Chapter Text
Y/N in curse form. The outfit is relevant in later chapters ;)
The downpour from earlier was making it nearly impossible for you to neatly rip off the tabs on the flyers posted on the board, and you spited whoever decided it was a good idea to hang outside where it can face the elements. The one you usually went to didn’t have anything new posted, besides some shady hitman type of job, so you figured it was worth checking out some place else. When you went to rip off another tab for a housekeeping job, several wet papers fell right on top of your feet with a splat. You could hear a raspy laugh coming from your left, and you darted a glare towards the offender. It was a curse that resembled an old woman, but her arms and legs had several large humps running down them. Her limbs seemed heavy, but she was still able to lift the pipe she was holding to her mouth to take a puff.
“I’m sorry, dear. The timing was just too perfect,” she let out another laugh as smoke spilled out of her mouth. “Plus, it was bound to happen with how feverishly you’ve been going through that board.”
Your face softened, knowing she was right. It was strange how intuitive old women could be, even in curse form. Picking up the sopping papers off the ground, you attempted to pin them back up, but the moisture was making them fall apart in your hands. You gave up, tossing them in the nearest trash bin before making your way back to where you were.
“You must really be needing work, huh?” The old woman said, turning towards you on the bench she was sitting at. You weren’t feeling particularly social at the moment, but you nodded your head in agreement.
“That’s good. It’s good to have a reason to work. It keeps your mind sharp so you don’t become one of them Dweller.”
You knew exactly what she meant. Ever since you awoke to this new world a few weeks ago, you had been desperate to secure a job that had decent benefits. When you first woke up, you were in your own apartment, but everything about it and the world outside your window was completely different. Curses no longer hid in the shadows. They were the new norm, and you were one with them. When you had first stood up from your bed, you didn’t feel any different, but one look in the mirror told you otherwise. You still had your same general features, but almost your entire body was marked with abstract lines and patterns, in a shade of ivory. Your ears came to a point, and you had small fangs beneath your lips that you could retract at will. The biggest difference, however, was the presence you felt inside of you. At first you were confused as to why you felt that way, but when it finally clicked, you could hardly process anything else.
You were pregnant. You weren’t sure how or by who, but your new senses told you that you did not wake up alone in this world. You weren’t showing, so you figured you only were a couple weeks along, but you were still unsure how it happened. The last thing you remembered from your old life was going to bed after a long day at work like you had done so many times before. You couldn’t remember having any recent hookups in the time before then, but honestly your memory has been hazy as of late. You knew it was at least a little over a year since you were human, but anything between then and now felt like a glitch. Like an old vhs tape that would skip from one part of the movie to the next with no warning. Being pregnant meant that something happened in that time, but spending time contemplating on what that was was as frustrating as it was fruitless. Your main priority now was finding work. You needed to secure a decent job before you started showing. Employers were already discriminatory towards pregnant people back when humans ruled the world, you doubted that curses were any better.
Your new body didn’t require food or much shelter, but your apartment complex, much like most of the buildings nowadays, was falling apart at the seams. Strange creatures roamed the halls constantly, making it no place to raise a baby. You weren’t sure what you would do when the baby arrived, but you needed it to be in a safer environment.
To say that safety was a priority in this new world would be an understatement. Curses of many kinds found ways to fill their time with working jobs that kept society functioning at a somewhat reasonable state, but there were shady jobs on every street corner. You kept to yourself as you’d pass by groups of curses gathered in the backs of alleys, or when one would be handing out flyers about ‘handy work’ to any woman that passed by. However, these curses hardly outnumbered the Dwellers you saw. That was the term given to curses who lost all sense of humanity. They no longer spoke clearly or resembled anything like their former selves. It was a mystery to you how they got to that state, but seeing how detached they were from the rest of society made you fear even more of becoming one.
Your eyes caught one post on the board that seemed to be unaffected by the rain, despite being surrounded by wet papers. Shifting the other papers to the side, this one didn’t have any individual tabs for you to pick off. It was an advertisement for some type of scribe job. As you were reading over the information, you heard the voice of the woman beside you say, “Good luck with that one. Nearly every woman in this town has applied for that position and been turned down at the door.”
You were confused by the distinction, considering there was no gender preference listed on the job description. “Are they looking for a man to hire, perhaps?”
“Men have also applied too but they get turned away just the same. It’s just that more women have been seeking that job since it works directly under our leader, who’s apparently very handsome,” she wiggled her brow before putting her pipe back to her lips.
