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defiance | king!sukuna x servant!reader

master list

chapter seven: counting the rings inside of the willow tree

summary: a psychic shares her vision with the king, saying that his soulmate would replace all 5 of his concubines one day. he had her banned from the premises for that absurd prediction. it wasn't until months later when he started believing the old bitch, after one cute yet disobedient servant started working at the shrine. TL;DR: sukuna's a sorcerer in this one, still ooc but not too much. mc pretty much ran away from home for being a hoe, and went to work at sukuna's shrine lol.

genre: female reader, heian era au but incredibly historically inaccurate, 18+, grumpy x sunshine, fluff, smut, so much crack, angst, mutual pining, might be seen as dubcon but she wants him lol, no he wont have two sets of arms, and no he wont have two dicks, srry srry srry

fic warnings: profanity, explicit smut, ooc, mentions of grooming, graphic depictions of violence, more will be added as story progresses

word count: 5.3k

notes: none, have fun going in blind on this one hehe

Sukuna didn’t come back the night of the day you mentioned his son. Or the night after that. Or the night after. You haven’t requested for him either, the way he abruptly left right after you mentioned Ryuko was all you needed to know in terms of how he felt about losing a son.

It’s been 3 days since you’ve seen him– definitely not the longest time frame given the fact that he’s ignored you for weeks before, but you’ve spent almost everyday with him for a month. You were already used to him at this point, and it shows when you spend all day trying to keep yourself busy– trying to get your mind off of him, yet ending your night waiting for him.

The air around the shrine has been heavy and tense in general since you last saw him. Other servants seem to be on edge, a little extra quiet than usual. It made you wonder if it was any of Sukuna’s doing– it had to be. Who else would be causing the multiple ground-shaking explosions around the estate, making everyone around you, including yourself jump?

On day four, you abruptly woke up from knocking on your door. It was extremely early for you, at least for yours and ladies in waiting’s standards. The sun had just started to rise. Miya and Akari had started to feel bad for you, despite you telling them you were fine, and slept in the bed with you the night before so you wouldn’t feel “lonely”.

“Wait, I can get it,” Akari mumbled, clearly half asleep.

“No, it’s fine,” You mumbled back, pushing her back to lay down. “I doubt it’s anything important anyways.”

You put on one of your robes that was hanging in the corner of your room and made your way down the hall to your door. The person had knocked a few more times in between the time you woke up and you opening it, but you were too tired to even say anything. You were starting to wonder if that person even decided to stay, given the fact that it took you a while to open it.

But it was Yuna, who clearly wasn’t just any person, and had the persistence of a cockroach that wouldn’t fucking die.

“Morning!” The girl gleamed, “Oop! Sorry.. did I wake you?”

“Yes you did,” You cracked a half-ass smile to the kid who honestly could care less if she messed with your sleep. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh yeah– mhm! I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a walk with me this morning.”

“..And this couldn’t wait a couple more hours?”

“Nope! I find the flower field to be the prettiest in the morning, they actually just bloomed a couple days ago and I’ve been wanting to see them since. Mariko’s not a morning person and threatened to hit me if I didn’t get out of her chambers, so I wanted to invite you instead.”

You weren't a morning person either, but she was looking at you with her big round puppy eyes, and you understood why Mariko took her under her wing– turning her down would've tugged at your heartstrings until they broke.

“Okay fine.” Your answer was immediately followed by a squeal. “Come inside for a minute while I get ready.”

“Okay!”

You quickly got dressed, putting on a off-white dress, silk-brown corset, and a brown robe. Luckily, your hair decided to cooperate with you, so all you had to do was apply some jasmine oil to it and kept it down.

You offered Akari and Miya the morning off, but they refused and tagged along with you, Yuna, and her attendants. She led you to the forest behind the shrine where you both followed a fairly wide trail.

Out of all the concubines, she was the most regal looking despite her age. Fully dressed in pink, covered in gold jewelry– living up to her title as the daughter of the gold district's shogun. Even if she was a little crazy, you could tell she was loved in the way she carried herself and interacted with others.. Except for the one incident she had with Yumi.

Looking at her now, you’d have the hardest time believing she could hurt a fly, let alone stabbing someone at 13. She didn’t even give Yumi a verbal warning either, apparently. She just went straight to work on her.

“What’s wrong, Dovey-chan?” The girl asked.

“Dovey-chan?”

She turns to look at you with the sweetest smile on her face, “Dovey-chan.” She sang. “I think it suits you, so I'll be calling you that from now on.”

Now that you thought about it, Miya got the cage from one of her ladies in waiting, she must’ve told them about the wounded dove.

“And what if I don’t like it?”

“Well that’s too bad,” she giggles. “People aren’t allowed to choose their own nicknames.”

“Fair enough,” you clicked your tongue. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“I don’t believe you, but that’s okay.” She grabs your hand. “I’m sure whatever's going on with you and the king will pass.”

“And how would you know that?”

“See I knew there was something wrong.”

“Shut up,” you rolled your eyes.

“I just know. Mariko doesn’t really talk to the other concubines, inviting you for tea says a lot about what she thinks of you.” She explained. “Believe it or not, she and Sukuna share a lot of the same values. If Mariko likes you, then Sukuna definitely likes you, that's why she wanted to get to know you in the first place.”

“I guess we're just gonna have to see.”

“Yes we will. Now– no more sulking,” she yanks at your hand. “You should be happy to see this right now!”

On the other side of the forest lay an expansive field of flowers, you had no idea how long they stretched out for, but you were mesmerized. You’ve never seen such a sight. You and everyone could even smell the fragrance they gave off each time there was a small gust of wind.

Yuna yanked your hand even more until you both were fully running through the field and you found yourself laughing and begging for her to slow down, worried you’d trip on something and fall– but the kid didn’t listen and continued to drag you along.

You quickly found yourself trying to keep up with her for her sake, she was having the time of her life and you felt like you’d be letting her down if you didn’t meet her there. You couldn’t help but feel a little emotional as you watched the wind blow her hair in all different directions, not caring if her hairstyle was getting messed up from it.

It was a reminder that she was still a little girl that was taken out of her home, you couldn’t imagine being used as a pawn at such a young age– yet here she was making the best of it. She knew how precious these moments were and cherished them better than anyone you knew.

“Why are you crying?” She stopped and tilted her head. You didn’t even realize the tears forming in your eyes until she pointed them out.

You quickly wiped at your eyes, a soft laugh escaping your lips as you shook your head. “I’m not crying, Yuna– wind’s just making my eyes water a bit.”

She didn’t believe you, but she didn’t continue to push for an answer. She knew all too well what that look in your eyes was, it was the same one Mariko had when she first came to the shrine.

And while she knew it was simply just you feeling sorry for her, it healed her in a way that Mariko has been doing these past few years. She didn’t even care to talk about it, just simple acknowledgement and respect was enough for her since it was something most people seemed to ignore.

—

“They went past the property line, my king.” Sai revealed, as she and Taiga slightly held their heads down while Sukuna started getting dressed.

His face slightly twisted at how much the concubines were willing to tell on you, in hopes he’d punish you or something. “And you would know this how?”

