All Teeth: Chapter 9

Author's Note: I think this really is the second to last chapter. It's crazy that we're almost at the end. Hopefully this chapter is as satisfying to read as it was to write!

Shinji checked his watch as he sat next to Shuya Nanahara, holding his hand. A little over 12 minutes had passed since he and Yutaka had split ways.

Currently he and Yoshitoki were on either side of Shuya, each holding one of his hands, as Shogo and Nakagawa took turns putting a water bottle to his mouth and tilting it back for him to take a drink.

Shuya had at first rejected the offer of any water, but he'd eventually given in, only on the condition that his friends held his hands (he'd been devastated when he'd realized he didn't have enough hands to accomplish that).

But they had reassured him that they'd just have to take turns. Shinji was due to switch with Hiroki as soon as the 15-minute mark hit, which was good because that was when he was planning to ditch them.

He cared about Shuya, he really did, but he was such a clingy drunk. And Shuya was not who he currently wanted to have clinging on to him.

"Am I doin' good?" Shuya asked Yoshitoki as he placed his head on his shoulder.

"Great, man," Yoshitoki said, pushing Shuya's bangs off his forehead with his free hand. Shuya leaned into the touch.

"We just need you to drink a little more," Shogo said, once again trying to lean the water bottle to Shuya's lips.

"'M not even that drunk," Shuya pouted, but ended up lifting his head and opening his mouth anyway.

Shogo dumped the rest of the water from the bottle into his mouth before lowering it.

"There, now just don't drink anything but water for a while, okay?" Shogo asked.

"But it's a party!" Shuya whined.

Shinji again checked his watch. Still a minute to go.

"Here, Shuya, I got you some snacks," Hiroki said as he held a plate out for him. Thankfully at some point in the night Sho, or maybe someone else in the Kiriyama family, had brought out finger foods on trays and sat them around the room.

Shuya seemed to forget he was holding Shinji and Yoshitoki's hands as he took the plate from Hiroki. "Oh my god, that's so nice."

Shuya then started eating the snacks and the group let out a sigh of relief. If Shinji had to guess, he'd say Shuya would sober up soon and then probably get trashed again before the night was over. Shuya was pretty good at that kind of thing.

"Come sit down, Hiroki," Shinji said as he stood up and offered him his seat. It was time for the switch.

Hiroki was about to take it, and Shinji was about to sneak off, when the music in the room was cut off and Sho appeared under a stage light (which was really just the Kiriyama Family pointing multiple flashlights at him) in the middle of the dancefloor.

"Sorry to cut the music darlings, but I think it's time for a game!" Sho announced. "I need everyone in a circle on the dancefloor!"

Shinji wanted to groan.

Can I please just have 10 minutes to flirt with Yutaka? Is that too much to ask?

But instead of making a big deal about it, Shinji headed to the dancefloor with his group. Everyone was sitting down quickly, so it took Shinji a second to find Yutaka. He was already sitting down in between other people (Keita and Yuichiro on one side and Megumi Eto and her friends on the other).

So, Shinji plopped down about a fourth of the circle away from him, with the rest of his friends sitting to his left. Once he was sitting, he looked over at Yutaka again. Yutaka was looking back at him, and offered him an eyeroll, which seemed to say, 'So much for 15 minutes, huh?'

Shinji offered a reassuring smile and a wink. It was enough for him knowing that Yutaka wanted to be hanging out with him. Yutaka couldn't seem to help smiling back.

Once everyone was seated in a circle (which was too large for the dancefloor to contain) around Sho, including his gang who had turned off their flashlights, he started speaking again, raising a bottle in his right hand. "Now it just wouldn't be a high school party without some of the classics! So, who wants to spin the bottle first?"

Tatsumichi Oki raised his hand like a little kid. "Yo! I'll start!"

Sho seemed pleased by that and handed him the bottle before sitting down in the seat his friends had left him in between Sasagawa and Kanai.

