For Tomorrow We May...

For Tomorrow We May...

"It's open!" Junpei shouted as he stuffed his PSP in the drawer of his desk and hurriedly grabbed a pencil, faking being very interested in the open textbook before him.

The door opened, and Akihiko walked in. "Hey. Just wanted to see how the studying was coming along."

"Oh, great, really great!" Junpei lied with a big smile. Akihiko smiled back at that. That is, until Junpei's PSP, whose pause button he had missed, decided to betray him with a loud "You've just died! Haha!" tune.

"Junpei Iori!" Akihiko marched to the desk indignantly.

"I was just taking a little break! A tiny little break! I swear!" Junpei opened the drawer, but Akihiko made a grab for the PSP and Junpei had to struggle with him to be able to yank it out of the drawer and out of Akihiko's reach.

"Give me the game, Junpei" Akihiko growled, holding out his hand. "Now."

Junpei looked up at him pleadingly. "Can I save first?"

Akihiko sighed. "Fine, save then give it to me."

Defeated, Junpei saved his game, then handed the console over.

Akihiko grabbed it none too gently, then shoved it in his back pocket and walked toward the door. Instead of leaving, however, he closed the door, cleaned the chair in the corner of the clothes laying on it, then brought it next to Junpei and sat down on it. "Now study."

Sighing, Junpei grabbed his pencil again. "And you're gonna watch me on top of that?"

"Apparently you can't be left alone without you goofing off instead," Akihiko replied a little more harshly that he meant, still a bit miffed that Junpei had lied to him so boldly, and a bit angry at himself to have actually believed it. He let out a sigh when he caught sight of Junpei's hurt look. "Come on," he said in a softer tone, "I'll help you out."

Junpei let out a small groan, but pushed his textbook closer to Akihiko.

********************

"Come on, Junpei, you're not even trying!" Akihiko rubbed his temple, feeling a headache looming. He had helped Junpei do his schoolwork before and he knew it was not exactly an easy task, but tonight was setting a new record. Junpei had actually forgotten the answer to a question a mere 30 seconds after Akihiko had given it to him. Three times in a row for the same question, too.

"Give me a break man! How can you even ask me to study at a time like this?" Junpei tore out the page from his notebook then tossed it in the basket next to the desk for emphasis. "We're going to die!"

"We're not gonna die tomorrow, so you will study and you will at least try to pass your exams!"

"What? I can't even study and you expect me to focus during the actual exams???"

A series of knocks against the wall interrupted their argument; Ken telling them with the handle of his lance to be quiet, some people were trying to sleep!

"Shit," Junpei swore softly as he let his head fall against the desk. He wasn't sure what he was swearing at, though. The universe at large seemed a good option right now.

"Yeah," Akihiko agreed in a low voice, leaning his elbows against the desk, absently looking at the textbook. He reached out and flipped a couple of pages with his fingers. "Come on, let's do a few more pages. It'll change your mind."

A bitter laugh rose in the room. "Yeah, that worked well so far."

"Like the stress of not having studied will help you feel better!"

Three knocks, again, and the sharp barks of a dog, this time. Huh. So that's where Koromaru was. Not that Akihiko blamed Ken for letting him sleep in his room; Ken probably found comfort in him with all his senpais wrapped up in their own fears and problems.

Junpei groaned and slammed the book shut, nearly trapping Akihiko's fingers in it, before he stuffed it in his bag, grumbling. "This is hopeless. How can you even think about making me study? I'm gonna die soon, again. Fuckin' Ryoji! It would have been so much easier if he'd just decided to eat our faces off one morning!"

Akihiko was going to object to that when one word gave him pause: again. Die again. True, Junpei had died once... and he probably wasn't eager to try the experience again. There'd be no one to save him this time. No one to save them. For what seemed like the hundredth time since the beginning of the month, Akihiko felt like the floor had opened up under his feet. Dammit. He thought he had gotten better at ignoring his own impending death; seems it was just playing a sick game of peekaboo with him. "It's gonna be fine," he finally offered, as much for his own sake as for Junpei's.

"Right." Junpei had gotten up and was gathering his school books for the next day, putting them in his bag, his back turned to Akihiko.

