starburned and unkissed | ryomen sukuna
chapter 1: the magical girl
pairing: villain!sukuna x magical girl!reader
summary: after years of hiding your identity and spending nights fighting off monsters, you're tired of being a magical girl - especially with a new villain known as the king of curses out to get you.
all you want is to be able to focus on your normal life, and when you finally meet a nice guy at a work event for your day job you figure that maybe things are looking up.
if only he wasn't the very villain who wanted you dead.
word count: 7k
content: 18+ mdni, smut, angst, humor, betrayal, lying, yandere/obsessed sukuna, confusing feelings, loneliness, falling in love, mentions of past illness, hurt/comfort, manipulation, sukuna is evil but he's also very confused, true-form sukuna, enemies to lovers (and back to enemies and then to lovers LOL), this couple is a mess
a/n: I'm so excited for this one, hope you all enjoy!
series masterlist | ao3 | next chapter
Wiping sweat from your brow, a deep sigh wracked your body. It had been a testing evening to say the least, with at least eight monsters making an attempt to wreak havoc in Ueno Zoo. You were currently standing over the last of them, some sort of mutated tiger slowly turning to dust at your feet.
You’d wait here until it dissolved properly - mainly because it could still have a spark of life left in it, but partially because you could use a moment of quiet before going out to face the reporters gathered outside.
Dealing with the media clapping you on the back was a novelty back when you’d started all this ten years ago, back when you were still a teenager. It was nothing more than tedious now. All you wanted was to go home, crawl into your bed and hope that another crisis didn’t come knocking before sunrise.
There’d been an insane wave of incidents lately, all consisting of several monsters appearing at once, which used to be a rarity. You were almost convinced that there was someone behind the attacks, some villain with powers like yours, but at this point you couldn’t be bothered to dig into it.
If there was some greater evil you were certain that they’d make themselves known to you at some point. Why expend the energy chasing them down?
Playing with the golden amulet around your neck, you considered taking it off - transforming back into your normal form and sneaking out some side exit. It was a tempting thought, but one you knew you weren’t going to follow through on - if someone saw you, the normal you, coming out of an off-limits area then suspicions would be aroused and your cover would be blown.
That was the last thing you wanted.
The only time you could get some peace was when you weren’t wearing the damn amulet - when you were anonymous.
Taking a deep breath, you made your way to the exit and stepped out to face the crowds. Plastering on a big smile as if your anxiety wasn’t spiking at the cheers and flashes of cameras. It was apparent that the media weren’t the only ones there to see you, your heart sinking at the sight of the general public, fans of yours, holding up signs and wearing your merchandise.
God, you hated it.
If you’d wanted to be treated like an idol, you would’ve chosen that career path.
You’d had no choice in becoming a magical girl.
“Shining Star! Shining Star! Will you sign my shirt?”
Shining Star. That’s what the media had called you when you’d first started out as a magical girl. You’d had no real say in the matter - hadn’t been ready with another name for your alter ego back then, so it just kind of stuck.
Not ideal, but better than them knowing your real name.
You waved off your fans with an apologetic smile, gesturing over to the media. Generally, the reporters didn’t like it when the public were around and wasting your time, so you’d often use them as a scapegoat to avoid interacting with those who wanted signatures from you. There was a ripple of ‘awws’ from the crowd, but no real vitriol.
They all knew it was a longshot.
Unlike actual idols it wasn’t like you did fanmeets or anything like that - you were illusive and private, only ever sighted at the scene of a monster or villain attack. They knew not to expect too much, but they loved you all the same.
Or, they loved Shining Star.
If your real identity was ever uncovered you were sure that they wouldn’t love you.
All they wanted was someone extraordinary, some kind of untouchable deity who could keep their city safe from danger with a rainbow sword and blasts of light from her hands. You weren’t a human to them.
Hell, you barely looked human with your amulet on, with your hair and eyes losing their normal colour and obtaining this weird effect where the hue would change depending on the light, as if you were made out of crystals or something.
Golden star markings would appear on your cheeks, your normal clothes would fade away in favour of a short, flowy white dress with a metal star sitting between your breasts, and your hair would suddenly decide to defy gravity, always floating up in some stupid way once the transformation was complete.
In your mind you looked like a child’s drawing of a magical girl, an image that wasn’t helped by the way that your sword would shimmer with all the colours of the rainbow, as if conceptualised by a five year old with a new set of coloured crayons.
