#fushiguro toji x femreader

LIVE

Chapter 8: As your best friend heals, you become aware of the position you’ve put yourself and the ones you love in. Toji makes a promise to keep you safe, but as your time closes in you home-city, Toji’s ability to keep that promise is challenged.

A/N: Alright, there are 2 more chapters of this work left: the conclusion and the epilogue. I gotta say this story sorta went greatly off the rails of my outline for it. I think for the better though. I’m quite happy with how this is rounding out.

TW: violence against reader, threat of SA (All at the end of the chapter)

The Girl Next Door Master List

Previous Chapter

It was a better part of a week before your best friend was cognizant enough to really speak to you. Maybe that made her lucky, you didn’t really know. People just said it so often that maybe you were trying to believe it. Either way, you were there as often as you could be. They gave you her personal belongings and you’d been staying in her house, taking care of her cat. You were positive she wouldn’t mind and… and you didn’t want to talk to Toji. You couldn’t right now, not while you had bigger things to worry about. You couldn’t go back and forth with a man too wrapped up in his ego to see what he’d done was wrong. You’d already driven yourself half-crazy just anticipating that argument. It wasn’t something you wanted to deal with.

Niecey turned to look at you one morning after the nurses got done poking and prodding at her. For obvious reasons, she hadn’t really had the capacity to ask you any questions. She’d cried when she woke up and saw you at her bedside for the first time, back when she still had the ventilator covering her mouth and nose and she couldn’t quite speak to you. The best she could do was feebly squeeze your hand and the best you could do was apologize to her. The moment didn’t last too long. Eventually a nurse came in and gave her more pain medicine. You promised to still be there when she woke up again and you were. You were right there every time.

“Y/N,” she said suddenly, side eyeing you viciously, “You here alone?”

“… Kinda,” you sighed.

“Look, you told me what this was about and I really hate it when you’re not here. I worry about you. Please tell me you’re not in this city alone.”

You took a deep breath, “It’s complicated. I came here with Toji-”

“Oh? I know you aint have his fine ass in here while I look tore up.”

You laughed softly, “You know damn well I wouldn’t do you like that.”

“Hm, he at the house then?”

“No. Hotel. We’re uh. We are not talking right now.”

She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she looked at you, “And why is that?”

“Niecey, I told you what happened! I can’t fucking look at him right now. I mean if he listened to me you wouldn’t even be here right now. I toldhim to leave it alone. And he just couldn’t-”

“You are selfish as fuck you know that?” she interrupted you.

You stared at her, wide and befuddled. She turned her dark eyes from you to look up at the ceiling.

“And not even in the good way,” she continued, “You gotta do everything alone and fuck the people who love you, right? You do this shit every time, babe. You ain’t tired? Because I’m tired of seeing you do it.”

“What… what are you talking about?”

“You’d rather play the martyr than let the people who love you help you. What the fuck was your plan? If Toji did what you said then what? You live looking over your shoulder in the new city while that asshole Geto fed information on you to Sukuna? Then what? When Sukuna’s crazy ass came for you again what then? You just die, right?”

You were genuinely too stunned to speak. It wasn’t like you could deny anything she said. It was your cross to bear. It was yourmistake. You earned whatever consequence that got you. The moment you got out you knew you were living on borrowed time you’d have to pay back in full one day. Dating Toji, keeping your friendship with Niecey, that’s what felt selfish. You were putting them in danger because you loved them. That’s the part that disgusted you about yourself. You couldn’t stop pulling people down with you. It reminded you so much of your mother, and her mother before her. It felt like you were just another crab in a bucket, grasping on to others to get up only to bring them all down with you.

