Chapter Text
There was no way the man could be human, no way in the world. That is what Yuuji had decided as he clung to his perch, tail swishing behind him. No one was just born with four arms and four eyes and was human, that much Yuuji was sure of. He had been running through the forest in his tiger form, a poached rabbit from some noble’s gardens in his jaws and all too pleased with his work when he had spotted the man.
The yokai had to give pause, head co*cked as it was rare to see anyone out this far into the forest. After all, it was well known that there were gateways between the human and demon world within the old growth among the twisted roots of the trees. Old places that the old folks knew well enough to keep away from and would murmur so to their children in hopes they would take heed. Yet this man walked through the forest without fear, too bold to be a human.
It had Yuuji idly climbing up a tree to get a better look, tail twitching back and forth. There were no horns or large fangs, so no oni. No tails to speak of, so not one of the animal yokai like Yuuji, although he looked like he had the cunning of a kitsune. The multiple arms though brought to mind a spider though and the multiple eyes as well. Yuuji had never seen a spider yokai up close, as most preferred to sit upon their web, fangs gleaming and promising sweet delights to anyone who drew closer.
The vicious spider yokai were a kiss of death though as anyone who entered into their nest they would be wrapped up in silk to savor and enjoy later in a liquefied mess.
But spider Yokai never walked away from their nests, at least not so boldly. They scuttled and hissed and hid away when away from the magical binding powers of their web. Maybe this man was just some strange type of spider yokai that needed no web to hunt or ensnare and was confident enough in his strength to walk about as he pleased. It had Yuuji letting out a curious hum and he dropped low into the underbrush, deciding he wanted to follow this man to see what business he was up to.
The four-armed man took his time moving through the forest, only pausing at one point when one of the many curses of the place dared to launch itself at him. Yuuji’s eyes widened as with only a mere flick of his fingers, the curse was dispatched, the man looking almost bored by the whole affair. The tiger yokai felt the rabbit fall from his mouth as he gawked at the show of power.
This truly was no human. He must be another yokai of some sort!
That show of power had the tiger yokai feeling a strange infatuation creep onto him and soon he had picked up his rabbit to keep following after his steps. He never approached the man, Sukuna, as he came to learn his name was from some of the humans he spoke with.
They called him a king of some sort even though he did not live in a grand palace and instead in a small manor at the edge of the woods. The man walked into the woods and gathered resources before heading back and strangely did a lot of dealings with the humans, although they seemed to have some great respect and fear for him. It had Yuuji all the more confused and curious about Sukuna, but he still was more than certain he was a spider yokai.
He liked his manor to hide in, like a spider yokai in their web. He had an appetite for meat and set traps to catch game in the forest, much like a spider yokai would set a web. He even seemed to enjoy the blood of the game, which was very spider of him in Yuuji’s mind!
It was weeks before Yuuji was confident enough to creep out of the forest. He slunk out on all fours before he rose to up onto two feet to take a more human appearance, or as human as he could manage as he could never get rid of his tail, his ears, or make his eyes look like those of a human. He padded out, approaching the door of Sukuna’s home, a bundle of caught rabbits in his arms as he knocked on the door. He shifted from foot to foot, his long tail swishing out behind him anxiously before he straightened up as the door opened.
The four armed man regarded him with a slow arch of an eyebrow and a thin frown on his lips. He looked a bit tired, hair mused up from sleeping and squinting a bit in the early morning light, “Well now. I don’t see your kind slinking out of the forest, let alone coming to my door,”
Yuuji felt his cheeks heat up as his eyes were glue to the man’s chest. For a spider Yokai, he was extremely muscular. All the ones he had seen were far more spindly. After a moment the tiger Yokai shook his head, his ears twitching as he thrust out the bundle of rabbits.
“I got these for you!”
The man looked a bit taken aback as the dead, still bleeding rabbits were pushed into his hands, “What? Why are you-”
Yuuji didn’t stay to listen, turning tail and darting back into the foliage, although he didn’t go far. He ducked down, watching the four-armed man closely with wide amber eyes. The man just held them up, brow furrowed in confusion before shaking his head, “Thanks? I guess. Whoever you are,”
“Yuuji!”
He shouted out his name before ducking into another set of bushes to avoid detection. The man just co*cked an eyebrow before he let out a snort, “I am Sukuna Ryoumen,”
“Sukuna Ryoumen,” Yuuji repeated quietly to himself as he watched the four arm man shake his head and enter back into his home.
At least he had a full name to this spider yokai. A name that none of the other yokai seemed to know any of their kin by. The spider lady of the north woods for sure said there was none in the area of her clan that had such a name nor were missing arms or four eyes. She even seemed a bit confused as to how Yuuji had confused four arms for eight and eight eyes for four. It had Yuuji flushing as he scurried off as he realized that Sukuna probably wasn’t a spider after closer look at the spider lady.
Maybe then Sukuna was a beetle yokai, but the mighty stag beetle yokai had also never heard of such a name. Neither had the timid cricket clan or the screeching cicadas clan. None had ever heard of a yokai named Sukuna Ryoumen, but there were whispers about a terrible sorcerer who was more curse than man with that name, although Yuuji wasn’t sure this Sukuna was one and the same. The sorcerer was described as a frightful and vicious calamity that drank blood from skulls and made even the tengu in their lofty mountains tremble.
