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dw-writes · 2 years

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Afterlife - Ryomen Sukuna x Death!Reader

Summary: Ryomen Sukuna is dead, and it’s your job to escort him to the afterlife.

Genre: Gen Fic

TW: Major Character Death, canon compliant (if you squint), minor OOC (I worked really hard to keep him in character), angst, swearing

A/N: Some backstory on Death later and we finally have Sukuna’s finished. Ended a little different, but I hope that he’s still in character enough for you all to enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Similar: Afterlife - Fushiguro Toji || Afterlife - Nanami Kento || Afterlife - Gojo Satoru || Afterlife - Fushiguro Megumi || Afterlife - Ryomen Sukuna

You’d been waiting for Ryomen Sukuna’s death for ages. He was the Big Name on your list, higher up than Gojo had been – though you’d never tell the man that. When the execution came to pass, you were waiting.

He may have killed you centuries ago, but you finally had the upper hand.

Sukuna’s four eyes focused on your face as you approached. They narrowed, and his mouth twisted unkindly into a frown. “I know you,” he grumbled.

“You do,” you replied, “I’ve been waiting a long, long time for you to finally die.”

“The fuck does that—”

You sent him back to the first night he was incarnated again, when Itadori Yuuji ate the first finger, and waited for Sukuna to complete his first recycle. You crossed your ankles and sat, watching everything you’d witnessed over the last decade pass you by again – the memories of the people you’d escorted away rolled on behind you, their deaths imprinted on the fabric of space like ancient nebulous gas – Toji, Kento, Satoru, Megumi. You even kept poor Yuuji’s soul suspended in the seconds after his death to wait for Sukuna to reappear before you.

He when he finally did, he was seething. You weren’t joking when you’d told Toji that recycles were like deleted scenes – Sukuna would have remembered everything once you sent him back. He had to. He’d been even more brutal when he’d been let out of Yuuji’s grasp, destroying more, killing more, savoring in the angst and depression he’d launch his vessel into time and time again.

The man lunged for you the second he saw you, hands arched in a clawed grasp as he gripped the front of your shirt and hauled you off the ground.

“You’ll pay for that,” he ground out.

“What’re you gonna do, kill me? You’ve already done that,” you sniped. His free fist lifted and swung. You watched it fly through the thin air you’d been held in. He stumbled, snarling, and whipped around to where you stood. You wiggled your fingers in a wave. “You have no power here, Ryomen Sukuna.”

He shoved his fists into the deep pockets of his pants, glaring at you. You watched him in return. “You Death now?” he grunted.

You shrugged. “It’s a name,” you replied.

“Liked your old one better.”

“Surprised you remember it, considering how many people you’ve killed,” you quipped.

He grinned something so feral it chilled your bones. “Because your death was more fun.”

Your lip curled. You waved your hand and sat to watch him go through a second recycle. You’d never suspended someone else’s soul for so long. You’d hope it would be okay, that it wouldn’t cause any kind of damage to Yuuji.

Sukuna lunged for you the second he reappeared on your plane. You sent him back before he took his first step.

The two of you repeated the motions for what felt like ages, until you lost count of how many times he had gone through his short second life all over again.

He collapsed to his hands and knees, panting, seething, striking the hard but invisible ground he sprawled upon again and again. You were sure he was thinking of your face. His knuckles started to bleed.

“Are you done?” you asked when he finally stopped.

He glared at you. You remembered how it felt to be afraid of that glare. It didn’t scare you anymore. “Are you gonna send me back if I say no?” he growled.

“Yes.” It was an easy answer.

Sukuna watched you for a moment longer, then heaved a sigh. He rolled back on his haunches and stretched his legs forward, staring off through the sky at nothing in particular.

You leaned your chin on your fist. “I should send you again,” you said. His eyes snapped to you. “You haven’t learned anything. I think this last time you just kinda let everything happen.”

“What’s it matter?” he growled, “I did what you forced me to do.”

“The whole point of a recycle is for you to learn from your mistakes,” you said, “You can’t fix them, obviously – the timeline’s set in stone. But you can make edits, new deleted scenes.”

“I hate your movie reference, you know that?” he grumbled. Two eyes pulled away from you, while one stayed, watching your face.

You didn’t say anything for a long time, didn’t look at him either, just watched the clouds roll by. “You’re already broken down, you know,” you finally said, “You wouldn’t be sitting here, having this conversation with me if you weren’t.” You looked over, twisting your cheek on your knuckles in a way that was too similar to him. He sucked on his teeth. “I heard you used to be human, before you became a power-hungry curse,” you murmured, “Before you started killing everyone.” You sat up. “Did you know you still have a temple in Gifu?”

