Chapter Text
Despite how often Junpei skipped school, the young teen didn’t consider himself to be a troublemaker.
He didn’t skip because he wanted to trespass somewhere, or because he wanted to smoke in some corner while reading porn with his other classmates. Rather, the boy stopped attending school precisely because of his classmates who did those kinds of things.
More specifically, Junpei stopped attending school due to his classmates who would abuse him between exchanging cigarettes, and who would laugh at Junpei being kicked on floors that were covered in porn magazines. Their jeers and mockery would drown out all of Junpei’s senses as he was forced to be the brunt of their joke. Turned into something subhuman in their eyes.
Not that any of his teachers would listen if Junpei bothered to explain any of that.
Ever since Junpei stopped attending classes, the monotony of Junpei’s would-be school year was spent moping around at home. With his curtains drawn and the bright, blue light of his TV screen being his only company while his mother was at work. Only occasionally was Junpei’s stagnation broken by him leaving for a movie at the theater during the slower mid-day showtimes.
The theater was Junpei’s only remaining place of refuge. With its vintage movies that Junepi had long since memorized, where he would stare at the screen as old favorites consumed his entire world. It was a place where Junpei didn’t have to think about himself, or his trainwreck of a life. Where in the darkness of the theater, Junpei wasn’t himself… but rather another passive observer submerged in the world of another.
Junpei could distract himself with the cold comfort that the cinema provided, from its cult classics to foreign slasher horrors. A sanctuary where Junpei could continue to ignore the constantly slipping days passing him by. The lack of a future he held. For a long time, it was his only sanctuary left.
Until someone shattered Junpei’s world in the very same theater that he often sought escape in. Where that someone, that entity, laughed brightly alongside Junpei as it forcibly pulled him into a brand-new world, a new sanctuary, by his side.
Junpei really couldn’t be blamed for the way his heart raced, despite the twisted corpses that sat between him and this creature. For being awed when the stagnated rot that had clung to Junpei for so, so long, finally fell away at this stranger’s touch. When, for the first time in nearly a year, Junpei truly felt alive once again.
And so, with little hesitation, Junpei followed the stranger.
It’s been several days since the movie theater, several days since meeting the ‘curse.’
Junpei nervously tilted his phone’s flashlight to shine along the wet bricks lining the walls of the underground drainage system. He was almost positive that walking through these tunnels was considered illegal, and he could only imagine the field day that law enforcement would have with a trespassing highschooler playing hooky in the sewers.
Not to mention what Junpei’s mom would think if he got caught, especially after believing his lie about going to the theater that day. And then for Mom to have given Junpei a thick wad of cash to cover for said fake movie ticket.
Junpei groaned, anxiously picking at his wrist. He’s probably the only teenager whose mom pays for him to play hooky.
A drop of water landing on his shoulder had Junpei jump, the teen yelping out loud only to immediately feel embarrassed for doing so. Although, maybe Junpei was justified to be a little on-edge considering there’s actual monsters down here.
Junpei shivered, remembering the dizzying sight of giant, bloated beasts. Shriveled, twisted shapes no bigger than Junpei’s palm, with sunken faces. And the unsettling grin of the curse that lived down here. The curse that had transfigured humans into those disturbing creatures.
The curse that Junpei had been visiting on a daily basis.
Junpei sighed, turning down the familiar damp, twisted tunnels. If Junpei was a character in a horror movie, he’d be yelling at himself for making the dumbest decision possible. Continuing to meet up with the monster in an isolated location, nonetheless a location as cliche as the sewers, day after day.
But… Junpei’s entire life for the past year had already been a horror movie. How can he rely on common sense when the monster that he was supposed to be afraid of, was the one that rescued him from the real monsters that tormented him for so long?
Some humans can be more monstrous than the inhuman, and despite not being human at all, Mahito made Junpei feel more like a person than how any of Junpei’s peers treated him.
