Archive of Our Own

All your life you’ve felt powerless to the sight you’ve been granted since birth. From an early age you knew you saw things others didn’t, and tried to escape them any way you could. By the time you graduated high school and got a small taste of the real world, you realized that there was no real way of completely avoiding them. Cursed spirits were as natural as death, and you had to come to terms with the fact that you would have to coexist with them for the rest of your life.  

You had no cursed technique or energy, but you did have your grandma. She was like you and could only see curses as well. She was the one to explain to you what these beings were; how they were created and how to live amongst them. Every interaction with them from then got a little easier to deal with, and eventually it became less of a toll. There were times in class where a nasty little curse would be hunched over a kid's shoulder, but you were able to ignore it in favor of completing your assignments. You never told anyone what you saw, not even your parents. Your grandma emphasized that when she had that talk with you. She was your mothers mom, and told you how the sight sometimes skipped generations. Once she learned that your mother was completely blind to the cursed world, she decided it was better to keep it that way. It was understandable, considering people didn’t take too kindly to the notion of someone seeing and hearing things no one else could. And even if they did believe you, it was cruel to place that sort of perpetual discomfort onto someone. To know that they could be surrounded by invisible, sometimes dangerous beings at any time without ever knowing... 

Since your grandma didn’t live near you, she didn’t catch onto your sight until you were nearly out of primary school. For a long time you couldn’t comprehend what was going on with you. From the time you were a toddler and was just starting to make sense of the world around you, your parents had taken you to see several doctors to address your outbursts and constant crying. They could never find anything legitimately wrong with you, and would chop it up to either severe anxiety or an overactive imagination. The former was true, but not for the reasons your parents and the doctors thought. 

That feeling of powerlessness never really went away, but it fueled your need to gain some semblance of control over your life. So you put yourself through school and studied to become a geriatric nurse. Working in a nursing home had its good days and bad days, but you found purpose in caring for those at the end of their life. Many of them have cursed spirits attached to them, but they were all relatively harmless. Most couldn’t see them, but you theorized that with old age and wisdom, many could sense them. Curses came in many forms, after all. Built off fear, regret, anger, abandonment. The list goes on and on. But in that respect, it made you feel closer to your patients. Like you were able to offer them a sense of compassion others couldn’t.

Today was like any other as you made your way down the hall, towels fresh out the warmer in hand as you headed to one of your patients' room. You gave a quick wrap on the door with your knuckles before stepping inside. It usually was no big deal since this one in particular didn’t have a roommate, but you were surprised to see a tall figure standing by their bed. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I can come back,” ducking your head down as you begin to shut the door. Instead, you were halted by a melodic voice. 

“It’s quite alright, we were just wrapping up here, weren’t we?” a man in a deep navy yukata said as he patted the shoulder of the elderly man. 

Your patient smiled up at him fondly to say, “Yes, thank you priest.”

“Just call me Suguru,” he said, giving him one last friendly pat before turning to grab his things from the other side of the room. In the meantime, you were explaining to your patient that you were taking him for a bath and helped guide him so he was sitting up in the bed. It was all very routine but this patient in particular happened to have quite the annoying trio of curses currently surrounding him. They were no bigger than your forearm, and they liked to jump on their host as if he was their own personal bouncy house. Unfortunately, it seemed to cause him shoulder pain and you had no way of getting rid of the problem. 

You didn’t have any special powers like the sorcerer's your grandma told you about, but that didn’t stop you from retaliating every now and then. You had to be subtle with it, of course. Right now you were grabbing one of the towels under the guise of moving them out of the way, but it was actually for swatting away one of the little curses that sat atop his shoulder. It fell onto the bed with a shrill cry - a bit of an overreaction in your opinion. You triumphantly turned back to face your patient, but when a sound could be heard coming from all three of them, you stopped what you were doing to raise your head and see them all being pulled by some invisible force towards the other side of the room. You froze as you watched their bodies be stretched while gradually disintegrating at the same time. They floated off the bed and away from your patient before joining together at one point to form into a singular ball. All their features were erased, leaving behind a shiny black orb that fit into the palm of the man facing your patient's back. 

He gave you a wide grin before swallowing the orb whole. 

—-

It had only been a few hours but you were still shaken by what you’d seen. After walking your patient to the bathtub, you excused yourself with the excuse of grabbing more supplies, but when you walked back into his room, you noticed that the priest must have slipped out of the room without a single sound. No context given for what you had witnessed. Back when she was alive, your grandma told you about sorcerers but you never witnessed any of their talents before your very eyes. 

You went about your tasks but hardly felt present since your mind was still trying to piece together what had happened. Soon enough it was your lunch break and you were making your way to the break room when you noticed a familiar looking fabric out in the courtyard. The facility has a modest sized outside garden with stone benches scattered throughout. Since you were carrying your lunch bag, it gave you a convenient excuse to turn to the doors and walk outside. 

He sat on one side of the bench, almost as if he was waiting for your arrival. However, he didn’t look in your direction when you emerged from the door. His eyes were pointed ahead, towards the small water fountain just a few yards away from where he was sitting. It made small pattering noises as you walked timidly towards the man. When you were close enough for your steps to be heard, he turned his head and smiled up at you softly. He greeted you in that same kind voice he used on your patient, and it made you wonder if you had somehow imagined everything you saw earlier.

“Did you want to take a seat?”

His question made you realize you had no real approach to this. Nodding your head low, you sat at the opposite end on the bench. It only left a tiny bit of space between you and him, and even without looking at him directly you could tell that his gaze was on you fully. As awkward as it was, you couldn’t will yourself to meet his eyes just yet. Instead, you gripped your lunch bag a little tighter, firmly pressing it against the knot in your stomach.

“..I’m guessing you saw that earlier.”

Surprised by how uninhibited he sounded, you raised your head to finally look up at him. You were so focused on work earlier that you hardly took notice of the man besides his basic features. Tall, dark hair, pale skin. But from this up close he nearly towered over you. His hair was pulled in a half up bun, allowing for thick locks to flow down his back and past his shoulders. His complexion was clear and he had a defined jawline that hinted at how strongly built he was. 

He was handsome, and unless you were imagining things, he was being coy with you. 

You didn’t know what to say. Your grandma had never told you on how to approach a sorcerer, and it wasn’t like you could call on her to ask now. But this man was a priest. He had taken those pesky curses off of your patient. In a way, he had healed him. But still there was the question of ..

“I know it can be a bit off putting. Seeing it for the first time.”

Gaping up at him, you said, “..B-but how..?” 

“How does it taste? Not like chicken, that’s for sure.”

You could tell he was joking, but you were still too shocked to give it any sort of positive attention. He seemed to catch on and eased up a bit, but still had a playful smirk across his lips as he said, “I’m guessing from your reaction and overall lack of cursed energy that you can only see them, correct?” 

Your eyes instinctually scanned your surroundings and when you saw that there was no one nearby, you gave him a weary nod.

“That’s good. I sometimes wished that’s where it ended for me,” he said, sounding genuine.  

Leaning in a bit closer, you said, “But what you did.. You got rid of them, right?”

“Yes, they’ve been exorcized,” he said with a reassuring smile. “As you saw, I consume them and acquire them as their new host. Since I have greater control over them than a typical human would, I find it beneficial to visit places like this. I’m sure his shoulders are feeling better already, yes?”

In fact, your patient had mentioned something to that effect earlier. You just hadn’t made the connection till now. 

“Then you shouldn't feel that way,” you perked up, not expecting when you did that your faces would be so close together. Feeling flustered by the sudden proximity, your face heated as you elaborate with, “I mean, you shouldn’t wish to be like me.”

“Why’s that?” he asked while tilting his head to the side, the whites of his teeth visible between the seam of his mouth.  

“Well… you’re a hero.” 

That seemed to catch him off guard with the way his eyes widened, and you turned so you were facing the fountain once again. There was a minute pause till he said, “Plenty could say the same about you. The world needs more nurses than sorcerers.”

It was your turn to feel bashful and when you met his eyes again, you watched as his traveled up from your lap to your face. You had a deer in headlights look to your face while there was something heated behind his gaze. You couldn’t tell if it was directed at you or if it came natural to him. He was so painstakingly beautiful, and with every passing look he gave you, it was getting harder to not melt into a puddle on the ground. You reminded yourself that this was a priest you were speaking to. 

“I’d hardly call it hero work compared to what you do,” you said before looking down at your lap to run sweaty palms down your scrub clad thighs. “I can only comfort the cursed. I can't do anything to get rid of them.”

And it was true. You’ve seen curses suck the life force out of patients before, to the point where they were all but clinically dead. You avoided thinking about it too much, but even now you could feel the guilt creeping up on you, making your chest feel like it was being weighed down with lead. But just as the feeling started to happen, a hand rested overtop of yours, halting the fidgeting you didn’t realize you were doing. As juvenile as it was, you felt an electric feeling shoot up your arm from his touch, and it was enough to break you out of your trance. You blinked up at him with softer eyes when he said, “It’s the fact that you care. Not a lot of humans do.”

