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it wasn't long before the sun had decided to set, to which kiyo had momentarily stopped walking, making sukuna grin.

nighttime was the perfect time for the girl's guard to be let down, to which he would be able to slice her head off easily with his sharp nails.

"is this okay for you?", kiyo asked, pointing over at the large oak tree as sukuna just scoffed.

"please, I can sleep anywhere, anytime", the male said, combing through his pink hair as he leaned against the tree trunk, meanwhile kiyo had collected some twigs from nearby and started a fire.

the girl sat beside the crackling flames as she found joy in the dancing fire before her, since the last time she's seen it was with her brother and their two friends.

scavenging through her bag, the girl brought out a cylindrical bamboo container that held fresh water as she also took out two onigiris.

"would you like one?", kiyo asked.

even though the two weren't exactly on good terms, kiyo knew that it was going to be a long journey, and if she wanted it to go smoothly, she would need sukuna to at least tolerate her.

sukuna raised a brow as kiyo unwrapped the triangular rice ball, taking a bite as she showed that she did not poison it.

sukuna simply turned away as he closed his eyes, crossing his arms as he awaited for the girl to fall asleep after her small dinner.

kiyo quietly ate by herself as she heard a bit of rustling, making sukuna open one of his eyes as he saw a red fox jump out of the bushes.

it suddenly whimpered as it met sukuna's bored gaze, to which kiyo had softly clicked her tongue, diverting its attention to herself instead.

kiyo had broke apart a few grains of rice as she held it in her hand, offering for the fox to take.

it slowly inched closer to the girl as it sniffed her hand, hesitantly eating the grains of rice as it licked her palm, making kiyo slightly smile.

just as kiyo had placed the onigiri down, her hand extended to go pet the animal right before the fox had snatched the onigiri and ran off, leaving kiyo lightly chuckling to herself.

"are you dumb or are you dumb? you just got bested by a wild animal that you could've easily killed to add to your dinner", sukuna stated.

"it was hungry", kiyo replied, finding another nearby tree as she leaned against the trunk.

"and you're not?"

"maybe it has a family to feed", kiyo yawned, covering her mouth with her long sleeve.

"or maybe it doesn't".

"that's the thing, we never know who's in need, but I'd rather help in case they're truly impoverished", kiyo explained, to which sukuna had cocked his head to the side, utterly confused.

"you humans are truly something else", the male snarled with disgust.

"have you never done something for others?", kiyo asked, only having to have heard the rumors of how ruthless sukuna was back in the earlier eras, though she didn't want to assume his entire life was just based on shedding other people's blood.

"hmm...yes", sukuna suddenly answered. "I've put people out of their miseries instead of torturing them. nice, aren't I?", the pink-haired male crazily laughed, to which kiyo had only hummed.

"have you always traveled alone then? just killing on a whim?", kiyo asked.

"why the sudden interest, miko?"

"just wanted to make some conversation. after all, it'll be a long six months together wouldn't it?", kiyo slightly smiled.

'you won't be smiling anymore after I cut that time short and end you', sukuna mentally grinned.

"yeah, sure".

"anyways, I am getting a bit tired. I'll see you tomorrow morning. goodnight", kiyo mumbled as she closed her eyes, to which sukuna wondered if this was some type of trap to make him think that she was purposely letting her guard down but then attacking him when he least expects it.

it wasn't until after midnight that sukuna's eyes had snapped open, to which the male had quietly stood up as he walked over to the passed out girl and kneeled beside her.

he wondered if her powers were active 24/7 or whether it was only activated when she was conscious and awake.

skeptical, sukuna decided to take a fallen leaf from nearby as he brushed it against the girl's nose, to which it wasn't repelled.

throwing the leaf behind him, sukuna extended out a sharp finger with his darkish-purplish nail nearly about to poke the girl until kiyo had sneezed, causing the male to jump back in surprise as kiyo's eyes fluttered open.

kiyo stretched a bit as sukuna quickly pretended to be asleep, feeling his heart accelerate as if he just committed a sin, in which he's never felt guilty for anything he's done in his entire life.

the girl rubbed her eyes as she glanced over at the "sleeping" demon, to which his chest was quite exposed due to how casual he liked to dress.

the man had a fit body and he was confident to show it off.

plus it made it easier for him to fight others when necessary.

rummaging through her bag, kiyo had unfolded a little blanket and draped it over sukuna, standing back up as she decided to walk around a bit to help relax herself.

perhaps it wasn't the best idea to leave sukuna alone, but kiyo had assumed that he was dead asleep and he wouldn't run away without getting that damn bracelet off his wrist first.

and for all he knew, kiyo was the only one that could take the bracelet off him.

as kiyo strolled further away, she had reached a riverbank that she deemed safe enough for her to step into without drowning.

sukuna had threw the blanket aside once he heard the girl leave, as his enhanced sense of smell could also trace her scent from afar.

following kiyo, he had jumped from branch to branch as he still managed to stay a good distance away so that she wouldn't spot him.

kiyo had shed off her red hakama as she was now only in her white kosode, in which she had rolled up her sleeves as she dipped her legs in the shallow water.

wrinkling her toes as the tiny fish kissed them, kiyo chuckled as her feet curled up because of how ticklish it was.

sukuna softly scoffed at how boring the girl was. as he was about to head back, a voice suddenly rang through the forest.

"care to come join me?", kiyo asked, tucking a strand of her silvery white hair behind her ear as she looked up at where sukuna was standing.

sukuna made a disgusted face as he swiftly left, back to where the two were camping earlier.

kiyo just shrugged as she gently paddled her feet so that the water didn't splash onto her. just as the girl had watched the sun peak the mountains, she felt a familiar blanket draped over her head, covering her view.

a presence sat beside her as she slid the blanket onto her shoulders, covering her upper body.

"have you ever enjoyed the sunrise?", kiyo asked, watching as the rays had slowly lit the entire earth right in front of her eyes, to which it had seemed that the flowers were blossoming in order to greet their source of life.

"no", sukuna bluntly answered, as the man liked sleeping in most of the time.

the two sat together by the riverbank silently as sukuna occasionally glanced over at the pale girl.

he had brought the blanket over for one reason and one reason only.

'oh how fun it'll be to play with this one'.