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“Here you are, sir.”
Yuuji thanks the waitress as she sets his oversized parfait on the table in front of him. Strawberries and miniature sugar cookies piled high atop whipped cream threaten to topple over before he can even get his spoon into it. A light breeze ruffles his hair, the sun warming his skin, reminding him he’s alive. How many years has it been this time? He loses track so easily.
The café’s patio overlooks sandy beaches, the blue sea stretching towards the horizon as far as the eye can see. Yuuji’s breath catches in his throat, despite it being a sight he’s seen thousands of times in thousands of places. This world really does have some stunning views. He wishes he had someone to share them with.
Soon, he reminds himself.
He can feel it like the calm before a storm. A static buzzing under his skin as anticipation builds. Every time it’s the same. It doesn’t matter where in the world he is, if he’s wandering the mortal plane or passing his time in the heavens where he belongs, when his immortal heart slows to beat in halftime, he knows his eternal loneliness is almost at an end. At least for a little while.
Until then, he waits. Enjoying life masquerading as a mortal while helping those he can. Indulging in the frivolities humans love. The sweetness of his treat bursts on his tongue and he moans in glee. Today is going to be a good day. He feels it in his bones.
It’s as he’s scrolling the news on his phone while scraping the bottom of his bowl that he discovers just how good of a day it’s going to be. A headline that would cause most to gasp in horror catches his eye. Massive landslides and wildfires in the mountains to the north. A terrible calamity that only happens once every century or two.
A radiant smile spreads across his face as the restlessness under his skin settles at last.
Finally, he thinks.
This was what he’d come back to Japan for.
Finally, Sukuna thinks as he curls his fingers into his palms, feeling the surge of his divine energy flowing through his body, untethered at last. It had taken two decades to pool his power enough to burn away the seals those old fools had placed upon his soul however many millennia ago.
Every time it was the same. He incarnated into a mortal form, his true nature caged behind the seals of the elder gods attempting to restrain him from wreaking havoc until there was nothing left for him to destroy. His memories were locked away as well, leaving him to grow to mortal adolescence with the uncanny feeling that he did not belong, that he was destined for greater things than the mundanities of human existence. It only fueled his resentment as his power grew, until the day his strength surpassed that of the seals meant to keep him tame.
With the eroding of the seals, his memories came back in full force. He remembers being a god. Powerful. Immortal. Feared by all. He knows this isn’t his full power. He will never have that again so long as he is still confined in a mortal body. He remembers the ritual that stripped him of his eternal life, binding his soul to endless reincarnations devoid of his godhood. A last ditch effort to instill humanity in him, to make him care about the souls of the creatures living in the world they were bound to. It was a futile effort. His humanity was born outside of him.
Sukuna flicks a hand and torches another stand of trees. The earth trembles beneath his feet with every step. He had to make the most of his time before his other half inevitably appeared to put a stop to his destruction. At least for a while.
Not even Yuuji could rein in his destructive nature for long. He didn’t even try. In Sukuna’s memories, Yuuji had never once tried to force him to be anything other than what he was. Calamity. Destruction. He was the calm after Sukuna’s storm, creating prosperity in the wake of his unholy rampage.
Yuuji was partly to blame for his endless cycle of rebirth. Without their connection, the elders might have been able to kill Sukuna outright when they grew disdainful of his predilection for mass carnage. Wait for a new god of Destruction to be born. One they could mold and control. But Sukuna and Yuuji were a pair. Yuuji was Pure and Good, untainted by his other half’s voracious appetite for wanton destruction. He followed in Sukuna’s wake, building new lives from the ashes. The promise after a storm. His only sin was allowing Sukuna to exist in all his glory, loving him in spite of all his perceived misdeeds, neither of which was enough to condemn him to die over.
Which was not to say he didn’t suffer any punishment himself. Sukuna had asked him once, several lives ago, what he did while Sukuna was in limbo awaiting reincarnation. It wasn’t instantaneous, after all. He could go decades between one death and the next birth, sometimes centuries. Not that he was even aware of that in between time. The only time he perceived was while he had physical form. When his memories came back to him he could connect the dots to his previous life and figure out how much time had passed, but Yuuji was always the one to confirm how many years it had been, and only at Sukuna’s prodding.
Yuuji’s punishment for not lifting a finger against his other half was being forced to remain behind alone, cleaning up the mess Sukuna’s power left behind. He denied that it was punishment at all, insisted it was just in his nature to create new life where Sukuna had cleared the way. He liked helping people, loved the mortals in his care, so it wasn’t a burden to him.
Another stand of trees erupts in flames as he continues his warpath south.
How long had Yuuji been alone this time? How long would they have before the other gods inevitably came down to end this iteration? Maybe this time he would find a way to end it. Find a way to make those old bastards pay for taking everything from him.
Plans for another day.
The roaring inferno surrounding him shifts in color. The rageful reds and oranges flicker to calming whites and blues. His mortal heart starts to beat with the pulsing of the flames, syncing with the steady rhythm of the one who holds his humanity in the cradle of his ribs. A crooked grin reveals sharp teeth as he waits.
He was fast this time.
Yuuji trusts his feet to carry him where he needs to go. While the beasts and humans flee from the advancing wave of fire, he runs headlong into it. His heart races towards its other half, the familiar heat wrapping him in a blissful glow. The trembling of the earth propels him forward through the flames.
Closer.
Closer.
Almost there.
The wall of fire parts for him and he doesn’t even slow down as he enters the eye of the storm. Sukuna is there at the center, arms spread wide and waiting because Yuuji is predictable. Because there is nothing he does not know about Yuuji’s heart. Yuuji crashes into him, arms and legs winding around his torso like he belongs there. Because he does. Sukuna catches him easily. Kisses him furiously. He tastes like blood and ash and home and Yuuji has waited so long for this. He’d been patient long enough.
“Welcome back,” he says with a breathless smile when they finally pull apart long enough to greet one another.
Sukuna grins against his chin. “Aw, did you miss me while I was away, brat?” Yuuji bites him for good measure, relishing in the deep rumble against his chest when Sukuna laughs. He peppers Yuuji’s face in kisses. “Sorry to keep you waiting, my love. I’m here, and I’m not leaving this time.”
He says it every time. They’re tied to their fates as surely as the moon is tied to the sun. But somehow, when Sukuna kisses him again and strips him bare, he truly believes he means it. Maybe this time, they won’t be forced to say goodbye.
Around them, the forest continues to burn.