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"come on! try harder~", sukuna sarcastically encouraged as he stepped on the pile of shamans that were beneath his feet.

though none were dead yet, the majority of them were bleeding and struggling to properly breathe.

they had truly underestimated sukuna, especially naoya, who was currently being suppressed against the wooden floorboards by one of sukuna's arms.

itadori would've jumped in if it weren't for kiyo stopping him, as this was solely for the others, not for him and his friends.

"lady kiyo, this was supposed to be a competition between us two...but I've yet to see you get up and fight", naoya coughed out, slightly raising his head as his chin was propped up against the floor.

kiyo sighed, feigning distress.

"oh silly me! I didn't dress for the occasion", the woman slightly pouted as she ran her fingers across her silky sleeve, pretending to be interested by the colorfulness of the fabric.

"then you're admitting defeat is what I hear", naoya grinned, to which kiyo had stood up and made her way over towards sukuna.

"I don't know. does this mean I lose, ryōmen?"

sukuna hummed a bit, sighing too.

"there's no way I'd ever hurt you miko. I surrender", sukuna grinned, raising up two of his arms as his other two kept naoya pinned down.

everyone let out a wheeze-like gasp as they watched the two smile.

"then I suppose I win", kiyo hummed.

"that's not fair! you didn't even—"

"nothing in life is fair, naoya-san. just like how your cousin isn't born with a technique and is thrown aside as if she wasn't worthy, even though she's trained just as hard, perhaps even more. isn't that right, maki?"

the green-haired girl snapped out of her shock as she nodded, to which kiyo had placed her pointer finger beneath naoya's chin, tilting his face towards the girl's as she leaned in close.

"word of advice: if you continue to look down upon others, especially women, and be so patronizing, you won't realize what came over you until you see them bypass your level", kiyo warned, standing back up as she led sukuna to the front of the room.

naoya breathed a lot better once sukuna wasn't holding him against the floor anymore, though the male made no mental note to change his ways of thinking.

"well thanks for participating everyone! let's officially start dessert", kiyo chirped, clasping her hands together as majority of the shamans groaned, wobbling over towards their seat.

"you best have a reward prepared for how well I entertained the guests today", sukuna whispered, to which kiyo had just kept up her fake smile as dessert was served to everyone.

"no worries. I have something in mind", kiyo lowly replied, taking a bite out of her anmitsu.

sukuna raised a brow as he went through all the possibilities that the girl could offer, excitedly anticipating for the end of the feast.

it wasn't until every single one had left did kiyo finally get up from her seat to mount onto the carriage that she came on, along with sukuna, who was given the most outer layer of kiyo's kimono to cover up his bare chest.

"well? where's my reward?", the male cheekily questioned.

"close your eyes", kiyo commanded, to which sukuna was expecting a kiss, not some white handkerchief with a branch of blooming magnolia flowers sewn on it.

"huh? the fuck is this?"

"a handmade handkerchief by me", kiyo smiled, quite proud of her own work even though she had pricked herself a couple of times.

sukuna made an unimpressed face, to which kiyo had glanced out the carriage, revealing the gojō household at the top of the mountain.

"thank you for the ride", kiyo bowed as she tipped the coachman, meanwhile she had to carefully make her way up the multitude of stairs, as her eight layers of clothing was quite heavy.

"can you walk any slower?", sukuna scoffed, waiting for kiyo to reach the first platform after the first set of stairs.

kiyo softly huffed as she tried to walk a bit faster, only to accidentally trip over her second layer of kimono as she thankfully did not face plant.

"can you be any more troublesome?", sukuna scoffed, holding the girl by the waist as kiyo tilted her head upwards, her face smiling with innocence.

"sorry", the priestess apologized, squirming around as she tried to escape the demon king's tight grasp.

"are you trying to fall backwards?", sukuna teased, slightly loosening his grip as he let kiyo lean back a bit, to which she had hastily gripped onto the red kimono loosely tied around sukuna's waist.

"scared?", sukuna chuckled, to which kiyo had only cleared her throat.

the priestess avoided the demon king's taunting gaze as she unconsciously bit the inside of her cheeks.

"look at you, dressed as pretty as a flower, yet for no one to appreciate", sukuna mumbled, as his other hand held the miko's face; his thumb grazing the priestess's bottom lip that's tainted rouge.

kiyo's brilliant blue eyes flickered upwards.

"I dress for no one but myself", kiyo replied, gently pressing her lips together as they kissed sukuna's thumb, to which the priestess had quickly slipped out of the demon king's embrace, heading upwards as she slightly lifted her multiple layers of clothing.

sukuna snapped his head around as he smirked.

"say, you're the first woman, no wait, the first person that I've ever surrendered to. that deserves a reward in itself, doesn't it?"

kiyo stopped in her footsteps as she tilted her head to the side.

"what does the loser wish for then?", kiyo teased.

"for the winner to sleep beside them every night", sukuna requested.

kiyo smiled.

"very well then, ryōmen".

∞

it wasn't until halfway through the night that kiyo had awoken from a nightmare, to which the girl had calmed her own breathing before leaving sukuna to sleep alone in their shared futon.

the priestess sneakily slipped past the main room and to the garden of the gojō property, where satoru was already sitting there, as if expecting the girl.

"satoru?"

"nightmare too, huh?"

kiyo nodded, smiling a bit as it was reliving to know that at least she wasn't alone.

ever since young, the twins seemed to possess a telepathic nightmare occurrence, as they'd wake up sweating from the same evil dreams.

"about suguru again?", satoru asked, to which he had received a soft hum.

"it's like...I..."

satoru glanced over at kiyo, who was at a loss for words.

the girl could only focus her gaze on the round moon as she nervously clenched onto her nightgown. kiyo reluctantly turned towards her twin, who she confided everything in.

"it's like I feel guilty", kiyo finally said.

"listen kiyo, you're not even the one that killed hi—"

"it's not that", kiyo interrupted, to which satoru had shedded off his blindfold to get a better look at his sister, that was fiddling with a strand of her hair.

"I feel guilty because I fell in love...again..."

satoru's eyes widened; his mouth agape as he never thought kiyo was to find someone else after getō, as the girl was more than devastated when the man had left, even more so, died.

"with sukuna", kiyo shakily breathed out, her eyes immediately darting towards satoru's, to which he had expected it, but now that the girl had actually said it, it seemed a bit too surreal.

"so?", satoru finally answered, to which kiyo had raised a brow.

"it's about time you do something for yourself and your own happiness! I thought my beautiful sister was going to end up alone forever! so, when's the weddin—"

kiyo immediately covered satoru's mouth, pinching his nose as she then hastily let go.

"don't say that, satoru! and plus...it just...doesn't feel right. it's like I'm betraying him", kiyo mumbled, to which satoru had pulled his lovely sister into a tight hug as he softly chuckled.

"I'm sure if suguru were alive, he'd want you to be happy too", satoru comforted.

"really, you think so?"

"I know so".

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a/n: hello lovelies!!

the power outage is finally over and even though it's like super cold, these heartwarming scenes be making me—

anyways, IMPORTANT: I just changed the prologue (000) chapter, so do read it (or not, I can't make you lol) and I'll see you next chapter.

thanks for all the comments, votes, + support <33