"Where's the Junpei who told Ryoji we'd kick Nyx's ass?" Akihiko tried to sound playful, but even to his own ears it sounded like a poor effort.

Junpei snorted. "He went back to Yakushima and left no forwarding address, the prick."

That made Akihiko chuckle a bit. Well, if Junpei could still crack a joke, all wasn't lost yet. "I... guess I'll let you be for now, then. G'night, Junpei." He had barely put his hand on the door handle when Junpei called out after him, softly, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to be heard.

"Senpai."

Akihiko turned to look at him. Junpei was still facing the back wall, but he had turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of him over his shoulder. He spoke even lower this time.

"Would you... stay with me tonight?"

Akihiko froze for a minute, then nodded, unsure if he was doing it for Junpei or himself.

********************

"I was starting to think you had bailed on me," Junpei joked as Akihiko walked back into his room, dressed for the night, carrying his pillow and his neatly folded uniform.

"Heh. Had to make sure the coast was clear. I don't really feel like explaining why I'm camping out in your room... not even to Naoki." He put his uniform on a free spot on the desk, then looked around. He had assumed they would, but... "... we're gonna sleep in the same bed?"

Junpei looked at him sheepishly. "I... yeah, I was hoping so..."

"Nothing funny," Akihiko warned. He walked to the bed, then climbed over Junpei on his knees in order to settle between him and the wall, before putting his pillow down.

"Who, me???" Junpei asked with his best scandalized face as he watched Akihiko struggle to get under the covers.

"I know you and your ways, Junpei Iori," Akihiko accused with a smile once he finally got his lower body under the bed sheets.

Junpei did his best to look utterly devastated. "You wound me, senpai. I who is pure and chaste and... stop laughing!"

"All right," Akihiko managed between two chuckles, "turn off the light, you chaste virgin maiden."

Snorting, Junpei turned his back to Akihiko to set his alarm and turn off the light. He then lay down on the mattress, a bit uncomfortable. Even if he couldn't see Akihiko, even if their bodies weren't in contact, he could feel his presence at his side, hear him settle down into a comfortable position, then breathe softly. It was very strange to sleep in the same bed as someone else for the first time; at the same time, though, it was reassuring, for reasons Junpei couldn't explain. If the world ended during the night—which fortunately was not going to happen. It was not. It was not. Quit it brain!—it wasn't as if Akihiko could protect him at all, or him, Akihiko. Now or then, either. Same for everyone else in this suicidal plan.

Before he could realize what had happened, Akihiko found himself with an armful of clingy Junpei. He was going to tell him off, except Junpei was shaking like a leaf against him, so he just closed his eyes and held on tight, not saying anything when he felt something wet drip onto the crook of his neck.

********************

Akihiko woke to a strange, dull pain in his arm, only to find that Junpei was sleeping heavily on top of it. Oh, nice. He grunted as he tried to pull on his arm, then roll Junpei away without waking him when that didn't work, so he could get some blood back into his poor arm.

Being manipulated so, however, woke Junpei more surely than any alarm. "Huh? Mornin'?"

"Not yet," Akihiko groaned, rubbing his arm. Ow. And he thought the pain was bad when Junpei was on it.

"Oh." Junpei turned toward Akihiko again, tracking him by body heat alone to go lean against him. "Bad dream?"

"Heavy weight on my arm," Akihiko corrected him. He felt Junpei's hand feel for his arm, then rub it up and down, gently, to help the circulation resume normally.

"Sorry," Junpei said, leaning his cheek against Akihiko's shoulder. He stroked Akihiko's arm for long minutes, breathing deeply, letting himself get lost in the gentle rhythm. "Good?"

"Yeah." Akihiko moaned softly as Junpei's hand wrapped around his fingers and he felt him bring his fingers to his lips, and kiss them silently. Akihiko uncurled his fingers to caress Junpei's cheek, as much as he could. The light stubble scratched his skin a bit. The mattress creaked a little as Junpei shifted; Akihiko suddenly raised both hands and put them against Junpei's chest to stop him as he felt the man trying to move on top of him. "Hey, I said nothing funny."

