Mahito smiles through the blood coating his lips, spits the offending liquid into Yuji's face. His face patches itself up, removing traces of the hit he took earlier. He realizes as he falls out of the window with shards of glass sticking to his shirt, that perhaps engaging with Sukuna's vessel wasn't the smartest decision, seeing as how Yuji could actually land a blow on him. But it was certainly entertaining to see the look on his face as Junpei's body gave out. Mahito laughs as he lands on his feet. What a glorious moment that was. He sways a bit, passing it off as nothing more than a teasing dance. His mind and body still revolting against the blast from that woman.

Whatever she hit him with, packs a bigger impact than Yuji's fist.

"Don't tell me you're still upset?" Mahito mocks, "he was weak. Humanity would have killed him, eventually."

"Life isn't something you play with," Yuji says, wiping the blood from his face.

"Blame that woman. It was her interference that killed him." Mahito jumps back, dodging the fury of punches thrown his way. "How cruel of her to kill your precious friend." His tongue darts out, wetting his bottom lip. The taste of metallic is foreign but goes down beautifully. That woman–Kagome, he believes her name is–he wants to consume her.

Whatever secrets she's hiding, he wants to eat them all and take that darkness for himself. Young he may be, but even he knows that such a soul does not come around that often.

"Shut up! Kagome-san tried to save Junpei." Yuji balls his fist, his chest heaves.

Good, Mahito thinks, he needs Yuji to fill with rage. Humans are so easily manipulated, always allowing their emotions to get the better of them, always believing that somehow, they are the exception, when in fact it's that logic that makes them all the same.

"Ah, perhaps it is because of how weak you are. My apologies." Mahito lashes out, his arm transforming into a makeshift blade. He shivers. There's nothing quite like the feel of flesh being cut open. Red stains the ground. It's a shame that it is cloudy out, the bloodstain would look so much more vibrant under the sun. But the gloominess works too–adds a grittiness to the fight. Mahito moves forward, crossing the distance between them while Yuji is temporarily stunned by the gash on his arm. "Let's see how weak you really are," Mahito says, touching Yuji's soul.

He blinks. Of course, touching Yuji's soul means touching Sukuna's. Dread boils in his gut as the curse king looks down upon him from his throne made of human remains. If the murderous intent wasn't so thick in the air, Mahito may have complimented Sukuna's choice of material. Personally, he'd used the bodies of his transfigured human souls.

"Such impudence," Sukuna says, his voice as harsh as the glass that cut into Mahito's skin. "This is your warning."

Mahito blinks again and barely moves out of the way. Oh, it's that suit sorcerer from the other day. "It's not nice to stalk people you know," he says, waving a finger in the air. "I could have you arrested."

"You're not a person," Yuji speaks up, ripping his jacket and making a makeshift bandage with it.

"Oh, Yuji-chan, you should go see a doctor. It would be such a shame if you died from blood loss." Mahito assesses the older sorcerer. The man shifts his weight to one side. Good, he thinks, the sorcerer is still injured. Humans truly are pathetic.

"This ends here," the sorcerer says, gripping his blunt sword.

"Two on one is hardly fair." Mahito reaches into his pocket and tosses out his spare transfigured humans. If he's lucky, he can see just how more powerful this one will be. His toys go after Yuji, allowing him to focus on the other sorcerer. "Are you always so serious?" he asks, extending his limps out with large spikes coming out from his arms. "Why don't you rest a while and join the family?" Mahito frowns. Ah, this one is such a bore. No reaction. "Shy? That's alright. Every family has a black sheep." His spiked arm misses the sorcerer, but the debris from the ground causes the sorcerer to falter.

"Yuji, move back!"

Huh? Mahito turns towards the voice. The woman–Kagome, he reminds himself–has her arrow notched. He could have sworn that she was too weak to move. Ugh, he did not bring enough toys with him for this.

The arrow flies past him, the sting from the residue burns his spikes. Yuji scrambles back, putting distance between him and the three cursed humans. The arrow hits one in the chest, its green mutated body convulses as pink surrounds the other two.

"Oh, would you look at that? Your friend is a murderer after all," he gloats, as the pink evaporates, leaving behind the disfigured bodies of his newly made toys. Though, her ability to revert his transfiguration is annoying. Even though the bodies can't seem to handle the reversion. If she could figure out how to keep them alive afterward….

He retracts his arms and dashes towards her, changing his legs to those of a horse. He increases his speed, dodges the flurry of arrows that comes his way. He can push past the reaction to flinch and he can swallow down the urge to run in the opposite direction. If he can grab a hold of her soul, if he could take that darkness for himself.

