Work Text:
Junpei couldn't believe his ears when he heard it.
"Sukuna is sick," Yuuji says. He stands tall in the doorway, tank loose on his meaty shoulders, a hand beside his face where he clings to the doorframe. Junpei blinks once, twice.
"He's what?" he asks, and he probably looks stupid making Yuuji repeat it, but Junpei wants to be absolutely sure he's not hearing things.
"Sick." Yuuji sighs, dragging blunt nails across the nape of his neck. "He's been a bit—I don't think it's a good idea for you to hangout today. Not that I don't want you to, but he can be a little…"
"It's fine," says Junpei, and now it's Yuuji's turn to blink at him. His mouth gapes almost cutely, and something about his mild shock compels Junpei to offer a curt grin.
Yuuji processes his words, gears turning. His lips close around a question: "Are you sure?"
Ah, why wouldn't he be? With Sukuna down, it should mean the elder twin shouldn't be as much of a bother to Yuuji as he usually is, right? Which means… Junpei practically has his boyfriend all to himself today.
"Yes." Junpei doesn't do much else thinking about it.
Yuuji lets him in following his confirmation, and Junpei leaves his shoes at the door and mocks Yuuji's pathfinding with socked feet. Junpei's walked these very halls so many times he's become accustomed to the way his socks catch on the carpet ever so often.
Yuuji leads them into the living room where it's otherwise quiet if he omits the buzzing television. Junpei sits in his usual spot, not quite at the edge of the couch, yet too far from the middle to be, well… in the middle. It's just a simple divot in between the cushions that sinks slightly under his weight, but it's the spot Junpei defaults to every single time he comes to visit.
"He's in his room," Yuuji comments, though that much was obvious from the lack of an irritatingly arrogant presence in the room. Sukuna is… usually out here with them, if not about to come out once he knows Junpei is here, and though Junpei doesn't exactly hate the lack of Sukuna's sickeningly smug face, it feels off.
Yuuji makes to plop on the couch beside Junpei before he freezes, backing up and thumbing towards the other hall. "Actually, I was about to go check on him when you showed up! Do you wanna say hi or something?"
Or something… Junpei murmurs internally, but still he gets up to follow after Yuuji anyway. It would be rude, after all, if he entered their house and hadn't bothered to speak to the other twin. His mom would absolutely wreck him if she ever found out.
So, to make courteous, Junpei steels himself with his best forced smile as Yuuji raps on Sukuna's door before he lets himself in.
It's… clean, to say the least.
Junpei has seen Sukuna's room before, mostly in a hasty blur on their way to Yuuji's room when they're—ahem, irrelevant. Junpei recalls Sukuna being a mess, both from what he's managed to sneak a peek at on occasion and from what Yuuji tells him, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched for him to assume Yuuji had come and cleaned up a fair bit.
Sukuna is lying in bed, bundled up to his neck, yet sweating down to his jaw. His gaze is fixed, hazy, mostly unfocused. He hardly spares either Yuuji or Junpei a glance as they saunter up to the edge of his bed, almost cautiously so, and it takes the elder twin a moment or two before he actually notices them; and the instant he does, Sukuna fixes them a scowl.
"What is it, brat…" he grumbles, though severely lacking the bite he normally has, faintly reminiscent of a toothless dog bearing no teeth.
"Junpei is here! He came to say hi!" Yuuji's extremely animated in contrast, presenting Junpei as if he were some B-list celebrity. Oh right, he's supposed to be saying something—
Junpei gives an awkward wave. "Uh, hi."
Sukuna rolls his eyes, or at least tries to before he abandons it midway with a groan. He disregards Junpei's greeting and glares directly at Yuuji.
"Where's my soup?" he snarls, and Yuuji snaps his fingers as if he'd just remembered something (which, in hindsight, he probably has).
"Right! So uh, about that—we're out of soup," Yuuji tells him. Sukuna's frown deepens.
"Well, go buy some more?"
"But I don't want to leave you here by yourself!"
"I won't be by myself." Sukuna nods towards Junpei. "Your favorite boy toy is here."
The gears in Yuuji's head creak in protest as they overwork themselves. "Oh. Oh—"
No, no—
Yuuji turns to Junpei. "Jun-Jun—"
Please no.
