Akihiko grunted and leaned forward a little. He was knealing; his knees were partially obscured by the rumpled clothes and other junk on the floor. "...I don't know if I can do this."
Junpei grinned down at him. "You'll do it if you don't want her to know."
Akihiko glared up at him but Junpei only continued to smirk complacently. Finally, he took a deep breath and returned his unwilling attention to the task at hand. "...Fine."
Junpei watched him struggle with it for awhile, enjoying every second. This was a lot better than doing it himself. Besides, there was something he liked about seeing his proud senpai reduced to doing something so dirty. Junpei knew he was treading on thin ice, but he had to torment him just a little bit more. "You know, it'd probably be easier if you took your shirt off. Otherwise it'll get messy."
Akihiko paused to say, "I am not taking my damn shirt off."
"Whatever you say...damn, you sure know how to use your hands, Senpai."
"Shut it! I..." Akihiko gagged suddenly and then subsided into coughing, his eyes watering a little.
Junpei had been breathing a little faster watching him; now he leaned back again. "What's the matter Senpai, can't handle it after all?"
"God damn you...no. I can't. I can't do this, it's just...disgusting."
Junpei's jaw twitched a little. "Giving up? The Great Akihiko Sanada is giving up? Really?"
"Call it what you want, but there is no damn way I can do this." Akihiko stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was clearly trying not to be sick.
Junpei was a little nettled. "...it's not that gross."
"I'm leaving."
"You know what'll happen if you do!"
Akihiko glared at him again. "Go ahead! Tell her anything you want! I'd rather be Executed again than...do that." Shaking his head, he stormed off to his room.
Junpei pouted after him. "Damn that guy...leaving me hanging. I guess I'll have to take care of it myself...after I make a phone call of course." He cheered up a little as he dialed Mitsuru-senpai's number.
Akihiko took a very thorough shower, but it didn't make him feel any cleaner. He tried training next to take his mind off of what he'd seen earlier. He was just getting to a merciful state of mindless punching when he thought he heard an impatient rap at his door. He grabbed at the speed bag to stop it and listened again. A louder and even more impatient rap.
He opened the door to see Mitsuru standing there with her arms crossed...not a good sign. Setting his jaw grimly, he asked her what he could do for her at this hour.
"May I come in for a moment?" She swept by him and into the room before he had a chance to reply.
Akihiko followed her in, feeling somehow like he didn't belong even though this was his room. "...okay, you're in. What do you want?"
She turned around and cocked an eyebrow, another bad sign. "I received a very interesting call from Iori a little while ago. I would have come sooner but it took me some time to...prepare."
Swell, Akihiko thought. Out loud, he said, "Oh?"
"Yes." She evidently wasn't going to say anything else until he took the conversational noose and put it around his neck like a good boy.
Akihiko looked back at her sullenly for awhile, not wanting to give her the satisfaction, but after awhile that got boring. "...all right, fine. What'd he say?"
"It's altogether shocking...he said that you..." Mitsuru actually blushed a little. "...well...that is. He...He observed..."
"Yeah? Spit it out."
Mitsuru glared at him. "He said he saw it the other night in Tartarus. Maybe you remember the night."
Akihiko took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "...Maybe."
"He...seemed to think that your shameful behavior had something to do with the equipment Minato selected for me that evening..." Mitsuru took a step forward.
Akihiko opened his eyes and took a step back reflexively, on guard even though he knew there was no way he was actually going to get out of this.
Mitsuru took another step forward and then stopped, favoring him with a feline smile. "Now, before I do this, I would like to get my facts absolutely straight."
He gave her a horrified stare. "Mitsuru...you're not seriously going to make me say it."
"Perhaps it is too shameful to say out loud...what if I asked you instead? All you have to say is yes or no...you can handle that, can't you?"
Akihiko gulped, not at all sure if he could handle that.
Mitsuru just smiled again. "Now...was this what caused your lapse in judgement the other night?" She unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse, revealing the dull sheen of Hi-Cut Armor.
Akihiko took a clipped breath and jerked forward, maybe to make sure his eyes hadn't just popped out of his head.
Junpei paused and looked up. The last sound had been so piercing that it actually reached him here all the way from Senpai's room. He smiled grimly. "And that is what happens when you mess with Junpei Iori, my friend." Then he sighed and got back to what he was doing. The mass on the floor was truly disgusting. You couldn't even tell what kind of sandwich it had been; for all Junpei knew it'd been sitting there for almost as long as he'd lived here. And had it partially eaten through the carpet? Surely that wasn't possible. He grunted and scrubbed harder. At least Akihiko-senpai had made the job a little easier for him by doing most of the grunt work, but it was still rough going. Junpei groaned. "Ugh! Too bad he had to be such a wuss about it...this sucks." Well, at least he had the entertaining sounds from Akihiko's room to keep him company while he worked. Yeah...he could tell Mitsuru-senpai was really giving it to him proper.