DON'T YOU EVER TAME YOUR DEMONS

BUT ALWAYS KEEP 'EM ON A LEASH

arsonist's lullaby,

The rain is relentless in the wake of midnight, wet ash melting away on the concrete you stand on. The callous gaze of a deity was made ever so evident with the freezing winds. It is the type of coldness that reaches into your bones, as if your heart was a door left wide open to the icy wind, slamming only to open again.

You look up, letting water droplets graze your cheeks coldly, watching natural black tug at the stars in the same way a mother held her new-born. Eyes wrought with fear and turmoil turn and twist at the darkness ahead; the anxiety curled up in your bones threatens to destroy you.

"I have to go," You say suddenly, "We've waited long enough."

Fushiguro has an unwavering expression tightening in his irises, "Don't you trust Itadori?"

You don't meet his eyes, "Of course, I trust him. But, I don't trust Sukuna and I can't help but think that sitting here and doing nothing is going to get Itadori killed."

The rain sends a chill down your spine and you inhale, striding forwards but Fushiguro's fingers curl around the wrist of your black uniform.

"Stop," He says, "You're just getting yourself killed. We're supposed to be saving people."

You purse your lips, "We are saving people! We couldn't save that woman's son, so I have to do everything I can to be of use."

"[First Name]!" He yells, "Think straight. You need to clear your head-"

As he speaks, your eyes cast their gaze sadly on the juvenile detention centre but recoil; the air becomes faintly thin. The colours of the world fizzle like something supernatural has disturbed the finely woven tapestry of time. It was like feeling a million goosebumps ingrained onto your skin at once, hairs as sharp as knives at the thought of a curse.

"What... was that?" You stumble, struggling to speak.

Fushiguro hurries forwards, "The Innate Domain's closed off! The special-grade cursed spirit is dead."

The image of that monster returns to the surface of your tarnished mind, brimming in a lake of sinners; that curse... was dead? That curse and it's wide grin that looked like it would devour you whole and the loop of Itadori's hand being cut off replays over and over again in your head.

"Now we just need Itadori to return safely-" You begin, but then your heart jumps at what cuts your sentence off - that aura.

"Sorry," The voice crows, appearing behind Fushiguro, who seems to be frozen in place from fear, "But he's not coming back."

Your heart is palpitating in your ribcage, as if it might explode just from the terror of hearing that voice, feeling the inexplicable pain and power that this person radiated.

Shaking, you shift your head and look slightly to the left of Fushiguro, eyes fixed on him. Everything about him was the same and yet so different, two sides of a coin that battled with the wrath of human anatomy.

You watch the fine lines of heaven and hell blur with the outline of this man, this monster, this god. Itadori's features beckon you, but not with the comforting warmth they normally bring. Instead, the bubblegum pink riddled in his hair and the dash of chestnut brown in his eyes are nothing more than slates of illusions wiped clean.

The marks on his face are as black as the heart of death, curving the sharpness of his jaw and amplifying the darkness beneath his eyes.

"Don't be so frightened," Sukuna drawls and you hate it. He's in Itadori's body and has his appearance and stands with slouching shoulders and hands in pockets - it's as if nothing is wrong. "I'm in a great mood right now. Let's chat for a bit."

Fushiguro, like you, can't bring himself to even speak. Every thought he has ever conjured cannot be explained with words. Nothing that humanity has devised can capture the intensity of this moment.

Sukuna walks ahead and stands next to you, "This is what he gets for trying to use me without any kind of pact. Feels like he's having some trouble switching back."

Is he...gone? Is that how it is? No body, no final goodbye? Just...this?

It's not even like Itadori died, but rather he stopped existing.

Sukuna's sharp claws tug at Itadori's black uniform, "Still though... It's only a matter of time."

He rips it apart and casts it to the ground where it seemingly wilts under the rain. "Mm," His lips curl devilishly, "I've thought about what I can do."

