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Yuji's uncle has been acting strange lately, even since he came to stay at their apartment for the holidays. He's not sure if Sukuna has been sleeping lately, but the dark circles under his eyes have been getting darker each day.
Yuji would happily run up to his uncle and sit down next to him to show off the drawing he had just drawn. Sukuna would always give a smile to the boy, but his smile never seemed genuine, more like an empty and forced one.
It was even more strange whilst they were watching a movie together. Everyone had their eyes on the screen. But Sukuna. It was like he was fixed on something fat beyond the room, something that only he could see.
Sometimes, Sukuna would just stare at the boy. Every time Kaori spoke to Yuji, his uncle had his eyes glued to the boy. His crimson wide eyes were just staring at him like he had seen a ghost, but Yuji tried to pretend he didn't notice it. It scared him, his uncle was never like this normally...
Now Yuji is here, sitting on the living room rug cross-legged whilst his small fingers are stacking Legos on the floor, his tongue sticking out as he tries to concentrate. He doesn't even know what he's trying to build, his brain was too busy replaying the moments were his Uncle was acting weird.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Sukuna walk into his parent's room before the door clicked shut. Yuji just ignored it, his fingers reaching for another brick until a voice came from the room. It made him flinch. It sounded like his uncle was shouting, arguing with his parents about something, but they were too muffled to understand.
Yuji was too curious not to continue playing. He got up, his socked feet nearly tripping on the slippery rug as he walked towards the wooden door. He pressed his ear against the door, and the voices were much clearer.
He could hear his uncle shouting at his parents, but they weren't angry. It sounded broken and sharp, like Sukuna was upset about something. He's never heard Uncle Sukuna yell before, not even when he accidentally spilt juice on his couch.
The words coming from Sukuna were strange, like he was making up a story idea. He talked about how Kaori was someone who was a 'curse user', and the only reason she married Jin was so that she could have a child with him to create a vessel for the reincarnation of the 'King of Curses'.
Nothing seemed right. Yuji doesn't know what a vessel is, but he knows he isn't one. Sukuna even mentioned the scar on Kaori's forehead, which seemed to have triggered Jin. Kaori had an accident that left her with a huge scar across for forehead. She doesn't like talking about it, which must be why Jin is so mad.
Yuji's parents still tried their best to calm Sukuna down, telling him that he was having an episode and needed to calm down and breathe. Then he heard a sharp gasp coming from his parents, along with their panicked voices.
"Jesus Christ, Sukuna. Put it down-" Jin tried to sound, but his voice was cut off with a wet gurgling sound that gave Yuji goosebumps. His father wasn't shouting anymore, but his mother was, a spine-chilling scream escaping the gap underneath the door.
One thing that Yuji knows is that something terrible was happening in that room. The screams weren't like the fun ones where you found a spider or got jumpscared during a horror film. But the kind that made your skin prickly all the way to your toes.
Kaori's voice was next. The raw screams were also cut with a wet gurgling sound that made it seem like she was choking. Then came a loud thud of something hitting the floor. Yuji just froze. The only sounds he could hear were his heart beating out of his chest and quiet, frantic noises coming from the room. It sounded like Sukuna was whispering something, but it was wet and uneven.
Footsteps thudded towards the door, too slow and heavy as if someone was taking their time. Yuji's body moved on its own. He scrambled onto his feet, his socks slipping on the hardwood as he launched himself towards his bedroom.
Yuji didn't even have enough time to close the door behind him, his shaking hands rushing to open the closet door before he could dive inside. He crouched inside, palms covering his mouth to block out the heavy breathing from Sukuna.
The poor boy was scared half to death. There was something wrong with his uncle, but he didn't know what it was. This was the same man who would tickle his belly every time he was upset. The same man who would secretly give him candy when his parents said he couldn't have any. The same man who called him the cutest nephew in the world.
