Chapter 2

"NOW!"

He rolled all four of his eyes. "No,"

"RYOMEN!"

"I am not trying for a child!" he snapped back.

The conversation was loud and bluntly obvious, much to cringe of the room around him. Sukuna was in the communal eating hall with the others, it was lunch and yet, ever since returning from the honeymoon, Chusi is more determined now than ever to have a child. "You heard the palm reader! There's a baby on the way, but we don't know when, so let's keep trying until it happens!" she begged.

He still refused. For Sukuna himself doesn't want to bring a child of his into the world.

"Did you hear the rest of the palm reading? If this child is born, they will surpass me! I am powerful enough as it is, and if this child is to be greater and stronger than I am, do you really think this is a good idea to bring into the world?!" he demanded of her.

"You are selling yourself rather high there aren't you?"

He sneered as the knockoff took a seat. "We all saw that with the palm reading, but the thing is, are you thinking a little too critical? You're worried your kid may end up like you? Or are you worried your kid is going to be more powerful than you?"

Sukuna glared at him. "I'm concerned for other things rather than the power of that child," he stated.

"Again, if you are worried that this child may end up like you, you forget. The dragons here outnumber you greatly, we're not concerned if you have a kid. Because to us, what you thought of other sorcerers and humans, we think of you in the same context!" he said proudly.

"Not helping," he muttered back.

"Ryomen…" Chusi said in a stern voice.

"Not now," he muttered back and returned to his lunch.

Chusi pouted, she stormed out of the communal hall in a mood. Suiryu was taken aback and was rather impressed. "You held your ground, I'll give you that…"

"You have no idea what she is capable of doing…" Sukuna muttered.

"Actually, I do. Considering her technique is the soul… In fact, I already know her ultimate technique. That's removal." He explained.

Sukuna paused just as he was going for another bite. "Removal?" he asked.

Suiryu smirked. "Given the chance, I think she could erase those curse marks of yours, one by one until… you have no jujutsu… that is if you had it to begin with."

"So what's the threat to me now?" he snapped back and returned to his meal. "I have no jujutsu, so there is no threat there…"

"Why DON'T you want a kid? Kids are fun… just don't swear around them…"

"Why are you encouraging this?"

"Curious." Suiryu said bluntly. "The fact remains that I still got my start from you, and there is nothing greater to me than having a family of my own. Granted Nao is still having trouble with swear words but I am certain that will pass. At the same time, me saying this, is the part of you that always wanted one. Right?"

He said nothing.

Sukuna decided to ignore Suiryu for the rest of his meal. As he finished up he took his leave before Chusi could return for round two.

Like hell that is happening!

Yet, try as he might, there is no escaping her. Chusi could hunt him down with ease, and yet, he found it strange that she didn't follow him this time around. Sukuna sought peace in the woods by a lake, there he could collect his thoughts and wonder what to do next.

Yet, even before that could happen, he felt the steps of a woman approach.

"Leave me," he ordered.

"At the moment, I think you need an ear."

He sat up, rather stunned to see Yua approaching him. She took a seat opposite of Sukuna and sat up against the tree. Of course he sneered at this, he doesn't want to talk, and yet her being here means something else.

"You bided me time?"

"Not a lot, I told her I would talk to you. So, that depends on how long you want my company." She explained. "Since you know the moment I leave, she is going to find you."

"Tsk…" he muttered.

They sat in silence of each other, Yua didn't start any sort of small talk, since she knows he hates that sort of thing. Yet, he felt as if he should say something. "Why?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Why are you helping her with this? Why are you trying to convince me other wise? Why are you even interfering!" he demanded.

She sighed. "Look, this isn't easy for me to accept either, you do know that!" she snapped back at him. He was taken aback by her tone, but, there was an understanding. "Chusi wanted the life that she was denied, and you of all people know she was carrying your child once before."

"Don't…" he pleaded.

"Sukuna… Ryomen… I know you are nothing like the man you once were. You are not even the same being you had prided yourself in becoming in your madness. Your corruption still plagues you and influences you to this day, there's no hiding it, there's no going back. You and I are more than aware, however, as she said once before. Why was she brought back? She returned since she loved you, she wanted a second chance at having a family with you. But now…" she trailed off.

