Chapter Eleven
Makoto really wasn't the sort of guy who bothered with what he wore. It was evident from his haphazard approach to laundry since he'd moved to Tokyo and he no longer had his mother picking it up from his bedroom floor to place in the washer. But before this stupid group date, he was stood amongat a pile of clothes trying to decide what to wear. He was aware that Haru was ready, he could hear the low sound of some game show he probably was not bothering to watch from the living room and Makoto checked the time to see that he only had about ten minutes to get out of the apartment.
He didn't have a style like Sousuke had – it was effortless and sexy and he was sure Sousuke would again be in dark colours, his tight shirt showing off the ink that spanned his body and Makoto had a selection of crumpled t-shirts and straight leg jeans. Sighing, he picked up his jeans from the floor that were a little frayed around the bottoms and knees and slid them on, finding a white t-shirt and throwing over a khaki shirt. He rumpled his hair and searched for his glasses. There was a part of him that didn't want to wear them but then Makoto knew he had to. As at a karaoke club, he needed to be able to see the screen and so his glasses it was. And as he was finally ready, he grabbed for his phone and wallet, leaving his room and seeing a thoroughly bored Haru leaning against the couch.
"Ready?"
"Yeah," he answered as he saw the slight hint of a tease in Haru's expression. He was sure if Haru was a more expressive guy there would have been some pretty bad teasing – jokes about him taking too long and being a girl and it would probably all be deserved but Haru only quirked his lips slightly and raised one eyebrow and that was enough to let Makoto know he was making fun of him. It was amazing how quickly he'd got to know his roommate and all his small quirks as the left their shared space and headed to the metro.
The night was cold and as they were heading out pretty early, the stations were busy as so many commuters were heading home from work. They were stuffed inside a carriage, stood close to one another until they finally got to their stop, relieved to be hopping out and heading to the club.
It was odd for Makoto to be visiting his place of work for non-work related purposes. The doormen looked confused but stamped their hands when they paid their reduced entry as Makoto explained why they were there.
"Can't get enough of the place, huh?" one of them joked and Makoto only shrugged.
"Something like that."
He supposed it was strange as it wasn't like Tokyo didn't have a lot of karaoke clubs but then Makoto couldn't deny there was a certain comfortable feeling in entering his place of work and it made the "date" less intimidating than it would be if they were somewhere else. The club was pretty busy, someone on the stage and Makoto scanned the crowd trying to see Rei and Nagisa. But he didn't see them. He saw Sousuke first, followed by the shock of red hair and Rin.
They were stood by the bar, drinks already in hand and talking to each other, Sousuke leaning close to his friends ear. It was weird but Makoto suddenly felt a hot sharp feeling in his gut as he saw how close Sousuke stood to Rin and he identified it after a moment. Was he jealous?
He couldn't be yet here he was. He tried to shake it and grabbed for Haru's wrist, preparing to drag him towards the bar. Haru was busy looking around – unlike Makoto , he'd not spent so many nights in the Penguin Club so seemed to be taking it in with an curiosity. But Haru wasn't taking in the people, the singers, he seemed to be intrigued about the lighting and the mirrored glass and other such things.
"This way," he murmured as they walked towards the pair. As they walked across the shiny floor, Sousuke turned and noticed Makoto and their eyes locked.
It wasn't that Sousuke did anything but smile that small half smile, his eyes crinkling in the corner but it was enough for Makoto to drop Haru's wrist due to his palms getting sweaty. It was instant, chemical and when he arrived next to him, Sousuke reached to touch him casually, a hand on his arm but it was enough to make Makoto feel like he was burning.
"Drink?" he offered and Makoto nodded.
"Beer."
Sousuke raised his eyebrows towards Haru who still seemed more interested in looking at the design of the club, the screens and the shining surfaces than the people and Makoto nudged him to pay attention.
"Water," he said and then went back to staring.
Makoto offered an apologetic smile for his friends behaviour but Sousuke didn't seem to care, turning to order the drinks and passing them over once he'd paid. It felt weird to be stood at the other side and Makoto took a sip of beer to calm his nerves and his racing heart.
The current singer on the stage was doing a passable rendition of some song Makoto was familiar with and he watched her rather than stare too long at Sousuke. It was as Makoto had predicted – he wore tight jeans, big sneakers and a tight fitting dark grey t-shirt that showed so much. Around his neck, he saw now he was close was a shark tooth and he noted with curiosity that Rin had the same, looking at the red haired guy with his cherry blossom tattoos out of the corner of his eye. It seemed Rin had tried to engage Haru in conversation and that had gone as well as Makoto would expect so both set of eyes were locked on the stage.