As the bottle spun Shinji watched it in boredom. It wasn't his first game of spin the bottle, but it was the first one where he really hadn't cared to play. He only wanted to kiss one person, and he was willing to bet that even if he spun the bottle and landed on him, he'd be told to go ahead and re-spin.

He met Yutaka's gaze again, and this time he rolled his eyes. Yutaka smiled a little, but it was obvious he felt the same way.

Hell, had Yutaka even kissed anyone before?

But Shinji knew he hadn't. He was pretty sure Yutaka would have mentioned that the other night when they talked about Yutaka's old crush on Kanai.

So, Yutaka might get his first kiss tonight and not even from Shinji.

Ugh, it wasn't like Shinji hadn't kissed other people (17 of them to be exact), but he thought it would be kind of cool to get to be the first (and only) one to kiss Yutaka. But he guessed it didn't really matter.

The bottle landed on Kazuo Kiriyama, and Kazushi Niida laughed from next to Oki, while on his other side, Tadakatsu Hatagami rolled his eyes.

"Re-spin, man," Hatagami said, seeming eager to keep the game moving.

Oki looked confused, even in the dim lighting. "No, don't I have to kiss Kiriyama?"

"He's a guy," Niida said, as though that explained everything. "You can re-spin if you land on a guy."

"I don't think those are the rules at a coming out party," Oki said before looking over at Sho. "Right? Since it's a coming out party, we kiss people of the same gender?"

Shinji almost laughed. The idea that there were any set rules for spin the bottle at a coming out party was kind of hysterical.

Sho looked surprised for a second, but then grinned. "That does cater to the event we're all at," Sho said, then grinned wider. "But I suppose if anyone is too insecure about their sexuality to kiss someone, they can take a shot instead."

Sasagawa held up a bottle of the alcohol that had been used for their entrance shots. He sat in front of him like it was a threat.

"Oh! And if anyone does kiss someone of the same gender, then everyone of that gender has to drink except for the ones kissing," Sho added. "Although, they can drink whatever they want since they aren't being babies."

Sho was obviously making up the rules on the fly, but Oki nodded as though they had been set in stone for years.

"Okay, so I kiss Kiriyama and then all the other guys have to take a drink of something?" Oki asked, making sure he understood the rules.

"You've got it, sweetie," Sho said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Cool, then I'll kiss him."

Shinji watched in disbelief as Oki scooted over to Kiriyama and kissed him on the lips. He didn't even opt for a light peck in hopes that would be good enough. Nope, he went in tongue and all.

Shinji covered his mouth a little in shock and ready to laugh. He hadn't expected the turn of events. He then looked over to Yutaka, who looked like he was trying not to laugh at Oki passionately kissing 'the' Kazuo Kiriyama.

Yutaka seemed to sense him looking and turned to him and grinned. His eyes had that spark in them again, and he seemed to suddenly be less opposed to the game.

Shinji uncovered his mouth and grinned back.

The chance that they would actually end up kissing was still slim, with around 40 people in the room, but it was suddenly possible.

And even that slight possibility had them grinning at each other like fools.

"Drink up, guys!" Oki called out once he'd pulled apart from Kiriyama. Kiriyama was looking blankly ahead as though a guy hadn't just frenched him in front of his entire class.

Shinji and a couple of other people got up to grab drinks from the bar. Shinji was pouring his drink when Yutaka walked up beside him, drink already in hand.

"Seems like the game just got a little more interesting," Yutaka said, sounding like he was telling an inside joke.

"I guess that all depends on who you land on, doesn't it?" Shinji asked, finishing his drink and stepping away from the drinks so that Hatagami, who had been waiting behind him, could pour his own.

"Hope I land on someone good," Yutaka said, backing away from him, amused grin still on his face.

"Hope they're blond," Shinji replied back, not being at all subtle.

Yutaka grinned, ducking his eyes down a little before he fully turned around and went back to his spot in the circle. Shinji went to his own and sat back down.

