In the confines of his room, a man awakes. Early. But that is normal for him. Rubbing his tired eyes, he sits up, soaking in the meagre rays of sunlight filtering in through the half-closed curtains. One glance at the softly glowing clock face is enough to relay the information that he needs for the rises, and begins to prepare himself for the day ahead.

Rummaging around in his closet, he pulls out his outfit for the day. A dark pair of jeans a plain orange shirt. Nothing fancy, really. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he roughly shakes off his pajama pants and slips on his jeans, flinching a little at the sudden exposure to the open air. He pulls his shirt over his head, corrects the few loose strands of hair that had gone out of place, and quietly walks out of his room. He passes by the room of his flatmate. His senior in most senses, a tyrant to those around him, but more importantly-

His lover.

He throws a furtive glance back at the closed door that separates them.'Should I?' he thinks to himself, weighing the immediate positive and negative outcomes of the current situation. He backtracks, pauses for a moment,then places his hand lightly on the door handle. A small amount of downward pressure was all he needed to confirm the nature of the barrier between them.

Unlocked. A lucky chance.

His cautiously narrows his way inside, avoiding the creaky parts of the wooden floor to come to a halt beside the sleeping figure. A hand extends, but is then quickly snatched back by the man's own consciousness. He knows well enough that making such a move at a time like this would be foolish, let alone, any time at all. So he just stands, staring at the face he knew so well.

But something is wrong.

The usual demeanour of a sound asleep adult fades as it is replaced by a look of pain. A look of fear.A look of terror. All with the eyes still shut tight and the mind still wandering down a path filled with twisted dreams and again, a hesitant hand reaches out, but stops as he sees those lips part,usually filling the air with experiment data, barking orders or angry retorts. Instead, out tumbles a series of strangled moans, none of them in the least bit erotic.

"Ngh...no...get...off..."

Already concerned by the state of his lover, he gently rests a hand on his exposed shoulder, and shakes.

"Sen...pai?"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

A sudden jerking up of the torso startles him, and he retreats a step or two, but not far enough to avoid copping a backhand hit in the stomach with the knuckles of a hand well-trained in the art of striking is thrown back, but does not fall down. Instead, he caves in, clutching his abdomen.

While the man slowly recovers from the bone to flesh contact, the assailant blinks himself awake, and looks across to see his bedroom door open and his roommate hunched over about a metre away.

"Eh? M-morinaga!"

He clumsily swings his legs over the edge of the bed, hastily untangling his feet from the blankets, and totters over to his roommate. His assistant until quite recently, but more importantly-

Someone that he could never live without.

With his head still swirling with the remnants of his nightmare, he struggles to put the pieces together, shaking his head roughly in a futile attempt to clear his does the notice the pair of eyes that have been watching him, though still slightly moist from the unconscious beads of salt water that had escaped from the corner of his eyes due to the pain that still emanated from his stomach.

"U-um, senpai? Are you alright?"

With the sound of his junior's voice, he is jolted back into reality and,out of old habits sake, spits out the usual heated retort.

"O-of course I'm okay! I should be asking you the same thing!"

He is still breathing heavily, fragments of his nightmare still fresh in his mind, but still, he glares at him with theusual ferocity. What he doesn't know is that he is visibly shaking, and that one night was enough to change the course of this life. A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and he sharply twists away from this basic gesture of comfort, his heart racing fast, competing with the flashbacks that threaten to replay over and over again.

It's all coming back to him now.

"Get out! Leave me alone…"

His harsh tone breaks off and quivering, he retreats back onto the bed, obscuring his face with his hands. By now, the injured one had regained a steady breathing pattern and walks over to gently tug at the hands that he desperately tried to hide behind.

"Please, senpai, show me your face."

A muffled refusal could be heard as he tightens his grip, pulling away at those fingers of his.

"But why? Why are pushing me away? Please, say something. "

Through the small gaps between his fingers, the troubled one could see his roommate's blurred face. Despite his lack of clear vision, his pained expression isalmost unbearable to look at.

Don't make that face. I can't stand it when you make that face.

"T-that damn Miyoshi...why now?"

He lowers his hands, but refusing to initiate direct eye contact.

"Miyoshi...? Ah, the guy that-"

He is cut off by an angry voice, warped faintly through the man's tightly clenched teeth.

"Don't say it. I don't want to hear ANYMORE!"

He yells the last word, and flops weakly back onto the dishevelled covers. This has taken so much out of him, and it's not even eight in the morning.

He closes his eyes again, hoping that these memories would just fade to black, leaving him an angry tyrant once again.

"Hey."

He hears the sound of footsteps, and the creaking of bedsprings as his junior takes his place next to him, lying down with their faces inches away.

"You are stronger than you know, and you can move on from the past. "

He is taken aback by those strangely uplifting words. Somehow, it feels reassuring to hear that from someone like him.

Someone who had gone through a great deal in their own past.

"Don't dwell on the past, but rather, look forward to what the future holds for each and every one us."

He feels a sudden warmth on his hand, and looks down alarmed to see fingers interlocking with his own, clammy glances back up, blushing, only to meet his bright gaze, complete with a soft smile. A swift exertion of force startles him as he is drawn closer into a tight embrace.

"Wha-"

The other leans in extremely close to his ear and whispers.

"So don't you let this one little thing get in the way, for the future is still waiting upon you to make the next move, okay?"

He turns an even deeper shade of red, and looks away quickly. How sneaky of him, to take advantage of his weak point. Still, he doesn't pull away, but instead tightens his grip on the body that held him so tightly.

"I-idiot. I know that already."

And with that, he turns away, his face still flushed and his heart beating uncomfortably fast.

"Senpai?"

From behind that long hair of his comes an embarrassed voice, trembling faintly.

"Just...stay here for a bit."

But there was no need to say that, for he already knew that he wouldn't let go until the sun was shining high in the sky, begging for the two to come out and enjoy the sunshine.

Note: For those of you who don't know, Miyoshi was that one rude professor who decided to try and rape Souichi back in Challengers, for those who've read it and know Souichi's backstory.