Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The curse that stood before them looked like a heap of dark red, leathery flesh. It had no distinct shape, it barely moved at all, but it was massive. It didn't appear capable of speech, didn't even seem to have a mouth to speak, but its pitch-black eyes were fixated on Mahito.

Neither he nor Nanami had ever seen a curse that exuded so much raw, uncontained cursed energy. From the moment it set its gaze on Mahito, it was vibrating with pure, burning hatred.

They'd never met before, but Mahito could feel it in his soul. So different from himself, yet he was certain, this was a new curse born from human hatred.

"Nanami." He called out to his mission partner standing a few feet away. "I can't see this curse's soul…"

The red monster was growling deep and low, sounding almost like a rusty tractor's old engine; or a grinder crushing bones.

"I don't think my technique will work on it."

Nanami's jaw clenched. "Just keep your eyes on it. If you're at a disadvantage, I'll take it from here."

Mahito scoffed. "It's not like I'm gonna lose it. It's too big for the doors, and it looks too heavy to move anyway. It doesn't even look like it has legs."

"We know it didn't form in this room." Nanami retorted, and Mahito rolled his eyes.

"Well, I didn't get the memo!"

Laughter rose in Mahito's throat as he glanced in Nanami's direction, but before it could leave his lips, he felt his neck snap back, blinding pain shooting throughout his abdomen, and he felt himself fall as darkness surrounded him.

"...to…"

"...hito…"

"Mahito!"

Nanami's blurry face appeared through thin cracks as Mahito's eyes slowly slit open. His head felt like lead but he still instinctively tried to lift it, letting it drop mere moments later when an awful dizzy spell hit him.

"Don't move, just keep your eyes open." Nanami said through gritted teeth.

"Whatchu doin'…?" Mahito slurred when he made out Nanami's arms pressing down onto something. He lifted his head again, catching a glimpse of Nanami's hands on his stomach. 

They were covered in blood up to his forearms.

"Stop it, you're hurting me…!" Mahito whined, trying to move away, but he could barely move at all.

One of Nanami's hands quickly grabbed his arm, and Nanami pressed harder into the now visible wound.

"Please, don't move."

Mahito still managed to see more of his injury before letting his head fall back.

It was a long, gaping cut across his lower abdomen. Had it been just slightly deeper, he would've been sliced in half. 

He couldn't find the strength to heal himself. He felt completely drained.

"Why are you pressing so hard on it…?" He weakly complained, and Nanami had a look Mahito had never seen in his eyes. It was like he'd seen a ghost.

"... Your intestines are spilling out."

Mahito would've laughed if he wasn't in so much pain.

"I don't have intestines."

Nanami didn't seem amused, and Mahito's smile wavered when the sorcerer said:

"I think that curse did something else to you."

If Nanami was staying by his side, it must've meant the curse they were fighting — well, Mahito hadn't had the time to even get started — had been taken care of. 

"What are you talking about? I didn't even see anything."

"It was much faster than we thought. It all happened in a flash, I barely made it out myself. It moved right through you and you lost consciousness, and now your scars look different and you're breathing."

Oxygen caught in Mahito's throat the moment he realized it was there. As he held his breath and felt the need to release it for the first time, he also felt his chest vibrate with something hammering against his ribs. 

"I… I think I'm gonna be sick."

He could feel the pounding resonate in his skull, and the realization that he had a heart coupled with the unbearable pain in his middle made his head swim and beads of cold sweat form on his forehead.

Nanami cursed under his breath.

"Turn your head to the side." He then said, and Mahito did as he was told. His chest rose and fell at an alarming rate as he began to realize that he wasn't only physically drained.

His cursed energy felt different too.

"Deep breaths, Mahito." Nanami ordered him as gently as he could in the panic. "You're going to make yourself faint again."

"I don't know what that means, I've never breathed before!!" Mahito cried out, immediately regretting it when the sudden tension in his abdominals tugged at the open wound.

"I'll breathe with you, okay?" Nanami offered, trying to ignore the feeling of Mahito's blood seeping into the fabric of his pants.

He also needed to control his own erratic breathing.

"Breathe in slowly through your nose and stop only when your lungs feel full."

Mahito didn't object that he technically, as far as he knew, wasn't supposed to have lungs, and he took in a shaky but slow breath.

"Good. Now hold it for a few seconds and breathe out through your mouth like you're blowing into a straw."

Mahito did so, weakly noting:

"I didn't know breathing was so tricky."

But then he tasted something other than the dusty air from the abandoned room on his tongue and he coughed.

Blood flew from his mouth and stained his chin. 

"... That's not good, is it?..." He asked with a faint smile, feverish eyes glazed over as he looked at Nanami.

"It's not." Nanami said, and although he gave his best effort to keep his voice calm, Mahito could see the distress in his soul. "Shoko should be here in five minutes, can you keep breathing for me?"

Despite the pain and metallic taste in his mouth, Mahito found the strength to chuckle at the wording Nanami used.

Mahito treasured his freedom and his absence of ties to anything or anyone that would hold him back, but in the last few months he'd found that doing things alongside Nanami made them easier and more enjoyable. He'd learned so much about the aspects of the sorcerer's life as a human, to the point that it even taught him about his own life as a curse. To the point of questioning what he always felt he'd been programmed to do, both by his cursed nature and Geto's expectations. 

Getting to know Nanami meant considering that perhaps some humans were worth sparing, but he still felt conflicted. He didn't have all the answers yet.

