Ten minutes later, they had already discovered that Inuyasha snored in his sleep like an elephant, Suikotsu had a fetish for hairspray and Renkotsu was afraid of dark. "Well my mother used to lock me in a dark closet when I didn't behave myself!" he yelled and Jakotsu had to lay on his back and hold his stomach so he wouldn't throw up for laughing so hard.
No one had chosen the Dare yet; apparently everyone knew how weird and embarassing tasks people could come up with when alcohol was involved. This irritated Jakotsu a bit, because he had a feeling things would get even funnier if people had had more courage, but he was nevertheless happy to see Bankotsu being himself again, relaxed and laughing with all the others. 'I knew it was a good idea to slip a lil something into his coke'.
It was Renkotsu's turn to spin the bottle, and Kagome turned out to be the next victim. "Truth", she said before bald man even asked.
"Then truth it is..." Renkotsu looked at the ceiling. "Hmm... Okay, have you ever kissed anyone here besides Inuyasha? And who?" Kagome looked uneasy. "That's two questions", she muttered. Inuyasha looked suspicious.
"Just answer, I wanna hear this."
The girl laughed nervously. "Well, Kouga... before I got together with Inuyasha... and... umm... oh well, and Miroku." At that, Kagome blushed, Inuyasha and Sango threw Miroku murderous looks and said man tried hard to look innocent. Jakotsu and Bankotsu once again had a chance to laugh their asses off.
After some explaining, "It was in a party, we were twelve years old and he gave me a chocolate bar", the game was ready to continue. This time the bottle pointed at Sesshoumaru, who raised an eyebrow. "Truth or Dare?" asked Kagome, still slightly red.
"Truth. I will not take my chances in Jakotsu's presence."
Jakotsu gave him a mock pout. "Mou, you're no fun!"
Kagome giggled. "Okay then. Umm... What annoys you most in the world?" she asked, very confident the answer would be "Inuyasha" as brothers had somewhat of a stormy relationship.
But surprisingly, white-haired man said "Kagura's obsession for coloured contact lenses."
Kagura made a face at that, glaring her boyfriend with violently red eyes. "You're just jealous because I won't let you use them."
Sesshoumaru ignored both Kagura's comment and the loud laughter and spun the bottle. And almost as if he had planned it, it pointed at Kagura, who sighed irritably. "Fine... Truth."
Sesshoumaru didn't even have to think. "Where did you hide my new book, the one that disappeared mysteriously after I'd read it halfway?"
Kagura grinned evilly. "Damn you. It's in my drawer; I wanted to read it first. But now it's my turn!" She reached for the bottle.
"Wait a sec!" Jakotsu waved his hands to gather everyone's attention. "As the birthday boy, I decided this is getting boring. So the next person the bottle points at will HAVE to choose the Dare! No exceptions!" Jakotsu giggled as everyone suddenly looked a bit more alarmed. "All the same to me, it won't be me anyways", Kagura said, spinning the bottle.
When the bottle stopped to point at Bankotsu, he couldn't help wondering if the gods were having some sort of grudge against him. He looked up at Kagura and tried to smile bravely, although he was feeling a little dizzy. 'That's weird, I've only drank coke'.
Kagura's face had suddenly brightened like someone had put the lights on behind her eyes.
Bankotsu decided that might not be a good sign, especially when she stood up.
"Girls, come here a bit. Let's have a quick meeting."
Kagome, Sango and Kikyou got up too and all four headed to kitchen. All the guys looked after them with wide eyes and Bankotsu felt panicky.
"What on earth are they doing?" Inuyasha asked.
Suikotsu shook his head. "No clue. But I think Bankotsu's face will be worth seeing when we find out."
Kouga laughed. "It's already worth seeing!"
Everyone looked at Bankotsu, who felt panic rising a couple degrees higher.
Jakotsu was again a bit worried for his friend, knowing the girls might want to have some fun with a cute guy like him. 'Then again, Bankotsu likes girls, doesn't he?' Jakotsu felt a sharp sting in his heart but pushed it out of his mind. 'I'm NOT jealous. I'm probably just having a stroke or something'.
Meanwhile, Bankotsu had come to the same conclusion as Jakotsu - the girls were throwing glances at his direction from the kitchen and looking positively thrilled - and he was quite worried about what the girls' boyfriends would think if they messed with him. 'No, they can't be seriously thinking about something like that, they don't look like cheaters... And what would Jakotsu think?' He blinked. 'Why am I wondering about Jakotsu's reaction? This is getting weird...'
