Chapter 1

How did we get here?

Megumi Fushiguro

In the end, they were equally insane, equally evil.

One would think that Gojou was sensible, the good one; but Megumi wasn't so certain anymore. Sukuna was the obvious evil, but at least he was honest about it, not pretending to be something else. But Gojou, oh god, he was so good acting good.

It was early in the morning when Megumi was awoken with a jolt.

"Good morning, sunshine," Gojou's voice carried over the room. "I need you for a quick second."

Megumi opened one eye and located the man in the dark, leaning against the door, white teeth shining in the moonlight. So it was that early. "Cannot it wait?"

"I'm afraid not. Now shuu-shuu, get up. Early bird gets the worm and all that." Gojou pushed himself off the door and left his room, leaving the door ajar, some light pooling into the room from the corridor.

Megumi pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes. He glanced out of the window and it certainly was the middle of the night. The moon was high in the sky, a cloudless night.

Gojou was a headache. His unpredictable behaviour made everyone feel as if they were walking on knives. Yet, through his cocky behaviour, he could see a caring man underneath, which made Megumi follow and trust him. He was strong and Megumi wanted to become strong, so he had no option but to handle the unpredictability.

He washed his face, dressed and walked into the corridor. Gojou was standing before a window, seemingly watching something outside, eyes covered or not. Only a few lights were on that late, which left eerie shadows on the man's uniform. So much strength. How does one even contain it? How can you put a lid on something like that and expect it to stay sealed?

"Where is it that we're going?" Megumi asked and supressed a yawn.

"Nowhere!" Gojou beamed and turned to face him.

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean nowhere? What did I wake up for?"

"Aren't you excited to spend time with me, 'gumi?"

"With all due respect, we can also spend time during the day." Megumi turned on his heel to head back to his room but was stopped with a hand on his shoulder.

Gojou pulled him back and Megumi turned around to face the man again. Gojou frowned before speaking again. "You trust me, correct?"

Megumi nodded slowly.

"I need you to follow me to my room." Gojou said equally slowly.

"Excuse me?" Megumi said and pulled away from the hand still planted on his shoulder.

Gojou raised his hands in defence. "Don't be like that. I know that I am handsome, but my intentions are nothing but pure, leaving your innocence intact."

Megumi's eyes widened at the words. He mumbled another excuse me, but it came out mangled and died somewhere on his tongue. It was so early that he thought he imagined things, but he couldn't fool himself, those words certainly left Gojou's lips.

"Now that this is settled," Gojou chimed as if nothing was amiss. "Please do follow me. Try to be discreet. It is not good to be seen together this early."

Following his teacher into their room at night, yeah, I wonder what would be wrong with that. He didn't want to argue and decided to just follow the man to see what was so important for a late-night visit.

Gojou wasn't his babbling self and kept mostly quiet as they climbed the stairs to the teachers' floor. The man opened his door to what Megumi assumed was his room and stepped aside, so he could enter. The room itself was surprisingly clean and minimally decorated. A corridor gave way to a moderate living room with a few chairs and a large bookcase. A door to the bedroom was ajar and Megumi noticed a very high and large bed with messy deep purple sheets on it.

Gojou followed him inside and locked the door behind him. He sat in an armchair and put his legs up an ottoman. Megumi stood awkwardly, not knowing if the talk would be long enough that he should sit.

"Feel at home," Gojou finally said when he understood that Megumi wouldn't sit without being prompted. Megumi chose the chair furthest away from the man. "You wound me." He pouted, but then laughed lightly.

"Can we get to the point now?" Megumi pushed, feeling very awkward in a teacher's room this early in the morning.

"Do you maybe want a drink? Water? Coffee? Beer?"

"Let's please get this over with."

Gojou sighed. "Very well. I have a proposition that I think you should accept." He seemed to be picking his words carefully, which was odd. Megumi didn't deem him a careful man, but he guessed he had to be, with that much power on his fingertips.