“We— uh, we saw them on our morning walk.. they went into the forest and didn’t come back for quite some time,” Taiga nervously revealed as Sukuna let out a rather disappointed sigh while she was mid-sentence.

“So fucking annoying,” He murmured to himself, shaking his head.

“I know,” Taiga giggled. “I just don’t know why she can’t stay put, she acts like she owns the place.”

“No— I mean you two.” He corrected her. “I do not care to hear these things directly. How many fucking times do I have to tell you— in fact, tell EVERYBODY— to bring this shit to Uraume?” He snapped, causing the twins to flinch and hold each other.

He thought about the question he just asked and laughed as if he was losing it, and that’s because he was. Watching how fast his mood changed made the hairs on the back of their necks raise. They knew well enough that whenever he got like this, he was either extremely overjoyed or ready to commit a war crime– maybe even multiple if he’s feeling extra creative.

The former was an absolute rarity since nothing makes the man happy except for things like committing war crimes.

“If you cherish your lives,” he points at them, “quit talking to me about the other concubines, I don’t fucking care what any of you are up to when I’m not around.”

Without waiting for an answer, he left their chambers– taking his half finished bottle of sake, slamming the doors behind him.

The drama’s getting tiring— fucking exhausting for that matter— and he’s convinced he’s become too soft. A conversation that usually would have anyone in his presence stuttering, the twins have easily brought up after an hour of what he concluded to be dull sex. Not to mention the fact that they really thought he’d sit there and gossip with them about you— as if he were some brood mare, passing time in between clients.

Perhaps it was time for Uraume to visit each one, give them a rundown, a reminder of what his expectations of them were. And that was to shut the fuck up and be readily available to him, and don’t treat him like he’s a fucking friend.

Maybe it was time to add to that list too, since no one aside from Ayame can keep themselves in check. But even Ayame was starting to get bold with him, asking if he’d stay the night, telling him she loves him, how she looks forward to the rest of her life with him.

Maybe it was time to make the order of not speaking or looking at him absolute, applicable to anyone and everyone that comes across him. It was a privilege that not even the concubines deserved at this point, which was ridiculous given the fact that it’s always worked since he started taking them in– up until he took in a servant as a concubine at least.

How would you handle a change in rules?

Would you be sad if you had to go back to the beginning, where you couldn’t freely talk to him anymore?

A life where you’d randomly ask for him, only for his form of refusal to be his absence.

You trace his tattoos and run your fingers through his hair often, would it hurt you if you had to ask for permission to do something that became natural to you?

It was hard to say, especially since you were asking if you could go back to being a servant at one point.

And right as his mind went back to you, like it painfully always did, he spots you lounging around on your balcony– laying on the daybed, head propped up on one hand while that stupid dove perched itself on the other.

He thought you’d keep it in its cage a little longer, but wasn’t surprised in the slightest at her early release— one of the many differences between you two was that you didn’t mind setting things free. It made him wonder what you’d do if he were to let you go, like you had once asked.

As if his mood couldn’t get any worse, it surely did as you looked away from the damn thing and off your balcony, your eyes just having to land right where he stood.

He could only imagine the names you were calling him in your head after realizing he’d been staring at you— one of them definitely being a creep, or along the lines of.

Not that he cared. He made sure to hold eye contact with you, and kept it up until you got tired of having a staring contest with him— getting up and going back inside, taking the dove he should’ve never healed back inside with you so you could continue giving it attention, instead of the one who saved it in the first place.

New rule: Don’t do that.

Not even a smile or a wave, like the spoiled brat you were. He absolutely has gotten soft, given how you look at him with discernment more often than you do fear. The thought of you being a succubus, sent straight from the deep depths of hell, became more and more frequent for the man.

Have an attitude with him all you want, one thing will always stand clear: he owns this shrine, you, and the entire region.

—-

Yuna’s invitation to the flower field yesterday morning was fun, but messed with your sleeping schedule. Here you were at the crack of dawn, wide awake, and annoyed that your mind, body, and soul wouldn’t allow you to go back to bed. Miya and Akari had grown to be fully comfortable with their titles of your ladies in waiting, which was why you weren’t going to wake them up– they’d either whine about it or ignore you, most likely both.

The weather was getting chillier by the day with fall approaching, so you put on one of your heavier robes before leaving your chambers. You figured you’d be able to sneak out and watch the sunrise for a bit since it was still early. You also knew which halls and paths to take to get to the river discreetly, so you were sure you’d be in the clear from one of the servants ratting you out to Uraume or he who shall not be named.

If anything you could just play dumb and say you forgot the rules again, but you were feeling lucky today, so you doubt it.

The sky slowly changed colors on your walk towards the river, changing from a dark blue to a slightly lighter one. Once you got there, the horizon began to scatter with rosy shades of pink and red, some yellow. It was one of the beauties the cold months brought on in the midst of natural tragedies that came with them– sickness being the least of peoples worries, freezing to death being the most.

You felt bad for those that lived in homes without proper insulation and couldn’t afford the proper attire to stay warm. Even more so now that you wouldn’t even have to heat your own chambers yourself, like you did with your family home. All you had to do was sit back while everything was done for you.

The shrine was peaceful in the early mornings– the crisp air, catching a whiff of the firewood burning from the multiple kitchens scattered around the place, the sound of roosters crowing in the distance. You hugged your knees and laid back against the tree, taking in the sight you haven’t been able to appreciate in a while.

You weren’t sure what you’d be doing with Hayami once she visited you, but taking her here was definitely in your to-do list– the one you needed to get started on since she’d be here in a couple of weeks, but kept putting off.

“What are you doing here?” You looked up at Sukuna, whos brows were pinched together, seemingly annoyed that he ran into you on his way to do whatever the fuck he did.

“Just leaving,” You chirped, hopping off of the bench and dusting your robe off– avoiding eye contact because you didn’t like him again, and neither did he, apparently.

“I haven’t visited you in five days and you treat me as if I'm a stranger.”

“That’s because you kind of are a stranger Sukuna.” You retorted. Your words slightly stung, yet he could agree with you on that. You knew more about him than most, but it wasn’t enough. He knew it wasn’t enough either, he made sure of that.

“What are you doing here alone?” He changed the subject.

“I have no idea.”

“Yes you do.” He smirked at your surprise at seeing him. “Why aren’t your ladies in waiting with you?”

“I just woke up early and wanted to watch the sunrise.”

“And they’re still asleep? Maybe I should replace them since they wake up later than you.”

“Are you seriously that set on making my life miserable?” You snapped, wiping the smirk right off his face since he was just trying to lighten the mood. You weren’t expecting to sound that harsh, but it just came out, and now you were bracing yourself for the man’s inevitable wrath.

“I’m not set on doing anything like that to you,” he muttered, looking down at the bowl of rice he was holding. He also had a couple balls of incense slotted in between his fingers. “You’re still not allowed to be outside of your chambers alone, so you’re coming with me.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and started walking into the direction of where the river met the forest, fully expecting you to follow him– and you did.

You weren’t sure what to feel for him at the moment, he deserved more than you just raising your voice at him, but now you felt bad. The way he immediately looked away from you and quietly defended himself rather than fighting back. He wasn’t himself this morning.

