Chapter: To the Children Who Inherit Courage
Summary: The world keeps changing around them, and it isn't always for the best. Good thing the Colonies have their Yagami.
Rating: T
Warning: Brief mention of canon-typical violence.
The sun is shining, the breeze is cool, and Satoru is kicking Sukuna's ass. Of course, Sukuna might say something different if asked, but that's why no one asks him.
They're restricted to hand to hand, which gives Sukuna an advantage simply because he has two more arms than Satoru does – except Satoru has a longer reach and he's faster.
So, yeah. Kicking Sukuna's ass, even if they are almost so even that the only one who could tell it's so is Satoru himself.
Sukuna slashes, claws sharp enough to draw blood even without any kind of slicing technique, and Satoru parries with his forearm to get in close, grabbing the second arm as he brings his knee up—
Sukuna rolls with the hit, grunting but never dropping his large grin, and Satoru's head jerks to the side as Sukuna punches his temple hard enough to force him to release his prey.
Satoru spits a glob of blood, and smiles widely enough that all his teeth must be showing. Sukuna wipes off the thin trail of red blood dripping down his nose, and answers in kind.
They jump again, fists pulled back—
"Sukuna-ou! It's an emergency, Sukuna-ou!"
—and twist around the other, avoiding impact.
The new curse looks like some kind of bug pupa with a skull for a head, a long black tail, and two tiny wings that it is flapping madly as it rushes at them. Satoru checks that his bandages are in place, and observes as Sukuna straightens, brow furrowed in seriousness.
"What is it, Kogane?" he asks as soon as the curse stops to hover in midair, Satoru stepping calmly to their side, hands in his pockets.
They are both dirty and a bit bruised and bloodied, but Sukuna's expression tells him that this is not a drill. They aren't far from the bulk of the colony, simply a bit further down the Hill, in a clearing not easily accessible but still within Barrier limits.
… Former Barrier limits. That will take some getting used to.
"The Link is broken, Sukuna-ou! Curses are dying!" Kogane shouts, fluttering nervously, and both Sukuna and Satoru stiffen in surprise.
The Link is whatever connects the colonies, allowing direct passage from one to the other despite the distance between them, some kind of teleportation technique open to everyone.
The first and last time Satoru used it, to get from Origin to Victory, he ended up in the past—maybe, he's still unsure about that, the memory too blurry and scrambled to trust—but Kogane didn't say that curses 'got lost'.
Curses are dying.
Sukuna doesn't need anything else, bolting towards the colony almost faster than Satoru can follow.
"How could the Link break?" Satoru shouts over the rushing wind, hopping over buildings and ignoring the startled gasps of the pedestrians, almost side-by-side with Sukuna.
He doesn't know where Sukuna is going, so he can only follow.
"It connected the Barriers. With them gone, it was only a matter of time," Sukuna scowls, and by then, they can already hear the screams.
A couple seconds later, they drop back to street level, right in the middle of a large and round open square. Paths come out of it and into the colony proper on one half of the square, while the other shows off an impressive wall with faded carvings.
The source of the screams is in the middle of a circle of carvings lying by that wall. A mass of shredded curse bits, and the healthy ones who apparently saw it happen.
"Explain, now!" Sukuna snaps, walking to the corpses without issue, since everyone immediately rushes out of his path when they realize he's there.
It's weird to see Sukuna in the colony without a kimono, standing regal and posh and annoyed at all the kowtowing, but they did come from the training grounds, after all.
The curses still recognize him easily, even clad in dusty baggy black pants, a white sash, and a slightly faded red vest.
They recognize Satoru easily too, despite his own dirty navy-blue pants and slightly shredded—damnit, Sukuna—sleeveless gi, his own sash lost after he used it to immobilize two of Sukuna's arms at the beginning of their spar.
Any other time, Satoru would be annoyed—disturbed, uncomfortable—with the way his scars are out on display, both the old ones on his arms and the newest on his chest, since the gi refuses to stay in place without the additional support of the sash.
But there are more important things now.
The murmurs pick right up at Satoru's back, a lot more Unlimited-sama than Gojo-sama, and Satoru can't help but wonder if the history class brats have managed to babble it all up yet or if it's the scars that do it.
"They came in to trade, like every week, but the moment the Link opened, this is what came out!" one of the witnesses shrieks, panicking visibly, as they gesture at the minced remains.
