"Why haven't you killed me?"
It's the first words he's spoken since Mahito dragged him back here and left him chained against the wall.
Almost forgotten, but not quite.
Mahito lets one foot dangle from the hammock he's reclining in and pretends to think over his answer.
There's a question he could ask in response to this- why didn't you run when you had the chance?
He already knows the answer to this.
Or at least some variation of it.
I wanted to think you were a good person.
I wanted to think you were my friend.
Mahito scoffs.
Because, objectively, he is none of those things.
He's not a good person. He's not Junpei's friend.
He never has been.
But what fun it had been to watch those illusions come crumbling down!
"We-e-ell." He draws the word out, picking at his lip, just to keep the boy in suspense. "The truth is, you're too amusing to dispose of just yet."
There are other reasons as well, but he's not ready to share those yet.
In one fluid motion, he hops out of the hammock. He raises his arms above his head, stretching until he hears a pop from somewhere in his back, before turning on his heel and stalking towards his prisoner.
Junpei's entire body stiffens, but Mahito has no intentions of harming him just yet.
Geto had spoken against using a hostage to force Sukuna's vessel into a binding vow, but really, where is any of the fun in that?
Mahito sits on the ground beside him, resting a hand on his back.
Junpei flinches away from that, but with his arms cuffed around the sewer pipe, there's nowhere for him to go.
He's subject to each and every one of Mahito's whims.
The hand stays where it is.
Mahito sees for the first time that his eyes are swollen and red.
He's been crying then.
Ah. He hadn't noticed.
Not that he's spared much more than a passing glance towards his captive this past day and a half.
Junpei slumps forward against the sewer pipe. Exhaustion bleeds practically from every pore. He's already on the cusp of giving up.
Not that it was hard to push him that far in the first place.
It's almost disappointing, really, that he didn't last longer, but Mahito has always known that he was weak.
He could dispose of him now, twist him the way he has with all the others.
Distort him.
The idea is a tempting one.
Even more enticing is the idea of dumping his desecrated and twisted corpse at the feet of Sukuna's vessel.
Of watching the boy's face crumble.
He had tried so very hard to save his friend after all.
Mahito claps his hands together gleefully and rises, leaning towards his captive.
Junpei raises his head warily, but he's long since learned that struggle will get him nowhere.
"Do you still think he'll come for you?" Mahito crouches down to eye level, combing his fingers through the boy's hair.
He takes his time, undoing the knots as he comes to them- his hair is stringy and unkempt after so many days down here.
Dark circles mar the soft skin beneath his eyes.
He's exhausted, poor thing.
Mahito clucks his tongue.
He doesn't even have to try particularly hard to feign sympathy.
He slides his hand from the boy's hair down to his face, cupping his cheek.
Junpei doesn't even fight the contact, eyes sliding shut in defeat.
Mahito wipes away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb, tsking softly.
This is going to be fun.
/
When rescue comes, it is sudden and without warning.
Junpei barely manages to lift his head before one of the sorcerers is blocking his view of the events as they unfold.
The man is tall, well-built, with slicked back blond hair.
"Are you alright?" he asks, crouching down, and Junpei's words dry up in his throat.
He never expected this, never expected rescue to come, because why would it?
"I…" He doesn't know what to say.
Gentle, but efficient hands undo the chains around his wrist. Junpei lets them drop to his sides, unsure of what exactly is expected of him.
He waits to be told what to do.
Something explodes beyond them and Junpei flinches, eyes wide.
"You're safe." A hand, warm and solid, grips his elbow. "Do you understand me? I'm going to get you out of here."
The man's eyes are hidden behind small, green and silver glasses, the set of his jaw is severe, but there's a kindness in his voice, evident despite his urgency, and Junpei doesn't know what to do with it.
The last person who spoke to him like that was…
Junpei swallows thickly past the lump in his throat and nods, too numb to do anything but.
This is all the man needs.
His arm is slung over the man's shoulders and he's hauled upright, an arm around his waist.
A wave of vertigo threatens to bring up what little Junpei has eaten these past few days, but he wins the fight to keep it down.
What is happening? Why did they come for me?
His mind is racing.
After what occurred at the school, he didn't think there would be anyone coming for him. No one who cared.
There was only…
Except Itadori had been hurt, badly, and it had been because of him. Why would he want anything more to do with him?
"I'm sorry," he chokes.
He thinks of Mahito, holding him close, pretending he cared, as he comforted him after his mother's murder.
Mahito, who had played a hand in the deed.
Mahito, who had manipulated, who had abducted him, had kept him chained in the sewer like a pet, made him watch as he performed his horrible transformations.
Mahito…
He's going to be sick.
Junpei chokes, clapping a hand over his mouth in an effort to keep it down.
This time, he doesn't quite succeed and the suited man pauses just enough to let him spew his guts gracelessly across the concrete, even if there's nothing for him to bring up but bile.
Even so, he can feel the tension rippling in the air around him.
They're still in the sewers and the sounds of the fighting are still audible.
"I'm-" Junpei hiccups, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. A shudder is quickly overtaking him. "-sorry. I'm sorry."
He ducks his head, chin wobbling, expecting at least to be reprimanded for slowing them down, but he isn't.
The man only adjusts his grip on Junpei to better support him. "Let's not worry about that now," he says tightly.
Obediently, Junpei shuts his mouth. He tries to convince his legs to take up more of his weight, but they buckle underneath him and he only winds up relying on the sorcerer even more.
It's humiliating and his cheeks burn, but the man says nothing to shame him.
It's… bizarre, to say the least, and he can't shake the feeling that isn't something that's going to last.
Junpei is used to being kicked to the ground, trod upon, humiliated.
He isn't used to being supported, cared for.
/
The man introduces himself as Nanami Kento.
Junpei sits numbly, a blanket around his shoulder.
This still feels incredibly surreal.
Has he really been saved?
Nanami is on the phone with someone- occasionally, he casts a glance Junpei's way before refocusing on the conversation.
Junpei, for his part, huddles under the blanket, taking up as little space as he can. He can't stop his trembling and so he hunches lower, wishing the pavement would just swallow him up.
Nanami folds the phone shut and approaches. "I've arranged accommodations for you," he says. "You'll be coming with me."
Junpei blinks, struggling to make sense of that. "Where's Yuuji?" He thinks back to what happened before he was taken. "Is he…?" The words dry up- he doesn't want to think the worst, but Mahito…
Nanami pauses, actually looking at Junpei with sympathy. Junpei looks away, heat spreading across his face- he doesn't know how to deal with that.
"He's fine," he says. "You'll be able to speak with him shortly."
Junpei slumps, going weak with relief. He's okay. He didn't get his friend killed. He didn't…
His breath escapes him in a little gasp, shoulders shaking.
To his utter humiliation, he realizes he's crying. He buries his face in his hands, fighting the wave of shame, guilt, and fear that threatens to overwhelm him.
A hand touches his shoulder.
He flinches, but Nanami has simply taken a seat beside him. "Breathe," he says- there's no harshness to his tone and his touch is gentle. "You're going to be alright."
Junpei has no reason to believe him, but, for some reason, he wants to.
How many times has he wanted someone to say those exact words to him?
How many times has he been let down instead?
Too many times to count.
Nanami gives his shoulder a squeeze, his demeanor patient. "Breathe with me, Junpei. Deep breaths. In. And out."
Junpei does.