Sorry for taking so long! I had back-to-back exams and a lab exam too, but now I'm free! Anyway, CHOSO IS HERE! Hime and Choso are gonna be going through some shit in this chapter lol

MAHITO IS A LIAR, WAS something Mizuhime had to tell herself repeatedly in order to keep her sanity in check.

He's a liar and a manipulator, she told herself over and over again, remembering how he cruelly tricked Junpei and led him to his doom.

He loves to torment people until their minds break. She remembered how he treated Yuji's despair as a source of entertainment.

She was trying so hard to convince herself that everything he had told her was a lie... but she couldn't help but notice that the pieces fit together all too well.

Reincarnation was possible for humans in only one way: being reborn as a cursed spirit if they weren't killed without cursed energy. That was the only way a human could naturally reincarnate.

Neither she or Gojo were cursed spirits, they were still human. Meaning Mahito's theory—as much as she dreaded it—was plausible because how else did she and Gojo manage to reincarnate and retain their humanity?

While Gojo cursing her seemed believable, there was still Sukuna...

Sukuna couldn't have cursed her. He couldn't have.

...Right?

She bit the inside of her cheek; Sukuna must've stumbled across her corpse after she died. It wouldn't exactly surprise her if—in his grief—he had accidentally cursed her without knowing it, but it was what the curse entailed that worried her.

"No matter what happens to you, you will always live because the King decreed it."

It sounded so... creepy. As if Mahito was insinuating that Sukuna had total control of her life. Of whether she lived or died.

Sure it sounded like a blessing, but she could see how such a "blessing" could easily turn into a curse. What about aging? Would she just continue to grow old forever? Her body becoming saggy, wrinkled, and weak, and yet death would always evade her? Or what if she was being tortured? Death would be the only mercy but with Sukuna's curse, she would have to suffer forever...

Not to mention Gojo... If she was cursed to live forever, then how would that affect the curse Gojo supposedly laid on her? If Mahito was telling the truth, then his soul would follow her wherever she went. If she couldn't die, then didn't that mean he couldn't either?

Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick, she quickly cupped a hand over her mouth, feeling actual bile beginning to rise up her throat. She spat it out on the ground, shuddering.

Shakily, she forced herself back on her feet. Exhaustion seeped into her bones, but she knew she couldn't sit around any longer. Mahito was long gone, and she had a feeling he was back to hunting Yuji down. She had to shove her thoughts to the back of her mind and focus on finding the younger boy before it was too late.

"He went downstairs..." She muttered under her breath, dashing back into the station. As she rushed down the stairs to floor B1, she was relieved to remember that Mahito didn't bother going back inside. This was good... unless Yuji already left the building, but that wasn't likely.

"Come on... where are you...?" She huffed, looking around.

Floor B1 was clear, so she hurried down to B2. But again, nothing. Not even a sign of a fight. When she reached B3, however, the sound of heavy breathing made her pause.

"Yuji? Are you okay?!" Believing it was him, she hurried to the source only to freeze.

It wasn't Yuji.

It was an older man, crouched at an alcove and looking as if he was in the middle of a mental breakdown. He had a pair of buns on his hair that were spiked like sea urchins, dilated dark purple eyes that seemed to look through her, and for some odd reason, a black stripe running across his nose and cheeks.

She looked around warily. The man was soaked to the bone, as if he had taken a dip in a pool before collapsing here. He also looked beaten up; there were no visible injuries on him but she could see blood splattered on the whites of his clothes.

Not only that... but his cursed energy didn't feel like it belonged to a sorcerer, but a cursed spirit instead. She kept her guard up; he may have looked human, but so did Mahito and he turned out to be one of the worst curses in existence.

"Hey," she called out tensely. "Who are you? Have you seen another boy around here?"

He didn't reply.

Her teeth gritted. "Where is Yuji? Answer me!"

Again, no response. His hands stayed on his head, breathing heavily. It looked... familiar to her, actually.

Her hands turned clammy at the realization. A panic attack. He was having a panic attack. She remembered the day after Gojo raped her, how she had a panic attack in the middle of the room because of everything he put her through and planned to put her through.

She had no idea what had happened to this man, but seeing the state of him now made all her aggression fade away and become replaced by sympathy. As much as she wanted to demand answers, she knew doing so would only make his condition worse.

Her gaze softened and she found herself slowly approaching him. She crouched in front of him and he didn't seem to notice her even then.

"Hey," she called out, much more gently this time. "You're having a panic attack. It's scary, but it won't last long." She reassured him.

