A faint tugging in his spine dispels the fog of sleep somewhat, but he can't manage to open his eyes. Dimly, Akihiko can hear some distant bird screaming his adoration for the coming of a new day.

It's dawn.

His internal clock usually spells instant doom for any rest, no matter how tired he is, but right now he feels like he's laying in a very sunlit field of flowers and all his senses are numb. There's a slow, rhythmic melody calling him back to unformed dreams and he complies, melting back in the pool of sweet-smelling warmth that he lays in with a soft exhale.

The world is just one giant fluffy cloud, and he's soaking in it, paralyzed in a sliver of awareness. There's a delicate and soft pressure going across his hair slowly and Akihiko shivers in delight.

This is nice.

The sensation moves to the back of his ear, then his neck, and up again to graze his scalp. He doesn't know what it is, but he can't move or open his eyes, drowning in deep fog. It doesn't matter, although somewhere in the back of his mind it feels like he should know what this is.

Tendrils of warm silk are coiling around him as if he is wrapped in a cloak of some kind and he sinks into it. Something hot and velvety soft brushes his forehead, then travels to his cheek, almost like burning raindrops. It splatters on the corner of his mouth, then his jaw and down his neck, leaving flowers of humid fire wherever it goes. The burning silk is moving with it, as if his blanket is sliding down and made of liquid.

Oh… Wow…

There's a tight feeling in his stomach, threatening to wake him fully with a desperate pang of hunger, but the fluttering is back in his hair, and he settles back down. What sounds like wind chimes tinkle in his ears, on a warm breeze, almost like an echo. The idea of food comes back in a rush and somehow, all he can think of is that time Aragaki cooked him breakfast at the dorm a thousand years ago.

That damp, hot feeling comes back on his cheek and barely skim on his lips, butterflies flying delicately around his brow until they take flight, and he falls back in a deep sleep.

It takes Akihiko a good while to fully wake up. He's still befuddled from the medicated sleep, but he's so hungry he could die on spot; maybe that explains the confusion. It's a shock to decipher the numbers on the clock, he never gets up so late but yesterday took a lot out of all of them.

That explains the cramps, should have snacked yesterday before bed.

He can never wait long for nourishment, or he feels weak and light-headed, a consequence of a high metabolism used to constant intense exercise. Much less skip breakfast, this will tank his whole day in the gutter. Better get in gear and fix that, except he feels half-melted and it's really hard to get out of bed. Taking a few seconds to blink and shake the fog, he takes a deep breath and everything smells like her.

It's like she was here.

Drowsy, he tries to think back because there's something vague nagging at him. He remembers she brought Junpei to his room, and a vivid picture of her pale face under the moonlight, eyes ablaze looking his way. His eyes turn on his pillow and there's a strand of copper hair shining in plain view right next to his nose.

"…Oh."

Akihiko is deep down convinced he should be panicking right now; except he can't stop grinning and that creates a weird dissonance in his mind. Either the leftover fog from the painkillers or the inner decomposition of his organs from hunger, or both, is fuddling the usual stress but he'll take it because he can't remember much and that should worry him.

Eat first, freak out after.

Too mellow and hungry, he just slips on his red hoodie, zips it three quarters of the way and exits his room. There's quite a bit of cutlery noise coming from the lobby, and something smells amazing.

Of course everybody is up. Look what time it is.

He just needs to sneak in the kitchen, grab something to fill the black hole inside and kickstart his brain; those tantalizing wafts of cooking are making it hard to exist. When he steps down, everyone is still for the most part in sleepwear, sitting at the table with plates full of homemade food. Iori swallows his last bite hard and hollers toward the kitchen.

"Mina-tan, can I get some more? Pretty pleaaase! I'm dying over here."

And Minako answers him from the kitchen, apparently quite chipper.

"Wait a bit Junpei, not everyone got their first serving yet. Fuuka can you fill up the table bowl with this? Then sit down and enjoy, I'm good with the rest, thank you."

She sounds happy, so nothing bad happened. Probably. Don't flip out.

Yamagishi exits the kitchen with a cutting board filled with fresh slices of strawberries and peaches toward the table, which Ken happily steals from as soon as it's in range. Yukari and Mitsuru are sipping tea and flipping magazines absently like they often do. Minato is picking at his eggs, eyeing him with a measured glance, munching slowly through a smirk from his seat next to a curious Aigis.

That's weird.

