7 Meet her estranged strange self-acquired Uncle

*****

Yuuka is quietly impressed by how easily her new tenant understood humanity's modern technological advancements, easily grasping the concepts of the Rice Cooker, TV and the phone without much explanation on her part. And here she thought she would have fun watching him fumble over the intricacies of oven buttons when the big cheat had confessed he had partially looked through Yuuka's memories to know enough to not look like an idiot in front of her. Yet, he does have his moments where Sukuna would ask her about the glass palace's in the city center and the mobiles on the street and how the fuck do they work without being drawn by a carriage. Yuuka answers it all gladly and even waxes poetically and longingly over her beloved 'Monique the Skull Crusher' – RIP to her sweet beautiful riding companion, she will always be missed – that had been with her the most in her career as a stuntman. 

Also, aside from the prior scuffle and the ones that followed that, Yuuka thinks they're getting along pretty well. 

"What's so hard about understanding a Rice Cooker? I'm not an idiot old hag. Do not put me on the same level as you and we are not getting along pretty well, deluding yourself is unbecoming."

Harsh, much?

Yuuka expertly ignores the latter part of the sentence. "Mou~ I'll have you know that I was part of the development of the super advanced holographic computer technology in another life and was even one of the greatest mecha suit engineers in another. So I'm most certainly not an idiot."

Sukuna snorts because he has not much belief in others as much as he has on himself. What a prick.

"Yes, yet you insist on lowering yourself to menial labor."

Yuuka couldn't help but inhale deeply lest she break the mop she was using. The future idol was just helping her clubmates prepare the auditorium for the play coming tomorrow, the play in which she will star in as the tragic female lead. She's excited for the coming performance yet the little angry man is trying to rain on her parade.

"It's only right that I contribute somewhere. It's a team effort and I'm not the only one working."

And that is true, her other clubmates were busy cleaning the audience stands like her, while some were preparing the props to their proper place and some checking if the costumes are in order, so that they won't have something missing or something broken when showtime is literally the next day.

"Are you not the star of this theater group? Then why shall you work such demeaning tasks when you stand above them in importance?"

Yuuka stops herself from sighing and rolling her eyes. 

"I just happen to be the lead because I fit the Spring Fairy part very well appearancewise, pink hair and all, and of course because I am very good at what I do." She directs the mop to an old stuck gum on the floor and when it won't come off, she uses Storm Flames to disintegrate that bitch. Yuuka doesn't have to worry about anyone seeing the red flames when the same concept applies to none Flame Actives in this reality. Something about only Curse Users being capable of seeing Curses.The concept of ignorance is bliss to some is still also applicable in this life.

She can feel the curse's curiosity with the different colored flame yet he makes no comment to voice it.

"Plus I'm not even the Club President, so I'm not superior to any of them by any means."

A call for her name saves her from debating against the cursed creature's opinions about social structures, thank the Fates, Yuuka does not want to experience another tantrum induced heart attack from her pouty tenant.

"Yuu-chan! Can you help us move the tower?" Misaki asks while she struggles with five other teenagers to keep the gray painted piece of wooden and cardboard structure not to topple over everything else.

"Sure thing Misa-chan! Hang on for a sec!"

Yuuka lets the mop she was using lean on the wall, turning around to jump down from the top seating of the auditorium, making a show of tucking herself and rolling when she could have easily withstood the impact. No one made a comment to her stunt other than another sigh or a shake of their head, her clubmates have gotten used to her unnatural athleticism and her propensity in abusing the shit out of it. And then there's the matter of her birth as she is born an Itadori. Everyone and their mothers had just collectively agreed that the Itadoris are strange like that.

(The Itadori family, even if significantly small, is known for their inhuman strength and reflexes, even her Gramps was still feared around their neighborhood for not inciting his ire lest you want a lamppost thrown at you. There's a story and history there that Yuuka is not privy to, just the whispers of old neighbors and their neighbors' children to go off to.) 

They even speculated that she must be doing parkour because Yuuka seemed the type to do so.

It's not that far off the course when she often takes off at night to just run free and feel the wind caressing her flesh as they whisper sweet nothings and secrets to her.

(And speaking of running off, Yuuka wonders about the assassin guy she saved during her school trip to Tokyo where she followed her intuition to buy a limited plush toy – her beloved King the Pink Tiger so worth it! – saving the very ripped dude was all because of a whim and a trial on whether THEY let her have the power to heal someone from the brink of death. 

You see, sometimes they don't because they don't want Yuuka reviving or healing all the wrong people for the shits and giggles. But she's glad that the first person she tried to test it on was a very interesting and very not boring one. 

Her Hyper Intuition is best to follow sometimes when she's humoring it and nothing better to do. She still giggles at the look on that guy's face when he wakes up on the lap of a ten year old, and she even manages to extricate a promise that they become family instead of returning the favor someday. 

Hmmm… Toto-jiji hasn't visited recently, she wonders what job had kept him away this time, but Yuuka will be seeing him soon, she did wrangle a promise from the man to attend her 'first' school play.)

Yuuka makes it in time before the structure topples over and takes it away from their shaky arms without breaking a sweat, easily carrying the fourteen foot structure at the center of the stage and in between the propped castle walls. 

"What weaklings."

"Sukkun~ Stop insulting the mortals and projecting your issues on them."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU IMBECI—" Yuuka promptly shuts him out to leave him to his temper tantrum.