It certainly wasn’t the look that you’d have chosen for yourself.
But that didn’t stop people going wild for it.
You could see plenty of people with makeshift cosplays in the crowd, with their colourful plastic swords and dyed hair, all falling short of the uniquely weird atmosphere that your form gave off.
If only you could pass your burden onto them, let them take the amulet, since they all seemed so desperate to be you.
“Shining Star. What happened in there tonight?”
This journalist was one that you knew. She was a pretty woman with long brown hair and a scar across her face. She tended to be one of the kinder reporters, one that treated you like you were human. It was always a relief to see her over the ones that wanted to see you fail - the ones who scrutinised all of your actions.
“It seems that a few monsters found their way into the zoo. Since it happened after the park had closed, there were no casualties and the situation was resolved quickly.”
Your words were honest, but didn’t quite tell the whole story - that was the line you always walked with the media. They couldn’t know that monsters were born out of discontent, that the creatures roaming the zoo hadn’t found their way in, but had rather been born there.
In this case they had been created from the despair of the mistreated animals inhabiting the park.
That wasn’t odd in itself. You were familiar with monsters and the hotspots for their appearances. What was odd was the sheer number that had popped up all at once, hence your suspicion that someone was actively speeding up the rate at which despair and discontent would gather in an area.
Either way, it wasn’t a problem for tonight.
A barrage of questions kept coming your way:
“Is the zoo safe to reopen?”
“Why are we seeing an increase in supernatural events?”
“How do we know you aren’t setting up these incidents in the first place to make yourself look like a hero?”
It was nothing that you hadn’t heard before, and you answered each query as politely as you could, a wide smile fixed on your face, as if anxiety wasn’t swirling in your chest at each attempt to pry into you and your actions.
A holiday would be nice. You hadn’t had a break in years. Not like it was a realistic option - as long as you were the only magical girl in the city you couldn’t drop the ball for even a second. You were stuck on duty until you either passed away or someone else came along to help.
And there hadn’t been someone else like you in years now.
“Can you share your thoughts on the King of Curses?”
You frowned at that question, tilting your head at the young reporter. That wasn’t a query that you’d heard before.
Who the hell was the King of Curses? What a stupid name - you wondered if the media had come up with that or if it was a self-chosen alias. Genuinely embarrassing if someone was actually going around calling themselves that.
“The King of Curses?” You asked, keeping a pleasant, interested smile on your face.
“You haven’t seen the video?”
There was a ripple of agreement and surprise amongst the reporters at your confusion, like this was some well-known thing that you’d been ignoring. And to be fair, it could be. Between your magical girl work and your actual life you didn’t have much time to catch up on social media and the like.
As long as your head wasn’t pounding in agony, signalling the existence of a monster, you weren’t all that tuned in with the general goings on of the world.
“No. What video?”
It took less than ten seconds for a reporter to pull YouTube up on their phone, pressing on a video posted by the King of Curses, and holding the screen up for you to see. You supposed that confirmed that this guy really was just calling himself that.
Lame.
The clip revealed a hulking figure clad in a dark robe, sitting at a table and staring directly at the camera. It was hard to make out any of his features, his face cast in shadow save for four blazing red eyes breaking through the darkness.
“To the annoyance known as Shining Star, I have a message for you.”
His voice was calm, the tone a little distorted by some sort of voice modifier. Between that and his obscured appearance, you could only assume that he didn’t want to be identified - though, considering his advanced size, you imagined that he wouldn’t be hard to pick out in a crowd even if you didn’t have all his features down.
“I’ve watched you run around this city like a fool for years, waving your stupid sword, playing at being some sort of hero. It's humiliating. I’ve seen you prance about like you’re god’s gift to this world, lecture people on righteousness like you’re the authority on the matter. You aren’t.”
God, what was this guy’s problem?
You frowned at the screen, a little frustrated because between all the bad points he was making a couple of good ones - you did look stupid prancing around with your ridiculous sword. But you certainly didn’t think you were god’s gift to the world or anything like that - who was he to assume the way you thought?
“You don’t understand anything about the world. I can tell. You just think you’re special because of your cute little magic tricks - you think you're worthy of attention because of them. You claim to fight for the people but you reek of privilege, of a life without hardship. You’re just a stupid little girl, and I’m tired of seeing you thrive unchecked.”
A life without hardship? You fucking hated this guy.
“Someone needs to put you in your rightful place, and I’ll be the man to do it.”
