Afterwards Akihiko had sat up and looked down at Junpei for awhile. The other boy had fallen asleep almost immediately, making Akihiko feel even more guilty for tiring him out like that. But that had evidently been what Junpei wanted…after debating with himself he got up and pulled on his clothes. He had no way of knowing how long Junpei'd be out for, and besides if he needed him he knew where to find him. Just now Akihiko didn't feel like he could hang around in that room for much longer. The smell of their sweat hung in the air and it reminded him of everything he had done earlier.

He went to back to his room. That night, no one knocked at his door.

Junpei's normal level of cheerfulness returned long before his eye healed up, in fact the very next day he was acting as if nothing had happened. But to some of his friends it seemed a little forced. It put a strain on them too, and as a result they ended up acting towards him the opposite of how they really wanted to act. Instead of being comforting or calming, Yukari found herself becoming more and more irritated with him for putting on an act. When she wanted to smile she snapped at him instead, and when she wanted to ask, she argued. Akihiko was having the same trouble in his own way. Instead of being approachable he got a lot more withdrawn. Junpei shrugged it off and spent more time with Minato. It was pretty soothing to be with someone who never asked any awkward questions or gave him significant looks.

But he couldn't really go that way forever. Eventually he needed someone who would react. Akihiko was still avoiding him, so that left one other person.

Yukari was perched on one of the stools in the back of the lounge, thinking to herself, when she felt a tug at her elbow. She turned, annoyed at her thoughts being interrupted, and then wrinkled her brow when she saw Junpei standing there. Now there was just a faint shadow over his eye, barely noticeable.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously. Somehow every interaction between the two of them over the past couple of days had been tense.

"The pleasure of your company." He said the words sarcastically and her brows drew together closer. He saw her defiance and smiled a little. "Come on, it's a nice night and Koro-chan needs a walk."

"Don't see why you can't walk him yourself," she said, but as she said it she was getting up to go with him.

They ended up walking Koromaru all over the city; not just at the shrine. He didn't seem to mind, and the evening really was a fine one. They let the sunlight fade to colors and then set before they started to turn their steps back towards the dorm.

During all this time they hadn't really spoken much. It was enough to watch Koromaru running around, excited to have so much freedom. But when the sky darkened and the air cooled, the streets got more silent and there was nothing to fill the stillness in the air between them. It became oppressive.

Finally Yukari turned to Junpei. "You know what I hate about you?"

"It sounds like you're gonna tell me." Junpei watched as Koromaru sniffed at a shut-up newspaper stand.

"I hate how you're acting right now! Most of the time we can't get you to shut up about how you feel, so why is this any different?"

"Just because I haven't talked to you doesn't mean I haven't talked to anyone, you know…"

Yukari was brought up short by Junpei's harsh words. She flushed and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't think about it like that--"

Junpei cut her off. "I didn't talk to anyone."

He watched Koromaru a little longer and then continued, "My dad even built a shrine to her, you know. He wanted me to think she'd died instead of just run off. I don't know why he thought that'd be less painful. I'd personally like it if I knew she was happy, somewhere…" Yukari looked at him, biting her bottom lip.

"Anyway, that day I finally called him on it. I shouldn't have. Everybody needs something to hold onto, after all. But I even took that away from him."

"That's not your fault--"

"I know what I did. Then we fought…I think he got the worst of it. I haven't called him since. I…" Junpei's voice got a little rougher. "I broke her picture…I didn't mean to."

Yukari realized offhandedly that Koromaru was out of sight now. Maybe he'd found something new and interesting to sniff…or maybe he was giving them their space. There was no one else on the street.

Junpei had been waiting for her to say something, but she hadn't spoken in awhile. She didn't even look like she was still listening, he thought bitterly. "What's so damn interesting about the sidewalk?" he finally said.

"I was just thinking that there was no one around."

"Heh, you afraid I'll jump you or something?"

Yukari didn't answer.