“Do I now?” he mused, “Maybe I’ll visit.”

“You’re not moving from here until you decide what you’ll do next,” you replied, “Either do the recycle of your own free will, or I’ll continue to put you through until you break completely.”

“Is this a fantasy of yours? Making me suffer?” he quipped, “Or your idea of revenge?”

“Revenge,” you answered, shrugging. His lip twitched: he hadn’t expected you to confess so openly. “I specifically asked for you the moment I got assigned to this role. I wasn’t going to let anyone else do this.”

“Why do you want me to change so badly?” he asked, sitting back, “Hm? What if I don’t want to?”

“Then you’ll be stuck doing recycles for the rest of your soul’s existence,” you said. He huffed. “So?”

He fell back, sprawling out, glaring at the sky.

You waved your hand and sent him through yet another recycle with a suffering groan. You couldn’t watch everything again – it was painful, it was terrible, it broke your heart a little more to see all the wonderful people you’d escorted to the afterlife suffer again and you couldn’t do it. You wondered if you could suspend Sukuna the way you had with Itadori and leave him there until you could deal with him.

The sound of rending flesh marked the reintroduction of Ryomen Sukuna into the world. You knew the script too well – he’d fall into a rant about being back, about being able to go through the world and wreak havoc on everyone and everything. However, silence followed. You rolled over, staring down at the roof of a school you recognized. There was the curse, Megumi, and Sukuna, staring out over the city. His eyes flicked up to the sky. He crossed his arms.

“Fucking pathetic,” he mumbled, “Listening to the words of some useless spirit who couldn’t even use jujutsu when they were alive.”

Everything changed from there. The times that Sukuna was free were the same, but there were more as he proved to be helpful – obnoxious, rude, brash, short tempered and full of himself, but helpful. The other times that he had any kind of influence, he tipped the scales in Itadori’s favor. When it came time to kill him and Itadori, it was almost reluctant.

He swore up a storm when he appeared next to you. “Happy? Can we go now?” he griped, sitting next to you, “I did some good deeds. Take me to my afterlife.”

“You didn’t actually learn anything!” you argued as you sat up, “You just did what you thought I wanted you to!”

He bristled. “Wasn’t that the point?”

“No! The point of a recycle is to learn a lesson from the terrible things you’ve done and the good that you could’ve done!” You stared at him. “I’m starting to think you’re not capable of being a good person,” you challenged.

He froze. It took everything in your power to not smile. You had him. He couldn’t turn away from your words or else he’d be proving you right. And after so many recycles, so many repeats of the same terrible events that he was forced to sit through, he didn’t have the willpower to say no.

He grabbed your arm and hauled you to your feet. “Send me back,” he snarled, “I’ll prove you wrong.”

“If you do, I’ll escort you to your afterlife as soon as you get back,” you promised. You snapped your fingers in his face.

Watching him suffer through semi-good deeds and having a modicum of decency left a bitter taste in your mouth. He’d been capable of doing so much good, he just didn’t want to. And you would never admit that your heart did a bit of a flip when he smiled for the first time – an actual smile, not the evil twist of a grin he’d had before. He wasn’t great. He still had the terrible attitude but extended the lives of everyone in that last recycle. His and Itadori’s execution were deemed necessary to prevent the exploitation of Sukuna’s power.

He was quiet when he returned to your plane. You turned to him, watching the flex of his jaw and his shoulders and his arms as he clenched his fists at his sides. He didn’t protest when you stepped forward and took his wrist in your hand, pulling him along.

Suddenly, he jerked his wrist free. “What the fuck was that?” he snarled, “What the fuck was that?!”

“What was what?” you asked, frowning, turning to face him. He shoved his hands through his hair, pacing away, then back. He snapped his hands out and wrapped them up in the front of your shirt again, hauling you to him. “Hey! Let go!”

“What the fuck did you put me through?” he demanded through clenched teeth, “That wasn’t what happened, that wasn’t normal, that was—”

“You being a semi-decent person!” you cut in. You grabbed his wrists when he shook you, curling your legs to brace your foot against his chest. “It feels different, doesn’t it?” you asked. His chest heaved beneath you. “Feels better? It’s a nicer feeling that settles inside you than the one that you get from killing every single person you possibly can?”

He dropped you. “The fuck would you know about it?” he growled, “All you’re good for is being on the other end of the killing blow.”

