House of Alphas Chapter 141: Over & Over (Patreon)

Your head rests on Sukuna’s chest. You listened to the slow thumping of his heart. He was sleeping, probably exhausted from fighting Yorozu’s spell.

You will need to dispel the bind she has on him, but for now, you don’t think it could be used.

Not in Yorozu’s condition…

She was alive, but she had no curse energy. She would twitch now and again, groaning in agony. But for the most part, she was silent. The curse or disease… whatever you put on her had slowed, but it continued to grow and multiply. It was as if she were decaying from the inside out.

You got your revenge and your alpha, but now you lie here almost empty.

Why did you feel so empty…?

Was it because everything was already ruined?

Killing Yorozu won’t fix anything.

Your bridge with the witches was burned, and now you will have to tell Getou the truth… There was no going back for your pups…how could you even think of them as yours?

After what had occurred…

You could see their expression every time you blinked… see how afraid they were. They were so scared.

Of you.

The window for you to sing their mother's song has passed, and they all looked at you as a monster.

Maybe… maybe this was for the better…

You heard footsteps fast approaching-

“THERE!”

“She’s over there!”

Before you could get your head up, someone was upon you, and you were wrapped in sugar.

“Hey- baby are you okay?” Gojo asked, nearly yanking you up. His eyes were wide and searching.

“Gojo, yes- yes I’m okay-“

“What-“ He smoothed a hand over a cut on your arm, “She hurt you! Where is she! Where is that slug?” Gojo hissed.

“It’s alright, Satoru, I took care of it.” You tried to calm him down.

The others had just got to you, looking ready to fight, but they were soon taken by surprise at the scene before them.

More specifically, the graveyard of bugs with Yorozu lying in the middle.

“Is she dead?” Getou questioned, slowly walking toward the slug.

“She probably wishes she were.” You answered.

Choso moved with Getou, both of them standing over Yorozu. You saw Choso flinch and looked toward you with an unreadable expression.

You couldn’t question it before Toji lifted you by your arm; the smell of mold filled your nose.

“Why did you do that? Why did you go on without us?!” Toji erupted. It seemed he was holding back until he figured you were out of danger.

“I’m fine Toji-“

“Fine? If Sukuna had- you had no idea what you were facing- you just put yourself - you just went without us! What were you thinking?! What if something happened to you?!”

You blinked in slight surprise, but you couldn’t be too surprised, right? You left your alphas behind without a second thought.

You opened your mouth to try again, but you literally had nothing to say, because in reality, you didn’t care. You had only one thing on your mind: retrieving your alpha. You would have done the same thing for either of them. So you were stuck, dumbfounded, and wide-eyed.

You had no excuses.

You were sorry they felt this way, but you weren’t sorry for going after Sukuna. How could they even think you wouldn’t?

“…”

“Say something!”

“Toji, there is no need for this…it’s ok…” Gojo spoke softly.

“No- we were all freaking out! This could have turned out horribly! And all you had to do was just wait for us! Why couldn’t you wait?!”

“…I couldn’t…” Your voice cracked, your alpha's emotions were overwhelming, especially in your already broken condition, “…I’m sorry I made you worried but…My alpha was gone and I couldn’t wait I had to go to him…that’s all I could think about…I would have done this with any of you, including you-“

“And I would still be upset! I would rather you let me die than give me the chance to kill you!”

The others were quiet during Toji’s emotional moment. But you could tell they hold similar feelings to the alpha.

Once again, you were met with this double standard of they can sacrifice themselves for you, but you can't for them.

“Toji…”

“Do you understand how important you are to us?”

“…Do you-understand how important all of you are to me…?” You countered with a sort of hurt. It wasn’t meant to be a gotcha statement. This wasn’t a battle that felt like anyone was winning. “…I would do anything for all of you, just the same as you would do anything for me. You can’t change that.”

Toji breathed deeply, “…I…” he then shook his head, “…If that is your answer…then we are done with- this. No more traveling- no more saving the world bullshit. We go home. Where it is safe for all of us.”

You didn’t have it in you to argue how ludicrous his statement was. There was nowhere for you all to be completely safe. Danger was always going to be around the corner. But he was in his protective yandere mode. He wanted to take you home, where you were surrounded by guards, and you were 'safer'.

This adventure was taking a toll on all of your alphas. And what have you achieved? What have you accomplished?

Nothing…

Absolutely nothing.

