I looked at the snow building outside of my dorm room window. It had been a few months since I'd visited Sukuna's domain. From time to time I could sense his presence but he was being silent. I'd tried to thank him for saving me from the special grade at the pool a few months back but all that got me was him somehow throwing my desk chair at me and knocking me flat on my ass. My classmates had all grown closer and since I very rarely got sent on missions with them, I was beginning to feel a little bit like an outsider. They were all growing stronger, I still couldn't perform any cursed techniques, I couldn't even manage a simple barrier.

Most days I didn't come out of my dorm room unless I had to. I spent my time unraveling curses and wondering if Sukuna was ever going to pull me back into his domain. He'd been upset that I'd seen his past but I had hoped even if I annoyed him, I might still be decent company considering he'd been alone for a thousand years. What if I wasn't? What if I'd been so annoying he regretted interacting with me. How miserable of a person did you have to be for someone starved for interaction for a thousand years decided they'd rather keep talking to themselves than you. This thought depressed me.

I sighed and shoved away from my desk. This wasn't healthy. Also, Sukuna was dangerous, like the absolute most dangerous person to have existed, I shouldn't want to see or speak to him ever again. I shook out my hair, it had grown and nearly fell to my shoulders in the past months. It was currently mussed and sticking up at odd angles. I couldn't remember the last time I'd showered or done anything to take care of myself. Deciding I was done moping for the day, I took a shower, changed into a long black skirt that skirted the floor, a long sleeve black shirt and a blood red sweater before stepping into a pair of waterproof boots. I skipped the jacket and exited my room. Gojo, Geto and Shoko were all in the common room, returning from a mission that I wasn't needed for. None of them noticed me. I exited our dorm building and stepped into the frigid morning air.

"Did you guys feel a chill just now?" I heard Shoko's voice from within the dorm.

I moved quietly away from the dorm building, snowflakes getting trapped in my still damp hair. The winter air chilled me clear to the bone, it was the first thing I'd felt in weeks. Like a ghost haunting campus, I moved silently, observing everyone on campus, unnoticed by all.

I paused near the tori gates at the top of the steps at the entrance to campus. I could see the ground begin to crack and break apart, the buildings all at the front, most just decoy shrines, splintered and broke. The whole place looked as if a meteor had crashed down around it but when I blinked again, it was back to normal and buried in snow. I rubbed my eyes. I'd been having these strange visions from time to time. They were getting more and more frequent. The last time I'd attended class with my classmates, while Gojo was lecturing me and suggesting I give up being a sorcerer I'd seen his throat open up as if he'd been stabbed while we were talking, blood also poured from his chest and just above left eye. I screamed and then it was gone. He frowned and said "see" as if I'd just proven to him why I was useless.

I exited the gate and made my way down the stairs, no one would know I was gone anyway.

"Ryoko Fuko?" A voice sounded from ahead of me shaking me from my internal despair.

I looked up and spotted a man wearing a black suit. He must be one of the assistant managers but I couldn't recall ever meeting him before, not that I went out on missions all that often. I noticed a strange line across his forehead with what looked like stitching. As I looked closer, my vision shifted and I saw a horrific looking brain with a mouth sitting inside of his head, as he spoke I realized it was the brain speaking not him. A shiver ran down my spine and I took a step back.

"Oh." He smiled but it wasn't a kind smile. "A medium. That could be troublesome for me." His hand reached toward me and I took a shaky step back, my foot slipping on the slick icy steps.

I fell backward with a scream and everything around me shifted. Strong arms encircled me from behind, catching me in the air before I could hit the ground. I looked up into two pairs of crimson eyes. Ryomen Sukuna. He was in his less scary form once more.

"Took you long enough, brat." Sukuna snarled at me.

"H-huh?" I squeaked and looked around in alarm, we were in Sukuna's domain.

"To get your ass back here." He growled.

I tilted my head to the side, confused, "don't you bring me here?"

"Only the first time." He growled, "I can only do that in the presence of one of my fingers."

Did that mean the last time I'd been here, I'd done that? How was that possible? I thought of the last time I'd been in Sukuna's domain. I'd nearly died from the cursed razor. I was bleeding out and barely clinging to life. This time I'd been scared for my life.