The girls came back. Kagura was smiling wickedly, Kagome and Sango were giggling and even Kikyou looked more alive than before with her gentle smile. They sat back on their places and Kagura was definitely enjoying the stares from the guys. Finally, she opened her mouth. "Me and the girls decided what you are going to do, Bankotsu... Oh, don't look like we're gonna eat you!" She laughed. "Don't worry, we won't touch you."
Bankotsu felt a little bit relieved, but Kagura's smile was still looking devilish. And when the girl spoke again, he understood why.
"Instead... You are going to kiss Jakotsu." Bankotsu's heart missed a beat. On his left side, Jakotsu blushed so deeply he looked like a sunburn tomato. And the rest of the guys were laughing like hell. Kagura was now giving instructions. "We don't wanna see some barely touching fake kiss. It has to be a real one."
"With tongues!" Sango added.
"Yes!" Kagura grinned. "With tongues. Couple or not, you two look so adorable together we cannot sleep tonight if we don't see you kissing." This made Inuyasha, Suikotsu, Miroku and even Sesshoumaru frown a bit.
"Oh, get over it, guys," Kagome told them, "we love you, but the chance of seeing two cute boys making out doesn't come every day."
Jakotsu and Bankotsu had missed most of the conversation, although not the part about tongues, and were trying to pull themselves together. They didn't dare look at each other. But finally the others started to stare them and they had to look back. Kagura's smile widened even more. "So... Your turn."
Jakotsu managed to open his mouth. "Why does he have to... Umm... Do something like that if he doesn't want to?"
The girls giggled and Kikyou answered for them. "It's the idea of this game. People do embarassing things to make others laugh. But you know it already, so why ask?"
Jakotsu blushed again, while Bankotsu was helplessly staring at his hands.
Miroku laughed louder. "Is it possible Jakotsu is hesitating to kiss another guy? What the hell has happened to you?"
Renkotsu joined his cheer. "Oh, are you turning out to be straight after all?"
Jakotsu looked up, this time angry. "Shut up! I just don't want Ban-chan to feel uncomfortable, that's all."
Guys were about to laugh again, when Bankotsu said, "It's okay."
Jakotsu forgot to be embarassed and turned to his friend. "Are you sure?"
Slowly Bankotsu raised his face up and met Jakotsu's eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's part of the game, after all." He let out a nervous laugh. Everyone had fallen silent and all the girls were leaning forward, a hungry look in their eyes.
Jakotsu glanced at the people around them and moved a bit closer to whisper in Bankotsu's ear, "Don't worry. I won't eat you either."
"I know", Bankotsu muttered back. When Jakotsu pulled his head back, their cheeks brushed briefly against each other and Bankotsu shivered. He gazed into Jakotsu's eyes and heard his heart thumping again. The taller man smiled a bit and leaned towards him.
One of the girls - Jakotsu didn't know who and didn't care either - let out a loud gasp when their lips met each other. Bankotsu's lips were soft and without noticing it, Jakotsu put his hand on younger man's shoulder. When he started moving his lips slowly, Bankotsu tensed first and then relaxed little by little. Finally Bankotsu's lips were responding to the kiss and someone, it might have been Kagura, shouted, "The tongues!" All the voices were hazy and unclear in Jakotsu's ears, but he carefully slipped his tongue inside Bankotsu's mouth. He was a bit afraid the younger man might bite it off if he scared him too much, but instead his tongue met Bankotsu's. He forgot himself and everything around him. His hand had moved behind his friend's neck and his fingers were sliding throught the black hair.
Then they heard a cold, calm voice asking "Are you sure that's still part of the game?" and reality came back. Breathlessly they pulled away and noticed for the first time that Bankotsu's hand was on Jakotsu's cheek. Both guys blushed again and let go of each other. Jakotsu looked at the others.
Sesshoumaru, who had asked the question, was for once looking somewhat surprised, his eyes slightly wider than usual. But his expression was nothing compared to the other guys' faces. Everyone was looking positively shocked and Suikotsu said very quietly, "That looked awfully... real."
"It did..." Sango sighed. She and the other girls all had dreamy smiles on their faces and Jakotsu could tell they had enjoyed what they saw. 'I enjoyed it too', he realized and felt his face tingling in the place Bankotsu's hand had been in.
Bankotsu was once again lost in his own thoughts, his own blood rushing in his ears so loudly he didn't hear anything. 'I kissed him... And I liked it. And I want to kiss him again... No! That's not okay! He's my best friend!' He took a deep breath. 'Why does he have to make me so confused and... hot? I'm not gay...' Someone called his name and he looked up, startled.
