Chapter Text
What do you want from my world?
The room was quiet as the setting sun began to cast shadows from across the opened window all the way to the floor from where Sukuna now stood, completely frozen in confusion.
He takes in his surroundings with a deep inhale as he felt his lips stretch into a manic smile. He hasn't seen the outside world for more than a thousand years, having been asleep since the dawn of the jujutsu world.
So he gives himself a moment to bask in the warmth of the afternoon sun, enjoying the feeling of sunlight on his skin.
He begins to step forward and immediately felt something restraining his leg. He pauses, immediately looking down to find a series of moving shadows that have formed a make shift chain around one of his ankles, rendering him immobile.
But what surprised the great king of curses was not the strong shackles that have managed to confine him, but rather, the bright pair of emerald eyes that were staring right at him—unblinking and without fear.
Sukuna raises an brow in question as he eyed the small boy's youthful face and small stature with barely concealed interest.
"What do you want, kid?"
"You're not a shikigami." The child said matter-of-factly, the frown on his lips does little to intimidate Sukuna, not when he could still hear the obvious lisp in the kid's sentence.
"No," Sukuna affirms with a nod, enjoying the sudden curiosity in the boy's gaze as he eyed Sukuna up and down. "I'm something far more dangerous."
Hearing Sukuna's confirmation, the small boy gives him a resigned sigh.
Sukuna found the kid's lack of apprehension towards him fascinating.
"Then why are you here?" the kid asked, glaring at Sukuna like his very presence was an inconvenience for him. Sukuna barks out a laugh at the sheer audacity of such an action.
"You tell me," Sukuna smirks, staring at him with four crimson eyes. “Why am I here, little bunny?”
The nickname seemed to annoy the small boy if the glare he gave Sukuna was any indication.
"I got hungry." The kid mumbled, suddenly avoiding Sukuna's gaze, as if admitting such a basic human need to him was something he found humiliating. "And I couldn't reach the cabinet with the cookie jar on my own."
Following the child's gaze, Sukuna spots the cabinet, noting the way one of the kitchen chair was placed tilted to the wall in a poor attempt to reach the content inside the cupboard. Turning his head back to the kid, who's face was now beet red from the embarrassment at being caught right handed, Sukuna found himself laughing once again.
"Tell you what kid, I'll help you out." Sukuna started to say with an easy smile, pointing his thumb to the cabinet. "But you have to do something for me in return."
The kid quickly schooled his features back to its usual scowl, but he looked at Sukuna with hopeful eyes.
Innocent eyes, Sukuna corrected himself. This boy clearly has no idea what he's signing up to.
"What do you want me to do?" he asks, the scowl on his face only deepened as he regarded Sukuna with another glare, which only made the curse's smile grow even wider. He splits his lips and shows the kid his pointed teeth, but the sight doesn't even make him flinch.
"Tell me your name." Sukuna commands.
"It's Fushiguro Megumi." the kid answered.
"Fushiguro Megumi." Sukuna repeated, enjoying the way each syllable sounded in his ears.
"Is that all?" Megumi sounded suspicious, his eyebrows were raised in question as he watched Sukuna with a guarded expression.
Smart kid.
"Tell me, what where you trying to do before summoning me?"
"I told you, I was hungry and I—"
"Not that," Sukuna interrupts him with a raised hand, "what did you do in order to summon me?"
Megumi pauses, his eyebrows furrowing in deep concentration, before he answers with a short "I have no idea."
It surprised Sukuna when the anger from such an unhelpful answer never came, rather, he only felt amusement as he watched Megumi avoid his gaze in sheer embarrassment once again.
"Are you going to help me out or not?" The question comes out of Megumi's mouth as a mumble, almost like he was already expecting Sukuna to leave him alone.
Sukuna hums, regarding the chain of shadows that are still securely placed on his ankle with curiosity.
"If you can remove this," Sukuna points to the shackles, "I'll take care of your little problem."
"What are you going to do once I remove the chain?" Megumi asked, eyeing him far too cautiously for a kid so young.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" Sukuna’s smirking when his gaze shifts back to Megumi.
"No." Megumi answered after a moment, "I won't do it."
“Is that so?” Sukuna drawls, finally letting his cursed energy seep through the room, surrounding the entire floor in a warm crimson liquid as he easily broke himself free from the chain with a swift flick of his wrist.
Megumi stood his ground, unshrinking even when Sukuna's sharp gaze landed on his much smaller form once again.
How interesting.
Sukuna doesn't wait for him to answer.
"I'll be seeing you again, Fushiguro Megumi." Sukuna waved his hand, and the shallow red liquid began to stir, swirling with an intensity that created a whirlpool right at the very center of the room. Sukuna makes his way over easily, only pausing once he's a mere inches away from entering his domain.
He points a clawed finger to the cabinet, splitting the wood completely in half, with the contents spilling to the ground harshly. The cookie jar lands safely on Megumi's unsuspecting arms, and before Megumi could begin to comprehend what Sukuna had just done, the curse was already gone.
The room was completely void of the red liquid that had flooded the floor moments ago and the curse's presence was no where to be found. It was as if Megumi had imagined everything that had transpired moments ago. The only thing that grounded Megumi to the reality of the situation was the familiar weight of the cookie jar and the mess of broken wood laying on the floor.
A reminder, as well as a warning, that whatever it was that he had managed to summon was far more threatening than anything Megumi had been able to face.
Not even his divine dogs could hold a candle to the amount of power and presence the unfamiliar curse exuded.
A chill ran down his spine.
Whoever that curse was—it was dangerous, and definitely not to be trusted.
Megumi wanted nothing to do with him.
Megumi Fushiguro was eight years old when he accidentally summoned the malevolent curse — Sukuna Ryomen — in an attempt to steal a few cookies before his parents got home from a quick grocery run, thus awakening him from his eternal slumber.
And it wouldn't be the last.