03.

unravel the night

Akane was five years old.

Dressed in an elegant red kimono with purple flowers, she follows one of the branch members of her clan, a woman close to fifty. Her small feet are soundless on the tatami mats, taking her to the Main Hall where she has been summoned by her mother.

The branch member bows down graciously at the little girl before sliding open the door for her, leading her to the center of the room. There are three adults waiting for her there, and she feels jittery being at the end of their line of sights. In front of Akane is Amano Akito, the Clan Head, sitting on the biggest chair in the room like a throne. To Akito's left is Zenba Hayato- Akito's husband and Akane's father. Hayato comes from one of the many minor jujutsu clans, Akane can't say she knows her father much, except that he loathes her relentlessly.

To Akito's right is her brother, Amano Eiji. Although he sits with an enigmatic presence that speaks volumes about his reputation as the (only) respected member in the Amano clan, his soft brown eyes are tired and sullen- Akane can even see the bags under his eyes. It is well known in the jujutsu world that the Amano's manifest little to no Cursed Energy because of their sacrifice years ago, and Eiji possesses none. He would have been the Clan Head instead of Akito, otherwise.

Akane feels a soft pang hit her chest when she realises her uncle's exhaustion. After all, he's her favourite in the Amano clan. At least he treated her like a human being rather than a tool.

"Akane, I trust you understand why you have been summoned." Akito says in a honey-laced voice that can fool anybody.

Akane slowly nods her head, her long brown hair dancing along. "Because I have inherited Mito-sama's Cursed Technique."

There is a wicked grin on Akito's face that sends shivers down Akane's spine. "That's right, my daughter. Finally, you have taken the first step towards the fulfillment of your duty!"

Zenba Hayato scoffs at this, sending Akane a look of disgust before turning to his wife. "I told you, she's a curse! You claim she will restore your clan, but mark my words- she'll destroy the Amano's!" He stands up, seething at the little girl as though she would transform into a monster. "Listen to me, Akito, she's an abomination. Let's kill her before-"

"Enough!" Akito snaps, her fiery gaze narrowing at Hayato. "Know your place. Don't forget why you married me. Your clan is on the verge of extinction, just like mine. We wanted an heir with combined Cursed Energies of both our bloodlines and that's exactly what Akane is."

She turns to look at her daughter who wears an unreadable expression. Akito's inability to read her five-year-old's mind has always irked her. "Your opinion means nothing Hayato. You're free to leave the clan if you want, you've already given me more than what I predicted."

Hayato scoffs. "That is not my daughter, she's a goddamn curse."

"Hayato," A new voice enters, and all eyes in the room. "Like my sister said, you are free to leave if you cannot shut your mouth."

Hayato clenches his fists, eyes burning with anger. "Why, you-"

"Akane," Akito interrupts her husband, wearing a sly smirk. "Now that you can use Mind Warping, you are ready for the transfer. The ceremony will take place tomorrow at dusk, fifty percent of all our Cursed Energies will be yours!"

Akane feels her father's burning gaze on her, and for a moment believes he'll tear a hole through her head. She never understood why her own father hated her so much. "Like hell I'll give her-"

"Enough, Hayato."

Time has stopped- at least that's what the room feels like. Akane catches her breath like she's afraid to breathe, swallowing a gasp as she looks at her mother with wide brown eyes. This is the reason why Akane is so afraid of her mother, because of Akito's Cursed Technique- Hypnosis. Akito channels all her Cursed Energy to her tongue and when this happens, all her commands have to be inevitably followed by the recipient of it. Even though Akane possesses ten times more Cursed Energy than her mother, she is like dirt that unwillingly sticks to her mother's shoes.

Hayato is now still as a statue, his eyes wide with horror. His rage-filled gaze returns to his wife, but she pays no mind to it. Akito turns towards Eiji who watches the entire scene with an amused raise of his brows. "Eiji, contact the Kamo's." Akito instructed, her eyes still on her daughter. "It's time to connect the thread."

═════ ◈ ═════

There are countless thoughts circling inside Akane's mind, but the highlights are these: Sukuna knows me. Sukuna recognises me. Sukuna is targeting me.

Akane feels weak to the bone.

The aftermath of the Grade 1 curse's torture pins Akane to the ground like a statue, her own body feels heavier than normal. Her vision is hazy, but her mind is sharp as knife- high on alert. Yet, the excruciating pain from the wound that has been gouged out by the curse is threatening to drown her to sleep, blood flowing from it like a fountain.