She gives the whole structure a quick flick of arching green Lightning Flames followed by a burst of Cloud Flames intermixed with Sky, the use of the Flames were barely in the visible spectrum based on Flame User standards and Yuuka – in turn Sukuna as well – were the only one to see the mirage of colorful fire. Lightning to harden and stabilize, Cloud for propagating and prolonging the hardening and Sky to tie it all together so it won't fall apart. Only Yuuka alone can apply Flames to an object to modify it without constantly applying her Flames, her Sky Flames are the type that lingers as long as she wills it. If another tries it without the object being Flame Resistant and Flame Susceptible, it would most likely explode and burst into flames or crumble to ashes

With that done, she had fortified the structure to be stronger than it should be for the haphazard building job of a couple of preteens, now the whole thing won't be coming down over their heads tomorrow.

Yuuka absently does the same effect to the other props and contraption on stage just to make sure.

Midway through the process, Sukuna shuts up from his rant to closely observe what she was doing, trying to discern what her Flames were for.

"Thanks Yuu-chan! You're a lifesaver."

"As expected of the Tiger of the Karasuno West Junior High, a measly wooden tower is no match for her."

"You're welcome guys," She smiles winsomely, planting both of her fists on her waist. "Do you guys need help with the heavy lifting? I can switch with one of you guys."

"Oh we're almost done here on the stage, but we could use your help in moving some boxes."

A hand raises as a volunteer. "I'll switch with you Itadori-chan."

"Nice, then let's go with that, Yamamoto-kun," She turns to the tall brunette in glasses, Yuuka remembers him as the sweet boy who shared his chocolates with her when he accidentally spilled her juice when they were in elementary. "I left the mop near the trash can so you won't have a hard time finding it upstairs."

Yamamoto simply nods with a smile. "Got it Itadori-chan." Then he walks offstage to go to the stairs leading to the upper stands.

"Now then, lead me to these boxes that needeth moving Fair Lady Misaki and friends!" Yuuka exclaims with exaggerated flair, and as theater kids ought to do, they go through with the dramatics.

Misaki curtsies with her school skirt while the three boys bow with a hand over their chest. Misaki even goes so far as to kiss Yuuka's hand that made her giggle and for Sukuna to gag at their 'foolish' act. Some of the club members that have heard the whole exchange follow along with a bow or a curtsy, snickering as they do so.

"Ah… children are such precious beings."

"Too bad we can't see them break at the face of adulthood."

"Awww… is that what happened to you kid? Did adulthood break you so bad that you became so bitter?"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

Misaki places Yuuka's hand at the crook of her arm, the dark haired girl giving her a charming smile, her silvery blue eyes carrying mischief. Yuuka will make sure to visit her grave with flowers when she eventually dies like most mortals do. Here's to hoping that her death would be a kind one.

"Most certainly, your highness, the Spring Fairy Queen. We shall escort you to these boxes that needeth your aid to be moved."

Yuuka follows the girl with a giggle on her lips and a flutter of her long dark pinkish brown lashes, Misaki flushes in response. How cute, maybe the locker room rumor about her friend having a crush on Yuuka has some merit, her sound and the beat of her heart states as much.

Because of this little act, the air of anxiety and nervousness for the coming play tomorrow has abated somewhat and to help more with the atmosphere, Yuuka didn't hesitate to release a constant flicker of her Sky Flames interlaced with Rain to feed calming good vibes in the air.

She projected her giddy excitement and easy confidence through her Flames, the warmth of her hearth relaxing their shoulders and letting their smiles spring forth. Soon enough, the air clears with positivity, of warmth, buzzing anticipation and glee. Yuuka makes sure to not overdo it, he knows how ordinary people easily get Flame Drunk and they still need to get things done.

All eyes were drawn to her in that single moment and Yuuka relished in the song of harmony. Of serenity in the midst of expected chaos. It was wonderful.

She stops herself from bouncing off the walls from happiness in how the others followed and echoed her inner voice, creating the orchestra of different voices to blend together to create a symphony of great camaraderie. Oh if only someone else can hear what she's hearing, and to feel what she's feeling.

"And what… are you doing?"

Oh right, he'll be able to hear and feel what she's feeling right? She almost forgot his existence at the bliss of being in the midst of quasi Flame Bonding, even if it's not the real thing, the heady rush of comfort it creates in her very soul is not to be denied.

"I'm directing an orchestra, isn't that wonderful?"

Smiles run abound as Yuuka takes boxes after boxes, a certain type of excitement charges the room and the prior crawl of dread and non-existent enthusiasm vanishes. 

"I don't hear no orchestra, but you're manipulating them to feel this way don't you? What type of sorcery could it be to manage and manipulate a human's emotion? The last known clan to do so are the Kanjou, but all of them were wiped out by the Greater Clans out of fear of them inciting chaos with their Empathy Technique. Or is this perhaps another one of your curse techniques?" 

This elicits an internal gasp from Yuuka, her grin also dialing down. How dare this punk imply that she—

"Of course not! How could you accuse me of such slander! I've only coaxed what is already there and merely hidden, even I can't fabricate what a human heart can feel– well I could but I would never do that!" Yuuka was careful not to crush the box on her hands, she was just sooo infuriated by this brat.

"I love freedom, and I don't like taking it from others because that would be hypocritical of me! They are free to feel what they wish to feel! I'm just nudging them in the right direction, those emotions already exist in their hearts and I'm just helping them find it."

She carefully lowers down the stack of boxes, quickly moving to get more.

"And what Curse Technique? I haven't even used one nor do I know what those are? Well I could with the help of Omnia but where's the fun in that? But anyways, what I'm using are Dying Will Flames not these curses you speak off."

