Yuji did not sleep well.
He wasn't visited by nightmares, those had subsided over the centuries. It was the sense of quiet restlessness, where the body was tired by the mind's refusal to power down, constantly thinking.
Sukuna was in Orario.
Not as a cursed spirit, or a parasite sealed inside someone's body, but as a God that newly descended.
Yuji lay on his back and stared at the ceiling of his room, the early morning light filtering through the gaps in the newly repaired wooden shutters.
He kept circling around the fact that Sukuna never made any moves to attack or threaten him. He just said his piece and left shortly after.
The Sukuna he knew would have carved through Orario's population like a farmer harvesting wheat, simply because he could. He thought back to his powers being sealed, a restriction all God's carried when they descended.
However, he had a feeling Sukuna wouldn't care if that meant he was forever banned from descending again, as long as he had a few seconds after he unleashed his Arcanum he would've wiped the city off the world's map.
And yet, Yuji couldn't sense of that from him.
He thought back to Takemikazuchi's words, how he had 'mellowed out recently'. It could all just be an act, because if anything, Sukuna was patient.
Yuji turned Sukuna's words over and over in his head. A part of him, the part that was still the teenager who had once eaten a cursed finger to save someone, wanted very badly to believe that the worst person he had ever known could become something different.
The rest of him, the part that carried his teacher's burden for centuries, knew better than to trust it.
'Whatever the case, all I can do is wait and see.'
He wasn't about to slaughter Sukuna on the street, because he knew deep down that would be the very thing Sukuna wanted.
He'd have to find out more about Gods.
He sat up, swung his legs off the bed and got ready for the day.
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Having a quick breakfast, Yuji stepped back out into the streets of Orario, letting out a small sigh of relief that he wasn't ambushed by Sukuna at the front door.
The Loki Familia had left for the Dungeon just yesterday. He'd sensed them passing through the city in the early morning. From what he could sense, practically all their top executives.
He hadn't planned on it at first, but after some thinking, he needed to ask someone about the specifics that Gods and Goddesses must abide by in order to stay down in the Lower Realm.
That's how he ended up at the Twilight Manor. The guards at the gate reconigzed Yuji and let him through without issue. That, or they had instructions from either Finn or Loki to do so if he ever appears.
He had barely walked halfway down the path when Loki appeared from the front entrance, leaning against the doorframe with a cup of what he assumed to be tea, steaming in her hands. Her squinted eyes tracked him as he walked up the narrow front path,
"Well, well. The fossil shows up at my door." She took a sip. "Missing my kids already?"
"They already left this morning." Yuji replied, standing in front of her, causing her to tilt her head up to meet his eyes.
"Sure did. Finn's takin'them on a money run. Aiz broke a sword, Tiona broke a sword, everyone's breaking swords it seems." She pushed off the doorframe and gestured for him to follow. "So, what brings ya? Social visit? Need a shoulder to cry on? Sorry, but I'm not interested in guys."
"I have questions." Yuji simply replied, ignoring her jesting words.
"Course ya do." Loki's grin widened as she set down her cup and waved to the guards, "Come on. I'm sick of being cooped up in here, and Gareth has been giving me looks every time I walk past his office."
They left through the front gate and headed south along Northwest Main Street. The morning traffic was slowly building as the sun rose higher in the morning.
Loki walked with her hands clasped behind her head, her posture the perfect picture of a carefree deity out for a stroll. Yuji matched his pace with her, hands in his pockets and hood down.
"Ask away, fossil. I'm an open book."
Yuji ignored how untrue those words were and asked, "How restricted are Gods in the Lower World?"
Loki's eyebrow twitched, an indication that the question had caught her interest. "Gettin' right to the meaty stuff, huh?" She lowered her arms and tilted her head before explaining.
"Alright, short version. When we descend, we seal our Arcanum, that's our divine power, the stuff that makes us Gods and whatnot. It's locked away, voluntarily, its the only way we're allowed to be among mortals. We can't use it down here or, 'fwip' back up we go."
"Can't, or won't?"
Loki smirked at his pointed question, "Can't without consequences. Any God who unleashes their Arcanum in the Lower World gets sent straight back up to the Upper Realm, forcibly. We don't get do overs and no second chances. If the seal breaks, the divine power activates, and that's it, you're gone." She snapped her fingers abruptly, "Just like that."
Yuji processed her words for a moment. "So it's automatic?"
"Yep." Loki replied, popping the last syllable of the word. "Think of it like a safety mechanism built into the rules we agreed to when we came down. The moment that our divine powers touch the mortal world, the system kicks in and boots the offender back upstairs."
She paused for a moment, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes, "Why ya askin? Worried about a God comin' after ya?"
Yuji didn't answer her directly. "What about physical capabilities? Without Arcnum, how strong are Gods typically?"
Loki laughed, a genuine one for once. "Weak. Pathetically, embarrassingly, hilariously weak. We've got the same physical abilities as the most average human you've ever met, maybe even weaker. I've seen Hestia trip over her own feet walking down stairs."
"So a God in the Lower World is effectively a normal person." Yuji stated, to which Loki nodded.
