Yay, probably only one more chapter to go! Though I'm tempted to see if I can draw it out to over 100,000 words. o.O I can't believe how long this is. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to post all of the last chapter here on thanks to the rules. I'm already a little nervy about this chapter. I'll post the link to the missing bits the same way I did for the dream chapter though, no worries!

Chapter 23

"You're doing that on purpose, damn it," Jinpachi accused him abruptly, startling Issei out of the contemplative haze he'd been in. Blinking, Issei glanced up over his textbook, staring at Jinpachi in confusion.

The redhead was flushed and his breathing was a little ragged, and his eyes seemed rather fixed on Issei's mouth. They were in Issei's room, Jinpachi sprawled over the futon and Issei at the desk, studying. There were texts and notebooks everywhere, loose-leaf paper with hastily scribbled kana littering both the desk and the bed. They were both working on term papers: Issei for one of his psychology classes, and Jinpachi for an economics class.

Hastily Issei reviewed everything he'd done over the last few minutes, and came up drawing a blank. He'd been thoroughly absorbed in his reference books, pausing every few minutes to scrawl a few notes, but that was all. Somewhere in the back of his mind he'd registered a growing feeling of agitation from Jinpachi, but he'd attributed it to the redhead's general disinterest in the subject he was working on and in homework in general.

"Doing what?" he finally asked, bewildered.

"That! The thing with your pen!" Jinpachi replied, clearly aggravated. "That's not fair, Issei!"

Feeling like he'd somehow missed an essential part of this conversation, Issei glanced down at his pen. It was just a pen, as far as he could tell; there were odd little gouges on the cap, from where he tended to bite it while thinking, but otherwise it seemed ordinary enough. "The 'thing' where I write notes with it?" Issei hazarded a guess, though he was sure that couldn't be it.

"No!" Jinpachi groaned, and buried his face in his arms. His textbook lay off to one side a bit, having apparently been discarded some time before. "Dear Sarjareem, you don't even realize you're doing it, do you?"

"Doing what?" Issei asked again, growing amused. He couldn't imagine what he could have been doing to get Jinpachi this worked up. Then again, it took very little to work the redhead up these days. He'd kept his promise, though Issei could tell it was just about killing him to do it. He'd given in to the demands of his body a few times, but the odd mixture of embarrassment, repulsion, and growing hints of fascination assured him Jinpachi had obeyed his injunction to do so only while viewing the naked male body in some form or another.

Other than that, the only 'relief' Jinpachi had was in his dreams, and Issei wasn't sure the redhead didn't just end up more frustrated after them. The soul connection between them was wide open and functioning, and almost all of Issei's dreams these days were of their time on the moon. Not all the dreams were sexual, but considering the preoccupation both Jinpachi and, to a lesser extent, Issei currently had with sex, it wasn't often that they weren't. Enju and Gyokuran had shared more than a few intimate encounters, and the two boys got to relive them over and over again.

"Issei..." Jinpachi groaned, and lifted his head enough to give Issei a defeated look. "You're giving fellatio to your damn pen, and it's killing me. I thought the whole 'inadvertently seduce someone by licking a phallic object' thing was just a myth, but I guess not."

"What? I am not," Issei protested with an embarrassed laugh. He looked at the pen again. "You're exaggerating, I'm just chewing on it."

"Just chewing on it, he says," Jinpachi muttered, lowering his head to his arms again. "If that's your idea of 'just chewing on it', I think I'll die of a heart attack if you ever do give me a blow job. Gods."

Blushing, Issei just shook his head. He supposed he did sort of... suck on the pen, alternating rubbing it against his lips with nibbling on the tip of the cap. Nobody had ever said anything about it before, though.

"Well, you could always ask and find out, I suppose," he murmured, somehow managing to get the words out without stuttering. He'd had no idea he could be as bold as he had been with Jinpachi over the last several weeks, but it was becoming easier and easier to say things like that. It was all part of the game, the endless teasing between them.

"Would you actually do it if I asked, or would you just tease me more?" Jinpachi demanded, his words muffled by his arms. "I swear, Issei, I don't think I can take much more of this. If this keeps up, I'm going to start thinking Suzuwa-sensei is attractive!"

Since Issei had seen the teacher in question, a dried-up old crone who taught Jinpachi's accounting class and looked like she should have retired about fifty years ago, Issei laughed. "Well, we wouldn't want that," he agreed in a sultry tone of voice. Then he pouted in an exaggerated manner. "You'd find her attractive before you'd think a handsome male was? I never knew you had a thing for wrinkles."