The sounds of the regular daily bustle coming from the estate slowly died down the further he took you down a hidden path. The entrance to it wasn’t visible in the slightest, but once you got past a few trees, it revealed a trail that was clearly often used.

The trail led to a little garden that was well kept, various white flowers sporadically filling the space. There was a stream that cut through it, and a small footbridge that led right to the weeping willow tree that was the main focal point of the garden. You continued to follow Sukuna to the other side on the stream, and noticed a gravestone right under the tree.

Without a word he gestured for you to sit at the bench in front of it and handed you the bowl of rice and incense. He pulled out a small wooden bucket that hung from one of the tree branches and began to fill it with the water that ran from the stream.

He took his time cleaning the gravestone, using his hand instead of the brush that hung from one of the branches to clean the surface. He probably went back and forth between the gravestone and the stream 5-6 times. Not that you were counting, you weren’t really watching him, trying to respect him as much as you could as he purified what you presumed to be his child's grave.

He took the bowl out of your hands and placed them before the grave, then back to you again to take the incense and lighting them. After taking a few more minutes to himself in front of the grave, he sat himself down on the bench next to you.

“He would’ve been 9 years old today,” the man broke the silence. “I think you two would’ve liked each other.”

“Why do you think that?”

“You whine just as much as he did.” He mumbled, cracking a smile as you lightly pushed him for the insensitive comment.

“Don’t joke around like that.” You held back a smile.

He pulled you into his arms, resting his chin on top of your head as he looked at his only child’s grave. It’s been almost a decade, yet the pain in his chest was still as sharp as ever.

“Do you want kids one day?” He asked with a hint of hesitation.

“If I were given the chance to have one, yeah.” You softly responded. “They kind of scare me though.”

“They’re not that bad.. at least mine wasn’t,” his voice was filled with a glint of somber. “Mariko was never a morning person, so it was me who’d get him in the mornings. He figured out what time I’d wake up to get him, and he went from crying to just sitting up and waiting for me. He was smart.”

“That is smart,” you smiled just from imagining it. “He must’ve been so excited waiting for you.”

“He was,” he hummed. “He’d have a smile on his face and do some weird squeal every time I opened the door.” He chuckled.

“And rice was his favorite food?”

“I guess. I tried feeding that chicken once and he spat it back in my face. Cried for his damn mother to come get him and ignored me for the rest of the day.” He sighed. “Picky like you.”

“Not picky,” you corrected him. “I’d just rather eat the food I enjoy.”

“That’s the definition of picky.” He grimaced, flicking your forehead. “At least to me it is.” And his word was law, but he wasn’t going to add that and ruin the moment he was enjoying with you. “I won’t ignore you the next time you do something that bothers me.”

Was this his way of saying sorry? “You know Kuna, saying you’re so-”

“Please do not finish that sentence,” He cut you off, making you slightly snort from how flustered he was. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

“Fine. I accept your non-apology.”

“Thank you.” You felt his body slightly relax against yours, not realizing how tense he was this whole time. He held the side of your face and began peppering your temple and cheeks with kisses. Even if he never said he was sorry, he did a good enough job expressing it with his actions.

You stayed in the garden for another hour, listening to the stories he shared about his son. He struggled at first, wanting to talk about it but clearly not used to sharing those types of stories. He was never much of a storyteller to begin with. But you kept quiet and listened, he eventually became more comfortable, recalling the memories he had of the baby soon flowed out of him.

By the end of it, you came to two conclusions– he was a good father and the morning his son didn’t greet him with a smile broke whatever was left of his heart.

You’ve never refused to drink the bitter teas Uraume brings to you in the morning and you made a promise to yourself that you’d continue to drink them with ease because you were convinced that the king never wanted to do fatherhood again.

“Dovey!!” You heard Yuna from a distance during your walk back to the estate.

“Dovey?” He turned to you.

“Dovey,” you confirmed, pointing towards yourself as the girl made her way towards you. “Yes Yuna?”

Sukuna groaned while you gave the girl all of your attention as she ran up and wrapped her arms around you. “Wanna eat dinner with me? I heard you like soup and gyoza!”

“I do!” You exclaimed, hearing Sukuna clear his throat in the background.

“What?” You and Yuna asked in unison.

“What do you mean what?” He continued to grimace. “She’s eating with me tonight.”

“Oh really? You’re done being mad at her for no reason?” The girl began to taunt him and you can feel heat starting to radiate from his body as he looked back and forth between you both– remembering you went past the property to most likely look at the wildflower field that little menace was obsessed with.

“I swear to god I’m going to send you back to your father one of these days,” He pinched his nose bridge, trying to calm himself down so you wouldn’t have to watch him lose it like he usually does when she fucks with him like this.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“Back to your chambers,” he spat. “Now!”

Yuna joyfully skipped away, pleased with herself for getting under his skin as if it were some kind of sport for her– all while Sukuna wondered what in the actual fuck Uraume and her had in common.

There was no way Uraume wasn’t hiding their true self from Sukuna because those two getting along platonically, let alone romantically, just didn’t make any sense. It would’ve been easier to believe that they were playing some heinous prank on him at this point, which would’ve been the highest form of betrayal – treason even– given the fact that he took Uraume under his wing at a young age.

“You’re plotting against me,” He began to accuse you. “Why would you want to have dinner with that.. thing?!”

“I am not plotting against you,” you hissed. “Not everyone’s evil like you.” He rolled his eyes at your words, looking back at Yuna again, hoping to god she trips on a rock and breaks her face. “Come on Kuna, I’ll make you feel better.” You wrapped yourself around his arm and led him back to his chambers since they were closer to the river than yours.

“Whatever you say, Dovey.” He continued to let Yuna ruin his mood as you led the way.

“Oh great, you’re going to start calling me that too?”

“Maybe I should. I’ll probably have to heal your brain after every time you hang out with her from now on.” He grunted, tapping your temple with his pointer finger.

“Jokes on you, my king. I enjoy being with you, I clearly don’t have a brain.”

“Oh?” He responded excitedly to your casual confession that fed his ego way more than it should’ve. You told him to not let it get to his head, but it was already too late– clearly in lala land, already thinking about what positions he was going to put you in once you two were finally alone behind closed doors.

—

“Um,” Hayami stammers.

“What’s wrong?” You turned to look at your friend who honestly looked like someone had just threatened her life.

She leaned into you a little closer. “The king,” she began to whisper, “to the east of us– northeast actually, he’s been staring at you for over 10 minutes now. What the fuck did you do?” Her hushed tone sounding more frantic with that last question.

You snapped your head in the direction she said he was in, to find that he was in fact staring at you– now scoffing because your friend had outed his not so discreet location. You raised your brows and shook your head, hoping he’d fuck off somewhere else, but all he did was mouth ‘fuck you’, as if it wasn’t him making your guest feel uncomfortable from his blatant stalking.

“Don’t worry about him,” you turned back to your friend and smiled, not even bothering to explain Sukuna’s obvious separation anxiety. He’d probably lock you away from the world again if accused him of suffering from such thing.

