Archive of Our Own

Yuji was dead. He had to be. He was missing a heart for crying out loud, and yet.

He was in Sukuna’s domain. He knew it was, from the suspicious pools of red and piles of skulls and the cage of his own ribs above them. It was the space Sukuna took up in the cradle of his chest, where his soulmate resided when he wasn’t in control.

His soulmate.

Sukuna.

The curse wasn’t anywhere near him, in fact Yuji was pretty certain that Sukuna wasn’t anywhere within his domain. 

He pushed against their bond, searching for the others presence and received only a gently push that told him to stay, told him to wait. 

The last thing he remembered was handing over control within the detention center, having found himself faced with something he had no hope of beating: a finger bearer. Then Sukuna had pulled him down here and gone to kill the special grade. 

Only, he wasn’t in the detention center anymore. Yuji could feel, although very muted, the vague sensation of wind on his skin. If he strained his ears he could vaguely hear… Sukuna’s voice. And… Fushiguro’s?

That… didn’t make any sense. Megumi was supposed to leave so Yuji could let Sukuna out without any worry of a fight breaking out. 

The thought of the two interacting without the barrier of Gojo-sensei made him nervous. His chest stirred with something uncomfortable and before he knew it, he found himself pushing against the curse’s presence more insistently. He needed to take control, he just knew it. 

As he did so, and felt the curse realize what it was he was doing, a wash of panic hit him along with Sukuna’s borderline frantic voice.

”Yuji, don’t-“

Too late.

When his eyes focused and sensation returned to him, there was blood on his lips, sticky and warm. Yuji had the insane thought that Sukuna had bitten something whilst he was in control, supported by the metallic taste in his mouth, but when he tried to swallow it down he found himself coughing and more of that crimson liquid dripping down his face and his… chest.

His chest hurt. 

“Sukuna… what?” He murmured, staring down at the hole where his heart should have been. 

“Itadori!” Fushiguro shouted from where he stood in front of him. Yuji hadn’t noticed him before, but he looked rough. Like he and the curse had in fact been fighting. But if that was true, there was no way Fushiguro had managed to get such a hit in. That meant this was…

”Sukuna? What did you do?” he whimpered. There was darkness at the edges of his vision. 

“Kuna, ‘m scared,” he whispered as he fell forwards and the world went black.

Yuji didn’t want to die. He really really didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to give up on his friends or getting stronger and he most definitely didn’t want to lose his soulmate. 

Then he wasn’t falling. He was caught by strong arms and it was so like their first meeting face to face that, for a moment he let himself relax. He wasn’t dead and even if he was, Sukuna was here with him. Even if Sukuna had… killed them. 

“You aren’t very good at playing the damsel in distress are you?” The curse rumbled.

Annoyance bubbled, and then it boiled, and as much as Yuji would have liked to curl into the curse and stay there because he had just gone through several very stressful things in short succession including losing a hand, some fingers and his heart, he wriggled to get some space between them.

”Sukuna, what the actual fuck was that,” he hissed.

”I needed control, full control, for a bit.”

”So you ripped out my heart?!”

”It seemed the most logical approach at the time. I did also fix your hands.”

”You ripped out my heart!”

Yuji pushed himself up to face the curse, only then realizing there were tears in his eyes. Not wanting to seem childish, he turned his face away and when the curse reached for him, he got up to move away from the throne. 

“…you killed me, for what? To have control? I gave that to you Kuna, you only need to ask.” 

He could hear the curse getting up, the clack of his zori on the skulls as he made his way over but Yuji stubbornly kept his back turned. 

“Yuji,” More shuffling, the curse reached for his shoulder as if to try and turn him by force. “Look at me.”

Yuji kept his back turned, curling his arms around himself in an attempt at comforting himself. 

“Darling, look at me.” Yuji refused.

There was a soft thump noise, like someone falling to their knees. 

Shocked, Yuji turned to find the curse doing just that. Kneeling. In front of Yuji. 

A gasp escaped his lips and he reached out his hands as if to pull the curse to his feet, but hesitated before he could touch the other. Sukuna took the opportunity to grasp his hands and press a kiss to the back of each one. Then, he rested his forehead against the back of Yuji’s hands, hiding his eyes as he spoke.

