"Oh, come on. Really?"
"Kaede, that is gross."
"Well, I think it makes a man more rugged and sexy."
"No, just gross."
Keiko and Kaede had been going at it since Rei and Rin entered the car, and there didn't appear to be an ending in sight.
Braking way too hard at the next stop sign, Kaede turned to Keiko and sputtered, "Wh—what about the guy firing a machine gun out of the back of that van right before the explosion? You said he was sexy!"
Keiko rolled her eyes. "No, I said he had a nice butt. There's a difference."
"Well… well, what if—" He started wringing his hands at her. "What if you and him were—were about to do it and then you didn't find out until he got naked?!"
With a minute quirk of her eyebrow, she frowned and looked down at her elegantly flexed fingers to examine her nails. "Still no."
The contents of Rei's pocket vibrated.
Rin-san (21:32) What the hell are they arguing about?
He shot Rin a suffering look and sighed.
Sent! (21:33) How should I know? I have as much context for this conversation as you do.
"Well, what about me, then?" Kaede whined. "Would you dump me if I—"
"Yes," Keiko insisted before he could finish.
"Okay, you know what?" He shut off the radio and glanced back at Rei and Rin. "What do you guys think? Chest hair on a man: sexy or gross?"
Rin recoiled, curling his lip in disgust. "Gross."
Kaede knitted his eyebrows and pouted as though he were personally offended. "What about you, bro?"
"I'm afraid I must agree with Rin-san. Hairy chests are unsightly." And, if Rei were being completely honest with himself, he was more than thankful that Rin shaved.
"Seriously? You, too?" Kaede groaned, letting his forehead drop against the steering wheel.
"See? I told you. You have terrible taste in men." Keiko grinned smugly and nudged his arm. "You should stick to women. And by women I mean me."
At that, Kaede perked up. "So, is that your way of saying you want to be exclus—"
A deafening honk drowned out the rest of his question.
Keiko squinted, tilting her head in perplexity. "What?"
"I said, do you want to be—"
The tow truck driver behind them laid on his horn again.
Kaede slapped the steering wheel and growled. "God fucking—"
Flashing high beams accompanied three more honks.
Teeth bared and nostrils flared hideously, Kaede muttered a series of curses and finally tore out of the intersection. Slapping her knee in unrestrained mirth, Keiko looked every bit like a female version of Nagisa as she cackled hysterically at his indignation.
Or perhaps it would have been more proper to think of Nagisa as a male version of Keiko.
Either way, it gave Rei uncomfortable flashbacks of falling asleep in class.
Beside him, Rin shifted in his seat, his gaze flitting between the back driver's side window and the back of Kaede's head. "Um… Kaede-san?"
"What?" Kaede snapped.
"Hey, don't be rude," Keiko chided playfully, snickering behind her hand.
In a fantastic display of maturity, Kaede pulled down one of his eyelids and stuck his tongue out at her, waggling it around like an eel. Then, she swatted his hand away from his face, and it was frankly a wonder they all hadn't died yet from his horribly distracted driving.
"Kaede-san," Rin tried again in desperation, patting the driver's seat to get his attention.
Kaede's tongue returned to the inside of his mouth and he sighed. "What is it, Jaws?"
"J… Jaws…?" Rin blinked.
"What, you don't like it?"
The darkness made it difficult to tell, but given his posture and facial expression, Rin was most probably blushing.
"Whatever, it's fine," he replied tersely. "But we just passed my house."
"Seriously?! Fuck!" Kaede slammed on the brakes.
Fortunately, there were no other moving vehicles on this particular street.
In a half-hearted attempt to conceal her amusement, Keiko clapped a hand over her mouth to smother her giggles. When Kaede glared at her, however, she snorted unattractively, gave up all pretense of caring, and crumpled into his shoulder, shaking with laughter as she slapped an open hand against his thigh.
Nagisa-kun (21:32) itll b ez! u n me will pay a surprize visit 2 reichan 2mrrw n makochan n haruchan will hav a sleepover w/ rinchan
Sent! (21:33) Wouldn't it be easier if I just asked him about it when he gets home?
Nagisa-kun (21:34) NO! well hav 2 pry it out of reichan like detectives n then find out rinchans side of the story from makochan
Nagisa-kun (21:35) hes not gonna tell his lil sis about all the juicy stuff he did on his 1st date!
Sent! (21:35) If it's really all that JUICY, maybe I don't wanna know about it
Nagisa-kun (21:36) lol theres no way theyre doin THAT
Nagisa-kun (21:36) but even u gotta wonder how it went
Gou sighed.
The house was deathly quiet, save for the occasional chime of her phone, and the only lights left on were the hallway and the lamp on her bedside table. There was nothing on TV, Chigusa was out of town visiting family, and Makoto had yet to answer her text, which left her with… Nagisa. For entertainment.
Because going to bed before midnight on a Friday just felt like such a waste of weekend hours, and why did she have to be only one leftover with nobody to hang out with? It wasn't unusual for her to be at home alone, of course, with her mom being a nurse and her brother being away at boarding school, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
She cradled the phone against her chest and stared up at the textured pattern on the ceiling as she lay sprawled out on top of her bedspread, contemplating her options.
If Rin did decide to spend Saturday with Haruka and Makoto, and Nagisa followed through with his plan to show up at Rei's apartment, that would leave Gou alone once again, this time without even Nagisa for consolation.