Junpei sighed heavily, but settled by Akihiko's side again, an arm across his stomach. "Not even a little?"

"No." Akihiko stifled a yawn behind his hand. "All I wanna do is go back to sleep. Besides, we have school in a couple of hours."

Junpei sighed again, and Akihiko could almost hear the pout in his voice. "All right." Just as Akihiko was drifting off again, though, he spoke up. "Senpai?"

Grumbling, Akihiko rubbed one of his eyes before cracking it open. "What."

"I... well..." Junpei shifted against him, putting a hand on his chest, his hot breath brushing against Akihiko's shoulder. "Maybe later then?"

Akihiko scratched his hair, letting his heavy eyelids closed again. "Ask me again in the mornin'..." he mumbled. He felt Junpei press closer carefully; when Akihiko felt him lace the finger of one hand with his, he squeezed back lightly before dozing off again.

********************

Junpei slapped his hand down on the radio to shut up the much too cheerful anchor declaring what a beautiful day today was—because it wasn't, thanks a lot—and rolled over for his traditional 5 more minutes. Only he found he couldn't roll over much, because he ended up plastered against his senpai's firm, warm body. Smiling, he decided that okay, maybe today wasn't so bad after all, and he embraced Akihiko gently, laying his head on his shoulder.

"Aren't you getting up?" Akihiko's voice was soft and still dopy from sleep.

Sighing, Junpei closed his eyes. "Not yet."

Akihiko snorted, but brushed his hands over Junpei's clipped hair, once. "Slept well?"

"Better." He still had had anxious dreams oppressing his chest with dread, but Akihiko's presence at his side had soothed him enough that he hadn't had a series of full blown nightmares or insomnia again. "Thanks, senpai."

"Don't mention it." Akihiko hid a yawn behind his hand. Sleeping in Junpei's bed had comforted him too, even if he felt less like saying so. "Can we get up now?"

Chuckling a bit, Junpei rolled around and sat on the edge of the bed, turning the alarm off for good. "You're ruining the mood, senpai!"

Akihiko let out a small amused noise as he got out of Junpei's bed. "What mood?" He stretched like he did every morning, oblivious to his very non-oblivious audience. He was however reminded of said audience when Junpei walked closer to wrap his arms around his waist and press his morning erection against Akihiko's ass.

"Sooo, senpai..."

"Now is not the time, Junpei."

"Gee, I know that!" Junpei wrapped his arms around Akihiko's shoulders instead and took a small step back because Akihiko's ass looked especially good this morning, for some reason. "You told me to ask again in the morning, so... here I am asking."

Akihiko thought about it for a minute, then untangled Junpei's arms so he could turn around to face him. Despite the added embarrassment and the bonus red cheeks on both of them, he felt this was a discussion they should be having face to face. "You want us to... jerk off together again?"

"Well... yeah, that's the idea..." Junpei answered, with a bit of an embarrassed grin. He reached up to lower the beak of a cap he wasn't wearing. "Is this about last time? I... I'm really sorry about that." He cast a quick glance at Akihiko before looking down at his knees again. "I didn't mean to jump on you like that."

"Yeah... I mean, no, I mean... that's okay, I'm not mad about that, but..." Akihiko looked at Junpei and took a deep breath. Shit, how had he gotten into this... this was supposed to have been just a friendly thing, and now look at them. Look at him. "How about Saturday night?" he finally said, because they had not time to get into the whys and the hows of things right now. "We can sleep in the morning after."

Junpei's delighted smile made Akihiko's heart squeeze a little as much as it made him happy.

"Consider it a date, senpai!"

********************

Life continued on at the Iwatodai Dorm with a tense attempt at normalcy that everyone knew was a lie, but put great effort into. If it could be called effort on Junpei's part, who continued to not study. Instead, his time was devoted to repeated attempts at evading Akihiko's own determination to force him to study.

Akihiko had more success than Junpei.

He left school on that Friday afternoon, paying no attention to Junpei ducking away from him, and made his way to the small cemetery on the island where he knew Shinjiro's ashes had been entombed. He had thought at the time that the Chairman had been incredibly generous to buy Shinjiro such a nice plot; now he figured the bastard had probably bought it for all of SEES, and it sickened him. Still, he hoped Shinjiro could find a measure of solace in being there, under the shade of a venerable old tree.