"I won't agree to anything if you don't tell me what it is you want." His voice was even, not in a mood for games when his bed was still warm downstairs.

"So pushy." Gojou took his long legs off the ottoman and sat up, his elbows on his knees and his head rested on his palms. Megumi could feel his eyes stare into his soul through the blindfold. "Okay, very well. There might be a way to save Itadori, so he doesn't have to die when we eventually have all the fingers and execute Sukuna."

Megumi frowned. "Why are you only now bringing this up? And why with me?"

"This method wouldn't be," he chewed on his lip. "Conventional."

He wanted to help Itadori. He might share some characteristics with Gojou—mostly that they were both awfully cheerful and annoying, but due to everything they had went through, he considered him a friend. Itadori had died once, he didn't want to experience it again. "Okay, what do you need?"

"I need you to win Sukuna's trust."

"What?" Megumi exclaimed. "He is a curse. He doesn't have one decent bone in his body."

Gojou smirked. "Are you backing down from a challenge?"

Megumi deadpanned. He wouldn't, not in normal circumstances. But what Gojou was asking was utterly impossible.

"I do have a plan," Gojou continued. "I wouldn't throw my student into certain failure. I am after all a considerate teacher." He stood from the chair and walked to the window. "There might be something that Sukuna wants more than freedom and destruction. He knows that he cannot escape, not when I am around. He could make Itadori eat all the fingers and try to overpower him, but I would still be there. What he wants, is hope and maybe some fun while he's spending his time in his domain."

"I am to entertain the king of curses?" He couldn't believe a word that came out of Gojou's mouth this night.

"Yes!" Gojou turned to face him again. "And provide him with some hope that there might be a way out after all. It would all be very safe for you of course. I will be there and let nothing happen to you."

"Please do shine some light on how you intend me to do that." His mouth was dry, this whole situation was insane.

"Of course!" Gojou sat down legs crossed on the floor before his feet, a bright smile on his face. "Now that you are on board, there are some rules. First, no one can know, including Itadori. Sukuna has something that would help us divide him from Itadori, but it's something that only he can give willingly. So, we need to make certain that he thinks everything you do, you do willingly."

"I didn't say I was on board—"

"Shh," Gojou leaned in and put his finger on his lips to shut him up. Megumi's eyes widened. "Second, you need to enter his innate domain, so you two could interact. With only a few fingers, he is weak, and it would be easy for me to break you out of it if something were to happen. I will protect you with my curse energy even if you are in the innate domain, so he cannot really hurt you even if he wanted to."

Megumi grabbed his hand to tear the finger from his lips. "He could sense your energy. Why would he trust me?"

"He won't." Gojou grinned, sinister.

"I don't think I follow." Megumi said dryly.

"He will expect there to be some trick anyways. He's the king of curses after all. So, we give him something to suspicious about. It will be very difficult for you to act warm towards him at first, so you will tell him that you were sent there against your will, to learn more about him and curses in general. As time goes by and you start getting along... better, you will play the part of the betrayer, turning against us in favour for him."

"This whole plan is insane. He would never fall for something like this."

Gojou leaned in again and pulled his blindfold down. His eyes looked kind, pleading. "You do trust me, don't you?"

Megumi felt himself drown in the endless galaxy in his eyes. He swallowed heavily and nodded once.

"Everything will work out in due time," Gojou reassured and brought a hand to Megumi's cheek, caressing softly. "This is all you need to know for now. You are in good hands and I know you will do good."

Megumi couldn't help but lean into his teacher's hand a little, finding hope and reassurance in the warm skin himself.

When he returned to his room, he couldn't fall asleep again. He remembered every painful detail of meeting Sukuna in the past and tried to find one good thing that he could focus on to play out his part. He couldn't think of any.