Sukuna gives a hum, one that indicates interest and intrigue according to her internally written book on How to Read Obstinate Emotionally Constipated Assholes. "Dying Will Flames? I suppose they are flames harnessed through your dying will."

Yuuka gives a smile when Yamamoto comes back with a few cold drinks in hand, such a sweet child, if only Sukuna was the same.

"Thanks Yamamoto-kun." She smiles sweetly, taking a sip of the refreshing cold tea.

Sukuna ignores that internal remark about his character and instead complains about how tea should be hot and not cold and what sacrilegious human error it was to invent such a thing.

"Yes and no." Yuuka answers the prior question very vaguely because she's still pissed at the cursed creature's earlier slander. Then she shoots a question of her own. "Is this Curse Technique and Curse Energy you've been ranting about long before that similar to my Flames?"

Sukuna copies her vague answer. "Yes and no." And leaves it at that.

What annoying brat, maybe Yuuka should have went and exorcized him.

Yuuka harrumphs and pouts much to the confusion of everyone around her and one brave soul asks her why she was suddenly upset.

"Nothing, I suddenly remembered the cockroach that I found on my bed last night, I was just wondering if I should have just killed it rather than setting it free on my window."

Sukuna growls at her somewhere in her headspace, the man sounding distant.

"How dare you refer to my great self as a mere cock–"

"Oh you're way worse than a dick, I can assure you that, little cockroach man."

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YO–!"

Misaki looks properly concerned with her predicament.

"That sounds terrifying Yuu-chan."

Yuuka shakes her head and gives a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Misa-chan, it's just a bug after all, something so insignificant can't hurt this tiger." She sends a wink for good measure.

In her head, Sukuna is making a mess of everything, inducing another heart attack like the petulant brat that he is. Yuuka easily ignores the burning and rapturing feeling in her chest, she's experienced far more worse things than a physically aching heart.

"I'm just thinking of what if it came back to annoy me once again. Should I just kill it?" She crushes the empty can of tea in her hand before throwing it at the trash can fifteen meters away, it lands perfectly with a clutter.

Yamamoto looks at her with both awe and hidden fear as if he understood her implications.

"IF ANYONE IS KILLING ANYONE THAT WOULD BE ME YOU INFURIATING CREATURE!"

She makes grabbing motions at everyone's empty cans of tea, once she had verified them all as without liquid, Yuuka promptly mashes them together to a ball of tin careful not to hurt herself in the process.

"I, I think you should just leave it be Itadori-chan." Yamamoto speaks against the blanket of stunned silence. "It's a living creature too and it has a part on the food web after all. Ma-Maybe try spraying insecticide or something instead?"

She grins and snickers, picturing herself holding a big spray bottle of lavender scented insecticide and spraying it to an incense Sukuna, the image alone is akin to a water filled squirt bottle being sprayed onto a hissing kitty.

The snickering earns her an odd look from her clubmates.

"Maybe I should do that. I'll try doing what Yamamoto-kun recommended to me then."

"You will not do such a thing."

"Try me, brat."

"YOU FUCKING CUNT HAVING BITC—"

"Anyways, let's get this stage done and show everyone in school how super awesome our Theater Club is!"

There was a resounding sonorous reply of agreement to Yuuka's little pep talk and the atmosphere drove up to its lively excited countenance. 

"I'LL RIP OUT YOUR SPINE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AND CUT YOUR INSOLENT TONG—"

See, they get along so well. 

*****

Thunderous applause greets her a second after the end of her vulnerable whispery falsetto that remarks the end of their act. Yuuka's cheeks were still wet from the tears and emotions of her committed performance as the anguished and obsessively loved Spring Fairy Queen. The beautiful butterfly trapped in a jar by the man she thought was one of her dearest friends, the betrayal of being taken away from her home and being forced to 'love' the man who she only ever thought of as a friend, Yuuka acted her heart out on this one. And may or may not have pulled more from the recesses of her archive of buried memories to really sell the performance.

Yuuka may or may not have opened a journal of the forcefully forgotten pages of her ancient long life.

Damn did it fucking suck massive ass because having a psychotic break in the middle of the stage with lots of parents, students, and school staff were watching would be pretty fucking ugly. But Yuuka pulled through, she made it work by constantly zoning on her five senses in the now to not get lost in the forest of her past.

It all results in one phenomenal show if Yuuka does say so herself, and because of her all or nothing in character act the children followed along her flow like a rapid river, putting all their best despite their prior nervousness and stage fright. 

Yuuka may or may not have given them the push to give them the confidence to do their all. Man, she has never seen a more emotional Moon than Yamamoto who is also the narrator of the show. It's frankly impressive given the boy's reserved personality.

Throughout the show, she can feel her grandfather's proud gaze and her ex-assassin friend's grudgingly impressed countenance where they were both huddled at the back with the least people. It's easy for her to pick them out from the crowd despite the clamor of mishmash life force and presence even when one of them is practically invisible.

Yuuka would never miss them for the world.

And as she bows to the audience along with her clubmates Sukuna was still surprisingly silent despite his earlier speech about their little act failing and her being the main center of embarrassment of her Acting Troupe for sucking at acting. All of that of course was said with a tongue of burning acid and barb, archaic in its execution with a flair that only charismatic Big Bads can do. It's honestly a bit impressive because most Villain monologues that had them praying for the protagonist's downfall were all honestly so overused that Yuuka is embarrassed for the air that enters their lungs. It must sucked to be exhaled by someone so lame.

