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It’s weird to see Junko like this.
Her nails are clipped, her clothes have been replaced with a hospital gown, her hair is down with the extensions pulled out for her health. Mukuro imagines that the Future Foundation must’ve done that. Not that Junko didn’t think about it; she just wouldn’t care. She probably liked that it would hurt her, cause her hair to fall out, make her ugly. She has no makeup on any more; how long had she been laying there with makeup crusted on her face before the Future Foundation found this room?
All in all, Junko looks… vulnerable.
It’s a miracle nobody’s pulled the plug on her yet. Mukuro wonders briefly if maybe that’s what she’s here to do. No, probably not, she decides. Well, it may be what she came in for, but she knows she’ll never do it. Besides, that will make the Future Foundation higher ups mad, and then they’ll really hate her.
No, Mukuro is here because she’s lost. It’s difficult, to be a rusting knife. Nobody is using her, and so she has no idea what to do other than sit there and rot.
She wishes Junko would pop up awake right now, so that they could scheme about how to fight against the Future Foundation from the inside, so that those fools would regret their mercy. She wishes Junko would lazily open her eyes and tell her that they lost the game, that hope won and that they should help the Future Foundation move forward. She wishes Junko would wake up. She wishes Junko would wake up and say anything.
“Oh— hey.”
Mukuro looks up from her intense and likely creepy staring at Junko’s not-dead body.
Aoi Asahina is smiling back at her. She seems… tired. Exhausted, actually. She has a mug of coffee in her hands. She looks old. It’s weird, they’re in their 20s now, but only some of them really look it. Hina has really adopted the Future Foundation look— blazer, dress shirt, tie. She’s wearing shorts, but at least they’re black and made of like, khaki. Her hair has grown out some, and she has bags under her eyes. Hina was the sort of person in high school who was overwhelmingly full of energy. Now, she seems much more subdued.
“Visiting your sister?” Hina asks, as though that’s not sacreligious. As though the very act in and of itself does not reveal that Mukuro would, at any second, choose Junko over this new life she’s built with the Future Foundation. It’s not even a bad life; they treat her fine. Better than Fenrir, way better than Junko. They look at her and see a person, who should be blamed for things but can ultimately change. It’s too nice for her. It’s too much agency, and she doesn’t know what to do with it.
“Yeah,” Mukuro answers, because it’s pointless to lie.
Hina nods. “I’m here to see my brother. Do you want a coffee?”
Mukuro shakes her head. “That’s fine.” Mukuro thinks more about what she said. Asahina’s brother… he was a captive, wasn’t he? Why would he be here? “Your brother?”
She sighs. “Yeah. He, um… Follow me.”
Mukuro, reluctantly, leaves Junko’s side. She follows Hina to a different part of the infirmary.
The bed she leads her to has a young man on it… well, the pieces that are left of him, anyway. This wasn’t an unfamiliar sight to Mukuro, but it had been awhile, since she saw a sleeping man missing most of his limbs.
Mukuro looks closer at this man, who she now remembers had once been a boy. She remembers planning out with Junko how they were going to kidnap him, and then doing it. She remembers hearing him scream as he watched her kill his parents. She remembers his body going limp as she knocked him unconscious.
“Is he in a coma?”
“No, just asleep.” Hina frowns. “I was hoping he’d be awake, but, he gets really tired. Let’s leave him alone.”
Mukuro nods and follows her out of his space. It’s probably better that he isn’t awake. He probably wouldn’t want to see her.
Mukuro didn’t ask what happened. Clearly, it was some kind of explosion.
“Is it difficult not being able to talk to her?” Hina asks.
Mukuro is surprised by the change in topic. She freezes briefly, then continues walking. This could be a trap. But… What’s the point in lying? Who cares if they know she’s dangerous? They’ve known she’s dangerous the whole time. “...Yes.”
“Yeah,” Hina looks down. “I get it. It’s tough when it’s family.”
She doesn’t understand why Hina is extending her sympathy. “Yeah.”
Hina yawns and stretches her arms. “Well, no use sitting around here while nobody can talk to us, right?” She smiles, but it feels forced. “I could go for a snack. Why don’t you come and keep me company while I make some doughnuts for us?”
Mukuro doesn’t want to leave Junko. But she really wants to do something. “Alright. Let me help you.”
Hina giggles. “Well, if you insist.”