Floating Like a Lilo ── Itadori Yuuji (✓)

14 FALLING

TRY NOT TO FALL APART
YOU'RE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

hard on yourself,
charlie puth

You're lying when you say dream of nothing. While it began like that, it was certainly not how it ended.

At first, you're drowning. In the movies drowning is loud and splashy, someone yells and waves their arms; they dip below the waves and come up in dramatic fashion while those on shore scramble to rescue them.

But in that moment, a sense of anguish, more than pain, had taken rule of your heart. Darkness envelops you. The water closes in around, filling you with a deep dread. And you hold your breath, feeling like your chest is going to burst. Burst! Burst! Burst! Like a bomb planted neatly in the curved pit where your heart once was. Red and black splotches dance in front of you and you can't remember if your eyes are closed or not. The initial coldness hurried away; it was a coldness coming from a merciless whine. A desperate hot wave comes over you instead. Your heart beats rapidly in panic. The urgency for air was more apparent than ever. There weren't red blotches in your field of vision anymore. It was all black.

And then, you awake, gasping for breath like a dumbbell had been burdening your chest.

"A warm welcome," Someone crows and you turn your head so fast you get whiplash. "Oi, sit up. I wanna talk to you."

Sukuna's eyes glow in the midst of a fervour, haunting you as they gleam unwelcomingly in the darkness. You scowl, a wave of fear initially rolling over you. When you realise you are in what looks like his Innate Domain, you relax a little.

He doesn't have his full power yet, you remind yourself. He can't kill you here.

...yet.

"What do you want?" You sneer, lips twisted as you inhale, shakily getting to your feet.

He sits in boredom atop a monstrous pile of skulls which carve out a throne worthy of gods to embellish. Sukuna wears an idle expression, a swoon of darkness eclipsing his orbs as he speaks menacingly, "You... are quite a brat. All day long, I have to put up with the vessel but also you; you stick to him like glue."

"How are you doing this?" You look around, feeling your heart become swollen at all the dripping ebony staring back at you. "How have you brought me here?"

Sukuna rolls his eyes, but he doesn't budge from his position, "Brat, did you not pay attention to anything I told you in our last encounter?"

"What? Memories and other jumbo. A bunch of lies that you're using to try and... manipulate me," You spit out the words, finding them hard to say.

The demon god simply arches an eyebrow, almost smiling at your response, "I have the capacity to feed you lies and watch you slurp it up like some idiot dog. I can give you more lies than stars in the sky, girl."

"So?" You tilt your head, finding his speech lacking conviction and grandeur.

He flashes before your eyes suddenly and you feel your body swerve in the air, chest pressed instantly against the ground. You feel a huge weight decimating the ridges of your spine and after lifting your chin slightly, you realise Sukuna is sitting on you to keep you from moving.

He purses his lips, "I have no reason to lie to you, moron. At least, get that through your thick skull."

"Oh, shut up," You roll your eyes as well, "You can't kill me here."

"Believe me," He says annoyedly, "You'll be the first to die. But before that, I want to indulge you in your past. I can interact with you because at some point in your pitiful and weak life, you drank my blood."