Do they attend any clubs or formal parties together? Do they enjoy a good round of truth or dare? How is the mood set? Who is the big spoon?
...
"Are we sure we're gonna do this?" Riku asked, arms crossed and face serious. He looked enough like Shin in that moment that Sena had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
"Yeah, this is a MAX great idea!" Monta exclaimed, throwing his arms around Sena and Riku's necks and grinning. He squinted and pursed his lips at Riku. "You have a problem all of a sudden?"
Riku sighed roughly and rolled his eyes.
"I think it's a great idea," Sena interrupted firmly. "We're gonna have a great second year at Enma and this is the beginning."
Riku and Monta grinned over at him. With a bit of shuffling on Monta's part, the three young men held out their fists to bump.
"Well, then, if we're going to do it, let's go. Before they look out and see us standing around like dumbasses," Riku said even as he began to stride away. Monta and Sena hurried after him, Monta grumbling under his breath.
Together they entered the office. Several people looked up from their computers or paperwork, and one detached from her cubicle. She was an older woman, maybe in her forties, with a bright red tie and subdued grey skirt-suit, but she smiled genuinely when she saw them. She took the time to greet them by their last names and even shake their hands.
"Thanks, it's good to see you, too, Yoshida-san," Sena greeted politely.
"So, you three have given it enough thought, I hope?" Yoshida-san prompted pleasantly as she led them into the small meeting office.
They all glanced at each other again and then turned back to nod. "Yeah."
"We're gonna take it," Riku added at the end. Yoshida-san smiled widely.
"Excellent! Let's get some tea and snacks and I'll run off to get the paperwork for you."
The boys chorused their thanks and eagerly dove into the snacks set out the moment Yoshida left the room. Shedding winter layers between gobbling down fruit and cookies, the Enma students continuously exchanged grins and awkward chuckles. None of them were older than 19, but they felt very adult sitting in that room and sipping at tea. They were about to rent their very own apartment, in Riku's name and Sena and Monta as co-signers, since Riku was the only one with any sort of credit (thanks to parents who encouraged independence and a part-time job he'd held for over a year). They had already wandered around too many Daiso shops, looking over spatulas and pans and bathroom mats, and comparing prices and arguing over hypothetical colors and designs for their would-be home. But now, it was going to be real. All three jerked up straight, Monta and Sena's cheeks bulging around cookies and Riku hurriedly brushing away crumbs from his mouth, as Yoshida-san returned with a folder held carefully in her hands.
"Are you bo- men ready?" Yoshida asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah," Riku answered for them while the other two choked down their mouthfuls.
Signing their signatures on the professionally typed up contract felt too easy and anticlimactic, despite Monta's extravagant flourish on the last page.
Yoshida-san tapped the papers into perfect alignment and slid their copy into a manila folder. The office copy went back into the simple folder in her hands. She glanced over their edgy, almost disappointed faces and bit the inside of her cheek. The moment Riku slipped the contract into his backpack, she cleared her throat meaningfully. All three eyes- black, brown, and startling blue- snapped to attention in her direction.
"How about we go look at that apartment one more time. I have two copies of the keys with me right now. How about you give it a go and start picturing where everything is going to go?" Yoshida offered with a placid smile.
Excitement flooded out the disappointment.
"Y-yeah, that sounds good, right?" Sena asked, twisting to meet his teammates', his roommates', eyes.
Monta and Riku grinned.
"Hell yeah," they chorused.
The key clicked in the lock and Sena pushed the front door open. Inside, the walls were blindingly white and bare, the floors gleaming, and windows cracked to let in the brisk January breeze. They huddled in the middle of the living/dining/kitchen room area with their mouths hanging open. It seemed so much bigger this time, as they pictured the few pieces of furniture they actually owned and imagined themselves there, living and doing homework and shouting across the spaces at each other.
"Now, you have a month before your contract begins, so start packing and making lists of what you may need. And don't forget, there's only two rooms and three of you. You should probably decide as soon as possible the living arrangements. The day-of is going to be quite stressful enough," Yoshida advised as she bustled around the apartment, pushing windows further open and turning on lights. "There, I'll step outside to give you boys a moment. If you'd like, we can make copies of the key ourselves and you'll be given the receipt to be paid upon arrival. If you want custom ones, you'll have to do that yourself."
"Uh, I- I don't m-mind a regular one?" Sena muttered. Monta and Riku shrugged carelessly as well. "Yeah, we'll do the first thing?"
"Sounds good. I'll be outside," she reminded them with a wink. Her heels clacked on the stone walkway outside, the door swinging slightly ajar.
The three almost sophomores gaped around the apartment, slowly and needlessly tiptoeing through the rooms. They came to a halt in the smallest bedroom.
"She's right," Monta interrupted the silence abruptly. Riku raised an eyebrow as Sena 'hmm'ed curiously from inside the tiny closet. "About choosing who rooms with who. We should decide right now."
"Really? Now?" Sena squeaked almost throwing himself out of the closet with wide eyes.
"Yeah, Monta's right. Let's get it over with. I'm pretty sure we'll all agree pretty easily," Riku drawled, leaning back on his heels and crossing his arms. Monta exhaled loudly through his nose.
"If yer about t'say you should have the single room, I'mma punch ya," Monta warned, fist already shaking threateningly. Riku's single eyebrow arched up, unimpressed.