Ryomen Sukuna, now taking possession of Itadori Yuuji's body, sneers at her, his four eyes giving her an eerie glee. In less than a second, he's moved halfway across the floor to her.

Akane knows she should move... she should do something, but the combination of her pain and fatigue glues her there. "Marvelous... your Cursed Energy is just like hers." He peers closer at her, his eyes maniacally widened. "Hn, you even look like her. Tell me, Amano brat, why is it that your left side is just like hers?"

If Akane had the energy, she would blink in confusion. Look like whom? Mito-sama? She had white hair and purple eyes? Akane had never heard or seen anything about Mito's appearance, but only assumed that she looked just like the rest of the Amano's- black hair and brown eyes filled with fire.

Her throat gives out a whimper when Sukuna holds her face, his black nails stabbing her cheek bones. He merely chuckles at this, his grin growing wider. All the compassion she saw in Itadori's eyes have disappeared without a trace. She failed to save him.

"I made sure to kill her with cursed energy so she wouldn't return as a Vengeful Spirit." Sukuna continues rambling, inspecting Akane's left side. "Did the Amano's somehow seal her cursed energy inside you? Is that why you look like her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Akane manages to say, but immediately starts rasping for breath as Sukuna clasps his hand around her throat brutally. He scoffs, "Then maybe you're just an insignificant thing, after all." His grip tightens, his grin widening. "Either way, I'm gonna have fun crushing your skull under my foot, just like I did Mito."

Akane hears sirens blaring inside her head. The pain is subsiding and slowly she can feel her hand start to numb, her eyelids growing heavier by the minute as she is lulled to an illusion of sleep. She strains to keep her eyes peeled- the last thing she wants is to die right now.

But Ryomen Sukuna is holding her in a death grip- literally. The same king who crushed her family's legacy like it was nothing. Even Mito's Mind Warping failed to work on him... she doubts hers would.

She feels a ray of hope reach her with a realisation. Her katana! While the Sword of the Crescent Moon wasn't strong enough to defeat the King of Curses, it was the weapon that wounded Sukuna so badly that his Reversed Cursed Technique failed to work. Akane is nowhere close to Mito's level, but there's no harm in trying... right?

Sukuna cackles loudly, and Akane can feel the blood seeping from where his nails dig her skin. "You think you have a chance against me? The Amano's never learn, do they?"

He lets her go with such suddenness that Akane gasps like the air has been sucked out of her lungs. She hates that she can feel the five new crescent cuts on her neck. "Fine," Sukuna says rather solemnly but his grin says otherwise, sickening Akane. "I'd like to see you try, Amano."

Honestly? So would she.

With whatever energy she has left, she ignores the flood of crimson flowing from her wounds, swiping the Mikazuki Katana at him. Sukuna dodges, unsurprisingly, but Akane is relentless, slashing (trying to) him from every corner, looking for an opening, but Sukuna being in Itadori's body is unfortunate for her.

He is incredibly fast. All she can see is a flash of his pink hair moving faster than light.

She hears a low chuckle that sends chills down her spine. Sukuna appears in front of her with a euphoric grin, holding the blade of her katana. He doesn't even flinch as the blade digs into his palm. "My turn."

Sukuna's grip tightens and he holds the blade with all his might. A moment later, it snaps apart.

Akane's eyes widen, her heart thundering violently. No...

She can't survive without that sword! She can't kill the curse she has to without it.

Sukuna scoffs down at what was once one of the strongest cursed tools to exist, now broken into two. "Should've done that a thousand years ago, I will never forget that scar it cursed me with."

He ignores the look of horror on Akane's face and stretches his hands like they're in the middle of something casual. "Now then..." His gleaming red eyes look at her hungrily, and Akane can already visualise him tearing her apart from limb to limb.

She wants to run away.

"Shall we?"

Akane shuts her eyes, bracing for impact and for... death?

It never comes.

Akane is only met with confusion when her eyes reopen- confusion and sheer fear. Because in her sights is not just the King of Curses, staring at her with a hunger for power, but also an unmistakable chord that is the same colour as his eyes.

Akane's curse managed to sneak out without warning. But that's not what unnerves her. Earlier that evening when it appeared, the red chord was blazing as though it was demanding to be free.

Now that was ten times more intense and Akane can feel the burns on the finger that it's tied to.