That felt odd coming from a priest's mouth, but his large hand and warm smile was all that consumed you in that moment. You had never been particularly devout to one religion, but you could see why people came to him for comfort. 

Too soon he pulled his hand back to reach into some hidden pocket inside his yukata, and pulled out a card. He handed it to you as he said, “You should keep my number. In case there’s any you-know-whats around that you need me to take care of.”

Considering his hand was just over yours a moment ago, his fingers brushing against yours when handing you his card shouldn’t have made you feel any type of way. And yet you found yourself blushing like a silly schoolgirl as you pulled your hand back to tuck the card away. Soon enough, the priest stood and bid you a goodbye. It wasn’t long till the sounds of the fountain drowned out his steps. 

—-

You ended up reaching for his card far sooner than you expected. 

It was the end of another grueling work day and you were trudging up to your duplex with half lidded eyes, already fantasizing about being in bed after a long, hot shower. You were more than ready to wash off the residuals of work and the following train ride home off your skin, but those thoughts were halted the moment you stepped into your front yard. A strange feeling crept over you, one that alerted you of your surroundings even though nothing seemed out of the ordinary. You blamed your paranoia on the fatigue as you walked up the steps to unlock the door to your side of the duplex. Your neighbor's door was a few yards away, a thick wall separated your place from his. You’ve been living here for the past few years and shared a friendly but distant relationship with your neighbor. He was an older gentleman and spent a lot of time with his family, so you never heard much from him anyway. 

When you first enter the building, there’s a small space that is used as a walkway between the outside door and the one that actually leads to your place. As you stood there shuffling through your keys, you didn’t notice the sound coming from the other side of the wall until it felt like it was within arms reach. In an instant, your head whipped to the side and you nearly fell back at the sight before you. 

You can’t remember the last time you've encountered a curse this size up close, if ever. You knew there was a grading system to these things, but considering you didn’t have the skills to fight them, it’s not like you had them memorized by heart. Even so, you could still sense this thing's power, the signals in your brain flashing telling you this was a threat. 

It was emerging through the cement wall between your place and your neighbors, oblong arms struggling to push itself to your side. You could see it had several eyes at the top of its head, their pupils darting in all different directions before they all landed on you. It’s tiny mouth was emitting weird noises, seemingly trying to pronounce words. But you didn’t stick around long enough to figure out what it was trying to say, and instead burst through the door you just came through to run as far away from it as you could. 

When you were half way down the block, you slowed down to a steady pace as you pulled out your phone. You considered calling the police at first, but realized how badly that could go for you. But you couldn’t go back home with that thing waiting for you at your front door. Just when you were considering staying at a hotel, you remembered the card that was still sitting in your purse, and stopped to look for it before pulling it out of the little pocket it was in. After two rings, someone picked up. 

“Hello?” said an unsuspecting voice. You swallowed hard before answering back. 

“Hey. You may not remember but you gave me your number. I’m a nurse at..,” you told him where you worked and his voice perked up at that. 

“Ah, of course I remember you. You seem a bit winded, is everything okay?”

“Well, not quite..,” you explained to him what you had just seen. That proceeded with several questions from him, asking if you were safe, where you were now, and where you last saw the curse. You realized too late that reaching out meant that you’d have to give him your address. He was a stranger, yes. But he was also a well respected figure in the community, as your patients had made it seem whenever you subtly~ asked them about your new acquaintance. 

After giving him your address, he told you that he was about twenty minutes away and that you should keep walking till you reach the closest convenience store and wait for him there. It took you less than ten minutes to reach the one closest to your neighborhood, and considering how small it was, you weren’t sure how long you could stay without drawing suspicion. Though you were certain it hadn’t followed you, you still found yourself nervously looking towards the door as if waiting for it to burst through and attack you. For all you knew, it could be tracking you right now. You may have unintentionally lead it here to wreak havoc on this entire store and the innocent civilians inside-

Just as your chest was getting heavy, a notification showed up on your lock screen. It was from the priest, telling you he was parked outside the store. Not bothering to pretend shopping anymore, you paced out the store empty handed towards the only car with its headlights on in the parking lot. Before you got too close, he rolled down the window in time to give you a small wave, signaling that it was safe for you to approach. You walked towards the driver's side window, suddenly feeling less afraid to be out in the open now that you were facing Suguru.

“Did you get me something while you were inside?” he said as he leaned an elbow out the window, a grin spread across his face. It was too dark inside the car to tell exactly what he was wearing, but it wasn’t his yukata. 

“I’ll buy you whatever you want if you tell me my house is still in one piece,” you said while you dug your hands in your coat pockets to hide your fidgeting fingers. 

“It is, but we should get back soon,” he said, face suddenly turning more serious.

“Is something wrong..?”

He looked around the lot before pointing his gaze back at you to say, “It’s better if we talk inside.”

You didn’t really expect to be getting into his car tonight either, and when he saw your moment's hesitation, he followed up with, “I’ll just be driving you back to your place, which the police will be arriving at soon. It’s about your neighbor.”

He had a sobering expression that told you he was being serious, and any former trepidation you had was subdued before you headed towards the passenger door. Once you were buckled in, you sat back as he reversed out of the parking spot. Your eyes drifted towards him when he put his hand on the back of your headrest, streetlamps illuminating his strong features as he turned his head back. From this angle you could see his hair was still in its half up half down look, but this time there were a few more loose strands framing his face. He was in a plain black shirt with the sleeves shrugged up, showing off his veiny forearms. Before you could get too distracted, you asked, “Is he okay?” 

Suguru pursed his lips as he kept his eyes on the road in front of him, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but he’s dead.”

He didn’t have to turn his head to know that your mouth was agape, and he continued with, “He hung himself, which is where I have to assume the curse came from. Assuming you don’t have many visitors at your place, right?”

“Yeah, no. Uhm.. wow. I didn’t know him that well but I would’ve never guessed he..”

Suguru was already turning down your block as he said, “It can be hard to tell sometimes. I already called the police and told them I was calling on his neighbors behalf for a wellness check.”

“Right,” you said, staring straight ahead as you nodded your head absently. You remembered the last time you spoke with him how your neighbor had told you about how excited he was for his grandkids birthday. To think he had been masking such deep pain all along... Even if you weren’t that close with him, it was still a shock to think someone that close in proximity to you had been suffering this whole time. 

“You gonna be okay?” Suguru asked, giving you a concerned look from over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I just feel bad for his family..”

To your surprise, he smiled at that while saying, “You really are a sweet girl, huh?”

His question seemed rhetorical, but for the sake of deflecting how his praise made you feel, you shrugged your shoulders as you said, “I like to think it's just human decency.”

“Not many humans are decent.”

He was parking the car right outside your place, and you looked to see the deathly serious look that matched his tone. It took you off guard and you said in a meek voice, “I don’t know if I feel that way.”

“Of course you don’t,” his complete change of demeanor surprised you and you watched as a warm smile spread across his once grimacing face. It was almost as if you had imagined what you saw just seconds ago. After unbuckling his seatbelt, he shifted to face you as he said, “You’re gifted with the sight, but you choose to see the good in things. That’s what makes you different.”

Before you could respond to that, police lights could be seen coming down your street and Suguru got out of his car to open your door for you. You thanked him as you stepped out, now realizing how close he was standing by you. His smile was so intimidating and yet you felt your face heat up as he watched you step out onto the curve. However, the feeling quickly evaporated at the sight of your house. Everything was just how you left it, except now there weren’t any curses to chase you out. Looking to your neighbors side, you got a hollow feeling inside, one that can only be felt when faced with the fact of how fragile life could be. You’ve held the hands of many who died after succumbing to old age and disease, but never had you personally experienced a suicide. Though you weren’t in direct relation to him, there was still a level of human connection that had felt prematurely severed. 

A hand gently rested on your shoulder and you looked up to see Suguru giving you a solemn look to say, “Are you going to be alright? Do you need me to talk to the police?”

Looking past his shoulder, you could see the officers stepping out of their own cars. Looking back at Suguru, who was patiently waiting for your response, you couldn’t help but to feel sentimental. This man didn’t really know you and already he was treating you with so much kindness. You weren’t sure what you would’ve done if he hadn’t given you his number, and you didn’t know how to begin thanking him for what he did. Maybe you shouldn’t feel so special since it was his occupation to help others, but in the short time you’ve gotten to know him, you’ve felt something no one else besides your grandma was ever able to provide you. It was more than just an understanding of the true nature of the world. It was safety. He made you feel safe.

—

Between the questioning, police search, phone calls and waiting on the couriers to finish their job, your front yard was crowded up until nearly 2 am. You didn’t even realize the last person left was Suguru until after you bid the officers a goodnight and shut your front door. He stood patiently in your entryway, watching as you sank your back against the door to say, “I just realized I have work in the morning.”