"I can share! I don't mind!" Sena hurried to offer, hands waving placatingly.
Riku scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot, you should have it."
Sena blinked in surprise. Besides him, Monta frowned a moment, then his eyes widened.
"I hate t'say it, but Riku's right. Sena, you're the only one dating anybody. It makes sense for you to have it," Monta agreed with a nod.
Riku and Sena stared at him until Monta winced and grimaced. "I didn't tell ya, did I?"
"You… and Suzuna?" Sena gasped.
Riku's arms dropped as sympathy shivered across his features. "I'm sorry, Monta. I didn't realize that. I just thought Sena was more likely to have Shin over since they live so far apart. I didn't mean to-"
Monta held up a hand, eyes on the ground and brows contracted close over his nose. "Don't. It's weird when yer not bein' a jerk to me." Riku snorted involuntarily. "Me 'n Suzuna both decided to break up, okay? So don't be all sentimental and crap with me. I care more about amefuto and gettin' into the NFL and she's wantin' to focus on bein' a nurse or whatever. So it just seemed smart to call it off now and still be friends. S'not like we ever said… the l-word or nuthin'," Monta explained quickly, rubbing the side of his nose. "It was just after finals and the Rice Bowl was comin' up, so we didn't say anythin'."
Riku and Sena exchanged a quick glance.
"All right, Monta-kun. We'll drop it. How about instead we buy the konbini out of cheap sake and celebrate signing our lease?" Sena suggested with a slap to Monta's shoulder.
"And if it just so happens we end up smashing empty bottles at 2 in the morning, well, we'll blame it on the sake, right?" Riku added, clapping his other shoulder and grinning.
Monta grinned weakly. "Sounds good to me. 'Specially the bottle breakin' part. It… It feels good to finally tell you guys." He sighed in relief, shoulders slumping. "You should still get the room, Sena," he remembered then, glancing up. Sena blinked in surprise.
"But, Monta-kun-"
"Nope! I don't need no pity! It makes the most sense. Buy my alcohol tonight and call it even, deal?"
Sena huffed lightly and nodded. "All right. Thanks, both of you. We should… we should probably go before Yoshida-san catches a cold, though."
"Right. Yeah, project CELEBRATE MAX!" Monta exclaimed, posing with index finger pointed in the air, grin wide and not quite meeting his eyes.
"I'm gonna drink both you lightweights under the table," Riku muttered as he pushed them out ahead of him. Sena tossed him the key so he could lock the door and then hurried down the stairs to find the patiently waiting Yoshida and her car.
...
Shin stared at the rectangle of cardstock in his hands. Squinting, he read it again. In front of him, Sena shuffled in place, eyes lit up, biting down his excited grin, and unable to keep still. There was a small house with flower pots and a cat on the front, and on the back, written in fancy calligraphy, an invitation to a house warming party. Sena's housewarming party.
"Do you remember me telling you about when me and Monta-kun and Riku-kun went and saw a couple apartments before finals?" Sena asked eagerly. Shin felt a brow rise.
"I thought you said it was a joke?"
"Well, it kinda was, in the beginning, mostly because they kept arguing about who was gonna room with me. Riku-kun managed to talk Monta-kun around last year, but this time it looked like Monta-kun was gonna punch him. Apparently rooming with Taki-kun is that bad, and Mizumachi-kun isn't much better…" Sena rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. "At least for Riku-kun and Monta-kun. So I thought, you know, we'll just look around for fun and then get them to agree that we all room with strangers or maybe them two together, but they really liked the apartment idea."
"It is a good idea in theory. I'm more surprised you didn't tell me it when became serious," Shin said slowly.
Shin wasn't the type of person that needed to know every decision Sena, nor did he feel the need to weigh in his own opinion in all of Sena's affairs. He also knew, logically, that he wouldn't have wanted to get an apartment, especially not when their respective universities were so far apart. However… It didn't stop him from feeling…
Excluded.
Frowning lightly at the irrational reaction, he tapped the card in his hand.
"Was the party their idea as well?"
"Yeah, definitely. If you don't want to come you don't have to. I know how you feel about alcohol and parties, but… I'd like you to be there this time," Sena mumbled, shuffling his feet once more and dropping his eyes to the ground. "I wanted you to see my apartment. I have my own room and you could spend the night if you wanted! So you don't have to worry about going all the way back to Oujou if it's too late, and-"
"I'll come," Shin smoothly interjected. The absurd feeling of being disregarded was thankfully receding into nothing and his scowl lifted. "I would enjoy spending time with everyone. I am not frightened of alcohol, Sena. I don't mind if others are drinking while I am not," he pointed out wryly. Sena snickered despite himself.
"Okay, great. I'm glad you'll be there!"
"I would like to take you up on the offer to spend the night as well. It would be more logical to stay the night rather than try to return to OU."
Sena grinned widely. "I'll make sure to tell Riku-kun and Monta-kun. Let's get to that bookstore now before it closes."