At least that's how you felt in the moment.

“…Ok.” Was your simple response.

"Ok?" Toji seemed taken aback by your statement, almost as if he were ready to argue that you all should go home.

“Yes...Ok. Let’s go home.”

"..."

It would appear that even your other alphas were surprised.

“It…it will be good for us to take a break…yeah?” Gojo spoke looking around for validation.

“Yes… I believe we all need one…” Nanami added.

Getou nodded, “We can get our pups first, and then we can go home.”

You let out a weird-sounding noise. It sounded like a cry mixed with a laugh. “Ah-No…actually…we can’t. I ruined that for us.”

“How?” Getou blinked swiftly in confusion, “Was it because we chased after Sukuna instead of staying for the funeral?”

Gojo hopped up, “That’s bullshit! This wasn’t our fault.” Gojo added.

“Actually…it’s because I released Yuji…and these…” You gestured to your shadow; one of your creatures poked its head out, swaying back and forth.

Gojo gasped with a point. “Woah- are those-“

“The Shadow monsters that attacked the witches… yeah, I threw them up, and attacked G.ma to free Yuji. Nooow... the witches think I sent them the first time…and the girls are scared of me…so there is no need to wait to leave… we can go now….”

Getou’s brows furrowed, “Wait but you…you didn’t attack them…you were with us… unless…?” He looked toward Choso, wondering if he could defend you… or Raven.

Choso shook his head, “That was my father’s doing, not Raven’s.”

Getou lit up, “See? It wasn’t you, sweetheart, and this whole mess wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for this slug! Let’s go back, we can explain everything. I’m sure the girls would understand too!”

It hurt to hear the desperation in your alpha’s voice.

You didn't have anything else to say... it was entirely too much.

Your silence made the conversation feel more awkward since usually, you were more vocal. You were really tired. You didn’t feel you had the energy for a productive conversation.

Gojo awkwardly spoke trying to fill in the quiet, “I... Um-oh! We could bring Yorozu and give her back to them. She's still alive...sort of....”

Choso looked as though he wanted to object; you were sure he knew the slug was as good as dead.

“Then…let us try to make a trade with the witches…” Nanami spoke carefully. He didn't sound confident about this plan at all. “Yorozu for the girls and Junpei……But they can forget about taking Yuji.”

~

It was quiet.

More quiet than quiet.

Tick... Tick... Tick...

You all sat in the clock tower.

Waiting…

Waiting for the witches to come out.

For someone to come out.

Yuji, Megumi, and Choso were outside. The stench from your pack was probably a bit too foul for them at the moment.

Especially Getou's.

He was standing in the middle of the clock tower with the calling bell that the witches gave you. He would ring it after about five minutes and then… ring it again…and then wait…

While the rest of your pack sat around. Sukuna was still resting. Toji had carried him and laid him down on a sleeping mat. Nanami had found the curse mark and dispelled it. The bite was in his ear. You stupidly realized that Sukuna wasn’t holding his head when the mark would go off, but he was holding his ear.

It didn’t matter, though. He was free from Yorozu now.

This should make you happy.

You should be happy.

And you were… You had your alpha back…But all you wanted to do was cry right now.

Even more so as you sat here waiting for nothing…

The witches weren’t going to come out. You weren’t going to get Junpei or your pups.

The sooner Getou realizes that… the better.

Your cursed monsters kept whining and crying about Nanako and Mimiko… and how you failed Junpei. It was starting to drive you crazy. You were the only one who could hear them. Between their crying and the ticking of the clock and the desperate jingle of the bell…you wanted to scream.

You were so tired you just wanted to sleep, but you felt extremely uncomfortable. Like you were suffering from a cold without the sniffling and blocked nose. You absently scratched at your damp skin, your flesh itchy and warm.

You could feel gazes shifting toward you, but you didn’t pay them any attention. You were busy trying to make this weird feeling go away.

Were you starting to get sick?

Toji stood with a huff, “Let’s go…we should go home Getou…”

“We aren’t doing any good being here.” Nanami added on.

“They- they might not hear the bell.” He began to ring the bell without a pause.

“Suguru…they aren’t coming.” Toji lamented.

Getou releases a growl, “This isn’t right! They should allow us to talk to the pups!”

The constant ringing made you cover your ears, it was causing more discomfort to you right now than nails on a chalkboard.

