Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Please let me go, I'm begging you, please!"

The piercing sound of a knife running across honing steel crawled through the dark room. A single light bulb swayed from side to side, causing shadows to creep into the corners of the room.

"Mister, my parents have money, they'll pay you, please just let me go!"

Heavy steps slowly etched out of the darkness. Muddy boots dropped onto the cement with every lumbering stride forward. The piercing sound continued.

The woman tied down to the table had tears streaming down her cheeks, and as the ominous silhouette moved closer, she grew more scared, "I'll do anything. Please!"

Sharp red eyes bore into the woman's own, and she desperately pulled at her restraints to no avail. The chains rattled violently, and her skin burned from the agitation.

A wicked grin spread across the man's face, his pearly white canines glinted in the dull light of the swinging bulb. He raised the sharpened clever above his head.

The woman screamed.

CRACK!

~

"Thanks again, Sukuna! You're so timely with these deliveries," The older gentleman praised the farmer graciously, a smile strewn across his wrinkled features.

The farmer turned from the back of his truck with another crate in his hands, "Yeah, yeah, you owe me double for this punk-ass."

"Of course, Sukuna, I wouldn't have it any other way," The old man laughed and hobbled into his store to fetch the money.

Sukuna's thick muscular arms flexed as he lifted the crate and stacked it with the others just inside the door to the stock room. His white tank top was sweaty and became a bit transparent. Various brown stains covered the fabric, some fresher than others. His prominent black tattoos shimmered with sweat, and his dull pink hair stuck to his forehead.

It was mid-afternoon, so the sun was out in full force. What terrible heat to complete a delivery in.

Sukuna grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it to wipe the dirt from his forehead. His well-defined stomach was pulled taut, revealing his abs in the process.

He let his shirt drop back down to his filthy jeans as he walked into the air-conditioned store. He didn't care that the dirt from his boots tracked across the recently mopped wooden floors. The teenager in charge of cleaning frowned, but the instant Sukuna glanced at him, the boy scurried away.

Sukuna walked over to the old man's office and opened it without knocking. The geezer was just pulling the money from his safe as Sukuna entered. He extended a shaky hand to the well-built farmer, who snatched the stack of money without hesitation. He stood there for a moment, counting it. Once he was satisfied, he shoved the wad of cash into his back pocket and turned around without a word.

The old man spoke as he walked out, "I'll see you around!" Sukuna kept his mouth shut as he made his way out of the grocery store. A few of the patrons shot him passing glances, but most didn't want to make eye contact with the towering man.

Ryomen Sukuna is well known in his small town. He's not only one of the few farmers who provide meat, but he's also exceptionally good at it. He has the best prices for the best product. Cow mostly, but occasionally, pigs and chickens as well- among other things.

He closed the tailgate on his old white truck and climbed into the driver's seat. A black dog with thick fur and pointed ears wagged its tail from the passenger seat, panting from the heat. Sukuna turned the key, and the truck hummed to life. He rolled the windows down, and the dog was quick to stick his head out and feel the breeze.

Sukuna inherited the farm from his father. His mother had passed from birth complications, and his father died from a bad chainsaw incident on the farm.

Supposedly.

Most of the people in the town respect him. Due in part because they're afraid of him. He's got a brash attitude, and he has some well-known anger issues. Yet the townsfolk stay friendly with him because of the good work he does. He keeps to himself a lot, not letting strangers come to his farm at all. People wonder how he maintains all that livestock by himself, but no one has bothered to ask.

The drive home wasn't long, but it wasn't short either. Sukuna enjoys the fact that his farm is so hidden. Tucked away in the forest like a secret lair. He turned off the main paved road and onto his gravel driveway, rolling past thick brush and unruly thorn bushes that tried desperately to creep onto the driveway. It was dark under the cover of the trees. They provided a nice getaway from the harsh rays of the sun.

Though the edge of the forest came into view, the only thing stopping him from continuing was the large metal gate across the road. He slowed to a stop before throwing the truck into park and stepping out. He doesn't mind doing this every time he comes and leaves. He doesn't usually leave much anyway.

He pulled the key from his pocket and undid the padlock, swinging the gate open. He drove through and stopped to lock the gate behind him. Once past the gate, he had to drive about another half-mile before coming up to the two-story farmhouse that he calls home. The siding was cracked, and ivy was growing up to the second floor. There were a few steps leading up to the porch, which was shielded from the sun by an overhang.

Sukuna parked in front of the building and got out of his truck, his dog jumping out with him.

The dog trotted ahead as it knew Sukuna wasn't going inside the house. The man walked behind the house instead. There was another, larger porch on the backside that overlooked the barn and pastures that were full of cattle. Sukuna glanced over the various pens. Chickens and pigs mingled about happily in the smaller paddocks while his cows occupied the barn. His butchering shed and freezer were beside the big red structure.

Another dog came running up to Sukuna as he stood there. This one was much bigger than the black dog. It was a white dog with floppy ears and a happy face. It licked Sukuna's hands and waggled its tail, happy its owner was home.

Sukuna scratched the dog's head before turning.

Protruding from the ground against the back of the house were two metal doors. Cellar doors. They were chained together, but Sukuna had the key. He reached down and undid the lock. Quiet sobs could be heard below. He left his dogs on the surface as he lumbered down the steep dark stairs to finish what he had started.

~

"It's just going to be two weeks, I promise!" You chuckled, the wind wisping through your hair as you drove down the highway.

Your phone was on speaker in the middle console, a young man's voice came through the other end, "That's way too long! You promise you're going to be ok?"

"Yuji, I promise I'll be ok. I'll send you lots of pictures too! It's supposed to have the best views. Some of the trials are super old. Isn't that cool? They do guided tours, and I might take one."

"Guided tours are good, then you won't be alone. Do those!"

You rolled your eyes, "Yuji, I'm an adult, I'll be fine."

"An adult in mourning. Look, I know you're doing this to get away and whatnot, but please just be smart. Emotions do weird things to our brains, and I just want you to be safe."

You chewed on your lip. He was right. He was very right, "I promise I won't be stupid." You finally affirmed after a moment, "I'll text you lots, and I'll call you too."

"You probably won't have the best reception out there, though," Yuji was right, again.

"Well, whenever I do get a connection, I'll be calling you," You nodded to yourself, keeping your eyes locked on the road and two hands gripping the wheel tightly. There was another pause. You spoke up in a quieter voice, "Do you think things would be different if I had just -"

"Hey, don't start that. You know it wasn't your fault. Things happen, and sometimes, there's just no preventing them. I know it was sudden, but don't forget that I'm here for you. Fushiguro and Kugisaki would say the same."

"Thanks, Yuji," you smiled softly. Your eyes flicked to a gas station and then down to your gas gauge. You had about half a tank, but your car gets great gas mileage. You drove past the station, focusing back on your call. "How are those two doing anyway?"

"Good! We're planning on going to see a movie later. Don't worry, it's one you've already seen so you're not missing anything! Also, text Kugisaki when you get the chance. She's been pestering me about you, and it's getting annoying."

You laughed briskly, "Alright, alright, I will."

"Not while you're driving though, that's dangerous," Yuji spoke in a warning voice. You had been friends with him ever since high school. He and the other two got close with you in freshman year, and the four of you just stayed together after that. Now you've just graduated college, and you're on the hunt for a job in the big corporate world. You were so excited about life, and so thrilled to be a part of society.

Until your parents were killed in a car accident. A truck driver was distracted by his phone and didn't see the stopped traffic in front of him. You hated to think about what their last moments were like. The police said they were dead on the scene. They probably died within seconds of the crash.

You put your job search on hold. You needed time to get through this. They may not have always been the best parents, and there were some rough times in your childhood, but you loved them nonetheless.

It's been a few months now, since the funeral and all. You decided to go camping in the more remote parts of Japan. You had a few different locations lined up, excited to visit all of them. Some were historic sites, and some had caves you could explore.

The fear of your life ending too soon had gotten to you, and you wanted to get out and see the world more before you confined yourself to a desk for the rest of your life.

"I'll let you focus on driving, have fun, and stay safe!" Yuji shouted before ending the call abruptly. You chuckled before turning on some music. You weren't shy about blasting it at a loud volume. You picked a cheerful playlist in hopes it'd distract you from the many uncanny thoughts trying to sneak into your mind.

And it did distract you. It made the driving much more pleasant.

~

Sukuna re-emerged from the cellar. Deep red stains covered his white shirt, though there was now an outline where he had clearly been wearing an apron. The apron didn't do much to keep the mess off of himself.

The hot summer day had faded away, and it was starting to get chilly now as the evening light dimed out of sight. Faint orange hues clawed at the sky as the black curtain of night suffocated any last colorful hues radiating from the sun.

Sukuna rolled his shoulders uncomfortably and shut the doors. There was no noise coming from the cellar now. He didn't loop the chain around the handles, nor did he bother to relock the padlock. His dogs were waiting for him on the porch. They stood and wagged their tails happily as they noticed the chunk of flesh in his hands. He tossed it to them. The meat fell to the ground just in front of the steps, and both of the dogs lunged forward to snatch it up.

Their teeth sunk into it, and they fought over it for a moment, tugging back and forth until the meat ripped in half, blood trickling out of it as the dogs settled and began to dig in. The once clean fur of the canines was now tainted with red. Though it stood out far more on Sukuna's white dog.

He continued into his house, and he removed his boots right outside the door. He doesn't mind getting other places dirty, but his house he prefers clean. Once inside, he made his way up the stairs to the bathroom, where he stripped himself of his clothes and cleaned himself of any lingering blood or dirt.

It didn't take him long, but he spent a few minutes enjoying the warm, relaxing water running over his body and tense muscles. When he was satisfied, he dried himself off and changed into a clean set of clothes. A black hoodie and matching sweatpants. He threw his dirty clothes in the wash in an attempt to remove the stains, but he knows it'll never work. Not that he cares, no one ever assumes the blood is from an animal other than his livestock.

He is a butcher, after all.

He sauntered over to his fridge and opened it. The light stretched across his dark kitchen and the cold air bit at his skin. He scratched his chest through the thick fabric before scoffing in disapproval.

He should've gone shopping while he was in town today, but he had been distracted by the heat to actually pick up anything. The only food in his fridge was meat. All of varying sources. A majority of it wasn't even from his livestock. However, there was nothing to go with the meat.

He shut the door and ran his hand through his hair as he walked to the front entrance and slipped on a cleaner pair of boots that weren't caked in dirt and mud. He grabbed his ring of keys that usually clipped into his belt loop, but instead of clipping it on, he just slid them into his pocket. 

The faint mooing from his cattle could be heard as he trudged over to his truck and got in. He turned the key and flipped his lights on. After messing with the radio for a second, he turned around and drove out. He doesn't like being in public if he doesn't have to be. He finds it annoying and irritating to be around a lot of people at once. Sukuna didn't really rush through the grocery store, but he certainly didn't stand around. He knew what he wanted to grab, so he made quick work of his list.

He paid and tossed his two bags into his passenger seat, pulling out of the lot and back onto the road. His headlights weren't very bright, but they were bright enough to get him where he needed to go. The radio was quiet, just loud enough to fill the empty space. Beyond his headlights was nothing but darkness. That was until the glint of reflective lights of another car appeared.

He slowed down to investigate. The interior light was on, making it easy to spot the young woman sitting in the driver's seat. At the sight of the headlights slowing down, she stepped out of her car, flagging down Sukuna. He pulled up behind the vehicle and watched as the woman approached his window. He waited in his truck until she was right beside him.

"Thank goodness you stopped, I'm so sorry, but I ran out of gas," You were so relieved, seeing as your phone had no connection, and you hadn't seen a single other car for nearly an hour. Sukuna eyed you for a moment, then looked at your car. Without a word, he opened his door. You stepped back in surprise. Once he was standing, you became nervous. This man was much bigger than you, and his baggy clothes just added to the effect.

"Um," you cleared your throat, shaking away the initial shock, "I have plenty of money. If I could just get a ride to the nearest gas station, that would be amazing." Sukuna flicked his eyes toward you before wandering toward your car. You fidgeted with your fingers as you hesitantly followed behind the towering man. He peered into your car. You had some bags in the backseat, and what he could tell was camping gear.

He was trying to see if you were with anyone.

But the clutter in your front seat and the lack of room in the back made it clear you were alone.

"It's okay if it's an inconvenience," you swallowed nervously as he turned back to face you.

"I'll take you," His voice was gruff and demanding. You were a little alarmed, and there were a lot of red flags around his behavior.

"A-Are you sure? I don't mind waiting..." You suddenly regretted asking him.

"I don't mind," He gestured to his truck. The wind picked up, and it was cold. You weren't really dressed for the cold. You just had on shorts and a tee shirt due to the heat.

The chilly breeze urged you to listen to the man, and so you did. He walked to the driver's side and watched you keenly. You attempted to open the passenger side but found the handle to be locked.

After your third attempt, Sukuna came back around to your side, "It can get stuck sometimes." He was referring to the handle, of course. He stood close to you, his arm gracing yours for a moment.

Then it all happened so quickly. He was fast, much too fast for you.

He grabbed your head and slammed it into the side of his truck. It was already so beat up that no one would question another dent. You cried out and staggered back, still standing. Sukuna was a little annoyed he didn't knock you out on his first try, but it didn't deter him.

He swiftly grabbed you, pinning you to the ground. Your head was spinning and throbbing in pain. You cried out again as he wrapped his hands around your neck. He was careful not to fully crush your windpipe. He didn't want to kill you. Not so soon.

Black spots filled your vision, and you gasped for air. You clawed at his arms and kicked at his body, but it was no use. He overpowered you so easily.

Your world was spiraling out of control, and everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Your head was killing you, and you were so cold. Your body ached as you began to move around. Cold cement scratched at your exposed skin. Your wrists were bound together via a heavy rusted chain.

It was dark. So dark you could barely see, except for a sliver of light creeping through the crack in the cellar doors.

It reeked. It smelled like rotting flesh. It smelled like death. The scent was so pungent you gagged. You dry heaved a few times from how terrible it was. A faint buzzing occupied the background. You couldn't tell what the sound was.

You sat up all the way, the chains rattled against the ground as you did so. You tried to lift your hands to hold onto your head. The chain went taut right before you could touch your skin. The rusted metal scraped against your wrists and caused you to wince. It hurt to breathe. Your neck felt so sore.

The ache in your head was relentless, but the confusion cleared up somewhat quickly. Only for the panic to take its place.

You started breathing quickly, tears swelling in your eyes. Aderline built as you recalled the man who strangled you the day prior.

You tried to stand, forgetting about the chains briefly. They pulled taut, and the momentum yanked you back to the ground. The floor cut up your knees and palms as you tried to catch yourself.

You frantically pulled at the chains some more, crying now as your situation dawned on you.

You screamed out, hoping anyone might be able to hear you, "Help! Please help me!" Your shouting only made your headache worse, but that was the least of your worries. You pulled your wrists harshly and hissed in pain as the cuffs dug into your skin.

You shook from fear, sobbing hysterically. You grabbed the chain and felt your way to the base. The chain felt like it had been buried into the cement when it was first poured. There was no way that the chain was coming out.

Your mind was messy, and the pain was only increasing with all your movement and crying.

After all of Yuji's warnings, you still end up in such a terrible situation.

~

Sukuna stepped into the chicken coop with a bucket of food scraps. The hens circled around his feet and clucked happily as he moved to their food trough.

The scraps were bits of meat and old vegetables from his garden that had gone bad. He poured the food down, and the chickens eagerly moved forth to eat it. The rooster eyed Sukuna for a moment before joining his hens in the feast. Sukuna inspected the birds as they ate.

He had some chicks due to hatch soon, so he'll probably be able to cull the flock once the chicks grow up a bit more.

He left the pen with his empty bucket. His dogs were waiting for him on the other side of the fence. He ruffled the dog's fur as he walked by them. They happily trotted after Sukuna as he walked to his cattle barn. As he neared the fence, the cows began to collect there, and they followed him as he walked.

While Sukuna may be violent and unhinged, he knows he has to take good care of his livestock if he wants to continue making this his living. His animals don't understand their fate, and they associate Sukuna with nothing but food and care.

Sometimes, his cattle don't understand their own size, but Sukuna is so used to it and is so strong that it's not hard for him to push the animals away from him.

He walked along the side of the fence and noticed the latch on the outside gate was loose. He set his bucket down and began to fidget with it. One of the cows pushed their heads through the fence and nudged Sukuna's arm. He briefly paused his work to scratch the cow's face, making sure to get behind the ears and under its chin.

Once his gate was back to normal, he continued his work.

To him, you couldn't have come at a better time. He had gotten so bored of his last catch. He was excited to have someone new.

Sukuna finished his care for the animals, and then finally, finally, he made his way over to the cellar. He was eager to mess with his new victim. He had heard you screaming this morning when he was working near the cellar, and he smiled to himself as you called for help.

That's one of his favorite parts. Hearing the people beg for mercy, beg for help, and the help never comes.

His dogs jogged behind him as he moved up to the doors. He grabbed his key ring and undid the lock, pulling the chains through and slipping into the cellar. He locked the doors behind him, something he used to not bother with.

Every now and then, someone will escape, but no one has gotten very far. The dogs usually get to them. They've never gotten past the fence that surrounds the property.

You scurried against the cement wall, pressing yourself as far back as you could. The light had filled the room for a moment, but the door shut again before you could get a good look. His heavy footsteps echoed in your chest. His towering faint silhouette had a dark and ominous aurora to it. With each lumbering step, you could hear the keys jingling from his belt loop.

You continued to sob and murmur to yourself. Telling yourself it'll be ok. Though you weren't very convincing.

A little click resonated before the single lightbulb flicked on. Your eyes widened as you stared at the man.

Across from you were the stairs hugging the wall and leading up to the doors. Right at the bottom of the stairs in the corner was a table, and various butcher tools covered the workstation.

Shinning knives of varying sizes and thicknesses hung on the wall above the table. The fact that they were clean just seemed a little surprising to you.

There was another set of chains a little ways down the wall from you. You noticed under the stairs was a hose reel, and then you spotted the drain in the middle of the floor. However, it looked like he didn't care too much to actually spray all of the blood away, as the floor was stained. Beside you was a metal bucket as well.

A few meat hooks hung down from the ceiling against the wall, and you saw the source of the horrid odor. You cried out louder at the sight.

A mangled corpse, barely recognizable as a human, was hanging from the hook. It looked like it had been skinned, sliced apart, and face mauled. Its chest was split open, and its organs weren't all there. Large portions of meat were missing from the body as well. Flies swarmed the corpse. You could see maggots crawling through the rotting flesh, and you gagged again.

There was a table near the workstation. A sturdy wooden table that was covered in knife marks and stained with dried blood. There were cuff restraints in each corner, used to hold down whoever might be lying on the surface.

"Please don't hurt me, please," you sobbed, curling into yourself.

Sukuna didn't look at you. He grabbed his shirt and slid it off, not wanting to stain this one too. He set it on the workbench and grabbed his bloody apron, slipping it on.

He tied the strings behind his back and began inspecting his tools.

As much as he wanted to enjoy his new toy, he knew he should take care of the old one first. He hates the flies. Through blurry eyes, you watched as Sukuna tore the corpse from the hook, letting it tare open its shoulder as that was where it had been pierced.

He dragged the body onto the table, and you gagged again. You could see maggots wriggling on the ground from falling off the body. Sukuna flicked his eyes to you briefly, but you missed it because you were dry-heaving again at the smell.

He picked his bone saw first.

The sound was horrible. The teeth of the saw sliced through the meat and crunched into the bone. You felt chills climb up your spine. You tried to cover your ears, but the sound slipped past your fingers and crawled into your head.

It sounded so horribly gross and wet and crunchy. Sukuna didn't care if his hands got dirty in the process. He didn't like the maggots, but he didn't mind them too much. He would store the bodies in his butcher's freezer, but he doesn't want to put his perfect cattle meat next to flawed humans.

You hiccuped as you sobbed. Tears pouring down your cheeks and dripping past your lips. It was salty and tasted of misery. You attempted to swat away any flies that landed on you. Their wriggling little legs crawled over your skin making you itch. 

Sukuna took his time removing the limbs. He was just breaking down the body into smaller pieces. He was planning to feed the smaller parts to his pigs. His pigs loved these days when Sukuna was getting rid of bodies. They eat it all, and they devour the corpses quickly.

Once he had the limbs off, he put the saw away and grabbed his cleaver. The sound was just as bad as the saw.

He brought down the knife, and you jolted at the sound of the cleaver driving through the flesh and splitting it apart, digging into the wood below. Sukuna held a blank expression as he glanced at you. You squirmed in fear, jumping every time the cleaver came down.

It took him about thirty minutes to chop up the body. He left a few times to retrieve buckets and collect the chunks of meat. He came in and out, and you tried desperately to peer outside of the cellar doors, but you could only vaguely make out the tops of trees and nothing more.

Eventually, all of the body was gone. You weren't sure what was next, but you began panicking as the doors opened yet again. Sukuna took heavy steps down the stairs and moved to grab the hose. He turned it on and washed off the table, hosing away the maggots that squirmed around and washing the blood away.

It only took him a couple of minutes to get it to a satisfying level of cleanliness, which wasn't very much.

He put the hose away, then grabbed a towel and dried his hands. You couldn't tell what he was doing now. He had his back to you as he fidgeted with something on the workbench.

When he turned back around, you cried out and shook your head. He was holding a needle in one hand.

"Please, please, please," you chanted the word like a prayer, "Don't hurt me, please." You begged, pressing yourself into the wall. More tears slipped down your cheeks as he moved toward you. His heavy steps bounced off the walls.

He grabbed the chain with his other hand and yanked you away from the wall. You fell forward and yelped, trying to scramble away, but he was just so fast and strong. Even with one hand occupied, he managed to pin you down, pressing his knee into your back as you laid on your stomach.

You cried out and tried to fight back, but there was nothing you could do in this position. You screamed as the needle jabbed into your neck. Just as fast as he put it in, he pulled it out. He stood, and the minute that he was off you, you were rushing to get away.

Sukuna walked back over to his workbench and started moving things around. You held your hands up to the spot where he had injected you.

"What was that?! What did you do to me?! Please just let me go!" You pleaded, but it really was useless. Sukuna liked the begging. He liked the desperation.

Within a minute, your body was tingling with numbness. You felt nauseous as you fell onto your side, clutching your stomach tightly. Your eyes felt heavy, but you couldn't fully go to sleep. You groaned in agony, and you realized you could barely move now. You felt so helpless.

Sukuna came back over, and you started panicking again, but there was nothing you could do.

He uncuffed you and picked you up so effortlessly. He carried you over to the table and dropped you down. He didn't care if he bruised you in the process. He'd be doing much worse things in a little bit.

Your stomach was churning uncomfortably, your body squirming on the table. Sukuna's hands felt like they were everywhere. Groping your plush skin and sliding your shirt up to expose your body to him.

He picked at the small scars on your body for a moment before moving on. He raked his nails over you until he reached your bra. He hooked his finger around the band and grabbed a knife. He cut the straps and pulled it off, tossing it near the stairs.

His hands ran over the dips and curves in your body. Pushing his fingers into certain spots and pinching other areas. His mind wandered as he did so.

You were definitely one of the more attractive captives he had. All the girls around here are nice, but you were nicer. You were clearly from the city, you were too soft to be from the country. You were a little beaten up, but Sukuna didn't mind.

He looked at your neck. It was badly bruised from when he strangled you. It was purple and blue in the outline of his hands.

You groaned again, feeling so uncomfortably sick. Sukuna glanced at your face and admired the terrified expression that contorted your features. Cheeks wet from tears and a deep bruise on your forehead from where he slammed you into his truck. In fact, there was still dried blood covering nearly half your face. He moved his attention back to your chest.

Sukuna had only given you a small amount of the drug to avoid overdosing you. Over time, he'll increase the amount until he finds the ideal dosage, where you'll still be conscious, but you won't be able to move.

He likes having his victims fully awake when he kills them, but when he's just toying with him, he prefers them to be drugged like this. The drugs don't numb you entirely. It numbs you to the point you can't move, but you'll still feel the pain from his actions.

He experimentally pressed the blade of the knife into your skin, right below your chest on your ribcage. You cried out and squirmed, but that only caused the blade to sink deeper. Fresh red liquid dripped down your skin, tainting the perfect color.

Your stomach twisted violently, and you rolled onto your side away from Sukuna. You puked, nothing but stomach bile came up.

Sukuna slammed the knife into the table in anger. He hates when his victims puke. It's a negative reaction from the drug, and he's learned it's typically caused by an empty stomach. Most people can get by fine, and he doesn't have to worry about feeding his captives.

Unless they react like this.

You were writhing in pain, and you felt like you were going to puke again. Sukuna marched around the table and dug his hand onto your scalp, pulling you by the roots of your hair.

He dragged you off the table. Your body fell and hit the cement harshly. The fall hurt, and it definitely woke you up more. You sobbed and reached up to grab at his hands, trying to lessen the tension.

He pushed you roughly back against the wall, your head banging against the cement. You held your head as you curled up on the floor. Sukuna yanked your hands away and put the cuffs back on.

Sukuna turned to grab his hose, and he heard you puke again. He looked over his shoulder with narrow eyes as he grabbed the hose. He sprayed the table off first, guiding the water toward the drain.

You were still holding onto your stomach tightly. Your mind was dazed, and you could feel blood trickling down your scalp.

Sukuna moved over to you and angled the water to where you had puked. The water splashed onto you, and you shivered from how cold it was. Sukuna was muttering profanities under his breath, angry.

It all felt like too much to you. Your head was spinning from hitting the wall, and your vision was fading.

Sukuna suddenly noticed how you had stopped crying. He finished putting the hose away and walked over to you. You were limp on the ground. He had to watch for a moment to make sure you were still breathing.

He was pissed. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to enjoy his new victim, but of course, you just had to be sensitive to the drugs.

He nudged you with his boot, but you didn't move. He grunted and turned to leave. Flicking the light off, engulfing you in darkness as he wandered up and out of the cellar.

Chapter Text

You had woken up with a searing headache, pressed against the ground and shivering from the cold. You didn't bother to get up. You had your arms wrapped around yourself in an attempt to warm up.

You let out a deep, raspy breath. The rotten odor that had first filled the room was lessened now, but you doubted it would ever truly leave. It still hurt to breathe.

You heard the chain rattle from the cellar doors before they cracked open. Not that much light came through, so you assumed it was evening or maybe even night.

His heavy lumbering footsteps caused your heart to pick up, and you felt anxious. You wanted to sit up, but you were so cold and achy.

He flicked the light on and looked at you. You tightened your arms around yourself. You noticed Sukuna was holding a plate in one hand.

His piercing red eyes bore into yours as he walked over to you. He set the plate down in front of you and stepped back. You lifted your head slightly and peered at the plate. There was a sandwich there. It looked like a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

You winced as you sat up, looking up at Sukuna and then looking back down at the food.

Sukuna spoke in a low and demanding voice, "Eat." Obviously, you were hungry, but you wouldn't dare eat anything that this man tried to give you. You shuffled back against the wall, moving away from him.

Sukuna furrowed his brows and stepped forward. You flinched at the action. Sukuna picked up the plate and shoved it toward your face. You shook your head, not wanting to let him put anything into your body.

Sukuna's fuse was short as always. He lurched forward and wrestled you to the ground, which wasn't difficult for him even with you fighting back. He gripped your jaw tightly and grabbed the sandwich off the plate.

His grip on your cheeks caused you to open your mouth, and he forced the food into your throat. You choked and clawed at his arms. Your eyes watered, and you whined in fear. He pulled the food back as you tried to chew what he had forced into you.

It was hard with how harshly he was holding onto your face, but he loosened his grip a little. You got the first bite down, swallowing hard. Your throat still hurt from the intense bruising he had given you.

You didn't want him to force it down again, so you moved your hand to take the sandwich from him, your fingers gracing his in the process. He held onto it even as you guided it into your mouth, taking a smaller bite compared to the one he had pushed on you.

Sukuna liked the way you submitted so easily to his will. He licked his lips hungrily and watched you eat.

Tears slipped past your lashes as you consumed the rest of the food. Sukuna kept you pinned the entire time, barely even blinking. He wanted to make sure you swallowed every bite, every last crumb.

When you were finished, he finally got off you, and you hurried to move away from him, pressing against the wall once more.

You were alarmed to watch Sukuna leave, though he left the light on.

You decided to take advantage of the light and inspect your cuffs. They were thick, and you noticed it wasn't just rust that covered them, blood too. Your wrists were red and irritated from the friction of the old metal. There were even some small cuts from the rusty bits biting into your skin. You could only hope it wouldn't be infected.

There was a keyhole on each cuff. You thought about the metal clips on your bra, as the locks were probably very shallow. You cursed to yourself. You were wondering why Sukuna took your bra. This might be the reason. Though he probably had other intentions, too.

You experimentally tried to pull near the latch of the cuffs, curious if the rust had weakened them at all. Alas, it hadn't. Not enough for you to break them, at least. You huffed and moved on to inspect the rest of the chain. Even with its age, it seemed sturdy. It was a bit heartbreaking to see that.

Sukuna made his way back up to the house. His dogs were out patrolling the farm, they're livestock guardian dogs after all. Sukuna decided to take a dinner break before he got to work with you. You seemed like such a perfect victim, so he wanted to plan out everything beforehand.

He dug through his fridge until he settled on some leftovers from his last victim. He cooked it up and sat down at the dining room table.

It was silent, all except for the tapping of his fork hitting the ceramic dish while he ate. He savored the taste, the texture, the idea of where it came from. He thought about that girl's face as he tortured her and cut her apart. He had carved her up while she was alive. 

His gaze was set on his plate. Faintly he could hear his cattle mooing, but it was hard to hear. He lifted his eyes and stared at the empty seat across from him. His table sat four but he was the only one to ever sit there. His father never joined him for meals. His father was always outside working or he'd eat in the living room.

It's a big house, but Sukuna's been alone in it for years. It's always so quiet. He likes the quiet, he really does, but sometimes he doesn't mind extra noise. Like his dogs barking for him to come out or his pigs squealing in joy at his presence. He's never been good with social skills. The most contact he has with people takes place in his cellar, and those people could never find joy in his presence.

