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She’s aware that it’s a bit immature to bug him about leaving—after all, someone had to bridge the gap between the rooms—but it doesn’t stop the insecurities from bubbling in her belly.
He likes her. That is painfully obvious; it’d been there when they were children, and she’d known it when she’d gotten the chance to see the world through his eyes. But he likes the Kanny he met as a child, the girl whose face she wears (because she’d died, if not physically). He doesn’t know her; her, Akane Kurashiki, Zero, the girl who would arrange three murders by the end of the night because she has no other choice.
It’s doubtful that he’d ever like that girl, the real girl, the one he left behind to wait in this (admittedly) plush cabin while he consorted with her brother and Lotus.
( And there was another stupid little insecurity; she knows that Lotus was old enough to be his mother, that he, Aoi, and Seven all seem to enjoy needling her about her age rather than gawking at her, but the fact still stood that she has nowhere near the physicality as the ‘old grandma.’ )
She bites her lip. Really, it isn’t fair; by the time he even gets to know the real Akane, she’ll be ripped away from him, forced to flee to avoid arrest. And all she wants (in addition to the whole being-safe-and-alive thing) is to be with him.
“Hey, uh….June, you all right?”
Her head snaps up. When did he come back? She knew he would (after all, the bathroom tile wouldn’t find itself), but she hadn’t heard him returning.
She fakes a smile, projecting that cheery little girl image. “Yeah, I’m fine, Jumpy! What did you find in the other room?”
But even when faking interest and curiosity at what he’d discovered, the niggling in the back of her head wouldn’t go away. This was her chance to be alone with him. She wouldn’t have another, not really; certainly not one anywhere near as long as this. Shouldn’t she….take advantage of it? If nothing else, now was a great time to show him how grateful she was, for what he’d done for her and for what he would do.
During a lull in the conversation, while he searches around for something or another, she opts to speak up. “Do…do you think we’ll die here, Jumpy?” Her frightened expression is only half-forced; she lets the nerves show themselves on her face, because she knows he’d misread them as her being terrified of their fate.
Immediately, he turns to look at her, a semi-surprised expression on his face quickly turning into one of those determined ones he wore so often now. “Of course not! We’re going to find a way out of here. We’re all going to find the 9 door and escape, and Zero will lose.”
Still frowning – and this isn’t forced, either, because Zero losing was worse than he thought it was – she gives a soft little sigh. “But what if we can’t, or we get stuck? Or worse….”
She looks down as her sentence trails off, and only the soft sensation of his hands resting on her shoulders brings her head back up again. Her eyes meet his, and she almost looks away—the pure sincerity she sees in them is intimidating, and she doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to reciprocate that.
“I won’t let him hurt you, June,” he vows, voice unusually quiet. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
And this is where, if she were a good, unselfish person, she would have pulled away. Because as much as she wants this and he seems to want this, their relationship can never be. Nothing would await them but heartbreak, and she should be doing her best to encourage his affection without harming him too deeply with her departure.
But she’s not. She’s human, and she has flaws; flaws that led to her doing despicable things in order to stay alive, flaws that had her reveling in Junpei’s closeness. This is not fair to him, in the long run, but it feels too right to resist.
Deciding to hell with it all, she pops up on her tiptoes and presses her lips against his.
It’s her first kiss, and she’s not particularly good at it, but he doesn’t seem to mind. She doesn’t know if he’s kissed anyone before, either; doesn’t want to ask, just wants him to want to kiss her alone. But it’s over too soon; they’re pulling back for air, and her eyes meet his intense look again. But this time, there’s something soft on the edges; affection, perhaps, or maybe something deeper.
Something she doesn’t want to name, because she’s not certain she could leave his arms if she does.
“Akane…”
And it’s the first time he’s actually spoken her real name; they’ve dropped all pretensions of distance, now. She’s even smiling a soft, completely genuine smile, and it isn’t until a few seconds later that she’s aware of it. That’s what he does to her. He makes her believe that she is one person, not a mess of personalities jumbled together in one body or whatever, and that she is good and worthy of him.
Softly, she reaches for his hand. The skin is rough against her own smooth skin.
It’s nice. Comforting. A steady anchor even as her head’s spinning a little, holding her down on Earth as she reaches up for another kiss.
And maybe they’re moving too fast; he seems a bit surprised when she admits that she likes him, but blushes and returns the sentiment. There’s a bit more kissing, too. He seems to like that well enough, and she can’t say she minds, either. But then kissing leads to other things, and maybe they should be taking their time, but the others are waiting.
They make their way slowly, surely to that double bed that had scared her before, but this time she’s not afraid. It’s too fast, but they don’t have the time for sweet dates and romancing on the way. If there’s the possibility of dying (or, more realistically, of never seeing each other again), this is the chance to take advantage of their time together.
She can’t be with him forever, but she can be with him tonight. And nobody can ever take that away from her.