Unmatched | ᴍᴀʜɪᴛᴏ

Chapter 12

I glared at him. I really wasn't in the mood for that. I knew that he wouldn't pick up the book for me, and for the first time ever, I wished for Itadori back. The sweet boy would have jumped up immediately. Sukuna only put his own manga away and looked me up and down. His eyes stopped at my arm, then at the scratch on my neck, then at my lips. He licked his own, then put his deranged grin back in place.

"Any questions, little lady? I know you're dying to ask them," he said in a mocking tone.

Looked at him. Even though I was irritated, sleep-deprived, and just downright exhausted, I knew that I couldn't afford too many seconds of silence. There was no time for stubbornness. So I shoved my pride and enormous ego aside and put on a smile. At least he wasn't touching me now; that made the whole thing a lot easier.

"If you can't control curses," I started.

He broke me off with a raised finger. "It's not that I can't. Curses can't be controlled."

I nodded. "Okay. So. If curses can't be controlled, what else can you tell me about them? Can they... What can they do?"

He smiled. "Don't your jujutsu sorcerers tell you things about curses?" He was making fun of me now.

"They do. But I want to hear about them from a different perspective."

"So you want my perspective. Why?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was asking questions."

Sukuna licked his lips again, making me feel suddenly uneasy. "You are asking questions for as long as I want you to ask them. I don't have to be here, you know?"

I nodded. "I know that. But I don't know why I want to hear about your perspective. I think I just... can understand when you don't see curses entirely as the enemy."

Sukuna looked at me with raised eyebrows. I could see that I surprised him, and it pleased me. I hadn't thought that I would be able to do that. He always seemed to look right through me and already knew everything about me. Apparently, he didn't.

"Well, I don't know how much I can tell you about curses in the next nineteen seconds, but now that I know that you don't see them as the enemy... I might be able to tell you more."

Suddenly, he got up from the bed and walked around it to my side. I followed him with my eyes. He bent down to pick up my manga, then put it in my lap. I had to tilt my head to look up at him, and he was so close. I could have kissed him if I tried. He could have kissed me. But he didn't. I stopped breathing. I knew that as long as he didn't give me the word, I shouldn't kiss him.

"Next time, I won't make it that easy for you again," he said in what was barely more than a whisper.

Then he straightened up again, walked around the bed, and sat back down. He picked up Itadori's manga and closed his eyes. I quickly averted my eyes and pretended to be reading. I wasn't reading. I couldn't even see the page in front of me.

When Yuji came back, he, of course, didn't notice that anything was off. He only continued down his page in peace and flipped to the next one. I sat there and did the same, mindlessly flipping pages in a moderate rhythm.

I had to tell him. If Sukuna was already talking about next time, I had to tell Itadori. He had to know. But... Maybe I would tell him only when I had enough information. I shouldn't keep it from him for too long. The first time Sukuna ever talked to me had already been two and a half weeks ago. If I didn't tell Itadori soon, it would be even harder to explain.

Maybe after next time. Maybe next time, I would finally get to know what I wanted to know, and then I could tell him. Maybe.

Since I couldn't rely on Sukuna alone, I tried asking Gojo and Nanami questions, too. Nanami didn't like to be asked questions. Or at least not by me. Gojo, on the other hand, was always delighted when I asked him. Most of the time, he didn't really give me any answers and just joked around. But he was so smooth with it that I only realized he hadn't told me anything when it was already too late.

Because I wasn't allowed to be training now, I went by his office to ask him. He wasn't annoyed by my questions. He enjoyed my curiosity, or maybe he just wanted to know what I wanted to know. Sometimes, it felt like he was the one who had me all figured out.

"Oh, he's getting stronger, yes," Gojo answered my question about Sukuna. "With every finger Yuji-kun eats, Sukuna gains strength. For now, it's two. Soon, it will be three and more. But Yuji is strong. He can keep him inside."

I nodded. "So, do you think that at a certain point when Yuji will have eaten more fingers, Sukuna could gain control over him?"

Gojo smiled and tilted his head. Even though I couldn't see his eyes, he looked sympathetic. "Don't worry about him. I know he's your friend, but he will be fine."

I really was asking because I was worried about Itadori. I didn't want Sukuna to take over completely. I liked Itadori. The world is a much better place with him in it. I wasn't hoping for Sukuna to gain control over him. That was the biggest proof to myself that I was actually Itadori's friend and that he was mine.

"He's just... he's very dear to me," I said quietly.

Gojo was still smiling. "I know."

I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't need to hear any more. Maybe it was time I gave up on believing that something bigger had been behind the attack on my parents. Maybe I should just accept that that curse had done what curses do. Killing people. Without a motive, without anything. That curse wasn't intelligent, and if so, it wouldn't have wanted to save me. It would have killed me, too. Curses didn't feel sympathy. Maybe I should finally accept that.

But there was one more question I had to ask. There was one more who could help me figure it out. The other curse. I didn't know if Sukuna could give me any kind of information on him, but I at least had to try. I at least had to ask.

So I asked Gojo-sensei when I could finally train with him again after five boring days in bed.

He laughed. "You and your questions," he said. "Haven't we been through this already?"

I nodded with a sly smile. "Maybe. But I just wanted to ask... That curse with the patchwork face... Sukuna must know him, right? He's the King of Curses. Shouldn't he know all curses? Why don't you just ask him?"

Gojo laughed. I wasn't offended by his laugh. I liked him. He always took things so easily with us. That made me feel like nothing was really important, nothing could harm us. He gave me a feeling of comfort.

"You have a certain fascination with that curse, am I right?"

When I stayed silent, Gojo sat down on the floor. I mirrored him. He wasn't much taller than me when we were sitting, but still a little. He was beautiful, he truly was. I wished that I could just once see his full face up close.

"Sukuna doesn't know about that curse or its abilities because it is a new one. Nanami had described him as a child. Sukuna knows of it, yes, but not who it is or what it can do."

So there was a chance that that curse had sent the one back then. But why would it do that. Again, curses didn't feel sympathy. I was confused, but I nodded.

"As for asking him," Gojo continued, "I don't think he would answer us."

I smiled. Of course, he wouldn't answer them. Because they were the curse's enemies. I wasn't.