After about thirty minutes, you heard the cellar doors open again. You curled up and felt your heart beating out of your chest as he sauntered down the stairs. You swallowed hard, and you noticed how thirsty you were. Your mouth was dry and itchy, barely any salvia to help the irritating feeling. You watched as Sukuna grabbed a needle off the workbench.

"Please, not again, please don't do this," You begged desperately, beginning to sob again as he walked over to you. It didn't matter if you tried to fight back. He was just so much stronger than you. It was so easy for him to pin you to the ground and stick the needle back into your neck. You cried and screamed and begged him not to do it. Though your words went in one ear and out the other.

This time, you didn't feel nauseous. You only felt the tingling numbness and the haze fill your head. Sukuna left you on the ground for longer this time, waiting to see if you were going to react poorly again. When he realized you weren't going to puke, he carried you to the table.

He had given you a slightly bigger dose. You could barely move at all. The tips of your fingers and toes could still squirm, but you wouldn't be able to roll over like you had done last time. Sukuna didn't bother in securing your arms to the cuffs on the table. He figured he would be moving you around too much to put the effort in.

He pulled out some of his smaller knives and lined them up on his workbench. He glanced between the sharp tools and you. He selected a medium-sized blade and moved back over to you. He took a minute to enjoy running his hands up and down your body. Slipping your shirt up in the process so he had better access. He pushed his fingers down into your plush skin and pinched other sensitive areas as well. His hands were rough and calloused in comparison to your soft body.

He watched your fingers twitch whenever he touched a particularly sensitive spot. It made him grin wickedly. Sukuna looked back to where he had cut you the other day. The shallow mark was scabbed over, and there was dried blood on your skin from where you had bled. He gently dragged the tip of the knife over your skin. He didn't put any pressure on it to avoid cutting you at first. He just wanted to see you cry.

Through half-lidded and watery eyes, you watched him. The sadistic look on his face caused goosebumps to cross over your skin. He liked inflicting this kind of helpless fear on people. He liked having control. You could do nothing but cry. You couldn't speak, you couldn't fight back, all you could do was lay there and cry.

You expected the worst. You expected him to carve you up and hang you on that meat hook just as you had seen with the other corpse. Sukuna contemplated his usual routine. Using the knife to make shallow cuts, marking where the best slices of meat would be. But his mind lingered on the empty chair in his home.

You were certainly pretty, and you had a sweet voice, even when begging for your life. He liked touching you, digging his fingers into your sensitive spots, and watching you twitch. The spot between your V-line was one of those spots. He set his knife aside and rolled you onto your stomach, lifting your shirt up as well. Your skin was cold to the touch. He ran his hands over your back and noticed how tense your muscles were, sore too apparently since you winced.

Sukuna made up his mind.

He picked up the knife and moved toward your lower back. He measured with his eyes and then proceeded to dip the blade into your skin. It hurt, you could feel every slice and cut he put into you. You cried and cried, but you couldn't say a word. Sukuna leaned in to focus more, a serious expression on his face as he carved his knife into your flesh. Blood trickled down your back, dripping into the creases and dips of your form. Funneling past the ridges and slightly pooling in the small of your back.

He pushed a little deeper in some parts and shallower in others. Keeping a constant eye on your reactions. He knows that if he's too rough, the drug wears off faster. He worked quickly yet efficiently, and soon enough, he pulled away and moved to grab his towel. He used the clean part to wipe away the blood, and he seemed pleased with himself.

Sukuna has tattoos over most of his body, including his back. He carved the same patterns onto your skin, so now your back matched his. The lines were thinner than his, but he didn't mind. He was going to mold you into something perfect. Something that would suit his every desire.

You, however, were in agony. It hurt badly, and there was nothing you could do except cry.

He noticed your hands were moving more, and he took that as his sign to stop for the day.

~

You couldn't help but scream. Sukuna was gone and you could fully move again. The pain of the cuts in your back increased tenfold whenever you moved. You sobbed hysterically, sitting on your knees and shivering from how cold you were.

You let it all out, the guttural cries echoed around the cement room. Tears streamed down your cheeks, your throat was sore and dry. You were dying for some water, but Sukuna didn't come down for the rest of the day, or even the next day.

You didn't want to think about dying in this place. You wanted to escape this cellar and be saved from this deranged man.

The pain didn't leave. It lingered in the gashes of your back even as you lay on your side, curled up on the floor. Your clothes were stained red, especially across your back. The blood dried eventually, causing the fabric to stick to the wounds.

For hours you lay there, trying to get comfortable while you quietly cried. Sniffling and holding yourself tightly. Does anyone even know you're missing yet? Are they worrying about you at all?

Maybe Yuji will figure it out quickly, and call the police. Though where would they even start? You were in the middle of nowhere when he snatched you. You didn't even know the man's name. He's barely said anything around you.

You've never felt so alone and scared before. This is a nightmare. This is worse than a nightmare. Sure you had hope that you'd escape but hope doesn't do much when you've been sliced up and starved. Hope will only take you so far.

~

"Time to cull the flock yet?" The old man at the grocery store cheekily smiled as Sukuna carried in the crate of pig meat.

Sukuna shot him an annoyed glare, "Nosy fucker aren't you?" He sneered as he set the crate down.

The shopkeeper shied his head away, embarrassed, "I-I was just curious is all, and-"

A mutual friend of the shopkeepers overheard and decided to try and lighten the tension, "Curiosity killed the cat, Mr. Sai." Their statement was followed by a nervous chuckle. Sukuna shot a wicked glare at the old man and assertively held out his hand. The old man stared for a moment in confusion before his brows shot up in understanding. He patted down his pockets frantically until he located the wad of cash he had grabbed earlier.

"Hurry up," Sukuna huffed, waving his hand in a frustrated manner.

"S-Sorry," The geezer fumbled with the roll of paper as he handed it over. Sukuna snatched it from his hand aggressively causing the old man to flinch. Sukuna flicked his eyes down to the cash as he flipped through it, counting every bill.

Once satisfied, he turned on his heels and began to walk out. He made sure to pick up a few things from the store before heading home. His black dog waited patiently the entire time, panting a bit from the heat.

Sukuna parked in his driveway and turned the vehicle off. His dog jumped out of the truck after him. Two grocery bags in his hands swayed as he walked into the house. He put them away in their respective places before pulling out bread and some sandwich meat. Ham to be precise. Though he contemplated using human meat.

He lazily threw the sandwich on a plate and grabbed a glass to fill with water. Before he headed out, he got a towel and dipped it into some hot soapy water. He carried everything outside and left to the cellar.

You heard the chains rattle and you quickly sat up, but you didn't back away. You were still achy and sore. Your movement pulled your shirt against the wounds, making you wince. It felt like the fabric was glued to the gashes with dried blood, it was terrible.

Sukuna set the food and water down, slinging the wet towel over his shoulder, and then started walking towards you.

"No no no no," You shook your head and scooted back, "Please leave me alone, please stop hurting me," You begged, eyes swelling with tears again.

He ignored your pleas and grabbed the chain, yanking you forward. He had used more force than usual. You tried to catch yourself but you failed, falling onto your stomach. Sukuna didn't give you a chance to get up. He roughly put a hand on the nape of your neck, shoving you flat to the ground. Your head hit the cement and you cried out.

He sat on the space between your lower back and your butt. You couldn't move and his grip was painful.

He pulled your shirt up, or at least tried to. You wept harder as the fabric pulled at the gashes. Sukuna scrunched his nose in annoyance, using more force to yank your shirt up. You screamed. It was one hundred times worse than ripping a bandaid off. It was horrible.

You continued to cry and babble on, asking for freedom.

Sukuna tilted his head, inspecting the gashes in the dim light. He was just making sure it wasn't getting infected. Usually, he doesn't care. He's had victims get infections all the time. They get sicker and sicker but he always kills them before the infection can.

He pulled the towel down from his shoulder and began cleaning up the dried blood. You squirmed under him, the water felt warm at first contact but quickly became cold on your skin.

"W-What are you doing?" You asked with a shakey voice, your body trembling in fear.

Sukuna noticed one of the gashes was much redder than the others. He really should've done this sooner but he got busy so he had to wait. He huffed in frustration and looked over to his workbench. He really shouldn't drug you again today, if he does it too often you may develop a tolerance to it and he'd have to up the dosage more. That drug is hard to get his hands on, it's expensive. It's not even meant for people.

He looked back down to your back and traced over the possibly infected wound with his finger. You hissed as it was sensitive and sore. He liked that reaction and flicked his eyes to yours. His red gaze bore into your own as he dug his finger into the cut.

You sobbed and fought harder, but you were much too weak compared to him. He couldn't fight the sinister grin that pulled at his lips as his nails reopened the wound.

"Stop! Please stop!" You wept, screwing your eyes shut and doing your best to try and get away.

He didn't stop though. He has long nails, he doesn't cut them often. He opened the entire gash, causing your warm blood to trickle down your skin.

He loved the sight. He pulled his fingers out of the wound and smeared the red liquid with his pointer finger. It stained your pretty skin but he thought it looked better this way. He lifted his finger and licked the blood of his digit.

He hummed and leaned down, his breath fanned over your neck, warm and humid. His lips graced the shell of your ear and you whined in discomfort as he leaned more of his weight onto you.

His voice was deep and gruff, raspy almost as he smirked like the devil, "I'm going to break you."

Chapter Text

Sukuna retreated off you, and you were quick to scurry away from him, your shirt falling back down to cover you. He stood over you for a second, that grin of his terrified you more than anything. It was horrid and full of excitement. Excitement rooted in your fear.

He turned and set the towel aside. He grabbed the plate and glass before turning back to you. You eyed the food and water, your itchy mouth suddenly felt all the more dry.

Sukuna saw you looking so desperately at the glass of water. He set the plate down in front of you and lifted the glass to his lips. A defeated look filled your eyes as you thought he was going to drink it in front of you. Instead, he spit in it. A big glob of his salvia dripped down from his pursed lips and the water in the glass rippled around it once it fell.

You scrunched your brows in disgust as he proceeded to hand you the glass. He lowered himself, crouching in front of you as he extended the glass to you. You flicked your eyes from him to the glass and then back to him. You were grossed out but you were also so thirsty.

You reached forward with a shakey hand, and he let you take the glass. You looked into the water as it trembled in the glass. Your unsteady hands made it hard to keep it still. You screwed your eyes shut and tried not to think about it.

You lifted the glass to your lips and just started chugging it. For a brief moment, the water tasted different, it was thick, and it slid down your throat so unpleasantly. But it was only for a moment. Once it passed, you relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the glass.

You could feel the cool liquid rushing through your veins with the utmost satisfaction. You never thought water could taste so good. It soothed your throat instantly, and the ache and itch vanished in seconds.

The fact that he spit in it wasn't even in your mind anymore.

You finished the water and took a deep breath, clutching the glass tightly. You wanted to cry some more, so you did. A few tears slipped down your cheeks and you tried to wipe them away. As you held onto the glass, an idea came to your mind. Your fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. He was already reaching for the glass, and you didn't even think about your next action.

You lurched forward, slamming the glass into the side of his head.

Sukuna fell back. He held his head and groaned. The glass shattered, scattering across the floor and embedding into his flesh. You could see the blood already coming down his forehead. Your eyes snapped to his belt, and you spotted his keys. Frantically, you reached for them.

Alas, it takes more than a little glass to take down Sukuna.

He was pissed. He snatched your wrist and was on top of you in seconds. Your back hit the ground harshly, knocking the wind from your lungs. Sukuna hit you, hard. You clawed at his arms, trying to defend yourself but it really was useless. He struck you again and again and again.

The blood leaking from his wound found its way into his eye, causing his gaze to blur, and the white of his eye was no longer visible.

You tried to cover your face with your arms, but that only pissed him off more. He ripped your arms away to reveal your face. His hands gripped the sides of your head, his fingers digging into your scalp with a painful pressure.

"Stupid bitch," Sukuna spat. He was fuming. He shook your head as if that'd get his point through easier, and he screamed at you, "Ungrateful brat!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," You pleaded desperately, holding onto his wrists. Your head was killing you.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He shouted, inches from you. His blood dripped onto your face and mixed with your tears.

You lowered your voice and whimpered, "Please, I'm so sorry." Your sobs became quiet as you tried to curl into yourself but with his weight over you, you couldn't.

Sukuna's eyes scanned over you before shoving you down hard. He got off you and stormed towards his wall of knives. You eyed the pieces of glass that were on the ground but with how you failed the first time, you were hesitant to try again so hastily.

Sukuna was already marching back over to you, a knife in hand.

This is it, this is how you die.

You couldn't grasp that idea. The thought seemed so foreign yet familiar. Sukuna was pinning you down again, and this time you froze. You let him sit over you, you let him grab your hair and yank your head up. He pushed the knife into your throat, the blade dug into your skin.

"You want to die today?" He pressed his nose into your cheek, his words became trapped against your skin.

You cried harder, "No I don't! Please! I'm so sorry!"

"Fucking whore," He shook you again, pulling away briefly so he was no longer pressing himself against you. The blade tapped against your jugular. "You really think you can kill me?"

"No! No, I don't," You shook your head frantically.

"Damn right," He lifted the blade to the side of your forehead. He dug into your skin and you started squirming to try and get away again. He tightened his grip on your hair, keeping your head still. "You see what you did to me?" He tilted his head a bit so you could see the wound better as he implicated the same damage to you.

You couldn't get any words out as you sobbed hysterically. Blood gushed down and into your eye, just as it had done to Sukuna.

He stopped to look at you, crying desperately in his grasp and meekly begging for mercy. He scoffed at your pathetic state and moved off of you. He grabbed the plate off the ground and took it with him. You curled up against the wall, holding your head in pain as he left the cellar.

Though he left the light on so you knew he'd be back. You mustered up the courage to shuffle forward and look for a decent piece of the broken glass. You found a long narrow one and hastily grabbed it, being cautious not to cut yourself more.

You didn't know where to put it now though, because you know he'll find it if you try to tuck it into your waistband or something.

You shivered in disgust at the memories of him groping you while you couldn't move on the table. It's pretty clear glass, so maybe he just won't see it. You carefully laid it behind you where the wall meets the floor.

You sat in front of it, careful not to sit on it.

It didn't take long for Sukuna to come back with a broom and dustpan. His forehead was cleaned and he had a bandage over it now too. His eye was still red and agitated from getting so much blood in it.

He didn't look at you as he swept up the pieces of glass. He was still angry, but he was just quietly fuming now. He'd wanted to take it out on you, he wanted to ram an axe into your skull and get rid of you. But he had made his decision, and he didn't know if another one as pretty as you would come along. Plus he likes it when his victims are feisty, he just doesn't like it when they hit him in the head with a glass that he so graciously gave them water with.

You had mostly stopped crying. You had your knees pulled up to your chest and you were watching Sukuna with watery eyes.

He removed the glass and shot you one last glare before turning the light off and heading out. You sat in the darkness, alone and scared.

~

Sukuna had made up his mind.

He lifted the axe over his head, the long wooden handle was smooth between his sweaty palms.

He knew what he wanted, and he wasn't going to change his path now.

He brought the axe down, the metal head buried into the thick log, causing the wood to shriek and split. Sweat dripped from his forehead, his biceps were bulging from under his rolled-up sleeves. It's getting cold now that it's fall. The nights were chilly in the summer but they're even colder in the autumn season.

He stepped forward and collected the pieces he had cut, tossing them into the pile with the others. He grabbed the next thick log and positioned it on the larger stump he used as a chopping block. He lifted the axe again, his body shifting with his weight as he brought it down, splitting the wood. His muscles were taut as he stepped back and grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it up to wipe the sweat from his brow.

He glanced over in the direction of the cellar.

It's been nearly a month now, maybe a little more. He's drugged you a few times, continuing to carve his tattoos onto you. Sometimes he'll go back over old ones, widening them to the proper width, and ensuring they'll leave a prominent scar. One that will never fade. You'll be buried with those scars, and he's going to make damn sure of it.

You still fight him. You haven't used your shard of glass, you're too scared to fail again. He gives you water in a plastic cup now. Sukuna's dog barked and he looked over to the cheery ball of black fur rolling in the grass. The white one was also lying nearby but was napping.

"Shut up," Sukuna huffed and continued to chop the logs. He always stock-piled in fall, because doing it during the winter sucked. What was he going to do with you in the winter? He's had victims over the cold months, sure, but they've always gotten frostbite and he's had some lost fingers or toes. He likes cutting you up and all but he'd rather you stay mostly intact.

One year, it got exceptionally cold, and his victim froze to death when he hadn't checked on them in a few days.

He could put a heater down there, but that seems like a lot of effort. He doesn't like having to put effort into keeping his captives alive. He already puts a lot of work into his cattle and pigs and chickens, he doesn't feel that his victims deserve the same treatment he gives to his livestock.

They don't deserve anything. You're extremely lucky to be receiving as much food and water as you are. Plus he takes the time to clean the cuts he gives you. You should be grateful. With how much he's sliced you up, you would've died of infection by now, surely. The cellar is already cold, it's meant to be. In winter it's brutal.

Another log splintered into smaller pieces.

With each passing day, it felt like your hope slowly left you. You thought about your friends often, wondering if they've noticed yet. You were supposed to be home by now, maybe the police were out there looking for you, or better yet they were on their way right now.

Deep down you knew that wasn't true, and that's why you kept losing hope. You weren't good at lying, especially lying to yourself.

You wanted to go home, you wanted to sleep in a warm bed and eat warm food. The thought of your little apartment and all your plants made your chest tighten in a vice. You imagined all your plants dead because no one is around to water them and the food in your fridge going moldy and rotten because no one is around to eat it.

You pictured Yuji's bright cheery smile, his welcoming embrace as he pulled you into a bear hug. His cologne smelled overly sweet, but he urged you to bury your face deeper into his soft hoodie. He always had such comfortable clothes, you borrowed them often.

You wanted to cuddle up with him on the couch, some cheesy spin-off of 'Human Earthworm' playing on the TV as you fall asleep laying on top of him, head tucked into the crook of his neck.

So warm, so welcoming. You miss your best friend.

The cellar doors creaked open and you opened your eyes. A cold gust of air swept through the room, causing you to shiver before the doors closed once more. You pulled your knees to your chest, crossing your arms on top and burying your head into your forearms, closing your eyes again.

You've stopped begging for your life so much. You still plead with him to stop if he gets rough in pinning you down to give you the shots. There's still some fight left in you. You don't want to let him do this easily. You want to make it a pain for him at least.

Sukuna sauntered down the stairs with heavy lumbering steps. He made it to the bottom, flicked the light on, and began fiddling around with his workstation. You listened to the clatter of the knives and the futzing around he did. Goosebumps crossed your skin as you heard him sliding one of the blades against honing steel. You've heard that a few times and that typically means he's going to drug you and put you on the table again.

You peered over your arms and were suddenly ensnared in those scarlet eyes of his. He was looking straight at you as he sharpened the knife. His arms moved in automation. His bloody apron shifted with his steadfast movements. His lower half was hidden behind the table and a dead look was sitting in his eyes.

He was thinking, thinking of what to do with you in winter. He just happens to look rather intimidating while he's thinking.

He set his knife down and plucked the syringe off the counter. He took a few heavy steps toward you, and in turn, you pushed yourself back against the wall. He doesn't even bother to grab the chain and yank you closer anymore. He just walks straight up to you, pinning you down to the ground with ease.

You don't cry as much anymore, it felt like you didn't have any tears left. He jabbed the needle into your neck and pulled away. You knew the sensation all too well. You didn't bother getting from the floor, you laid there just as Sukuna had pinned you.

You took heavy breaths as your chest tightened. Your limbs tingled with numbness and within a minute you couldn't move a muscle.

Sukuna laid you out on his table, lifting your shirt carelessly to inspect how your chest and stomach scars were doing. He had gotten all of the markings down into your skin, now it was a matter of refining them and making them match in width, as well as making sure they don't heal.

He traced his fingers over the rough ridges of the red scars. Some more red than others with how he touches them up.

Your chest moved up and down as you tried to take steady breaths, prepping yourself for the pain. He picked up his knife and dug it into your flesh. Your eyes pricked with tears and you watched his stern, focused expression.

He leaned in a bit in concentration. Fresh blood dripped down and smeared across the shining blade.

His other hand rested on your hip and you wanted so desperately to pull away from his grasp. His hand squeezed at your plush skin subconsciously as he widened one of the scars. Your breaths stuttered from the pain. Sukuna flicked his eyes up to meet yours. He smirked seeing you cry. He set the knife down for a second and moved to lean over your face. He pouted in a mocking manner. Pursing his bottom lip out and furrowing his brows.

You wanted to hit him, slap him, do anything to get that taunting expression away from you.

Sukuna leaned closer and you fought the drug hard, trying to move at all but you couldn't. It felt like your body was sealed in a lead tomb. Not a single muscle would move. You stared at him as he pressed his lips to your cheek.

You wanted to puke. How dare he kiss you?

He nipped at your skin with his teeth, trailing closer and closer to your mouth. You were screaming internally. His lips were hot against yours, pushing and biting.

His hand snaked up and slid over your cheek for a moment, tracing the scars he had spent the most hours on. Facial scars heal fast, so he reopens the marks there the most. He swiped his thumb over your bottom lip, pulling it down slightly and slipping his finger into your mouth.

You let out shakey breaths as he pressed down on your tongue. He pried your mouth open and pushed his lips to yours once more. Slipping his tongue into your mouth and devouring you.

Your stomach churned in disgust, and tears started flowing down from your eyes. It felt like it lasted for an eternity. You screwed your eyes shut, praying he'd stop, and he did. He pulled away a few inches.

You opened your eyes in relief only to feel utter defeat as he pursed his lips and spit into your mouth. His thick saliva slid down your tongue and into your throat. You wanted to vomit, but you also didn't want to choke, so you swallowed.

He grinned and pulled his hand away from your face, picking up his knife, and continuing with his work.

Chapter Text

A few more weeks passed. Sukuna was getting antsy, it was getting chilly. You were always shivering when he went down to feed you and whenever he had you on the table your skin felt so cold.

You were losing hope but you didn't want to think of this as the end. You tried not to think about it because every time you did you wanted to cry. The cellar doors rattled open and the cold wind chilled you to the bone. You wrapped your arms around yourself tightly. The feeling of your scars under your fingertips was rough. Your eyes snapped up to the sound of paws trotting down the stairs and Sukuna's lumbering steps came down the stairs as well, the cellar doors falling shut.

The light flicked on and you scurried back in fear as the large black dog tapped over to you. The dog's hackles were raised as it barred its teeth, eyes boring into yours.

Sukuna flicked his gaze between you and the dog before speaking in a gruff voice, "No."

The dog immediately stopped and looked over to Sukuna. You pressed yourself back against the cold hard cement wall, shaking in fear. Sukuna turned his back and began fidgeting with his knives. The dog sat and stared at you. As if it was daring you to make a move. You held onto your arms as you pulled your knees to your chest, trying to disappear from the hungry gaze of the beast. Sukuna turned back around and walked toward you with the plastic cup of water and a plate of food.

You were too scared to move any closer to him, and he saw that. He set the food at the end of your reach, right in front of the dog. You glanced at the scraps on the plate. Sometimes Sukuna will throw together something small or he'll give you his leftovers. Today you get leftovers, but you were hungry. The water looked good too, just looking at it made your mouth feel dry.

Sukuna stood there and crossed his arms, "Eat."

You swallowed hard and slowly began to move closer. The chains rattled against the floor and the cuffs dug into your skin unpleasantly. They've pretty much rubbed your wrists raw at this point.

You stayed low to the ground, the floor scratched at your sensitive skin and you neared the plate. Two sets of predatory eyes were locked on you. The dog looked like he was about to drool and Sukuna's wicked grin made your skin crawl. Your hands were trembling badly as you reached forward. The dog didn't take its eyes off you as you grabbed the edge of the plate and slowly pulled it closer to you.

Sukuna crouched down as you sat back and picked some food off the plate, "If you ever run, he'll kill you." He pointed to the dog. "Rip you apart limb by limb." You chewed on the tough leftovers, never blinking as you looked into Sukuna's eyes. "You understand that?" Sukuna moved his hand over to the dog and scratched behind his ear.

You nodded meekly.

~

A few days passed. Cold and dark days. You still had that shard of glass but you hadn't dared to use it. The fear of him overpowering you, or the idea of his dog eating you, that fear kept you compliant.

You still had hoped the police would find you. You've seen plenty of stories of kidnapping victims making it out alive after months, years even.

Luck was on your side, though you may not have seen it that way. Because one day, when the cellar doors opened, Sukuna had his hands full.

A new body, fresh blood dripping from their head, limp in his arms. He flashed you a grin as he walked past you, and you watched him use the second set of chains in the corner. It was another woman, she looked older than you but not by much.

The metal rattled against the cement as he secured her. You watched the woman keenly and saw her chest slowly rising and falling. Sukuna stood and turned to walk away. You saw his shirt was bloody from carrying the body. As his scarlet red eyes bore into your own, a daunting realization hit you.

Was he going to kill you now that he had someone new?

You swallowed the lump in your throat and shrank back in fear. Tears prickled your eyes as his heavy lumbering steps moved past you. He turned the light off and disappeared to the surface.

You quickly looked over to the woman. You're losing track of time, you don't know how long it's been since you've seen someone other than Sukuna.

Maybe the two of you could work together and escape. From what little you saw of her, she looked strong.

Though it would be a while for her to wake up. So you curled up in an attempt to warm yourself. You hate when Sukuna opens the cellar doors because it always causes a chilly breeze to sweep through the room.

Your wounds hurt so much more in the cold. A consistent stinging pain, one that's hard to ignore.

You waited and waited. It's all you could do really. You weren't sure how close to her you could get with how short your chains were. Though her restraints looked longer.

That's because they were the first chains that he put in. Sukuna learned quickly that shorter chains make things easier, so he only used the long ones if necessary.

It took about an hour, not that you were aware of how much time passed. You heard the woman groan in pain, the chains slid across the cement as she moved around.

"Hey," You whispered, scared you might startle the woman.

The panic was evident in her shaky voice, "W-Where am I? Who's there?" You heard the chains snap taut as the woman tried to stand, she was pulled back to her knees. You recalled doing the same thing.

"Shh, it's ok," You tried to sound reassuring, but it was hard. The woman began to cry. "W-We got kidnapped, I'm sorry." You don't know what you're apologizing for, you didn't really know what to say.

"No no no please god no," The woman started crying hysterically. You knew it was pointless to try and calm her down. She needed to get the initial panic out, she needed to get the first wave of shock over with.

The woman screamed, cried, and begged to be freed.

You understood how it felt. The rage, the pain, the fear. It courses through your body and hits you like a truck. It rattles you to the core. You listened to her pleas for help, your fingers gingerly tracing over the scars on your face. Following the ridged edges down your cheek to your chin and back up again. Idly waiting for her to calm down, for reality to set in.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, voice hoarse from yelling. She sounded urgent.

You softly said your name and peered into the darkness, "Did he find you on the side of the road too?"

"Y-Yes, how long have you been here?"

"How long?" You repeated the words and pulled your knees closer to your chest, "I'm not sure. It was summer when I was taken. It's gotten so cold now."

"Summer?! You've been here for months?!" The woman started crying again, fat tears sliding down her cheeks. She pulled at the chains, but the rusted metal only dug into her skin.

"Is that how long it's been?" You furrowed your brows and your hand paused, pushing into the scar on your cheek.

"W-What does he do to you?"

You were quiet for a minute, and your hand continued to move up and down your skin, "A lot. What's your name?"

You didn't want to discuss any of it. You didn't want to talk about the way he forced you to the floor and jabbed a needle into you. You didn't want to talk about how he runs his hands over your body and gropes you as he pleases or touches any part of you he wants. You didn't want to mention the pain of laying helplessly on the table as he carved into your flesh.

"My name is Airi," She sniffled, finally calming down.

"It's nice to meet you Airi," You replied, closing your eyes and leaning your head against your knees. There was a moment of silence, you opened your mouth to say something when a loud bang resonated outside the cellar.

Airi let out a choked cry, "What was that?"

"It sounded like a gunshot," You watched the doors with wide eyes. Yet ten or so minutes passed and it was quiet again. 

"Will you tell me what he's going to do to me?" Airi continued the conversation.

"I'm not sure what he'll do with you," You answered honestly for the most part. You don't know what's going to happen now that he has another victim.

"How old are you?"

You scrunched your nose at the question, "Twenty-four, you?"

"Twenty-nine," She replied solemnly. "I still have so much to do," Her voice began to crack again, "I can't die now." She began crying again.

You couldn't fault her for breaking down. She proceeded to cry for the rest of the night. You couldn't sleep with her gasping sobs and the way she kept murmuring about how she was too young to die.

You tried to offer words of hope but they sounded dull with your lack of emotion. How could you offer someone inspiration when you lacked it?

You felt guilty for finding her crying annoying. It was hard enough to sleep as is. Eventually, she stopped, and you felt relieved that you were finally able to shut your eyes for a bit.

~

You awoke to the sounds of the cellar doors opening. The bright light and cold wind shook you from your short slumber.

You didn't bother getting up, you just shut your eyes again and let out a huff of air through your nose. You were probably going to die today, or at least you assumed.

Your first thought was what happens after death? What if you become a ghost and end up trapped in this cellar for eternity? Are there other ghosts trapped in this cellar?

The light flicked on and there was a pause in his movement, though Airi started crying again, begging to be let go.

"I'll give you anything you want, please just let me go," She sobbed hysterically and you found it frustrating. To you, there was no point in begging. You knew he wasn't going to let her go, but she didn't know that. All she could do was try and persuade him.

A shadow was cast over you as his footsteps neared you. He crouched down in front of you. Before you could contemplate opening your eyes, his hand was grabbing your face.

You blinked in surprise and weakly grabbed at his wrists as he gripped your cheeks roughly, causing your lips to purse.

He was making sure you were alive.

He grunted seeing your eyes open and feeling how cold your skin was. He let you go and stood, turning back to the workstation with his knives.

You sat up at last and scooted back to lean against the wall lazily. You were tired, and you felt like you were going to freeze to death.

You peered over at Airi and saw her eyes were already on you. Her black hair had been pulled back into a bun but it was messy and disheveled now. Her pale skin was smudged with dirt and blood and a few dark purple bruises. Her hollow brown eyes had bags under them, and her cheeks were tear-stained.

