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Sukuna was not his alpha.
Sukuna was an alpha. Singular. In all aspects of the term. The stereotype personified.
Arrogant. Aggressive. Abrasive. Now that Yuji took longer than a moment to think about it, most descriptors that began with the letter ‘A’ would do. Attentive was conditional. As was affectionate, which was an outlier Yuji had never thought to have expected of the curse, but who was he to deny anyone the right to be complicated? Even if that made things annoying.
Look at that, another ‘A’ word.
It did not help that in sharing a body, alpha curse and omega vessel shared the same space. The same experience through Yuji’s senses if Sukuna chose to pay him any mind. Their souls were overlapping, and the marks underneath Yuji’s eyes were symbolic enough of his status as the curse’s vessel. They were not, however, an equivalent to a mating bite. Sukuna had argued that it meant something more, that they were beyond such things so they were unneeded, but the fact remained that Sukuna hadn't left a mark where it mattered.
He hasn’t been permitted to.
Sukuna was not Yuji’s alpha.
The distinction, however, would not stop Sukuna from acting like it.
Whenever Yuji went out in public, Sukuna would drench his clothes in his scent. While not inherently terrible as Yuji could not find himself at odds with the catch-all smell of burning incense now sporting a sandalwood undertone, he knew what the curse was doing every time it grew more potent. No longer a comfort to his nose like one would wear perfume, Sukuna was broadcasting it to the whole vicinity, threatening anyone unfamiliar who thought about approaching him.
Yuji was taken, apparently.
That was news to him. News that he had the honor of knowing while ordering food during one of their city trips, walking away from the counter with a large fries and a comment about how ‘he should be grateful his alpha was so protective of him.’
Protective was not the word Yuji would have used. And when he confronted Sukuna about it, the curse only scoffed.
“You should be.”
Uh huh.
And this was by no means the end of it.
Sukuna did not— would not —tolerate anyone else making contact with Yuji. No matter what the occasion, whether it be casual gestures of friendship or getting hit during a sparring session, Sukuna would manifest on Yuji’s cheek or neck to growl at the offending party.
With other alphas, it was worse.
It took both of Yuji’s hands to count how many times Sukuna had attempted to bite Gojo-sensei whenever the man wrapped an arm around Yuji’s shoulder or grabbed Yuji’s hand to drag him around to whatever their next activity was. The trend was established after the Gojo-sensei got snapped at a second time, and Yuji swore it had become a game between the two to see how long his sensei could go without losing a finger. As Yuji thought about it more, he lamented that he would need an additional set of hands like Sukuna to include moments of contact with Fushiguro and Todo to the list of attacks.
Naturally, there would be no apology from the curse. Yuji would supplement one in his place, but that only seemed to irritate Sukuna more.
For someone who appreciated physical contact and the affection it brought, Yuji could only deal with this behavior for so long before demanding Sukuna explain himself. Once again, very few words were exchanged on the subject, starting with “They shouldn’t be touching what isn’t theirs.” and ending with “If you’re so desperate for another’s touch, let your alpha provide it.”
The nerve.
Yuji had only himself to blame for this.
He was the one who allowed Sukuna into his nest in a moment of desperation. He was the one who had held him so tight and shunned away another alpha, his friend, in the curse’s presence. Of course Sukuna wouldn’t pretend none of it ever happened, and against Yuji’s own wishes, The curse’s ego grew impossibly larger around the whole affair.
Frustratingly, when taking a step back and looking at where his own life was, Yuji’s own logic did not see the alpha’s interest as an inherently bad thing. With Sukuna around, regardless of the curse’s disposition, it was unlikely for him to find anyone else to nest with comfortably, let alone spend the entirety of his future heats with. Not without an intruding third wheel who could tune in without warning. He wasn’t completely blind to the other alpha’s he lived with showing some interest in helping him out, but once the line during his heat was crossed—It made things complicated. Stressful. Yuji liked where he stood with everyone else, the risk of changing the dynamics of his growing support system was too much to humor.
At least if there was a fallout between him and Sukuna, he could just go back to his plan of mutually assured destruction while the curse returned to refusing to be helpful in any regard.
Not that Yuji wanted that to happen.
The opposite, really.
He enjoyed being held and under the care of someone else. So rarely did he experience it before, that it had become almost addicting. The possessive display Sukuna would bring out only made Yuji’s pining worse, he felt he mattered. That he was worth something more beyond his status as a vessel. A tool. Not that his friends saw him as one, but that was the role he played.
