9 The King of Curses

*****

"What the fuck brat? You just broke my Uncle Toshi!" Yuuka hissed at the smug creature in their shared domain.

"What?" The smug asshole asked in feigned ignorance. "I'm just making it easier for you to explain. You were taking too long to deliver your dramatic excuse."

Yuuka grinds her teeth in a puppy-ish display of threat. Alas, the face she was born to does not deliver intimidation very well. 

"I am so gonna beat your ass if you did break Uncle Toshi." She says out loud and that seems to jolt the man from his stupor.

He tries to slap the cheek where Sukuna resides and fails when she stops it with her hand and disapproving face.

"Yuuka," Toshi takes a breath, his olive green eyes steady at Sukuna's mocking grin. "What the fucking fuck is that?!" He says it all in a tone that says he doesn't quite believe what he is seeing and she couldn't help but snort at the way it pitched in the end.

"This isn't funny brat!"

"I know," She chortles some more and Sukuna gives a sinister snicker. "But your reaction sure is."

Toshi's gobsmack expression gives way to a glare.

"This isn't a laughing matter, girl." Then he takes both of her shoulders in hand in a crushing grip, pulling her so close to his face that she could almost count his lashes.

"Why is there a curse residing in your body?" The man hisses, anger, worry and hysteria lacing his sound. Her shoulder joints groaning in protest at how tight he was holding it.

But what he really meant to ask was,

'Who did this to you?' and 'Who do I have to kill?'

The thought of her Found Uncle committing murder for her warms the deepest pits of Yuuka's ancient soul. Honestly, she wasn't able to appreciate a loved one committing murder in her name until she was several centuries old; that murder on her behalf could be classified as a love language. Now that she thinks about it, Yuuka has learned many types of ways to appreciate homicidal affection, then again, she might have always been like that since she was a young soul, a beautiful little slave boy starved for affection. Yuuka just grew into her iffy monochrome morality as years go by and as TRUTH chips away at her sanity. 

Dutifully, she ignores Sukuna's muttering about how he loathes the fact that they share their twisted understanding about gestures of affection.

Feh. If anything, Yuuka should be the one appalled, Sukuna is the type to not understand the nuance of normal shows of affection that did not include blood, viscera, snapped bones and sadistic type of cute aggression. Yuuka doesn't like hurting her loved ones, Sukuna probably has no compunction to do the same.

"Uhhh…" Yuuka starts smartly, looking anywhere but the wild look in Toshi's eyes.

"Answer me Yuuka." The tone of his voice gave nothing away, a command and a demand at the same time.

Yuuka has always been weak to the people she loves and the made-up lies she was supposed to spew flew away once she caught a glimpse of his eyes.

Fear, desperation, fury, apprehension and trepidation. And it was all on her behalf.

Yuuka can't lie to someone who felt those emotions for her. And to a jaded man like Toshi, who jealously guards his heart in steel and blades, lying to him would be the worst thing to do. His trust is a fragile pair of glasses, once jostled, once cracked, he won't see Yuuka the same way as before.

Yuuka knows his heart, can hear his heart; one lie is all it takes for him to doubt every single word that she says forevermore.

Sukuna snorts. "This is why you're weak."

"Perhaps." Yuuka answers, neither agreeing or disagreeing.

(If Yuuka was given the opportunity to meet his birth family and they try to bother hers, she would give them the pleasure of learning the true meaning of the words suffering and pain. As long as they don't try to bother her and what's hers, they won't be having any problems. The means she would do for the people she loves are boundless like the love she has for them. That love has once pushed her to destroy an entire reality just because it has taken her family prematurely before their fated death.)

Yuuka opens her mouth and speaks the truth.

"It's a funny thing actually," Yuuka chuckles to herself, remembering the first time she felt Sukuna in her periphery. "It's all out of curiosity and a whim." She twirls and untwirls her bangs with her index finger.

Toshi's stare doesn't waver as he remains silent.

"So I found this small shrine thing in our school that leaked the same presence as those roaming ugly globs–"

"Curses."

"–but more concentrated yet at the same time diminished. It's all weird really, the thing in the shrine was giving 'come and take me' vibes and I later realized that it was the main reason more and more weird globby curses were coming to school completely ruining my groove so I…" She trails off suddenly feeling sheepish.

"I took it out of curiosity." Yuuka doesn't know if she should say anything further than that, but her mouth runs off from her to say what her deranged mind would think as funny but still speaking the honest truth.

"Then I ate it."

The resulting silence was loud and the smack of a palms meeting flesh made even louder. Toshi groans into his palm, long and loud, full of exasperation and frustration. Yuuka almost laughs at his misery but holds it in as it isn't the right time to prove him of her insanity. No need to prove his speculations.

