Chapter Text
Sukuna had sensed the intrusion the moment snow crunched underneath the foot of an unknown party’s arrival.
The curse had been listening to Uraume’s report on the recent events of the world, such as the movement of sorcerers, curses, and people alike about his land. Such dull, but necessary measures were necessary to avoid complacency after acquiring a location to carve out his name into the earth. The estate had taken some time to get used to, but enough time had passed for Sukuna to seemingly settle within its halls that one could easily mistake the curse for having always been tied to this place. An outsider most certainly could, but for Sukuna, he could never truly desire to fall into the patterns of ruling obligation to the peons that were scattered under his name and the lethargy which came attached to the station he now held.
His very being demanded he kept himself occupied. Paradoxically, continuous interaction with the very world he loathed was necessary, even if less trouble and even fewer headaches were to stem from disregarding it entirely. The muscles in his arms desired battle. The mouth above his stomach whined for the taste of blood. Those days were far from behind him, yet that did not stop his mind from focusing on the acquisition of knowledge and appreciating the finer details of conversation when a tolerable party presented themselves to his domain.
At the very moment Sukuna felt the breach of his domain, he paused Uraume’s words and looked out across the courtyard, knowing somewhere beyond the main building there was an intruder lurking about. A sorcerer, perhaps? At the very least a fool, for they not only came uninvited, but alone to parley with the King of curses.
“Uraume.” There was little need to elaborate, as the curse’s anticipation had lowered his eyes in the direction that caught his interest.
“Shall I dispose of them, Sukuna-sama? I sense little cursed energy, hardly anything worth boasting about.”
“Yet, if I recall, I had constructed a barrier to keep out such weaklings.” A curtain of near-invisible cursed energy had been draped over the far reaches of the estate. If sorcerers wished to die by his hand, they would have to possess enough power to at least make the encounter worth his while.
The one still hovering around his perimeter possessed close to none.
“You had.”
“Capture them. I wish to see who this unfortunate soul is with my own eyes.”
“Understood.” Uraume accepted their orders. Ever the respectful one, they bowed their head before their departure, wasting no time rising to their feet and scurrying off to complete the task bestowed upon them.
It was only when Uraume had disappeared completely from his sight did Sukuna find himself giving in to his impatience quicker than he’d care to admit. The last few days had been excruciatingly uneventful, so naturally, his tolerance for setting up the theatrics of a meeting within the room which held his throne had diminished in the seconds it took to consider the thought in full.
Instead, Sukuna sauntered after the invisible trail of Uraume’s steps, deciding to meet with his servant just above the stairs they’d take on their way inside. With a pair of arms crossed and his lower set at his sides, Sukuna waited underneath the open shoji screen for Uraume’s return. He had anticipated Uraume to return with a human draped in black garbs in tow, hands bound behind their back and feet forced into keeping up with their demands to continue trudging through the snow… But what he saw was anything but.
Uraume had returned with a face both crossed and confused while they tugged along the strangest person behind them. One who appeared to be clutching Uraume tighter than the servant was supposed to be holding onto him. A young man whose appearance held hints of youth around the edges— Barely beyond a simple boy then. Yet referring to him as such would not be inaccurate.
Sukuna had already resigned himself to dealing with a sorcerer on this day, but now he found his stance being reconsidered as he attempted to understand the shivering body at Uraume’s side.
Said body was adorned with the obtrusive colors of spring where they did not belong. A soft, bright green covered him most, but it was the painting of cherry blossoms scattered along the fabric which matched the boy’s short unruly hair which had been enough for Sukuna to pause. He did not recognize this style of robe in the way it was folded and cut, making it unlikely that this intruder was from the nearby lands. As if the shivering from such thin cuts of cloth wasn’t already an indicator to Sukuna that this boy was not prepared for the harsh winter that had been laid upon them.
Who in their right mind walked across the snow in getas when they were clearly suffering from the cold?
The boy’s attention was on Uraume during their approach. What Sukuna had first thought were hushed pleas became repeated whispers of apology and gratitude for whatever misconception had taken root in his mind. Only when they reached a couple paces from the steps did Uraume stop to address Sukuna’s presence, prompting the boy still in their clutches to turn and face the Lord of the land he was intruding upon.
Wide disks of vibrant gold met polished silver. Despite his shivering, the boy was able to hold himself still the moment their eyes met. He stared, almost in a daze, looking first at the estate in front of him in its entirety before honing his attention where it should have been at the start. Then, perplexingly, the boy brandished his flushed cheeks in the form of a sheepish grin.
“I-I’m s-sorry…”
Sukuna could not fathom the audacity this boy —this intruder— had to smile, and directly at him no less?