Despite the prospect being home alone, however, she still wasn't nearly desperate enough to consider hanging out with Captain Mikoshiba, even though he would probably say yes to anything she suggested.
She rolled over and frowned, letting her phone flop down next to her on the pillow.
Maybe that was what made him so unappealing. He was fairly handsome and his muscles were almost as impressive as Rin's, but he seemed too eager to please and just a little too focused on how cute she was to really appreciate the rest of her.
Gou wanted her first boyfriend to like all of her. Even the parts that weren't cute. Even if it meant waiting until she was out of high school.
Until then, well…
Sent! (21:36) I guess it couldn't HURT to give Rei-kun a visit…
Nagisa-kun (21:37) itll b gr8, his mom makes awesum cookies
Sent! (21:37) Yeah sounds fun. Text me tomorrow to let me know what time we're going over there.
Nagisa-kun (21:38) will do (*＾▽＾)／
Gou smiled softly and let her eyes slide shut.
Most of her friends might have started out being her brother's, but none of that seemed to matter much anymore. If Chigusa was her only close girl friend, so be it. They treated her well enough.
"You don't really have to walk me to the door. I'm not a girl."
"But it's the proper thing to do! And besides…" Rei extended his hand and smiled. "I want to."
Blushing furiously, Rin turned his head and reached out to gently clasp Rei's hand. "Fine."
Rei assisted him out of the car, which required minimal effort as Rin braced his other hand against the seat and pushed himself to his feet. Despite his previous objection, though, Rin seemed perfectly content with remaining hand-in-hand as they approached the house, the thin layer of sweat on his palm becoming more apparent as he intertwined their fingers. It was the slightest bit disgusting, but also a relief to know that Rin wasn't as cool as he pretended to be.
Once they reached the doorstep, Rin's slick fingers slipped out of Rei's hand, and Rin turned to face him.
"So, uh." He averted his eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear before clearing his throat to continue softly, "I guess this is goodnight."
"I'm afraid it is," Rei had to agree, though he sincerely wished that it hadn't concluded so soon.
"So, yeah. Um," Rin stammered, his voice wavering about half an octave above his natural pitch. "Goodnight." He dipped his head minutely and made a sudden lunge for the doorknob.
"Wait!" Acting purely on instinct, Rei slammed his hand against the door, leaning into it to keep it closed. "What about our goodnight kiss?"
Startled, Rin jerked away from Rei's sudden personal space invasion. Setting his gaze level with Rei's sternum, he chewed his lip pensively. "You still want one of those?"
"What? Of course I do!"
Why wouldn't he?
As he briefly pondered this conundrum, Rei realized that his contemplative expression probably looked rather grim. He attempted something more akin to a smile, though with little genuine joy since Rin's disappointing expectations of him brought his romantic intentions to a screeching halt.
"That is… unless you don't want to. I won't force it on you."
Rin looked up at him then, vulnerable and searching his eyes for the answer to some question God only knew. Whatever it was took him only a split second to find, however, as he quickly searched for something else on the ground, raising his free hand to rub the back of his neck just below his ponytail.
A period of silence stretched between them during which Rei began to fear that Rin was merely stalling for time to think up an excuse at the very last minute to escape Rei's advances.
All of his worries dissipated, however, when Rin met his gaze again and gave him a shy sort of half-smile, blushing deeply from his hairline down to his collar.
There were those gastronomical lepidoperae again.
"I would … like to do that. Yes. K–Kissing, I mean."
In a stark contrast to the uninhibited behavior he displayed on the beach, Rin coughed and fidgeted as though he were waiting for Rei to make the first move.
Which Rei didn't mind doing.
He'd seen this done in movies and TV dramas before, after all. How hard could it be? Since he and Rin were the same height, there were no logistics to calculate for the difference, either. As for where to put his hands, caressing Rin's face seemed like an appropriate location for one while the other could easily rest on his waist.
Or would that be too intimate for a first kiss?
He could try circling his hands behind Rin's neck, but that might feel too restraining for him, and the last thing he wanted was for Rin to feel trapped should he find the kiss unpleasant.
Rin clasped his hands together tightly for a second and then reached out for Rei's.
That was also an effective option.
Joining hands with Rin, Rei leaned in and closed his eyes.
It started out a feather-light brush of lips against lips, hesitant and chaste in its brevity. Then, Rin pressed into him, and they… just sort of stood there like that for a few seconds, liplocked and motionless.
Rei felt fairly certain that more movement was typically involved in kissing, but his brain's high functions had shut down and his heart was pounding against his ribcage and what else was he supposed to do?!
As if his first kiss wasn't nerve-wracking enough, a shrill whistle pierced the cool night air, and the couple was once again bathed in light. Rin startled and pulled away immediately. Rei grudgingly opened his eyes, sighing.
The light began to flash.
"Ye-heahhhh! Get some!"
Rei took one glance over his shoulder and buried his face in his hands.
Halfway hanging out the window, Kaede fistpumped as he flickered the headlights. On the other side, Keiko had a finger and thumb in her mouth in position to whistle again. Which, of course, she did.
Probably loudly enough to disturb the neighbors.
"Niisan!" Rei groaned through his fingers.
And Rin… chuckled. A sweet, soft, sincere sort of laughter that pierced Rei straight through his heart like a Cupid's arrow.
Much like their first kiss, Rei could only stand there stupefied as Rin pecked him on the lips again, cuing another round of embarrassing cheers.