Jinpachi just groaned and shook his head. Putting the pen in question aside, Issei slid out of his chair and went to kneel next to his boyfriend on the futon. He ran his fingers through the redhead's soft hair, rubbing his fingertips over the tense muscles in the other boy's neck. When Jinpachi arched into the touch, he leaned over to murmur directly into the redhead's ear.

"I know you've been good," he said, his breath hot against the shell of Jinpachi's ear. "I'm impressed, actually. I don't think I could hold off as long as you have. But I also know you've broken a couple of times." He was almost purring now, Jinpachi shivering beneath him. "How did it feel, stroking yourself off while watching those pretty boys, Jinpachi?"

He got a brief flash of image through their link, as his words made Jinpachi recall one of the movies he'd been watching at the time. As he'd suspected the males in it were all pretty enough to pass as girls almost as easily as Issei, but they were nude and very definitely male.

"It felt like I was jerking off to something I shouldn't be," Jinpachi muttered, reaching out to rub his hand over Issei's leg. "And it took longer than I thought it would, considering how desperate I was."

"That's because you don't find naked males inherently arousing," Issei laughed. "Did you try imagining yourself in the place of one of them?" From the flash of embarrassment and further arousal he got from Jinpachi, he knew the redhead had done exactly that and it had worked, at least to some extent. "Did you imagine me in the place of the other boy?" he asked, lowering his voice and rubbing a little harder at Jinpachi's neck.

"Yes," Jinpachi gasped, squirming under the touch. "Gods Issei, you're such a tease. I swear you're going to be the death of me." He rolled over abruptly and caught Issei off guard, tugging him off balance so that he collapsed half over Jinpachi's chest. Issei's breathless laughter was cut off when Jinpachi kissed him fiercely, weeks' worth of unspent passion bottled up in the touch.

Moaning, Issei arched against him, rubbing their upper torsos together. He wasn't wearing the false bra that he used to make it seem like he had breasts; he'd taken to leaving it off if they were alone together in his room, to remind Jinpachi of what he really was. Most Japanese girls had non-existent chests anyway; he only wore the bra to make sure nobody ever suspected him. He wound his arms around Jinpachi's neck, feeling the redhead run strong hands down the line of his back over his blouse.

The kiss was wet and hot and frantic, as Issei's empathy picked up on Jinpachi's desperation and fed it back to him. Jinpachi caught at the hem of Issei's blouse and tugged it up out of the waistband of his skirt, allowing his hand to trail up over the bare skin of Issei's back. Issei gasped into the other boy's mouth, burning with heat and friction and wanting more, so much more.

They'd gone this far before, had even once had an entire make-out session with both their shirts off, though Jinpachi had been a little skittish about touching Issei's front. He'd done it in the end, if for no other reason than that one of the other rules Issei had laid down was that he wouldn't touch anything on Jinpachi the redhead hadn't touched on him first.

"You're driving me crazy," Jinpachi growled now into their kiss, dragging his hands up to Issei's shoulders and then down again. He surprised Issei by not stopping at the fabric of the skirt, instead trailing down until he could cup the soft globes of Issei's ass in his hands. Issei moaned and squirmed, breathless at the intimate touch. "Please Issei... give me something, before I die of frustration," the redhead pleaded, much to Issei's delight. "I can't take it any more."

Issei had been waiting for this, hoping and praying for it. "You know the rules," he murmured, breaking away to look at his panting boyfriend with a sly smile on his face. "You don't get off unless you're looking at a naked male." Take the bait he willed, wishing he could implant the thought in the other boy's mind. Unfortunately his empathy just didn't work that way. Come on, you're desperate, and I'm right here and totally willing...

As if he were the mind reader and not Issei, Jinpachi moaned and said, "There's a male right here in front of me." He dipped his fingers lower, teasing over the bare skin beneath the hem of Issei's skirt, inching the fabric higher on his thighs. "So get naked already."

Yes Issei exulted, thrilled. "You've got a perfectly good pair of hands, do it yourself," he invited, hoping he wasn't pushing his luck. His own hands were already fumbling at Jinpachi's belt, shaking slightly with excitement and need. Oh gods oh gods oh dearest Sarjareem, don't let him change his mind and chicken out halfway through...

