WHITE DEATH

What an absolute shit show things had turned out to be. It all happened far too quickly for Fushiguro to make even a little bit of sense of. The presence of the special-grade Curse, Kugisaki disappearing suddenly, and realizing how under-leveled they really were. The gap was far too wide. Wide enough for Itadori to make a call to release Sukuna, and for Fushiguro to run away and rescue Kugisaki who got injured by a high-grade Curse.

"Please expand the evacuation zone to ten kilometers," Fushiguro said to Ijichi who had Kugisaki in the back seat of the car, totally knocked unconscious.

"What about you, Fushiguro?" Ijichi asked.

"I'm staying. If something goes wrong…it's my responsibility to finish him."

Ijichi looked reluctant. "Okay…but I think I should let you know this now, but I recently got a call from Kocho-san. She seemed to have predicted what would happen here and is currently on her way. So please…hold on for as long as you can. I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"I'm sure she's trying her best." Fushiguro nodded and took a step back, watching as Ijichi drove off and leaving him out into the pouring rain, as it had been doing when all three of them first arrived.

Fushiguro didn't have to wait long when the domain that was originally imprisoning them was torn down in a blink of an eye, immediately letting him know that the special-grade, the one who originally created it was dead. Now the only thing to do was wait for Itadori to come back.

"He's not coming back, you know," a voice darker than midnight spoke up from directly behind him. Fushiguro didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. He could feel it, the dark intent, the desire, the cruelty.

Ryomen Sukuna walked again…

Fushiguro tightened his jaw. "You…"

"Don't worry, I'm in a good mood right now. So let's talk," Sukuna assured him, but it seemed to only have the opposite effect on Fushiguro. "It looks like he's having a hard time changing back. This also means this is the side effect of using me without restrictions. It's most likely only a matter of time though…so I've been thinking about my next move," Sukuna said while gripping his top and tearing it off. Once his chest was exposed, he took his hand and jammed it through his body, ripping out his heart and holding it in front of Fushiguro's eyes for him to clearly see…the situation he was now in. "I'm taking this brat hostage!"

Fushiguro felt his own heart shrivel up at the sight of it and plummet to the very depths of hell. He flinched when Sukuna threw Itadori's heart on the ground like it was nothing but rubbish. At first, he thought he could wait for Juri and Yurei to get here and deal with the situation then, but things have become complicated now.

"I can live without this thing, but he can't! Switching now will only mean his death. And just to make sure." Sukuna then took out what looked like a shriveled-up cursed finger from his pocket and swallowed it whole. "Now that I'm free…you can be scared now. There's no real reason for this but, time for you to die."

Fushiguro tightened his jaw but held his ground. It was true he was scared and didn't really stand a chance against him, but that wasn't a good enough excuse to run away. He had to do something fast. Just to buy enough time for Juri and Yurei to arrive.

"Itadori will return. Even if it means his death. He's that kind of guy," Fushiguro claimed.

Sukuna scoffed. "You give him too much credit. This guy's just a little tougher and duller compared to other humans. Just a short time ago, he was practically beside himself. Blubbering about his misfortunes. He doesn't have the guts to end his own life. I'm sure of it."

There were a couple things Fushiguro noticed immediately about Sukuna. First, there was his arm, which was initially cut off by the special-grade, but now it was fully healed. With that, Fushiguro was sure Sukuna was capable of using Reverse Cursed Technique. This means it would be child's play for him to heal Itadori's heart as well.

Fushiguro held his hands up in a wing-like shape, and up from his shadow, he summoned Nue.

Sukuna laughed when he realized Fushiguro was ready to fight. "Alright! Since we're outside…let's go all out!" he shouted while sliding back his hair.

Fushiguro launched Nue off to the side while he rushed at Sukuna himself. He laid his attacks out but the reincarnated Curse defended himself with ease and without strain. It was clear he wasn't even trying.

"Come on! You can do better than that! You gotta feel the curse more!" Sukuna raised his fist and backhanded him across the face Fushiguro stumbled back, he quickly summoned another one of his Shikigami. A Great Serpent rose up from his shadow with Sukuna trapped within his tight jaws. This gave Nue a chance to attack him relentlessly while in the air, swiping him again and again with his wings.

"Don't let up!" Fushiguro shouted

Sukuna's grin stretched from ear to ear before taking his claws and ripping the serpent apart. He disappeared for only a second before appearing again behind Fushiguro, gripping hold of the back of his shirt.

"Like I said…let's go all out!" he shouted before flinging the young man high into the air

Fushiguro was tossed so high up that he could make out the individual buildings as his body tumbled and flipped around. He quickly sucked in a deep breath when Sukuna appeared before him, hands clenched above his head, bringing them down over Nue that quickly coiled their wings around Fushiguro. The force was strong enough though to knock them out of the sky. Fushiguro was safe for the most part, but Nue was at its limit. Anymore then he'd risk breaking it.

"Your Shikigami use shadows as an intermediatory, right?" Sukuna suddenly asked him.

Fushiguro looked momentarily taken back before scoffing. It seemed a bit out of character to ask such a harmless question after getting knocked out of the sky. "So what?"

Sukuna appeared puzzled. "Hm. I don't get it. Back then…why did you run away. That was a wasted opportunity. At this rate…I'm not going to fix his heart!" he taunted. "You put your life on the line for nothing. This brat's really not worth the effort."

Fushiguro grumbled and stood up, wobbling slightly from his heavy limbs. He glared intensely at him while clenching his fists and raising them in a distinct pose that was different from before. Even the energy that was flowing around him was different too and looked much heavier.

"Good! That's it!" Sukuna shouted delightfully. "You're finally ready to go all out! Now show me what you got! Fushiguro Megu-" His words were immediately shoved back down his throat when a stark white hand came out of nowhere and backhanded the side of Sukuna's face, sending him flying through a couple buildings at a breakneck speed.

