Author's Notes: I know this is late and I'm very sorry, it's just been a crazy week but good things are happening! Yay! I was play-testing for a start-up company and working my shitty job in the evenings so I had little time that wasn't eating or sleeping, so sorry again.

Yukari followed Akihiko-senpai's fans around for a good week and a half before deciding enough was enough.

What she witnessed had to be the most deplorable, disgusting acts of female obsession in the history of human kind. The girls were relentless in their task – see as much of Akihiko as humanly possible.

Mostly, he ignored them, either too engrossed in his day-to-day activities or too lost in thought to fully communicate with them. The rest of the time he brushed them off, saying he was busy and had something to do, and even though they pouted prettily (one of them even ran away crying) and begged for him to talk to them, Akihiko-senpai really was busy. When he wasn't going to class or arranging the boxing team, he was training, eating or sleeping. He rarely had a moment to spare, something she hoped the girls would, in time, come to understand but of course that seemed beyond reason for the more hardcore Akihiko-crazed fans.

And still they continued on, gossiping about him behind their hands, dropping books whenever he walked past in the hopes that he would stop to help them, or feigning a swoon.

She even saw two girls get in to a punching match in front of him. It was possibly the saddest thing she'd ever seen.

The worst thing was, she couldn't tell if it actually bothered Akihiko-senpai or not. While he mostly seemed oblivious to it, there were times when one or two of them would rush up to speak to him (and they would ask him out for a date, or make lewd suggestions about what he saw in women, or men) and he would just grimace and try to get away from them as fast as he could. It didn't look like it affected him that much, but those times, Yukari really wanted to hit those girls.

So he was either blind, or stupid.

Yukari was going to go with stupid. No man would put up with half that crap (or turn down as many dates) unless they were completely unaware of it.

It was a little sad, she thought. With someone as gentle and kind and handsome as Akihiko, he could have his pick of any of the multitude of girls that invaded his space on a day-to-day basis. They didn't lack for variety, and a small handful of them were the best looking girls in the school.

And it wasn't just women; while she was tailing the girl with the pony-tail (who was following Akihiko to the gym), he was stopped a total of three times, the first time by an incredibly beautiful older woman and the second and third times by men - just to be propositioned. The first guy called him "gorgeous-san" and asked if he could buy him a drink (Akihiko politely declined, he didn't drink) and the second one tried to grab Akihiko's ass as he walked past, but was thwarted by a swift block with the boxer's forearm and got a punch right in the jaw.

Knocked him clean out. Unaffected, the senior classman continued on his journey, muttering something about how the guy nearly got his wallet.

That wasn't to say he wasn't gay, but at that point Yukari didn't think he even had a sexuality.'

It was also getting increasingly difficult to keep denying that Akihiko-senpai was more than a little attractive, and that occasionally when checking to see if those girls were following him she stole a moment for herself. There really was no sense in making it taboo, especially when it was just so... easy to see how beautiful Akihiko was; and no one had to know about her budding crush on him either.

There was something about the cool confidence in the way he carried himself-

And the occasional half-smile-

That Yukari finally started admitting that her plan was started to be more about her and less and less about protecting him, and if anything that strengthened her resolve even further.

Because as much as she hated to admit it, she was essentially a jealous person and the thoughts of others trying to take what she was vaguely wanting made her furious.

Working up the courage to smack some sense into those girls steadily got more and more difficult. Especially when, one afternoon, the girl with the pony-tail sat a little too close next to Yukari at lunch and started asking her questions in the most passive aggressive way.

"Hey, you live in Akihiko-senpai's dorm, right? Aren't you Yukari Takeba?"

Yukari gently lowered her book on to her lap, ready to bring it down on to the girl's head should she try anything, "... Yes? I am."

It seemed she didn't just like invading Akihiko's personal space, she was right up in Yukari's like she wanted to get inside her, and if that thought didn't creep the hell out of her nothing would. Her sickly sweet smile and invasive perfume was enough to make Yukari's face wrinkle, suddenly not caring about polite company and proper manners.

"That's strange, I heard Mitsuru Kirijo and Minato Arisato live there too... lots of popular people in that dorm," she laughed her too high, too fake laugh and Yukari knew the only reason the girl had that much information was because she was a crazy stalker, "I wonder if I could transfer-"

"All the rooms are taken," Yukari cut across her, and her smile faltered for a scary moment before it was plastered back on again.

"What I wouldn't give to live with so many interesting people... like Akihiko-senpai for example. What's he like?"

Her incredibly thin ploy for information certainly wasn't lost on the intelligent Takeba, so she just shrugged and said, "I couldn't tell you, we don't talk all that much,"

It wasn't necessarily a lie, but she didn't want to give this girl even more ammunition than she already had. She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and pursed her lips together.

"So... I guess if something happened in the dorm, you would need to be able to contact each other, yes?"