She stared at you in disbelief.

You don't know what you look like now. You only know you're littered with scars. Not necessarily dirt and blood due to Sukuna's cleaning habits, but definitely a lot of scars. Your clothes, on the other hand, have not been washed since you arrived. You were filthy in every sense of the word.

Sukuna returned to you and placed a sandwich along with some water in front of you. You didn't even bat an eye as you shuffled forward to eat.

He stood over you for a moment, watching you like the obedient dog you were. It put a smile on his lips. A toothy, malevolent, smile.

Your fingers were numb as they wrapped around the soft bread. You took your time in eating, no rush at all. Plus you tend to get nauseous if you eat too quickly.

Sukuna didn't mind either, as he was already grabbing the needle from the workbench and moving toward Airi. She screamed out and tried to back into the corner, kicking and swinging at him wildly.

You watched out of the corner of your eye as he pinned her down easily. It was effortless for him to stick the needle in her neck and he backed away without a care afterwards.

You picked up your cup and sipped at the cool liquid. It was refreshing but it also made you shiver.

Airi was still freaking out and screaming about being injected. Within a minute she was laying on the floor, quietly sobbing.

Sukuna unchained her and carelessly dropped her onto the table. You caught a glimpse of the fear in her eyes but once she was up on the table you couldn't see her face. Sukuna pulled out a few knives and contemplated which one to use first.

You finished off your sandwich and watched as Sukuna began cutting into her. It surprised you, how rough he was being. He hadn't cut you that deep the first time, then again you threw up, Airi didn't.

She wasn't moving nearly as much as you either and you wondered just how much of the drug Sukuna gave her.

He wasn't handsy with her either, he didn't take the time to inspect her body the way he did yours. He wasted no time in digging the blade into her skin. You watched the blood drip down from her body and onto the floor.

There was a lot of it. For a moment you thought he might kill her, let her bleed out on the table, but he didn't.

He clearly wasn't carving the same markings onto her and he had done to you. Sukuna was just having fun. He hadn't been able to carelessly slice someone up in a while. He just wanted to see blood and flesh. He was skinning her, you realized. 

Sukuna peeled off a small section of bloody skin from Airi's stomach.

You gagged. Your skin tingled at the thought of him doing that to you. It looked revolting the way some of the flesh stuck her to and he yanked it off. Sukuna eyed you with a sadistic grin. Lazily he tossed the piece of flesh onto the side of the table for later use.

You were lucky you didn't puke, but you were close. You gagged again and averted your gaze. Your stomach churned in discomfort and you shuffled back against the wall.

Sukuna enjoyed watching you squirm. He enjoyed seeing you so scared and panicked. You had grown so used to Sukuna's antics that you didn't give him much of a reaction lately. Seeing you like this was a nice change of pace.

Though you were looking away now. You didn't want to lose the meal you just ate. The cold is bad enough, sitting with an empty stomach is worse.

You were also afraid of Sukuna's temper. You didn't want him to hurt you more if you puked. You know he hates it if you make a mess.

The sound was the worst part. Listening to flesh rip and tear made you shake in fear. It made your skin crawl in disgust.

The wet sounds of the bloody chunks of meat hitting the table made their way into your ears and you tried to stop it. You used your hands to cover your ears to no avail. You could only imagine how horrible it felt to be Airi right now.

It felt like hours, but in reality, it was only about thirty minutes max.

Eventually, Airi started to move more and Sukuna decided he would call it a day. He dragged her off the table, letting her body hit the floor, and proceeded to slide Airi across the rough cement. A trail of blood formed from the table to the corner of the room as Sukuna chained her back up.

You were curled up against the wall, face buried in your arms and hands still covering your ears.

His shadow loomed over you and you peered up at him. His apron was stained bright red from the fresh blood. He crouched down and reached toward your face. Your bottom lip was trembling as a few tears slipped down your cheek.

He gripped your jaw and rubbed his thumb over one of the scarred lines. He made a mocking pouty face as you tried to pull away. There was blood on his hand, and it smeared across your skin, getting stuck in the rough ridges of the scars.

You grabbed at his wrist, trying to pry it off you, though it was a futile attempt. You had grown so weak with the minimal food and the cold temperatures.

To Sukuna, you were no stronger than a little bug.

He clicked his tongue, "Tch, these damn things keep trying to close." He was referring to the markings on your face, of course, the hardest ones to keep. You cried and tried desperately to wiggle out of his grasp. "Shh shh," He cooed and his other hand fell to your hip, dragging you away from the wall a little.

He straddled your lap and used his body weight to pin you down. Your hands found his shoulders and you desperately tried to push him away. He leaned down, putting his face inches away from yours, his hot breath fanning over your skin. You screwed your eyes shut and tried to tilt your head away from him.

He held you firmly and pressed his lips against yours. You refused to call it a kiss. The idea disgusted you too much. You kicked your legs and squirmed even more as he devoured your mouth, forcing his tongue in and tasting you.

It was revolting to you, yet there was nothing you could do.

Chapter Text

That night, Airi wouldn't stop screaming in pain. Once she had fully woken up and seen what Sukuna had done to her, she just couldn't stop crying. She was angry and in pain and you understood that, but you just wanted to sleep.

That guilt sat in your stomach like a brick, but the frustration remained.

You wanted to talk to her but she wouldn't respond to anything you said. She was too distraught about the fact that Sukuna took the skin off her stomach. You would probably be that way too if you were being honest.

Sukuna hadn't come down yet the next day, and you thought it'd make for a good opportunity to talk to Airi. It had been quiet for thirty minutes now and you were unsure if she had fallen asleep or maybe even died, though you doubted it.

"Airi," You whispered softly and were met with silence at first, then some sniffling.

"What?"

"We should try and get out of here."

Her reply was filled with anger, "You think?" You heard the chains shift around a bit.

"Sorry," You muttered, shaking from the low temperature, "I just... I don't know."

Airi wiped the tears from her eyes as she lay on her side, "It's so cold."

"Yeah, it is," You hugged yourself tighter. It felt like every passing second of this night only got colder and colder. Surly the temperatures were at freezing now, or at least it felt like it. It wasn't actually freezing, but it was getting close.

"Sorry I snapped at you," Airi apologized and wiped at a few more of the tears that fell from her eyes. Airi had at least been caught with long sleeves and pants. You were still stranded in your shorts and tee shirt.

"It's ok, I understand," You shut your eyes, trying to ignore the cold that was seeping into your bones.

"We're in this together."

"Right," You nodded, "Together."

"So," Airi started, "Did you have any ideas of how to escape?"

Back inside the warm house, Sukuna sat in his living room. Peering out into the dark cover of night. He had already made sure his animals were well taken care of and had plenty of heat. He glanced at his phone which had the weather displayed on the screen.

His black dog lay at his feet, snoozing happily on the warm floor.

Sukuna contemplated what to do. You were probably going to die if he did nothing, especially with how weak you had gotten. There was a slight tinge of fear in his chest as he realized you could be dead right now. He hadn't gotten the chance to check on you today.

He huffed curtly and rose from his seat, snatching a thick blanket off the couch before heading towards the door.

He slipped his boots on and sauntered to the cellar, he stood for a moment and listened. He couldn't hear anything so he unlocked the chain and moved down the stairs with lumbering steps.

When he flicked the light on he was pleasantly surprised to find you sitting up, holding yourself tightly and shaking from the chilly breeze. He glanced at Airi and saw she was sitting up as well, pressed against the wall with tears dripping down her skin.

You could see your breath in the air as you let out nervous pants. As Sukuna began to walk over to you, you eyed the blanket. It looked big and thick.

You had never felt such relief as he kneeled in front of you and draped the fabric over your shoulders. Your hands quickly tangled in the cloth and you kept your gaze locked on his face. This odd feeling crossed over you as he wrapped you in warmth.

The fabric was still toasty from sitting inside, it instantly made your skin tingle in delight.

Your voice was small and hoarse, "Th-Thank you." You didn't think about the words, they just slipped out. Sukuna flicked his red gaze to meet yours briefly but he didn't say anything. He shuffled a little closer and manhandled you until you were sitting on top of the blanket, the cold floor no longer touching you.

You let him move you around as he pleased. This change in behavior had your stomach twisting in uncomfortable ways.

He stood back and towered over you. His piercing red eyes bore straight into your soul. You were still shaking but you were warming up quickly. He lifted his foot and nudged your shoulder. You let him usher you to lay down, the blanket was big enough that you could rest your head and entire body on it while also keeping the other half wrapped around you.

He waited for a second longer before turning and walking back up the stairs, darkness covering you once more.

You swallowed hard, trying to refrain from crying again but it was hard. The conflicting emotions rattled around in you. Relief, gratitude, guilt, disgust, and anger.

Airi's voice spoke up eagerly, "You're going to share that, right?"

You sat up, holding the blanket tightly, "How far can you move over here?" You questioned, peering in her direction though you couldn't see her. The chains shifted across the cement floor and you heard her trying to move closer.

"Reach your hand out," Airi commanded and you did, moving to the end of your chains and reaching out. You both gasped as the tips of your fingers graced each other briefly. "Give me an end, please, I'm begging you," Airi sounded desperate and you felt your heart break a little for her.

Yet there was a tinge of selfishness as you gripped the fabric tightly. You realized that you didn't want to share. Regardless, you pushed aside your bad feelings and handed forth a corner of the blanket. Airi grabbed it hastily, yanking it further towards her.

A bit of it unwrapped from you and you held on tighter, "D-Don't take all of it."

"Just a little more."

"No," You weren't strong enough to hold on. Your voice cracked as the blanket was ripped away from you entirely, "No no, please! You said we'd share!" You started crying again, shivering as the cold held onto you like a vice. You were pulling against the restraints frantically trying to feel for the blanket again.

You let out a guttural scream at the betrayal, angry beyond all sense of the word, "AIRI! YOU BASTARD!" You wrapped your arms around yourself. The brief feeling of warmth getting taken from you made the cold all the worse.

Airi murmured softly as she shuffled further away from you, "I'm sorry."

"Airi, please! You promised we'd share!" You wept. The first person you meet, someone you thought you could trust, just shattered the last of the hope you had left. There was an empty void in your heart. There was no more remorse left in you. Nothing but rage was left in your chest.

"I hope that bastard rips you apart! You heartless bitch!" You yanked on the chains again, the metal digging painfully into your wrists.

"Leave me alone!" Airi sobbed in return. You were seething, your version blurred with furry, not that you could see much anyway. You sank down and laid back against the floor. The chilling cement seeped into your bones, and you began to shake again.

You whispered softly as you curled into yourself, "I trusted you." Airi didn't say anything more, and neither did you.

You thought you were going to die. You were right on the edge. You couldn't move, your skin was icey and your chest tight. You didn't even make any more of an effort to warm yourself. You accepted it in a sense. You thought about the shard of glass you still had, and how it'd go to waste now. You laid there for hours.

For a minute you thought you stopped breathing, you thought you could feel your heart stop beating. You wanted to die. You wanted it to be over already. There wasn't much more you could take.

Yet for some reason, you lived.

You didn't even hear the cellar doors opening. You looked dead in every aspect. When Sukuna saw Airi with the blanket and you laying ever so still on the ground he saw red.

He went to you first, his touch gentle as he pressed his fingers against your neck, looking for a pulse. He struggled to find it, and it only made him more pissed. You felt his hands on you but you didn't open your eyes, you were too tired.

Then he got it, the steady pulsing of the blood in your veins. As soon as he figured out you were still alive he was storming over to Airi.

You heard her screaming and crying and you wanted to watch. You fought with every muscle in your body to tilt your head towards her and through half-lidded eyes you watched. You watched Sukuna beat the ever-living fuck out of her.

He ripped the blanket away from her and carelessly tossed it aside, pinning her down and hitting her over and over and over again. The blanket fell not too far from you and you desperately wanted to feel that warmth again.

It was painful, trying to move. Who knew freezing to death was so agonizingly painful? Your joints feel like a hundred-year-old machine that desperately needs oil. You could practically feel your bones rubbing together as you extended your arm, the tips of your fingers gracing the fabric.

Airi shouted out desperately in the background as Sukuna was still on top of her, beating her senselessly. The sounds of Sukuna's fists meeting Airi's body resonated in the small space. You curled your fingers around the blanket but you were too weak to even grab it. So instead, you just left your hand on it, not that you could do much more.

Your cheek was pressed into the cement, scratching up your face even more than it had been. You wondered at that moment, what Sukuna's goals were. Why didn't he hurt you the way he hurt Airi?  The way he's beating her is nothing like the way he had beaten you, and you had tried to kill him. He wasn't just taking his anger out on Airi, he was trying to kill her.

He wanted her dead.

Eventually, the screaming stopped. Sukuna landed a few more hits regardless. There was blood splattered across the floor and the wall and on Sukuna. His clothes were stained in the warm liquid and it dripped off his fists as he stood. The steady sound of the droplets hitting the cement drifted towards you as Sukuna staggered.

He was dazed and so full of anger that he couldn't think straight.

His eyes fell onto you, helplessly reaching for the blanket. Sukuna let out a huff of hot air through his nose before he snatched the blanket from the floor. For a moment you felt nothing but utter defeat as the cloth left your fingertips.

It was short-lived, however, as Sukuna quickly yet carefully wrapped you up. Pulling you up from the cement, he wrapped your body in the thick blanket and you started crying once more. Futile tears rolled down your cheeks as he laid you on the table, encased in a warm sanction of protection.

He left you on the table, and you barely realized his absence. You were too focused on the way your body slowly began to warm. Your icy limbs melted away ever so slowly. You still couldn't move much, but this feeling brought a new sense of life to your frozen body.

You let out raspy breaths as you lay there, eyes opening more as you began to liven up a bit. You curled up into yourself some more as you glanced around.

Your gaze fell on Airi. You could barely see her face through all the blood. Her jaw was clearly broken, unhinged on one side. You noticed her chest was faintly rising and falling, so she must still be alive.

Sukuna returned before you could think about it much. You heard his heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and he was quick to come over to the table. He leaned down and gently cupped your face in his hands. He scowled at how cold your skin was. He briefly looked over your hands and feet, it was a miracle you didn't have frostbite. Luck was on your side, in a sick sense. 

He was careful as he snaked his hands under the blanket and gripped the hem of your shirt. You wanted to push his hands away but you couldn't. He pulled your shirt up and off of you. The filthy cloth was carelessly tossed to the side and he picked up the sweater he had brought back with him.

Sukuna managed to get the sweater onto you and you relaxed as soon as you felt the soft comforting fabric wrapping you in warmth.

The tension in your muscles left and you were able to move around more, yet you didn't. You let him move onto your shorts. His focused eyes and calloused hands were all over you as he removed your bottoms. He had grabbed some sweatpants for you and wasted no time in putting them on you.

The clothes were far too big for you, seeing as they belonged to him. You were swimming in them but they were so soft and warm. You let out a shakey breath as you shut your eyes again, basking in this newfound warmth.

Sukuna stared down at you for a moment before looking over to Airi. He saw she was still breathing and he scoffed in disgust. Her chest was heaving up and down, attempting to get enough air into her lungs.

He shuffled closer to the table and leaned down to you, tracing over the scars on your cheeks. You peered at him with one eye open before tilting your head back away from him. He followed after, not letting you get very far from him.

He clicked his tongue as he poked and prodded your face. You scrunched your nose up and with a trembling hand, you reached up to swat at his fingers.

He couldn't help the smirk that tugged at his lips. You were just so cute.

He straightened up and looked up the stairs to the surface. He whistled a long drawn-out call. Then there was a second of silence. The pitter-patter of paws trotted down the stairs a moment later. The white dog stood at the top of the steps, while the black one hurried down to meet Sukuna.

He gave both the canines a brief command before he left once more. You let out a curt sigh as you locked eyes with the beast. He blinked at you before turning to look at Airi. Now that you were able to get a good look at the dog, you were surprised to see just how well taken care of they are.

Thick coats, strong bodies, and clean teeth. Sukuna must put a lot of work into maintaining his dogs. You weren't sure why this alarmed you but it did. Even the white dog was clean, and white fur is difficult to keep up with.

You felt like normal again, well, as normal as you could be. You were able to move just fine now and your body was sore from laying in the same position all night, so you sat up on the table.

Your movement caused the dogs to snap their attention to you, though they didn't move. You sat with your legs crossed and the blanket draped over your shoulders. The sudden thought of running crossed your mind but the presence of the dogs shot that down.

You rubbed your eyes tiredly, ignoring the sound of Sukuna's footsteps returning. When you opened your eyes again, Sukuna was in front of you with a plate of food. Warm food, it was steaming in the cold air. Your eyes widened a bit at how good it smelled. You were practically drooling at the sight.

Sukuna stood in front of you, fork in one hand and the plate in the other. He picked up a small piece and extended his hand forth, offering you the bite. Just like an obedient pet, you opened your mouth.

He grinned wickedly as he fed you. The warm food melted in your mouth and you hummed in delight at just how good it tasted. You rolled your eyes back a bit at just how pleasant it was to finally have a warm meal again.

You barely chewed it and swallowed the bite quickly. You eagerly looked at him, opening your mouth again waiting for more.

Sukuna had been wanting to work on your facial markings but decided against it because of how weak you were. Instead, he just fed you and gave you more water.

He chose to let Airi live. He'll just make sure she doesn't even dare to look at you again.

Chapter Text

You laid on the floor, curled up in your warm blanket. Sukuna has been coming in to check on you often, seeing as you were so close to death just this morning. He had left the light on, too lazy to turn it off with how much he was going in and out.

Airi hasn't spoken, probably because she can't. She's just been quietly crying in the corner, her hands gingerly holding onto her dislocated jaw. She can't breathe right due to the beating, so every breath she takes is raspy and sounds choked up, blood sputters weakly onto the cement, dripping from her barely recognizable face.

You can't see her skin under all the blood that she's soaked in, it's a gruesome sight. One of her eyes has swelled shut and the other is badly bruised and bloodshot. You couldn't help but feel some pity for her in the state she was in. It must be painful.

You pulled the blanket tighter and shut your eyes, letting out a deep breath.

"You know Airi," You spoke in a dull voice, devoid of any emotion, "I thought we would've worked together. I really did." She stopped crying and just sniffled in response. "I don't understand why we couldn't just share." You sat up, peering over at her. Her one open eye flicked to you nervously.

You continued speaking, "Did you notice," You pointed at the doors, "He didn't lock those." Airi suddenly perked up and looked toward the cellar doors. Sukuna hadn't bothered to lock them since he's been coming down so often. "I don't know what's out there."

Airi nodded in agreement then shakily lifted one of her hands, the other still supporting her jaw, she tried to draw a triangle in the air. You knew what she was referring to, but you were hesitant.

"The dogs will catch us, wouldn't they? They're up there. He might be up there too. You know he's fast," You tried to listen but you heard nothing. Airi shook her head carefully and continued to draw the triangle in the air.

You've thought of it many times, using the shard of glass to try and free yourself. You had experimented a little bit and found that you can wiggle the point into the lock. Whether it'd be enough to open the rusty cuffs is a different story. Airi had mentioned cutting her hands off when you first discussed it, but it was made as a passing joke in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"It may not even work, the glass could break," You pointed out but Airi just furrowed her brows in anger. It felt odd, but you realized you didn't care if you escaped or not. Even if you did get your restraints off, would you be too weak to run? Do you even have the strength to stand?

The last of your hope had been crushed when Airi stole the little warmth you had and was going to let you die. There was no urge to break free anymore. There was no more want for it. Everyone has probably presumed you dead at this point anyway. Part of you wanted to die, to let it be over with, but you weren't strong enough to slice your wrists.

Your near-death experience, freezing on the cement, had given you plenty of time to settle with the fact that you were going to die. You just don't know when or how. Most likely at the hands of this monster.

Airi was upset that you weren't giving her the glass. Your will to live may not exist but hers does. What gives you the right to prevent her from escaping this hell? But what gave Airi the right to let you die on the cold hard floor?

Airi abruptly stood, as much as she could with the chains. She's not going to waste this chance, the doors are unlocked, so there's hope. You watched as she pressed herself against the wall. She was no longer holding her jaw into place, so it hung at an unsettling angle. Surely it was painful for her too.

Now, Airi's a strong girl. She may have lost a bit of weight being here but she was still strong. She didn't care what she had to do. She didn't care how much pain she'd be in if it meant her freedom. She turned to face the wall, propping one foot up against the cement and peering over her shoulder. You tilted your head in curiosity and your eyes widened.

Airi suddenly pushed off the wall with as much force as she could, snapping the chains taught and the cuffs digging into her wrists at such an angle it skinned her. Blood began to pour from her arms but she ignored it as she repositioned herself. She pushed off once more, harder this time, more determination.

You swallowed hard as all the action did was expose her flesh more and more. Yet Airi didn't stop. It was like watching a lunatic bang their head against a wall over and over and over again. The faint sound of the metal ripping her skin was unpleasant. Blood splattered across the floor with every attempt.

Then it happened. You heard the crack loud and clear, it resonated through the room. Airi went tumbling to the ground, and her chains clattered against the cement.

Whether they were dislocated or broken, or even both, was unknown. All you knew, was that Airi was uncuffed, staggering to her feet with a look of fury in her eye.

She stood there for a moment, towering over you in all her glory, taunting you wordlessly that she escaped, and you didn't. You didn't need to hear anything to understand what she was saying. She was telling you how she was going to leave you here to rot while she returned to her family and friends. She's going to go home to a warm bed and plentiful meals but you were trapped on cement with table scraps as your meals.

You knew better. You knew she shouldn't open those doors. You knew what was waiting up there, even if you didn't know, you still had an itching feeling.

Airi turned her back to you, limp and contorted wrists at her side as she stumbled up the stairs, using her shoulder and elbow to push the door up.

Sukuna stood over the large log he used as a chopping block. Axe in one hand while the other positioned a log in front. His dogs laid at his feet, the bright sun was out but it wasn't providing any warmth. Sukuna wore a dirty white tank top regardless. He was still sweating with all this manual labor. Though he was wearing a thick pair of pants.

He heard the door before anything. His dogs both looking over as well. He didn't turn around, he merely peered over his shoulder. Airi had just taken her first step onto the grass. Sukuna scoffed and looked down at his dogs.

One word. He muttered one word and the dogs were off.

Sukuna lifted the axe over his head and brought it down, listening to Airi screaming in the background as the dogs met her not even ten feet from the cellar doors. The sound of the dogs ripping her apart drifted over the grassy lawn. Bones cracking, dogs growling and barking, flesh being torn from her body. She was crying out desperately, futilely attempting to fight back.

Sukuna tossed his pieces of firewood off into a pile and moved to grab another log. He glanced over at his dogs. They were pulling her limp body around like a rag doll, ripping her organs out while she was still alive.

Sukuna set his axe down and slowly began walking over to the cellar. His dogs continued to enjoy their meal, not paying much mind to their master. Sukuna peered down the steps, seeing blood that Airi had spilled out onto the old wood. He held a neutral expression as he sauntered down the stairs.

You were covering your ears. You could hear her screams even down in the cellar. Sukuna tilted his head as he walked over to you. The sound of the dogs eating her was grotesque, to say the least, and it was making you feel sick.

Sukuna squatted down in front of you, reaching out. You leaned away but he managed to grab you regardless. He pulled your hands away from your ears and held your writs away from your head.

"Do you hear that?" He nodded toward the cellar doors. Airi's voice cracked as she cried out, yelling for mercy. "You knew that'd happen, didn't you?" You swallowed hard, your stomach churning as you listened to the dog's teeth sink into her flesh and rip it from the bone.

You nodded in response, slow and mechanical movements. You thought you were used to the gore but this was different. Airi's last breaths were spent screaming in agony. It was a fate worse than death. Those seconds of feeling the dogs disembowel her were the worst of it. Being eaten alive isn't a common death among humans, but Airi was unfortunate enough to meet her end that way.

Sukuna waited for a moment, listening. The dogs were still eating her.

It was that moment, that very second, you realized you'll never be getting out of here. There's no use to it. You're going to spend the rest of your life here, trapped in this cellar. Not that you had any hope left, but it was a thought that disturbed you. You didn't cry about it, you had no tears left. Your eyes were dry. The best thing you could do was at least try to be comfortable, and try to appease your captor. Maybe he'd bring you more warm food.

"She was planning to stab you," The words left your throat in a dull manner.

He arched one of his brows and glanced over to her corner, "And how was she planning to do such a thing?" You didn't say anything as you reached back, under the blanket by the wall, carefully picking up the glass shard.

Sukuna hummed as he reached forward and calmly slipped it from your hand. He inspected the glass for a moment, turning it over in his palm a few times.

He then flicked his gaze back to you, "What a foolish idea." He smirked wickedly and lifted the glass to your head. You didn't even flinch as he tapped the same spot he had cut into you after you attempted to kill him.

You nodded again, "Very foolish."

He focused on the marks he carved into your skin, and noticed how the one on your forehead was starting to heal, "Would you sit still for me?" He traced the mark with his finger.

You contemplated his words for a second, thinking about how unpleasant it is to be drugged, "I could try."

Sukuna clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Tch, don't try. Just sit still, it's not hard." He stood up straight and walked over to his workbench. He tossed the shard of glass aside and scanned over his options. He picked one out and set it on the table before walking back over to you. He pulled his keys out and unlocked your cuffs. He grabbed your arm and ushered you to stand.

You wobbled a bit and had to lean on Sukuna for support. He watched as you could barely stand by yourself. Perhaps he should have you walk around a bit so you can get some of your strength back. While he has undoubtedly worn you down, he doesn't consider you to be properly broken yet. There was still plenty of work he had to do with you.

He ushered you to the table and you wearily laid down, turning to lay on your back, resting your hands on your stomach. Your eyes followed him as he moved around to stand beside your head. 

He lifted the knife between his fingers and leaned closer, pressing the blade gingerly against the mark. Your palms were beginning to sweat but you didn't move, you just stared up at the man dully. 

Sukuna didn't give you any warning as he sliced the scarred mark open again. You flinched, and he couldn't help the smirk that crossed his lips. You sucked in a sharp breath and tears pricked your eyes as he carved out the symbol. 

You've felt this a dozen times before but that doesn't make it any less painful. You shifted your legs slightly and gripped the sweater, your knuckles turned white. 

Since he was only retouching one of the markings, it didn't take him long. He cleaned off the blood smeared across your skin before moving you back to your spot. However, he didn't put your cuffs back on right away. 

He called his dogs down, both of them. You stared, horrified, at the bloody dogs. It was much more obvious on the white one- who was no longer white. His entire head and neck were drenched in the red liquid. Their teeth were stained and there were small pieces of meat stuck to their snouts. 

They sat closer to the stairs but they stared at you the entire time. Sukuna wandered back up the stairs but he was back down after a minute, carrying Airi's mauled corpse with him. 

You quickly covered your eyes from the sight. Her jaw was completely missing now, it was lying in the grass outside the cellar with other chucks of her flesh. Her skin was completely red, and her body was ripped to shreds. Her stomach was torn open and some of her intestines were hanging out and had clearly been chewed on. 

Sukuna laid the body on the table and grabbed his apron. 

You remembered those sounds. The sawing, the chopping, the blades carving into the body. It was horrendous. Sukuna pulled strips of meat from the body and set them aside, all the while throwing smaller scraps to his dogs. 

He ventured in and out of the cellar as he worked, getting containers for the finer selections of meat while throwing the rest in buckets for the pigs. 

You curled up with your blanket hoping he would finish soon but he truly took his sweet time. Sukuna watched you out of the corner of his eye. You could feel his red stare burning into you but you couldn't bring yourself to look. 

His shadow loomed over you, urging you to peer over your hands. Your breath got caught in your throat as he crouched down in front of you, Airi's heart in his hand. You couldn't pull your eyes away from it. Your stomach churned uncomfortably, your own heart began to beat faster. 

He gestured for you to come closer, and you didn't want to upset him. Every bone in your body told you not to, but you forced yourself to move. You abandon your blanket against the wall as you shuffled over to him. 

Sukuna casually brought the organ to his mouth and made a display of biting into it. You covered your mouth in an attempt to stop yourself from gagging. Blood gushed out and covered Sukuna's chin. The flesh tore easily as he sank his teeth into it. He pulled it away and slowly chewed the mouthful. 

You went pale and screwed your eyes shut, keeping your hand over your mouth. Sukuna swallowed and licked his lips as he stared at you. He reached forward and grabbed your wrist, causing you to flinch. You opened your eyes as Sukuna pulled your hand away from your mouth. 

He lifted the heart towards you. 

You immediately shook your head. You knew what he was asking and you refused to do such a thing. Except he didn't take no for an answer. He furrowed his brows and gave you one last chance to obey. Yet you didn't. 

He grabbed your jaw tightly and you cried out, trying to get away still. You shook in fear as he forced the organ into your mouth. The blood tasted metallic and you immediately gagged from it. Sukuna was being rough and impatient again. 

His deathly grip forced you to bite down. The flesh tore under your teeth and before you knew it you had a mouthful of the organ resting on your tongue. Sukuna tossed it aside, his dogs quick to snatch it up, and he used his other hand to clamp over your mouth. He wasn't about to let you puke it up. 

Because you did puke. The vile taste of stomach bile washed over your tongue but it had nowhere to go, causing you to swallow it once more. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you clawed at his hands to no avail. 

"Swallow it, ungrateful brat," Sukuna spat and his grip tightened. 

You sobbed as you tried to chew the piece of meat. It only made you gag again, so you swallowed it whole. It hurt your throat and you almost puked again. Sukuna waited another moment to ensure that it wouldn't come back up. 

He finally removed his hand and you gasped as you cried. You frantically tried to move away from him but he quickly climbed on top of you, straddling your hips and snatching your hands in his. 

"Please stop,"  You wept, blood smeared across your cheeks. "Please."

Sukuna leaned down and devoured your mouth. You wouldn't call it a kiss, but that's how he saw it. His tongue had a lingering metallic taste to it and you wanted to push him away and scream out. It was messy and feverish. 

Sukuna loved the sight, loved the idea of you consuming the same flesh he did. It worked him up beyond belief. He only needed one hand to pin your wrists above your head, while he moved his other to grope your chest. 

You squirmed in an attempt to get away, to get his hands off you, but it was useless. 