He nods back at him, wondering what the look is about because it's never for nothing, tiptoes toward the kitchen and stops in the doorframe. Minako has her back to him, nodding her head to the music of a single earphone while juggling pans on the stove.

"Good morning senpai!"

Definitely cheerful alright, and absolutely adorable.

There's a feeling of déja vu gnawing at the back of his skull. Her hair is up in a rough ponytail, in pyjama pants and yellow tank top, and she's slightly dancing as she empties some scrambled egg mix into one of the pans. He can't help but smile despite the inner leftover fog.

"Good morning."

She keeps working and speaks over her shoulder, not looking at him.

"Look in the fridge, top right shelf."

"…What?"

But she ignores him and shouts toward the doorway while ruffling the mixture and moving stuff on the counter, still not turning around.

"Five minutes Junpei!"

He opens the fridge and bends down; one of his shake bottles is exactly where she said to look. But didn't he down this one last night when they came back? Akihiko blinks, he needs to endure the pain next time and not rely on painkillers, it's screwing with his head bigtime.

He takes a few sips and it tastes very different, fruity but not too sweet, but it's so good he downs half the thing straight and sighs in relief.

I needed that.

She's chopping strawberries and making a plate when he looks back and it dawns on him that this is exactly what it tastes like. She pops a piece of fruit in her mouth for every berry she cuts in two, eating as she cooks.

"Was it okay? I wasn't sure if I had the ratios right."

Wait a second...

"You made this, this morning?"

And Minako finally turns around, holding a strawberry to her lips and munching on it, a strange look he can't label in her eyes.

"Well, yeah, it's always the first thing you drink in the morning and you were hungry. I just improvised a bit because you never eat any fruits, hope you don't mind. By the way, is that any better?"

And her hand that's not holding something to her lips is ghosting on his cheek delicately. His mind churns, piecing things around because that sensation is familiar, and sparks are flying across his skull.

That's right, I banged my face pretty hard, hence the pills.

"Seems okay, I don't feel anything this morning anymore."

She smiles at him and her eyes gleam with happiness, her fingertips brushing his jaw and making him shiver.

"Good, because it looked painful. Gimme a sec."

She turns around and puts the finishing touches on her plate in progress with a can of whipped cream. He takes a few sips of his bottle to distract himself.

That mix is amazing.

"Yukariiiiiii, I got a surprise for youuuuuuu!"

She takes the plate, filled with something drowned under Chantilly and strawberries, and holds it through the doorway. Takeba sprints over with an excited face.

"Oh my god how did you... oh wow! Thank you!"

She takes it to the table, humming in anticipated pleasure, while Minako opens the oven and takes something out, murmuring.

"And this is for you. Sorry I had to keep them warm, Junpei and Min keep stealing everything I make as soon as it's cooked."

Akihiko looks at what she's holding his way while she keeps working on her eggs and it's a plate filled with numerous pancakes. That's the smell that permeates everything since he got out of this room.

I dreamed about this, I think. Wait…

"Take it please, it's heavy, I need to finish this, condiments are on the table."

You're downplaying this on purpose and I don't recall telling anyone about this before except Shinji.

"How did you know?"

Minako looks back at him, amused twinkle in her eyes and biting back a laugh, forcing the plate in his free hand.

"I asked you what you wanted to eat this morning. You don't remember?"

His expression is probably strange, but he cannot remember discussing food, only that he dreamed about pancakes.

"If you don't go sit down and eat this right now, you'll faint, and I'll be disappointed I did all this for nothing."

Akihiko eyes her carefully, mulling over words that can't seem to come out, yet his hands are full. Then it dawns on him, and he does the next best thing despite the growing tension that's starting to take over the last tendrils of fog keeping him calm. He leans over until he can whisper in her ear, nudging her remaining earphone out with the tip of his nose.

"Thank you, you're adorable."

And he drops his lips delicately on the skin near her ear like she did the other day, blushing as furiously as she is.

"Junpei, bring your plate! Your eggs are ready!"

He stares at her in shock, and she bites her lip while pointing to the doorframe, rubies boiling like little suns to echo the color on her cheeks. He exits as Iori enters, breakfast and shake in hand, trying to refrain from smiling to himself. Sitting down at the table, he attacks his treat furiously, because he's really hungry and it tastes heavenly.

I can't believe I did that.

Ken eyes his pancakes, a jealous gleam in his eye.

"Oh I didn't get to try these, are they good?"

Akihiko's thoughts are not on his breakfast, but on her earlier reaction.

"Absolutely amazing."