But despite his given silence, Yuuka can still feel him and he is not at all asleep somewhere in his throne of bones. He mostly felt annoyed and sulky and most likely will not open his smart mouth for the next few hours at the withheld embarrassment at being proven wrong.

Ha! Serves him right! Bitch please, Yuuka was literally the World's Greatest Showman in her last life and that's not mentioning her other lives, that title was not an empty one that's for sure, hell, it was not until it was Skull's last moment did someone see through Skull's blundering fool act. Nobody noticed a damn thing that Skull's whole persona was just a greatly fabricated performance committed 'till the end to see if anyone would be able to see past the illusions.

Apparently not. It was not until Skull decided that he wanted to 'die' did someone see right through him, and that's because he wasn't really bothering anymore.

Yuuka is a goddamn phenomenal performer, anyone who says otherwise are bullshitting right out of their ass. Like, she acted as a pretty convincing sane human most lives so it was naturally a given. She's not tooting her own horn mind you, because it's an irrevocable truth.

As the curtain falls, she can still hear praises about their play as the audience did not expect such talent from a bunch of preteen kids in a local public middle school. But from her enhanced hearing, parents, students and teachers alike were most captivated by her performance with her partner, the Underworld King, Uzumi as second at his impressive play as the twisted and madly in love man. Well that's only a given because he is the President and the one who wrote the play, the musical side were all a mix effort but were mostly written by Yuuka.

(What can she say, being able to literally hear the Voice of the World and the worldly harmony translates very well in music as that's how she hears it. She's very intimate of what sounds can evoke or can be relative to certain emotions, it's practically ingrained in her whole psyche as some weird World/Universe Empath.

Yuuka is a creature of many talents and skills, it would just be plain embarrassing if she wasn't when she's as old as some stars in the galaxy, the ones that burned out exploded and are now just a thing that sucks everything within it. 

She has a lot of time in her hands to learn, one can even say that she has unlimited grain of sand in her hourglass, always pouring but it never seems to run out. 

THEY made her this way, so she can use the time she was given however she wants even to do something as insignificant as learning how to ride a bike.)

It is not arrogance to say that Yuuka is great at what she does. Not to mention the fact that her anonymous YouTube singing career is taking off pretty well when it comes to songs she has written in this lifetime. 

Maybe she'll do a face-reveal when she gets to 100k or something, it's ample time too when she finally decides to reach that sweet, claustrophobic and hectic Idol life for herself. Plus she's basically an idol already in a sense and that's what some of her 13k subscribers have labeled her as which makes Yuuka incredibly happy and fuzzy inside.

(Yuuka does not limit herself to one genre and she even does cover songs because why the heck not? Yuuka loves freedom and that shows in her style of singing and the merry-go-round of mix genres. It's what her proclaimed fans loved about her according to them, that she doesn't restrict herself in a sole genre.)

Her clubmates started crowding around her, giving excited hugs and unrestrained clap in the backs and Yuuka relishes in all the positivity and the harmony it brings to her soul.

"Itadori-chan that was awesome!"

"You freaking killed it!"

"I can't believe that you even cried on stage and it was so heart wrenching and beautiful and I just– Ahhhh!" Misaki screamed when she could no longer articulate her emotions into words and just went straight up and attacked me with a hug, her fuzzy devil horns almost poking Yuuka in the eyes.

After she was released, Uzumi was the next one to hug her and even lifted her in the air as he started crying and laughing at the same time, thanking her for making his vision come true. Awww… this kid really loves his art and is very passionate about it, Yuuka hopes for a future where this boy continues to do what he loves.

"Uzumi-senpai, it wasn't just me who gave it their all and was a part of this magic, everyone did too! And you're a part of that as well, so give yourself the credit you are due."

The child's heart soars and everyone follows with a lilting chorus, all warm and fuzzy, all chirping and melodious, like a flock of birds singing together in tune. Sukuna grumbles at the cheerful ruckus from deep within her yet kept quiet all the same. 

"...Yuu-chan… "

Misaki perks up once more and throws her hands in the air, a big watery smile on her face stretching wide as much as her heart clenches with palpitating happiness.

"Everyone group hug!" She cries, barrelling herself to the still crying child in Yuuka's arms and managing to include herself in it. 

As if a switch had been flipped, the children came running and suddenly she was being suffocated by warm emotions and bands and bands of lanky arms. It was warm and itchy with the costumes and the combined body heat yet Yuuka won't remove herself from the center of it all. Yuuka is a Sky after all, she thrives in harmony and the bonds of affection.

The children must be subconsciously trying to connect with her, to bond with her in their own way. Yuuka hadn't really restrained the allure of her Flames, why would she when she values Freedom most of all so her essence leaks in the air, a burning hearth in the middle of winter. But even so, try as they might, these children won't be able to reach her. They might have something similar to her Flames, a nebulous energy that ran across their fragile bodies but that's it, an energy similar to Flames. 

It won't be enough to form the same bond Flame users can have, nothing as tight knit or as intimately intertwined as having a bond with another's soul.

But it's enough for Yuuka, she has been to planes and realities that have the same setting, the fourth realm is the only plane to have that concept of deep soul relations anyway and maybe that's why Yuuka comes back to it every now and then. It fascinates her to say the least, to be so soul intertwined, to bare yourself to another, to show your truest self and be accepted.

(Yuuka won't lie to herself. The only reason she uses that plane's power system is because it makes her feel less lonely. After all, every being that exists had their own designated time, and as a timeless being like herself, the only timeless being in fact, Yuuka is incredibly lonely. 

