WARNING: ✨Major character death uwu✨

Also, I forgot to tell you about this in the previous update: dumpycheeks (from Tumblr) made a oneshot for my fic! 🥺 I'll post the link in the comments -->

IF GOJO NO OSAMU WAS here, he would've been laughing at his son. In fact, Junichiro was pretty sure he could hear his cruel laughter somewhere in the depths of his mind. Obviously, it wasn't real because his father was dead, and he wasn't a cursed spirit either since he had killed him with Cursed Energy, but despite all that, he could still hear that horrible man in his head. Maybe he really was insane...

Junichiro was beginning to think he wasn't as smart and clever as he thought he was. Either that, or Lady Luck just had it out for him.

His plans... had backfired. Both of them. He thought having Kei spread the word about Sukuna's grisly origins would spur the villagers to action, but none of that happened since Shisui—his own fucking fiance—had declared the other man under her Clan's protection.

Killing Sumiko and Hideshi had backfired on him even more. He had been brutal and efficient in their murders, even making sure to perfect the series of fake claw marks he left on their bodies to make it seem like Sukuna had been the one to commit the crime.

But again, his own fiance got in the way. She had freed Sukuna from execution and not only that, made him into her personal guard. That meant Sukuna would be around Shisui forever, even after she were to marry into the Gojo Clan. As his personal guard, Sukuna would have to transfer over to the Gojo Clan with her.

If Junichiro didn't get rid of him now, he'd have to deal with him for the rest of his miserable life.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Sukuna wasn't dumb by any means. He was intelligent, and often bragged about being the smartest in the whole village (which wasn't really hard because the whole village was full of idiots), but he had to admit, he really should've seen this coming.

"Hold on... why am I just finding out about this now?!" He hissed, horror and irritation written all over his face as he and Shisui trekked through the forest to get to the river.

Shisui shot him a weird look. "What do you mean? I thought you were already aware that you would move into the Gojo Castle with me after I get married. You were the one who decided to become my guard after all."

Shit. She was right. This was all his idea, and consequently, his fault that he would now have to deal with Junichiro for the rest of his miserable life.

He dipped his head back and groaned. "This is just awful. Don't tell me he'll be in charge of me then..."

"No," she giggled. "You won't have to follow his orders since you'll still be my personal guard. Now pick up the pace, I hear the river! We're almost there!"

Shisui dashed ahead of him and he scowled at her back.

Junichiro had invited Shisui over to his castle to oversee the progress of their wedding; apparently he wanted it to be some grand affair so there were going to be a lot of decorations to look over. Sukuna didn't want to go, but he didn't have much of a choice: he didn't trust Junichiro around Shisui so there was no way he was going to leave him alone with her. Plus, he was her trusted guard now, he had to come.

Shisui was waiting for him at the edge of the river. Her excited blue eyes were gazing upwards at the small white dot standing at the summit of the mountain; the castle she would soon be married in and call home.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered under his breath, already dreading this day as he heaved an eager Shisui into his arms before leaping over the river with ease.

The river wasn't small by any means, but the cursed energy in his body certainly helped with the jump, along with the easy run up the mountain. They arrived at the very top in under a minute.

Junichiro wasn't around to greet them, but Sukuna could hear his annoying voice tossing around orders to unfortunate servants carrying heavy pieces of ornaments for the wedding.

The garden, which was where the wedding would be held, was overly decorated in Sukuna's opinion. Large arrangements of flowers that probably weren't native to the country had been brought in, which wasn't very necessary since they were already in a garden after all. Overworked artisans were working together to make stone statues of various animals: a turtle, a koi fish, and a crane respectively—all of which were animals that symbolized wisdom, fortune, and protection. Even worse, it was winter season and all the servants were quite literally freezing as they worked.

"It's all so gaudy," Sukuna crinkled his nose in disgust. It was too extravagant, as if every piece of decoration's sole purpose was to show off rather than highlight the beauty of the wedding. It all just screamed Junichiro, overcompensating, dysfunctional, and messy.

"Don't say that," Shisui chided, eyes wide as she took in the moment. "I think it looks wonderful so far!"

Of course she thought so. Because apparently having a keen eye in actual quality designing was something all nobles lacked.

"Oh! Is that my beautiful fiance?" A happy voice exclaimed.

Sukuna could feel his metaphorical hackles rise as they both turned to see a familiar white haired man strolling up to them. He was wearing another lavish pure white kimono and his creepy blue eyes were (thankfully) covered up with a silk cloth wrapped around the top half of his face.

Shisui's face lit up. "Jun! Did you pick the decorations yourself? Everything looks so beautiful!"

"Of course I did!" He laughed, kissing her once he was finally in reach. When he pulled away, his charming smile became sharper when he addressed the pinkette. "And Sukuna, you're here as well, hmm?"

"I am her guard, in case you've forgotten," Sukuna reminded him with a dark glower.