Remaining silent, Sukuna glared at the pair before shifting a more welcoming gaze in Uraume’s direction. He then gestured for them to bring the boy inside, pulling back the shoji screens of the closest room which would be used to facilitate the interrogation to follow. A meager amount of fortune must have smiled on the intruder for this room to possess a brazier to be lit with the wave of the curse’s hand.
The force that drove Sukuna to do this was his own curiosity. Currently driven mad with questions whose answers he could not provide, the boy would have to fill in the gaps when he was more coherent. The prospect of sitting through a stuttered mouth of chattering teeth was far from ideal.
Additionally, as Uraume placed the boy across from Sukuna before taking their place between their master and the intruder to feed the fire situated in the room’s center, Sukuna took this opportunity to assess the boy further. What little energy he gave off was unlike any the curse felt before. While certain individuals cursed energy to possess unique properties of their own, there was no particular element that Sukuna could attribute to what he observed. The closest description he could settle on was uncannily familiar, but in which regard he could not say.
With his arms still crossed, Sukuna rested his other pair on his legs as he continued to look down on the boy who’d become easily distracted by the warmth he’d been provided. Such distraction ended the moment his eyes swerved back to the curse, doing his best to control the jolt through his body which led him to straighten his posture.
“How did you infiltrate my domain?”
Already vexed by the situation, Sukuna skipped past the waste of exchanging introductions to get to the most egregious offense made which required explanation.
The boy tensed at the question, eyes shifting toward the ground and his hands tightening their hold in his robes as his mind worked to come up with what should have been a straightforward answer. Sukuna wondered if he truly had the gall to attempt to provide him with a lie.
“I, uh…” A bead of visible sweat rolled down the back of the boy’s neck. He appeared as confused as his words, which did not bode well for him. “Walked, well stumbled, actually, and found… it?”
Stumbled in?
Was he taking the King of Curses for an idiot?
“That’s impossible. I’d closed the barrier surrounding my domain to prevent outsiders from ‘stumbling’ in. You don’t possess nearly enough cursed energy to have broken through, and even if you did, I would have been made known of a breach. Do not lie to me again.”
“But I’m not lying!” The boy— the brat —puffed up his cheeks, offended at the curse’s accusation. He appeared to act without consideration for the position he was in, raising his voice to double down on his previous claim. “I swear, I didn’t know someone was living out here, or else I would have taken a different route home—!”
“—Watch your tone!” Uraume snapped, matching the intruder’s volume and prompting Sukuna to shout above them both.
“Enough!”
Sukuna’s hand shot up in the air before he considered the action in its entirety. It would be all too easy to dismantle this intruder for his disrespect. The habit to be done with infuriating manners through this method had been ingrained over the years, but for now, the curse would push back against his instinct in favor of holding out a bit longer to gain the proper answer he sought.
With a grunt, the curse climbed to his feet. One look was all it took for the brat to swallow back his fear. Seeing it was the first proper response Sukuna had witnessed from him, he wondered if the intruder had finally accepted the severity of his situation.
“Uraume will take us to the path they found you on, and you will personally demonstrate to me how you ‘stumbled’ into a place few are permitted to tread.” Sukuna caught Uraume bowing in understanding from within his peripheral, but before they could speak their acknowledgment, the boy spoke first.
“Gladly!” The boy shed that newly cultivated fear as he jumped to his feet, daring to point a finger directly between Sukuna’s eyes. “Then you’ll have no choice but to believe me!”
No choice?
Sukuna scowled as he left the room, walking in the direction he’d witnessed Uraume returning from before slowing down just enough for his servant to pick up their pace and lead him the rest of the way. The curse would then cast a glance over his shoulder, surprised to find the boy in all his determined spirit trudging through the snow after them. His demeanor was a far cry from any trained sorcerer he’d come across. Sukuna’s suspicion leaned toward designating this an act, which if true, meant it would be wise for Sukuna to keep his guard up. Yet the same could be said if the act was genuine, as those who had the luxury to act as strange as this one meant they had the power which allowed them to get away with it.
Or he was simply a fool.
That was the answer Sukuna found most accurate, but he would not dismiss the others so readily.
It did not take long before the two sets of footprints converged into one. The point of this convergence was nothing short of a mess. What could first be evidence of a confrontation at an initial look was a lot more contained than any evidence of a fight he’d expected to find. The lack of scattered ice creations and any flares of cursed energy gave that away, but it also did not answer what happened between the two of them for Uraume to have easily dragged him back to the estate.
The snow was too disturbed to make out singular footprints or stances, and to make matters that more annoying, a light snow had fallen once again, thus filling in the very trail they were following. Eventually, the tracks belonging solely to the intruder would threaten to disappear as well, leaving even the brat confused as he looked around the trees and the vague outline of a path to continue their trek forward in search of proving his ‘truth.’