”Darling, I need you to listen to me. You don’t need to forgive me, I would not ask that of you, but I would like you to hear my reasoning even if it doesn’t yet make sense. I apologize for what I have done to you, I would never have put you in harms way if I could help it. Taking your heart was a mistake on my part. I sought a way to keep control should you judge my actions too extreme whilst keeping the pretense of them being only my actions for any onlookers.”

Yuji… wasn’t sure what that meant. 

“I needed time, to asses Fushiguro Megumis’ cursed technique, to see how likely he was to reach for his ultimatum. I went about it wrong, I am not too proud to admit that.” The curse tilted his head back to look Yuji in the eyes then and Yuji saw true guilt there, turning those scarlet depths glassy. 

“But this also gives me an opportunity, one I would be a fool not to take. Make a binding vow with me, a promise that allows me control for half an hour should I use a specific trigger word.” Yuj wasn’t so sure that was good idea but, well, the curse’s sincerity was startling and comforting in equal measure.

”Why would you need that when I can just give you control?” He asked. 

“Should you fall unconscious in a fight, it would give me the time to get you to safety. I would not harm those who did not deserve it. Agree and I will be held responsible for my actions should I break it.” The curse pressed his lips along Yuji’s palm then, flipping his hands around until Yuji brought them up to close the distance and cradle his face.

”Alright, I agree to your vow,” he murmured, “and I forgive you, for tearing out my heart.”

”Oh Yuji, you are far, far too good for me.”

“Enchain.” he hissed the word, trying to hold back on the waves of malice that threatened to leak out and drown his soulmate through their bond. 

Yuji was unconscious, his body slumped over, but Sukuna could feel his soul strirring restlessly against his own. He tried to soothe it, to offer his presence as comfort the way he would when the younger tossed and turned at night, plagued by nightmares. It seemed to work, somewhat, as he settled more firmly into the clutches of exhaustion. 

Finally, Sukuna could focus on their surroundings. 

The death painting had beaten their body badly, not enough to cause him any difficulty as he channeled reverse cursed energy to mend all that was broken, but enough that he was impressed Yuji hadn’t passed out sooner. 

He stood, slicking back his hair as he glanced around the train station his brat had been wandering through in search of his teacher. There was something about this whole set up, something that struck him as oddly familiar. There was a master mind here. One he knew. 

It seemed they were finally making their move.

And what a move it was, he thought. Sealing Gojo couldn’t have been an easy feat but it was obvious that anyone seeking anything in this modern era needed a way to work around those ever present six eyes. Or to eliminate them. 

“You can come out, I know you're there,” he called, digging his hands into the brats pockets and taking note of the wrecked uniform. 

Two girls, around Yuji’s age, and wearing what appeared to be school uniforms, crept out from around the corner. They were visibly shaking, one clutching some kind of cursed doll and the other held one of his fingers.

They were twins, he realized, noting the similarity between their faces, one blonde and the other brunette.

”Sukuna-sama,” one stuttered out, “There’s a … thing, wearing Geto-sama’s face. Kill it, please, and we’ll… we’ll give you your finger.” They hadn’t met his eyes, he could appreciate that he supposed, heads bowed and close together. 

He could guess what had taken over their… parent? Brother? Neither of those seemed like normal titles for whoever ‘Geto-sama’ was but he was aware of Kenjaku’s preference for male bodies and forms. 

“How presumptuous,” he cackled, watching the way they flinched and shuddered at the sound of his voice. 

“And you, curse, did you think I would not recognise your presence.”

A volcano headed curse came forward and Sukuna recognised the aura of his own fingers that clung to it. 

“Come to bribe me as well?” he chuckled before his face fell back to a bored expression. 

“Kneel.”

He didn’t need to repeat himself, his cursed energy too thick in the air. The girls dropped down in a split second, foreheads pressed to the floor whilst the curse lost the top of his. 

“Too good to kneel?” he said, stalking towards the curse that had only dropped to one knee. “Hand over my fingers, now.”

”Sukuna, take them,” the curse said, fumbling in its cloak for the bundle, “and join us, we seek to overthrow and replace the humans as the superior race-“ the curse’s outstretched hand hit the floor with a wet splat, the bundle of fingers landing in Sukuna’s outstretched hand. 

