Chapter 22

"RYOMEN! RYOMEN WAIT!"

He tried to ignore her plea, he continued to walk farther and farther from the establishment until she finally caught up and cut him off. "RYOMEN!" she snapped at him. "What's wrong with you!?"

"I should be asking you that," he muttered, but his head shook to it all. What six eyes said, it wasn't a lie… what the knockoff said… wasn't a lie either, but the fact remains, she knew, this whole time his horrible acts against the world, her own family! Yet, why is she still at his side? "Perhaps you may want to reconsider the idea of being with me, after what I put you though…"

"What are you talking about?" she snapped back at him. "You think I would come back to life just to live?"

He paused. "What do you gain from being with me? I can't possibly give you the family you desire, why would ANYONE want to bare my children? I wasn't interested in them anyways… well… not until recently."

She smirked a little. "You were reluctant before too, remember. Whenever I talked about it, you always changed the subject. Ryomen, you grew a little as a person…"

He snorted at the notion. "I was forced to take care of the brats of the brats, the kids… sort of grew on me. But that's besides the point!" he stated. "Chusi, is there a guarantee in this world that what happened before, won't happen again?" he asked of her. "What if the same thing occurs? What if I lose myself and become vengeful once more? You said so yourself, the first person I would attack would be you! I would NEVER forgive myself if that happens. Why… why risk it?"

She paused, her eyes stared right into his face without an ounce of fear. "Because, some things are worth the risk." She said gently. "Ryomen… I still hurt from what happened, from when I lost you. I was too scared to wield my own strength, I kept it hidden for a reason since I knew the moment the jujutsu council or the emperor found out… they would take me away. But I also know my family… you would have fought for me tooth and nail… I couldn't bare the weight of that happening. To have so many die for me…"

He glared at her. "Didn't your family do the same for me?" he asked. "You said so yourself, some of your own family were willing to die to me, just to keep the human side I still had alive… why would they?"

"We… we always knew there was something about you, Ryomen. Ever since the day we met, even Ryujin said so. Despite your appearance, you never used that as an excuse to be mean, to be unhappy…"

"Your family were the ones who treated me like a human being," he said. "Everyone else ran away, screaming at the sight of me. Hell, even when we came to the Hida Province, before saving it, people thought I was a curse to destroy the land!" he protested.

"You proved them wrong, they soon understood that you weren't a curse, but a sorcerer there to help. You showed that to them time and time again,"

"Why are we even talking about this!" he protested. "That was over a thousand years ago, and yet… I can't let it go."

"Because of what has happened recently, not to mention Ryo… I mean… Yuuji, what you put him through, what he endured because of you…"

"Tch, you had to remained me of that… It worked out for him, didn't it? He's a dragon!"

"But what hell did he go through to get to this point?"

He sighed in defeat once more. "There is nothing I can do to make amends for what I have done. That I am at peace with."

"You're troubled by the notion of what you can do, to show you are here to help. The burden of finding your place in this world."

He froze, yet that smirk couldn't escape from him. "How come I could never hide anything from a Tooru woman?"

"You're too easy to read,"

Sukuna paused. "But you're right. I'm in a world where I don't belong, my previous purpose… gone, and now… I'm a pet." He said bitterly. "A dragon's pet… not to mention man servant to Yua…"

"Man servant?" she snickered.

"Yeah, before my human memories and my sanity returned. Suiryu forced me to submit to Yua when she was still expecting Shin. I pledged myself to her, then… I did so again as the family guardian. She had the option to take my life, but now… I cannot die unless she says so."

"Oh good!" Chusi said with glee. "That means you are not going anywhere, anytime soon…"

Sometimes, the way she speaks can be unnerving…