So lonely that she destroyed worlds that had taken her family when it wasn't still their time to part. Because it's not their time yet and how dare, how dare some speck take something of hers—)

Yuuka comes back to herself when the chains of spindly arms had loosen and bright smiles ran abound, like hope, like dreaming, like every essence of youth. 

Yuuka feels her age all of a sudden when it's all done and over. 

Melancholic, nostalgic and maybe a bit idiotic. It's not her time to be sad just yet, she's still young in this life, she still has time together with these children however short it may be. 

Yuuka will cherish it all like how she cherishes every soul that comes close to her, all consuming and all encompassing. 

*****

Yuuka waves goodbye to everyone, finally out of her frilly, flowery, lacy costume and folded gossamer wings. Her face now bare, without the crawling vines and flowers painted on her brows, cheeks and neck nor were there any studded stones in her eyelids rich with pink eyeshadow. Yuuka is back to her natural self as she beams at everyone and praises them once more for a great work before turning her back with a skip to her step, humming the mischievous starting intro of the play under her breath. 

She meets her Gramps and her reluctantly acquired Uncle outside the auditorium, grinning with perfect pearly teeth with sharper than average canines. 

"Jii-chan! Toto-jiji! Did you guys pay attention to the whole show at least?" Yuuka questions because she knows how surly both of them are, with one annoyed by the crowd and the other uninterested with a child's school play.

("Arg… there's more than one of them? Another useless kin?" Sukuna quietly grumbles to himself.

Yuuka ignores him.)

But still it's quite funny and heartwarming that they still went to the show despite wanting to be anywhere else but packed with noisy students, overbearing parents and underpaid teachers.

And watching the gambling addict, Fushiguro Toji turn Itadori Toshirou, try and fit himself on a small uncomfortable cinema chair was pretty fucking hilarious, the way he cursed aloud before the start of the show when he found out his thighs don't fit the chair quite was all cackle material. The eyes of snickering teens, offended parents and the staffs' glare was an added bonus to the already humorous scene. Toshirou must look odd to them as well, you don't quite see tall, muscular, pink haired and olive green eyed men anywhere and in school no less, so the whole time before the show started, everyone was watching him like a monkey in a zoo.

Wasuke on the other hand, suffered alongside him for the sole reason of proximity and the way that they look vaguely alike.

(Yuuka had asked for his permission first before she fundamentally changed Fushiguro Toji's genetic makeup to be akin to hers, to be akin to being her blood. The mercenary agreed readily, citing that Fushiguro Toji should be dead by all means and dead men shouldn't be walking around only for a shitty God to strike them down again. Yuuka introduced her blood to his system and willed it so that they would be alike, that they would be blood. So straight dark hair lightened to curled spiked pink, pale skin darkening to a light tan, flinty narrowed emerald green eyes mellowing to almond-shaped olive green eyes and a scar vanishing to none because Itadori Toshirou wouldn't have one. The Itadori family is known for being stronger than the average human, born with supernatural strength and reflexes so Toji now Toshirou would sit right home into their measly small family as some estranged relative.)

(Her Gramps had been skeptical at first when Yuuka brought Toshirou home from her school trip – with the man who reluctantly followed her – but with the uncanny resemblance from Wasuke's youth when he was taller and more muscular and him confirming having a half brother he hasn't met in years who had lived in Shibuya it all lines up. So Itadori Wasuke accepted Itadori Toshirou albeit hesitantly. And in fact, Itadori Toshirou did exist, coincidentally, the twenty-year-old boy just went missing with his parents during a camping trip one fine summer, so it was just easy for Yuuka to say that he has found him wandering around like he doesn't recognize anybody. The police ate it all up, the only thing Yuuka had to do extra with was to make Toji biologically younger and to fundamentally match his everything – DNA, fingerprint, etc. – to the deceased real Toshirou, which was easy enough with the power of Flames and Omnia by her side. When she proposed the idea, Toji was both skeptical and ecstatic of becoming younger, he even thanked the real Toshirou for dying in some woods and having the same physique as him so Yuuka wouldn't need to change anything else. Now, he's an actual revived man with a new birthdate and new family, when questioned about his previous family, he only answers that he is glad and fucking happy that he is not their blood anymore. Yuuka almost got punched to oblivion for pointing out his teary eyes at that moment.)

(Maybe she should've, but Yuuka never asked about his past other than his prior job and interesting stories about it. She never brought up the question of family again but she never forgets to remind him that he is part of her family.)

A big warm hand steadies her when she almost tips over for stopping abruptly.

"Well, it wasn't all shit brat. I didn't know that you've got pipes in ya." The big hand on her shoulder moves to her hair, ruffling it roughly and not caring about the labor of braiding it that way. 

Yuuka tries to swat the hand away like an annoying fly but alas, the man's reflexes have won against her. 

Her gramps makes himself known by suddenly turning her around to face him, old wizened hands gripping her shoulders tightly that she can imagine would have bruised if she was normal. 

"And who is that boy who kissed you on stage thrice – not just once but THRICE – and why haven't I heard anything about it?"

Ohhh… so that's why he suddenly sounded pissed when the second act started. And also when Uzumi was introduced.

Yuuka was flabbergasted at her grandfather's sudden bout of overprotectiveness, it's the first time this has happened.

The rolling sound of amusement greets her ears and she side-eyes her unhelpful Uncle Toshirou who was just masking his snickers with well timed coughs. Damn, no help there she guesses, as expected from a self-proclaimed asshole.

Her gramps eyes might as well be lasers at how intense he was glaring at her, Yuuka gives him a soft smile, her smoother, younger hands covering his calloused, wrinkled ones. Wasuke's grip softened to a hold and his glare into a stare.