“I did not say to speak,” he spoke, bored already with the audacity of the other to demand anything of him. ”I will deal with you in a moment, until I do, you will stay there in silence. Speak and I will not hesitate to end your existence.”

He turned to the girls then, pleased to find that they hadn’t moved other than to link their hands. His finger lay on the floor in front of them and as he bent to pick it up he heard one of their shaking, pleading voices.

”Please, Sukuna-sama, kill it.”

Sukuna sighed, “Alright, our goals seem to be aligned for the moment, I’ll kill the parasite. I’ve been meaning to for a while as it is.”

”…you will?” They whimpered. 

“Sure, now get out of my sight.” 

They were on their feet in seconds, scampering away as fast as they could in the opposite direction. Not that Sukuna could blame them. He really was going soft, huh. 

With that he began methodically swallowing down the fingers he had been presented with, five of them, putting him at fifteen in total. 

“Now,” he said, rounding on the curse, “what should I do about you?”

As the curse, an unfortunately weak thing, burned away he stood and pondered what to do about his little… problem. 

Kenjaku was undoubtedly related to Yuji in some way, their deal made that obvious, but just how was a mystery. He doubted his soulmate would know, the brat seemed to have very little knowledge of his own parentage, let alone any creepy men that hung around with stitches on their foreheads. 

Oh well. 

Just as he was about to turn away, to track down whichever of the brat’s allies he could so that he could ensure Yuji was somewhat safe upon reemerging, and to hopefully receive more news on the state of the dammed idiot six eyes. (He was aware of the hypocrisy, but he had gotten sealed on purpose, dammit)

A figure approached. 

“Sukuna-sama,” they spoke and he was hit with a wonderful wave of nostalgia.

”Uraume?!” He said, delighted by the sight of the androgynous figure in their monks robes, bowing in that perfect way of theirs.

”Long time no see,” they said, with a hint of smugness breaking through their cool demeanor. 

“What are you doing here?” He crowed, he hadn’t thought they had survived, let alone reincarnated into the modern era alongside him. 

“I sensed your emergence, and came to offer my services. If you need, I can help you to suppress your vessel so that you may remain-“

”No.” He cut them off before they could finish, a wash of anger rushing through him. “I will not be suppressing him. There’s no need.”

”My lord?” They questioned, seemingly lost by his sudden protectiveness. He supposed it was fair, given his history. 

“I’ll explain it later, for now, I need to know where that brain eating parasite is. We have things to discuss.”

”Kenjaku is currently inhabiting a curse user named Geto Suguru’s body. They are in possession of the prison realm in which they have sealed Gojo Satoru.” They paused, then returned to their neat run down of the situation, “I do not know where they currently are but I can find them, I’m sure of it.”

”It’s alright, I’m perfectly capable of tracking them down myself. Now, go.”

”Sukuna-sama?”

”The brain will be expecting you back, will they not, I assume you’ve been working with them.” He said, tone bored as he made a vague shooing motion. “I’ll find my way there, there are a few thing I need to do in the meantime.” 

With that, they nodded their head and slunk off into the shadows of his destruction. 

Sukuna stretched, contemplating the scene in front of him. Yuji wasn’t going to be happy to see what he had done, destroying several (probably) unoccupied buildings in his largely one sided fight with the volcano curse. 

He moved on, strolling through the streets of Shibuya, enjoying the freedom of the night air not limited to Yuji’s dorm room or the roofs of the school. Until he came upon one of Yuji’s classmates, the black haired boy. Fushiguro Megumi. 

The kid looked to be on his last legs, standing in front of some small fry, raising his fists and chanting. 

There was no way he was actually going to… oh he actually was. Bloody hell. 

Sukuna stepped in just as the divine shikigami swept the kid off his feet and into a nearby wall. He’d never actually fought this particular facet of the ten shadows technique before and he could feel that itch beneath his skin, the kind he only got from the prospect of a fight. A proper fight. 

He minimized the damage as best he could, trying to keep Mahoraga and his own technique contained to just their fight whilst also reveling in the freedom it afforded him. 

It was exhilarating to fight something that adapted to your every move, got quicker and stronger as you threw your all at it (or what would be someone else's all, Sukuna had yet to properly break a sweat). He cackled as he went, vision red with the thrill of violence, drowning in the maddening pleasure of it until he brought his hands together, fingers curling into a familiar pattern as his mouth formed its name. 