"Would you mind lookin' after Sukuna while I run to the store real quick?"
Absolutely not—"Of course," Junpei says, because how could he ever deny a request from his innocent puppy-dog of a boyfriend?
(And to be quite frank, sometimes—like at that very moment—he really, really wishes he could.)
So now he's stuck huddled up on the couch, knees pressing into his slim chest with the TV volume set to as low as it can possibly be while still allowing him to hear if Sukuna calls for him. It's not loud enough for Junpei to truly appreciate the film he'd caught onto whilst channel surfing, but any louder and he runs the risk of missing Sukuna's summoning, and if that happens, he'll tell Yuuji; and if he tells Yuuji, his boyfriend will be disappointed in him, and he does not want nor need for that to happen.
Yuuji headed out a few minutes ago. So far, everything is fine. Sukuna is fine. Junpei is fine. The film? Fine too. Yuuji opened a few windows before leaving—it's a hot day out, too hot, almost; and now that Junpei thinks back on it, swaddling Sukuna likely wasn't the best idea…
No, no, that's nothing Junpei should concern himself with. Yuuji asked him to do one thing and one thing only: look after Sukuna until he gets back.
And Junpei knows he won't be long. Yuuji's fast, inhumanly so—he could run a 10K marathon like a 300-meter sprint if he so wishes. Convenience store run? Light work.
But Junpei starts to worry when five minutes turn to ten, and ten to twenty, and he still hasn't heard from either of the twins. Hell, Junpei only knows how long it's been because he's spent more time glancing up at the wall clock than the movie he's supposed to be taking interest in. He's never been alone with Sukuna before, let alone while the man is sick, and though Junpei's taken care of his mother before whenever she was feeling under the weather, he's pretty sure the after effects of a major hangover were nothing akin to a fever.
Still, his woes eat away at him, and he abandons the film and pads his way to Sukuna's room.
Once there, Junpei stands outside awkwardly. He… isn't too sure how he should go about this. Does he just go in? Knock first and announce his entry? What if Sukuna tells him to fuck off, or worse, what if Sukuna doesn't answer at all?
Wait, why is he worrying himself over such trivial things? Yuuji left him with one simple task: to look after Sukuna until he gets back. Surely—most likely—that means he can come and go in Sukuna's room as he pleases, because it's his job to look after him (albeit temporarily).
With that, Junpei carefully fists the doorknob and twists, the door creaking quietly as he pushes it open ever so slightly with just enough space to pop his head in. Sukuna lies on his side curling into himself until he's an impossibly small lump drowning under a thick, pillowy duvet. He hasn't moved, and he hasn't yelled at Junpei yet, the only sound being his steady, if not shallow breathing. So far so good.
"Sukuna?" Junpei whispers and waits. One second, two seconds, tries again after the third, a bit louder this time: "Sukuna."
Sukuna stirs, the lump pulsing about until he gives up movement and settles for a loud, extended sigh. He tries to shift once more, successfully managing to peek his head out from under the covers. In the thin slice of light coming through his curtained windows, Junpei can just barely make out the sharp eye Sukuna gives him, and from his shell, he grumbles, "What…"
Okay, so he is still alive. This is good.
Junpei pushes the door open further and notices Sukuna wince at the light that follows him in. Heeding his discomfort, Junpei pushes the door close until only a sliver of light cuts into the opposite end of the room. Sukuna relaxes then, he thinks, and Junpei does too.
"Sorry for waking you…" he starts, choosing his words carefully. "I, ah, just wanted to see if you were okay. Yuuji's been gone for a while, so I—"
"How long has it been?"
Slightly taken aback by the hoarseness in his voice, Junpei stumbles a bit. "He um—i-it's almost been half an hour."
Sukuna grumbles low and slow. "Fuckin' idiot… 'Real quick' my ass."
Junpei… isn't sure how he should respond to that, so he doesn't. Instead, he diverts the topic. "Do you, um, need anything?"
Sukuna huffs. "A blowjob would be nice."
Junpei squeaks, stammers, "I ah, um—I c-can't really help you there—"
"Then go, away," comes Sukuna's curt reply, tone light as air, though it comes off as a gibe more than anything else.