And then, horrifyingly, like something out of a nightmare, Sukuna reaches into Itadori's heart and pulls it out. The grin on his face makes you want to scream, and instinctively you try to stop him but your legs won't move.

Blood trails down the corners of his twitching lips; he looks at ease, completely undisturbed by the actions he is doing.

"Wh- What are you..." You choke out something, anything.

Crimson spills and runs down the lines of square tiles on the ground, the splatter of rain enhancing the scent of death. Fushiguro's eyes widen, much like yours, caught up in the shock of what was unfolding.

Sukuna holds up a pulsing heart, beating away in his hand - not any heart, it was Itadori. "I'm taking this brat hostage," He says uncaringly.

"Hostage?!" Fushiguro frees his hands, "What?"

"I can live without this," Sukuna looks at the heart, "But that ain't true for the brat."

As he says this, he throws it carelessly to the side. You blink, looking at this heart that was struggling to live while cushioned by chartreuse grass.

"Switching out with me means he dies," Sukuna continues, pulling out something from his pocket and it's a dried, shrivelled finger. "For good measure," He comments and swallows it.

Sukuna's finger... You try to catch your breath but it's hard to with the rain and the wind and him. That special-grade must have consumed it.

"With that, I'm as free as a bird," His hand twitches unnaturally, veins writhing in evolution, "You can be frightened now. I'll kill you."

Fushiguro initates a battle stance, raising his hands. You watch, still shaking because your mind is blank and you don't know what to do.

"Itadori's coming back," He says suddenly. You can hear the confidence and faith entangled in his words and it gives rise to something hopeful brimming in your ribcage. "Even if that means he'll die. That's just who he is."

You gulp, standing still because you don't have a battle stance yet.

Sukuna scoffs, "You give him too much credit. This guy's just a little tougher and denser than other humans."

"That's... that's because he is! He's still alive and we'll drag him out of you, even if it kills us," You narrow your eyes.

Sukuna wipes the blood hanging around his mouth with the back of his hand, smiling, "Just a moment ago, he was scared out of his mind, on the verge of death, and prattling on about his regrets and all that nonsense. I know for a fact he doesn't have the guts to kill himself."

You look at the hand, realising it was the same one that the special-grade had cut off on Itadori. So, the hand got restored...

"He can use Reverse Cursed Techniques," Fushiguro notes grimly.

You don't have a clue what that means but you go along with it. "Even if he can live without a heart, it should still be damaging to him."

We make him heal his heart before Itadori returns, you mentally note. We just have to make him believe he can't beat us without a heart in his body!

"[First Name]," Fushiguro says darkly, holding up his hands to make the formation of a bird. "You provide support. You don't have enough experience to fight."

Sukuna stares calmly at you, his eyes bearing their darkness onto the windows of your soul. The innate calamity of the situation contrasts with the relaxed mannerism he has adopted and it irks you how powerful this being is.

From the trails of his shadow, Fushiguro summons a large bird behind him, the wisps of black still hanging in the air.

Everything happens so fast that you're not sure how to even react or move. You trail Fushiguro, watching the bird move on the right side while he sprints on the left.

"I'm finally outside, after all," Sukuna runs his fingers through his hair with a maniacal grin, "Let's use the open space."

While Fushiguro tries to attack him, you wait for the perfect opportunity, too terrified to properly act. To conjure your Cursed energy on a level that could afflict damage onto Sukuna, you would need to magnify every dark emotion rattling inside the carapace you live in.

"Interesting," You hear Sukuna muse, "You use shikigami but you also come at me yourself."

He hasn't even taken his hands out of his pockets yet, just immaculately dodging every one of Fushiguro's attacks. It's a fight that is too fast for you to comment on.

You don't even know what you should be doing, because there isn't even that opening you desperately needed.

"Put more curse into it," Sukuna's eyes flash dangerously, becoming the colour of red like blood falling out of a gutter. His grip around Fushiguro tightens and when he releases, all you see is dust billowing and droplets of crimson sinking across the air.