The malevolent shrine burst into being around them, like strokes of ink and blood onto the canvas of the very air, the maw stretching behind him, eating up all that had been there as cleave and dismantle cut away his foe to nothing. He had limited the domain as much as he could, kept it small enough to cut away only a section of the surroundings in the hopes of minimizing the casualties. Normally, he would never care to do so but the thought of Yuji’s distress at the scenes of chaos he had created with their hands kept him from going all out. He was going soft.

Speaking of Yuji, his soulmate was stirring where he had curled his presence around the other, nestled away in the edges of consciousness. And his time in control was most definitely almost up.

Sukuna let his domain shrink, reshaping it through force of will alone so that he could manifest and catch his soulmate’s body in his arms before Yuji could collapse.

“S-Sukuna?” Yuji’s voice was weak, shaky and uncertain, he seemed to be running through the memories of what Sukuna had done and struggling to make sense of them.

”Darling, breathe,” he murmured, rubbing Yuji’s back and shifting his weight so that he could stand but lean against Sukuna’s body. 

“What happened? What did you do?” he said and Sukuna could hear the tears welling up and choking him. Yuji always hated when that happened, said it made him feel like a kid again, whining and sniffling because he didn’t know a better way to express his emotions. 

“It’s alright now, I promise,” he said, pressing a kiss to his soulmate’s temple, then another against his forehead and another to the tip of his nose, surprising himself with how much he had missed Yuji in the thirty minutes he had been out. “I had to take control after the death painting almost killed you, I killed the curse that approached us and I had to intervene when your friend attempted to begin a ritual that would have killed him and whoever intervened. Actually, we should probably go find him.”

Yuji nodded, “Okay, well go find him.” Then began to stagger off, still looking vaguely out of it. 

Sukuna caught up to him in a second, put an arm around his shoulders and tugged him into an embrace. 

“What’s wrong, darling?” He whispered, feeling the way Yuji melted against him and muffled a sob against his clothes. 

“This all feels so … wrong,” Yuji hiccuped, “Gojo sensei is gone and I don’t know where everyone else is and I am so so scared, Kuna. I don’t know what to do.”

”Oh sweetheart, you don’t have to. We’ll get your teacher back, find your allies and end this, I promise. But first, Fushiguro really does need our help.”

”Yeah,” Yuji mumbled but kept his face buried, basking in the closeness of his partner. 

Once they parted, Sukuna took him by the hand to lead him back to where he had left the other sorcerer, slumped and bleeding. 

A curse user with a long, blonde ponytail seemed to be poking at him so Sukuna unleashed a few slashes and they scampered off (and if, a few streets away and out of Yuji’s sight, they fell in to neatly bisected pieces, no one was any the wiser).

”Fushiguro!” Yuji gasped, rushing over to check over his friend before turning to Sukuna with shining eyes. 

“Can you heal him?” He asked and Sukuna nodded before moving to pick the unconscious teen up and sling him over one shoulder. 

“I need to get him to your allies first,” he explained, in response to Yuji’s questioning noise, “They’ll be able to help with his injuries as well. Do you want to stay here, or come with me?”

Yuji scrunched his eyebrows as he thought before his face settled into steely determination. 

“I’m going to look for Kugisaki.”

”Alright, but call for me through our bond if anything happens.” Yuiji nodded in response but Sukuna caught his face with his free hand to force him into looking into his eyes. “I mean it Yuji, no self sacrificing bullshit like last time.”

He’d left the brat alone for ten minutes max as he tracked down the cursed corpse and the teacher it had been with to dump Fushiguro with them (after healing the majority of his wounds) and instructed them to get the boy to safety before making his way back, following Yuji’s residuals when he’d felt their bond explode with pain. 

It took him longer than he would have liked to admit to find it and by the time he got to the scene there was little left but an explosion of blood and a mangled corpse. Amongst the blood was a wrist watch that looked familiar. As Sukuna bent to examine it more closely where he lay he could recognise the residuals of the patch faced curse that had killed Yoshino Junpei. 

Yuji had been there too and Sukuna shuddered to think of the scene his soulmate must have walked in on, looking upon the remains of the serious, business-like sorcerer. Nanamin, Yuji had called him. 