Satoru frowns softly and turns to the carvings on the wall while Sukuna starts barking orders to clear the area and get who-knows-who-or-what over here—
The carvings. He knows those symbols, he had used those symbols until not that long ago, if one doesn't take into account the one-thousand-year timelapse, to focus his warping for long-distance travel.
If these carvings are used in the same way, to anchor the Link, then maybe, even without the Barrier—
The carvings light up in a way only Satoru can perceive, broken and stuttering, and Satoru stops thinking.
"Sukuna, cut!" he shouts, lifting his hand, and Sukuna doesn't even hesitate, flicking a finger – and Satoru's palm is cut open. "Move back!" he orders, immediately turning to the carvings, sealing them all back up with his own blood, that pulse of energy coming closer and closer and closer—
The circle is closed and Satoru links his hands together with a burst of cursed energy—
And tripping over each other, bundles and boxes crashing to the ground, a group of about a dozen curses burst into appearance in the middle of the circle on the ground.
Their startled cries are immediately cut short as they look up and meet Satoru's fanged grin and Sukuna's thunderous scowl.
"Which colony do you come from?" Sukuna hisses, picking the closest curse up with a hand on his collar.
"M-Minakami Han'ei, Sukuna-koutei!"
"Damnit. Gojo, get us to Fukyuu no Tochi," Sukuna orders, dropping the startled curse, and Satoru frowns— "Iwate, Satoru! Get me to Dabora, now!"
"Geez, hold your horses," Satoru huffs, shooing the terrified newcomers out of the circle with a wave of his hand. "Do you seriously think I can just warp us there, no trouble? This isn't a picnic to the lake, you know."
"If the Link is breaking, we need to warn the other Yagami, and the sooner we do that, the more curses who won't end up like that!"
"Bossy much?" Satoru huffs, but the moment the circle is clear, Satoru kneels down in the middle of it, reaching through it to find the Link ending he's looking for. "Don't worry, we can get back to me kicking your ass in a moment. Ah, there you are!"
"Do it," Sukuna hisses, clamping a hand on Satoru's shoulder, and it's the lack of retort that really drives the urgency of the situation home.
Curses have been isolated in their colonies, with only the Link to connect them, for a thousand years. The world beyond the Barriers is dangerous enough that only the Yagami, the Special Grade curses, can survive in it, and not just because the rest couldn't get past the Barriers. If the Link is truly falling, the colonies will lose their only safe connection to one another.
Satoru latches onto Iwate—Fukyuu no Tochi—and tugs on Limitless, using the two anchor points to suck in the space between them safely—
And with the slightest pull of his cursed energy, Victory is gone.
Satoru wobbles on his knees, feeling the strain of the jump despite his perfect control and the anchors, but Sukuna's hand keeps him from doing something as ridiculous as falling on his butt.
"Dabora!" Sukuna roars, his own cursed energy washing over the area they've just appeared into, no regard for the way Satoru grimaces at the volume or the curses around them shriek in terror.
"W-Wha – Why are you here?!" Dabora shouts, appearing before them a moment later, and as Satoru gets back to his feet, he almost doesn't recognize the Special Grade curse.
Back at Origin, he had been posh and composed, looking down on everyone and everything with a sneer scrunching his beak-like curved nose and pulling on his thin lips.
Now, he's visibly ruffled, feathers puffing every which way, large eyes blown wide and huge black irises shrunken almost to a pinprick. His white-gloved hands are curled like claws, and his cursed energy spikes in both fear and threat.
"The Link is breaking, we need to send a message to all the colonies to keep them from using it," Sukuna hisses, stalking to Dabora with a snarl on his lips and fire in his four eyes.
Impossibly enough, Dabora seems to poof up even more, shrinking under Sukuna's glare.
"And you believe I—"
"Yes. Do it!"
And just like that, the freaked out Special Grade turns into something tall and threatening and powerful.
Satoru observes carefully as Dabora straightens and grabs a fistful of his arm feathers – and tears them all out.
The moment they are thrown to the wind, each and every feather burns with cursed energy, morphing into multiple 'Kogane' who immediately fly away at an almost impossibly fast speed, chittering madly all the while.
Sukuna takes in a deep breath, shoulders relaxing the tiniest bit. Satoru blinks in confusion, before he looks down at the circle and hums under his breath.
"I should probably do something about this one, now that we're here…"
"Is your own blood an actual fix?" Sukuna asks, calmer at last, as he turns to Satoru, Dabora staring at them in confusion for a moment before he turns to the curses around to direct them to clear the area.