Nanami stepped to Getou, whispering low so you wouldn’t hear him, “She’s not doing well, we need to get her out of here.”

“And how do you think it’s going to affect her when we actually leave?!”

“It’s better to help her heal as quickly as we can, dragging this out is going to cause her more stress.”

Your alphas began to kick up an argument about leaving or staying. But you were not very grounded in reality. You were just sitting there watching without digesting a thing.

Gojo came to your aid, grabbing you to his chest as he comforted you. He didn’t like everyone arguing but he especially didn’t like it when you weren’t able to help guide them to an agreement. You always knew how to talk sense into the pack.

He tried to aid your voice, say what he’d think you’d want, "…Maybe…maybe we wait another thirty minutes- yeah, baby?" Your white-haired alpha looked at you for any slight agreement. "Do you want to wait?" He questioned you a bit more urgently.

"No. I know they aren't coming." There was no optimism in your voice.

Gojo blinked, “Oh…okay.”

“We…we can figure out how to open the tower ourselves.” Getou knelt to the floor dropping the bell, “Search for any curse energy!” He beckoned the others.

“Getou…please…” You whispered, “I just want to go home…I’m tired.”

“…” Getou looked wide eyes, he staggered toward you while standing, pulled your hands away from your ears and held them in his own, “Baby…stop you don’t mean that-”

“I do.”

Your alpha anxiously licked his lips,“…What’s wrong? Why are you behaving this way? Those pups are ours, we can’t just give up… you don’t give up this easily…”

Your throat stung as you yanked your hands away, “Suguru…How- how could you say that- I didn't give up- I’m trying to keep it together…I’m trying so hard...so just drop it! They aren’t coming! No one is coming! That stubborn hag isn’t going to allow us anywhere near those pups- hell the whole castle will probably fight us and- I-I can't- sitting here is just making it worse…I can’t…I don’t want to think about it…I didn't give up-” And finally, you burst into tears. Getou pulled you into his chest as he repeatedly apologized.

"I-fuck I'm sorry- I'm so sorry baby-I didn't mean it like that...I'm so sorry..."

His apology couldn't patch up the cracks; the dam was broken. How could he say that to you? How could he think that you had given up on them? You wanted the pups to come home with you. You didn't want this to happen. You were just trying to ignore it so you could keep it together. But now you were sniffling and sobbing, wailing for your lost.

You hope he was happy with this outcome.

He rocked you back and forth, purring softly. The movement and his comfort made your sniffling die down, and soon your heavy eyes dropped and closed.

Somehow, you had found sleep.

Within your sleepy state, your alphas had moved you around. Between each wavering blink, you had realized you had finally left the clock tower and were now traveling home. Most of the time, you didn't know who was handling you. Different scents came and went, and soon you were within your tent.

And even though you slept for the majority of the travel, you found you didn't want to get up and rolled over and continued to sleep.

Sleep felt better than being awake.

You preferred it.

"Raven!"

You heard Mimiko's voice.

"Raven!"

There was Nanako!

You jolted awake, sitting up in your tent, realizing that you had been dreaming about the pups calling your name.

That was until you heard-

"RAVEN!"

It was them! your pups! You felt that heat on the back of your neck, the same you felt when that boy had pushed Nanako- They were in danger!

You rushed out of your nest, Gojo looked surprised by your sudden emergence.

"Hey baby-"

"It's the pups! They are here!" You shouted, running in the direction your senses were telling you to go.

"What- wait!" Gojo called, but you were already gone from camp.

Your pups needed you! They were here, and they were in danger!

You were panting while sprinting, the cold wind whipping past your face as you put all your energy into running as fast as you could jumping and dodging every obstacle.

"Ah-" You slid to a stop, Gojo had jumped down right in front of you.

"Baby stop!"

"The pups! Gojo I heard them they are here! Did you not hear their scream?!" You shouted at him as you frantically moved around him but he had grabbed you. You hissed trying to get away, "What are you doing!?"

"They aren't here baby!" Gojo tried to grapple with your frantic hands that were pushing him.

"No- they are I heard them!"

"I- I can't see anything anywhere! They are nowhere near us, and I didn't hear a noise! I think you were dreaming!”

You finally get your hands out of his hold with your shadow form. "I WASN'T! I thought I was too, but when I woke up, I heard them!" You turned to run again, but this time Nanami was in your way. "NANAMI! Tell Gojo- tell him you heard the pups!"