Nanami's presence by his side made the uncertainty and the pain in his disembowelled body a little more

bearable. Blood pooled at the corners of his mouth, but they remained upturned when he gurgled:

"For you, yeah."

Chapter Text

"Why did you come here?" Nanami asked the curse bleeding out on his doorstep once the initial shock of the realization Mahito knew where he lived had worn off.

"I'm not here to fight, sorcerer." Mahito simply said, smiling like a man on death row, ready to look the grim reaper in the eye. 

Still, his beaten body was shivering and there was something else written on his bruised features. 

Shame.

"That's not what I asked."

"Does it matter? You're going to finish me off anyway, aren't you?" Mahito spat out bitterly, but his voice was tinted with more fear than anger.

"You ran from whoever did this to you just to die by my hands?" Nanami asked in wary disbelief.

This got a bloody smile out of Mahito. "Better you than him." 

The curse was visibly struggling to hold his own head up, and it began lolling further and further against his nude shoulder. His black sort of poncho had been torn at the seams.

Nanami crouched a few feet in front of him, still keeping a safe distance despite it being clear the curse wasn't much of a threat at that moment. "Him?" 

Mahito looked at Nanami from behind his lashes, eyelids getting heavier by the second.

He would be dead in a few moments; he might as well take the man he now knew had never been on his side with him.

"Suguru Geto."

Mahito's neck finally went limp and he slid against the doorframe, but Nanami caught him before he hit his head on the floor.

Mahito woke up in a warm room, on a comfy mattress, with soft blankets covering his body and fluffy pillows propping his head up. He tried to look around and immediately regretted it.

A headache split his head in two, his neck was sore and his gut was in a knot. But even worse than all that, he'd sucked in a sharp breath when he'd tried to move and now his throat and chest felt weird. How unpleasant was it to breathe. Why did he even try? But he soon realized he couldn't hold it for long, or else something in his ribcage started burning and aching for air. 

He started breathing again, but felt like he was choking. It was too much, painfully overwhelming, and scared moans left his mouth, getting louder and louder as panic crept in.

Light suddenly entered the dark room as Nanami stepped in from the living room, making his way to the bed slowly in order not to scare the curse further.

"Mahito, you're okay, you're safe."

Mahito just looked at him with the eyes of a rabbit caught in headlights, panting turning into wheezing.

"You're in my room, Shoko treated your wounds, you're alright."

"How- can I be- alright?!" Mahito choked out. 

"Are you in pain?" Nanami asked, fearing something else had gone wrong in Mahito's body despite Shoko's reverse cursed technique.

His hand found its way over Mahito's shoulder and his thumb brushed against the newly warm skin.

"Keep breathing and tell me where you're hurting."

"I don't- I- I don't wanna breathe!" Mahito cried out, and Nanami exhaled through his nose.

If that was the only cause of Mahito's distress, it was easily solved.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Mahito." He said with a small, relieved smile.

Mahito puffed out his cheeks, and Nanami decided to give him a minute to pout while he went to the bathroom to fill up a glass of water.

He’d spent several hours on a chair by Mahito’s bed, which was actually his own, guarding him as he was sleeping, watching the slow and new rise and fall of his chest. Halfway through the night, as there was no sign of Mahito rousing, Nanami decided to try and get some sleep on the couch, leaving the door to his bedroom ajar.

He fell asleep practically as soon as his head hit the cushion that smelled like Mahito’s hair. The curse had slept on this couch before. Nanami recalled having to scrub blood stains off the fabric, despite making sure to cover it with an old towel before tending to Mahito’s wounds the day after the death of the Yoshino kid. 

Nanami hated to have to do that, but after hearing his former and, as far as he knew, dead uperclassman’s name in Mahito’s mouth, he had to make sure Mahito would recover soon and to keep him alive long enough to learn more. Nanami had frowned as he patched up the slashes, dabbed at the drying blood and cleaned the dirt from Mahito's bruised face.

He didn’t go as far as to brush the bloody knots out of his hair, though he disliked leaving a task undone. He couldn’t believe he’d actually gone as far as to give Mahito more dignity than Junpei could’ve ever been given.

Mahito had done nothing to deserve Nanami’s care and attention. 

Until they had their first real talk.

Mahito was surprisingly pleasant to talk to, and Nanami found himself yearning to get to know this curse, and not only the information he had to offer. If all curses were as interesting, smart and oddly charming as Mahito, Nanami’s job would be even more difficult, if not impossible. If not for the circumstances of his birth, there would be practically no way to differentiate Mahito from a slightly quirkier than average human being. 

Nanami couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Mahito marveling over his bookshelf which Nanami hadn’t even read half of, and had to admit he was impressed by Mahito’s knowledge and his reasoning abilities. Their conversations during the next times Mahito stayed over would often last for hours, philosophizing until late in the night. 

Paradoxically, Nanami had to teach Mahito about the most basic things, such as what “crying” was to humans. He couldn’t blame Mahito for thinking it was the soul sweating; Nanami had never seen any curse cry. 

Eventually, Mahito ended up spending more and more time at Nanami’s. They had to decompress after their first mission, discuss their strategy and write the report. Then, Mahito spent the night on the couch. The winter was harsh, so Nanami naturally offered it. The idea of Mahito going back to his cold, damp sewer after a night of chatting in a warm apartment didn’t sit right with him.

Still, Nanami hadn’t forgotten, and realistically he knew he would never forgive if he was in Yuji’s place. But he wasn’t, and he had a more nuanced notion of right and wrong.

He knew that if he listened to himself, he would have killed already. His former boss, who put profit above humans, completely guilt-free despite directly facing those whose life he was making hell. That one coworker who always hogged the printer and left his empty coffee cups everywhere. 