Kagome runs back, but he grabs her, manipulating his skin to become prickly. Tiny drops of blood fall from the intrusion. Shit, he thinks, as her body glows. He lets go, jumps back into the blow of Yuji's fist into the back of his skull. His vision blurs as he staggers forward. He gets caught in the whirlpool of fists and swipes being thrown his way.

This pain is like nothing he's ever felt. Blood pools in his eyes, swells in his mouth, and he never wants the fight to end. But at last, there are only so many blows that he can take. He latches on to the hum deep in his belly and forces it up through his esophagus. A pair of hands clasp together, emerging from his tongue and encasing him and the older sorcerer into his newly formed domain.

He takes the time to catch his breath, stares as the man loosens his tie and removes his glasses. This must be what joy feels like, he thinks, as there is nothing more satisfying than watching the light die out in his toy's eyes.

"I've made my peace," the sorcerer says, looking up.

An enormous grin full of teeth splits across Mahito's face. Once he takes care of this man, he'll use his body to distract Yuji. And then, all he needs to do is knock that woman out. She'll be much more agreeable unconscious. He moves forward, even though within his domain, his hands are constantly touching the man's soul. Nothing compares to personally making the contact.

"Nanami-san!" Yuji's voice shouts over the breaking of his domain. Streams of light shine through, landing on the space between him and the sorcerer.

Shit. He freezes as he gets pulled into Sukuna's soul. He offers an apology. It wasn't his intention to mess with Yuji's or Sukuna's soul again. He took appropriate steps to only trap the other sorcerer in his domain. But Sukuna glares down at him from that haughty position and snaps his fingers.

He's changed his mind. This pain is worse than any beating he's received. He grips his shoulder, trying to stop the splutters, but the slash is too deep, and his blood spurts out of him like an active volcano. The domain completely collapses and he runs–staggers away. An arrow hits the ground in front of him and he's cornered.

Fuck. Shit. This is bad. He can't die here, not without seeing their goal reached. There isn't anywhere to run. Fuck. The arrowhead glints under the strips of light that break through the clouds. He's going to die. She lets the arrow fly and he can't do anything to stop it. He closes his eyes, waiting for the strike that doesn't come. His body twists and becomes weightless as he gets pulled away. Mahito makes out the shouts, but he can't make out the words. He's surrounded by white–which is strange because surely a curse like him should be in hell.

When he comes to, he's on a grassy hill. There is no school, no pesky humans in sight. There's nothing but…

"Took you long enough to come to."

He turns to the voice. The dark-haired stranger reminds him of Geto-kun. The comparison puts him on edge. "And you are?"

"My name is not of importance. I've never met a curse with such intelligence before." He cradles the mirror to his chest, giving Mahito a small smile. His white yukata blows gently in the breeze.

The serene image sets Mahito's skin on fire.

"You sensed something, about that woman. What was it?"

"Who are you?" Mahito staggers to his feet, levels the man with a blank face. He isn't sure how they ended up on this hill, but if the man thinks that he owes him anything, then he is mistaken.

"I can either be your friend or your foe. It is your choice. Though I think you would very much like my partnership." The mirror glows and blasts Mahito.

He waits for the pain, but the energy seeps into his skin, down into his veins, and fuels his cursed energy. His muscles twitch, his clothes are too tight, and he's hungry for more of whatever that was. It reminds him of that darkness he felt.

"Addicting, yeah? What did you sense from that woman?"

"Souls."

The man's red eyes brighten at the revelation. "I'll give you more power if you do a small favor for me. That woman, I want you to taint the souls inside of her."

"Taint the souls?" Mahito welcomes the blast with open arms, basking in the energy that amplifies his own. The rush is like nothing he's ever tasted. "And what happens after I do this?"

"Depends on if the souls you sense are the ones I need." The mirror lights up as the man's black claws stroke it.

"And if I say no?"

"You'll come calling soon enough when the withdrawals start." The man vanishes.

Mahito clucks his tongue. Claws, that man had claws. He didn't act or feel like a curse, but looks could be deceiving. Though the man reminds Mahito of the woman from the alley. A friend of hers? No, he would have attacked if that was the case. He scratches his arm. The smart thing to do would be to tell Geto-kun about the strange man and that woman. Now that he thinks about it, she sounds like the woman that Jogo had described from his encounter with Gojo Satoru.

He should mention it. She could be possible collateral against the strongest.

Mahito dusts his hands on his pants and walks down the hill. He licks his bottom lip as he thinks about the pull of the darkness within that woman and the addicting hit of energy from that dark-haired man. There's no need to alarm Geto-kun and the others.

He'll do everyone a favor and take the power for himself.


A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews and feedback :) I'm sorry that it wasn't clear in the last chapter that Junpei couldn't handle the reversal. Next chapter will be out next Friday. Have a good weekend!