He slid his hand under your sweater to feel your plush skin in his hands. He grabbed your breasts roughly, tugging and kneading them hungrily. You whined at the harsh treatment, attempting to tilt your head away from him. 

For a brief moment he pulled his lips away, his breath fanned over your skin hotly, "You're never leaving," He let out heavy breaths, "Got that?"

Chapter Text

Sukuna's hands felt like they were everywhere. He was grabbing and pulling and poking at your body, basking in the feeling of your warm skin in his hands. He nipped at your lips and left a trail of kisses down your jaw to your neck. 

You knew begging wouldn't work, you knew fighting it was pointless, yet you couldn't stop pleading for him to get off of you. You made attempt after attempt to yank your arms from his grasp. 

Your squirming only made him more eager. He sank his teeth into your neck and you cried out. The scars he put on you weren't enough for him. He needed to mark every inch of your body. Outside and in. 

He pulled at the sweatpants he had put on you just hours before. Tears stained your cheeks as you kicked and screamed, but nothing was working. Your lower half was exposed. He wanted both his hands but you wouldn't stop moving around. 

He glanced over at his dogs for a moment. Surly the furtherest you could go was the corner of the room. He had no fear of you running. Not with the display of him cutting up Airi and whatnot. 

He released your wrists and you quickly planted your hands on his chest and tried to push him off you. Hitting and clawing at his flesh but it felt like punching a brick wall. He grabbed at your hips and dragged you closer to him. The cold cement scratched at your exposed skin and your sweater rode up, showing off your stomach. He slid one hand over the area and pushed down a bit. 

It wasn't just a nightmare. There were no true words to describe the fear you felt as he slotted himself between your legs. Any pain you might've felt earlier was no longer on your mind as he spit onto your entrance. The cold liquid caused you to jolt and push at him with more vigor. 

You could handle the way he carved into your skin, the starvation, the cold even, but you didn't know if you could handle this. 

You wondered what Airi would say if she was alive. Would she feel sorry for you? No, Airi would probably be grateful that it wasn't her. The same way you felt grateful he skinned her and not you. Of course, you felt sorry for Airi, at least the first time you did. 

This place, this man, they're destroying everything. Your morale, your pride, your dignity, your will to live. He's taken it all. If you keep fighting, it'll make it worse, won't it? He'll get frustrated, he already is. You don't want to feel his wrath any more than you already have. 

Through blurry vision, you found his intense red stare. Feverish and unfocused. He was staring between your legs as he slid his own pants down. 

You let out one final whimper as you just froze. You stopped trying to push him away, you stopped begging for him to stop, and you went quiet. You kept your hands on his shoulders to have some sort of way to ground yourself. Your fingers curled up in his shirt. It felt like the entire world stopped rotating and you couldn't bring yourself to move. Everything stopped working.

He paused for a moment to scan over your face. He leaned down and kissed you again. He kissed the corners of your eyes, the salty taste of your tears remained on his lips as he pushed the tip in. Your eyes shot wide open and you couldn't help the choked cry that escaped you. 

He was massive. 

The stretch burned. It felt like he was splitting you in two. With no prep and nothing but salvia as lube, it made it all the more painful. 

Sukuna forced his hips in further, bottoming out without mercy as you clung to him and cried. He tore you open. He let out a satisfied groan as he sat there. The fear and stress made you impossibly tight and Sukuna had never felt something so sinfully good. 

He was leaking an unholy amount of precum so as he began to pull out and push back in, the glide became easier. You weren't trying to get away anymore, you just wanted it to be over. He obsessively kissed you, nipping and biting at your skin as he pumped into you. He licked at the blood smeared over your cheeks. 

The pain of the intrusion dulled as his slow movements allowed you a moment to adjust, but it was short-lived. He sped up, hitting roughly and out of rhythm. He wasn't here for your pleasure, not in the slightest. He was just after his own orgasm.

 It hurt. Your legs shook from the agony and you wept as he violated you. His hands grabbed your chest, digging his nails into your skin. He moved his mouth lower too, latching onto the plush skin of your breast to leave marks. 

His thrusts were frenetic, to the point where he let go of your chest and grabbed at your hips to pull you into him. The sound of his hips meeting yours echoed through the small cellar. His panting and low grunts were being trapped against your skin. He was so big he was hitting your cervix with every thrust. 

He pulled off your chest to look down at where he was connected to you. A groan left his lips as he saw the blood smeared on his cock from ripping you open. The sight alone had him close to his climax.

He contemplated cumming inside but he quickly realized he should get you on birth control before he does something stupid like that. 

His brutal thrusts made you scream in agony. You dug your nails into his shoulders, not out of malice, but because you were clinging to him like a lifeline. That was the only way to ground yourself. You hated every second of it.

Suddenly, he pulled out. He hastily wrapped his hand around himself and stroked vigorously until he went over the edge. He spilled onto your stomach. The sticky fluid dripped into the divots of your body and covered your scared skin. Sukuna let out heavy pants as he wrung himself of every last drop. 

You silently cried, wearily bringing your hands down to wrap over your chest and hug yourself. Sukuna's touch turned more gentle as he reached up and cupped your face. 

"Shh, shh," He cooed as he peppered kisses to your skin. His fingers delicately traced the scars along your cheeks. You shut your eyes and refused to move or acknowledge his touch. After a moment he finally covered himself and stood. 

He still had a towel nearby and he used that to wipe the cum off your stomach. 

He cuffed you again and made you move onto your blanket. He wrapped you up before flicking the light off and leaving. 

~

The next few nights you were finally able to get some sound sleep. Airi wasn't there to cry and you were warm. 

Sukuna began checking on you much more often, and he started bringing you warm food. The warm food was the best part for you. Though you couldn't quite eat meat like you used to. All you could picture was the heart that he forced down your throat. 

He got a lot more touchy too. It made your skin crawl uncomfortably. He liked touching your face. He often grabbed your jaw and pulled you into a kiss. You tried to pull away the first few times but you learned quickly that it was useless. 

The rape just blurred together with the rest of the terrible things he's done. He said he was going to break you, and he was doing just that. 

Your mental health was nonexistent at this point. He hasn't drugged you again either. Which you were grateful for. A part of you thought it was odd to be grateful toward the cannibalistic serial killer. Though you usually pushed those thoughts away. 

You didn't want to think about where you were and who you were with. Instead, you let yourself daydream. You dreamt of going outside and touching the grass and feeling the warm sun on your skin. You wanted to see your friends again. You wanted to see your apartment and sleep in your own bed. You dreamt of freedom. Deep down you knew it'd never come.

Sukuna was checking the weather a lot as well. There were some cold nights coming up and he pondered bringing you inside. He has a guest bedroom, surely he could rig something up. 

Today however was a bit warmer. He had a week of semi-warm days before it all dropped off again into freezing temperatures. 

Your skin was crawling with nervousness as Sukuna sauntered down the stairs. His dogs at his side, the black one was holding an orange rubber ball.  Sukuna made no detour to his workbench and his hands were empty. You grew concerned about what his intentions were. 

You held the blanket tightly around yourself. He grabbed the chain and pulled your hands away from you. He unlocked your cuffs and gripped your arms, pulling you to stand. You yelped in surprise, your weary legs shook as you leaned on him for support. 

You wished you could get your strength back and stand away from him. You didn't like needing him to support you. The way his hands gripped your hips made you itch. He leaned down to try and capture your lips in a kiss but you tilted away from him. 

He sneered before roughly grabbing your jaw and forcing it onto you. You whined from his harshness before he finally pulled away. 

He stared down at you for a moment and smirked, "Do you want to go outside today?" He spoke to you like you were a dog and he was going to take you on a walk. You didn't say anything. He pouted mockingly and sighed. "So moody." 

He lifted you up and slung you over his shoulder with ease. You panicked and held onto his back to avoid falling, though he wouldn't let you fall. 

You were alarmed when he really did take you up the stairs. You were sure he was messing with you. Yet the bright sun blinded you, and fresh air overwhelmed you. You blinked rapidly trying to let your eyes adjust to the light. 

It felt surreal. There was a gentle breeze that pushed your hair out of your face and shook the branches of the bare trees. The grass was green and the sky was blue. It was incredible. His house looked huge to you. Everything felt so open. 

You almost wanted to cry from finally leaving the cellar, you tried to hold yourself together. You glanced around, trying to see where he was going. You saw the pens of cattle, pigs, and chickens. The animals mooed and clucked as they saw Sukuna walking around. His dogs continued to trot happily at his side. 

Suddenly, you were lowered to the ground. You gasped in surprise as you felt the grass beneath you. You quickly ran your hands over the ground in awe. Sukuna stood over you and watched for a moment. 

You peered up at the man as you furrowed your brows in confusion. Your watery eyes betrayed you as tears began to slip down your cheeks.

"Stop crying," He ordered bluntly, and you frantically wiped the tears away, "Stand up." 

You lowered your voice in embarrassment, "You know I can't." Sukuna huffed and crossed his arms. His intense stare made you uncomfortable. You hesitantly shuffled onto your knees, resting your hands in your lap. 

The black dog dropped the ball at Sukuna's feet, asking to play. He glanced at it then glanced at you. 

"Alright," He kneeled down and pointed behind you, "See that?" You turned to see what he was pointing at. There was a forest on the edge of the lawn, it looked thick and unruly. "How fast do you think the dogs can run? Hm?"

He was obviously threatening you. 

"I'm not sure," You murmured. Sukuna hummed and picked up the ball. He ordered the canines to sit, and you watched as he pulled his arm back and threw the ball. It soared through the sky and landed at the edge of the forest. 

"How fast do you think you can run?" He teased with a smirk. Both of you knew you weren't going anywhere, but he was going to drill it into your head that you're trapped here. He was going to make sure you'd never forget it. Sukuna understood your lack of a response, and he whistled, releasing the dogs. However, the white one seemed uninterested.  

The black one bolted across the yard in seconds. Snatching the ball off the ground and running back. It made your skin crawl. The dog hurried back just as fast and dropped the ball at his owner's feet. 

Sukuna gestured for you to grab the ball. You weren't about to disobey him, but the way the dog's eyes snapped to you the minute you began to reach for it made you hesitate. You moved slower, cautious. 

Your fingers slipped around the slobbery toy and you lifted it. It didn't go nearly as far when you threw it but the dog ran after it with the same vigor as before. 

"Play with the dogs, yeah? You try to run and they'll eat you," Sukuna turned and began walking away. 

"Huh? Y-You're leaving?" You began to panic. Why were you panicking? Shouldn't you be happy to get some time to yourself outside? Yet you were nervous and anxious to think he'd leave you here alone. 

He paused and looked over his shoulder at you, "Is there a problem?" You chewed on your lip before shaking your head. "Thought so. Try to stand while you're out here." With that, he was gone. 

You turned back to look at the dog, who was already staring at you, drooling. Fear spiked up but you quickly realized he was drooling because he dropped his ball in front of you and wanted you to throw it. 

So you did. It was weak again, but it brought joy to the pup. The white dog proceeded to lay in the grass behind you. You peered back at Sukuna and saw him moving toward the barn. 

You let out a curt breath and decided to do as he said. You made an effort to stand but your shakey legs collapsed before you got very far. The black dog returned quickly, ready to play some more. 

It started a process. You threw the ball, attempted to stand, only to fall, and you threw the ball again. 

This went on for about half an hour, and you were getting tired. You didn't have much energy to begin with and moving around so much was exhausting. It was good for you though. Eventually, you couldn't bring yourself to try anymore so you just laid down. 

Sukuna had been keeping an eye on you the entire time. He didn't let you out of his sight. Though when he saw you lay down, he let himself relax more. 

You never thought you'd be so happy to be outside. Even if it was chilly out, the sweater and sweatpants he had provided you helped. You sprawled out, stretching your arms and legs on the spacious area. Your joints were stiff and tense.

The black dog wanted to play more, but seeing as you weren't getting up, he just laid down next to you like the white dog. 

The deep breaths of air you took in felt clean and crisp. Every time you exhaled, it felt like you were removing the putrid cellar air from your lungs. You brought one hand to your face and felt over the scars he had given you. 

The man is skilled with knives, that much is certain. The lines felt so clean and concise. The rough edges where the scar protruded ever so slightly brought back the memories of being drugged and feeling that pain. 

Yet regardless of his actions, you were still grateful to Sukuna. Grateful he has let you outside today to bask in the sun. For the first time in months, you felt genuine happiness. You recalled those statistics that said being outside makes you happier, and you believed them now. 

You rolled onto your side and pulled your legs closer to yourself. The blades of lush green grass tickled your skin as you did so but you didn't let it bother you. Instead, you shut your eyes and continued to enjoy the sunshine. You were hyper-aware of every breath you took, of the way your clothes rubbed against your body and the way the breeze shifted your hair around. 

It was peaceful. Sort of.

The panting of the black dog caused you to open your eyes again. He had crawled closer, nudging his ball toward you. You wondered what his name was. Then it hit you, you didn't even know your captor's name. Did he know yours?

He did. He had read your driver's license after knocking you out. Except you didn't know that. 

You wanted to pet the dog, and now that you've played with him a little bit he didn't seem all that threatening. Reaching toward him still seemed like a bad idea though, so you kept your hands to yourself. 

You laid there for a while. You're not sure how long, but you cherished every minute of it. When a shadow loomed over you, you assumed he was going to bring you back to the cellar. You turned your head and peered up at Sukuna. 

"I told you to try and stand."

"I did try," You meekly responded, yawning after you spoke. The sunshine had made you tired. 

"You didn't try hard enough," He crouched down and reached for your face. You let him touch you without resisting. 

"What's your name?" You stared at him with curiosity. Sukuna wasn't alarmed by the question, though he wasn't sure how he wanted to answer. Perhaps he won't tell you, and he'll make you call him something else, like 'husband'. He liked the idea of that, but he also liked the idea of you saying his name. It would sound so lovely in your soft voice. 

"Sukuna," He finally answered, and you nodded in understanding. "Come on," He gently grabbed your arm and you knew it was time to return to the darkness. You used him as support when you stood. 

Your interest rose when he turned toward the barn. Plus he didn't carry you. He slid one hand around your waist and intertwined his other hand with yours. Walking was difficult but this was a lot better than trying to stand on your own. The dogs were quick to jump up and join in. 

"What are their names?" You asked curiously. 

"Memento is the white one. Mori is the black one."

You hummed in acknowledgment. Those are fitting names for the canines. You found yourself wondering just how many people they've killed, or at least eaten. Isn't Sukuna afraid they'll eat him? 

No, because they're loyal. He feeds them and cares for them, and provides them a warm home and a cozy bed to sleep on. It probably didn't start out as unconditional love. They probably grew attached over time and the care Sukuna provided only increased the bond. 

Time is all you really need to gain unconditional love. Isn't it?

Chapter Text

Sukuna had you sit on the ground next to the cattle pen as he worked on the fence. He had been getting further and further away from you so he decided to just bring you over with him.

The cows had never seen another person on the farm, so they were crowding around trying to sniff you and watching you keenly. You liked their big eyes and twitching ears. They amused you greatly.

The dogs stuck close by as well, not straying far from Sukuna. You were a bit disappointed when you reached toward the cows and they scurried away from you. They weren't comfortable enough for your touch. Something you could relate to.

Sukuna watched you pout out of the corner of his eye. He smirked to himself and continued his maintenance on the fence. You glanced over at Sukuna as he worked, replacing rotting boards and piling the old ones together.

Seeing him so clearly in the sunlight was different. His skin was tan, probably due to the fact that he works outside all day every day. His hair was messily pushed back and you could see where he had been running his fingers through it. His tattoos were thick and shimmered ever so subtly in the light.

The way his muscles shifted with his body when lifting the boards or hammering in the nails captured your attention.

You hastily cleared your throat and looked away. This man is a serial killer. A cannibal. He's tortured you, raped you, kept you captive in a cement cellar for months.

What the hell are you doing staring at him like that and letting those thoughts into your head?

Shame coursed through you and you refused to let such a vile creature have such effects on you. How humiliating.

The action did not go unnoticed by Sukuna, and the way your face was heating up as you averted your gaze only made him titter.

~

Sukuna kept you outside with him all morning and into the evening. Eventually, he got you back on your feet and started guiding you back toward the house.

You felt nervous about going back into the cellar and it was obvious by your bickering. You asked to stay out a little longer but Sukuna didn't say a word. You held onto him tighter than normal as he neared the cellar.

You were pleasantly surprised, however, to be guided up the back porch steps and into his house.

Saying you were in shock would be an understatement really. Especially at the fact that his house was clean. Everything seemed nice and organized. He had you sit on a small bench near the door, one you'd use to take your shoes off. He slipped his boots off and set them aside, looking at you expectantly.

"Oh," You perked up and fumbled to slide your shoes off as well. You set them next to his neatly and once you had done that, he moved to guide you again. You took in his home keenly. A few shelves had thin layers of dust, but it was barely noticeable. It was so warm in here too. The heat prickled your skin delightfully.

There were no pictures on the walls, only paintings of old farms and various animals. Beside you were coats hanging from hooks, so many of them that they concealed the beige wall from view beside the door. Some of the knick-knacks on the walls alarmed you. Ceramic chickens, wooden foxes, metal cows. It seemed like an elderly woman decorated this place. One with an obsession with chickens seeing as there was an abundance of those.

Mori was the only one to follow you in. Memento must've stayed outside. You eyed the dog as he hurried off into a different room.

Sukuna brought you to the kitchen and he sat you down at the dining room table. You awkwardly waited there, your hands in your lap and feet close together. Sukuna opened the fridge and you leaned forward to try and see what was in there.

You shouldn't have been alarmed but it certainly made your stomach twist. There was so much meat. The packaging didn't make it easy to tell what kind either.  You could only imagine what his freezer looked like.

Since there was so much in the fridge, you assumed he ate it often to have such a large stock already thawed at the ready.

You swallowed the growing lump in your throat as you tried to ration with yourself. A metallic taste washed over your tongue and your skin became covered in goosebumps.

Sukuna scanned his options before selecting a cut that was wrapped in white paper. You watched as he meticulously moved around the space, pulling out seasonings and spices. He grabbed some vegetables too, they looked like he pulled those from his own garden. You wondered if he had a greenhouse to keep the plants warm in the cold weather.

Everything around here seemed so fresh.

He barely looked at you as he cooked. The way the meat sizzled in the pan had you growing pale. He chopped up the greens and after a while, he was preparing two portions on some plates. He collected a couple of glasses from a cabinet and set them aside. He was about to fill them with water when he stopped.

He peered over his shoulder and then back at the glass he had pulled down. He scoffed to himself and put one of the glasses back, replacing it with a plastic one.

You lowered your head in shame, though you didn't know why you felt such a way.

He set your meal in front of you before sitting himself in the chair directly across from you. You swallowed again but found your throat to be dry. You reached for the water first, taking a sip of it.

He didn't waste any time digging in, but you were nervous as you stared down at the dish. It was nicely put together, that's for sure. He even cut up the meat for you. Then you realized he didn't give you a knife.

Mori had now come back in and was sitting next to Sukuna, drooling on the floor as he begged for a bite.

You picked up the fork he provided and you picked at the cooked vegetables on the side. Sukuna flicked his piercing red gaze to meet yours. He slowly chewed his mouthful of food, watching you.

You wearily plucked one of the greens off your plate and ate it. It was good, there's no doubting that. You liked fresh produce. Though you didn't want to eat the main portion of food.

"You better clean that plate," Sukuna pulled his gaze away from you as he began cutting another piece of meat for himself.

"What is it?" You sheepishly asked.

He didn't bother looking up, "Tch, I don't remember her name."

You froze and clutched the fork tightly in your hand, "Please don't make me eat it." You were petrified. Sukuna was still for a moment, the anticipation built in your chest.

Sukuna slammed his hand on the table, the loud sound resonated in the room, the plates shook and the water rippled in the glasses. You jumped in fear and water pricked at your eyes. Mori even stood from the sudden outburst.

"Please," You begged as tears slipped down your cheeks.

"When I put food in front of you, you EAT IT!" He raised his voice harshly. You were shaking in horror, flinching at his every word. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath, lowering his voice to a deathly tone, "Do you understand that?"

You nodded and quickly tried to wipe your tears away.

"Eat it, or you'll be the next one on the plate," The threat had more tears coming up to your eyes. "Don't make me shove it down your throat either." You didn't want a repeat of that so you begrudgingly picked up a piece on the end of your fork. You screwed your eyes shut and slipped it into your mouth. You gagged a bit at the thought that this was a person you were eating.

You hated the fact that it was actually seasoned well. It tasted like veal almost, with the consistency of beef. You chewed, and it was so perfectly cooked that it melted on your tongue. You quickly covered your mouth as you nearly threw up. Sukuna watched with a deathly glare as he took another bite. Your reaction irked him behind belief.

You swallowed hastily and used some water to try and wash it off of your tongue.

Sukuna said nothing as he finally pulled his gaze away from you. That was just one piece. There were many more on your plate.

Yet you continued on. You ate the greens in between each piece of meat and you drank the entirety of your water rather quickly. When it was empty, you still had half a plate left. You wondered if Sukuna would allow you to get a refill. Your eyes were getting itchy and red from how much you had been crying at this point.

In a soft voice you spoke up, "May I have more water?"

Sukuna tapped his fork against his plate, which was almost clean mind you, "Yeah." He stood and you flinched slightly. You were jumpy and nervous, for a good reason. He grabbed your glass and walked over to the sink.

Mori moved over to you and sat, begging for some. The idea came so fast you didn't think twice. You glanced at Sukuna, who had his back turned to you, then back to the dog. You hastily grabbed the largest piece off the plate and tried to discretely hand it to Mori.

Mori's ears flicked up and happily ate it.

Except anyone with dogs is familiar with the sound of them eating when they're not supposed to.

Sukuna peered over his shoulder and it was obvious what you just did. You really ought to think things through more often. You froze as you met his gaze. You swallowed hard and clutched your fork tightly.

Sukuna dropped the cup into the sink carelessly, some water splashed onto the counter from the action.

"H-He looked hungry and- and-" You stammered trying to defend yourself but there was nothing that could be done. His movements were concise and fluent, determined.

As soon as he was towering over you, he struck you. You yelped and lifted your hands to cover your face. He grabbed you by the roots of your hair and pulled your head back, yanking your hands away.

His voice was low, it sent shivers up your spine, "You really do have a death wish, don't you?" He harshly pulled you from the chair, your body hitting the ground with a loud thud and your hands frantically pulling at his wrists as he dragged you by your hair.

You cried and begged and pleaded for him to let you go, to give you another chance. You kicked your feet and clawed at his painful grip but it was no use.

He flung the back door open and pulled you toward the cellar, Mori right behind you. Memento heard the commotion and ran over to join in.

Sukuna pulled you down the stairs, each step digging into your body agonizingly. You screamed and yelled for forgiveness, but he has none of that to give. He shackled you once more, before turning and leaving.

When Sukuna returned to the table, he sat in his spot, and continued eating. He tried to keep his eyes on his dish but he couldn't help the way he flicked his gaze toward your now empty spot and half-eaten meal.

Why wouldn't you just do the things he tells you to do? Is it really that hard? It doesn't taste bad, it's a beautifully cooked meal, isn't it? Do you prefer it to be cooked well done? Or maybe you prefer it rare?

He always cooks it to his liking. He's always done everything to his liking. He just hasn't worn you down enough. You've been fighting back a lot more lately, he needs to do something more. He tried to recall when you stopped resisting him so much. Airi seemed to complicate things. 

He peered up at your plate again. He reached over and slid your plate closer. He finished off the meal, not wanting it to go to waste. 

He only has so much in stock. He regretted letting his dogs rip Airi up so much now. It was good for a display of power but they ruined a lot of the meat. It won't last him as long as he wants it to. 

Though he knows now that he will not let you stay with the other victims he kidnaps. 

After dinner, he cleaned up the kitchen and made his way to the second floor. The guest bedroom is nice, it has its own bathroom and everything. It's a bit small, the bed is only big enough for one and the dresser can't hold that many clothes. He moved over to the window and inspected the simple lock. The overhang is right outside this window, so it'd be easy for someone to climb out onto the roof. 

Someone. He means you. If he wants to move you out of the cellar he's going to need a good spot to put you. The barn is another option, but he'd prefer it if you were closer to the house. 

So he got to work. He figured out what modifications he'd need to do to get the room set, and he listed all the materials he'd need. 

~

Over the next week, he was busy. He considered it your punishment for not eating what he provided. He starved you for that week. Maybe then you'd be more grateful when he feeds you. 

He made sure to check on you of course. Sukuna couldn't resist the urge to pin you down again and shove himself into you. He only did it once in that week but he was just as harsh as the first time. 

He pinned you on your stomach, forcing your face to get scratched up against the cement as he roughly thrust into you. He didn't finish inside yet. He was still contemplating the best way to get birth control. 

However, the more he thought about it, the more he considered just cutting you open and mutilating your reproductive organs. He just didn't want to risk killing you. 

He was displeased when he had to go into town for supplies to secure the room. He'd never order deliveries to his house, for clear reasons. Yet he managed. He barred up the window and added cuffs to the bed. He removed the bathroom door, made sure all the furniture was attached firmly to the wall, as well as adding many many locks to the outside of the main door. 

Eventually, he was satisfied and just in time too considering the wave of terribly cold days was beginning tonight. 

As long as you behave, he'll let you stay inside. 

You just have to listen to him. 

Chapter Text

Your stomach growled hungrily and you wrapped your arms around yourself to try and silence it. You had been spoiled. You forgot what it's like to feel this hungry. You regretted what you did, and you were certainly paying the price for it.

Imagine the relief you finally felt when he uncuffed you and brought you inside. You found yourself sitting back at the dining room table, the sound of meat sizzling in a pan not ten feet from you.

You knew what was coming, and you were starving. Not having eaten anything for seven days straight had you aching and desperate. Whether you could stomach the human flesh was something else though.

Sukuna set the dish down in front of you and sat across as he did the last time. This dish was different from the one you had before but it still looked well put together. You didn't want to admit that Sukuna was a good cook but it was an undeniable fact.

He didn't eat right away. He was staring at you, waiting to see what you would do. Mori was back, drooling on the floor.

You took a deep breath, your shoulders rising and falling with the saddened look in your eyes. You picked up the fork and swallowed the lump in your throat.

And you ate it.

You suppressed any gagging you felt bubbling in your chest, and you ate the food. A wicked smile crossed Sukuna's lips as he proceeded with his dinner as well.

Unfortunately for Mori, you would not feed him any of the meat tonight. You hated how full your stomach felt and how much your body stopped aching after finally having another warm meal. You tried to wash the taste away with water but it lingered for far too long.

You cleaned your plate. Unknowingly, you earned a warm night's rest in the house. Not a word was said through the entirety of dinner.

Yet Sukuna liked the subtly sounds of your fork tapping against the plate, and the delightful feeling of another body in the house with him. It confirmed to him that he made the right decision.

Typically he doesn't care for the names of his victims, yet back when he first abducted you, something compelled him to check your driver's license. It was probably the same force that compelled him to keep you around and not kill you.

When the two of you were finished eating, Sukuna proceeded to clean the dishes. There was a sickly feeling that sat in your gut like a brick. Your eyes watered again but you hastily wiped away any tears that threatened to fall.

Sukuna had the table and counters clear in no time, and he proceeded to guide you up the stairs. When you saw the absurd amount of locks on the outside of one particular door you understood what was happening.

There was a clean set of clothes folded neatly on the edge of the bed, and the warm sheets looked inviting.

However, he took you into the bathroom first. He sat you on the edge of the sink and began to strip your clothes off. You felt uncomfortable being naked with him, but you didn't fight it. If it meant sleeping in a real bed then you'd do whatever the man asked of you.

He took his own clothes off as well, which alarmed you. He started the shower and got it to a good temperature before stepping in with you.

As soon as the warm water hit your skin you felt yourself relaxing. You shivered as you tried to shuffle closer to it. Sukuna was behind you, supporting you by holding onto your hips. He let you edge closer and bask in the warmth.

In order to keep you standing, he pulled you back until you were flush with his body. You could feel his semi-hard erection brush between your thighs. He held you against him with one hand and used the other to run a washcloth over you.

Silently you offered to do it yourself, which he accepted. He idly stood by as his eyes raked over you. He followed your hand movements as you scrubbed any dirt off. Though with how much Sukuna's been cleaning you, there isn't much to scrub. Though you were still filthy, there was no doubt about that.

You liked the body wash, it smelled nice, like pine and bourbon.

You tensed as you realized Sukuna always smells like that. The idea that you liked something about him irked you, and you scrunched your nose up in rebellion. Once you had cleaned off your body, Sukuna had you wash your hair as well, which was difficult.

It needed some serious care, and it took you a while to get it to a point you thought you could manage. Sukuna got bored pretty quickly.

He absentmindedly made shallow thrusts between your thighs as you worked. You tried to ignore it but the contact always made you shiver.

When you finally declared that you were finished, Sukuna pushed you against the tile wall and slid himself into you. You squirmed in discomfort and let out little pants trying not to cry from the pain of once again no prep.

He liked watching his cock disappear into you. You kept trying to angle your hips away from him but his grip was too tight. He admired the markings scarred into your back and the way the rough edges were ever so slightly raised off your skin.

He didn't want to waste too much time so he finished quickly, and being in the shower allowed him to clean you off easier. You refused to let any tears fall, afraid he may get upset about it if you cry.

Once he was done, he dried you off and took you back out to the bedroom. You changed into clean clothes and he proceeded to cuff you to the bed. The chains were just long enough that you could lay comfortably with your hands being restained above your head.

You let out a sigh of contentment as you sunk into the soft mattress. Your body sang in bliss as you finally got to sleep on a real bed.

Sukuna tossed the covers over you and flicked the lights off. As he exited the room he gave you one last warning look. When the door shut, you heard the many locks getting clicked into place.

You wondered just how many he put on there. Though you didn't dwell on the thought much as you quickly fell asleep.

~

Your body was stiff as your eyes fluttered open in the morning light that leaked through the curtains. You stretched your limbs out, some of your joints popping in the process, and you let out a content sigh. You pulled the blankets higher as you wearily yawned, melting in the warmth of the blankets.

The chains felt lighter than usual. They rattled against the bedframe a bit as you shifted around. If it wasn't for the restraints, you would've thought you had been dreaming about it all. Dreaming that you were kidnapped and that you had finally woken up in the safety of your bed.