Mahito was… nice to Junpei. Mahito listened to Junpei, he was intrigued by what Junpei said. The curse taught him things, introduced him to concepts that Junpei couldn’t had fathomed existing outside of his small world. All about curses, sorcerers, techniques, and magic. How monsters were all around Junpei, feeding off of the negative energies that he and his fellow humans created on a daily basis.
Mahito promised to give Junpei the same power that the curse had. Mahito promised Junpei salvation, the strength to protect himself from his past monsters. To ensure that nobody could take advantage of Junpei’s weakness ever again.
Junpei… Had no idea what he and Mahito were, quite frankly.
The young teen hopped across a gap along the pathway, evidence of the tunnels falling apart becoming more obvious the deeper he goes. Dilapidated from years of neglect and disuse, where Junpei figured he must be one of the few humans to make it this deep in a long time. Alongside him was the loud rush of fast-pacing runoff sloshing against worn bricks. The lack of sunlight was glaringly obvious from the permanent chill, and Junpei regretted not bringing a jacket.
He and Mahito were probably friends, at the very least. The only problem was that Junpei… was too fixated on parts of Mahito that he shouldn’t be.
Mahito was nice to Junpei. Mahito listened to Junpei. And Mahito, for an inhuman entity that fed on negative emotions and hatred… was shockingly, shockingly beautiful in his appearance.
Mahito was more than humanoid, he surpassed every other human that Junpei had ever seen before.
The curse was tall. He had well-defined features, from his toned body to his striking face. Even his most obviously inhuman traits, symmetrical scars stitching his body together like an old marionette doll, just made Mahito more eye-catching to the young teen.
Each line of scarring that caught the light, the metallic sutures stapling them shut reflecting brightly as they did so, only made Junpei more flustered. Hints of stapled skin flashing from the open side of Mahito’s poncho, biceps stretching above Junpei to reach something, the curve of Mahito’s neck when the curse tilts his head asking a question…
It doesn’t help that sometimes… Mahito was forward. With physical touch. In a way that made Junpei feel a little.
Affected.
Junpei had no clue if Mahito lacked an understanding of personal boundaries, or if the curse was just a touchy-feely person, but it seemed like Mahito was always, always touching Junpei whenever he got the chance to.
Nearly every moment together, Junepi felt consumed by Mahito’s presence. Even the moments not spent with the curse, the teen finds his thoughts consumed by him as well.
Obviously, Junpei thought sardonically.
Mahito’s hands were broad, smooth. They were constantly pulling on the young teen, dragging him along to the chaotic beat of the other’s drum. Brushing Junpei’s purposefully overgrown bangs back, lingering on his face.
Usually Junpei was on edge whenever people touched him, the thought of letting hands stray anywhere close to his face was enough to make him feel nauseous. Hands were so often the source of pain for him, a thing to be avoided at all costs. But… it was different, with Mahito.
Most things were different with him.
It wasn’t long before the tunnels opened up into a wide, familiar chamber. Upon reaching his destination, Junpei shook his head free of pointless thoughts. He shouldn’t push his own feelings on Mahito anyways. Even if the curse was capable of feeling the same way towards Junpei, there was no reason for the curse to. Mahito was, well, Mahito. And Junpei was…
He was just… Junpei.
Looking around, Junpei made his way to the center of the open chamber that Mahito had taken residence in. High above the teen was an empty hammock strung between the old pipes. It was still swinging in a slow, gentle motion. Otherwise, the chamber was devoid of anything, the curse obviously not bothering to furnish it in any meaningful way.
There was also no signs of said curse, to Junpei’s immediate disappointment.
“Uh, Mahito?” Junpei called out, hesitantly stepping further into the room, looking around as he did so.
The pittering sound of distant water droplets was the room’s only response. No silver-haired curses leaping from the ceilings, no ghoulish entities rushing towards Junpei at the first sign of his existence.
Nothing.
Junpei sighed. Of course it was empty. It was stupid of the teen to have expected Mahito to be… What? Sitting and waiting for him every second of the day? Of course the curse wouldn’t be here, the other actually had a life unlike Junpei, who’s life lately just revolves around Mahito.