It’s been 4 days since Hayami’s arrived at the shrine, and Sukuna has been regretting allowing it since day one. It’s simple– he’s away from you, he doesn’t like it. He could come hang out with you two, but he didn’t want that. He wanted you, alone.

He tried to get his mind off of you by visiting Mariko and asking about how her clan has been doing, but all she did was gush about his bond with you, saying it was cute and how it warmed her heart to see him getting along with someone for once. She even tried to encourage him to start trying for an heir again, she thought you’d make a wonderful mother even though you had your own reasons for not wanting to jump into motherhood so soon. After about an hour, he had to leave knowing it would’ve been bloodshed had he stayed a second longer. The last thing he needed was Ryuko turning over in his grave because he decided to kill his mother.

He even broke into your spa room while you were bathing yesterday, trying to convince you to sleep in his bed that night while you reminded him it was his idea to give you space while your bestfriend visited for the weekend– the whole arguement happening while he fucked you against the wall. You even tried suggesting he sleep in one of the other concubines' beds since he was so lonely, and he looked at you as if you had stabbed him right in the heart.

You hoped nobody was near the doors to the spa room while that whole thing went down, it would've been awkward for anyone to hear the incoherent bickering mixed with slapping noises.. to say the least.

Luckily, there was another 3 day festival that was starting tomorrow to keep the king busy and away from you, hopefully. It would also wrap up the end of Hayami’s visit. You had no idea what the festival was for. You remembered the last one while Sukuna was trying to explain the upcoming one and got triggered all over again, which led to you drowning out the sound of his voice while nodding. Muscle memory, baby.

The only thing you remembered was that you were only required to attend one ceremony on the second day. Aside from that, you were free to do whatever you wanted– with guards accompanying you of course.

Hayami mentioned all the different merchants that would be visiting during the festival and you looked forward to getting new clothes for the colder months that were fast approaching. Apparently there was a merchant that was bringing clothes made of fur from the north, and you were considering asking Sukuna if he could pull some aside for the concubines to pick out from before the other nobles got their hands on the rare goods.

Having Hayami visit you made you realize just how much the concubines wouldn’t know if they didn’t keep in contact with their families. You were lucky to have her as a friend, it’s how you found out about the fur merchant in the first place, due to her contacts that were clearly in high places.

She wasn’t nobility like the other concubines family, but she might as well be given how high her status was as a courtesan. Her rates were almost the same price of a small compound. It was too bad the madame of the brothel took more than half of the revenue she brought it. But she was satisfied with her life nonetheless. Everyone there was like family to her, something she didn’t have growing up.

But even then business was business. It was evident when that madame tried to shell some cash out of Sukuna when he requested her presence for the week– making him remind her that the request was actually a demand, and if Hayami wasn’t there on the exact day and time that was on the “invitation” letter, he’d massacre literally everyone that resided in the Red Light District.

next chapter

notes: sukuna: *ignores you* also sukuna: why wont she ask me why im ignoring her??

#𓊆ྀི kunaᝰ.ᐟ❤︎𓊇ྀི #jjk recs 🎀

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ccwpidsblog · 1 month

Text

defiance | king!sukuna x servant!reader

master list

chapter five: depraved

fic warnings: profanity, explicit smut, ooc, mentions of grooming, graphic depictions of violence, more will be added as story progresses

word count: 7.4k

notes: grab a snack cuz this one's a long one! at least for me lol.

“The sun’s coming up now,” you whined. “I have to go.”

“No you don’t,” Toji mumbled, holding on to your waist tightly so you couldn’t get up from the bed.

“Yes,” you started to push his arms off you. “I do– fuck, your strong!” You continued to try to get him to release you, but he didn’t budge at all– laughing at you and mocking your fake cries.

“Fine, fine.” He continued to chuckle, peppering your neck with kisses before releasing you from his hold. “Will you come back tonight?”

You flashed him a grin while getting dressed, “Don’t you think that’s a little too soon General?”

He clicked his tongue at the push back. You’ve been seeing each other for the past two months now, and he’s been pushing his luck a little more each time you’ve seen him. “Don’t act like you didn’t have fun,” he said in that same sexy voice that made you agree to come over to begin with.

“Fun’s over, Fushiguro, I need to get back home now. Don’t want me getting in trouble, do you?” You tease, earning a light slap in the ass as you continued to get dressed.

He walked you to the front door of his home, or should you say compound. The man was loaded, and rightfully so given all the titles and awards splayed out in the main area of his home. He was proud of his achievements, and you would be too if you were in his shoes.

He stopped you one last time, pinching your chin. “So when can I see you again?” It was a question, but he was already expecting to see you again.

“Hmmm next week? Maybe?” You playfully responded, not truly knowing when you’d actually get the chance.

He was a busy man with multiple wives and you were a lot younger than him. He wasn’t someone who could just waltz into your village and openly court you, he was someone that was well known– even though you weren't aware of who he was when you first met.

But that was only because you never paid attention to those sorts of things– war and politics.

He could tell you weren’t sure when you’d see him again either, but just went along with it. He’d run into you again eventually, already having an idea of what your daily life looked like. It was how he was able to keep an eye on you in the first place and eventually have the chance to approach you. He gave you one last kiss, and sent you off your way.

You did have fun tonight. Toji had many qualities you liked in a man– assertive, respectable, sure of himself. You’d gone on dates before, a majority of the men leaving you with the feeling of uncertainty– and that you had to take the lead. Toji was someone who would find someone he liked, and take them along for the ride. He was someone you could let go with because you already knew he’d take the lead.

Too bad he was married. Not just to one, but to four women. It wasn’t something that sat right with you. He might be willing to give you all this attention now, but you doubt it’d last that long. It was probably something all of his wives have felt at first as well, only for them to be let down more and more with each wife he took in.

This was just for fun, you reminded yourself.

Besides, there was nothing wrong with giving into your desires once in a while, it was Toji Fushiguro for fuck’s sake. You thought you didn’t know of him, until he told you a little bit more about himself. Turns out he was the very same man your father and brother gushed over many times at the dinner table.

One of the region's most formidable warriors– consistently leading the army to the victories they were well known for. He even took on undercover missions on his own to make it easier to win. Your district, along with the other neighboring ones, had him to thank, at least partially.

There would also be talks of the king, who inevitably led everyone to the finish line, but that was about it. He was almost a taboo subject, speak of his name and you’d be cursed for an eternity. Yet it didn’t stop the people from out in the sticks to use him as a scary bedtime story to keep their children in check.

Your thoughts on Toji during your walk home came to an abrupt halt when you heard voices ahead of you. Familiar ones at that– before you knew it, your mother, father and brother were all charging at you, screaming threats and profanities.

Your mother held you back by your arms, leaving you wide open for your father to strike you across the face multiple times, telling you how much of a disgrace you were to your family. That you were a disappointment to your ancestors and future generations alike, all while your brother was in the background, spewing equally hurtful words towards you and agreeing with your father in between them.

The last slap– if you’d even call it that– was hard enough to the point where you fell out of your mothers arms and onto the ground. You already knew you didn’t have much time until one of them laid their hands on you again, so you ran.