He didn't know why he still felt jealous. It had only been added to when he saw that there was the shark tooth necklace around Sousuke's neck and the obvious ease he had with his tattoo artist friend and he wanted to ask how close they were exactly. Though he'd need more beers for that.
His train of thought, however, was derailed when Makoto suddenly was charged by a ball of blond energy, Nagisa having thrown himself at his body, clutching tightly.
"Nagisa!" he protested and the grip seemed to loosen ever so slightly, enough for Rei to be able to grab for some part of Nagisa's body and drag him off Makoto.
"So… you're Mr. Tall Dark and Tattooed," Nagisa said, his eyes narrowing as he looked up and down Sousuke. Sousuke didn't seem to react as Nagisa used what seemed like x-ray vision to assert whether he was good enough for Makoto before he nodded, offering his hand. "I'm Nagisa. This is Rei."
"Sousuke," he introduced and then inclined his head in the direction of his tattoo artist, "this is Rin."
Introductions done, Rei ordered drinks for himself and Nagisa and they all made their way to the private room. While Makoto had worked in the place since he'd moved to Tokyo, he'd barely been in the private rooms except to bring drinks so walking into one for entertainment felt weird. The room was dominated by a large screen and black leather seating around the edge of it. There was a table in the middle for drinks and on the walls were ridiculously bright posters of various images – hearts and rainbow, anime characters and a million other things. The light was from small lights around the top of the room that flashed in various intervals and it seemed too busy for Makoto to concentrate on anything. But then he felt Sousuke behind him, his body just gently pressing into his and it was hard for Makoto not want to lean back into his broad chest and the heat of his skin. He did resist but only because Rei and Nagisa had entered the room and now they were working out where to sit.
Makoto felt bad for Haru who was hardly the most sociable of people anyway as he ended up near Rin who seemed to be intending to drink a lot as he had bought himself another beer prior to heading up. This could end up badly, Makoto thought but instead of worrying he found a place to sit, Sousuke sliding in next to him and their thighs touching lightly as they sat together.
Once they were all sat, drinks in hand, Nagisa took control of the song choices, volunteering to go first and soon he was singing loudly and off-key, Makoto trying not to cringe as he listened. It seemed Nagisa's role in the whole night was to bully people to sing as after his own song had finished, he was dragging up Rei for a duet and Makoto watched them both, the look of bemused annoyance on Rei's face.
Amazingly, he persuaded Rin to sing, his voice pretty good and Makoto was amused by the way Nagisa managed to wrap even a heavily tattooed guy who looked badass in comparison to him around his little finger. He really didn't get it.
Makoto felt himself relax, his body automatically melting into Sousuke's a little more as more alcohol was produced, beers switched to spirits. He felt Sousuke's breath on his neck, it teasing the hair there and Makoto felt the most comfortable and relaxed he'd ever felt with someone.
"Come with me," Sousuke whispered and Makoto shivered at the low tone. Nagisa's eyes had settled on them and he was sure they were about to be bullied into singing and so he turned, nodding and agreeing.
Their leaving was not exactly discreet and when they went towards the bathroom, it perhaps was even less discreet. And once they ascertained no one else was in the bathroom, Makoto didn't exactly care for discretion as Sousuke pushed him towards the sinks, the sexual tension from the previous night making Makoto's toes curl and body thrum, his arm wrapping itself around Sousuke's neck. But despite the feel of Sousuke's firm body, the feel of his torso close and thighs trapping him, Makoto had a suspicion why he'd been dragged away.
"You don't want to sing," he said and Sousuke cut off anymore words by pressing his lips to Makoto's.
It felt good, better than good and Makoto couldn't help moaning into the kiss as Sousuke's tongue was insistent and forceful, thrusting in and Makoto took a moment to gain some equilibrium as he felt his world shake, his body rock into Sousuke's automatically. When he felt some semblance of control, he pushed back, his own tongue battling back and he pushed at Sousuke, backing him up towards a stall door until Sousuke's back hit it, stopping them, their lips parting.
"I want to hear you sing again," Makoto said, his lips tingling and Sousuke snorted, his face flushed.
"Yeah? I'll sing if you do something for me."
Makoto cocked his head, really unsure what he was going to be asked and he felt a slight thrill when his mind went to a dirty place, their bodies still so close.
"I'll sing… if you get tattooed."