…Was Mahito considered alive? Junpei actually wasn’t sure, that’d be another thing he’ll have to ask Mahito in their conversations.
With a lack of options, and unwilling to walk the sad trek back home, Junpei made his way further into the room. Leaning against an old pipe, there was a respectably-sized pile of books that caught his attention. Likely due to them being one of the few furnishings in the chamber.
Junpei dejectedly made his way over to them, peering at the titles of the topmost ones. A slew of titles greeted the teen in turn. Poetry, psychology, children’s fairy tales, and urban legends were a few stand-outs that Junpei was able to spot.
Just as Junpei was about to pick up one of the books, the feeling of a presence behind him paralyzed the boy in his tracks. It was heavy, malevolent. Overbearing in a dreadful way, where Junpei’s entire body felt heavier, weighed down by despair and fear. The familiar sensation of negative energy that curses exude.
…
There was a moment, where nothing happened. Junpei was so paralyzed by the malice behind himself that he couldn’t turn behind him to see what the entity was. To check if it was the non-hostile curse that he had befriended, to see if it was Mahito.
…
…But, if the curse was Mahito, then why was nothing happening…? Why was the presence behind him so overwhelming?
…
Junpei could feel his hands shaking. What if… this wasn’t Mahito..?
…
…
What if another curse found Junpei, and now he was moments away from getting eaten, or worse? Mahito wasn’t shy about showing off his experiments on humans, what would a curse with no reservations about killing Junpei do? What would a curse who wasn’t friends with Junpei do?
…
Junpei’s breathing was getting harsher, his fears taking over any rational thought. The boy could feel the shaking spreading throughout his body, until he was nearly trembling at this point.
…
Until, cold arms quickly pulled Junpei back against a firm chest, causing the teen’s heart to jump up his throat.
The arms were familiar.
“Junpei! You visited today!” A head plopped itself on top of Junpei’s own, with long silver strands dangling just on the outside of the teen’s peripheral vision.
“M-Mahito..!” The teen sputtered, his heart still racing, arms still weak. Junpei couldn’t tell if it was residue anxiety for the unintentional scare the curse gave him, or the normal racing that Mahito gave him for a whole other reason.
A loud laugh echoed in Junpei’s ear. “Me!!”
Turning around, Junpei saw the tall, beaming figure of the curse that consumed every waking moment of the teen’s thoughts. Mahito leaned his weight comfortably to the side, his loose, black poncho following the motion with ease.
Junepi sometimes had a hard time believing Mahito’s claims of its own incorporeality. The way that the curse’s presence dominated the room was so palpable -his confidence and power on full display.
Everything about the curse entranced Junpei, who was basically Mahito’s complete opposite: a weak human who was so used to adapting to others in order to stand out as little as possible.
Junpei had spent his whole life trying to grab as little attention from others as possible. He basically survived on nothing but his own indifference to the people who treated him awfully. People who treated him in ways that Junpei thought there must’ve been something fundamentally wrong with him in order to make other humans hate him so much on first impact.
Ironically, it was an inhuman entity, a cursed being made up entirely of hatred, that revealed the harrowing truth -that those same bullies hadn’t hated Junpei at all. In fact, they hardly felt anything towards the boy that they had tortured and abused for months on end.
Mahito had said that it was only fair of Junpei to not feel any remorse at their own tortured ends.
Junpei thinks he agrees.
“I was worried that you weren’t here…” Junpei admitted.
Mahito smiled. “Would you have missed me?”
“O-Of course!”
“Aw,” Mahito’s smile grew wider, twisting the harsh stitching on his face. “That’s adorable.”
The curse stepped closer to Junpei, his height easily looming over the boy. Junpei didn’t dare to speak. He doubted he even could.