It didn’t even matter how much pain you were in. You ran so fucking fast you couldn’t even feel your legs as they led you back to Toji’s compound, hoping to god he was still awake so he could somehow protect you.

You felt a hand grab at you, most likely your brothers, and you jerked it away– pushing your body to its absolute limit as you sped up.

All three of them continued to scream for you to get back to them, how much of a whore you were, and that they’d be sacrificing your life in order to cleanse your whole lineage from the shame you’ve brought upon them.

You didn’t even bother to knock at the gates, and pushed through them– absolutely grateful that they weren’t locked. Once you got into the compound, you quickly locked the gate and started yelling out for Toji. You made your way to his main home and found him already running out of his bedroom.

“What’s wrong?!” He frantically asked, holding the sides of your face while trying to calm you down.

“T-they caught me,” You forced out, still out of breath from how fast you ran back. “My parents, they caught me– they want to kill me.”

You took in a sharp breath after hearing banging from the gates, and your family yelling at you to get outside. “I don’t know what to do Toji!”

“Hey- hey, it’s alright.” He continued trying to calm you down. “Everything will be fine, just let me handle this okay?”

Everything after that was a blur. Your family eventually calmed down after Toji invited them in to talk. He offered to marry you, and they agreed to his proposal immediately, knowing that it was the only way to save their image.

Which you thought was absolute bullshit, your family was in no way influential. Your whole bloodline could be wiped out and nobody would remember your family name. It was just their egos at this point.

And you couldn’t do it, you quickly decided you wouldn’t.

Toji was a kind man who would no doubt take care of you, but you weren’t ready to become someone's wife, let alone bear his children– which you know for a fact would be expected of you the moment you got married.

So you excused yourself to use the bathroom and left. You found a scarf laying around, which you presumed was one of his wives, and threw it over you to conceal your hair so you wouldn’t get caught.

And you never did. They never saw you again after that, at least your family. If you did feel any remorse over what you did, it would’ve been for Toji. Especially after seeing his reaction to seeing you again at the festival. His expression was all you needed to see to know how he must've felt when he realized you were long gone that day.

It took a little less than a day to get to the shrine. It probably would’ve taken sooner, had you not stopped to take a few breaks during your short journey. But you were tired and hungry, no one would have ever guessed where you decided to head to, so you gave yourself grace and didn’t rush it.

You already knew that you’d be signing your life away if you became a servant to Sukuna, but so would marrying Toji. And if you were to have gone anywhere else, they probably would’ve found you and killed you somehow on the spot.

At least by becoming a servant at the shrine, you’d have some say in what you did– even if all options led to the loss of your freedom.

Sukuna’s face contorts in complete and utter disbelief, “What the fuck?”

“I know,” you sighed in agreement.

“He’s old enough to be your father!”

“He is,” you continued to validate his disconcertment while he continued to shake his head.

He thought he’d be able to have this conversation with you– calmly, with no negative feelings behind it. He’d never been more wrong in his life and this will be the last time he’ll ever talk to you about Toji again. Maybe in general for that matter.

“Hey! You’re the one who asked!”

“And now I'm asking you to stop.” He laid his head back down on the pillow and let out a sigh. “Do you miss your family?” He changed the subject.

“Sometimes, mainly my younger siblings. But my older brother and parents.. not really.”

“I can understand that,” he absentmindedly started to play with your hair.

He agreed that your parents' reaction was complete bullshit. He put himself in their shoes for a moment, wondering what he’d do if his daughter was messing around with a general. He would definitely not kill her– a simple beating along with being locked in a room for a month would suffice.

“You can send letters to the ones you like, if you want. The girls write letters to their families all the time.” He suggested.

“Maybe. I’d rather them think I’m dead though so they eventually feel bad.” Your vindictiveness towards them earned a laugh from the king all while you frowned at him. “What are you even still doing here? Don’t you have kingly duties you have to get to?”

“My kingly duties start whenever I feel like it.” He corrected you. “Are you kicking me out?”

“Yeah, I am– chop-chop, your highness!” You urged him, earning a forehead flick.

“Don’t fuck with me,” he mumbled before laying his head back down on your chest. “Wanna sit in on today's hearing?”

“..am I going to have to watch someone die today?”

“Maybe,” he answered way too calmly. “Probably,” he ended up correcting himself, making your face twist in disgust. Life was just starting to look up again and now he wants you to witness his slaughterings.

“I don’t wanna see that,” You pouted, carding your fingers through his hair.

His urge to scold you for rejecting him slowly dissipated the more you played with his hair. He was never the biggest fan of affection, but it was sending tingles all throughout his body, especially when you touch the spot right behind his ear— so he’ll allow it. He was sure you were only doing it to lessen his frustration, and he’ll admit that it was working flawlessly.

“You’re such a baby,” He murmured, trailing his hand down your abdomen. “I can’t convince you?”

“Mmm you can try,” You teased, already slowly falling apart under his touch. “Missed you touching me.” You lazily admit.

“S’that so,” He husked out, making you nod. “Gonna have to give you extra attention now, don’t I?”

“You have to,” you played along while he snaked his hand down to your ass, pulling you closer to him and grinding against you, trying to get some sort of relief for the boner he woke up with.

“So bossy,” he threw your leg over him as he started whispering some of the most vile things in your ear, all while you giggled in his grip. “You’d like that, huh? Gonna fuck you so hard you won’t even—“ the both of you heard a light knock at your door and turned your heads towards it.

“Fuck! What?!” He snapped. At that moment he wished he didn’t ask about what your life was like before working for him, despite how entertaining the story was.

Akari came in with her head down, apologizing profusely for interrupting, while Sukuna turned his head away from her and audibly groaned into the pillow. She’d been waiting for the past hour to bring you breakfast but didn’t want to interrupt because you were with the king.

She also didn’t want to be punished for not doing her job correctly by not bringing it to you on time.. especially since you were with the king.

Both scenarios terrified her, and his obvious annoyance at her sudden appearance did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves that were already all over the place.

“It’s okay,” you giggled. “Where’s Miya?”

“Right outside the door,” She nervously admitted. Out of the three of you, she was the most skittish— Sukuna could look at her the wrong way and her soul would probably leave her body.

“You can come in Miya..”

“Good morning, my lady,” she forced out as she walked in with her head down as well.

“Please don’t call me that when we're alone.” You cringed at the sudden honorifics, especially since she jokingly refers to you as concubine cunt– words she’d never want the king to hear.

Sukuna snorted, remembering the snake incident. Even he slightly cringed at them calling you their lady knowing the type of friendship you had with them before becoming a concubine.

“I’ll let you three have some time together.” He ruffled the top of your head. “Have ‘your lady’ ready and outside of my chambers in an hour, she's going to today's hearing.” You snapped him a look, “It’s an order— do not roll your eyes at me.” He pointed at you.

—

Miya and Akari got you ready 43 minutes after the king had left your room. It was impressive, but you had to remind them a few times to slow down. You mainly chose them as your ladies in waiting so the three of you could have slightly better, more fun lives. The last thing you wanted was for them to accessorize you like their lives depended on it. They say it’s fine and to not worry about it, all while they were worried about doing their “jobs” correctly.