To his surprise Jinpachi didn't start with the buttons on his blouse, but rather by shoving his skirt further up his legs and reaching for his underwear. Issei gasped as the other boy's strong hands skimmed up the sides of his thighs and found the high-cut sides of his lacy panties, which were strained to the limit trying to constrain his rock-hard erection. Jinpachi eased the lingerie down over his legs, as Issei lifted his hips to allow him to free the scrap of lace. He finally got Jinpachi's belt free at the same moment he was able to kick his panties off, and he couldn't resist dipping his hand down to brush his fingers over the tip of Jinpachi's cock.

"I thought you wouldn't touch anywhere I hadn't?" Jinpachi gasped, obviously fighting not to thrust his hips into the contact.

"Consider it a reward for taking the initiative," Issei murmured, teasing him with another light touch before pulling away. "Don't tell me you've decided to stop here?"

"Oh, hell no," Jinpachi muttered, his hands flying up to the buttons of Issei's blouse. Issei laughed and set to work ridding Jinpachi of his own shirt.

They got tangled up a few times in their haste to rid each other of their clothes, and were breathless with laughter and passion by the time they'd gotten the last of it off. Jinpachi had almost shyly asked Issei to leave the skirt on; since he didn't seem to mind that it was hiked high enough to reveal all of Issei's erection, the empath agreed. So long as Jinpachi couldn't actively fool himself about Issei's gender, Issei didn't care if the other boy was comforted by some remnant of femininity.

For a long moment after they'd tossed the last article of clothing away, Issei held Jinpachi slightly away from him and just drank in the sight of the other boy with thirsty eyes. He'd seen Jinpachi naked before, of course; you couldn't share the same phys-ed classes for years without getting glimpses here and there. That had been back in junior high, though. Once Issei had realized his attraction to his best friend, he'd been very careful to always be looking in the other direction.

To say Jinpachi had changed a bit since junior high was like saying that living as a boy on Earth was a bit different from being a girl on the moon base. Words simply couldn't do the redhead justice; Issei stared and forgot even to blush as he murmured, "Beautiful."

Jinpachi was flushed enough for both of them, though it was only partly from embarrassment. "So are you," he murmured, though Issei noted he wasn't quite able to bring himself to look below the waist for more than a second or two.

"I'll touch you," Issei offered on impulse. Jinpachi gave him a startled look, and Issei couldn't resist smirking at him. "But only if you watch," he added. They were lying close enough now that Jinpachi wouldn't be able to watch Issei's hand on him without also seeing Issei's cock lying hard against the sheets.

"I..." Jinpachi swallowed, and nodded. "Yes. Please. As long as I don't have to touch back..."

"Not yet," Issei assured him, trailing his fingers over the smooth planes of Jinpachi's chest. "Not unless you want to. Just watch, and let me do something I've wanted to do for years."

Jinpachi was larger in body than Issei, and correspondingly larger here. Issei touched the soft skin at the base of the redhead's erection with a sigh of wonder, or maybe awe. He was half convinced he was dreaming, he'd imagined doing this so many times. As with all dreams, he quickly found, the reality was ten times better.

He dragged his fingers up over the hard flesh, enjoying Jinpachi's helpless moans. He checked quickly to make sure the other boy was really watching, then returned his eyes to what he was doing in fascination. It felt different from touching himself, harder to judge exactly how to press and stroke to achieve the best effect.

Then he realized he was being stupid; there was no reason he shouldn't be able to tell exactly what pleased his boyfriend the most. He flung open the connection between them, reaching out with his empathy and immersing himself in the fire running through Jinpachi's body. He moaned as he made the deeper contact, feeling suddenly like he was touching himself as well as Jinpachi. He had to double check just to make certain Jinpachi hadn't grown bold enough to touch him in return.

"Issei... what... is that your empathy?" Jinpachi choked out, his eyes clouded with lust and wonder. "I can feel you..."

"Yes," Issei replied, closing his eyes and letting the sensations run through him. "Don't fight it, just let it happen. Mm, you feel so good..." He tightened his grip and felt Jinpachi respond helplessly.

Slowly he increased his pace, wanting to draw it out as long as he could. It wouldn't be long, he knew; not with as much pressure as Jinpachi was under, not being able to masturbate thanks to his own promise. Already he could feel the first stirrings of orgasm in the other boy's body, the tingling rush through his nerves that tightened his stomach and made his balls draw up closer to his body.