"Not at all. It was the only way I could think of to bridge the gap in cursed energy, but unless I'm the one regulating the technique, it won't work. All these anchors… I'm guessing they used Tengen's Barriers as conduit, but with them gone…"
"Is there any way to fix the Link?"
Satoru looks up. Sukuna is serious, eyes ablaze. Dabora, standing at his back, is trying to look composed, but his lips are pressed together too tightly and his eyes too wide to actually pull it off.
"Unless you have a cursed energy battery for every single anchor… No."
Aiansouru, the old Aichi, is the very picture of a city in the middle of the Meiji Industrial Revolution. Large factory buildings, tall chimneys spewing smoke, a train being loaded with huge loads of metal rods…
But it's a green colony too, the sea looks a gorgeous blue, and the air smells clean, if maybe a bit too scented. In the middle of one such green area stand the ruins of Nagoya Castle, still recognizable despite its partially broken state, with a small camp set around it.
Satoru takes a deep breath, standing carefully once the wave of dizziness passes. Misutaa, already waiting for them with one of the 'Kogane' by her side, nods respectfully when he turns to her.
Dabora staid at Fukyuu no Tochi, to try and research the old archive for a possible solution. Sukuna, chasing after an idea that has him frown thoughtfully even now, asked Satoru to get them to Aiansouru.
Satoru did, curious about the colony and whatever solution they could find to their Link problem here.
"Sukuna-koutei-ta, Satoru-kakka-ta. Welcome to Aiansouru-ta… Even if these aren't the best circumstances-ta…" Misutaa tells them with a serious undertone in her echoing voice, her armor painted in curiously soothing spots of red, yellow, blue and purple that don't match the mood at all.
"Maybe you could help us with that," Sukuna answers with a nod, and Misutaa perks up, one of her six legs pawing at the ground almost in excitement. "Dabora is researching old teleportation talismans, but we still need an anchor for them to draw energy from. Do you think you could build such a thing?"
Misutaa stays silent for a bit, completely unmoving, and Satoru tries to peek into the shadows of her helmet to see what she's thinking so hard about.
It's too dark. That, or the helmet is empty. Satoru doesn't have enough time to ponder that before Misutaa straightens, and just like Dabora before her, she changes from a meek and worried curse into a titanic presence, solid and reliable like Mount Fuji itself.
… More than that, actually. Mount Fuji wasn't really as solid or reliable as he first thought, after all.
"Aiansouru can build the anchors, Sukuna-koutei-ta. But we won't be able to charge them-ta."
Sukuna grins, though the gesture doesn't reach his eyes.
"Just make those anchors, Misutaa. I'll find someone to fill them for us."
In contrast with Aiansouru, Seichi looks peaceful and clean but feels awful.
It's too charged with cursed energy, too crowded with it, despite the calm air and the peace that Satoru is so bombarded with that he can feel his eyes watering behind his bandages.
Sukuna keeps a hand on his shoulder as he orders one of the First Grades who welcome them to the colony—dressed like a Buddhist monk, in yellow and orange, of all things—to bring Monban here.
"If I have to go to them, not even all the luck in the world will save this colony."
The monk-like curse slithers out of the Link Plaza place almost too fast for Satoru's eyes to follow.
The whole colony reminds him of the old Tokyo Jujutsu Tech complex. It seems like everywhere he turns, all he sees are temples, with paired komainu—or things that are supposed to act like them—guarding every single door, or perched on roofs. Open mouthed beast and closed mouthed beast. Omm-ing for all eternity.
With a huff, Satoru forces his headache back and gets to his feet at last, with Sukuna's hand dropping from his shoulder as he goes.
At long last, Monban slithers unhurriedly down the street, all curses bowing respectfully after them, muttering something that sounds a lot like prayers under their breath. Is Monban some kind of God in their own colony?
"Sukuna-koutei, Satoru-kakka. We had believed travel via the Link was impossible, according to Dabora's message."
"We aren't exactly using the Link," Sukuna answers, once more serious and intense, and Satoru pouts and turns his head slightly to the side.
"Not exactly a 'we' thing either. I'm the one doing all the heavy lifting here."
"If we want to keep the Link, we need something to anchor it. Dabora is researching teleport talismans and Misutaa is working on a physical container for the cursed energy that will hold the Link in place," Sukuna explains without paying Satoru any mind, though one of Monban's heads is staring unblinkingly at each of them while the third rests its eyes, humming under its breath.