One of the curse’s hands reached out to pet the boy’s face, his hands gentle. Inhumanly smooth, as if any calluses and scrapes were eased away as soon as they formed. The only texture to Mahito’s skin were the raised scars of his stitches, where parts of him were almost sewn together. Misshapen and unbelonging. A farce of a human.
“You’re adorable.” Mahito laughed.
Junpei’s heart pounded, the sound echoing in his ears. He didn’t dare breathe, his throat was tight and his face was hot.
Adorable?
“Hellooooo, Junpeiiii?” Mahito pouted. “Still tied with your tongue?”
“I-It’s… the expression, it’s tongue-tied…” Junpei stammered, still flustered. Adorable, adorable, adorable???
The curse blew a raspberry. “Tied this, tied that! The only thing humans know what to do with their tongues is wagging with them, apparently!” Mahito complained.
Junpei weakly laughed, an attempt to evaporate his nerves somewhat.
“You know humans,” Junpei began. “They love to make up new sayings and expressions.”
“So annoying…!” Mahito whined. “What’s even the point of words having meanings if you’re just gonna change them whenever you feel like it…”
Junpei, meanwhile, was still lost in his thoughts. Adorable? What did Mahito mean by that? Nothing… right? Of course, it doesn’t mean anything. Mahito didn’t -couldn’t- like Junpei THAT way, Junpei was adorable in a pet kind of way, right?
…Wait, that wasn’t much better either.
“Haha… Yeah…” Junpei trailed off, staring at the wet concrete flooring, once again caught in his own thoughts.
…
Until a head of silver hair with curious, mismatched eyes suddenly took up all of Junpei’s vision. Where Mahito’s body had strangely contorted itself to both be on Junpei’s eye level and to look upwards at the teen from the concrete flooring.
“Ack-!” Junpei yelped, stumbling backwards. He nearly would’ve fallen backwards if it wasn’t for the vice grip of the other’s hands catching Junpei beforehand.
Mahito tilted his head, his body snapping back into its original shape. “You seem distracted.”
“O-oh, not really… I’m just,” Junpei faltered. “Tired.”
Mahito obviously didn’t buy it, Junpei had no idea why he bothered to misdirect an entity that was capable of perceiving human souls. The curse narrowed his eyes at Junpei, humming thoughtfully as he did so. Junpei didn’t know what his soul looked like, nor what it was broadcasting to Mahito.
Junpei squirmed, suddenly self-conscious.
“Oh!” Mahito giggled. “I see! Does little Junpei need his affection again today?”
Before Junpei could react, Mahito leaned over and placed a loud, exaggerated smack against the side of his face that wasn’t covered by gloomy black bangs. The kiss was fast, casual, but every moment of it was branded into Junpei’s memory. The sensation of Mahito’s lips on his cheek, the solidness of his hands as they grasped Junpei’s shoulders.
Despite the almost degrading, childishly mocking manner that the action was done with, Junpei still felt himself flushing at the display. Still felt himself melting into a million pieces, his whole body falling apart at the seams.
Moments like these only sent the teen further down his confused spiral… the kiss could’ve easily passed as teasing, it probably was just the curse’s form of teasing… and yet…
Glancing upwards, Junpei made eye contact with Mahito, who tilted his head cutely in response. One of his pigtails drooped alongside with the motion. His mismatched eyes were curled in mirth, a bemused smile causing them to crinkle along the corners.
“I’m so glad you came to me again,” Mahito purred, near seductively to Junpei’s virgin ears, as one of his hands stroked along one of Junpei’s exposed forearms. “Ju~en~pi~!”
W… What even were they?!? Junpei had no clue how to read any of this..!
Laughing, Mahito yanked Junpei after him. And Junpei, both bewitched and bewildered, had no choice but to be pulled along like a dog on a leash.
It’s been some time now since Mahito succeeded in getting his toy out of that silly stump it was in. The boy was resting now, comfortably curled up on top of the curse. Both of them were swinging lazily in Mahito’s hammock. For a human that thought himself so much smarter and better than the rest of his kind, Junpei was kind of stupid, huh.
