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Choso’s touch is gentle, so unlike what Yuki is used to.
Maybe she should’ve expected it since everything about him is gentle—from the way he speaks to his dark eyes that were stricken with panic when he found her in the crumbled remains of the Star Corridor.
Even then, when he hurried with her in his arms, he carried her gently.
Even as he screamed at her to stay awake, his voice was eerily calm. Like he knew she would persist, no matter what.
She did. Not because he told her to. Well, maybe a little. If anything, to thank him for finding her and taking her to Shoko.
Two Reverse Cursed Technique users work better than one.
And now, far past the Culling Games, far past the mess Kenjaku created, and they both had to help fix — even as they struggled to fix themselves first — Yuki and Choso drink a beer on the balcony of her apartment in Tokyo.
Choso thinks it tastes weird and unpleasant, but Yuki insists it’s an acquired taste. He doesn’t get why anyone would insist on something they don’t like until they like it, but he stays quiet and admires the view.
Once pretty sky-high buildings, now destroyed in the awakening of the Culling Games and the hangover it left behind in the city.
Everyone is struggling to get by, to fix things. Choso is too. So he appreciates the moment of peace that Yuki’s invitation provides.
“I think I like the new Tokyo look,” Yuki says, leaning against the railing. “Feels very much like an abandoned amusement park. Which I’m sure there are plenty around, too.”
“It will get fixed,” Choso reaffirms, maybe to her, maybe to himself. “Things will go back to how they were.”
Yuki scoffs. “No, they won’t.”
Choso sighs, looking forward. He had gotten somewhat used to Yuki’s antics during the time they spent being Tengen’s guardians. And look how well that went.
“Why would you want things to go back to how they were, anyways? Don’t you remember what you were?”
Choso frowns, looking at her, only to meet her round brown eyes staring back at him.
“I told you to live now as a human, didn’t I?” Yuki reminds him, taking a sip of her beer. “The old Choso died in that battle. You’re not a curse anymore.”
“I’m afraid that’s not how it works.”
“Oh, but it is. You want to know why?” Yuki cocks an eyebrow, and Choso sighs, nodding. She smiles at him. “Because I said so.”
Choso chuckles. “Again, not how it works—”
“You’re failing to see that everything went to shit, Choso. There’s no one here to order you around anymore. No old Jujutsu society to determine who is a dangerous curse and who isn’t. You’re free to live the rest of your life as a human.”
Choso feels his throat dry, so he takes another sip, looking at the Tokyo skyline.
“Why would I want to do that? I’ve lost everything,” his voice is weak. He feels weak.
“There is so much else to gain,” Yuki takes a step closer. “Places to see, people to meet, beer to drink.”
“Beer is awful.”
Yuki chuckles. “We’ll find you something else to drink.”
Choso looks at her. “We?”
“You didn’t think I planned on sticking around here, did you?”
“No, but… Why does that include me?”
Yuki blinks, biting her bottom lip. “It only includes you if you want to be included,” she crushes the beer bottle and tosses it to the side. “But I would love to have you along for the ride.”
“Why?” Choso is still confused, mainly because Yuki is being as vague as possible.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe because you saved me. Or because you are good company. Or maybe because you are my type.”
Choso scoffs, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t know, Choso. I just want you to experience all of the things the world has to offer to you before you die. And I want you to be alive for a really, really long time.” Yuki says.
“That’s really kind, Tsukumo,” Choso’s gaze falls on her.
“I’ve told you to call me Yuki.”
The sky becomes completely dark as the hours pass by. While Choso is still debating the nuances of choosing to leave behind Jujutsu society, Yuki is already making travel plans and trying to decide the first destination.
With rosy cheeks beneath the dark line that goes across his nose and cheeks, Choso grimaces as he takes another swig of his nearly empty beer can.
“I really don’t like beer,” Choso grunts, placing the can on the desk and leaning back in his seat.
“You’re not drinking it correctly,” Yuki says, disregarding the fact that it was his fourth or fifth can despite him saying he doesn’t like it.
“Enlighten me, then.”
Yuki stares at him, in his disheveled beauty, even in those pigtails she made fun of so often.
She gets up from her seat and walks around the table to him, not stopping until she is between his spread legs. Choso’s eyes widen at her close distance and forwardness, but he’s frozen in place as she picks up the beer can he just put down.
“It’s not about the beer. It’s about the people you drink with,” Yuki says, her fingers gripping his chin and tilting it up. “So, don’t focus on the taste… Focus on me, okay?”