“Well?” Sukuna found the brat’s hesitation frustrating. Indecision allows a story to be spun in silence, something a liar would not need to do at a time like this. “Prove your honesty, brat.”
“Obviously, I came from this direction.” The strange intruder took the lead from here, faux confidence propelling him to meander forward until he committed to a single direction.
As they continued to walk, the brat would continue turning his craning his neck just enough to monitor the two following after him. There would never be a safe enough distance for him to run, thus making the whole act rather pointless.
While the path was long, it appeared to have had an end in the form of the lone torii situated on the farthest edge of his property. The vermilion paint was just as obtrusive as the brat’s attire underneath this winter backdrop, but for the sole reason of being impossible to miss. Regardless, the torii’s appearance had only perked the boy further, practically skipping toward the structure as if this object was the answer to all his problems.
Sukuna sensed nothing from it. No cursed energy had been poured into it. No seals or symbols had been etched into its pillars, so what made this torii elicit such a reaction was beyond him. Yet whatever came next was supposed to corroborate his story.
“Sukuna-sama, I truly doubt that one knows what he is doing.”
The lack of faith Uraume had in their whispers was not unjustified, but Sukuna had brushed off their concern as he watched the brat turn around and lower his eyes in their direction. Whatever ever right the brat thought he had to be agitated had apparently disregarded deference to those above him, but the fact that he waited for approval before stepping further was enough to let the childish act go.
Sukuna waved his hand for the intruder to dig his grave even deeper than it already was.
“As I said, I was on my way home when—”
And just like that, the brat was gone. In the blink of an eye, his form, his energy had practically vanished into nothing but air.
“He-He’s gone.” Uraume, still as ever, continued to blink their eyes to dissuade the surprise that had overtaken them.
Sukuna would have to admit that he was also taken back, though not to the same degree. Whatever this displacement was, he hadn’t witnessed anything like it. Especially not one that did not appear to draw on a remarkable amount of cursed energy at all to activate.
But just as the curse had sought to respond to his servant, the very same intruder who had gained their freedom had stepped back into view. The brat was proud of himself, hands resting on his hips as he beamed in delight over his showcase of ability.
“See?” The once-free intruder gestured to the general space around him, primarily waving a hand around the torii before coming into just how pleased with himself he was at proving the curse wrong. “I told you. I stumbled in.”
Sukuna did not care for that one bit.
Now aware that this inconceivable brat— a mere boy —had ‘stumbled’ into his domain in front of his very eyes was a direct mockery to the time and effort the curse had put into constructing the parameters of his barrier. Parameters this intruder should not have met nor broken, yet continued to cross over from whatever lay on the other side of that gate as he pleased.
This would not do at all.
Sukuna stomped forward, spooking the brat into fumbling back into nothingness before the curse could even reach him. Undeterred by his disappearance, Sukuna took to assessing the torii in front of him, reaching a cautious hand out in the hopes of pressing his own flaring cursed energy against whatever echoes of cursed energy were surely responsible for this occurrence. He’d thought it would be a simple matter to pursue the brat across this invisible veil, but he was proven wrong when his hand reached out and remained visible to his eyes. It had caught nothing. Not a single thread of energy to be tugged at with even just the very tips of his nails.
Odd.
Then again, if the ability stemmed from the other side… Somehow, the torii appeared paramount for this feat to occur or else the brat would have disappeared the moment he’d been caught. Thus, this structure shared the blame for the intruder’s continued ability to elude him.
“Sukuna-sama—!”
Sukuna had felt the air shift beside him, but only when Uraume pointed it out did he bother to pull himself from his thoughts to look. Unfortunately, this meant he’d miss whatever the intruder had done to garner Uraume’s concern.
“What did he do?”
“He poked his head through, showing how amused he was at our expense.” To hear Uraume sound so bitter would have Sukuna laugh if not for being included as a target of that brat’s antics.
A second later, and said brat had stepped out in view by Sukuna’s side. A growl escaped through Sukuna’s lips, but he composed himself just enough to continue their interrogation as though nothing was amiss.
“How are you doing that?”
“Trade secret.” The non-answer was all Sukuna was going to receive, as the brat rocked back and forth on his feet before changing the subject. “I think this is the part where you apologize to me.”
“Excuse me?”
What apology did Sukuna owe to an uninvited guest?
“For calling me a liar. Come on, I’m waiting.” It was as if the brat read his mind— No. This was a natural progression in conversation or even just a lucky guess. The curse, ironically, cursed himself just jumping to the former conclusion all too quickly. His caution would soon develop into paranoia if he was not careful.