Now that Nanami thought back on it, it sounded ridiculous, but back when he was caught in the gears of the machine, it felt like it would fix the world somehow.

Fighting curses, despite being a shitty job, was a great way to let off steam. Being around Mahito worked even better.

When he returned to the bedroom, Mahito's face had turned purple.

"Shit."

He nearly dropped the glass, quickly setting it down on the nightstand before crouching by Mahito's side and lightly slapping his face.

"Hey, Mahito, Mahito– don't do that, you need to breathe."

Mahito finally took a dramatically big breath, followed by several rapid wheezing ones.

"W-why? It feels like shit, I hate it!"

Nanami’s gaze softened and he sat on the bed, in the manner Mahito had seen people do in movies when they were about to open up or reveal some important information that would turn the whole plot around.

Mahito had no idea what was coming. He didn’t even know how he’d gotten here. He remembered the curse that looked absolutely horrifying, even to a fellow curse, and he remembered the blinding pain, but then…

"That curse, how did you–"

"It absorbed your cursed energy."

Mahito froze. He suddenly felt it, the lack of cursed energy within himself. He'd assumed he felt off because he was drained, still recovering from nearly dying and Shoko's treatment; he hadn't thought he was still suffering lingering effects from the attack.

"It seemed it was its main goal; it didn't pay attention to me at all until I attacked it. Then, it fought back, but differently than when it hit you. I don't think it would've killed me if I hadn't done anything."

Mahito's frown deepened. A curse having such a precise and focused goal was unusual; a curse targeting another curse and ignoring a sorcerer was unheard of. Unless that curse was under a curse user's command, which wasn't the case as far as Mahito knew.

"That's weird." Mahito noted. "So, when will I get it back?"

Nanami didn't answer right away, which Mahito had learned wasn't a good sign with him. He searched for clues within his soul, but couldn't find any indication of Nanami lying to him, which was also something he'd rarely, if ever, noticed with Nanami. He did sense, however, reluctance.

"What?" The curse asked, losing his patience. "What's going on? When can I get my cursed energy back and stop breathing??"

"I don't know." Nanami admitted.

"You don't know?!" Mahito parroted, trying to make sense of that information. "Shoko didn't say? Surely she knows about that kind of stuff!"

"She said she'd never seen something like this."

Nanami wasn't usually one to tiptoe around any issue, and now he was even avoiding Mahito’s eyes.

"Like what?! What the hell is wrong with you today, just tell me the tru–"

"You're human, Mahito."

Mahito blinked once, twice, then burst into laughter. He laughed so hard it made his headache worse, but he didn’t care. That was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Nanami didn’t laugh.

“How can you be so deadpan? That’s hilarious!”

He even had to wipe away a tear, sounding a little more airy than usual as his lungs worked through his fit of giggles.

Lungs?

Mahito's jaw slackened and he felt his heart beat hollowly and out of rhythm. His newly warm and vibrating chest ached, and a cold wave of dread shot through his body as his breath hitched in his throat.

“Come on, say something…!” He choked out.

Nanami only looked at him.

"Does that mean…" he trailed off weakly.

"We don't know if you'll get your cursed energy back." 

Suddenly Mahito heaved and covered his mouth, eyes wide and body violently lurching forward.

Thankfully Nanami had followed Shoko's advice and put a bowl within arm's reach. He kept it firmly in place on Mahito's lap while his other hand held his loose hair back, though not all of the long blue tresses fit in his closed fist. He did the best he could to try and make the situation easier for Mahito. He could only imagine how distressed he'd feel if the roles were reversed.

"Just let it happen. You'll feel much better after."

Mahito let out a small, pathetic burp, and all the transfigured humans he'd been storing somewhere in his digestive system came tumbling out of his mouth.

They had been sitting there for several weeks, with no new one being added to the pile since Mahito joined Nanami on missions. He hadn’t promised anything, but he’d found himself less drawn to hurting human beings since spending more than half of the week around Nanami. 

Tears burned his eyes as he spat the last one out along with a string of saliva, and he whined:

"Why can't I…?"

He tentatively picked one up among the two dozens in the bowl and frowned before throwing it at the wall with a frustrated cry.

"Mahito–" Nanami began.

"When were you going to tell me about my technique?!"

Nanami was taken aback by the sudden rise in Mahito's voice, but he didn't flinch.

"I didn't know how you'd react." He assured him. "I wanted to do it the right way."

Mahito stared into his eyes, his gaze like tear-stained daggers.

"You know there's no right way to do it." He said coldly, and Nanami sighed and bowed his head.

His eyes fell onto the pile of dead transfigured humans in the bowl, and he winced at the sight before putting it down on the floor, making a mental note to pick up the one Mahito had thrown across the room and to find a way to dispose of them without throwing them in the trash or flushing them down the toilet. Idly, he wondered if he should give them a proper burial.

"I apologize.”

Mahito rolled over on his side, back turned to Nanami and facing the wall. “Keep your apologies to yourself.” He muttered bitterly. “It’s not like those ever fixed anything.”

Then, as he held the blankets into balled-up fists tucked under his chin, he added:

“I’m going to kill myself.”

The shift in Nanami’s soul gave him shivers. It turned hard, cold, sinking heavily into his chest, yet pulsating with a deep anger Mahito couldn’t understand. Nanami’s suddenly scratchy voice sent another shiver down his spine.

“Don’t you dare.” He spoke harshly. 

