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“That face of yours looks familiar.” An uninvited voice graced Sukuna’s ears while he clearly wished to be alone. Why else would someone choose the furthest seat from both the entrance and the front counter, right in the back corner of the café with his back turned to the rest of the mindless peons skittering about? Yet, this young man was too illiterate to read the atmosphere. “It feels like I should know you from somewhere. Crazy, right?”
What a mediocre excuse for a pickup line.
“Hm?” Sukuna glanced down at the dark surface of his bitter drink, keeping eye contact with his unamused expression. The edge of the intruder’s head could be seen just about his own, leading Sukuna to assume that they were of the same height. Hardly a threat so far. “I get that a lot.”
The wonder of exactly who this person was did little to stir him into action should he be deemed a foe. While many wished to see his head roll around their feet, that was simply a consequence of Sukuna’s mission of preference. Curse users made for a more interesting challenge than cursed spirits these days. Gojo Satoru, the bane of his sanity in and out of Jujutsu Tech, only deterred those with lesser abilities from stepping out of line by his existence alone. The rest too mindless or too believing in their abilities were for Sukuna to play with as he saw fit.
If there was a problem with that arrangement, it would end the same way as Sukuna’s targets. Chances are that he would find their name on his list sometime later.
However, just because of an assassin Sukuna’s first assumption, that did not mean it was the only option. The guy behind him could also be from one of the all-important sorcerer clans, Sukuna had to behave himself… to some extent. The voice he heard didn’t sound all that pretentious, but that could change if he allowed him to speak another word. And if he were neither a curse user nor a sorcerer, well, Sukuna was surprised that someone would have the gall to walk up to him at all.
If only this interruption would see itself out by its own volition. There was only so much time Sukuna could get to enjoy alone before being summoned for another mission or beckoned back home for some asinine reason. Honestly, whether he was a threat or not should be required at a time like this to take out this intrusion’s tongue.
“No like, really familiar.” The young man continued, stepping around to Sukuna's side with a bit of lean forward to ensure that Sukuna’s attention could not be anywhere else. “Cause, well, I see it every morning when I look into the mirror.”
Intrigued just enough to raise an eyebrow, Sukuna cocked his head up in preparation to shove this fool out of his personal space. He came quite close with one hand raised by the young man’s head, only to find himself freezing up at the sight of his bewildered face sheepishly smiling his way. Sukuna did not care for how his body reacted, revealing his own surprise with widening eyes working against his desire for immediate composure.
“I’m Yuji.”
“Sukuna.”
His answer came out too easily, practically automatic without a chance to hold himself back. Sukuna rarely gave his name. Most instances where exchanges in conversation were made, the other party already knew who he was. If they didn’t, then they were not important enough to be speaking to in the first place.
“March twentieth.”
“What?”
“That’s my birthday!” Yuji slammed his hands onto the table and the back of Sukuna’s chair to keep himself steady. It appeared to have taken him everything to refrain from shouting personal information loud enough for the whole café to hear. “I’ll be eighteen years old this spring.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I’ve watched enough movies to know the whole twins separated at birth thing, so I just thought—”
“—That our birthdays and ages would be the same.” Sukuna cut off the other teenager’s stammering answer, already knowing how it would finish. The debate that followed in Sukuna’s head was pointless. Within his core, the sorcerer knew that this was no farce. Yuji’s words were as honest as they were naïve. “They are.”
No amount of denial would change the truth. Sukuna was only one part of a greater whole. One half of a set. The hollow feeling that had crept along his steps all his life, burdening him with the dissatisfaction of learning that answer had finally been put to rest.
The revelation was daunting. Infuriating. And strangest of all, relieving.
“Oh. Cool.” His twin withdrew from Sukuna’s personal space after that, blushing profusely at his previous actions. “Mind if I sit with you?”
“You’re already halfway on the seat as it is.” Sukuna scoffed as he rolled his shoulders, breaking away the tension so that he could lean back and cross his legs without hindrance. “Go ahead.”