Shin nodded once and followed Sena's lead. Careful to keep his face neutral, he could feel several biological signs giving away the true turmoil underneath- slight temperature rise, constriction of his breath, tightening in his belly, growing clamminess of his palms. Despite his easy words and Sena's obviously innocent offer, Shin knew exactly what he'd just agreed to. The last time they'd spent the night together, in thatinfuriating sleeping bag, Shin had come face to face with passion he could normally control or ignore. It had been so much harder to do so then, and now that he knew what it was like, he couldn't tell if he dreaded or looked forward to it more. He should've said no. It wasn't time yet. But…
Shin's dark eyes glanced down to Sena's happily smiling face and felt the tension building in his shoulders loosen.
But the idea of falling asleep next to Sena again, of more than a few snatched hours on the floor of his parents' home, or on a rickety bunk right after their first, important quarrel, was too tempting to resist. It was funny, in a way, how he'd spent almost ten years resisting temptations and succeeding.
And yet it took less than one year and one singular young man to win over his strongest defenses. No temptation was quite as sweet as Sena Kobayakawa's smile.
…
Sena slid into his chair in front of his computer a few weeks later. Most of his room was already packed up in boxes behind him, shadows and bits of missing paint from posters and tape on his bare wall, and one suitcase open with clothes spilling out lay at the end of his bed. In just another week, Sena would be moving into an apartment with his two best friends, with just enough time to throw a house-warming party before classes began again. Shin was already back in classes, as were most of the others. Enma was one of the only colleges in the area that started so late—almost a month after everyone else. While he was usually leaping for joy and getting ready for his upcoming move and classes, at this moment his stomach was tied up in knots and his heart was lodged in his throat.
Because in a week, Shin would be sleeping in his new bedroom with him. A full overnight sleepover. In his single, private room. The last time they were alone like this had been the night of the fireflies- a night that he couldn't help but blush like a giddy moron about every time he thought of it.
Sena wanted more. More of that kind of kissing. More of Shin's heavier body draped over his, his mouth on more of Sena's bared skin, Sena's hands on Shin's bared skin. He wanted to kiss until they were dizzy, and he wanted to know what Shin looked like when he lost total control of himself. He wanted something passionate and wild and he knew he felt it. He knew that Shin drove him crazy in all the best ways—months of erotic dreams and embarrassing morning showers had taught him that—but he still had no idea if Shin felt the same way.
He could've talked to Monta, or Riku, or Mamori, or even Suzuna about this, it was true. They would do their best to help him.
But, well, he just couldn't. None of them were in a situation quite like his, or even could understand everything he'd wanted to discuss. But he knew someone who could.
The bubbling ringing sound of Skype filled his room as he fidgeted in his chair, waiting for the other end to pick up.
"Okay, boyo, I'll have you know it's two bloody AM here," drawled a thickened, throaty woman's voice.
Sena blinked in shock. On his screen, the videofeed loaded to show his American friend, Emily. Her short brown hair was a rat's nest around her pale, sleepy face. Blue eyes were hidden behind drooping eyelids and she yawned so wide he almost saw the back of her throat. A light lit behind her as her girlfriend, a gorgeous, tall, Black woman with a short-cropped 'fro slid unto the screen.
"Ah, it's your cute little gay Skywalker. You needed your Yoda, padawan?" Taneisha teased with a sleepy wink. Her giant Steven Universe tee slid over her shoulder and her nose ring glinted in the light of the computer screen.
"I still not understand that reference," Sena complained good-naturedly. "I'm sorry I waked y'all. I can later call back?"
"No, no, stay. We actually werejustgoing to bed. We fell asleep watching Deadpool so it's probably a good thing you Skyped us awake. It woulda sucked waking up in the morning."
"I love that he still uses your Southern twang, baby," Taneisha laughed, kissing Emily's cheek. "I'll go clean up the living room. Make it quick, Skywalker." She blew a kiss at the screen, then stepped out of sight.
Emily smiled goofily after her girlfriend before looking back at Sena. "What's up, kiddo?"
"We're the same age, Em. Are y'all sure it okay? I can call in different time. It's not many important," Sena offered again sheepishly. Emily grinned and shook her head.
"It's not a problem, really. I'm fine. I'm sure it's important, kiddo. You never would've Skyped without double-checking the time otherwise. You're much too considerate usually," Emily pointed out, bracing her rounded chin on her fists and blinking her gaze into something more alert. "Tell your gay Yoda what's shaking, bacon."
"It's about Seijuuro. Again," Sena winced. Emily laughed her throaty, head-thrown-back way.
"Lemme guess, Sen. You still haven't done the do," she twisted her finger in the air and rolled her eyes.
"…no…" Sena admitted as he tapped his desktop shamefully.
"And, the actual problem, you haven't talked to him about it at all. So you still aren't sure if he's gay, straight, ace, or the next Jack Harkness."
"The who?"
"Sena, don't evade."
"No, I have not. Sometime I think… maybe heisinterest inyou know, but he never bring it up! He's notshy, Ems! Not like me. So I think he isn't interest inyou know," Sena blurted out, words tumbling over themselves and basic English grammar he'd learned before totally forgotten. Emily sighed and smirked dryly at him.
"I told you last time, and I'll tell you again: you'll never know what he's thinking unless youask. Maybe he's waiting onyouto make the first move. You did before you came out to America. For all you know, he could actually be shy about this sex stuff. Especially if he ends up ace. A lot of testimonies from peeps who identify as ace say it took them years to realize that they were normal and not… not 'broken' or shit like that. He could just not be wanting to bring up because he doesn't want to disappoint you," Emily replied, speaking slowly and clearly the same things she'd told him a half dozen times before.
