Chapter 34

He had to be careful.

Suiryu found his mind wonder, he couldn't quite focus and yet, he kept thinking of things Sukuna had shouted at him within the innate domain. They were many insults and yet, one struck him to his core. "You are nothing more than a fragment of me, your body belongs to that brat, your knowledge and power come from me as well… so… what are you?" he would cackle shortly after declaring that Suiryu was nothing more than a rebellious side of Sukuna who dared to take the 'goody two shoes' path as he called it. "I do admit, I will give you credit. You have gotten stronger than what you were before… impressive growth in a few years… perhaps there is potential for you yet."

"SUIRYU!"

He jumped. D'angelo came before him yet appeared worried. "You are out of it! Everything okay sweetie?" he asked.

He merely nodded. "Yeah, just thinking over some stuff…" he said meekly. "Sorry,"

"Don't worry about it. Now, how about you come with me and let's do this damn publicity thing…"

He nearly forgot why he was there, they were doing a publicity stunt down town, they were using models to open up a new store or something and they paid top dollar for him to be there. He dressed rather nice, yet at the same time, skimpy. Dress pants, black shoes, black suspenders and a hat… no shirt. Then again it was his style to say the least.

Yet also at this damn thing was Leo Adonis. And the bastard has been eying him oddly as of late. 'He must know something…' Suiryu thought.

They started the conference, all he had to do was stand in the background and look hot. Nothing serious, yet as it wore on, he was getting board. Then he felt something. His necklace fell off!

Adonis had released the clasp of it.

"LOOK AT HIM! HE HAS MARKINGS OF HIS ROCK STAR PERSONA WHEN HE ISN'T WEARING THAT DAMN NECKLACE!" Adonis shouted.

Suiryu froze, did his marks appear? Yet then again, he remembered he has been rendered human. So he didn't act surprised, he merely leaned down and retrieved his necklace and glared at Adonis as he froze at the sight.

There were no marks to be found. "Leo… sweetie, take some water and go sit down, I think you've been in the sun too long." D'angelo insisted.

Yet Suiryu caught the look in his eye. He knows now something isn't right.

They made it back to the studio, he apologized again to D'angelo for stepping back, and yet he was really understanding.

"Oh honey, that is no problem," insisted D'angelo. "If you need ANYTHING, you call me, got it?"

Suiryu nodded and was about to thank him, until Leo appeared once more. "You're powerless aren't you?" he asked with a wicked grin.

He merely glared at him.

Leo snickered as he took a closer look at Suiryu, but then noticed the dragon fang he wore, was cracked. "You are! You have no curse energy! HAHA! Now you are easy to kill! Oh, the gods have finally smiled upon me…"

Adonis's smile only grew as his hand appeared to be poised to strike. Suiryu prepared himself for the worst, until D'angelo suddenly came between them. "Adonis, I will only say this once… and only ONCE… don't you dare lay a finger on him!"

It stunned him. Suiryu knows D'angelo isn't one for fighting, and yet he is coming to bat for him? "D'angelo, it's okay…" he said gently.

"No, it's not!" he protested. "Seriously, Leo, go before I do something I'll regret." He warned.

Despite his threat, Adonis snickered… then burst into a fit of laughter.

"YOU! THREATEN ME?!" he demanded of him. "You forget your place maggot!"

D'angelo sighed as he turned to Suiryu once more. "Sorry sweetie, just give me a moment with this brute, okay?"

Suiryu didn't quite understand what was going on, yet felt someone pull him back and away. "Don't get between them,"

He turned and saw Rufus, but he was grinning from ear to ear. "Besides, it's been a while since I've seen a good beat down…"

Rufus wasn't the only one there. All of D'angelo's team was watching along side him. "What's going on?"

"Well I guess you can call this a sorcerer's duel in a sense. Divine users do this all the to settle arguments, as well it determines ranks among them. Well, let's say there is a reason why D'angelo doesn't associate with them…" Rufus said as his smile grew.

"Wait, sorcerer's duel!?"

He began to watch on as Adonis was circling him like a piece of meat. "YOU, of all people dare to challenge ME?" he snickered. "Know your place, D'angelo. We know you are a divine user, we know you have been keeping tabs on that Sukuna clone, and yet, you were also tasked to imprison and destroy him!"

Suiryu froze, he was?!

