2006, January 29th 

Inoue Mao cannot believe the words that just came out of Matsumoto Jun's mouth.

"EH?!" Mao exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Why would I go home with you?!" 

"Relax, my sister's there. And I already told her I'm bringing you home with me since we drank and I refuse to let you take a cab on your own. She agrees and says that's the best thing to do, rather than let you go home on your own. As I've said, it's not safe." Jun explained.

"Jun, I am perfectly capable of---" Mao was cut off by Nishihara Aki.

"Mao-chan! Abe-kun is taking the cab with us." Aki said, pointing to the cab that had just arrived. Tsuyoshi was already opening the cab door, willing a drunk Megumi inside.

"Oh. Take care, okay? And send a message once you've arrived at your place. Megumi is sleeping at your apartment right?" Mao said to her friend.

"Yup!" Aki nodded. 

"Hey, Jun-kun. Take care of Mao-chan, okay? It may seem like she's okay but she's a little buzzed." Aki told Jun.

"I told her I'm going to be taking the cab with her but she won't let me. " Jun said to Aki.

"Eh? Why not?" It was Shota. Shun, Yu and Shota were suddenly beside them. 

"Yeah, Mao, you should let Jun take you home." Shun urged. 

"He's not taking me home if I take a cab with him." Mao huffed angrily at her friends who were coercing her to stay with Jun. 

"Eh? What does that mean?" Tsuyoshi asked from inside the cab.

"Oi Jun, what does Mao mean by you're not going to take her home?" Shota said, trying his best to hide a playful smirk.

"I asked Mao to stay over at my place since she lives quite a distance away from me and taking a cab with her will just be counter productive. And before anyone gets any weird ideas, my sister is there and she was the one who enforced my suggestion to Mao." Jun explained to everyone.

"If his sister is there, then it's fine isn't it Mao-chan?" Aki said to Mao.

"It's not! The press might get a hold of this and---" Mao started but was cut off by Jun.

"As you can see, it's 3 am and no one is around. I surely doubt that anyone who's not clubbing right now is still awake." Jun said to Mao.

"It's fine, Mao! Just go with Jun." Yu went to Mao and practically shoved her towards him. 

"Wait a minu--" Mao was again cut off by the arrival of another cab. 

"Oh. We're taking this one!" Jun said, hailing the cab to stop next to the taxi that had Tsuyoshi and Megumi in it. 

"That's settled then! Take care, Mao, Jun-kun, Shota-kun, Yu and Shun-kun!" Aki waved at them as she went rode the taxi. The cab immediately sped off with Tsuyoshi, Megumi, and Aki inside.

Yu pulled Mao to the side as Jun talked to the cab driver. 

"You should just go with Matsumoto-san, after all this might be the chance for you to clear things up." Yu whispered.

"Clear what up? There's nothing to clear between the two of us!" Mao argued.

"Oh shut up, Mao. You know what I'm talking about. Remember the conversation we had at the coffee shop last week?" Yu said to Mao.

"Yu, there is absolutely no feelings between me and Jun. I told you that." Mao said.

"I still think you're lying but just take this chance okay? And if there's absolutely nothing then that's fine. You can be relieved at finally saying that you two are just friends and that there are no blurred lines between the two of you." Yu smiled at her friend who was obviously slowly being persuaded. 

Mao groaned. "Fine!" 

Mao hesitantly walked towards Jun who was holding the car door open for her. She turned to Shota, Shun and Yu before getting inside. "Oi Shota-kun, Shun-kun! You better take care of Yu and make sure she gets home safe, okay? Yu text me when you're home!" Yu nodded along with Shota and Shun.

"Take care, Jun and Mao-chan!" Shota exclaimed. Shun, Yu and Shota waved at them as Jun and Mao got inside the cab. And with that the driver drove away.

It was a 30-minute cab ride to reach Jun's house. His place was at the 20th floor of a high rise condominium tower in Tokyo. The security there was obviously iron-clad as Mao walked in with Jun and the personnel had asked for two identification IDs, as well as the purpose and duration of stay. When the staff at the lobby asked for Mao's affiliations to Jun to be allowed to stay over, Jun simply said "Special Friend"

Once they were at the elevator, Mao whacked Jun's arm with force.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jun exclaimed.