“Call out,” he said with an easy smile. You noticed that there was no coyness to it, which made you wonder what he thought of you. Not that you were thinking of him in any kind of way. 

“No, I’ll call in and tell them I’ll be in later,” you said as you reached for your phone in your pocket. You started to dial your job’s number until a voice could be heard directly in front of you, making your thumb hover over the lit screen.

“That’s not what I said.”

Your eyes shot up to meet his, which were heavily shadowed but had a playful nature to them while looking down at you. Though his words had an authoritative connotation to them, a smile started to slowly form on both of your faces until you were the first to break and give out a small laugh. 

“Alright, alright. You win,” you said, putting the phone to your ear. He kept his eyes on you as you waited for someone from the night shift to pick up, and poked your tongue out at him just before someone answered. After briefly explaining the situation, you were assured that your shift would be covered. Once you were off the phone, you turned back to Suguru to say, “Y’know, even though this isn’t how I wanted it to play out, I’m glad I got to see you again.”

“How did you want it to play out?” he asked, his tone not giving away his tease but there was a fox-like quality to his eyes that sent your pulse racing. 

“Oh, I don’t know..,” you smiled towards your feet as you took a few steps forward. Under the dim lights of your place, it felt like the distance was closing in on the two of you. There was still enough space that you hoped he couldn’t hear the hammering of your heart. Looking up at him with a lopsided smile, you said, “You could swing by the nursing home more often. Help me out with bingo.” 

“Tempting, but I was thinking more of a one-on-one type of deal.” 

Though you knew the game you two were playing right now, you didn’t expect him to outright reciprocate. You hadn’t thought to look up what priests of his sect were and weren’t allowed to do, but you figured whatever you two shared was most likely not going to lead anywhere. All you could do was gawk up at him as you said, “Uhm, is it… I mean you’re a..”

Luckily, he caught onto what you were saying and responded with, “I can date. And marry. But if that’s the case, you’re at least going to have to buy me dinner first.” 

With your mouth hung open, you looked up at him incredulously before the corners of your lips started to turn up again.

“Are all of you like this?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he took one final step closer so he was right in front of you this time. “Like what?” 

“So… arch.”

He laughed at that, and it was a beautiful sound that made all the stress from the day melt away. Though the circumstances were less than ideal, it almost felt fated to be here with him right now. He said he would call you and soon after he left, all you could think about was when would be the next time you’d see him again.

—-

Your relationship with Suguru started off so well at the beginning that it was almost hard to believe how differently you felt now as compared to then. It was about 8 months ago that you and him went on your first official date. It was sweet and awkward - mostly on your part- , but the lasting impression you got was that you wanted to see him more. Of course you didn’t want to come off desperate, but after a few dates the two of you started to see each other on a regular basis. Some days you would be at his place, others he was at yours. He still visited the residents at your job, though you had asked that the two of you keep things low key there. Though he wasn’t employed with the nursing home, it probably wasn’t a good look if people knew that you were dating their beloved priest. So to save yourself any unnecessary gossip or drama, the two of you acted as two perfectly friendly cohorts at your job. Though he would occasionally squeeze your butt when a patient wasn’t looking. But that wasn’t what was bothering you now.

It started off gradually, but recently you’ve caught on that he had a habit of always getting what he wanted. He knew how to do it in a way that wouldn’t upset you too much, at least in the moment. But over time it got harder to ignore. Oftentimes if he had a day off, he would want your schedule to be free as well. You understood he was a busy man and wanted to take advantage of the free time he had to be with you, but you still had a job and responsibilities of your own. Just the other day when your alarm for work had woken the both of you up, you figured he would go back to sleep by the time you were out the bathroom. Instead, he was up and managed to drag you back in bed before you could even get dressed. Still in a half sleepy state, you let the kisses you shared meld into a slow, messy pace until he was hovered over you with your back facing him. While he kissed down your neck and shoulders, you whined about needing to get dressed for work, but just as you should’ve expected, he cut you off with, “Call out.”

“I can’t call out again, I’ve already gotten a write up because of you,” you said, glaring at him from over your shoulder. He only looked at your kiss-swollen lips but ignored the pout it carried in favor of continuing his affections down your back while also reaching for your phone. You were about to tell him to give it back to you, but to your surprise he held it out to you. His kisses didn’t stop however, and you were left to stare at your reflection on the black screen as you thought of what to do. You shouldn’t have been as whipped for him as you were, but when the phone was ringing, he lifted your hips up high while he sat back against the headboard. You tried to wiggle them away, but just when someone on the other line was picking up, he dove his tongue between your folds.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

You had to clap your free hand over your mouth as you felt his tongue twist down your sex until he was flicking it over your clit. As ashamed as you should’ve felt, you couldn’t will yourself to do anything else but arch into his touch as you tried to speak evenly. You were able to successfully request to be transferred to the nurse manager, who unfortunately was the same one who gave you your write up. Suguru’s grip was far too tight on your hips to allow you to get away from him, so you had to deal with his relentless oral fixation as you gave your boss the bad news.

“Again? This can’t keep happening..”

“I know, I-..,” your voice almost broke up when he wrapped his lips around your clit, suctioning it mercilessly. He was far too good at that. “..I’m really, really sorry.”

She sighed from the other line before asking, “Is everything alright? I don’t mind helping you to work around it if there’s something going on at home.”

That had caught you off guard. She sounded genuinely concerned, but you hadn’t stopped to consider that at all. At the time you were too distracted by Suguru’s ministrations to think about it, but her question sparked something in you later on. It made you realize just how often things would play out in Suguru’s favor; with you quite literally bending to his will. By the time you were off the phone with your boss, you were fully rocking your hips back against his face. When he pulled back from your sex with a pop, you whined as you looked back to see his half glossy face coated in your juices.

“Am I hearing that you’ve been a bad girl again?” he asked with a lopsided grin, palms running over your ass. His raven hair hung loose past his shoulders and reflected beautifully off the morning sunlight peeking through your windows. 

“Only because of you-!” your sentence was cut off by a harsh smack to your ass, causing you to take in a sharp breath.

“Now, now. No talking back,” he said, nibbling down your flesh before picking back up on where he left off. 

At the time you were too clouded with lust to discern it, but the next day when you were at work, you reflected back on your boss’s questions. How far were you going to let Suguru cut into your life? What boundaries will you let him cross if you continue to let him control you in this way? His possessiveness over you never came off as malicious, but regardless, it wasn’t sustainable. You need to at least talk this out with him, give him the benefit of the doubt that he will respect your personal space. Standing by the nurses station, you were so zoned out that you didn’t realize someone was standing right in front of you.

“Hey! Good to see you again.”

Blinking up at him, you recognized it was an EMT who you regularly worked around. Turning from your portable computer, you said, “Yeah, you too. What do you got for me?”

He handed you the report before you leaned back against the counter. He joined you as he gave you the rundown of the patient’s stats and where they were being transferred to. Just as he leaned in closer to point out something in the report, a dark figure passed by your peripheral and you looked up to meet the eyes of the very man who had been running around your mind all day. Typically Suguru would tell you ahead of time if he would be stopping by your job, but you hadn’t heard from him all day except for the brief good morning texts you shared. There was something unreadable in his expression as he passed by, and when he didn’t return your cordial smile, you realized it was because he wasn’t looking at you. His gaze was entirely fixated on the man standing next to you, and the intensity of his glare made your brows furrow in confusion. The EMT noticed your change in demeanor and looked up to follow your gaze. By then the priest had turned the corner and walked down the main hall and into one of your patients rooms. You excused yourself and followed his trail till you were standing in front of the half open door. You gave a quick knock while poking your head inside, and shut the door behind you before walking towards the bed.   

“Hey..,” you said, feeling like you were in trouble somehow. Maybe it was because he hasn’t looked at you since you entered the room. Even his posture seemed cold as he looked down upon your patient. You couldn’t tell for certain, but you could’ve sworn he was looking down at the elderly man with a level of disdain that made you feel uneasy. 

“This curse.. It’s speaking to him.”

You should’ve expected as much that he was able to see the curse present by your patient’s bedside, but this man in particular has been a resident here for so long that his curse companion almost felt like a part of him at this point. Even if no one else could see it.

“He can hear it, yeah?” Suguru asked curiously, hands resting on the bed rails as the elderly man between the two of you turned his head absently towards the direction of the floating head spirit. It seemed to only have one purpose, which was to call out the man's name over and over till he responded back with a different name.

Resting your hands on the opposite bedrail, you looked down at the man in pity as you said, “Yes. I believe that the curse belongs to his late wife. They were together for over fifty years. She passed away a few years ago.”