Why Yukari wasn't beating the girl within an inch of her life, she didn't know. She guessed it was because, with all her followers the girl with the black pony-tail was the priestess of the temple of Akihiko-senpai, and that was a little intimidating. This girl could make Yukari's life hell and potentially get her beaten up, so she definitely didn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

"... What are you getting at?" For one horrifying moment, she thought maybe the girl was threatening to burn the dorm down.

"I'm just saying... maybe you have Akihiko-senpai's phone number..."

Yukari stood up at that point, furious. Who the hell did that girl think she was?! If she noticed Yukari's anger, she didn't show it, she simply continued like it was a perfectly normal conversation between two people.

"I'd be happy to repay you for your troubles-"

"Are you bribing me for a phone-number?!" The healer seethed, spitting the word bribing as if it were a contagious disease, "You're out of your mind!"

Wrenching her bag off the seat and trying to ignore the faces that turned to see the commotion, Yukari vowed to give that girl a good piece of her mind the next time she saw her going anywhere near her senpai. If that meant hitting her in the head with a book, or tackling her to the ground to beat some sense into her, so be it.

The girl with the pony-tail looked positively murderous as Yukari marched past; she returned the glare, daring her to try anything.

Akihiko noticed a change in Yukari since she the night she felt ill.

It was almost as if she seemed much more determined in the way she carried herself, and he had to admit it was a welcome change, even if a small one. She had purpose to her walk, and seemed so much more focused during their exploits in Tartarus; their enemies could barely get a hit in without a wave of healing enveloping everyone, or a gust of wind ripping one particularly unlucky one to shreds.

He also realized he was seeing her around the school a lot more, which was another thing he was grateful for thanks to that pack of thugs vying for her affections. At least he could see her in his peripheral vision, feeling a little more than paranoid about her safety. He let Shinji know, so he had eyes and ears in much better places, and if anyone could truly look out for her safety, it would be Shinji.

His friend didn't seem too worried when he was asked, but Akihiko knew deep down Shinji cared.

He kept vigilant for most of the week, keeping his eye on the pack-leader and occasionally eavesdropping on their conversations; more than once Yukari's name was mentioned, but nothing too threatening was ever said. Akihiko could be wrong about them, but he felt no harm in being cautious.

Hanoi Keizo was his name, and after doing a little digging with Shinji he really didn't like the information he'd received. Keizo was a deadbeat, spent most of his time skipping classes; smoking pot and binge drinking down near the alleyways of Iwatodai with his friends. They didn't really do much more in the way of anti-social behaviour, but it had already sealed the deal with Akihiko. He didn't want that idiot near Yukari. Period.

That was until the guy with the underbite approached him after Boxing Club one evening. He couldn't believe he let his guard down for the barest second, so when the male suddenly appeared by his side he scared the crap out of the fighter.

"H-hey, you share a dorm with Yukari Takeba, don't you?"

Akihiko took a second to eye him up and asses his threat value. He was average build, a little weedy but he's been surprised by thin guys before in the ring; he could potentially be a lot stronger than he looked. There was nothing hostile in his presence though; his eyes were pleading and a little scared, he presumed because Akihiko didn't have a good reputation for talking.

No, no his reputation was for boxing. And that was something he did extremely well.

"Yeah, we live in the same dorm, why?"

Straight to the point, Akihiko hated dancing around the issue and just wanted everything laid out on the table. He could be asking for a homework assignment from her, of have something that belongs to her and want to return it, but somehow he doubted it.

"I... I uh, was just wondering if you know... does she have a boyfriend?"

"She's going out with Minato Arisato," he said simply, taking his bag out of his locker and shutting the door, turning his back on the slighter man to leave. While he wasn't absolutely sure she was in fact dating Minato, he was just going by what Junpei told him, and if that put the guy off at all, then it served its purpose.

"H-hey wait, can't you help a guy out?" He shakily grabbed onto Akihiko's shirt sleeve.

"Help you out with what?" He spat, shrugging Keizo's hand away from his shoulder, "She's with someone. What am I supposed to do about that?"

He didn't want anything else to do with the guy, he wanted to get as far away from him as possible because he was going to hit him and they were still on school property and that was the kind of shit that got you expelled. He didn't even know why he was so angry, on the outside it looked like a perfectly normal series of sentences, but he didn't want that creep anywhere near Yukari and knowing he wouldn't accept that she was with someone made Akihiko fear for her safety.

But he knew he was being an idiot, and even after Boxing he was still riled and angry and nothing would take him down, so he got changed in the dorm (checked with Aigis that Yukari was home and safe) and headed for the nearest gym, his fists shaking.

Author's Notes: Next chapter is going to be quite difficult because I've revised it so many times and I'm still not entirely happy with it, so wish me luck that I'll think of something better before Friday.