Alas, you knew that it was a fantasy. Freedom was nothing more than a silly idea at this point. Sukuna had done a good job of drilling that into you.

You heard the locks click on the door, but you didn't get up. You wanted to enjoy the bed a little longer, dream for another minute before you have to look at his face.

The door pushed open and Mori came trotting in first, Sukuna right behind him. Mori sniffed at you from the edge of the bed, and when you opened your eyes you were greeted with his snout nearing your face.

You pulled back a little to avoid him licking you. You know what he's eaten. You don't want that tongue touching you.

Sukuna pulled your blanket down a little, just enough to grab your hands. You watched carefully as he undid your cuffs, and gestured toward the bathroom. You managed to get to your feet. With how much you had been moving around lately, you had been able to walk again.

Slowly, and shakily abliet, but you're up nonetheless. Sukuna tilted his head up in approval as he saw this. It was a step in the right direction. You still held your hand against the wall to steady yourself, but progress is progress.

It's amazing the kind of simple commodities one can miss when locked in a cellar for so long. Like a bathroom instead of a bucket. Especially a sink. You washed your hands vigorously, picking at the dirt that was caked under your nails and trying to remove it.

Sukuna spent that time making the bed and getting you clean clothes. You liked this. You liked being in this room and being clean. Being warm. You're not sure what urged him to change this but you were determined to keep it this way.

After you freshened up and changed into these new clothes, Sukuna led you back downstairs. You sat at the table as he shuffled around the kitchen. It felt odd like a new boundary had been passed, and you were now in a new world.

Being trapped in the cellar had certainly done something to your mental health, so much so that you now felt like you were living a life of luxury as if everything was perfect.

Clean clothes and a warm night's rest made you want to push aside every awful thing he's done. You weren't going to, but the temptation to look past it was there.

Your excitement rose as he placed a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon in front of you as well as some water. You flicked your gaze between him and the delightful-looking dish. Sukuna had his own plate with notably more food on it. He began eating and you took that as your queue to eat as well.

It tasted heavenly. You couldn't get enough of it. Something that wasn't human at last. Something you could eat with no regrets. You did, however, leave the bacon for last. Meat still doesn't sit right with you yet.

Your plate was cleaned quickly, but he had given you a good portion so you didn't feel like you needed more. You were in a good mood now, though unsure of what the plan was. Sukuna finished off the last few bites of his food and proceeded to collect the dishes, placing them in the sink.

Once everything was orderly again in the kitchen he gestured for you to follow him. You walked on weary legs as you did so. Mori eagerly ran to the back door. Sukuna gave you a heavier coat to wear, and you accepted it without hesitation. After slipping your shoes back on, the two of you made your way out toward the animal pens.

You were a little slow, and it annoyed Sukuna but he paced himself accordingly regardless. The cows mooed and the chickens clucked in excitement as they saw Sukuna approaching. Your mind wandered, questioning what was going to happen to you today.

Your feet stumbled below you and you quickly reached out to Sukuna for support. You had found his arm as you steadied yourself. Sukuna glanced at your touch but didn't push it away. He lifted his arm slightly to allow you a better hold. You flushed red in embarrassment, internally cursing yourself for being so clumsy.

Though you shouldn't blame yourself. After all, Sukuna was the one to lock you in a cellar in the first place. He's the one who's weakened you. It was cold out, so you were grateful for his coat.

Eventually, he brushed your hands off him, and he began carrying out his usual tasks. It quickly became apparent what was happening. Sukuna was just doing his usual day-to-day activities while keeping you close by.

And that's how it'd be for nearly a month.

You followed Sukuna around as he cared for his animals, fixed fences, cleaned pens, the works. After the first week he even had you help. He gave you buckets of feed and told you where to dump them. The animals learned that you brought their breakfast and dinner and they began to follow you too.

It became your favorite part of the day. You liked petting the cows and picking up the chickens. You let out a little giggle whenever the cows would nudge you with their heads. You talked in a soft voice, telling them how pretty they were. The pig's curly tails amused you, especially when they wagged similar to that of a dog.

Sukuna would always be close by. He listened to your pointless praises and mindless babbling. The warmness of your voice was soothing and he tended to linger closer when you talked to the animals.

As much as you loved the warm bed, a part of you began to fear it. You feared it because Sukuna had a habit of bending you over it and mercilessly fucking into you every other night. Something about how the cold gives your cheeks a rosy color or that sweet tone you use when you tell Mori he's a handsome boy. It gets him worked up, and whenever he gets that way, he takes it out on you.

Your neck and shoulders are littered with marks. Some new, some old. He bites into your skin and claims you as his over and over and over again. You can only be grateful that the bed is much softer than the concrete.

The consistent showers are nice though. You're not allowed to be out of your cuffs unless he's there with you, so he cleans up the room while you tend to your own hygiene. He strips the sheets and does the laundry. He's contemplated buying you your own clothes that fit better but he would rather not go into town and buy women's outfits.

Plus you look cute when you're swimming in his sweaters and pajamas. You've grown to like his flannel shirts the most.

The only thing that hasn't changed is the nauseous sickly feeling that overtakes you when you have to eat human flesh. You get excited when you see something that's not human, but it's rare. Usually, breakfast doesn't consist of any, so you like that meal the most.

He gave you orange juice the other day, and you had the courage to ask for another glass, which he granted.

Some days were far too cold to actually bring you outside, at least in his opinion. So he would leave you tied up in the bed and you found those days to be good for napping. You realized how spoiled you were when you'd get bored lying around, fiddling with the cuffs.

What scared you the most on those days was the way you would get excited to hear him coming in. Your heart would pick up and you were squirming against the cuffs. Your wrists weren't nearly as damaged anymore, seeing that these restraints were more comfy compared to the ones in the cellar.

Your body didn't feel achy anymore. You could walk again and you could lift a normal amount of weight.

A part of you wanted to thank Sukuna for taking care of you, yet the rational side of you knew that he didn't deserve gratitude. He's the one who put you in this position in the first place. He is a deranged man holding you hostage.

Regardless, you can't deny that you're at least grown a little bit attached to him. 

Chapter Text

Eventually, the cold season came to an end. The weather was slow to start warming up but it wasn't long before you were able to just wear a jacket instead of a big fluffy coat. 

"Pretty boy," You cooed as your hands weaved through Mori's thick coat. He panted and leaned into your soft touch. You sat on the living room floor, Mori laid in front of you, nuzzling your hands, asking for more attention. Sukuna may care for the animals, but he doesn't often give them affection the way you do. 

He isn't really one for tender care and praise. 

You glanced at him occasionally, but he was sitting in the armchair not ten feet away from you on his phone. 

A phone. 

The first time you saw him pull out the phone you felt a rush of adrenaline. He's only ever taken it out at times like these, relaxing in the living room and kicking back. You never see the phone out at any other time. 

You want to grab it. You want to call the police. But you also didn't want to get caught and suffer for a stupid action. 

You're not sure where he keeps it, you're not sure if it has a password, but it shouldn't matter if you're just trying to call the authorities. There should be an emergency call option if the phone is locked. 

It was frightening to you, the idea of him catching you doing something wrong. All you could think about was the deathly cries Airi let out as she was ripped apart by the dogs. 

You didn't want to face the same fate, and he'd surely kill you if you went through and tried to get his phone. 

So you remained passive. 

Though Sukuna didn't miss the way you glanced at him when he had his phone out. He liked taunting you. He wanted to see if you would ever try to take it from him. He likes challenging you. 

You yawned and rubbed at your eyes tiredly, and he took that as a sign to get you to bed. He stood and ushered you back up the stairs. 

You weren't surprised he forcefully bent you over the bed. One hand planted firmly on the nap of your neck, the other lining himself up. 

It's not something he does for pleasure in all honesty. He couldn't care less about sex, he had gone years without it and he could continue to do so. It had become more of an outlet to express that even though you're here, in a warm bed with warm meals, you still belong to him. Nothing you do will ever change that. He can do whatever he wants for you. You're trapped, forever underneath him, taking whatever he may force onto you. 

You squeezed your eyes shut and just tried to relax. He used his spit as lubricant but you still winced from the stretch and burn of the intrusion. You've gotten good at just staying quiet through the whole thing, only letting out little pants when he gets rougher. 

His nails dug into your skin, leaving marks in their wake when he shifted his grip slightly. Your hands clutched the bed sheets tightly, knuckles turning white. This had become a normal occurrence. You hated it, but there was nothing you could do. You wanted to keep your place in the warm house, with warm food and a shower even if that meant letting him violate you often. 

It was dehumanizing, but you didn't quite see it in that light. Sukuna has done so much for you, why would you try to deny him this?

His thrusts grew a little more violent and you felt tears welling in your eyes. With the sheets, it's easier to hide when you cry. Suddenly, without warning, he struck a sensitive part within you. Your eyes shot open and you tightened like a vice, inhaling sharply. Sukuna's hips stuttered. 

You hated the fact that what he had done, mind you by accident, felt good. It took the edge off the burn and it made your skin tingle, like it itched. You hated the fact that you wanted Sukuna to scratch that itch.

Sukuna was more alarmed at how tight you got when he hit that spot. He blinked a few times before shifting his hips around. His thrusts slowed down and you realized he was trying to find it again. You squirmed in discomfort, the lack of lube and prep hurt. Sukuna just wanted to see what other reactions he might pull from you, but you pinched your lips shut as you tried to angle your hips away from him. 

Sukuna zoned in on the way his cock disappeared into you, and he spit again, trying to make the slide easier. He struggled for a moment, before slipping out and moving his hand down there instead. 

You frantically tried to look back at him to see what he's doing but you can't see all that well in this position. He slid one finger in and you tried to close your thighs to stop him. Though he just wedged his knee in between your legs.

His finger felt around a bit, searching. It's a lot easier for him this way because he finds it quickly. The spot that makes you tighten and whimper. He hastily puts another finger in and you try to bite your tongue to stop it but the soft pants find their way out. Sukuna's eyes focus on your face now, your brows furrowing and lips shaking as you try to get out of his hold. 

You hate the fact that your body is enjoying his touch. You're actually getting wet now as he strokes that spongy spot inside you. 

Sukuna's amazed when he pulls his fingers out and they're soaked in slick. He slides his fingers into his mouth and licks the juices off hungrily. He reaches back down to collect more, smearing it over his cock as he pushes back in. He groans deeply at the delicious wet heat that wraps around his cock. 

He tries to angle his hips accordingly, and he does so successfully because suddenly you tighten again. His thrusts are slow and methodical at first, relishing in the way you squeeze him so perfectly. Your pants are turning airy and soft. 

Sukuna questions himself why he hadn't tried this before. Your sultry voice letting out choked breaths has him ecstatic. He starts to pick up the pace again. You can feel the coil in your gut churning and getting tighter as he keeps a smooth rhythm abusing your quivering walls. 

He grunts in satisfaction and leans over you, pressing his teeth into your neck. You whimper and try to pull away, tears freely falling down your cheeks. You're flushed and embarrassed that this man is pulling these sounds and reactions from you. 

You've had to continuously remind yourself that he is not a good man. You've had to remind yourself that he is your enemy. Yet how can your enemy make you feel this much pleasure? You realized belatedly that you were drooling. It mixed with your tears as it stained the sheets. 

Sukuna trailed harsh kisses up your neck and over your jaw until he reached your cheek. He lapped at your salty tears as if he was dying of thirst. His consistent rhythm was mind-numbing and you tried so hard to not let your body fall into his traps, into his games. He was forcing it onto you. An idea came to his mind and he slipped his hand around your front and in between your legs. He ran his fingers over your folds, collecting slick as he did so. 

When his touch circled around your clit you involuntarily arched into him, and you sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. Sukuna was in pure bliss. He wanted more. He wanted you to beg for it. He wanted to hear you praise him. He wanted you to tell him he was doing good. 

But you just kept crying. 

He would be frustrated if it didn't feel as good as it did. He'd find a way to get you to do those things for him, but right now he just wants to cum, and he wants you to as well. It was a foreign idea, giving someone else pleasure, he's only ever lived for his own.

You jolted and cried out as it all burst. Sukuna groaned and tried to hold himself together. He didn't want to pull out, not when being buried in your heat felt so heavenly. Sukuna fought with himself before cracking and hastily pulling out. He stroked himself once, twice, and then he came. He let out strained breaths as he covered your rear. Your mind was reeling, you stopped trying to get away so much now that it was over. You sniffled and released the tight grip you had on the sheets. Sukuna milked himself dry and groped your plush skin as he did so. 

He pressed kisses to your shoulder blades and the nape of your neck. You shivered under his touch as you lifted your hands to wipe at the tears that stained your cheeks. 

"Shh," He cooed into your ear. His hands gently slid over your hips, snaking their way up your sides. You sniffled again and tried to turn your head away from him. He moved away from you, leaving you on the bed as he went to fetch a washcloth. You hated the feeling of your slick coating your inner thighs. You hated the fact that he was able to do that to you. 

He returned quickly and cleaned the two of you up before cuffing one of your hands and leaving. Your body felt tired from it. You simply curled up under the blankets and shut your eyes. However, it didn't go unnoticed that Sukuna left the door cracked. You could hear him shuffling around down the hall. When he returned, you were alarmed to feel him slide into the bed next to you. 

You opened your eyes and tried to shuffle away from him but the bed wasn't big, and you had nowhere to go. Sukuna had changed into a loose pair of sweatpants and nothing else. He grabbed your body and pulled it back, flush to his. His bare chest felt warm against your back. His long legs tangled with yours and his arms wrapped around your waist, securing you to him. 

He nipped at your neck as he held you. Feeling your body against his, so close and warm. You were his, and no one else's. Yet you were so tense. He doesn't understand why you haven't just accepted this yet. Why you haven't accepted him. 

~

The next morning felt different. Maybe it was the lack of sleep you got while your mind fussed over the idea that Sukuna could make you feel good like that. Or maybe it was the way Sukuna woke you up by groping your chest and biting at your skin again. He has a biting problem.

Regardless, by the time you changed and made it down to the kitchen, you were hungry. Before you could move to sit at the table, Sukuna stopped you and ushered you to stand with him at the counter. Your brows raised in curiosity and you listened. 

"Can you cook?" Sukuna questioned flatly. 

"Yes," You said as you nodded, unsure if he was actually going to have you cook breakfast today. He answered your concerns rather quickly when he pulled some eggs out of the fridge and handed you a pan. 

"Make breakfast today," He crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. 

"Just eggs?" You titled your head. 

"Use whatever you want."

Whatever you want? There's too much freedom in that statement. It felt wrong to have a choice in something, it felt uncomfortable. You were flabbergasted, you didn't even know where to begin. Sukuna's red gaze bore into you impatiently. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat and shuffled around him to the fridge, he followed your every movement with a keen eye. You pulled the door open and scanned over the options. You avoided looking at the human flesh that Sukuna had pulled out to thaw for dinner tonight. Instead, you focused on the fruits and vegetables. You even spotted bacon. 

"Anything I want?" You asked again, still not confident that he was telling you the truth. This felt like a test, a challenge. 

"Don't make me repeat myself brat," He scoffed. That shut you up and you just decided to go for it. You grabbed some ingredients and laid them out. Your hands worked gracefully and your movement seemed so fluid as you moved around preparing the dish. Mori had woken up and joined you in the kitchen as well. Sukuna would occasionally hum in approval or narrow his eyes in disgust as you cooked. 

It made you self-conscious. That feeling in itself brought concern, because why should you care if your cooking can impress this monster?

It's been a long time since you've cooked but the skill needed is still ingrained into your memory. When it came to cutting up the vegetables and fruits you hesitated. No way in hell is Sukuna going to let you handle a knife. You eyed the collection of kitchen knives sitting on the wooden block not a foot away from you.

You turned to Sukuna and gestured to the produce you had set aside, "Could you cut those up for me?"

"Why can't you do it?"

His question caught you off guard so you pinched your brows together, "A-Are you sure you want to give me a knife?"

"Are you planning to try and stab me?" 

Your eyes widened. Were you? It still seems silly to let your captive have a knife. He doesn't even give you a glass. You have to stop and genuinely contemplate the inquiry. You realize the thought never came to mind. You simply thought it was wrong of you to have a knife, but not the reason behind why it would be wrong. He's unarmed, so it should be easy right? Except he's stronger and faster, and his killer dog is staring at you while drooling on the floor. 

"No, I wasn't going to do that," You murmured, unsure of yourself, "I just... I don't know why I can't do it myself." Sukuna cocked his head to the side and reached over, sliding a medium-sized blade from its holder. You eyed the shining metal as it shimmered in the kitchen light. 

"You know you can't kill me," He brought the knife toward you, and you didn't even flinch, "Do you think you can?" He tapped the edge of the blade against your throat, light enough that it wouldn't leave any marks. 

"No, I can't," You affirmed. 

"Then why can't I give you a knife?"

"I'm not sure."

"Cut your own food," He pulled the blade away from your throat and set the knife on the counter. Your hands were shakey as you picked it up and gripped the handle. Your palms began to sweat as you sliced through the produce. The idea of trying to hurt Sukuna scared you because you knew you couldn't. Even after watching him recoil from slamming the glass into his head all those months ago, seeing his blood, he seems indestructible. Untouchable. 

He seemed like a god to you. You are nothing more than a mere peasant that he just so graciously allows to live. Once you were done with the knife, you set it aside by the sink. You made no effort to attack Sukuna, and that made him tilt his head up in affirmation. 

Last night, as he held you close and wondered why you weren't properly submitting to him, he had an idea. And this confirms the new approach he must take to achieve his goals. He'll mold you into the perfect wife in no time. 

You plated the food and spent an extra minute making it look nice the way Sukuna does. He sat at the table and you served him first before taking your own spot. You waited for him to eat, you wanted to see if you had passed this little test. He took a bite while his eyes locked with yours. Anticipation bubbled in your chest so much so it began to hurt. 

He said nothing, but he nodded. He nodded and continued to eat. A wave of relief washed over you and suddenly you felt giddy that he liked your food. You suppressed a smile as you began to eat as well. You quickly caught yourself feeling this way, and you tensed up. 

No. You can't think anything positive of this monster. He doesn't deserve it. Why would you be happy about him simply nodding? It means nothing. You're his captive, his victim. You can't let yourself feel this way for this man. 

Chapter Text

You liked the warmer weather. It allowed you to lay out in the grass and just enjoy the sunshine. Memento especially liked to lie down with you, while Mori was much more prone to follow Sukuna around. 

It's been a few more weeks, and Sukuna has started having you cook at least once a day. Plus he makes you do the laundry and dishes. He still won't leave the room, and he watches you obsessively when you work. He likes sitting at the kitchen table as you clean the counters or watching from his armchair as you fold laundry on the couch. 

You still resist when he pins you down and wedges himself between your legs. He's gotten better at forcing orgasms out of you. He's learning the ins and outs of your body much faster now that he's actually trying, and he's loving it. He loves watching you gush over his cock as he abuses your sweet spot or the way your slick smears across your inner thighs as he fingers you open. He loves the taste too, but it's hard to get his head between your legs when you're always pushing him away. 

It was late, the sun was long gone, and you were doing your usual routine. Folding clothes on the couch while Sukuna watched you from the armchair. Mori was snoozing soundly on the carpet behind you. 

The silence kills you, but to Sukuna, the house has never been louder. 

You let out a deep sigh as you neatly folded one of his shirts, "Do you name your animals?"

The attempt at small talk alarmed Sukuna, but he had no protests to it, "Besides the dogs? No."

"Why not?"

"Because they're meat animals. I kill them."

"Oh," You pouted and glanced over at him. His legs were spread and he rested his head on the palm of his hand as his elbow sat on the arm of the chair. "Where did you get Memento and Mori?" Upon hearing his name, Mori sat up. 

"I bought them."

"Why don't you have any cats?"

"I do."

You stopped folding clothes and looked at him in disbelief, "No you don't."

Sukuna smirked, "She doesn't come out much."

"Where is she? What's her name?" You glanced around the house as if she may be watching you now. 

"She's in the barn. She sleeps in the hay. She doesn't have a name."

"What does she look like?"

"You're asking a lot of questions tonight, why so chatty?"

You pursed your lips and averted your gaze, "Sorry."

"I didn't say stop."

"I feel awkward in the silence," You admitted and turned to continue folding the clothes. Your hands moved into automation, without thought. Sukuna hummed and stood from his chair. You glanced at him and he stepped over to you, groping your rear in the process. You jolted slightly and he chuckled. 

"You're too tense," He mused as he wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you from behind. There was a long moment of silence. You shifted your weight from foot to foot uncomfortably and fidgeted with the sweater in your hands. 

Your voice came out small, barely a whisper, "Why haven't you killed me?" 

Sukuna placed a gentle kiss on your cheek, "Haven't I answered that already?"

"Have you?" You furrowed your brows, doubting yourself now. 

Sukuna's fingers traced over the scars on your cheeks, tapping them twice, "You're mine, remember? I own you. I can do whatever I'd like to you. Do you destroy the nice things you own?"

"I don't own any nice things," You reached up and felt the other side of your face. The rough ridges of the marks made your fingers tingle. Suddenly, you could hear Memento begin barking outside. Mori hastily rose to his feet and Sukuna pulled away from you. "What's going on?" You questioned as Sukuna hurried toward the door. 

He didn't answer, but you followed. He flung the back door open but it was dark. There was a single light that hung on the outside of the barn, and you could see Memento rushing toward the chicken coop. Mori sprinted out there as well. 

Sukuna cursed under his breath and reached through the various coats on the wall, feeling around impatiently until he successfully clutched the cold metal. Your eyes widened as he revealed the pistol he had hidden there.

Sukuna whipped around to you, frustrated, "Stay here."

"What's out there?"

"Stay!" He reiterated and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving you to stand anxiously by the door. You contemplated going out there with him but you would be damned if you disobeyed Sukuna. 

So instead, you returned to the living room. You picked up the sweater you had dropped on the floor and wearily began folding it. You kept trying to peek out the windows but it was too dark to see anything. There aren't any bears or wolves around the area, or you thought so at least. The worry building in your chest was concerning. So what if he gets injured, or even killed? Wouldn't that be a good thing?

You turned to add the sweater to the other piles of clothes but then you froze. Your eyes met the slick black shine of his cell phone. He had left it on the side table in his hurry. Your heart began beating so loud in your chest that you thought it might break your ribs open. 

You moved like molasses as you set the sweater down and peered out the window again. Your mind went to his gun, surely he wouldn't hesitate to kill any officers that showed up, but even then, it'd be over for him. He'd get taken away and given the death sentence and you'd- 

You stood up straight. Why does that idea hurt so much? The idea of him getting taken from you? The idea of him dying? He is a murderer. You've repeated that a million times over in your mind. He is a killer who eats people. 

Before all of this, you had a great life. You had loving parents and supportive friends, you had just gotten your degree too. Then your parents died, your career path seemed not as bright, and you stopped spending so much time with your friends. You thought that road trip was going to fix everything. 

Maybe in a way, it did. 

A gunshot fired off and you flinched, a hand flew to cover your mouth as you felt tears simmer in your eyes. You were afraid to lose him, but you didn't want to admit that. You might never admit that if you're being honest with yourself. You sank down to sit on the couch among the piles of clothes. Your mind couldn't process fast enough. You couldn't bear the thought of actually liking your captor. 

A few minutes passed by and you were growing nervous that he wasn't returning. What was out there to warrant that kind of reaction? You had walked past that pistol concealed by the coats for how long? Why does he keep it there?

You heard the back door click open and you rose to your feet hastily and hurried over to see what had happened. Sukuna stepped in, gun in hand, but Mori wasn't with him. The fear on your face caught Sukuna off guard. 

He stared at you with one brow raised before rolling his eyes, "Damn raccoons tried to get into the chicken coop again." He doesn't know why you look so worked up right now. He's not aware that you're facing a crisis within your own mind. 

"Again?" You muttered softly, confused and uncertain. 

"Huh?" He scrunched his nose up and slipped the gun back onto the hook, hidden in the coats. You didn't even bat an eye at it. "Oh, yeah. Those raccoons nearly ate the whole flock a few months back." You remembered hearing the gunshots when you with with Airi now. You grew angry. His initial reaction horrified you. He didn't give you any answers and he didn't say a damn word about the gun. 

"You jerk!" You smacked his chest and he straightened up in surprise. Your hit didn't hurt, and you didn't intend for it to. "I thought something bad was happening! I thought you-!" You stopped. 

Don't. Don't say that. Don't you dare say that. 

Sukuna arched a brow, a grin split across his lips, "Were you worried about me?"

You flushed red, stammering out some stupid excuse for your words, "No! I was- you- that's not at all what I was-! Agh! You're a horrible person!" You pushed at him but he didn't move, like a brick wall. Those tears that glossed over your eyes began to fall, and your voice rose in anger, "You kidnapped me a-and tortured me and raped me and you forced me to eat all those terrible things!" You had never yelled at him like this before. All you had ever done was beg for freedom. This was entirely different. You were crying a lot now, your cheeks shined with tears and eyes blurry with fury, "You're not even human! You're a monster! A disgusting freak!" You tried to push him again as you sobbed hysterically. "I HATE YOU!"

Sukuna merely chuckled, "How pathetic."

"Pathetic?! I'm not the pathetic one! You are! Why can't you just kill me or something already?! Huh!? You bastard!" You were about to smack him again but he caught your wrist, causing you to tense and try to pull away. 

"Is that any way to speak to your husband?"

"Husband?! Over my dead body!" You yelled and more forcefully pulled on your wrist. You sniffled at your runny nose and the tears dripped down from your chin, running over your neck.

"Tch," Sukuna clicked his tongue and yanked you forward, causing you to fall onto his chest. His other hand grabbed onto your waist, securing you against him. "Keep talking like that and I'll put you back into the cellar young lady." That threat made you tense up and stop squirming so much. His smirk widened, "There you go."

You lowered your voice and hesitintly rested your head in the crook of his neck, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're my wife," He stated so matter-of-factly. 

"Why me?" You sniffled and more gently tried to pull your hand away from him. He allowed it, and you wiped the tears from your cheeks. 

"I think you know why," He kissed the side of your head and swayed you softly from side to side. 

"Where's Mori?" You muttered. 

"Outside," Sukuna shrugged. "He sleeps out there often, he'll be fine." You nodded and took in a deep breath, the faint smell of his body wash overwhelmed you, even though you use the same kind. "It's late, why don't we get to bed, yeah?" You nodded again and he kissed the top of your head. 

He turned you around and urged you to walk toward the stairs. He glanced into the living room at the unfinished laundry when the glint of his phone caught his eye. He flicked his gaze between you and the room. 

"Go upstairs, straight to your room," He patted your rear and stepped away. He picked his phone up and quickly opened it. He flipped around to his call history and let out a sigh of relief when he saw there were no new calls made. When he checked the trash, it was empty too. A little smile tugged on his lips as he pocketed his cell phone and hurried off to join you. 

He found you in the bathroom brushing your teeth. Your eyes were red and itchy from crying. You glanced at him through the mirror but ignored his presence otherwise. Sukuna hummed and went to his own room to change. He plugged in his phone on the nightstand after changing into a pair of sweatpants. He was in a good mood now, your outburst didn't upset him in the slightest. The idea that some part of you actually grew concerned for his safety made him giddy. 

When he returned he found you lying in the bed, tucked under the blankets. He crawled up and pulled the blankets away from you. You huffed in frustration as he caged you underneath him. 

"So feisty," He teased as he leaned closer to place a chaste kiss on your forehead. 

"Leave me alone," You sneered, planting your hands on his shoulders and trying to push him away. 

"You don't get to tell me what to do," He slotted himself between your legs, one hand moving down to grope your plush thighs while his other held your jaw in place. He smothered you with sloppy kisses. He pulled away after a moment to smile down at you, "Did you purposely ignore my phone sitting out or did you just not see it?"

Your face flushed red and you averted your gaze. 

He chuckled sinisterly, "I knew you liked me."

"I hate you," You snapped back quickly. You tried to close your legs but his body was in the way. He ground his hips into yours and you only squirmed more in protest. You let out strained breaths as you grew flustered. When you tried to shuffle away from him you were only causing more contact and Sukuna was basking in it. 

"Why won't you just give up already? Hm? What left do you have to fight for in your pathetic life?"

You paused, your eyes flicked to his briefly before looking back at the wall. Your mind spun as you thought about his question. It's been so long. Do your friends think you're dead? What if they've mourned you and moved on? It's not like you had a job waiting for you or anything, no one was depending on you for anything. Well, your house plants maybe, but those are probably gone. 

Sukuna's wicked grin only widened as he watched you. He dipped back down and placed open-mouthed kisses on your neck while feverishly trying to take your pants off. 

You've made no impact on the world in the ways you hoped you would. You haven't accomplished a single thing in your life other than getting a useless degree. Even if you got free, what would you do? Enter in the corporate world and just continue lying to yourself that you're happy like that? Discuss apartment listings and salary cuts with your friends like boring adults? Get more plants because having a living creature depend on you brings you a feeling of self-worth? 

Sukuna's right. Your life is pathetic. 

His fingers slipped over your entrance, tracing circles around your clit. Your eyes came back into focus and you looked up at him. That piercing red gaze of his studied your face carefully. 

Maybe... just this once, you'll cave in.

Just this once. 

You won't think about how horrible of a person he is. You won't let the idea that you're his victim interrupt you. You're going to turn your brain off and just indulge in his actions. 

"K-Kiss me," You muttered, so quiet he almost missed it. He didn't waste a second, leaning down and devouring your lips and you kissed him back. He moaned into your mouth and his movements became more feverish. You lifted your hips off the bed to try and get more of his talented hands. You panted heavily into his lips as you shut your eyes. You stopped pushing at his shoulder and instead slipped one hand into his soft hair, gripping the pink strands and tugging gently. He groaned at the action, eating it up. 

Your other hand roamed over his chest. This man is unfairly attractive. He's been taunting you with his physique day and night. His muscles were taut, yet squishy in some spots. You groped his pecs and his hips, his stomach, and his shoulders. It felt good to get your hands on him at last. Your fingers explored the rough ridges of sheer muscle and the soft dips of his curves. You hummed in appreciation and it drove Sukuna mad. 