When he first arrived, you just assumed that it was just any other spirit attached to him. But soon you realized that he recognized when the spirit was calling out to him and wasn’t alarmed by it knowing his name. It was when he would respond back to it with a name you weren’t familiar with that you felt there had to be some kind of connection. Through his extended family you learned that it was indeed his wife's name that he was saying. You had no way of proving it was actually her, but the face of the floating head resembled that of an elderly woman who he was pictured with, framed at his bedside. She never showed any harm to the man, just periodically calling out to him in a withered voice. Many of the curses you encountered here were harmless yet grating, but in this case this spirit seemed almost beneficial. There was no way to scientifically prove it, but the man was in his late 90’s, blind, nearly deaf, and could hardly feed or walk by himself. But despite his growing weaknesses, he always had enough energy to call out to his wife. You could only assume that her presence served as a reminder to him that he truly wasn’t alone in this world.

In that brief moment where you were consumed by your own thoughts, you noticed Suguru’s arm go up as he outstretched his hand towards the curse. In an instant, your hands shot out to lower it down. It hardly budged considering how strong he was, but he looked surprised by your action enough to stop. You’ve never been averse to him using his powers before, but to let him eliminate the one thing this man lived for felt wrong. You couldn’t fathom breaking that connection.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, slight irritation showing in his arched brow.

Your mouth went dry all of a sudden, but you said, “I just… I don’t think you should take this away from him. This is the last real connection he has to his wife, y’know?”

You softly drew your hands away from him, looking down at the poor old man. Continuing to speak in a volume you knew he wouldn’t be able to pick up on, you said, “And I think it’s the only reason he’s still alive.”

“He should be put out of his misery,” Suguru said, looking down at the man in such disdain that it almost felt like a punch in the gut.

“He’s human. He deserves compassion,” you said, not able to hold back the malice in your voice. You couldn’t stand that look on his face, all arrogance and disgust. It was unlike anything you’ve seen from him before, and his words weren’t helping.

“Have you ever taken the time to think about what these humans do? How they taint the very world they need to exist. And we’re the ones responsible for cleaning up their mess. They’re the source of the problem. All of them..,” he turned to face the window behind him, crossing his arms behind his back. He turned his head back just enough that you could see the crinkle of his nose as he continued with, “.. Even that medic you were talking to earlier.”

“Wha-...I’ve never seen any curses on him,” you said, confused on why he was bringing him up at a time like this. 

Without looking at you, he turned and walked to the door as he said, “I just don’t know how you can stand to be around that kind of stench. You’re better than that.”

And with that he left you alone in the room to process what he meant, all the while the man behind you calling out to his wife like a prayer.

—

Things only got worse from that day forward. The more you refused his advances to bend to his will, the more callous he became. And that feeling seeped into nearly every interaction you had with him. He told you he would respect your boundaries, but his actions still showed otherwise. It wasn’t always this way, but it would crop up when you least expected. It happened on days when you’d turn down his offer to abandon your obligations to be with him, but oftentimes he’d bring it up during sex. While you were getting fucked dumb, he’d spout on about how ‘you were better than them’ and that ‘you shouldn’t waste your time being around those people.’ Referring to both your patients and coworkers, he had this possessive need to remind you that you could be doing something better with your time. In the heat of the moment it was like you were incapable of speaking up for yourself, but you knew you've expressed your grievances to him in the past about this line of thinking. You didn’t see yourself as above anyone else because of your sight, and you weren’t willing to abandon your life's work because of him. And he hated that. At first you thought it stemmed from a burning need to take care of you, but now you were starting to believe it was because he wanted to control you.

Even at work you had to start looking over your shoulder when he started to show up without any prior warning. It wasn’t like you needed to know when he’d be there, but it started to become a concern when he would catch you talking to that same EMT again. It wasn’t like you were doing anything wrong. The guy was around your age but there was zero connection between you two besides a friendly coworker relationship. And yet all it had taken was one touch spotted by Suguru for things to unravel.

“What do you got there?” the EMT asked with a goofy smile as his pointer finger landed on the top of your hand, right where there was stamp ink on your skin.

“Oh, one of the resident's grandkids was gifted a coloring set and was testing it out on everyone in the room,” you said, smiling down fondly at it. Just as he drew his hand away, you looked up to see none other than Suguru looking intently at you from across the room. It was evident that he had been watching the whole time, and before you could react, he turned down a hall and you didn’t see him for the rest of the day. That was, until you got home.

It was late into the evening and you were already showered and dressed for bed when you heard your buzzer go off. Even before you pressed down on the answer button, you already had a feeling you knew who it was.

“Who is it?”

“Hey. Can I come in?” 

That voice was unmistakable and yet you felt hesitant to press the unlock button. You texted him after finding out from an employee that he had left quite suddenly after you saw him, and he never answered you back. For him to show up so late unannounced was unusual, but it wasn’t like you had any real reason to be concerned, right? 

You buzzed him in and opened the front door to see him leaning against the door frame, a knowing smile on his face as he looked down at your pajamas. All you had on was a loose t-shirt and cotton shorts, and you felt goosebumps raise up your skin as he took it all in. He looked as he usually did when out of his yukata, but there was something shadowy in his expression that made you feel nervous as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

“Is everything alright? I saw you stopped by earlier but you didn’t say hi,” you said sheepishly as you stood in front of him. Before answering, he reached out for your hand and looked at it closely. Though his lips were upturned, there was something dark playing across his eyes that made it hard for you to move.

“You seemed busy,” he said as he ran his thumb over the top of your hand where the stamp tattoo once was, now washed away from your shower. You had a feeling this had something to do with your interaction with the EMT earlier, Suguru’s focus entirely on the one teensy spot he touched.

“I mean... Not really-” your words were cut off when he pulled you into his embrace, smashing his lips into yours. He kissed you greedily to the point where it felt like your legs would give out on you, but that was before he scooped you up in his arms and guided your legs around his hips. You let out a high pitch noise against his lips as he started to walk the both of you towards your bedroom. Everything felt like it was moving too fast and before you knew it he had you both undressed and sitting up in the center of your bed. His lips were so bruising on yours that it almost felt like he was trying to make it hurt, and in between biting kisses you tried asking him if everything was okay. He seemed impatient as he started to line himself up beneath you but he managed to say with a wry smile, “Just missed you, is all.”

With one arm wrapped tightly around your waist, you felt him lower you down onto his cock. Your nails still dug into his shoulders from the stretch but despite giving you hardly any prep time, you were still wet enough to take all of him in. Your head was still spinning from just how quickly things had devolved, and you threw it back to let out labored breaths. He continued to guide you up and down his cock, his hips moving to push deeply into you with each stroke. As his lips danced across your throat, you heard him say, “You’re my girl, aren’t you?”

At first you weren’t sure if that was supposed to be rhetorical, but there was enough of a pause that you felt the need to fill it with a simple but slightly confused ‘Yes.’ When you felt his lips leave your skin, you looked down to see his free hand lift yours up to nearly eye level - the same one he was observing so closely moments earlier. Your fingers ran up his large palm to lace with his, which caused a warm smile to spread across his face at the sight of your joined hands. His thumb ran across the back of your palm as he said, “And only I get to touch this, right?”

“Yeah..,” you placated, not sure what he was getting at. Without warning, he pushed you back till your back hit the mattress and he was on top of you. Your limbs were sprawled out on either side of you, but you felt his grip tighten on your hand as he pressed it deep into the comforter. 

“I don’t want any man touching you. Ever.”

From this up close you could see that his pupils were blown, and his hair hung like wild vines above you. Instead of waiting for your response, he started to push back into you as he buried his head into the crook of your neck. He worked slow to drag his cock in and out of you, so slow that it made your toes curl with how much anticipation he was building. When only the head of his cock was being held desperately by your ring of muscles, he would pause to drag it out just a bit longer before violently thrusting back into you. It knocked the breath out of your lungs, stifling your cry when he bit down on your shoulder at the same time. He unlatched himself from your reddened skin to kiss over the afflicted area while his thrusts stayed the same. The maddeningly slow pace made it difficult for you to speak, but eventually you got out, “What are you saying?”

His cheek grazed against yours as he spoke low in your ear. It wasn’t so much his dark tone that sent goosebumps down your spine, but rather how he said each word with such vigor. It oozed with endless hatred, and for a moment it felt like who you were speaking to you wasn’t human at all.

“I’m talking about that sorry fuck who’s always all over you at work. It was one thing when he’d stand so close to you, but the fact that he thinks he can touch you-”

“H-he was just point at something-”

You were interrupted by another deep thrust, causing your back to curve off the bed. Pressing his free hand on your lower back, he pushed your hand deeper into the mattress to hold himself up over you, making your fingertips tingle from a lack of circulation. He had gotten riled up during sex before, but it was never like this. You hardly recognized the beast over you right now.

“Just seeing his filthy fucking finger on you..,” he looked off to the side slightly, teeth gritted like he had actually been slighted. “If we were anywhere else-” 

“What are you even saying right now, Suguru!? It was nothing!” you argued while trying to pull your hand out from under him, your free hand pressing against his chest. You were trying to push him back so he would look you in the eyes, but once he did you started to regret it. In them was a dark abyss of jealousy and rage that you never thought was capable on him. His eyes were shadowed and there was an unhinged crease to his brow that made you feel incredibly small beneath him. While his face was rigid, his hips picked up their pace in frantic rhythms, simultaneously making you feel overstimulated and needy. 

