Within the halls of Hopes Peak Academy, two teens stumble through the door to a dorm room. Makoto Naegi is currently having his mouth explored by the tongue of his beautiful classmate, Junko Enoshima. He lets out a quiet sigh of content that makes her giggle slightly. His hands wrap around her waist, pulling her close. She gladly accepts as the kiss deepens.

The two lean against the wall, lips locked for a few extra seconds. The boy whimpers as she pulls away, making sure to nibble at his bottom lip. She runs a hand through his hair. Junko wears a smug smirk on her face. He does his best to cover up his labored breathing. She soon breaks the silence.

"So," she can barely hide a snicker. "Am I a good time or what?".

Makoto clears his throat.

"So…was that...a date?" He sputters out. She nods.

"I figured it would be obvious." She pulls off him, just enough to give him space to breathe. She places a hand on the wall by his head. He looks up at her with affection and a hint of fear in his eyes. Just the way she likes it.

"I figured it was…but I didn't think you of all people would…wanna date me?" His expression changes to one of confusion.

She shrugs. "What can I say? You've grown on me, kinda like cancer or a tapeworm or something."

He deadpans. "Oh, THAT makes me feel good."

She lets out a laugh. Or maybe it's more like a cackle, with the way it echoes around, consuming the room.

"Don't be so serious, Egg-boy. I was just kidding!" She leans in to kiss his lips again. He turns away, causing her to kiss his cheek instead. Junko pulls back with a raised eyebrow.

"Something the matter?" She studies his expression, her analytical mind doing its work. He was looking much more uncomfortable now, his ahoge dropping slightly.

He clears his throat again. "Well…I'm just not sure what to think about all of this?"

She takes her free hand and raises his chin with her fingertips. "What's there to think about? Junko-Fuckin'-Enoshima wants your dick, dude!".

His face turns bright red. He always was a naive one. "J-Junko! You can't just say stuff like that!"

She huffs, pulling her hand off the wall and taking a step back. She puts her hands on her hips.

"What do you want me to say?". Her mood was dropping quickly. There were countless other guys (and plenty of girls) who would gladly take his position right now. He should be grateful!

Makoto straightens his jacket. He runs a hand through his messy hair. "I'm…not sure? Isn't this just…really abrupt?" He rocks on his feet. "I never got the idea you liked me before this morning…."

She shuts her eyes and shakes her head. "Does it matter?"

Makoto frowns. "It does! I wanna know how you feel!"

Junko pauses. "We just spent the past five minutes with our tongues down each other's throats. Isn't that enough?".

Makoto avoids her gaze. "I mean…that was nice…." He slowly looks back up at her. "But I'd still like some explanation…."

The fashionista stares blankly at him. "You mean…you want a confession or something?"

Makoto slightly nods. "That's…kinda how these things usually go…right?". He begins counting on his fingers. "Confession, date, THEN making out." He looks back up at her with three fingers up. "You skipped steps one and two."

Junko groans obnoxiously. "Can't…can't we just fuck?" He stares at her, she snaps. "I wanna date you! Isn't that enough?"

He holds out his hands. "But why me? I just don't get it". He gestures to himself. "I'm not anything special."

That lack of self-confidence was something of a sticking point for Junko. In some ways, it was cute; others it was annoying; like when he implies he doesn't belong in Class 78. If you ask her, he was far more interesting than any of the so-called 'Ultimates' at this school.

Now if she could just figure out how to vocalize that.

She bites her thumb. "I've never been good at this kinda thing…."

Makoto gives a warm smile. She feels a tiny/huge part of her that hates that smile, as well as a tiny/huge part of her that loves it. She isn't sure which side she prefers.

He takes her hand and leads her over to her bed. They both sit on the end. "Now's a good time to practice." Damn this boy. What gives him the right to be so understanding?

She stares at nothing in particular as the two sit in silence for a minute. Makoto drums his fingers on his leg. "You can start whenever you feel like-" he mutters out. She snaps slightly, "I know! I'm working on it!".

She feels different sides of her fighting for supremacy. She can't just tell him how she feels, right? Unfortunately, this boy is even more stubborn than she is. She knew there wasn't any wiggling out. A slight smirk comes to her face. She can still buy some time. "You start then." She says with a snide smile.

Makoto cocks his head. "Me?" She nods. Who else could she mean? "Tell me how YOU feel, Mr. Lucky Student. It's only fair."

Makoto slowly turns away. His cheeks dusted red. "Uh…okay. I can do that." He straightens up. The two turn toward each other. Junko looks at him expectantly. He blushes harder and rubs his neck.

"How I feel…." He searches through his brain for the words. He takes a deep breath. "I think you are incredibly negative. You go out of your way to make things harder on everyone, including yourself. You treat Mukuro horribly. You have no respect for anyone outside yourself. Your obsession with despair is freaky, and I'm 95% sure that you could end the world if you wanted to."

She clears her throat awkwardly. She'd never think about ending the world…ever…at all…definitely not. "Thanks for the stellar review." She stands up from the edge of the bed, "You coulda just said you don't feel the same."

He grabs her hand. She despises the lovely shock that travels through her body at the sudden contact. "I'm not done."

She turns to look down at him with a dismal expression. He continues. "I think that you can be a great person when you want to be. I know you've been trying to change; last week, you even referred to Mukuro by name and not by an insult."