“I—” Sukuna pinched the bridge of his nose, vocalizing his displeasure for the brat’s demand with a hefty sigh. Uraume followed suit, albeit not as loudly, offended on their master’s behalf. “I was quick to pass judgment.”
Sukuna would apologize where one was due given the circumstances.
“However,” That did not mean the curse would forgive and forget the initial reason for his disbelief in the intruder’s story. And as Sukuna looked down at the brat, he could see the internal celebration behind his eyes coming to a halt as the curse continued, “That does not excuse your trespassing.”
“Well, I—It was an accident—!”
Just as the brat began stuttering out the useless justification for Sukuna turning the other way to his appearance before him, a high-pitched series of chirps overtook the curse’s ears. Louder than any bird and sharing none of their cries, Sukuna was forced to endure this assault on his senses as he watched the boy scramble around in search of the cause.
Of course he was the cause.
A faint chuckle came from the brat as he revealed a thin, metal block from his sleeve. Reflective in what little light seeped through the clouds above, Sukuna had to squint his eyes to make out what strange symbols had appeared in the sliver of time he was given to understand what this object was before the brat held it out of sight, pressed something with his thumb and cursed as the noise finally ceased.
“Shit! It’s late—I have to go before he finds out I haven’t made it back yet!” That was the first hint of panic to flow through the brat’s words. Whatever he saw, whomever he was speaking to elicited enough fear to reel him back completely from the current situation he was in.
“Who? The sorcerer you serve?”
Who held the power to cause that much of a reaction when the King of Curses stood right beside him?
“Sorcerer? What? No!” The brat raised up his shaking hands, vehemently dismissing the assumption as his eyes flicked back and forth between the curse and the torii beside him. “Look, we’ll have to wrap this up some other time, yeah? So—BYE!”
Bye!?
Sukuna launched a hand to grab the brat before he sought to disappear again, caught off-guard by the speed at which he ducked out of the way. He’d missed even the sleeves of his garb, leaving Sukuna with nothing to show for it his effort and all the frustration in the world for not grabbing him the moment he reappeared.
Unlike the last time the brat had fled, there would be no immediate return. The world truly stilled at his absence, with the curse’s own breath filling in the silence that came with both his and Uraume’s need to process the events that had just transpired.
“Sukuna-sama, do you wish to see the torii destroyed?” Uraume spoke up first, putting Sukuna’s thoughts into words as they stepped forward to place their hand on the torii. “Before that bothersome Mononoke returns?”
Mononoke.
An interesting descriptor. As expected of them, Uraume had noticed just how odd the culmination of the intruder’s appearance and demeanor truly was. Their suggestion came from caution, preferring to avoid any more encounters they could not prepare when so little was known about the one crossing through their torii with ease.
But as enticing as it would be to take out his annoyance with the brat on the gate itself, there was enough reason to pause from acting too rashly.
“There is no need. As infuriating as all that was, I desire a proper explanation for who that was and how he was able to wiggle his way through my barriers.”
Maybe his initial guess had gone about this the wrong way? The brat and what little cursed energy he possessed did not feel the same as the sorcerers he’d fought before. Nor did he appear or act like one. To then use a torii to cross into his domain… their association as gateways to worlds unseen was not lost on him. Though, the curse was unwilling to humor that this being was in any way that of the divine.
“Speak to the village east of here, then to the scattered clusters of humans to the south.” Sukuna turned back to the estate, continuing their conversation as they made their return through the snow. The brat had made it clear their talk by the torii was not over, but that did not mean Sukuna would stand idly for who-knew-how-long awaiting his reappearance. “I wish to know every once of knowledge they possess pertaining to torii and the ones who cross through them. Describe the boy if you have to in case they may recognize his features. You have my permission to offer or threaten what you have to get these answers.”
“Understood, Sukuna-sama. I shall depart first thing in the morning.”
“I expect nothing less.”
Uraume and he went their separate ways when they reached the steps of the estate. They had expressed a desire to brew a fresh pot of tea, and he would not argue with accepting a warm cup for himself. However, a part of Sukuna had wished for something stronger. Sake would do rather nicely to soothe the curse’s mind after what he’d gone through.
With how strange the encounter was, if it wasn’t for Uraume being there to witness it alongside him, Sukuna may have had to question whether that brat had actually appeared or if he’d dreamt up the encounter. The image of the boy’s sheepish grin wouldn’t leave his mind, as the curse couldn’t recall that last time someone had looked at him that way. He’d been far too bright. And for the short amount of time he’d been in Sukuna’s presence, he managed to be painfully obnoxious— Almost like someone else the curse knew…
At least this one— whatever this ‘Mononoke’ was —had appeared interesting enough to warrant his attention.