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"do you think she's single? she's gorgeous", one whispered.

"it seems like she's a priestess though", the other replied.

"what a pity. if she were a regular woman, I would've already asked for her hand in marriage", another sighed.

it truly was a shame. with kiyo looking like a goddess roaming the earth, most knew just by one look that she was a miko from the way she dressed.

while other ladies spent their time dolling up their face and buying flashy kimonos for themselves, kiyo was home reading beside the slightly lifted window as she guarded sukuna's shrine.

"HEY! IF YOU'RE GONNA BUY SOMETHING, HAND OVER THE MONEY FIRST!", a man shouted, to which it had caught a few people's attention.

"I-I'll pay you back! I swear!!"

"huh? like hell I'll believe that! money first!"

"but...my mother's starving...a-and...we haven't eaten in days...", the dark-haired boy mumbled with his eyes wavering as he stared at the steamed buns that were still in the cradle of the warm basket.

"I said you—"

"sir, I'll take the freshest basket of nikuman you have, and keep the change", kiyo interrupted as she slid ten mon across the table.

the man's expression had immediately changed as he happily packaged the steamed buns into three brown bags, to which kiyo had handed two to the boy beside her.

"why'd you...help me?", the boy asked, with his dark bangs covering the right side of his face, shielding his scar.

"you're in need of help, no?", kiyo smiled. "you should get back to your mother now", the girl urged, to which the boy had bowed.

though before he had run off, he asked for the girl's name.

"gojō kiyo, and you are?"

"u-umm...yoshino junpei", the boy muttered.

"have a nice day then, yoshino", kiyo smiled as she watched the boy scurry away.

with one bag of nikuman left, kiyo had taken one out and offered it to sukuna, who had promptly snatched it as he nearly burned his tongue with how hot it was.

"holy shit! are you trying to kill me?", sukuna complained as he blew on it before hastily stuffing it back into his mouth, still feeling the burning sensation, though he was too prideful to spit it out.

"at least not yet", kiyo joked, sitting down at one of the tables as sukuna had followed suit, waiting for the other gojō and three teenagers to arrive.

it wasn't until another ten minutes later that a white-haired male had popped up beside kiyo, hugging her from behind as he cheered.

"kiyo~ I missed you so much!! have you been eating well? sleeping well? has this demon been causing your problems?", satoru asked, pinching kiyo's cheeks as he pulled the girl's face from side to side.

"I've been fine", kiyo answered, slapping satoru's hands away from her face as she gently rubbed her slightly red cheeks.

"anyways, how many have you collected?", kiyo asked, getting straight to the point.

silence.

"huh?"

kiyo raised a brow. "what do you mean, huh? how many beads have you collected since our departure?", the girl repeated, to which itadori had awkwardly chuckled.

"k-kiyo-san, are you not tired from all the traveling?", the pink-haired boy asked.

kugisaki nodded. "yeah yeah!! would you like some tea or some delicious skewed beef? gojō-sensei offered to pay earlier", the girl chimed in.

"we didn't collect any", fushiguro simply stated, to which the other two teenagers had a look of disbelief on their faces.

"oi! fushiguro, what's the meaning in that?", itadori questioned.

"she was bound to find out anyways", the dark-haired male replied, to which sukuna had snorted.

"seems like you two are getting executed soon", the demon teased, to which itadori had suddenly remembered about his execution date.

"aw shit..."

"don't worry kiyoooo!! I've got it all under control", satoru smiled, to which kiyo had doubted her playful brother.

"satoru, this is serious. we only have five and a half months left and who knows where the rest of the beads are".

"hai hai~ I'll make sure to try harder then", satoru pouted, to which kiyo had sighed.

"I'm sorry, it's just—"

"I understand", satoru smiled, gently ruffling kiyo's head and making her slightly embarrassed.

"satoru, we're not children...", kiyo mumbled, to which sukuna had snickered as everyone's attention had suddenly diverted to the dirty blonde man with his hair neatly styled, standing beside their table.

"uh...may we help you?", itadori asked.

"nanami! what are you doing here?", kiyo happily asked, standing up as she approached the stoic man with a hug, though the male only begrudgingly patted the girl's back.

"NA-NA-MI~"

as kiyo had let go of the male, nanami had dodged satoru's hug as he took a seat beside the girl.

"pleasure to meet you all. I'm nanami kento, a friend of kiyo's", the male introduced, wearing a very fancy kimono along with a thin yet expensively made haori.

"nanami, that's mean~ aren't I your friend too?", satoru huffed.

"you're sukuna?", nanami questioned, ignoring satoru as the tattooed-male had smirked.

"and if I am?"

"I see...", nanami mumbled. "anyways, satoru had informed me that you were in trouble and needed to collect some beads?"

kiyo nodded. "I've only got three so far, but there's supposedly a total of twenty", the girl informed as she took out a small pocket, dumping the beads on her palm for the male to observe.

"I heard that there's been a case here, and it might be because of these tiny beads. anyways, that's why you called me here, right?", nanami asked, looking over at satoru.

"smart as always! there's been a case going around here, where apparently people have been mutated and turning into monsters", satoru said.

"these demons are surely rising quickly", kiyo mumbled.

"oh? did you exorcise one already?", satoru asked.

the girl only nodded. "it was this volcanic yōkai. I think many of them are tempted because of sukuna's release", kiyo stated, glancing over at the cocky male who had managed to finish the entire bag of nikuman.

sukuna scoffed. it didn't matter whether the demons were rising because of him or not, as he could give less of a shit on what people wanted him for.

after all, he was a free spirit and only did what pleased him.

"well we can't just leave the villagers to mutate, so let's split up into groups", satoru suggested.

"alright, I'm going with ki—"

"nope nope nope!! you will be in charge of yūji-kun and sukuna", satoru grinned, making nanami's eyes squint in displeasure.

"huh? a new toy?", sukuna grinned, to which nanami had became even more irked.

"shouldn't sukuna stay with me instead? he is my responsibility", kiyo stated, knowing that nanami wasn't fond of people like her brother, to which sukuna had a teasing side just like satoru.

"now now, I need you to take megumi-kun instead while nobara-chan and I will be a team. exciting right?", satoru smiled.

kiyo looked over at the dark-haired boy momentarily before agreeing.

"okay, but I need a private moment with sukuna", kiyo said, standing up as she motioned for the pink-haired male to do the same.

as the two inched further away from the table and group of people, to the point of them reaching the entrance and exit of the village, kiyo had finally stopped.

"are you about to confess your undying love for me, because—"

"I have a deal to strike with you", kiyo interrupted, finding it silly that sukuna had even suggested that.

"oh? I'm all ears", the male hummed with amusement.

kiyo softly sighed. it wasn't like she didn't believe in nanami's abilities, but itadori was still quite new and she worried that he'd be a bit of a burden to the grade one sorcerer.

"I need you to protect nanami and itado—"

"absolutely not".

"listen", kiyo firmly stated. "I will loosen your bracelet a bit so that you can use more of your powers, but you must protect them and not harm any innocent people", kiyo bargained.

sukuna merely scoffed at the girl's naiveness, but nevertheless nodded in agreement.

"sure. now loosen it", sukuna commanded, to which kiyo had taken the male's hand in hers as her other hand hovered over his tattooed wrist.

quietly mumbling something beneath her breath, the bracelet had indeed loosened just a touch. a warm glow had emitted as sukuna could feel a bit more power running through his veins, exciting him.

"now that's more like it", the demon king smirked as he clenched his fists and unclenched them.

"remember the deal sukuna. I'm trusting you".