"I know! I know, I just… I might done something stupid, and I not know how to fix it before the time," Sena struggled, hands waving in the air. Emily stared at him.
"Okay, give it up. What'd you do? Call him a robot again?"
"No! Never again!"
"Good, cuz that was especially low."
"I… I invite him to sleep with me. In my new home." Sena grimaced and cringed away from the screen.
"Wait." Emily placed her fingers to her temples and a scowl began to form, forehead scrunching. "Lemme get this straight. The boyfriend who you've wanted to bang for, like, three years-" Sena squeaked and facepalmed. "-who may or may not be asexual, who you still haven't talked to about sexat all, you invited. To sleep with you. Overnight. In your new apartment where you have your own room. In your single, one-person-sized bed?"
"Yes…?"
"Are you trying to blueball yourself to hell!?" Emily shrieked before tipping backwards in her chair, arms wrapping around her wide torso tightly as she burst into guffaws. Sena sighed and slumped in his chair, blushing to his ears and pouting. Taneisha poked her head into sight.
"We're gonna get a noise complaint again, baby. Pull yourself together and stop laughing at the poor boy," Taneisha advised in a sleepy, singsong voice before disappearing again.
"S-Sorry, it's just. You're such an idiot sometimes, Skywalker. Look, there's only one way to fix this and you know it," Emily said while wiping at her eyes and rocking forward with a thud in her chair.
"Ems," Sena started in a beseeching tone. Emily tsked unsympathetically.
"You gotta talk to him. He's a blunt, straightforward sorta guy, right? Just ask him 'you ace'? Or even better, 'do you wanna get frisky'? Or just lie in the bed you made for yourself. Next to an extremely hot guy you wanna climb like a sexy tree. If you can't talk about it with him, then you're just stuck in this hellish limbo. And you know it."
Emily's gaze was piercingly and direct, not unlike Shin's. Probably why he'd been so drawn to her the year before. Her no-nonsense, shameless, and blunt way of talking had been so reminiscent of Shin's that it had been comforting rather than scary. Taneisha's calm, cool way of keeping her girlfriend from going too far had also helped.
"I know you right. But it'shard, Ems. I not talk about sex with myfriends. How can I with Seijuuro?" Sena whined pathetically. Emily shrugged indifferently.
"You talk about it with me. You talked about it in the club. If you can trust the GSA, you can trust your boyfriend. Or at least youshould," she retorted with a finger jab at the screen. Sena gulped.
"Y'all talked about sex, I a lot listened," Sena emphasized resignedly. Emily crowed and fistpumped.
"You didn't even stutter this time. So proud of you, my young padawan," she exclaimed, laughing. Sena blushed and looked away.
"And that's it for now. Wedohave jobs and school to get to later today," Taneisha announced. She placed her hand on the back of Emily's chair and leaned over her shoulder. "You go 'pussy up', Skywalker. Obviously 'manning up' ain't working for you." Emily cackled. "If you can't talk about sex, then you aren't ready to have it. If you really want to stick it to your man, you gotta say something. Now let me and Ems get some sleep."
Sena nodded, still blushing. "Okay, thanks you."
"Good luck, kiddo."
The video went black and Sena sighed heavily. Ems and Taneisha were totally right. Though, maybe he wouldn't use the exact wording provided.
Moving in that day had been hard work. A lot of up and down stairs whenever something was too big for the elevator (or whenever the guys got into a pissing contest of who could do it faster, or with heavier boxes), a lot of re-arranging the furniture to Suzuna and Mamori's exacting eyes (even though it wasn't their apartment), and then hurriedly unpacking enough to make the common area presentable for everyone coming by for the party (or staying for the party, apparently Riku's plans of making moving day the same as party day was to make sure there were enough hands on deck to help). Most of the guests were ex-Deimon students and Seibu friends of Riku's, and Enma students.
Their tiny apartment was crowded for hours, people coming in and out, enjoying the early spring night on the balcony or crowding around the living room table. While Monta and Riku melted into the crowd, laughing and chatting easily, Sena was probably in the midst of an ongoing heart attack. He zipped through guests to pick up trash, grabbing random would-be projectiles, catching cigarettes or cups before they fell off the side of the building, turning down music, or offering food or water to various people- some he didn't even recognize and had no idea how they ended up there. Shin, for the most part, stayed in a corner with the other Knights (or ex-Knights) that had been invited (Takami and Sakuraba and Wakana, basically), though sometimes he'd talk with the Takekura crowd.
So maybe Sena was using his hosting panic attack to avoid Shin as much as possible.
Because maybe he still hadn't… erm… "pussied up" as suggested.
Shin had shown up early to help move- which, really, not surprising- had helped Suzuna and Monta on an alcohol run, had even pitched in for the take-out food they'd ordered. In other words, had been the best boyfriend, and friend, ever the entire day. Sena had kissed him exactly once, on the cheek, when he'd first shown up and dropped off his overnight night bag, and then managed to never be alone with him again.
Because Sena Kobayakawa, ace runningback of Enma Flames, Eyeshield 21 and Notre Dame alumnus, college sophomore, co-renter of his own apartment, and nineteen years old… was an idiot.
