"The Vines Between You And I" | Sukuna × Reader

? | Hiraeth's Embrace

The King Of Curses, they call him-because no matter whose life he entered, chaos was sure to follow.

Sukuna's chest heaved a furious rhythm until they eased steadily. He carded his fingers into the roots of his disheveled hair as his eyes blinked rapidly, staring at the large mirror mounted on his wall across from him. He looked like he crawled out of hell itself. He shuts them for a moment as he quells the marching of his heart that knocked at his ribcage.

The air in his room is frigid as he fights with the harrowing thoughts that grips his mind. It suffocates him as he clenches his hands in his lap for anchoring. He flutters them open, seeing the morning sun cascade over his white knuckles. It clings to the curves of his ring that dances like starlight.

He takes in a deep breath and fidgets with the silver band as his thoughts lead to you. The day of your arrival had done numbers on him he wished would go away. Too many memories come and go in waves. There was also that damn book. It held a portion of his secrets.

Maybe he could bury it somewhere or chuck it off that damn cliff.

His breath hitches as he thinks on it, and his eyes that were once trained on the ring glides over to his right wrist. Both of his wrists are adorned with well defined ink, two thick lines that wrap like a bracelet. Underneath one on his right is a scar, so faint but visible if you looked hard enough.

As he eyes the scar, he hears a stretch of faint screams in the back of his mind.

His Adam's apple bobs and he breathes in, and breathes out. He shoves the duvet off of him, swinging his legs over the edge of his king bed, and plants his feet onto the cool, hardwood floors.

While kneading the knots in the back of his neck with his fingers, he shuffles his way towards his walk in closet to fish out a simple mahogany button up and black jeans. After finding a pair of socks, he searches through his countless coats that'll keep him warm. He hums to himself and plucks the velvet noir trenchcoat without thought. He'll head out for a quick smoke and fresh air to clear his mind.

It's only now he realizes that he hasn't heard a single scratch at the bedroom door beckoning his call. Adjusting the collar of his shirt, he walks over to his bedside table and swipes his phone into his palm. With a click, the screen read 10:26 A.M.

Usually Shiro and Kuro are pawing at his door long before now. Why need an alarm when you have two persistent dogs?

Maybe they got distracted by another rabbit running across the lawn again. He sure as hell definitely didn't want to deal with them tracking blood back into his home. Yet, to be fair, he himself tracked blood in his basement-but that's an entirely different matter.

It didn't take him long to stride outside into the freezing cold of winter. The snow fell from above and painted even more of the concrete in white. The winter storm was definitely coming later tonight, thankfully Uraume had stocked up on the firewood like he asked. Both of his guard dogs often curled by the fireplace beside him during his reads.

Speaking of them, they weren't at their usual posts.

Sukuna fishes the silver lighter out of his pockets along with a carton box and rips a cigarette out. Plucking if between his lips, he ignites the lighter with a spark. He cups his hand around it to shield it from the breeze. His maroon eyes linger on the name etched into the lighter momentarily before stuffing it back into his pocket as he rounds the corner.

It's like deja vu all over again when he sees you, except it's from the other side of the manor. Just a few yards away from their cages, he sees you prancing around in the snow as both dogs chase after you with their tongues out. Your laughter like maple syrup fills the air as you duck behind naked trees, circling around them as the two follow.