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originally, uraume had just wanted to kill the priestess and help free their master.
however, now they were with sukuna and kiyo at the gojō household, where nagi, yoshino, satoru, and two little fox demons resided.
how this happened was beyond them, but wherever sukuna went, they followed.
"KIYOOO!! YOU'RE FINALLY BACK! THOSE TWO ARE UTTER BRATS!!", satoru dramatically cried, lumping onto his twin as hakaku and nozomi came running out of the room, upon hearing satoru's major outburst.
"MAMA!! YOU'RE BACK", nozomi exclaimed, trying to pull satoru off of her nonbiological mother so that her and hakaku could give the priestess a hug.
kiyo lightly chuckled as she greeted her children with a kiss to the forehead.
"huh? who's this? I swear, you bring home someone new every time you go out", satoru sighed, shaking his head as kiyo just bashfully smiled.
"uraume-san's one of ryōmen's friends", kiyo introduced.
"no they're no—"
"oh!! nice to meet you! must be hard dealing with this one, huh?", satoru interrupted, to which uraume had glared at the gojō, as they respected no one but sukuna.
"shut it! you imbecile", sukuna insulted.
"mah, mah~ why so uptight?", satoru giggled as he gently tapped sukuna's shoulder, to which kiyo had sighed as she took satoru's hand away from sukuna, in fear of her brother losing a hand.
"anyways, nanami got you another bead and megumi and I found one too, so you're welcome", satoru grinned as he patted kiyo's shoulder.
"thanks", kiyo chuckled as she stored it in a small baggie in her kosode.
"also, a word with you", satoru somewhat seriously said, to which kiyo had followed her brother out as nozomi had first bowed to uraume and sukuna, hugging the demon king's leg as hakaku did the same.
"it's that time of year again", satoru breathed out, to which kiyo had immediately knew what her brother was referring to.
"time sure goes by quickly", kiyo softly sighed.
"we should bring sukuna", satoru grinned, to which kiyo had immediately shook her head.
"absolutely not! it's going to cause an unnecessary uproar and you know it", kiyo stated.
"what is?", sukuna suddenly chimed in, making the two gojōs turn around as uraume was a few feet behind the demon king.
"oh, perfect timing! want to join us for a party?", satoru casually asked.
"satoru—"
"huh? party? and socialize with you pathetic humans?", sukuna scoffed.
"kiyo's going to be dressed all pretty~ and I'm sure there'll be many suitors who will be trying to pursue her. after all, kiyo is the prettiest—"
"shut the fuck up, I'm coming!", sukuna snarled, to which kiyo had glared at her brother, who just happily shrugged as he skipped off.
kiyo would've followed, however sukuna had halted the girl by roughly grabbing onto her forearm.
"and why the hell don't you want me to come? you want to see all your options for marriage, huh?", sukuna scoffed.
kiyo sighed as she held sukuna's hand, making him let go of her arm as she briefly explained her concerns.
"every year we have a dinner party with all of the sorcerer clans. I just don't think it'd be...very safe—"
sukuna lowly chuckled, gripping tightly onto kiyo's hand as his other hand twirled a piece of loose strand of the girl's hair.
"no need to be worried. the last time I got sealed away, it took nearly the entire kamo, gojō, and zenin clan, with some small fries that I don't remember", sukuna grinned.
"but that was at your full power, and I told you, shamans are constantly evolving", kiyo reasoned.
"then take this bracelet off", sukuna smirked.
"ryōmen, you know I can't do that", kiyo murmured.
sukuna didn't really blame kiyo for not trusting him. after all, he did kill more than his fingers could count.
"a binding vow", sukuna brought up. "as long as you're by my side, I won't kill anyone. how about that?", the demon king offered.
"as honored as I am, I'm bound to grow old and die one day, so that's not reliable", kiyo replied, making sukuna huff in disbelief.
"that's like decades away and you're worried about the people in the future?"
"of course. what we do now shapes the future doesn't it? so unless you promise to never hurt anyone unless it's for self-defense, I refuse to make a binding vow with you", kiyo stated.
sukuna groaned.
"I do have a better offer though", kiyo spoke up, to which sukuna was all ears.
"if you make a pact with the shogunate to live in union with the humans for eternity, I will agree to stay by your side until death", kiyo suggested.
sukuna hummed as he didn't think it was too bad of a proposition.
kiyo smiled as this would also be a good chance to prove that sukuna isn't as bad as everyone perceived him to be.
"fine", sukuna agreed, extending out both his hands as kiyo did the same, placing them onto the palms of the demon king's.
a warm glow suddenly emitted from their hands as kiyo had stated the conditions and ended the binding vow with a quick smile.
"now release me", sukuna demanded, to which kiyo had held sukuna's wrist, as the bracelet had loosened quite a bit, releasing all of the demon's powers back into his body.
sukuna felt alive.
the demon king contained himself, as he wanted to show off at the party rather than now.
"you're not throwing the bracelet away?", kiyo asked, to which sukuna just smirked.
"not yet, I have something I want to do with it", the yōkai mischievously chuckled.
∞
"megumi, let me see how you look", kiyo commanded, brushing off nonexistent dust off the male's shoulders as she frantically tried to make sure that everybody was dressed perfectly.
even sukuna was dressed in a dark sokutai, with his pink hair neatly brushed back.
the students from heiankyo high were also currently at the gojō household — since iori and satoru decided that it'd be a great learning curve for the kids — preparing for the late feast that was to take place at the spare room of the palace.
thankfully, it was only a meeting for shamans, so the shogunate and daimyos won't be present. however, the kamo and zenin clan, along with smaller clans — like the inumaki clan — will be present, with the gojō clan standing at the very top.
"kugisaki, let me fix your hair a bit", kiyo said, combing down any flyaways as she stuck another ornament in the girl's hair.
"kiyo, you're worrying about the students too much and not enough about yourself. you should really get changed, as we're all ready except for you", iori teased.
"are you sure?", kiyo asked, to which the woman had nodded.
"we'll head out first then. we will see you at the party!!", itadori chimed.
"itadori, junpei, and kugisaki, remember to keep your composure and be careful", kiyo warned, gently caressing yoshino's face as she was still quite worried.
"hai!! you can count on us to have a good time!", itadori happily chirped, to which that had made kiyo even more nervous.
"ryōmen, since you're already prepared, why don't you head out with them too?", kiyo suggested.
"hah?! no way!"
"please", kiyo insisted, making sukuna click his tongue in annoyance as he was stuck with the heiankyo and edo brats.
"fine! don't make me wait", sukuna growled as he shared a carriage with fushiguro, itadori, kugisaki, and satoru.
kiyo waved as there was only one carriage left for her, to which she had nagi help her change, as the jūnihitoe had at least seven layers of clothing.
"mama, why can't we come along?", nozomi pouted, watching as kiyo's hair was being brushed by nagi, meanwhile hakaku nodded in agreement.
"it's not fitting for you two. it's best if you both stayed home with nagi-san. we'll be back before you even know it", kiyo smiled, watching as nagi had placed a dangling golden ornament at the center of kiyo's head, near her hairline.
"mm...okay...", hakaku sighed.
"you look very pretty though, mama! I'm sure mister sukuna would die from just how pretty you are", nozomi giggled, to which kiyo had just slightly chuckled.
"you flatter me too much, nozomi. and plus, I'm sure he's seen prettier women".