He yelped as hands fell on his shoulders and the bottles and plastic cups in his hands clattered to the ground. Punch, soda, and various kinds of alcohol splattered over his slippers.
"Sena-kun, just what are you doing?" Mamori exclaimed, hands dropping away to prop on her hips. Sena chuckled awkwardly.
"I don't want us to get kicked out our first day here, that's all," Sena hedged nervously. Mamori huffed.
"You've been running around like a gopher all evening. All day, even. Almost half the guests are gone, it's past midnight, and you're missing out on your own party. At least come wind down the night with us," Mamori demanded, toes tapping and her nose wrinkled.
Sena balked and glanced at his wrist. Sure enough, the numbers 12:13 flashed there.
"I had no idea… really?" Sena breathed in amazement. Glancing up, he noticed that there really were less people, the group remaining mostly sitting comfortably on the couch and few chairs in the living room area, instead of being cramped together and basically being on each other's laps like earlier in the night.
"Yes, really. I know you're trying to be a good host, and you're nervous because this is your first time hosting your own party, but you're wearing yourself ragged. We've all missed you tonight. Come on," Mamori told him a little more softly. Her hands wrapped around his arm and pulled him away from the mess of the kitchenette.
"W-Wait! The- I spilled, I should-"
"I'll clean it. Just sit," Riku ordered as Sena stumbled across the room in Mamori's grasp. He grabbed Sena's shoulder and shoved him down on the couch where Riku had just been sitting. And next to Shin.
"B-But-"
"Yeah, Sena, just hang out for a minute. You're making me feel guilty for having fun," Monta joked, elbowing Sena's knee from where he sat on the ground just in front of the couch. Suzuna giggled.
"You're making everyone feel guilty for not helping. Here, have a drink and join in the shenanigans," she teased, shoving a cup filled with punch in his hands.
He sighed gratefully and took a desperate gulp. Suzuna, as well as a handful of others, all raised their hands, expressions of horror on their faces. Too late. The alcohol burned as it went down and hapless Sena spluttered and choked, eyes watering and face red.
"I didn't say drink it all at once!" Suzuna cried. The group burst into laughter- Hiruma's cackles especially loud- while Shin reached over to rub Sena's heaving back.
"Breath slowly, Sena," he murmured under his breath.
"I-I'm t-trying. Wh-Why is the p-p-punch sp-spiked?!" Sena wheezed painfully.
"You think full grown adults drink unspiked fucking punch?" Hiruma drawled incredulously. Sena gesticulated wordlessly.
"YES!"
"Oh, Sena-kun, I thought you knew it was spiked. What were you doing when we mixed it?" Mamori sighed, handing over a napkin.
Sena winced and rubbed at his streaming face. "Probably double-counting the toilet rolls."
"He was very worried about the toilet paper," Shin remembered, eyebrows rising.
Sena waved his arm around the apartment. "What if there hadn't been enough!? With all these people? It would've been terrible!"
"How about we not talk about needing toilet paper?" Sakuraba requested awkwardly.
Sena blushed brightly and slumped back against the couch. His eyes darted up to Shin, a little surprised feeling the weight of Shin's arm still around his shoulders. The taller of them just sat straight up and posture perfect, one hand on his knee, the other casually around Sena. The warmth blooming in his chest had nothing to do with the alcohol he'd accidentally almost drowned himself in. With a grateful, nearly-silent sigh, he slumped into Shin's side.
"Your party fucking sucks if it's already dead," Hiruma piped up as he leaned back and crossed one leg over one knee. Mamori, who was sitting on the arm of the chair he sat in, slapped his shoulder.
"It was the agreement with the leasing office, asshat. We had to drop the noise and headcount by midnight," Riku retorted. He came back from the kitchenette and dropped down to the ground by Kid across from the sofa.
"Normally the quiet curfew is at ten, so they were very lenient towards us," Sena added quickly.
"Besides, we can't play the best party games with a hundred people walking around," Suzuna piped up, her antenna twitching and her eyes glittering mischievously.
Musashi and Kid looked a little weary, and the more timid of the bunch- a.k.a. Sena- looked wary, but the rest all grinned.
"Which one are we starting with?" Mamori asked brightly.
"Oh, something called Never Have I Ever…" Suzuna replied deviously.
Now, Mamori looked wary. "Oh, I thought you meant, like, shiritori or something…"
"No way! We're college students now! Let's do real party games," Monta exclaimed. He and Suzuna high-fived.
"Like you virginal innocents ever did anything to make this interesting," Hiruma tched. Suzuna blushed and huffed.
"Excuse you! It doesn't have to be sexual! I'll go first. Everyone, three fingers up!"
"Three? Not four or five?" Sakuraba whispered to Takami.
"Yes, three! It's a drinking game, Sakkuba-chan," Suzuna retorted snottily. He laughed and shrugged.
"I do not know this game," Shin whispered in Sena's ear.
It took a whole lot more willpower than it should've for Sena not to shudder at that.
"It's easy. Just put your finger down for anything you've done. When it's your turn, you say something you haven't done. You'll get it in no time."
Shin grunted and narrowed his gaze on Suzuna.