D'angelo merely smirked. "Honey, I was asked to keep an eye on him… I was never asked to imprison or destroy him without just cause. There was no reason," he said in a rather snarky tone. "YOU on the other hand… you've broken more rules than I could count, your forced contracts are tortured as well as malnourished, abused and quite frankly, I don't think they like you the least bit."

"I can vouch for that," Suiryu called. "You are an asshole to them,"

"SHUT UP!" Leo snapped back. "When I am done beating him, I'll kill you next!"

Rufus snickered, the make up designer was laughing her ass off, while the tailor couldn't keep himself from falling over, laughing. "Oh, this is going to be amazing…" the make up designer said.

D'angelo was tried of it, he began to take off his rings and jewelry and vest and set them aside. "Okay, let's do this then, Divine domain, battle," he announced, the room altered. Suiryu was taken aback when he explained it's called a divine domain.

"In here, it replicates the world around you. However, the items that are copied will still carry the same impact if used or destroyed" Rufus explained. "Also, humans don't get hurt this way, living things are fazed through."

D'angelo stretched himself out. "You want me to hit you first or…"

Adonis smirked as he stuck out his chin. "Hit me with your best…"

KABOOM

The wall collapsed, Adonis flew through at least four of them before coming to a stop, from there, he picked himself out of the wreck, yet froze as D'angelo cracked his knuckles.

Even Suiryu was rendered silent. "Shit…" he whispered.

Suddenly, D'angelo vanished! He moved too fast to be seem, and yet he pummeled Adonis! He went through the walls again, before ending back in the same room where it all started. When Leo hit the ground, he tried to get up again, when D'angelo suddenly scratched Adonis's stomach.

"Three… two… one… goodnight bitch," D'angelo said rather confidently.

Adonis couldn't keep his eyes open, they rolled back as he suddenly passed out!

Suiryu, was at a loss for words. The domain went down and yet, the walls that were damaged appeared to have repaired. It was as if a battle never happened here.

"You… you're that powerful?" he asked.

A slight blush came to his face. "Well, I don't like to show off." D'angelo said and giggled. "But yes, but that's not my strength, it was borrowed."

"Borrowed?"

"When a divine user makes a contract with a divine creature, it all depends on the kind of contract between them. When it's a master and slave contract, the user will obtain SOME power from those they have forced to bond with. They cannot and will not gain every bit of that summons's power that way. An EQUALS contract, it on a whole different level." Rufus began to explain. "Which is what we have."

Suiryu knew it. "You are all divine creatures…" he whispered.

"Yep, I'm Becky." Said the makeup artist. "I'm a gorgon by the way."

"Gorgon…" Suiryu whispered as he turned to Rufus.

He smirked. "Basilisk. How else was I able to heal your brother?" he asked with a smile of his own.

"That… How?" he asked in utter amazement.

"I'm… a little older than I appear… Kechizu is a good kid, like hell I would let him die like that."

"Thank you…" Suiryu said with great sincerity. But paused. "Wait, how the hell did you get an equals contract with a Basilisk!?" he demanded aloud.

D'angelo merely smirked. "You don't have to know everything about me at once." He snickered.

Turning to the fashion tailor, Archie, he giggled a little. "Perhaps it's best you not know, I mean you look freaked out as it is… then again, why are you? Are you not a clone of Sukuna?"

Suiryu turned away.

"Darling… what did the bastard do to you?" asked D'angelo.

"Wait, what are you talking about? I don't even remember…"

"Sukuna took over you when you came here. How he possessed you… I think you can thank that bastard on the ground there and that Fred jerk… I was able to suppress Sukuna for you for only a short while, but that was it. It sounds like he did a number to you."

Suiryu tried to remember, yet his head pulsed! As it did though, most of the events flowed back into him, he remembered drinking the sake, that what Sukuna's essence was hidden in, and then, how he tried to take over… what he couldn't remember was how he was taken out. Gojo didn't even sense him, which mean the bastard is gone, but he doesn't understand or know how.

He was able to tell D'angelo and the others everything he recalled. How Sukuna possessed him and tried to take over his body. Yet, he was defeated, he can't remember how he was, but he was purged from his body. What he didn't know was that he had taken all of his power with him. Rendering him human. "I've… I've been trying to figure out who I am as of late. So many questions are going on in my mind… I am starting to understand how my brother Yuuji felt when he was going through radical changes… I never understood it though, nor did I respect the idea that he was having such troubles, and I brushed them off like they were nothing." He suddenly slid down the wall as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to understand this emotion he is feeling. "I don't quite have a concept of emotions. This is one I haven't felt before…"

D'angelo knelt down beside him. "Darling, can I tell you something?"