The game continued. It seemed that once Oki had kissed someone of the same gender (or maybe it was because of Sho's assertion that only people insecure in their sexuality wouldn't), no one else was backing down either.

Several people had kissed so far, many having been of the same gender, resulting in people getting pretty drunk.

Shinji himself felt a strong buzz that was bordering on too much by the time the bottle reached Mitsuko Souma. She was sitting just three seats down from Yutaka, next to Yuichiro (Shinji would have to ask how things had panned out with that later).

The bottle had gone over halfway around the circle and neither he nor Yutaka had kissed anyone yet. But they kept looking at each other, grinning or making faces or laughing if the pair kissing seemed absurd enough.

So, when Souma spun the bottle, Shinji had almost forgotten that it could land on him until it stopped and was pointing at him.

Shinji looked at it a little dumbly before he looked up at Souma.

She sent him an insincere looking smile before she crawled seductively over to him and then placed herself in his lap.

Shinji had no interest in kissing Souma, even if she was one of the hottest girls in class (Hell, did he even like girls at all? Or had his conquests all just been for status and kicks? Probably that. He never felt around them like he did Yutaka).

But Shinji also didn't want to cause a scene or be labeled a bad kisser (it'd been awhile since he had kissed anyone, but he still had a reputation of being good at it), so when she leaned in, he kissed her back to the sound of people in the circle goading them on.

It went on too long in his opinion, and he found his eyes open and looking at Yutaka. Yutaka's mouth was set in a straight line, but his eyes were dark and jealous.

Mitsuko cut off the kiss and then turned away from him without saying anything. Back near her seat Yuichiro was looking at the floor, and when she went back over, she whispered something to him, but Shinji didn't care what.

He cared much more about the look on Yutaka's face. He was looking longingly at Shinji, and Shinji hoped it was obvious that he felt that longing too.

Yuichiro spun the bottle next and kissed Yukiko Kitano (god, they both looked so awkward), and then Keita spun and landed on Kazuhiko Yamamoto, who chose to drink rather than kiss someone besides his girlfriend (and probably because no one in their right mind would want to kiss Iijima).

Then Yutaka was up, and he looked at Shinji again, that wanting look still on his face, before he spun the bottle hard.

It went around several times, and Shinji glared at it, wanting it to land on him despite the odds.

Then for what felt like the first time all night, things went his way. The bottle landed on him and he looked up at Yutaka, smirk on his face. He heard a couple of people oohing.

Yutaka was looking at the bottle, shocked, like he couldn't quite believe that it had landed on Shinji. Then he looked up at him.

"What? Are you going to make me come over there?" Shinji teased.

Suddenly Yutaka's face broke out in a grin and he crawled over to Shinji. It wasn't the seductive crawl that Souma had done, but that didn't matter. Shinji still wanted to kiss him.

Yutaka reached him and sat up on his knees in front of him. He didn't say anything out loud, but his smile spoke volumes and Shinji mirrored it, even as the people around them were shouting and whistling the way they had for almost everyone.

They leaned in, and Shinji wasn't sure which one of them started first, but before their mouths had even gotten close, they were both laughing.

Yutaka pulled away until he'd stopped and then leaned back in, only for the same thing to happen.

"Oh my god, kissin' a guy's not that fuckin' funny!" Sasagawa snapped at them.

But he didn't get it.

They weren't laughing because it was funny, they were laughing because they were happy. Because Shinji had spent so long spiraling and Yutaka had spent so much time watching him spiral, and now they were in front of each other and they both knew how each other felt, and it was so, so good.

Shinji had never expected to have a full life, and he had never expected it to be so happy. But here he was with Yutaka in front of him, making him laugh like a very happy idiot.

"Stop laughing so I can kiss you," Yutaka demanded, even as he sounded on the verge of laughing again himself.

"You stop," Shinji said, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

They leaned in for a third time, and they didn't laugh, but it was all teeth, all grinning mouths pushed together, because they couldn't stop smiling even to kiss each other. And fuck, that was funny, so they laughed again, mouths still touching.

