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Yuuji was bleeding. Again.
The mission had gone wrong. Of course it had. It was supposed to be a simple exorcism, but the cursed spirit had been stronger than anticipated—and Yuuji had done what he always did.
He threw himself into the fire first. Shielded others. Took the hit.
Now he was limping home with blood in his mouth, barely able to breathe, vision swimming in and out as he staggered into a dark alley and collapsed to the ground.
“You absolute fool.”
The words didn’t come from outside. They vibrated deep within him, venom-laced and cold, and then—
Darkness.
He blinked and realized he was in the Domain. Sukuna’s throne room. The air around him was stifling, humming with cursed energy and fury. Sukuna stood at the base of the steps, crimson eyes glaring down at him like he was the most offensive thing he’d ever seen.
“Why do you do this to yourself?” Sukuna’s voice was low. Dangerous. Controlled in a way that was somehow worse than if he’d yelled.
“I—I had to—” Yuuji tried.
“You had to? You had to nearly get yourself killed again?”
Sukuna’s steps echoed as he approached, slow and terrifying. Yuuji flinched when the curse knelt in front of him, grip tight as he yanked Yuuji’s chin up, forcing their eyes to meet.
“You are not invincible,” Sukuna said, voice quiet now. “You are flesh. You are blood. And you’re mine. So tell me, what right do you think you have to throw yourself away?”
“I was just trying to help,” Yuuji whispered, lip trembling. “They would’ve died if I hadn’t—”
“And what if you had died?”
The silence was heavy.
Sukuna stared at him for a long, long time.
Then, something shifted.
Without a word, he reached forward and—much to Yuuji’s stunned horror—pulled him over his lap.
“S-Sukuna?!”
“This is what you want?” Sukuna growled, one hand holding him firmly in place. “To be treated like a child who doesn’t understand consequences?”
A sharp smack rang out, solid and loud.
Yuuji gasped, going stiff. Another followed. And another.
“You will not die on my watch,” Sukuna said, every word a promise carved in stone. “You will not throw yourself away like you’re meaningless. You will not make me watch you fall.”
Yuuji’s throat clenched. The warmth of embarrassment was nothing compared to the way his chest ached at those words.
“S-stop,” he whimpered. “Please—I get it—”
But he was already crying. Not from pain. Not even from shame.
From the way it hurt to be cared about.
He curled up when Sukuna let him go, knees drawn to his chest, face hidden behind trembling hands. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to—I didn’t think—”
“I know you didn’t think,” Sukuna said, kneeling beside him. “Because you don’t value yourself, brat.”
Yuuji hiccupped. “I-I do—I just—”
“Don’t lie to me, brat.” Sukuna’s voice dropped low. “You think everyone else’s life is worth more than yours.”
The words shattered him.
Yuuji burst into deeper sobs, heart cracking open under the weight of his own denial, his guilt, the truth in Sukuna’s voice. It all came pouring out of him—grief, pain, loneliness.
He didn’t even realize Sukuna had drawn him into his lap until he felt a hand in his hair. Slow, careful.
“I can rebuild broken things,” Sukuna murmured, “but not if you keep breaking what’s mine.”
Yuuji clung to him, fists twisted into the cursed robe like it was the only thing keeping him together.
“I’m so tired,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“I don’t know how to be okay.”
“I shall show you, then.”
The throne room was silent except for the soft, shuddering breath of the tenacious boy curled into the chest of the world’s most dangerous curse—and the whispered hums of a hand brushing through his hair.
“You’re not alone, my little vessel,” Sukuna said, so softly it could’ve been a thought. “Even if the world turns its back on you… I won’t.”
And Yuuji, still shaking, still scared, believed him.
Even if just for tonight.
-
Yuuji stirred.
Eyes bleary, muscles sore, and brain still caught somewhere between sleep and the echo of a nightmare he couldn’t quite remember. The first thing he registered was the warmth—not of a blanket, not of a bed.
Of arms.
Wrapped tightly around him.