"There's nothing to guard her from here," Junichiro said playfully. "She's safest with me. I am the strongest after all."

"Funny," Sukuna smiled coldly. "I thought the strongest was your elder brother. Where is he, by the way? Surely he would want to be here for his little brother's wedding?"

(If Junichiro could taunt Sukuna about the village's clear hatred for him, then he should be allowed to taunt him about his obvious brother-issues too. It was only fair, after all.)

Junichiro had an arm wrapped around Shisui's waist, and his grip on her tightened at Sukuna's words. The cheerful mask he had on slipped for a brief second; his lips curling in hatred and his eyes glaring at the younger man through the blindfold, but then his beaming smile returned a second later.

"Nii-chan's busy as always. He won't be able to come." Junichiro lied through his teeth. In actuality, he never sent out an invitation to Michizane and he didn't intend to. Hopefully the elder Gojo would understand and stay out of his way.

Shisui cleared her throat, drawing the men's attention away from each other. She fidgeted in Junichiro's grasp before stepping away entirely to be free of his iron grip.

"Ah, so, you asked for help to oversee some decorations?" She reminded her fiance politely, sensing the tension in the air.

"Right!" Junichiro grinned. "Follow me, there's so much I want to show you. Take a look at this bonsai tree my family's been taking care of for years. I was thinking of hanging lanterns from the branches? Or maybe—"

It was all too easy for Sukuna to drown out the older man's grating voice. Junichiro led them all around the garden, showing off his large collection of flowers and his 'great eye in wedding decorations'. Shisui soaked it all up like a sponge, eyes glittering as she listened to her fiance talk.

It made Sukuna sick to see her so in love. Why did she have to fall for him out of everyone else? They barely even knew each other... but then again, engaged couples rarely ever did.

But these two were different from the average aristocratic coupling. They were both very sheltered—Junichiro to a more extreme level—with barely any understanding of how real life worked and it showed. Sukuna didn't want to think negatively of Shisui, but she was terribly naive. He doubted what she felt for Junichiro was actual true love—she barely even knew him when they were engaged!—and she most likely fell for his looks and sweet words and decided to call that 'love'.

As for Junichiro... well, he was a manchild with a shiny new toy.

Sukuna watched silently as Junichiro continued to ramble on about their wedding; about how spectacular it would be and how all the other clans would be so jealous of their love. He sounded like a little boy who wanted to show off his latest toy to the whole world, not a grown man being happy to marry the woman he loved.

It was disturbing, really, watching Junichiro interact with Shisui. He handled her possessively, eating up all her attention, and whining whenever she looked away for too long.

This was a marriage bound to go wrong, but Shisui looked so happy and so in love. And Sukuna knew he promised to himself that he would let her go, to let her be happy, but after everything he had been through, a part of him no longer wanted to uphold that promise. For once, he wanted to be greedy and selfish.

Finally, the tour was over, but Junichiro wasn't done with them quite yet.

"Come with me, darling—I have a special surprise for you," he said giddily to the blue haired woman before looking over at her friend dismissively. "Sukuna, ah... why don't you stay out here and make sure the artisans aren't lazing away, hmm?"

He narrowed his eyes. Was he trying to separate them? "I won't—"

"—Kuna-chan, please?" Shisui pleaded. "I'll be fine. It'll only take a moment."

"Yes," Junichiro grinned maliciously at him. "Just a moment."

Let her be happy, let her be happy, let her be happy, echoed in his head. He scowled and turned away from the loving couple. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll be out here then..."

He missed the grateful smile Shisui gave him before she was steered into the walls of the castle by her future husband.

Once they were gone, he clicked his tongue in irritation and kicked at the snow underneath his feet. It was freezing cold, but lately he could hardly feel a change of temperature in the air nowadays.

Pity the same couldn't be said for the servants. He watched with indifferent eyes as they toiled away, but the relief in their faces didn't go unnoticed. They were glad that Junichiro wasn't around to watch them like a hawk.

Bored out of his mind, he stalked around the garden, sneering at the bright red lanterns they were hanging up.

"Shisui likes blue," he told them, glaring.

The servant paled under his merciless gaze. He didn't know who to be more afraid of: Sukuna or Gojo? "Ah, w-well, it's tradition for it to—"

"—She doesn't give a shit about tradition," he cut him off, scowling. "She likes blue. So get to it."

"Y-yes, sir," the smaller man squeaked before hastily taking down the red lanterns.

Now that Sukuna was alone without Junichiro's annoying voice hurting his ears, he was beginning to realize that the fool had planned his wedding in a way Shisui wouldn't even like.

There was no way Shisui would like holding the wedding outside in the middle of the winter where the guests could freeze. She did not like red, she liked blue. Junichiro's supposedly 'grand garden' didn't even have a koi pond and she loved koi fish (one of her best friends was one, after all).

But of course, her dear little fiance was the one who made all the decisions so who was she to go against it?

Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, he heard an elderly voice enter the garden, instructing that "—the camellias should be placed around here at the entrance so all the guests can see it upon walking in. Hurry up now, Lord Gojo expects them to be ready by today."

Camellias? Sukuna inwardly groaned. Shisui didn't even like camellias!

He turned around, ready to belittle the hell out of the elderly man for daring to bring gods damn camellias to this already shitty wedding, only to freeze up when he saw just who spoke.

It was an old man dressed warmly in multiple layers of intricately designed kimonos. And at the top of his head was a pure black eboshi hat.

Ryujin frowned pensively. "All I know is that the rumors originated from an old traveler who returned from Ota. He told a few villagers of what he learned, people overheard, and the rumors spread from there."

"This old traveler, do you know his name? Or what he looked like?" He pressed on.

Ryujin shook his head. "I'm sorry, I was just told that he was an old man who wore an eboshi hat."

Sukuna frowned. "An eboshi hat?"

"Yes. Quite strange. Eboshi hats are usually worn by nobles, but this man traveled alone without any servants or help." He replied.

Sukuna felt like time had stopped as he watched the old man order everyone around. His eyes were glued onto him, wondering is it really him? Is this the man who ruined my life? Why is he here? Why is he with the Gojo Clan? What's going on? Why, why, why—

Angrily, he grabbed the closest servant to him and pointed a clawed finger at the elderly man's direction. "Him," he growled. "Who is he?"

The woman flinched upon feeling his black claws sinking into her shoulder. "T-that's Kei-sama. He—he's Lord Gojo's advisor...!"

Advisor?!

"And where was he one month ago?" He demanded.

"A-a month ago...?! I don't recall—"

"—Well you better recall," he grinned maniacally, flashing his teeth at her. "Because I'm feeling quite hungry."

Her face paled. "He—he wasn't here. He was gone—left for an a-assignment, I think? Lo—lord Gojo sent him out of the village, I don't know why! Please! Honest! I really don't—!"

Sukuna released her harshly.

Everything was finally piecing itself together.

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Shisui didn't know where Junichiro was taking her. At first, she assumed the surprise was something inside the castle, but she only had several minutes to marvel at the interior before he was pulling out through the front doors of the luxurious abode.

"Jun?" She spoke up, a mirthful smile dancing on her lips. "Where exactly are you taking me?"

"I told you, it's a surprise," he teased, and she could just already picture the playful shine in his bright blue eyes behind that blindfold of his.

He led her somewhere a few meters away from the castle. Up ahead, she saw a bright red hashi bridge. Her brow arched in curiosity. Was that where he was taking her?

Still holding her hand, he pulled her towards the bridge.

He flashed her a grin. "Over here," he said giddily, tugging her towards the edge of it. "Look down."

She peered down and her eyes widened in surprise. Underneath them was a glittering blue stream, but that wasn't what caught her interest, it was the familiar school of fish swimming around in it.

"Koi fish!" She gasped. She turned to him excitedly. "You never told me that you had koi fish!"

"I didn't, at first," he exclaimed. "But you told me about how much you love koi fish and even the times where you would jump into the koi pond just to play with them—"

She chuckled sheepishly at the mention of her childhood.

"—And since we would be living together soon, I decided to bring some koi fish here!" He finished with a flourish, gesturing to all the koi fish he had brought over.

Shisui let out the happiest (and most embarrassing) squeal before launching herself at him, squeezing his sides in a tight hug. It caught Junichiro completely off guard, but he quickly reciprocated it by wrapping his own arms around her.

He wondered if she could feel his heart hammering away in his chest as glee filled him to the brim. Such affection was rare for him, the only one who ever held him so happily was his mother who ended up betraying him and his brother who abandoned him. So this feeling was... quite nice... It made him feel warm amidst this harsh winter, but then Shisui pulled away and that warmth went with her.

"This is the best present ever!" She gushed, cheeks pink as she beamed at him. "I love it! Thank you, Jun!"

"I'm glad," he hummed. He watched as she hugged his arm, her head leaning against his shoulder as she watched the koi fish swim around.

Give me more, he wanted to tell her. He wanted more. He needed it. More warmth, more attention, more love.

And as long as she didn't betray him like his mother did, didn't abandon him like Michizane did, and didn't hurt him like his father did, then he would love her tenfold. He would give her everything she could ever want... she just needed to love him forever and ever.

Not too hard, right?

"Your seventeenth birthday is coming soon, isn't it, Shisui?" He spoke up.

A cold breeze blew past them and he felt her shiver, hugging his arm tighter to try and keep warmth.

"Yes," she answered, craning her head up to face him. "Why do you ask?"

He turned to her, his smile wide. "I've decided that I want to hasten our wedding date. I want us to get married the day you turn seventeen! That would be the best present, don't you think so?"

"Truly?" She breathed out. "That would make me so happy! Oh—but that's just weeks away! Is it really alright?"