Sukuna, on the other hand, has no compunction to do so.

He howls with laughter, cackling deep from his belly, loud and on the edge of psychotic.

Of course, Sukuna is the type of asshole who thrives on others' misery and she didn't expect any less from him. It's his brand after all.

"What the fucking fuck you fucking thinking brat?! I thought you were fucking smart!" Is what Toshi would have clearly said if he wasn't muffling and suffocating himself into his hands.

"But I wasn't thinking. Also, nice poetry." She remarked smartly.

"CLEARLY, YOU FUCKING WERE'NT! AND I'M BEING FUCKING SERIOUS HERE!" Toshi bellows onto her face, his own now uncovered and sporting a 'what the fuck is wrong with you' look.

Yuuka gives him a shrug as her countenance contorts to her rendition of 'what can you do?', all uncaring and nonchalant. She watches his eyebrows and the vein on his neck twitch in real-time, man, she sure hopes he won't have an aneurysm, Yuuka did just heal him five minutes ago just to rupture a nerve. 

After more laser-eyed glaring to her face – and Yuuka remaining an unbothered queen – Toshi proceeds to do a one-handed facepalm this time, rubbing along his nose as he groans. A sound that's in between a dying whale and a broken lawnmower rips away from him before proceeding to compose a freestyle rap made of only curse words and unflattering remarks about Yuuka's intelligence and sanity.

Because as already established that she is certifiably insane, Yuuka finds this way too funny. Beyond hilarious. Reality comedy. It scratches her weird funny bone too damn right. And it results in air gushing out her lungs and through her voice box, larynx tightening as it trembles in place to produce a high pitched tremulous sound. There's a drawl to it, a scratch, a rough patch, but it's hers and it has always been the voice she always hears in her head. 

Peals of laughter come out of her mouth unbidden and it renews Sukuna's mirth, letting out another row of his own laughter, this time, it's the wheezing tea kettle sort.

It makes Yuuka double over in mirth. Who would have thought to hear that sound to someone who made it his life goal and mission to shit carnage and fear. Yuuka bets her infinite life and wisdom that it's a carefully held secret. 

It's a riot. 

Entertainment.

"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M TRYING TO HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN HERE!"

Yuuka's giggles turn into cackles, ringing in chorus to Sukuna's own like they are a pair of dueting cuckoos', one is a high full bellish rasp, the other a deep sinking rich gravel.

Their contrasting voices sound harmonious to her ears and Yuuka can't help but laugh some more.

Alright, maybe they do have some similarities.

Similarly insane that is. With a penchant for amusement in another's suffering.

 But all in all, it's Toshi's own fault for being such a comedian. He is naturally funny like that. Most of the time he doesn't even have to open his mouth to cast a joke, his whole being is a joke in every sense of the word. And she means it affectionately and not at all derogatory.

(Fate had casted him to die, yet he remains alive, breathing and warm, just because Yuuka made it so. It's a joke of her own making, the ultimate mockery to Fate and its written cycle. Her relative 'fuck you' to the Universe.)

(Toshi is the mockery of life and death. Of limitations and boundaries. It messes up her senses and she's all here for it. The senses she had unlocked over the curse energy sensing thing tells her that he's virtually dead, but her ears and other senses pull her attention towards him, instinctively knowing the danger under his mortal skin.)

But calling his existence an astronomical joke right to his face probably wouldn't be a great idea. 

Yuuka leaves him four minutes to his mental breakdown, opening a Spicy Beef flavored chips to pass time. Getting an idea, she pokes a chip to the mouth residing on her left cheek, surprisingly, he takes a bite out of it and hums.

Huh? It looks like he likes it.

Nodding inwardly to herself, she starts feeding Sukuna and herself with the chips as they watch her Uncle descend to Five Stages of Grief once more. This is probably the most civil they had been to each other, other than the time Sukuna lectured her in History about the Heian Period when he found Yuuka's books lacking and inaccurate. He ranted and griped for hours about Heian architecture and the people's real lifestyle during that era. Sukuna's quite the strict teacher but a great one, because of him, she scored perfectly for the quiz and so she cooked him her special Hamburger Steak and even let him control her body for a while.

Once the pack was consumed and she'd drunk enough cold tea to satiate her thirst and for Sukuna to curse her heathen behavior for the cold tea, Yuuka opened her mouth once again.

"You done breaking down?"

Toshi sighs and gets up. "Give me ten more seconds."

Yuuka shrugs, fluttering her sparkly purple nails. "Sure."

The pink haired man walks a few paces before stopping. Then he inhales a lung full of air.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Sukuna starts fucking giggling, adoring the sight of her claimed Uncle's suffering.