"I wanted a Tooru wife…" he muttered.

"You too said you wanted what was taken from you. You only have half of that fulfilled."

"Why are you encouraging this?" he asked. "You even said so yourself…"

Yua sighed. "Yes, I did. At the same time… Chusi wants to be happy to. She wants fulfillment as well, she wants the child that was taken from her. Yet, your fear is getting the better of you. I understand that, you're terrified that your child is going to be stronger than you... if that's the case, talk to Satoru about it, you will finally have something in common"

He froze to this.

Sukuna peered at Yua, wondering if she was joking. But, she merely nodded her head to him. "Satoru is scared of his own children, I am more than aware of that. It's why he doesn't spend the time with them. And why my children are so drawn to you."

"What…"

She snickered for a moment. "Take into consideration, when Satoru didn't listen to them about their technique. They went to you. Why? You don't sugar coat the truth, you're rather blunt and won't spare their feelings… that may explain Rook…"

He paused. "Rook?" he asked. "The brat and I merely spar! He's improved by human standards however…"

Yua snickered. "You don't get it!" she laughed. "You're the bar he has set for himself. Even at a young age with you training him, do you know what his proudest moment is to date?" she asked.

Sukuna shook his head. That brat has a long way to go before he is close to Maki's level, let alone reaching Toji… at least he thinks so. "He sparred with you one day, you were only using your index finger at the time. He went at you with all his strength until you finally swatted him away, his first proud moment."

"He was proud that I swatted him away?"

"Yes, because you had to use your whole hand to do so" she explained.

He paused to this, perhaps one would consider it growth if they peer at it from a child's perspective.

"His next favorite accomplishment… is when he forced you to use two hands." She explained. "Despite how battered, bloodied and bruised he was… Rook had never been more proud of himself. Since after all, he has been watching you very closely."

He took a moment to process it. "Your brat has low standards."

"No, he has reasonable goals." She replied. "His objective… is to give you a fight that you have never had before. He's been training nonstop to achieve this. You're merely a measuring stick at the moment to gauge how well he has done and how far he still needs to go."

"Tsk, why would that brat…"

"He knows you live for a good fight." She explained. "That's a part of you, you always had. You live for a good battle, it's why when you went mad, and you indulged in that instinct and used it for your benefit. There's no changing that from you." She said rather bluntly. "Rook, however, is trying to understand that sensation. He knows he is different from his siblings, at the same time, he is trying to stand out to his father's clan. They put a hit out on Rook, since they don't want 'monkey blood' in their clan."

"That boy has more potential than all of them…" he muttered.

"And you knew that too, you comforted him after the clan confronted him when he was small. Why waste your time, entertaining the notion that he could be strong? Why did you bother to spend time with my son? You could care less!" she asked.

Once more, he was silent on the matter.

"If I can say just one thing… when you lost your memory, you were a gentleman. No doubt mother Tooru taught you well and put a fear of some sort of god into you to behave that way, but, I do admit. You were rather… approachable."

"Ugh…." He muttered in disgust of himself.

"Sukuna… I've also paid attention to other aspects… you helped not just my children, but Yuuji as well. Kiyoshi when he was controlling the power he got from Raynn before Raynn went nuts. You helped him, you have given advice to those training, but never forced it. It was a take it or leave it approach, yet affective…" she paused. "Are you wondering if you would make a good father?"

He froze to this.

Sukuna glared at Yua who peered at him curiously. "What the hell do you mean!?" he snapped back. "I never thought of being a father! Not once!"

"Then why do you act like one around my kids? When you and Satoru switched, Mochi told me how thrilled she was that you called her your niece… you acknowledged her a family… that's not like you…"

He growled. "Satoru's mind influenced me!" he snapped back.

"How can it when Satoru doesn't feel that way?"

He was stunned silent.

Yua nodded her head to him. "As I said, Satoru fears his children. At the same time, he leaves them be thinking they are going to be just fine on their own. He would have hung back and let Mochi do what she needed to do, you… you stepped in knowing how uncomfortable she was. You protected her, and yet, have no curse energy… Satoru wouldn't be as confident if he didn't have such talent."

He said nothing to this, he has tried to convince himself it was a slip of the tongue, and yet…

"What now?" he asked.

