Akihiko checked Junpei's room first but he evidently hadn't returned from his shower yet. After a moment's hesitation he turned his steps to the end of the hall. Junpei was just getting out as Akihiko entered. He seemed shocked to see anyone; for the most part the boys tended to stick to certain separate times to get cleaned up and at this point in the afternoon no one was generally in here. Akihiko didn't make any explanation; instead he took silent note of Junpei's injuries. Most of them were slight but one or two of them were bad. Junpei must have realized what Akihiko was looking at because he started to turn his face away, but Akihiko shook his head firmly and closed the distance between them. "Don't do that; I need to see."

"Why? We fight Shadows all the fucking time, so why is this any big deal?"

"Stop being such a pain in the ass." Akihiko carefully turned Junpei's chin one way, then the other. That eye was really something else. And how the hell had he cut his chin anyway?

"Sorry I'm such a damn pain in the ass." Junpei still wasn't looking at him and a moment later Akihiko realized he'd said the wrong thing.

"…are you crying?"

"Boys don't cry."

'Junpei, I've already seen you cry twice now." Akihiko had to smile a little as he remembered both times. Once was when they met, the other time was on the beach after Junpei had been systematically shot down by every girl there. But Junpei wasn't smiling.

"Shut up."

Normally Akihiko wouldn't have let Junpei get away with talking to him like that without a comeback or maybe even a calculated hit (just hard enough). There might be a little more to their friendship than they were letting on, but Junpei was still just another guy when it came down to it. He'd never had the inclination to treat him with any special gentleness. But this was different. Junpei was really hurting, more than he could remember seeing him hurt about anything except maybe Chidori. This was serious.

As if reading his mind, Junpei growled and pulled away. "I don't need your pity, Senpai. If you're going to be like that, do me a favor and get the hell out of here."

"I don't pity you. At least you have a dad." It was a shitty thing to say, but maybe it was better to let Junpei get mad at him then to make him focus on what had happened to him.

Junpei didn't rise to the bait, though. "Yeah, well…you can have him. One dad, slightly used." He looked down at the floor. Akihiko felt more uncomfortable than ever.

Finally, he looked around and located a washcloth. He ran hot water over it and then silently applied himself to cleaning up Junpei's face a little better, especially that cut on his chin. It didn't look to be that deep, just messy…

…he realized as he was carefully going over the rest of Junpei's face that Junpei was crying again. He pretended not to know and put one of Junpei's hands to the cloth, so he could continue to hold it over his eyes until he was done. "Here, finish up. Damn, you made a mess. This towel on the floor is soaked…" Akihiko's voice hovered in different places as he walked around doing meaningless things. By the time he was finished Junpei had taken the washcloth off his face and his eyes were dry.

"Would you give it a rest? Maybe you should be my dad, the way you bitch about everything."

"That's just sick. And a little scary."

"Come on, Daddy, tuck me into bed. Read me a story."

"…don't do that…"

"Nobody's going to come in here."

"I came in here and surprised you a minute ago."

"At least give me a goodnight kiss…"

"Put your clothes on!" Akihiko stormed out.

Junpei pursed his lips and pulled on his jeans. "Nobody loves me." He got a soda and went back to his room, then stopped dead when he saw Akihiko sitting on the edge of his bed. "…I was kidding."

"Good, because I'm not reading you a fucking bedtime story."

"Good!"

"Good."

They glared at each other.

Finally Junpei joined him on the bed. "Move over a little. …why are you still here, anyway?"

"Well, uh…"

"No, don't tell me…Yuka-tan was worried."

Akihiko looked relieved at not having to lie. "I would have come to see about you anyway though."

Junpei frowned. "I don't need it. Besides, it doesn't concern you."

Akihiko shrugged. "Maybe not, but I guess we're still going to worry anyway."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Akihiko let his eyes settle on the blank screen of Junpei's TV. "That's fine, I'm no good at talking about that stuff anyway."

"Then do what you're good at." Junpei's voice was almost toneless, but Akihiko still got his meaning. He turned to look at him, troubled. It was obvious that neither of them was in the right state of mind. But on the other hand, if this was all he could do for Junpei right now, how the hell was he going to say "No"?

In the end Akihiko didn't say no. He got up and locked the door. When he turned back Junpei had already tossed his clothes someplace. The moment they hit the mess that took up half his floor they blended in and only Junpei could have found them again. (He once told Akihiko he had a "system.") For his part, Akihiko carefully folded his clothes and put them on a corner of Junpei's desk, where he would at least be able to retrieve them later.

Then he slid into bed beside him. Junpei immediately got under him, making it obvious the way he intended their game to go. Akihiko looked down at him and cupped his jaw, but Junpei turned his face away.

"Don't look at me like that…don't touch me like that."

"Like what?"

"…I told you I don't want your pity…"

Akihiko was a little annoyed. "Look, I'm not in a rough mood today. That's allowed, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't. I need it rough, and if you can't, I'll…" A very specific threat hovered on Junpei's tongue but he swallowed it down the moment he saw Akihiko's expression.

Akihiko's voice was deceptively soft. "You'll…what? Find somebody else? Maybe try Yukari again? That won't be necessary." Junpei's eyes suddenly shut and he turned his head to the side and gasped. Akihiko went on relentlessly, "There, how's that?"

"…senpai…" Junpei dug his fingertips into Akihiko's shoulders and Akihiko bit his lip and wondered if he had gone too far, if he was hurting him. But Junpei's next words were, "…senpai…harder."