Oh, how his intrusive thoughts ran with it.
Yuji stood barefoot in his room, hands on his hips, surveying the nest he’d built with the utmost scrutiny. A headcount of pillows was in order. Then followed by tearing off the blankets to then be laid out for the third time so that the angle each fell at would be perfect. Lastly, Yuji would rearrange the items he’d received from his dorm mates. A t-shirt, scarf, sweater —Gojo had left one of his blindfolds behind after a recent room inspection, which Yuji had only realized until yesterday that it had been done on purpose. With how pissed off Sukuna had gotten over his sensei leaving trash in Yuji’s dorm, the answer was absolutely.
Each item had been given its own spot, ensuring his nest had a variety of soothing scents to choose from if he needed them. Omegas in heat were supposed to be surrounded by the scents of their pack. The school was the closest equivalent Yuji had, and they wanted to make that known to him.
Subtle acts like these also kept his doubts of self-worth subdued. Maybe it was the positive burst in Yuji’s mood that came from them that kept Sukuna from tearing his ear off at the sight of his nest being invaded by other scents. Or maybe, it was the promise Yuji had made to allow the curse to be with him during his next heat that had placated his outbursts.
Yuji leaned toward the second explanation, exhaling a heavy sigh as he crawled on his knees to methodically fluff his pillows… with a bit too much force. Not enough to pull them in two, but he could certainly hear a couple of the seams tearing under his grip.
Why couldn’t at least one aspect of his life be normal? Was it too much to ask for a proper courtship? When was it ok to skip the boyfriend part? If Sukuna was so interested, couldn’t he have just told him directly and asked? Or was that too hard for him?
Yuji did not have a mating bite or even a proper discussion with the curse on what they were—Sukuna was not his alpha. Just an alpha who decided Yuji was his omega. There’s a difference! It was bad enough that others were treating the two like they were a proper pair, even if there were less serious jokes about them made by his friends versus the strangers who just assumed.
All the curse had to do was ask for Yuji’s input. And unfortunately, Yuji’s bets were on receiving nothing of the sort, which meant until then, he’d stick firmly to digging his heels in on reciprocating whatever Sukuna had going on until they spoke about it properly.
A conversation that could happen any time, but certainly not right now.
He was too tired, and his heat was approaching. Instinct kept a better track of his schedule than he did. He’d wake up tomorrow to the beginnings of it, flushed and panting with no desire to move for the better part of the day with only Sukuna around for company.
That curse was the one who should be grateful.
Yuji flopped onto his side, lacking the energy to get back up and reorient himself to where he’d picture his going when building the nest in the first place. Sprawled across sideways on what should have been a bed for two, he let out a yawn, opting to peel back the corner of the first blanket on the stack he laid across to cover himself.
A blanket burrito sounded great right about now…
Another yawn escaped Yuji as he settled in, wiggling himself into the perfect spot before almost drifting off entirely. A piece of him had lingered awake just enough to notice the atmosphere shift. The pressure increased, only to stabilize back to what he considered normal, causing a bit of a headache to form just above his eyebrows
The smell of ash wafted under Yuji’s nose before the familiar scent of a certain alpha flooded the room, prompting him to open his eyes and confirm that he was no longer in his dorm. Upon lifting his head, Yuji discovered the source of the ashy smell, originating not from the alpha lounging at the edge of his nest but from the kiseru Sukuna was smoking from. The sound of Yuji shuffling around to sit himself up had caught Sukuna’s attention, prompting the curse to cock his head back with a smug grin, pleased with himself for having dragged both Yuji and his nest to his domain… Only, this wasn’t Yuji’s nest.
A few glances on either side of him revealed that much. The layout of the nest was nearly identical, but the pillow and blankets used to construct it were of different colors to match the interior of Sukuna’s shrine. Mostly blacks, reds, and blues, with white being reserved for the blankets Yuji both sat on and still had draped around his waist.
The clothes he’d been given by his friends were gone, replaced with copied pieces of Sukuna’s preferred outfit which he manifested himself with. Their scents were missing too.
Yuji narrowed his eyes. He felt his cheeks begin to burn, and it wasn’t due to his heat.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in, brat?” Sukuna sneered, clearly pleased with himself and expecting some kind of praise. The curse took one last puff of his pip before dismissing its presence with a wave of his hand. He was about to roll over to crawl inside, but Yuji wasn’t going to give him the chance.