“Awesome.”
What should have been a short reprieve from his day ended up becoming Sukuna’s entire afternoon. The two even spoke through the evening rush, as Yuji had quickly become an endless font from which his entire life spilled forth while Sukuna relegated to nothing more than a sponge to collect his tales. All the while, Sukuna couldn’t stop himself from staring at the mangled tuft of hair atop his twin’s head.
They possessed the same shade of pink, the same secondary under color of brown that they felt the need to keep shaved. The difference between them was in style. Yuji preferred his hair unruly while Sukuna had fostered a habit of sweeping it back after waking up every morning. Their faces weren’t much different. Sukuna was sure that if he hadn’t put ink to his skin a couple years prior, he and Yuji would be nearly identical if not for the expressions they wore. Yuji’s eyes were softer, excitable and far more welcoming than the piercing gaze Sukuna preferred.
“This last year of high school has been rough, but at least I’m graduating. It’s what the old man would have wanted.” Yuji took a hearty gulp of the second hot chocolate he ordered as an excuse to prevent either of them from being kicked out.
Itadori Wasuke had played the role of Yuji’s grandfather before passing away last month. The name was not unfamiliar to Sukuna, but he rarely interacted with anyone outside the main branch of his clan. So far, Yuji has only received a few short correspondences with distant relatives wishing to keep tabs and nothing more. Their asset was left to his own devices beyond that, given a freedom Sukuna had never once known, though the cost was certainly the careful eyes following Yuji’s every move. That was the only explanation for the pins and needles brushing against the back of Sukuna’s neck. He possessed little doubt that someone was observing them. He couldn’t figure out exactly from which angle, but he could already picture the look on his father’s face once the news of the twin’s meeting was delivered. An obnoxious phone call would surely follow, but Sukuna had no desire to speak over the phone when he would be paying his family a visit soon after he and Yuji’s talk was done.
“Fulfilling your education is important. He’s right to want that for you.”
“You said you live around Tokyo, right? What school is yours?”
“A niche technical college operating out of an old temple. Entirely uninteresting and not worth much of my time, but attending it is akin to a tradition.” Sukuna cursed himself after the words left his mouth. His attempt at avoiding the nuances of his own life fell short when bringing up the clan who gave him away without explanation.
“Ah. Well, at least we have hating school in common.”
“Yuji, if I had known…”
“Don’t worry about it. Really. It’s not your fault, and it's not like I didn’t know our parents weren’t the best ones out there considering I lived with Jiji before I could even crawl. Honestly, it’s not worth the anger.” Too kind, Yuji laughed off the beginnings of Sukuna’s apology with ease. “I’m just glad to have met you now. I mean, I have a twin! Sasaki is not going to believe this. Can we exchange numbers?”
The sound of another’s name coming out of his twin’s lips vexed Sukuna deeply.
“Yes. We can certainly do that.” Sukuna pulled out his phone, half-expecting to find a message from his father where there was none. “Listen, Yuji, I know the past isn’t something you want to dredge up at a time like this, but I need to share with you something important.”
“What is it?”
With a deep breath, Sukuna flicked his finger in the air to slice the now empty coffee cup his twin was still holding in two. The manifestation of his cursed technique was met with silent wonder, preluding to an outburst Sukuna would not have. He moved closer to his twin. He whispered into his ear, slowly expanding on what Yuji had seen with new terms and explanations to accompany them.
Yuji was going to learn the truth about their world. Sukuna’s studies, his profession, his abilities, what it meant to be twins and why Yuji was thrust into the care of another while Sukuna was declared heir in his absence. It was only fair that he Sukuna did this, watching the color drain from his brother’s eyes as he explained the danger his life was in now that they had met and that Sukuna had divulged a secret he never intended to keep.