"Hey, Shinji," he greeted his old friend as he put his schoolbag down, then paused. Where to begin? "I... I guess you see what's happening from where you are, huh? Pretty bad, isn't it." Of course, nothing answered him, not that he expected otherwise; it just felt good to think Shinji was watching over him. He was sure he did. Probably while pretending he couldn't care less and that Aki kept waking him up from his otherworldly catnaps, too.

"Yeah, so..." he rubbed his wrists to hide the shaking of his hands. "I guess you figured... we might meet again pretty soon. But, whatever happens, I promise to go down fighting. I just... don't be too mad at me when we get reunited... all right?" He forced himself to smile. "And I promise this is the only time I'll mention it, okay? I'll kick ass. Just watch me."

He licked his lips, hesitating as he looked around to make sure he was alone. He wasn't sure how to word his next thoughts. Hell, even his thoughts on the subject matter weren't all that clear. "I... there's something else." He laced and unlaced his gloved fingers. "I... Junpei... I mean... I... maybe... might be... hooking up with Junpei. I'm not sure yet, I..." he looked around nervously again, but in the middle of the afternoon, no one was there, "I honestly wish I could ask you... but you'd probably just laugh anyway." He paused to swallow, then let out a chuckle that tried very hard to sound sincere. "Shit, if you were here, I wouldn't need to ask you about that anyway, right?" He bit his lips, throat tight. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to sound like a jerk. I'm sure you'd want me to move on, but... ... I'm moving on. I swear. I just..."

Akihiko sniffed and stood for a moment in silence, looking at the grave, his gaze following the contours of the kanjis. In the back of his mind, he was almost surprised no stray bolt of lightning had hit him yet. "I'll be strong for us. All of us. Don't worry."

********************

On Saturday night, Junpei was jerked out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. Glancing at the clock as he told his visitor to come in, he did a double take as he realized it was already almost 9:30. Shit, how did it get so late so soon? It seemed that it was still 7:00 five minutes ago! "Oh... hey, 'sup?" he greeted Akihiko as he turned around and saw him coming in.

"Hey," Akihiko answered with a nervous smile as he closed the door and locked it behind his back. "I was starting to worry. I expected you to be bouncing around my room right after dinner."

Junpei laughed at that. "Awww, you love me."

Akihiko snorted as he walked to the desk and leaned back against it, looking at the sitting Junpei. "I think I just know you too well."

"Hey!" Junpei protested as he poked Akihiko's flank. He then let his hand slide down to Akihiko's knee, where it rest. "Thanks for coming."

Suddenly embarrassed, Akihiko looked away briefly before his gaze settled back on Junpei again. How could he be rock hard already? They had barely exchanged three words, let alone any touches yet. "Don't mention it..."

Smiling, Junpei rose to his feet, closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around Akihiko, holding him almost... lovingly. "Wanna... wanna get on the bed?" He slid one of his hands down to Akihiko's hip.

"All right," Akihiko answered, before he walked to it, closely followed by Junpei, who still had an arm around his back.

They sat on the bed together, but then Junpei leaned down to rest on the mattress on his side, pulling Akihiko along with him so they faced each other. He folded an arm under his head and smiled his giddy little nervous smile he always smiled every time they started fooling around. "Hi," he said as he trailed his other hand down to Akihiko's belt, then began pulling Akihiko's shirt out of his pants.

"Hi yourself," Akihiko answered with a snort before reaching out to pull Junpei's cap off his head and throw it at the foot of the bed. "Must you wear that all the time?" He then reached down to undo Junpei's belt.

Junpei shrugged before going back to his task, namely to get Akihiko's vest and shirt off him. "I like it." He had to wait for Akihiko to stop fiddling with his buckle to be able to pull the vest over his head, but he didn't have time to finish undoing the button of Akihiko's crisp, pristine white uniform shirt before his senpai managed to open his pants. He couldn't hold back a moan as Akihiko's gloved hand wrapped around his erection, making his eyes flutter shut as he squirmed a bit. "Yeah..."

