L♡VE FILES

His shoulder bumped into yours, but he was met with zero resistance and was knocked back a few paces. Before he could rush to apologize, you beat him to it.

“Are you okay?” you asked, grabbing his arm to steady him.

He gulped back his embarrassment and nodded. “I’m fine. Sorry. I should’ve been paying attention.”

“It’s alright.” You smiled, offering his bicep a light pat. “Have a good day.”

“You, too,” he mumbled, moving to let you pass by him, and once you were out of earshot, he spoke to his parasite. “See what you made me do-”

‘Who was that?’ Sukuna asked abruptly, pushing forward in his vessel before Yuji could repress him. “That woman, who-”

“I don’t know,” the boy grumbled, pressing his hand over the mouth that formed on his cheek. “Can you just go away? You’ve embarrassed me enough-”

“No. Turn around.” Sukuna’s mouth formed on the back of the hand Yuji was holding to his cheek. “Follow her-”

“Are you crazy? I’m not doing that.”

“Brat, when I tell you that I’ll exterminate the entire human race if you do not follow her, I am not joking.”

“What the hell? You can’t just do that because I don’t want to follow behind a random woman like a creep! I could get arrested-”

“You will not scare her. I assure you.”

“How do you know that?”

* * * 

A shadow crept over the outdoor cafe table you were sitting at. You looked up from your magazine, mid-sip of your drink, to see the oddly familiar-looking boy you ran into earlier. You didn’t want to put two and two together to acknowledge who the teen looked like, but it was hard not to when you were staring him right in the eyes.

Blushing warmth spread over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as he nervously looked down at you, fumbling over his words while you waited for him to gather his nervous thoughts and actually speak to you. After swallowing the mouthful of your drink, you placed the cup down and folded your magazine shut, leaning back in your chair, which only made him more nervous, as he now had your undivided attention. 

“Hi,” he began, anxiously clearing his throat. “So, this might sound really weird, but I was wondering if you have a husband.”

You cocked a brow, watching the boy nearly melt into a puddle in front of you. “A husband?”

“Mhm, yes.”

With a pondering tilt of your head, you answered, “I’m flattered, but you are far too young for me, and I-”

His eyes widened as he rushed to exclaim, “No! That’s–I didn’t mean–not me! I just–I want to know if you have one. Currently.”

“No. I don’t.” Your manicured nails tapped along the top of the woodblock table, trying to find the cause for this boy’s curiosity in such a private matter. 

As much as you tried not to compare this boy to your husband, you couldn’t help it. They looked quite similar, minus the difference in body structure. The boy even carried an energy output that almost mirrored your husband’s perfectly. 

After acknowledging what you knew to be right in front of you, putting the pieces together for yourself was quite simple. Your deduction led you to believe that this might be your husband’s vessel for that stupid plan he mentioned to you all those years ago. And if that were the case, you weren’t too thrilled to see him in the moment.

“But I used to have a husband. Though he left me years ago for another woman, a concubine. He was a real man whore–super weak-willed, couldn’t control his urges to save his life-”

“That is not true!” an all too familiar voice rasped from the side of the boy’s face, answering your questions all at once. “I can control myself just fine-”

The move seemed instinctual as the boy slapped his hand over his cheek to cover the mouth that appeared there. 

“Sorry, I-”

“It’s alright,” you snickered, waving him to sit in the chair across from you. “Am I right to assume you’re harboring him? Or is this some sort of possession-”

“I did not willingly choose this boy, woman,” Sukuna responded, appearing on the back of the boy’s hand. “Look at him. Scrawny and fragile. If I had a choice, I would have picked a much more suitable candidate to be my vessel-”

You quickly snapped, “I’m not talking to you,” which shut Sukuna up, leaving him to retreat inside the boy again. Once he was gone, you motioned for the boy to sit again and pulled your purse from the brick patio floor. You began to rummage around for some cash. “What do you want from the cafe-”

His eyes widened slightly before he began waving you off. “Oh, that’s alright-”

You pulled out a wad of cash and stood from your seat. “Hot chocolate good with you? Or maybe an iced drink, though it is a little cold outside today-”

“Really, I’m okay-”

“She’s not going to take no for an answer, brat,” Sukuna subtly mentioned, red eye flicking to you as you waited for the boy to give his order. “But if he won’t take you up on your offer, I wouldn’t mind ordering in his place.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” Your tone was icy, but warmed when you regarded your husband’s vessel again. “I’m getting you hot chocolate. I hope that’s okay.”

