Archive of Our Own

i. Indigo skies just before the dawn

Some people used to say that the city is a slow riser, but Megumi’s pretty sure none of those people have ever been to Tokyo. The sound of car horns from the early morning traffic could already be heard even before the sun was up in the sky and Megumi stifled a groan at waking up hours before his alarm was set.

Slowly and after a few more prompting, Megumi opens his eyes and is greeted to the deepest shade of blue he’s ever seen in his life. 

It was still pretty early, Megumi notes, and for a moment he lets himself enjoy the quiet, peaceful and subdued moment where he isn’t expected to do anything but breathe and exist.

Turning his head to the other occupant on his bed, he’s surprised to see that the other side was already empty, it’s so rare for Sukuna to wake up earlier than him, after all.

The faint smell of cigarette smoke makes its way over to Megumi’s nose and he turns his head just in time to watch Sukuna take a slow easy drag from the stick in between his fingers.

The older man releases a breath and Megumi watches, transfixed, as the trail of smoke disappears within the quiet of the dawn. His eyes shift to Sukuna’s face, then, when the older man takes another drag, watching the way the soft amber light of the cigarette cascades an almost heavenly glow over Sukuna’s face. 

Sukuna almost looks otherworldly like this; a being untouched by time. It sounds far too poetic for Megumi to even consider saying out loud and yet he can’t seem to stop comparing Sukuna to the stories people used to write about a love between the sun and moon that was so strong that each and every day, the sun would die just to let his lover breathe.

Megumi’s thoughts were interrupted once he heard the veranda door opening. Sukuna was already heading back and when their eyes met, Megumi had to look away from the sheer intensity of his gaze.

“Good morning, love.” Sukuna greeted, with all the love and adoration the sun had to offer for his moon.

ii. the feel of fingertips trailing over a bare shoulder blade

Megumi felt the soft caress of Sukuna’s hands even before consciousness overtook him completely. He roused from his sleep, enjoying the warmth of Sukuna’s calloused fingertips as they slowly trailed over his bare shoulder. It was a nice contrast to the chill of the evening air.

The trail slows to a stop right at the very center of Megumi’s chest, with Sukuna’s palm right on top of Megumi’s heart. Sukuna’s face is unreadable and Megumi wants to ask him what’s going on, but Megumi doesn’t let the words slip past his lips, content to wait until Sukuna was ready to tell him without any prompting.

But seconds turned into minutes, and soon Megumi’s thoughts have been spiralling and he’s unable to stop himself from blurting out a soft, “What are you thinking about?”

The question seemed to have shaken Sukuna from his earlier reverie if the way his eyes slowly blinked back to reality was any indication. Slowly, his gaze shifted to meet Megumi’s eyes and then those same red eyes were looking at the palm still resting on top of Megumi’s chest.

“I’ve forgotten how fragile a human heart could truly be.” Sukuna finally answers. His voice sounded distant, almost as if he was talking to himself.

“It only takes a single incident, one slip for it to all come crashing down, and there will be nothing left afterwards.” Sukuna’s other hand was on Megumi’s face, tracing his lips with a gentle thumb. 

Red eyes were burning with something Megumi couldn’t quite name. It was an emotion Megumi has never seen on Sukuna before, he almost looks scared when their gaze metㅡ frightened, and so impossibly lonely .

“It takes more than one heartbreak to ruin a man, Sukuna.” Megumi found himself saying. He’s not quite sure where those words came from or why he felt the need to reassure the King of Curses of all beings about the resilience of the human heart. And yet the smile Sukuna gave Megumi was a sad, strained thing.

“And yet, the thought of losing you is enough to shake my very existence.” 

iii. trying to walk on ice

“Don’t tell me the King of Curses can’t do something as simple as walking on a frozen lake?” Megumi teased, enjoying the way Sukuna’s brow furrowed even more at the obvious taunt. He easily skates a few inches away from the jab Sukuna was trying to aim at his side, sticking his tongue out at the grumbling curse playfully from where he stood by the edge of the lake.

“You know I’ve killed humans for less, Fushiguro Megumi.” Sukuna threatened, but the expected effect of his words fell on deaf ears, especially when Sukuna looked so impossibly human in his hunched state, it was adorable. 

Megumi had to stifle a laugh at the thought. If only he had brought his camera with him to capture such a rare moment of humanity from the cursed being. He was sure to never let Sukuna live this moment down.

“Maybe if you asked me nicely, I could help you.” Megumi offered, a small smirk was gracing the corner of his lips when he saw the way Sukuna’s left eye twitched at the implication that someone of his status needed to ask a mortal for help.

Clicking his tongue, Sukuna turned his gaze from Megumi to look down at the frozen water with nothing short of murderous contempt.

“The King of Curse does not need to know how to ‘skate’ . I need only to inflict pain and torture to others.” Megumi heard him say, the idea that Sukuna was trying to cheer himself up over something as trivial as skating was probably the funniest thing Megumi has ever heard in his entire seventeen years of existence.