"Sure," he said in an uninterested tone.

D'angelo took a seat next to him. "When I first saw you, my scouter… by the way, also one of my connections to the divine. She found you out and about and figured that this wasn't right, also the fact that she saw you along with the demon vessel, sent up red flags in her mind. But let's move on from that… She brought you to me to see who you really were. One of my talents sweetie, I see people for who they truly are in their heart of hearts."

"How can you do that?"

"Years of practice," he snickered. "Anyway, the moment I saw you, I didn't know for certain who you were… you were kinda murky to me. I couldn't quite see or understand certain aspects of you. When we did our first session, I tested your temper. When your brother asked about payment and I was going to deny you. You came in with a counter offer, what stunned me was this… you never used violence against me to get what you wanted."

"Huh? Why would I over a few stupid pictures!" he demanded.

"Sukuna would have," he stated.

Suiryu went silent. "Yeah, he would have…"

"But you… never did. We did argue here and there a few times over what I was asking you to wear, but nothing more. Since then, despite the fact that you don't enjoy doing this, you still come when I ask you for help, or if there was a job that needed to be done, you did it," he paused for a moment and sighed aloud. "I was still trying to figure out who you were, but it appears that not even you know the answer to that. But if I can help you, let me say this."

A small smile came over his lip. "I've seen and spoken with the demon vessel, Yuuji Itadori about you. When you left to change, I would always ask if he would model with you and I know why he refuses. Yet when I speak of you to him, his eyes just light up. He never said anything bad about you. And he speaks so fondly of his brother, I knew and I have known ever since that you are not Sukuna…"

"I agree," stated Rufus. "I had my doubts about you,"

"So did I,"

A new voice was heard. Peering up, Suiryu stared at a rather tall, and muscular looking man! He was a little concerned. "Uh, I never met you before."

The man smiled, he had long, brown hair and piercing yellow eyes of all thing! "I'm Wayne… Wayne Wyvern." He explained.

"Wyvern… that thing the divine users tried to us to get my brother in the duel!"

He smirked and nodded. "Still recovering from those sword slashes from that shadow user, but I appreciate the strikes were not aimed to kill."

"He's one of my new contracts," D'angelo explained. "Rufus found him on the rooftop here, we helped him recover and I let him decide what he wanted to do. He could stay and be one of my familiars, or I would help him find a place to feel safe. He decided to stick around," he said rather proudly.

Wayne nodded his head. "I rather be with someone on equal terms than to be a forced slave,"

It was then Suiryu realized that all those connected to D'angelo wore a gold bracelet on their wrists. D'angelo did too but wore many of them. "You noticed that huh?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare,"

"It's okay darling, let me explain. A slave contract, the divine creatures have a collar on their necks, they are chained to the user they are bounded to through soul chains. However on an equals contract, it's still a chain, yet it is more respectable, as well, the divine user also wears the same thing. See, I got quite a few myself."

That's what amazed Suiryu, he figured that out more or less, yet there were only four of his contract creatures in the room. On each wrist, D'angelo wore at least eight of these gold bracelets!

"You have to be the strongest divine user in Japan…" Suiryu whispered.

D'angelo smirked as he put a finger to his lip. "Shhh, that's our little secret."

He nodded in agreement as his eyes shifted to Adonis. "What did you do to him to knock him out with a scratch?"

"He can obtain our power," Rufus explained. "The strength he displayed, that a combination of two of us, the scratch, he has venom in his nails from me. Not as powerful as mine, but enough to knock a bastard like him down. He's gonna be out for about 48 hours."

"Whoa… glad I stayed on your good side,"

"Like wise!" But D'angelo paused. "So, leave of absence huh? Are you… leaving, leaving?" he asked.

Suiryu nodded. "I have no doubt the elders and council know something is wrong with me. As Gojo was a pillar in preventing them from doing what they wanted, I was a wall to them. After all, I was ensuring they didn't do anything too stupid against my brother and his friends. But now…" he stared at his hands. "I can't do anything to stop them."

D'angelo nodded. "Perhaps it's best you get on your way then, contact me if it is safe to do so. If you need help…"

"I can't drag you any more into this, thank you though."

D'angelo nodded. "We will at least get you a lift back to the school, be careful from this moment on."