"Of course it is," he assured. "I will tell Kei of this change of plans once I return, and I'm certain the servants won't mind hurrying with the wedding preparations."

"But—"

"—There's nothing to fret, my love," he soothed, a large hand cupping the side of her face and tilting her head up. "Besides, you're well beyond the proper marriage age, so don't think the sooner the better?"

Whatever concerns she had faltered. He was right, of course. She was already sixteen and her child bearing years were going to run out eventually. Nobody would ever want to marry her then. She was honestly lucky that Junichiro wanted to marry her at her current age.

"You're right," she agreed. "I can't wait...!"

"And I..." He leaned forward, his lips hovering over hers. She could feel her heart drum erratically. "Cannot wait until your name changes from Uchiumi to Gojo. Gojo no Shisui has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"It does," she replied dreamily.

Their lips finally touched and Shisui tried not to smile too widely as they kissed.

Life felt like a fairy tale as they stood there, admiring the winter scenery for the next several moments.

But then Junichiro opened his mouth and ruined it all:

"Listen, Shisui, about Sukuna..."

She sent a sharp look at him, not liking the tone he was using. She already had a bad feeling where this was going.

"I really don't like the thought of him being so close to you," he continued. "I know he's your friend, my love, but there's so much evidence stacked against him proving that he's the one who—"

"—Jun," she said in a firm tone she rarely ever used against him. "I know my best friend and I know he would never lay a hand on his aunt. He's not a killer. And he was with me the whole night the murders happened."

His jaw clenched at the last sentence. "Please listen to reason, dear. Did you forget those rumors about what he did as a newborn baby? He killed and ate his mother—he never denied that, did he?"

She stepped away from him, displeasure written all over her face. "Those were all rumors, Jun. Baseless rumors spread around the village by some senile old fool, so why should Sukuna waste his time addressing such accusations?"

"He's a killer," he snapped, his impatience rising.

She opened her mouth, about to snap back about how she didn't care, only for a sudden burst of something evil to surround the area they were in. Shisui felt like she had dropped from heaven and landed in hell; it was suddenly hard to breathe and a horrible sense of fear coursed through her veins.

Junichiro spun around, teeth bared in anger. "What—"

"—Shisui," a voice cut in.

Hearing his voice made her feel like she could breathe again. Shakily, she turned to the side to see Sukuna marching his way over to the bridge they stood on. He looked murderous, pools of cursed energy leaking from him that even she could feel.

"K-Kuna-chan," she choked out. "What happened...?"

"We're leaving," he said in a clipped tone. "The sky is darkening. Your father should be expecting us back home soon."

Shisui was still so lost, but said nothing when he grabbed her wrist and began to pull her away. Behind them, she could hear Junichiro sputtering in outrage.

"Hey! How dare you! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Sukuna didn't respond. Instead, he picked Shisui up in his arms, and the two promptly disappeared from the area.

In the next few seconds of feeling rushing air, Shisui finally found herself standing at the edge of the river, on the side of their village.

"What was that, Kuna-chan?" She asked in concern. "Why do you look so angry? Did someone—"

"—I don't—" he began angrily, before cutting himself off with a heavy sigh. All of his anger was gone, replaced by exhaustion and... something else she couldn't pinpoint. "I don't want to talk about it right now," he said tensely. "I need some time to... to think."

"But..." She was about to protest, but gave up. "Alright. Let's just... go home then?" She asked meekly.

He nodded, not looking her in the eyes before he started to walk ahead of her.

She stared after his back, a worried frown on her lips. She didn't understand. Everything was going so well until they got separated.

What happened back there...? She wondered.

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Sukuna didn't go to sleep that night. His mind was still reeling over everything he had learned yesterday.

The old man who spread the rumors about him was named Kei, and he worked as the advisor of the Gojo Clan. More importantly, he was Junichiro's advisor and he was the one who sent him out of the village a month ago.

This whole mess... was Junichiro's fault. Somehow, it didn't really surprise him. There were times where he would have his suspicions but now he had all the confirmation he needed.

The only issue was telling Shisui about this. There was no way he was going to keep it from her—she deserved to know just the sort of person her fiance was and besides, it would also help push them to break apart.

But how to tell her? He spent the whole night mulling over it. He was more furious than sad over this discovery, but he couldn't just go up to her in a rage and throw everything her way—it would be too overwhelming. No, he would have to play it carefully; come to her as a grieving friend who lost his dearly beloved aunt, not an angry madman who wanted revenge.

So he stayed in his room... and waited.

When morning fell, it didn't take her very long to come to him.

The first thing Shisui did when she woke up was go to Sukuna's room. She knew it wasn't proper, she knew she was expected to join her family for breakfast, but after what happened last night, she knew she needed to stay by her friend's side.

"Sukuna," she spoke quietly through the door. "I'm coming in, okay?"