Niecey wasn’t done with you, “What the fuck about me? What about Toji? What about the people who love you? You die and then what? You just leave us wondering why the hell you didn’t ask for help. We wantto help you. We wantyou around, and it’s the most infuriating shit for the person you love to be so nonchalant about whether or not they live or die. And trust me, I know how you think about it. Heaven forbid you experience happiness right? Heaven forbid you receive even half of the support you give away? That’s just off limits, but goddammit Y/N, I am begging you to wake the fuck up and look around. You can’t do this shit alone, and we want to help you! That man risked his life looking out for you twice now, and all you can do is curse him for caring, because god fucking forbid someone care about you, right? Why is it so hard for you to understand that the things people choose to do for you because they love you are not your fault. It hurts more that you won’t let us help.”

You opened your mouth to speak and then closed it again as tears pricked your eyes as you thought again of your mother, “When the person who’s supposed to love you unconditionally throws everything they do for you in your face… it changes things.”

“Baby, you have to heal from that. You’re parents…. Your parents failed you. And I know, they fed you, they clothed, they kept a roof over your head, but that was shit they were supposedto do. They were also supposed to protect you. They were supposed to teach you to love yourself, and to take care of yourself. Your parents were supposed to build you up and all they did was break you down. I have been your friend for a long ass time, trust me I know why you are the way you are, but it’s gotta stop. You need help in the form of a therapist, and also with this Sukuna situation. The people who love you are gonna make mistakes alright. Everyone is human. Toji probably should have listened to you, but I don’t think it was ego that made him do it. You have no idea what it’s like to love you and see someone threaten you. If I was a man Toji’s size I’d knock a few heads together in your name in the blink of an eye.”

You sniffed, wiping your face with your sleeve, “Well then, you got me together didn’t you.”

“Someone needed to gather yo ass,” she said with a hint of humor in her tone. She reached out and took your hand in hers, “Plus, that man is fine as hell. Friends don’t let friends block they own blessings. Grow the fuck up and talk to him.”

“Alright now. I will hit that nurse button and have them sedate you. You getting a little too bold,” you threatened, but couldn’t help laughing as you swiped at the rest of your tears. She laughed too resting back against the pillows. The two of you were quiet for a moment. You gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you,” you breathed.

“For what?”

“… For just being my friend.”

She rolled her eyes and then a slow smile spread across her face and she started singing the Golden Girls theme. You giggled and joined her, adding in extra adlibs to make the two of you laugh.

She smacked your hand as she laughed, “Bitch! Stop it. My fucking ribs,” there was still a smile on her face as she said this.

You sat back, and realized just how much you missed being in the same room as her. The calls weren’t the same. It struck you hard just how much you’d let go in a misguided attempt at taking care of yourself. You missed this. And if you were honest with yourself. You missed Toji. You stayed with your friend until the nurses started encouraging you to leave. They gave her pain medicine so she would be out for the night.

From the hospital, you took the short drive in a rental car to the hotel you knew Toji was at. You knocked on the room door and stepped back. Once again, you didn’t really have a plan. For half a second you considered just leaving. Maybe you’d call and then come by tomorrow. Why didn’t you call first?

The door opened and Toji stood there in the doorway, shirtless looking down at you with the stoicism you were used to. You took a deep breath and looked up at him.

“You’re avoiding me again. Are we done?” he asked you. Toji was straightforward, blunt. He cut right through the bullshit to the heart of his own curiosities.

“I don’t want to be. I… Can I come in?” you asked.

He narrowed his eyes at you before stepping aside to let you in. You walked past him into the hotel room, toying with your fingers the entire time. It seemed like maybe the best course of action was to take a page from Toji’s book, just be direct, speak plainly.

“Uh, I’m sorry for how I reacted. I’m not proud of that and you didn’t deserve it. I don’t want to… lose you. I really, really- I care about you… more than I’ve ever cared about anyone. And I know if I give this up I won’t get another chance like this. I hope you can forgive me.”

Toji rolled his eyes at you, “There’s nothing to forgive. I should have listened to you.”

“I agree… or maybe you should have told me what you’d done. But I shouldn’t have lashed out like that at you. That was wrong.”

“Well, you’re forgiven.”

“Great. That’s good, because Niecey said she was gonna beat my ass if I didn’t fix this,” you pointed between the two of you.