You knew that the leader of this new cursed world was called Ryomen Sukuna, but anything other than that was a complete blank. You were familiar with the address listed on the paper. It was an old capitol building that had dozens of rooms. If you were actually able to get this job, you might be able to convince him to let you live in one of the rooms. As far as the baby was concerned… you’d cross that bridge when you got there, but this was a good start.
You wasted no time heading towards the direction of the building, leaving behind your neighborhood for what you hoped would be the last time.
—-
You figured when the old woman said door, she meant an actual door. But instead you were standing in front of a tall fence that wrapped around the entire building. You approached a speaker box by the front gate and pressed the call button. Standing around for several minutes, you were about to give up when you heard a fuzzy noise over the speaker. You held down the mic button and said, “Hello. My name is (Y/N). I’m here to apply for the scribe position.”
There was an even longer pause, this time with no response. You almost turned around but instead you were startled by a loud creaking noise. The rusted chains on the fence rattled as the gate slowly opened up. You wished the person on the other line would speak, but took this as a sign to enter anyways. For good measure, you pressed the mic button one last time to inform the person on the other end that you’d be heading to the front door.
The path towards the house was long, with trees hanging over from either side of the loose gravel beneath your feet. The greenery was dense enough that you could hardly see anything else from either side of you, and the overcast from this morning's rain still had the sky painted a dull gray shade. It felt like the trees were closing in on you until you finally came upon an opening to the front of the house. There was a wide open driveway at the front with a circular fountain in the center that wasn’t running. You had to walk up nearly a dozen stone steps to reach the large wooden doors, which only had large metal rings for knocking. Figures it didn’t have a doorbell. You felt like you stepped into a different century, not that modern technology worked in this new world.
Before you even reached for the o ring, the door opened with a loud creak. Standing in front of you was a curse whose features you could only describe as looking melted. His purple complexion almost made you assume he was a Dweller, but he gave you a formal wave to enter the home. You slowly stepped inside, and if your heart could move, it’d probably be pounding right now. You contemplated turning back now, but the curse was already directing you across the foyer. It was an incredibly large room with high glass top ceilings. There were hardly any lights on, only the glow of candelabras hanging from the walls as you were led down a hallway. You were about to ask where you were going till the curse stopped in front of a dark cherrywood door. He gave one quick tap on the door before opening it, motioning for you to step in. You thought he would follow you in, but when the door closed behind you, that’s when your nerves really started to set in.
You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what you were currently standing in. The first thing you felt was cool water at your feet, too dark for you to have noticed. But as you looked ahead you could see distant water rippling as it gleamed under red and purple lights. The source of the light was unknown, considering the entire room looked like the inside of an animal's rib cage. The entire room, if it could even be called that, seemed to have an eerie glow emitting from all corners, and in the center was a pile of horned skulls stacked high, nearly one story high. And sitting atop of it was a robed figure, his fist propping under his chin as he slouched lazily against his throne.
Despite his calm demeanor, there was something inherently intimidating about his presence that made it hard for you to look at him head on. So instead you kept your eyes leveled to the skulls as you approached. When you were within speaking distance, you bowed your head respectfully and said, “Hello, sir. I’m (Y/N) and I’m here today to express my interest in the scribe position.”
You were met with silence and after a long pause, your eyes crept up to see that the throne was now empty.
“Are you afraid to look at me?” came a voice from behind you. No longer being human meant your reactions were more controlled, but you still felt a shiver go down your spine even as you turned to face him.
“I was only being respectful, sir,” you said while keeping your face neutral as you took in his features. He was easily a foot taller than you, with a tuft of pink hair atop his undercut. His entire face had spiky black lines all across it in a symmetrical fashion. And although he was wearing a baggy white robe, it didn’t hide how broad his shoulders were as four arms were crossed over his chest. All four of his eyes looked down at you as he said, “I command respect from those who I consider beneath me. Do you believe that to be the case for yourself?”
This felt like more of an interrogation than an interview. Not that you really expected the ‘king of curses’ to ask you what your strengths and weaknesses were. However, if your answer angered him, he could easily kill you. But you figured you could die at any time while working for him, so you might as well be your authentic self from the get go.
“No, I don’t. I intend to show you the same respect you show me, sir.”
His eyes bore into you while he considers your response. His expression was unreadable but you didn’t let your face give away any fear. He seemed to be the type to feed into that, and you weren’t going to cower so easily.