“A man’s touch is nothing to you? Is that what you’re really telling me right now?” he said, pressing his forehead against your temple when you turned your cheek to him. It wasn’t that you were avoiding a response, you just couldn’t stand to look at him when he was like this. 

“Stop this!”

“Fuck!” he yelled out as his fists came down hard onto the mattress, both on either side of your head. It nearly made your eyes bulge with how fast it happened, and your latent response was a spike in adrenaline you weren’t expecting. It made your heart pound even harder in your chest, and you couldn’t breathe evenly as you looked up at him with frightened eyes. He no longer wore that dark look on his face, and instead looked immediately remorseful and closed off. He pulled out of you and sat up on the edge of the bed, leaving you still sprawled and flustered as he rubbed one of his eyelids with the heel of his palm. As he breathed deeply through his nostrils, you turned over and watched as he slowly loosened the tension in his muscles. Sitting up on your side, you placed a hand on his back, speaking softly, “Suguru…”

He lowered his hand and looked down at you, his face swiftly changing back to a more relaxed state as his eyes grew hazy. You were about to ask him what he was thinking, but then he pivoted his body while placing a hand over your cheek, cupping it to raise your head towards him. It took you a second to realize he was facing you to the direction of his cock, which was still fully erect and glistening with your juices. Before you got a chance to speak up, he said with half lidded eyes, “Y’know.. Despite making an utter fool of myself just now, I’m still afflicted by you.”

He ran his thumb over your cheekbone, making the air in your lungs grow thin as you watched his delicate face morph into one of devotion. Suguru’s emotions could be so complex sometimes. 

He pulled your face forward and moved his hips in the same direction, his cock being somewhat forcibly shoved into your mouth. You let out a noise and tried to push away with your hand on his thighs, but that didn’t seem to have any effect. Instead, his head threw back as he let out a sigh of pleasure. His hair cascaded down his back and you could see the thick veins that lined his pelvis. From this up close he looked like a god. 

“Fuckin-.. Such a good girl,” he said as he slowly started to buck his hips into your mouth, his hand slipping down to gently cup your neck. You had nearly forgotten why you had tried pulling away until he asked, “Can you forgive me, baby?”

He gave you no way to answer him with the state you were in, but it was hard to take offense when he made sucking his dick feel like a favor to you. It was truly unfair what he was doing, his tone dripping with honey as he ran his hand down your side. It went down your shoulder and over your waist and hip until his hand was gently pushing your thighs apart. You complied too easily, your legs making a diamond shape as his fingers hovered over your mound. Soon enough you were wide open for him and he wasted no time pushing two digits inside of your sopping hole. He matched the pace of which you were bobbing your throat, causing tears to well up in both strain and pleasure. It was shameful how close you were already, his fingertips pressing against the patch of nerves inside you, making you moan around his cock. You were trying your hardest to focus on his pleasure, but to your surprise he came at nearly the same time you did. Just as you were pulsing around his fingers, his movements got more frantic and you felt the slightly salty liquid pour down your throat before he gently pulled back. Finally pulling back, Suguru’s eyes were intense despite his heaving chest and sweaty forehead. He made sure to keep his eyes on you as he brought his wet fingers to his lips, sucking off your release. 

You thought for a moment that he might crawl back on top of you again, but instead he rested on his side right beside you. You instinctually curled into his chest as his arm wrapped around your shoulders. A moment of peaceful silence passed until he turned his head in your direction and gave you a soft, slow kiss. When he pulled back, he looked at your glowing face to say, “God, I love you.” 

He’s hinted at it in the past, but never actually said the three little words to you. Despite how it made you feel, you couldn’t ignore that sinking pit feeling you had prior to this. You wanted to respond back with something more positive, but your conscience couldn’t allow you to let it go ignored.

With your fingertips grazing over his sternum, you said in a small voice, “You really scared me there for a minute, Sugu..”

“It's only because I care too much. I won’t let it happen again, baby.”

“You promise?”

“Of course.”

It was easy to believe him when all the ugly jealousy seemed to have disappeared. What was left was just you and him; a tangle of limbs entwined together by a deep level of connection you couldn’t honestly say you’ve felt with anyone else. Especially romantically. 

“I love you too.”

—

A few days later you got called into work a couple hours before lunch time. They asked if you could fill in for someone who went home sick, and though you were reluctant to accept, you caved due to how desperate your manager sounded over the phone. Suguru had been occupied with his own work all week and you had nothing better to do that day. Right before you left, you considered texting him that you’d be at work for a few hours, but something told you that you wouldn't need to. Or maybe that you shouldn’t have to. 

While your coworkers were bustling about, you made your way down the hall and stopped at the nurses station to greet one of the EMT’s. It wasn’t the same one Suguru had gotten jealous over the other day, but instead his much older partner. You noticed a younger medic by his side that looked nervous to put a blood pressure cuff over an elderly woman’s arm. You didn’t blame them, considering how frail some of your patients were. You remembered being just as nervous back during your residency. Giving the older EMT a friendly smile, you spoke far enough away from the young one to say, “Hey, training someone new?”

He nodded his head before mentioning that the usual EMT has been a no-call-no-show for the past week. Your brows furrowed in idle concern before asking, “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know.. He's talked about backpacking across the countryside before but he was never the type to go ghost like this.”

Before you could think it over, a flash of navy caught your eye and you turned your head towards the main hallway to see a tall figure leaving one of your patients' rooms. The dark hair and grid pattern across his yukata was easily recognizable. Though it wasn’t unusual for him to be here, it felt all too strange that he would be coming out of that particular room. He would always tell you whenever he’d be stopping by your work, which was usually when you would be there. He was free to visit whenever he wanted, but watching him disappear down the hall almost felt like he was trying to go unseen.

And then the alarms went off.

—

What was supposed to be only a few hours of work turned into triple the amount of time, and by the time you were at your duplex’s entrance, you were bone tired. Of course on a day when you weren’t even supposed to be at work did it turn into one of the worst days of your career. After hours of psychiatric evaluations, sedation and eventual resuscitation, your patient who had the curse of his wife beside him had died. The same patient who Suguru had stopped by to visit right before everything happened. The first thing you noticed when you ran into the room was that there was no lingering curse hovering over him. His wife was gone.

You could’ve let the next nurse take over when your shift was done, but considering how long you had been caring for him, it felt like your responsibility to deal with it. You knew his time was cutting close when the elderly man no longer tugged against his restraints, the ones that were holding him back from clawing at himself. By then his heart rate had dropped dangerously low and the doctor advised the family to say their goodbyes while they still had the chance. One of them was his granddaughter, who had an infant child of her own that you held while she tearfully hugged her grandpa goodbye. The deep red gashes on his face mixed with the hollow look in his eyes was an unsettling image, and he died with the last words on his lips being the phrase he repeated over and over throughout the whole ordeal.

“She’s gone.”

You didn’t have the energy to lift your head as you entered your flat, but a sound shook you in place and your hand went up to your chest as you looked at the familiar face.

“How did you get in here?!”

Suguru had both hands in his pocket as he leaned against the wall, his eyes having that coy quality to them he almost always wore around you. His demeanor was relaxed but there was something intimidating about his presence as the air grew dense. 

“You left your door unlocked,” he said simply, the corners of his lips slightly upturned. 

As your arm fell back to your side, you squared your shoulders to say, “What are you doing here, Suguru?”

You tried to sound nonchalant but it was hard when you were already so worn down. You used to always give him the benefit of the doubt, but right now you weren’t as trusting.

“I thought you were off today,” he said, his gaze noting your scrubs. 

“I was called in,” you said plainly, but your posture got more rigid as he stepped towards you. He offered to take your bag and set it on the wall hook to your right. He didn’t say anything else as he bent down to take off your shoes. Staring at the top of his head, you said, “What were you doing at the nursing home today?”

“The usual, I suppose,” he said without hesitation, gently taking your shoes off one foot at a time and setting it down on the rack. When he stood back to his full length, his hands cupped your forearms gently, possibly catching onto the chip on your shoulder with the way his thumbs grazed your skin.

The words hung at the edge of your throat before you finally decided to just come out with it, “I feel like you’re lying to me, Suguru."

One of his brows quirked up in confusion, and you continued with, “One of the residents-... The one with the curse of his wife, he-... He died today.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, babe,” he said, gently rubbing his hands up and down your arms. It was supposed to be comforting, but came off as restricting. As if to keep you in place. 

For the first time ever, you couldn’t bear his touch. Brushing away his arms, you said matter of factly, “His wife wasn’t with him.”

His expression stayed neutral at first, but you watched as that fearfully dark look crossed over his face before he said, “That wasn’t his wife.”