Gojou had explained that they were to start the next day, so he should get as much sleep as he could. From now on, he would join Sukuna for a few hours every single day. Megumi still wasn't sure why he had agreed to the impossible. But maybe somewhere deep down, he knew from the second Gojou brought the subject up, he would agree. Gojou had asked if he trusted him, and he really did. He wanted to save his friend and he wanted to be good. What would it matter if he had to supress his own morality and put himself in immense danger to execute the plan?

The plan itself wasn't very complicated. He would hold one of Sukuna's fingers that they had stored away and enter the innate domain. What was to come afterwards was the difficult part.

He tried to imagine himself when he would enter the domain for the first time. What would it look like? A throne built of skulls would be fitting. What would he say? Hello, I am very sorry to disturb your peace, but I am to spend time with you every day now, so get used to it. He sure hoped that Gojou knew what he was doing because Sukuna would tear his throat out for that.

Begrudgingly, when the first rays started peeking into the room, he did fall asleep again.

"Great! Now remember, Gojou-sensei won't let him hurt you." Gojou smiled down on him, holding out one of Sukuna's fingers in his hand. In his bare hands, without any worry.

He had cast protection on him, which would last for a maximum of five hours. Gojou himself would be weaker during this time because he was literally lending his energy to Megumi, but he had enough to deal with any threat. The protection would be recast every time before he entered the innate domain.

He looked up on his teacher who smiled reassuringly. Megumi took a deep breath and grabbed the finger.

Immediately, it was dark around him and he had to squint his eyes to see since they had been in a bright room with Gojou before. When his vision somewhat returned, he saw with horror that he had been right. Sukuna sat on a throne of skulls, leaning on his right hand and looking down with amusement. Megumi tried to take a step back but hadn't considered the blood that covered the ground and stumbled, falling on his back. For a moment he couldn't breathe, panic rising because his body was frozen in shock and his head underneath all the blood. With a gasp he emerged from the pool, still down on his back.

"How curious, Megumi Fushiguro. Do tell me, to what I owe the pleasure of your visit." His voice was so damn deep and calm, a hint mirth on his tongue when he painfully slowly breathed out his name.

He gaped. Everything he had practice the night before dying on his lips. The blood was dripping from his hair and he just wanted to leave.

"You reek of Satoru. Why did he send you to disrupt my peace?" Sukuna didn't sound amused anymore, clearly annoyed by Gojou's presence in his domain.

"I-" Megumi started but couldn't continue with how vulnerable he felt laying on his back in front of the king of curses. He pushed himself up and coughed, the blood making him gag. When he was on his knees, he looked up again. Sukuna smirked, and he realized that he was humiliating himself. With trembling hands, he pushed himself up the ground and stood to face the man. "I am here to learn more about curses." He managed to say with a steady voice.

Sukuna raised an eyebrow, but other ways remained unmoving. "If Satoru wants to learn more about me, he should come himself."

"He is otherwise occupied," Megumi lied and as the words were out, he understood that Sukuna would see straight through them.

"You are terrible at lying. That is a good thing. I understand that Satoru wants something, and you are the unfortunate soul that he's using. Since I'm not going to tell you anything and Satoru is stubborn, we will see a lot of each other from now on." He leaned back on his throne; his throat completely exposed as he looked down on Megumi. Crimson burning like hellfire in his eyes. "Let's get on thing straight, boy. As long as you are wrapped in Satoru's energy, you are unwelcome here."

In a blink, Sukuna was in his face, his nails around Megumi's throat, the panic now fully paralyzed him. Gojou was wrong, it didn't work. I will die here. He felt the nails dig into his skin, the hold tightening. Sukuna was over him, his body pushing his own backwards, down into the blood again. The grin on his face could have cut it in half, his eyes wide and red, and so bloody eager to tear him apart.

Megumi shut his eyes tight, not wanting to have the curse's eyes be the last thing he saw.

A push.

Ears ringing.

There was a force so strong he was thrown backwards, sliding several meters before he came to a halt. He lay there, eyes squeezed shut tightly, expecting the other to end him.