He moved on, quickly, spurred on by the grief and anger raging through his soulmate’s body. Gone was the gentle moonlight and cool breeze of Yuji’s usual presence, instead replaced by a cold wasteland. Sukuna would not deny it excited him as much as it scared him, the prospect of seeing what his other half was capable of when truly pushed to the edge. 

The Pain was back, sharper this time, followed quickly by numbness and Sukuna cursed the mixture of residuals that masked the path his brat had taken from him until he strode into a scene oddly reminiscent of the first.

He had found Kugisaki and, judging from Yuji’s emotional state, he had too.

She was lying on the ground, limp as one of her dolls, in a pool of her own blood and as Sukuna approached he could see the white of her skull peeking through the gorey mess on one side of her face. Her other eye was glassy but he could sense the flickers of life, clinging to her. 

The sorcerers around her jumped back when they sensed his approach, clearly confused as to how he got there and scared to take a breath as if it would draw his ire. 

Sukuna hadn’t been lying all those weeks ago when he told Yuji he couldn’t save Junpei, the transformation was soul deep and no matter how proficient he was at altering his own body, Sukuna couldn’t touch the soul the same way the patchwork curse could. 

But he could do something. 

He knelt next to her body, placed his hand over the wound and let his reverse curse technique flow, mending and changing, undoing the damage and rewriting the cursed energy forced into her flesh. It would do nothing for the harm to her soul, nor would it undo the majority of the damage done, he doubted he would ever regain her vision, but he could stave off her death, at least for the time being. 

Wordlessly, he stood again and began to make his way down the tunnels, leaving her in the hands of her allies, admiring the imprints of the battle that took place. Yuji’s side of their bond had gone quiet with a single minded focus he itched to see.

By the time he reached his other half he found him standing over the patchwork curse, almost motionless aside from the rapid rise and fall of his chest. In that moment Sukuna saw what he had only caught glimpses of before, a predator hunting its prey. Something not entirely human lurking in those golden brown eyes.

Sukuna stood back, waiting with baited breath, letting Yuji choose what he would do in that moment. Until it was interrupted.

”Shall I save you, Mahito?” called a voice. 

A man, dressed in monks robes, appeared. Just as another voice, one of the twins from earlier shrieked. 

“Sukuna! It’s him!” The voice seemed to break Yuji from his trance, or perhaps it was the cry of his name, and he turned to see Sukuna standing behind him and, despite everything, a weak smile broke out on his lips. 

“You came,” he murmured.

”Of course, darling.”

”I was waiting,” Yuji whispered as Sukuna came forward to catch his outstretched hand. He reveled in the touch, the feelings of calm and relief that flooded through Yuji just from his presence. 

The curse, Mahito, lunged then, towards Yuji’s turned back with a look of crazed desperation. 

Sukuna twisted, shifted his body to curl around his soulmate and into his original form so that he could cradle the other close to his chest, using one hand to catch the pathetic curse and crush its wrist, tearing the outstretched limb from its body. He threw it away, watching the body crumple against the ground at Kenjaku’s feet. 

“Kenjaku,” he said and watched those dark eyes widen as they took in the sight of the King of Curses and his soulmate.

”I had known he was your fated, but I did not think you would make him your in such a way. Have you truly changed so much, Sukuna?” the parasite asked. 

“Who- Who are you?” Yuji asked, brow furrowed as he stared at Kenjaku. Sukuna probably should have told him about this beforehand but to be fair, he hadn't expected the parasite to make themself known this soon. 

“That’s-“ he began but was cut off by a shout from the death painting Yuji had fought earlier. 

“Kamo Noritoshi!”

”Who?” Yuji mumbled. 

“No, that’s only one of their names. The name I know them by is Kenjaku.” Sukuna explained, unperturbed by the death painting until he rounded on him. 

“And you! Unhandled my younger brother!” He hissed at Sukuna who could not contain his cackling. 

Yuji, on the other hand, had a very different reaction. 

“Noooo, not another one,” he whined as he hid himself in Sukuna’s chest. 

“Well that is entertaining. But no, I will not be putting my brat down, thank you, he happens to enjoy my manhandling.” 

“Sukuna!” Yuji squeaked, slapping one palm against the curse’s chest and the other over his own mouth to hide the spreading flush. 