His eyes darted to her, and it seemed like he was finally seeing her.

"You need to breathe slowly," she instructed him. "Follow what I'm doing."

She started taking slow, deep breaths to demonstrate. To her relief, the man tried his best to mimic what she was doing. It took awhile, but eventually, his rapid-fire breaths started to gradually slow down.

She watched him warily. She didn't know who this guy was or where he came from. Plus, he didn't feel human either. He could've been with the fake Geto's group for all she knew. He could've been an enemy.

But she couldn't help it. Nobody was around to help her when she was having a panic attack, and she didn't want this stranger to go through the same thing either.

"...Do you feel better now?" She asked hesitantly.

He let out a shaky breath and nodded.

"Can you tell me your name?" She asked.

"Ch... Choso," he answered.

She was tempted to ask if he was a human or a cursed spirit, but that felt rude so she asked something else: "I'm looking for my friend, Yuji. He has pink hair, and he's wearing a dark school uniform with a red hood. Have you seen him?"

She might have asked the wrong question. Immediately, Choso's dark violet eyes widened and his breath picked up once more.

"H-Hey—"

"—Yuji," he choked out. "Y-Yuji, my brother, he—he's—"

"—You're what?" She frowned, brows furrowed in confusion. From what Megumi told her, Yuji had no family. His parents were gone, he had no siblings, and his grandfather passed away several months ago. She had never heard of a brother.

Choso couldn't clarify. His chest was heaving up and down, tears welling in his eyes as he struggled to breath again. Except this time, he wasn't having another panic attack. Instead, he was sobbing.

"My brother...!" He cried out. "He's my—I tried to kill my own brother!"

"Um... Yuji? Yuji's your brother?" She had never felt so confused before. "Uh... are you sure?"

They didn't look anything alike. Yuji had brown eyes and pink hair and looked like he was born from sunshine and rainbows. Meanwhile, this guy looked like he had spawned into existence in the middle of Hot Topic.

"Oh god, I'm the worst brother ever...!" He whimpered, clenching his eyes shut. Tears and snot were streaming down his face. "I'm the worst, I'm the worst!"

He rocked back and forth, head slamming against the wall. Mizuhime lurched forward and placed her palm behind his cranium to keep him from hitting it.

"Hey, don't do that!" She said worriedly. "Look, uh... Choso-san, my name is Mizuhime and I'm a friend of your... brother's. Please, just tell me where he went. I'm worried about him."

He shook his head. "I-I don't know...! I'm sorry, he—he, my poison—"

"—Your what?!" Her voice rose an octave.

He squeezed his eyes shut in shame. "My blood is poisonous, I didn't know that he was my—I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"

"—Choso, breathe. Where. Is. He?" She ordered.

"I don't know," he whimpered. "He went d-down, I think? I—"

"—I need to find him," she said, quickly standing up. She sprinted for the staircase, leaving Choso behind. She couldn't worry about him anymore, finding Yuji was far more important.

If he wasn't in B3, B2, or B1, and he wasn't at the top floor, then he had to have gone deeper down.

━━━━━━･❪ 🩸 ❫ ･━━━━━━

She skipped over the staircase, choosing to jump over them instead before breaking out into a sprint. When there was no sight of him, she went to the next floor. And then another floor, and then—

Her blood froze.

Several meters away from her, she had found him at last. He was slumped against the wall next to the elevator, unconscious, bloodied, and beaten. In front of him were a pair of girls. One of them was forcefully trying to shove Sukuna's finger into his mouth.

"NO!" She shouted, striking the blonde girl's arm with water. It hit too late. The jet of water swiftly sliced through the girl's wrist, but the finger had already been stuffed down Yuji's throat.

"ARGH!" She screamed, jumping back and clutching her severed arm.

"Nanako!" The dark haired girl cried out in alarm.

Mizuhime ran forward but before she could reach Yuji, the dark haired girl lashed a rope at her. She dodged to the side just in time.

During that moment, she took the time to size the girls up. They were teenagers just like her, even dressed in school uniforms. What caught her attention were how heavily scarred they were. Every open gap of skin was full of thin, vertical scars. It was all over their arms, face, neck, and legs.

When the girls saw her, their eyes widened as if they knew her.

"You!" The blonde girl glared venomously at her. "You're that man's daughter!"

She stared in confusion. "Huh?"

"Mimiko, it's her," she spat. "Look, she looks just like him, doesn't she? She's his daughter!"

"I know, Nanako," the dark haired one replied, eyes narrowed with hate.

Mizuhime looked between them. These girls seemed to know her father, but she had never met any of them before.