You felt ice run through your veins as you looked at the near stranger before you. You remembered having a small disagreement with him about this when you first introduced him to the man, but what he was saying now sounded far more finite. As if there was no way any semblance of that woman’s soul remained in that curse, the one he was basically admitting to exorcizing. The tiny part of you that hoped this was all untrue still had to ask, “Did you do it?”

Your voice was so small that you thought he may have not heard it, but he proved that wrong by saying, “It was for the best, trust me.”

It felt like the air had been punched out of your lungs. You knew Suguru to be arrogant from time to time, but to speak so confidently on this was insulting to say the least. Unclenching your jaw, you said, “..He was screaming out for his wife, Suguru. He died with tears streaming down his face. Alone.”

“It wasn’t my intention to-,” he started to brush your hair back with his fingers but you knocked his hand from your face like a flame. That caught him off guard.

“I told you to leave them alone. Of all people, why him?” your voice started to get wobbly towards the end, and you had to blink down hard to suppress the tears that had been threatening to peek through all day. You kept them shut as you crossed your arms over your chest, but that wasn’t enough to shield you from his next words.

“I can only allow for something like that to live on for so long.”

“How could you?” 

You already had your answer to that, you just could never guess it would be applied to this context. The conversations had made you uncomfortable in the past so you generally avoided them, but you’ve heard the way he’s spoken about non-curse users. Whether it was something as innocent as someone accidentally bumping your shoulder or in private conversations between you two, you always got the sense that he had a deep disdain for them as a whole. People that you thought the both of you were trying to protect. You let it slide before because it was only just words, but this situation proved that you two were fundamentally different. Detrimentally so. 

“Why such a serious face?” he chuckled softly, placing a curled finger under your chin to lift your head up. You blinked away tears as he said in a joking manner, “You gonna turn me in?”

He asked that knowing damn well there was no way you could do that even if you wanted to. Anything you had against him died with him. He was responsible for a man's death and yet he found the time to try joking with you. Was this truly the man you fell for?

Taking in a shaking breath, you said, “No, but… I think you should leave, I-... I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Your words hung in the air and it felt like a ticking time bomb waiting for what he would say or do next. When he did respond, his face was unreadable but there was something entitled in the way he said, “You don’t mean that.”

You didn’t expect him to accept this so easily, but you doubled down by saying, “I think our values aren’t compatible. And even if they were, you’ve broken my trust, Suguru.”

Before he could respond, you turned towards the front door and opened it to say, “Please leave.”

It was his turn to give you an incredulous look, which felt a bit insulting given the circumstances. He started to walk towards the door, but gave you a condescending smirk as he said, “That easy, huh?”

“Nothing about this is easy,” you said with a solemn tone, pressing your back against the open door as you held onto the knob with a white knuckled grasp.

“Can we at least talk?”

His eyes were so soft that you nearly complied, but you told yourself you were stronger than this. “Not right now, Suguru.”

When he left, slumped down to the ground with your back against the closed door. You braced your arms around your knees, resting your forehead atop of them as the tears started to stain your clothes below. Before you went to bed for an uneasy night of sleep, you opened the search engine on your phone and looked up how to go about changing your locks.

—

It has been a little over two weeks since you broke up with Suguru and you hadn’t seen or heard from him since. You were still heartbroken by everything that had transpired, but slowly you were starting to pull yourself out of the rut he had put you in. After several days of isolation to grieve over your consecutive losses, you were able to get back to your daily routine. However, at the nursing home you were always on edge, looking over your shoulder as if waiting for the moment he would pop up. But even that got a bit easier as you started to open yourself back up to your coworkers. You weren’t particularly close with any of them, but with hindsight it felt like Suguru had consumed so much of your life when you were together that you hardly had time for anyone else. It was wrong of him, but also selfish of you. And tonight was just the start in fixing that. 

You usually weren’t inclined to attend corporate sponsored events, but the all inclusive catering was reason enough for you to consider going this time. Tonight there was a private event being hosted at a hotel venue downtown, and all your colleagues and management team were around to celebrate the anniversary of the company. The space was decorated far more elaborate than you expected from your HR team, but they really pulled out all the stops. There was a stage with a podium where the CEO spoke on the team's successes this past year. One wall was lined with buffet platters and everything down to the silverware was decorated in black and gold. There were hundreds of curling gold streamers hanging from the ceiling, their shiny foil reflecting off of the stage lights that flashed across the dancefloor. As you chatted with some of your coworkers, you occasionally looked back to see some of your other cohorts busting a move on said dancefloor. Some of it was too painful to watch, and you kept your back turned from the commotion as your conversations went on. You were mostly just listening in while others spoke, but when everyone's eyes suddenly turned towards your direction, you stood up a little straighter in surprise.

“Geto-san, is that really you?” asked one of your fellow nurses, a friendly middle aged woman. Her warm smile wasn’t enough to ease the tension only you and the man now standing beside you could sense. Your eyes widened as you looked behind you to see Suguru, who was returning the woman's smile with one of his own. He had on a burgundy button up and black slacks, his hair down but pushed back at the top to show his handsome face. Did he know ahead of time that this was a semi-formal event?

“It is. I know it can be hard to tell outside of my uniform,” he said with a tilt of his head. He stood right beside you, too close to you for comfort.

“You clean up nicely,” she responded back, looking him up and down a bit longer than what's deemed appropriate.  

“I hardly recognized you at first. I’m glad they invited you,” said another woman, leaning in a little closer to give him a wide smile.

“Well, I’m actually here as a plus one,” he said, his hand slipping down the middle of your back and resting on the bare skin where your dress had a cut out. You couldn’t help but to jolt in place, and you felt your face grow hot as all the attention was brought to you.

“He’s kidding,” you tried laughing off, feeling blindsided. You tried smoothly stepping out from his hold, but his hand only pressed in closer to you, keeping you in place. You could feel parts of his abdomen against your forearm, and you kept your hands interlocked tightly in front of yourself as you tried to think of a way to explain all this.

“Am I? I know you mentioned this a while ago, but don’t think I forgot,” he pulled you in a little closer, a cheshire grin playing across his face. Only you caught onto the real implication of his words. Don’t think I just forgot about you.

“Oooh, how long has this been going on?” one of them asked suggestively, clearly more interested in getting the scoop than anything else. Even when you were dating him, you didn’t want your relationship to be this public. You weren’t sure what game Suguru was trying to play at, but it was working in his favor. The two of you even looked like a couple, his effortlessly polished look pairing well with your little black cocktail dress. Right below the oversized bow on your back was the cutout where his hand stayed firmly in place, making it look to anyone who was watching that he was actually your date.

“I-”

“If you ask me, since the moment she laid eyes on me. But of course I let her believe what she wants,” Suguru’s smiling gaze spread across the group until it landed back on you, his smile only growing wider. Seeing him manipulate others the way he manipulated you was certainly eye opening. 

“Oh, he’s something isn’t he?” one of the women said, her hand playfully resting over your arm.

“You guys are so cute together,” said a coworker passing by who wasn’t even a part of the group. This was already catching too much attention and you had no clue how to stop it. 

“I think I know this song,” Suguru said thoughtfully as he raised an ear towards the speaker that was playing a familiar tune. He brought his hand from your back and grasped your own as he said, “Shall we?”

And just like that you were being whisked onto the dancefloor, much to the encouragement of your onlooking coworkers. His grasp was too strong to pull away from and already there were too many eyes on you as he led you towards the middle of the floor. The song was slower and more romantic, and for a moment you wondered if he went as far as to request for this. It wasn’t likely, but this all felt like one big set up with how desolate the dancefloor became. There were a few friends and couples scattered throughout, swaying lightly to the music. Your posture, however, was much more rigid as Suguru pulled you in close. Under the dim lights, his deep set eyes were shadowed but his expression stayed jovial as he started to lead. Your footwork wasn’t the most steady, but you kept up with his pace as you looked up at him to say, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I didn’t know how else to reach you,” he said, turning his gaze away for a second to give an acknowledging smile to someone across the room. If you had to guess, it was probably another one of your giddy coworkers who was familiar with his presence around the nursing home. You didn’t blame them, they only saw what you saw in the beginning. They didn’t know what ugly hid behind his beauty. “Besides, I know you wouldn’t want me showing up to your job.”

“Like this is any better?!” you whispered harshly. As he guided you across the floor, you could see past his shoulders several pairs of eyes that were watching you and him. This time spent apart from him gave you the space to slowly get him off your mind, and he had thrown a wrench in that by crossing yet another boundary.  

“I missed you,” he said, pulling you in closer. His cock pulsed against your stomach, and you weren’t sure if it was because of how you looked or from the thrill of having control over you yet again.

“This isn’t… appropriate, Suguru,” your eyes darted back and forth, trying to avoid his intense gaze. 

