───

❝darling we're heaven and hell❞

"and what brings the great gojō satoru here?", reina asked, as gojō leaned against the counter of the antique cash register.

"I'm just here to preorder a cake for yūji-kun's upcoming birthday", gojō answered.

"I see, so which cake would you like and would you like any writing on it?", reina asked, taking out the menu for gojō to pick.

"mmm...the chestnut cake looks pretty good", gojō hummed.

"but so does the applesauce cake and the butter cake", the man continued.

"would you like a suggestion?", reina asked.

"no no, I feel that I should be the one to pick it out. after all, he is my precious student", gojō waved off.

"well then, please take your time and have a seat", reina gestured as there were a line of chairs for those that waited for an order, or were simply waiting for an open table.

"e-excuse me. I'm here for my granddaughter's birthday cake? it's under the name of hana?", an old woman asked, to which reina had quickly handed the old lady a foldable box with handles.

"I hope your granddaughter has an amazing eight birthday", reina smiled as the old woman only chuckled.

"thank you, reina-san".

"of course ma'am. you have a nice day and make sure to stay safe on your way home", reina instructed as the woman nodded, waving goodbye meanwhile gojō had watched the entire interaction, wondering if this was staged or fake.

"are you actually that nice?", he asked.

"nice is quite the subjective word when used to describe me, so, personal opinion I suppose", the dark-haired woman replied as she took out her pencil and sketch pad from under the counter.

gojō tilted his head from side to side as he finally made a decision on the cake.

"I'll have the cheesecake and could you write happy birthday yūji on it?", gojō finally ordered.

"for sure. that will be ¥4,057.07", reina stated, to which gojō had paid extra, though reina insisted on giving change back to the man.

"if you don't keep the change, I'll loiter here for another thirty minutes", gojō playfully threatened, to which reina had immediately kept the change, making gojō pout.

"how come you don't like me, reina-chan?", the white-haired male whined, propping his elbows against the counter as his face laid on his palms.

"your words, not mine, gojō-san. and you wouldn't want something that's uninteresting clinging onto you, would you now", reina hummed, sketching a cheesecake cake for itadori as she thought about how to decorate the cake.

"it's hard trying new things and having a real drive for something when you know you're going to be good at them", gojō feigned distress.

reina smiled as she glanced up at the still pouting man-child.

"so you're saying that you're good at everything you do?"

"everything I try to do", gojō corrected with a playful grin.

"have you ever baked a cake?", reina asked.

gojō hummed a bit.

"no", he honestly answered.

"then I formally invite you this sunday to have a bake-off — for itadori's cake — with me. for someone who thinks they're good at everything they try, it makes me believe that you've lost your drive when you crowned yourself the best. however, it makes me wonder whether you'd still be so confident when faced with someone of your own league", the woman smiled, her tinted lips spouting fluent words that strung into a sentence, slowly reeling gojō in.

"oho? so like a date?", gojō asked, intrigued.

"you may call it whatever you like, but to me, it's only a bake-off", reina answered, to which gojō had on his usual carefree demeanor.

"then I'll see you sunday at twelve, sharp", gojō waved as he exited the shop, to which nanako and mimiko had approached reina.

"miss reina, jōgo just called and requested for an audience", nanako informed.

"tell him to meet me later today", reina commanded, to which the blonde girl had nodded as she swiftly left.

"miss reina...I was wondering will we see him today?", mimiko shyly asked.

reina smiled as she patted the girl's head.

"you two are always free to do what you both desire".

"speak", reina demanded, sitting on her throne decorated with a lovely velvet and skulls.

the woman had a mansion specifically built just for her entertainment. there were seven rooms ornamented based on reina's favorite eras.

of course there was also a main room that led to the woman's throne, which also had dark feathers sticking out from the edges.

jōgo kneeled before his empress as reina allowed for the volcanic curse to raise his head.

"miss death, our group needs sukuna on our side", jōgo stated.

reina softly sighed, her dark lashes leisurely flapping up and down as she was obviously bored.

"I don't care", the woman casually dismissed.

"b-but he would listen to—"

"no one", reina interrupted. "sukuna listens to no one, not even me", the woman slightly chuckled, slightly charmed by the curse's brazen attitude.

"and I suggest you and mahito give up. sukuna doesn't take bribery either. he does no one's bidding but his own", reina advised, snapping her fingers as mimiko had appeared with a glass of red wine.

"m-miss death, d-dare I ask...will you really be siding with the humans?", jōgo boldly questioned.

reina let out a soft hum of content from her sip of red as she swirled the red liquid around her glass.

"every era I pick a human that interests me. I do their bidding just for the fun of it. this era, my human wishes to murder the humans that can't control their cursed energy to eradicate us curses", reina explained.

"do you think that's possible?"

jōgo slightly furrowed his brows as he wondered whether that was a trick question or not.

"umm...w-well...it's not entirely implausible with you helping them, but highly unlikely to happen, because not only is it regarding japan, but the balance of the entire world".

reina chuckled, making jōgo tense up as his palms started sweating.

"what a politically correct answer, jōgo. though quite honestly, I don't believe it's possible either", reina honestly replied.

"then why—"

"because it's entertaining. do I think that you and mahito could erase the human race? potentially with the help of others, but that's boring, and I love a good show. perhaps if he actually succeeds, I would die along with the rest of you. after all, I've been alive for way too long", the woman smiled, her lilac eyes shining from the dim light that trickled in from the velvet curtains.

jōgo was stunned.

the woman was absolutely crazy.

she was going to help a human do the impossible just for her own amusement.

however, jōgo and mahito were set on using sukuna, whether miss death was going to be on their side or not.