The Vow

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Warning: There are mentions of suicide and dark themes within the chapter. Please do not proceed if you are uncomfortable with such. Thank you.

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Jujutsu sorcerers had long existed within the society for as long as one can remember, but with them existed - the Curses.

Merciless anomalies that seek to wreak havoc and do evil deeds, they are horrifying spawns of evil feeding off the malice of individuals who harbor immense anger or fear of something or someone. Among them was the worst of the lot, a creature labeled as the King of Curses - Sukuna Ryomen. A creature of depravity, once human but became the devil incarnate, murdering and feasting on women and children without sparing even a shred of remorse. And while he was recognized as a ruthless beast with four bloodstained arms, he could easily pass himself off as human, truly a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Effortlessly, he blended in with the mob, eyeing them like a predator surveying its prey. The bustling streets of Edo certainly helped his observation of these walking slabs of flesh, but he wasn't in the mood for much else. As much as he wished to commit mass murder within the crowded city, it would be irrational to annoy any jujutsu sorcerers who could be loitering nearby. He decided that an ambush on the outskirts of the city would satiate his appetite, so he went on and made plans for his next murdering spree.

Darkness stretched beyond the forest as Sukuna trekked in the mountains in hopes to find a village to raid. Hours stretched by and he was growing increasingly annoyed with his struggle to locate a random village but despite being irritated, he pushed on till he came to a little and worn out hut in the middle of the dark woods.

How disappointing.

Grumbling curses under his breath, he lazily approached the small hut to check if anyone was inside, having little to none expectation as he saw no light coming from the hut. Then, he suddenly bared an amused grin as a metallic stench wafted almost gracefully to his nose, dismissing his frustration. He hoped they were just hurt and not dead; he intended to torture his innocent victim, if only to appease his boredom.

The sweet stench became awfully stronger as he walked in, then it finally filled his senses as he laid his eyes upon the red painted all over the walls, the same hue pooling on the floor where a half-naked woman stood over what seemed to be an old man's corpse. Gripped within her hand was a bloodied wakizashi, the weapon the curse assumed she used to kill the man before her.

It wasn't a rare sight for the curse to behold, he had seen ronins and samurais slaughter each other like the fools they are. Regardless, he treated this to be one hell of a spectacle, as if watching a resentful ghost with the light illuminating her pale and snow white austere face. When the woman sensed his uninvited presence, her lifeless eyes fixed on him.

"Are you Death? ...did you come here to drag me down to hell?" Her head tilted ever so slightly, loose strands framing her sunken face. Despite her eyes reflecting the moonlight- they were emotionless and empty, quite a display for the curse to witness. Her focus then shifted to the corpse in front of her before she continued to speak. "Perhaps it is a better place than here."

"My, aren't you an interesting woman? For a person who is so alive in front of me, you seem to revere death as if it were a holy being." He sneered, closing the gap between them. "You seek death as if it were your salvation."

"Is it not?" She said matter-of-factly.

His fingers caressed her cheek, pulling the corners of his lips into a sly smirk. "Unfortunately, Death, whom you worship and adore, isn't nice enough to set his foot upon this hell of a place and bring you salvation himself." Mockery dripped from his lips like venom, his eyes scanning her demeanor. "And unfortunately, I am neither Death nor the kind person who will take you out of your misery."

Sukuna gently brushed his hand on her cheek down to her jaw before grasping her chin firmly. He chuckled, tracing circles on her lower lip with his thumb. "Let me take you home, woman. I'll be sure to make you feel alive every second you are with me."

Despite his hasty and forceful attempt to coerce her into coming with him, she remained impassive and didn't even bother to respond. Was it perhaps her way of resigning herself to him, or was it because she was so broken that she didn't have an ounce of concern for herself? If Sukuna would choose, he'd rather pick the latter.

"Besides," He started, lifting the hand that held the wakizashi close to her throat in which, unsurprisingly, she didn't retaliate against. "If you so dearly crave for Death, why don't you do it yourself?"

"If you bear witness to my death," She muttered, almost immediately in response. "...then I'd be more than willing to kill myself."

She unhesitatingly inched the blade closer to her throat, despite the fact that it was stained with the blood of the man she had killed. She closed her eyes, fully accepting the pain that death would bring, knowing full well that it would be her last and final suffering before she could finally rest in peace.

But even before the blade could touch her neck, Sukuna yanked her arm aside causing her to let go of the blade she was holding. He was taken aback by what he had done. Normally, he wouldn't object even if someone died in front of him; in fact, he would find it humorous. People scream and plead for their lives, or even cry out for mercy. He deemed desperation mildly amusing because it pushes humans to the brink of insanity.

It wasn't the same case for her.

She desired death more than he had anticipated, it was almost ironic.

"I didn't say you could kill yourself." He snarled, tightening his hold on her arm. Even with the pain, her face remained unfazed as if she was immune to it or...perhaps, had grown accustomed to it.

"Didn't you ask for it?" She answered nonchalantly, tilting her head to the side.

Sukuna froze in his position, staring at her before bursting out laughing. He mischievously and amusingly grinned and brought her in close, snaking his arm around her waist with his palm resting on her hip, their bodies touching in the process.

"I've really become more interested in you, so rejoice. I'll throw you in on a deal, woman. I'll give you the death you desperately long for. In exchange, let me be the one to murder you with my own hands..." He then drew in close enough to whisper in her ear, his breath warmly sweeping a shiver from her nape down to her spine. "...refuse, and I'll curse you to suffer for the rest of eternity."

His whispers triggered a fleeting warm feeling to wash over her chest, almost as though her cold expression had faltered for a split second.

She hesitated before opening her mouth and extending her arms around his neck. "Even if your curse weren't there, I wouldn't dare decline." She whispered, her voice light and free like a feather flying in the breeze. "As long as you are my demise, I'll yield to your desire." Letting go of breath she didn't know she held, she pressed her body closer, closing her eyes as she willingly gave herself to a stranger she never truly knew.

For the first time, she held someone within her arms, voluntarily offering herself for the sake of her death. At this point, she didn't care if he used him in ways she wouldn't dare imagine - as long as he vowed that he would be her demise - that meant that he was her last suffering.

One last time. As long as she has a death justifiable enough for a mere for a rubbish existence like hers; as long as she dies human - she would endure anything, everything, just to end it all.

At that moment, they had condemned their fate into an unbreakable Binding Vow, one that would soon lead them into their impending tragedy.

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