#nosmutt

A missing-person case. Three villagers gone near the mountains, whispers about a cursed shrine hidden deep in the forest. The higher-ups sent you alone because they assumed the curse was weak.

They were wrong.

The deeper you walked into the woods, the stranger the silence became. No insects. No birds. Even the wind seemed afraid to move.

Then you saw the torii gate.

Black lacquered wood towered between the trees, streaked with faded gold markings that glimmered whenever lightning flashed overhead. Crimson prayer ribbons hung from the beams like dripping blood, swaying gently despite the still air.

Your stomach tightened.

Cursed energy poured from beyond the gate in suffocating waves.

You should have turned back.

Instead, you stepped through.

The world changed instantly.

The forest disappeared behind you like a closing mouth, replaced by a long stone path lit with crimson lanterns. Their glow reflected off polished obsidian floors leading toward a massive shrine hidden within the mountain itself.

It wasn’t ruined.

It was magnificent.

Dark silk banners embroidered with gold symbols draped from towering ceilings. Black pillars wrapped in crimson cords stretched endlessly upward, disappearing into shadow. Golden incense burners filled the air with smoke scented like sandalwood and fire.

Everything looked royal.

Ancient.

Deadly.

The shrine wasn’t abandoned.

It was a palace.

And sitting lazily across a throne-like platform at the center of it all was Ryomen Sukuna.

One arm rested against the side of his seat, rings glinting beneath the lantern light. Crimson and gold fabric spilled around him like liquid royalty, and his sharp eyes tracked your every movement with immediate interest.

"Well," Sukuna said smoothly, voice echoing through the shrine. "A human walked willingly into my home."

Your breath caught.

He looked less like a curse and more like a king carved from violence itself.

"You’re suppose to die," you managed.

Sukuna laughed softly.

"And yet here you are."

Before you could answer, cursed spirits slithered from the shadows lining the hall. Massive creatures with twisted mouths and clawed limbs crawled across the black marble toward you.

You drew your weapon instantly.

The fight was brutal.

One curse slammed you into a gold-trimmed pillar hard enough to crack it. Another tore across your shoulder, pain burning hot through your body. You forced yourself back up, breathing hard, blood staining the polished floor beneath your feet.

Above you, Sukuna watched silently from his throne.

Like he was entertained.

You destroyed another curse—but there were too many.

A monstrous hand wrapped around your ankle, dragging you violently across the marble.

Then—

Silence.

The curse holding you split apart instantly.

Then another.

Then all of them.

Blood sprayed across the obsidian floors in crimson streaks.

You looked up sharply.

Sukuna hadn’t even moved.

One of his hands rested lazily against his cheek as if slaughtering special-grade curses required no effort at all.

"pathetic." he said.

You glared at him from the floor, anger rising from his insult.

His grin widened.

"But stubborn." He rose slowly from his throne, black-and-gold robes shifting around him as he descended the platform steps. "I break stubborn things."

Every step he took made the cursed energy in the shrine heavier.

Hotter.

By the time he stopped in front of you, your pulse was loud enough to hurt.

"how dare You crossed my gates willingly," Sukuna spoke with his head held high. "Do you understand what that means?"

"Why should I?.. I am here to eliminate you...Not to befriend you"

"you know.. "He approached you closer now, standing in front of you so close that you feel his breath.

His clawed fingers tilted your chin upward to fully look at him in his eyes.

The gold jewelry around his wrists glinted beside your face. Up close, he smelled like smoke, rain, blood and expensive incense burning too long into the night.

"This place devours weak souls,"he said sternly . "But I let you survived it."

Lightning flashed through the tall open windows behind him, bathing the room in crimson light.

You should have feared him.

Maybe part of you did.

But another part couldn’t stop staring.

At the sharp lines of his tattoos.

At the luxury surrounding him like he’d built a kingdom out of fear itself.

At the way he looked at you like he’d already decided you he wanted you trapped there.

Sukuna noticed your silence and Took your wrist with a painful strength.

Then he removed one of the gold rings from his hands and pressed it into your palm.

The metal was hot burning into your skin.

You trash around, tears starting to fall from you're eyes.

"A mark." he said voice cold and filled with something else you can't understand of.

Your heart skipped in a disgusting terrifying way.

"you will remain here,"Sukuna said, leaning close enough for his voice to brush against your skin, "then will I be able to see you try to eliminate Me"

His eyes darkened slightly.

"And mine to break".