Mahito hated feeling like he was being scolded. Sure, Jogo was always huffing, groaning and rolling his eye, but Mahito found it funny to try and get a reaction out of him. Jogo had never tried to hurt Mahito, burn him, hit him, or threaten to kill him. 

The last person who had scolded Mahito had scared him, of course, but also left him angry. If Geto could do this to him, he could do the same to the other curses Mahito considered his family. 

But Mahito himself had been helping Nanami to exorcize curses. It had only been their second mission together, and the first one wasn’t even a week ago. He hadn’t taken the time to truly reflect on what this decision implied — but humans killed other humans too, right?

He had just accepted because this curse was a genuine threat to humans. Because it was powerful. Because otherwise, Nanami would be going alone.

How foolish. Mahito was angry at Geto, at Nanami, and at himself. 

“Why do you even care?” He exclaimed, raising his voice. “I’ll just get reborn as a curse and get my technique back!”

“You have no guarantee of that.”

Mahito suddenly shot upright, ignoring the pain in the tender flesh of his abdomen, and cried out:

“So what?! Better dead than to be human!!”

The satisfaction he found in giving into the urges to be provocative, ugly and hurtful wavered when he saw the look in Nanami’s eyes.

“I didn’t push your insides back into your body for half an hour just for you to throw your life away!! You were lucky to survive this, not everyone-...”

Mahito felt it again; the same distress in Nanami’s soul as when they were waiting for Shoko, breathing in unison as minutes felt like hours.

Yet Mahito could tell Nanami wasn’t only recalling this particular moment. There was an old scar in his soul.

Mahito didn’t want to poke at it any further. It didn’t feel so good to hurt someone when that someone was Nanami. 

"Why are you acting like that?” He mumbled, as if speaking louder would intensify the taste of guilt on his tongue.

Mahito’s hair was tangled, his eyes were sunken in and he struggled to catch and get the hang of his new breath. Nanami couldn’t help but feel for him. He would've never thought he'd feel compassion for a curse before meeting Mahito. 

The now human curse might have also been the person at whom Nanami could stay mad at for the shortest time.

"Like what?" He asked softly.

Mahito looked wary; in fact, he had the same look in his eyes as the day he'd showed up to Nanami's apartment after getting tortured by Geto as punishment for failing his mission to form a pact with Sukuna three months before. 

He hadn't seen it coming; the beating was unlike anything he'd felt before. He'd barely had the time to recover from his fight against Nanami and Itadori, and between the blows, he'd gotten a taste of Geto's technique.

He cursed himself for trusting someone who he didn't even know had the ability to absorb those he’d tricked into believing he was their ally.

"Like you want to preserve me.” Mahito said hesitantly, almost shamefully. “Like I mean something to you." 

“Because you do.” 

Mahito looked up to meet Nanami’s haunted eyes, a look of disbelief on his own face.

He wasn’t sure anyone would care if he died. Geto had proved to him that he definitely wouldn't. Jogo always spoke of them being reborn should anything happen to them, and that they’d meet again someday.

But Nanami knew about curse reincarnation and yet was adamant to keep Mahito in this life.

Maybe it wasn’t about Mahito at all.

“What were they like?” He asked. “The person you lost.”

“I’ve lost several.”

“You know who I’m talking about.” Mahito replied. “Your soul knows.”

Something shifted in Nanami’s eyes. His eyebrows relaxed and he let out a soft sigh. He felt like an open book when Mahito scrutinized his soul like this. He couldn’t tell, of course, what Mahito saw, but he’d begun to recognize the moments when Mahito was doing it. He would stare, sometimes tilt his head to the side, or gaze into Nanami’s eyes for a bit longer than he normally would. 

Nanami wondered if Mahito could tell whether he was a good or a bad person at heart, like his old friend always said he had a talent for.

“His name was Yu Haibara.” He almost whispered, speaking his name for the first time in many, many years. Even someone as tactless as Gojo knew not to bring him up around Nanami.

It wasn’t even that Nanami couldn't stand the thought of Haibara. After a decade, grief had eventually made its way into acceptance, but today he had almost lost Mahito too.

“Did he look like me?” Mahito asked innocently, and Nanami couldn’t help but smile.

“He looked nothing like you. But he was always smiling, eager to go on missions, and had a sweet tooth.”

Mahito slid out from under the blanket to shuffle closer to Nanami who was still sitting on the mattress. He sat by his side, bent legs on top of the sheets and head resting on Nanami’s shoulder. His body wasn’t pressed against Nanami’s, but they had rarely been this close to each other. 

“He could also see right through me.”

“Maybe he could see souls?” Mahito suggested, and Nanami wasn’t sure how he felt about never finding out whether that was true or not.

Sometimes he still felt like Haibara had just left, moved to another country and had been living a new life all this time, away from Nanami’s sight.

Even after seeing his corpse with his own eyes.

“What happened to him?” Mahito asked, and Nanami felt his heart sink. Mahito must have felt it too, because he reached for Nanami’s hand.

Nanami wondered where Mahito had learned such gentle touches. Probably in movies, where the line between love and friendship was often blurred.

“We were sent on a mission that should’ve never been given to us. We weren’t strong enough yet. I couldn’t…” 

Nanami hadn’t expected his voice to die in his throat. 

“Save him?” Mahito asked as he brushed his thumb over the back of Nanami’s hand.

Nanami hummed softly. “I know there was nothing I could have done, but I can’t help but feel I should have done more.”

“You saved yourself.” Mahito said. “And you saved me. Despite what I said earlier, I’m grateful that you did. I would hate to be in the afterlife without you until I reincarnate. What if you’re already dead when I come back?”