Your blonde gently touched your arms, and he looked at you with a sorrowful expression. "I didn't hear anything, sweetheart...I've been keeping watch..."

You scoffed, "Then- then I must have been the only one that heard them like last time, something is going on, I need to get back to them-Getou was right, we shouldn't have left- h-how far are we?" You ask, looking around, realizing you were in the woods and you hadn't a clue how far Shapuro was. But you hadn't gotten to the Great Bridge yet, so the city couldn't be more than a day away! “We must hurry!”

Nanami was still rubbing your arms; nothing you said had changed his urgency. What was he waiting for?

"Little bird..." He spoke carefully, "...I believe you are experiencing phantom crying..."

"Phantom crying?" You echoed, veering back as if he had spoken something so preposterous. "No-no, I heard it as clear as day! I know what I heard!"

"I never said you didn't hear it...I'm just saying...you were very attached to the pups...you are going to experience things like this...that aren't actually real. It is your omega's response to the stress of being away from the twins."

You snorted, your chest that had inflated in anger was slowly deflating. "So...I'm going crazy..."

"No, not at all. This is very normal with the stress you've been dealing with... There are ways around it, we can get you some medicine to help..."

'Nanako...Mimiko....'

You looked down at your monsters that cried in your shadow.

"And them...can you hear them?"

Nanami looked where your gaze was, "Who...? Do you see something?"

"Nothing." You dismissed the topic. Shifting, you begin to walk but your legs feel like jelly, and you nearly fall before your blonde catches you. “…Ah…”

“Are you okay?” Nanami helped you stabilize yourself but you shook your head.

“I feel…like my body is shutting down…”

“It’s the stress… I’ll carry you it’s okay sweetheart. Getting you into your nest will make you feel better.” You were lifted, Nanami holding you to his chest with his hands locked under your butt, while your cheek rested upon his shoulder. Your arms drooped lazily around him.

Your head was down the entire time your alpha walked you back to camp. You could still feel the uncomfortable itch that was trying to get you to return to Shapuro. It was like a constant tingle, like your spidey senses were stuck in the on mode. You felt overwhelmingly sick and the only time you felt relief was when you were running toward the girls.

Who would have known you would experience physical and mental withdrawals like this? No wonder your alphas had tried to get you to distance yourself from the pups.

The voices had luckily stopped...for now.

Gojo nudged your arm and spoke when you had looked his way, "We saved your pretty pink punk princess...aren't you happy about that...?"

You offer your alpha a sad smile, "I am...but..." You didn't know how to explain to him how shitty the situation was. It felt so unjust how things happened; it wasn't meant to happen this way. You would have much rather been rejected by Asaki. But who knows, maybe you would have been experiencing this same issue.

“…I just really miss the girls… that’s all.”

"I know…I’m sorry…I promise I'll give you as many pups as you want, so many pups- we will have a whole kingdom of pups!"

You released a little laugh.

Nanami coughed. "Not to cut in, but you must remember that she will also be having our pups too."

"Yeah yeah sure, but I think I'm gonna get the most, they don't call me Gojo the hoso for nothing."

"Who is they?"

You listened to your alphas bicker and it felt peaceful almost. However, you were still extremely exhausted…and feverish. Soon you fell asleep. Before you even made it back to camp.

“Is she okay?” Toji and Getou were waiting for you.

“Give me a moment…” Nanami informed. He took you to your tent and tucked you in before approaching the others in the middle with the camp fire.

“She’s…experiencing phantom cries-“

“What? She hasn’t even fully claimed them how can that be?” Toji questioned.

“I’m not surprised.” Getou scowled at the others, “You know how she gets, this is why I didn’t want to leave!”

“It was hurting her more to be there!” Toji countered, “And she wanted to leave!”

“And she wanted to go without us to save Sukuna but you gave her shit for that, didn't you?”

Toji released a growl stalking toward Getou so fast- swiping his kimono up with his claws. “You want to be a smartass, huh?! Because I want to protect my girl?!”

“You don’t think that’s what I was doing?!”

“Enough!” Nanami cut in, “You two fighting isn’t going to obtain anything positive. If anything it will cause her condition to worsen.”

Toji released Getou with a push, “We just need to get her home… She will be fine once we have her safe…we can put all of our attention on her and take care of her…make sure she doesn’t have to worry about anything else…”

The conversation halted as Megumi and Yuji came into camp with baskets of food.

