ETERNAL GAMBLE (Sukunaxreader)

CHAPTER 5

Instantly, everyone's brows furrowed as they scanned the room. The whole house was aflame, so why was this room untouched? It was immaculate, the walls unscorched, the ceiling intact. Their eyes then drifted to the center of the room, where a half-dead couple lay on the polished wooden floor, their eyes weakly pleading, their mouths moving but silent.

They stared in horror and quickly moved to assist them, Sukuna stepping forward but standing back to avoid crowding.

"We need to get them out!"

"They can still make it! We just need to hurry!"

As they bent down, ready to lift the injured couple, the harsh bang of someone hitting a wooden panel, followed by the crumbling of the doorway, made everyone’s eyes shoot to the culprit, their expressions shifting to shock.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, SUKUNA?! THAT WAS OUR ONLY WAY OUT!"

Harsh stares and glares seared into his back before a velvety, chillingly calm voice cut through the tension.

"Why the rush?~ aren't we having fun?~"

The sorcerers turned from Sukuna to the woman on the other side of the room, their eyebrows knitting in confusion. One stepped forward and yelled.

"Who the hell are you?!"

She grinned, her sharp canines glinting.

"Well-"

"What the hell is happening here?!"

Her (e/c) eyes dulled, and her expression hardened momentarily before she tilted her head back to catch sight of who had interrupted her. Lips turning down into a displeased frown as she raised two fingers in a gun imitation lazily and pointed at at him.

"Don't ever interrupt me."

SPLAT.

No one was able to comprehended what happened in the span of that few seconds, only feeling warm, red liquid splashing their faces as the lower half of the man they knew as a colleague fell to the ground in a heap. Their eyes shifted from the 'corpse' back to the woman who lowered her hand, her expression blank as she looked toward the body.

"You pest."

She turned back to the group, the glimmer returning to her eyes as she grinned, as if nothing had even happened, like it was just another day for her.

"Now that that's sorted!"

She surveyed them, a shadow covering her face, only the white of her smile and her glowing eyes shining through.

" I have to thank you for the meal, Sukuna~"

Their eyes widened as their eyes darted to catch sight of the man standing to the side, staring at them with hazy eyes and a blank look before their eyes darted back to the woman. He was in on it?...The leader of the group hunting the MAJIN...helped the very thing they were hunting...

The last thing they saw was Sukuna's expression, his eyes lighting up with the pure ecstasy of their impending doom.

{<<<|>>>}

The woman hummed as she licked her lips, savoring the few drops of blood that had escaped her mouth before turning to Sukuna, who stared blankly at the floor, avoiding looking at the corpses at all costs.

She moved from her spot slowly, her bloody kimono dragging across the floor as she gracefully stepped over the pile of Jujutsu sorcerer corpses.

Stopping in front of him, she slid her hand under his chin, lifting his head to meet her glowing gaze. She tilted her head at him like a curious child, like a child who had never wronged a soul.

"What's the matter, Sukuna?"

"You said I'd gain power and respect if I agreed... I did, but all I see is you enjoying your usual course."

"The deal is far from being completed Sukuna~" she cooed, wagging a finger at him.

The woman grinned before snapping her fingers.

"Oh, that's right! I completely forgot why I set this house alight in the first place!"

She quickly ushered him to the door of the room, moving behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to his knees, causing him to furrow his brows as his eyes followed her movements, watching as she moved to the heap of bodies, before she kicked most of them aside, making his stomach churn at the sight of the half-chewed and mangled bodies. She hummed as she pulled the couple from earlier and tossed their limp bodies to the floor in the center.

Her light steps brought her beside him as he stared at the couple with a distant look in his eyes.

"Not quite there yet, huh?~"

She bent down lazily and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, grinning as she whispered in his ear.

"Set this room on fire, Sukuna. Let's see if this burns the dam holding you back~"

He furrowed his brows at her words, gulping as he shakily raised his sweaty palm. Fire came to life, swirling around his hand before spreading to engulf the room. He stared as the walls began to crumble and pieces of flaming wood fell to the floor, setting the corpses alight. Y/n stood behind him, grinning, then she spoke—not in her own voice, but in another's...

"Please stop, Sukuna!"

The voice of his mother.

His eyes widened as the dam holding all his memories finally burned, allowing them all to flow back into his mind.

That day... that day wasn't an accident... they were... they were... screaming... at him...

"You useless child!"
"You have brought nothing but misfortune to us!"
"It's because of you we have nothing!"
"If I hadn't given birth to such a... monstrous thing we would be happy!"

Sukuna gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists, images of his younger self doing the exact same thing.

'Shut up...'
'Stop it...'

The memory of the pain that blossomed throughout his body as his father slapped and kicked him against the wooden wall filled him. Tears slipped from his eyes as he squeezed them shut even tighter.

The way his younger self stared at the retreating back of his father, anger overflowing in his body. How he shakily stood up, blood flowing from his nose before he let out a yell and ran towards his father, not realizing his fists had burst into flames.

The fire from his fists spread quickly across the house. The way the two lay in the middle of the room, looking at him, begging.

That day, the fire may have been an accident, but his intentions to kill were far from accidental.

Sukuna felt the gentle caress of a hand on his jaw, causing him to finally open his eyes, meeting her (e/c) ones.

"You finally remembered~"

He panted slightly as a droplet of sweat dripped down the side of his face, the heat of the flames that had now engulfed the room raising the temperature.

"You knew... you did this on purpose... you recreated... the very moment..."

He looked down at his hands. She had set this all up. She had planned this from the very start.

The woman only grinned as she stood up and extended a hand to him, flames Illuminating her frame.

He looked at the (s/c) hand held out in front of his face, looking up from his hands to meet the (e/c)-coloured gaze of the woman.

The catalyst for it all.

"Let's seal the deal now, shall we?~"

With that, he stood up. Everyone always called him a monster. He hated it. But being a monster. Meant you were above everyone else. A monster bows to no one but it's creator. He grabbed her hand, a swirl of black emerged from her hand as it wrapped around Sukunas wrist and moved to wrap around and stain his body.

It was about time he gave up trying to audition for the role of the hero. It's about time he embraced what he was called all along.

Monster.