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"I hope you didn't forget your duty".

kiyo kneeled before the higher ups beside satoru as they had decided to make a surprise visit to the gojō household early in the morning.

thankfully nozomi was asleep beside sukuna, meanwhile hakaku was on top of the demon king, as the three had immediately passed out once they got home from the previous night.

"I did not, sire", kiyo replied.

"THEN WHY ISN'T SUKUNA SEALED AWAY YET?! WHY IS HE OUT STROLLING DOWN THE STREETS DURING THE AUTUMN FESTIVAL LAST NIGHT?!", the male shouted, throwing the tea cup onto the floor as the pieces shattered near the two gojōs.

satoru would've killed all the higher ups if it weren't for kiyo squeezing his hand to calm him down.

"my apologies sire, but I have a proposition", kiyo boldly stated.

"speak", he growled.

"sukuna may be the most brutal demon of all times, but recently he's been showing a change in attitude. I suggest we give him a chance and—"

"BULLSHIT!"

"lady kiyo, I used to think that you were at least a sensible woman, even if you're lacking compared to satoru-kun, but now..."

"want to repeat that?", satoru threatened, lifting part of his blindfold as his crystal blue eye glared at the old man, to which he had shivered in fear as he meekly shook his head.

"n-no thanks".

satoru scoffed as he let his blindfold fall back down, meanwhile the head of the daimyos had cleared his throat.

"how do we know he's changed? for all you know, he could be pretending".

"I assure you sire. though he's still a bit rough around the edges, he's yet to kill or hurt anyone other than the demons we've encountered so far", kiyo reported, deciding that it'd be best to not mention the edo versus heiankyo incident.

"there's no guarantee. it's too risky", the man immediately shot down.

"could we at least...give sukuna a chance?", kiyo asked. "instead of him being our strongest enemy, he could be our strongest ally!"

"absolutely not!! we're not taking any chances and that is final!"

"but—"

"perhaps lady kiyo fancies the demon?", one mocked, to which everyone had whipped their heads over to one of the other daimyos.

"don't spout nonsense".

"I'm not~ I mean, she's awfully supportive of sukuna. how long has it been again?"

"since what?", satoru snorted, wishing that he could peel that smirk right off his face.

"since lady kiyo's fiancé died. I mean...maybe a few years? and you've already moved on? could it be that you're a bit of a whore?"

immediately, the tea cups on every table — presented in front of the daimyos — shattered, as satoru had completely revealed his minacious eyes.

"ara ara~ gomenasaiiii!!", satoru smiled, his face immediately contorting into a grim expression.

"for people who have multiple wives, you sure have an ironic way of surmising yourself", satoru insulted, to which the daimyo had slammed his hands on the table as he huffed, stomping out of the house as majority of them had followed.

a few glared at the gojō siblings as they exited too, leaving only one remaining.

"my apologies for their harsh behavior, lady kiyo, but regarding the sukuna situation, I'm afraid that the majority of us cannot allow you to set him free and renter society, at least not at his full power", the old man stated.

"however, we didn't come here for just him. recently, the shogunate had ordered us around to survey the lands and how they're doing, and there was a cursed item that's stuck in the boulder of the tsumikana village.

it's rumored to have increased the demon attacks around that area and they need your assistance there", the daimyo informed.

"a cursed tool you say?", kiyo asked, more concerned about the villagers than the other daimyo's jarring words.

the old man nodded.

"we're not sure of the user but we assumed that you'd at least be familiar with these types of things. I hope you don't mind..."

"no worries. I'll swiftly take care of it", kiyo assured as she bid the only sensible — at least to her — daimyo goodbye.

the priestess then sighed as she glanced over at satoru.

"you didn't have to if you didn't want to", he said, picking up the shattered glass as kiyo just smiled.

"the moment I chose this profession I had no turning back".

"well...I wouldn't say it like that. if you manage to kill sukun—"

"no", kiyo immediately shot down.

satoru perked his head up, looking over at his sister.

"not even for your own freedom?"

kiyo shook her head. "a life compared to my freedom is nothing", the girl replied, to which satoru had grinned.

"so you do fancy him", satoru teased, to which kiyo had raised a brow in confusion.

"there's no such thing, satoru. now if you'll excuse me, I need to go wake the children and ryōmen for lunch", kiyo stated, elegantly walking out the room as satoru snorted.

"does she even hear herself?"

∞

"mm...five more minutes", hakaku whined, gripping tightly onto sukuna's dark kimono as kiyo tried to pry the boy off once more.

"come on. it's noon and time for lunch", kiyo cooed, tickling the fox boy as he started choking on air and crackling, rolling off of sukuna and waking the demon king up.

"you too, nozomi", kiyo smiled, as the girl just sat up without being tickled, yawning as she rubbed her eyes.

"what are we having for lunch today, mama?", nozomi tiredly asked, to which kiyo had kissed the top of the girl's forehead as she's still getting used to the title.

"rice with a few other dishes including salmon, your favorite", kiyo replied as hakaku had stumbled upwards, meanwhile kiyo was carrying nozomi.

"oi! what about me?", sukuna grumbled, to which kiyo had paused in her footsteps.

"you may join us for lunch as well", kiyo said, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

sukuna scowled. "I meant where's my morning kiss?"

kiyo decided to ignore the demon king as she continued on her way out with nozomi and hakaku, who softly snickered to each other as they watched sukuna click his tongue in dissatisfaction.

nevertheless, the yōkai king begrudgingly got up as he got ready with the two half-demons, meanwhile kiyo had prepared the table, with satoru already waiting.

"so...when do you plan on leaving?", the white-haired male asked, to which sukuna, nozomi, and hakaku halted in their steps as they entered the dining room.

"LEAVING?! WHERE YOU ARE GOING MAMA?! ARE YOU LEAVING US??", nozomi screamed, about to burst into tears as she ran over to the priestess, clinging onto her.

hakaku pouted as he too awkwardly hugged the miko, refusing to let go.

"is it mister sukuna? are you leaving us because he's not good enough?", hakaku asked, to which sukuna had snapped his head at the fox child.

"hey! want to repeat that to my face?!"

kiyo chuckled. "I'm not leaving permanently. there's just a task that I've got to do", kiyo explained, to which hakaku had sat beside the priestess, getting ready to eat.

"oh". nozomi then quickly changed her expression to a bright smile as she started eating too, to which kiyo had only laughed more.

sukuna sat beside satoru — much to his displeasure — as he questioned what mission the girl was going on.

"there's a cursed tool that's been causing a bit of trouble to the village of tsumikana, so I have to go over there and purify it, perhaps even destroy it", kiyo responded, grabbing some vegetables for the two children.

"cursed tool? who just leaves their weapon somewhere random?", sukuna scoffed.

"who knows, but I'll be gone for a few days, so in the meantime, satoru will be taking care of you guys", kiyo smiled.

"aww mannn", hakaku whined, to which satoru had made an offended gasp.

"sucks for you two", sukuna grinned, to which the two half-demons had crossed their arms.

"no fair! why does mister sukuna get to go but not us?", nozomi complained.

"it's not safe for you two, and it'd hurt for me to see you two injured in even the slightest", kiyo explained, to which the two had widely smiled.

"she's basically calling you two weak", sukuna snorted.

"no I'm not", kiyo quickly said, patting nozomi and hakaku's head.

"well either way, you better keep mama safe", hakaku said to sukuna, who didn't reply.

"now you two don't cause trouble for satoru while we're away", kiyo instructed.

the two glanced at each other as they smiled.

"haiii~"