The game went pretty much as could be predicted. Sena and Monta almost never put down their fingers. Hiruma and -surprisingly or not surprisingly?- Kid had to drink the most often. Only, they were probably the most veteran drinkers of the group. While Kid kept his turns fairly mild, Hiruma went out of his way to suggest the most embarrassing things, even if almost everyone couldn't put their fingers down. Suzuna ended up turning it into some competition, uttering some truly creatively filthy things as she stared the Commander from Hell down, making him cackle and almost giving Mamori and Sena heart attacks. (Most of Shin's suggestions ended up being of the amefuto variety, although he did have a few surprising ones that involved desserts and had Mamori dropping a finger every time.) When half the group was tipsy, and the tipsiest ones getting bored, the game somehow devolved into a convoluted game of Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever somehow combined.
Which was an insane and dangerous combination between Suzuna and Hiruma.
"So I just pick a truth or a dare? I suppose… dare?" Shin was saying to Mizumachi as Sena struggled to take away the bottle of sake Suzuna had found somewhere.
"Oh, yeah! I dare you to strip!" Mizumachi brilliantly thought up- probably being inspired by his own (voluntary) state of undress. There were a few splutters around the room as Sena froze in place.
"Ooooh! Fun! Do it!" Suzuna cheered, successfully claiming her alcohol from Sena's lifeless grip.
Shin merely shrugged and pulled his hoodie, and shirt, up, baring his stomach and most of his chest. Sena gurgled and flailed his way towards Shin. "No! D-Don't- clothes stay on in my house!" he shrilled as he yanked the hoodie back down. Shin blinked at him in confusion just a few centimeters from Sena's face.
"That sounds like it'll make sex difficult," Hiruma said casually as he stared down at his phone and popped a gum bubble.
Sena stammered wordlessly.
"The only one with the opportunity for that likes to cockblock himself anyway," Riku muttered. Sena dropped his face in his palms while almost everyone in the room tried, and mostly failed, to control their snorts and snickers.
"You're all the worst. I hate you."
"I think I'm missing something," Shin stated, eyebrows lowering into a scowl. "What's a cockblock- Ah." Understanding dawned when he said it aloud and Sena outright whined like a broken teakettle into his palms. "I prefer to change the topic of conversation now."
"What, is Shin Seijuuro too shy to talk about something?" Juumonji laughed from where he lounged over a pillow, eyes closed and hands clasped over his belly.
"No, he's right, let's talk about something else! Anything else!" Sena shrilled.
"But what about my dare?" Mizumachi pouted, lips pursed exaggeratedly.
"I will choose truth instead," Shin replied with another careless shrug.
"Ah, pooey. Uh," Mizumachi scratched his ear with his pinky as he brainstormed. "Do you watch tentacle porn?"
Almost every jaw dropped and Mamori facepalmed in pain.
"No. I don't want to know what that is," Shin said firmly. Mizumachi grinned wide and unrepentant. He winced at Kakei's slap to the back of his head.
The game moved on, much to Sena's relief. Shin's dare to Takami involved a feat of acrobatics and athleticism that literally only Shin would ever do on a regular basis, but Takami gave it his best. And so it went, a few more people getting up to leave and a few others tottering between drunk and asleep. Shin was one of the few tottering towards more asleep. Sena caught himself smiling like a besotting idiot more than a few times as he watched Shin jerk himself upright a couple times, eyes blinking sluggishly.
Sena's turn came around, some silly dare with a tongue twister and ice cubes. He turned to Shin and asked the usual prompt.
"Truth," Shin replied easily.
"Are you asexual?"
Mamori, Riku, Hiruma, Suzuna, Takami, and Musashi stared at him in various expression of shock. Riku tched and slapped a hand over his face a second later while the remaining who didn't understand frowned in confusion.
Sena, for his part, felt his warm buzzy-sleepy feeling disappear like a slap to the face. Shin squinted at him, bewilderment on his features, and all the blood in Sena's body rushed to his head. It felt as though steam was surging out of his ears.
"Ah-uh-uh-" Sena stuttered.
"Wait, I don't geddit, wassat?" Monta slurred sleepily.
"Things finally got interesting," Hiruma muttered. Mamori dropped her hand from where she'd covered her mouth.
"We should probably go! It's very late. Come on, let's go," she announced getting to her feet. Hiruma rolled his eyes, but Musashi was already grabbing their coats so the blonde got to his feet as well.
"I didn't- you don't-" Sena squeaked, hands flailing. "I'll ask a different question."
"I don't understand the first question. Was that English?" Shin asked, puzzled.
"I definitely think we should go, too," Takami said, helping a half-unconscious Wakana to her feet. Sakuraba scrambled up to prop her up between them.
"We'll see you at school, Shin!" Sakuraba called over, waving and grinning awkwardly.
"Whassat?" Monta repeated dumbly. He grunted as Riku jerked him to his feet and Suzuna grabbed his coat. "Where we goin'?"
"You're staying at my apartment tonight," Kid told him, patting his back.
"Thanks, Kid. Hey, Sena, good luck!" Riku called over his shoulder, waving and winking. Monta waved with a dumb, sleepy smile.
"Wait! Don't!"
He stared at the door, hands raising fruitlessly, as it closed behind the last stragglers. His own roommates and best friends abandoning him. Though, maybe if Monta hadn't been so drunk and sleepy at the same time, he might've stayed. Maybe.
"Sena."
Sena flinched and slowly turned, grimacing and rubbing the back of his neck. Shin's eyebrows raised, expression unimpressed.
