𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛|||𝑅. 𝑆𝑢𝑘𝑢𝑛𝑎

|||CHAPTER 12|||DECAY OF DEATH|||

The wind from the curse's breath left a long aperture in the concrete floor. Y/n knew Fushiguro was thinking about how the curse didn't use sorcery, instead used magical power.
    
"Fushiguro! Y/n!" Itadori yelled, "Take Kugisaki with you and run away from here! I'll hold it back until you leave this place. When you're safe outside give me any signal you want. Then I'll swap with Sukuna."
    
"There's no way I can do that! There's a high-grade opponent right here!" Fushiguro shouted back at him.
    
"Look closely. It's having fun." Itadori stared at the curse, "It's totally underestimating us. We can at least try to buy time."
    
"Come on, Fushiguro. I can sense where she is." Y/n pulled at his sleeve, "He's got this for now."
    
"I'm counting on you." Itadori turned his head to them, tilting it slightly.
    
Fushiguro and Y/n ran down the corridor. Y/n turned right, him following suit, "She's got company." They arrived where she was, seeing a curse about bro consume her whole.
    
Fushiguro ran over to her, kicking the curse, only for her to land in another curse's hands. Y/n walked over to it, it trying to take a punch at her. "Got to try harder." She caught its punch, whispering quickly, "Decay of Death." The curse decayed away to dust, making Kugisaki fall to the ground.
    
"Ew." Kugisaki wiped off the dust, standing up quickly, "Thanks."
    
Y/n nodded to her, then looked at the other curse, "Come on, buddy, you want some?" She ran at it, doing a flip over its head, poking its forehead as she was in the air. The curse exploding into hard pieces like rocks.
     
Y/n started walking away, she stopped, looking back at Fushiguro, "You guys get out of here. I'll go back to Itadori." They nodded, going to leave after Fushiguro called out to his other hound to help them leave.
    
Y/n ran to where Itadori and the curse were. She saw Sukuna using Territorial Expansion: Demonic Feretory. She watched as the curse was split into multiple slices.
    
She heard him say, "I intended on cutting you into three, but... you really are weak, huh. And right after that..." Sukuna put his fingers in the gaping chest hole of the curse, pulling out one of Sukuna's fingers, "I'll take this." He put his hands in his pockets, "I'm done! So unpleasant! If you're gonna switch with me, just do it already!" He paused, "Brat...?"
    
Y/n jumped down, "So he's not switching?"
    
"Oh, now you want to talk?" Sukuna smirked, tilting his head at her. She ignored him, crossing her arms. He spoke again, "Come on, let's go find your friends."
    
"I'm not going to let you kill them." She stood her ground, standing in front of him.
    
"Oh, really?" He stepped closer, their chests inches apart, "I would love to see you try." He disappeared, teleporting away. She growled, teleporting to where she could sense him. She landed close to Fushiguro and Sukuna, almost between.
    
She watched Sukuna carefully as he spoke, "Don't be so frightened. I'm in a good mood right now. Let's talk a little. It must be payback for using me without any restraint. He seems to have a little trouble swapping with me. But that should just be a matter of time."
    
He ripped the cloak off of his chest, putting Y/n at alarm. He continued, "So I thought about what I could do in the meantime." He shoved his hand into his chest, pulling out the beating heart of his host, "I'm gonna take that brat hostage." He tossed the heart to the side, Y/n caught it as her eyes widened, "I can live without this but... that brat can't. Swapping with me would mean death. And this..." He put the finger to his mouth, "is to make doubly sure."
    
Fushiguro had a look on his face, taking a gulp.
    
"Well then." Sukuna spoke again after adjusting to the other finger, "I'm a free man. You can be afraid now."
     
"Why would I fear you?" Y/n asked sarcastically, trying to get a rise out of him.
    
"You will. But first I'll kill you." Sukuna looked at Fushiguro, "For no particular reason."
    
Fushiguro's head was down, "Unlike that time... our roles have reversed, huh."
    
"You know what? I'll let you guys duke it out." Y/n nodded her head, taking a seat on the ground under a tree. She leaned her head back against the bark, still holding Itadori's heart.