A smile tugged at the corners of Nanami’s lips. If that thought could keep Mahito alive, that was good enough for him.

“I’m glad you’ve chosen to stick around. I’ll teach you everything I know about being human. You’re a fast learner, so I have no doubt you’ll be fine.”

Mahito let out a soft giggle as he rubbed his cheek against Nanami’s shoulder, giving his hand a squeeze. Nanami felt his cheeks flush pink. Mahito’s hand was warm now. It felt nice to hold.

“What’s my first lesson?” The newly human being asked excitedly. 

Always eager to learn and do good.

“Let’s start with something simple yet essential; fuel for your body. First, I want you to drink this glass of water while I make some breakfast.” Nanami ordered, softly yet firmly, and Mahito, who usually hated to be told what to do, sat up straighter and nodded.

“Okay, teacher~”

“Good boy.” Nanami said with a smile as he got up. Mahito had that twinkle in his eyes again. 

Once Nanami was out of the room, and after Mahito had come down from the high of being called a good boy — which had happened before, but always left him warm and fuzzy — he grabbed the glass of water and proceeded to down it as fast as he could. 

He had consumed liquids before, though never in large quantities. Picking up some leftover milkshake at a dinner or having a sip of coffee and hating it were frequent occurrences when Geto took them to restaurants — but was always the only one to order food. As much as Mahito despised humanity, he couldn’t deny that their food wasn’t half bad. In fact, he found the creativity of cooking absolutely fascinating. How plants and animals could be turned into such delicious-looking meals was a source of endless wonder. Though the food that most fitted Mahito’s tastes usually came from artificial chemicals.

Water didn’t have any taste, but it felt good on his parched throat. He felt it slide down his oesophagus, and then, he heard his stomach groan. It was a kind of discomfort he’d never experienced before, and although it didn’t actually hurt, he still called out to Nanami.

“My belly’s making some weird noise!”

“It’ll be ready in five minutes.” Nanami replied from the kitchen, and the smell of food began to reach Mahito’s nostrils, making his stomach rumble again.

“Why’s it doing that?” He asked a bit more worriedly. “Feels like there’s a hole in my insides.”

Nanami didn’t answer right away. 

“Maybe I’m not completely healed?”

“I can assure you Shoko knows her job, Mahito. You’re just hungry.” 

Though he’d never experienced it firsthand, Mahito knew the general concept of hunger. The thing he’d seen written the most on homeless people’s signs was “I’m hungry”. Now that he knew what it felt like, he couldn’t imagine feeling like that all day, every day. 

Would he begin to feel sorry for humans now that he was one of them? To experience the same empathy he had for his fellow curses?

He swung his legs off of the bed, stretching them and examining the stitching that divided them in several parts. The staples were still there, but looked useless as the wounds were all closed up. He picked at one of them, and it fell right off. The scars were fresh, dark pink and raised, but they held together on their own. He moved his feet, finding it hard to wiggle his toes and lacking strength and precision in his movements. This new body felt heavier, more fragile and complicated to control. 

He kept swinging his legs while waiting for breakfast to be done, observing how the clothes he was wearing weren’t his own. The tank top was a little too big, and the underwear wasn’t something he’d usually wear. Most of the time, in his cursed form, he didn’t have genitalia, so he didn’t wear anything under his pants. 

He was wondering what parts he had down there when Nanami came back into the room.

“Can you stand?” He asked, and Mahito gave him a small, defeated smile. 

“Not sure. My legs are weak and I feel lightheaded.”

Nanami looked down at Mahito’s bare legs. Ivory skin, delicate and with small feet curled inward. Dimly, he wondered if Mahito would need physical therapy to be able to walk correctly, but he had no idea what excuse he’d come up with. The scars all over his body were too even to pass as accidental, no doctor would buy it.

How would he explain the sudden appearance of a new human to literally everyone else? Mahito couldn't stay between the Jujutsu Tech walls forever. He deserved to be able to go outside, to have his own life. He officially had the same rights as Nanami now.

Nanami realized he’d stopped seeing him as a curse long before he became human.

Well, they could always worry about paperwork and identification later. Mahito’s stomach gave another growl, and Nanami held out his arm.

“Hold onto me.”

Mahito did as he was told, taking hold of Nanami’s strong arm and pushing himself to his feet. 

He was swaying a little, and he thought about that newborn baby deer he’d seen during one of his day trips to the countryside. Getting onto a random train just to see where it would take him was one of his pastimes, before the war against humans became his priority and the plans of action became more real. 

Now that he was no longer a part of it, he could travel again. He could finally chat with the other passengers. Maybe Nanami would come with him.

He tried to take a step forward, but the sudden weight shift on his unsteady feet and the lack of blood flow to his head made him fall forward, losing his vision for a few seconds. 

Nanami caught him in time, one knee bending more than the other as he suddenly supported all of Mahito’s dead weight. 

“You’re okay.” He said softly as Mahito blinked away the stars that danced before his eyes. “You’re low on energy and your body’s not used to standing upright. Give it a few days at most and I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Maybe he should give Mahito’s legs and feet a massage later to stimulate them. He almost chuckled at the thought. It definitely was something he wouldn't do for just anyone.

“I take it back, being human sucks.” Mahito whined, but before he could complain further, Nanami slid an arm under his knees and pulled him into a bridal carry. 

Mahito didn’t add anything.

It wasn’t that bad after all.

He let himself be carried to the kitchen, surrendering to Nanami’s warm and strong embrace, and it felt nice to know he wouldn’t be dropped. 

