Chidori flung herself upright from the confines of her wool blanket, eyes wide and alert while her body shook violently as she tried to recover from the shock of her nightmare. She surveyed the room she was in, every shadow, every speck of light, and every solid shape that stood out in the darkness. She jumped at the sight of a flash of light from the windows, followed by the loud roar of thunder. She was afraid that with every flash of lightning, she would see Medea's face, roaming closer towards her with bloodlust in her eyes. She gently brushed her fingers over her neck, relieved that there weren't any bruises that had formed in her sleep.
Chidori remembered now that she was not sleeping in her hospital bed tonight, but rather on one of the couches of the dorm, the operative base for S.E.E.S., her enemies. For nearly a week now, she had been kept as a prisoner within the walls of the city hospital, always under the watchful eye of their leader, Mitsuru Kirijo, and her operatives. However, a rather peculiar but potentially dangerous accident had recently occurred there, forcing a complete evacuation of the hospital and a mass transfer of patients to another infirmary nearby. While Miss Kirijo was busy investigating the cause of the accident, she decided that all of this attention could attract the other members of Chidori's group, Strega, and thus ordered her secret relocation to their dorm. She would be kept safe there, but was forbidden to leave in order to keep their location secret, watched over by all the members of S.E.E.S.
Chidori felt uncomfortable here, but paid no heed to everyone watching over her. She would often sit alone, drawing pictures in her spare time and eating by herself when dinner was prepared. They would often give her cold stares and turn away from her glances when she cared to pay them any attention. She was a threat to their safety should Strega be able to find where she was hiding and they couldn't trust her because of that. She didn't mind; she never liked drawing attention to herself. She preferred them giving her the cold shoulder instead of fussing over her like so many "kind and gentle" caregivers would do in order to satisfy their sense of morality. She let them carry on with their lives while she drifted away from them into her satisfying little corner of solitude.
Tonight, however, Chidori could not find solitude. Medea had visited her in her sleep again, ready to choke the breath out of her in her nightmares. Her Persona was her dearest friend, but she lacked control over her, and Medea was a very violent person when she went out of control. She could come to her in sleep, ready to pounce while her consciousness was caught off guard, potentially harming her in real life through her dreams. She never needed much sleep when she was with Strega; the three of them had their own business to take care of in the Dark Hour. Now that she had the opportunity to sleep, however, she didn't wish to use it. Dark Hour or not, the night in this strange place frightened her.
Chidori could never fall back to sleep; her eyes kept playing tricks on her, thinking that Medea could be any shape of the shadows and attack her again. The pills were able to help her control her Persona, but she could still sense the destructive entity in her mind. Slowly getting a feel of the floor, she got up and moved around, heading towards the dorm rooms. She walked up towards the hall on the second floor, where the boys slept. On the right side were three doors, and through the crack of one open door, she could see its occupant sleeping silently away. As quietly as she could, she opened the door wider and squeezed her way through the opening into the occupant's room, listening to his silent snoring.
Junpei Iori.
The name itself seemed to hold something special to her. He was the one who had visited her the most during her time in the hospital, bringing her gifts and light-hearted stories to tell in spite of all she had done to him. He still had the will to keep wearing that goofy grin in her presence even after she had kidnapped him and threatened to take his life, all because of his kindness and naivety. She shook her head, feeling like she could never understand how his odd mind worked. But she felt the warmth of his soul through his fingertips whenever she had allowed him to touch her. He never treated her coldly while she was here and always made sure she got enough helpings at dinner, not that she cared about the food in the first place. He was a helpless, ignorant boy, but there was something about him she found impossible to resist.
As she stepped closer into the room, Chidori watched as the boy slept soundly in his bed. Typically, he seemed like the type of character who would have thrown the blankets off onto the floor in his sleep, lying stretched out in an awkward position while he snored loudly and drooled all his pillow as his stomach lay face-up and exposed. Junpei was not sleeping like that tonight. He lay on his side, tucked in comfortably with the blankets to his neckline while he breathed softly into the night. She did not want to disrupt him in such a deep sleep, but she found herself without a choice. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him.
"Junpei," she whispered. When he didn't respond, she shook him harder. "Junpei, wake up, Junpei!"