A gasp left your lips as he shifted a little. Two burly forearms moved to rest on the table, hands coming up to support his chin. His bicep was easily bigger than your head, which was threatening in itself, but that wasn’t what really frightened you.
The thing that genuinely struck fear into your heart was the way that he raised a second pair of arms as he spoke - bringing them up above his head in a casual stretch as if they were meant to be there.
Was he like you?
Was he just a human with the ability to transform?
Or was he a new breed of monster with advanced intelligence?
You weren’t quite sure which one would be worse.
“You’ll be hearing from me very soon, girl. You don’t need to do anything, keep living your foolish little life as normal. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”
And just like that the video cut to black, the reflection of your stunned expression showing in the darkness of the phone screen. You really wished that you hadn’t seen this for the first time in front of dozens of reporters who were all so clearly analysing the minutiae of your reaction.
Schooling your expression, you looked up at the reporter who’d asked the initial question. “The King of Curses? Give me a break. The whole thing is clearly a hoax - if there was any weight behind any of that he wouldn’t be hiding behind a camera. It's all visual effects and fearmongering.”
Your voice was confident, and you added in a shrug at the end to sound all nonchalant about the whole thing. Internally you were freaking out, because while this whole thing could be a hoax, something deep in your chest told you that it wasn’t.
For this man to show up just when you’d been sensing that a villain had been behind things recently? Yeah, he was probably the real deal. And for him to have such a personal grudge against you was far from ideal. Your previous brushes with villains had been with those that wanted to bring destruction upon the world and would stop at nothing to get it.
A desire to specifically destroy you was much more chilling.
But offering a reaction to this man would be foolish, especially when it was so clear that he was watching all your actions. You’d stay cool and unbothered - that was always the best approach, that was what had kept you alive over the years.
“You shouldn’t give this guy any screentime.” You continued. “It's not worth spreading negativity over - all he wants is attention.”
The reporter nodded, and you tried to hold back a sigh as the other reporters started clamoring for further responses from you, completely disregarding your advice as they launched hundreds of questions your way speculating over the man’s identity, and what you were going to do about the situation.
But you kept your smile up regardless. Just like always.
You were their shining star after all.
It took more than an hour for you to get home after that - politely standing by and answering questions until they were satisfied.
God, you were sick of it.
Keys clattering on the counter, you didn’t even bother turning on the lights before throwing yourself down on the sofa. A soft groan fell from your lips as you tossed your amulet to the floor, mind still swimming with the video that you’d been shown earlier that night.
It felt good to transform back into yourself.
Being in your magical girl form always felt a little unpleasant, like you were wearing someone else’s skin, the world appearing far too bright through those un-natural eyes.
Going back to your own body felt like taking off an uncomfortable bra at the end of a long day. Even with the aches and pains that your mortal body would encounter whenever you’d turn back, it was still more pleasant to be in your own skin.
If you had it your way you’d never transform again.
If only that was an option.
After several years of this job you were just so tired of it. All you wanted these days was for things to be easy - for you to be able to show up and cut up a few monsters before heading home. The last thing you wanted was an actual villain on your hands. Especially not one that had a special interest in making your life a misery.
The last big villain that you’d encountered had been a nightmare, and back then you hadn’t been the only magical girl around to help deal with him.
A soft meow sounded from the floor, and you reluctantly sat up to meet the big golden eyes of your cat. Her tail was flicking with irritation, letting out another meow in an attempt to voice her irritation with you. She was never best pleased with your unpredictable schedule, her meal times often shifted about to accommodate you.
“Sorry.” You mumbled, pulling yourself to your feet and grabbing a pouch of cat food from the cupboard. Knees straining in protest, you crouched down to empty the food into her bowl, petting her soft fur as she instantly got to feasting.
She was a sweet thing, the only real constant in your life at the moment. You’d found her at the scene of a monster appearance - just a kitten when you’d stumbled across her in some alleyway, hissing at a disgusting monster formed out of sewer junk.
It had felt wrong to leave her there shivering in the cold after you’d dispatched of the monster - so you brought her home with you. There was nothing wrong with having a bit of company after all.
Even if she was demanding as hell.
You ran your fingers absentmindedly through her fur as she ate, wondering if you should make some food for yourself before heading to bed. It was almost midnight, and you hadn’t managed to grab anything between finishing work and heading over to the crisis at the zoo.