"Gramps, it's only a kiss on the hand and the cheek and the forehead, it doesn't mean anything. It's all just for the play." Yuuka takes the hand on her right shoulder and presses it to her lips. "Besides, Gramps is the only man your cute granddaughter has ever kissed."

Which is true for this lifetime at least.

Wasuke's ears suddenly turned red, and like the tsundere he is, looks away and starts ruffling her head so hard that the braids come undone.

"Well that's good to hear. You're too young for such things." He grumbles lowly under his breath.

It's honestly funny and cute that Yuuka didn't mind the ruination of her hair.

But all of that came to ruin by a loud snort from behind her.

"Snrrk– fuck!" Toshirou cursed aloud as Yuuka's elbow lovingly greeted his ribs with impact.

Yuuka gave him a glare from her peripherals. "Don't ruin the moment Toshi." She whispered low enough for only the man to hear.

"What the hell? What the fuck is that pointyass elbow?" Toshirou whispers but it's not quiet enough, for an ex-assassin he can be very loud.

"You should have stabbed him instead." Was the first thing Sukuna said after his bout of silence. Of course it's related to murder. And then, "How the fuck is he still alive? With no curse energy at all he is akin to a walking corpse. But perhaps it is Heavenly Restriction, yet I haven't met someone who has no curse energy at all. Fascinating."

"I know right! It's a good thing I managed to save him, such an interesting aura he has." Yuuka agrees readily to the curse and at the same time she turns to her self-acquired uncle with a droll look.

"Would you rather like it to be my fist, old man?"

"He has no energy signature with him but I can sure feel his will and spirit, no other human I've come across so far in this world can compare. And Heavenly Restriction huh? So that's what that annoying bell sound in his soul meant, should have known it has the stink of Heavenly Law Enforcers at its finest."

"The Heavenly Law Enforcers?"

"I didn't know that this Universe even has one, yet the existence of Toshi confirms it enough. Some reality has them, some don't, but for the most part most of them that I have met were nothing more than arrogant narcissistic lunatics who think they're above everyone." 

Just thinking about them leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

"You don't seem to be a fan of them."

The man smirks, the right side of his lips rising to something smug. "If you could land one, squirt."

"Why would I be? When they have the audacity to call themselves God." She says, her words dripping with distaste.

"Are you not one?"

"Maybe. Possibly. But I don't want to be compared to the likes of those meddlesome maggots."

Yuuka hates most Gods with the passion of billion dying suns for their audacity to place rules, principles and laws on humanity yet proceed to break them. They wish for order in their subjects yet they're the first ones to not abide by it. How can they restrict freedom and place limits to humanity yet they seek to exceed their own. Yeah Yuuka is a fan of breaking from the norm and freedom and what not, but there are still things that one should not cross.

What hypocrites, a bunch of them, only a few of them are ever cool.

And because of them, she's hard at work at restoring balance to realities one at a time.

Yuuka is a singularity while these beings who call themselves Gods were different to every reality. Like one Loki could be an awesome prankster in one and a psychotic bastard in another.

Just thinking about them makes her want to fuck shit up, but she guesses she already went against the tapestry of fate for saving Fushiguro Toji who was meant to die that day.

(Yet there's a link to his soul, a thread that opens the chance of his revival somewhere down the future. Yuuka used the thread to tether him back and change his fate altogether for making him related to her, the current 'Child of Destiny'. Argh… it also reads that she would have a difficult life ahead in this timeline, it ought to make her suffer but when she gets there she'll probably have smashed their carefully laid timeline. Or she gets undone and remade again, it's not Yuuka's first rodeo, but fate should already know what happens when she breaks.

Yuuka breaks everything around her.)

Yuuka doesn't let this show on her face, and as a master in acting, she gives an identical smirk to the man as she rises to her full height of 172 centimeters, which is already quite tall for a twelve year old. 

"Is that a challenge I hear? Bet that I can hit you in under a minute."

Ah yes, a sure fire way to bait a gambling addict to the throes of losing.

Toshi straightens from his slouch to tower over her in his 6'2 glory. What an asshole to a mere twelve year old. "Three hours, and ya cook my favorite foods for five days."

"Three days along with desserts. I win and you go shopping with me as my pack mule. Anddd you answer a few questions for me."

Yuuka stretches her hand out. "Bet?"

A larger and warmer calloused hand covers her small and dainty ones with a crushing grip like a Russian greeting.

(It's extremely familiar, Skull had been Russian after all.)

Yuuka doesn't wince and instead returns the gesture twofold.

A crazed grin crawls over the mercenary's face. "Bet."

Then they shook on it, a promise made between immature idiots that liked proving people wrong.

"Don't you dare fucking lose to this monkey."

"Don't worry, I have no plans in losing. I'm quite competitive, you know?"

Beside them, the old man sighs in exasperation, it was deep and so done with them.

"If you brats are done, I want to go home where there are less people to bother me."

The three of them went home after that with Yuuka and her Uncle verbally sparring against each other with the old man walking ahead of them, pretending that he doesn't know them.

("What you said earlier was so fucking cheesy I thought I'm gonna catch Lactose Intolerance."

"Dumbass! You're either born with it or develop it over time, it's not some communicable disease. The only thing you're catching is stupidity and these hands."

"Yeah well, your hair looks stupid. And what're those mittens gonna do? Tickle me to death?"

"Nah, it'll just blow a hole in ya." 

"..."

"And your insults are stupider, stupid."

"Shut the fuck up, you brats are both stupid.")