The blow didn't come. He let his muscles relax and peeked one eye open to see what had happened.

Sukuna was on the other side of the domain, the force had made him crush into his throne, the skulls a mess around his unmoving body. For a moment, Megumi thought that he had died from the blast. But then he heard laughter, and he let his head fall back into the blood, closing his eyes softly.

Why had he agreed to this?

"Oh, this is truly brilliant, Satoru!" Sukuna exclaimed through the laughter, his voice booming in the room. "Protecting your pet by giving him your own energy. Truly, a masterpiece. Makes sense why it reeked of you the second he popped in."

Megumi opened his eyes again and looked in the direction of the voice, curious if Gojou had entered the domain, because Sukuna was clearly speaking to him. However, it was still the two of them. Sukuna had gotten up, laughing and speaking up into the ceiling as if Gojou was above them.

"Tell me, Satoru," Sukuna continued, completely ignoring Megumi's presence. "Have you considered that maybe the boy isn't a halfwit and will actually use the energy you have loaded him up with? Man, he is a fucking Armageddon, given the right release." Sukuna glanced at Megumi at the last word, a playful glint in his eyes. The eyes under his eyes smiling in unison.

Now that the attention was back on Megumi, he felt himself shrink. The curse was manic, like he had just won a lottery.

Hope.

Gojou had wanted to give him hope. So, he had loaded Megumi up with his own energy for Sukuna to use—or to think he could use.

How much had he given him to get a reaction like that out of the curse? Megumi didn't feel any different from before.

"Oh, we will have a lovely time together indeed," Sukuna said as he appeared in front of Megumi, his hand out to help the other up. Megumi blinked up at the crimson eyes and down at the hand before reaching out his own to clasp their hands together.

Sukuna pulled him up and in a moment, there was no more blood on his body, the blood on the ground parting around his feet. The throne was also fixed, back to its pervious terrible height.

Sukuna stood in front of him, his face lax, waiting for Megumi to lead the conversation. His brain short-circuited completely. He hadn't thought this through. He hadn't thought they would get this far, that Sukuna would want to converse with him. He expected the other to try to kill him, and Gojou pull him out. "So— What is it that you do all day?" He forced the words out and grimaced at how terrible it was to small talk with a curse.

The corner of Sukuna's mouth tugged up. "Do you wish me to show you?"

"If it is acceptable," Megumi said softly, wanting to unintentionally add a Sir in the end and kicking himself in his mind.

A moment, and he felt himself seated. With wide eyes he looked around, and down the innate domain. From Sukuna's throne.

"I spend most of my time here." Sukuna's voice came from his right. Megumi turned, to see the curse sitting on the armrest of the throne. Once again, he found himself under him, their eyes locking, the curse's face in shadows. Even sitting on his throne, he felt so small. "How do you like the view?" That smirk again.

Megumi wanted to answer that the view was fine, but then realized that Sukuna wasn't speaking about the domain. He tore his eyes from the other and looked down the mountain of skulls again. "Doesn't it get monotone? All this blood and gore?" he asked instead.

Sukuna hummed. "Indeed, I wish there was more blood. If I had my body again, I would make the streets flood with blood and guts." His voice was dreamy, and the mental imagine made Megumi shudder. "But tell me, Fushiguro, why did Satoru really send his pet here?"

"I want to learn more—"

"Stop!" he ordered. "I thought we were friends. You should not lie to your friends, Fushiguro."

Trust.

Megumi looked up carefully. Sukuna wore a carefree smile, still leaning over him.

He suddenly felt how moist the air was, making it hard to breathe. Even though he wasn't covered in blood anymore, he still felt the smell deep inside his head. Panic rose again. He couldn't fall apart here, not now. He had made a promise to Gojou that he couldn't break.

Sukuna seemed to read him like an open book because his smile fell, and he sighed defeated. He snapped his fingers and Megumi found himself seated... in a garden. He looked around frantically, trying to find the bones and blood, but there weren't any.