"It's your turn to spin, Bankotsu." Kouga said.
Bankotsu glanced at Jakotsu. The cross-dresser wasn't red-faced anymore, but he was staring at the carpet as if he found it the most interesting sight since the time he went to shower with Inuyasha, Suikotsu, Miroku and Kouga after gym class on high school. Bankotsu looked at the bottle on the floor, sighed and spun it.
--
"Bye-bye! Take care now! Kagome, make sure those two don't push each other in front of cars!" Jakotsu was waving at the last guests to leave; Kagome laughed while Inuyasha and Kouga tried to look insulted, but felt too happy and drunk to do so. Jakotsu closed the door behind him. 'I love parties, but damn this is exhausting... I'm glad everyone's left'. He heard a thumping noise and some curses from his living room. 'Well, almost everyone'. He walked in to see Bankotsu sitting on his sofa, holding his left foot and glaring at the small table next to the sofa. "Did the table attack you?" older man asked, amused. Thanks to the large amount of alcohol available, both of the boys had forgotten their embarassment about the Dare kiss and were relaxed once again. 'But now', Jakotsu thought, 'everyone else's left and Bankotsu doesn't look like he's able to walk home by himself'.
The younger man threw his friend a dirty look and let go of his foot. "For your information, it did. I was peacefully heading towards the sofa from the kitchen, when right out of blue I feel a stingy pain in my toe! It appears I walked too close of your murderous table's territory. You should teach him a lesson, Jakotsu."
The cross-dresser doubled over with laughter, not just because of Bankotsu's explanation, but also because of his effort to sound sober. "Stop it, you're killing me! And for YOUR information, my friend, this table was number one of his age group in politeness so the problem must be in your rude actions." 'Okay, maybe I'm not all that sober myself'. He walked to the sofa, carefully avoiding the wicked piece of furniture in front of it, and sat down next to the chuckling Bankotsu. "Ban-chan, you should probably stay the night here. You're in no condition to wander alone outside."
With some concentration, Bankotsu managed to focus on Jakotsu's eyes. "I guess you're right... And if you can make that table stay away from me, I'll be happy to crash on your sofa. Oh yeah, I remembered something! Wait a sec..." Bankotsu stood up, staggering a little, and walked to the small backpack he had brought with him. Rummaging through it, he found a small box. After successfully returning to the sofa, he gave it to a smiling Jakotsu. "I forgot to give it to you before the party, I'm sorry... And happy birthday, Jakotsu."
The tall man squealed in delight and opened the box. At the sight of a beautiful blue hairpin with red butterflies in it, he gasped. "Oh Ban-chan..." He picked up the hairpin, holding it carefully in his pale hands and almost burst into tears. "You remembered..."
A few months ago, they had been shopping new curtains for Jakotsu's apartment. Bankotsu, having been forced to come, had spent the whole time trying to hide his face, when he spotted the hairpin in the window of some antique shop. Jakotsu had fell in love with the hairpin at first sight, but knew it was too expensive with his small income and had left the place feeling miserable.
But now he had the hairpin, this ridiculously expensive and gorgeous antique hairpin, and Bankotsu was next to him, smiling happily at Jakotsu's reaction. The tears finally came when Jakotsu threw his arms around other man. "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you, Ban-chan, you're so adorable and you're the best and oh I'm so happy and I love you and I love this hairpin and you are my best..."
Bankotsu laughed at his outburst and hugged him back, but felt adrenaline rushing through his veins. Jakotsu was so close and he felt so warm...
The cross-dresser calmed down a bit and wiped the tears away. "Would you put it into my hair?" he asked.
Bankotsu gently took the hairpin, hoping Jakotsu wouldn't notice the slight trembling of his hands. He lowered his head, so Bankotsu could pull his hair into a loose bun and stick the pin through the dark silky strands. The younger man happened to touch Jakotsu's neck in the process, and Jakotsu felt his stomach jump at the contact. He raised his head and looked Bankotsu in the eyes; suddenly there was tension again. "Bankotsu... It was really sweet of you to buy the hairpin to me... I'm so grateful." Jakotsu put his hand on top of Bankotsu's.