In the end he was as caught by the intense sensation as Jinpachi, and unable to bring himself to draw it out more than a few minutes. He tightened his grip again, rubbing his palm up over the head, and at the same time arched his own hips to rub his cock against the bed. That sudden extra stimulation was enough to send them both over the edge, sensations so tightly entwined Issei wasn't sure where Jinpachi left off and he began.

It was the biggest high of Issei's entire life, and he emerged on the other side panting and seeing stars. "Holy... holy shit, Issei," Jinpachi murmured, sounding as dazed as Issei felt. "That was fucking... holy shit. I think I might be scared to actually have sex with you, if it's going to be better than that."

Issei gave a shaky laugh, moving forward to bury his face in Jinpachi's shoulder. He felt the taller boy's arms slide around him, and sighed in contentment. "I didn't expect it to be quite that intense," he admitted softly. "A side effect of the deeper connection you and I share, I guess."

"Uh..." Still closely linked, Issei felt Jinpachi's hesitation and embarrassment clearly. "What about you? Don't you need to... I mean..."

Realizing what the other boy was getting at, Issei gave a breathy laugh. "I felt everything you did, Jinpachi," he reminded the redhead. "Do you really think I've got anything more left than you do? Obviously you weren't watching at the end like I told you to."

"Oh." Jinpachi blushed furiously. "I was looking, I think I just stopped actually being able to see for a minute there." He stroked Issei's back gently, sighing. "I still can't really imagine touching you. Are you sure this is going to work?"

Stretching slightly, Issei snuggled a little closer. "Jinpachi, you're lying here with me in your arms, we're both naked or the next thing to it, and you seem just fine with it. Would that have been true a month ago?"

"Hell no," Jinpachi admitted with a laugh. "I guess it is working. I just don't want to end up with this being all about you pleasuring me, with nothing in return." He slipped his fingers beneath Issei's chin and lifted, tilting his face up for a soft, sweet kiss.

Issei could have stayed happily in Jinpachi's arms forever, and in fact they did both drift off. When they woke it was dark out, and Issei's clock said it was well past dinnertime. Reluctantly he disentangled himself from Jinpachi, looking around for his clothes. "We should eat something," he said, still feeling sleepy and content.

"Yeah," Jinpachi agreed with a yawn. "I'm starving. Do you want to order in? I'll pay."

"Sure," Issei agreed, smiling back at him. He didn't let Jinpachi pay for their food often, but tonight he just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of cooking. He just wanted to sit and enjoy Jinpachi's company for as long as possible.

When they emerged from his room, they found Sakura curled up with a book in the living room. "Hey, Sakura, want to go in on takeout with us?" Jinpachi asked. She glanced up, and Issei was concerned to see that she looked flushed and her eyes were a bit glazed.

"Sakura? Are you okay? You look feverish or something," he said, moving forward with one hand outstretched to check her temperature. She caught his hand and shook her head, giving him a slightly bemused smile.

"Issei? Do me a favour okay?" she asked, and Issei nodded, mystified for the second time that day. "Next time you two decide to get it on, warn me first so I can clear out, please. And so I can get anyone else out of the house. Not that it wasn't pleasant, but I think Hana was a little confused by the whole thing. And more than a little startled to realize she'd essentially slept with me, since the poor girl is rather straight."

Realizing what she must mean, Issei went first pale, then bright red. "Oh no," he whispered, mortified. "I... I was broadcasting?" He hadn't meant for it to go past Jinpachi. He'd thought he was only opening the connection between the two of them. Moaning, he turned and buried his face in Jinpachi's shoulder.

"You're too strong an empath to be able to feel that something that strongly and not broadcast it, I think," Sakura replied with a smile. "Don't worry about it too much, I certainly enjoyed it. And Hana's far too shy to ever mention it to anyone, though I don't think she'll be coming over to study any more."

To his further embarrassment Jinpachi burst out laughing, apparently finding the whole thing hilarious. "We'll make sure you're not around next time," he assured Sakura with a grin. "Damn, I'm kind of sorry I missed that, though." He laughed again when Issei hit his other shoulder, and hugged the smaller boy tightly. "Next time we'll just have to do it at my place," he murmured into Issei's ear. "I've got a single, and I'm sure the other guys in my dorm won't mind the overflow."

Issei thought he might just die of embarrassment, but he nodded. The fact that Jinpachi was already talking about 'next time' made him almost unbearably happy, however. Thank you, Sarjareem. I think this might actually be working.