When Sho wakes up the next morning, Jun is lying next to him. They didn’t sleep with each other, but they both wanted to sleep next to each other. Sho takes his phone sleepily, just to be greeted by approximately twenty missed calls from Nino, and tons of messages. His eyes snap open in horror. What the hell happened?

Jun stirs slightly, blinking a bit. He smiles at Sho, but soon his smile freezes. “What happened?”

“I have no idea!” Sho breathes out. “But I received tons of calls from Nino.”

Jun sits up immediately, taking his phone. “And I from Satoshi.” His eyes widen when he goes through the messages. “No, no, nonononononono.” He jumps out of the bed, and hurries to Sho’s computer. “Can I use it?”

“Sure,” Sho says, following him, not sure what Jun is looking for. Once Jun has opened twitter and the news feed for stars and idols, he sees it immediately. <i>Actor and model Matsumoto Jun victim of sexual violence in his youth?

Did someone take advantage of him? </i>

There are so many suggestive words and speculations flying around that Sho’s head starts spinning. He closes the laptop before Jun can read it all. His head feels dizzy. How the hell did the press find out? “I’m going to call Nino immediately,” he says. “Jun,” he says softly when Jun doesn’t react. “We are going to solve this. I’m here for you.”

Nino however can’t tell him much, just that apparently a journalist found an old year book of Jun, and investigated a bit, and heard of a few rumours. “They are only speculating,” he tells Sho. “They see him as a victim, so it won’t harm his reputation. Rather on the contrary – don’t tell him – but, as you said it yourself once, the slightly dramatic aura has always worked well for him. His popularity will definitely rise through this. But it will be hard for him to face all the journalists now.”

When Sho hangs up, he turns to a still frozen Jun. He touches his shoulder softly. “Jun,” he says, and wraps his arms around his neck from behind, his chin resting on Jun’s head. “Breakfast,” he continues. “Now. You need to get something edible in your system.”

“How can you be so calm?” Jun huffs, sudden anger flashing in his eyes.

“I am not,” Sho tells him, well aware that Jun’s anger isn’t directed at him, but rather at the world. He is just the only one there right now. “But you are more important than my anger. So, I’m keeping it inside me for now.”

“Really?” Jun asks quietly.

“Yes, I’ll definitely find out who blabbed and then I’ll find him and break-“

“No, you won’t,” Jun says much to Sho’s surprise. “Violence leads to more violence. And threats will lead to new threats.”

“But-“

“I’m not as weak as I was before,” Jun says, his fists clenching. “I’ll learn how to handle it.”

“Wait here,” Sho tells him and hurries to a little bag in the corner of his wardrobe. There is a small box inside. He hands it to Jun.

“Eh.” Jun blinks nervously. “I-“

“No, no,” Sho chuckles. “I would never ask you to commit to me through a marriage in such a situation. I know it would be too much pressure on you. This is something else.” He feels how his cheeks heat up. “A present I wanted to give you.”

Jun looks at him curiously, opening the box. It’s a dreamcatcher. A golden one with little diamonds. “Sho…” Jun stutters.

“I want you to always sleep well. I want to help you to get back all those peaceful moments you lost years ago.” He pauses.  “You’ll let me be at your side, won’t you?” Sho asks. “I won’t accept you locking me out, you know?”

“I know.” Jun lips quiver. Sho hugs him tighter, his hands rubbing over his arms. He feels how Jun is shaking. He has wrapped his fingers around the item tightly.

