Junepei

Junepei is the het ship between Junpei Tenmyouji and Akane Kurashiki from the Zero Escape fandom.

Childhood
Akane and Junpei attend the same elementary school. Akane is considered "strange" by her classmates and does not have very many friends. Junpei decides to befriend her, and the two remain close until they are twelve years old. One day, Akane and Junpei discover that their classroom rabbits have been killed. They set out to find the killers and, months later, discover a group of eighth graders trying to kill a kitten. Junpei rescues the kitten, gives it to Akane and tells her to run. He then stands up to the older kids, earning him a black eye and some knocked out teeth. The kids had threatened to hurt Akane, and Junpei knew that he couldn't just run away.

Later, Junpei gives Akane a doll. He bought it for her, thinking it was called a "For-You" doll, but it is actually a voodoo doll. They name the doll Jumpy, a nickname that Akane sometimes uses for Junpei. They discuss the fact that Akane is moving away in June. After that, Junpei does not hear from or see Akane again.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
Nine years later, Junpei awakes on a sinking ship. He rushes out to the central staircase and finds Akane there. The two quickly reunite, but their happy reunion is cut short by an announcement informing them that the ship will fully sink in nine hours. There are nine people trapped on the ship, and they each decide to choose a code name that corresponds with the numbered bracelet they wear. Akane chooses the name "June" as she is wearing bracelet "6", and June is the 6th month of the year. Junpei does not receive a codename, as Akane shouted his real name in front of the entire group upon first seeing him.

They pair off into groups to head through the numbered doors. If partnered with Akane, she explains to Junpei various facts about the ship that they're trapped on. She tells him about the sinking of the Titanic, the prediction of said sinking, and the existence of "All-Ice" and "Ice-9". If Junpei tries to go through Door 5, Akane will want to join him. However, he refuses, saying that he does not want her to have to see the corpse on the other side of the door. Regardless of the door Junpei chooses, they will regroup with the others in a hospital room and be faced with more numbered doors.

If Junpei tries to go through Door 3, he will be told that doing so will leave someone behind. However, he insists because he does not want to be separated from Akane. He, Akane, Santa, and Seven explore the shower room on the other side of Door 3. There, they find a corpse they believe to be Snake. Akane panics upon seeing the dead body, but Junpei holds her until she calms down. She later says that finding the body reminded her of finding the dead rabbits back in their elementary school days. No matter which door Junpei goes through, they all eventually lead back to the hospital room. The players then choose to go off in separate directions to further explore the ship, with Akane and Junpei sticking together. They discover an elevator, and share an innuendo-filled conversation about taking the elevator down to the lower decks. While Junpei thinks that they're discussing being close, and potentially making love, in the elevator, Akane is talking about potentially drowning in the water on the lower decks.

In the Submarine Ending, Akane and Junpei are separated. When they eventually reunite, Akane is bleeding out and on the verge of death. With no one else around, Junpei stops using her codename and uses an old childhood nickname for her instead: "Kanny". Akane says she is glad she got to see Junpei one last time before she dies, and that she wants him to stay close so she does not die alone. Junpei holds her, and Akane dies in his arms. He cries over her dead body. Later, Junpei is stabbed in the back and drowns.

In the Knife Ending, Akane, Junpei, Santa, and Ace enter the engine room together. Akane complains about feeling feverish, and collapses. Junpei catches her, and leans her against a wall while the others set about exploring the room. When they escape and regroup with the others, they find that Clover is missing. They decide to split up again to look for her, and so Junpei and Akane separate. They do not see each other again before Junpei is stabbed with a knife and dies. In the Safe Ending, Akane and Junpei enter the engine room again. When they escape they again find Clover is missing. This time, however, Junpei is able to unlock a safe and determines that Ace is the one who killed Clover. Junpei confronts him, and Ace takes Lotus hostage. Before anyone can do anything, however, Akane suffers from another fever. Santa cares for her, and directs Junpei to run after Ace. When he returns for Akane, he finds her lying on the floor. Her body is cold and weak. Junpei cradles her, and Akane admits that she had a crush on Junpei in elementary school. Zero's voice then comes over the sound system, telling Junpei that he cannot escape with Akane. A door slams behind Junpei, and he leaves Akane to check on it. When he returns, Akane is gone and a gas grenade knocks Junpei unconscious.