They still weren’t sure where exactly Sukuna stayed, so you took the lead after they triple checked you and your outfit, and your hair, and your makeup. By the time you got there, it was an hour and six minutes. Sukuna didn’t seem to notice though, so neither of you mentioned it, let alone apologize.

Your walk with him to the throne room made you realize why anyone barely saw him. He had multiple shortcuts around the estate, making it easy for him to go unseen if he didn’t feel like seeing anyone.

The walk was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He had a blank stare the entire time and seemed like he was mentally preparing himself for whatever the day was going to bring him. It was the same look he had on his face that one time you saw him walking to the hot springs in the morning while you were eating your breakfast.

Everything was quiet until you saw Yumi walking out of the doors of the throne room with all 9 of her ladies in waiting. You’ll never understand why one person would need that many attendants, but to each their own. You chalked it up to her needing the extra emotional support, given the fact she tried to hurt herself when the king refused to see her. It all seemed so long ago, but it had only been 3 months.

“My king,” She slightly bowed her head to him before looking up at him.

Sukuna looked at her with the same bored look on his face. “Uraume told you that you weren’t needed today.”

“Oh,” she nervously laughed. “I had thought there was a miscommunication between them and my head lady in waiting.”

“Uraume doesn’t leave room for miscommunication.” Annoyed that he even had to say it, it was well known at that point.

“My apologies,” she put her head down. “May I ask why I wasn’t needed for today?”

“No, you may not,” he sounded like he was well over this pointless conversation. “Leave.”

That clearly hurt her, and she hesitated for a moment from his blunt response– looking back and forth between you and him. “My apologies again, my king.” She forced out a smile before walking away.

You tried to keep your eyes low throughout the duration of their short conversation, it was hard to listen to. You hated getting second hand embarrassment.

You also hated that you knew they were glaring at you, as all 10 of them walked past you, one by one.

As if it was your fucking fault that the guy was an asshole. It was what he was literally known for throughout the whole region.

Sukuna watched her walk away until she was out of his sight, brows furrowed until he was finally completely alone with you again. “You can look around if you’d like, but no interrupting or speaking, okay?”

“Okay,” you nodded.

“And walk behind me.”

“Okay— wait!” you grabbed on to his wrist with both hands to stop him.

He nearly snapped his neck turning around to look at you, wondering what the hell you could’ve possibly wanted. He was already two hours late to the damn thing and wanted to get it over with already. Another minute he went not being in that room meant another minute he had to stay.

“Could you warn me or something if you do decide to kill someone?”

“How would I-“ He pinched his nose bridge and closed his eyes as he let out a long and overly dramatic sigh, mumbling something along the lines of ‘is this girl fucking serious right now’.

You continued to stare at him despite his reaction. He was hoping that you’d backtrack on the stupid question you just asked because he did not have the time for this right now. And to no one’s surprise, you didn’t. He hated that you looked cute while doing it too, all doe eyed while clearly waiting for a yes. Fuck you.

“Fine,” he groaned. “I’ll tap the armrest three times, and give you three seconds to put your head down or something. Got it?”

“Got it,” you smiled. “Thank you Kuna.”

“And you will address me as your king if you need to once we walk past those doors, okay?” He ran the back of his fingers along your jaw as you nodded. This whole thing sounded more like a pep talk rather than a run down on the rules.

“Please don’t speak though, I really don’t need this to last longer than it already will be.” His rough demeanor slightly cracked, it sounded more like a plea at this point and you nodded once more. “Alright now get behind me.”

You followed him into the throne room and did exactly as you were told while sitting to his left, Ayame was on his right. The next 4 hours consisted of you sitting on your knees, desperately holding back yawns, and listening to Sukuna yell at every other person that was in line to ask for a favor.

The one thing you could give him credit for was that he did not discriminate— there wasn’t anybody on this earth that this man wouldn’t berate.

You were sure the highlight of his day was making a seven year old boy run back to his parents ugly crying– judging by the way Sukuna laughed loud and long enough for the kid to hear even when he was well past the throne room’s doors.

You felt bad for him, but it was ultimately on his parents for weaponizing the child. That had to be the case, what seven year old asks for funding toward an already successful pig farm?

“Ah, you again.” Sukuna’s eyes lit up at who was next in line. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” There was a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“My king,” the scrawny man dropped to his knees and bowed. “I wanted to thank you first and foremost for my loan, my family will forever be indebted to you and your generosity. My wife, she is finally on the mend due to the medical treatment we were able to–”

“Get to the fucking point,” he growled impatiently. “Did you come here to repay me personally or are you asking for an extension?”

“My king, I had a better form of repayment in mind,” Sukuna threw his head back in laughter while the man before him started to stutter, trying to power through his rehearsed speech. “I have a daughter.”

“A daughter?” He playfully responded, his interest clearly peaked. If Ayame could roll her eyes right now, she absolutely would.

“Yes, my king. She is beautiful, if I must say. An angelic face paired with the clearest complexion in all the land, obedient, chaste– she would make a fine concubine.”

Sukuna leaned back on his throne, resting his head on his palm. He took a peek at you with his bottom eye, watching how your nostrils slightly flared and lips trembling in the very slightest. Nobody else would’ve noticed it, it only lasted a second.

It was too bad he had a role to play right now, because he’d really like to know what was so funny right now. But he appreciated you keeping yourself in check, for once in your life.

“And how old is this obedient, angelic beauty you speak of?”

“She will be 11 in the spring, my king.”

To try to bargain with the king was one thing, but to assume that he’d want to take in a 10 year old was another. The man had to have seen the two women beside him earlier, despite his head laying low to the ground now. It was crystal clear what the king liked and shamelessly indulged in every night. You might as well have asked him to adopt her, and raise her as his own– but he had no interest in having children, so that was also out of the question.

After a long moment of silence, you heard three distinct taps. Your eyes widened as you looked up at Sukuna who was already sporting a cheshire grin on his face. The moment you turned your head directly away from the man, you heard a clean slice, followed by multiple thuds.

It sounded exactly as you’d imagined– if that thought had ever crossed your mind, which it didn’t.

“Uraume,” He casually called out.

“Right away, my king.” They already knew the drill.

You were thankful he even remembered to give a warning, but you still felt sick to your stomach and knew the sound of the man’s body (parts) falling to the floor would be forever ingrained in your memory.

Granted, he was an awful person for trying to sell off his child to Sukuna– who consistently lived up to his reputation– but it was still hard to semi-witness. You wished you covered your ears.

You didn’t even dare to look until the next person–and thankfully the last– walked up to the throne, meaning the clean up was done.

Mostly done, the poor man was visibly trembling as he kneeled over the previous man's blood.

The last man’s request was quite simple– he needed fertilizer for his apple trees that didn’t produce as many fruit this year due to the harsh winter. In exchange, he was willing to work at the shrine and would give him ⅓ of his produce the following fall season.

Sukuna didn’t need extra workers, nor was he in need of that many apples. But, he was in a good mood from the laugh he got from the previous man. His ass was starting to hurt from sitting on that goddamn throne for what felt like forever.