He didn’t try to stop you again; he's still probably processing the situation. Even after you brought him the drink and a muffin, too, all he could manage was a quiet thank you. 

You soaked up the awkwardness happily and asked, “How long have you been his vessel?”

Through a mouthful of food, he gave you his mumbled answer. “Just a few months.”

“And how is that faring for you? Is he troublesome?” When he opened his mouth to answer, he hesitated, drawing back into himself as if pondering something while zoning out. Then, he rolled his eyes- “Is he talking to you?”

His eyes focused back on you as he nodded. “Yeah. And to answer your other question, he is troublesome. Really annoying–and now he’s calling me a snitch.”

You exhaled a laugh as you leaned forward, resting your chin on your hands as you observed him. The resemblance was uncanny, though you could easily tell the difference–somewhere, the two of them were connected, you were sure of it.

“You haven’t figured out a way to suppress him completely?”

The boy perked up at your question. “Is there a way?”

You shrugged. “I don’t see why there wouldn’t be, though I’m sure it would be rather difficult. As annoying as he may be, he is strong. I assume it would only take practice-”

“I don’t appreciate you plotting against me, wife.”

Your smile fell as you regarded the eye and mouth that had grown on the boy’s cheek with a sneer.

“I don’t appreciate being abandoned for a thousand years-”

“I did not-”

“You did,” you interjected sharply. “So, if I choose to help your vessel suppress you, you will do nothing about it–we’re all aware that you’re the most intolerable little shit the world has ever created, living with you in such close quarters would be miserable.”

“We lived together for many, many years–you were not miserable.”

“That’s what you think. But I actually hated you-”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You may claim to hate me now, but you did not hate me back then. Do not lie.”

“Allow me to prove my hatred then.” You pushed back from the patio table, taking a stand that had both the boy and your husband looking a little panicked. “Switch with your vessel. We can settle this as we used to.”

“No,” he stubbornly replied. “No, I think I’ll stay in here.”

“Scared? You always were back then, too. It’s a shame to see that in a thousand years, you’re still without a backbone. It’s pathetic; embarrassing. I pity the poor boy that’s housing a lousy, weak, little curse like you.”

“He’s considered weak?” the boy asked, a look of bewilderment on his face.

“He is to me,” you answered, earning Sukuna’s scoff.

“Correction: I am weak for you. There is a difference, but one I will not be proving today.”

“Then there is no point in continuing this conversation.” You grabbed your bag from the ground, raising the strap over your shoulder. “It was nice to meet you…” You trailed off, prompting the boy for his name.

“Yuji.”

You smiled. “Okay, Yuji. If he gives you any real trouble, let me know.” After giving him your number to use for emergencies and a quick head pat, you made sure to also give your husband’s eye a harsh flick as you left the cafe area.

“Wow, Sukuna. You know, your wife is really nice-”

“That woman is the bane of my existence,” he grumbled, blinking excessively to rid his eye of the pain.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone the great Ryomen Sukuna has a soft spot for his wife.” Yuji gathered up the rest of his trash to dispose of before he, too, left the cafe area. “And that he’s scared of her-”

“I most certainly am not scared of my wife!”

Naturally, Yuji didn’t believe him in the slightest. The curse only groaned, retreating into his vessel to stew in his embarrassment.

That night, Yuji could feel Sukuna stirring around in his head, which kept the boy awake. It wasn’t until Yuji finally asked what his problem was that Sukuna came forth to voice it through the mouth on Yuji’s cheek. 

“She is angry,” Sukuna stated flatly, irritated more than usual. 

Seeing as he wasn’t going to get sleep any time soon, Yuji decided to entertain his parasite. 

“You did leave her for a thousand years. I think her attitude was a given.”

“Do not remind me. I am well aware that I’ve made a mistake. And she made that clear when she flicked my eye.” Sukuna let out a deep sigh. “To rectify the situation, she will require gifts. To start, we'll need flowers.”

“Flowers?” The moment was a bit surreal for Yuji. Sukuna–the King of Curses–needing to buy flowers?

“Yes.” He sighed again. “She is such a pain, that woman.”