“What do you mean? My hands are in modest places,” he said with an easy smile, following that up with his thumb running just underneath the hem of your dress cut out, causing a shiver to run up your spine. You could tell he felt that by the way his grin widened, his teeth shining down at you as he bent you to the crescendo of the song. He didn’t dip you too low, but you could hear some of your coworkers whistling in your direction before Suguru raised you back up. The song dwindled to an end and you let your arms fall to your side despite the hold Suguru still had on you. Somehow stopping the dance made it all too overwhelming to be this up close to him. Everything you had gone through with him - everything he had done - was still too fresh on your mind to forgive so easily. To see him wearing such a casual face made all that you felt seem invalid, which hurt you even more. 

“I have to go,” you said, slipping out of his grasp. You paced towards your table where your phone and clutch sat, not bothering to look behind you as you made your way towards the exit. At first you couldn’t hear anything behind you, but when you realized that you needed to call for a taxi, your nerves spiked. Outside of the venue, the streetlights illuminated the empty street and you shivered against the cool wind. Hopefully your driver would be here soon.

“Do you need a ride home?”

You should’ve known that was coming, and yet your chest sank at the sound of that calm voice. You turned around to see Suguru standing just a few steps away. Funny how now that no one was around to see, he suddenly was respecting your distance. 

“No, thank you,” you said before turning your back to him. 

“Who are you waiting on?”

Though you shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d asked, you still couldn’t hold back the irritation in your tone as you said, “That's none of your fucking business, isn’t it.”

You turned your head to glare back at him, but your eyes widened at the sight of him suddenly standing right behind you. His long hair nearly brushed against your back and it distracted you when he went to grab your phone. It was out of your hand and in his in less than a second, and you looked perplexed as he turned away and held it up to his face.

“Hey! Stop that!” you said, heels clicking on the tiled ground as you tried to reach for your phone. A simple shift of his broad shoulders easily blocked any of your attempts and you had to watch on in frustration as he canceled your ride.

“You’d really rather wait thirty plus minutes for a ride? You’ll freeze by the time they get here. I have a jacket in my car,” he handed you back your phone while pointing towards the dim parking lot with his free hand. Though futile, you snatched away your phone from him just to emphasize how much you disliked what he had done. Choosing to ride with him felt like you’d be giving him a pass for what he had done, and given the way he was looking at you now, he’d also probably get the wrong idea too. 

“I’m just trying to drop you off, okay?” he said in defense, raising his hands. Whether it meant to be comforting or patronizing, you weren’t sure.

“You weren’t even supposed to be here,” you said exasperatedly, seeing some of your breath fog in the cool air. 

“To be fair, I was invited. By the company, but still…”

“You knew exactly what you were doing back there. You were eating up all those compliments, and-.. And letting people think we’re together,” you whispered the last part even though there was no one else around. 

His expression didn’t give much away, but he looked down at you intently as he thought over your words. From this up close, you could start to see the cold exterior shift to something more yearnful, and it made your shoulders slack as words hung from the tip of his tongue. Eventually he stepped forward and ducked his head low enough to be at eye level with you to say, “I’ll admit, I may have gotten… swept up in the moment. But it was only because I was just so happy to see you again. It was uncalled for, but I want to make it up to you. At least let me make your night a little easier and drop you off at home.”

Even with how untrusting you felt moments ago, his words seemed genuine enough that you weren’t entirely opposed to extending an olive branch to him. Exhaling through your nose, he stood up straight, eyes never straying from yours as he patiently awaited your response. When you agreed, his smile flourished before he started to guide you to his car, his hand rested on your bare back with his thumb tracing down your spine. 

—

The ride home wasn’t as bad as you thought. You were still heated by what he had done earlier and mostly kept to yourself the entire ride home, but he still managed to pull some conversation out of you. Though brief, it was admittedly nice to make idle talk with him again. It had been lonesome these last few weeks, keeping your distance with nearly everyone in your life just because of how deeply he had hurt you. But by the time he reached your place, you almost felt reluctant to get out of the car. Solitude would be much harder to face now that you’ve seen him again. 

“Can I walk you to your door?”

You agreed, and before you finished gathering your things in your seat, he was already at your door. He held out a hand for you and you took it just as you were stepping onto the sidewalk. As he closed the door, you started to slowly walk the path towards your door and you could hear him following close behind. 

“I didn’t mention it before but you look really nice tonight.”

You were glad he wasn’t facing you, that way he couldn’t see the burning of your face his compliment caused. It was dim outside, but you knew how observant he could be. Pulling your keys out from your clutch, you thanked him from over your shoulder.

You could feel his eyes on you as you unlocked the first door, and stepped inside before turning to face him, thanking him for the ride. His smirking face felt less infuriating than before, and you knew that was your sign to cut things off before he could convince you to let him inside. But that didn’t seem to be his intention anyway since he told you goodnight before you did. You watched for a moment as he headed towards his car, and locked the door in front of you. That left you with the actual front door, but just as the lock turned and you opened it up, you could hear a sound that wasn’t familiar to your place at all. The sounds of things clattering to the ground towards the direction of your kitchen caught your attention and your eyes bulged at the sight of what caused it. At first you didn’t know what you were looking at, but the beast's form started to become more comprehensible as various appendages filled nearly the entire space of your moderate sized kitchen. They were long, purplish-red tentacles that were all thicker towards the center of its body. Much like that time nearly a year ago, it was crawling through your walls and looked like it was going to take over the entire space.  

You stood frozen in fear, afraid of alerting it of your presence. But when one of its tentacles came down on your island counter and broke off a chunk of it you stumbled backwards, out the door till your back hit the one you had just locked. Your shaking hand reached for the knob before you had the chance to turn around, and once the door was opened you yelled out, “Suguru!”

To your shock and surprise, Suguru was standing right outside the doorway as if he never left. Did he sense the curse spirit in your home already? Though just moments ago you were trying to distance yourself from him, you now felt the overwhelming sense of dependence as a tiny bit of relief washed over you at the sight of his face. 

“Suguru, how-…”

“There’s something inside, isn’t there?” he asked, sounding concerned for you. All you could do was nod your head frantically as you moved out his way, but he stepped inside with no sense of urgency as he walked into your flat. You stayed where you were, not sure if you should be running or not, but then you heard him say past the door, “It’s alright. You can come inside.”

You stepped forward cautiously, and was greeted with his outstretched hand as he stood just past your doorway. Your trembling fingers curled over his palm, but he was smiling at you the whole time. Always so calm and collected. It gave you the courage to step inside, but the sight of the beast still in your kitchen made you back up till you nearly fell over. Suguru’s free arm was there to catch you, and you pointed shakily at the spirit as your words came out disjointed. They stopped when you saw the look on his face. Still calm, still smiling, as if..

“I knew you’d call for me,” he said, completely ignoring the curse behind him.

“Wha-.. What are you talking about, Suguru..”

“Don’t worry, love. This is just one of my shikigami,” he directed his gaze towards the massive octopus, smiling at it fondly as if it were his pet. It wasn’t too far off from the smiles he gave you.

“B-but.. Why is it- why is it here?”

He could feel you trying to slip out of his grasp, and curled his long arm tighter around your waist so you were pressed up against his chest. The hand that was holding onto yours was gripping it tight enough that you could see the veins pulsing underneath his skin, which juxtaposed with the rest of his tranquil demeanor. His next words confirmed what you already felt; that you were exactly where he wanted you.

“I guess I just needed to know that you still needed me.”

“Suguru, this is-..,” you knew you weren’t strong enough to get away from his embrace. Feeling broken down, you pressed your forehead against his chest as tears started to well in your eyes. They could be felt in your voice as you said, “Don’t you see how insane this is?”

“You haven’t left me with many options, considering how quickly you’ve cut me out of your life,” his voice took on a darker tone as his hold on you grew tighter. You could feel his fingers pressing into your ribcage and the pulse in your fingertips going numb. It was scary knowing that it wasn’t the full extent of his strength.

“Please Suguru, you’re hurting me..,” you begged in a small voice. When you looked up at him, you saw that his face had completely transformed. Gone was his blissful resilience, his pupils completely blown and every muscle in his body was rigid against yours. 

Sneering down at you, he said, “Sorry, I forgot you can handle yourself.”

Instantly, he picked you up and started to walk towards the kitchen where the curse still resided. You thrashed wildly but it was no use, and just when a scream was forming in your throat he let you loose, only to push you towards the creature. Its appendages curled around you and you felt yourself being dragged closer to its center. You tried to pull away but within a matter of seconds there were tentacles wrapped around each of your limbs, all too thick and sticky to pull away from. You felt its disgusting ooze seep into the fabric of your dress and parts of your hair. You thought it might swallow you whole then and there, but instead it held you in place, right in front of its owner. You yelled and cursed but it had no effect on either of them. He stood just a few steps before you now, admiring what he had done despite the resentment present on his face. Eventually he interrupted you with, “Do you know how hard I worked for this relationship? What I’ve had to do to keep us together?”

You screamed out for help, which only made him laugh at you.

“Yell all you want. You think your dead neighbor is gonna hear you?”

