, whose eyes were still closed, the markings along his body started to fade.

“Let Yuuji be happy. Let him be protected. Let him be loved in the way he deserves.” Sukuna felt another wave of weakness overcome him. His knees began to slightly tremble. He bit his lip as he forced himself to continue. “I want to be there for him, but I am aware that I have done nothing to deserve a second chance. Let his family and friends have this new chance at life.”

Behind Sukuna, six voids of varying colors manifested. From left to right, the colors of the voids were blue, yellow, black, orange, purple, and red. Mangled limbs began to emerge along with strange clicks and hisses emitting from the voids. Sukuna chose to ignore the noises as he pushed through the weakness spreading to each inch of his body. His bottom pair of eyes disappeared completely. The tattoos he had had ever since he became a curse were vanishing in quick succession. Only the tattoos on his wrists and jawline remained.

“Let everything be born anew. Let a new timeline emerge while this one is forgotten.”

Sukuna’s lower set of arms disappeared. The portal grew bigger, a myriad of colors spread from the center of the soul. Each entity from the voids had now fully escaped.

“Let this world be fit for Yuuji.” The entities entered the portal without hesitation.

Sukuna’s tattoos on his wrists and jaw disappeared.

“Throughout hell and earth, I alone am the disgraced one.” Sukuna had a tiny smirk at his twisting of the infinity-user’s infamous phrase. The trembling that had started in his knees had spread to all areas of his body. He was gasping for breath and sweating buckets as he used the last of his cursed energy into manifesting everything he had requested. The world went dark for the curse as his godly form returned to the body of a human.

No longer was he a towering curse with power that can defeat billions, he was simply an average sized man that lacked extra body parts and tattoos.

And thus, the King of Curses was gone.

Ryomen stood before the portal blazing with light. He opened his honey colored eyes to look fondly into the manifestation of his son’s being. It emitted the warmth his boy held for everyone around him. The environment around the young man started to decay. Violent gusts of winds were pushing him forward, towards the odd portal. Ryomen was never one to ignore a hint, so he walked towards it with a fond smile.

“I can’t wait to see you again, my little tiger.”

Tags

48 notes View Post

water9826

1 year ago

UPDATE!

The next update is taking longer than anticipated, but it’s coming! Work and health have made it really difficult to write. I’ve written the chapter about four times, and I’ve just now found something I’m sticking to. Since the wait is so long, I’ll make sure this chapter is of high quality. These chapters are always super long so it takes much more effort to write than my other fics. I really hope the wait will be worth it once it’s finished.

Thank you for your patience and I’m so sorry for the additional wait :,)

Tags

jjk jujutsu kaisen jjk fic Cursed Guardians Fic CG fic writing tings

6 notes View Post

water9826

1 year ago

Cursed Guardian Concept Designs: Infinite

Cursed Soul Gojo! Here are some of the designs I ran through. I cant draw for shit but hopefully this helps visualize our bird better.

The first image (top left) is my first idea of his design. It was in my head before I even finished the first chapter of the story. The concept of his mask, beak, and feathers stayed. He no longer has a humanish body.

Second design (top right) Tried drawing his with the feathers but it looks terrible. I cant draw fur or feathers properly, so please look at it as placement marks. I tried giving him a longer neck and wrapping it in his mask. Didn’t have enough room to draw his tail so it just became a blob. It’s what surrounds you if you dare look at our boy Yuuji the wrong way.

Third design (bottom) Looked up eastern dragon references and birds. Couldn’t draw the talons whatsoever :,) I tried. Finally got around to showing off his segmented body tho! His feathers are still there but i didn’t draw them in his fur. I decided to try added the bandages from JJK 0 instead of making it all his black mask but I’m unsure which I prefer.

Things to help imagine him! (Guide for me to keep his design consistent ^^)

- Infinite is based on an eastern dragon and predatory birds (mostly harpy eagles

- Infinite’s tail is made entirely out of smoke (not feathers anymore)

- Infinite’s mask covers his eyes and he has it wrapped around his neck

- Infinite can appear as a fog of eyes instead of fully manifesting

- Infinite’s beak is hooked and serrated

- Infinite’s body is segmented not connected

- Infinite is as loud as a bird and sounds like one! Aka he is the most annoying