But you knew that your cupboards were empty, and you didn’t have the energy to pop to the convenience store, so you’d have to opt for going to sleep hungry. It wasn’t like that was an unusual occurrence for you these days.
You were just way too burnt out to get everything done lately.
And with that villain’s words haunting your brain as you tried to get to sleep that night, all you could think about was how much you just wanted to catch a break.
For once in your life, maybe life could take pity on you and send something good your way.
—
A few weeks had passed since the incident at the zoo, and for the most part you’d started to relax again. There had been no more videos, no more strange incidents of multiple monster appearances. For the most part things had returned to relative normality for you.
Instead of considering the fact that was weird in itself, you opted to choose peace.
Maybe the video was just a hoax - no point in worrying over nothing. Although your subconscious didn’t seem to quite agree with you, throwing nightmare after nightmare your way, always focussed on him, on those four unwavering red eyes staring back at you in the darkness.
Fortunately, you were so busy with things in your real life right now that you didn’t have the time to give too much thought to any issues in your magical girl one, brushing your night terrors aside and fully focussing on your day job.
For the last few weeks at work you’d been rushed off your feet with preparations for a big event your company was holding to celebrate some new partnership with a massive organisation known as Limitless. You weren’t even sure what they did, dabbling with pharmaceuticals or something of the like - frankly you couldn’t care less.
All that mattered to you was that the party was perfect, and that all the corporate bigwigs were happy.
And so far, everything was going swimmingly.
The celebrations were well underway and everyone was drinking and mingling, gorging themselves on the incredible buffet. You were doing your best to make yourself scarce, which wasn’t exactly a challenge - in your normal form you weren’t anything special. Some might say that you’d lived a painfully average existence outside of that damn amulet.
You had a normal family, achieved average grades at school, and promptly got the most soul-sucking boring corporate job imaginable. Not to say that was a bad thing - you’d never really wanted anything more than a normal life, it was why you’d been so vigilant at keeping your identity hidden.
If everyone knew you, the real you, both your normal life and magical girl life would change.
Was it so much to ask for you to stay normal in one of them?
Deciding that the event attendees were sufficiently satisfied, you opted to slip out unnoticed - heading onto the balcony with a glass of champagne in hand. It was quiet out there, a couple of party-goers spread out across the platform, none of them paying you any mind. You made your way over to the glass barrier, resting your arms on it as you stared out at Tokyo.
You hoped that no monsters rose up tonight. It would be nice to have a quiet evening - head back home early and catch up on some TV. You’d been hearing good things about Pluribus, it sure would be nice to have some time to actually watch it.
“Not enjoying the party?”
You glanced up in surprise, turning to see the most handsome man you’d ever encountered. He was tall and muscular, with soft pink hair pushed back from his forehead. An easy smile lit up his tattooed face, his maroon eyes fixed on you with interest.
For a moment, you glanced around to see if he was talking to someone else, heart fluttering at the realisation that his gaze was, in fact, on you.
“Uh- no- it's not really my thing.” You giggled nervously, internally scolding yourself for the way you stuttered.
“No?” His voice was deep, the sound of it sending goosebumps up your arms. “But I heard you were the one who organised it?” There was a teasing lilt to his voice, a curiosity that caught you off guard.
Considering that he was a stranger, likely someone working for that Limitless company, you weren’t even sure how he’d found that out. It wasn’t like you ever got any recognition for the work you put into these things - as an events manager it was a given that you’d throw a good party, it was your entire job.
As if sensing your confusion, his smile widened. “My boss demanded to know who was in charge of the organisation of the party - wanted to make sure you got some thanks.” He explained.
“Your boss?”
“Gojo Satoru.”
Ah, just the CEO of Limitless.
“Right. So you’re here to thank me?” You asked cautiously.
If Gojo was his boss, he was clearly someone important. Probably one of the Limitless executives or something of the like.
“Mmm.” He hummed, deep red eyes trailing up your form. “That’s why I came over, yeah. Wasn’t expecting you to be the prettiest woman in this whole place though.”
Your lips parted with surprise at his bold flattery, heart fluttering in your chest. You weren’t accustomed to the way he was looking at you right now - it had been a long time since you’d even been on a first date, let-alone had someone stare at you with such open desire.
“Oh- uh- I’m probably not.” You said before you could really think about it.
For a moment, he looked thoroughly caught off guard, before easing into laughter. “Never received a compliment before?”