Worryingly, Akihiko had to fight the urge to kiss Junpei's forehead. That had never happened before... "Eager?" He grinned, trying to hide his burgeoning uneasiness.

Junpei flushed red as he opened his eyes to look down at Akihiko's pants, which he began undoing very carefully. "I huh... might have been thinking about it since last night..." he mumbled. Once he was done opening Akihiko's fly, though, he slipped his hands back up Akihiko's torso to undo the last two buttons of his shirt, then spread the flaps of the fabric aside to expose his pale skin. "S-senpai," he whispered, his words catching in his throat when Akihiko's hand slowly caressed his cock, once, "I, huh... I wanna try something new... if you want."

Akihiko stilled his hand, scrutinizing Junpei's embarrassed expression. "Does it involve evokers again?"

That immediately defused the tension and Junpei burst out laughing. "No, not this time," he promised once he'd calmed down a bit. "Trismegistus' harder to manoeuver than Hermes. Plus he's got a whole lot more pointy bits."

"... Y'know, I can't decide if I should appreciate your honesty or be horrified that you even know this," Akihiko pointed out after a minute of stunned silence as he poked Junpei's stomach. That made Junpei laugh again and Akihiko realized that, yes, he had missed that sound.

"So, can we?"

"All right, sure," Akihiko agree, shrugging. If Junpei didn't want them to jerk off with Trismegistus, or God forbid, Caesar, how bad could his idea be, really? Although on second thought the Hermes thing alone could suggest Junpei was a freaky pervert... He didn't have time to worry for long, though; Junpei resumed undressing him, pushing his shirt off his body, then tugging on his pants to lower them. Akihiko turned onto his back and lifted his hips off the bed to help, then sat up to allow Junpei to take his shirt away, letting it fall in the same pile on the floor as his pants and vest.

Once that was done, Junpei took one of Akihiko's hands in his and, slowly, heart thumping, he began taking his gloves off, one finger at a time, barely able to believe his senpai was letting himself be undressed. He took the other hand when the first was done and removed that glove like the other while Akihiko used his free hands to get rid of his shoes and socks. Finally, the only thing Akihiko had on was his white briefs.

Junpei paused, looking admiringly at him for a moment, still barely believing his luck, then slowly began to undress himself. He was, however, soon interrupted: Akihiko brushed his hands aside, gently, then knelt at his side and began reciprocating Junpei's actions, taking the Gekkoukan uniform off a flushed Junpei piece by piece, leaving him sitting on his underwear on the bed.

Akihiko cleared his throat, trying not to look too openly at Junpei's erection barely hidden by the fabric of his briefs. This was getting slightly more awkward than their usual sessions. More intimate, too, in a way... "So... what now?"

"Now," Junpei said as he rose a bit stiffly from the bed, "just... lay down, okay?" He walked to the nearby dresser as Akihiko did as asked, laying so his head rested on the pillow. Junpei retrieved a plastic bag hidden under a pile of socks from the top drawer, then walked back to the bed, tossing the bag on it before climbing back onto the bed and settling on top of Akihiko, legs between his. "Made you wait?" He gave Akihiko his best attempt at a seductive grin as he lay his body down on top of his. He then began to move his hips, tentatively, rubbing their covered cocks together.

For lack of a better thing to do with them, Akihiko put his hands on Junpei's back as he began grinding against him. It felt good, better than last time, in any case: much less desperate and hurtful, much more... tender. He swallowed when he looked up and caught Junpei looking down at him with a small, blissful smile on his face. "Don't look at me like that."

Junpei's grin widened as his cheeks reddened, just before he ducked his head and pressed his cheek against Akihiko's shoulder. "Can't help it," he mumbled. He almost blurted out more, silly, stupid things like so beautiful, feels so good and I want you, but he couldn't think of words that didn't sound horribly cliché and girly, so he settled for suckling on Akihiko's shoulder instead, savouring Akihiko's little voiceless gasps and moans and the tightening grip on his shoulder blades.