Sukuna's eyes widen as he stares at it. He pulls his hand closer to his face, eyes wide with wonder, and that's when Akane hears her heart drop into a pit.

For as long as she could remember, the Red String always led to nowhere... most of the time Akane wasn't even paying attention. She's just fifteen after all, it's too early for her to meet the strongest Cursed Spirit, the one she is meant to destroy.

But right now, all Akane wishes is for this to be a very, very bad dream. Because the thread is shorter than she has ever seen it, and the other end is tied to Yuuji's finger.

To Sukuna.

"Now... what's this?" He murmurs curiously, staring at the blazing red chord curiously. His eyebrows furrow. "How the hell did you Amano's manage to steal some of my blood, hmm?"

The half toned girl finds herself speechless at Sukuna's revelation. His... blood? What does he mean 'blood'?

The Cursed Spirit's eyebrow rises when he notes her expression. "Surely you didn't think this was something as simple as a string? You rotten Amano's are as simple as ever."

He twirls the chord- blood- around his finger, the snarl on his face growing wider. "To think they would send someone as pitiful as you to kill me. I know I will have the time of my life drinking all your bloods- that's what you vermins deserve for stealing my blood."

His hand reaches out for her, for her throat, ready to fulfill his earlier desire to kill her. Akane wants to move, to run away somewhere anywhere but here. This isn't what she wanted... not like this. How could her family set her up for this without even telling her? All this time she didn't wanna admit it... but maybe it was true after all.

Her family really did not care about her.

Tears sting her eyes and vertigo haunts her brain, but she ignores it just like she ignores the physical and mental pain. She only welcomes the exhaustion weighing in each bone, her body that just wants to be set free. Tears flow softly on her cheeks, and the last thing she notes before closing her eyes and embracing death is the blazing red curse, and Sukuna who is holding Yuuji prisoner- Yuuji who does not deserve any of this.

She waits five seconds until she realises she's not quite dead. When she opens her eyes, she can't help but blink in confusion.

Sukuna is... choking himself?

The King of Curses grunts a snarl. "You... How are you able to move?"

Akane's mismatched eyes widen with realisation and hope.

"Dude, it's literally my body."

The dual toned hair girl feels a wave of relief wash over her at the familiar voice, and despite the multiple injuries burning in her body- she smiles desperately for the small miracle in the form of Itadori Yuuji.

She watches as four red eyes narrow in fury. "What?"

"DON'T MOVE!" Megumi's voice suddenly calls. Blood seeps all over his face and yet, the midnight haired boy is kneeling with an unspeakable emotion written on his face. His hands move to form symbols- ready to summon shikigami. "You're no longer human! As per the rules, Itadori Yuuji, you... are now a Curse. And I will exorcise you!"

Shadows start to form around Megumi, and Akane suddenly reaches out her hand to him in desperation. "NO! Fushiguro wait-"

The black haired male ignores her, except for sparing her one glance. "Sorry, Amano... just go to sleep."

"What-"

Before she can complete her sentence, Megumi's eagle shikigami- Nue- hits her head with its talons and knocks her unconscious.

═════ ◈ ═════

When Akane wakes up again, the first thing she realises is that she's not on the cold, hard ground anymore. She's lying down on a bed, muffled by soft blankets.

She cracks open her purple eye.

Instantly, she recognises the plain but homely walls of her room. There are no posters, no colours, nothing- except for the framed picture of her, Megumi and Gojo that her white haired teacher forced to hang on the wall.

From her window, the pale moonlight streams in. Akane isn't sure what the time is, but the half moon is enough to frustrate her as she sees her cursed string tread a long way outside her room door.

It's not blazing like it was earlier. She doesn't even know how many hours or days it has been since that night. Sukuna is back. Itadori is gone. And this curse is actually his blood?

She feels a headache come. When she places a hand on her forehead she feels the bandages, and then realises that most of her body is covered in more of those white straps.

Her blurry vision shows her a boy with messy black hair enter the room, also covered in bandages. Megumi seems to be surprised to see her awake, Akane can't really tell.

"Amano?"

Exasperated, she closes her eyes again. I don't have the energy for this. Her brain seems too exhausted to process anything at all, so she drifts back to sleep.

She wakes up again a few hours later, still feeling exhausted. This time sunlight is streaming through her window and landing directly on her face, but she doesn't mind it. Moreover, she feels somebody's presence next to her.