“How can I invite you into my nest if it isn’t here?”
“Hm?” Sukuna stopped in place, taken back by Yuji’s objection. “What do you mean? Your nest is right—”
“This isn’t my nest.” A growl came out of Yuji’s throat. His lips curled just enough to display his fangs, a sign of aggression the alpha would not take lightly. Yuji knew that but could not find it in him to care. “ You took me from my nest!”
“How is there a difference? This is an exact replica of your nest outside!” Sukuna spread his arms out wide, gesturing to the whole setup he created. “You ungrateful —You have no idea how long this took to get right! I spent too many hours watching you make yours to get the details just right, so this wouldn’t be an issue!”
“Ungrateful!?” Yuji clamored to his feet, curled fists shaking at his sides as Sukuna did the same. Their voices raised higher alongside them. The air grew mangled with Yuji’s sour scent flaring up so suddenly. “I didn’t ask you to do this! I never gave you permission to pluck me from my nest like this! You can be summoned outside with that stupid hand gesture so why bother with all this!?”
“Am I not allowed to spend time with my omega in a private place away from any unbearable sorcerer who happens to stumble through the door you still refuse to lock—”
“—I’m not your omega.” Yuji cut the curse off, absolutely livid. The headache did Sukuna no favors. “I’m an omega. We both know that, but I’m not yours. I want to wake up in my room— in my nest!”
“Brat.”
In the blink of an eye, Yuji was lying on his side, back in his dorm. The change in position was dizzying at first, but he chalked most of his nausea from the anger he’d built up. He hated how tight his nerves felt, how worn the muscles on his face were.
Yuji pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them tight. Nose tucked behind them, the omega pinched the blanket underneath him before rocking over to his other side, burying himself further in the nest he’d made.
This wasn’t the night he’d envisioned.
“There,” Yuji flinched at Sukuna’s voice resonating between his ears. Perturbed, but not full of the same malice as before. “You’re back in your nest.”
“Good.”
All Yuji wanted to do now was clasp a pillow over his ears and shut his eyes.
“Br— Yuji.”
Unfortunately, Sukuna would not be leaving him alone, even after the outburst. At least the curse was using his name, but Yuji was not in the mood to commend him on that.
“Go away.”
“You made a promise, didn’t you? I thought you were a man of your word?” It did not sound as if Sukuna was taunting him. A poor excuse to let him out in spite of Yuji’s anger. The omega would have denied Sukuna more, but there was enough of him to go along with it. He would not, however, give the alpha a free pass inside his nest so easily if that was all the curse was after.
Yuji brought his hands together, forming the complicated hand sign Sukuna had done to project himself into his room before. Still bound by the same rules, the curse was summoned outside his nest and promptly ignored beyond that.
Sukuna doesn’t bother asking to get closer, nor does he force himself into Yuji’s space. The shuffling of fabric had Yuji believing the curse rearranged himself to sit more comfortably, and he could feel Sukuna’s eyes staring at him from over his shoulder.
“Explain.”
“Explain what?”
“What this outburst is really about.”
Yuji held his tongue between his teeth, both unwilling to engage with the conversation further, yet aware if he remained as upset as he was, the opportunity to air his grievances would pass on by. Yet, when it came time to answer, the words were hard to construct. Too many little things had piled up, requiring Yuji to think it all over to decide where the center of it all lay.
Thankfully, the alpha was expressing a rare moment of patience.
“Respecting my boundaries.”
“Oh? Is that not what I’m doing now?” Sukuna’s answer wasn’t… inaccurate, but it wasn’t what Yuji had meant.
“No, it’s more like—” Yuji shook his head. “You were shit to me. We’re out to get each other killed and yet, after my last heat you turned everything around and dialed whatever this is to eleven. No, you’re claiming me as yours without even… It was one time, and you didn’t even ask how I felt about whatever epiphany you came to.”
But… did Yuji really expect him to? Sukuna was the King of Curses. Even if they were to find common ground tonight, both the curse’s history and what he planned for the future, despite still being vague threats of wide-scale violence, only proved Sukuna wasn’t a good person. Yet…
“After my last heat… I thought you might be different, but you really are an asshole, aren’t you?”
A moment of quiet passed. It was Sukuna’s turn to think.
“I never claimed otherwise.” The curse finally settled on an answer. “What use is there in denying it? I am not a friendly individual eager to please whoever strays into my path. And we’ve already established I don’t share what is mine. Omega, vessel, whichever part of you, it doesn’t matter—”
“—What about the part of me that’s just Yuji? Can you at least pretend to care about that?”