A sudden knock came from the door. It wasn't coming from his own door, though, it sounded like someone was knocking on the front door of the house. He could hear a loud hello, which sounded like the neighbours next door. He wanted to get up and open the door, but he couldn't. Not when Sukuna was roaming around the house looking for him.
...
He's not sure how long it's been since he hid in the closet, but he wasn't coming out for sure. He could still hear his uncle's heavy breathing from the living room and his slow thumping steps around the house. The neighbour had probably called the police already, since his mother's screaming was loud enough to catch their attention.
Yuji was still afraid, his small body trembling like a leaf whilst he tried his best to maintain his sobs against his palm. His tears couldn't stop flowing as he thought about his parents. They were most likely dead. He's heard these types of screams when he would secretly watch a horror movie without his parents-
Something tapped against the door frame of his room.
The moment Sukuna stepped into the room, his footsteps became lighter and too soft. His voice was like sweet syrup, the type of tone his mother would use when Yuji was scared. He was humming out Yuji's name like a lullaby, trying the lure the scared boy out from wherever he was hiding.
"Yuji, please come out..." Sukuna cooed, walking around the boy's bedroom. That's when Yuji could see it. Through the narrow crack between the doors, he would see his uncle. His back was facing the closet, but he was holding something. A large glisening kitchen knife was intensely gripped in his hand under the bedroom's light, the blade covered in blood that was from his parents. Sukuna's hands had blood dripping from his fingertips, and his clothes also had blood splatters all over them, especially his white vest.
A whimper escaped Yuji's throat before he could smother it. Sukuna's head snapped towards the closet so quickly that he could have broken his neck. He froze in front of the door for a moment before the closet door groaned inch by inch. The more it opened, the more the boy panicked.
"There you are," He whispered, a grin stretching wider than his lips should allow. Something metal hit against the wooden floor. Yuji's eyes quickly leered at the object and noticed that Sukuna had dropped the blood-soaked knife, then his knees hit the wooden floor with a thud that made him jump.
"I'm sorry," Sukuna gasped as his arms wrapped around Yuji so tightly as if the boy would be taken away. Yuji could feel his uncle's entire body trembling against his smaller frame, like he was also terrified, just like him, but also confused.
"I-I should have protected y-you sooner." His voice was cracking, fingers twisting in the back of Yuji's shirt. The metallic stench was even stronger than before, the smell reminding Yuji of pennies against a sweaty palm.
"Uncle-" Yuji cried out, but he choked on the words when Sukuna suddenly hauled him up against his chest, his strong arms holding the boy close as he walked out of the room.
"They're coming for us, we need to leave." He hissed, his muscles tensing. Sukuna's eyes wobbled as he stumbled towards the living room, his gaze locked on to the balcony's sliding door, which seemed to look back at him.
The door opened, the fresh air punching Yuj's lungs. Sukuna leaned over the railing, Yuji's stomach dropping as he followed his uncle's stare downward. Six stories below, the sidewalk seemed empty with just streetlights glowing. The parked cars looked like discarded toys from this distance.
"Don't look down and hold on to my neck," Sukuna ordered, and Yuji didn't hesitate. He squeezed his eyes shut and tightly wrapped his arms around the man's neck, his legs also clamping around Sukuna's waist. Now Yuji's even more terrified than before. He's not sure what his uncle is planning, but it didn't look good, and he had to 'trust' him. Sukuna always made sure to protect his nephew no matter what, even when the situation was serious, like right now.
Sukunas swung one leg over the railing, his sneaker scraping against the concrete. Then came the other leg, his blood-soaked hands gripping the metal for support as he looked down. The balcony underneath them wasn't that far for him since he was tall enough to reach it. So he would risk it.
Sukuna's knee buckled when he tried to lower himself on the balcony, his sneaker reaching for the railing but missing it entirely. Yuji's fingers twisted at the back of his uncle's vest, tears threatening to fall with fear and confusion. Whatever happens next had Yuji sweating and overthinking. Would his uncle make it down safely, or would something bad happen to them?