Junpei grunted and rolled himself onto his other side. "Come on, Yuka-tan, just five more minutes," he mumbled in his sleep. He raised his head slightly, his half-asleep brain trying to find out whom or what was keeping him from his heavy slumber.
He nearly jumped out of his bed when he saw the fragile girl staring down at him. "Chidori!" he cried out loud in surprise. After getting over his shock, he looked curiously at the girl beside him. "What are you doing in my room?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Chidori told him bluntly in a monotonous whisper. "Can I...stay with you for a while?" She was hesitating with her question, her eyes avoiding his and her fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of the white nightgown she was given to sleep in.
"Uh...sure," He pushed the covers away and jumped off the bed. "Here, I'll let you sleep in my bed. I've got some spare sheets in my closet so I can sleep on the floor just fine."
Chidori shook her head. "No. That's not what I want."
Junpei smirked at her. "C'mon, it's just for one night. You don't honestly expect me to let a girl sleep on the floor, do you?"
She was about to answer when a crackle of thunder bellowed over the skies and a flash of lightning blinded her. In her mind's eye, she could see Medea, ready to strike. She gasped and wrapped her arms around her body, fighting off the tremors she was making. Junpei gasped and wrapped his arms around her to calm her down. He was happy that Chidori was willing to let him touch her, let alone embrace her.
"It's okay, Chidori," he whispered soothingly, "it's okay. It's over now." He loosened his grip and gently rubbed her back. "Tell you what, how about I...um..." His face turned bright red at the thought of his idea. "Do you want to, maybe...sleep with me tonight?"
Chidori looked at him inquiringly. "As in...together?"
Junpei's face turned brighter. "W-well, I...I don't mean it in that way, b-but if it will make you feel more comfortable, and I-I promise I won't do anything bad!" He gulped down his nervousness. "So...what do you think?"
Chidori was silent for a while. She was reluctant to accept Junpei's offer, but she didn't feel safe without him. She could sense the cold darkness outside of his room, ready to trap her again should she step back outside. She did not want to become too attached to him, but his presence gave her a sense of warmth and security she couldn't explain. She nodded shyly and said, "Alright, I'll do it."
Smiling, Junpei lay back down on his bed and moved over to make room for Chidori. He patted the mattress softly, addressing her to lie down and relax. Hesitantly, she took Junpei's hand and lifted herself onto the bed, laying her whole body down just a few inches from his. Junpei pulled the comforter over the two of them, patting the blanket over Chidori's body to make sure she was warm and cozy. They lay there face to face, their bodies barely touching each other.
"Comfy?" Junpei asked, his face still beet red as he gazed at the girl sharing his bed.
Chidori nodded shyly. "Your bed is awfully warm," she added. She could feel Junpei's body heat radiating from his skin and sinking into the blankets around her.
"Yeah, my body tends to act like a furnace and the heat gets into the blankets. Sometimes it's hard for me to sleep because the blankets get so hot I have to kick them off and then I freeze my ass off the rest of the night." He looked at her in concern. "Hey, listen, if you get too hot, just let me know, okay? I'll back off and let you cool down and then you can just scoot back over if you need to feel warm again."
He reached out to delicately touch her hand and shuttered when his fingers met her skin. It felt like ice during a long winter, a kind of cold to match her pale skin. He wondered if it was from sleeping in the cooler air outside of his room and why she didn't seem to care.
"Damn, your skin is freezing," he said, "Were you cold before?"
Chidori turned away from his concerned gaze. "That doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Here, I can help you warm up a little." He took her by the shoulders and pulled her right up against his body, but she was so close to him that he could feel her cotton-veiled breasts press against his thinly covered chest. Blushing madly like an idiot, he reluctantly pushed her away. "Maybe that's enough space."
They ended up lying side by side, facing each other, Junpei's hand holding Chidori's for security and warmth. Chidori watched as Junpei began nodding off to sleep, his eyes slowly closing and his breath deepening. She brought herself closer to him and stroked the hair on his head, her fingers brushing through the short strands normally covered by that odd blue hat of his. As she moved closer to him, she had to suppress a giggle when she felt the thin whiskers of his goatee tickling her neck; her skin shivered as he softly breathed along her check. She had never seen him so calm and gentle before and her heart immediately warmed up with the rest of her body.