"Everyone we know just left within sixty seconds. Just what did you just ask me?"
"A-Asexual," Sena stammered. "I asked if you were asexual."
Shin stared, face blank.
"I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean to ask like that! In front of everyone! That was- I can't believe I did that!" Sena rushed to say, face heating. "Let's drop it and we can go to- uh… go to sleep."
Shin raised a hand, stopping Sena in place, and looked away. His scowl darkened and his nostrils flared. Fear and shame tugged at Sena. He never meant to put Shin on the spot like this. He had no idea why he'd done it. Sure, he'd been panicking all night, and the term 'cockblock' had just been thrown around, but still! They'd moved past it and Sena had to just blurt it out like that! His eyes reeled in his head as his breath grew short and choppy. Shin was obviously furious at him and he had every right to it.
"Sena, calm down."
"I-I'm c-calm," Sena wheezed.
"I'm not mad. I'm… confused, but I'm not angry. Please, calm down," Shin said clearly and firmly.
Sena blinked, sucking in a deep breath in shock. "You're n-not?"
"No. Sena, do you think I'm asexual?" Shin inquired slowly. His face was still carefully blank, but his mouth was still in a thin, tight line. Sena swallowed painfully.
"I don't know? It was just a thought, when I was talking with Emily. I mean, sometimes I thought okay, yeah, he's definitely not, but then I never actually… um… noticed anything," Sena gestured towards his lap. Shin's eyebrows jumped up high, and Sena blushed bright red, then flailed, "And you never… you never t-touched me like that, you know? The closest we ever got was on M-Mount Fuji, and it n-never happened again. But it was also, you know, you never talked about it! And you're not shy about stuff, ever, so maybe you just didn't want to, you know?"
Shin dragged a hand over his face, glancing away and frowning.
"Seijuuro?"
"You're younger than me," Shin said abruptly. Sena's spine straightened, face puzzled.
"By a year…?" the runningback agreed cautiously.
Shin huffed loudly and shook his head. "You're younger than me, Sena. It wasn't… It wasn't my place to initiate that intimacy."
Sena felt his mouth drop open. "What."
Shin closed his eyes, inhaled sharply through his nose, then turned his serious gaze to Sena.
"When I first informed my parents of our relationship, my father took me aside for a private conversation. He made the point that, on account of you being the younger of us, I needed to be careful about how I approached anything sexual in nature. If I brought up my own desires, I could unknowingly influence you into moving faster than you honestly wanted, in order to… 'catch up' with me," Shin explained slowly, frowning over his choice of words, dredging up the conversation from memory.
Sena's jaw dropped as his eyes widened. "So… this whole time…you wanted to-"
Shin quickly shook his head. "When I first spoke with my father, I had no inclination towards sex, neither for nor against it. It seemed premature at best. We had barely begun a romantic attachment and were struggling with how to make that work. But then…" Shin's teeth almost clacked he shut his mouth so quickly, eyes darting away shiftily. Sena blinked in surprise as Shin's cheeks actually pinkened.
"M-Mount Fuji?" Sena whispered softly. Shin shook his head.
"Before that. After the freeze tag game," Shin muttered.
Sena felt the blush spread from his forehead to his toes. "Th-that long?" he squeaked, somehow flattered and aghast. "I'd been freaking out over you maybe not ever wanting to have sex with me and how to bring it up and you wanted to since our second date. Or, third? Just a couple months after we started!?" he exclaimed, hands burying in his hair and pupils pinpricks. "I'm a moron. Emily is going to laugh until she pisses herself if I tell her. I'm never telling her."
"Sena, wait," Shin's hand fell on Sena's shoulder and he glanced up, mortified. "Sex is mostly a nonissue with me and it's easy for me to control those urges. In fact, before… before us, I rarely had those urges at all. It also doesn't change the fact that I agreed with my father's advice."
Sena and Shin shared a long quiet moment of eye contact. Shin's serious and earnest, Sena startled but darkening into determination.
"Why? Why didn't you just talk to me? I wouldn't have agreed to anything I wasn't ready for," Sena argued. His mind flashed back to Mount Fuji, his initial fright and panic of sharing a sleeping bag and what it meant, and realizing he wasn't ready for it, almost to let it happen anyway. Shin had stopped it- apparently on purpose, that was mindblowing and ridiculously obvious in hindsight- so Sena had no idea if… if he would have stopped it. If Shin hadn't decided not to have sex with Sena until Sena asked for it first, if Shin had just kept going, would Sena have let it happen, despite his inner turmoil, because it felt good and he didn't want to let Shin down?
He'd never know for sure, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't have liked his answer.
"Oh."
Shin raised an eyebrow at Sena's quiet epiphany. The shorter of the two shook his head briskly.
"It's… It's nothing," Sena mumbled.
Shin stared at Sena's profile a second longer, before speaking again. "I don't think I could have pressured you into doing something you didn't want, but my father's advice made sense to me in another way. Sena, you're very timid most of the time, but when you want something, when you're ready, you're the bravest person I've ever met."
Sena jerked up his head, eyes wide and heart thudding. Shin's pride in him, his belief in Sena's best qualities, shined from his gaze.