Oh, to have three heads to be able to nap at all times…
"Our technique cannot provide the cursed energy you require, Sukuna-koutei," Monban tells them as emotionlessly as any previous time, and Satoru lifts an eyebrow and turns to Sukuna.
They have someone working on the talismans, someone else on the physical container, and they need a third to fill in the energy requirements. Sukuna asked Satoru to bring them here specifically, but if Monban can't give them the energy…
"That's not why we're here," Sukuna purrs, grinning slowly but sharply, and both Satoru and Monban perk up. "The Link is a vital part of the life of our colonies. We need to make sure it lasts. Can you do that?"
Monban stares, still as stone cold as their appearance would indicate, for almost too long.
"It would require immense luck to acquire what you request," they finally answer, and Satoru's shoulders slump. "We will do it, Sukuna-koutei."
Wait, what?
"Good. Thank you," Sukuna grins, satisfied, and turns to Satoru. "Sazansan, the old Kagoshima."
"If I'm going to be a taxi service, I demand payment!" Satoru huffs, straightening and crossing his arms against his chest in what some would call petulance.
"Our utmost gratitude for your visit, Sukuna-koutei, Satoru-kakka," someone mutters by Monban's side, and when the two of them turn to the speaker, Satoru comes face to face with a platter of snacks being offered to them by one of the monk-like curses.
"… What are the odds."
Sazansan is the picture-perfect tropical resort… and it's engulfed by what feels like the beginnings of a typhoon.
Satoru is disappointed.
It also stinks of ash and sulfur, and Satoru feels almost sorry for eating all those deep-fried rikugyo-sticks. They are churning pretty violently in his stomach now, almost as if he'd shoved them all into a washing machine instead.
A cloud of burning ash engulfs them a second later, and Satoru inhales so much of it that he can only cough and push out with his Limitless as he feels the flash of blazing cursed energy falling on them—
Sukuna slashes with all four of his hands, and the meteor breaks into smaller chunks. They still bury themselves into the ground, shoved away by the force of Sukuna's technique, but at least it gives them a clear view of the figure rushing at them with fire burning all over their hands and feet and head—
Sukuna intercepts them with ease, and the struggle is so brief that Satoru doesn't even bother to pay attention to it, coughing out the remaining ash.
"No one was supposed to be able to use the Link!"
"And that's reason enough to attack us?!"
"My! Colony!"
"Hello, Sakura-chan," Satoru chuckles as he recognizes the voice, his words rough but clear now, waving a hand to the two arguing figures in the dispelling ash cloud.
"Satoru-kun! Welcome to Sazansan!" Sakura chirps happily, waving her hand in turn with a gentle bob of warm orange fire – which bursts into an angry white-and-blue mane as she rounds on Sukuna once more with a snarl. "Why did you even come here?!"
"We need cursed energy to stabilize the Link. A lot of cursed energy. Enough for one anchor in each of the colonies," Sukuna explains, straight to the point, and Sakura goes blank, expression emotionless and fire a lazy deep red pixie cut.
And then, she grins, and it's all teeth and cutting satisfaction.
"Did I hear you right, Curse Emperor? You actually need me?"
"Of course, if you can't, I'm sure Angel will be more than capable," Sukuna huffs, shrugging with his four arms, and Satoru grins even before Sakura explodes, indignant.
"I'm far more capable of providing all that cursed energy than Angel! What will they do, slaughter a colony? I'll get you that cursed energy. You just watch!"
Sukuna grins, triumphant, and Sakura gawks as she realizes she's fallen into his trap.
"Thanks a bunch, Sakura-chan. We'll see you around," Sukuna purrs, returning to where Satoru is snickering in his hand, still kneeling in the middle of the Link teleport circle. "One last stop in Mirror and we'll be done."
"Sukuna, you bas—!"
They almost land on top of Kouhai, who had been apparently inspecting the carvings on the ground, and get a glob of corrosive muscle goo for their trouble.
Just like back in Origin, Limitless easily keeps it at bay.
"How did you rope Dabora into aiding your murderous spree?!" Kouhai shrieks at Sukuna, crouched down but with its muscle goop bubbling so violently that it looks practically double its size.
"That is not why the Link is unusable, Kouhai," Sukuna scoffs, unbothered by the goo making its way towards them veeery slooowly. "With the Barriers gone, the Link is breaking down. We need to stabilize it before it vanishes completely."
Kouhai stiffens, the bubbling slowly dying down as it straightens back to what Satoru assumes is its customary hunched stance.