Just then, something clicked in her head.

The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. She recalled her father complaining about how much of a waste of time it was. He had been stationed somewhere in the city and found a pair of sisters.

"They were pathetic," she remembered him saying boredly. "Just a pair of unruly brats, and they were terribly weak too. They called themselves Geto's daughters. Hah. That man was a Special Grade and those impudent girls couldn't even handle a little rain."

She knew back then that he wasn't talking about simple rain. Her father had manipulated the weather and weaponized the rain, possibly using it to cut the girls down. It was a painful thing to experience, akin to a thousand little knives cutting away at you.

These girls—Nanako and Mimiko—must have gone through it. And they most definitely resented her father for it too.

She swallowed thickly. Of course. Her father's actions just had to come back to bite her in the ass. Why did she have to suffer the consequences of what he had done?

"L-listen..." She tried to deescalate the situation but they weren't having it.

"Shut the fuck up!" Nanako snapped. With her only hand, she whipped out her cellphone.

Mizuhime had no idea what she was planning on doing with that—maybe take a pre-battle selfie?—but before she could find out, another person appeared.

It was a cursed spirit this time, one that had a volcano for a head. His lone eye kept darting between her and the girls before finally landing on Yuji's unconscious body. He turned to the sisters, furious.

"YOU! How many fingers did you feed him?!" He demanded.

"We... we're not gonna tell you!" Mimiko replied shakily with half-hearted bravery.

"Mimiko!" Nanako hurried over to her sister, trying to wrap an arm around her. It was hard with a missing hand, but she managed. With her other hand, she lifted up her phone.

"Fine." The curse said. "Then die."

Nanako snapped a picture of themselves. Mizuhime had no clue what happened, blinded as the spot they stood in suddenly erupted in flames. She could feel a heat coming underneath her feet and quickly jumped away, shielding herself with water just in time for the ground to erupt too.

She stumbled back against the wall, swatting away the scorching steam.

Shit, she inwardly cursed. This wasn't good. While the girls weren't a threat, this new guy was most likely one of the unregistered Special Grade curses. His Cursed Technique seemed to be fire-based which should be weak against her Water Manipulation, but she still felt apprehensive.

Meanwhile, during the time the girls tried to evade his attack, Jogo rushed over to Yuji with a scroll. When he unfurled it, he revealed ten more of Sukuna's fingers zip tied to the fabric.

"Time to wake up, Sukuna!" He announced, and a dooming sensation permeated in the air.

Mizuhime's eyes widened when she heard those words. She couldn't see much thanks to the steam, but she knew she needed to act quickly.

"Fuck...!" She cursed, running forward and ignoring the painful sting as the hot steam touched her skin. She had enough cursed energy reinforced around her body to protect her from the worst of it anyway.

When she came out of the steam cloud, skin red and raw, her eyes widened in horror. The cursed spirit was standing over Yuji, one hand holding him by the throat and the other forced over his mouth. Thrown aside was a cloth scroll with a bunch of empty ring sockets that were big enough to fit Sukuna's fingers.

He had fed Yuji the fingers. She knew Yuji could handle being Sukuna's host, but could he handle eating so many fingers at once?! Would he die?! Would he lose control?!

"What have you done?!" She found herself shrieking as her heart beat loudly within her chest. "How many fingers was that?!"

"That's none of your business," he sneered, aiming his palm at her. "Now be gone—"

Neither of them knew what happened, but one second Jogo was ready to blast her with fire and in the next second, his arm was suddenly cut off. It registered in their minds too late; the King had awakened.

"You have one second," a familiar, dark, and malicious voice pierced the air. "Move."

Jogo and the twins jumped as far away from him as possible, but Mizuhime stayed rooted on her spot, watching with bated breath as Sukuna rose to his feet, casually dusting off his pants. As relieved as she was to see him, she was more worried about Yuji's condition.

In all the times she had known the boy, Yuji had never once lost control over his body. He always effortlessly held Sukuna at bay, only letting him out with permission. This was different. Yuji had been force-fed at least ten fingers while in a weakened state. What did it mean? Was Yuji still there? Or was he... gone?

While she was busy worrying over her friend, the other three were terrified for their lives.

Jogo felt sweat rolling down his face, his single eye burning with dryness as he kept it open for too long, but he didn't dare blink. He felt that if he blinked for even a fraction of a second, he would be killed.

So this is Sukuna! He thought. Sukuna's strength is different than Gojo Satoru's! It's overwhelmingly evil! And what's with that other kid, does she not feel afraid?!

