**Y/n POV**

Maybe what I said to Megumi was unfair.

He's trying his best to be there for me. He's carried me away from terrible situations on more than one occasion now.

These are debts I'll never be able to repay.

And yet, I can't pretend that it's brought me any real comfort.

I'm tired of being praised for my strength. My endurance. My ability to look my abusers fearlessly in the eyes. My willingness to get up everyday.

If they only knew I was running purely off of hatred and vengeance.

It's hard to break when there's nothing left inside of you to get broken. And that's why I kept myself empty and shallow for so long.

Except when I saw Gojo's eyes, when I met the man my mother spoke of so often and in such high regard, I refilled myself with hope.

And it left me vulnerable.

For once, I just wanted something to be easy. I want to have trust and support and love and respect. I want to live without walls and without fear.

I wanted softness.

I forgot how much I wanted that until I met Gojo Satoru and finally saw those heavenly eyes. But it was all too good to be true.

I fell asleep with the notion that that would never happen for me, because what I considered to be my last shred of hope had just watched me get beaten to a pulp...

But I awoke to a new world entirely.

The feeling of a cool, damp cloth gently patted against the skin of my face.

"W-what?..." I mumbled out as I slowly began to open my eyes, confused by the sensation.

"Don't move."

My eyes immediately shot open with the sound of the familiar voice, and I tried to quickly whip my body around to face the outside of the bed.

"Sukuna?!" I winced in pain by the sudden motion I tried to force upon my body.

"What the hell brat. I said don't move."

The sunlight was no longer shining through the window, only the small lamp illuminated the dorm room.

Sukuna was sitting on a chair next to my bed, a large bowl of water placed on the nightstand as he continued to rinse the cloth before beginning to clean off my face again.

I couldn't take my eyes off him, but he still hadn't met my gaze. Instead, he focused on continuing to clean off the dried blood in my hair and on my face.

I had no idea what to think or say, so I just laid there in absolute awe over what was going on, unable to look away.

Of course he looked similar to Yuuji, but even with sharing a body, there were noticeable differences. It wasn't just his markings either.

His features were older, more mature looking. They held a sharpness to them that was in direct contrast to Yuuji's softness.

And his eyes, they were a deep red color like mine, piercing and intense, even now as he performed his actions so delicately.

I could've stared at him for hours.

"Your bed is a mess too," he finally spoke up.

I glanced around and noticed the sheets covered in dried blood and whatever else.

"Yea, I was exhausted when Megumi carried me up here."

I noticed his jaw tighten as I said that, almost as if it angered him, but I didn't understand why that would've been.

He placed the rag into the bowl of water before looking me in the eyes... finally.

"You'll feel better if you get cleaned up."

"I-I don't know..." I mumbled out as my eyes quickly shifted away. "I'm still pretty exhausted."

And weak. And depressed. And I really didn't want to fucking move. I was completely drained.

Maybe if I laid here long enough, they would let me just wither away silently.

But I left that all out.

"Yea, I wasn't asking," he demanded as he stood up and flung the blankets off me before picking me up in his arms.

He carried me to the small bathroom, sitting me down and then turning on the bath. I watched as he left his hand underneath the water, waiting for it to warm up.

No one had ever taken care of me like this, not since my mom died, and part of me wanted to break down and cry.

But I was still pissed at myself for letting my guard down earlier and letting everyone see me sob and beg for death.

It was fucking pathetic, and I wouldn't let myself do it again.

At least that's what I was telling myself.

"There, it's warming up," he stood back up. "I'll be back, so hurry up and get in."

I didn't say a word as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I had no idea where he was going either, but I guess that doesn't really matter.

I stood and undressed myself, slowly making my way over to the tub and lowering myself down.

My body creaked and ached as I moved, the water causing my open wounds to sting beyond belief.

As the water instantly turned red, I quickly switched the shower on and drained the bath, sitting down as the water continued to roll off me in a shade of bright red.

I turned up the heat of the water, watching as the air filled with a dense steam.

I wanted it so hot it burned off the shame and regret that layered itself around my shell of a body.

I brought my knees to my chest, burying my head down as I let my tears return since I was alone again.

I never cried when I was with the Zenin's, and I didn't know if I had gotten weaker or the years of suppression were just catching up to me now that I actually had moments to myself.

Either way, I wasn't loving this new side of myself.

I didn't hear the door open, but I snapped my head up as Sukuna pulled back the shower curtain.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled as I hugged my knees tighter, trying to hide myself from him.

But all he did was stare at me, his eyes locking onto mine as his face took on an unreadable expression.

"Don't stare at me! Shut the fucking curtain!" I tried to yell out again, but his gaze was deepening by the second and it was leaving me flustered.

Why was he staring at me that way?

It took me a moment, but I realized he could probably tell that I had been crying, so I quickly turned my head to the other direction.

