Beyond the Grave [ILLUMI X CHROLLO]

[9] Illumi The Horse Girl

After months in the afterlife and having witnessed no sun in New York, a crisp blue sky was a startling revelation. The warmth permeated an otherwise cool autumnal breeze. Like warm water it spread, and Illumi registered a deep breath that wasn't his own.

There was a distinct clatter of hooves on unpaved roads. A chalky texture was in the air—dust—but breathing even that was a miracle. Tasting the iron on the earth was a sensation Illumi didn't realize he missed.

The cloudless sky was obstructed at once by a horse teetering into view over a wooden gate. Illumi was distinctly aware that they weren't alone—it was a feeling rather than an observation that this exchange was very much public and accompanied by rudimentary confetti.

The jockey leant into view. The world outside was a blurred memory, but the rider's face was unmistakably Illumi.

This is a memory, Illumi reminded himself, searching for signs of an era. He couldn't control the focus of Sukuna's eyes on Illumi's face as he dismounted and jumped the barrier fence.

People crashed in, congratulating him. There were furls and fluff on broad-beamed sun hats and heart shaped necklines before it was all obscured by Illumi meeting Sukuna's eyes.

Illumi recognized a fraction of his expression. Even in the crowd of celebrating people, his joy was faint. His eyes were a stark, black scorn on an unimpressed affect that softened, however slightly, with the curve of his shoulders as Sukuna approached.

As Illumi said, "I was looking for you," the memory ended with a noticeable blip.

The sensation it left pulsed to Illumi's throat. Pressure from his forehead alerted to the fact that he'd been leaning into Sukuna for the entirety of the memory.

The residue of the emotion remained, though. Fondness.

"What do you make of it?" Sukuna asked.

Relief, Illumi wanted to confess, but expanding on that would just devolve into Illumi admitting he preferred this memory over what he'd assumed Sukuna would show him. Intimacy they might have shared in a previous life.

"It was... convincing," Illumi confessed.

"You don't sound convinced at all."

"I couldn't gather the timeframe. The clothing wasn't very..."

"I wasn't interested in the clothes," Sukuna explained.

Illumi gave him a flat look, which Sukuna returned with a prideful, sultry smile. Reminded of a cat with a mouse, Illumi deigned to admit he was the latter.

He glanced away, a twitch tugging at his brow. "You mean to tell me I used to ride horses casually."

"Oh, you rode a lot more than that."

Illumi put up his fists to strike down. "You—!"

Sukuna caught him by the invisible chain. The cuffs lurched Illumi's wrists to a haunt. "By that I mean you competed in the Palio."

Illumi's brain stuttered over the name. He recognized it, but why...? Palio di Siena, his mind supplied. It was a bi-annual race in Tuscany. Rather than admit to recognizing it, Illumi instead said, "I hate horses."

Sukuna tipped his head curiously, subdued. "That's fair. You were in a pretty horrible racing accident a few years after that memory."

"Do you..." Illumi started, throat tightening once again at the memory. The sensation and made its way across the rest of him now—it wasn't just fondness, he realized. It was feathered with exclusivity for Illumi and, likewise, Sukuna.