There was no answer. She entered through the sliding door and slid it closed behind her. Sukuna was already wide awake—which wasn't a surprise—and he was sitting up at the edge of his tatami bed, staring at nothing in particular.

She cleared her throat nervously. "I... I wanted to see if you were okay. Yesterday you seemed upset about something and I—"

"—I know who did it," he seethed, finally looking at her. His eyes were blazing with rage; it was the same look he wore when he attacked Hideshi that night.

She paused. "What... do you mean?" She asked slowly, feeling something awful creep in.

"I know who spread the rumors throughout the village and who killed my aunt," he said through gritted teeth. "It was him, Shisui. It was your fiance."

"W-what...?"

"I saw him." He snapped. "The old man wearing an eboshi hat that your brother told me about! One of the servants confirmed it for me—he's Gojo's advisor and he was gone last month before the rumors surfaced!"

Shisui's lips began to tremble. "B-but—"

"—He left his village a month ago under Gojo's orders, Shisui," he barrelled on unforgivingly. "He had his advisor leave to find information about me and spread it all around the village! And when that failed to get everyone to kill me, he had me framed by staging my aunt's murder! It was him! All fucking him!"

She didn't want to believe it. "N-no," she shook her head in denial, the tears finally beginning to spill.

"No?" He sneered incredulously. He rose from the bed, towering over her shrinking form. "You're not stupid, Shisui! I know you can piece it all together. It was him! He did all of this!"

Shisui felt like she was going to be sick. She knew that Junichiro and Sukuna didn't like each other and that her fiance tended to get... jealous whenever it came to her best friend, but to do all of this? To try and get him killed? To kill his aunt?

Junichiro... would he really go that far?

Sukuna suddenly gripped her shoulders tightly. When she looked up at him, she could see the grief, desperation, and anger all over his face. "Don't you believe me? I'm your friend, Shisui. I... I wouldn't lie to you over this."

He searched her eyes, inwardly smirking when she saw the bitter acceptance in her expression. A small sob escaped her throat as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing into her palms as he forced the truth on to her.

"Please, Shisui," he shook her shoulders a bit. "Tell me you believe me. You have to believe me. I'm sorry, I know it hurts, but—but he killed my aunt."

Hate him, hate him, hate him! He shouted in his head, watching greedily as she continued to cry. Shisui may have believed that she loved Junichiro, but Sukuna had her first. She would always pick him over everything and everyone and now he was getting the confirmation he yearned to see.

"Shisui," he whispered delicately, his false softness betraying the vicious glee he actually felt. "Please... I need to know... do you believe me? Or—or do you believe him?"

Shisui wished it wasn't true, but she recalled her short moment with Junichiro yesterday before Sukuna snatched her back up and took her back home. He kept insisting that her friend was a murderer, but she understood it now. He was trying to turn her against him.

Sukuna waited with bated breath as she slowly looked up at him. "You," she murmured. "I believe you. Sukuna, yesterday he... he kept telling me about how bad you were. I think he was trying to make me leave you."

He wanted to laugh. Truly, he did. While he still felt furious at what Junichiro had done, hearing her say these words filled him with a sense of vindication. A sense that he had won. Junichiro failed to take everything away from him because he still had Shisui. And he always will have her. She would never be with Junichiro, especially not after this.

And Junichiro had no one but himself to blame.

"And you didn't fall for it," he breathed out at last. "That's... that's good. I'm glad that you—that you're still on my side after all of this. I know how much you... love," the word left a foul taste in his mouth. "Junichiro, but he cannot be trusted."

"I don't understand," she whispered, looking down. "Why... why would Jun do all of this?"

"I don't have a clear answer, but it's obvious that he's not right in the head," he spat. "He tried to have me killed! And he tried to turn you against me! Shisui, I worry for your safety."

She stared at him in shock. "My safety? Wha—what about your safety? You're the one he tried to—tried to—"

"—He's a madman!" He nearly blew up. "What's to say he won't go after you next? Or he won't try to hurt you if you were to do something that displeased him? I've always had my concerns over your engagement to him, but now I absolutely cannot allow it to go any further. Shisui, haven't you noticed how possessive he is? How controlling he is?"

"I-It's no different to how my father is with my mother—"

"—Your father isn't a good person either!" He shouted, then flinched as he looked around the room. Shit, he needed to be quiet or else they would be interrupted, and this was too important of a conversation to be delayed.

"I... I apologize for my outburst," he said, lying straight through his teeth.

He wasn't sorry in the slightest. He remembered when Ryujin told him about the Uchiumi Clan's dark secrets; how they 'loved'. It wasn't any different to how Junichiro showed his 'love' to her.

This would be it, the final nail to Junichiro's coffin.

"I'm sorry, Shisui, but your father... he is not a good man, and neither is Gojo. The way your father treats your mother is not the way anyone deserves to be treated, and I'm scared you'll face the same thing when you marry Gojo. So please... please call off the engagement."