Some bell was ringing in Bankotsu's alcohol-hazed mind and his body was paralyzed for the moment. But when Jakotsu pressed his lips against Bankotsu's, the younger man followed his first instinct and kissed him back. He felt like Jakotsu was sending warm energies through his body. When Jakotsu's hand wandered to Bankotsu's inner thigh, the bell in his head made a loud and sharp noise and he pushed his friend away with panic in his eyes. Jakotsu's expression was hurt and his wide eyes looked tearful again.
"Why?" Jakotsu whispered. "Why... Why do you kiss me back and then reject me? And before, with the game, the kiss was real. You can't deny it. What are you thinking?" suddenly he was angry. Why was Bankotsu being so difficult? He just wanted to make him feel good...
Bankotsu looked scared. "I'm sorry... It's just; I'm not like you... I mean... I don't know."
Jakotsu stood up and gave Bankotsu a start. "Not like me! Not like me? So you cannot possibly feel anything for another guy! So you're only able to kiss me when there's a rational, anti-gay reason for it, when it's part of the game or when you're drunk or something!" His eyes were burning with anger and Bankotsu backed away. Jakotsu trembled with emotion; the tears were running down his cheeks, following the light blue stripes resembling snake fangs, but he didn't even notice. "And you just can't understand what I feel, because you're not like me! You can't understand how much I..." He fell silent and Bankotsu stared. His sad expression was too much for Jakotsu, who shouted, "Maybe I should just go buy a fucking mistletoe or something!" He turned around and walked out the front door, slamming it closed behind him.
"Wait!" Bankotsu shouted after him, but too late; Jakotsu was gone and he was alone with his beating heart. 'I didn't know he can get so mad. Oh gods, this is my fault. Why did I push him away? I know he didn't mean any harm...' Now he was crying too, regretting his hasty reaction. 'I'm more wasted than I've ever been before, but I do know I feel something for him. I stupidly panicked... And now he's gone... Alone out there... And he probably hates me...' Bankotsu felt his stomach clench, ran into Jakotsu's bathroom and violently threw up. When his stomach felt a bit better, his view started to fade. "Jakotsu..." he whispered, falling unconscious.
--
Jakotsu steadily marched forward, still trembling with anger, and wiped his eyes. It didn't help; tears just kept coming. "Stupid Bankotsu..." He sniffed. The night air was chilly, but not too cold and the slight wind had a sobering effect. Jakotsu looked up and saw the full moon. 'Beautiful...' He stopped for a bit and just stared up at it. The anger started to fade away but it was replaced by sadness, which was almost as bad. 'I didn't mean to shout at him. I know I should apologize but I don't want to see him right now... I just can't'. He sighed. The party had lasted several hours, and even without a clock he knew it was already way past midnight. 'Good thing I know a place I can go to, no matter what time it is'. He started walking again and headed for downtown.
In fifteen minutes he was standing in front of his work place, the DTM. It was number one bar for the town's gay people and Jakotsu felt like home behind the counter, chatting with regulars and flirting playfully with his work buddies. He stepped in, listened to the music and recognized it as Enrique Inglesias. 'Toshio must be in charge of music tonight, he's the only one who plays Latin stuff'. Jakotsu headed straight to the counter and sat on a free stool. "Hey Jaky, whatcha doing here? Missed the work so badly you decided to come and gimme a free night?" He looked up and saw Mika, one of his three female work friends. She was okay for a girl, but her bright and bubbly personality was too much for Jakotsu to handle tonight.
"You wish. No, I just came to kill some time... Besides, I don't have to pay for my drinks here. So gimme a beer or something, please?"
"Sure." She gave him a bottle and disappeared to serve paying customers. Jakotsu sipped his beer and decided he didn't like it. He started to wonder what Bankotsu was doing. 'Maybe he's left my apartment... Maybe he's afraid I'm angry... Or maybe he's angry at me. All the same, he can't be too happy with me right now...' He pushed the bottle away and let out a deep sigh. That's when he felt a poke in his left arm.
"Who are you thinking about?" said an unfamiliar voice. Jakotsu looked at the young man on his left side; taking in the red shoulder-length hair, green eyes behind glasses, black clothes and a silver necklace. He was nothing special to look at, Jakotsu decided, average in every way, but he seemed kind; his expression was curious but also worried. Jakotsu frowned a bit. Who was this stranger and what did he want? "Do I know you?"
The stranger gave him a crooked smile. "I don't think so. I come here every once in a while, but I rarely drink and so I don't spend much time at the bar. But I have seen you here. Oh, my name's Larry."
Jakotsu raised his eyebrows. "Larry?" he asked suspiciously. 'What kind of name is that?'
"Well, yeah, I'm not from around here." The redhead laughed. "But what's your name? I've never heard it."
