Author's Note: I got a great review from devilurd this morning, it was so sweet! I haven't seen any other Juri-Akio stories either; I think I may be the originator. If I'm wrong, let me know. I'd like to see how someone else writes them.

"Akio and Juri: Based on a True Story"

Chapter Five

By Angel Sentier and Pandari

Walking tentatively because her eyes were closed, Juri was more nervous now than when they had first started this excursion. She hated having to trust anyone, and trusting that Akio wasn't going to lead her straight into a wall or down a flight of stairs was almost too much for her. However, she dutifully kept her eyes shut tight, in order to appreciate Akio's 'surprise.'

"Can I open them yet?"

"Almost."

She heard a whirring, a soft clanking noise, and then, "Alright. Now."

Cautiously, she opened her eyes and gasped at the sight that met them. Above the two of them glittered a million stars, more than a million, too many to count, bright diamonds set in a black velvet canvas, twinkling and winking as though they were giggling, but too far away to be heard. The sight of the cosmos laid out for her perusal was breathtaking, to say the very least, and all around her was nothing but blackness, so the stars' light was completely unhindered. Dimly, she realized that they must be inside Akio's planetarium.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful," she whispered, the admission slipping out before she could think about it. It was the most honest thing she'd said tonight, completely uncensored by her distrustful mind.

She jumped slightly when his warm hands came to rest on her shoulders. "I have," he said, his breath stirring the curls near her ear.

She didn't even hear when he came to stand so close to her and the sudden nearness tilted her senses for a moment, taking her a few seconds to answer. "Then you haven't seen enough of the world."

"On the contrary," he said, beginning to massage her shoulders a bit. "I've seen more than you could imagine. But I was merely referring to the fact that when I am blessed to view, at my leisure, such delicate flowers as yourself, my dear sister, and, of course, Miss Tenjou, on a daily basis... the universe tends to pale in comparison."

"You know what to say in any circumstance, don't you?"

He laughed. "You make it sound like I memorized what I say out of a book."

"Did you?" she asked, half-serious.

"Alas, no. Perhaps I'll write one someday."

He ran his fingers down the length of her arms and she repressed the urge to shiver. Taking her hands in his, he spun her around until she faced him.

"Do you dance, Juri?"

She blinked. "Dance? No."

"But you must. Your grace on the fencing field in unsurpassed. Surely such skill would lend itself to the dance floor as well."

"There's no music."

"Then sing something."

Her eyes widened. "No."

He only smiled at her vehemence. "I warn you, if you don't, I shall be forced to do the honors and believe me, I don't think your ears could survive the stress."

With a slight grimace, Juri searched her brain for something she could conceivably sing without too much embarrassment.

"This rose is our destiny..."

Akio swept his arm around her and suddenly, they were dancing around the floor of the planetarium with only the stars for witnesses.

Surprisingly, as her voice echoed back at her, she found that it wasn't nearly as terrible as she thought. At least, Akio seemed to enjoy it. She didn't realize she was smiling again.

To be continued...