He slid two fingers in and you arched your back in pleasure. A moan escaped your lips and you did nothing to try and stop it. Sukuna's erection was straining painfully against his boxers. He crooked his fingers as he pumped in and out of you. Slick coated his digits and smeared across your skin. You rocked your hips into his hand in an attempt to match his rhythm. He was searching for that sweet spot again. 

Sukuna pulled away from the kiss just enough to where your lips brushed his with every heavy breath. His eyes were wide as he stared down at you. Manic. The grin that split across his lips was chilling and yet devilishly handsome. There was no hate in your heart as you whined, tilting your head back and exposing your neck to him. There wasn't a thought behind your eyes other than this feels so good. 

Sukuna sank his teeth into your skin, yet again claiming what was rightfully his. Finder's keepers. You tightened around his fingers as he marked you, so much so it was getting harder to pump into you. He pulled his hand away and you whined in protest. 

"I know I know," He panted, out of breath, as he fumbled to free his cock from his boxers. "Impatient brat," he smeared your slick over his length. He lined himself up and didn't hesitate to push in. Your skin felt hot and your cheeks tinted red from the stretch. It didn't hurt like all those other times, the burn had a satisfying edge to it. He had gotten good at prepping you. 

You locked eyes with him as you moaned incredulously. It felt so much better this time. You couldn't believe it. 

"'Kuna," You whimpered, "Oh god 's so good~" Sukuna's brows pinched together as he shallowly thrust in. Your praise fried his brain and he felt himself short-circuit. This was it. This is what he wanted. Hearing you give in at last made his chest swell with adrenaline, it coursing through his veins like molten lava. It suddenly struck him, why he liked that praise. 

He wanted you to worship him the way people worship a god. He wanted that divine power over you and for you to grovel at his feet, begging him for everything he had to give. He wanted you to admire him like he was a god because, in his mind, that's what he was, a god. He wanted you to see him in the same light.

He had one hand holding your hips while the other remained on your jaw. He wasn't going to let you look away from him. He was drowning in your eyes as if he were an astronaut lost in the infinite voids of space. He wanted to consume you, every part of you. He wanted to sink his teeth into your flesh and devour you as you begged him for more. More of his divine sanctuary. 

"Mhm, h-harder, hmgh~" Your eyes rolled back and he did as you asked. It was brutal and deliciously sweet. You felt delirious as he fucked you into the mattress. Drool slipped down your chin and smeared onto his hand, your eyes were half-lidded in pure ecstasy. 

You wanted him to devour you. You wanted him to eat you up and keep you all to himself. You wanted to be his. 

He filled you perfectly. You could feel the pressure from his cock pushing against your lower stomach and you basked in it. You shakily lowered a hand to press down on your lower abdomen and you let out a sinful moan from the feeling. Your vision was blurry and all you could comprehend were those scarlet eyes boring into your own gaze. A thin layer of sweat coated your skin. The heat of your bodies mixed into a firey combination. One that made the coil in your stomach tighten. 

You wrapped your legs around his torso in an attempt to be closer. You pulled his hair, trying to bring him back down to your lips so you could kiss him again. You bit into his lower lip and it made Sukuna feral. He was unrelenting as he picked up his pace. Ramming into your cervix with every thrust. He punched out every little breath of air you tried to take, suffocating you in bliss. 

It was unbelievably good. Indulging in the pleasure he gave you felt like committing a sin. A wonderful sin. You babbled his name like a prayer as you felt yourself nearing the edge. You wanted more, so you begged for more. 

For once he listened. He would answer your prayers, seeing as he was your god and all. His nails dug into your skin, burning his mark onto you as he stuffed you full with everything he had. Pulling you back to meet his hips with every thrust. 

You came hard. You desperately reached out and clung to him as you shook from the intensity of it. You cried, sobbed, as you buried your face in the crook of his neck. Your cunt got impossibly tighter and Sukuna let out a choked moan, pumping into you without mercy. His brutality prolonged your orgasm to the point you were seeing stars. Tears streamed down your cheeks and mixed in with your drool. 

Your body went lax as your high started to die down and you collapsed beneath him, weeping from the overwhelming ecstasy that coursed violently through your veins, boiling your blood and melting your skin from your bones. 

Sukuna didn't hold back this time, he couldn't, not with how feverish he felt. He burst, spilling inside you, painting your abused walls white. Your legs trembled as they fell to the side. Sukuna suffocated you in a kiss as he stuffed you full. You wept softly as he slowed down, and finally stopped. 

You caught that scarlet gaze once more through watery eyes, and it clicked at last. 

You were never going to escape, so why fight it? You didn't have a life to return to, this was your life now. 

Underneath him. 

You were his. 

He owned you.

Chapter Text

It became a much more frequent activity now that you were enjoying it. Meaning the sex, of course. Sukuna had never felt so alive than when you were under him, praising him for how good it felt. He never felt more content than when he woke up in the morning and you were wrapped up in his arms. He had you now and he was never going to let you go.

While you did alter his routine, you did not change his way of life. Nor did his habits change. He wasn't going to conform to your standards, you had to conform to his. 

For the first few weeks after you officially caved in, he continued to keep you chained up in the guest room. He wasn't going to take any chances. You were so close to being his perfect wife, why risk losing you?

Though one night, he did bring you to his room, and you slept unchained. You eyed his phone on the nightstand and thought of using it but that gut-wrenching fear that he'd leave washed over you and you felt guilty. You held him tighter, burying your face into the crook of his neck. However, he still considered the temptation as a fault. He locked you back in your bedroom. The guilt in your chest swarmed your mind, and suddenly you agreed with his actions. 

It was wrong of you to be thinking of such things. He was right to chain you to the bed again, you didn't deserve to sleep in his room yet. 

You were still brought out to do his chores with him. You started keeping an eye out for the supposed barn cat that lives on the property but you weren't having any luck. You got to cook more too. Sukuna started showing you these recipes and letting you practice new techniques. You've mainly been using the cattle and pig meat for practice, as Sukuna doesn't want you to mess up any of the human flesh. You still stand with him and watch, and he explains his process in hopes that one day he can trust you with the more valuable meat. 

It was inevitable that he was going to run out. Usually, the bodies would last him a lot longer but Airi had been fairly torn up by the dogs and a lot of her became ruined. Hence it was time that Sukuna got a new captive. He didn't confide this in you, he doesn't tell you anything when he leaves the house. He just leaves you confined to the bed, waiting for his return. 

You were nervous when he had been gone for so long. The sunset faded out and the room had grown dark. You lay on the bed, watching the door with anticipation. You grew anxious as a million different things ran through your head. Every time you shifted around, the chains would rattle against the bed frame. You tried not to think about it too much, but when there's nothing else to do but think, it gets hard. 

You could faintly hear the door open and close and you grew excited, restless. You tugged on the chains a bit as if they'd let you go now that he was home again. His heavy footsteps lumbered around the first floor and he sauntered up to the second. Your heart was practically beating out of your chest as he approached the bedroom door. Once all the locks were undone, he stepped in. 

"You're home," You spoke a bit too eagerly. You immediately noticed the blood splatter on his shirt and you eyed it in curiosity. 

"I am," He affirmed with a smirk, amused at how excited you had become when he arrived. "I have a gift for you." You furrowed your brows as he walked over to the bed, undoing the chains. 

"A gift?"

"A gift."

Once your hands were free you reached out for him. Sukuna took your hand and pulled you to your feet. He guided you downstairs and instructed you to put your shoes on, so you did. At this point, you had forgotten about the gun that rested not two feet from you. It wasn't a concern for you anymore. You were focused on the idea that Sukuna was giving you a gift. You wondered what it could be. 

It's so late at night. Your own dog perhaps? A cat? Maybe he bought you something nice, like a sweet treat or new clothes. You shook that last one away, you like wearing his clothes, even if they're too big. All your previous guesses immediately left as Sukuna brought you towards the cellar. 

Oh no...

He unlocked the doors and stepped down first, you were right behind him. You heard the cries the minute those doors opened. The stairs creaked under your weight and you scrunched your nose up at the smell. It had been so long within the house that you forgot about the wretched odor of rotting flesh within the cellar. You had become so used to it before. The stagnant air was suffocating and your whole body felt achy from the memories of being trapped in the horrible place. 

Once you reached the bottom, you stopped. 

A girl, about your age, sat against the wall, chained, beaten, and bloody. She was sobbing hysterically, pleading, begging, as she stared directly at you. Tears streamed from her eyes and mixed with the red stains on her cheeks. Her short brown hair was messy, tangled, and ripped out. She must've put up one hell of a fight. 

You felt Sukuna's gaze on you. You slowly turned your head to look at him, unsure if this was truly what he wanted to gift you. 

He reached up and gently cupped your cheek, stepping closer to whisper into your ear, "You may do whatever you'd like to her." Your stomach churned uncomfortably. Your skin felt cold and you felt scared again. You hadn't truly felt scared around Sukuna in so long. You had been scared for him but not of him. 

You shuffled closer, your hands moving to the hem of his shirt to have something to hold onto, "I-I don't want to hurt her." You haven't declined something from Sukuna in quite a while. His gentle touch on your cheek became tighter. 

"You don't want my gift?"

"No! N-No I do- I just..." You stammered, fearful of his wrath, "I-I don't know... I don't know what to do with it."

It. As if the woman isn't really a person. As if the woman isn't actively begging you to have mercy. Her whiney and strained voice is echoing in the cellar, making it harder to hear Sukuna. Yet you call the woman it. 

"Then I'll show you," Sukuna loosened his grip. You stood, frozen, as he walked over to the workbench. He picked up the needle and began walking over to the woman. Her screams became louder, the chains rattled around violently as she put up more of a fight. Sukuna likes to pick up weak women. None of his captives have ever stood a chance against him, not even when armed. He injected her with the drug in a matter of seconds before returning to you.

He set the needle aside and placed his hand on your hips. You couldn't help but lean into his touch, so gentle and sweet. You watched the woman crying and shouting. Her words went in one ear and out the other. Sukuna leaned down enough to nip at your neck, tracing over the marks he'd made in previous days. 

"Are you going to eat her too?" You looked up and met his scarlet gaze. You knew it was a foolish question the minute it left your mouth. 

He nodded, "We are going to eat her."

The woman shrieked, "EAT ME?! YOU SICK FUCKS! LET ME GO!" She was already feeling the numbness, falling to the ground in all her scrambling.

You furrowed your brows, "I-I'm not-" You stopped and looked up to Sukuna, "-sick. I'm not a sick person."

"You're perfectly healthy," Sukuna teased and stared down at the woman as she fought against the drug. Another thirty seconds and she couldn't move a muscle. Sukuna unchained her and grabbed her by her hair, dragging her across the cold scratchy cement and hauling her up onto the table. Sukuna wasn't about to let this woman near you without any precautions. He locked her hands and feet onto the table in the off chance she managed to get up. He doesn't want you getting hurt. 

You remained by the stairs until Sukuna beckoned you over with a wave of his finger. You were hesitant as you moved over to him, standing close to his side. 

"Get a knife, that one," He pointed to his workbench and you obeyed. You briefly scanned over the many sharp instruments he had on the wall. You haven't seen him use half of them, but they all looked painful. Some had twisted metal ends and some just looked sharp and mangled. You swallowed before picking up the one he asked for. "Good job," He cooed as you handed it to him, though he refused to take it. "Come here, come closer," He gently grabbed your hips and moved you to stand next to the table, he stayed behind you. 

One of his hands moved to your wrist holding the knife while the other rested on your hip. Your eyes flicked to the woman's and you felt sick. She looked horrified and angry. Bloodshot eyes and bruises formed from where Sukuna hit her. You swallowed hard. 

"Lift her shirt up," Sukuna's lips graced the shell of your ear. His body pressed into yours, urging you to listen but also urging you to relax. To him, this is as close to 'romantic' as he'd get. Nothing is more loving than sharing your hobbies with your spouse, right? 

You reached forward with your open hand and did as you were told. You pulled the fabric up over her stomach and over her chest, bunching it up at the crook of her neck. You had an idea what Sukuna would ask next, so you didn't wait for his command. You reached forward and hooked your finger under the band of her bra on the side. You brought the knife down and cut it. You were amazed at how sharp the blade was, it moved through the fabric like butter. 

Sukuna hummed, "So intuitive." You were quiet as you removed her bra, tugging it off of the woman. You peered back at Sukuna, unsure of what now. He smiled, "Go on."

"Go on with what?" 

Sukuna took a deep breath in and let it out curtly, "What do you think?"

"K-Killing her?" You gripped the knife tighter and saw the woman's eyes widen. 

Sukuna chuckled deeply, "No need to rush. Here," He guided your knife-wielding hand down until the blade graced her skin. "Just put a little pressure into it." He pushed down on your hand and you felt your palms begin to sweat as the knife sliced through flesh, and blood began to trickle down. You tried to step back but Sukuna only pushed you forward, trapping your body between his and the table. 

"I-I don't want to hurt her," You stammered in fear trying to pull away.

Sukuna's grip only tightened, "Are you disobeying me?" 

"N-No!"

"I keep a roof over your head and give you warm food," He began pushing down on your hand again, forcing it deeper into the woman's stomach, "I show you how to take care of yourself too. You wouldn't be alive without me." His words have a sharp edge to them as more blood spills out. The woman is crying, her fingers barely wiggling in the restraints. Yet all you could hear were his words. The sight before you didn't process in your mind. Your mind doesn't work like it used to. Sukuna lowered his voice as he spoke into your ear, "Unless you want to stop listening to me and then I'll put you on this table."

You tensed, "N-No, I'd... I'd do anything for you." It just seemed foggy. Nothing seemed right except for the way Sukuna's body warmth wrapped around you. Sukuna felt right to you, so his words must be right too. 

"Then hurt her."

In the maw of the ouroboros.

That's where you were, trapped in the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth. The admission of compliance felt minor to you, and thus its significance was great. Sukuna's hard work had been justified now. It felt like your limbs were moving without your consent, not that consent ever mattered when it came to things with Sukuna. You put more pressure behind the knife, letting it sink further down, nothing lethal, but a nasty cut for sure. 

"Drag it down," Sukuna's eyes focused solely on your hand as you began to slide the knife down, tearing open the woman's flesh with ease. You flicked your gaze up to hers and your heart beat faster. The burning hatred swirled in her amber eyes, so hot and searing that it scorched your skin, melting it from your body. You began to sweat and you felt your stomach churning in discomfort. You hated it. 

You hated the way she looked at you. You scrunched your nose up in distaste, in anger. 

"I don't..." You took heavy breaths, trying to calm yourself, "I don't like the way it looks at me."

"Then take it's eyes."

"Take them?" You peered back at Sukuna with a blank expression. 

He had an indifferent look, unamused, "Did I stutter? If you don't like the way it looks at you, remove its ability to see." He gripped your wrist and slowly lifted your hand toward her face, the knife trembled in your grasp. Her eyes were wide, tears swelling on the edges and dripping down her cheeks. 

When Sukuna is hungry, he eats. When something upsets him, he removes it from his presence. If something entertains him, he'll throw it a bone. 

"I-I can't," You tried to pull away but he was stronger. 

"Yes, you can."

He was simply waiting for you to pick up the bone sitting at your feet.

It's not like Sukuna planned to have you be the one cutting up the victims, no, that was his job. That was his guilty pleasure. In all actuality, he wanted to see you do it for him. He wanted to see you follow his words and obey him because that's what good wives do, in Sukuna's mind. You exist only to further his pleasure and his amusement. 

Sukuna lives for himself and only himself. He indulges selfishly in acts that only he finds entertaining. He keeps you around not because he loves you, no monster like him is actually capable of love. He keeps you because he finds entertainment and comfort in your existence. He finds your presence endearing in a selfish way, not a loving way. 

Sukuna enjoys your misery as he enjoys your pleasure only when it benefits him. He enjoys the idea that he can mold you into a mere extension of himself and craft you into his perfect wife.

He is a god, and you, his loyal follower. 

He kept pushing your hand closer and closer, you trembled in his hold and your eyes bore into hers. The fear and anger you saw made your stomach churn, and you wanted to cry too. Such intense emotions were building in your chest and holding you in a vice. Your heart was beating so loud in your ears, your blood began to boil under your skin and suddenly you thought of Airi. 

She looked at you like this. She looked down on you like this, didn't she? The more you thought about it, the more twisted your thoughts became. Your memories were fuzzy yet all you could picture was Airi standing above you, fury behind her eyes, drenched in blood. Did she think you were pathetic for not trying harder to escape? Why didn't Airi help you? Would this woman betray you too? 

The knife felt so hot in your sweaty palm. Your knuckles were white from how tightly you grasped it. This woman looks so mad at you, she would betray you, wouldn't she? She would abandon you just as Airi did. Like your friends did. You waited so long for them and they never came. Even before that, your parents left too. Everyone has abandoned you, haven't they? 

How selfish of them. 

But... Sukuna hasn't left you. No, he found you. He found you and he's taken you in. He's fed you and given you a warm place to live. He won't abandon you. 

Anger. You felt anger overtake you. You furrowed your brows as you stared into this woman's horrid gaze, and you lurched your hand forward. Her body went rigid and you could see the way she fought the drug, she fought to move, to escape. Blood washed over her face as the knife glided right over her left eye. You didn't stab it, to avoid causing any brain damage of course. You sliced. 

You sliced and cut and you ripped her eye out without mercy. Sukuna's grip loosened the minute you had moved forward and he watched in awe. 

By the time you pulled back, the woman's eye was dripping down her cheek like a runny egg. She was beginning to move more, thrashing against her restraints in agony. 

Sukuna's chest swelled with pride as he relieved you of the knife. He placed a chaste kiss on your cheek before moving around you to continue his work. He'd pick up where you left off, and you watched. You remained standing by his side as he worked. You weren't focused on the women anymore, you were far too occupied in observing Sukuna. 

The maw of the ouroboros. 

Sukuna had destroyed you, broke you down to nothing. Sukuna caused your destruction, yet he was also there for your rebirth. Through blood and bone, you crawled from the depths of your shattered soul into a new world. One of which you are nothing more than a worshipper dedicated to your god.

The very god that destroyed you in the beginning. 

Chapter Text

Calling Sukuna manipulative feels like an understatement. Nothing you do will ever be good enough, thus you will try harder and harder to please him. Those eggs were underseasoned, you didn't fold those shirts properly, and you're not feeding the cattle correctly. All of these minute occurrences throughout the day linger in your mind.

This doesn't wear you down, no, it would take something much worse to wear you down now. Instead, it only causes you to work harder. In a never-ending cycle with the need to please. Exactly how Sukuna intended for you to be.

It had been so gradual that you never noticed, but Sukuna did. At first, it was trying to abide by his rules to avoid punishment, to avoid his wrath. It eventually stemmed into something more. Chasing that high when he offers the rarest nods of approval. You no longer were fearful of him, you were practically kissing the very ground he walked on.

You'd do anything for him, you did anything he asked of you. A blind follower, a worshipper constructed from the blood of their mistakes and none the wiser to it.

The moment he first left you alone to complete your chores, you found yourself anxious. You were finishing the dishes from breakfast when he wandered outside without a word. As soon as you heard the back door shut, you froze. You straightened up and glanced around, taking a second to notice that you were now alone. Mori had gone out with Sukuna. Nothing was stopping you from snatching the truck keys sitting idly by the door and leaving.

Except that thought never even occurred to you. Instead, you hesitintly continued to clean the plate in your hand. You became oddly aware of the warm soapy water splashing around your forearms. The thick scarred lines on your wrist itched and you scratched at them idly before rinsing the dish. You took a deep breath, letting it out curtly before looking up, expecting for him to return.

Fifteen minutes passed and you were wiping down the counters. You still had to switch the loads in the washer and dryer, and some clothes needed to be hung up outside because they couldn't be put in the dryer. You stood in the middle of the kitchen for another minute, waiting for Sukuna.

Outside, Sukuna was leaning on the side of the house, waiting. He had a lot of faith that you wouldn't try anything, but he wanted to see what would happen. Mori was sniffing the grass near the cellar. The cries from the woman chained up were muffled, but they were present.

The back door clicked open but Sukuna didn't move. He was standing just inconveniently enough that when you stepped out onto the lawn, basket of clothes in hand, you didn't see him. Mori noticed you and wagged his tail happily as he followed you to the clothesline.

Sukuna quirked a brow and crossed his arms as you began to hang up the wet laundry. You were humming to yourself, glancing out toward the barn with the assumption that Sukuna had gone there. When you finished, you placed your hands on your hips and took a deep breath, enjoying the warm summer air.

When you picked up the basket and turned around, your gaze met his. You didn't even flinch as you began walking back into the house. You offered him a soft smile and a little wave before returning inside. Sukuna listened to the back door open, then click shut.

He smirked and hummed to himself before pushing off the wall and continuing on with his day.

From then on, it was common for Sukuna to leave you to do your chores. He also allowed you to sleep uncuffed in your bed, the door still remained locked, but you could now get up and walk around your room whenever you pleased. Everything seemed perfect. Perfect in Sukuna's standard. You had no complaints of course. No complaints- up until you woke up nauseous and throwing up into the toilet.

Sukuna knew it was going to happen at one point. He hadn't been pulling out at all, and he was anticipating this. He had just been hoping that he had more time, as he hadn't decided what he wanted to do with you in the case that you did get pregnant.

He stood in the doorway, arms crossed and a sinister look in his eyes as he watched you vomit again. You groaned in agony and let out a curt breath. It didn't really click for you, you just assumed you were sick.

"This sucks," You murmured to yourself as you wearily got to your feet. Sukuna was quiet as you washed up and brushed your teeth. You hated the taste of stomach bile that lingered on your tongue. Perhaps Sukuna can wait a couple of days before making a decision. In his mind, worse comes to worse and he lets you come to term with the child, killing it after it's born. Yet the hesitancy he feels as he ponders the thought makes him think a part of him wants to keep it.

You found it odd how quiet he was being. He decided he'd cook breakfast for the day, so you waited at the table. He was zoning out a lot, staring into the sizzling pan, contemplating what to do. He's skilled enough with a blade that he could take care of it now, then there wouldn't be any possibility of pregnancy in the future. That's the part that seemed to irk him. Perhaps having an heir wouldn't be a bad idea.

He finds himself smirking as he recalls the fate of his own parents, the fate his father faced. The chainsaw incident. His smirk drops when he thinks about his mother, she died from birth complications. He wouldn't want you to fall to the same demise.

You won't have a say in it, he already decided that. This is his decision.

After breakfast, you were feeling a bit better, so when Sukuna left for the cellar, you decided to follow. You sat on a stool near Sukuna's workbench, handing him tools as he requested them. The woman was still alive, blind, with broken bones, skinned in some places, and a nasty infection in her leg spreading up, but alive.

"Hand me that one," He made a loose gesture but you understood what he wanted. You obliged and eyed the way the woman thrashed in the restraints. Sukuna didn't drug her. She was crying and screaming a lot, but you had grown used to the sounds.

"When are you going to kill her?" You picked at a bit of dirt under your nails, pulling your eyes away from the mauled body strapped to the table.

"Soon," Sukuna replied with indifference. He was examining her leg. If the infection spreads too much it'll ruin a good amount of the meat. He chewed on his lip in thought before digging the blade into the skin above her knee. You yawned and tilted your head to the side, rubbing your eyes in the process. Without much warning, Sukuna set the knife aside and looked up, locking his gaze with yours, "I think you're pregnant."

You tensed for a second and thought about it for a second. It makes sense. It would help if he had a pregnancy test, but he's not about to go buy one.

You furrowed your brows, unsure of how to respond, "What now?"

Sukuna tapped his fingers on the table for a second while boring his gaze into yours. He tilted his head up as he seemed to get an idea. He left the woman on the table and brought you out to the barn. You searched for the barn cat some more while Sukuna riffled through a stash of medication he kept for his cattle. When he turned around, he was holding a needle.

"What's that?" You didn't flinch away as he stepped over and grabbed your arm. He wrapped a band around your bicep and waited for your veins to become more apparent.

"Pregnancy test for cattle," He answered bluntly.

"Does it work on people?"

"No idea."

You watched idly as he stuck the needle in and collected a sample of blood. He turned and went back to the counter. You stared down at the crook of your elbow as blood beaded out of the small puncture wound and dripped down your skin. The band felt tight around your bicep but you didn't dare touch it. Once Sukuna finished setting up the test, he turned back to you. He glanced at the blood briefly before grabbing a paper towel and moving over to you.

Sukuna is familiar with how these tests work, and he knows they're detecting specific pregnancy-associated glycoproteins in the cattle blood. However, his knowledge of women's biology is incredibly limited, and he's not sure if they produce the same kind of glycoproteins. He's not even sure if you're fair enough along for this kind of test to give accurate results. It's a shot in the dark.

He uses some gauze and bandages that he keeps on hand for his animals to cover the small puncture wound on your arm. He removes the band and then returns to the counter. You can tell he's stuck on what he wants to do. You grip the hem of your shirt nervously as you move up next to him. You lean your head on his shoulder and look at the test on the countertop. It sort of resembles a human pregnancy test, but the fact that it's not is obvious.

"How long does it take?"

"Five to twenty minutes," He huffs and peers over at you. His eyes drop down to your stomach briefly before focusing back on the test.

"Are you sure you have a barn cat?"

"Yes."

"I haven't seen her yet."

"I know."

The rest of the time is filled with silence. Just waiting for the line to appear on the test. After about ten minutes, the results become clear. You tilt your head and Sukuna's lack of reaction seems concerning.

"Is that positive or negative?" You ask quietly.

"Negative," He huffs and grabs the plastic test, tossing it into a nearby garbage can. A shot in the dark.

"So I'm not pregnant?"

"No, you are," He throws the rest of the packaging away before he grabs another test. You don't argue as he puts the band back on and removes the gauze briefly enough to do another test. He has plenty of them and he can afford plenty more.

He does a total of three tests, all of which come back negative. He's getting frustrated and more upset each time he sees that stupid line crossing the wrong part of the test. He's so confident that you're pregnant, why won't these tests just confirm that?

They're not for people, so that must be why. Surly that's why. There's no way you're not bearing a child.

He realizes as he's throwing the third test away that he's growing obsessive over it. That realization allowed him to come to his conclusion on what he was going to do with you.

~

For once, Sukuna felt uneasy with the amalgamation of emotions he was feeling. He wasn't used to feeling this level of frustration and uncertainty. Yet he was ever so confident about his conclusion. 

You never asked what the plan was, because you assumed he had one. Which he did, to an extent. He's helped his cattle deliver calves, but that's far different from this situation. So he started doing some research. 

He never confided his findings with you. You were to rely completely on him not only for physical needs but for knowledge too. In your mind, he was all-knowing and all-powerful, and he intended to keep it that way. 

It was subtle at first. The soft touches to your stomach, as if he tried hard enough he'd feel something in there. Now you notice it every time he does it. May it be while you're standing at the sink and he comes up behind you, running his hand under your shirt and over your abdomen. Or at night if he chose to sleep with you, he'd be clutching the soft skin in his grasp. 

"Sukuna?" Your voice was groggy as the morning light flooded into the room. 

"Hm?" He pulled you back, holding you tighter. 

"Let me go, I feel sick," You groaned wearily, eyes fluttering open and squinting from the sunlight. Sukuna hesitated for a moment before his hands slipped away from you, allowing you to sleepily scurry to the restroom. 

He listened to you puke for a second before he got up and left the room. He left your door open as he went and freshened up for the day before sauntering down to the kitchen. He began pulling some eggs from the fridge as he heard your footsteps descending the stairs. 

You sighed in exhaustion as you sat at the table, Mori trotted up to you and nuzzled your hand, asking for attention. 

Your voice was soft as you stroked Mori's thick fur, "Can I have orange juice? I really want some right now." You laid your head on the cool wood, eyeing Sukuna in the hope that he'd grant your request. 

He peered over his shoulder at you briefly before looking back at the pan, "Get it yourself." You lit up in excitement as you rose to your feet and moved to pour yourself a glass. You couldn't help but linger near him as you sipped at the drink. The slightly bitter taste of the juice washed over your mouth and you hummed in contentment. 

You enjoyed breakfast, and you noticed that Sukuna had given you a bit more than usual today. The meal was fulfilling and you thanked him as always. 

However, as you washed the dishes, you felt a lingering hunger. You knew you were full, but there was a taste that had yet to be sated sitting at the back of your throat. 

You couldn't quite pinpoint what that hunger was for. 

"Hurry up," Sukuna snapped you from your thoughts as you finished wiping down the counters. You nodded to him and hastily moved to join him at the back door. 

"Are you going to kill her today?" You inquired as you slipped your shoes on. He stood above you with an unwavering glint in his eye of unreadable emotions. 

He took a deep breath in through his nose, his shoulders rising with his lungs, before he let it out curtly through his lips, "Maybe."

Even as you spend more and more time in the cellar these days, that smell still bothers you. That odor of death clings to you like cigarette smoke. Cloying and sticky. It assaults your senses with every step down the creaking staircase. 

The woman still screams. She still claws and kicks and bites. You scrunched your nose up as she snarled in defiance, lashing out at Sukuna as he wrangled her onto the table. 

Feral. 

Why doesn't she just give up already? Not that it'd matter. She's going to die any day now. You've long lost touch with your inner morals. You've grown oblivious to the way you turn your nose up at this victim. You consider her pathetic for trying so hard for so long. 

She's doing it wrong. 

That's what you thought as you sat there, eyeing the maggots that wriggled in the open wounds that dug into her infected leg. The flesh squirmed with the writhing pests that were feasting on her. Being eaten alive by dogs is one thing, at least the dogs can kill you relatively quickly. Being eaten alive by bugs though? That can last a lot longer than a dogfight.

The buzzing of flies irked you, though you didn't lift a hand to swat at them as they flew near your ears. It was dull, going in one ear and out the other. Those flies never showed you any gratitude when you were trapped down here, so why should they show it to her? The buzzing was echoing around the room. The flies sang their song of decay. Of death. 

Feast. Feast. Feast. 

Your focus remained on the larva. The way the women squirmed caused them to lose their footing if they crawled too close to the edge of the wound. One had chosen such a path, and it went tumbling to the ground. 

It convulsed for a moment on the stained cement before rolling onto its feet. There was no absence of food for the creature. It had been lucky and landed rather conveniently. It wiggled and squirmed as it crawled onto a piece of flesh that had been torn from the woman some days ago. The maggot wasted no time in gnawing away at the chunk of skin.