Nanako held her sister close, trying to keep her breath steady. I'm scared that any move we make will mean our deaths! Breathe...! Breathe, breathe, breathe! Wait, is it even okay to breathe?! He won't kill us for breathing, will he?!

"Sukuna," a voice pulled them out of their panicked thoughts. They stared at Mizuhime in wide-eyed terror as if they couldn't believe she had the guts to call the King by his name. "What happened to Yuji?"

"Oh geez," he rolled his eyes. "Whatever happened to 'hello'? Or 'hey, how're you doing'? Since when did you care so much about the brat, huh?"

"Sukuna," she said more firmly, like a mom whose patience was being tested. "What happened to Yuji?"

"The brat's fine," he waved off her concerns. "But he doesn't matter anymore. I'm in control now."

'I'm in control now'. This wasn't the first time Sukuna had taken over Yuji's body around her, but hearing him say that sent chills rolling down her spine. There was an oppressive atmosphere in the air now.

The last time Sukuna had taken over his body, it resulted in her remembering her past life and causing a series of natural disasters that killed thousands, maybe millions of people. She had a feeling a similar disaster was about to come.

Sukuna turned his gaze back to the three trembling people. He brushed his hair back, showing off the mark on his forehead. His blood red eyes seemed to stab into their souls.

"Holding your head a little high, don't you think?"

The three of them didn't know how it happened, but they suddenly found themselves collapsing to their knees. They didn't know whether it was from the sheer terror of being so near him or if it was his own wicked cursed energy forcing them down.

The girls managed to get down quickly, Nanako even making sure to force Mimiko's head low in a respectful bow. Jogo, however, was too late. He dropped to one knee, but the top of his head had already been sliced through. Behind them, the wall broke from the laceration of Sukuna's attack. The sound made them all flinch.

Even then, Jogo kept his eye peeled open, blood spilling down his face and mouth.

"You thought kneeling on just one knee would be enough?" Sukuna smiled sinisterly. "The boughs that bear most hang lowest. But it seems your head doesn't bear much."

He then turned his attention to the girls. He had to give it to them, they were smart enough to keep their heads low and their eyes averted to the floor. They, at least, knew their place.

"You, kids," he called out to them. "Is there something you'd like to ask of me? I'll give you one finger's worth of time. Go on."

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited. His posture seemed lax, but Mizuhime could see his red eyes shining with mirth. It almost reminded her of the time when they were kids and she and Sukuna managed to nab some food from a merchant.

"You meanie! You're supposed to share!" She would protest whenever Sukuna tried to hide the food from her.

"But I did all of the work!" He complained.

"Nuh uh! I was the one who distracted them long enough for you to snatch it! So I should get some nikogori too!"

"All you did was cry and blow snot all over the place!" He stuck his tongue out.

Shisui threw grass at him, and with her good aim, she managed to get some into his opened mouth and laughed when he gagged in disgust.

The fond memory disappeared from her head in a flash, and she was back to reality.

She stared at Sukuna's eyes. He was amused, but the childlike excitement was gone. His eyes were cold and wild, staring down at the girls like a child would stare down at an ant hill before they kicked it down.

Nanako kept her eyes glued on the floor as she spoke, "Down below... There's a man wearing a priest's robe with stitches on his forehead. Please... kill him."

"Please free Master Geto." Mimiko pleaded.

Nanako started to choke up. It was clear to everyone that she was close to tears. "So... please..."

"Raise your heads." Sukuna said.

Tentatively, the girls looked up. Sukuna stared them down with an amused scoff and then—

Mimiko's head was severed from her neck. Blood bursting out and splattering her sister's face. Mizuhime gasped in horror, reeling back with a hand slapped over her mouth.

"Wha...?" Shakily, Nanako turned to face her sister. She let out the most anguished scream. "AAAHHHHH! MIMIKO! MIMIKO!"

"You thought you could order me around just for a finger or two?" Sukuna scolded, his voice barely heard over her screaming. "I'm not pleased."

"SUKUNAAAAAA!" Nanako roared, lunging at him with her phone at the ready. Before she could take another step, a large cut appeared at her side, making her stumble back.

Sukuna let out a laugh. "What a war cry! Say, you want to get revenge on me don't you? For killing your maggot of a sister?"

"DIE!" She tried to snap a picture of him with her phone, but he appeared behind her in a flash. He kicked her back, sending her crashing to the floor. Without even giving her a chance to get up, he planted his foot on her head to keep her down.

"Oh stop, this is just embarrassing," he sighed. "You wanna get back at me, right? Well, I'll help you out. See that blue haired woman gawking at us like a dumbass?"