The Sukuna that Yuuji approached daily with rabbits was more amused and a bit confused by the tiger yokai’s constant appearance, although each time Yuuji grew a bit bolder and lingered a bit longer. After all, Sukuna was handsome and fierce. The tattoos he bore reminded Yuuji of his own stripes, just as elegant and a proclamation of power. The man had captured Yuuji’s attention and infatuation in so few words that he was practically purring as he laid out in the forest, dreaming of that handsome, mysterious yokai.
Sukuna Ryoumen was a worthy mate indeed and worthy of being courted good and proper.
Eventually though, Yuuji felt he had completed the require amount of courting with his gifts and stood boldly at this door this time, empty handed, eyes narrowed and at the ready as Sukuna answered the door with an amused smirk.
“Ah. The tiger cub is back,” he drawled, “But seems your paws are empty today,”
Yuuji flushed at the nickname, giving a huff as he raised himself to his full height which still only came up to Sukuna’s chest, “Of course my hands are empty! Today,” Yuuji paused, blushing before trying to regain his confidence as he poked a clawed finger into Sukuna’s chest, “Today I come to challenge you to a battle!”
“A battle?” Sukuna asked with a tilt of his head, “And here I was thinking you were oddly fond of me,”
“Well, not a real battle, but still a fight!” Yuuji stuttered out, squaring his shoulders as his tail danced about anxiously, “I want to fight you and see your power for myself!”
That earned a loud deep laugh from Sukuna that had Yuuji blushing all the way up to his twitching pink and black striped ear tips. The king of curses shook his head as he leaned in the doorway with an amused smirk, “Oh? Fight me you say? You get more confusing by the day,”
“Nothing confusing with wanting to test strength! It is tradition! I would think a yokai like you would know that!” Yuuji retorted as his ears flattened to his skull.
Sukuna paused, that look of confusion turning into growing amusem*nt, “Oh? You think I’m a yokai?”
“Of course! Some sort of yokai at least! I thought you were one of the spiders,”
That look of amusem*nt morphed into a snicker, then a full on laugh. Sukuna was laughing loudly and it was then Yuuji noticed a mouth on his belly splitting open into a grin which had the Yokai regarding the laughing man more curiously, if frowning a bit at how much the man laughed at him.
“Oh brat! I think you got the wrong impression of me!” Sukuna chuckled as he shook his head, “I’m a sorcerer, not a yokai,”
Yuuji blinked, his ear twitching and tail going still, “Eh?”
“I’m a sorcerer,” Sukuna repeated with a smirk, crossing both pairs of arms, “And a spider yokai? They have eight arms and those arms stretch on like branches of a tree! How would you think I’m a spider?”
Yuuji flushed a bright red, “I know that now after I asked one!” He retorted, “And I also asked the stag beetle clan and even the cricket clan too if you were of their kin!”
“You take me for a cricket?” Sukuna teased.
“You got a nice voice like them!” Yuuji shot back, feeling all the more a prized fool, “And you got four arms and four eyes! No human is born like that!”
Sukuna gave a hum, rubbing his chin, “No, but one who has become more cursed may,”
Yuuji pulled a face at that, “Curses? Curses are so bleh! Why would you want to be around them?” he grumbled as he sat back, raising one foot to scratch at his head some.
The sorcerer looked all the more amused at Yuuji’s antics as he gave a shrug, “Your kind feeds on curses because you know the energy of human emotions are terribly strong. True, some curses are mindless things, but others can make even the mightiest of your kind turn tail and run,” Sukuna let out another soft chuckle, “In fact, I thought you were making all these gifts to lure me into a sense of security as you were hungry to devour me,”
“What no!” Yuuji huffed, “It was a gift! I didn’t want to eat you!”
“I can see that now,” Sukuna drawled, “I thought you a cunning predator, but now I see you were just a foolish little kitten thinking we were of the same kind. Honestly, it is rather adorable in a pathetic sort of way,”
Yuuji flushed more and he glowered some as he shuffled back. He felt like he had been made a fool, especially as Sukuna was still smirking at him. Still he gave a shake of his head, his ears and tails fluffing up a bit, “Well! Whatever! I still want to fight you!”
“And I will decline as to accept a fight would mean if we find our abilities agreeable together, I would, by yokai vow, let you into my home to couple and really, I’m not really going to be giving my heart out to a yokai, let alone anyone else,” Sukuna gave a roll of his eyes, “Love is a useless appendage of the human spirit and I’m not about to get into the dramatics of mateship with a yokai,”
Yuuji felt his heart break a little, although he didn’t show it. He rallied himself up, stamping about a little bit as he glowered at Sukuna, “Well one day we are going to fight! Just you wait! You’ll say yes!”
“You’ll wear yourself out, cub,” Sukuna drawled, “You have a sooner chance of courting the mountains than me,”
With that the sorcerer stepped back and closed the door to his home, leaving Yuuji standing out there, red in the face, and burning with shame.
A wiser tiger would cut their loss and sulk off to lick their wounded pride and find some other fancy to pursue. Yuuji though was not a wise target and there was a stubbornness in his soul that wanted to keep at it as he had already come this far. Clearly his courtship gifts were just not good enough to show how intent he was on having Sukuna as his mate.
“Maybe he just doesn’t like rabbits,” Yuuji murmured to himself as he turned to dart back into the forest.
That was fine. There was other game he could find and greater prizes he could seek out to put on the doorstep of the four-armed sorcerer. Eventually something had to work, that is at least what Yuuji believed.
One way or another, he would wear a mountain down into a meadow and get the courtship fight he wanted.
