The harsh morning sunlight streaming through Jun's living room windows was what eventually pulled Haruto back to consciousness. He felt groggy and disoriented, like he was swimming up from the bottom of a deep, murky pool. His head was pounding, and his mouth felt like cotton.
But it was the sound of Jun's voice that really woke him up.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO DO IN MY HOUSE?!"
The shout echoed through the apartment, and Haruto's eyes snapped open to find his best friend standing in the doorway, staring at them with a mixture of shock, outrage, and something else he couldn't quite identify.
That's when Haruto became aware of several things at once. First, he was still mostly naked, covered only by a thin blanket that had somehow appeared during the night. Second, Akiko was curled up against his side, her clothes disheveled and her hair a tangled mess. And third, they were both on Jun's futon in a state that definitely looked compromising.
"Jun, I-" Haruto started to say, but his friend cut him off.
"Don't even try to explain this!" Jun marched over and grabbed Haruto's shoulder, yanking him upright. "I let you crash at my place as a favor, and this is how you repay me? By bringing some girl over and... and..."
He gestured wildly at the scene before him, apparently unable to find words for what he thought had happened.
Haruto's head was spinning as the events of the previous night came flooding back. The strange heat in his body, Akiko appearing out of nowhere, the way she'd touched him, the drug she'd slipped into his food. But looking at the situation from Jun's perspective, he could understand why his friend was so upset.
"It's not what you think," Haruto said quickly, scrambling to find his clothes. "I swear, Jun, nothing happened. Not really."
"Oh, sure," Jun said sarcastically. "You're both half-naked on my futon, and you expect me to believe nothing happened? Do I look stupid to you?"
Cold sweat was beading on Haruto's forehead as the full implications of the situation hit him. What if something had happened? What if he'd lost control completely under the influence of whatever Akiko had given him? The thought made him feel sick.
"Listen to me," he said, pulling on his shirt with shaking hands. "Akiko showed up here last night out of nowhere. I don't even know how she found the place. She must have... she must have been cold, so she just cuddled up to me while I was sleeping. That's all."
Even as he said it, he knew how lame it sounded. Jun's expression clearly showed he wasn't buying any of it.
"She was cold?" Jun repeated incredulously. "So she decided to strip down and climb into bed with you? Come on, man, even you can't be that naive."
What Jun didn't say, but what Haruto could see in his eyes, was something that made the situation even more uncomfortable. There was jealousy there - raw, bitter jealousy that his friend was trying desperately to hide.
Jun had always been unlucky with girls. While Haruto had Katsuki and now apparently Akiko fighting over him, Jun spent most Friday nights alone playing video games and complaining about how unfair life was. And now he'd had to wake up to find his best friend in his own apartment with a beautiful girl draped all over him.
The unfairness of it all was eating at Jun. Here he was, the one who actually owned the apartment, who'd been generous enough to let Haruto stay over, and what did he get for his kindness? A front-row seat to his friend's romantic adventures.
"Why does this stuff always happen to you?" Jun muttered under his breath, but Haruto caught it.
Before he could respond, there was a soft rustling sound from the futon. Akiko was starting to wake up, her eyes fluttering open as she tried to orient herself. She looked confused for a moment, then her gaze fell on Haruto and a slow smile spread across her face.
"Good morning," she said softly, her voice still husky with sleep. She stretched like a cat, arching her back in a way that made her shirt ride up and expose a strip of pale skin.
Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she sat up and wrapped her arms around Haruto's waist, pressing her face against his chest.
"I had the most wonderful dreams," she murmured against his shirt.
Jun's face went bright red as he caught a glimpse of what the movement had revealed. Akiko's shirt had shifted during her stretch, and the loose neckline was now showing significantly more than it should. Her breasts were partially visible, the smooth curves barely contained by the thin fabric.
"That's it!" Jun exploded, his voice cracking slightly. "I want both of you out of my apartment right now!"
"Jun, please, just let me explain-" Haruto tried again, but his friend was having none of it.
"Explain what? How you brought your girlfriend over to my place for a romantic night without even asking? How you used my home like some kind of love hotel?" Jun was practically shouting now, his face getting redder by the second.
"She's not my girlfriend." Haruto protested, but Akiko chose that moment to nuzzle closer to him, making a soft, contented sound that definitely didn't help his case.
"Sure looks like it from where I'm standing," Jun said bitterly. "You know what? I'm done. I'm done being the pathetic friend who gets to watch everyone else have what I want. Get out. Both of you. Now."
There was real pain in Jun's voice now, beneath all the anger. Haruto realized that this wasn't just about the apparent breach of trust or the mess they'd made of his living room. This was about years of watching other people get the things he wanted, years of being the friend who helped but never got helped in return.
"Jun-" Haruto started, but Akiko chose that moment to stand up and stretch again, apparently oblivious to the effect she was having.
Her movements were naturally graceful, and the morning light streaming through the windows seemed to make her skin glow. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and there was something almost ethereal about the way she moved.
It was too much for Jun. The sight of this beautiful girl in his living room, acting so comfortable and intimate with his best friend, while he stood there alone and unwanted, finally broke something inside him.
"GET OUT!" he roared, pointing toward the door. "I don't want to see either of you ever again!"
Haruto grabbed the rest of his clothes and Akiko's hand, pulling her toward the door before Jun could get even more upset. He could see his friend was on the verge of doing something they'd all regret, and he didn't want their friendship to be damaged beyond repair.
"We're leaving," he said quickly. "Jun, I'm really sorry about this. I'll call you later and we can talk about it properly."
"Don't bother," Jun said, but his voice was quieter now, more defeated than angry. "Just go."
As they headed for the door, Haruto could hear Jun muttering to himself behind them. "Why is it always him? What does he have that I don't have? It's not fair..."
The words cut deeper than any shouting would have. Haruto had never realized how much his friend resented him, how much pain he'd been carrying around. He made a mental note to find a way to make this right, somehow.
Akiko seemed completely unfazed by the whole situation. She walked beside him down the hallway, humming softly to herself as if they'd just had a pleasant morning together instead of being thrown out of someone's apartment.
"That was fun," she said cheerfully as they reached the street. "We should do it again sometime."
Haruto stopped walking and stared at her. "Fun? Akiko, do you have any idea what you've done? You've probably ruined my friendship with Jun, and I still don't know what happened last night or what you gave me."
She looked genuinely puzzled by his reaction. "I gave you what you needed," she said simply. "You were being stubborn about us being together, so I helped you see things more clearly."
"You drugged me!"
"I helped you relax," she corrected. "And it worked, didn't it? You stopped fighting your feelings."
Haruto felt a chill run down his spine. She was talking about drugging him like it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, like she was proud of it. This wasn't the shy, lonely girl he'd thought he knew. This was someone else entirely.
"This isn't over," he said quietly. "We need to talk about what happened. Really talk."
Akiko smiled up at him, that same sweet, innocent expression she'd always worn. But now he could see something else underneath it, something that made him very, very nervous.
"Of course we do," she agreed. "After all, we have a lot to discuss about our future together."