“Tell you what,” Megumi finally said, taking pity on Sukuna's frustrated state. “If you let me teach you how to skate for the rest of the afternoon without complaining or promising to inflict pain on anyone, I’ll get you a box of those sakura mochi you really like.” 

Sukuna quietly mauled the offer over before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as if he was the one doing Megumi a favor, the asshole.

“Very well, Megumi.” Sukuna answered with a drawl. “But I will be expecting a hot cup of tea to go along with it.”

iv. raindrops on eyelashes

It wasn’t raining.

But the blurriness in Megumi’s vision could only mean that it is, right?

He blinks away raindrops and proceeds to stare up into the clear blue sky. It wasn’t fair.

Sukuna hasn’t said a single thing this entire time and Megumi couldn’t bring himself to face the older man. It just wasn’t fucking fair. And Megumi is powerless to do anything but blink up and try to keep the raindrops from getting into Sukuna’s bloody chest.

“Fushiguro.” 

He doesn’t stir, doesn’t even look down to meet his gaze.

“Megumi.” Sukuna insists.

“What?”

“Don’t be so difficult,” Sukuna starts, coughing up blood in the process, the sound will forever haunt Megumi for as long as he lives. “I don’t have much time left.”

“You shouldn’t have pushed me out of the way.”   

He hears a laugh that sounds more like a pained groan.

“As if I’d let anything happen to you.” 

But you’re dying, Megumi wants to say. You’re going to die because of me . It was as painful as it was obvious. There was no healing a wound that deep and Sukuna had taken that hit for Megumi, even when it was because of Megumi’s stubbornness that they had ended up fighting that curse alone. 

Sukuna takes another shuddering breath and Megumi had to hold his hand to remind himself that Sukuna was still breathing, that he was still alive.

But not for long.

“Hey.” Sukuna calls, his voice impossibly small and it does nothing to calm Megumi’s racing heart. “Can you do something for me?”

He’d do anything for the dying man, Megumi was sure.

Too choked up to answer, Megumi nods his head in agreement. He sees Sukuna smile despite everything and even that was enough to break Megumi’s heart all over again.

“Can you hold me?”

The request lacked its usual demanding tone, if anything, it sounded too much like a plea and Megumi fought to keep his composure from breaking at such a request. Shaking, Megumi carefully extends his arms to wrap it around Sukuna’s bleeding waist. The warm blood immediately began to seep through his own clothes, but the only thing Megumi could focus on was the way Sukuna’s skin felt so impossibly cold on his own.

“You know I don’t regret it, right?” Sukuna was saying words Megumi didn’t want to hear, because Sukuna shouldn’t have to sacrifice his life to save Megumi’s. 

“But you’re dying.” His voice sounded strained even to his own ears and he knows that he’s holding back a sob at this point. He wants to be mad, he wants to be angry. At the world for being so incredibly unfair. At the curse for being there. At Sukuna for taking the hit aimed at Megumi - for dying right in Megumi’s arms.

“Love never dies.”

v. a quiet sigh as they turn away

He couldn't do this anymore.

He's had enough. He's tired. He wants to forget everything. 

Because it hurts. It always hurts, Megumi thought dejectedly/

It always hurts when Sukuna makes everything so easy.

Nothing about this was supposed to be easy.

The kisses.

The touches.

The warmth in those blood red eyes whenever they looked at him.

It was all too much.

Falling in love wasn't part of their deal, but even Megumi knew he was already in it too deep to get away - to leave.

He was downing, drowning in the depths of Sukuna's love like a man thrown overboard in a raging storm at sea.

And he can't fucking breathe.

It's awful. It hurts. It's all too much. Everything about Sukuna's too much.

But here he was again, cradled between Sukuna's arms like it was the world's warmest blanket.

"What are you thinking about?" Sukuna asked, the amusement in his tone barely hid the worry reflecting in his eyes.

"Nothing." Megumi answered with a quiet sigh, turning his face away to avoid the calculative look Sukuna was giving him.

He knows something's wrong, he always does.

vi. the moment reality starts to make sense again

Darkness. That was the first thing he noticed.

It was dark and it was cold and for once in his life, he felt the pinpricks of a feeling that's slowly stirring deep within his guts, a feeling so foreign he had forgotten what it was called.

Someone was calling his name, then. It was soft and garbled like he was underwater and for a moment, Sukuna contemplated the possibility. 

He could barely remember a time before his slumber was stirred. It had been too long. Was it years? Centuries? A millennium ago? How long had he been unconscious?

"... Sukuna."

The voice called once again, desperate as if the person was one crack away from breaking entirely.

He tries to move, ears straining for the source of the voice. He searches the darkness but nothing moved, not even the slightest hint of a shadow.

"... please."

The plea was only spoken once and then the voice stopped calling all together. 

It rattled Sukuna once he realized what the feeling was called.

Fear and loneliness did no good to any king.

It takes him seconds, minutes, hours, days, to finally realize what was going on.

He had died.

Or that was what every other sorcerer in this godforsaken earth believes.

He had died in his lover's arms.

Because he fell in love.

Because he was too weak.

Because he was powerful.

Because he was dangerous.

Because the two of them were unstoppable together.