The death painting growled, beginning to advance as if he wasn't facing the strongest curse in history. Sukuna rolled his eyes. Whilst he could absolutely admire the bravery such an action took, he wasn't so fond of the blatant stupidity it also required. 

“Uraume, deal with the pest whilst I settle some matter,” he grumbled, sensing the approach of his loyal servant and grinning when the wall of ice sprung up to enclose the irate half curse. 

“Sukuna who are all these people?!” Yuji yelped, jumping slightly from Uraume’s appearance at their side.

”Yuji, this is Uraume, I’ve mentioned them before. Uraume, this is my soulmate, Itadori Yuji, touch him and I will flay the skin from your bones.”

”Um, your servant, yeah?” Yuji turned to him for confirmation before addressing Uraume themself, “Hi, Uraume-san, nice to finally meet you as well. I’m pretty sure he won’t actually skin you for touching me.”

”A pleasure, Itadori-sama. And I can assure you, Sukuna-sama was not joking.”

”Oh um, you guys have a weird friendship.” Yuji mumbled, “and that guy, Kenjaku? Are they from the Heian era too?”

”I'm shocked, Yuji-kun, can’t you recognise your own mother?”

Yuji fell into stunned silence, obviously trying to figure out what on earth the curse user could mean whilst Sukuna and Uraume looked on in disgust. 

“You actually… There are some lows even I would not go to, you twisted old brain,” Sukuna hissed, “You’re Itadori Kaori.”

”I was, for a time.” Kenjaku’s eyes flickered to Yuji meaningfully, “It was… an experience. I chose her body for the opportunity it offered me and the technique it contained. I’ll admit it was more than perfect for its purpose.”

”Oh here we go, monologue time.”

”After my failures, I needed a better approach to create your vessel, one that would offer me greater control of the resulting cursed techniques. Kaori offered me all of that and more and, in exchange, I got my son.”

”No,” Sukuna growled. 

“No?”

”He is not your anything.”

”So he is yours only?” The curse user seemed, on the surface, amused at the prospect but something dark was brewing in their snake eyes. 

“He is.”

”I had wondered, when I saw the marks, how you might react. I will admit, in all of my planning, I had not anticipated bringing your soulmate into existence in my quest to fulfill my part of the deal. An incarnation into the modern era.”

”Yes, you fulfilled your half of the deal. You created my vessel, my soulmate. Our deal is over now Kenjaku, you’re in my way.”

”So you truly mean to kill me?”

”Yes.”

”W-wait,” Yuji yelped, tugging at Sukuna’s hand but turning to face Kenjaku, having shaken off his apparent shell shock. “What about my father?’

”Oh, Jin. Itadori Jin, he really was perfect.” Kenjaku mused. 

“Why him?” Yuji whimpered. 

“He was my soulmate. I had spent hundreds of years searching for the perfect match, a non sorcerer with a good enough bloodline to produce offspring capable of containing the king of curses. And then he fell right into my lap, with my marks on his forehead.” Absently, they traced the stitching over their skull as they spoke, a fondness curling their mouth that honestly disgusted Sukuna.

”You killed him, didn’t you?” Yuji whispered. “You killed your own soulmate, for what? You made me to cage mine! Sukuna…” 

“I know darling,” Sukuna said, holding his partner close as he felt sobs shudder through his frame. 

“…I want to kill them. I want you to kill them. I don’t care as long as they're dead.”

”Of course, anything for you.” 

Sukuna focused his eyes on Kenjaku again. Watching the loose circle of sorcerers that had begun to form behind them, Yuji’s allies, that had crept closer and closer. 

“Hand over the prison realm,” he said, shifting Yuji so he could place him onto his feet and push the other behind his bulky frame. He could feel his own energy swelling like the pressure before a storm, pressing down in an oppressive wave. Saw the way even Kenjaku began to shift nervously and the sorcerers froze, rooted to the spot by fear in the face of the beast. 

“Or I will take it from you.”

Sukuna could feel Kenjaku reaching for their techniques, could see the realization in those stolen features, as Sukuna raised one hand. 

He was stronger, his technique was quicker, it did not matter what Kenjaku held in their stolen arsenal if their head was no longer attached to their puppet body, Sukuna could cut the strings before they could do a thing to stop him. 

“Hand it over, and I’ll make it quick.”