He snorted, “Nice to know I’ve got someone on my team.”

“She really tore into me. Got me all the way together,” you laughed, “Look… I’m not goodat accepting help, like at all. I’d literally rather die. But I do need help and I don’t know what I’m going to do about all of this, and I can’t ask you to stand between me and Sukuna. I just can’t-”

“Bold of you to think you have to ask,” he said, reaching out to tip your chin up with the side of his finger, “really bold of you to think I wouldn’t set a whole fucking city on fire for you and baby I have been trying to keep it together, but I’m gonna be honest, I don’t like anyonefucking with you. This’ll all be a whole hell of a lot easier if you just accept that I’m not gonna let anyone threaten you.”

“Toji,” you breathed. He stepped closer to you, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you in close to him.

“No, you’re gonna listen right now. I told you, I’ve lived a questionable life of questionable morals. Everything I wanted in life I had to take for myself. You have given me you and I’ll be damned before anyone takes you from me. Only way your leaving my side is if you choose to go. That’s it. I don’t care what I have to do.”

“Why?”

He huffed an exasperated laugh, “Because I’m fuckin’ in love with you, genius.”

Your eyes went wide at that, “What?”

“You heard me. I’m in love with you. You ridiculous, stubborn woman. It can’t be that damn surprising, I mean look at the fucking state of me. Do you think I just hang around waiting for every beautiful woman to come back to me?”

You were still having trouble wrapping your head around what the hell was happening right now, “You’re saying you are in love with me?”

“Yes, should I say it slower? You look confused. Baby, we live together.”

“Yeah but… but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you love me.”

“Oh you’re impossible,” he let go of you to throw his hands in the air, “Trust me, sweetheart, I don’t go getting wrapped up in other people’s business for the fun of it.”

You blinked again, and it really hit you what he was saying to you. The initial shock took away from his message. Toji just told you he loved you… for the first time. It was something you’d been keeping inside because nothing good ever came from telling a man you loved him first. Your face felt hot as you peered up at him. You could tell that he was just as embarrassed as you did and perhaps with better reason. You still hadn’t voiced that you reciprocated his feelings.

“Uh me too,” you said quickly and then your brain caught up with your mouth and you hit your forehead with the heel of your palm, “I mean, I love you too. Which is whyI can’t stand the idea of anything happening to you because-”

“Say it again,” he cut you off with a slowly growing grin. It wasn’t one of his boasting grins, he didn’t mean to make fun of you. He put his hands on your hips, holding you in place in front of him. He wanted to see you say it.

“Um, I love you too. I thought it was kinda obvious on my part.”

“Yeah, but it’s still nice to hear you say it,” he began to lean down to kiss you and you pulled back.

“Dammit, Toji, there’s a bigger point here.”

“I don’t really think there is.”

“Homicidal ex-boyfriend?”

“You have a homicidal current boyfriend,” he shrugged.

You blinked up at him, obviously unamused. You did understand what he meant though. The man just came short of outright telling you he’d kill for you. Still, that only worried you. What were the odds of this ending in a way that wouldn’t ultimately break your heart? From where you were standing right now, not good.

“You’re the impossible one. Look, just tell me before you do something impulsive and stupid for my own safety okay? I hate to admit it but I know that piece of shit better than anyone in the world, kinda had to if I wanted to live this long. He’ll want you to attack him head on, but really? The only way to win is to fight dirty.”

“Right, you’re scrappy, I remember.”

In a few more days, Niecey’s mother was able to come up and be with her. It was for the best. People in your office were itching for you to come back and work in person again, and being in this city was making you anxious. It occurred to you, more than once, that part of Sukuna’s purpose behind attacking your best friend was to get you on his turf again. However as the days dwindle down before your departure flight, you wondered if he was really going to ignore the opportunity to do something with the home advantage. His inaction unnerved you. It felt eerily calm. Nevertheless there was nothing to really be done for it and it was stressful enough keeping an eye on Toji so that he didn’t do something stupid. To his credit, though, he’d been on his best behavior.