Man, he must be SUPER bored, maybe Yuuka should entertain watching a movie just to keep him from going on a murdering spree when she relents her control to let him do what he wants.

(Yuuka had been thinking of scheduling her body usage to the curse once he had relatively calmed down and less homicidal. She values freedom more than anything, and right now, Yuuka accidentally became his jailor, so she'd be totally amendable about giving him Body Usage Rights™. But because he kept yapping about killing her cute grandpa, she had been reluctant to do so.)

The curse would either like or hate horror and gory movies, Yuuka thinks he would be a snob about the unrealistic arterial blood spray and majorly annoyed by the actors stupidity. Personally though, Yuuka finds horror movies hilarious, it feels like a parody in her opinion.

Or maybe she would be surprised and Sukuna would love drama, he's a certified Drama Queen and he likes the tragedies that befall humanity. He'd probably think it's comedy instead.

 Once Toshi had appropriately scared the shit out of the local wildlife, he came back to sit down opposite to her.

"What. the. Fuck. Yuuka." He grounded each word out, looking exceptionally tired and aged.

She shrugs and flips her ponytail. "I never claimed to be sane, and if ever did, that's a lie."

"Clearly." So many emotions were pushed into that one word alone. His eyes turned flinty at the smirking Sukuna on her cheek. "And you took advantage of that." Toshi growls deep in his chest, baring sharper than average teeth to the curse, it's another Itadori trademark.

Sukuna laughs at his face.

"It's not one's fault that your little niece is so easy to influence." Yuuka feels the skin on her right cheek stretch. He must be baring his pointy teeth then. "That you let her be easily influenced."

The implication to those words are clear, "You knew what she was but you didn't tell her. You let this happen." strung accusations for leaving Yuuka uninformed about the powers that make this world go round.

The sour sound of self-loathing hits her ears and this time, it's Yuuka's turn to growl at her tenant.

"Hey now, don't blame Toshi. I never asked squat about this whole cursed energy thing right until now. I never bothered to–"

"It still doesn't excuse him for keeping you ignorant," Sukuna cuts in. "As he should know that those who don't officially establish themselves as a sorcerer in their circle, you could be easily labeled as an illegal curse-user to be hunted down later on. And with you being my vessel, there is no question about your instant assassination when they learn about your status as my vessel."

"They really hate your existence that much, huh? And how come you're already telling him about this when you didn't answer me until a month in."

Sukuna snorts. "Simple. I like seeing people suffer." 

He let out a malicious chuckle at the panic, fear and burning hatred that Toshi displayed for a split second, and because Sukuna could hear through Yuuka's all-hearing ears when he wanted to, he can hear the harmony of despair and anguish playing in Toshi's heart.

Sadistic brat.

"Who the fuck are you?" The wariness is back, her Uncle's hackles raised and poised to attack, a predator of his own right.

"Lend me your body, so I can tell him myself." Sukuna demands with all the brattiness of an entitled brat.

Yuuka internally rolls her eyes but lets herself sink in. "I will, only for an introduction. If you do anything untowards to Uncle Toshi, I'm further postponing the trip in finding your crusty fingers."

"Tch. Fine, old hag."

Yuuka doesn't let herself fully sink into his domain, more like scooching over to let someone else pilot her flesh self. She still doesn't trust the bratty spirit to do as he said he would so he'll be here with, spiritually looking over his shoulder.

Markings bloom against Yuuka's skin, dark and forbidding. She felt the itch on her fingers, feeling them elongate into sharp claws. A wide grin stretches on her, er, his face as he stands.

The sudden change causes Toshi to leap backwards, right hand going under the sleeve of his left arm and taking out a small sharp knife from the hidden holster. Fury, hatred, panic, anxiety, anger, despair, it all swirled from him in a cocktail of bitter self-loathing and self-blame.

Yuuka needs to talk to him after this, it isn't good to leave him unchecked with how unstable he is.

With the grandstanding of a certified Drama Queen slash Shit Lord, Sukuna crosses his arms, grinning from ear-to-ear, malignant and egotistical.

"Bow down and lower thine eyes, maggot." 

Toshi does no such thing, standing his ground and only tightening his hold on his weapon.

Distaste and disgruntlement settles in Sukuna, not liking the perceived disrespect on his personage. 

It's not lost on Yuuka in how he has now switched to a more archaic way of speaking, little brat probably thinks it makes him more regal or some shit. Sukuna, after all, had gone through a quick sweep through her head and probably thought she wouldn't notice. Yuuka had let him, only giving him the bare details of the life she's currently living as and nothing else.

It's the main reason he was quick to adapt to the modernity of the world, though some factors are lost on him. Like internet lingo and memes.