As Chidori watched him sleep, she found herself yawning loudly and her eyes growing rather heavy. She was afraid of falling asleep for fear of nightmares, but she soon found herself growing more and more tired and less and less willing to sleep. She let her head sink into her pillow as she drifted off to sleep with Junpei's arms around her.
All she could see was darkness. The streetlights from outside were no longer on to light the world around her. Not even the moon and stars could provide the smallest amount of light for vision. Everything was so distorted she couldn't tell if it was the Dark Hour or not. She tried to speak, but no sound came from her voice. She instinctively put her hands over her mouth to gasp, but shook in terror when she discovered something as her hands touched her face: she didn't have a mouth to scream with.
Chidori moved to wrap her arms around her body to keep herself from panicking, but they touched nothing. Her arms went through her body like wind. She felt cold and naked in this twisted world, bare and vulnerable to her surroundings. She heard a long howl carry across the nothingness and turned around to its source. There was Medea, rising above her with her dark menacing eyes. In one hand, her Persona held a cauldron of flame and in the other was a bloody knife. Chidori screamed and begged Medea to not harm her, but the Persona gave her an indifferent gaze. The tall deadly Persona stalked menacingly to the girl, begging for the first time in her life not to die, but she could already see the blade falling towards her fragile neck.
A flash of light and the swift slash of a sword. A high-pitched cry carried over the darkness, shutting out its haunting aura.
Medea recoiled and screamed in pain, her body disintegrating into the darkness as her screams ebbed into soft moans and whispers. Chidori looked up to see a tall figure standing before her, a sword in his hands and a cap on his head. A glowing figure with metal armour and wings stood over him, casting the boy in a warm glow. The darkness around Chidori was shifting, transforming into a stable world enveloped in a calm blue mist. She had never felt so peaceful before. Her eyes watered with joyful tears for the saviour that stood before her now.
The figure turned around and smiled at her. "Next time, don't be afraid to call out for a hero, okay, Chidori?"
Chidori's eyes flew open.
She had been dreaming again, but this time the nightmare did not end tragically; Medea hadn't even touched her. Every night she would have flung herself out of bed with fitful screams because of the presence Medea had on her mind, capturing her in her erratic massacre if Chidori ever gave in to sleep. However, there was someone there to save her from her Persona's wrath, someone who was willing to save her even at the cost of his own life. She had never felt so calm or so peaceful in her whole life since being cursed with her Persona.
Chidori felt something gently stroke her cheek. Junpei was watching her, his eyes wide with concern. She recognized him immediately. He was the one who had saved her, using the power of his Persona and his own might to fend off Medea from her crippled soul. He and Hermes tore apart what she had considered another nightmare. She entwined her fingers with his.
"Are you okay?" Junpei asked. "You were shaking and got really pale. I was going to wake up the others in case something happened, but I didn't think you'd want me to leave your side."
"I'm glad you stayed," Chidori whispered, her smile widening at the sight of his face.
Junpei blushed. "Umm...uh...if you're still not feeling well, is there anything you need me to do?"
Chidori scooted over to him. "Just...hold me."
Chidori tucked her head into the crook of Junpei shoulder as he tenderly wrapped his arms around her. She felt the heat of his body warming her cold skin and his warm breathe tickle her ear as he whispered good night to her. The blankets kept the two warm and secure from the cold breezes that wafted around the dorm, and they stayed that way for a long time. Chidori did not have any more nightmares for the rest of the night.
Morning arose quickly after the long night of cold, stormy weather. The room brightened with warm rays of light from the sun as it rose to alert the beginning of day. The rays caught Junpei's eyes and he rubbed them awake. Normally on a bright, promising day like today, he'd be up and full of energy to get out of the dorm and do something promising to fit the bright, sunny mood, but once he arose from his bed, he moved over to the window and shut the blinds, so only a few slim shafts of light entered the room. Today, he wanted to keep sleeping in and enjoy his rest in his warm comfortable bed.
He moved back into his bed and stretched out and he fell down flat on the mattress. Yawning loudly, he shut his eyes again and fell back asleep. He moved a little to find the most comfortable position to sleep, tilting his head here and there, and ended up having his nose brush a peculiar shape and his lips gently press against something soft. It was a very peculiar sensation. He felt the softness had a familiar shape to it from what his lips could feel, but the more he pressed them to it, the more pleasing it became.