"Jakotsu", he answered. "Did you want something from me? I'm not in my best mood tonight... And what did you mean by who am I thinking about?" Jakotsu didn't like the idea of some weird guy seeing his feelings like they were written above his head, and so he decided he didn't have to be polite.
Larry didn't look offended. "Your way of acting right now is telling me you've been either treated wrongly or have done something very stupid, probably both. The way you gaze into distance tells you're thinking about something, or more likely someone, who isn't here. And you would drink your beer, no matter how horrible it tastes, if you'd want to forget about that someone."
Jakotsu was impressed. 'This guy might not be as stupid as he looks after all'. The crooked smile had left Larry's face, he was serious now. "I watch a lot of movies and especially psychological stuff", he said casually, as if that explained everything.
"I see", Jakotsu answered, feeling less annoyed and more amused. "So let's say you're right, Dr. Larry. What do you think I should do about it?"
Larry thought about it for a moment. "Well... I guess it's a cliché to say you should talk things over with him, but you really should. Then you can both forgive and be forgiven. But to be able to talk about your feelings, you must understand them first. What do you feel for him?"
Jakotsu almost said he wasn't sure, but knew that would be a lie. "I love him, I think. I've never been in love, but there's a first time for everything, right?" He looked at Larry, who didn't say anything, but blinked his eyes in an encouraging way. "I mean... He's been my best friend since who knows when and it's always so fun to be with him... I haven't been thinking about it before, but I guess I've been attracted to him since we first met. I just didn't realize it before now. We're both grown up now, and I see him differently. I'm jealous if he's with a girl. And when I kissed him..." he shivered a bit, "It felt different." He suddenly realized he was talking about his private feelings to a guy he had just met. 'Gosh, there's something weird about him'.
Said guy was looking very thoughtful and asked, "Has he ever been with another man?"
Jakotsu blinked. "I don't think so. But he did kiss me back."
Larry nodded. "You'll have to be careful with him. Explain how you feel, and don't scare him. Those who are just coming out of closet can act like weepy little girls sometimes." The smile came back, and this time it was with a dreamy gaze into Jakotsu's eyes. "Is he cute?"
Jakotsu smiled too. "Yeah. The cutest."
Larry sighed. "Good. It would be horrible if someone as gorgeous as you was attracted to some gargoyle."
Jakotsu laughed but didn't have the chance to answer, because two girls, also dressed in black, came over to hug the redhead.
"Larryyy!" screamed the one with long hair, wearing a black top hat and a penguin shirt.
"We thought we lost you!" said the one with shoulder-length hair, glasses and a cheetah shirt. Both girls had long black leather jackets and high heels.
Larry laughed and hugged them back. "I just visited bathroom and then I stopped to shrink Jakotsu here..."
The girls turned to look at Jakotsu curiously. Cheetah-girl looked him over from head to toe, straightening her black skirt at the same time. Penguin-girl "awed" and said, "I can see why! He's pretty... But not as pretty as you, honey", she told the other girl, kissing her.
Jakotsu was used to customers doing so, and took another small sip of his awful beer while the girls were busy. Larry's smile told he was used to it too, and also glad his friends were happy. The girls pulled apart and Cheetah-girl looked at Jakotsu again. "Well, I can see what you mean, sweetie. If I was into men..." the girls giggled.
Jakotsu rolled his eyes. Women. But they seemed nice anyways. "So, did you charm him, Larry?" Penguin-girl asked her friend, who sighed kind of theatrically. "Oh, how I woulda liked to, but unfortunately he's taken property. Right, Jakotsu?" Larry shook his hair away from his face and Jakotsu noticed he had two silver rings in his right ear.
"Well, if everything goes okay, I soon will be." Jakotsu laughed, but couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. "And I guess in order to find out, I should be leaving... Anyone want my bad beer?" he asked.
"I do!" Penguin-girl said and took the bottle. Larry laughed, but stopped to look at Jakotsu when he stood up. "Thanks for help, Dr. Larry", he smirked.
Larry smiled, but with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I hope it works. Good luck... And see you around."
Jakotsu waved his hand and turned to leave. As he did so, he heard Cheetah-girl say, "The first guy I've ever seen to make you drool like that, and you let him go. You're such a masochist sometimes, Larry darling." The last thing Jakotsu heard, before walking out of the door, was Larry's whole-hearted laugh.
--
One part left Please leave a comment, I wanna develop as a writer and it's impossible without feedback. Thanks!