All comments/criticsms/etc are welcome.
It started out as boredom and loneliness mixed with booze. (It was easier to pretend when they framed it in such terms.)
Surprisingly, it barely changed the nature of their relationship. Bansai supposed it didn't happen often enough for that, with enough time passing between each encounter that Bansai would start to believe they must have silently agreed to dismiss their arbitrary past transgressions and focus only on their ambition to crush the country. Or maybe once you devoted your life to someone, it made little difference whether you shared bodily fluids or not. Still, there were implied boundaries and unspoken rules. And if from time to time those boundaries were stretched a little, they both knew better than to mention it out loud.
1.
Bansai was plucking the strings of his shamisen, trying to concentrate on the new summer hit forming itself in his head. Sunlight was bursting through the window, and thanks to the sea breeze it wasn't as unbearably hot as Bansai imagined it was on land. Shinsuke was lying on the floor behind him, reading a book, or at least he was trying to - until he finally gave up and snapped it shut, closing his eye while he lay there unmoving, basking in the sun.
Bansai continued playing. He had a great, catchy chorus, he just needed a sufficiently interesting bridge and- there was a hand on his hip, sneaking under his shirt and slowly travelling up, fingers lightly brushing against his skin in the process.
"Is there something I can help you with, Shinsuke?" Bansai spoke up.
The hand stopped in its place.
Bansai turned his head to look at Shinsuke and found him glaring at him. He gave it another squeeze, but when he realized Bansai was refusing to budge he huffed and turned to lie on his side, away from Bansai.
After a couple of beats he got up, adjusting his rumpled kimono.
"It's too hot," he said, not looking at Bansai. "I'm going to take a shower."
Bansai watched him head for the door then took off his headphones. He really needed to finish this song, but he guessed a short break to search for inspiration couldn't hurt.
"I daresay it is rather hot," he gave in. "I wouldn't mind taking a shower as well."
Sometimes Shinsuke smiled at him in a way only a man who doesn't give a damn about the world could.
2.
Bansai didn't particularly care about his birthday, and he didn't think Shinsuke knew when it was either. The only person who knew was Matako, who asked him about it a few months before. He completely forgot that conversation ever took place until the morning of his birthday, when Matako greeted him with a "Happy birthday, senpai" instead of the usual "Mornin', senpai". So, when Shinsuke told him to keep him company that night, Bansai didn't think anything of it.
Bansai usually aimed not to drink too much, especially around Shinsuke. He didn't think Shinsuke would have the patience to deal with him like that, even if he was a rather good-natured drunk. Still, it seemed that night Shinsuke was in a good enough mood to humour him, pouring sake into Bansai's cup more often than his own, and it wasn't long before Bansai felt the familiar buzz.
There was a festival nearby, and when the fireworks started, they could be seen quite clearly from the window. Shinsuke turned to look outside, his gaze transfixed. Bansai felt the floor calling to him and he lied down, trying to pull himself together.
Perhaps it was the fireworks that prompted Shinsuke to regale him with a story from his childhood.
"No offense, Shinsuke," Bansai slurred, throwing caution to the wind and sitting up from the floor to pour himself another drink, "but your father is a *bleep* *bleep*."
Shinsuke looked at him, surprise on his face which turned into amusement playing on his lips. "You're damn right about that."
Bansai looked at the cup in his hand. He didn't know if the cup was moving, or his hand was moving, or the whole room was moving.
"I should go," he finally said, putting the cup down.
"You should stay," Shinsuke responded sharply, looking him over. "What if the men saw you stumbling back to your quarters like this? They can't see their commanding officer in such state. It's not good for the morale."
It was a weak excuse, Bansai thought, when Shinsuke was his commanding officer and he'd seen so much worse of him, but he accepted it anyway.
And in the morning, when the sunlight hit his face and he woke up on the floor, groggily sitting up and looking for his sunglasses amongst the sake bottles and cups strewn around, his gaze landed on Shinsuke sitting by the window and playing the shamisen, and Bansai wondered how often Shinsuke stayed up all night until dawn in that spot, a melancholic tune in D minor emanating from somewhere deep inside him. Suddenly he didn't regret his decision to stay anymore, headache and all.
3.
"Oops, clumsy me," Shinsuke said with a strange glint in his eye, voice suggesting it was anything but an accident. "I spilled my Yakult. What should I do?"
