Forgotten Curse: Sukuna x Curse! Reader: Chapter 20:
"This isn't like you." She shudders in response to his claws grazing across her back.
"What isn't like me?" Sukuna pauses and leans in to rest each finger on her neck making sure to have a tight grip to strangle her at any wrong move. "I don't like the idea of you assuming who I am." With each word his voice draws closer to her ear.
Holding in a shiver she gulps and regains her courage to speak about her plan, "So, with the liquid nitrogen I plan to keep it in a container and then transfer it to an unstable—" A tightening grasp around her neck jolts her away from finishing.
"I'm sorry, please don't." She whimpers out, placing her hand on top of his. "I'd prefer you didn't...we've come so far from you killing me over and over." She sighs but it does nothing to release the tension building.
"Then explain it in a sentence. If I wanted a long-detailed explanation I would have said so." He loosened his hold on her but didn't remove his hand.
"I'm using my cursed technique to create traps before the enemy enacts their plan." She drags her fingertips across his and drops it to her side.
"I can't wait to watch the show you create." Sukuna grins and lets his fingers trace her collarbone but he stops himself and pulls his hand back.
"Then I hope you'll sit in my throne and enjoy." She pivots and takes a step away from him but he yanks her arm back.
"What you don't want me to join you in person?" A hint of anger lingers on his tongue from her words.
"Can't you give Itadori a break? These days he's barely had a chance to be in his body, he is still a kid after all."
"Why should I care about him? He's the one who brought me back in the first place. It was his own stupidity and selfishness that caused this mess." Sukuna shakes his head and laughs releasing her from his clutches.
"That's not...I just don't want you to get involved." She deadpans and drops her head down in defeat.
"I won't fight if that's what you're asking about." He says scoffing at her train of thought. "This is your fight after all. We may be allies but don't expect me to do everything for you." Sukuna gets behind her and whispers, "You aren't acting like your usual self, what changed?" He taps his nails against her neck searching for a pulse.
"Nothing much, just the workload..." She trails off and Sukuna pauses right over her carotid artery caressing the steady pulse.
"Bullshit, we fought and bantered. Now you..." Sukuna looks her up and down, "You give in so easily it appears you'll break at the slightest touch. Get your act together I don't work with weaklings." He is stern but tries to hide the inkling of worry behind his fury. "You wouldn't want me to get bored, would you?"
"Like you would get bored of me, you don't even know what my next move would be." She retorts.
"Oh, are you finally snapping back at me? Then get back to what you were working on."
"Then I can't wait to see the look on your face when I finish."
***
"How did you keep the elder's attention away from the grounds for so long Gojo?" The curse asks while securing the next batch of liquid nitrogen in place.
"I gave them a little distraction so to speak." Gojo beams as bright as the sun at her words.
"I'm curious to what you came up with but at the same time I don't want to know. Anyway, I hope Itadori has been reintroduced to his classmates."
"He has, I was there for the beginning but left soon after to help finish up with this." He rubs the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.
"There isn't much time left." The curse halts in her digging thinking about the next course of action. "I won't be interfering in this battle, as you know everything will be visible with video footage. But when things are thrown into chaos, I will take action." She leans against a tree crossing her arms.
"Maybe he'll change his plan, I mean isn't that what you hoped for?" Gojo asks.
"He wouldn't give up an opportunity like this easily. Instead, this will be a test. A test of strategy and will."
"I wonder if it's all just a game in the long run." Gojo sighs.
"If it truly is all just a game it is a game with everyone's lives on the line, if I can help mitigate the injuries if only a little then maybe we have a chance."
"We've done all we can, all that's left is to wait." Gojo begins to head back to Jujutsu High but stops when the curse doesn't follow. We did finish everything, right?"
"I'll be back there's something else I still need to take care of."
"What is it this time?"
"One of the students from the other school, I'll be right back."
"Don't." Gojo prevents her from leaving.
"Why? It's going to cause problems if I don't take care of this now."
"How many times?"
"What?"
"How many times?" Gojo repeats himself.
"That isn't important."
"I disagree. Answer me."
"No, this is something I won't give on just drop it."
"Then what did you intend to do to that student?"
"Oh, don't give me your morality nonsense, he's a traitor anyway."
"What? You already found out who it is?" Gojo stands jaw dropped unable to form another thought.
"I'll be heading out for a while; I recommend you check up on the rest of the students. Because the two schools won't be getting along. If I were you, I'd try to convince them not to kill Itadori and focus on the common enemy." She pushes herself off the tree and disappears into a mist before Gojo can get another word in.
"I guess I'll be on my own then." Gojo shakes his head and makes his way back to the battlefield.
The trees swayed from the strong winds that day, similar to another unfortunate day that was already forgotten. Gojo paused and took in his surroundings.
One deep breath in.
And one deep breath out.
He clapped his hands together and put on his cheery smile like always. Remembering himself, he pinched his cheek.
"I wonder if I'm really smiling anymore." Adjusting his blindfold, he focused on each of his senses to return his attention to his objective. "Ah, I'm probably missing the look on Fushiguro's and Kugisaki's faces from Itadori coming back." Gojo quickens his pace not able to contain his excitement.
When Gojo arrived, the students were all chatting with each other so he decided to make his way to where all the other instructors were. It was no surprise to how everyone was acting, especially because there were two wildcards around.
"Where is the curse you were talking about Gojo?" a woman with a large scar across her face and long violet-black hair asks.
"She left somewhere again. Said she was busy with finding the traitor." Gojo strode over to her and leaned his arm against the top of her chair.