A thin unwavering line of blood trickles down the edge of his mouth; he looks strangely calm but you can imagine the terror wraught in his head.

But in the end, what unfolds is exactly what you thought would happen. It is a chain of destruction that you try helplessly to halt but the lack of hope trembling in your soul gives way to your eventual demise.

"Hey, what did I say?" Sukuna stands idly next to Fushiguro and then, in a turn of events, sends him flying into the air. "Let's use the open space!"

Your legs start moving before you even realise that Fushiguro is spinning across the air and crash-landing across two buildings. "Fu - Fushiguro!" You scream, hurrying after them.

All sense of rationality is crumpled up and thrown out the window; you don't think, just act. And in that moment, your jujutsu spins a web around you, evoking a millennia of ancient energy.

Like Sukuna and Fushiguro, you find your agility enhanced at the price of your sanity. Every step feels like trying to run across water but it's worth it, because, you have to find Fushiguro.

"L - Let go of him!"

Heads turn, and you stagger towards the scene. Fushiguro slumps against a cracked wall, battered. His Shikigami tries fruitfully to shield him.

Panting, you look around, and pick up a sharp rock. The outline is jagged and rough, a thin layer of dust gathering on your fingertips. It's just a rock, small enough to fit in your calloused palm.

Still, it's something.

Just like you expected, Sukuna dodges the rock with malicious ease but you just need to provide enough time for a distraction.

His eyes are as dark the sky on God's death, fleeting black irises embalmed by the mercy of a devil. They are a driving force towards destruction, jutting in their manner as they cut into the flesh of your soul.

"It's about time you bothered to fight," He says calmly, walking towards you. "I said I was going to save you for last but... I'm feeling confident today."

In the blink of an eye, he already has his hand around your neck, lifting you into the air. Your throat clamps up and it becomes harder to breathe, like you have tripped into the gallows and been hung by a noose.

Kicking, you try to speak, to say anything, but Sukuna is laughing and such laughter grounds your courage into the dirt.

"[Last Name], huh?" There's an unsettling gleam in his eyes. "I can tell by that naive look on your face that these idiots haven't told you everything."

"Shut...up," You choke out some words.

His nail digs harder into the thin skin and you squirm in pain when he draws blood, "No, I think I'll keep talking."

With his other hand, Sukuna presses his palm against your temple, inciting a painful headache at the trauma of your skull. "Your ancestors used to worship me," He tilts his head, "You know, your lineage is quite special. I see they still continue old practices."

A panicked expression forms on your pale face, What the hell is he talking about?!

He continues, even as you struggle in his iron grip, "Your jujutsu is not bad. It could certainly be better. I thought your memories would be fine by now but actually, it's much better if they are locked. At least you can't blab to anyone before you die."

I don't even know what you're talking about! Fuck... I should have brought Itadori's heart.

"Fight me," You blurt.

Your words catch him off guard. A grin makes his lips curve upwards, "It would be too easy, brat. I'll have to give you some of my blood to make it even."

He looks around, casting his gaze on Fushiguro who was pitifully injured, "Doesn't look like help is coming any time soon."

Sukuna's grip loosens and you fall to the ground when he releases, shaky breaths leaving your sore lungs. He kicks you to the side and you look up, blinking at the blurry vision.

"I used to let your family carry my blood," He spat with disdain, "And look at them now, morons that got over their head and stabbed my back."

He pulls you up, "I will kill you but I can't decide if I want to do it slowly."

The terror of his words leave you reeling in fear, trapping your tongue and rendering you speechless. Still, you try to do something, to prove your worth so that it was never going to be in vain.

"Take this!" You yell, sending a punch his way and already moving to start a fight.

Naturally, Sukuna's power is on another level, but...

Somehow, you are not nearly as weak as he had made you out to be. You are not a lamb readied for slaughter, that was not the path your Mother had sought. You are a fighter, struggling to live in a world that shunned you.