People around them might have been annoyed, but Shinji didn't care. His heart was ready to burst out of his chest, ready, not for the first time, to be wherever Yutaka was. To sit in his hands and be held by him.

Finally, their laughter quieted again, and Shinji kissed him quick before it could start again. This time it was an actual kiss, mouth on mouth, and it was warm. They opened their mouths against each other and for a few seconds they kissed openly, Shinji's hand on Yutaka's cheek and one of Yutaka's hands on Shinji's shoulder.

It was a different kind of good than the laughing kisses had been. One that packed a little more heat. But it didn't last long before Shuya's call of, "Yeah, get in there!" had both of them laughing against each other again.

Once they pulled apart, they shared a final grin before Yutaka went back to his spot in the circle.

The game went on for a while after that but stopped right before it would have been Shinji's turn to spin the bottle.

Shinji was thankful because he was pretty sure he never wanted to kiss anyone but Yutaka ever again.

Sho announced that the game was old and that he wanted to dance. So, the music was turned back on and people crowded the dancefloor.

Yutaka came to him, looking very pleased. "Hey," his tone matched the look on his face.

"Hey," Shinji said back as people crowded in around them. "You gonna dance with me?"

"Yeah," Yutaka said as they were pushed closer together. "I'm g—gonna dance with you."

Yutaka had a slight drunken slur going on, but Shinji wasn't really in the position to judge. The buzz he'd had while sitting on the floor had transformed into full blown drunkenness when he stood up.

"Good."

They started out dancing next to each other, but that didn't last long.

Shinji's prediction that the dancefloor would start filling up once people got drunk was correct. Within minutes everyone had crammed themselves onto the dancefloor, and they were no longer acting like they would at a school dance.

No, what was going on at the dancefloor of Sho's party would never be allowed by any sane chaperone.

They were a mass of bodies and none of those bodies were trying to keep space between them anymore. People were bumping and grinding and surrounded.

If Shinji cared to look around he could see where several girls had circled Shuya and were dancing on him more than around him, or how several people had paired up and were grinding, or how some of those pairings were making out (and not all of them were boy and girl pairings).

But Shinji didn't care to look around. He may have been drunk, but he was hyper focused on Yutaka.

They'd started off dancing next to each other, still having some sense that they should keep what was going on between them private. But as things escalated on the dancefloor, they'd dropped the pretense that they were interested in anyone else.

Yutaka had been the one who'd moved in front of him first, that wicked, mischievous grin on his face that seemed to say that there were no rules anymore, and Yutaka was going to do what he wanted.

Shinji hadn't argued. He liked that Yutaka didn't care about the people around them.

And now they were dancing close, occasionally touching as they were bumped together. It was good but not enough. Yutaka was looking at Shinji like he was daring him to get closer.

Shinji didn't often say no to a dare.

He reached out and grabbed Yutaka by the beltloops and pulled him forward so that they were flush together, and Yutaka only looked surprised for a second before his arms snaked around Shinji's neck.

"You looked like you wanted to be closer," Shinji said over the sound of the music.

They were barely even dancing anymore, more just standing against each other.

"'Bout time you noticed," Yutaka teased as his right hand played with the hair at the nape of Shinji's neck. "Thought I was gon' die alone all the way over there."

Shinji could see on Yutaka's arm a big black smudge where his drink tally had once been. The dancefloor was hot, and the sweat must have smeared it. It was impossible to guess how many he'd had.

"Nothin' was stoppin' you from gettin' closer," Shinji said as he moved his hands to hold Yutaka's hips. He then bent his head down so he could whisper against Yutaka's ear. "Nothin' to be afraid of. You'll like when I bite."

Yutaka laughed, and Shinji pulled away to look at him, already smiling fondly at him.

"I'm gonna bite you," he said, his voice sounding humorous and flirtatious at the same time.

Shinji laughed. "'m lookin' forward to it."