"I don't... I don't understand what you're saying," she said shakily, eyes wide with disbelief. "Why would you say that a-about my parents...?"

To her shock, he dropped to his knees, head lowered into a bow, begging her on his hands and knees.

"I'm sorry," he said, voice laced with desperation. Leave them! He wanted to scream. Leave them and be with me. They could hide away from the rest of the world, never to be bothered, never to be hurt. No one would ever take her away from him ever again.

"I know you aren't ready to hear it, but... you have to believe me, Shisui. I know you believe that your parents have a loving marriage, but that is not what it is. That's not love, Shisui. It never was. And I don't want you to go through that—to go through what your mother has because none of you deserve it. So please, please break off your engagement. Please... Gojo will just hurt you."

Shisui finally collapsed to her knees before him, her shaking hands clutching the fabric of her kimono desperately as she cried.

He knelt before her, reaching out to grasp one of her hands. His claws dug into her skin, but he was too high on victory to really care.

"Don't you see?" He whispered. "How much this will just hurt you? You hate your father for the way he treats us. Gojo's no different. He's worse. Look at how much he's hurt us. He's trying to tear us apart. You need to break off the engagement."

She sucked in a breath, her expression turning steely. "I'll do it," she promised. "I'll—I'll do it right now, actually."

"Right now?" He didn't expect her to accept this so quickly.

She nodded. "Yes," she rose to her feet, her hands still trembling but her resolve was strong. "He hurt you. There's no way I'll ever marry someone who hurt my friend. He's a murderer as well. I refuse to marry him."

Sukuna felt as if his heart was singing.

"Then we'll go," he decided, too giddy to bother hiding his eager grin. "I'll take you to him."

They fled away from the Uchiumi Estate and out of the village. Sukuna was so excited for this moment to happen that they managed to reach the top of Mount Kinka in record time.

Shisui stared at the Gojo Castle apprehensively.

"This is where we part," she murmured.

"I should go with you!" He insisted.

She shook her head. "No. If he sees you, he'll just get angry. Get... violent. I'll do this, okay? Besides, this... this should be a private moment..."

She was rejecting him after all, and most people—men in particular—wouldn't like to have an audience for that.

"Also, I was wondering if you could..." She trailed off, a grimace appearing on her face.

"If I could what?" He asked.

"If you could... tell my father that I'm canceling the engagement? I would do it myself but... um, I'm a little too scared to." She admitted meekly.

Her father had been stoic when the engagement happened so she didn't really know how he felt about it, but what kind of man would be against marrying their daughter off to a Gojo? Especially the clan head? No sane man would ever have anything against that.

Refusing to marry a Gojo however... she was certain that her whole family would have her head for doing such a thing. Rejecting Junichiro to his face was already scary enough, she didn't want to tell her father about it too.

It didn't matter that she had a justifiable reason for canceling the engagement. Her father hated Sukuna and could care less about what Junichiro had done, he wouldn't have allowed her to cancel it had she gone to him first.

Sukuna frowned, his prior excitement to this happening now turning into something like hesitance. He sent a furtive glance over at the castle.

"Shisui, I think I should stay here."

She smiled weakly. "I'll be fine, Kuna-chan. It's not me he wants to hurt..." It's you, she mentally finished.

Sukuna scowled, but he seemed to get what she was trying to convey. He doubted Gojo could ever overpower him—protected by the Infinity or not—but he nodded begrudgingly to her request.

"Fine," he bit out. "I'll leave and go tell your father of the... new development. But I'll come back once I'm done. I don't want you here any longer than you have to be..."

"Okay," she smiled. "And... Kuna-chan?"

He arched his brow.

"I... I'm sorry. About Junichiro. About... well, everything." She mumbled quietly.

"It's not your fault so there's nothing you need to apologize for," he scoffed, directing a dark sneer over at the glittering white castle. "He's the one that needs to pay."

And with that, he was gone, his sinister words hanging over Shisui's head even though the malice laced in his voice wasn't for her.

Her feet dragged her to the grand doors of the castle. Now that Sukuna was gone, it was as if the adrenaline rush had faded away and she was suddenly hyper aware of what just happened.

Junichiro had his advisor spread awful rumors about her friend in hopes to get him executed. He killed Sukuna's aunt and Hideshi and tried to frame him for their murders. He tried to turn her against her own friend. Tried to make her betray him.

What sort of person was I about to sign my life away to? She questioned herself, still reeling with disbelief at everything that had happened in the past hour.

And just yesterday, she was head over heels for the man who ruined her friend's life. She was in love with him.

No wait. Was it really love? She thought her and Junichiro's love was just like the ones her parents showed each other, but apparently that wasn't true love either. What was love then? How could she have spent sixteen years of her life not knowing what such a simple emotion truly was?

She shook her head. That didn't matter right now. What she needed to focus on was ending things with Junichiro once and for all.

