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"you two listen to nagi-san and urarume-san while we're gone okay?", kiyo instructed, to which the two had nodded as they waved kiyo, satoru, and sukuna goodbye.
"MAKE SURE YOU PROTECT MAMA!!", nozomi yelled, specifically to sukuna.
the demon king scoffed.
"she can do fine just by herself", the male muttered, mounting onto the carriage with the two gojōs as they headed towards the palace, requesting an audience with the shogunate.
"so who's the shogun in this period?", sukuna asked, never having to have cared about the ruler of japan since he self proclaimed himself as the god of this land.
"the ashikaga family, specifically ashikaga yoshimasa", satoru knowingly answered.
"don't know who the hell that is but okay", sukuna yawned.
"he's a respectable shogunate, so don't speak so vulgarly in front of him", kiyo instructed.
"and please don't threaten the people that'll be there", kiyo reminded.
"I won't if they don't do anything to make me want to threaten them", sukuna stated, to which kiyo had given the male a warning look, making sukuna roll his eyes.
"okay fine", the yōkai muttered, to which kiyo had smiled as she gently squeezed sukuna's hand.
"oh wow. I sure am feeling the love", satoru casually uttered, making kiyo pinch her brother's cheek.
"why don't you just ask utahime out already?", kiyo teased, to which satoru had let out an offended gasp.
"excuse you! you know my type are girls that are nice", satoru smiled.
"utahime is nice", kiyo said.
satoru deadpanned.
"talk to me when you stop spouting lies".
kiyo started chuckling meanwhile the carriage had stopped, which meant that the three had arrived at their destination.
many eunuchs greeted the three as they led them to the main hall, where the shogunate sat at the front of the room, with his daimyos on either side of him.
"greetings, your majesty", the gojōs bowed as sukuna just stood there, crossing his arms.
"sukuna, you dare—"
the shogun raised his hand, stopping the daimyo from commanding the demon to kneel.
"sukuna's a king too. kings don't need to bow to each other", ashikaga waved off, not trying to aggravate the demon as he could only imagine the wrath.
"and you two may rise. get mats for them!", ashikaga commanded, to which the palace maids had placed three silk mats in front of their guests, letting kiyo and satoru kneel meanwhile sukuna copied the shogun's posture.
"now what brings you three here today?", ashikaga questioned.
satoru spoke up first.
"we have a proposition for the well-being of this nation. with the increasing amount of demons and sukuna being released, we suggest a union between the two species", satoru said, to which that had earned quite a few mumblings from the daimyos.
"oh? explain further", ashikaga demanded.
"ryō—sukuna's obviously the well-known king of demons", kiyo began. "and with him continuing to stand at the highest position of all demons, he can guarantee that they all stay in line as the demons and humans unite throughout the decades, even the centuries".
"that's too risky! how can we trust a demon that's been creating havoc since the beginning of times?!", one daimyo spoke out.
sukuna only hummed as that statement did have some truth to it.
nothing was an absolute guarantee.
"I've made a binding vow with him. I can assure you that he will not hurt the humans as long as we don't attack the demons without rhyme or reason", kiyo replied.
"and not only will peace settle through the lands, demons and humans could become great allies against those that rival us as a country", kiyo pointed out, to which ashikaga had hummed with acknowledgment.
"indeed, that sounds quite reasonable. if we were to form a peace treaty, what shall happen in case one side regresses?", the shogun inquired.
kiyo glanced over at sukuna, who had combed through his pink locks with one hand as he smirked.
"I honestly don't particularly care, but if you go back on your word, I promise to not only end your bloodline, but force your entire country into ruins", sukuna threatened, to which the daimyos in the room had stiffened up as they thickly swallowed, trying to breathe through the tense air.
ashikaga only chuckled, bringing confusion to sukuna.
"I see...well then I wouldn't dream of it. after all, this is my beloved country. though if the demons were to cave into their incarnate desires, I'm afraid that we'll just have to war and seal you back away", ashikaga stated.
