Based on a prompt by Redbird over on Gatchamania
"Oh bo-oys," Jun sing-songed happily as she entered the team's common area. "It's that time of year again! Who's ready to take part in the annual ISO charity fundraiser?"
A chorus of groans emanated from her teammates as they lounged in front of the room's large television. "Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad. And it's for the war orphans' fund. You'd think that the lot of you would understand how important this money is for those children," she chided them softly. "Besides, it's just one afternoon. Surely you can all find it in your hearts and schedules to spare a few hours for a worthy cause."
Ken's eyes dropped from the flickering screen to the floor between his feet before he spoke softly, "You're right, Jun. We've all been pretty fortunate. We've all been given second chances at families and opportunities we might not have gotten otherwise." He raised his head, meeting her gaze with a rueful smile. "It's only right that we try to help heal some of the destruction we weren't able to prevent. You can count on me for a few hours."
"I hate to admit it, but Ken's right. We're being selfish. Count me in too," Joe offered.
Jinpei hugged his scrawny knees to his chest as he sat on the floor, eyes darting from person to person. "If aniki and Joe-aniki are doing it, I guess I will too," he added with a shrug.
"Ryu?" Jun asked, turning to pin the last member of the team with a hopeful stare.
He nodded silently, a faraway look in his eyes.
"Good, that's settled then. Jinpei, Ryu, you'll be in charge of construction and decoration. I'll get you the plans tomorrow so you can start gathering supplies and then building."
"What are we building, Oneechan?" Jinpei asked, rising to his feet, his growing excitement evident in his voice.
"A… booth," she answered hesitantly her eyes flitting to Ken and then Joe, a slight blush on her face.
"What kind of booth?" Joe questioned warily, his voice low and menacing.
Jun refused to meet his gaze, completely ignoring his question.
"Jun?" Ken asked suspiciously. When she failed to answer him, he got up from the sofa and moved to stand in front of her. "Jun," he repeated quietly as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and ducked to catch her eye, "what aren't you telling us?"
She sighed heavily, melting under the concern in his wide-eyed blue gaze. "Well, the fundraiser theme this year is a carnival…"
"So you want to put aniki in a dunk tank? Can I borrow some money? I wanna spend all afternoon there."
Ken shifted his gaze to Jinpei and raised one eyebrow. Jinpei gulped and dropped back to the floor. Once reasonably sure that the boy was quietly settled, at least for the moment, Ken turned his attention back to Jun.
"Is that it? A dunk tank? I don't think Joe or I would have a problem with that. Why wouldn't you tell us about it?"
She shook her head and refused to meet his gaze again. "No, it's not a dunk tank. They're using a Valentine's Day theme for the whole event…" she said, her voice fading.
Ken and Joe exchanged looks and the gunner rose from his seat to stand next to his commander. "Jun," he began, his deep voice so low it was barely more than a rumble, "out with it. What did you sign us up for?"
She whimpered slightly, a blush rising to her cheeks as she briefly met his steel blue glare before closing her eyes and turning away again. "Fine," she breathed, "I'll tell you, but remember you both promised to participate so you can't change your minds." She inhaled deeply, holding the air in her lungs for a few seconds before speaking. "There's going to be things like The Tunnel of Love and games to win stuffed animals, so I thought that maybe," she paused again and looked at the men before her, "we could have..." She bit her lip and chewed on it slowly, a slight grimace forming on her face before continuing, "a kissing booth," she finished in a whisper.
Her confession was met with stunned silence and blank stares. She risked a glance at Ken who stood blinking, his mouth opening and closing as he inadvertently mimicked the fish swimming by the window. Fighting back a giggle, she slid her eyes to Joe and found him smirking, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"A kissing booth, huh?" he echoed quietly as if testing the way the words felt in his mouth. He tilted his head and pursed his lips as the possibilities paraded through his imagination. "Now that sounds like it could be interesting."
Ken, finally regaining control of his mouth, spit out the question that had been stuck on his tongue since her announcement. "But why?"
"To raise money for charity, Ken. That's what she said as she came in remember?" Ryu pointed out unhelpfully, a small smirk forming on his lips as he watched his commander fidget uncomfortably.
"That's not what I meant," he growled at the husky pilot. "I meant why a kissing booth? Why not a photo booth or something?"
"Well…" Jun swallowed nervously before continuing, "a photo booth would take money for the camera, film, and developing. If we sold something or had a game, we'd have to spend money for the goods or prizes. A kissing booth both fits the Valentine's Day theme and doesn't cost anything. You two already have everything we need to sell the kisses." A deep blush rose on her cheeks as she fell silent.
Ken gulped loudly, a panicked expression on his face. "I don't know, Jun. This can't be a good idea."
"C'mon, Ken. Where's your sense of adventure? Just think, we're being asked to spend an afternoon making out with girls in the name of charity. No strings, no dates, no small talk."
Ken just shook his head and dropped back onto the couch looking for all the world as if he'd just been handed a death sentence.
A few days later, Jinpei and Ryu had finished building the booth. It was a plain wooden affair, little more than a few planks nailed together to form long a counter behind which stood two stools for the young men to sit upon. Draped across the back of the frame was a hand lettered banner proclaiming "Utoland's Best Kissers!" and a price of $5. The entire structure was adorned with large hearts and lip prints in various shades of pink and red.
They had finished with only a few hours to spare. The event was due to begin that afternoon. Already the other stalls were being set up with carnival games, prizes, food, and assorted trinkets for sale. The entire area was bustling with activity, leaving the kissing booth as a deserted island amidst a crowded sea of people. Jun approached the stand, a tall stool swinging from one hand. She set the chair at the front corner of the booth and smiled, dusting her hands off as she made her way back into the ISO building to change into her costume.