They sat in a small garden, with flora that Megumi had never seen before. It was night there—wherever they were. Some of the flowers seemed to glow in the night like fireflies—their shine giving the garden a blue hue. He breathed in deep, and relaxed visibly against the bench, when he found the air fresh and pleasant.

"Is this more to your liking?" Sukuna asked, his voice bored. He sat on an opposite bench, legs parted wide, one arm lazily on the backrest. He didn't wait for Megumi to answer when he snapped his fingers again, and a warm evening breeze blew over Megumi. "You humans are so predictable."

"Thank you," Megumi said truthfully. He really was thankful for the change of scenery because he was certain that if they were to stay there, he would have a panic attack. He wasn't sure how Gojou's energy would mix with him losing control.

Sukuna waved his hand dismissively. "Now, I helped you, you help me. Why did Satoru send you?"

"I- I cannot tell you." Megumi said honestly, hoping that it would be enough; deeply knowing that it wouldn't.

The curse hummed again. "It is a progress that you did not lie again. But unfortunately, I do not deem this an acceptable answer."

His hands were sweating as he fixated on them on his lap, trying to find the right words that wouldn't disappoint Sukuna and give away Gojou. A butterfly landed on his laced hands. Its wings red with black lines, like the curse's tattoos. "I am here to entertain you."

"Oh, in that case." Sukuna snapped his fingers again, and they were in a room, completely engulfed in red light. Sukuna sat in a black leather couch, legs parted, both arms stretched on the backrest. The expression on his face so nasty that Megumi felt he had to glance down to see whether he was still wearing his clothes. Sukuna's white kimono was off, only a pair of black pants on, as he leaned back, his whole upper body on display. "Do entertain me."

The immense and immediate change in his energy, made Megumi's head spin. His eyes wide, mouth hanging open, trying to form words, but what the hell would anyone do or say in this situation. "Please, take us back," he whispered.

Sukuna sat forward, eyes hooded, every movement precise and slow, like he was the one giving Megumi a show. "You said you would entertain me. Is this what they teach sorcerers these days? To entertain curses in their own domains. You are awful at it, but don't worry." A grin so predatory, Megumi took a step back. "You will learn."

There was no blood, no gore, but Megumi felt even sicker than he had before. The air had a slight smoke to it, the room warm and the air so still. He was truly going to lose it.

Yet, this was exactly the reason for him being there. To charm and distract the king of curses, to be of use to Gojou. He knew that the curse wouldn't enjoy painting or opera. Of course, it would be something twisted. This probably wasn't even the worse of his interests.

Megumi though of his friend. Itadori would be free. He could live a long life and find his good death on his own terms. Sukuna would be gone and a large part of the curse problem would be solved. If Megumi played his part, everyone would be alright. Gojou believed in him, Itadori's whole life hung on his shoulders, the world balance itself. He couldn't let everyone down just because he felt sick to his stomach.

"Teach me," he said and locked eyes with Sukuna again. He looked down Sukuna's body and felt his throat seal up when he realized that this was essentially Itadori's body. This was his friend. How the hell had his life come to this point.

Yet, this was also not real. It wasn't Itadori's physical body, he wouldn't cross any line with his friend because this was just a metaphysical place, two abstract bodies. It is not real. I can do this. I can sacrifice myself if everyone else may live.

"Good," Sukuna said, his voice gravel, but the praise felt good. "Come here." And Megumi did. "Sit in my lap." Megumi turned the rational side of his brain off as he did. His face was now inches from Sukuna's, but for once, he was above the other. The curse's mouth opened, and a tattooed tongue wet his lips. He felt a hand slither up his back and another hold him by his waist. "You will eventually tell me the truth, Fushiguro. But for right now, I will play along with your game. I hope you know what you have signed up for."

