The third kiss was planned, but not by either one of them.

Eiichi was sure that there was something between them by this point. He didn't want to attach a name to it, but it was something. Van had kissed him twice. That's more than once. The first time made sense, given Eiichi was having a panic attack and otherwise inconsolable, but kissing his injury after he had already cleaned and bandaged it? Van did not have to do that, but he did it anyways. He never kissed anyone else's cuts or bruises, so why…

Eiichi's head was spinning. So many unanswered questions. So many unrecognized feelings. He didn't know what to do other than just to wait it out and let things happen on their own, but Eiichi had the very opposite of a "go-with-the-flow" type personality. Everything in his life had to be carefully planned and strategized.

Having Van kiss him on two separate occasions, and then having all his thoughts clouded by those two incidents for weeks after, was not part of any of his plans.

Eiji noticed it too. How Eiichi's gaze would linger on Van for just a little too long as he was leaving. How his eyes kept darting down to focus on Van's lips whenever they got close. He knew something was up, which is why what Eiji did that night, he one hundred percent did on purpose.

Eiichi wasn't sure whether to be mad and call him a traitor, or to thank him.

Technically, it was Nagi's fault. The night had started in a pretty typical manner. The boys were all jovial from having just finished a drama that took them months to complete from beginning to end, so they were treating themselves to a mini party. They allowed themselves to indulge in all the foods prohibited by their idol diets, dining on pizza and soda and ice cream. Eiichi was crushing everyone else at Mario Kart and Yamato was only slightly more hyperactive than usual, his body unused to its current levels of sugar intake. Then, Nagi had the genius idea to propose a game of truth or dare, but with a twist - the only option was dare.

Everyone in the room agreed that it sounded like fun. Even Eiichi agreed to it, because how was he supposed to know it would end the way it did?

They all sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor, in the order of the letters that appeared in the group's name. Yamato would be the one to start, in correspondence with their letter order, then Eiji would follow, and so on. The first rule they established was that there were no rules; anyone could dare or ask anyone anything. The second - only slightly more flexible than the first - was that nobody could pass up a dare, no matter how embarrassing or ridiculous it was.

Eiichi regretted that later. Oh, how he wished they had set down more rules. How badly he wanted to abolish that accursed second rule.

"Kira!" Yamato clapped his hands together, amber eyes staring pointedly at the other man, who merely lifted his eyebrows in curiosity. "I dare you… to attempt a handstand!"

Kira sighed, but he knew what the rules of the game were. Plus, he wasn't the type to argue in general. He wordlessly stood up, smoothing the wrinkles in his clothes as the others scooted back, creating a clearing for him to display his gymnastic skills, or lack thereof. Kira took a deep breath, straightened his arms in front of him, pressed his palms firmly against the floor, lifted his feet off the ground, and…

"Holy fuck!" Yamato gaped as Kira came toppling forward, his legs flipping over his head and back curving to unnatural levels. He managed to twist himself back around, but not without struggling to do so. While the other members of the group dissolved into hysterical laughter, the athlete bit his lip, peeking at Kira with concern. "Pretty sure I just heard a crack… are you okay?"

Golden eyes fluttered open, soft with a look of contentment. "I've been… trying to crack my back… all day…" he moaned.

Yamato laughed and offered Kira a hand. "Glad you're okay." Yamato pulled Kira next to him, and the two stayed next to each other for the rest of the game. Nobody said anything about it.

"Eiji's turn," Nagi pointed out, his voice still twinkling with the residue of his earlier giggling fit.

"Hmmm…" Droopy violet eyes surveyed the group. Eiji squinted and pursed his lips, feigning that he was thinking long and hard about who his victim would be. and what challenging task he would bestow upon them. In reality, he had begun crafting his plan ever since Nagi brought up the truth or dare idea. Now, it was time to set it into action.

"Van!" His gaze eventually came to lock on a certain brown-eyed brunette. Van flinched when his name was called. Eiji's lips curved into a knowing smile.

"I dare you… to kiss the person on your immediate right!"

Van turned to his right, his face lighting up at the sight of a flushing, sweating Eiichi. "Ooh! I get to kiss Eiichan? How spicy!"

"Oh! Is the person on your right nii-san? I didn't notice," Eiji chuckled.

Eiichi shot daggers at him. Of course he noticed! He totally noticed. They were sitting in the order of the letters in the group name. E - the E in Eiichi, specifically - came after V. There was no way Van would be sitting next to anybody else. Eiji only shrugged, and smiled sweetly.

"Alrighty! Rule number two; no passin' up on dares is allowed. Better pucker up, Eiichan! Hope ya brushed yer teeth."

"Um…" Eiichi swallowed thickly as Van scooted closer. "Hold up. The dare was that you had to kiss me. Not that we had to kiss each other. Or that I had to… reciprocate."

Van blinked. "You don' wanna kiss me?"

"It's not that, I just - "

"You do wanna kiss me!"

"Oh my God, Van! Just get it over with," Eiichi huffed.

Van erupted into peals of laughter. "Alright, alright." He inched forward just a bit more, until he and Eiichi's thighs were brushing against each other. The hairs on the back of Eiichi's neck erected. Warm fingers caressed the spot under Eiichi's chin, tickling slightly. Van's index finger came to rest against Eiichi's jaw, which he used to tilt the other man's face towards his so they were facing each other directly.

Amethyst eyes fastened onto honey brown. Eiichi could feel warm breath ghosting over his skin. The pad of Van's thumb began to lightly trace at the corner of Eiichi's lip, circling right over his mole, and Eiichi gulped. The image of Van in front of him was becoming increasingly blurrier as he leaned in closer, closer, until he was just a crosshatch of fair skin and brown hair and his eyes were overlapping each other and then -

And then, his lips came hard against Eiichi's cheek, just barely swerving away from his mouth at the very last second.

Nagi was making a show of gagging and thrusting his finger into his mouth, while Kira and Shion bashfully averted their eyes, and Eiji and Yamato cackled gleefully. "Ohhh, that was priceless!" Yamato cried, flicking a tear of mirth from his eyes. "You really had us going there, Van. I was so ready to have to cover up a media scandal."

"Look how red nii-san is," Eiji giggled behind his hands. "It looks like he's about to explode!"

"Alright!" Eiichi barked with a snap of his fingers. "Van was given a dare, and he completed it. Moving on, then!"

Eiji wouldn't stop smirking at him throughout the rest of the game. Eiichi was just about ready to drag him by the hand to somewhere he could scold his brother in privacy. When his turn to give a dare rolled around, though, he grinned at Eiji evilly, and the younger man gulped nervously, knowing revenge was in motion.

Eiichi only felt slightly bad for daring him to drink a glass of vinegar.