"When you were ready, you would tell me. If you couldn't talk to me, then I assumed you weren't ready yet. I had no idea you thought I might not be attracted to you in that manner." His hand cupped Sena's face, thumbs brushing over his curved cheekbones, gaze dark and intense, so much so Sena quivered under it, belly hot and breath catching. "I am very sexually attracted to you and there have been numerous moments where pulling away from you was the most difficult thing I'd ever done."
Heat surging under his skin, Sena sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, biting just enough to feel the dart of pain. An unconscious way to prove this moment was real. Not some weird, exposition-y dream. Hesitantly, he raised his hands and set them on Shin's thighs. His palms molded to the warm, hard curve of Shin's muscle through the slacks he wore.
"I'm ready now," Sena said softly. The light flare of Shin's nostrils, the widening of his eyes as his pupils dilated, were his immediate response to Sena's quiet declaration. But he still didn't move. Maybe too shocked? Or maybe he didn't know what to do next either, Sena realized. With a clicking gulp, Sena smoothed his hands higher up Shin's thighs, trying not to show his amazement when he felt Shin shake under his palms. "I really want to- I really don't want to just sleep tonight," Sena half-laughed, eyes dropping to Shin's mouth.
"It's… it's almost 3 AM. We should sleep at some point," Shin replied, his rasping, deepened voice giving him away.
This time, Sena shook. At the sound of Shin's voice and knowing that what it meant, having no doubt of what it meant. He pulled his hands away from Shin's legs, trying not to show how much he hated to, to grasp Shin's wrists. Baffled, Shin let Sena tug his hands away from his face and set them on his waist. Then, with a quavering smile, Sena placed his own hands on Shin's shoulders and clambered awkwardly onto Shin's lap. The sharp intake of breath gave Sena just enough confidence to raise his pupil-blown eyes to meet Shin's.
"That's okay. I've never d-done this b-before, s-so it's p-probably not gonna last long," Sena managed to joke, cheeks stained red and smile lopsided.
Shin stared in silent shock. Then his head ducked, forehead knocking into Sena's lightly, arms wrapping completely around Sena's narrow waist, as his shoulders began to shake. A quiet, rusty-sounding, choked-up chuckle escaped, making Sena's eyes widen. Then, he too was laughing, arms linking around Shin's neck and hands burying into his silky hair.
There was a real laugh coming from Shin, deep and rumbling in his chest, and he wanted Sena. It was probably one of the best moments of Sena's nineteen years. On par with his first touchdown, with winning the Christmas Bowl, with playing the World Cup. Riding high on the same feeling of triumph, he ducked his head down and, nudging past Shin's nose with his own, pressed their mouths together. He felt that laugh against his lips, tasted it on his tongue, and swallowed it down, feeling it like a warmth in his chest even as the actual sound died away. Shin's embrace tightened, pulling them so close together all space between them disappeared. Sena groaned into Shin's mouth, fingers tangling and twisting in his hair, as his groin pressed hard against Shin's lower belly.
Warm, calloused hands slipped under his shirt, sliding up bare skin, fingertips tracing the dip of his spine. Sena pulled away just long enough to grab the back of his shirt and yank it off, tossing it somewhere, anywhere not on him. For a burning moment, his gaze locked with Shin's, taking in the flush on his skin, the shiny gloss to his lips, then one large hand cupped his face while the other smoothed back his back and pulled him closer.
Kissing Shin this time was no holds barred, wild and sloppy. As if neither could figured out what they wanted more, to kiss, to map each other's mouths, to trace the shape of their lips, or to drag their dampened mouths over jawlines to pulse points, only to desperately collide again. With a groan that had Sena's toes curling, Shin tipped Sena's chin up and pressed both teeth and mouth to his throat. He didn't pull away the moment Sena cried out, didn't lighten the pressure when Sena squirmed and ground down, searching for friction. Instead, Shin moved his hand behind Sena's head and worried that patch of skin between his teeth as his other hand cupped the curve of Sena's butt.
"W-Wait," Sena stammered even as his fingers dug into shoulder blades, anchoring him in place. Shin froze, hot breath panting over newly marked skin, causing Sena to shiver almost painfully. "N-No, this is g-great. B-But maybe w-we should m-move to the b-bedroom?" he suggested breathily.
"Hn," Shin grunted. Then rose, taking Sena with him. The runningback yelped with arms tightening around Shin's shoulders and legs automatically wrapping around his waist.
"I c-could've walked!" Sena protested, laughing.
"I've got you," Shin rumbled. Sena pressed his smiling mouth against Shin's neck, slipping up to kiss wet and sucking just under his ear. He grinned, toothy and proud, when Shin stumbled.
"I know you do," he whispered into Shin's ear. For some reason, that caused another stumble, until Shin finally got to the room and kicked the door shut behind him.
…
A/N: Actual explicit sex scenes are saved for the AO3 version. FFN does NOT support NC-17 stories, and while others still post them, I won't. My AO3 is Kitty_KatAllie and the Sleepovers is the first chapters in Part 10: Desires. All explicit chapters will be posted on there in their entirety. So if you want to read the sexy bits, you only need to go to that one Part of the series, rather than surfing through a bunch of random chapters to get to the goodies.
Probably shoulda mentioned before, unless it's texting, anything bolded is in English.
And lastly, no, Shin is not actually asexual. As mentioned before, he's somewhere between greysexual and demisexual. Sena is soooooooooo sooooo gay, though. hahahahahaha