She nods. That was really hard.

"I also know that hanging out with you can be really fun, albeit scary sometimes…so…." He swallows, "I'd be willing to give…us…a shot…" he gestures between the two of them. "If you prove to me that you'd take it…seriously…."

She cocks her head. "Seriously? Seriously how?"

He shrugs. "You'd keep working to be a better person, and…." He eyes her. "Be honest with how you feel."

She pouts. "You REALLY won't let me wiggle out of this, will you?" He shakes his head. She sighs.

"You want honest? I'll give you honest." She puts her hands on his shoulders, he looks up at her. The hope shining brightly in his eyes. She beats back the part that wants to see it shrivel.

"I…I'm fucked up. I know that. I own that…." She takes a deep breath. "I've been fucked up all my life. All I wanted was to see everyone be just as fucked up as me."

She stares at his face. His stupid…cute…face.

"Mukuro and I came here. First, I met the other students in our class…then you," She smirks and lets out a heavy laugh. "And man, you were LAAAAAAME." She laughs obnoxiously. He breaks his gaze. Shit. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Too honest?

"Uhhh…but" His ears perk up a bit. "As class went on, you kept getting in my way…never giving up when I push." She smiles lightly. "Almost like a hero in a Shonen anime? Who stands tall against their rival, never backing down! Only difference is you were always super prissy about it and aren't tall…. like at ALL."

He signs. "Is this going somewhere?"

She shakes her head. Her twin tails swaying with her motions. "Yea, yea. I'm getting there."

Junko returns her gaze to his. "Anyways, I realized you were actually the MOST interesting in the class. I decided to start focusing my despair efforts on you. I just wanted to see if that hope of yours was really anything special…."

She grips his shoulders. "And then…slowly…I guess…it wasn't about that anymore?" He stares at her, she goes on. "I mean…eventually I started thinking more about…YOU and less about your hope…and how much I want to crush it…." Junko breaks eye contact with the boy. Her voice slowly trails off as she talks. "You were just so…sweet. It almost made me sick. And then you have those…eyes…and that soft hair…."

She shakes her head and glares at him. Screw this stupid, naïve boy. How dare he make her feel this way. She never asked for this! "You want in? You want me to open up more? Fine, there's plenty more to talk about." Makoto shudders at her sudden shift in tone, she couldn't care less as the wall holding back all of her words crumbled. "I hate myself; I hate the way I make everything worse for fun. I hate the way I think. I hate the way I FEEL about how I think. I hate how I think I'm the worst person on the planet while ALSO thinking I'm the fucking best." Makoto slowly shrinks as Junko continues with her rant.

"I hate my parents for abandoning me. I hate Mukuro for leaving. I have absolutely ZERO ability to make a permanent positive change in my life. I love despair, but I hate being so dependent on it. I hate your hope, but I love how it makes me feel." She reaches her limit. Jerking around and gritting her teeth. Finally, she takes a few steps away, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Anyways…yea. I'm a freak, and I probably don't deserve you at all, so you can just leave, and we can never ever talk about this again, and I can go kill myself, okay?" A few moments of silence pass. She opens her mouth again but stiffens as she feels arms wrap around her waist. The short boy buries his face between her shoulder blades. She looks at the floor.

"Get off. I don't need your pity." Despite her protest, Junko doesn't make much of an attempt to throw the much weaker boy off her. Instead, she feels herself relax into his hold.

"I know that was hard…I'm proud of you." She can hear the smile in his voice. She rolls her eyes fondly.

"Don't get used to it. I'm tapped out for at least a month." She mutters out. Makoto nods. "It's enough for now. We'll work on it…. together." She looks back at him…well…as best as she can.

"You…really wanna try this?" She's shocked at the sudden pit in her stomach. Why does this boy's opinion matter so much to her?

"I…I do. I think we can make it work." She slowly spins around. Leaning her forehead against his own.

"You'll regret that decision. I'll find a way to fuck it up!" Her firm smirk is betrayed by the ever-so-slight worry in her tone. She shifts to rest her chin on his head. Makoto speaks from her neck.

"I can trust you." Junko feels those words exit Makoto's mouth and wrap around her like a warm blanket. He was foolish to trust her. She could easily use that to pull him to the pit of despair with her. Him and the rest of the world…but…

She decides not to. Doing that would mean losing…everything else he makes her feel. Despair is her core, but he makes her feel things she didn't think a dead heart like hers could. It seems he had enough hope for both of them. Maybe one day, she could learn to have some hope of her own? She glances at the clock on the wall; it was almost 11. "It's getting late." She mutters.

Makoto follows her gaze. He slumps. "Aw man, Taka will give me an earful if I oversleep tomorrow… I also don't want to be caught in the halls this late."

Junko looks past his hair and onto her bed. She smirks and pulls away slightly. She cups his face. "You could always stay with your beautiful girlfriend!" Makoto rolls his eyes. "Junko…I'm not ready for…THAT."

Junko shakes her head. "Not that. I'm not in the mood now anyway; all this mushy shit ruined it. I meant spending the night." Makoto glances back at her bed. "Won't we get in trouble?" He taps his fingers together nervously. She smirks evilly as she scoops him up. "Only if we get caught!"

That night, for the first time, Junko learned what it was like to feel genuinely comfortable. She sighed in content, enjoying the sound of Makoto's soft snores as he snuggles into her chest.