Before you both left you decided it was time to introduce him to Niecey. It was at her request, after she’d been home for a few days, and most of the swelling was gone from her face. You offered to cook with her mom. When you walked in, her mother hugged you tightly. It wasn’t the first time you’d seen each other in person, but this was the first visit since you helped her get Niecey situated.

“Oh, baby, I can’t thank you enough,” she said as she squeezed you. Niecey’s mother had always been kind to you, from the very moment she met you. You liked her. She was more of what a mother should be, you thought. She was kind, but firm, you could tell she didn’t put up with nonsense, but you could also tell from her and Niecey’s relationship that she was a reasonable and warm woman. Sometimes seeing her made your heart ache for what you could have been with a mother like Niecey’s.

You pulled back and looked at her face, the perfect window into the future of what Niecey would look like in 20-something years. The two were twins, always had been.

“It was nothing. Really the least I could do. I wouldn’t have been able to get here so fast if not for this one,” you gestured behind you with your thumb. She looked behind you and then all the way up to meet Toji’s gaze.

“Ms. Jones, this is Toji. Toji, Ms. Jones. This is Niecey’s mother. I’ve been trying to get her to adopt me for years but apparently I’m too grown for that,” you joked, stepping out of the way.

“Nice to meet you,” Toji said amicably.

Ms. Jones slid her gaze from Toji to you, “Child, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”

“Come on,” Toji laughed, “Don’t do me like that.”

She cracked a smile, “I see right through you, boy. I know you’re trouble. I can see it in your eyes. You better be good to her. That’s my baby too, you know?”

“She’s got me wrapped around her fingers. I’m really the one you should be worried about. She works me to the bone.”

“As she should,” Ms. Jones tossed you a conspiratorial wink. The three of you continued in and saw Niecey on the couch. Her leg was in a cast and her right arm was in a sling. It hurt your heart to look at her, but you did your best to keep that off of your face.

“So we finally meet,” she said with her signature grin, that lit up her face like the fourth of July.

“I can finally put a face to the voice that talks all that shit on the phone,” Toji joked with her casually, like it was all no big deal. You weren’t sure why you thought things might be any different. They were constantly making little quips at each other when you had her on speaker phone and Toji was in the room.

“I’ll talk shit to you right here too. Don’t worry,” she grinned.

You wound up in the kitchen with her mother when you were satisfied that the two of them were getting along. Ms. Jones griped about her own daughter’s inability to cook. Niecey could cook, but she couldn’t cook.She was respectfully designated as the person who brought the paper plates or store bought desserts to a function. You were the friend that could cook.

“That boy treating you right?” Ms. Jones asked you after a while.

You smiled a little, though your heart ached at her wary tone, “Yeah… yeah he really does,” you said emphatically trying to convey to her in so few words just how different he was from your last serious relationship.

She looked you over and a bit of the worry on her face seemed to slip away, “Well alright. He’s handsome, I’ll give you that. No face tattoos.”

You snorted, “No tattoos at all, funnily enough.”

You heard Toji let out a loud startled bark of laughter as if something that Niecey said had truly caught him off guard. The sound of it made you smile as well.

“This one laughs,” Ms. Jones remarked.

“There’s no walking on eggshells with him. And… well he’s got a record, but I know he’s on the up and up now.”

“Can’t help that, I guess. You dohave a type. Alright, I just worry about you out there all alone. I know Niecey has too.”

While Ms. Jones was checking in with you, Niecey was checking in with Toji. Which did not surprise Toji at all. The moment he sat across from her she started eyeing him suspiciously. He took a deep breath and wondered if this is the part where she would give him empty threats.

“I know you care about her,” Niecey began, “and I know she makes it hard to take care of her but don’t stop okay?”

He blinked, that wasn’t what he was expecting. He wondered if he was really that obvious to outside eyes… probably. Everything you did set off some unexpected soft part of his brain that made him want to walk around smiling like an idiot. It was really a shame, he used to be sure a hard to read person.