Nanami made him feel safe. Just the thought of him was enough to calm his nerves and replace the anxious gnawing at the back of his brain with the soft flutter of butterflies wings.

His arms unlocked themselves from behind Nanami’s neck as he was lowered onto the couch, in front of the coffee table where a steaming plate was waiting.

“This should be easy on your stomach and filling enough.” Nanami said, and Mahito felt his mouth water at the sight of simple yet tasty-looking food.

Leftover steamed rice from the day before and a small omelette with a side of avocado and carrots.

It wasn’t much, but to a starving Mahito it looked like a feast.

He dug in without further ado, holding the chopsticks wrong but still managing to stuff his face with rice and egg.

“Take the time to chew, Mahito.” Nanami said with patience it would normally take him great efforts to show. “Chew at least twenty times for each bite.”

“Why? It’s mushy already.” Mahito asked, and Nanami tutted.

“Manners. No talking with your mouth full. And to answer your question, you need to chew enough, otherwise the digestion process might be painful and uncomfortable.”

The prospect of getting a tummy ache didn’t sound too appealing, so Mahito forced himself to chew, counting to twenty before swallowing. He did, however, fill up his mouth again as soon as it was empty, barely breathing in between bites. 

Nanami didn’t feel like bothering him too much yet, so he let it happen. He’d have plenty of time to teach Mahito how to eat like the food wasn’t going to be taken from him.

“Ideally, you should have three meals per day.” Nanami said as he sat on a chair on the other side of the table, and Mahito nodded. 

“I think I can do that. Hey, is that a vegetable?” He asked as he held a piece of carrot between his chopsticks.

“It is.” Then, when he saw the look of disgust on Mahito’s face, he added: “You need to eat those too.”

“Says who? Can’t I just eat whatever I want as long as I have three meals?”

Nanami pinched the bridge of his nose, but he was more amused than annoyed. As much as Mahito’s childishness reminded him of Gojo, he never got on his nerves the way the other sorcerer did.

Objectively, he knew not everyone would stand Mahito’s antics, but it all just felt natural to Nanami. 

“Picture your body and your health as a delicate and precarious balance. I won’t go into technical details as even my knowledge doesn’t go that far, but you need to eat a little bit of everything in certain quantities. You don’t have to restrict too much, but it is said that you should eat five fruits and vegetables a day.”

”FIVE A DAY?!” 

Nanami stifled a laugh. “Yes, five. Though four is fine too.” He conceded as he realized he didn’t always hit that goal himself.

Mahito heaved a dramatic sigh. “I don’t even know the taste of three vegetables or fruits.”

“Try the avocado.” Nanami suggested invitingly.

“The green one?”

“Hm-mh.”

“The green ones are the worst.” Mahito pouted, poking the avocado with his chopsticks.

“Try it.” Nanami said with a soft smile, and Mahito couldn’t help but trust that face.

He brought a piece to his mouth, screwing his eyes shut and scrunching his nose. Then, he chewed.

He chewed five times.

“Hm!”

His eyes shot wide open and shone as he looked at Nanami, shaking his hands up and down excitedly.

“Hm!”

“I take it it wasn't that bad.” Nanami chuckled.

The thought of being here for the next meals Mahito would take, cooking them and making a mental note of what Mahito liked and disliked suddenly felt like a realistic prospect. 

For the first time, Nanami allowed himself to imagine a future with Mahito. Until now, he’d prepared himself for the day the higher-ups would change their minds and sentence Mahito for execution. Which they wouldn’t hesitate doing to a human being as well, but Mahito’s new humanity brought possibilities and opportunities that were unimaginable for a curse.

Nanami found himself just gazing at Mahito as he proceeded to eagerly eat the rest of the avocado, yet still leaving the carrots to the side. So many new things to try. So much hope that would’ve been misplaced less than twenty-four hours ago.

Nanami reached for Mahito’s face, his thumb lightly brushing against the corner of his mouth. 

Mahito froze mid-chew and stared at Nanami with wide eyes, letting out a small “huh?” that was more surprised than confused. 

Nanami cleared his throat. “You, uh, you had a piece of avocado there.”

Mahito broke into a smile and leaned his cheek against Nanami’s palm.

“Thanks for looking out for me.”

Nanami’s jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. “It was just a crumb—”

“For everything, I mean.” Mahito giggled, and Nanami felt his heart soar.

It wasn’t much, but it moved him more than he’d ever been in his entire life. Just being around Mahito, hearing his clear laughter and knowing he was the one who made him smile.

He cleared his throat again, withdrawing his hand, crossing his legs and looking down at the now empty plate — well, except for the carrots, but they had time to work on that eventually. 

“Furthermore, gaining weight isn’t necessarily an issue as long as you have a balanced diet.” He said in an attempt to change the subject. "I can teach you how to cook and we can share meals until you—”

Suddenly, it hit Nanami that Mahito might never truly be well-adjusted to life as a human. Would he ever be independent, able to care for himself and to hold a job to pay for his own place?

“Until?” Mahito asked.

Would he be safe on his own? There were thousands of ways he could accidentally hurt himself or get in trouble if he was left alone. Would he ever learn how to file his own taxes? Would he forget to turn the stove off? Would he fit into society, learn the social codes and not get arrested or embarrass himself every few day?

“...Until you’re ready to stand on your own two feet. In the meantime, Gojo could probably arrange for you to have a room at Jujutsu Tech.”

Mahito began to fidget with his hands, twisting his fingers and getting frustrated as he realized he couldn't bend them as far as he used to.