They started dancing again, as a fast-paced song came on. They stayed close together, dancing in a way that bordered inappropriate, but was in no way as raunchy as a lot of what was going on around them.

They could barely make it through a song without leaning in to make some kind of comment to each other, sometimes flirty ("Mm, think this song might be talkin' about you.") and sometimes just funny ("Motobuchi is shotgunning a beer. This is a magical night.")

They continued like that for what felt like a long time. It was long enough for them both to be coated in a layer of sweat from the proximity, the dancing, and the alcohol.

Finally, they both slowed down, once again just standing against each other. Yutaka was looking up at Shinji with a longing look. He'd have to be blind to not notice the way Yutaka was staring at his mouth, like he wanted to kiss him again. Shinji very much wanted to be kissed again.

So, he asked, "Are you ready to get out of here?"

Yutaka grinned, looking eager. "Yeah, 'm ready."

They pushed their way out of the mass of people and headed toward the stairs. They didn't bother to say goodbye to anyone, not wanting to prolong their stay.

They climbed the stairs, although a little wobbly, and found that the hallway had at some point been decorated with glow sticks, making it possible to see where they were going. They walked down it and reached the doorway where they had been let in. Shinji pushed against it, and it moved easily.

The bar upstairs was only dimly lit but after only having blacklights and glowsticks for light, it was jarring. They stood in the doorway, letting their eyes adjust.

"Did you boys have fun?"

Shinji's eyes shot over to the bar where Sho's father was reading what looked like a trashy romance novel. He hadn't even seen him when he'd opened the door.

"Yeah," Shinji answered, still blinking his eyes. "Sho throws a good party."

Sho's father smiled kindly at him and then pointed to a table full of water bottles near the door.

"Make sure you each grab one on the way out. Hydration is important," he said.

Shinji nodded before walking over to the table and grabbing a bottle, Yutaka following suite behind him.

By the time Shinji and Yutaka stepped outside of the bar Shinji felt like he'd arrived on a different planet, or perhaps more accurately, he'd just come back from one. The change in lighting was harsh and the talk with Sho's father was jolting.

In just a couple of minutes Shinji felt like he'd sobered up exponentially. The change in scenes was enough to do that.

Shinji opened his bottle of water and took a long drink as he walked a few steps away from the bar. Once he was out of its view he stopped. He looked over at Yutaka, wondering what he would see now that they were out of the neon lights.

Yutaka was still looking at him the same way he had been in the basement.

Yutaka dropped his water bottle, then put his arms around Shinji's neck and moved to kiss him.

"Wait," Shinji said, pulling Yutaka's arms off of his neck, letting his own bottle fall to the ground. "Are you good for this?"

What Shinji meant was, 'Are you sober enough to be kissing me?'

For a second Yutaka stared at him, almost like he wasn't able to comprehend the words. But then, all of a sudden, Shinji could see it click, and Yutaka started laughing.

Once he'd finished, he looked up at Shinji, a lazy grin on his face.

"Look," Yutaka said, once again putting his arms around Shinji's neck. "I am… a little wasted." He said it like he thought it was kind of funny. "But I've also wanted to kiss you for a very, very long time. Soooo, you should definitely let me."

Shinji looked down at him for a second, considering. Yutaka seemed okay. But Shinji was also drunk, so his judgement probably wasn't the best. Plus, he really, really wanted to kiss Yutaka, and he could see where that might cloud said judgement.

"Don't make me beg, Shinji," Yutaka said, saying Shinji's name like it had suddenly become very important. "I'm drunk enough that I actually might."

Shinji grinned. He figured if Yutaka was able to tell coherent jokes, he probably wasn't that drunk.

"I'll take a raincheck on the begging," Shinji said, lewd grin on his face, as he moved his hands to hold Yutaka's waist. "But the kissing, I'll take now."

Yutaka let out a light laugh and leaned up again.