Feeling flustered you scrambled for a response, thrown off balance by his teasing. “No- I-”
“You’re meant to say thank you.”
The smug grin on his face was infuriatingly handsome, his eyes all bright and sparkling with amusement. Were you dreaming right now? Was this your idea of the perfect man that your subconscious had cruelly cooked up for you? Because this entire thing seemed far too good to be true.
“Thanks.” You mumbled, shyly averting your gaze back over to the view of the city, nervous under the pressure of his attention.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to understand how stifling his presence was, taking a few steps forward and leaning against the railing beside you. His arm brushed against yours as he took in the view, and that meagre contact alone had your skin burning.
Sure, it had been a long time since you’d experienced human contact, but you needed to get a grip. Especially considering how unaffected he seemed, an unreadable expression on his tattooed face.
“So if this isn’t your type of thing, why do you even do this job?”
You scoffed. “Why does anyone do a job? For money.”
“Yeah but surely you could do something that is your thing that also pays money.” He said, as if working a job you didn’t like was some kind of alien concept to him.
“Maybe.” You said with a shrug. “But doing a stupid corporate job helps me pay the bills - pursuing art or whatever probably wouldn’t. So here I am.”
He frowned, looking down at you with interest. “Is that your thing then? Doing art?”
Honestly, you weren’t really sure what your thing was. You’d dabbled in plenty of hobbies in your life, but never really managed to stick to one. The magical girl life was to thank for that - you rarely had free time, and when you did, you were far too tired to do anything of real worth.
“No, I just- I don’t know. I don’t have a thing.”
“That’s a lie.” He said, his tone a little colder than it had been before. For a moment, you felt an odd chill run through you, his sharp gaze striking unease into your chest. But the moment was gone as soon as it arrived, his features softening. “Everyone has a thing. So what’s yours?”
For a moment you faltered. You felt like you were tongue-tied, unable to clear your brain enough to think of a satisfying answer outside of the truth. But no matter how beguiling he was, or how much he made your heart flutter, you’d hold onto your secrets for now.
So you diverted instead.
“That’s a heavy question. I don’t even know your name and you want to know my purpose in life?”
He let out a deep chuckle. “It's Sukuna. Now will you tell me?”
You rolled your eyes, a small smile growing on your lips at how ridiculous he was. You had to admit that you were enjoying his company. After so much time distancing yourself from people, it felt nice to have someone show an interest in you.
And if the way he’d shifted closer to you was anything to go by, he was definitely interested in you.
“Wow, you don’t even want to know my name first?” You teased.
“Already do. I was sent out here to thank you, remember? Do you really think I wouldn’t have found out your name first?”
“Oh. Right.” You mumbled, feeling a little rude that you hadn’t asked him for his immediately.
“So, let's hear it?” He prompted. “What’s your thing?”
There was an eagerness in those crimson eyes that had your stomach flipping, the playful nudge of his arm against yours leaving your skin laden with goosebumps.
“I guess I’m still figuring it out.” You said honestly. “Tried a lot of things but nothing ever feels right. I’m always just so damn tired from everything that I never feel like I have the time to explore all the things I want to, so instead I’m just frozen in this life.”
You weren’t sure if that was a satisfactory answer to him, his gaze still firmly fixed on you, as if he was expecting more. Perhaps searching for a hint of falsity in your expression. But moments later he relented with a sigh.
“Does this job really keep you that busy? Too tired to do anything else?”
No. But you couldn’t exactly explain what was taking up most of your time.
“Well, I do a lot of charity work too.” You said, almost proud of yourself for that half-truth.
“Charity work?”
He was smirking, expression one of pure disbelief, as if you weren’t the type of person he imagined to be doing such a thing. If only he knew how much of your life was taken up by charity work.
“Yeah, it's nice to give back - you know?”
He snorted. “No, I really wouldn’t know.”
You pouted, not entirely surprised. The clothes that he was wearing denoted him as a rich man, someone who clearly held a lot of power in a room. Based on his role at Limitless you couldn’t imagine him to have the strongest moral compass when it came to stuff like that.
And to be honest, you weren’t sure you could blame him.
Having toiled away for the greater good for the last ten years, you wished you could turn a blind eye. If it weren’t for the consequences spelled out in your magical girl contract, you’d probably be in the exact same boat as him right now.
Thankless jobs were thankless, and eventually it would wear down those with even the brightest souls.