He looked like a child who had his mind set on a toy at the store and would silently try to convince his mother to get it for him.

“...Who’s gonna make sure I eat well if I’m there? And that I don’t get food on my face?”

Nanami’s gaze softened. Although in his new human form, Mahito also looked like a grown man, he was still a being that had come into existence less than two years ago. He was mature, but he had so many things to learn, including some that any toddler already knew.

Nanami couldn’t bring himself to surrender Mahito to anyone else before he was absolutely sure he’d be okay.

“If you don’t mind taking turns sleeping on the couch, and if you abide by some simple rules…”

Mahito’s face lit up and he rocked from side to side happily.

“Nanami’s warm home and comfy bed and nice couch and so many books and yummy food…~”

Nanami thought back to the day Gojo had referred to Mahito as a “tamed” curse. It was true that the young man sitting on Nanami’s couch had little to do with the cruel, sadistic curse he’d met in the sewer just a few months earlier.

But then again, despite the atrocities, Mahito had always been nicer to Nanami. In fact, being in the palm of his hand in the curse’s domain had felt oddly pleasant. Like Nanami was being carefully held, like Mahito was being gentle. And of course, he’d mentioned being grateful twice. As much of a dangerous, manipulative and blood-thirsty curse as he was, he’d always treated Nanami with some, albeit twisted, kind of respect.

During the past few months, Nanami had noticed so many changes in Mahito. He couldn’t explain it all, but it seemed he was easily distracted from hurting humans and experimenting on them if he was given a different goal and was treated kindly.

Nanami had no guarantee that, in his human form and unable to fight curses anymore, Mahito wouldn’t go back to his worst instincts. Which was why he had to keep an eye on him. Keep him close and offer him distractions and the same kindness which Nanami himself couldn’t see the full extent of. To him, he was just treating Mahito with respect and dignity, but he couldn't deny that he found it natural and easy to care about Mahito. Words of praise and encouragement flowed smoothly, and Nanami didn't have to think twice or hold back. 

He did, however, control himself when he got the urge to hold Mahito close. It felt almost obscene to him, how he’d crave the touch of Mahito’s skin or the feel of his beautiful, soft-looking hair. Sometimes he’d get a whiff of Mahito’s scent, which wasn’t unpleasant at all when he was a curse. He didn’t smell moldy or dirty, but like summer rain with a hint of sweetness. Nanami mentally withdrew from his own thoughts when the idea of tasting Mahito’s skin crossed his mind.

“Nanami? What

are you thinking about?”

“N-nothing.”

Nanami cursed himself. Of course Mahito wouldn’t buy it. He probably knew that one couldn't just think about nothing, and most of all, he could see Nanami’s soul.

Nanami prayed his soul didn’t read as lewd, or whatever it was that prompted those thoughts.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mahito. It’s just-... I’m glad you’re alive, and I’m happy to have you here.”

Mahito smiled so wide his eyes crinkled.

“Me too! So that’s why your soul is moving like mine.”

Chapter Text

A week later…

Mahito let out a soft, strangled little grunt that made Nanami stop what he was doing.

“Too far?”

Nanami’s fingers loosened around Mahito’s ankle.

“No. I’m just tired.”

Mahito’s foot went limp, curling inward again. He stared at it, wiggling his toes a bit and then hitting the floor with his heel repeatedly.

Nanami stopped him the third time.

“Mahito, Mahito— you’re doing fine.”

“Fine?!” He cried out, kicking Nanami’s hand away and curling up on the couch with his back facing the sorcerer.

“I mean it.” Nanami said softly, one hand settling on Mahito’s shoulder. “Your legs are getting stronger, your ankles are flexible, your feet aren’t as curled as they used to be, you can move your toes…”

Mahito tried to shake Nanami’s hand off, but soon gave up and just curled onto himself tighter. He stared at his own hands, weak and useless, barely capable of holding chopsticks or a pen. His arms were thin, easily tired and quickly started burning after a few minutes of doing his hair. His wrists were fragile, bending instead of supporting anything heavier than a small pile of books or a big cup of hot chocolate.

“... and you can stand without getting dizzy anymore—”

“But I used to be able to do a lot more.”

Mahito could feel Nanami’s thumb rubbing circles on his shoulder over the fabric of his fuzzy gray sweater. It was a gift from Nanami, as Mahito got cold easily as a human. He hadn’t been outside Nanami’s apartment yet, which meant Nanami had picked it himself. It was surprisingly to Mahito’s taste. He’d taken a liking to all things soft and warm like blankets, heating pads and fuzzy socks.

“You’re making progress every day, I can see it.” Nanami assured him.

“My body used to bend in every direction with ease. It could turn into anything without any pain, it could stretch, flatten, twist, inflate-”

“But you’re not your body, Mahito. Yes, those abilities are most likely truly gone, but your mind and your soul are still there. You’re still you.”

Mahito felt his own soul twist and ache, weeping from the inside. His soul’s tears reached his eyes, overflowing, and soon his shoulders were shaking and his breaths were coming out jerkily.

“But I hate me!”

Nanami’s hand gently closed around Mahito’s shoulder and he got up from his chair to sit next to Mahito’s feet on the couch. He leaned back to get a glimpse of the former curse’s face. Contorted and stained with angry tears. Nanami sighed.

“It might take some time, but you’ll eventually learn to love yourself just as much as I love you.”

“You love me?”

The disbelief in Mahito’s voice made Nanami’s heart sink even deeper than it already had when he realized how he’d worded his last sentence. 

