Chapter 23

BASH!

The moment Yuuji returned, he unleashed his fury upon Sukuna. He beat him black and blue, nearly to the point of death! Sukuna… never fought back.

Which was strange, at the same time, it was clear too, he dies here and now, he takes possession of Kiyoshi. With that in mind, Yuuji paused from his beating but glared down at Sukuna with such rage. "Even now… I can't KILL you!" he roared in anger. "I'll at least be able to maul you enough…"

His hand altered to that of claws, he watched as Sukuna made no attempts to stop the hand from sheering off his face. And yet, as it came within striking distance, the hand, suddenly stopped.

Yuuji froze as his strike was caught.

"WHY! WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME?"

Of all people to do such a thing, Yua stopped him. "You are not seeing this clearly!" she protested to him. "Calm down Itadori!"

"But he USED my son…"

"He did… and didn't."

Yuuji froze. Even Sukuna appeared confused. "What riddle do you speak now Tooru?" he demanded of her. Despite his wounds, he was still able to speak. However, Yua demonstrated. Suiryu was still off to the side, clenching on to Kiyoshi when she approached. Her hand surged with odd energy and suddenly, it was drawn to Kiyoshi with great ease.

Suiryu froze.

"Wait… Yua!?" he asked with amazement, he bore a smile for the first time since his wedding.

Yuuji shook his head. "What does that mean?"

"This is a method my family uses to find a vessel for Ryujin, this energy can only be absorbed by a dragon's vessel… your son is absorbing it." She turned to Sukuna. "The question we need to ask is… where did HE find a dragon to put into your son… and why?"

There was much confusion. Yuuji however was in disbelief. "Kiyoshi… has a dragon… he's not marked to be Sukuna's…"

Yua shook her head. "Do you sense his energy in your son? I think Suiryu has been trying to find it in order to attempt to remove it. But that is very dicey and complicated still, even for a dragon."

She turned back to Sukuna who appeared… almost lost in a sense. "Tell me what happened," she demanded. "What occurred in the time you had Kiyoshi?"

He kept silent.

He said not a word and turned his head.

"Answer the question!" Yuuji roared. As such he glared at the collar around Sukuna's neck. Slowly, it began to tighten. "What happened!" Yuuji demanded.

It grew tighter and tighter and yet, he refused to speak. It got to the point where Sukuna was blue in the face!

"Itadori enough!" Yua scolded.

He was reluctant to release the hold, but did so bitterly.

Sukuna passed out from it, and yet, Yuuji won't be happy until he is dead.

"Itadori… Yuuji… calm yourself down. I know this just happened, he tried to use Kiyoshi, but the bigger question is this. Why didn't he? Sukuna NEVER messes up an opportunity for himself… why did he this time?"

He took deep breath and settled himself down. But these are question he doesn't want to ask or have answered right now. Instead, he turned to Suiryu, he unleashed his wings and extra arms before taking Kiyoshi into his second set of limbs, he absorbed his son and wrapped his wings back around his body.

He went home without a word, for now, he will focus on Kiyoshi's recovery.

His son needs to rest.

#

Yua peered down at him.

The unconscious king of curses.

Suiryu came over and began to stare as well. "So… what's happening here?" he asked of her.

She shook her head to the question. "Not even I know, but something did happen. And it's scared Sukuna. But I am right, right? He never would have messed up his chance to gain a vessel, especially one you and Yuuji would never fight against."

"But that only makes less sense to me." Suiryu said with concern. "Did he mess up on purpose just to gain our trust? Or did he really mess up and not realize it? Something has to be happening to him…" he pause oddly. "The binding vows on his heart have gotten weaker."

"Binding vows?" Yua whispered. "Isn't there backlash for when a vow breaks?"

He nodded to that. "But that remains to be seen if this is causing the backlash OR if he is playing us for fools." He paused once more. "At the moment, I don't think it is going to matter if we have destroyed the rest of him yet. He needs to be rid of once and for all here… then we go from there. Yuuji and I can smell whatever he owned a mile away. We can destroy them fast before his legions can regroup."

She fell oddly silent to this notion. As much as she agrees, Sukuna should die for what he has done. Her mind was screaming otherwise. She could already picture her ancestors begging her to stop this. But, she won't do that to Itadori. If he needs closure, if his son needs this to feel safe, so be it.

"Talk to Yuuji later, you two can decide what to do from there. In the mean time, what to do with him… he's out cold."

Suiryu glared at Sukuna but sighed aloud. "Fine, I'll take him somewhere else. No doubt we want him healed and rested for when we end him once and for all."