Chapter Text
"Come" Mahito says from the hammock while extending his hand in his direction.
Junpei doubts like he always does when something new appears in his life. His instincts hold him back. There is something about trust in his environment that has been cracked over the years.
Mahito smiles. A grimace that fills his entire face and for a moment he even looks more human than Junpei is. He has never smiled like that.
"I'm not going to hurt you" He clarifies guessing his thoughts.
Junpei approaches leaving aside all precautions and listening to the same strange impulse that made him follow the curse that deformed the heads of his companions in the cinema. There was definitely something wrong with him.
Mahito sees him approach holding that smile. When he is a few steps from the hammock, in the blink of an eye, he deforms his outstretched hand until it wraps around like a rope around the boy's arm. Superhuman strength lifts a dismayed Junpei into the air who struggles against his grip. The curse throws him on himself, so that the boy hits his chest. At that point Junpei's terror is palpable. Panic making his energy unstable like a pulse, his soul trembles.
Mahito surrounds the terrified student with both arms, drawing him towards his body, making it impossible for him to escape even when he pushes him with his hands and kicks him. The hammock rocks strongly before the movements of its occupants.The smile widens distorting the curse's features.
“I have recently been reading a biology book. It said that the human brain does not distinguish between extreme tenderness and violence. " He casually comments when he sees that the boy is running out of strength.
“I mean, if you see a kitten, you will probably want to kill it. Humans can't process that amount of cuteness so they turn it over to the feeling on the other end of the spectrum. Isn't that fascinating? " He finishes with enthusiasm without loosening his grip of steel. The boy's chest rises and falls desperately, his breathing ragged, his eyes fixed somewhere in the channel.
"You do not understand? That explains why those guys have been mistreating you. You inspire them so much affection that they are unable to process it and they turn it in anger! "
Mahito's voice echoes in the sewer. For a second, Junpei's breathing stops, his muscles completely stop fighting. For a few moments, all he can hear is the noise of the groundwater. After a while, Junpei rises a few inches above the curse's chest. A look of bewilderment on his face.
"Do you really believe that?"
Laughter reverberates off the curse's chest, startling him.
"Of course not! Those guys abused you simply because they could. But telling you that has facilitated my goal by making you calm down. "
The boy looks at him dumbfounded. Suddenly he is aware that there is nothing to hold him against the other's body. The pale hands raised a few inches from his back without touching him. The blush creeps up his cheeks. Mahito picks up the book he was reading before Junpei came. For long minutes, no one says more.
Junpei ponders what just happened. He didn't even know why he had been so terrified. It had nothing to do with the fact that the other was a supernatural being who could deform him in the most painful way. Well, of course he took that into account but there was also something else. His fear was even more instinctive, more primal. It was related to the fact itself of being touched. That's why he couldn't help but shudder when one of his companions suddenly sat down next to him or someone put their hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Closeness was something he longed for and terrified him in equal measure.
"I am sorry"
"Mhhm?" Mahito is lost in his reading. The boy is aware of the subtle brush of one of his hands on his back.
“I didn't mean to behave like that. It's just that sometimes it's hard to be so close to others "
The curse stares back at him and smiles.
"Naturally"
*
Junpei is always thoughtful after talking to Mahito. Certainly the curse was intriguing.
Mahito had been created by the hatred of men, by the deep feelings that existed between them. In a way, it was as if all the difficult emotions that Junpei had a hard time naming had manifested in that supernatural being. But just as Junpei understood little of his emotions, so did the curse. Mahito's motives were elusive. Why had he decided to murder his companions and leave him alive? Why did they continue to have conversations as if they were two old acquaintances?
That left him an empty feeling in his chest. What could a weak high school kid like him give to a being as powerful as Mahito?
*
The hammock moves smoothly. Junpei rests his body on the torso of the curse. In the short time they had known each other, he had already learned that Mahito liked the contact, so he tried not to startle every time the other invited him to his hammock or brushed him when they walked. That led him to question other things. What kind of relationship did they have? Other than his mother, he had never been so close to anyone...
He liked too much to share his afternoons with Mahito but the questions had begun to pile up with every second that he spent with him. A part of him, the part that always knew he couldn't be worthy of anything good in the world, kept telling him that his association with the curse was an event that couldn't last.
"You seem thoughtful today"
Junpei is startled when he feels the vibration of the words against his ear. He hadn't even noticed that he had been quiet for too long.
"Can I ask you a question?" He says sitting up slightly with his forearms on the other's torso. Mahito nods his head.
Junpei swallows dry. He was aware that his question would likely break the fragile bubble they were both immersed in, but he had to know. Otherwise, the questions and fear would never leave him alone and in his case living with that in his head was even worse than what the curse could tell him.
"What do you want from me?"
"Uh?" Mahito raises an eyebrow.
"This" says the boy looking significantly at their bodies in contact.
"Doing this doesn't make sense to you."
Why did you murder the subjects of the cinema and leave me alive? Why do you reveal things of your power to me? Why are we in this hammock together? What do you want from me? What can I give you?
Mahito doesn't respond immediately. For a second, it looks like he's going to say something and then he seems to think better. Junpei becomes uncomfortable holding the other's disturbing gaze. Heat rushing to his cheeks. In that instant he has complete certainty that the curse is watching his soul. After what seems like an incredible amount of time, Mahito smiles.
"I want you to die for me"
Somewhere in the tunnels it is heard the sound of a drop falling. It is only a faint echo but the silence that follows the curse's words somehow manages to magnify the sound. Two, three drops ...
"You want me to die for you?" Junpei hears himself asking. Suddenly his body feels very light. His emotions, far, far away.
Mahito stops smiling and frowns. A deep bewilderment transforming his features.
"You don't want to do it?" The question has such an innocent intonation that the boy can't help but take it for real.
“You are going to die anyway, one day. All humans die ... I thought maybe you could do it for me "
*
ARE YOU AN IDIOT ?? !!
Jogo's voice resounds with mighty force in the small clearing. Mahito stumbles backwards, completely submerging himself in the thermal water. Geto smirks, closing his eyes.
"Whoa? What's the problem?" Mahito protests wringing his hair. It was a nuisance when it got wet.
If he still had his body, Jogo would slap him.
"You can't ask a human for that kind of thing !!"
His growing frustration making Lava trickles down the little volcano in his head.
“Listen to me well, child. Humans are stupid creatures who cling to their lives as if they were worth something. They can't understand that it doesn't matter what they do if they will die anyway! "
Mahito watches him pouting.
"Well, the original plan was to manipulate him and then create a situation that would force Sukuna's vessel to act, but then I thought ..."
A pause. Mahito looks at one of the long gray locks between his fingers with a hyper concentrated expression until his characteristic smile expands on his face again.
"What a pain!"
Jogo's open mouth reflects his extreme bewilderment at his partner's particular response. Geto's soft chuckle effectively cuts through the string of curses that the little volcano was undoubtedly going to direct him.
“You were created out of hatred between men. I suppose we will see how accurate is your understanding of them "
Mahito gives him a radiant smile.
"I'm sure he will say yes!"
Jogo wanders his gaze from one curse to another unable to believe that even the focused Geto fell into that absurd thought. Unable to avoid it, he looks for some coherence in Hanami but the strange creature just watches them without saying a word. He rolls his eye.
"Very well. But if he escapes and ruins our plans, I will kill him myself! "
To be continue..