It's all he knows.

 vii. someone accepting the bad parts of you without judging 

"I'm no good, Sukuna. I've done awful things."

"Show me all the worst things you did and watch me hold them all up to the light and not even flinch." The older man insisted, red eyes blazing with something so fierce and sure. "Tell me every single terrible thing you've ever done and watch me love you anyway." He said with so much conviction that Megumi had to look away.

That confession was too much. Sukuna was too much. Everything about him is too much: his stare, his sincerity, his love.

"Why would you go to that extent?" the question sounded so broken and desperate even to his own ears.

The "for me" part was left unsaid.

But Sukuna levels him with a look, something Megumi still isn't used to seeing on such a brutal faceㅡbecause someone like Sukuna wasn't made for tenderness. Nothing about him was gentle.

And yet.

And yet, he looks at Megumi like he wants to try; like he's willing to get his hands all over Megumi to try to put every broken piece of him back together, uncaring if his own hands bleed in the process.

"Aren't you enough of a reason?" Sukuna answers with a sad smile, it hurt to look at for long.

Megumi wants to believe him, he really does.

So he tries, he forces himself to meet Sukuna's gaze and he lets Sukuna's words and his smile sink within the depths of his veins.

viii. exhausted numbness after crying

Uraume has never seen their master like this.

It was as surprising as it was unnerving.

He looks tired. Exhausted. Unbearably human.

No god could ever look like what their master was looking right now, like their entire world has ended right before his very eyes. 

"Grief is the price we pay for love." Their master ends up saying after hours of standing quietly in the middle of an empty field. 

Uraume doesn't say anything. Their master wasn't talking to them, after all.  

They wait for him patiently, to continue, to explain what he meant by those words. But their master doesn't say anything after that. He only continued to stand perfectly still as he watched the sky change colors. 

Time passes by and Uraume does not say anything.

They do not talk about the lovely boy with green eyes nor do they ask about him.

They do not ask their master about the blood staining his hands and kimono, or the obvious trail of tears marking his beautiful face, or the way his shoulders would shake every few moments. 

Uraume does not say anything.

Because it only takes a moment, a single second to pass by, for their master's expression to change. The shift from the look of pure loss to anger was as sudden as the flames that began to engulf the entire filed. The fire was just as beautiful and destructive as their master.

Their master was screaming, then.

A sound that was wracked with so much pain. pain. pain. But also anger, so much anger.

Their master's wrath was always enough to overpower his grief, after all.

ix. the tender ache when you press against bruises 

The fight had only lasted for a few minutes but Megumi knows he'll be feeling every cut and bruise the whole week.

It was painful. 

It was pathetic.

Slowly, he starts to make his way back home.

It wouldn't do him any good if Tsumiki saw him like this. It never does. His stupidly kind sister would take one look at him and immediately start crying. Megumi never really knew how to deal with crying people and Tsumiki was just too kind for her own good.

Megumi knew he didn't deserve her tears or her kindness. He'd have to get back home earlier than her if he ever wants to clean all his wounds in time.

So with his mind made up, he takes the shortcut by the alleyway near the repair shop, hopeful that he doesn't bump into anyone he knows.

"Fushiguro Megumi." Sukuna drawls by the alleyway, blocking the narrow path from Megumi with a single step.

Megumi curses under his breath.

"Move."

Sukuna barks out a laugh. 

"Not until you tell me who did that to you."

"No."

"No?" Sukuna repeats, amused. But Megumi could see the way his eyes clouded over, his patience was running out and Megumi doesn't want to stick around to see the extent of Sukuna's patience.

"This has nothing to do with you." Megumi tries to shoulder past the older boy, but Sukuna is a solid block of muscles and when his arms reached out to grab onto Megumi's arms, Megumi found himself unable to move from the older boy's grip.

"I want names, Fushiguro." Sukuna doesn't sound amused anymore. The red of his eyes looked angry, the thunderstorm in the making. 

"And I told you," Megumi spat. "This has nothing to do with you."

He hears Sukuna laugh again, but his laugh sounded anything but happy.

"You got hurt." Sukuna noted, pressing a thumb on a cut near Megumi's lips. The touch was soft, gentle. The tenderness of such an action, especially from someone like Sukuna, was enough to stun Megumi for a moment. "Of course this has everything to do with me."

"So don't make me repeat myself," Sukuna started to stay, clicking his tongue in annoyance when he began to realize the extent of Megumi's injuries. "I want the names of all the trash who dared to touch you." 

"Why, so you could beat them up yourself?"

He sees Sukuna smile at that, it was dangerous thing, and Megumi knows for a fact that the older boy would kill his assailants if given the chance.

"They touched you." Sukuna answered with an easy shrug. "I can't have them thinking they can get away with doing shit like that to you."

"Why?"

Sukuna snorts, clearly unimpressed with Megumi's question. But his eyes soften for a moment, fondness seeping into his touch, and Megumi instinctively leans into the hand cradling his cheek.

"Because you're mine." Sukuna says after a moment. "And I always take good care of what's mine."

x. being so close that you can feel your lips brush when you whisper