“I can agree to that,” he said easily.

“Good, because she’s got this stupid ass idea in her head that she has to do everything alone. She’ll trudge head first into danger if she thinks it’s for the greater good. There is no greater good when it comes to Sukuna. He’ll kill us all regardless of what she chooses.”

“Yeah, I gathered that. You’re not upset about… this?” He asked, gesturing towards her general state of injury.

“I could be, but bad people do bad things. That’s not her fault. Plus, I knew what I was getting into when I continued to be her friend. I had plenty of chances to bail out.”

“Why didn’t you?” Toji was just curious about her motivations. He could tell that the two of you were close, but he didn’t know if there was anyone, save you, who he would still be in contact with after this incident.

“She’s not the type to give up on people, and she’s always been there when I needed it. That’s the thing about kind people I guess. If no one’s looking out for them, then assholes take advantage of their kindness. Besides, I just love her. It is what it is.”

He nodded, it seemed like you brought that out of people, a desire to look after you. It was obvious in Maki, of all people, who’d actually called him to inquire about you a few days ago. He thought again of when Sukuna broke your wrist, and despite your assurances that Toji had nothing to do with it, it hadn’t stopped Maki from making him promise to be kind to you and threatening serious bodily harm if anything occurred otherwise. He didn’t think Maki could kill him at her current skill level, but give it a couple years and she’d be more than capable of making good on that promise. There was just something about you and maybe some people sought to simply own that goodness outright, to monopolize it, but Toji had the pleasure of knowing another woman like that in his life and he found that great things came from letting truly kind people live and be who they want.

“You don’t have to worry about me taking the bailout plan. I’m a stubborn fucker and I like her. She’s alright with me.”

“I’m counting on that.”

“And here I thought you were just going to threaten to kill me.”

“Oh… no, I have cousins who kill people. That can still happen, but I figured that was implied.”

Toji let out a loud startled laugh, by how casually she just admitted that. He could tell why the two of you were friends for sure.

“Fair enough. Good talk,” he agreed, still chuckling. Niecey giggled to then let out a pained little groan. Toji knew that laughing with broken ribs was not a fun time.

The rest of the visit went without a hitch. He managed to win over Ms. Jones before dinner was over, which didn’t surprise you in the least. Toji was charming when he wanted to be. There was just something about his rye humor that could win people over. Also, you were sure compared to the last man Ms. Jones saw you with, he was a walk in the park. No one had to worry about a joke getting them killed. You remembered bringing Sukuna around your family. He preferred to breed fear, to let them know that his power was absolute and you would do what he said. It was hair raising, so eventually you just stopped coming around.

You left to go back to the hotel in order to get some sleep before your early departure in the morning. In the middle of the night your phone began to buzz on the night table. It’s heavy hum was enough to wake you out of your sleep. Of course, getting to the phone was no easy task. Toji had an arm around your waist, and you were partially under him, an unfortunate hazard of sleeping with a man of his size. He must have rolled over in his sleep. You did wonder for a moment how the vibrations of your phone could wake you, but Toji rolling over on you did not.

“Move, you fucking ogre,” you grumbled trying to wiggle from under him. Your movements woke him just enough for him to shift his weight slightly.

“Sorry.”

“No you’re not,” you grabbed the edge of the mattress to pull yourself away before he shifted back on his stomach, grabbing the pillow under his head instead of you.

“You’re right.” His voice was muffled by the pillow. You sat up on the edge of the bed, but by this point your phone was done buzzing. Now that you were up, you had to go to the bathroom. You were just coming back to the bed with the hotel phone started ringing.

You frowned at that and grabbed the phone since you were already up. It was probably important if the front desk was calling at this hour.

“Hello?” you asked, and winced at your sleep laden voice.

“Ignoring my calls?”

You tensed, “Why are you calling me again?”

Sukuna chuckled on the line, “Well I realized you were going to leave without saying hello.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Why would I come to see you after you nearly killed my friend?”