"however, I'm sure that won't happen since lady kiyo seems quite fond of you, and I assume that you wouldn't want to jeopardize you two's relationship would you?", ashikaga laughed, stroking his grayish-whitish beard as sukuna was quite surprised at how observant the shogunate was, despite their first time meeting.
ashikaga knew that there was no way the demon king would randomly strike up a deal out of nowhere, as he deduced that sukuna was not that type of man from the stories he's heard.
hence someone had to have influenced him to do so, and since it was the gojōs accompanying him, it had to be one of the two, with kiyo being way more likely.
"your majesty, does that mean that you're willing to sign an agreement with sukuna?", kiyo asked, chiming in as it didn't seem like sukuna was going to answer the shogun soon.
"yes yes. grab the scroll and red thumbprint, as I'm hanging this up in the main room of the palace for not only me, but my loyal subordinates and the future generation to witness our significant arrangement!"
people swiftly came in with ink, brush, and a scroll prepared, to which the shogun had started writing down all the conditions and things that have been said on paper.
the daimyos could only watch, as they supported their ruler, holding their breaths as they observed the bright red thumbprint smushed against the scroll.
"your turn, sukuna", the shogunate said, letting one of the maids preview the scroll right before the demon king.
sukuna hummed as he skimmed the conditions, pressing his thumb onto the red ink pad as he left his fingerprint on the scroll, allowing the shogunate to take it back to examine it.
"very well. a pleasure doing business with you", ashikaga clapped, to which the daimyos had touched their heads to the wooden floorboards, congratulating their ruler.
"if this is it then you are all dismissed", the shogun stated.
the daimyos had quickly bowed once more before exiting the room — hastily broadcasting the news to the peasants and workers of the country — to which satoru and kiyo did the same before leaving.
"oh! I almost forgot. since we're on good terms now, how about you show up with some of your comrades on the twenty-fourth of december? we hold this end of the year celebration at the palace every year and this could open up a lot of possibilities", ashikaga offered to sukuna.
"will the miko be there?"
"of course. she is part of the gojō clan after all, and she's contributed greatly to this country's wellbeing", ashikaga smiled.
sukuna only huffed as he swiftly left, boarding the carriage that both the gojōs were already on.
"I have to make a short stop at the market first. you two can head back first", kiyo informed as the carriage had halted once they saw people roaming through the busy market.
"I'm coming along", sukuna stated, to which satoru had dejectedly sighed as he decided to be a good brother and let the two have their alone time.
"okay! don't be late for dinner~", satoru waved as the two watched the carriage leave.
kiyo then walked straight over to the clothing store, where she had paid for a pure, silky white kimono with touches of gold lining and a wash of sky blue from the hems of the fabric — that she had preordered prior to today.
the girl then hastily made her way over to a cutesy shop, where she collected a pair of lucky cats, with one being black and the other one being white.
"despite about to turn twenty-nine, satoru still finds these things entertaining", kiyo softly chuckled, to which sukuna could care less about what satoru liked.
"and what about you?"
"hm?"
"what do you like?", sukuna asked, as the girl had asked the store manager to wrap everything up neatly so that when she returned, she wouldn't have to wrap it herself.
"me? well I like many things", the girl answered, not being able to give a straight answer as there were too many beautiful things in the world.
"if you had to pick one thing that you wished for the most, what would it be?"
'freedom', was what the girl had initially wanted to say.
"mm...I don't know. maybe a cake or something?", the girl joked, to which sukuna had furrowed his brows.
"can't you ask for something like a new necklace or perfume? or maybe like having someone's head served on a platter?"
kiyo just smiled.
"I don't need a gift if that's what your on about. spending my birthday with the people I love is more than what I could ask for".
sukuna stopped in his steps as he processed the girl's words.
'spending it with people...that she loves...'