The servants were surprised to see her on the other side of the grand doors but allowed her in before leaving to find their master. Junichiro met with her at the foyer, confused but pleased all the while.

"Shisui," he said happily. "I didn't expect to see you so soon! Did you miss me~?"

"I'm canceling our engagement." There. She said it. Straight and to the point.

The air began to shift. The nearby servants all stopped what they were doing, eyes darting anxiously between the two nobles. They hurriedly left the scene. During that time, Junichiro struggled to understand what she was saying.

"Ah... I'm sorry? Did..." He laughed in disbelief. "Did you just say—"

"—I don't want to marry you anymore."

His smile took several seconds to fall. A flurry of emotions crossed his face, shock, despair, anger, suspicion, and then... amusement.

"Pfft... Hah... Hahahahaha~!" He bellowed out, laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach. "Alright, alright, enough jesting now, dear. You're just teasing me right?"

She stared at him in bewilderment. "No! This isn't some sort of joke, Junichiro! I'm being serious here! I'm calling it off!"

He snorted. "Right, okay. I'll give you three seconds to apologize before you upset me. One..."

"You're ridiculous," she spat.

"Two..."

She shook her head in disdain and turned around, her hands about to push open the grand doors to leave the castle only for his hand to shoot out and grab her by the wrist.

"Three." He finished in a hard voice. Quickly, he whirled her around, slamming her back against the doors before stepping forward until their faces were inches away from each other. He was still smiling, but something about it was predatory, not at all like the cheerful man she once knew.

He lifted his free hand and slowly undid his blindfold, letting it drop to the floor. His blue eyes pierced through hers. Her breath hitched.

Her wrist, which was now pinned beside her head, was trapped in a vice grip.

"Oh my," he giggled. "You're still going to tease me? You're quite mean, dear."

She tried not to show any fear as she stared up at him, trying in vain to slip her hand away. Something seemed to click in his head.

"Oh," he said, pulling back slightly. "You're being serious here. You really do mean to break our engagement."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," she replied tightly, heart racing in her chest. "Now let me go."

"Hmm, I don't think so," he smiled like a serpent. "Now, who exactly put this ridiculous idea in your head? Was it... Sukuna?" He hissed his name, his grip tightening around her wrist so hard she could feel the bones begin to break away.

"Let go!" She panicked.

"It was him wasn't it?" He growled. "He made you come here to say this—"

She raised her free hand and smacked him across the face. His head turned to the side and his angry expression was replaced with shock.

"Don't speak his name!" She threatened. "And how dare you make such accusations about him! The only thing he did was help me realize how horrible you are!"

"Horrible?!" He choked. "Are you blind, woman?! He's the murderer, Shisui!"

"No, you are," she glared. "You made your advisor travel all the way to Ota Village to learn about his history and you made him spread it all through our home in hopes the people would feel afraid enough to execute him! And when that didn't work, you killed his own aunt to frame him! You're truly despicable! I can't believe I was going to marry a piece of shit like you!"

The color drained from his face. She knew. She knew. His dirty secrets were laid out and thrown back at his face.

"N-no," he stammered, shaking his head furiously. "That—that's not true!"

"Get the hell away from me," she hissed venomously, pushing him back once his hold on her slackened. She turned around, slamming the doors open and storming out of the castle.

He hastily stumbled after her.

"Shisui, wait!"

"Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, you vermin!" She spat, not even bothering to look back at him. "And do me a favor: leave me and Sukuna alone."

"You don't understand!" He cried out, dashing forward until he was in front of her. He grasped her by the shoulders, face wrought with desperation now that he knew he had truly screwed up. "I did this for us!"

"Excuse me?!"

He flinched at her volume, but didn't back off. "He's always in the way!"

"YOU RUINED HIS FUCKING LIFE!" She shouted in his face, trying to pry his hands away. "Get your hands off me, you freak!"

"SHUT UP!" His voice raised, nails digging into her shoulders. He was sick of this, sick of people always leaving him behind, sick of never being enough for the ones he loved. "Why do you love him more than me?! I'm supposed to be your husband, not him! I'll kill him! That damn street rat! Shisui—! Stop!"

She shoved him away again before darting away.

"Don't you dare run away!" He roared after her. "I'll break your fucking legs!"

Shisui dashed down the mountain as fast as she could, the steepness of the slope making her descend faster. She tried her best to keep her balance steady. If she tripped, if she lost her footing in any way, she might just snap her neck on the way down.

"SUKUNA!" She screamed for her friend to save her. Trying to outrun a sorcerer was useless, trying to outrun one of the strongest was just impossible. She needed help. She needed Sukuna.

Whatever little sanity Junichiro had left disappeared the second he heard that vile name leave her lips. With an angry cry, he chased after her, his cursed technique activating as a response to his rage and then—

"AARRRRRGHHHHH!"

A horrible wail pierced the air. Shisui crumbled to the ground, grabbing a tree to keep her from sliding down the slope. There was a horrible pain coursing through her leg; she felt like it was on fire, like someone had taken a branding iron and slammed it onto every piece of skin it could find.