Yua playfully swayed her head from side to side as if rattling ideas off in her head. "Well, there are a few things you can do. One, I think you need to stop lying to yourself. Second, be upfront with Chusi and explain why you feel the way you feel. Lastly, despite all the horrible things you have done, you are more concerned for a child, yet to be born, than yourself. Have you not noticed that?"

"What?!" he demanded of her. "What makes you say…"

"You're terrified, that this child is going to be stronger than you. And if so, and that child falls into the same madness you had… you are scared that you won't be able to stop them." She said bluntly.

Sukuna was silent.

He stared at the ground before peering back at Yua, she didn't have a smug look on her face. But, she did look concerned for him. "Why are you acting like a father, before even becoming one?"

"Goddamn Toorus…" he muttered. "Why do you all have to figure me out!" he demanded. "Why can't you just leave things be!"

"With you, we can't. Since those thoughts fester and eat away at you. You are still trying to understand emotions, you are trying to find your place once more. And since none of us are going to let you go back to what you once were. We are trying to help you as best we can without pushing you too much!" she snapped back.

"Why go through the trouble?"

"Why did my clan go through the trouble?" she asked. "As stupid as it is for me to say, my clan saved you, raised you, took care of you for a damn good reason. And they are not ones to take a foolish risk like that, are they?"

"Depends…" he muttered to her.

"Anyways…" she snapped back. "Mother Tooru saw you as someone important, someone that needed help. She claimed you were on the same path as my family, I don't even know what that is! But, as ironic or as twisted as fate maybe. You have returned to the clan… after nearly destroying it. Who's to say that this isn't part of your punishment too? Rebuilding the clan, means becoming part of it."

"Now you are trying to twist things!" he protested. "I am to protect your clan until it returns to its former glory!"

"You think I can do that by myself!?" she snapped at him. "I'm lucky to have the children that I do! And the newest edition on the way soon is nothing more than a miracle. Do you truly believe that myself and my children are enough to bring the clan back?" she asked of him. "You are also forgetting too, you said that you are to protect the clan, correct? If you are part of it, your children will he strong enough to hold their own against a threat, won't they? Honestly, I thought you would jump at the chance considering how sorcerers are so high on themselves. How would the other sorcerers react knowing Ryomen Sukuna and the Toorus have come together in such a way… I would be shitting myself!"

He gave a brief smirk, but that soon faded.

They went quite to each other once more. Yua merely stayed a few minutes longer before announcing she was taking her leave. Yet, before she left. Sukuna couldn't believe what he said before she did. "Will you help me?" those words escaped out of him before he could stop himself.

She paused and turned to him, never has she asked him to repeat something that he himself had trouble uttering. "Your child… will be part of my clan… I'll be their aunt… of course I will help. It's what family does." She decreed.

He watched her leave, and no more than ten seconds after she cleared the woods, did he sense her coming.

Chusi soon stood before him, her arms crossed as she glared down at Sukuna. "I hope you realize that I am very pissed off!" she said bluntly.

He chuckled to that. "More than aware"

"If you know that I am, then why do you keep making me get mad at you? Ryomen, I was brought back to life not to be a mere companion! I'M YOUR WIFE!"

He smiled once more. "Yes, you are" he said.

"Then why…"

"Because, I don't want this child to end up like me."

She paused. "You have said that before, I thought I explained to you that it would be fine. Our child will have Tooru blood in them…"

"Will that protect them from madness?" he asked. "Will it keep them safe if their power corrupts them? What if they are more powerful than the two of us combined? What then? Will you let another be the one to stop our child if they go insane like I did?" he asked of her.

She looked confused. "What makes you think I would ever allow that to happen? For that matter, you wouldn't dare let that situation occur now would you? Knowing what had happened? What you did and how you did it?" she asked.

"If the child looks every bit as I do?"

"Then that child is our child." She said gently. "I don't care if they do, Ryomen. I want the family that I was denied!"

He sighed in defeat. "Very well then…"

"Ryomen, I… wait, what did you say?"

"I said very well then, we can try" he decreed. "But, I want to take steps to ensure this child is safe…"

She was curious. "Go on, I'm listening…"

He shook his head. "No, it means I have some favors to redeem."