These flies thrive down here. They eat, reproduce, and die. They don't ever wonder if there's more to life because they're satisfied with fulfilling this cycle over and over and over again. 

That's what pests do, isn't it? They fulfill their needs.

Eat. Reproduce. Die.

When your gaze lifted, you met the crusted blood of her gouged-out eyes. The flesh rotted and browned. The sockets were sunken in and hollow. 

Her mouth was agape. Teeth stained an awful red and lips split from the abuse she's received from Sukuna. Screaming tore through her throat regardless of the sore ache that plagued her. Dry and itchy. Given just enough care to be kept alive, but nothing more. 

Her skin looked completely different now. Dirt and blood caked into it, torn open in so many places. Some wounds scared over, others a nasty reddish brown from the inability to heal properly. 

For a brief moment, the slightest slip of your numbed state, you wondered if this woman had a good life before this. You wondered if she had friends and family out looking for her. Searching for her as if she mattered in this world. 

Then, just like that, your moment of humanity was gone. All you could see now was a pile of flesh demeaned to nothing more than a cheap meal for the maggots that infest her skin. 

Nothing more than a meal for maggots. 

A meal for pests. 

Feast. Feast. Feast. 

Chapter Text

This was orginally a chapter explaining that I was discontinuing the fic however I have decided NOT to do that as seen in the author's note of the next chapter. However, I am leaving this in here because of the comments. I reread them whenever I am having a hard time and I would be very sad if I ever lost them.

For those curious, it's not important anymore but a few very close friends of mine left me because of this work and it destroyed me for a while. It's ok though, I am doing fine now, everything is good :D

So go ahead and skip over this! The story goes on <3

Chapter Text

That night you sat at the dinner table with an uncanny eagerness. Your leg bounced, the heel lifting just before reaching the hardwood floors to avoid making any sounds. Sukuna doesn’t like when you tap on the floors or table. 

The sizzle of the flesh searing in the pan filled the kitchen and your stomach growled in anticipation. The emanation of the meat on the stove held your attention, though your sight was blocked by Sukuna’s broad stature.

“When are you going to kill her?” You blurted the words out carelessly as you stared at the back of Sukuna’s head. His wispy pink hair looked particularly soft today. It was getting a bit long. It shifted with his neck as he peered over his shoulder to look at you. 

“You ask that question too often.”

You internally scolded yourself briefly, your heart sinking in your chest at the irritation of his voice, “She’s rotting.” You knew better than to voice your concerns, yet the thought of wasting so much…

“I’m aware,” Sukuna looked forward. You chewed on your lip, your leg bounced faster. The fabric of your pants shifted with your movements, but the sound of it was drowned out by the frying pan. 

Sukuna’s intent was beyond you. You knew better. Don’t question him. Yet your curiosity swells with each passing day. Sukuna could just tell you, but he would much prefer to keep you in the dark. It’s a matter of control, of course, there’s no denying it. However, he also finds amusement in the way you hang to his words. He finds amusement at how far you’ve fallen. 

He placed your plate in front of you and took his usual spot. You gripped the fork in between your fingers tightly as you waited for him to begin eating. Your palms grew sweaty and your gaze was desperate. Sukuna’s red eyes met yours but he didn’t move. His arms remained crossed, resting on the table. Your eyes flicked down to his plate before returning to meet his stare. 

Ever so slowly, a smile etched across his lips. His toothy grin made your skin feel cold. He leaned forward slowly, the table creaking from the added pressure. 

“You look hungry.”

You swallowed thickly and nodded in response. You were hungry. That hunger was so close to being sated. You just have to wait for permission. Permission that Sukuna is withholding from you. 

Sukuna watched you for a moment longer before leaning back into his seat, picking up his fork, and collecting a piece of meat. He lifted it and held your gaze as he slowly consumed it. You took the cue and began to dig into your own plate. 

Sated at last. That itching feeling for specific flavors, for specific textures, specific smells. 

Had it not been for the months of tenuous torture and manipulation, you’d have deciphered the feeling as pregnancy cravings. Except it never even occurred to you. You don’t think about the knowledge you have accumulated through your life. All those classes you had spent hours into the night studying for, none of those mattered anymore. The little strings of advice your parents gave you were gone. 

It was as if you only started existing once you were locked in that cellar. That’s where your life began. That’s all you remember. 

Surly if you tried hard enough, it could come back to you. Yet why would you need to remember? Sukuna sure as hell won’t ask you to think about your time in college or what your favorite childhood memory is. He’s never going to ask about your friends either, why would he? He doesn’t care about your past, so neither should you. 

The world doesn’t exist beyond the tangled treeline. There is only the farm. 

~

“It’s been nearly ten months with no sign of her, not even her car.”

“Stop talking like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like it’s over. She’s out there. I can feel it.”

“I know Yuji,” Megumi sighed, sinking into the run-down diner booth. “It’s not over… but… she could be anywhere. The police haven’t been any help either.”

Yuji furrowed his brows in frustration and clutched his phone tightly, “If the police don’t help her then we will.”

Megumi let out a curt breath through his nose as he wrapped his hands around his coffee cup, “If the police can’t find her, how are we expected to?”

“Let’s just go where she went!” Nobara huffed.

Yuji dropped his phone down onto the table and threw his hands in the air, “I’ve been saying this, but we know where she was heading, why not go there and look for her ourselves?”

“Yuji,” Megumi had to restrain himself from rolling her eyes at him. He understands Yuji and Nobara’s frustration and worry, he’s trying not to diminish their hopes but he’s also trying to be more realistic, “The place she was going was hundreds of miles away from here. That’s a lot of ground to cover. There are so many different routes she could’ve taken.”

They had reported you missing to the police three days after Yuji’s last phone call with you. They were nervous when you never told them you had arrived. They spent hours trying to contact you, and after a while of their calls going straight to voicemail, they ran to the station. 

Yuji pouted and slouched back, his gaze locked on his cell phone as if you might reach out to him any minute. 

The past couple of weeks have felt a little easier, the worse of the grief over. Their hearts still ache horribly, but the trio have been actually leaving their homes more often lately. Hence the three of them in a cozy little diner with greasy comfort food strewn across the sticky table. 

Yuji got a text and he jumped at it, yet it wasn’t from you. His excitement left him quickly. Megumi sipped his coffee slowly, the gears turning in his mind. 

It’s been hard. It hasn’t been terribly long considering other missing person’s cases but the idea that you may just become another cold case horrifies the trio. They refuse to let it happen but at the same time, there’s only so much they can do. 

It’s hard to think logically when you’re struck with so much grief. 

“We never did get any photos from her,” He murmured softly. 

Nobara crossed her arms and averted her gaze out the window, “Yeah, and she never even texted me back.” There was an obvious tinge of pain in her words. She pursed her lips and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. “I miss her.”

“I remember telling her not to text you while she was driving,” Yuji sighed and picked at his food, his appetite seemed to have disappeared. 

Nobara furrowed her brows, “We know she never made it to the campgrounds. The rangers said she never checked in.” She ran over this a million times in her head, ever since they first reported you missing. “But she had been driving for so long, surely she was close.”

Yuji nodded in agreement, “I’m telling you, let’s drive out there.”

Nobara slammed her hand on the table, “I can’t take it. I’m going to look for her.”

Yuji fiercely agreed, “Me too.”

“It’s a long drive,” Megumi set his coffee cup on the table.

“We’re going with or without you,” Nobara tilted her head up as she spoke. “You can’t seriously just be ok with sitting here and doing nothing.”

Megumi shook his head, “Of course not, but you can’t just get in the car and start driving. I’ll come too, but we have to do some planning first.”

Yuji looked to Nobara and placed his hand on Megumi’s shoulder, “We’ll find her.”

Nobara hummed, the smallest smile tugging at the corner of her lips, “Let’s go find our girl.”

~

The warm sun felt nice on your skin as you carried a bucket of feed to the chickens. There was a slight breeze lifting your hair as you latched the gate and stepped in. The chickens clucked at your feet, excited to be getting breakfast. 

The chickens hadn’t been particularly used to being handled, though you changed that over time. You can pet them once or twice now before they slip away from you but they don’t run in a hurry from you. In fact, they often follow you from one end of the pen to the other when you walk by them. 

You were cautious where you stepped as the poultry crowded around you. They clucked eagerly and rushed to the feeding trough as you poured the corn pellets out. They scurried around each other trying to get better access, a few pecking others to shoo them away and take their spot. 

You stood over them with a smile biting at your lips before reaching down and stroking the back of a hen. She clucked but didn’t stop eating, allowing you to repeat the action. 

You pet a few others before walking out of the pen, taking care to latch it shut behind you. Sukuna wasn’t far from you, caring for the pigs. You like to stop and gawk at him when he works. Something about the way he moves just snares you like a moth to a flame. 

You returned the feed bucket to its rightful place before joining Sukuna by the pigs. You leaned on the fence with crossed arms. Pigs are surprisingly friendly animals. Well, most of them. There are two in particular that bite. You learned that the hard way and Sukuna found your crying too amusing to actually care and help you. However, he had ordered you to clean and bandage yourself. Wouldn’t want you getting an infection or anything. 

“I don’t think you have a barn cat,” You peered at the hogs as they snorted and sniffled around Sukuna’s feet. 

“I think you’re blind.”

You scrunched your nose up but you didn’t refute him, “Yeah.” Sukuna lifted the shovel filled with manure and dropped it into the wheelbarrow. You pursed your lips, “Your hair is getting long.”

“I know.”

Mori trotted up to you and dropped his ball at your feet, which you gleefully threw for him, “Mine is too.”

Sukuna stood up straight and bore his gaze into you, impudent and unforgiving, “Go inside.” Your heart sank, scared you had done something wrong. You swallowed thickly, a lump at the back of your throat making it hard. Of course, you didn’t contest him, you obeyed and walked off toward the house. You glanced back at the barn, just in case the cat was watching your shameful walk. 

There was nothing, there’s never been anything. You knew better than to doubt Sukuna but surely the cat would have come out by now. 

Once inside, you sat at the kitchen table. Your hands resting in your lap and your back up straight, like a school girl who had been beaten by the ruler one too many times. You sat, unmoving, for thirty minutes. You had learned after a while how to just sit with your thoughts. You had spent so much time being forced to do it, now it comes to you so naturally. 

Sukuna didn’t say anything as he came into the kitchen and opened a drawer. He pulled a pair of scissors out and turned to you. 

“On the porch.” You followed him out and he gestured to the cellar, “Grab the stool.”

You nodded and pulled the heavy metal doors open before descending the stairs. You don’t remember the cellar being this loud when you were in here. There were more flies. A constant inescapable buzzing rang through the small room. The air was rotten and stale, it got caught in your throat, and it stung your eyes. Death seeped into your lungs even as you attempted to hold your breath. 

From how awful it was, you’d assume the woman to be dead. 

However, when you flicked your gaze to her corner, you were astounded to find her sitting upright against the wall. You watched for a moment, her chest lifted with her raspy breaths. Your hands hovered by the stool. You knew better than to linger here.

Yet you found your feet ever so slowly carrying you over to the woman. Could she speak at all? Could she hear? Can she even feel at this point? 

You neared her body, soft silent steps. Your eyes were unblinking. The swarm of flies grew thicker. You could see the maggots wriggling in her flesh, consuming her. Eating her alive. It clicked for you, that Sukuna had changed his mind. He wasn’t going to eat this woman. He was just having fun with her. He had no intent of carving her up. 

With Airi’s early death, and your lack of one, Sukuna hadn’t gotten any good entertainment in quite a while. He hadn’t gotten his fill of agony and suffering. Sure he’s had his fun with you, but you’re different. You’ve become less of a toy and more of a tool. A tool to fulfill a different desire.

You crouched down, tilting your head slightly to let the dull light hit her face. Her sunken eyesockets were moldy, decayed, and spoiled. 

Her whole being was. 

Your voice was low as you leaned your head forward ever so slightly, “The bugs won’t have anything left to eat soon and only then will you be allowed to die.” She had no reaction, the only movement came from her unsteady breathing. “You’re food for maggots. The pigs won’t even touch you now.”

When people are pushed to the extremes, their true colors will show. Raw and real. Emotions only harbored within the deepest parts of their mind are ripped forth and surfaced for all to see. 

Egotism. Contempt. Resentment. 

Sukuna picked you. He’s let all these other people rot and be torn apart. Yet he picked you . In the beginning, you wished he hadn’t, you wished for him to get bored with you and free you from his wrath. But now?

Now you won’t let these others ever forget that they weren’t special enough. They didn’t make the cut. They are unworthy of the King’s affinity. You won’t let them forget that.

The woman stirred, trying to sit up straighter. Your heart jumped, beating so loud in your ears that you couldn’t hear your steps as you scurried away. You snatched the stool and ran up the steps, not wasting a second more to shut the doors. 

Sukuna quirked his brow at your hastiness to get out of the cellar considering your initial delay. Though he didn’t pay much mind to it as he beckoned you over. 

You set up the stool and sat as he instructed. You rested your hands in your lap and stayed still as his hands ran through your hair. The snip of the scissors prickled in your ears. 

He was trimming your hair. 

Memento and Mori sat in the grass, enjoying the summer sun. You indulge in the warmth quite often. You liked laying in the grass with the dogs, you found it relaxing. As well as endearing considering the dogs also enjoy relaxing with you. 

You weren’t sure how short Sukuna was cutting your hair but you were rather fond of the activity. Anytime spent with Sukuna was good time. Lately, you’ve been left alone much more often and it causes this sickly anxiety to rattle around your head. 

“Do we have anything sweet to eat?”

“No.” Pregnancy carvings. Sukuna will take care of that soon. 

You pursed your lips and glanced down at the dogs, “Are you going to get another person soon?”

“Possibly,” He snipped a few pieces off the ends of your hair. “We’re not going to eat the one in the cellar.” You had figured that out already, yet it felt as if you were hearing the news for the first time. You doubt any thoughts you have, but Sukuna’s words are absolute. There’s no doubt when he says it. 

“Why did you let it go to waste?”

“I didn’t,” Sukuna retorted and pulled a little harder on your hair, a warning. “It served its purpose, just like you serve yours.” You couldn’t help the smile that bit at the corners of your lips. Your purpose seemed more grand. 

“Yes sir,” You hummed with a bit too much enthusiasm. You remained silent while he finished up. You expected that to be the end, yet you were surprised when Sukuna handed you the scissors and took your spot on the stool. 

“Make it even,” He muttered before looking forward. Even just sitting on the stool, Sukuna’s tall. You held your breath as you combed through his hair and loosely measured with your fingers. You snipped a small piece off. You watched it fall to the ground, joining the pile of your hair that had been cut off. 

You murmured softly as you let out the breath you were holding, “I like this.” Sukuna hummed in response but remained still. You continued on and made sure to make it as even as possible. You found bliss in the serenity of the moment. 

A soft summer breeze, two loyal dogs lounging at your feet, and Sukuna sitting so stoically before you. The fact that he’d allow you to do such a thing for him has your heart melting. You cherish his presence more than anything, and this only reinforces your need to be closer to him. 

You found yourself subconsciously biting your lip as you focused dutifully on the task at hand. You wouldn’t want to mess up something so simple. You had grown greedy as well, running your hands through his soft hair as much as you pleased. 

You were hesitant as you spoke again, “All done.” You didn’t really want to be done but you knew Sukuna’s time was precious and you shouldn’t waste any of it. 

He stood and you stepped back, “I have something important for you to do.”

“Yes?”

“Sterilize the kitchen table.”

You furrowed your brows for a moment before nodding, “Okay.” You left for the house, unsure of what was to come. 

Sukuna sauntered down into the cellar. He ran his hand through his hair as he lumbered down the stairs. He liked the length it was at, but there was no feeling of pride or gratefulness. You did what he told you, end of story. 

He glanced at the woman chained to the wall. The flies were annoying. Buzzing and biting relentlessly as if the living corpse on the ground wasn’t enough for them. The smell never seemed to bother Sukuna. He indulged the rotten odor of death just as he indulged every other aspect of this little hobby. 

He stood for a moment, watching the labored breaths of his victim. He needs to wait a while until he takes another. He hasn’t had this one terribly long. Taking Airi so soon after taking you was risky. He’d never take locals, only a fool would do that. He knows how to dispose of the vehicles, of the evidence. He knows what he’s doing, and the best ways to do it. 

Those stupid cravings of yours will disappear soon. Today, they’ll disappear today. It’ll take you a minute to clean the table as he’s requested, he can do some maintenance down here in the meantime. 

He makes no effort to hide his stride as he moves over to the woman. Her head perked up and a gurgled sound escaped her throat. He lifted her limp arms and undid the cuffs. She had no fight remaining, no will to push back. 

Sukuna dragged the body across the floor. Small chunks of rotten flesh and blood from open wounds trailed behind the body. With constant biting maggots, her wounds would never heal. Fresh blood sputtered from her lips as she groaned in agony. 

The meathooks on the wall had laid untouched for so long, but that would change. Sukuna’s strength was unparalleled, and the woman was nothing more than a bag of bones at this point. With one swift heave, he lifted her body and impaled her shoulder onto the rusty hook. 

She cried out, blood dribbling from her mouth, coughing and gagging from the unyielding pain. She meekly lifted her hands and grasped the hook, crying yet not a single tear able to fall. 

He stepped back and admired his work for a moment before turning to his workbench. He looked down at his hands, they were stained red. Filthy. He flexed his fingers before grabbing a towel and it wiping away. 

You scrubbed at the wooden table with all your might, ensuring it was cleaner than it had ever been. You put some elbow grease into it and you were finishing up as Sukuna came back inside. Carrying a few unidentifiable objects in his hands. 

He glanced at the table briefly, “You missed a spot.” Then he proceeded to walk upstairs. You quickly snapped your eyes over the table looking for any blemishes but you couldn’t find them. So you just continued scrubbing. 

Sukuna has never cut open a person with the intent for them to live afterward. He’s spent a lot of time preparing, more than he thought he would. Gathering supplies for something like this was difficult as well. 

The only thing he’s ever ordered online is livestock supplies. Anything he must order, he has delivered to the post office, not his own home. He found substitutes that are used on livestock and that wouldn’t look suspicious under his name. Of course, since these items were meant for animals like pigs and cows, there was a chance they could do more bad than good. 

He’s confident he can manage. 

He begins bringing boxes into the kitchen as you clean. You eye them, trying to gauge what’s in them. Sukuna starts to set things out on the counter, revealing the items. Your movements slow down as you stare at the array of medicine bottles, needles, and knives. 

You find your mouth becoming dry and it gets hard to swallow. 

Basic surgical items take up most of the counter space: scissors, retractors, and forceps. Sukuna actually had most of these things beforehand. He took care of sterilizing them. The medicine bottles were new though. You struggled to make out the words on the labels, but there was very clearly a cow on the logo of the brand. 

You wanted to ask what was going on, but you knew better. 

At this point, you had been washing the same small spot on the table while staring at the supplies. Sukuna finished organizing his equipment and then turned to you. 

“Shirt off, lay on the table.”

You clutched the wash rag with a death grip. Your suspicions have now been confirmed, he’s going to use those things on you . 

Yet with slow movements you set the wash rag aside and slipped your shirt off, resting it over the back of a chair. Sukuna’s eyes remained locked with yours, even as you carefully climbed onto the table, laying on your back. 

The wood was cold against your skin, goosebumps crawled over you and you shivered. You tilted your head so you could watch what Sukuna was doing. He picked up a small glass bottle and a needle, sticking the needle through the top to draw out the liquid. 

You rested your hands at your side, feeling the smooth grain of the wood beneath your fingertips. Your chest rose and fell with your heavy breaths. Sukuna turned and walked over to the table. He put a tourniquet onto your arm and proceeded to find your vein. 

You couldn’t help the subtle flinch as he stuck the needle in. 

“Starting counting.”

You felt a cool sensation wash over your arm, then spread to the rest of your side, “1, 2, 3…” You murmured softly. Sukuna removed the tourniquet and stepped back to watch and listen. As you continued counting you found the world to be getting dull and fuzzy. Your head was drifting away and suddenly you weren’t sure if you were still counting. “9… 10…11-” You slurred the last number before you slipped into an unconscious state. 

~

A sharp pain hovered in your abdominal area. You blinked your eyes open, squinting to adjust to the light of dusk that leaked through your window. Your limbs were stiff and heavy. Your eyes struggled to focus as you tried to move. Even with a small amount of shifting around, a spike of pain shot through your abdomen. 

You winced and cried out, tilting your head back into the pillow. You were able to recognize the room as being your own. Tears stung your eyes as you slowly lifted your head. You pulled the blanket away, wincing again, and lifted the shirt that you definitely don’t remember putting on. 

There was an ice-cold cloth covering your abdomen, and when you lifted that you were horrified to find a lengthy row of stitches across your skin. You set the cloth back down, finding subtle relief in the coolness of it, as well as pulling the shirt back down. 

You dropped your hands back to your side and sniffled, trying to stop yourself from crying. You haven’t cried in such a long time. This wasn’t exactly tears from fear, they were tears of pain. Excruciating pain. 

Suddenly, you felt something wet touch your hand. You flinched and looked over to see Memento sniffing your hand. You don’t remember Memento being allowed in the house, but you didn’t hesitate to gently pet his head as you lay there. It was then you noticed the door was wide open, and the hallway light was on. 

Memento’s white fur was so clean for the amount of time he spent outside rolling around. He rested his head on the bed and peered at you with those puppy eyes. The sight was cute, but it didn’t do much to distract you from the sharp pain. 

You wanted to know where Sukuna was. You wanted to know what he did to you. 

Your wish would soon be granted, as a few minutes later you heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Memento pulled his head away with perky ears, trotting over to the hall to see who was coming. 

Sukuna appeared in the doorway, slightly alarmed you’re awake so soon. 

“What-” Your voice was raspy, your throat dry and itchy causing you to cough, “What did you do?” Your tone was low and scratchy. 

Sukuna began walking toward you, “Fixed you.” He spoke as if he was talking about fixing a squeaky door hinge. He stood next to the bed and lifted the cool cloth to check on the stitches. He’s had to do them on cattle before but never people. He thinks he did a pretty good job nonetheless. 

“Fixed me?” 

He set the cloth down and flicked his gaze to meet yours, “You’re not pregnant anymore, nor will you ever be.” The look in his eyes was dull, uncaring. “Don’t move,” He ordered before leaving the room. When he returned, he had a glass of water and a pill bottle in hand. This time Mori followed him in, so both dogs were in the room. 

Sukuna helped you to sit up a little bit more, you protested from the pain but he wasn’t having it. Yet he wasn’t rough with you, not wanting to break the stitches or anything. He had you take a couple of pills and drink the water alongside them. 

There’s no light way to say it, Sukuna mutilated your reproductive organs. He did it in such a way that there’s no chance you could ever have kids, yet you’re not going to die from it. Recovery might take a while, but he’s ok with that. You’ll just stay here all day, every day, for a couple of weeks. 

He fiddled with the idea of having a kid, but there was no real use for one. Plus if it grew up anything like him, then he might have his own ‘chainsaw accident’ like his father did.

“It hurts,” You muttered, taking a deep breath and pinching your brows together. 

“I know,” Sukuna hummed. “You’ll be fine.” It would’ve been reassuring to hear that from anyone else, but the way Sukuna said it was so condescending. He left again, but the dogs stayed. You let out a curt breath, upset obviously. Who wouldn’t be upset after having a non-consensual surgery done to them?

At the back of your mind, you felt guilty for being upset at Sukuna, after all he’s done for you. Surely he has a good reason for doing this to you, and you’re just too stupid to understand. Yeah, that must be it. 

You peered over at the pill bottle he left on the nightstand. You were a bit relieved to see no livestock imagery on the label. It felt much safer that way, and it was. 

You shut your eyes, expecting to be alone for a little bit, but yet again Sukuna returned. This time he brought one of the dining room chairs with him. You watched him keenly as he set it beside you and took his spot. 

“How long do I have to lay here?”

“A couple of weeks.”

You pursed your lips in disappointment, “That’s so long.” As if you didn’t spend months chained to the same spot in a disgusting cellar. 

“You’ll get over it,” Sukuna slouched back in the chair, legs spread wide and hands resting in his lap. There was a moment of silence where the two of you just watched each other. You’re never uncomfortable in silence with him, but you do find solace in actually speaking to each other. 

“When I can walk will you show me the barn cat?”

“No, you have to find her yourself.”

“What if I can’t find her? I think she’s avoiding me, I haven’t seen her once.”

“You’re impatient.”

You sighed and sank into the pillows behind you, “I know.” You chewed on your lip for a second, “When can I eat?”

“Give it a few hours.”

“Give what a few hours?”

“Your body. If you eat now you’ll puke,” Sukuna scoffed, making you feel foolish for even asking. He just doesn’t want to clean it up if you can’t keep your food down after all the chemicals he pumped into you. 

“Not even some bread?” You fidgeted with your fingers and tilted your head to look at him better. Those drugs he used on you have made you especially hungry. You’re at least grateful that your mind isn’t as groggy and everything is clear. 

“Your pain meds will kick in soon, if you’re still hungry then, I’ll give you something,” Sukuna’s annoyed expression returned to apathy. 

“I like when you make fresh bread,” You looked to the ceiling. Your eyes started to feel a bit heavy but you fought to keep them open. “Why is Memento inside?”

“He felt like coming inside,” Sukuna answered mindlessly. He was just waiting for the pain meds to kick in all the way so you fall asleep. He has heavy meds that’ll have you passed out for hours and lighter ones that’ll ease the pain but won’t make you sleepy. He has a feeling he won’t be using the light ones too often. 

“I’m tired.”

“I know.”

You fell asleep shortly after some more mindless babbling. Sukuna took that as his cue that he could leave. He pulled the blanket over you since you had pushed it off when you woke up. Then he proceeded to leave the room. His dogs followed in pursuit as he made his way downstairs into the kitchen. 

He had already cleaned up the equipment and put everything away, now was just a matter of dinner. He decided to make a stew, it’s been a while since he’s made one. 

As he stood there chopping the vegetables and meat, he realized he may have to run back into town within the next couple of days and he wasn’t looking forward to it. The townspeople are too chatty. 

He doesn’t like people asking questions.

Chapter Text

“Are we there yet?”

“Yuji for the hundredth time, no, we are not,” Nobara sighed, looking down at her phone and changing the song. 

Megumi sat in the driver’s seat, both hands on the wheel, “We’ll have to get a hotel for tonight, it’s getting late and we’ve been up for quite a while.”

Nobara sat up straight in the passenger seat, “You’re right, I’ll see where the closet one is.”

Yuji perked up from the backseat, “When will we reach-”

“Yuji,” Megumi interrupted, “I already told you, if we continue to spend as much time as we are searching these routes then it’s going to take us a few days longer to reach the park.”

“Right,” Yuji cleared his throat. “Can we get food?”

“I agree,” Nobara nodded, “I found a hotel that looks close to some restaurants. We can go there for tonight.” Megumi glanced at Yuji through the rearview mirror. Yuji was already spacing out again. He’s been doing that a lot on this road trip. 

Megumi spoke in a softer tone, “Three days Yuji. With this pace, we’ll reach the park in three days.”

Yuji locked eyes with Megumi in the mirror and a smile etched across his lips, “Thanks Fushiguro.”

~

“Good morning,” You hummed softly as you whisked eggs over the counter. Sukuna dragged his feet to the kitchen table, sitting with a heavy thud. He reached for the mug of coffee you had poured for him, sipping it casually as he stared at you. 

His eyes were locked on the permanent scars embedded into your skin. Such an idealistic image it was. You standing there in all your beauty, cooking breakfast for him with that little smile. 

Every time he lays his eyes on you, he feels a sense of pride. Not pride in you, but himself. For molding you, making you the person you are now. He worked so hard, and it feels like it’s finally paying off. No worries of you falling out of line. Not with the way you’re staring at him. 

At his silence, you continued speaking in a quiet voice, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” You were of course referring to the informal surgery. It had been long enough that the operation was nothing more than an additional set of scars. Just another memory along with the rest etched into your soul. 

Sukuna grunted in acknowledgment as he set the mug on the table, the ceramic tapped the wood gently, “Good. I have things for you to do.” His hand rested beside his drink, fingers tracing the grain of the table. “You’ve been slacking.”

As if he didn’t cut you open and multitate your organs. Saying someone has no morals isn’t accurate, everyone has their own morals. It’s more that his morals align only to himself as he acts by his own volition. He is the epitome of putting yourself first. 

Plus that girl in the cellar finally died. She just couldn’t take it anymore. He is going to dispose of the corpse today.

“My apologies,” You turned to the stove, your back to Sukuna as you continued cooking. Of course, you felt guilty, but you only told yourself you’d rectify this by working extra hard to complete your chores. Plus you were excited to get outside and play with Memento and Mori again. The dogs had often been sitting with you while you were recovering, Mori especially. 

By the time you finished breakfast with Sukuna, the sun was up and warming the land. You fell back into your normal routine of feeding the chickens and cattle, always keeping an eye out for the supposed barn cat. 

In the back of your mind, you doubted that the cat was real. You think Sukuna’s just been messing with you. 

You fed the chickens, stopping to pet them when they’d let you. Mori lay just outside the fence, watching with keen eyes. His ear twitched slightly as the cows mooed in the background. The sun felt nice on your skin, refreshing. 

You had spent the last couple weeks on bed rest, so feeling the warmth of the outdoors, the slight breeze that brushed your hair aside, it was relaxing. As you moved to exit the chicken pen you paused with your hand on the cold metal of the gate latch.

You have quite the appreciation of the outdoors after everything you’ve been through. You could never take this for granted. Not after being deprived of it for so long. 

Mori’s tail flopped against the ground as you stepped out of the pen. He lazily stood, happy to follow you to your next stop. On your way to the barn, you decided to stop by Sukuna who was fixing a few loose boards on the cattle’s fence. 

The hammer struck the nails with the utmost precision. Years of maintenance have honed his constructive skills rather well, you’d think it was natural for him to be so handy but in reality,y it was a task that fell onto him. Not that has ever minded tending to this many animals.

You stood a few feet further down the fence, reaching your arm through the boards to scratch a heifer's ear. The cow tilted its head toward you as you ruffled the dusty brown fur. Sukuna eyed you for a moment before continuing to fix the new board to the fence.

