Shintarou Kisaragi & Konoha

Kiss

Tears rolled down her warm, red cheeks. A sniffle. She pushed her bangs to the side as she wiped her stinging eyes with her arm.

"That," Momo began, trying to regain her composure, "was the best episode to date!" She smiled widely, her face contorted in a weird combination that came from being extremely happy while crying. Konoha passed her a box of tissues. "Thank you," she replied, taking some to dab her eyes and nose.

Momo loved romantic soap operas, and she always tried to encourage the other members of the gang to join her, hoping to convert them so she could have someone to talk to about them. Of course, she was also always met with excuses not to. Kido had to manage things for the dan. Kano was out who knows where. Seto had some jobs he needed to do, with Mary tagging along just to avoid having to stay behind and be dragged to the living room to watch. She didn't even consider bugging Hibiya to join. Likewise for her brother.

Konoha, on the other hand, had never been around when she went searching for a "soap buddy" until now, and convincing the android to accompany her took little to no effort. He had nothing better to do, and he wasn't even sure what a "soap" was, so he actually appeared interested.

After watching it, however, Konoha was more confused than ever. This wasn't like soap that was used for bathing, and no one was singing like they did in operas, so why did it share the same name. She informed him multiple times that they weren't related, but he still couldn't shake the thought.

"So what did you think? Wasn't it great?" Momo raved excitedly, startling Konoha at first. He pondered slightly before responding.

"I am… confused…" was all he returned.

"Ehhh," she grumbled, slightly irritated at the vague bit of criticism one of her favorite things just received. "What could be confusing about it? I mean, I suppose it would make more sense if you watched the first episodes, but I mean still. The plot. The acting. The drama. The romance," she rambled melodramatically, emphasizing each piece she listed with some sort of action. The android tilted his head.

"I do not understand," he basically repeated. Momo slapped her hand to her face. The only person she could convince to watch these with her was quickly slipping out of her grasp. Clenching her fist, she turned back to him.

"Alright. What don't you understand? I'll explain it for you," she beamed, a determined look in her eyes. If explaining every scene individually would reel him in, she was willing to do just that. She wouldn't let her "soap buddy" get away.

"What was that thing they kept doing? That man and woman. Where they put their lips together. It looked weird," Konoha explained, a look of genuine curiosity in his eyes. Momo froze up. Of course, out of all the things to explain, mainly things related to the plot, he picked that. Kissing.

"U-uh, well," she hesitated, "that's called kissing." She hoped that just putting a name to it would satisfy his interest.

"But why did they keep doing it?" It didn't. "Is putting your lips on someone else's an enjoyable thing?" Suddenly Momo was regretting volunteering to explain anything.

"Well," she sighed, "I'm not sure why it is, but, yes, kissing is an enjoyable thing. It's something that two people do when they like each other, and basically it's to show just that – that they like each other." She smiled inwardly at herself for sounding so professional in her response. She didn't even stutter or anything.

"I see." Konoha thought over her words. "Does that mean that I can kiss you?" Momo didn't recall being on the floor, but before she could realize what had happened, she was lying on her back on the ground, a shocked expression on her face. She had fallen off the couch.

"Wh-what? No!" she exclaimed quickly, sitting herself back up. Konoha seemed saddened by this.

"Ah, so you do not like me. I am sorry if I upset you," he muttered, looking down.

"Eh?" She sprang up, waving her hands back and forth frantically, "No, no, no! You misunderstood! You don't just kiss everyone you like. You only kiss the person you like the most." Konoha looked back up, like something was starting to click. "See, the guy in that show liked the girl a lot! More than anyone else. And she felt the same, so they kissed each other. So if you are going to kiss someone, make sure everything fits up to that!" She then finished off her hastily prepared speech with a thumbs up.

"Who I like the most," he mumbled back, not really in response but just to himself. "Alright, I think I understand. Thank you."

"No problem," she replied, happy to have that explanation over with.

After spending what felt like the twice the entire length of the show explaining every tiny detail of it that Konoha didn't understand, Momo was finally able to escape. Maybe watching her soaps alone wasn't such a bad thing after all.

It was now later in the afternoon, and everyone had once again gathered back into the base, coming back from their hiding places. Konoha still thought about what Momo had said. Never before had he been interested in something like kissing, but then again, he had only learned that it was a thing today. His curiosity was peeked and he wanted to experience it just once.

"The person I like the most," he pondered to himself, brushing his fingers lightly against his own lips. Well out of everyone in the dan, he probably could say he liked Shintarou the most. He was kind to him. Konoha thought of him like a best friend. But did he feel the same? Konoha needed to know.

It wasn't much later after that that he found himself outside with Shintarou. Shintarou planned on taking a walk, and the android tagged along as he always did, listening to the NEET's ramblings about his day. After, what Shintarou had deemed, walking long enough, they both took a seat on a bench located along the long stretch of sidewalk.