"Stabilize it how?" Kouhai asks, head tilting almost suspiciously, and Sukuna starts counting with his fingers.
"Dabora's knowledge, Misutaa's steelwork, Monban's blessing, Sakura's cursed energy, and your reverse cursed technique."
"My technique?"
"We need a stable source of cursed energy. I'd rather not depend on Sakura refilling all of the anchors to keep it so."
Kouhai hums, slouching into something that looks almost relaxed, before it looks around, at the bunch of gooey or emaciated-like curses observing the ruckus from the safety of the shadows around the square.
And scoffs.
"Ugh, fine. You really can't do anything without me."
And the cheering starts.
"Yay! Kouhai-sama!"
"You're the best, Kouhai-sama!"
"Just look at the control it has over its techniques!"
Satoru stares at the goo practically frozen in front of his face, and from under his bandages, he gives it a closer look—
… Is it really positive cursed energy? No wonder it reacted as an acid back at Origin. It's the complete opposite of regular cursed energy, this kind of technique would obliterate any other.
Except Limitless, which is neutral, and Red, which is positive itself.
Which means…
Satoru lifts a hand and pokes a finger through the goop. It's sticky and gross, like a piece of fruit half rotten, but completely harmless against his human skin.
"Ewww, this feels disgusting!" he whines, pulling his finger out and waving it to try and get the goop off. "Remind me to never hug you, Kouhai-kun."
The square is deadly silent. A bubble pops on Kouhai's back. Sukuna facepalms to hide a huge grin.
A Kogane barrels to them, practically slamming into a second one, and they start babbling at Sukuna in unison while a third rushes to join the chorus, a fourth on its tail—
"Enough! One at a time!" Sukuna orders, snappish once again, but the larvae-like curses obey.
"Dabora-sama has found the requested talismans, Sukuna-koutei!"
"Misutaa-sama has finished the anchors, Sukuna-koutei-ta!"
"Monban-sama is ready to bless the Link, Sukuna-koutei."
"The gorgeous Sakura-sama has collected the requested cursed energy, Sukuna-koutei!"
Sukuna turns to Kouhai, who slouches with a groan but nods. And then, he turns to Satoru.
"Can you pick us all up and get us to Origin?"
"Why Origin?" Satoru asks, blinking curiously behind his blindfold, even as he turns the recovery technique from background to forefront.
He's going to need to up his reserves for that many jumps, especially with the fading anchors.
"Because it was where it all started. The Link is probably stronger there than anywhere else," Sukuna explains simply, and Satoru ponders that for a second before he shrugs and waves the two Special Grades closer.
"Sure. Grab on tight."
Origin looks gray. Satoru doesn't know if it's because of the clouds hiding the sun or his own lowered reserves.
The Yagami are convening, talking about how they are going to put everything together, while Dabora breaks feather after feather trying to engrave the flat disks Misutaa made.
Satoru sits on his tiny hill, leaning on a rock, and just breathes. He's done his part, so he gets to rest now. Not that the curses can see anything is wrong, Satoru is still grinning casually, merely having pulled aside because he has no part to contribute anymore.
Sukuna doesn't bring attention to it, either, so they have no reason to suspect he's practically running on empty.
"Satoru."
… Ugh. Is a nap really too much to ask for? Carting Special Grades around isn't exactly easy.
Still, Satoru opens an eye under his bandages and turns to the cluster of Yagami, all of them serious and attentive in a way that makes him tense.
Sukuna throws one of the disks at him, and Satoru catches it without problem, looking it all over. The teleport talisman on it looks different than what he's used to, but he doesn't have any reason not to trust Dabora's sources. The anchor itself is simple, yet it feels sturdy in his grip. Strong, too, in a way that has nothing to do with the steel and all with the cursed energy wrapped in it like a… blessing, of sorts. Inside, almost too bright to look directly at, rests almost too much cursed energy to believe, churning around like the sea, never-ending.
"Looks good," he hums, pushing to his feet—he can't afford to look weak—so he can walk to Sukuna to give the anchor back directly into his hand.
"You're the one with experience in teleport talismans. Any suggestions on how to integrate it with the Link?" Sukuna asks, not taking the anchor back, and Satoru blinks in surprise before he looks at the others.