He didn't make it to Shinji's mouth before he was smiling, teeth exposed. But then, Shinji didn't either. They ended up with teeth on teeth, not for the first time that night. And then the laughing started.

"Fuck, we gotta stop doing that," Yutaka said once he'd stopped laughing. He was still grinning up at Shinji.

"Might take some practicing," Shinji said, as he moved his hands to Yutaka's lower back. "I'm not used to being this happy when I kiss someone."

Yutaka looked down in what appeared to be embarrassment, but he quickly recovered and reestablished their eye contact. "I'm happy I get to practice with you."

They waited a second before trying to kiss again. The results were better. They were still grinning too much to get a good angle, but that was okay. Rather than breaking apart, they just kept trying, despite at times literally laughing into each other's mouth.

As they kissed, Yutaka's arms pushed against Shinji's shoulders, trying to push himself higher so that Shinji wasn't leaning down as much. Shinji took that as a cue to lift Yutaka up.

Yutaka made a slightly startled noise before he was laughing and wrapping his legs tightly around Shinj's waist.

"You're picking me up a lot this week," Yutaka said as he adjusted his hold on Shinji.

"You don't seem to mind," Shinji said, leaning against the building behind him.

"Nah," Yutaka said, leaning in close again. But he laughed before he reached Shinji's lips. "There's—There's a joke here about picking me up, like, literally and then, like, how you would pick someone up. Like, romantically. But I'm too drunk to think of it. Imagine I said it, and it was really, really funny."

Shinji grinned. "I already can't stop laughing long enough to show you how good a kisser I am, and you still wannna joke more."

Yutaka smiled, and he ran his right hand over Shinji's cheek. "It's okay, 'm already super impressed."

Yutaka's hand on his face felt so intimate, so good. He hadn't realized how nice it would feel to have Yutaka touching him gently. Shinji turned his head and kissed the wrist (right under the watch) of the hand that was touching his face.

When Shinji turned back to Yutaka, he looked stunned by the gesture. But then his face transformed, and he was looking at Shinji with an almost shy smile.

"Getting embarrassed?" Shinji teased before turning his head and kissing Yutaka's wrist again.

Yutaka grinned. "Nah." Then he kissed Shinji with a renewed energy.

The thing Shinji realized then, was that kissing Yutaka was fun. It seemed silly, but kissing had never really been fun before. It'd been cool when he'd first started kissing girls, but it was soon just a step to get to the next thing.

But kissing Yutaka wasn't like that. Getting to kiss Yutaka felt like the main event. Having Yutaka's tongue rolling over his was exciting, and his whole body felt abuzz with energy as one of Yutaka's hands ran through his hair.

Shinji's hands were rubbing up and down Yutaka's back, exploring his slight build and enjoying the heat under his fingers, as he occasionally pulled him even closer.

He could kiss Yutaka for hours, laughing against his face or open mouthed. It didn't matter how. It was all a perfect mix of fun and good and fuck, I'm so in love with you.

He was so lost in kissing Yutaka that the crash in the alley startled him.

They both shot their heads that direction in time to see a cat dash out of the alley. Then they both let out light laughter.

"That scared the shit outta me," Yutaka said, turning his face back to him.

"I hope not, given our position," Shinji said, lightly massaging a spot in Yutaka's lower back.

Yutaka snorted.

"We should get back to my house," Shinji said, suddenly realizing they were still standing in the middle of the street.

Yutaka blinked and seemed to become aware of that as well. "Okay, carry me there."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Shinji admitted. "I'm not sober either." The building behind him was currently acting as a stabilizer for their position. He still felt a little unsteady from the drinking.

"You can do it," Yutaka said, sounding sure of himself. "It's good weight training. Besides, I wanna do this." Yutaka then leaned close and began kissing down his jaw to his throat.

Shinji knew Yutaka had never done that before, but his mouth still felt good against his neck.

"Mm, okay, you do that," Shinji agreed as he took a shaky step away from the wall. He could probably walk for a little while.

Yutaka laughed against his neck, and that was just as good.