The woman flushed a bright red and tilted her head to face Gojo, "Do you intend to let her roam about?! There have been incidents all over the city, we should exorcise her. Itadori's already a handful." The woman sighs folding her hands in her lap, shifting her hakama pants in an effort to be more comfortable.
"On the contrary I think things are finally getting interesting with a few new faces around." Another woman with braided light blue hair covering half her face added in.
"One is one too many." Cutting through everyone's banter Gakuganji voiced his opinion. He stroked his beard and gently rested his hand back on his cane afterward.
Gojo brought his interest to all the cameras which showed the environment of the match. Then he thought back to where all the traps are.
They're all in the blind spots.
Holding a hand over his mouth Gojo bent down slightly while a silent chuckle made his body appear as if it were trembling. He nodded to himself almost unable to hold in his laughter.
"Is something the matter Gojo?" The woman with the scar across her face asked skeptical of his feelings.
"No, no. It's nothing, Utahime." Gojo straightened his posture and regained his composure. "I was just thinking this is going to be really—"
"Fun?" The woman with light blue braided hair cut in.
"Yeah. It will be the festival of a lifetime." Gojo couldn't help the ear-to-ear smile stretching his lips.
"I hope for your sake Gojo there isn't anything funny going on."Gakuganji words ripped all the joy out of the conversation.
Says the same person who wants to use the competition as an excuse to kill Itadori.
After the rules are explained for the exchange festival the teams prepare with their plans of attack. It was the start of a new battle.
***
Water runs along the ceramic tub's edge until it drips along the side dropping to the floor with a plink. The smell of mold permeates the dark musty cave enough to make someone gag. A man wrapped in bandages sits in the bathtub connected to hundreds of wires. His black hair peeks out of the bandages and he commands his robotic counterpart to do his bidding.
The sound of light feathery footfalls echoes through the cavern. To which the man halts his next command to listen to his surroundings.
"Who's there?" He asks the figure whose appearance is blocked in shadow.
"First, let me say I don't wish you harm." The figure stops only a few footsteps away from the tub.
"I don't believe you. Aren't you here to kill me because I'm the traitor?" The man glares at the figure trying to find anything to discern their identity.
"Perhaps you'll listen to me if I..." The person trails off and moves their arm to create an icicle to reflect light around the room to chase away the darkness.
The man grips the tub with a vice grip at the sudden appearance of ice in the room. His attention is drawn from the origin of the light to the person whose figure was blocked in shadow is completely visible.
A girl with horns sticking out of her head makes eye contact with him. "I just came to give you a piece of advice." She flicks her eyes to the tub full of red liquid and back to his face.
"Can't you see I'm in the middle of the competition?" The man barks not keen on listening to her.
"Don't give me that bullshit it hasn't started yet." Her voice deepens to a growl at his tone.
"Then what did you want to tell me? You haven't killed me and it doesn't look like you intend on ratting me out, so what is it?" The man loosens his grip slightly on the tub giving in to the idea he is at this stranger's mercy.
"Kokichi. Don't fight Mahito, that's all I ask of you." Her voice doesn't come out as neutral as she'd hoped instead it finished off shaky.
"I won't ask how you know my name. And I don't know how you found out about my plan but I'm certain I'll be able to win."
"Well, I know you won't win and, in the end, you'll never meet your classmates that you've yearned to stand by your entire life." The curse walks over to the tub and makes a stool of ice to sit next to him.
“How can you be so sure?” He doesn’t bother to face her in his injured state.
“If I said my cursed technique allows me to see the future, would you believe me?” The curse pulls her legs to her chest and rests her head on her knees.
“Then what did you see?” For a moment he considers the possibility.
“Where would you like me to start?” She blinks at him and then closes her eyes to focus.
“From the beginning to the end of our fight.” Kokichi shifts in the bathtub and the water churns creating a mini whirlpool until he ceases in any other large movements.
The curse goes on to explain the battle with every little detail pointed out. To how much each attack cost him and what damage it did. Then to how Mahito responded and in the end how he was so close to winning but lost. Kokichi asked a few questions along the way and the curse obliged in answering although there were a few things that she admitted she didn’t know. Mainly how much she knew before and after the battle.
“I need to think things over, I mean the exchange festival is going to start soon.”
“Then think about the life you could have with Kasumi.” The curse got up from the stool and turned it into a wave of mist with a flick of her wrist.
“How did you know?” Kokichi stutters at the curse’s mention of Kasumi which causes the liquid in the tub to splash about.
“Your last words to your lover are quite sad.” The curse faces away from him as if searching the exit of the cave for something that will never appear.
“How did you know?!” Kokichi repeats with urgency which has an undertone of frustration attached.
“I hope you don’t let your story become a tragedy this time Kokichi. Or if you can’t manage that, just don’t let her cry again. ” The curse strolls out of the cave with one of her hands in her pocket.
Kokichi doesn’t say another word and watches as the curse is wrapped in the bright light. He surveys the environment and sees the icicle she created still remains. Panic shoots through him at the thought of the other curses, finding out about someone else being there but a snap disturbs his thoughts. And with that the icicle vanishes into mist as if it never existed.
“Just what have I gotten myself into.” Kokichi curses himself over and over unsure of what to think anymore. But before he can organize the events that happened his classmates contact him through Mechamaru.
****A/N Apologizes for the sudden hiatus last week, I needed a mental health break. But I didn’t want to just post a blank chapter to give false hope that a chapter was posted. Make sure to like and add to your library! You can find me on Tumblr, Wattpad, and AO3.