───
❝darling we're heaven and hell❞
"REINA, YOU'RE BACK!!"
the empress of curses smiled as she embraced her second favorite curse — with sukuna being first of course.
"mahito, I bought you a present from my outing", reina said, stroking the male's lakeshore blue hair as she received a tight squeeze from the curse.
indeed, mahito was reina's second favorite, because he never failed to intrigue her with his psychological argument about how the soul came before the body.
"no present is better than being with my empress", mahito replied, to which the woman had let out a laugh as she patted the male's back, signaling for him to let go.
"no need to flatter me, mahito. I know what you're doing and unfortunately, I won't be siding with you, jōgo, and hanami this time".
mahito pouted.
"but why? you always side with us!"
"my human's got a more interesting game for me to play", reina smirked, her fingers clenching onto the wrapped present from her various bags.
"ah, here! I think you'll look better in this", reina said, as mahito had opened the box, revealing a quirky black top with slits only on one side of the sleeves, as white lines created a checkered patted.
"reina..."
"consider it an apology for not playing with you this time", the woman said, as she loved doting on mahito, even if the man's feelings weren't exactly the most sincere.
"do you lik—"
reina suddenly felt arms embrace her from behind as strands of blue hair had intertwined with the woman's very own dark ones.
"I love it", mahito lowly muttered, his voice slightly vibrating against the crook of reina's neck.
the dark-haired woman softly chuckled as she leaned her neck against mahito's nuzzled face.
"why don't we go racing? it's been a while hasn't it?", reina asked, to which mahito had finally lifted his head and nodded.
"where?"
nanami kento — one of the more serious colleagues of gojō — had arrived at a somewhat rundown bar, where the vibration of the music could clearly be heard from outside the alehouse.
hesitantly swinging open the door, the music only rampaged louder into the blonde's ears, as a strong smell of alcohol and cigar enraptured those who were high on life.
"NA-NA-MI~ OVER HERE!", gojō's obnoxious voice shouted, waving like a maniac as nanami sighed, threading his way through the crowd, towards the cocky bastard.
nanami loosened his leopard printed tie as his blue button up sleeves were already rolled up after he had left his tan jacket in the car.
a text from gojō satoru was always bothersome.
"what do you want?", the man asked, his tone stern and cold, almost concealing his irritation, but alas, it was as clear as the disco ball in the center of the room.
"why so stern, nanami? can't I just call an old pal out to have some drinks and talk about life?", gojō smiled.
nanami stared at the white-haired male for a moment.
"what's the issue this time?"
gojō lowly chuckled.
"guess I can't hide shit from you, huh?"
"you could, you just chose not to", nanami stated, to which that statement had held some truth to it.
gojō only hummed in response as he proceeded to explain to nanami his interactions with the empress of curses: reina.
"exorcise her", nanami instantly advised as he listened to gojō's little story.
"I will".
"then it better be now. who knows what she'll do? I'll help and call some of the others. we'll meet this weekend and devise a pla—"
"relax, nanami~ she's not dangerous at all", gojō grinned, taking a sip of his whiskey sour as he felt the slightly acidic aftertaste burn down his throat.
"you're too relaxed, gojō".
"not to worry, I am the strongest", the man confidently replied, his lips curving up into a cheshire grin as a brown-haired woman had incidentally trailed her fingers across the man's arm.
gojō had promptly set his drink down on the coaster as nanami rubbed his temples, nodding as he gave his friend the okay.
gojō patted the blonde's back as he sauntered over towards the woman that had previously showcased an interest.
"gojō satoru", the white-haired male introduced.
the woman cracked a lopsided smiled, though her expression had quickly shifted into confusion.
"you aren't going to ask for my name?", the girl asked, twirling with her curls as her doe brown eyes looked upwards at the towering man.
"sweetheart, I won't need to know because you'll only be screaming mine for the entire night", gojō smirked, to which the woman had paused for a moment as she processed the man's bold words.
it wasn't even a minute into their talk and she wasn't sure whether she was repulsed by the comment or charmed.
"now, shall we dance first?", gojō whispered as his whiskey breath fanned the girl's face, letting her get a closeup of the attractive man as his arms were still in his pockets, making no attempt to hold the woman's waist.
it was as if he were saying: if you want it, ask for it.
the brown-haired woman cracked a smile, as she wrung her arms around the man's neck.
"the name's sumira yui. remember it and remember it well, because you'll be coming back for more", she assured, as the two's lips smashed together, their breaths intoxicating each other even more than what the alcohol or cigarette could do.
nanami sighed once more as he got prepared to leave, exiting the bar as the night had only darkened.
pushing up his petite glasses — that didn't have arms — nanami suddenly tensed up at the sudden overwhelming gut feeling of a horrendously powerful curse.
it was like a spike that had pierced his stomach. as he snapped his head upwards, a patchwork man had swiftly hopped from building to building.
however, the gut sickening feeling wasn't coming from him.
feathers tarnished the silent sky as dark wings spread like a fallen angel.
except she was no angel.
her dark purple irises caught nanami's slight teal ones, sending shivers to trickle down the man's spine as her small smile had caused such an uproar of emotions.
though it lasted no longer than a second, the two curses had disappeared, as if it were an illusion.
nanami muttered a curse word beneath his breath as he took off his glasses and shut his eyes, pinching his nose bridge as he pretended that he didn't just see that.
"perhaps I've been working too hard recently".