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"can't believe you sent me on a trip to get all these shitty materials", sukuna insulted as he gently tossed all the items onto the table in front of kiyo, who just smiled as she thanked him.

"well I just thought it'd be a great pastime while I'm here", kiyo smiled, skimming through the titles of the books to make sure that sukuna had bought the right ones.

"then what about me?! what the hell am I supposed to do while we're here?!"

"you could go out and help out some of the older villagers with their crops", kiyo suggested, to which a disgusted expression had found its way onto sukuna's face.

"do you even know me?"

kiyo slightly chuckled.

"then how about an afternoon nap? I'll wake you up for dinner later", kiyo offered, as she watched sukuna sluggishly fall onto the bed, propping his head up with the palm of his hand as he watched the girl fiddle with some white fabric and different colored strings.

"I can't sleep", sukuna stated.

"maybe you should try to actually lay down and close your eyes", kiyo teased.

"but then I can't see you anymore", sukuna smirked.

"you're sleeping...you don't need to", kiyo replied, to which sukuna was a bit disappointed that he didn't get more of a reaction out of the priestess.

"come here", sukuna demanded, to which kiyo had lifted a brow.

"if you so kindly will", sukuna muttered, rolling his eyes as he refused to say please.

kiyo lightly chuckled as she took a book off the table and wobbled over towards the bed, where sukuna had moved a bit as he made some room for the girl.

the priestess leaned against the bed frame as sukuna had laid beside her, watching kiyo open up the new book as she flipped through the thin pages, reading effortlessly.

"I can't sleep without you flipping through the pages so obnoxiously", sukuna complained, to which kiyo had sighed as she glanced down at the male, who had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"why don't you read with me then?", kiyo suggested, to which sukuna had let out an uninterested hum.

"fine", he grumbled, sitting up as he stretched his arms, wrapping them around kiyo as he sneakily pulled the priestess onto his lap.

the miko flipped to the beginning, not that she was too far ahead anyways, and started to read out loud, meanwhile sukuna had laid his chin on the girl's shoulder, furrowing his brows as the words seemed like a whole bunch of ants crawling on paper.

the girl's voice was that of a calming sound, sending little vibrations to sukuna's face as his cheek was against the girl's; it was almost like a soft humming.

he liked it.

sukuna liked listening to the girl read. he obviously wasn't very invested in the story, but if he could, he'd love to hear her read to him every night and put him to sleep.

the demon king nuzzled into kiyo's neck, his grip around her becoming tighter as he closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the peacefulness.

"...and she wept. her father could only watch by the sidelines as he felt pitiful for his only daughter, who was chosen to enter the palace", kiyo read.

"excuse me", a calm voice interrupted with a knock.

"come in please!", kiyo slightly shouted, about to get up until she realized that sukuna didn't plan on letting go.

"ryōmen, let—"

"sukuna-sama, I have successfully gotten rid of the cursed tool", uraume reported.

"ah, uraume-san! thank you for your hard work. how about you join us for dinner?", kiyo asked, to which the monk did not reply, as they only heeded to sukuna's commands.

"uraume, answer for yourself", sukuna grumbled, about to kiss the priestess's neck before kiyo had covered sukuna's mouth with her hand.

"I insist, uraume-san", kiyo smiled.

"then I shall", uraume bowed.

uraume ended up retrieving the pre-made dinner from the innkeeper downstairs, to which kiyo and sukuna were already at the round table in the center of the room, waiting.

"thank you so much", kiyo said, meanwhile uraume had set down the bowls and utensils, along with the plates of common dishes eaten by the lower class.

"mm~ this tofu is really good! you both need to try it", kiyo hummed with content as she grabbed some and placed it in both the demons' bowls.

"maybe I should take some home for satoru and them", kiyo mumbled, to which sukuna had snorted as uraume had given it a try.

it tasted fine.

uraume didn't understand what was so good about it. the demon monk glanced over at their king, who just ate everything that kiyo was serving him, meanwhile the priestess herself was smiling as she asked sukuna whether it was good or not, to which he had simply replied with a nod.

uraume couldn't comprehend what had happened from the time frame of when sukuna had became unsealed to now, as the demon king allowed the priestess to be near him at all times and even carried her when wounded.

for centuries amongst centuries, uraume had watched sukuna go through women like a set of clothes.

no women lived past a week at most, as they quickly became boring to the demon king, who was always on the lookout for a challenge; for something, someone, interesting.

"do you like it, uraume-san?", kiyo asked, snapping the monk out of their thoughts.

"yes, it's good. thank you...kiyo-san", uraume mumbled, to which the miko had smiled as she continued conversing with sukuna, explaining why she'd like to go out tomorrow, as her ankle's already feeling much better due to her slightly below average healing abilities.

"that sounds boring", sukuna honestly stated.

"you can't say that when you've never tried it before", kiyo sighed. "please? I just want to see how they make tofu at least once before we head back".

"fine", sukuna groaned, not looking forward to humans making a wet sponge-like food item, though kiyo seemed elated.

"would you like to join us tomorrow too?", kiyo asked uraume, to which they glanced over at sukuna once more.

"if sukuna-sama and kiyo-san wouldn't mind—"

"of course we don't! I'm sure you've missed ryōmen while he's been sealed away for so long haven't you?"

uraume wasn't sure how to respond. did they miss sukuna? they've been with him for quite a few millenniums, and they were loyal to the bones.

"I suppose...", uraume answered, to which kiyo had chuckled, making sukuna raise a brow.

"uraume-san's so honest. guess you weren't missed after all these years, huh?", kiyo teased sukuna, pinching his cheek as he harshly slapped the priestess's hand away.

"excuse you, people worship me!", sukuna huffed.

"ah yes, that's why they fear you every time your name is mentioned", kiyo sarcastically retaliated.

"same difference", sukuna scoffed, stuffing more rice in his mouth as uraume just stayed silent.

"sure", kiyo laughed as sukuna just rolled his eyes, leaving the table as he was finished with dinner.

uraume collected all the tableware and leftover food as they watched kiyo wobble over towards sukuna, trying to convince him to shower first before resting for the night.

"I'll shower tomorrow morning", sukuna groaned, making kiyo shake her head.

"if you don't shower tonight, I'm not sleeping on the same bed as you", the priestess threatened, to which sukuna had made a snarling face as he sat up and left the room, aggressively slamming the door.

sukuna never considered compromises, and uraume knew that.

it made them wonder: where's the sukuna that listened to no one?