“I- I mean—”

“Nobody’s ever told me they loved me.” Mahito said as he rubbed his eyes and propped himself up on his elbow before shifting into a sitting position.

“Do you really mean it?”

Nanami couldn’t try and deny it when Mahito looked at him with those puffy and bloodshot eyes that were still brimming with fat tears.

“You have a… a special place in my heart.”

Mahito couldn’t hold back a giggle as he reached for Nanami’s hand.

“You always had a special place in my soul before I got a heart. I think that’s why this new curse of human hatred deemed me unfit to be a curse and took my curseness away.”

Nanami listened, surprising himself when he dared brush his thumb over the back of Mahito’s hand.

“I could feel how much it hated what I’d become. But if you love the new me, then I don’t really mind.”

The smile that Mahito offered him dislodged the last tears still clinging to his eyelashes, and Nanami brushed one away with his thumb, careful as if he was touching a butterfly.

“You had no choice in it, but I admire your resilience and your strength.” He murmured fondly. “If the roles were reversed, I don’t think I’d manage as well as you.”

“I’m sure you would, being a curse is much easier than being human.” Mahito said, and Nanami felt his heart lighten when he heard the hint of playfulness in his voice. “Moreover, you wouldn’t be alone. I’d be there too.”

Nanami had no idea what the future had in store for him, but if he could set a condition, it would be to allow Mahito to remain by his side.

“I’m grateful you didn’t leave me to fend for myself. If there were more humans like you, I most likely wouldn’t have existed as a curse. So, in a way, I’m glad there was enough hatred in this world for me to be born just so I could find you one day.”

Nanami chuckled softly at the endearing yet somewhat unsettling confession. “Balance is key. Though I’m not sure I’m particularly outstanding among humans.”

Mahito’s jaw dropped.

“How can you say that?! You cook me something new for every meal, you massage my legs and feet multiple times a day, you buy me comfy clothes, you let me sleep in your warm bed for two extra nights even though we both know it was my turn to sleep on the couch—”

Nanami felt heat rise to his cheeks at the praise. 

“Many humans would do the same. I’m not special.”

“Well, you’re my favorite human.” Mahito asserted, mismatched eyes staring into Nanami’s warm brown ones. “And I mean it.”

Nanami felt his stomach twist, but not sickeningly. It felt like the kind of rush of happiness that caused a smile to involuntarily tug at the corners of one’s mouth; something so pure and raw that it couldn’t be contained within one’s body.

“Thank you.” He said, and his voice trembled.

Nanami wasn’t sure Mahito got the measure of the feelings behind his words and if he could even reciprocate, but before he got the time to overthink it all, Mahito bounced on the couch.

“Can you help me get up? My soul wants to move!”

Nanami pushed himself to his feet but didn’t offer his hand to Mahito, instead standing with his hands on his hips.

“You can get up on your own. I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“But I wanna move with you…” Mahito whined, and Nanami furrowed his brow.

“Move with me?”

“Yes, like they do in movies, when they hold onto each other and move to a rhythm.”

Nanami closed his eyes and shook his head with an amused smile. He shouldn’t be surprised that Mahito had never seen humans dance in real life. 

It was a comfort to know Mahito had a stock of hundreds of thousands of little things to marvel at for every new day he’d get to see. 

“Sure. Just let me put on some music.”

Nanami wasn’t sure what Mahito’s tastes in music were, or if he even had any. So he went with something simple from his own playlist, the second track from Sinatra’s “The World We Knew”.

He wasn’t a good dancer, he never really had opportunities to practice, but neither did Mahito, who didn’t even seem to know the word for it. There was no reason to be nervous.

Yet Nanami felt his heart race as Mahito stood, a little unsteady but much more confident in his footing than the week before. Nanami had picked a slow song on purpose, knowing Mahito’s ankles wouldn’t handle him jumping around yet.

It was also because he felt like slow-dancing himself. 

He guided Mahito’s arms around his neck and locked his own in the small of Mahito’s back. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him to get so bold with his advances, but the mood seemed right.

“And then?” Mahito asked, and Nanami could feel his warm breath against his neck.

“We sway from one foot to the other. Just follow my steps, I’ve got you.”

Mahito looked down at first, staring at their feet while unintentionally sticking his hair under Nanami’s nose. In addition to Mahito’s natural scent, it now smelled like Nanami’s shampoo.

Nanami was careful not to step on Mahito’s feet, but Mahito did step on his multiple times, eliciting laughter from them both, until their eyes met and they were rendered silent again.

As the song progressed, Nanami could feel Mahito pressing himself closer to his body, and Nanami’s arms tightening their embrace in return. 

Until Mahito stood on the tip of his toes, reaching up and pressing his lips to Nanami’s. Then, Nanami held him even closer, lifting him from the floor and slowly spinning in the middle of the living room without breaking the kiss.

Mahito couldn’t help but giggle against Nanami’s mouth, holding onto his shoulders as he swung his legs. 

By the time the song ended, Nanami had put him down and they were back to gazing into each other’s eyes. Their swaying came to a stop, and Nanami had a hundred things to say to fill the silence, but none of them felt right. He didn’t want to scare Mahito with something too grand, too big for him to handle. He didn’t want to burden him with his feelings. He didn’t want to spoil it all.

Though no word was spoken, Mahito sensed the conflict in Nanami’s soul, yet it didn’t seem to affect him. He was glowing, and the blissful smile he offered his first dance partner made all his worries fly away.

“There you go.” Mahito said as his hand reached up to pet the short hair on the back of Nanami’s neck. “Now our souls are moving in unison again.”