With a gruff voice, he spoke, “Throw some hay to the cattle. There’s a bale ready in the barn.” He knew you liked to stop and dot upon the critters but right now he wanted you to work. 

You nodded in affirmation before waltzing off, Mori right on your heels. It was easy to find the bale of hay that Sukuna pulled out for you, and while it was only a fifty-pound bale, you struggled to move it. Thus you tend to utilize the wagon to move them around. Except this time you couldn’t find said wagon. The barn can be rather dark as the overhead lights are dim and the windows are filthy, not allowing the most light in.

Scanning the barn didn’t help either as it was nowhere in sight. You huffed, putting your hands on your hips before walking around to get a closer look. You lifted up random tarps and peeked behind various boxes and crates, but still no luck. 

You decided to just go ask Sukuna, though when you turned to walk to the open door, you stopped. The bright sun outside created a glowing brightness, but in the middle of it, sitting idly on the ground was a cat. 

Its orange fur was pristine and clean, not a spec of dirt. Her ears were pointed straight up, angled in your direction. Her large round eyes bore into yours so deeply that you felt as if you couldn’t move. Her whiskers moved ever so slightly as she let out a curt little breath. The cat’s tail swayed from side to side as she slowly blinked. 

A smile crept across your face and you spoke in a gentle voice, “Hello little lady.”

The cat didn’t make any sound nor did she get up to move. Instead, she just continued to stare. You had always wanted a cat though you can’t really remember why you never got one. 

Hell, you barely think about your past life at all. In fact, when was the last time you did actually think about it? About your friends and your apartment and all your little plants? At this point did you even remember your friend's faces? Maybe if you tried you could but the thought would never cross your mind to do so. 

Nothing exists past that tree line. 

A larger shadow towered over the cat as Sukuna stepped into the doorway. The cat briefly peered up at him before sauntering off and out of sight. You watched the cat until she disappeared, and a feeling of frustration washed over you. You had wanted to pet her or something but Sukuna-

Don’t blame him. You can’t find it in yourself to blame him. 

He crossed his arms as he leaned against the frame, “Procrastinating are we?”

You sheepishly gestured in the direction the cat went, “I didn’t believe you.” He stared at you with indifference. A moment of silence sat between the two of you. His eyes narrowed slightly but it was hardly noticeable. 

He scoffed, pushing off from the doorway to leave, “Feed the cows,” He called as he walked away. 

You pinched your lips into a flat line, glancing down at Mori, “Come on, let’s feed them.” You murmured as you turned to search for the wagon once more.

~

“We’re looking for a girl. You seen her?” Nobara held the photo up in the cashier's face, her lips pursed as her other hand rested on her hip. 

The cashier adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth and scrunching his brows up, “Nah, can’t say I have.” He cleared his throat and leaned back, “Lots ‘o people go missing around here. The trails in the park tend to get real hard to follow.”

“The camping ground?” Yuji tilted his head. Nobara placed a case of beers and some snacks on the counter. She was hungry and a drink sounded nice right about now. 

“Yeah, the national park. Lots of pretty views and miles of trails. It’s about an hour north. You keep driving and you’ll find it.”

An hour's drive to the campgrounds from this little town. That’s all. You really were close. Dreadfully close. 

Megumi tilted his head up in curiosity, “Are there any other stops before the park?”

The cashier shook his head, “Notta. If you need firewood or gas you have to stop here. No other place to get supplies past it.” He could see the young adults looked peeved about this information. He ran his tongue over his teeth in thought, an old habit. “You got extra pictures of the girl? This is the only general store in town, everyone comes through here. I’ll put the picture on the bulletin board for you.” He loosely gestured to a corkboard on the wall near the front doors. Various pictures of lost dogs or advertisements for fresh chicken eggs were posted. Nobara pouted, her bottom lip sticking out in annoyance as she sauntered over to the board to look at it closer, Yuji was right behind her. 

Megumi nodded to the man, “We will thanks. Are there any hotels around here by chance?”

The cashier smiled warmly, “Yeah, a motel on 6th Avenue, need a map?” Megumi agreed and the old man grabbed a folded brochure that contained a pretty big map of the area. He marked it up, pointing out where they were now and where a few places of interest might be. 

Nobara huffed as she plucked a tack out, causing a flyer for the campgrounds to fall to the floor, “If this town is the last stop then we should ask around here more.” She pinned the picture to the corkboard and pulled a pen from her pocket to write on the white border.

Yuji nodded with a bit of a blank look as he stared at your picture, “Yeah, for sure.”

The bell of the front door rang, and heavy mudded boots sauntered over the creaking wood floor. Yuji and Nobara glanced over as the person walked in. Yuji’s eyes locked with red and Yuji paused for a moment. With half-lidded eyes, the man’s gaze was drawn down from his height, and he held an intense look.  

Nobara watched Sukuna walk with a purposeful stride, a filthy shirt stained in motor oil and grime, boots leaving a trail of dirt behind him as well.

Sukuna eyed the kids for a moment, and it was immediately clear to him that they were not from around here. From their city-slicker clothes to the very way they stood, everything screamed tourists. He hates tourists. 

Without a second thought, he disappeared to the back of the store, though the top of his head could be seen over the short shelves. 

Yuji leaned over and whispered to Nobara, “His hair looks like mine.”

Nobara scoffed and turned to walk back over to Megumi as she spoke to Yuji, “Maybe he’s like your long-lost uncle or something.”

Yuji cringed, “I hope not, he looked gross.” 

The cashier scanned the items and looked at Nobara as she approached, “Got an ID?” Nobara nodded and slid her ID over the counter.

Megumi looked up hearing Nobara and Yuji walk back over, “We’ve got a few other places we can put up pictures. And there’s a motel nearby.”

Nobara ran her hand through her hair before grabbing the items, “Any place to eat? I’m starving. And I mean real food, not beer and chips.” 

The cashier nodded, “I marked a good diner there on the map. Corner Kitchen, it’s just down the road.” The old man smiled again, yellowed teeth showing, “They get everything local. Just ask Sukuna here.” He loosely gestured with his hand, causing the trio to turn around. 

Sukuna stood behind them, in line, holding a bottle of whiskey and a few small food items. He looked annoyed by the wait. He had chores to attend to, and things to do. He didn’t want to get caught up in conversation. 

Nobara had a hint of disgust as she stared at his grimy appearance, “That so.” Sukuna narrowed his eyes ever so slightly and curtly nodded. 

The cashier perked up, “Oh! Sukuna, you’re right on the outskirts of the park, maybe you’ve seen this girl?”

Sukuna scoffed, his voice low and aggravated, “Another missing tourist? They ought to stay on the path, then maybe so many wouldn’t be missing.”

Nobara prickled at his words and pointed to your picture on the bulletin board, “Just answer the question old man.” Sukuna rolled his eyes as he turned his head to look. For a moment, he didn’t recognize you. That picture is about a year old at this point. 

You looked so different.

Sukuna fought every bone in his body not to smirk, not to chuckle, or show any emotion. He wanted to laugh. 

Your friends actually came looking for you. He’s never seen that before. They actually think they can find you, and save you. How pathetic. Why would anyone keep looking after so much time has passed? Don’t they understand it’s pointless? You’re gone. Lost at sea and never to return to shore. 

They’re awfully close though. 

Sukuna tilted his head at the thought, before quickly realizing he needed to say something. He scoffed, “She looks like all the other tourists who come through here. No, I haven’t seen her.” He looked back to find Nobara staring daggers into him. 

Yuji and Megumi shared a quick look before Megumi spoke up, “Thanks, come on guys.” Megumi ushered them to the side. Nobara quickly looked over to Megumi to whisper something to him.

The cashier chuckled awkwardly, “Too many poor folks get lost in the woods these days.” Sukuna watched the trio walk out of the store, Nobara shooting him one last deathly glare before the door shut behind her. 

After a beat of silence, he looked back to the cashier, “Yeah.” He curtly spoke, “Those kids staying in town?”

The cashier nodded, “Mhm, but they’ll be out by tomorrow I’m sure. Kids these days, are always on the move.” He nervously laughed as he handed Sukuna his change. He suddenly realized he forgot to give Nobara her ID back. He picked the the card and began to step around the counter, “Oh shucks, her ID.”

“I’ll get it to her,” Sukuna snatched the card from the clerk and huffed as he walked toward the door. The cashier sputtered a thank you as Sukuna left. 

The trio were sitting in their car, looking over the map and making a plan of action as Sukuna climbed into his truck. He had no intention of returning the ID to the punk-ass tourist. He slid the card into his back pocket and his receipt into the other. Sukuna made eye contact with the trio one last time before backing out and driving away. 

~

“You’re home,” You murmured with a small smile as Sukuna walked through the door. He nodded, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a plastic bag in the other. You sauntered over to him, picking a piece of lint off his shirt. There was a basket of half-folded clothes on the couch and some food that you pulled out for dinner was sitting on the counter. 

The minute his eyes scanned over your face, all he could see was the missing poster those kids threw up at the store. You looked like an entirely different person, it was insane. It made a wicked smirk cross his lips. 

“I am,” He nodded and stepped past you to walk into the kitchen. He set the bottle of whiskey on the counter next to the food before turning back to you, eyes flicking over your scars. He stepped over to you, sliding a hand onto your waist and pulling you closer. You stared up at him with awe in your eyes as he lifted a hand and traced his finger over the marks. 

You spoke in a soft murmur, a whisper between just you and him, “You were gone for a while.”

He tilted his finger and let his nail dig into your skin, pressing onto the scar, “Got caught up at the store.” He huffed, and that missing poster lingered in his mind. He’s improved you, so much. The feeling, knowing that he’s the one who has changed you like this, it’s god-like. 

He wouldn’t consider himself anything less, and you’re merely proof of his standing. You’re a reminder to him that, frankly, he can do whatever the hell he wants. 

“Get the laundry done before dinner,” He muttered as he pulled away, hand slipping from your cheek as he sauntered upstairs. You nodded happily, moving with a skip in your step as you went to finish your chores. 

Sukuna changed, throwing his dirty jeans and shirt into the hamper without a second thought. As well as putting his phone and wallet into their usual spots in his bedside drawer. His mind was wandering too far for him to keep track of. Downstairs, you finished folding that load of laundry, organizing the piles neatly into the basket. 

When Sukuna returned in a more comfy sweatpants and clean tee-shirt he went to the table first. He surveyed the food you pulled out and teetered his head from side to side. 

“I’ll cook tonight,” He announced, not bothering to look at you as he began to prepare the meat. 

You picked up the basket and walked past him to the stairs, “Alrighty.” You reached the bedroom and put away the folded clothes. As you turned to leave, you looked at the growing pile of dirty clothes in the hamper. You pursed your lips, contemplating if you should wash those now, or later. 

You shrugged, knowing if you start the washer now they’ll be finished shortly after dinner and you can move them to the dryer. You dumped the dirty basket of clothes into the empty basket you had brought up then moved back downstairs. 

Sukuna spoke as you walked past him, “Chop up the vegetables when you’re done with that.” 

“Yes sir,” You smiled and walked into the laundry room. You opened the old washing machine and began to load the clothes into it, taking care to empty the pockets as you do so. 

You were nearing the bottom of the basket when you pulled out a dirty pair of jeans. You checked the first pocket and there was a receipt from the store. You glanced over it, seeing a bottle of whiskey and some food on it. You tossed it into the little trash can before reaching into the next pocket. 

You furrowed your brows as you felt a little plastic card. You pulled it out and stared down at it. An ID. 

Nobara Kugisaki. 

For a split second everything was completely frozen. All you could register was her face. A memory.

Then it all came crashing down at once. 

What the hell are you doing? You’re washing laundry for a psychopath who has tortured you for months. You are living in his house like you are his wife. He is a deranged killer, a cannibal, and you are his victim. 

You were kidnapped, drugged, beaten, sliced open, raped, and tortured. You had nearly frozen to death. You sat by as he killed innocent people. You sat by as he fed human remains to pigs. You watched him cook and eat human remains. 

You ate human remains. 

You are not this man’s wife. You are being held hostage. You do not belong here. You belong with your friends. With Nobara, Yuji, and Megumi, that’s where you should be. Not being cooped up with this man. 

You wanted to puke. You were sick to your stomach. You silently gagged for a moment, the taste of stomach bile washing over your tongue. The sour flavor made you gag again as your eyes watered. 

You missed your friends. You missed Nobara. You wanted to go home. You wanted to get away from Sukuna. 

How could you let yourself forget? How could you let him do this to you? Rolling over and accepting your fate, just letting him do whatever he wants to you? He’s deranged, and you just accepted your spot next to him, tending to his every need. You lived in fear that any word you said could upset him. You actually cared about him. You lived to make him happy but what about yourself? Have you lost all self-respect?

You dropped the jeans and clutched the ID tightly. Your tears slipped down your cheeks, landing on the plastic card as a gut-wrenching thought passed by you. 

What did he do to Nobara to get her ID? Did he hurt her? Is she locked up in the cellar right now? What if he killed her? Why is she even here?

Was she looking for you? Did Sukuna kill her while she was searching for you? If you had never been kidnapped, she wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this.

You had given up, but she hadn’t. She was still looking. How could you leave her behind like that?

Like a light switch, you were seething with anger. A storming ocean that crushes cargo ships seems like nothing compared to the rage that you harbored at this very moment. Your blood was boiling to the point where it evaporated in your very veins. 

You nearly forgot to breathe. With a long exhale, the air burning your nose, you looked up. Your gaze caught on the window that overlooked the backyard. With the darkness of night, your reflection was clear. 

You couldn’t recognize the person staring back at you. Surly that’s not you. What has that man done to you? No. No man could do this. He is a monster. 

A monster . 

Your dearest friend could be in danger right now, or worse yet she could be dead and it’d be your fault. You’re supposed to be stronger than this, you let him break you down. 

You swallowed though your throat was tight. Your mind raced through all those months you were stuck in the cellar. The air around you burned, and your skin was practically melting off your bones. 

Suddenly you thought back to the first time he offered you water, and you slammed that glass into his head. He considers himself a god, but there’s one difference between him and an untouchable being. 

Gods don’t bleed.

If it bleeds, it can die. He isn’t some divine being. He is a mortal. He’s not untouchable.

You straightened up, your shoulders lowering and your head raising high. You clutched the ID, slowly putting it into your pocket as you turned and left the laundry room. Stiff as a robot, you returned to the kitchen. Sukuna was at sthe tove as you approached the table, laid out were vegetables and a shining knife that sat like a beacon.

He thinks he’s won this battle of wits. He’s grown comfortable having you around him. He doesn’t see you as a threat anymore.

There was a ringing in your ears as you clutched the knife. Your knuckles turned white, your nails digging into your palm, but you couldn’t feel the pain. Not with the amount of adrenaline that was coursing through you right now. 

You could feel every pump of blood your heart pushed through your system. A pressure in your ears blocked all sound from coming through. Your eyes burned from how long they had been open, unwilling to blink as if he might make a move first. 

Sukuna’s back was to you, standing over the stove cooking as usual. Though his mind was elsewhere, still preoccupied. 

Your mouth was dry, you couldn’t swallow as your throat seized up. You began to walk to him. Slow and stiff.

The meat in the pan sizzled as Sukuna seared it. His eyes focused on the way the oils bubbled and sputtered. His weight shifted from foot to foot, lost to his own thoughts. 

You took another slow step forward, you were within distance now, so close. Your hands were sweating, making it hard to maintain your grip. Your foot settled onto the hardwood floor, the board bowed slightly, and creaked eerily. You froze instantly, your eyes beginning to water, blurring your vision. Sukuna slowly turned his head, peering at you over his shoulder. You panicked.

The moment his eyes landed on the knife, you lurched forward. He was fast but severely disadvantaged and he couldn’t stop you from plunging the knife into his shoulder. You missed his head.

The searing pain shot through his arm and chest all the way down his legs. He gritted his teeth as the motion forced him forward, hand slipping into the frying pan. 

He sneered as his hand burned in the oil, “Fuck!” Sukuna grabbed the pan and whipped around to strike you with it, but you already had the upper hand. The contents of the pan were thrown to the floor, oil splashing across the wood. You ducked, the knife remaining wedged in his shoulder. Your feet slipped against the floor as you turned on your heels and rushed up the stairs. 

Sukuna slammed the pan to the ground, the loud sound rang through the house. He saw red as he reached back and removed the knife from his shoulder, wincing in pain. Blood soaked through his shirt and ran down his back. He gripped the knife and stared at it, coated in crimson, panting heavily. The skin of his hand was tinted red from having been plunged into the burning oil.

He clenched his jaw, as he began walking towards the stairs. He heard your footsteps running to the bedroom, his bedroom, the frantic thud of your steps was followed by the door slamming shut. 

Sukuna shouted in anger, the sound deep and guttural, “You brat!” You heard his lumbering stride as he marched up the stairs. 

After all this time, after everything he’s done for you, and this is how you repay him? Lodging a knife into him? 

Fucking backstabber. 

You could feel your heart beating in your throat as you flipped the lock and rushed to the nightstand. Your vision was blurry and your hands shook as you yanked the drawer open. Your mind was racing, and you pulled too hard, the drawer fell to the ground causing the contents to slide around. 

The shine of his phone screen was the first thing you spotted. You rushed to pick it up, clicking it on you were greeted with his lock screen. You don’t know the password, but you don’t need to. You swiped up from the corner, pulling up the emergency call option. His wallet had been just beside his phone as well, flipping it open revealed his ID.

Sukuna’s footsteps shook the house as he approached the bedroom door. Without a second of hesitation, he began to kick at the door. You flinched with every thundering strike. 

“You really think you can hide from me?!” Sukuna screamed as he landed another powerful blow. The door began to splinter from the force. You swallowed hard, tears streaming down your face as you typed in the number for the police. 

Just before you could press the call button, the door broke from its hinges and Sukuna’s piercing red gaze met yours. He flicked his eyes to the phone and his grip on the knife grew tighter. 

His voice was deathly calm as a menacing grin split across his lips, “You think those people are going to save you?” 

You hit the dial button and he lurched forward in the very same second. It was a frantic scramble for the phone as Sukuna was on you in seconds. He pinned you to the floor, straddling your back as you laid, stomach down. Your first thought was to tuck the phone under you, but as you tried to pull your arm under your chest, clutching the phone, the knife was suddenly through your forearm, buried so deep it was stuck to the wood below. 

For a moment you didn’t even feel it, all you saw was the glint of the steel, not even a drop of blood. You felt Sukuna’s weight keeping you in place, restricting your ability to breathe properly. 

Then the pain hit. You let out a blood-curdling scream as tears streamed down your cheeks. It wasn’t exactly a scream of pain, but also one of anger. 

“Didn’t you learn anything from the first time you tried this, brat?” Sukuna panted as he reached for the phone. 

Yes, you did. You did learn something. 

Months in that cellar, months being tormented by this psychopath, being broken and rebuilt. No matter the amount of times you’re shattered, that doesn’t matter. Because you’re still made of the same pieces regardless of how many times you’re broken and put back together. 

And that same stubbornness, that same will to live is still there. The will to fight for yourself is still there. It never truly left.

You stopped screaming, eyes narrowing, panting hard as you sobbed violently, “Yeah, I did,” You pictured his bloodied face from the first time you stabbed him with a shard of glass, “You still bleed.” 

You suddenly slid the phone under the bed as the operator picked up. You could faintly hear the voice on the other end speaking but it was in the back of your mind. 

Sukuna’s eyes widened and he scrambled to grab the phone. His weight was lifted off you and you didn’t waste a second to grab the knife and attempt to pull it out of your arm. You gritted your teeth, the pain unbearable as you had to wiggle the knife to free it from the wood below. It slid out and blood splattered across your arm and dripped off the knife. Sukuna reached for the phone under the bed but it was just too far under. 

You didn’t have time to memorize his whole address. All you really needed was a street and a house number, and that’s all you had.

Your vision was red, you shouted, voice deep and fierce like no other, “Sukuna! You bastard! I’ll kill you!” He looked back as you swiftly swung the knife in his direction. He whipped around, laying on his back as you were now on top of him. He grabbed your wrist as you tried to drive the knife through his skull. 

The operator's voice was muffled in the background, the call still going through as the phone was lost under the bed. You could only pray that she heard you as you began to scream his address. 

His eyes were wide and brows furrowed in anger as he realized what you had done. He was fucked. 

“You little shit!” He easily overpowered you, not like it would matter much anymore. He slammed you to the ground, the knife fell beside you as you lost your grip. “I’ll kill you before you ever see the light of day again!” He grabbed your head with both hands and smashed it against the floor. You wanted to grab his wrists to try and pry him off you but you knew better, you knew you weren’t strong enough. 

Sukuna gritted his teeth, grinding them against each other in pure anger, “The only thing the police will find of you is your mangled corpse after I tear you apart!”

Your hands instead went to the floor beside you, frantically fumbling to find the knife. He lifted your head and slammed it down again. 

He was panting with rage, that sinister grin etched into his face, “I’ll rip out your spine! I’ll crush your skull with my bare hands!”

You felt dizzy and your ears rang but that didn’t stop you. Your hand bumped into the handle of the knife, pushing it slightly but not far. You grabbed it and blindly swung at Sukuna, slicing the blade against his side. 

He snarled and quickly let go of your head to snatch the knife. Your vision blurred as you locked your gaze on him and as he tried to grab your hands again, you plunged the knife into his gut. He shouted and clutched the blade, losing his balance. It was a decently long knife, and with your adrenaline-fueled strength, you buried it to the hilt.

Sukuna snapped his eyes to you and tried to grab at you again. You scrambled back, grabbing the drawer that you had previously yanked out of the nightstand and you smashed it into the side of his head. The old wood splintered and broke, scattering across the ground. Sukuna clutched his head as he hit the floor.

You scrambled to your feet and rushed back toward the stairs. Blood gushed down your arm and trailed behind you. 

Sukuna slowly sat up and gripped the handle of the knife. With a bit slower movement pulled it out. He felt like he was going to vomit from the pain, and when he tried to swallow his throat seized up. His jaw twitched as the blood flowed freely from the wound and the pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. He sat for only a moment, his pupils the size of a pin as he raised his gaze and watched you bolt. He pushed through it, standing and rushing after you.

Just as you reached the top of the staircase you glanced back and saw him right behind you. 

He swung, lurching forward with an uncoordinated attack. You ducked and as he stumbled beside you, you shoulder slammed him into the wall of the narrow hallway. He stabbed at you again, the knife sliced the side of your waist open. You ignored the pain and pushed it aside.

With all your might, you shoved him down the stairs, but you fell with him. Both of you tumbled downward, and the heavy thud of your bodies hitting each step resounded through the house. The knife was lost in the chaos, flying off somewhere and miraculously not hitting either of you. 

Both of you slammed into the floor at the bottom. You both groaned in pain, slow to move and shake it off. Blood was smeared everywhere, soaking into the fabric of your clothes and staining your skin red. 

Sukuna clutched his stomach, the agony of the wound was catching up to him once more. He pushed himself to his feet, trying to walk but the wound was bad. He felt his head spinning as he fell to his knees. He had been losing a lot of blood, very fast. You shook your head, trying to clear it as you stood and saw Sukuna struggling to get away. You frantically looked around for the knife, spotting it a few feet from the stairs. You scrambled to grab it, though your movements were stiff and sluggish. 

Sukuna sat on his knees, breathing heavily as his head ran a million miles an hour. He heard you pick the knife up off the ground as you began to walk toward him. A metallic taste washed over his tongue and he spat it out, blood splattered on the ground in front of him. He stared at it, a manic grin spreading over his lips as you walked in front of him, blocking his path. Sukuna tilted his head up to look at you.

Even the darkest depths of evil couldn’t compare to what you’d been through, to what he’d done to you. Satan himself would give you a nod of respect if he saw you now, the very fires of hell swirled in your gaze as you stood over him. Over the devil. And he was staring right back.

Blood dripped down your arm, onto the blade of the knife, and further yet. It dripped onto the floor. The only sound was your heavy breathing, and that drip, drip, drip.

Drip. 

Drip. 

Drip.

“Kill me.” His voice rasped, dark and unwavering. It was a challenge. He wanted to see you try. 

“Death would be more merciful than me,” You spat, venom lacing your voice as something foul. You swallowed hard, an itchy copper taste covered your tongue from the blood that filled your mouth. Part of you wanted to, to end him. Except some part deep down was holding you back, keeping your feet in place and the knife at your side.

Sukuna grinned, manic, “Is that so?” You continued to stare at him, your grip on the knife tightening until your knuckles were white. “You really are something.” Sukuna had never feared death, and that didn’t change even now. 

“I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done,” Your voice was low and gritty, unwavering. 

“For what I’ve done to you, or what I’ve done to them?” Sukuna loosely tilted his head toward the back. The implication that you were getting revenge for all the lives he took irked you for some reason.

“For what you did to me,” You spoke in certainty, without hesitation. 

“So selfish,” Sukuna chuckled, despite the pain he was in, he couldn’t help himself from laughing. As he looked up at you, all he could see was a reflection of himself. 

You briefly thought about Nobara again and where she may be but the thought left just as fast as it had surfaced. This is your revenge. This is months of torture finally boiling over. For every cut and beating, for every time he drugged you and pinned you down. Maybe you are selfish for not caring about the lives of the others he took, and maybe that makes you a bad person, maybe it doesn’t. You felt no guilt for Airi’s death, nor did you feel guilt for the other dead girl in the cellar. 

It wasn’t long before police sirens could be heard in the distance. Loud, wailing in the night, a cry of what’s to come. Despite everything, you stand, bloody and beaten, but you’re standing. Nothing would ever compare to the time you’ve spent on this wretched farm, under the devil’s hands. 

Under the gaze of death itself, Sukuna kneeled. He knew from the minute he chained you in his cellar that you were something different, and he wanted to break that. He thought he could. He thought he could ruin something that was untouchable. He wanted to ruin you. To prove that he really was a god.

Sukuna understood then, staring up at your blood-red eyes, that you were beyond him. You were far beyond him. He almost succeeded, he almost won. 

Even now as the red and blue lights flash over your skin, tires sliding over the gravel as they break hard at the scene, he still thinks there is a chance he could’ve broken you completely. You had been so obedient, clinging to his every word and following his every command.

One little mistake, one slip up and it was over. One slip up and there was a knife through his gut, piercing his intestines. One slip-up and everything he worked so hard to build came toppling onto him. All because he thought he could break you. 

This man violated you, ripped you apart, and tried to piece you back together. He mutilated you and tainted your blood with his position. He sank his fangs into you and at one point you accepted it. You let that become your life, the only thing you knew because you stopped thinking there could be more. 

You would’ve let him win. You thought gods couldn’t bleed. 

You proved yourself wrong. 

~

Healing wasn't exactly something you expected to happen. Especially considering the new amount of medical and mental struggles you faced. The depression, PTSD, anxiety, it was a lot. As soon as the stories hit the paper things became pretty overwhelming.

Cannibalistic serial killer of the century, and you, the lone survivor. People wanted interviews, wanted to know the gritty details, but you refused. You weren't in a good place to be openly discussing everything. Therapy was intense, especially during those first few sessions. You didn't have a job or much money beyond your parent's inheritance, so Nobara let you stay with her while you got back on your feet. 

Unfortunately, all the plants in your apartment had wilted away. Megumi and Yuji bought you more.

The first place you went after getting picked up by the cops was a hospital. The doctor had never seen such an awful case before. They didn't even know where to start. They tried to salvage the mutilation that Sukuna incurred on you but what he did was irreversible.

Perhaps the most impressive part of it all was how you slipped back into the real world. Within a month you were grocery shopping with Nobara and buying new clothes, playing video games with Yuji, and taking walks through the park with Megumi. You were able to get custody of Memento and Mori, and having them helped in getting you outside. Though they couldn’t find the cat, so you weren’t able to get her. It was surreal, to see other people and be a human again. 

Sukuna's court date came and went. The verdict was clear. He was charged with twenty-six murders but it was suspected that he killed over fifty people, the police just couldn't prove all fifty. The murders were only half the charges considering the torture he put people through. He would never see the light of day. The death penalty wasn't permitted where you were, so he'd live the rest of his life behind bars. 

Despite protests from your friends, you visited him, regularly. The guards were surprised when you first came in but they quickly came to recognize you. After all, those scars are pretty identifiable.

You're not entirely sure why you visit him. Maybe it's the need to show him you're still alive, rub it in his face that you put him behind those bars. Maybe it's the satisfaction of seeing him being the one cuffed and pushed around. 

As much as you didn't want to admit it, it could've been that sick and twisted bond that formed over the time you spent with him. Excluding him from your life felt wrong in a sense, but you managed to convince yourself that you just liked seeing him locked up. Which wasn't exactly wrong. It's not like you cared about him, no, you wanted him to suffer just as you had.

Even now as your steps are muffled by that of the guard's boots clicking against the ground, you held your head high. Chin tilted up as you knew you were free from his reign and you've come to shove that fact into his face once more. The sound of the guard's boots echoed off the walls along with the jingle of his keys. He swiped his key card, opening a thick iron door. 

You took your usual seat, staring through the glass with him on the other side. Cuffed, muzzled like a feral dog. Yet he grinned devilishly, red eyes scanning over your confident facade.

It had been nearly a year now since he was locked up. Conversations with Sukuna are odd. Some days Sukuna will be quiet and other days he'll casually discuss the violence that occurs within the prison. You often babble on about your new life, how much you like the city and your friends. Occasionally there are days where not even a single word is spoken from either of you. It's an odd dynamic, one that certainly turns the heads of the guards. 

Sukuna finds it amusing when you come in. He knows what you're doing, how you come in to boast to him about your freedom. Though the fact that you come back to him at all is a small nod to the idea that you'll never truly be able to escape him.

Whether it's these visits or the way he slips into your vivid nightmares, he'll always be there.

“I bet interviews are fun. Explaining that little year gap in your resume,” Sukuna idly picked at the cuffs around his hands. Fidgeting with the metal that dug into his wrists.

“I'm taking a break before I get a job actually, writing a book,” You sat up straight, staring at him blankly. You could see your reflection in the glass, your scars just as prominent as ever.

His red gaze bore into yours, and a bored scoff escaped his lips, “About what?”

“About you, about what happened. All of it.”

Sukuna smirked wickedly, “What are you going to call it?”

“ Chained .”

~The End~