*****

Yuuka and Toshi stared at one another, the wind dramatically blowing at their pink tresses and the sound of branches clacking together is only music to the tense atmosphere.

"Get ready to get socked in under a minute."

"And I can't wait to eat Horumonyaki and Yakiniku and finally some goodass Wagashi."

They were in the middle of the forest, only a few paces from where Yuuka first consumed a piece of Sukuna. Being in the middle of nowhere is good to enact their bet, otherwise authority will be called on her Uncle Toshi for domestic violence. And oh yeah, for also mitigating property damage and giving civilians trauma.

The ex-assassin – who may or may not still be an assassin – stood in a loose stance, all of his corded muscles slack without a care in the world as he smirked down at her in arrogance, hands all in his sweatpants pockets. As if to say, he's not worried at all. Like an amused lounging panther staring down at a little kitty trying to imitate its graceful deadliness.

Fushiguro Toji, now Itadori Toshirou had no fucking idea of to what extent her abilities lies. He just knows that she can heal and calls her a natural at using a 'reverse curse technique' thing even though she's not an official sorcerer – in their Universe's term anyways – and that her strength is above the average human. They haven't sparred or anything even though they have known each other for almost two years now, a crime that Yuuka needs to rectify. Oh she is so gonna rock his shit. Because she is more than any of his expectations.

Let's see if he remains smug when I knock his teeth out.

The wind blows again and beautiful autumn leaves start to fall. It's quite a gorgeous clearing, lively with the color of sunset all around, picturesque with the warm red of the Japanese maple trees and the bright yellow of the ginkgo trees. The foliage overall exudes the sophistication of the classic Japanese fall, like stepping inside a painting by some famous artist or walking into the set for some geographical seasonal magazine.

They stand out against the scenery, the two of them. Both their colorings belonging more in spring and summer. Yuuka with her cherry blossom pink hair and warm honeyed eyes, Toshirou with his rose pink hair and muted olive green eyes. She is wearing a high waisted black skort and a pastel pink My Melody sweatshirt and a pair of old white trainers, while Toshirou in simple dark blue sweatshirt and sweatpants ensemble and a pair of black trainers

In a sea of red, orange, brown and yellow hues, the two of them stand like two misplaced pieces of something else entirely. One more so than the other.

Ah, it's really such a wonderful place.

Too bad it's all going to be destroyed.

Yuuka sets up her very cute limited edition Sanrio Kuromi ZGO collab watch to beep after a minute has passed, with one last push of a button the timer has started ticking, and with one last stare from the lax man before her. 

Yuuka takes off.

She can see the moment Toshi's eyes widened in surprise, but like the adaptable survivor that he is, he dodges Yuuka's punch to his right eye at the last second. The girl doesn't let him rest and she follows with a curved hook with her right fist while her right foot steps in between his legs, throwing the whole punch with her pelvis and moving it along her upper body. Toshirou leans back to evade it and the force of that move alone generates an explosive impact to thin air that blows a chunk of a maple tree and the ten more trees behind it to splinters.

"Tch, that attempt was pathetic."

"Have you ever heard the saying of 'testing the waters'?"

Toshirou whistles at the damage, jumping back to bring several amounts of space between them. There's alertness and caution in his body now, a great difference to what it was three seconds ago.

Yuuka didn't bother to say anything and blitzes towards the man, kicking her feet to the ground and putting power to her knees and calves, it leaves a crack on the ground and she vanishes to the average human eye and reappears behind Toshirou to deliver a 720° roundhouse kick right to his left temple. Toshi bows his body forward to let her kick pass above his head before he pivots in place to face her and deliver a kick of his own while she is in mid-air.

They both ignore the cutting air blade their kicks produced that illegally chopped some trees. Yuuka tucks her legs into her body as she rolls in the air and lands feet first to Toshirou's outstretched leg and pushes against it to flip herself backward.

"I thought you were just supposed to dodge?"

"We didn't agree on anything like that, sweetheart."

"Yeah you guys didn't."

"Tch."

"Tch."

With time ticking against her, Toshi takes advantage of her lapse to strike and get close, he aims for her elbow, shoulder and wrist – "Break my watch and I break your neck." "Don't threaten me with a good time." – all in short order to debilitate her but Yuuka simply redirects his attacks with open palms and a twist on her wrists, careful to stabilize herself with a wider stance that centers her balance and pushes force on the deflection by moving with her upper body. All the while, Toshi's grin is turning more feral and feral every staunch in his attacks.

"Ho~ You're not too bad Pinkie Pie."

Yuuka gives a feral grin in return. "You move fast for an old man."

Then suddenly, he drops low to the ground for a sweep with his right and Yuuka jumps over it, only for his left foot to swing up to her abdominals in an abnormal show of flexibility giving her no choice but to brace her forearms to take the hit, crossing them against each other to protect her vitals.

As her very cute skylark kouhai from before would put it, Wao.

"I wonder what his strength is like when he's not holding back."

"I've met quite a few with Heavenly Restriction like him during my reign but none are quite like him, and it is not a matter of having no curse energy altogether." Her tenant confesses.

"Oh~ I knew I made the right decision in saving him! I really am the best! GahaHAhahahaHA!"

Sukuna feels vaguely disgusted at her internal cackling.

She goes flying up and into several thick branches before she gets a grip on one and swings herself from the momentum over and over the rough wood to build enough centrifugal force that when she lets go she launches forward like she was slingshotted. Missing the man's head by a hair again, Yuuka's feet slide through the pile of leaves as she lands, digging her toes to halt her movement and then abruptly disappears without a sound, moving at a faster speed than before.