Half-struggling, she shifts her eyes towards the right and feels her breath halt at the familiar pink hair.

Itadori.. Or Sukuna is sitting next to her in Jujutsu High's uniform, staring straight into her eyes. Her first instinct is to kick him out of her way, but when she sees the soft innocent brown eyes, she finds herself relaxing.

So it's true, Itadori has control over his body.

"You're up?" Itadori asks, moving his face closer as he bores his eyes into hers. "I can't really tell. Gojo-sensei said you sleepwalk a lot."

If Akane had the energy to roll her eyes, she would. Of course he would say something like that, and Itadori is naive enough to believe anything Gojo tells him.

She turns away from him without responding, staring directly through her window to the sun. There is something peaceful about it, even if looking directly stings her eyes. She hears a shuffle next to her and stays silent as Yuuji walks towards the window and draws the curtains in so the sun isn't on her face. "Sorry about that, I didn't realise how bright it was outside."

It doesn't really bother me, but he's too nice for me to actually say that.

The pinkhead turns to look at her, a confused pout on his lips. "I still can't tell if you're sleepwalking or not, Amano-san."

This time Akane doesn't fail to roll her eyes. "You shouldn't believe everything Gojo tells you about me, he likes pulling my leg."

His face lights up as he shows her a large grin. "You're awake then! For a moment I really thought you were comatose."

Akane groans, rubbing her eyes as she sighs exasperatedly. "How long have I been out for?"

Yuuji draws out three fingers. "Three days. You've missed out on so much!"

"Fill me in."

Yuuji looks like an excited kid as he bobs his head. "Let's see... well, as you can see I got into the school-" He points to his uniform. "-and yesterday we went to receive the new first year student. She's a girl too, like you, but unlike you she's really brash and rude and she can be kind of mean sometimes... but she's a really powerful jujutsu sorcerer, I think you two will get along. And uh, let's see... yeah! Fushiguro was really worried 'bout you, ya know? He kept coming in to check up on you and I think he feels guilty about what happened and won't admit it. And-"

"-Itadori." Akane suddenly interrupts him.

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Sukuna?"

A frown finds Yuuji's face. "That guy? He's inside me now- I ate two of his fingers so far. Gojo-sensei convinced the higher-ups that I should eat all his fingers before my execution so they can kill him for good." He leans his back towards the wall, an irritated expression on his face. "This guy has been annoying as hell! He keeps blabbering some nonsense to me all the time. He pops out sometimes, but I mostly have him under control so it's all good."

When Yuuji looks back at Akane, he sees how she's not in a sleeping position anymore. She sits on the bed with her hands on her lap, but her mismatched eyes are wide. Despite the bandages covering most of her face, Yuuji finds her still really pretty.

"You're being executed? That's what those old hags decided? And Gojo agreed?"

Yuuji waves his hands hurriedly and shakes his hand. "N-no you've got it wrong! I was supposed to be executed immediately but Gojo-sensei delayed it for me. If anything I'm really grateful I have some extra days to live."

Akane's shoulders deflate upon hearing this, looking at the pink head sadly. "So you're saying you've accepted your fate?"

"I guess you can say that." Yuuji smiles sheepishly.

"Why?"

He sighs longingly, and even the smallest hints of a smile have left his face. "It's the consequences of my own actions right? Because I ate that finger. But I don't have any regrets! If I didn't do that, you and Fushiguro could've been dead."

Akane smiles softly and that somehow sends butterflies to Yuuji's stomach. He hopes he isn't blushing... "So you're like me, huh?" She says.

"Like you? I don't get it."

"You have a saviour complex like me." She clarifies and he opens his mouth in awe as if to say 'really?'. Akane unintentionally nods her head. "And that's why I'll make sure you'll stay alive, Itadori. Your execution won't happen."

Yuuji widens his eyes, his cheeks turning red. Awkwardly, he clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck. "There's one more thing, Amano-san."

"Yeah?"

"They've already decided on my executioner... It's you."

A/N: Akane, trying to catch a break:

I mean... You probably saw this coming right?

This chapter was so fun to write for me! Idk it's just something about the sequence of the first two scenes and the way I just pull out all the plot twists feels so ✨✨✨✨ to me. But trust me, what you've seen so far is just 2% of all the plot twists I have in store LMAO

Hope you enjoyed this! Please leave your thoughts for me 💖