Sukuna dropped me from his hold and I fell with a squeal landing on a surprisingly soft pile of ground up bone. I leapt to my feet to avoid touching the bones and looked at Sukuna as he sat atop what almost looked like a throne of bones, his crimson gaze focused intently on me.

"I brought myself here?" I asked in a daze.

"Twice." He smirked.

"How?"

He folded his arms in front of him, looking annoyed with my questions. "Figure it out your damn self and don't take so long next time." He huffed and resumed his regal lounging pose. I'd come here when I felt like my life was in danger, which meant on some level my subconscious decided I was safe here and that was where I retreated to.

I noticed the crimson blanket I'd given him last time, draped over the back of his throne and smiled, "okay." I hesitantly moved closer to his throne.

"What now?" He growled.

"Why aren't there very many mediums?" I asked softly, halting before his throne and looking up at him.

"They don't usually live long." He smirked, "most go mad and take a swan dive off a cliff."

"Pretty sure I'm at the madness stage." I sighed. "I'll do my best to avoid high places so you're not as bored."

Sukuna chuckled softly, "you're not mad, little medium. Not yet."

"I come here because I feel safe here." I pointed.

He laughed at this a loud barking laugh, "perhaps you are mad."

Despite the fact he was laughing AT me, it was nice to hear him laugh. How long had it been since he'd laughed at anything? I couldn't help but smile.

He frowned at this, "what are you smiling at?"

"I was just thinking, it must have been a long time since you'd last laughed at something. I'm happy to give you something to laugh about."

Sukuna's frown deepened, annoyance sparking in his crimson eyes, "how have you lived this long?"

"Um?" I pondered it. Shoko looked after me most of the time growing up, people thought I was strange even people like us. I'd been picked on a lot as a kid for always being lost in 'daydreams'.

Sukuna rubbed his temples, "don't answer that." He let out a sigh and glanced down at me, his crimson eyes sweeping over me, "you look like shit." His hand lashed out quickly and forcefully grabbed my chin jerking my face upward as he leaned down to look closer. I was sure there were dark circles beneath my eyes since I hadn't been sleeping well and my complexion was paler than usual since I'd been holed up in my room for so long. Whenever I left my room I saw cracks in reality, things that weren't there, injuries on people who weren't injured, destruction where there was none, it was disorienting and scary.

"I haven't left my room in a while." I admitted softly. He didn't say anything to prompt me to continue talking, just kept a firm hold on me and continued staring me down. "I keep seeing fractures in reality, things that aren't really happening, and they're usually scary."

Sukuna scoffed at this, "premonitions."

"I'm seeing the future?" I asked in awe.

"As I've stated before, brat. You're a powerful medium." He roughly released me from his hold and I stumbled back, toppling into the small pile of bone dust.

"Can you tell that to my peers? They all just think I'm useless." I mumbled as I lay in the bone dust, not having the strength or motivation to get up.

"Stuck here for a thousand years and the only companion I get is a depressed medium, brat." Sukuna groaned. I heard the sound of him landing in the bone dust next to me and looked up and saw him scowling down at me.

"Sorry." I murmured. The bone dust, while alarming and frightening just because of the material, was quite comfortable if I didn't think too hard about what it was. "Where did this come from?" I asked as I picked up a handful and let it cascade through my fingers.

"You're too damn fragile and break too easily." He growled.

He'd made it for me? So I'd have somewhere soft to land? That was surprisingly considerate and brought tears to my eyes. "Oh."

"Now what?!" Sukuna frowned as he saw the tears welling in my eyes.

"Nothing, that was just very thoughtful of you, thank you." I wiped my eyes.

"Thoughtful?" He scowled before his expression shifted to a mischievous smirk, "you misunderstand, if you die too quickly, I don't get to have as much fun." The first time he'd said something like this to me, I felt like he meant it and I'd been terrified, this time, I didn't think he meant it and I felt strangely safe.

I offered him a smile, "we can't ruin your fun."

His eyes grew wide. "I stand corrected, you are entirely mad." He sighed and dropped into the dust beside me sending up a big puff of powder into the air around us causing me to giggle.

