Mirrors ◇ Joji x Reader

V. Be Careful

Present Day
Friday, November 25

Joji rubbed the back of his head with his uninjured hand.

"It was... Very unexpected... And very traumatic. Um... I'd rather not talk about it..."

His eyes teared up as he directed his focus to the ceiling. I frowned and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-

"No, no... You didn't know..." He rubbed his eyes, sniffling.

I turned on the cold water in the sink, taking his injured hand and holding it under the stream. He winced in pain.

I reached over to grab a washcloth and some tweezers from the bathroom cabinet next to me. Then, I took Joji's hand from under the water and watched carefully so that I could remove any remaining shards of glass. Luckily, there weren't any large shards that broke too much skin.

I took the washcloth, wetting it under the water and carefully rubbing it against Joji's hand. He looked at me with worry.

"He doesn't deserve you..." He mumbled.

"You mean you don't deserve me. Even though that isn't true."

"If I don't deserve you, then he especially doesn't!"

"None of that made sense," I said as I took a roll of bandages from the cabinet.

I wrapped his hand firmly with the bandages, being sure that the Velcro at the end was firmly gripping the cloth to keep it in place. I kissed his cheek again.

"I promised that I'd go to see him. Is there any other mirror I can use?"

"Well, technically it's not just mirrors... it's anything that can reflect light... water, metal, plastic... but they're easier to travel through if they're stationed vertically. Traveling horizontally requires you to pull yourself up when you arrive, and you're barely even used to traveling so you won't have the strength to do that."

"How do you travel anyway?"

"Well... The spell that's used comes from an ancient Japanese tradition... it's passed down by bloodline so only certain people can do it, otherwise everyone would be popping in and out through puddles and cars and shit."

I nodded in understanding.

"So... you'd have to recite the spell for me?"

"Naturally. It has to be in Japanese. Translations won't work. It's really old Japanese too so I have no idea what it means."

"Ok... so how am I supposed to get to the other side if we don't have something to travel through?"

"I have a spare mirror in the closet..."

Joji headed out of the bathroom,  opening the bedroom closet that is built into the wall. From it, he pulled out a mirror identical to the one he broke.

"How long was that in there?"

"For as long as we had the other mirror."

I had more questions, but I decided to ask him later.

Joji placed the mirror where the other one once stood. He then mumbled the spell to activate the portal.

"Be careful, ok? His mannerisms are different from mine... he's kinda... rapey."

I looked at him with concern.

"I can come with you if you want," he replied.

"No... I think I'll be fine. But you can probably see me through the mirror anyway, right?"

He nodded. I kissed him goodbye before stepping into the mirror.

This time was different. Though my vision didn't go completely dark, it was definitely blurred. I could see a wide spectrum of vibrant colors before finally arriving to the other side. I could feel a set of arms carrying me somewhere.

"You came..." Joji said in a quiet voice.

"Of course I did... Why wouldn't I?"

"I haven't exactly been treated the best since... The incident..."

I could tell that he was tearing up as he laid me on the bed. As I sat up, my vision returned to me.

Joji sat next to me. His eyes were no longer black. They were back to normal, but they were bloodshot.

"Did your eyes heal?" I said as I caressed his cheek.

"No, I just kinda doused my eyes with saline."

"Didn't that hurt?"

"Hurt? Past tense? My eyes are still burning, (Y/N)."

His eyes wandered from my eyes to my lips. He was about to lean in, but he stopped himself.

"A-ah, I didn't mean, I should probably ask... erm... am I allowed to kiss you?"

I grinned, kissing his cheek. "You are, but I think I should probably flush your eyes out with water first before you go blind."

Joji 1 was definitely more hardcore compared to Joji 2, but he didn't seem as "evil" as Joji 2 made him out to be. I think he just needs someone to love and spend time with him.