After a small nip to the crook of Akihiko's neck, Junpei slid his hand down one of Akihiko's sides, slipping it under the waistband of his underwear to push it down. With great effort, he pulled himself off Akihiko, got up onto his knees and stepped aside, smiling when Akihiko briefly tried to hold him down.

"Where're you going? I didn't come yet..."

"I know, me neither," Junpei admitted with a smile before pulling Akihiko's briefs all the way down and off him. "I told you, I wanna try something different." He reached out and grabbed the bag he had tossed onto the bed earlier, grabbing a bottle and a small, square packet from it. As Akihiko squinted at him, he began to open the packet, hoping he'd remember the instructions he must have read over a dozen times since morning.

"Is that..." Akihiko's eyes went wide as Junpei pulled the condom out of the package. "W-wait, wait, I don't want to be fu—"

"It's not for me," Junpei interrupted, looking down. "It's... for you." He reached out and palmed Akihiko's erection resting on his belly, then looked intently at his senpai. "Can I?"

Akihiko stared at him for a moment, mouth agape. "You're gonna hurt yourself," he finally blurted out, even though he knew perfectly well Junpei let Hermes, and probably Trismegistus, finger-fuck him. He just didn't know what else to say. He had never expected Junpei to want to go so far so soon with him. Then again, with the end of the wo— fuck he was thinking about that shit again!

"Senpai?" Junpei let go of Akihiko's cock and gently lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead," Akihiko said as he pushed himself up on his elbows, doing his best to chase those thoughts from his head, "but be careful!"

Junpei made a small indignant noise. "I'm not that stupid." He took Akihiko's cock in hand again, then went to task. It took him three tries to get Akihiko's cock covered properly, however: the first time he had the thing inside out, and the second time he tore it by pulling too hard. "Y'know," he said, a little frustrated, as he finally took his underwear off, then straddled Akihiko's legs and poured some lubricant onto the condom, "the back of the box makes it *look* easy. ... oh sure, laugh."

He coated Akihiko's cock generously, then knelt over it and grasped it firmly, taking a deep breath. He had always been curious to try this, ever since that first time Hermes had pushed a thick finger into him and made him see stars, but now that he was actually straddling it, it looked a little... big. Bigger than he was used to. Nonetheless, if tonight was gonna be his only chance, he sure as hell was going to take it, he thought as he lowered himself. He felt the blunt, cool head press against his hole, slowly forcing him open wide, wider than with Hermes, wider than he thought his body could take as he gasped for air. He tried to take it little by little, as slow as he needed; soon, though, his legs were trembling with the effort of holding him up in mid-air like that, pain spreading through them.

"You okay?" Akihiko sat up and put his hands under Junpei's thighs, supporting part of his weight.

"Yeah," Junpei gasped out, "just... need a minute... you feel fuckin' huge." He leaned against Akihiko and grinned, wrapping one arm around his shoulders.

"Don't be silly," Akihiko spoke in Junpei's ear. He caressed Junpei's thighs and cheeks, gently, even letting one hand wander to where their bodies were joined, still barely believing Junpei was taking him inside of him.

Junpei moaned a deep "Senpai" when he felt Akihiko's fingers flutter over his ass, then he resumed his descent, until he was firmly seated in Akihiko's lap, sweating and breathing hard. "Oh..." He hissed a bit as he squirmed, trying to find the least uncomfortable position to rest for a while. "Wow," he exhaled against Akihiko's neck when he finally stopped, shivering as Akihiko's hands lay on his back, caressing him slowly, up and down. His erection, which had faltered earlier, was back in full force, leaking a bit of precum against Akihiko's stomach. A soft moan escaped his lips as he raised himself tentatively, then slid back down around the hard cock inside him. "Good?" he asked, pulling away from Akihiko just enough to see his face.

"Y... eah," Akihiko moaned in response, feeling a bit overwhelmed. It was better than good to be inside someone like that, to be inside Junpei like that, but his brain was too scrambled to find more accurate words for the oddly wonderful sensations bombarding it, so he just agreed with Junpei and silenced his cry with his hand when Junpei began to move, for real this time.

"Fuck, senpai..." If, in the back of his mind, Junpei had feared that the real deal would be too much for him to handle, he was quickly finding out that wasn't true. His body quickly adapted to the slick cock inside him, and soon, as usual, all the small pain and discomfort was gone, leaving only pleasure.