Yuuka's done playing around, there's only twenty-five seconds left before the watch beeps.

She almost manages to hit his face until his godly reflexes kick in and he tilts his head back and away from her uppercut. Yuuka feels her knuckles brush the right side of his lips, not two seconds later, it bleeds to a vertical cut reminiscent of the man's old scar.

Unlike one would normally retreat their fist when punching, Yuuka instead grabs this opportunity to swing her whole arm diagonally in a downward stroke so quick it didn't even register on his body that he was hit on the cheek until physics caught on. Toshirou's head turned from the wake of her motion, given that Yuuka placed her whole mass to it and the speed that she exhibited, multiply those together with her innate strength – that she held back on, don't want to actually kill the guy and all – Yuuka is very proud to say that she had just given the most magnificent backhand of the year for this year.

Toshi's body careens to the ground in a beautiful twirl of blood, teeth, sweat and saliva, letting the force take him, not resisting gravity's pull as he skids and rolls to the ground.

"At least he's smart enough to know not to resist, if he had locked his neck in place that hit would've broken it like a twig." Sukuna hums.

"Toshi is only ever smart when he's fighting and not much else."

"I can see that much."

Yuuka looked at her watch and pressed the timer.

About eight meters from her, Toshi sits up, cursing up a storm from losing to a little girl who doesn't even reach his shoulders.

"Thirteen seconds left Mr. Sore Loser. I win fair and square!" Yuuka throws up two victory signs just to dig it in, then starts posing like Sailor Moon.

"This Sailor Chibi Moon has finally defeated the Muscular Monster and appropriately humbled him to not underestimate cute little girls with pink hair."

Toshirou spits a glob of blood and saliva like the barbarian that he is, grimacing as the action jarred his very bruised and possibly broken jaw.

"Don't make me laugh, normal cute little girls aren't supposed to be this strong in the first place, so how should I know?"

Yuuka drops the pose, crossing her arms over her developing chest and gathering air in her cheeks.

"Don't be a sassy loser Uncle, or I won't heal you. Just admit defeat already."

At the thought of not getting treatment, the man raises his hands up in a surrender.

"Alright, alright. Ya fucking win and I lose. This Muscular Monster surrenders to your might, oh great Sailor Chibi and is now greatly humbled by your wisdom." Sarcasm floods his tongue in waves, but Yuuka lets it be since she got to punch him and his teeth out. This man has a record for being a sore and petty loser, he would often break her controllers because he can't win against her Princess Peach in Super Smash Bros with his Bowser.

"Pfft–Sailor Chib—snrk, I like this guy, I'm stealing that now." Sukuna says, though he has no idea behind the reference, Yuuka should really rectify that.

"Shut it, Sailor Brat."

"Why you—"

Yuuka walks towards him with a sashay in her step, smugness exuding from her the way Toshirou had exuded it earlier. Ah yes, Karma really is a Bitch.

"Since I'm in a good mood, I'll even regrow your fallen teeth so you won't be forced to early dentures."

"Gee, thanks." The words were spoken drily, his eyes staring at her pointedly as if to say, 'You're the one who gave them to me, anyway'

Yuuka gives a shit-eating grin and chimed a cheerful, "You're welcome." That actually meant, 'I'll do it again when I want to.'

Yuuka sits and the leaves crunch under her weight, projecting her movements to touch the injury, with careful and light fingers, he takes his chin on hand and the man lets him. She surveys the damage from his right cheek and jaw,poking at it with Toshirou hissing like an offended cat.

This close, it wasn't all too bad aside from the hairline fracture on his cheekbone, the cut on his lip and the missing two molars. It's actually fascinating how little it affected the man when that backhand could have easily killed any other person. What Itadori Toshirou is made off would have made Verde salivate for having bones stronger than steel and skin tougher than kevlar, because goddamn, he got off skidding on the ground and making a crater on it with only light scratches that will heal within a few days.

Scanning his overall features and his face most of all, Yuuka is suddenly reminded of Sukuna, only that the curse has a more reddish hue in his hair, has four red eyes, tattoos and maybe slightly taller than Toshirou.

"Wow, he looks a lot like you, Sukkun."

Sukuna, probably tired of arguing out of the cutesy nickname, ignores the latter part of her sentence.

"We don't look anything alike. I'm grander and greater than a human monkey like him could ever be."

"Narcissistic much?"

"You don't see me commenting about you."

"Touché."

"Are you gonna heal me or what?"

 Yuuka doesn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

Just to be a little shit, he sets his whole head on fire, flickering purple flames with oranges engulfs his vision that he jerks with a punch that Yuuka easily catches. Once he realized the Flames were not hurting him, he glared through the curtain of fire.

"Ya could've warned me ya lil' shit!"

She laughs at him in the face, the type that's giddy and all innocent.

"But hadn't I fixed you up the same way many times before? Your whole body was aflame even, so you can become my blood Uncle."

Yuuka keeps the Flames going for an unnecessarily long time while Sukuna just watches it all through her lenses. She could feel the same curiosity and fascination coming his way but the curse makes no comment to ask about it.

After she had her fill in seeing a tall, big man squirm and whine in place about itchyass gums and no more to teeth removal, Yuuka extinguishes her flames as she flops beside Toshirou with her snack bag in hand, giving the man a bottle of water as she does so.

Yuuka lets silence reign for a second, closing her eyes and embracing the sound of the world for a moment.

When she opens them she stares into the mysterious man's half lidded eyes and without hesitation, asks her first question.

"What are sorcerers?"

*****