Chapter Text
Somehow, despite his monster build and freakish stamina, Itadori has ended up in the infirmary unconscious. Flat knocked out. There’s a huge welt somewhere on that thick skull of his and minor cuts litter his body. He might even have a concussion. Overall, it’s a very bothersome day for Ieiri Shoko, who’d hoped for a few hours of downtime. Suddenly, the first-years are called in on a mission to exorcise a flurry of third and second-grade curses somewhere in Shinjuku, and she just knew Fushiguro would come in, head bloody with his teammates either crying for his death or teasing him. To be honest, it’s kind of mean, but it’s not like she never did the same to Gojo when they were students, so she doesn’t care. To her shock, however, he remained fairly unscathed, instead lugging Itadori with the help of Kugisaki over to her, almost falling over in the process.
So, she’s here now.
She groans; honestly, what a pain. Just one bottle of alcohol, just one day off. Fuck all these higher-ups for sending kids on missions that she has to clean up. Ugh.
Shoko presses her palms into her eyes before sitting by Itadori’s bedside, ready to annihilate his head with her reverse cursed technique. She does so and right when she finishes Itadori makes an undignified snort before settling into soft snores. Fucking hell, she thinks. I could ask those two to drag him back to his room, but I’m not so mean… What a bothersome day.
She sits down at her desk, clicking absently on her computer. She doesn’t have much to do, but as long as Itadori is here, she should keep an eye on him. She’s taken pity on Fushiguro and Kugisaki who are probably already tired enough as it is, and she has no intention of throwing him out herself. Besides, he sleeps like a log. She couldn’t wake him up if she tried.
“I wonder if he’d notice if I dissected him,” she thinks out loud.
“The brat probably wouldn’t even twitch, the dumbass.”
Shoko’s chair wheels around so fast she gets whiplash, staring wide-eyed at the grinning mouth that’s manifested on Itadori’s cheek. Should she call someone? Sukuna’s smile stretches wider, amused at what he assumes is her fear. “What is it, woman? Scared I might bite?”
Damn. He’s a bitch.
“Why should I be?”
They stare at each other for a few minutes. Sukuna’s eye narrows as Shoko sits there, unmoving, just looking at him. He blinks. Lol.
He looks around the room, then, which is honestly such a boring, normal action that she’s a little in awe. “You work with corpses, hm?” he asks, actually indulging her in a conversation. She knows it’ll probably end in a tirade about genocide and carnage but she’s just lost her right to an off-day, so…
“Yeah,” she replies. “I make good use of them.” And does she see his eye twinkle? “Good use, huh? I make good use out of them, too. Have you ever had stringy flesh between your teeth and blood on your tongue, heard your victim scream and sob so pathetically?” He licks his teeth and she can see clearly the marks on his tongue. “Women are the best tasting of all.”
“Yeah, they are.”
They stare at each other for a few minutes. Shoko sits there, unmoving, as it seems she’s shocked him into silence. It’s remarkable, then, how his bloodthirsty expression morphs so much from enthusiasm that he might be Itadori’s twin. She smiles, amused, but the curse must’ve taken it to be her confirmation. “You’ve eaten people, too?” he asks in wonder. This could be a lot of fun. “A bunch,” she says flippantly, waving her hand. “There’s only one, now, but here and there in my school days. I knew my preferences since I was a kid, though, so I didn’t experiment much.”
Sukuna laughs and it’s kind of cute, in a demonic-child-from-the-depths-of-hell kind of way. He must’ve had no friends when he was human. She doesn’t feel bad for him. “I see! It takes guts to admit that kind of desire from an early age! Clearly this age hasn’t softened as much as I thought! And did they cower in front of you?”
“Not really. Some people even asked me if I wanted to, but there's only really one person now.” This is hilarious. Who knew the King of Curses could hold a conversation? When she glances at him, he genuinely looks interested. Maybe she should tell Gojo not to let Itadori near any meat delis for a while. “And this one you have now, you must heal her every time you feast upon her. Playing with people. The screams are always the best part.”