They reached into their robes sleeve, producing a silver cube decorated with eyes that glimmered like the six eyes.

”So it ends like this?” Kenjaku murmured, before they dropped the cube with a resounding thump and their head fell cleanly from their shoulders. 

At that point, the death painting broke free of Uraume’s technique and a woman with blonde hair showed up. She was clearly powerful, most likely special grade, but Sukuna left her to the others as he turned to sweep Yuji back into his arms.

”I’m alright, Kuna,” his soulmate murmured as he pressed kisses to all of the exposed skin he could reach. 

“I’m sorry,” the curse said, feeling Yuji stiffen in surprise. “I’m sorry you had to go through any of that. I’m sorry our connection put you in danger and hurt you as it has.”

He pressed his lips to the newest scars adorning Yuji’s face, healing them in an instant to restore their marks to perfection.

”Oh,” Yuji whimpered, “I love you.”

”I love you as well, my darling brat. My everything. My other half.”

It took a little while for the sorcerers to gather themselves, during which Sukuna spoke to Uraume in low tones, cradling his soulmate and purposefully ignoring the death painting edging closer and closer.

Once the brat’s allies actually begun to get organized, someone coming forward to lay a sheet over the corpse Kenjaku had once inhabited and another picking up the prison realm with obvious difficulty. Sukuna retreated back into his innate domain after one (or several) last pecks to Yuji’s face and much squishing of his cheeks just to see him smile and hear his stifled giggles. 

Sukuna felt Yuji lay a hand over his own chest, seeking closeness, until he pressed their souls together as closely as he could, hearing Yuji laugh again and mumble, “You really are a cat, Kuna.”

The death painting sidled up to Yuji then, drawing his attention away so Sukuna focused back on Uraume’s retreating figure. They had gone to scout the wreckage of Shibuya for the remainders of Kenjaku’s allies at his request and as he watched them go he pondered how much of Kenjaku’s plan they had gathered.

”So,” he heard Yuji say, “You really are my brother?”

”Hand it over six eyes, let's get this over with.”

It had taken them over a month to get Gojo-sensei free of the prison realm and when they finally had, the sorcerer had snapped into being inside the morgue where Shoko kept the body Kenjaku had been using in stasis using reversed curse.

At first everyone had rushed to greet him but paused at the entrance, suddenly unsure about invading the aura of grief that had pervaded the room. 

Sukuna had spoken first, using the massive frame of his true form to block the door and heard the young sorcerers away. 

“That’s his soulmate, let him have some time alone with him.”

”Oh,” Yuji had whispered, “I didn’t know. How could you tell?” 

”They had matching marks, dragons I think. I only caught a glimpse of the black haired one’s when I killed Kenjaku. They were-“

”Around our throats,” said Gojo as he wandered down the corridor towards them. “Mine is black, his was white.” He paused then, as if collecting himself.

”Suguru once said it felt like a noose. I think I should have known then…” He trailed off then seemed to gather himself. “Anyway, thanks for that Sukuna, who knew you’d be such a big softie?” 

Sukuna stared at the sorcerer as if he wanted to push the issue, force the other to talk about it but seemed to decide that either this wasn't the time or he wasn't the one who should be doing this. 

Yuji tucked himself under one of Sukuna’s arms just to feel it curl around him and grinned up at his soulmate. 

“He’s totally just a big softie now.”

Sukuna scoffed.

During the time spent opening the prison realm, a secondary hunt had been taking place. Yuji, a recovered Fushiguro and (inevitably) Sukuna had been tasked with tracking down the last of Sukuna’s fingers.

Given that during and directly after Shibuya many of the higher ups had been killed or fled one way or another, Yuji’s supposed execution had been canceled (not that Sukuna had ever planned to let it happen anyway) meaning they were now safe to gather the fingers without the threat of death. 

Sukuna stood beside Yuji in that same talisman covered room from months before, manifested in his original form and holding out one of his hands for Gojo-sensei to drop the final finger into. 

Once he did, Sukuna turned to him and offered a hand.

”Ready?” He asked. 

Yuji took a breath, unable to deny his nerves but also the excitement building in his gut. Finally, he would be able to have his soulmate beside him in the flesh, finally they could be together in their own bodies, not just in his. 

“Ready.”

And Sukuna swallowed the finger.