Fushiguro froze as the air around him became frosty. He looked on in amazement as death itself appeared before him, dressed completely in white with eyes made of blood. She glided softly in the air as her long white dress flowed around her. A deadly curse. A ghost. Yurei.

Fushiguro was about to collapse when someone caught him, grabbed both his arms, and gently guided him down. "Kocho-sensei," he breathed out and met Juri's dark grey eyes. She was obviously stricken with worry and panic. It was written all over her face and voice, and even though Fushiguro was the one injured, Juri seemed to be shaking more than him.

"Megumi, did you really try to go against Sukuna alone?" she asked while briefly looking him over, making sure his injuries were only superficial and nothing worse.

"He ripped out his heart," Fushiguro answered back immediately. He looked up at Juri's face and could actually see the blood draining from her stunned features, physically making her look ill.

Yurei scoffed and spoke up. "Smart, if you ask me." She uncrossed her arms and stared down at the palm of her hand.

"Can you heal him?" he asked.

Yurei nodded. "Yes, but only if Sukuna stays in control. If he switched back to Itadori before I can heal his heart, then there's nothing I can do. I can't bring back the dead." She raised both her hands and clapped them together, circling them in a large, transparent white dome. "Anything else I should know?" she asked.

Fushiguro nodded. "Yes. There was a special-grade here that had one of Sukuna's fingers."

"Did he take it back?"

The young man nodded grimly. "Yes, and he also swallowed it too."

Yurei's eyebrows crinkled, and she turned her head to look at him. "Then that means Sukuna has three fingers worth of power now. It might not seem like much, but that's different from the first time he manifested." She turned her attention back to the crumbled buildings she threw Sukuna into. She clicked her tongue.

Juri perked her head up and looked over to Yurei. She picked up on something odd in her voice. It wasn't worry or concern, but there was this type of edge that kind of threw Juri off. Usually, Yurei would always sound cool and collected, if not a little hot-headed at times. But hearing just that slight variation in her voice was nothing but a foreign experience.

"Will you still be able to handle him?" Juri asked her worryingly.

Before Yurei could answer, her attention was drawn away when she saw something leap up from the rubble a couple miles away. It flew through the air towards their direction before landing a couple of feet away from her. It was Sukuna, already recovered and without injury, which was astonishing in itself. Fushiguro saw how hard Yurei had hit him and how far he traveled. If that didn't do anything, then they were going to be in a bit of trouble.

Yurei sucked in a deep breath and slowly lowered herself to the ground. "Without fail." She gave a brief look at Juri and made a gesturing motion with her head, signaling for her and Fushiguro to leave. Juri nodded quietly and stood up, wrapping an arm around the boy, and leaving the dome as quickly as she could.

Sukuna snickered and looked absolutely delighted to see Yurei standing before him now. "I knew you'd come. You just can't stay away, can't you."

Yurei scoffed and flexed her long white fingers like they were claws. "Spare me your delusions, you insufferable parasite."

She widened her stance and swung her fingers in an upwards swing, creating a gust of slicing winds that ripped up the ground as it hurled right for Sukuna. The king of Curses didn't back away though and laughed delightfully. He took his own claws and swiped them up as well just as the wind slices were almost upon him, canceling out both attacks.

Dust hazed his vision, but as he waved it away, he realized that Yurei had closed the distance between them. She retracted her arm, sucking back the white dome that once surrounded them to the palm of her hand. She pushed her arm out to Sukuna, but he ducked out of the way and suddenly grinned madly. Cracking his fingers, he suddenly swung his hand across her arm and sliced it clean off. A dark shade of red sprayed across Yurei's face as she gasped in shock. After retracting what was left of her arm, she jumped a few feet away from him and squatted down on the ground. Blood seeped through her fingers as she clenched ahold of the stump.

"I knew you would try and save the brat." Sukuna gave a short laugh once he met Yurei's sharp and intense gaze. "You were about to try something really cunning, were you."

"Yurei?!" Juri shouted.

Yurei quickly whipped her head back and howled at Juri. "Juri, stay where you are!" Her warning was promptly ignored as Juri rushed up beside her and crouched down.

Juri stared in bewilderment at the amount of blood pooling at her feet. Even though it had been a couple years since the last time she saw Yurei this badly injured, it still didn't stop the sickening feeling that made her stomach roll and heave

Yurei growled and looked back to Sukuna. She raised her injured arm and regenerated it in an instant. "Damnit. Read me like a book."

"Why are you trying so hard to save this stupid kid. He has nothing to do with you and I. Come on. Let's go all out already!" Sukuna taunted.

Yurei clicked her tongue and stood up, suddenly patting Juri's head. "It's because of this one right here. Itadori and Juri are much alike. Simple people who are just trying to do their best. If more people like this existed…then maybe things would've been different. Well…at least that's what I believe."

Sukuna physically flinched upon hearing Yurei's words and stood there in astonishment, completely frozen as the tattoo's covering his body slowly began to fade away. His grin even turned into that of an earnest smile.

Itadori smiled at her so widely that the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I see. So you really think that." he suddenly spoke, much to Yurei's surprise. She didn't think he would come back on his own. "Thanks for telling me this, Yurei…I never knew how much…I wanted to hear someone say that…" Blood started to drip from his lips as his words got strained, and soon enough he began to collapse.

"Yuji!" Juri cried out and ran over to him. She skidded across the ground on her knees and caught him before he could hit the floor. Her arms cradled his body, but she flinched when she felt something wet and warm on her skirt. She pulled one of her arms away and saw that it was smeared with thick clots of red blood. Juri instantly felt her stomach lurch as she looked around herself…realizing she was now sitting in a pool of blood.