Their talk was only making Yuji feel sicker than he already was. The pair of questions tore him up inside, made worse by the anticipation of an answer that would hurt him more.
“Ah.”
That was all Sukuna said.
“Ah?”
“I see where the problem lies. I find Yuji, on many occasions, quite infuriating. A buzzkill when morals are involved. And as always, a brat.”
“Gee, thanks—”
“But, I also find you intriguing. Your willingness to converse with me despite everything I’ve done is… appreciated. And I can’t deny you have a sense of warmth to you that I’ve become drawn to, hence investing the time in gestures you find stressful. I miscalculated which ones you’d value, the blame lies with me.”
That was… extremely honest of him.
Yuji, finding himself too hot in his self-made blanket cocoon, tore himself free to face the alpha properly. He had expected Sukuna to fight back with him on this, but that wasn’t the case.
“What is it you want, Yuji?”
What did he want?
“I want you first to say sorry.”
“I’m…” Sukuna grimaced at the demand. “Sorry.”
“Wow. I actually felt you gag saying that.”
“No. You didn’t, brat.”
A tiny smile crept up the sides of Yuji’s face, giving him the confidence he needed to push through the rest of what he had to say
“I want you to take things slower with me. Just because you’re with me during my heat, that we’re stuck together this way, it doesn’t mean we’re a pair. Relationships are mutual, and I want us to earn it.”
Sukuna considered his words, gripping his chin to mull them over properly.
“Time isn’t exactly on our side, but if a courtship is what you want… you’ll have to define what that entails in this era to avoid further miscommunication.”
There was that word again, miscommunication. Miscommunication happens both ways. Did Sukuna believe himself to be courting Yuji already?
The thought had thrown Yuji for a loop, forcing him to reevaluate the curse’s actions in a different lens. Alphas were always characterized as possessive, but maybe it was far more necessary in Sukuna’s time. And the curse already wasn’t a people person… Oops. Maybe they both missed the mark on this one.
“Ok.” Yuji gave a small nod. “Can we talk about it tomorrow? I want to fall back over again.”
Another yawn pushed its way out as Yuji fell over, purposely landing so that all Sukuna had to do was move a bit forward to lay next to him.
“Come here.”
“You’re very demanding tonight.”
“Alpha,” Yuji whined, outstretching his arms to flex his fingers, ready to take hold of Sukuna when he got close enough to grab. “You’re a good pillow.”
“I never thought pillow would be added to my list of titles.” The curse chuckled, quick to wrap an arm around the omega and brush his face into Yuji’s hair. Hands ran down Yuji’s back, gently rubbing circles in the skin while Sukuna pressed his lips against the omega’s temple to whisper, “The things I do for you…”
“I appreciate this one.” Yuji points out, making his favorable reaction clear despite his unconscious purring stating it for him.
“Obviously.” Another kiss before Sukuna let Yuji curl up against his chest.
“I’m gonna… close my eyes again. Be nice while I’m asleep?”
“Only to you.” Yuji poked Sukuna in the ribs, forcing the curse to amend his statement. “I will remain cordial to all so long as no one tries to cross the threshold of your nest. At least allow me the ability to protect the omega I’d hope will someday allow himself to be mine.”
Butterflies twirled in Yuji’s stomach as his face turned far redder than it previously had that night.
“D-Deal.” Yuji stammered, allowing his body to relax in Sukuna’s hold. “The only person to provoke you like that is Gojo-sensei… as long as you keep it quiet between you two, I don’t care.”
“Oh? That’s new. And here I thought you possessed worries that I’d cut his life short.”
Was the pun intended? Yuji stifled his chuckle regardless.
“Gojo-sensei can take care of himself.”
“I see.”
Full embracing his exhaustion, Yuji settled once again into his pre-heat nap. A few times he’d wake up, just aware enough to change positions or wiggle a bit closer to the alpha who never strayed from his side. Later on, he would catch Sukuna in the act of tossing specific clothes just outside Yuji’s nest, removing certain scents from him without taking them away completely. The process would continue throughout the night until the curse met with similar results that his copy nest would have gotten him had Yuji stayed in his domain.
It appeared certain habits weren’t going to disappear overnight, but surprisingly, Yuji was content with that.
He'd find a way to get back at Sukuna for it later.