“Yeah, if you work directly for Gojo then you’ve got one of those evil jobs for real.” You said, taking note of the way that his smirk never faltered, hanging on your every word, as if he liked you prodding at him like this.
It was infuriatingly attractive.
Go on, tell me.” You continued. “What’s your thing? Your great purpose? Peddling drugs to people who can’t afford them?”
“I’m in the legal department, so no.” He said with a chuckle. “Good try though.”
“Oh, so just defending the company from any poor soul who had their life ruined by Limitless.”
“Ah, you got me.” He said easily, putting his hands up in surrender. It was obvious that he was messing with you, clearly not the least bit insecure about his role. “You’re right, my thing is being an awful person.”
You pouted at the way he was playing with you, refusing to allow you to put him in a box in the same way he was trying to figure you out. It was a little annoying that he was doing a better job than you, coming across as far more adept at whatever this interaction was.
Flirting, you supposed.
“Maybe, if you gave me your number, you could help turn me into a better one.”
Your lips parted in disbelief at how smoothly that line came out. He looked absolutely ecstatic as he waited for your response, all too pleased with himself. It was a shame to admit that the words actually worked on you, even if you did your best to keep up a facade of disappointment, rolling your eyes dramatically.
“Who says I want to go out of my way to change a man?”
“I thought you loved charity work, surely you wouldn’t turn down a man in need?”
You giggled at the way he was blinking down at you all innocently, fully aware that his intentions were anything but pure. It was a charm that certainly worked on you, and you figured what the hell. You’d been devoid of anything romantic for a long time now, you weren’t going to pass up an opportunity that had fallen directly in your lap.
Pulling your phone from your pocket, you unlocked it and passed it over to him, watching him add his number to your contacts and shoot himself a quick text. A warm smile settled on his lips as he handed it back to you.
“Thanks.” He pulled out his own phone, most likely to check for the text, only to let out a deep sigh. “Sorry, I gotta go back in. My idiot boss needs me.”
From what you’d heard of Gojo Satoru, he was something of a ridiculous man - you'd heard many people from your own company refer to him as an attention-seeking baby. It didn’t come as a surprise that he’d be demanding to those who worked for him.
“No worries. I was planning on heading home soon anyway.”
“Mmm, I’ll text you.” He said, pointing at his phone as he pulled away. “Would love to hear more about this charity work of yours.”
“Sure.” You said nonchalantly. “Catch you later.”
“Enjoy your night.” He said softly, his red gaze lingering on your form for a few moments. The way that he so brazenly checked you out had your cheeks flushing, the deep husky tone of his voice leaving your stomach twisting with desire.
Yeah you really needed to get a grip.
“Thanks, hope you do-”
A piercing pain shot through your head, cutting you off mid-sentence. You desperately tried to avoid keeling over in pain as your head throbbed insistently, a blinding pain pulsing behind your eyes.
It wasn’t like this was the first time you’d experienced this - it was the telltale warning of a nearby monster. You’d never felt it come on so strong so quickly though - for the feeling to be this intense the monster would have to be practically on top of you.
“Something wrong?” Sukuna asked, appraising you with a furrowed brow as he stepped forward, reaching out to place a hand on your shoulder and help you straighten up.
“No, sorry- cramp.” You offered weakly.
You weren’t really paying attention to him right now, scanning around you desperately. Something was nearby, and you couldn’t transform right now, not until you got Sukuna away from you.
“Are you sure? You look really pale.”
“I’m all good, really. Probably just too much to drink on an empty stomach.” You promised, offering him a convincing smile. Right now you could barely see him, your vision swimming. You needed to get the amulet on as quickly as possible, the pain would only get worse the longer you delayed.
But right now Sukuna seemed thoroughly unconvinced, red eyes focussing on the way you were trembling, barely containing the agony you were in. “If you want I-”
“I’m just gonna head home.” You cut him off, the ringing in your ears growing to an unbearable level. You were doing your best to play it off like you were fine, even if you wanted to start tearing at your skin in discomfort.
Your actions here were two-fold. Not only did you not want him to know that you were secretly the city’s hero, you also didn’t want him to think you were a total weirdo when he’d just been flirting with you.
It would be nice to go on a date and you didn’t want to ruin your chances.
He frowned at you, staring down at you with an unreadable expression before relenting with a heavy sigh.
“Get home safe. I’ll catch you later.”