Bansai watched the liquid from the small plastic bottle slowly drip over his bare chest, then looked at Shinsuke.
"You should clean it up. Such is the conduct when one accidentally makes a mess, I believe."
Shinsuke gave the bottle a little shake, just to make sure everything came out. "And how do you propose I do that?" He asked in a playful tone, catching some of the Yakult running down Bansai's chest with his finger and putting it in his mouth, his lips wrapping around it while he licked it clean.
Bansai wished he could say Shinsuke was drunk, or high, or the weight of trying to destroy the country got to him and he finally snapped, but no, licking a probiotic drink off of another man's chest was definitely sane and sober Shinsuke's idea of fun.
"A towel should be more than efficient," he finally said.
Shinsuke's eye narrowed. "Like hell I'd waste perfectly good Yakult like that. You make me sick."
He pushed Bansai down and straddled his hips, bending to lick a strip of liquid, his teeth grazing Bansai's nipple in the process, and oh, perhaps Bansai could be convinced this was not entirely such a bad idea. He'd end up all sticky one way or another, after all.
4.
The sound of the bamboo shinai swishing through the air was interrupted by a soft voice. "I was wondering why I never see you practice your kata in the morning with the other men. Do you come here in the middle of the night often?"
"I am composing, actually," Bansai said, turning around to greet the intruder. ''It's a good way to clear your head." Which is something Shinsuke must've known, considering that he was in the training area in the middle of the night, too. He grabbed another shinai from the stand and tossed it to Takasugi, then prepared to lunge.
It didn't last long. Shinsuke had him on the ground in a matter of minutes, as expected. When they first met, Bansai thought they would be about equal when it came to swordsmanship, but he soon learned there was something wild and raw inside Shinsuke that gave him the edge and refused to lose.
Bansai was about to sit up, still panting heavily, when Shinsuke discarded his shinai and sat on top of him, pulling him into a kiss while slightly rolling his hips against Bansai's. Bansai felt like a horny teenager, except he didn't remember any late night grinding occurring at his old dojo back home.
Shinsuke's hands reached for his hakama, untying it. They separated while Bansai hastily pulled it off, then got to his knees in front of Shinsuke, pushing him down and freeing him from his fundoshi. He stopped to rake his gaze over Shinsuke's form, the loose bandages, the disheveled kimono, the firm muscle, the hardness of his cock. Shinsuke was about to reach down there and block the view to stroke himself when Bansai grabbed his wrist. He reached with his other hand, and Bansai grabbed that wrist, too, pinning both of them to the ground over Shinsuke's head.
Bansai expected Shinsuke to yank his hands out, but he went completely still, betrayed only by the steady rise and fall of his chest and the twitching of his cock when Bansai tightened his grip. Bansai knew Shinsuke could easily fight him off if he wanted to, he just proved that minutes ago.
"Shinsuke," Bansai started, unsure how to broach the subject. "Do you want it like this?"
Shinsuke pursed his lips, an indecipherable look in his eye while he stared back at him, and Bansai decided that was a good enough answer, a small sound finally escaping Shinsuke as Bansai pressed his hips to Shinsuke's and moved, bending down to softly bite at his neck.
When they were both finished and Bansai released his grip, Shinsuke sat up, wrapping his bandages tighter around his head and finally spoke up, not looking at Bansai. "You will never do that again."
Bansai wondered if it sounded as fake to Shinsuke's ears as it did to his.
5.
Bansai found Shinsuke leaning on the rail, smoking his kiseru as he watched nameless Amanto load crates into the cargo bay.
"That was a nice deal you cut with those weapon smugglers," Takasugi said, sensing him from behind. Bansai didn't know if Shinsuke could recognize his step, hear the music from his headphones, or if he simply knew it was Bansai because no one else dared to approach him like that. "I should reward you."
"I would rather not take you upon that offer if it would imply that there will be a punishment included the next time I displease you."
Takasugi chuckled, turning around to look at Bansai. "Are you planning on displeasing me, Bansai?" He puffed a small amount of smoke and continued, his lip curling. "Fine, no reward then. Come to my room anyway."
Shinsuke was a fool, Bansai thought while following him down the corridor that led to his quarters, for lying while knowing Bansai could see right through him, but if there was a word for an even bigger fool who chose to believe those lies, Bansai couldn't tell.