“Easy, because I’m going to actually kill your boyfriend right now if you don’t.”

You turned then to look at Toji. If you were scared before, you felt like you might die now. There was a red dot trained right on the back of his head. You followed the laser sight to the far window. What were you supposed to do? Were you just supposed to let him die? If this was between you and Sukuna, why couldn’t it just end with you and Sukuna?

“Leave him out of this. I’ll go. Where should I meet you?”

“I thought you’d be more amicable. There’s a car waiting for you downstairs. You’ll get in. And I’m watching you, so don’t try anything funny.”

“Okay.”

“See you soon.”

You moved around the hotel room, putting on clothes so you could leave. You grabbed a few things, and put on your shoes. Before leaving you pressed a kiss to Toji’s shoulder before seeing yourself out. It was so easy for people to ask you not to be a martyr, but what else were you supposed to do. Were you supposed to shake Toji out of his sleep and directly risk his life to put him in the middle of this? Your own likelihood of survival wasn’t good and Sukuna harbored some amount of interest in you. What did he care for these other people? They were just pawns to him, people he could use to manipulate you and it worked. It worked.

However… if there was a way, some small way to preserve yourself and the people you loved… you had to take it. In a snap decision you grabbed one of the luggage tag Toji put on his bag because he was hyper specific about his things, for some reason. You slipped it in your bra and left the room. Walking down the long hallways of the hotel felt like a funeral procession. You were the casket bearer, the casket, and the body at all at once. The inside of the flashy elevator was reflective, and you stared at yourself. You looked tired even to yourself. It was nice for a while though wasn’t it, loving someone and being loved back… loved not owned. It was really nice while it lasted. You thought as the doors to the elevator opened up to the lobby and you stepped you. The receptionist didn’t even give you a glance as you passed by her. You thought to yourself that she would be useless when questioned. But why should she look up. You were just another person in a sea of people living a life that didn’t affect her at all. You pushed through the revolving door on to the sidewalk.

You made it a few steps before you heard glass shatter. It stopped you cold in your tracks. Without really even thinking you looked up, and you knew what had happened. He shot. Of course that was another option. You just didn’t want to think of it. There was a chance that you would do what Sukuna said, and he’d still kill the people you loved. What did he care for them? They were just people to use to manipulate you. And it worked. It worked.

You felt your knees give out at the same time someone grabbed you. You offered no significant resistance as they pushed you into the waiting car. There was no one on the street to see. It was all done so quickly. Before you really knew it you were just sitting in the back of a dark car.

“Are you going to cry?” Sukuna asked, making you aware of his presence in the car. You realized that you were just staring at your lap. You lifted your gaze to him. He was just a dark figure next to you. The city lights washed across him, but he was facing you so you couldn’t see his face. Even so, you could feel his cruel stare and hear the smile in his voice.

“Go on, cry for me. I’d like to see it.”

“You had him killed anyway,” you breathed.

“Of course I did. That bastard shot me. He wasn’t going to live no matter what you did. But if it makes you feel better, I won’t interfere with your friend’s life anymore. I don’t need to. You came easily,” he said casually, as if he were talking about simple tasks that might be on anyone’s to-do list. You were too stunned to cry or speak. In some way, you suppose you forgot what it was like to play Sukuna’s game. You weren’t playingat all. You had all the control of an ant who’d been discovered by a curious child. The best you could do was hope that their fascination did not become cruel. You were far past the point of his interest becoming cruelty. You took a deep breath.

“Is this the part where you kill me then?”

“Hm, I haven’t decided yet. Try begging for your life. It might sway my decision.”