—
By the time you broke free from Sukuna, the pain had grown to an almost unmanageable intensity. You made your way back into the party and stumbled into a stairwell, transforming immediately. It was only then that you were able to catch your breath properly, the searing agony in your head ebbing ever so slightly.
The monster was in this building - that much was clear.
Your body was essentially a compass to hone in on the beasts, always knowing just where you needed to go to find one. And this monster in particular seemed to be a few floors up. Thank god it hadn’t shown up in the centre of the actual party.
That would’ve been a nightmare for you in your real life.
By the time you made it up to the right part of the building, you found that the place was mostly deserted. The party was being held in the function room of a fancy hotel, and this floor seemed to be exclusively guest rooms. But based on the construction equipment and overwhelming silence, it didn’t seem like it was currently open to the public.
That was a relief - it would make your job significantly easier. You could keep things quiet.
Keeping your guard up, you moved through each room slowly, eager to keep any monsters unaware of your presence. You found yourself blessing your own luck as you rounded a corner to see the star of tonight’s show. It was a large, green, pig-like beast, sitting down on the floor of a guest room, gorging itself on a tray of food.
The monster’s back was to you, completely unaware of any threat - just as you’d like it to be.
You struck with elite precision, darting forward and striking your blade straight through the wretched thing's neck, wishing you could cover your ears with the way that it squealed desperately, writhing at the oozing wound.
Over the years you’d learned your craft well, and you gave him no opportunity to recover. A burst of light emitted from your weapon, sending a shockwave through the creature’s body, sending it slumping to the ground. Its cries continued for a few seconds longer before it turned to dust beneath you.
Deciding not to let your guard down just yet, you moved past the pile of dust to search the rest of the floor, frowning when you discovered no other monsters. There were plenty of times when your job was easy, but this one felt almost suspiciously so - especially considering how strong the pain in your head had been.
Usually the feeling corresponded to the strength of the monster, and this guy was nothing special.
But who were you to look a gift horse in the mouth? It was pointless to go out looking for trouble. If the universe wanted to throw you a bone, then so be it.
Unfortunately, all of your hopes surrounding an easy night were quickly shattered when you were tackled down to the floor.
A gasp fell from your lips at the sheer weight pinning you down, a massive hand wrapping around both of your wrists, pinning your arms up above your head. Panic gripped your throat at the realisation that you were trapped, the fear only growing as you stared up at the assailant, coming face to face with a hulking figure.
You’d thought it was a monster at first, another one of those pigs.
The reality was much worse.
Those eyes, the four eyes that had crept into your nightmares for weeks, were staring back at you evenly.
All you could think about was how much bigger he was in person, his massive frame dwarfing yours as he settled his weight down on you. Even in this close proximity you still couldn’t see him properly, with a black hood thrown over his head, and a dark mask covering the lower half of his face.
All you could make out were those shining eyes, which seemed so much more intense in person - a much deeper shade of red. You realised quickly at this new angle of him that his eyes were odd, with two of them sitting at a raised point on his face, as if the skin beneath them had been distorted and twisted.
“You got here quicker than I expected.” His tone was clearly mocking, but all you could focus on was the way that his voice sounded a little odd, as if he was still using some sort of voice modifier.
Did his real voice sound stupid or something? Was it an insecurity that he didn’t want you to mock?
It was apparent that he was waiting for a reply, but you offered him nothing, glancing up at where your sword had fallen from your grasp, just out of reach of your pinned hands. His eyes flicked over to the weapon, letting out a sigh as he swiped it away with one of his arms.
One of his four terrifyingly big arms.
“You won’t be needing that. I’m just here for a short visit.”
He leant forward, a free hand moving to your chin, cupping it almost tenderly as he forced you to gaze up at him. He was close enough that you could feel the warmth of his breath through his mask fanning softly against your face.
“Did you like my video?”
“Haven’t seen it.”
“Liar.”
You tried not to tremble as his nose brushed softly against yours, a gesture that felt the furthest thing from romantic as fear built up in your chest. You struggled desperately against his hands, confused at the oddly exhausted nature of your body, like your power was being sucked from you with every passing second.
“Saw you reacting to it live. Just a hoax, huh? How do you like me in the flesh?”
Breathing steadily, you worked hard to centre yourself, to ignore the things he was saying. You could feel your power swirling manically in your chest - you’d never been good at channeling it without your sword in hand, but for now you’d just have to figure it out.
“I meant it, you know. I’ll put you in your place.”