In the True Ending, Akane is taken hostage by Santa. He brings her, Ace, and Lotus into an incinerator. The other players follow, and Akane is glad to see that Junpei came to rescue her. Junpei and the others barge into the incinerator and confront Santa. Santa admits that he is Akane's brother, and that the entire Nonary Game was set up so that the Junpei of today could help save the Akane of nine years ago from dying in the incinerator. Using the Morphogenetic Fields, the two communicate with one another to help solve the Sudoku puzzle and save Akane in this timeline. Akane and Santa escape from the "sinking ship", which was really just a simulation in a large warehouse. The other players get into a van and try to follow them, but lose the trail.

Virtue's Last Reward
Set nearly fifty years after the events of 999, Junpei is now an elderly man. He hasn't seen Akane since she escaped from the incinerator, and has been searching for her ever since. He is contacted by Sigma Klim and told that if he comes to the moon, he can see Akane again. In actuality, this is all part of Sigma and Akane's plan to save the world from a pandemic and subsequent apocalypse. As someone that can access the Morphogenetic Fields, Junpei is an important component of their plan.

In the majority of the routes in the game, Akane is found dead prior to the first AB Game. Junpei takes this incredibly hard, although he does not reveal her identity to any of the other players.

In the Tenmyouji route, it is revealed that Junpei continues to carry a childhood picture of Akane on him. He explains to Sigma that he had been searching for Akane nearly his entire life.

In the Phi route, Akane is not found dead. Towards the end of the Decision Game, Sigma, Phi, and Junpei encounter a hologram of the elderly Akane. Junpei recognizes her, and the hologram speaks directly to him at one point. She tells him that she wished they could have been together, but that the fate of the world was more important. Junpei falls to his knees and cries as the hologram comes to an end. Later, the group discovers that Akane had put on K's armour and has been pretending to be him this entire time. She explains the true purpose of the game to save humanity in a better timeline, and sends Phi and Sigma back 45 years in time.

In the Another Time ending, the unnamed player character speaks with Junpei about Akane. He explains that the Akane in this timeline is not the Akane that he knew and love. He wants nothing to do with this Akane, and wonders if she is even human at all. He is, however, glad to hear that her plan to save humanity seems to have been successful.

Zero Time Dilemma
Set only a year after the events of 999, this is the past that Sigma and Phi jumped back to at the end of Virtue's Last Reward. For the past year, Junpei has been searching for Akane ever since he lost track of her after she disappeared from the incinerator. He's taken on a job as a private detective in hopes that it will help him uncover more information about Akane's whereabouts. After determining that she has signed up for the Mars Mission Test Site simulation, Junpei finds a way to join as well.

After a few days, the Mars Mission simulation is co-opted by Zero II. All of the participants are put into a Decision Game, paired up in small groups. Junpei, Akane, and a firefighter named Carlos make up "C-Team".

Fanon
Junepei is the most popular pairing in the Zero Escape fandom. Prior to the third game, it was the only canonical pairing in the series which is likely why it was so popular. Fans enjoyed the sexual tensions between the two, especially the infamous "elevator scene". Others also liked seeing how devoted to Akane Junpei was, literally going to the ends of the Earth to find and save her. Some fans, however, believe that the relationship is "toxic" and "manipulative", based on Akane being "Zero" in the Second Nonary Games or helping to run the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition. Akane can often times be called "selfish" for putting the greater good above the happiness (and often times the life) or her friends. Despite this, Junepei is still a mostly well-loved pairing.

There are currently over 180 works for this ship on AO3.

Fandom

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Trivia

 * The ship name come from Akane's code name "June" in 999