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"can you put that damn needle and thread down and sleep already?", sukuna complained, shielding his eyes from the dimly lit lantern as kiyo had accidentally pricked her finger when the demon king spoke.

sighing, kiyo slowly made her way over to the lantern, blowing out the candle as she felt the bed frame around her to help her get onto bed.

sucking her pointer finger, kiyo stopped the petite blood flow as inconveniently, there was only one blanket on the bed, much to her dismay.

"scared I'm going to kill you? why're you so far away from me?", sukuna growled, to which kiyo was quite literally about to fall off the bed if she were to scoot any further away from the demon.

"oi! I'm talking t—"

kiyo sighed as she turned around, surprised at how close the yōkai was, as her nose nearly smacked sukuna's chest.

"better? can you sleep now?"

a wide grin was plastered on sukuna's face as his arms pulled the priestess closer, so close that kiyo's breath was fanning the demon's collarbone.

"do you have to hold me so close?", kiyo mumbled, her lips grazing sukuna's skin, making him feel like butterflies were kissing him.

"yes, now shut up and sleep", sukuna demanded, burying the lower half of his face on top of the girl's head, enjoying how small and frail kiyo felt when in his embrace.

the priestess only gripped onto the collar of sukuna's kimono as she hastily fell asleep, with morning arriving a bit too soon for sukuna's liking.

the demon king squinted his eyes as the sun poured in through the circular window. he felt something slightly squirm, causing him to glance down and break into a low chuckle.

sukuna's finger brushed up and down the priestess's cheek as if it were a canvas. the male marveled at the miko's long lashes and scattered locks of hair that sprawled all over his arm.

kiyo subconsciously leaned towards the warm contact, her hands interlacing sukuna's as her lips gently pressed against the back of the demon's hand, making him a bit startled.

sukuna hummed as he slightly smiled, until kiyo had muttered out a name.

"mm...suki..."

sukuna then raised a brow.

'suki? who the fuck is suki? is it any of the brats' names?! shit! what's the rest of them called again?'

"oi! miko, wake up!", sukuna demanded, slipping his hand from kiyo's, making the girl yawn as her eyes fluttered open, smiling as sukuna momentarily became captivated.

"good morning, ryōmen", kiyo greeted, sitting up as the medicine and her slight healing powers had completely cured her ankle, allowing her to stand up and make her way over to the mirror that was placed on the table.

the girl quickly combed through her hair as she messily tied it into a low bun, sticking the magnolia hairpin in as she swiftly left the room to go change elsewhere.

sukuna was left there, still trying to remember who all the shamans in training were called.

"is it that one with the cursed speech? he doesn't really seem like a suki....maybe the pink-haired brat? no no no...or maybe it's the panda?", sukuna mumbled to himself.

"I got us breakfast. also, do you know where uraume-san is?", kiyo asked, placing a bowl of okayu — rice porridge — in front of the demon and herself.

"no", sukuna simply replied.

kiyo just nodded as the two quietly enjoyed their breakfast, with sukuna occasionally glancing over at the oblivious priestess.

"good morning sukuna-sama, kiyo-san", uraume greeted by the doorway.

"ah, uraume-san! good morning to you too. did you have breakfast yet?", kiyo asked.

uraume just nodded, as they didn't necessarily needed to eat and didn't want to go through the trouble of having kiyo get something for them.

"sweet! let's head out then", kiyo smiled, clasping her hands together as she made sure to lock the room, enjoying the nice day despite it being nearly mid-november.

sukuna stayed awfully quiet as he trailed behind kiyo, who was waving to the villagers as she greeted them with a warm smile.

it wasn't until halfway down the road that kiyo had insisted on helping this old woman, who was having trouble pulling a cart of soybeans back home.

"you're too kind, young lady", the old woman chuckled, gently hitting her own back with a fist as it relieved some back pain.

"not at all madam! by any chance, are you the tofu producer of this village?", kiyo asked, to which the woman had nodded.

"my husband and I have been making tofu together for over forty years! would you like to come make some with us too?"

"I'd be honored!!", kiyo exclaimed, following the old woman back home as uraume and sukuna just stood there, utterly baffled.

the two demons along with kiyo and the old woman — that goes by miomi — arrived at her and her husband's humble abode, to which there was an old man sitting at the table out in their small courtyard.

"miomi, who did you bring?", the old man squinted, putting down his straw fan as he stood up from his rocking chair.

"lady kiyo offered to help us make tofu. and these two are her friends", miomi explained.

"it's a pleasure having you all here then! you may call me toru. my apologies for not having much", the old man slightly bowed.

"not at all!! we had some of your tofu yesterday night and I was just telling ryō and ume how much I loved it", kiyo smiled, improvising a name for uraume, as she wasn't sure whether people knew of them or not.

"is that so? then do take some with you once we're done with this batch!", toru laughed, to which the girl had thanked the old man as she rolled up her sleeves, prompting uraume to do the same as sukuna had opted out, taking a seat at the table and observing the four.

'who the hell is suki?!', sukuna bitterly thought as he glared at kiyo, who was happily using the stone tool to grind the soybeans with uraume helping.

"be careful ume", kiyo warned as the demon monk slowly swirled the liquified soybeans, meanwhile the old couple watched from nearby, chuckling as they were glad that the two were having fun.

it wasn't until an hour or two later that a circular tofu was strained of any liquid and taken out of the steaming wok.

"looks amazing!!", kiyo marveled, clapping her hands together even though they were slightly burnt.

"I'll go make my signature tofu dish for you three! wait up", miomi excitedly said, leaving before kiyo could stop the woman.

"I'll go help cook the rice", toru quickly chimed in as he swiftly left too, leaving kiyo alone with uraume meanwhile sukuna was still thinking about who suki was.

kiyo just shrugged as she suddenly softly snickered, using the back of her hand as she wiped some of the dust — from the crackling firewood earlier — off of uraume's cheek, making sukuna perk up.

"OI, MIKO! COME HERE!", sukuna demanded, to which the priestess had slightly flinched at the sudden loudness as she made her way over to the peevish demon king.

"something wrong, ryō?", kiyo asked, to which sukuna was about lecture the girl until he noticed how red her hands were.

"what the hell were you doing? why do your hands look like red firecrackers?!", sukuna scowled as he held the girl's warm hands, blowing on them as the priestess just shrugged.

"it's nothing really", kiyo smiled.

"nothing my ass!"

before kiyo could reply, the couple had returned with bowls of rice, utensils, and a plate of tofu with spicy toppings.

uraume joined the small table as miomi insisted on the guests to take the first bite.

"ah thank you so much!!", kiyo exclaimed as she enjoyed the flavorful tofu, excited to serve it to satoru and fushiguro once she got home.

a sudden meowing was heard, to which everyone had turned to the black cat that had appeared beside the old woman, who had fed it a small piece of tofu.

"huh? who's this?", kiyo asked.

"ah, this is just a stray cat that likes to come visit my husband and I sometimes. we call him noku", miomi chuckled.

"he's cute! he reminds me of this cat that my brother and I used to own as a child. we named him suki", kiyo laughed, to which sukuna had choked on his food, making kiyo pat his back rhythmically as she handed him a teacup of water.

"are you okay?", kiyo asked, to which sukuna had just nodded, internally cursing himself for wasting brain cells on trying to figure out who this so-called suki was.

"yeah yeah...just swell", sukuna assured as kiyo continued conversing with the old couple, meanwhile uraume had observed the entire situation.

they supposed that as long as sukuna had desired, they'd help keep kiyo safe, at least until sukuna gets bored of her.