One of his fingers trailed softly along your cheek, revulsion prickling at your sensitive skin. But you stayed focused all the same. For this to work you had to be calm, there was no point in panicking, it would just put you in a worse position.
“Consider this a greeting. I know that I can’t kill you right now, you’re annoying like that, because of this damn thing.” His hand moved to your amulet, playing with it for a second before dropping it back down against your bare skin.
You knew that it had burnt him. That was what the piece of jewelry did to anyone who wasn’t you. But he did a good job of concealing any pain that he was in, simply drawing back his hand and continuing with his little speech.
“But I’ll do it. Step by step, I’ll unpick your whole life. I’ll weaken you, I’ll reveal your identity, I’ll unleash hell upon the city you love, and then I’ll kill you. And it’ll be beautiful. Imagine a world without you in it.”
Weaken you? Reveal your identity? A shiver passed through you at the idea of him having a way to do such a thing. He shouldn’t know anything about you or the way that your powers worked. There was no way for him to know.
And yet he sounded so certain.
Either way, you weren’t going to give him the chance.
The power that you’d been gathering felt tangible now, heat building up in your arms and chest, burning your skin, desperate to escape. It wouldn’t be controlled, perhaps it would even damage you, but you weren’t taking any chances.
With a raspy cry, you released the energy, your power emitting from your body as a blinding white light, one that had you squeezing your eyes shut in an attempt to keep your vision intact. By the time the light disappeared, the villain’s weight had left your body.
For a few hopeful seconds you wondered if he’d been obliterated into dust. Until you noticed him standing on the other side of the room, his eyes narrowed with displeasure, two of his arms missing and dripping with blood.
“See? This is why I fucking hate you.” He hissed.
Closing his eyes for a second he took a deep breath, and in an instant his missing arms regenerated, as if they’d never been gone in the first place. It was a little daunting, because even though you had regenerative properties as a magical girl, they functioned at nowhere near the speed he’d just displayed.
“I’ll get you back for that. I’ll get you back for everything.”
What the hell did that mean? It wasn’t like you knew this guy.
Right?
“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with me but I’m not going anywhere.” You said firmly.
No matter what, you weren’t about to let yourself be pushed around - you weren’t that pathetic. It was clear that he didn’t have the power to kill you yet, which meant you probably had the power to defeat him.
There was no way that you’d let him get in your head or intimidate you.
He chuckled, his whole body shaking with laughter as he fixed his gaze on you. “It's cute that you think so, but I’ll make you eat those words. See you soon.”
Before you could offer a reply, he was gone, disappearing into nothingness. The action left you disoriented, unsure at how he could’ve achieved such a trick. He’d caught you off guard when he’d first appeared too, as though he was capable of moving at a speed that you couldn’t process.
Taking a deep breath, you brought your hand up to your chest, eager to calm your racing heart. His plan didn’t have any weight to it, there was no way that he could uncover your identity, no system for him to weaken you.
He was just trying to make you scared, trying to force you into a position where you’d make a mistake and hand him everything he wanted.
You just had to keep doing what you were doing, stay as vigilant as you could.
Even if a deeply unsettled feeling was stirring in your heart.
Just why was he so obsessed with you?
next chapter
a/n: so the sukuna that she meets on the balcony obviously looks a lot more human - he's still much bigger than average and with tattoos but only two arms and two eyes. meanwhile his transformed appearance is just true-form sukuna, hence her not immediately copping him lol
hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, can't wait to share more with you all! reblogs and comments are appreciated! let me know if you want to be added to the taglist <3
taglist (open): @starmapz @feyrinnn @riri-1234 @cherrycokeline @4shrimps @dogggggggblog-kaye @winkii @keikeisuke @feyrasworld @sukubusss @motel6killer @yeagersss @gegeeeeeeeeeeex @autwizzy @adettee @himezoro @juiceboxluvr @sugrfairie @lmaogottazayn @pwd54gr54 @maya2848 @irislostinyouriris @anothergojostan @bam-boozledx @360seas @plaguecxlt @leave-rae-alone @daburasdoll @nicerthanu @monic19 @ankotaiyakii @aiive @indiewritesxoxo @throwmethroughawindow @wackywhip @seellove @kariatenoh @hashahasha @r0vena @dawnsoblivion @luvleixo @venettahaven @powerhayakawaa @dollienanaaa @justfiq @kaagrwl @yourfavkaur @martianzmars @jjkfannn34 @jiannazescape
© sukunahs