Which was something he’d never admit to anyone, even if he was on his deathbed.

So, the last man got to walk out of the throne room alive and 5 bags of fertilizer richer than he’d walked in.

“Alright, everybody out,” You got up and your legs felt dead from sitting in the same position for hours. “Except for you,” he said in his usual demanding tone.

You weren’t sure if you were in trouble again or not, but the one thing you were sure about was that you were not going to sit back down. You stood in place while everyone made their way out of the room.

Once the last person left, you turned to Sukuna who let out a little yawn. He got up, stretched his arms out, and then snaked his hand around the back of your neck. It was way more gentle than the last time he’d held you like that.

“You looked like you had fun.”

“You should get all four of your eyes checked if that’s what you thought I looked like.”

“And you should watch it,” he quipped.

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath and leaned your head to his touch, “There has to be a better way for everyone else to sit, my legs hurt so much right now.”

Tell that to his ass that was currently numb. An often and unescapable occurrence. If he had to suffer through that, then so would everyone else.

“You watched someone die today and you're complaining about your legs hurting?” He smirked.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. And I didn’t watch, I looked away.” You closed your eyes again as he started to gently massage the back of your neck. “Thank you for warning me by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” he sounded surprisingly affectionate.

Actually, everything about him screamed caring right now– his tone of voice, the little massage, the way he was looking at you with slightly dilated eyes.

Such a stark contrast from the crazed look he had on his face while using his abilities. Today left you feeling conflicted. He made a little boy cry and enjoyed it. Killed a man for offering his child up as a concubine, without a warning. And gave a farmer a bunch of fertilizer- no questions asked, just get the fuck out.

And that was just 3 of the many, many people that arrived today. All unsure of which side they’d get from him. The rumors were true, he was unpredictable.

You still didn’t think he was a good person, you doubt you’d ever reach that point honestly. But, you didn’t think he was that bad either given the fact that he’s shown he had the ability to be reasonable.

But then again, what would you know? He isolated you from the world, more than you already were, for the majority of your time as a concubine. All because your ex-something was staring at you during the festival.

He was more deserving of your hatred right now, yet here you were trying to solve him like he was some puzzle just so you could excuse his behavior. It was pathetic and you knew it. Men like him bet on people that rationalize their behavior, just so they could forever keep them at arms length.

Which was exactly what you were doing right now. And unfortunately, he just so happened to be at the top of the totem pole when it came to being that type of man.

Territorial, selfish, confrontational. The worst traits to have when you had power– literally and figuratively.

It’s not like you had any other choice. At least he had the decency to tell you that you’d basically be stuck here for the rest of your life— however long it may be. Could be until you die of old age, could also be 6 months down the line when you inevitably piss him off again and he actually does kill you.

“You zone out a lot.” He pulled you out of your thoughts, he probably already knew you were spiraling internally.

You wish he wasn’t so perceptive.

“I do, especially when I’m hungry.” You slightly deflected.

“I’ll have Uraume cook you something.” He lightly kissed the top of your head. “Now lets get the fuck out of here.” His mask cracked again, sounding as boyish as he did when he asked if you still hated him.

—

You spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with Sukuna, having an early dinner with him before he attended a meeting with a few shoguns from the neighboring districts. Miya and Akari came to get you from his chambers shortly after he left. The sun was just about to start setting at the time, so you decided to go to the river to watch the sunset before heading back to your place.

It was nice, and everything you imagined when you asked Sukuna if they could be your ladies in waiting instead. You spent the whole time making jokes and laughing with them– being filled in on the latest rumors around the shrine, servants, and even other concubines. It was wrong, the other concubines were technically supposed to be your peers, but you couldn’t help it. Old habits were hard to break.

The walk back to your chambers was just as lively as it was at the river, but the three of you made sure to watch what you said since you were now passing multiple servants and some of the concubines' chambers. You ended up talking about when the next time the merchants and traders would visit the estate. It was something you were really looking forward to since the king and his concubines got the first pick when it came to imported goods like clothing, jewelry, and snacks.

Miya was in the middle of talking about how sometimes they’d bring saffron, and to please get some for her if they did. Right when you were about to say yes, you started hearing commotion in the not so far distance.

The three of you look at each other in elation, wondering who’s fighting and hoping to god it’ll be a good one. You turn around to find where the voices are coming from, and unfortunately it was just Yumi and her ladies in waiting– all yelling and pointing their fingers at you.

“I’ve alerted Uraume about you! How dare you think you can do this to our king?!” She yells loud enough for the surrounding servants and then some to hear.

“What are you talking about?” Your face twisted in confusion– genuine confusion. You just saw Uraume 30 minutes ago, who went with Sukuna to his meeting.

“You’re a witch! You and your ladies in waiting! Why else would you have gotten rid of your last ones?!” You raised your brows as she continued. “So that you three could use witchcraft on the king without getting caught!”

“Witchcraft? On Sukuna?” You laughed. “I doubt witchcraft would even work on that man!” You hardly tried to defend yourself over the ridiculous accusation.

She raised her hand back and caught you off guard by delivering a loud slap across your face, “Don’t you laugh at me, servant! You think you can get away with using spells to take the king away from all of us, he will have your head for that!”

You didn’t think twice to lunge at her. It all happened so fast. The yelling around you blended into one noise and faded out as you got on top of her and connected your fist to her face– multiple times. The girl must’ve thought she had protection with all 9 of her attendants surrounding her, but none of them tried to help her in the slightest. The series of punches you gave her were followed up by an open hand to her cheek, one that put her initial slap to shame.

It was bloody. It was messy. It was everything she wasn’t expecting from a servant.

And just when the small crowd thought you were quick, the king of curses made his appearance, reminding them that he was quicker. A strong hand wrapped itself around your upper arm and yanked you off Yumi, who was sobbing.

“What is wrong with you two?!” He snarled, focusing his attention on you rather than the culprit.

She tried running into his arms, still crying, only for him to turn away from her while holding his free arm out. “Get the fuck away from her.”

“What’s going on here?!” He asked you. Now was definitely not the time to go mute, but like clockwork, it happens all over again. You don’t know where to start, you don’t know why it started, and you don’t want to talk about it.

You open your mouth to speak but you let out a slight laugh instead, looking away from him.

“There’s nothing funny about this– what the fuck is the matter with you?!” His frustration grew, despite his doubts that you started it. He didn’t see her hit you, but he did see your lip bleeding before you decided to fucking maul her.

“I just— I don’t know what to say right now,” he kept his attention on you as you tried to continue, but you just didn’t have it in you to explain yourself to him, or anyone else for that matter. And he slowly caught on to that, loosening the grip he had on you.

You felt your lip after you realized it was pulsing, seeing blood transferred on to your finger.

“Great. Her ring cut my fucking lip.” You mumbled to yourself, as if you didn’t have several people staring at you, the king himself included.

“Your lip?! What about my fucking nose, you bi-”

“Yumi– for fucks sake– SHUT UP.” Sukuna immediately cut her off.

“Excuse me,” you mumbled as you got out of his grip and walked away from everyone. You weren’t sure if it was something you’d get in trouble for, but you could care less at that moment. All you wanted to do was go back to the comfort of your chambers.