“Wha…?”
He blinked and looked up, heart leaping into his throat when crimson eyes stared down at him, unnervingly calm and far too close.
“…Sukuna?”
Sukuna didn’t answer at first. He was leaned back lazily on his throne—Yuuji nestled fully in his lap like he was a plush toy someone forgot to put away. One clawed hand rested against Yuuji’s back, keeping him pinned, while the other trailed idly through his hair.
Yuuji flushed instantly. “You’re still holding me?!”
“You’re lucky I didn’t strap you to the throne and smother you with a hundred layers of cursed silk,” Sukuna said, dry. “But I figured this would be worse.”
“Worse?!”
“More humiliating,” Sukuna corrected smoothly, lips twitching in amusement. “You’re so easy to rattle in the morning, my little vessel.”
Yuuji tried to squirm out of his lap, face burning, but Sukuna’s arms tightened like a vice. Not painful—just immovable.
“Nuh-uh,” Sukuna murmured, voice rumbling like distant thunder. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I—Sukuna, c’mon, let me go! This is—this is weird!”
“Oh, now it’s weird?” Sukuna hummed, brushing a piece of hair from Yuuji’s face. “Was it not weird when you collapsed in my arms sobbing like a lost child last night? Or when you begged me to stay? Hm?”
Yuuji groaned and buried his face in Sukuna’s chest. “I didn’t beg—”
“You did. I should keep a record of these things.” Sukuna leaned down, lips nearly brushing Yuuji’s ear. “Should I repeat the part where you said, ‘please don’t let go, I don’t want to wake up alone?’”
Yuuji whimpered, face now beet red. “You’re evil.”
“I’m a curse,” Sukuna said, ever so fondly. “And you’re my idiot host who thinks dying for strangers is admirable.”
“I didn’t—”
“No, no. Shh.” Sukuna’s hand moved to cradle the back of his head. “I don’t want excuses this morning. I want compliance.”
Yuuji blinked up at him, suspicious.
Sukuna smiled like a shark.
“We’re going to sit here,” he said calmly, “and you are going to be quiet, stay in my arms, and let me punish you.”
“By cuddling me?!”
“Yes. And if you resist, I shall baby-talk you into the void in front of every single cursed spirit in this domain.”
Yuuji groaned like he was dying.
Sukuna chuckled lowly and, to Yuuji’s absolute horror, started rocking him back and forth like a toddler.
“I hate you,” Yuuji muttered weakly.
“Mmm. You’ll get over it, sweetheart.”
“You’re such a jerk—”
“And yet you still ran to me last night with tears down your cheeks and your voice cracking like a baby bird,” Sukuna mused. “Admit it. You like being cared for.”
“No I don’t—!”
“Liar,” Sukuna whispered, brushing his knuckles along Yuuji’s cheek. “You’re starving for it, little one.”
Yuuji’s breath hitched.
He hated how true it was. How deeply it ached in his chest. How much it meant that someone—even someone like Sukuna—was holding him, wasn’t letting go, wasn’t yelling or blaming or telling him he was a burden.
Just… holding.
Coddling him in a way that made him feel small but not in a bad way. In a safe way. In a way he didn’t know he’d needed until he had it.
Sukuna’s voice dropped low again. “You’re mine, Yuuji. And I protect what’s mine. Whether you like it or not.”
“I…” Yuuji swallowed. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
“You did,” Sukuna said simply. “So now, you get this.”
He tightened his grip and nuzzled the side of Yuuji’s hair with a soft, almost mocking hum. “My stupid little vessel. So fragile. So reckless. So mine.”
Yuuji’s lips quivered. He sniffled, to his own horror. “You’re the worst.”
Sukuna only smiled.
“Cry all you want,” he whispered, voice warm and sharp. “You’re not leaving this lap until you learn your lesson.”
And Yuuji, face pressed against his chest, tears dripping down his cheeks again—just nodded.
He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to.
He felt safe.
Even if he’d never admit it out loud.