You did not beg. You just stared out of the window. Maybe it was just shock that made you brave. Or maybe there was some kind of vacant hole opening in your chest and this wouldn’t be the first time it opened. It had always been there, a little pocket in your heart you could slip into when things got too bad. Everything was quieter there, and you didn’t have to see what was happening to you first hand, you could just float above it all. When you were little you used to imagine that you were a bird, perched on a wire, watching the way your father hit you for miniscule mistakes… sometimes just for the horrible mistake of existing. No offense was too small. It was easier to just observe it if you didn’t see the horrible things that happened to you as things that were happening to you. Just your body. Your eyes just glazed over and you weren’t really in the car anymore. You’d slipped through the pinhole in your heart and you were outside of the car, racing with the moon to keep your eyes on yourself. It was easier that way. And you did not cry.

You knew where you were going… but you couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing. He was taking you to his house: Which might mean he had no intentions of killing you right away… which ruled out the ease of quick death but also bought you time you supposed. Time for what though? To figure out how to get out of this, or to make peace with your demise. At the moment, you were pondering your next move. You wouldn’t stay here. That was simply not something you had the bandwidth to withstand now. One way or another you would get out of this… it just might not be alive which is something you were trying to make peace with but could not. There were so many things you still wanted to do. You wanted to travel. You wanted to get married, maybe have a kid, and you wanted to continue to decorate your home. You stopped that line of thinking in its tracks the moment you felt tears coming. There were a lot of things you could do, you refused to cry. That was never an option.

The winding drive up to the sprawling estate filled you with a soul deep dread. There were memories that you left locked away in this place that you never wanted to revisit.

“It’s a castle fit for a king right?” Sukuna said, obviously taunting you, “Pity it’s empty, but you saw to that didn’t you.”

You wondered what he meant by that. You supposed you weren’t the only person who left this place. Deep down you knew it was the right call. The other person who had been trapped in these four walls was too good for those circumstances. Sukuna had a nephew. The kid was as sweet as sweet could be. If you were honest, he’s what kept you around for longer than you might have stayed otherwise. You knew about two years in that nothing good was going to come of your relationship, but that child… you couldn’t just leave him alone. So, you bent all of your mental power toward making Sukuna believe that the kid was worthless to him. He was better off signing over legal custody, letting him live with his grandfather instead. You hoped the boy wasn’t back. He was such a sweet kid. He didn’t deserve to be stuck with a wretched person like Sukuna.

The car stopped and Sukuna got out first before going around to open the car door for you. You started at his outstretched hand as if it were an open bear trap.

“I will drag you out,” he said.

You put your hand in his tentatively and the bear trap closed, holding your hand tightly. He yanked you out of the car and you fought to get your footing. You were dangerously close to falling and you were certain that Sukuna would simply drag you if you were to fall. He moved fast though, and his legs were much longer than yours, meaning you had to jog to keep up with his pace. There wasn’t much you could do to keep from going into the house. He made you set in the dining room with him.

Well he didn’t sit. He forced you down into the chair and stood beside you for a moment before bending down to speak to you. You kept your eyes trained right in front of you, refusing to look at him at all as he began to speak.

“See, I had time to figure out every little thing you were up to while I was busy making a home for you.”

So he was going to monologue before he killed you. That seemed on brand.

“I learned about the accounts you kept, the people you talked to, the exact route you took to run away from me, and you know what I found? I found that you killedsomething that was mine.”

Right, that. You wondered how he got a hold of that information. You didn’t even give your real name at the clinic.

“Now how is that fair, hm?” He asked and when you remained silent he grabbed your face, digging the pointed ends of his nails into the flesh of your cheeks, “Answer me.”

“I didn’t want to bring another monster like you into this world,” you said solemnly.

“You stole from me.”

“It didn’t belong to you and it was my choice.”

“You stole from me,“ he reiterated, "and you’re going to give it back.”

You spoke between clenched teeth, “I’ll die first.”

“That can be arranged, but what fun is that.”

“Then get to killing, Ryoumen. Spare me the drawn out monologue.”

Sukuna grabbed your hair in a vicious grip, jerking your head to make you look at him, “I was nice to you before, that was my mistake. This time, I’m going to break you. I’m going to take every little piece of defiance out of you until your nothing but a hole for me to fuck.”