That’s alright. Mahito finds his stupidity endearing.
Mahito gently hummed, one thumb idly rubbing alongside the edge of Junpei’s throat. Junpei was awfully frail for a human too. Even now, the entirety of Mahito’s hand enveloped the back of the boy’s neck. Little thing that he was.
Mahito still liked his little human though. Frailness and stupidity included. Everything about Junpei was a novel experience. The boy’s skin ran warm, pulsating with blood and life. His toy was a treasure trove of new emotions and sensations that Mahito can bring about with a careless touch. How fun!
Mahito rarely got to feel humans for such an extended period of time. He was far too used to instantly activating his technique, reaching past the flesh to mold the shapes of the other’s soul to his pleasure.
Even now, Mahito can sense the beat of Junpei’s soul lurking underneath his palm. So easily accessible, so bare and vulnerable. The soul itself was reaching out towards Mahito… just begging for the curse to touch it, to embrace the boy in his entirety.
Mahito chuckled, the laugh coming out in a disbelieving, breathless exhale. Junpei let out a small, quiet laugh in response, unaware of what the joke even was. How utterly human the boy was. How utterly adorable.
Mahito found that he enjoyed doing actions like these. Little claims to reestablish ownership of his toy, motions that usually have Junpei freeze, that make the boy turn and notice the taller, inhuman creature. His little unsure half-smiles that greet Mahito at every instance, where Junpei is slightly uncomfortable yet unwilling to reject his new friend. It just made Mahito want to eat the poor boy up, honestly.
Although, Junpei was evidently too tired for those kinds of responses now. The boy was somewhere between conscious and unconscious, barely aware of his surroundings but unable to respond properly to them.
Then again, Mahito did make it so after subtly twisting Junpei’s soul earlier. Just some minor adjustments! Just to make the boy sliiiiightly more pliant so Mahito can get some peace and quiet.
Mahito huffed as one of his arms flipped through one of the many books that the curse had stockpiled. Really, the boy had a terrible habit of overthinking himself in circles. Convincing the boy to do anything was always a fun challenge, but a challenge nonetheless.
Junpei had a lot of reservations on doing anything that his soul obviously wanted. Junpei would stare at Mahito and his soul would yearn and wail and cry with how much it wanted to touch the curse. To the point where even Mahito was distracted by the loud crying of the other’s soul.
And yet, the boy will just! Sit there stuck in his own thoughts! Not doing anything. Junpei had, apparently, lived his whole life full of restraint and self-imposed rules. Reservations that prevented him from being true to himself. How stupid!
To speed things along, Mahito simply began doing things that the boy’s soul obviously wanted. Sidestepping the boy’s silly reservations. Junpei’s soul was constantly reaching out for Mahito anyways, yearning for his attention in some way.
And Mahito was good with his toys! He’ll give little Junpei all the attention it wants.
Even now, Mahito was being so kind to Junpei! Letting his newest experiment lie atop of Mahito as the pair swung idly by in the curse’s hammock. Where Mahito had manifested an extra pair of arms to wrap around his pet human, giving the boy’s that much-needed attention he was so desperate for.
Junpei was curled tightly against Mahito, seeking out any ounce of attention that the curse would spare his way. At least the human was well-behaved, obedient even. The first time Mahito had tried this, the poor boy squirmed and shivered the whole time. Especially whenever Mahito’s extra limb would stroke too closely to the patch of scars that Junpei kept hidden under his bangs.
Now the boy was as tame as a lamb. Periodically there were smooth, even exhales escaping from him as he lay bonelessly atop Mahito’s chest. The curse had no clue if Junpei finally fell asleep or was simply at peace, but he supposed it hardly mattered. As long as the boy knew his place.
Mahito hummed as he flipped a page, the sound rumbling within his chest. The boy’s soul noticeably shivered in that funny way it sometimes did at the sensation, causing Mahito to stifle a laugh.
Junpei was so funny, so pathetic.
Mahito wouldn’t have him any other way.