You are [First Name] [Last Name] and it's in this moment that Principal Masamichi's question finally has some plausible answer. Do you know the weight of your name?

"Give him back!" Tears flood your eyes, "Give Itadori back!"

"Didn't know you cared for someone as dense him," Sukuna tuts, hurling another attack your way. "You know, if you are going to fight me, at least use your jujutsu. This is boring."

I would if I could actually control it, you scowl.

In the moment that you needed it the most, it had failed you. The emotions that power your Cursed Energy had withered from the complete and utter exhaustion.

It was like you were a twig on the sidewalk and Sukuna had just snapped you in with a brittle force. He throws you to the side as if kicking a pebble down a hill.

Fushiguro, who was watching your foolish and futile actions unfold, finally decides to release his Shikigami.

"Oh, I see," Sukuna muses, "So your shikigami are created from shadows."

Fushiguro lifts his head slightly, "So what?"

"Hmm," Sukuna rests his chin under his thumb, "I don't get it, though. Why did you run two back then?"

Was he referring to when Itadori called for you and Fushiguro to find Kugisaki and get away?

"What a waste of talent," He scoffs, watching Fushiguro slowly get to his feet. "You're wasting your time. The brat isn't even worth that much."

His words entice a train of thought in Fushiguro and you can see him sifting through his personal memories with sadness; such emotion evokes his Cursed Energy. You watch as a light blue aura appears around his outline, trying to study it so that maybe you can properly conjure it yourself.

"Nice," Sukuna's grimace sends a shiver down your spine, "So this is where you start burning through your life! Show me, Fushiguro Megumi!"

"Sacred treasure swing and ring, ring, Eight Grip..." It was almost as if he was saying a spell but then, towards the end, his aura disappears and fades into the thin air.

The only sound that comes afterwards is the sting of dew dripping down the ends of his sharp, black hair.

In that moment, you get to your feet as well, scurrying over as you listen to Fushiguro speak from his heart to Itadori.

Itadori.

You have so many words you want to say to him but if you tried to hurl them all at once it would just kill you in the process. In the little time you have known him, he had grown on you as if a new-found friend.

"Y - Yuuji," You whisper and such a quiet voice leaves your injured mouth. "You always felt so far away but I don't want to lose you now. I wanted to follow you on this journey ever since high school. I - I want you to know that you really did help people..."

Fushiguro holds your hand tightly, a small warmth that is kindled over time, "The only thing granted equally to all is an unfair reality. I'm not a hero. I'm just a jujutsu sorcerer. So, I've never once regretted saving you. We'll save you over and over again."

He lowers his hands, lacking the tepid, burning gaze he normally pertained. Instead, what replaces the ivory of his face is a sad smile which is coupled with yours.

The black marks on Sukuna's body fade, disappearing deep into the skin. Your knees buckle just watching, because... because...

In a split second, Itadori returns to you.

"I see," He rubs the back of his head casually, "You two are really smart. You put more thought into this than I have."

Seeing him again leaves you breathless, especially since mere hours ago he was spilling blood out of an amputated wrist.

As he says this, blood starts falling from the hole in his chest. You press your hand against it gently, feeling overwhelming agony and pain. The warmth of his lifeline slowly slipping away in your grip was steady and upsetting.

Itadori looks down calmly, "Oh, sorry. Guess I won't have to worry about you guys or Kugisaki and Gojo-sensei."

"No..." You gasp, stomach lurching at the realisation dawning on you. "Itadori, no! Please... no... n - no..."

Your hands tremble when you hold his, watching him fall to the ground.

"Live a long life," He murmurs quietly, breath strained in his last words.

When his body falls, Fushiguro has to pry you off him; the two of you lift your heads to great the battling rain. The water is vicious as it attacks the two of you, a relentless outpour of the heavens' fury. You like to think it is the tears of the angels tucked away behind blankets of grey, moved by what had just happened.

Itadori Yuuji is dead. You know what to do now.