Chidori fluttered her eyes open as the warmth of daylight brought her from her first comfortable slumber. She felt something warm and soft press against her lips, tenderly pressing harder as she slowly awoke. She pressed back to this pleasurable sensation, but was curious to find out what it was. When her senses fully awoke, her eyes widened when she discovered what it was. At the same time, Junpei had opened his eyes, curious as she was to find the source of this sensation, and his eyes widened to the revelation they had discovered:
Their lips had locked in their sleep.
Junpei and Chidori gasped and leapt away from each other, stammering away as one tried to explain to the other what happened with little success. Their faces were hot and red all over, the heat and colour amplifying when they looked at each other. Through all of this awkwardness, they were still holding hands.
The stammering came to an end when they heard knocking on Junpei's door. "Hey, Junpei, are you awake yet?" It was Yukari speaking. "C'mon, I don't want to be late for school again because of your being lazy. You don't want Mitsuru-senpai to force you out like last time, do you?"
The redness in Junpei's face immediately drained away. Yukari nagging him to get up early was one thing, but Mitsuru using her own force to get him to school on time was worse than any slacker could fear of. What made matters even more difficult was what to do with Chidori.
Junpei sighed. "Well, so much for sleeping in. I almost forgot we had school today." He hung his head in despair. "And my bed was so warm and comfy too..." He sobbed melodramatically.
"It's only school. It's really no big deal." Chidori said. She kept speaking in that indifferent monotone of hers, but from the sound of her voice, she genuinely wanted to cheer him up.
"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I'm glad you had a good sleep. You should probably head out once no one is looking." Chidori tilted her head in confusion and the redness returned to Junpei's face as he remembered their accidental kiss moments ago. "If someone sees you leaving my room, they might get the...wrong idea."
Chidori nodded. She slowly lifted herself from the red and moved towards the door, checking to see if there was anyone outside. She graciously stepped out, Junpei following behind her. She turned back to him, sensing his presence.
"Junpei," she began, thinking of the proper words to say. "...Thank you...for allowing me to stay in your room for the night...Once I came in, my nightmares went away."
Junpei smiled in satisfaction. "Hey, no problem," He looked downward in sudden shyness. "If you...umm...ever have nightmare trouble again, you're always welcome to sleep with me again. I'll just make sure to watch where my head moves the next time I sleep."
The two of them chuckled awkwardly as the thought of their kiss came back to them. They looked at each other one last time before Junpei closed the door between them to get ready for school. Chidori was to stay in the dorm until further notice, but she didn't mind. There was no one she needed to wait for anyway, no one that is except Junpei. She would spend her days drawing in her sketchbook as the time went by, until later when Junpei would arrive back and look over her shoulder to see what she was drawing. It annoyed her to have Junpei breathing down her neck, but she was pleased someone would take interest in her drawings.
Junpei would be sitting half-asleep at his desk while his teachers would drone on and on about various subjects. When he had to, however, he would try to take as many notes and study as hard as he could. It would all be worth it in the end when he could see Chidori at the end of the day when he could check up on her, even if she didn't want it. He was focusing harder in school because he had found new conviction and focus in Chidori. Even after she had tricked and nearly killed him before her capture, Junpei never wanted to give up on Chidori. She was the first girl to show genuine interest in him, who didn't laugh at him when he did something stupid and who shared her pain with him. He had to stop pretending his life was a game and focus on what was important, for her sake.
Chidori had never cared about anyone so deeply before. She was isolated from the world around her, where she was treated like a non-existent entity and she treated everyone else in the world as such. Her being a Persona-user made it this way and she could not form attachments to others. Junpei was different. He spoke kind words to her and did kind things for her, always wearing that infectious smile. She could tell he was trying to hide his own insecurities in that smile, so she did whatever she could to return his kindness to keep a genuine smile on his face He saw her as a being who had a right to life and she treated him just the same.
They had found a reason to live in each other.
Chidori took her seat on the couch as the other dorm residents headed out the door to school. Sketchbook in hand, she looked up to see Junpei waving to her through the window. After waving him farewell, her cheeks flushed when his face reminded her of the soft kiss they shared as her pencil moved across the paper. She reminisced about his warm and protective embrace, and instinctively her fingers brushed across her lips as Junpei came to life on her page.