Dabora has lost about half of his feather suit, which gives him a disheveled look. Misutaa's armor looks burnt and rusty. Monban has two heads napping, and the third is barely awake. Sakura's fiery hair is relegated to a buzzcut, only one of her matte black eyes still open. Kouhai is slumping more in exhaustion than comfort, its bones barely glowing underneath the tar muscles.
Nine other anchors wait at their feet, all of them as ready as the one in Satoru's hands.
Satoru sighs and looks around, but when that doesn't work, he grumbles and rips his bandages off. Sight far clearer with his Six Eyes exposed, it is easy now to locate the origin point of the Link. The ground has caved in, much like a lot of the destroyed colony, so Satoru ignores the brick walls when he carefully slides down inside.
"This looks like the place," he hums to himself, nodding, before he carefully rests the anchor in the middle of the fading energy tree. "Hey, pass over the other ones!"
Sukuna slides down with them in hand, the other Yagami staying outside the hole. Satoru grabs them and sets them on a circle around the central one. Then, he holds his hand up to Sukuna, who doesn't need words to cut the palm open again.
Around the ten anchors, Satoru draws his own teleport anchor. Then, he crouches just outside the circle and rests his hands on it, infusing it with cursed energy.
The Link's fading energy lashes out, almost like an octopus arm that has been cut off, before it latches onto the most compatible thing.
The anchors.
Satoru grins, runs to the very end of the Link's paths, to the other nine colonies, and activates the technique, sending an anchor to each of them, the Link blazing to life after they slot into place three feet under the original teleport anchors—
And—
—something—
—snaps.
JUJU STROLL!
The stick flies with a sharp whistle – and slows down so suddenly that it's as if it had stopped right in front of Satoru's chest.
"Whoa! It's true!"
"Try a stone!"
The stone suffers the stick's fate, and Satoru can only straighten proudly as the chibi gang excitedly look for more stuff to test his Limitless with.
The day is gorgeous, the air clean and crisp after the rain that fell overnight. Sukuna is sitting on the porch with some warm tea, ignoring them all but unwilling to hide away when the weather is this nice. Also, Mahito is trying to convince them to go try something called mukadeshichuu, despite the way Satoru shudders at the thought.
'Centipede stew' is not what pops up when he thinks about 'tasty', but Sukuna promises it's completely safe. Mahito may also be trying to convince them to join in the hopes they can get the mukadeshichuu for free, but meh. Satoru can appreciate the curseling's forethought.
But in the meantime, while they try to 'convince' them, which they seem to have forgotten all about, they decided to test Satoru's unlimitedness, as Jogo said.
Ah, kids. No matter the age or species, some things never change.
"Told you. Nothing can get past my—"
Something slaps Satoru's pants. Sukuna chokes on his tea, coughing and wheezing loudly before he clears enough of his airway to laugh loudly. Satoru stares at the mud dripping down his leg, blinking owlishly behind his bandages, before he looks up to see Dagon curl mud-stained tentacles into triumphant 'fists' that he throws up with an excited gurgle.
"You did it!"
"Dagon, you're the best!"
"Woohoo! Dagon hit the Unlimited!"
Sukuna cackles even louder, curling onto himself to slap a hand on the porch, another wiping away tears.
Satoru smiles, crouching down very slowly to grab a handful of mud – and shoots it at Sukuna's wheezing form—
Who rolls out of the way with sharper instincts than Satoru had assumed such a lazy Yagami would have.
Sukuna's grin is sharp as he looks up – before something shatters in the living room.
With a start, and with the chibis frozen in shock before they slowly backpedal out of the clearing, Satoru and Sukuna look past the open porch doors.
On the tatami, broken and mud-stained, lies the oddly-shaped yet usable flower vase with its now ruined violet and yellow flower.
Sukuna's eyes burn as he turns to Satoru with a snarl.
"You ruined the tatami!"
"It was their – wait, where did the chibis goooooagh, no, not down the back of my shirt!" Satoru screeches, but Sukuna ignores his squirming to shovel another handful of cold mud down his collar, the cheater, you have too many hands—
But Sukuna simply cackles, and when Satoru breaks free via rolling over himself, he ignores his now mud-stained yukata to pursue after Satoru makes a break for it.
"Come back here, you bastard!"
"So you can shove more mud down my back?! No way! You'll have to catch me first!"
Satoru should have known better than to utter such a challenge, even when the two of them are grinning like madmen.
His only consolation is that, by the time they are both lying on the ground, truce agreed upon, they are both just as muddy.
Ah, well. Some things really don't change.
AN: Snap. :3
Happy holidays/Have a good week!