“But don’t you worry, Yuji.” Sukuna reached out for his twin’s hand, squeezing it as he stood up to depart. “I’ll do my best to ensure your safety. Let’s keep in touch, won’t we?”
The Ryomen Clan, by Sukuna’s observation, had given up everything but the fragile string to tug whenever they could find Yuji of use. It was too bad they didn’t account for coincidence. Fate. Or perhaps it was the pieces of their soul looking to be reunited. Whatever the reason, now that Sukuna knew of his other half’s existence, held his very flesh within his own, he would not be parting from his side after some affairs were put in order.
Seventeen years from the very day Sukuna was born into this constricting and depressive world was how long it took to learn that he had not been born alone. A soul unknowingly split in two within their mother’s womb had granted the Ryomen clan’s head the accursed honor of twin heirs to their name and legacy. By some semblance of what one would claim to be mercy, the clan head did not order an immediate execution.
Sukuna proved to be an invaluable asset from the moment he drew his first breath, as his cursed energy plumed into a force that neither his father nor grandfather could compare. His birth, just after his forsaken brother, spared his twin by virtue of his inherent value, while his other half held none intrinsic to himself. To be born without a morsel of cursed energy, denied by the heavens themselves, was the worst sin one could carry within the ancient clans.
Ryomen Sukuna had been blessed.
Itadori Yuji, denied their clan’s very name, had been stricken from the records and buried within non-sorcerer society.
Blind to the very world he hailed from, Sukuna’s other half had spent his entire life haunted by a secret he could never know. Ignorance had run rampant throughout his entire life. Why bother telling him about a world he could not see? Why risk the scandal revealing himself? While mercy was the reason so desperately shouted when Sukuna had shoved past his shock to embrace his anger, the truth lay in the connection he and Sukuna shared. If one twin were cursed, so would the other. They shared the same soul, even when broken in two, thus the pain of one would be the pain of both.
If Sukuna were to ever act out of line, then what better method to curb his insolence than by the easiest means?
Sukuna understood the reasoning. Truthfully, if he were in his father’s shoes, he would have found merit in the idea just as the old man had. However, for it to have been used against him, Ryomen Sukuna, that was not something he would stand for no matter how hypocritical it was.
Possessing a twin was a weakness he only knew in theory until today. And now, Sukuna would be damned if he ever let such a theory be put into practice.
No one was going to use Yuji against him.
No one was ever going to lay a single hand on his twin until the day their mortal lives came to an end.
That was the vow Sukuna swore as he parted from the Ryomen estate, freer than ever to laugh with delight at the newfound freedom he earned through mad impulsivity. Regret meant nothing in the wake of the one he pictured returning to.
Sukuna pried the front door of his twin’s childhood home open with partially flaking palms, leaving red splotches on whatever surface he touched. The fool had left the door unlocked. Again. Sukuna’s pounding head continued to slide off his shoulders as he stumbled his way inside, leaving him slumped over forward and reaching for the closest wall or furniture piece to steady himself as he continued his search for the person he was desperate to see.
The light patter of footsteps warned Sukuna of the impending assault on his ears once they turned the corner, giving him just enough time to close his eyes and brace himself.
“I could have gotten the door for you, Suku— IS THAT BLOOD!?”
Unless paint had begun to smell like pungent rust instead of plastic and turpentine blend of paint, then yes, Sukuna was certainly covered in blood.
“It’s not mine.” At least, most of it shouldn’t be his.
“That’s not any better!” His twin was screaming so loud that his voice cracked, worsening Sukuna’s headache further. “And why are you grabbing your side like that? You know what? Come here!”
“I was kicked in the ribs, you brat!” Sukuna groaned, unable to argue against the hand frantically tugging him toward the seat at his kitchen table.
“Is that supposed to be any better?” Yuji began removing clothing, piling Sukuna’s shirt and jacket in a messy pile before pulling out a first aid kit that would ultimately become unnecessary. “God, did you hear a crack? Shouldn’t you go to a hospital?”