"Why did you tell the staff at the lobby that I'm your "Special Friend"." Mao said, raising her fingers to air quote Special Friend.

"Because you are. You are my friend and you're special." Jun said, non-chalantly. 

"What do you mean by that?" Mao asked, looking a little confused.

Jun felt Mao's eyes bore into him and internally kicked himself at making his recently discovered feelings slip up just like that.

"I mean, anyone that's friends with Matsumoto Jun is special? Right?" Jun laughed, almost nervously. 

"So vain.." Mao trailed as she hook her head. Jun was about to retort back when Mao suddenly sat on the floor of the elevator.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jun crouched down beside her, worry filled his expression.

"I'm dizzy." Mao said, burying her head in her arms that were hugging her knees. Mao thought she was just tipsy from all the alcohol she drank that night but the cab ride to Jun's place rocked her senses, and now the the faint movement of the elevator going up was making her head wobble, amplifying the effects of the alcohol in her blood. "I think I might puke."

"What?! Hang in there! We're almost at the 20th floor." Jun exclaimed as he rubbed Mao's back to ease her dizziness.

Within seconds, the elevator door opened with a ding and Jun immediately pulled Mao towards the long hallway, stopping at his apartment door. Quickly jamming his key to the keyhole and pushing the door open. 

"The bathroom's this way!" Jun hurriedly pushed Mao inside, half dragging her.

"Stop! Stop! I'm fine, it's gone now." Mao said, pulling away from Jun. 

"You sure?" Jun asked. Mao just gave a small nod as she tried to compose herself.

Jun walked towards the kitchen and got Mao a glass of water. "Here"

"Thank you." Mao said as she immediately gulped down the contents of the glass.

"Where's your sister?" Mao asked after she emptied the glass of water.

"Nee-san?" Jun called, but there was no answer. He shrugged off his coat and tossed it at one of the kitchen's counter top. He continued to call out her sister as he walked deeper inside the house. 

After Mao had taken off her coat and placed it at a table by the entrance along with her bag, she decided to get herself to another glass of water as Jun called to his older sister, trying to inform her of their arrival.

"Nee-san!" Jun called once again. "She must be sleeping." Jun said to Mao as he walked over to one of the hallways.

Mao was shutting the door of the refrigerator, drinking her second glass of water, when a small rectangular paper stuck on the fridge door with a magnet caught her attention. As she read the contents, her eyes grew wide and she sputtered the water that she was drinking mere seconds ago, soaking the top that she was wearing.

"JUN-KUN!" She exclaimed, urgently.

Jun rushed back to the kitchen to see Mao, her black camisole top soaking wet, clutching a small piece of paper in her hands. "Eh?! What happened to you?! Why are you wet?"  

"Because of this." Mao said. Jun walked over to Mao's side as Mao waved the paper to him, urging him to read it.

Jun, I got called by Okaa-san to come back. Said she urgently needs me there early in the morning, so I decided to go home now. Make sure you take care of Inoue Mao-san okay?! I left food in the microwave in case you two are hungry.

"EH?!" Jun exclaimed, he was panicking a little on the inside. The thought of being entirely alone with Mao in his apartment made him shiver. In delight or in fear, he wasn't entirely sure just yet. 

He looked over to Mao, contemplating what to say to her. She was glaring at him, HARD. Okay, maybe I'm shivering in fear... Jun thought to himself.

"You said your sister was here!" Mao exclaimed, she could feel her sobering up at the sudden predicament she was in. 

"She WAS here! I didn't know she left!" Jun reasoned out. "See, she knew I was bringing you over since she mentioned your name in her note, but she stiil left!" 

"Oh my god." Mao uttered as she wrapped her arms around her, the wetness of her top that has now started seep down the skirt she was wearing sent shivers down her spine, the cold air of the aircon also didn't help. 

"I'm sorry, Mao. I didn't really know." Jun walked towards her. Jun noticed she was shivering as she hugged herself.

"Wait. Let me turn on the heater" Jun said as he scrambled for the remote of his airconditioner that was hanging on the living room wall. As he pressed heat and the warm air surrounded the living room, Jun saw Mao relax her clutch to her arms a little.