“Call me Sukuna,” he said simply before turning and walking towards the door you just came from. You figured that was his way of telling you to follow him, and the door closed behind you as you followed him back out the dark hallway.
—-
After turning from one dark corridor to another, you reached the top floor of the building. Coming off the staircase, you were standing in front of a large stained glass window. Against the afternoon sun, it casted fractured shades of green, blue, and white across the walls and floor as it showed a picture of a big white house in the middle of a field. You remembered how often you’d browse for your dream house online back when you were human. The glass picture reminded you of one that you favored, but knew you could never afford. You didn’t realize how long you were staring at it till you felt a presence in your peripheral.
“Sorry, it’s just so…beautiful.”
“Does it remind you of anything?” he asked, looking at you intently.
You didn’t want to bore him with the details of your past life. “Not really.”
He looked at you for a moment too long, but swiftly walked past you before you could say anything. He turned the corner at the stair rail and there were two wooden doors spaced apart from each other.
“This here is my bedroom,” he pointed to the door you both were standing closest to and then motioned to the other one. “And this one is yours.”
You couldn’t hide the shock that ran across your face. Your room would be right next to his? This building was so big, there had to be at least a dozen rooms he could’ve chosen. Your intuition was panicking but you said in a calm voice, “Uhm, sir- Sukuna. With all due respect, you haven’t even told me about the job. I need to know if it’s a good fit for me before I can accept.”
He turned to face you head on, and it reminded you just how intimidating he was up close. But now that he was standing in better lighting, you could see that he was actually quite handsome. The black markings on his face emphasized his sharp features, almost the complete opposite to the soft curves of your white markings. You didn’t realize how long you were admiring his looks till he started speaking.
“Becoming the leader of my own free world keeps me busy, which is why I need someone to write out every last detail of what's happened in the last year, along with any future events I may want recorded. It’s important that my story is passed on. Winners write history, after all,” Sukuna flashed his fangs at you in a sinister smile.
“Right,” you said, trying to sound calm as you watched him walk towards the other door. “If it’s not too much trouble, I think I’d prefer a room on one of the lower floors. I don’t really like stairs or..heights..”
“Oh, but all your accommodations have already been set here,” he said while turning the knob and swinging the door open for you to step inside. You tentatively walked in, almost brushing against his broad chest as you stepped into a large, dimly lit room. It had the same ancient feel as the rest of the house with the candelabras hanging from the walls, candle light casting a flickering gold glow across the lush carpet and vintage cherrywood furniture. The bed was bigger than any you’ve ever seen before, with silk black sheets spread across it. There were bedside tables on either side of the bed, a wide dresser and matching wardrobe, and a shut door that you assumed must’ve led to a bathroom. This was far more than what you were expecting, but you still needed to proceed with caution.
Turning back to face him, you nearly yelped from how close he was standing in front of you. The smirk on his face told you that he meant to do that, and it irritated you how easily he was able to elicit a reaction from you.
“How much is the pay?”
“Room and board,” another fanged smile.
You didn’t hide your shock this time. “That’s it? What if I need to buy something?”
“You’ll find that most of your needs are already met here, but anything else you can request through me and I’ll have one of my servants pick it up for you.”
“Can I request for cash?”
That made him chuckle but you gave him a look that meant you were dead serious. The living arrangement was better than you expected, but you still needed money in case you needed to flee. And now that you thought about it, it’d be much harder to hide a baby when his room was so close to yours. You were starting to think it was a mistake for coming here. You ducked your face down in dissapointment thinking about having to go back to the wasteland that has become your old home. But all of the sudden, a shadow was casting over you as Sukuna stood directly in front of you. His chin was tilted up but all of his eyes and attention was on you when he said, “Anyone who’s under my care never goes without. We’ll be working very closely, so it behooves me to keep you content. Any other requests you have can be handled when that bridge is crossed.”
Despite first impressions, you could tell that he was being truthful. You just hoped he kept his word. You gave a solemn nod, but when your eyes flicked back up to meet his, he was already standing at the doorway with the antique knob in his clawed hand.
“I’ll leave you to become familiar with your new home. I’ll be gone till sundown tomorrow but if there’s anything you need, let one of my servants know. I look forward to working with you.”
“Hey, but I never officially accepted the job-“
Before you could even finish, he closed the door and you were left alone.
For now at least.