“I don’t know. I was too busy fighting through the screams of cursed spirits to properly listen. And how would I explain any of this to a hospital?”
“Domestic dispute. Underground Fight Club. Drunk bar fight—”
“Just what kind of person do you take me for?” Offended, Sukuna threw his head back in annoyance with a hand clutching his still-aching forehead. “A domestic dispute? With whom?”
“With me if you don’t stop moving and let me clean you up properly. You have some nasty bruising over here, but I think I still have a cream for that.” Hastily, Yuji jumped to his feet and ran toward his medicinal cabinet. He slid on his socks while doing so, passing by the freezer on his way back to Sukuna to grab his twin an ice pack for his head. “At least this isn’t like last time because there is no way I’m witnessing you almost lose a finger again.”
“Are you going to hold that over me the rest of your life?” Sukuna mouthed his thanks as he received the ice pack, practically swooning over the relief it brought to his side.
“Until you start seeking out proper medical help, then yes.”
“I thought you wanted to be an EMT.”
“That’s not an excuse and you know it.” Surprisingly, his twin snapped. The room then grew cold from the silence that followed. His brother kept his face buried against his chest, eyes to the ground as he took in breath after breath to keep himself steady. “I get so scared when you visit me like this. It’s worse knowing what you’re doing, and where these phantom pains are coming from. I’ve always thought something was wrong with me before, but now, I can’t stop but wonder if every touch, prick, or tender swelling I feel is because you got yourself hurt in the same spot so much worse.”
Usually, the sharing of pain begins and ends with curses themselves, but with Sukuna and Yuji, their connection was much deeper than anyone could have known. It had taken a few conversations after their first to discover this link between them. Recollecting some of their greatest hits as far as bodily damage was concerned made it easy to figure out, but that didn’t stop Sukuna from being utterly fascinated by the concept.
“How do your ribs feel?”
“I’m fine.”
His response couldn’t sound any less truthful.
“Yuji—”
“Let’s get you cleaned up and resting on the couch. I don’t want you getting out of bed until morning, ok?”
“Ok.”
Sukuna did what he was told without argument. Left on his own for a bit of time after, he overheard Yuji speaking on the phone to his classmates, canceling plans they had previously made for the following morning now that he had an unanticipated guest over. Said classmates were growing annoyed with his inability to commit to their schedule but that wasn’t something Sukuna found himself concerned with.
Their presence in his brother’s life mattered little now that Sukuna was here to make up for lost time.
“You know that I do this to keep you safe, don’t you?” Sukuna caught his twin as he walked by the living room, beckoning him to come closer and sit by his side. He needed Yuji’s sympathy. He craved it. “Being a sorcerer only started mattering to me after learning about you. I have to keep getting stronger.”
“I can’t fault you for wanting to protect someone else… but it hurts that I can’t do anything to help, that I can’t be there. Every time you leave, I wonder if you’ll make it back.” Yuji clutched the fabric over his chest, holding his shirt tight as his eyes flickered down to his heart. “And it’s even worse when I start to wonder what it would feel like if you had died.”
Sukuna had wondered that too. Ever since their pain-sharing discovery, he couldn’t help but become enthralled with what would happen. Would one follow the other to the afterlife? If Sukuna died, would he become tied to his twin as a curse should he refuse to move on? What would happen to Yuji if he passed on first, as a person without cursed energy at all?
Regardless of curiosity, death was not an option Sukuna would humor in any realistic sense. To believe is to manifest desire into reality. Sukuna was above death, and since Yuji was his twin, then so was he.
“I will always come back, Yuji. I swear, I’ll never leave you again.”
No one will ever tear them apart. A secret once more, this time for Sukuna to solely keep, his brother was going to be what grounded him for the rest of time.
“I believe you, Sukuna.” Yuji closed his eyes, exhausted from his own long day that he would surely tell his brother about come morning. “I don’t think I would let you go if you did.”