The grip on his body tightened and pulled him into Sukuna's chest, his face buried in the nook of his shoulder. The curse let his hand roam on his back, and it felt warm, it felt good to be touched.

He hadn't realized how touch deprived he had been. Megumi found pride in his solitary behaviour, his unreadable expression. It felt like a strength to never let anyone close, to never reveal his cards.

This was the absolute opposite of strength. This was letting go, trusting—and not in Sukuna, but in Gojou—that he would be safe, that he wouldn't be hurt. He felt Gojou on Sukuna's fingers, guiding them, so they wouldn't stray too far.

His eyes snapped open when he felt Sukuna's right hand on his neck and the curse's lips on his neck. He reflexively pulled back, but the hand detained him, the lips giving a low laugh. "Maybe I was wrong, you aren't as awful at this after all. Does it feel good grinding on my lap?"

This time Megumi did pull back and stared down in humiliation. He hadn't realized, but now he did feel it. Sukuna's dick was hard against his ass, his own equally so. He wanted to pull back further, but Sukuna still held him by his waist.

"You moan so prettily when you do so." The curse chuckled and put the hand that had held his throat on his chest, slowly moving it downwards. He was still wearing his school uniform, but he felt terribly naked under Sukuna's fingers. The curse stopped at his waistband and looked back up at Megumi. "Do you like to have me under you?"

Megumi chocked and turned his face away because he didn't trust himself to speak.

"I take that as a yes." A low chuckle. The hand left the hem of his pants and grabbed his chin. "Then look at me," he ordered, and Megumi whined, the sound coming out so needy that it terrified even himself. "If only Satoru could see you now." The curse laughed darkly.

Sukuna tilted his head upwards and licked all the way up from his collarbone to his jaw; then tilted his face down again and kissed him on the lips, raw and brutal. Sharp teeth clawed at his lower lip.

Then there was nothing.

Megumi blinked his eyes in confusion and found two blue eyes shining back. "Go- Gojou," he managed, but it escaped as almost a moan and he clasped his hand over his mouth to stop himself for making any other sound.

Gojou's face was serious when he spoke. "Are you okay?"

Megumi nodded, his hand still covering his mouth. He was so damn hard that he had difficulty not grinding upwards towards Gojou... who was leaned over him, as he lay on the floor. This was becoming a theme of his life as of late. He was panting hard, the hand on his mouth making it more difficult to breathe, but he was absolutely against humiliating himself further.

Gojou stood up and gave him a hand to help him stand. Flashbacks played when the last time someone helped him up, had led them, and he bit the inside of his hand to shut his betraying mind off. He lay there a moment longer before he let his hand fall and took Gojou's to get up. They were still in the same room where they had started the process.

"We can go now," Megumi said when he had his breathing under control again.

Gojou gave him another look before he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "You look like shit and need to rest. Others cannot see you like this. You can use my room until you feel better."

Before Megumi could argue, they stood in Gojou's living room again. He wobbled slightly, but Gojou held him upright.

"Rest, I will see you later and we can talk then." With that he just left.

Megumi went to the bathroom to see what he meant by looking like shit, and almost turned right around when he glimpsed at his reflexion. His hair was a mess, eyes bloodshot. A blush ran all the way from his cheeks to his nose, even the tips of his ears were still red. There was dried drool in the corner of his mouth that he wasn't certain was his or Sukuna's.

He blinked, when he remembered that it hadn't been real. The reflexion he saw was his physical body responding to what had happened in his mind. He blushed further when he imagined Gojou standing over his lifeless body, seeing god knows what, when his mind was tormented by the curse.

He groaned and proceeded to wash his face. He wanted to brush his teeth, but since his toothbrush was downstairs, he just cleaned his mouth with squeezing toothpaste on his finger. Sukuna's lips hadn't really been on his, but he still felt the taste on his tongue.

When he deemed himself clean enough, he fell in Gojou's bed, pulled the purple sheets over his head and dozed off immediately.