"In terms of raw strength? Yeah. That's why most of us rely on our Familias. We grant Falna, our children get stronger, and in return, they protect us and make money so we can enjoy life down here." She continued on, kicking a pebble off the street. "Some Gods get creative with what they can still do. Freya's got her charm, which isn't technically Arcanum, but it's damn close with the shit she does to a person. And we can still read souls, to an extent, and sense other Gods, that kinda stuff. But in a fist fight? Any level 1 adventurer could deck me into next week, and I'd be unable to resist."
Loki shrugged her shoulders as they turned into a wide street that ran parallel to East Main Street. Food stalls lined up the streets to entice hungry adventurers and civilians.
"One more question." Yuji said, his tone shifting slightly.
Loki noticed, her squinted eyes opened a fraction wider. "Go on."
"What happens if you kill a God?"
The question hung in the air between them as silence descended. A cart rolled by as its wheels rattled against the cobblestone street, and a merchant shouted loudly to greet a regular customer.
Loki didn't answer immediately, but her pace slowed down. For a brief moment, her expression lost its playful edge entirely.
"You can't." She said, her voice lower than before as she continued. "Not permanently, anyway. If a God's mortal body takes a fatal wound, their Arcanum activates automatically to protect them. It's the same mechanism as breaking the seal on purpose. The divine power flares, and they get sent back up to the Upper Realm."
Yuji nodded, "So killing a God doesn't kill them, just sends them home."
"Exactly. They'll be alive and well back in the Tenkai, minus whatever fun they were having down here, forever. And for us Gods, depriving us of the pleasures that the Lower World provides us is a surefire way to end up being tortured for eternity once your soul gets sent up to Tenkai after you die."
She looked up at Yuji with an expression that was sharper than usual.
"Now, I've answered three questions about how to fight Gods. You gonna tell me why?"
Yuji stayed quiet for a moment, thinking of how to formulate his answer. Before he could, something caught his attention and made him halt in place from the corner of his peripheral vision.
They had come to a stretch of the street near the East Main Street's intersection where several food stalls were clustered together. Among them, one stood out.
A sweet potato stall, the same one run by Takemikazuchi, where Yuji had learned about Sukuna days ago. The god was behind the counter as usual, but his expression was one of tired acceptance.
He wasn't alone. Standing beside him, wearing an apron over a dark kimono top, was a tall man with pink hair and black tattoo markings tracing up his neck and across his face. Sukuna.
He was holding a sweet potato in one hand and appeared to be in the middle of wrapping it in paper with a level of care that bordered on professionalism.
On Takemikazuchi's other side was Hestia, the small Goddess with twin ponytails, also wearing an apron and enthusiastically shouting at passersby to come try the sweet potatoes.
The three of them were working behind the stall together.
Yuji's feet had stopped entirely as his mental faculties needed to briefly reset.
"Hmm? What's up, fos-" Loki began, following his gaze.
Her eyes landed on the stall, onto Takemikazuchi, Hestia and then the man standing between them.
Her squinted eyes opened slightly wider.
"That's new." She murmured, studying Sukuna with an appraising look. "Take's got a new helper besides Loli big boobs? No wait…" Her head tilted as she felt the familiar presence that her and her kind possessed. "Another God, huh?"
She blinked her eyes, before turning to look at Yuji standing next to her, and then turning back to the God. Her eyes kept blinking over and over as her mind raced to make sense of what she was seeing.
Before either Yuji or Loki could speak up, a fourth figure appeared.
Bell Cranel came jogging up the street from the direction of his Familias church, his white hair swaying in the wind with each step. He wore his usual light armour with a distinct dagger strapped to his leg as he made a beeline for the stall.
"Goddess! I'm heading out!" Bell called as she skidded to a stop in front of the counter, slightly out of breath.
Hestia's face lit up as she saw her sole Familia member run up. "Bell! Did you eat breakfast? You didn't eat breakfast, did you? Here, take a potato!" She quickly grabbed and shoved a sweet potato to his chest before he could protest.
"G-Goddess, I'm, meeting Lily at Babel, I don't have time to-"
"A growing boy needs to eat! Now take it and go save the world or whatever it is you do down there!" She pressed it into his chest again with a tone of finality.
Bell accepted the potato with a resigned smile, thanked Takemikazuchi, who gave him a warn nod and turned to leave.
As he did, his eyes passed over Yuji standing across the street.
Recognition flickered in his eyes as his step faltered for a moment when their eyes met.
Yuji gave him a single nod and Bell smiled, nodding back with the feeling of gratitude laced into it, before he took off down the street towards Babel.
Throughout the entire exchange, Sukuna had not looked up from the sweet potato he was wrapping, completely absorbed in his task.
But the moment Bell's presence faded, Sukuna's eyes flicked upward.
Yuji and Sukuna both met each other's gazed in an instant.
There was no smirk on his face and he spoke no words. Just looked at Yuji for a moment before he returned his attention back to the stall.
Loki had been watching the entire thing from Yuji's side, her eyes flicking between the two pink haired men.
"Yuji." Her voice had lost every trace of playfulness. "Is that why…"
Yuji nodded as her words trailed off. "That, is why I was asking about Gods."
Loki stared at him then back to the stall, then back to him again.
"...You're a strange man, Yuji Itadori."
Then the smirk on her face came back, but it was far more intense than before.
"And that's what makes you so damn interesting."
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Authors note:
Hope you enjoyed it! Imagine Loki cucks sukuna by having yuji join her familia lmao. Gods can't fight but they have another tool, ragebaiting