For the first time in a long while, I felt like I could relax. I shut my eyes.

"What were you escaping this time?" Sukuna asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, he looked like a member of the staff but something was wrong, when I looked at him it looked like a talking brain. He said I was going to be troublesome for him and reached for me. I felt like I was going to die." I shivered at the thought and felt a strange pulling sensation on my body. I had a feeling I was about to exit his domain but I wasn't sure how or why. I didn't understand our connection.

"Next time you visit, bring me something to eat. Ribs would be nice, human ones." He smirked.

I grimaced at this, I was absolutely not doing that, "have you tried pocky?" That was a silly question; he'd been dead for a thousand years. "I'll bring you pocky." I beamed.

He shook his head at this and I felt myself slip away.

I reappeared back outside in the air above the steps and fell with a shriek. The landing was rough but I eventually came to a stop halfway down the stairs and sat up in the snow rubbing my now sore and aching body. The moon was high in the sky and night had fallen. There was more snow than there had been before but the stairs looked as if they'd been cleared. How long was I gone for?

"Ryoko?!" Shoko's voice sounded in the distance. "I thought I heard her scream."

A moment later someone appeared next to me and I looked up in a daze too cold to really move. Gojo had reached me first, his eyes glowing vibrantly. Blood sprayed from his throat, chest and head but I knew it wasn't currently happening, but it would one day.

"You weren't here a moment ago." He noted with a frown as he knelt beside me to lift me into his arms.

"S-s-sorry." I shivered.

He picked me up and carried me up the stairs back in the direction of campus, "found her!"

"Ryoko!" Shoko raced toward us with Geto a few steps behind her. "Where have you been?! No one's seen you for three days!"

Three days? Perhaps that's why I felt so weak and hungry, I had suspected it was because of the cold at first.

"Why don't we question her after we get her warmed up and something to eat." Geto suggested, placing a hand on Shoko's shoulder.

The moment I looked at him I heard the sound of crackling flames and a slew of discordant screams, dozens, maybe even a hundred screams. People begging, pleading, praying as they were burned alive. Another shiver rolled down my spine.

I stayed on the lookout for the man in the suit but I had a feeling he was long gone. Perhaps he'd only been there to gather information, but for what? As Gojo carried me into the common room of our dorm I saw several faculty members and upper classmen present. Upon seeing me alive, the upperclassmen left.

"Where was she?" Mr. Yaga asked.

"Found her on the stairs, but she hadn't been there long. It was almost as if she teleported." Gojo frowned.

The remaining staff and my classmates looked to me for an explanation. I had none I could offer them. If I told them about my connection to Sukuna, they'd surely try to find a way to make sure I'd never see him again.

I glanced over at our teacher, he was an older gentleman in his mid sixties looking forward to retiring in the next few years. As I looked at him his head seemed to fly off, blood spraying from his open neck.

I felt sick. Another shiver practically shook me. I turned my gaze to the floor, I didn't want to look at anyone anymore. I didn't want to see the things that were going to happen to them anymore.

"Ryoko?" Shoko asked worriedly as I had still yet to offer an explanation.

"I went to the arcade and lost track of time." I lied.

Most of the staff sighed and left. Mr. Yaga remained, looking as if he didn't buy it. The principal, another older gentleman looking to retire soon, let out a heavy sigh and told me we'd discuss disciplinary action in the morning before taking his leave with the rest of the staff.

"Seriously, Ryoko?" Shoko sighed, "I was worried sick."

"...sorry..."

Shoko retreated to her room, leaving me with Geto and Gojo who had still yet to put me down.

"Satoru and I checked the arcade." Geto said softly once everyone else had gone.

I hesitantly dragged my gaze up to meet his and felt my heart clench in my throat as his appearance shifted and I saw a familiar stitched line across his head and a brief glimpse of a talking brain sitting inside his skull. I clapped my hands over my mouth to hold back a scream.

"Ryoko?" Geto's voice filled with concern.

"I'm sorry...I want to go to bed." I shoved from Gojo's hold and ran to my room.

I didn't bother removing my wet clothes, just dove into bed and buried myself under the covers.