He clung to Akihiko, who pressed his lips to the crook of Junpei's neck to muffle his groans. Junpei dug his blunt nails in the flesh of Akihiko's back when Akihiko grabbed his cock and began pumping it in time with his thrusts. "Fuck... fuck!" He came messily over Akihiko's hand and stomach, toes curling in the bed covers, unable to hold back, the incredible feeling of having his senpai in him and holding him overwhelming his senses.

He heard Akihiko groan something that sounded like "Junpei" as they tumbled over on the bed, Akihiko using his folded legs as leverage to thrust into him hard and fast as he came too, panting harshly. He let his head fall on Akihiko's shoulders as his orgasm subsided, letting out a deep moan in Akihiko's ear, and the latter couldn't help but think he had never thought the word "senpai" could sound so obscene.

"You all right, Junpei?" Akihiko whispered once his breathing was back to its normal rhythm. His hands caressed Junpei's back, sliding slightly against the fine sheen of cooling sweat.

Junpei only grunted at first, then declared, with a small chuckle, "My legs hurt, of all things." He sat up, slowly, then pulled himself off Akihiko's softening cock before getting rid of the condom—but not before accidentally spilling the contents on Akihiko's crotch—and let himself fall on his back at Akihiko's side, stretching out his legs. "Ow, dammit."

The only sign of sympathy he got from Akihiko was a small snort. "Your idea," his senpai said as he grabbed some tissues to clean the semen and lubricant smeared all over his crotch and stomach. He nonetheless turned to his side and cleaned Junpei up, smiling softly, looking mellow and satiated.

"Thanks," Junpei said as Akihiko tossed the tissues in the trash. He then pulled him closer so he lay half on top of him. "Mm, warm..." he sighed as he just held him, one arm around his shoulder, his other hand on the curve of his waist.

"You gonna be okay?" Akihiko asked again as he reached out and caressed one of Junpei's warm thighs.

"Yeah, nothing sleeping in tomorrow morning won't cure." He smiled widely at Akihiko, and Akihiko wondered how that smile could make his heart swell and squeeze at the same time.

"No, I meant..." He bit his lips and paused, watching Junpei's questioning face. He felt horrible for even just thinking it, but... he hoped Junpei wasn't running to him for comfort to forget about Chidori's death. He figured Junpei wouldn't do such a thing, he was too true to his feelings to do so, but a nagging little voice kept reminding him about last month. But... back then, Junpei had been asking for help. Right? This time, it... it seemed like... business as usual. Mostly. "... it's nothing."

Junpei frowned a bit, then held Akihiko tighter. "We'll think of something. There has to be a way. I mean, maybe Ryoji says it can't be done because it's never been attempted right? I mean, it's not like he would try..." There was no bitterness in his voice when he said so, just a deep conviction that he was right, or a very good fake of it.

Akihiko couldn't help but smile at that. "That's my Junpei."

Junpei gave Akihiko's back a light slap. "When exactly did I became 'yours', Aki—mmf!" He instinctively moved back when Akihiko's lips pressed against his, but a second later he moved into the gentle kiss, parting his lips when Akihiko's tongue brushed over them, just a bit, the tip of their tongues just barely touching before Akihiko pulled back, blushing and smiling. At the sight, Junpei immediately forgot everything he wanted to say and a few things he didn't. "Huh..."

"Should we sleep?" Akihiko asked to coax Junpei's brain back on the rails.

"Y-yeah..." Junpei stammered before clearing his throat. "Would... huh... sleep here, please?"

"Sure." Akihiko rose from the bed, slowly, and gathered his clothes, putting them back on. "I'll just go wash up and get my pjs, all right?"

Junpei nodded. "All right." He watched Akihiko leave, then looked back up at the ceiling, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. The familiar warm pulse of Trismegistus' Spring of Life coursed through him, spreading from his heart through his body, down to the tip of his toes.

Don't worry, Chidorita, he thought as he basked in the warmth of the spell and of his afterglow. We'll find something, you'll see. I won't waste the life you gave me.