Thirty minutes later, Jun stood with her hands on her hips as she glared at Ken and Joe. They faced her, shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed like twin gargoyles as they returned her stare with an intensity normally reserved for Galactor soldiers. Jun's foot began to tap out an angry staccato against the tile floor, her breath coming in quick puffs through her flared nostrils. The boys simply stood their ground, undaunted by her barely restrained fury. Her lips pressed together into a thin white line as she ground her teeth causing the muscles in her jaw to twitch and jump.
It was this standoff that Ryu encountered as he stepped into the hallway on his way to peruse the food stalls of the street fair. He stopped, looked from Jun to Ken and Joe then back again before scratching his head. "Umm… shouldn't you all be out at the booth?"
His quiet question broke the stalemate causing all three of his teammates to begin shouting at once.
"…promised!"
"Never said…"
"Didn't agree…"
"Not wearing…"
A sharp whistle brought the corridor back to silence. Ryu waited for a beat as he looked thoughtfully from one ninja to another. "How about one at a time, I can't understand anything when the three of you yell all at once. Jun, ladies first." He ignored Joe's snort and turned to his female teammate expectantly.
"You were there. They both promised that they'd man the booth and now they won't get into costume."
"She never mentioned anything about a costume," Ken's voice pointed out from over his shoulder.
"Trust us, Ryu, no one wants to wear these outfits," Joe added calmly.
Ryu's brow lifted in confusion. "Costumes?"
Jun sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I thought having them both dress in Cupid outfits would help go with the theme and bring in more customers. It's not like they don't have the bodies for it."
Ryu just blinked at her and shook his head for a moment. "Jun, you can't blame them for not wanting to wear something like that. What's wrong with letting them stay in their normal clothes?"
Her lips twitched as she looked at her adversaries again.
"C'mon, Jun, those outfits are embarrassing and degrading. We already agreed to your kissing booth plan, please don't ask us to wear those silly costumes too," Ken implored gently.
She knew she'd lost the fight when he made his eyes big and caught her in his puppy dog gaze. "Fine, don't wear them." Her hand absently smoothed the short pink skirt that barely reached her mid-thigh. "Would you at least wear something Valentine's themed?"
"I have an idea," Ryu interjected. "Wait here." He ran off down the corridor without waiting for an acknowledgement and the remaining three looked at each other and shrugged. Less than five minutes later he returned, his fist clutching something that sparkled and glinted in the overhead lighting. All eyes were upon him as he came to a halt, grinning broadly. Ryu brought his hands up, something white and sparkly in one, something red and glittery in the other. He handed Ken the white and passed the red to Joe.
Ken smirked as he turned the object around in his hands before reaching up to place the shining halo on his head and draping a pair of translucent wings over his shoulders. Joe's sneer grew as he placed the deep red horns in position before strapping the matching pointed tail around his waist. Jun giggled as she watched the boys pose before her. Ken, the angel, all big blue eyes and innocence. Joe, the devil, full of promises of mischief and forbidden delights.
"Oh, Ryu, they're perfect!" She stepped forward, planting a kiss on Ken's cheek and then doing the same to Joe before wrapping her hands around their arms and leading them outside the building into the warm spring sunshine.
Heads turned as everyone stopped to watch the pretty girl in pink get escorted to the kissing booth by a handsome devil on one side and a beautiful angel on the other.
After a short walk, they reached their destination and Jun let go of their arms.
"Wait," she demanded as the boys moved to take their places within the booth. They did as she bade, turning to face her in confusion. She looked at them nervously, her cheeks burning. "I… I..." she stuttered.
"What, Jun?" Ken coaxed softly.
She looked down at her feet, scuffing the toe of one shoe against the pavement. "I wanted to be first in line for both of you," she muttered, her words forced out in a rush.
As her request sank in, Ken's cheeks flared bright pink to match hers, but he didn't back away as she took a hesitant step towards him. They stood there looking at each other awkwardly until Joe cleared his throat noisily. "Just get on with it already. If it's taking you this long just to kiss Jun, how are you planning to make any money today?"
Ken sent a quick glare at his second before turning back to Jun and swallowing hard. He watched as she bit her lower lip and chewed on it slowly, nervously. He moved toward her, erasing the distance between them until he could reach out to caress her cheek lightly. His fingers slid into her hair, cupping her head, and gently pulling her toward him. He watched as her lids lowered, hiding her brilliant emerald gaze from his sight before allowing his own eyes to close as well. Finally, any remaining space between them disappeared and his lips met hers. At first, it was merely a hint of contact, but then it became more. His mouth moved against hers, gently pulling her lip between his. Without knowing when or how it happened, her arms were draped around his neck, her hands dangling between the wings covering his shoulder blades even as he pressed her body ever closer to his.
Joe stood watching as the kiss lingered and intensified, their passion ebbing and flowing as they continued completely oblivious to the world around them. Finally, he grew tired of waiting and reached past the lip locked couple to grab the cash box, carrying it with him to his seat behind the counter. Slipping the till into the space beneath his stool, he shook his head at the angel and the pink princess as their kiss showed no sign of stopping any time soon. "Looks like I'm on my own after all. At least they make for good advertising," he muttered. He tore his eyes away from his teammates, smiling as girls began to form a line for their chance to kiss a devil. As he accepted the bill begin proffered by a young blonde, his grin intensified and he winked at her, causing her to blush. He slipped the cash into the box and then leaned forward to show her just how good this devil could be.