It irks him immediately, and Junpei is so, so tempted to turn heel and wait on Yuuji's return like he originally intended to (or alternatively, smother the prick with a pillow), but he has… a duty. A big duty. To watch this asshat until Yuuji comes back.
And really, this is the perfect time for him to mend—or at least form—some kind of tie between him and Sukuna, because despite Junpei frequenting the Itadori household enough times for him to practically live here himself, he doesn't really know too much about Sukuna outside of what Yuuji tells him and what he's vaguely seen with his own two eyes; and truthfully, he'd like to know something about the guy—at the very least, the cause to his constant teasing and such.
Junpei isn't expecting to be rewarded an answer on his first attempt, much less while the guy is on his sick bed, but for once, he'd like to quell the malevolence gnawing his brain every time Sukuna takes a jab at him.
(Mostly because if Junpei happened to snap one day, Sukuna would likely kick his ass.)
Sukuna notes his hesitation and shifts until he's raised a bit on his elbows, and wow, he looks fucking awful.
"Are you deaf? I said fuck off," he snaps, pathetically going into a coughing fit thereafter. It's pitiful, really, just how easily seeing him in such a state immediately dissipates the fear he'd normally harbor off those words.
Still, he treads carefully, ignoring the confusion in Sukuna's face as he draws nearer instead of further away. Junpei eases his weight on the edge of the bed, a look of concentration in his expression as he brings the back of his hand to Sukuna's forehead.
"You're burning up, Sukuna," Junpei comments, brows pinching together. He expects Sukuna to retaliate, to at the very least pull away from his hand and reiterate his earlier demand, but he doesn't. Instead—and this is what shocks Junpei the most—his eyes flutter close and he releases the most painfully exhausted sigh, wobbling into Junpei's gentle touch. And it's then that Junpei grows worried.
"Sukuna—" Junpei moves his hand, rushes to catch the other when he realizes Sukuna's been holding himself up on it. His shoulders are slick in Junpei's palms, skin hot, clothes soaked through to the point of transparency.
This was bad. Really, really bad.
"Sukuna, you're burning up!"
"'M fine," he slurs, pushing off Junpei's weight to lie back under the covers, but Junpei is quick in that he snatches the duvet off the bed before Sukuna could further seclude himself. He snarls, "What the f—"
"Sukuna, if you get any hotter, you'll die!"
"You're being dramatic." Sukuna blinks at him, a dreadfully slow shutter of his eyes that Junpei would've confused for him dozing off in any other circumstance, but unfortunately, this wasn't any other circumstance—he's too hot, too sweaty, and on the brink of collapse. Junpei needs to do something, now.
He thinks quickly: "Take off your shirt." Moves the duvet to pool onto the floor as he busies himself in tugging off Sukuna's sweats. Sukuna gives little resistance, either because he's actually willing to comply or lacks the energy to argue back. Junpei strips him down to his boxers and takes a moment to steel himself.
(Sukuna and Yuuji really are twins…!)
Focus, focus! he tells himself. This wasn't the time to be having… those thoughts. He sighs, rakes his spindly fingers through his sweat-dampened strands. "I'll get you a towel. Don't move."
A towel, cold water, wring it out until it's just damp enough to leave an impression of cool sweat.
Sukuna gives little resistance when Junpei sets it on his forehead, winces at the cold, but settles easily enough as Junpei wipes away beads of sweat puddling about his face. He sighs when Junpei leaves the rag to rest above his brow, and the latter pulls back, murmuring, "Let's get you some new clothes..." more to himself than to Sukuna.
And as he's digging through a messy drawer, Junpei is reminded of the twins' habit of sharing clothes. Whether they've swapped shirts or had a mix-up during laundry day, the boys essentially shared a single closet. There were a few pieces in Sukuna's dresser that Junpei immediately recognized as belonging to Yuuji—a typical colored shirt or modded graphic tees—and then there were others he hadn't known were probably actually Sukuna's until that very moment.
(And now that he thinks about it, Sukuna has probably seen him walking around in some of these whenever Junpei sleeps over…)
"Do you, ah, need me to help you put these on?" asks Junpei, a simple muscle tank and cotton shorts folded over his arm.
Sukuna blinks at him slowly—or perhaps Junpei mistook his dozing off as him doing so—lets loose a weak groan (or yawn?) and tilts his toward Junpei.