“Yeah, they are. Sometimes, they’re so loud I think the world could hear, but I don’t really mind. It’s not like there’re any people around to see. I’m not shameless and she’s gotta have some fun, too, you know?”
“I never thought the jujutsu world would keep someone like you alive, much less working for the Gojo brat.”
“I don’t work for him, and it’s fine. We joke about it, all in good fun. I make it pleasurable for both me and her, anyway.”
The look on Sukuna’s face is priceless. It looks like he’s just hit a joint for the first time and seen the light. He says, "Here's a word of advice: the head is always the best."
"Definitely. I start there and work my way down. If you ask me, I think thighs are my favorite. Easy to bite, easy night, you know?” At Sukuna’s silence, she continues, wondering how far she can take it. “When I was still in school, I was just starting to use my scalpel for dissection. All consensual, of course, and when she returned the favor… the screams were pretty great,” Shoko chuckles, shaking her head. “When I bit a tongue for the first time, I didn’t want it to end. It was like an explosion in my mouth, she liked it so much, so I kept doing it. And you know the teeth, right? If you put a little salt on them, they taste just like popcorn!” She’s laughing now, holy shit. “And- and you know,” she begins, barely catching her breath, “you know the taste of a body’s insides, no? Bittersweet, just how I like my coffee!” Shoko’s cackles echo throughout the room. She hasn’t laughed like this in a while. Damn, she hopes this conversation hasn’t awakened anything in her, even though she was mostly lying. She looks at Sukuna who seems to stare at her contemplatively before smirking and receding back into Itadori’s skin. What a bitch. She rolls her eyes, calming down from her weird moment of… whatever that was, before checking her buzzing phone.
Gojo: tf was that??? did you finally lose ur shit??
Gojo: LMAO I GOT IT ON VIDEO U SHOULD HEAR THIS
Gojo: 20181001-Voice_019.m4a
Gojo: IT’S LIKE IF TWO HYENAS WERE FUCKING AND ONE STARTED PISSING ON THE OTHER
Shoko: why do you know what that sounds like
Shoko: also stfu
Shoko: remember who has rights to your corpse when youre dead ill cut off your dick
Shoko: i can do that rn actually
A few days later, Shoko gets her much needed day off, courtesy of Gojo who got his students’ missions cleared, fearing for his nether regions. She sits on one of the benches outside, sipping her coffee. Maybe she’ll have a date with Utahime later, do some shopping, go to a park. It's been a while since she's seen her partner, and she misses her a lot. A nice date, then. Maybe a play? Or a soccer game? She'll pour all her love into it. As she drinks, she thinks back to that day with Sukuna. Right after she put down her phone and decided to actually do some work, Kugisaki came barrelling through the doors, screaming bloody murder. The doors clanged against the wall violently, one of them almost coming off their hinges. Apparently, Inumaki had used his cursed speech on her, telling her to “shit violently.” Obviously, that didn’t go well. She hasn’t seen him since then, actually. She wonders where he’s gone.
As if they were summoned, the first-years start to walk down the hallway, Fushiguro in the middle and Itadori and Kugisaki on either of his sides, chatting animatedly. They walk by, Kugisaki waving at her. Fushiguro nods, Itadori greets her with a hearty, “Hello!” and they’re about to continue on their way until a deeper, older voice says, “Hello, Ieiri-san.” They all freeze, halt, stop in their tracks, if you will, staring at the fading mouth on Itadori’s cheek. “What the fuck…” the boy mutters before apologising profusely at the strange show of respect. What a sweet kid. Shoko waves him off, observing the kids’ confusion with amusement.
Gojo: yuuji says sukuna’s in love with you lmao how does that feel
Shoko: i have my scalpel and a bunch of other knives with me right now, omw to ur place