“You,” He turned his full attention to Yumi, who just so coincidentally stopped crying the moment you left. “Get out of my fucking sight,” he coldly demanded. If looks could kill, she’d be dead on the spot.

—

You were sitting in the bath when you heard Uraume come into your chambers, asking Akari where you were. You've been soaking for over an hour now. Miya and Akari have had to add extra hot water to the tub to keep the consistency of the temperature. They also offered to wash your hair, but you politely declined, you were almost at your wits end at people touching you today.

Uraume ended up leaving after being told where you were and what you were doing, not wanting to know what the consequences would be if they pressed to directly speak with you. Especially after seeing how Sukuna handled the events that transpired earlier. Usually he would just sit back and watch whenever a fight between the concubines broke out.

He treated this one more like a threat than the usual entertainment.

Sukuna walked into the spa room shortly after his assistant had left. He found you resting your head on your arms over the edge of the tub. He crouched down in front of you, keeping his eyes on the corner of your lip. You tried to study the expression on his face while he examined your lip. He was surprisingly calm for someone who just had one of his precious concubines assaulted.

“Shouldn’t you be comforting Yumi right now?” You broke the silence.

His eyebrows slightly knitted at the passive aggressive remark. “She’s not the one with the busted lip.”

“Yeah, she’s the one with the broken nose.” Everyone, including him, heard the cracks.

“Because she busted your lip.” He reminded you while he reached out to brush your lip with his thumb. “Better?”

The throbbing and stinging went away as soon as he touched the cut. You could only describe the feeling as you would if you blew a candle out, the fires completely gone while the smoke faded into thin air. You reached over and grabbed the handheld mirror that was on the other side of the tub and examined your face. The cut was completely gone, no scarring.

“How did you do that?”

“Do you even have the energy to listen to me try to explain it to you right now?” He lightly chuckled as he began to undress.

“No.” You leaned back into the tub.

“Thought so— scoot forward for me.”

He submerged himself into the hot water, slotting you in between his thighs and wrapping his arms around your waist. It must’ve been a somewhat funny sight to see him trying to fit himself into the small tub that was clearly meant for one person– or maybe just a person that wasn’t as big as he was. His knees stuck up from the water as he pressed his feet against the other end.

You let yourself get more comfortable by turning sideways so you could lean your cheek against his chest– pulling a pleased hum out of the man while he rested his chin on top of your head.

“What do you want me to do with her?” His voice was gentle, but serious.

“That’s not my decision to make,” you mumbled against him.

“It can be,” he traced little circles on your waist. “I’d allow it this once.”

“What if I don’t want to make that decision?”

“That’s okay too,” he soothed.

He wasn’t sure what he’d do with her, yet. Yumi’s never not been a pain in the ass– out of all of the concubines, she was the one who begged to take her sister's place when her father offered her up to Sukuna. And like the spoiled brat she had always been, he agreed. Sukuna thought it was amusing at first, how much she was willing to do to get his attention, only for her to get immediately humbled by the other concubines the moment she stepped foot in the shrine by the others.

She was the type of person that would walk all over you if she could. When she realized she couldn’t walk all over Ayame and the twins, she moved on to Yuna who was freshly 13 at the time. Looks can be very deceiving with that one. Long story short, the kid dragged her into one of the empty, cramped halls. He almost refused her medical help since she started it, but the gashes were so deep that she needed stitches or else she’d die.

After that, his interest in her started to fade. He only really uses her whenever he’s feeling extra violent, and like the desperate whore she is, she’ll take it without showing signs of struggle.

You’d think that she learned her lesson from that incident, but she’s never been the brightest person to begin with. He figured she must’ve thought that this situation would be different since you started off as a servant, only for her to stumble off with a broken nose and a tarnished ego.

“I didn’t know you knew how to fight.” He tried to fill the silence.

“I grew up in a village that wasn’t too far from the Red Light District and hung out there a lot. You learn how to defend yourself over time,” you admit.

“Makes sense by the way you tried to mangle her face,” it took everything in him to be serious at that moment. He wanted to laugh so fucking bad, but figured it’d worsen your mood so he violently fought it off.

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Not at all.” He assured you, kissing the top of your head. He was honestly more proud than anything, and couldn’t help but respect how quick you were to defend yourself.

And if you weren’t being so pouty right now, he’d be openly praising you, telling how you how fucking hot it was watching you beat the shit out of someone.

And that yes, it was hard keeping himself from grabbing you by the neck, and licking the blood that trickled off your lips in front of everyone. Holy fuck that image will forever be ingrained in his memory. He swore he even saw you smile when you decided the punches weren’t enough, not thinking twice about delivering the loudest slap on top of it. Salt to the wound— just how he likes it.

But he’s quickly figured out that you were a lot more sensitive than you let on, so he’ll hold off for now, at least until you finally get past it. For now he’ll stick to coddling you, you clearly like the way he peppers you with kisses when you let out your disappointed little sighs— clearly unhappy with how your day has gone.

He took your hand in his, making you slightly flinch when he brushed his thumb over your knuckles. “I almost forgot about this one.”

The pain from your hand disappeared as fast as it did when he healed your lip, and for the rest of the night, you spent your time wishing he had done neither.

He should’ve just let you and your minor injuries be, because now you were going to be constantly remembering the fact that he fixed you. And you wouldn’t doubt that you’d soon be romanticizing it.

Which was bad– very, very bad. Falling for him would be in your worst interest, judging by the way he treated his concubine after he grew tired of her. You try to not let things like this get to your head— but how could you not? He had just taken almost a week's worth of pain from you and it leaves you wondering what your younger self would think of you now.

No husband with a couple of kids and a decent home. It’s not even something you could aspire to anymore because it was simply no longer obtainable.

Instead, you’re chained to a depraved king, who seems to like you for reasons he’ll keep only to himself. Locked away from the world in an estate. But then again, the estate was something that went far beyond anything you’ve dreamed of.

You doubt your younger self would be proud, but you could grow to be okay with what your life had come to– just as long as he continued to hold you the way he was now. Who knows how long his interest in you would last though.

Maybe weeks. Months at best.

“You’re doing it again,” his voice was breathy as he continued to caress your arms and back.

“Doing what?”

“Zoning out,” he chuckled. He held the sides of your face to make you look up at him. “Will you be truthful this time and actually tell me what you’re thinking about?”

“Why do you want me here?”

His face stilled, but kept the same calm expression he had all night. “I already told you, I like you.” He referred back to the night at the hot springs, as vague with his words as ever. Which was the truth, despite the fact that he doesn’t know why he does. “Don’t stress yourself out so much, everything will be fine.”

—

Extra’s:

– a part of the reason why Sukuna’s so aggressive during hearings is because his throne’s uncomfortable. he refuses to admit it.

– reader comes from a traditional yet stuck-up middle class family, she grew out of that mindset when Hayami became a courtesan. she learned a lot from Hayami and became more open minded in general since she refused to stop being her friend like everyone else did. it all led to her own liberation

next chapter

notes: reader was all like "what the fuck is witchcraft going to do to Sukuna?!?! bffr Yumi"

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