His uncle suddenly jerked upward again, the blood on his hands making the railing slippery as he tried to hold onto it. He loped an arm around the trailing whilst his hand roughly stroked the boy's soft spikey hair, trying the calm him down.
"D-don't worry." Sukuna rasped, his ragged breathing against his hair, whilst his pupil dilated when Yuji began to cry against his chest. It seemed like Sukuna was thinking about his actions properly, thinking about how it was affecting the frightened boy. He knew that Yuji was scared, but he had to 'save' him from becoming traumatised for the rest of his life. It's his duty as his Uncle to save the boy from harm.
"Stay calm, everything will be-" A crash came that silenced Sukuna's comforting voice, making the man flinch violently, his sneaker skidded off the balcony edge. It sounded like a gunshot had just gone through the door, wood splinters landing on the floor, with heavy boots rushing into the living room.
"Freeze!" An officer shouted, the static of police radios getting louder. Yuji turned his head and saw two officers rushing to the balcony, whilst the rest had their flashlights darting around the apartment. The boy saw how his uncle's face collapsed into something soft and guilty, as if he had just been caught stealing candy.
"Sir, hand the boy over to us!" Hands grabbed Yuji by the shirt and managed to rip him out of Sukuna's hold, the officer's badge pressing against his wet cheek. He was being taken away from the balcony, even from his own Uncle, who was still behind the railing. He could see how terrified Sukuna looked, his whole body trembling whilst his hand tried to reach for his nephew, whilst his other arm was being grabbed by an officer.
"Look at me, kid, everything will be alright." The officer who pulled him away tried to comfort the boy, but it just made the boy even more scared when they were trying to move his head to block his view of the balcony.
Yuji blinked, and suddenly his Uncle disappeared, his body frozen when he noticed the panicked officer looking down over the railing. The officer began to shout, but a sudden bang echoed in the distance that made everyone go silent. The only thing left of Sukuna were the bloody handprints on the metal railing.
"Shit, shit, shit!" They shouted, bolting towards the apartment door whilst the screams of passers by could be heard. Yuji had managed to break free from the distracted officer's arms, ducking under the officers arms with his little legs strambling as he lunged towards the balcony.
"H-hey, kid!" The flowerpot wobled under his socked feet, his palms pressing against the blood as he leaned over. Terrorfied individulas were everywhere, some running away whilst others just froze in place, but now he knew why.
He could see his uncles small silouhet sprawled across the pavement like a tossed doll. The blood beneath his head was oozing out forming a puddle that remndide the boy of the puddles he used to jump in whilst his Uncle laughed as he watched him.
His uncle was gone now, but he couldn't stop staring at the body. Sukuna's foot kept on jerking randomly, the blood pilling up the cracks on the concret. Passersby were screming even louder now. Maybe because there was a dead person right infront of them or because their was a kid falling.
Yuji didn't even know what had happned. All he knew is he leaned further and his palms slid sideways. The world looked tiltied, his stomach dropping but he didn't scream. He didn't know why. Everything just happened so fast his brain couldn't process it. He could see the officer from before staring down at him, guilt probaly eating them alive.
His head it the concrete first, his body landing right next to where his uncle was. The pain was unbearable, but it didn't last a second. His ears and vision felt fizzy, was he dying? It was too late anyway.
Yuji's cheek pressed against Sukunas outstrenched upper arm, his body begining to feel numb. He couldn't move anymore, just like Sukuna. He couldn't smell, hear or see anything. Everything was dark now.
Yuji wished he could have seen his uncle's face one last time, but this wouldn't have been a better outcome. If he was the only one standing in his family, Yuji would had no one anymore to take care of him or love him like his Uncle did. No one would give him the biggest hugs or make up silly nicknames for him like his Uncle did.
He's just glad his body is with Sukuna. The only hero Yuji ever loved.
…
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