“I won’t let you go through it alone,” he says softly. “I promise.”


~~~


Sho provides Aiba, Ohno and Nino with coffee, surprised when all three of them appeared out of nowhere and visited them. Apparently Aiba wanted to check on them, and the other two wanted to talk about the next steps to take.

Jun has calmed down a bit, but sometimes he secretly angles for Sho’s hand, and Sho squeezes it reassuringly.

After a while it’s Ohno who leans back and looks at Jun thoughtfully “Jun,” he says calmly. “Why don’t you use this story to your advantage?”

“Are you nuts!?” Jun huffs angrily. “Satoshi, what are you thinking!? That I want to gain popularity by selling my own past to the press. That I-“

Sho puts his hand on Jun’s arm to calm him down. “I’m sure he meant something else,” he says, and Ohno nods.

“Sakurai-kun is right. What I meant is: It’s out in the open anyway. Why don’t you make something productive out of it? You could basically make a campaign out of it to help other victims, you can raise the publics’ sensitivity to certain topics. What you reveal about your story is your decision.”

Jun swallows. “I could help others?”

“Yes.”

Jun bites down on his lips. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

Ohno smiles. “You are.”

“The other problem though is,” Nino muses. “What were are going to do with the both of you. We were supposed to stage the breakup soon, but with recent happenings it’s-“

“Forget it,” Sho huffs immediately, snatching Jun’s hand. “I have no intention to stage a break-up anyway.”

To his surprise Jun chuckles slightly. “Sho-kun is very possessive,” he says with a casual smile.

Ohno and Nino exchange a look, while Aiba grins. “I knew you would make a nice couple,” he points out. “I always said you should try it.”

“Not to me,” Sho says.

“But to Jun,” Aiba intervenes.

Sho raises his eyebrows, looking at Jun. Jun however just blushes. “So what?” he stutters. “You said yourself that sometimes one needs to talk with a friend.” He pauses, eyeing Sho carefully. “Are you mad?”

“Very.” Sho grins. “I would love to punish you for it~”

Jun smacks him and chuckles. His eyes light up again, and Sho is happy to see him smile. “Idiot,” he says softly.

“Could you stop making suggestive jokes,” Nino complains, but it’s only a half-hearted complaint because he twinkles suggestively at Sho and even shows him a secret thumbs up. Meanwhile Ohno and Jun exchange a glance. Sho doesn’t quite understand what it means, but it seems Ohno is content with what he sees in Jun’s eyes.

“But it is quite convenient that it turned out like this,” Aiba points out. “No one needs to pretend a break-up or anything. And no one needs to give a press conference that they are together. Because… you guys already did. Isn’t it great that it doesn’t need to change?”

“I find it great,” Sho answers with a smile. “Jun’s my own little universe.”

“God,” Jun groans, hiding his face behind his hands. “Could you stop being so cheesy? I’m getting a sugar shock.”

“You are too skinny anyways,” Sho teases.

Ohno grins.


~~~


It seems that the whole meeting and their talk, and maybe also Sho himself, have given Jun the push he just was waiting for, because he holds a press conference only two days later together with Sho. He dashes forward, and with a straight face he tells everyone a few pieces of his past, his voice shaking sometimes and he looks sad, and Sho knows that the fangirls and boys will basically make screenshots of this face of his to squeal over it and be all over-protective. Nino is right, the rather dramatic approach works well for Jun. Now only Sho needs to find a way how he can combine his rebellious image with his now caring one. But he assumes the way he holds Jun’s hand and glares at the journalists at the same time, might just be the right middle way, because Nino just grins at him from the side, and nods. When Nino isn’t complaining, it’s a good sign.

Then Jun announces a new project to raise awareness for children, women and men who suffer from violence or sexual abuse. He plans to do a documentary in cooperation with a doctor, a therapist, two victims, a police officer and a lawyer. His strategy seems to work well, because his straight-forward approach takes the wind out of everyone’s sails.

“How are you feeling?” Sho asks when they are preparing dinner together, and Jun doesn’t throw him out of the kitchen when he wants to help.

Jun tilts his head. “Better than yesterday?” he offers.

Sho smiles softly. “That’s a step forward. And tomorrow it will be better than today.”

“What if there are days that will be worse?” Jun asks, looking at Sho nervously. “I mean, what will it mean for us? You know how prickly I can be, and how my temper can be bad when I’m confused, and-“

“Jun,” Sho says softly, puts the knife aside and grabs Jun’s hips instead to turn him around. “Stop doubting us, okay? Because you will need a lot – A LOT – more than a few moody days to get me out of your life, okay? I’m going to stick to your butt from now on, just so you know.”

“To my butt?” Jun asks, and pulls an eyebrow up. He dries his hands with his apron and takes it off, before he brushes through Sho’s hair. His eyes flicker slightly. “I would love to have you stick to it.”

“When?” Sho asks innocently, smirking when Jun bends down to kiss him.

“How about now?”

“But Matsumoto-san!” Sho complains teasingly. “The food! We can’t do it in the kitchen!”

“You are so silly.” Jun giggles, and it’s such a cute sound and it makes Sho so happy that it was him who made Jun produce it, that he wraps his arms around Jun’s waist to pull him closer. Then he surges forward and kisses him hungrily. Sho spins them around so that Jun is the one leaning against the wall now, happy that it makes him a few centimetres smaller and that Sho can cup his chin and raise his head a little to make him look at him.

“Jun,” Sho mumbles breathlessly. “May I take you to bed now?”