"So, then Ene nearly wiped out my entire project for like the tenth time, but I managed to save before she just exited out of it," the dark-haired boy sighed, an annoyed tone in his voice when he spoke of the cyber girl that seemed to always be bothering him.

"That is good," Konoha stated plainly, focusing more on his thoughts at the moment.

"You seem a bit out of it – at least, more so than usual. Is something wrong?" Shintarou asked in an uncharacteristically caring way.

"No, nothing is wrong. I am just curious about something."

"What is it?"

"Well," Konoha looked him dead in the eyes, "Do you like me?" Shintarou flinched back, startled by his question.

"W-well, yeah, I m-mean we're good friends so," Shintarou stuttered out, trailing off at the end of his quick response.

"But do you like me the most?" Konoha continued almost immediately after Shintarou had finished, "I mean… It sounds rather selfish now that I have said it, but I like you the most and I was wondering if you also felt the same."

"Err," Shintarou honestly wasn't sure what to say. This all seemed like some sort of oddly worded confession – which it basically was. Shintarou liked Konoha, but did he like him that way. He was rather surprised to find out that he actually wasn't sure if he did or not. "I-I don't know…"

"Oh…" Konoha appeared disappointed.

"Why did you suddenly ask me this?" Shintarou continued.

"I wanted to kiss you." Out of all the things he expected to hear in response, it definitely wasn't that.

"What!?"

"Momo told me earlier that two people that like each other the most kiss to show their feelings. And I like you the most so I wanted to kiss you so you would know," the android stated back, showing that he had the most innocent intentions there could be.

Shintarou cheeks turned red. He didn't know what to think about all this. Konoha, practically his best friend, wanted to kiss him. If it was anyone else he would simply reject them, but this was different. This was Konoha. He didn't understand why it was different, but it was.

"U-uh," he breathed out, his voice feeling heavy as it left his mouth. "I-I suppose… I-I wouldn't have a p-problem with you…. Uh….. k-kissing me…." He sounded pathetic, at least in his own opinion, but the happy look that formed on Konoha's face made up for it.

"Really!" The android's eyes looked like they were shimmering. "Thank you very much!" He smiled, and Shintarou felt like an arrow struck through his heart. Suddenly, he was questioning his sexuality more than he was before.

Konoha fidgeted nervously, unsure of what he was doing. All he knew was that he was supposed to put his lips on Shintarou's. Leaning forward, his nose collided with the others, and he flinched back in pain.

"Ah, crap!" Shintarou cursed, rubbing his nose. "You don't know how to kiss do you?" He had deduced the obvious. Konoha nodded, his eyes starting to tear up as he started feeling bad for making such a stupid mistake. "Well, how about I kiss you instead?" The android perked up.

"That could work, too!" The enthusiasm in his voice made Shintarou's heart ache.

"A-alright, but…. You'll have to close your eyes," he muttered again, averting his gaze from the excited look on the white-haired boy's face.

"Ok." Konoha complied, closing his eyes and remaining perfectly still. Shintarou thought for a second that he was going to stop breathing at any moment. Was he really going to do this? He was leaning forward. It appears he was.

Closing his own eyes and tilting his head to the side, Shintarou began to lean in. His breathe hitched. Hesitating for only a split second, his lips met those of the android's. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he had never kissed anyone before. This was an entire new experience to him, and he was giving it away to his best friend, though the more he thought about it, the less he saw it as any kind of bad thing. He might've even said the kiss was nice. The android's lips felt soft and Shintarou soon found himself somewhat melting in the kiss. What first started out as an awkward lip bump was becoming more comfortable and actually really enjoyable.

Shintarou pulled back after what he deemed long enough. A blush still burned brightly on his cheeks, and he quickly averted his gaze once he opened his eyes to still see Konoha's face. The pink eyes fluttered open, and Konoha just stared at Shintarou for what felt like an eternity, and the dark-haired boy started to shift uncomfortably under the deadpan gaze. He knew Konoha was thinking, so he wasn't exactly staring at him, but considering the situation he might as well have been, and it bothered him.

Placing his finger tips on his lips, the android made a faint smile. "It," the blush started to rise to his own cheeks, "It felt really nice." The smile grew wider, and Shintarou felt himself nearly keeling over right then and there. He swore he didn't remember his friend ever being this precious, and suddenly that realization hit him like a truck – no pun intended. "Will I be able to kiss you again?" The android looked at him anxiously.

"I," Shintarou shifted slightly, averting his gaze once again, "I suppose there would be nothing wrong with that." Konoha's face brightened up once again.

"Thank you!" he chimed, feeling a sense of happiness after learning that his friend also liked him the most.

"No prob-" Shintarou began before suddenly being pulled into another kiss by the taller boy.