She dared to look down, only to let out another horrified shriek. Her left leg was mangled and twisted, as if a giant pair of hands had taken hold of it and wrung it around. Blood seeped through split open skin and her foot was turning the wrong way.

The sight of it was so disgusting that she had to look away, bile filling her throat.

Junichiro stumbled to a halt, his eyes wide as he took in what he had done.

"N-n-no," he stuttered. "I di—I d-didn't mean to. I didn't mean to! Shisui—!"

Shisui was inconsolable at this point. Her loud cries of pain and terror were all that could be heard in the foresty slope. The only coherent word leaving her lips was his name.

"SUKUNA!" She wailed. "SUKUNAAAA!"

Junichiro carefully approached her. "Shisui, I'm sorry, I'm SORRY! I'll leave him alone, I swear! Please don't leave me! You have to stay, please, you have to! I love you, I love you, I love you—!"

"—WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?! Oh god, oh god, you're a monster! GET AWAY FROM ME!" She shrieked madly. She desperately grabbed whatever she could; twigs, grass, dirt, whatever she could get her hands on to lob at him in a futile attempt to keep him away.

Junichiro crept closer, but seeing what he had done sickened him. He stopped, shuddering as he turned away to vomit.

Shisui used this chance to flee. She forced herself back up. The pain refused to be ignored, but she bit her tongue and hurried down the mountains. Her heart was pumping madly and she felt like crying out every time she put pressure on her bad leg. Every time a bush or a tree brushed by the wounds, she felt like she was lashed by a whip.

"SUKUNA!" She shouted once more, pure desperation laced in her voice.

Please, please, please, she prayed for him to show up. To save her. She didn't think she could get out of this on her own. Even if she made it to the bottom of the mountain, how would she cross the river? The water would be too freezing to swim through and it wasn't like she could even try thanks to the state of her leg. She'd be swept up by the currents—she wouldn't stand a chance.

She would die here.

She knew she was somewhere near the bottom because she could hear the rushing water not too far away. But at that moment, Junichiro's sickness had also passed.

"SHISUIIIII!" His booming voice made all the birds fly away in a panic.

It didn't take him that long to catch up to her.

"AAARGHHHHHH!" Another burning pain took over her right leg. She fell down a second time, both of her legs now rendered useless as she writhed in pure agony. She didn't want to see how it looked, she already knew it would be in a similar state as her left one.

Unable to keep her balance, she fell down to the very bottom of the mountain. She could feel scratches form over her face and her legs being aggravated even further. The pain was getting too much at this point. She wanted to close her eyes and be done with it, but when she heard Gojo shout, sounding a lot closer to her now, she snapped back into focus.

She clawed her way forward, nails digging into sand and pebbles instead of earth and grass. She was at the riverbank now. She was so close.

The water was just a foot away now. She could feel it spray at her, stinging her face. It was cold and moving too fast for her to handle... but she didn't have a choice.

She threw herself into the river.

It was like all the air was punched out of her lungs. Everything was so cold. Ice chilled her veins and seized her heart, rendering her still for a few seconds as the shock of it kept her still.

Keep going!

With gritted teeth, she kicked her legs out and moved her arms. She needed to get to the other side. Needed to find Sukuna. Needed to live.

But she couldn't do it no matter how hard she tried. The cold temperature made it almost impossible for her to move and the currents were too strong for her weakened legs to swim through. She could feel herself being forced to the side. She was being swept up.

Her vision was getting blurry. She couldn't see straight with how fast she was being moved along. She moved her limbs uselessly.

I'm going to die, she realized, wanting to cry.

It was getting harder to keep breathing, to keep moving, to keep living. The currents won over. The cold water beat at her brutally before finally slamming her against the large boulders.

Red blood poured out of the crack on her head and everything went black.

Up above the surface, Kei stood beside his young master. Junichiro's face was of pure devastation as he watched the water turn red and the only thing keeping him anchored was the hard grip on his shoulder.

"It was pointless to try and save her, my lord," Kei said apathetically. If he hadn't gotten down here so quickly, Junichiro would've used his powers to lift her up from the river and Kei wasn't really looking forward to having to deal with a terrified young woman for the next few years.

"..."

"We must hurry back up," Kei advised. "Now. Before anyone sees us here."

Junichiro didn't move. He continued to numbly stare at the red river. Kei had to steer him away from the sight. Before they began walking up the mountain, Kei sent a pleased smile at the body in the river.

Thank you for your usefulness, Uchiumi no Shisui. Now I'm one step closer to killing a Gojo.

— author's note —

And that's how Mizuhime died in her past life! Yay! 🤗

So basically what happened was that she lost consciousness after the currents slammed her against the rocks, then she pretty much drowned. Ironic considering Mizuhime can breathe underwater thanks to her Water Manipulation hehe