Jun blinks, before he chuckles and leans his forehead against Sho’s neck. “I love being romantic and all, but you have to do something against those cheesy lines,” he complains.

“I can’t help it.” Sho nibbles at Jun’s cheekbones. “You will inspire at least the next twenty songs I write.”

“Awesome…” Jun grumbles, but his eyes light up at Sho’s promise, and Sho is sure that it won’t only be twenty songs Jun will inspire him to write.

He leans forward to kiss Jun again, softer this time, but soon they pick up their pace, their tongues fighting for dominance, until Sho takes Jun’s hand to tug him towards his bedroom. They don’t stop kissing, sometimes stumbling over something, and Jun half-heartedly complains about the mess in Sho’s room, only to be shut up by Sho’s mouth again.

Sometimes the turns of events in life are weird, Sho thinks, when he feels Jun’s arms around his neck, and his body moving beneath him, strings of electric joy jolting through his body whenever Jun touches him. A few months ago he still kept his distance from Jun, angry that Jun was always so angry with him, annoyed that Jun was annoyed, and yet not able to turn his glance away from him. All they needed to find each other was a stupid publicity stunt from their management. Sho is glad that he didn’t chicken out of Nino’s and Ohno’s plan back then, that he didn’t decline because he was scared to face Jun and his weird attitude towards Sho. He is glad that he went with his guts and gave it a try. He is beyond thankful that he wasn’t a coward and didn’t run away.

Jun grabs his face. “Apparently you are bored,” he says, a dangerous smirk on his face.

“No,” Sho stutters, and blushes. “I was just thinking how surreal this is and how thankful I am that I grasped the chance to live with you, and-“

“You talk too much,” Jun teases, and spins them around, so that he sits on top of Sho. “I like your attention to be on me fully,” he smirks, and it sends a shiver of want down Sho’s spine. Jun entangles their fingers, pushing himself up a bit, and carefully lowers himself on Sho’s erection. Sho’s eyes grow wide. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any better, Jun rides him.

“You are full of surprises, my sweet Jun,” he says while he grabs Jun’s hips to help him remain uptight. “I hope there are more to come.”

“Hm,” Jun hums. “Just wait and see.”

It goes without saying that this night they make love to each other at least thrice. And it goes without saying that Jun decides to sleep in Sho’s bedroom from now on. Sho notices that the charm he gave him – the dreamcatcher – is dangling from Jun’s keys. Always next to him. They just decide to swatch their beds, because Jun’s super special bed is just too comfortable for Sho to ignore it.

“I think I might sleep well tonight,” Jun muses tiredly, entangling his fingers with Sho’s while they are lying side to side, looking at each other.

“Ah, I know I’m good,” Sho jokes. “Didn’t know I would be THAT good though.”

Jun chuckles. It’s not what he meant, Sho knows that, Jun knows that, still Jun smiles. “You are that good though. Just…” He frowns slightly. “You are not going to write me a message tomorrow and thank me for the <i>wonderful night</i>. Are you?”

“I’m not?” Sho asks in surprise, not able to hold back the disappointed tone in his voice. He wanted to do exactly that. “How about a poem instead?” he asks hopefully.

Jun frowns, and it makes Sho squeal inwardly at how cute he looks. “If you do, I’ll reply with the filthiest message ever.”

Sho’s head perks up. “Really?” he asks interested.

Jun’s frown increases. “Or I won’t reply at all!” he threatens, and turns over to hide underneath the blanket.

Sho grabs the item and tugs at it, half lying on Jun now. “You are going to reply, right?” he insists to know. “Right? Please reply…” he begs, biting into Jun’s earlobe softly.

At one point Jun has to laugh. “You idiot, you haven’t even written it yet!”

“But what will you answer?”

Jun closes his eyes tightly. “Go to sleep, Sho-san.”

Sho frowns, before a thought crosses his mind again. “I think,” he muses, his hand brushing over Jun’s chest, downwards. “I need to mark my territory again~”

Jun’s eyes snap open. “How can you go from cheesy to weird in a few seconds?”

“Oh, I can go a lot more directions,” Sho says in the most seductive voice he is capable of. “Wanna see?”

“Hm,” Jun grins and turns around again. He pecks Sho’s nose. “Show it to me all,” he says, and Sho knows he means a lot more than only sex. His heart makes a happy jump.

In the end they are too tired to do it a fourth time, but Sho keeps Jun’s words in his mind. There is always a tomorrow after all.