Toji disappeared into the woods without a second glance back. Getou glaring in his direction.

“I’ll go with him…Sukuna isn’t here to talk some sense into him…and neither is she…” Gojo nodded to the others and followed after. The white-haired alpha was desperately trying to keep the pack together for your sake.

Nanami gestured toward Yuji, “Did you find everything? I wanted to make her favorite meal to get her to eat.”

“We found all the ingredients.” Yuji beamed as he set down the food next to the pot.

“Thank you-ah…” Nanami halted as Yuji straightened up, he had seen a collar beneath his coat. “…What are you wearing Yuji?”

“Huh?”

“I told him he didn’t need it.” Megumi sighed as his partner revealed the red and black collar around his neck.

“Oh! This is a sub collar! I…I got it for Megumi so that he can control me if I try to hurt him…” Yuji’s facial expression drooped into a frown at the thought. “…I still don’t know what this star means…I might be a monster…”

Nananami nodded, “I understand what you may feel Yuji…I’m still trying to find out more about my chains…we will figure it out…”

“If these things never mattered before why would it matter now?” Megumi questioned in annoyance.

“It’s important…so we don’t cause harm to our pack…”

“Yes! See he gets it Megumi! I have another collar if you want one too Nanami!”

Getou let out a snort while the blonde blushed, “I-I will consider it Yuji thank you.”

There was a low whistle that caught Getou’s ears, looking behind his shoulder Choso waved him to follow.

“Scuse me gentlemen.” Getou dismissed himself.

The two didn’t speak until they stopped before Yorozu who was propped up against a tree.

She smelt like death, which typically was a dinner bell for most monsters, but nothing had come to feast upon her. Not even a slug that would literally consume anything.

“So?” Getou began with a raised brow. “Is it the same thing Raven had?”

“It is. She has no curse energy and none of the herbs, potions, or spells worked.”

“And what did you say you would do?” Getou questioned bending to get a closer look.

“…It was…not a technique I was very fond of…”

“Fond or not, I must know.”

“My father…found a way to reconstruct her. Threading new cells, bones, and flesh…but it never lasted.”

“And where did he get these new pieces?”

“…From people that have passed away…or prisoners…”

“...” Getou rubbed at his chin thinking, “…and this reconstruction, did Raven look the same every time?”

“Yes.” Choso blinked in slight confusion, “My father made sure she kept her original look. He said he didn’t want her to have body dysmorphia.”

“Yet- you had told my omega that when you saw Raven you couldn’t even tell how old she was or if she was human. So how would your father have known her original form if she washed up on your shore in such a disfigured state?”

“You were eavesdropping on our conversation.”

“Don’t act surprised.”

Choso sighed in defeat, “I don’t know how my father knew what she looked like…maybe Raven told him…”

“In her near comatose state?- Hey! Oi! Do you hear me?” Getou waved in front of Yorozu but she didn’t respond. Her eyes were distant, there was barely any other sign that she was still alive besides her pulse. The alpha scoffed, “And you said she was worse than this- yeah-I doubt she was even able to speak let alone blink.”

“…Are you saying my father lied?”

“Yes, and I want to know why. Hm.” Getou stood brushing his kimono down. “Keep this thing away from camp, I don’t want my darling to be angry at this horrendous sight. She’s already going through enough…” He trailed off remembering how he had made you cry at the clock tower. His chest ached from his own guilt. He didn’t want to make you cry that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Understood.” Choso nodded.

Getou tucked his hands into his sleeves. He walked past Choso but stopped when the beta said-

“Will you tell me about this…game?”

“You will get that information when we deem you worthy of our pack.”

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

Chef note:

✨Pretty Punk Princess just seems like a Gojo thing to say haha thank you for my new nickname for Sukuna Eris Echo 😂🖤

✨I just have to say I am the luckiest chef alive to have such amazing diners in my restaurant. Thank you so much for supporting your crazy smut chef. Even on days when I feel the worse I’ll read a comment and bust out laughing or crying. I’m not going to get too sappy on you guys but I think I’m going to go the one-shot route and have whoever wants to cook with the chef add their own ingredient to the meal. I might do a few oneshots depending on how this goes. Of course, I’m going to still cook up House of Alphas, so the oneshots will come on the side so ill work on the main dish first and then work on the other one. It will really just depend on the ingredients lol.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until next time 😘💋🖤