The curse spirit scoffs. "As expected of the wench's blood, thou bear no respect or manners to thy betters."

The former assassin was not at all intimidated, only getting tenser as he shot Sukuna a venomous glare. "Where's Yuuka? Who are you? What the fuck did you do to her motherfucker?!" The large man digs his foot on the ground, ready to spring forward at a notice.

Sukuna only raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

"As someone whomst hailed from a sorcerer clan and despite being a defect, should thou not know what entails to being a curse's vessel?"

"Watch your words." Yuuka hisses, upset at the word choice he used.

"Sensitive bitch." Was his bratty reply. 

Let's see how he likes it when she blasts bubblegum pop music inside her mind as background music for a whole week. She wonders if it will drive him more insane.

Toshi growls again, a perfect replication from a big black cat.

"Just introduce yourself already, brat."

"Tch."

A smirk spreads on Sukuna's lips with great malicious intent.

"No matter, that's none of one's business after all." He gives a shrug. "And this one will give the chit's body back once one has introduced himself. Thou were very keen on what thy little niece is truly playing host to."

Sukuna's wide grin comes back with a vengeance.

"This one's name is Ryoumen Sukuna." His sneer couldn't be anymore manic as he watched pure horror cross Toshi's face.

"The King of Curses."

*****

Juju Sanpo: Hamburger Steak

Sukuna was still grumbling at how incorrect her History Textbooks are, blaming authors about fraudulent claims about the era where he supposedly reigned supreme among the poor denizens.

Yuuka doesn't give him much thought, humming every once in a while in agreement or making small contributions towards Sukuna's ongoing monologue. 

Her whole focus was currently on the pan of sizzling burger steak for lunch. Just a little more time and she would be eating these patties of perfection.

A vitriolic curse from Sukuna wrenches her out of her hunger daze, making Yuuka think about the last few hours of tutoring from the curse spirit, how relatively peaceful it all was.

Hmmm… Maybe I should reward him by giving him the first bite. He did say once that he indulged in the pleasures of eating.

Having that thought, a small smile quirks on her lips, after all she could try getting along with him.

*****

After a while, Yuuka had served the burger steak along a hot bed of fluffy rice and rich demi glace sauce with chopped spring onions as garnish, her plate looks appropriately scrumptious if she does say so herself and the smell alone is mouthwatering.

Yuuka can't wait to eat it, but first,

"Sukuna wanna switch?" She asks out loud.

A mouth opens on her right cheek as the tiny scars under her eyes open so he could see for himself what's going on.

"Whatever for?" He sounds dubious and apprehensive at her question.

Yuuka smiles. "Oh nothing, I just want you to try the food I cooked." Then she presents the beautiful plate of food before her. "What do you say?"

Sukuna examines the plate as Yuuka feels him borrow her nose to have a whiff of the steaming plate. He hums.

"If it isn't good I'm throwing it out the window."

Then he vanishes from her cheek as she lets go of her control so they can switch places.

Yuuka opens her eyes to red and bones with a smirk to her face in confidence.

"I assure you, that won't be happening at all."

Sukuna scoffs before grimacing at the spoon and fork before him and reluctantly uses it, grumbling all the while about how he would have preferred chopsticks rather than the taste of steel. He cuts through the juicy steak easily, taking almost a spoonful of it before adding some of the sauced up rice.

He shovels the spoon to his mouth with a click.

"W-What is this?" Disbelief and awe is clear on the curse's voice, then he proceeds to shove more of the meat into his mouth followed by a generous heap of rice.

Yuuka sat smugly at the throne of bones, smirking to herself as the curse controlling her body glut himself with her food.

"That, my friend, is hamburger steak, made by yours truly. And it's my own recipe too." Yuuka bets her whole lifetime that the curse had never had anything like it before, especially with him being sealed for centuries in crusty talisman papers.

"For a crazy old hag," Sukuna wipes his greasy mouth with the provided napkin on the table. "You sure do know how to cook."

Yuuka rolled her eyes at her rude bodymate.

Well two can play at that game.

"And for a brat who had been sealed by pieces of paper for centuries by mortals, you sure do know how to judge great cooking."

And no mortals, Yuuka is not insulting you, she's praising your ingenuity for sealing a being with pieces of plant life.

Before the man could roar in anger, Yuuka had already switched with him and calmly continued to eat her interrupted lunch.

Ah young men, and their pride, so easy to tease.

"FUCKING HAG! COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

Yuuka swallows down her food before replying.

"I would have let you continue using my body to eat if you weren't being such a brat."

"FUCK YOU!"

She ignored him and just continued eating. Sukuna should really learn better manners.