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"You may be strong, but you're still the youngest of the Kamo curses."
That one sentence from the tree curse haunted Junpei's mind. While he did end up smacking Yuji in the face out of blind rage, he calmed down after his visit to Mahito's lab. And after hearing the mass disappearance victims had all return, the brunette boy used his sense of reason to think logically about previous events and how they didn't line up with his recent assumption. Yet despite wanting to hear Yuji out, Junpei ended up clashing with him after he supposedly attacked various dining establishments. Then there was what Spice said after he interfered.
"What happened to you vowing to destroy all curses, including Itadori?"
And after Nobara called him out for saying Yuji is a curse, Junpei met up with the pinkette the next day. Which brings us to right now, with the two boys sitting by a riverbank on some stone steps.
"What's really going on?" Junpei asked. "Is what you said about your dad even true?"
"...He was kidnapped by the Kamo curses to make more Dark Orbs," Yuji confirmed, sounding a little reluctant. "But the head of the family, who was masquerading as a human woman, took interest in him and..." His throat choked up as he failed to finish the sentence.
"She gave birth to you?" Junpei assumed.
Yuji could only nod in response. "I only have two half-brothers," he revealed. "The other Kamo curses chose to work for my mom. None of them were happy with a half-human curse in the family." His hand closed into a half-fist. "Then one day, my mom revealed her true nature and tried to turn me and my dad into Dark Orb spices." His body tensed up as he recalled that tragic day. "Being half-curse was the only thing that kept me alive. I ended up escaping to Earth by accident and I've been living here since then."
Yuji leaned back on the steps. "This is my first time being in this world," he continued. "I got to eat good food and make a lot of friends. My dad probably enjoyed living on Earth, so I figured I might as well protect it from curses."
"So you turned on your own family?" Junpei concluded.
"It wasn't like they accepted me," Yuji replied. He looked at his own hand as he unclenched it. "I'm not wearing a Flesh Disguise. I've always looked like this." He paused, feeling hesitant to continue. But there was no going back, so he lifted his hoodie to reveal his Henshin Belt Mouth. "The only things curse-like about me are my strength and this second mouth on my stomach."
That surprised Junpei. "I thought that was a belt!" he nearly shouted, causing his voice to crack.
"It's not," Yuji corrected as he quickly lowered his hoodie. "It was even modified by a family friend."
"So that's why the other curses call you 'Second-Mouther'," Junpei realized.
Yuji nodded in response. "I was worried people would freak out if they knew, so I kept it a secret from others."
"Why would you-" Junpei started to say, but then a single look from Yuji made realization him hard. "...Because of me. I kept on saying I hate curses and I wanted to kill all of them." He tucked part of his bangs behind his ear, exposing both eyes. "Did I...make things worse for you?"
Though silent for a few seconds, Yuji finally spoke. "I was worried you'd hate me if you knew," he confessed. "Sorry for keeping things from you."
Junpei took a deep breath. "No," he corrected, looking at Yuji straight in the eyes. "I should be the one apologizing. I knew you were like this for a while. I even trusted you before I found out it was you under the mask." He looked tense. "But now look at me, forgetting everything we've been through!" He let out a defeated sigh. "I hope you'll forgive me..."
"Junpei..." Yuji muttered.
"I want to stick by you no matter what," Junpei reassured. "But instead of trusting you because you're human..." He gave the pinkette a pat on the back. "I'll trust you because you're you, Yuji."
That was it. The first time Junpei had addressed the half-curse human by his first name. Yuji was well aware of that. Silence soon fell between the two as the pinkette swallowed hard. Then without warning, he suddenly pulled Junpei in for a hug as tears poured from his eyes. Tears of not sorrow, but relief. Relief that the two were now open and on genuinely good terms.
"Thank you..." Yuji sobbed. "Thanks for trusting me...Junpei."
The brunette boy bit his inner lip to hide his pink-tinted cheeks. Though initially surprised by the embrace, he did eventually hug back. And while that was going on, the Chocodon and Biljelly Gochizos did a little gig that was interrupted by the Gummyrice Gochizo. After a bit of chatter in which Gummyrice revealed it spotted important intel, the three rushed over to their reunited partners to deliver this recent information.