"You stripped me down no problem, but now you're asking for consent to dress me?" And really, when he puts it like that, it does sound a bit silly. Sukuna waves him off with a soft tsk, "Just go ahead and do it."
...All that for a yes?
Junpei pushes down the burning irritation that rises at the back of his throat and sets the clothes aside with a tight-lipped smile. He guides Sukuna to sit up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed so they dangle near listlessly off the side. Junpei is careful with his hands, not that he really needs to be—it's just Sukuna, but the very fact that it's Sukuna is enough to render his touches featherlight, hesitant.
He starts with the shorts, feeding Sukuna's first foot into its leg and pooling it around his ankle before adding in the other, his skin burning hot beneath his touch, still tender and damp with sweat. Junpei's fingers are much cooler in heavy comparison, clammy, but nigh icy despite the mind-numbing heat. He's always had rather cold hands, and typically he's hyper aware about it, but when Sukuna shudders at the faintest brush of knuckles against his thigh, Junpei finds himself frozen in place.
His eyes meet Sukuna's dreary gaze the same time the other chances a look down, his jaw shifting wordlessly as if baiting Junpei to comment on it.
He doesn't, of course. Junpei values his life.
(Then again, there's not much Sukuna could do to him in his current condition comes a passing, ugly thought.)
He swallows hard and focuses on the task at hand, hiking the shorts up further and pointedly keeping skin-to-skin contact to the absolute minimum. Eventually, he has Sukuna dressed and back to lying down in his bed, checks the time, and god where the fuck is Yuuji with that goddamn soup?!
He ponders calling him. Maybe something happened? Yuuji's the type that'll drop everything to do something entirely unrelated to the task at hand at a moment's notice, but Junpei finds it hard to believe that his boyfriend would prioritize… whatever it is that's gotten him pressed for time over his own flesh and blood. They may argue a lot, as Junpei assumes all siblings do at some point, but Yuuji vocalizes on multiple occasions how much he loves his brother, and deep down he knows Sukuna reciprocates the feeling, too.
"Oi, princess." Junpei nearly jumps his skin at the sudden attitude shift. It's not often he hears Sukuna refer to him as such without his usual teasing tone, and contrasting his earlier mild sass, Sukuna's voice is much softer now—whether it be out of content or or genuine concern is something Junpei will leave up to chance. When he looks at him, however, he finds Sukuna boring into him with deep, sleepy eyes, as if searching for something hidden in a haze of lingering touches and quiet breaths. "What's worrying that pretty little head of yours?"
And really, there's no point in lying to him. "Just worried Yuuji's gotten himself wrapped up in something else is all." But Sukuna looks at him as if his answer weren't satisfactory, as if he'd expected him to say something else entirely. At this, Junpei diverts his attention to his socked feet dangling just above the floor.
"He's doing it on purpose..." Sukuna murmurs, barely audible over the car alarm that decides to go off just then. Silence stretches between them for a long while, a few seconds or so, realistically, but it feels like a whole minute passes them by. Junpei convinces himself that Sukuna's asleep by the time its screeching quells, but the gentle cut of his rugged voice negates that theory.
"Hey" he says, and Junpei just barely registers the knuckles pressed lightly against his back. "I'm gonna take a nap, but do me a favor."
It's less of a question than it is a demand Junpei humors out of pure curiosity. He hardly spares a glance over his shoulder before his, "What is it?" slips past his lips.
And Junpei isn't sure what he was counting on him saying, but a hushed, "Don't leave," as if it were a secret unheard definitely wasn't on the list. It's far too meek, too docile for a wild personality such as Sukuna himself; Junpei has to do a double take to make sure he actually has the right twin in bed. Sukuna's ghost of a touch begins to stray, but Junpei follows after it, pulling his feet up to rest at the mattress edge as he curls his gangly legs into himself.
Things worth doing are worth doing well, and if Yuuji deems it necessary for him to spend a little more time watching after Sukuna, then it's none other than a duty to abide by this simple request.
Sukuna waits patiently, eyes fluttering to stay open long enough for a definitive answer as if action weren't enough. He finds it's when he whispers back, "Sure thing, Sukuna," does Sukuna finally let them close.