Sukuna crouched down, and not caring about the water hitting him, he reached out and gently pulled my face to look at him again.

"Don't hide from me," he said softly as he stroked my cheek.

I bit down on the inside of my mouth to keep from
crying again. The way he was looking at me, I thought for a moment that he might actually care about me.

But that'd be a foolish thing to believe.

"I'm not exactly eager to let my guard down around  the King of Curses," I glared at him.

He shook his head as he let go of my face and reached for a bottle of soap, "And don't call me that."

"Why not? Isn't that what you are?" I hissed.

"To mere mortals, maybe," he spoke.

I couldn't respond though, I was only able to focus on him opening the bottle and pouring out some soap into his hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He ignored me this time as his hands found their way to my hair, beginning to wash out the dried blood and sweat, "It's like when they labeled you a devil. It's not actually what you are, is it?"

I closed my eyes as I felt his gently touch, the tears refusing to stay and rolling shamefully down my cheeks.

"Why are you doing this?" my voice came out in a broken whisper.

He didn't answer my question, instead he finished rinsing my hair and stood up again, "I'm assuming you can finish the rest?"

He shut the curtain and left the bathroom once I nodded in confirmation. I did as he said and washed the rest of my body before turning off the shower.

He left a towel and some clean clothes for me to wear as well...

What the hell is going on?

••••

**Sukuna POV**

I was finishing up changing the last of her sheets when she walked out of the bathroom.

All I had to give her were some of Yuuji's clothes. They always seemed to be too small on me, but they were swimming across her.

Her hair was still dripping wet as it hung around her face, causing small water drop marks on her shoulders.

Her eyes were bloodshot, causing her already red irises to be even more consuming than normal.

When she was down in the basement it was clear her leg had been broken, but she was walking just fine now.

I wonder how the rest of her broken bones were doing.

"Are your ribs healed too?" I asked her as she shuffled towards the bed.

"Hm? Oh, uh, yea," she mumbled as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Remarkable. Her healing isn't as fast as mine or maybe other special grade curses, but I still didn't expect it to be this quick.

"Thank you," she continued. "For changing the sheets. And, well, for everything else."

"You should get some more rest."

She finally looked up at me, "Are you not going to answer any of my questions?"

Truthfully, I didn't know how to, so I just stared and waited for her to get the hint.

"Fine," she sighed. "Since you won't tell me why, will you at least tell me how?"

"I'm switching with Yuuji while he sleeps."

She shook her head as she stared at the floor. "How does that even work?" she muttered more to herself than to me.

"Does it matter?" I asked her.

"No, I guess it doesn't," she agreed as she began to crawl underneath the blankets once again.

"Rest well." I was planning on leaving, at least until she fell asleep. Then I'd probably come back and stay with her to make sure she wasn't disturbed.

But as I turned to leave, she called out to me.

"Sukuna."

"Mm?"

"Will you lay with me?"

I'm glad she was facing away from me because my mouth dropped open slightly with the amount of shock I felt.

I wasn't expecting it, but I was more than ready to welcome it. I think I would do anything she asked of me at this point.

She inched over to make a bit more room for me as I joined her underneath the covers.

As soon as I was laying down, she reached behind her and grabbed my arm over, pulling me closer to her.

I held onto her as she wiggled back into me, making her back press up against my chest. I didn't expect the contact to take my breath away like it did, but having her here, it almost felt meant to be.

She kept a tight hold of my arm that was around her, and with the way her breathing evened out, I thought she had fallen asleep.

I leaned in slightly and left a kiss on the top of her head, surprised when she responded by turning around to face me.

Her eyes looked soft tonight, like a pillow of rose petals, and I loved the sight.

My body acted on its own, my hand reaching up and pushing back through her still damp hair before resting on her cheek.

She closed her eyes underneath my touch, the smallest smile tugging up on the corner of her lips. Those lips that were almost as red as her eyes.

She was extraordinary.

I had lived for centuries and never met someone with a fire burning as brightly as the one insider her.

I could tell she thought it was slowly going out, her spark extinguishing, but with every barrier she faced, it seemed to only rage further on and out of control.

I wish she could see herself from my eyes...

Her eyes fluttered open and locked onto me. "What happened here?" she asked as her finger trailed across the long scar in the middle of my chest.

The one I still had from trying to kill the damn brat when he first became my vessel.

If it was just my body, it would've healed without a scar... Humans are so weak and feeble.

"It's from a misunderstanding me and Itadori had," I teased her, and my response caused the shadow of a smile she wore to turn into a soft smirk.

"I won't even ask what that's supposed to mean," she teased back before closing the gap between us and cuddling up against my chest.

It was quiet for just a moment before I felt the light brush of her lips against my collarbone. They were unbelievably soft and warm, awakening every part of me.

"Goodnight Sukuna," she whispered out into the dark.

I couldn't help it as I held onto her tighter, "Goodnight."