You flinched at that, wondering why he would be bringing him up now. Did he know that you still hadn’t taken a new neighbor even after you broke up? As he stepped closer to your restrained body, you could tell from the look in his eyes that there was something he was keeping from you. When his hand reached out to brush some of your hair out of your face, you flinched away. That brought you marginally closer to the beast, but the message was loud and clear. You’d rather be in the embrace of a lethal curse than in the arms of this maniac. His scorn wasn’t well hidden as he said in a low voice, “He barely heard me when I broke into his place.”

Your stomach dropped as realization washed over you. He basked in your horrified expression, his face returning to that easy smile while his dark eyes raked over you. Your body was too frozen in fear to flinch away from his touch this time, and his fingers gently trailed down your face as he continued with, “That night when you called me. Did you really think that was all a coincidence?”

This couldn’t be real.

“Of course you did,” he looked down to his feet as he chuckled to himself. His touch went down to your throat column and he looked at it intently as he said, “..Because you're sweet. And you think the best of others. It's why I need to protect you.”

“This is protection?!”

He didn’t answer you, instead letting his hand fall back to his side as he stepped back. At the same time you felt the tentacles wrap tighter around you, parts of them suctioned to your skin almost painfully so. The curse had too many to count but you could feel them all over you, traveling across your chest and up your legs. Any way you moved was met with little to no resistance, but that didn’t stop you from trying to break free as a pair of tentacles started to hike up the skirt of your dress. It dawned on you what Suguru could have planned, and you shot him pleading eyes as you said, “You don’t need to do this.”

His eyes trailed up your disheveled form, clothing now tattered with your dress being held up over your hips. His gaze lingered on your underwear for a moment too long before saying, “Don’t worry, I have something better saved up.”

Before you could question what he meant, he raised his palm and manifested another spirit before your very eyes. Unlike the octopus creature, this one was not as easy to distinguish. It lulled onto the floor, its limbs too short and frail to hold up its massive body. It had a sickly gray color to it and a pair of hollow black eyes that didn’t look in any direction in particular. The only other distinct feature it had was its vertical oval shaped mouth that took up most of what you could assume to be its face. You could tell it was a mouth with the way its tongue fell out like it had no control over it, and it started to slowly crawl towards you while making strained noises. 

Though he pointed out earlier that it was useless, you screamed more out of desperation than anything else. The octopus curse held you tightly in place while the other curse inched closer to you, the three nubs on the end of one of its limbs reaching out to touch you. You tried kicking it away but the tentacles were wrapped around nearly every part of you now. 

“I don’t know why you’re acting this way. You were always so nice to him before.”

You tore your eyes away from the being for a moment to give Suguru a confused look. He stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest as he said, “Even in curse form, he’s desperate to touch you. It's pathetic.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” you said, the curse now resting its hands - if you could even call them that - on your thighs, struggling to lift itself up. You weren’t sure where it was trying to go, but it didn’t seem to want to hurt you. At least not yet.

“That paramedic that was always hovering around you, leaving its stench on you. I couldn’t stand him touching you, but I guess in this way he’s getting what he wants.”

This second revelation caused your head to spin, only being brought back to reality by the feeling of the curse pressing in closer to you. You could see its tongue hanging out of its mouth, inches away from your panties. If this was really who Suguru was describing, it looked nothing like the man you knew. Gone was all of his humanity, taken by the hands of the man you once loved. As you looked into its hollow eyes, all you could think was, ‘How much blood is on my hands because of this man?’

Much like the rest of the clothes on your body, your underwear was a tattered mess. Therefor, it wasn’t much of a surprise when the curse’s hands rested on the strip of fabric that made up what was left of the waistband did the garment tear away easily, leaving you completely bare from the waist down. The tentacles were suctioned to the fat of your hips, holding on tight as the other curse crawled up and up, its warm breath dancing across your skin. You tried and tried to pull away, but all of your efforts only brought you closer to this nightmare before you felt something warm and wet envelop your sex. You had to look away, but you could feel its mouth over your entire mound, all the way to your ass. Its lips were warm and wet, suctioned over your entire privates. You cried out as an overwhelming feeling passed over you, which only intensified as the curses tongue started to lull over your sex. As expected, it had no technique or plan with its movement, but the curse persisted regardless. It seemed to have no grasp of what it was doing, but the wet muscle moved in sporadic windshield wiper motions from your pubic all the way to the crack of your ass, all while sucking against the afflicted area. Your fingernails dug into your palms as you felt it lick across the ring of muscles of your backside, the sides of its orifice now dripping with drool. It eventually pulled back before stretching its tongue to its fullest extent to blanket over your pussy. The curse moved its tongue back and forth till you were twitching and letting out shallow breaths. You thought maybe if your mind went to another place that you could ignore the way it made you feel, but that was simply impossible given how overstimulated you were. You started to dry heave as goosebumps ran over every inch of your skin, which was eventually stifled by a hand resting on your cheek.

He stood just off to the side of the curse assaulting you, turning your head to face him as he said, “Even now, you’re just so cute.”

Before you could respond, Suguru pressed his lips to yours. You gave him nothing in return but that didn’t stop him from pushing his tongue into your mouth, swirling it around yours before sucking on it hard. You tried to control your reactions, but it was hard when the tentacles were now wrapped around your breasts, guided by Suguru’s hands. Your dress draped in tattered shreds around your waist, all other parts of you exposed for Suguru and his instruments of control. He pulled back to press his forehead against yours, a line of spit connecting your lips to his while he looked down at your body. Just as you felt it, he saw how the tentacles flick across your nipples, causing them to harden from the slick they left behind. 

“Please.. Make it stop..”

He ignored your plea, clearly having something else in mind as he grabbed one of the shikigami’s free tentacles. You watched as he undid his pants, freeing his fully erect cock that was pulsing and wet at the tip. Almost as if by instinct, the elongated tip of the tentacle wrapped around the base of his cock and he guided it back and forth until it was able to stroke him without his direction. You couldn’t peel your eyes away as it left behind slick all down the shaft of his cock. Suguru groaned as the very tip of the tentacle ran against the slit of his cock. When one of the suction cups covered the tip, he bucked his hips freely as it worked in time with his motions.

The sight of this mixed with the focus the curse’s tongue brought to your clit made your body pulse in heat. Kissing him felt like giving into his advances, but you were almost grateful for the distraction because it kept your attention away from that growing feeling. The tentacled being ground your body against the mouth of the curse, fucking you against its wide open mouth. A mixture of cries and moans fell from between the seams of your lips as the wet muscle ground against you, its fat tip eventually finding your hole and pressing into it like it had an insatiable need to taste you. The tentacles raised one of your knees to chest level, both feet dangling uselessly above the other curse. You felt your toes curl as the tip of its tongue hit your spongy walls repeatedly. Your body’s reaction were outside of your control, the heavy feeling in your core only building upon itself as you were being used like a sex puppet. All the while, your master looked at you with a sense of righteous indignation written across his face. You were just one of many that had faced his wrath, and a part of you wondered if you were dealt with the shorter end of the stick. Being swiftly killed off was surely better than what he was doing to you now, right?

But concomitantly, what you felt inside couldn’t be described as bad. It was fucked up and wholly invasive, but ultimately still pleasurable. Maybe that was in part due to Suguru, who was nearly as much of a moaning mess as you were. He couldn’t keep his eyes off your panting form, his gaze was so heavy it felt like a touch. He undeniably looked good like this, his eyes half lidded and his lips parted and wet as he pressed your forehead to his. Even knowing what he truly was, it was hard to look away when he looked like this. 

“I can’t take it anymore,” he said almost to himself, quickly but gently pulling the tentacle away as the same time he vanished the curse under you. You suddenly felt empty, but Suguru hastily positioned himself in front of you just as the shikigami spread your legs as wide as they could go. Your pussy was soaked from the combination of fluids, which made it easy for Suguru to push inside of you. His thick cock more than made up for the loss and he targeted your most sensitive area as his hands explored the rest of your body. You were bruised all over where the tentacles had attached to you, but drunk on pleasure, his touch wasn’t as unwelcome as before. He had broken you down to this point, and he intended to see it through to the end. Over and over, for several rounds that night till you were a sopping mess all over. 

—

Far into the night, you eventually passed out following your last orgasm. You vaguely remember Suguru bathing you at one point, but either than that, it all felt like a fever dream. In the morning you thought you had woken up to an empty bedroom, but your attention was drawn to the feeling of kisses being dotted over your spread thighs. Blinking away sleep from your vision, you leaned against your elbows to see Suguru between your legs, smiling up at you while he gently gripped your flesh. 

“There you are. You’re up just in time.”

Completely nude, he had full access to you as he dipped his head low. His eyes watched you expectantly as his tongue lulled out towards your sex. Maybe you shouldn’t feel surprised around him anymore, but your eyes widened regardless when you saw his tongue take on the form of a tentacle, curling and wet and eager to be inside of you.