"You should change your clothes, you don't want to catch a cold." Jun said, remembering that despite it being the end of January, it was still winter. And catching a winter flu is awful, especially for an actress as busy as Mao. 

"But I don't have anything to change into. Obviously, I did not plan on getting wet....or even spending the night out of my apartment." Mao mumbled.

"You can borrow my clothes." Jun suggested. Mao seemed like she was going to refuse but decided against it, after all she was feeling really cold despite the warmth the heat of the aircon was providing them. So instead, she gave a small nod.

Jun scrambled towards one of the rooms in his house that has since been turned into a walk-in closet. He gingerly picked out a plain white shirt. It looked too big for Mao, but it would do, he also grabbed a pair of unused boxers from his drawers and quickly rushed out. 

"Here, Mao-chan." Jun handed over the set of clothes to Mao. Mao took the shirt, but she eyed the pair of boxers in hesitation. 

"That's gross, Jun-kun. I'm not going to wear your boxers." Mao said, her face crumpled a little.

"It's new! I haven't used this one! And besides, it's the only kind of bottoms I have that would fit you." Jun exclaimed. Mao thought it over before accepting the black boxers. 

"You can take a bath in there." Jun pointed at the door that would lead to the bathroom. "There's also new towels and toothbrush in the cabinet inside." 

Mao just nodded and walked towards the bathroom. Giving one last stern look at Jun before she closed the bathroom door shut. 

When Jun heard the lock click. He sighed a small breath of relief. 

He felt suffocated. His thoughts were all over the place as he paced in his living room. He looked around to see that her small bag and the coat she was wearing a few moments ago were now dumped at the table near his genkan. The obviously feminine white coat and small black sling bag looked out of place in his pad, emphasizing the fact that he was now alone with a female in his house. Mao was with him and they were alone. Jun sighed. He figured he'd contemplate their current situation as he took a hot shower himself in his bedroom's bathroom. 

Inoue Mao's shoulder's relaxed as the hot water engulfed her cold skin. As she savored the bath, she closed her eyes and rubbed her head. It ached. If it's due to the subsiding alcohol in her system, or the ridiculous predicament Jun and her was in, she didn't know. But her head ached, nonetheless. 

Clear things up? How laughable. She thought to herself. How would she clear her feelings in regards to Jun when yet another situation blurs the friendship line between the two of them. After all, she doubts any platonic female friend would be spending the night at a male friend's house, with no one else but the two of them. 

It wasn't any surprise that at 19 years old, Inoue Mao had already some experience when it came to boys. But Matsumoto Jun was not a boy, he was a man, and Mao had absolutely no experience whatsoever when it came to men, much especially with men of Jun's stature. He was an idol, a Johnny's Elite, an in demand actor, and the product of every Japanese woman's dreams, well not really everyone, but maybe atleast more than 50% of the female population of Japan. And Mao didn't want to be someone who comes to romantically like a co-star, much more to fall in love with one. She had been in the industry long enough to witness that being with a fellow celebrity comes with its more than fair share of complications and problems. And Inoue Mao hated complications. She hated problems even more.

She sighed as she sunk deeper into the bath. During the seldom times that Mao was alone, most commonly when she's taking a bath, just like she is now, she allowed herself to be a little more honest with her thoughts. In this rare times of honesty, she allowed herself to admit that she had doubted her feelings for him were anything but platonic, but admitting to someone, or even to herself, that she was liking Jun more than as a friend will be the beginning of a recipe for disaster, scandal, and problems. A whole lot of problems. 

 

----

Aaaand that's Chapter 5! 

Wow, I feel like I'm basically just writing this fanfic for myself. I mean, it's 2021, are there still people shipping Maotsujun together? I do hope I'm not the only one now hahahahahahahaha but it sure feels like it lol. But anyways, I'm having so much fun with this fanfic.

Had this small realization earlier today that I've been on AFF for 10 years now. I know I  at updating my ffs and basically popping here and there once every few months per year with an update, but it kind of feels good to still have the opportunity to write my delusions and imaginations about my favorite ships. 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed Chapter 5 -- if someone's reading this, i guess. Thank you!

- WanderGirl