She patiently waits for his response, which comes in a tiny nod as his eyes are still wide as saucers. She gives him a little smile, taking the can to his lips and tilting it until liquid pours into his mouth.
Choso’s eyes remain on Yuki’s as he gulps down the beer and as she removes the can away from him, wiping her thumb across his bottom lip to clean the liquid residue.
“Did that taste better?” Yuki asks, taking the thumb to her own lips and sucking on it.
Choso’s eyes follow Yuki’s thumb, watching as her lips close around it. “Y-Yeah.”
“Good.”
Yuki moves as if to return to her original spot, but Choso stops her with his hands on her waist. “Don’t go,” he swallows as her eyes come back to meet his. “I like how I feel when you are near me.”
“Okay,” Yuki says, raising her hand to caress Choso’s jaw. “I like being close to you, too.”
He doesn’t quite get it, how he is so comfortable yet so nervous around her, especially this close to her. Why his body seems to want to get even closer to her, why his mind is infatuated with thoughts of her.
Choso’s eyes travel down to where his hands rest on her waist. His grip caused her shirt to travel ever-so-slightly upwards, and a tiny bit of her stomach is showing now.
He can’t help but frown when he sees the mangled skin peeking beneath her shirt, a stark contrast to her soft white skin.
“Not the prettiest, is it?” Yuki’s chuckle is dry. “Kenjaku was one strong son of a bitch.”
Choso’s thumb caresses the skin as he grips her waist. He looks up at her, soft dark eyes on her light brown ones.
“I thought you have Reverse Cursed Technique.”
“I do.”
“But the scar…”
“I didn’t want to heal it,” Yuki threads her fingers through his hair, and he unconsciously leans against it. “I wanted a reminder that I lost.”
“We lost.” Choso reminds her.
Yuki sighs, running her free hand up Choso’s arm. “Yeah.”
Choso’s finger runs through the seam of her shirt. “Can I see it?”
Yuki bites her lip before nodding slowly.
Choso’s hands are warm against her skin as he pulls her top up ever-so-slowly, revealing inch by inch of Yuki’s skin. The tank top bunches under Yuki’s bra, revealing the big scar on Yuki’s belly, brandishing the otherwise milky white skin with a pink, ragged look. It takes up most of her stomach, getting narrower on her sides.
His eyes take it all in, every bump and dent in her skin, every spot where the scarred tissue meets her clear skin in a clash of colors and textures.
Driven by instinct, not thought, Choso leans forward and presses his lips right above her belly button. His eyes are closed, and his dark eyelashes brush against her skin.
It’s Yuki’s turn to be surprised, and her breath hitches as she feels his kiss against her marred skin.
Choso pulls back slightly, but she can still feel his breath against her belly. “Did that hurt?”
“No,” Yuki swallows. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“I find that, often, it’s not the scar that hurts, but the memory of what happened that brings me anguish,” Choso’s lips brush against the pink skin tissue.
Yuki threads her fingers through his hair, accidentally undoing one of his pigtails. “Will you let me see your scars too?”
Choso presses his lips to her stomach again. Gentle. Passing. Like a butterfly’s touch. “Yes.”
“And let me kiss them better?” Yuki undoes the other pigtail, running her hands through Choso’s hair.
“Yes.”
“Maybe I won’t have to think about the painful memories if I’m all focused on you kissing and healing them,” Yuki murmurs, tugging on the hairs at the base of his neck. “And maybe I can do the same for you.”
Choso’s lips part in the littlest of smiles. His thumb traces the edges of her scar, and he presses another kiss to that spot. “I will make sure to kiss them until you forget.”
Yuki smiles, leaning over to kiss the top of Choso’s head. He looks up at her like one looks at a shooting star—full of hope and aghast with admiration.
“Maybe I’ll go get a scar on my lips, then,” she says, her lips hovering against his. “Or I can just… do this.”
She presses her lips to his, trying to match his touch – kind, gentle. But it’s not who she is. Yuki is rough, impatient. She wants more, wants to devour him, swallow him up into the black hole she is.
But when she is met with his sweet lips, she slows down. Takes her time. Moves with him, not against him.
Choso does show her his scars. She kisses them, one by one, traces them with her index finger, and tries to replace the memories of a battle with her pouty lips.
Choso is diligent. There is not an inch of Yuki’s scarred body that goes untouched by his lips and even his tongue, dipping and tracing patterns into the jagged skin.
It will take time, sure, to replace those memories. To forget the ache.
But if luck remains on their side, they have all the time in the world.