He pointed at Mizuhime, who stayed frozen at the scene before her. She was too shocked to even feel offended by what he had said.

"She's someone I care a lot about, so why don't you go and try to kill her instead?" He suggested coyly.

"Huh?!" Both Mizuhime and Jogo said in unison. Mizuhime because Sukuna was egging someone on to kill her and Jogo because he couldn't believe Sukuna would actually admit to caring about someone.

"Su-Sukuna, what are you doing...?!" Mizuhime asked shakily.

"You stand no chance against me," Sukuna went on as if she never spoke. Nanako's head was trembling with rage under his foot. "So why don't you try someone up to your speed?"

They both knew it was a lie. Mizuhime was leagues above the girl when it came to strength. Nanako wouldn't have stood a chance, and Sukuna knew that very well.

"You hate her anyways, right?" He continued to egg her on, applying more force with his foot. Nanako cried out in pain and anger. "Lemme guess, she had something to do with those ugly faces of yours?"

"Her father," Nanako spat.

"Ahh," he nodded in understanding. "Well, you know what they say back in my day: the sins of the father are laid upon the children. Now have at it."

"Sukuna, wait—" Mizuhime tried to stop him, but he lifted up his foot and Nanako came running at her like a rabid animal.

Nanako lifted up her phone, and on instinct, Mizuhime attacked. She opened her palm and blasted her back with water, but she severely underestimated how strong it would be. The jetstream shot completely through her torso, blood mixed in with water splattering the floor and wall.

Sukuna's grin widened. As Nanako's body fell to the floor, he clapped.

"Atta girl," he commended, ignoring the quiet horror on her face. "I knew you could do it."

Her face was drained of color. She kept looking around, as if seeing imaginary people give her accusatory stares. "I-I didn't mean... I..."

"Oh don't be like that," Sukuna purred, sauntering up to her to clasp her trembling hands. "I never taught you to pull your punches, did I? After all... I taught you how to kill. All those times we've sparred and trained together... did you really think a lowly human could take those hits as well as I can?"

"I..."

She trailed off, her eyes traveling behind him where she could see Nanako coughing up blood. She was still alive, but barely hanging on by a thread. Blood was rapidly pooling around her.

Quickly, Mizuhime yanked her hands free and hurried to the girl's side, falling to her knees. Her hands were shaking. She couldn't heal her. She didn't know what to do.

I didn't mean to do this, she wanted to say. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Why did she do this? Why did she use that attack? Why didn't she do something else? Why did she have to go straight for the killing blow?

(Because it was just like Sukuna said: he never taught her to pull her punches.)

"Oh? So the cockroach lives," Sukuna's voice drawled behind her. She shivered at his apathetic tone. Why was he like this? Why was he so cruel? What was going on? "What will you do? Will you finish her off? Or will you prolong her suffering?"

He sounded curious. She suddenly felt like bacteria on a petri dish being observed by an indifferent scientist, watching to see what she would do next. There were only three other people here with her—and one of them was dying—but she felt the heavy stares of a hundred people. As if even the heavens were watching to see her fall.

She stared down at Nanako with wide, scared eyes. Despite the fact that the other girl was dying, she still managed to glare at her with eyes full of hate.

Nanako's bloodied lips parted open, and Mizuhime knew right away that she had been cursed: "I... hope that... one day... you lose the person you love most."

Before anyone could even react, Sukuna's foot had slammed through the girl's skull, killing her at last.

"Hmph," he scoffed quietly, lifting his foot up. Mizuhime gagged at the sight of Nanako's caved in head. Her death was more gruesome than her sister's, and she had surely suffered as well.

"Sukuna..." Mizuhime whispered, speckles of Nanako's blood on her face. She stared up at him, and he could see signs of her body beginning to shut down.

He narrowed his eyes in warning. "Melons, don't you dare faint."

She didn't listen. Her body tilted to the side and with an aggravated groan, he caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Oh come on," he grumbled, carefully setting her down. He had enough decency to make sure her head was turned away from Nanako's corpse, thinking that she'd probably faint again if she saw it a second time (and that would be too troublesome for him).

After getting her settled, Sukuna's ruby eyes turned to Jogo next, who stiffened.

His lips turned upwards into a cruel smirk. "And then there were two." 

— author's note —

LMAO yeah, Mizuhime got cursed again and ohhhhh is this curse gonna impact her A LOT. Unlike the other two curses, this one is pretty straight forward: she's gonna lose someone she loves. Any guesses on who?