You rolled onto your elbows, looking up at him, asking, “Is that supposed to hurt me?” He spun away from you again. “You’re not the first unhinged mass murderer to have this kind of reaction, you know.” You arched an eyebrow and carefully stood, watching him warily. “Do you need a minute.”

He whirled on you. “Don’t treat me like a child!” he snarled.

“Stop acting like one!” you shouted back, “I’m offering you time to process, that’s not treating you like a child, that’s treating you like an adult.” You crossed your arms. “It’s a lot more than you’ve ever offered anyone.”

Sukuna’s shoulders heaved with the deep breaths he was taking, one fist balled at his side while the other carded and tugged at his hair. Your stomach curdled as a need to provide some kind of comfort rose in your chest. He took a bit longer, staring at the familiar landscape of Japan far below. His hand fell from his hair and encircled your wrist, tugging you in the general direction you two had been walking.

The quiet that fell between you both was heavy and taut. It stretched when you took the lead, stepping over the coast of Japan and out into the open air beyond. You didn’t try to adjust your grip on him, and he didn’t release your wrist.

The sun bled into the sky as you two walked, turning the clear blue into the warning red of a dangerous morning. It cast your shadows across the sky like you were clouds, and it was them that warned you of the approach of his stairs.

You slowed to a stop before them, inhaling through your nose to calm the anxious nerves in your fingers. You’d known that they would be the wooden steps of his domain, the same found at his shrine, but you hadn’t expected the variety of flowers. Withered husks of chrysanthemums lined the stairs, choked out by the vibrant heads of black dahlias, orange lilies, and buttercups. Sukuna plucked a buttercup and flicked it away, scoffing. “What’s this nonsense?” he muttered.

“It’s the universe saying you’re childish,” you said, ascending the stairs without waiting for him. He scooped another buttercup up and flung it at you. You stopped, arching an eyebrow, and said, “Point proven.” You hesitated before tugging your hand free and flipping it over, presenting your palm to him.

He arched an eyebrow. “I don’t hold hands,” he drawled, pointedly shoving his own in his pockets.

“Then you don’t want your soul intact when you reach the top,” you said. You wiggled your fingers. “There’s things beyond the stairs that enjoy eating the lonely souls on the stairs. So, unless you like feeding the—”

He slapped his hand into yours. “I’m not feeding any bottom feeders,” he grunted, “Lets go.”

You had to spin away to hide your violent eyeroll. You continued on. The further up you climbed, the more buds and blossoms you saw – vibrant pink petals of hibiscus flowers pushed through the wooden slats. They slowed your progress – partially because of their position, partially because of their meaning. Sukuna had to have done something you hadn’t seen or noticed for the flowers of his soul to change so drastically. They spilled across the landing, tapering off at his gate – a half closed shoji.

He didn’t release your hand when you let him go. In fact, if you weren’t mistaken, his grip tightened around your fingers. You glanced over. His eyes were focused on the door.

“Why’s it closed?” he asked.

“You’ve died before,” you said, “When your soul was fragmented between your fingers, it yanked what little came to the afterlife back. Broke your gate.” You took a step closer, eyeing the darkness beyond it. “Dunno what kind of damage that did to your afterlife, though.”

“Is that the afterlife I’m returning to?” he asked. You almost missed the faint pitching of his words. “The one I got before?”

“I don’t know, Sukuna, I’ve never dealt with a soul like yours before,” you countered, “But you won’t know unless you go through.”

“What if I don’t?” he asked, “You’ve been keeping the brat suspended this whole time? Why can’t you do that for me?”

“You’re scared,” you whispered.

“The fuck I am,” he growled. His eyes skipped over your face, then back to the door.

You shook your hand free of his iron grip and walked to his gate, pulling the other shoji open. A light flickered in the darkness beyond, then another, until the whole of it was awash with a golden glow. You looked back at him, waving your hand through it. “I’ll come visit and make sure that you’re still in one piece if you go through,” you promised, “But you have to go through.”

“Why?” he asked, stepping back, “I could do whatever the brat’s doing, too.”

“Sukuna,” you groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose. You were regretting ever insisting on taking his job. “You can’t just—”

“We’ll see about that,” he said with a smirk worming across his face. “Find me when you change your mind.” And then, he disappeared.

You shoved his gate shut with a suffering groan.

~*~Thanks for Reading~*~

#jjk #ryomen sukuna #sukuna x reader #ryomen sukuna x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen sukuna #afterlife series

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