REI
Rei was starting to lose count of how many drinks she'd had. The first hour had been easy enough. She'd only had three cups of the worst beer she'd ever had the displeasure of tasting.
The first two had gone down quickly in her rush to dull the pure panic that had been broiling within her, the third was thankfully slower.
Minako had kept up easily, taking any chance she wasn't drinking to flirt with her, and Rei knew she was royally fucked.
Then it had been time for the first round of tequila shots.
They hadn't strayed too far from the tables the soccer team had claimed earlier, so they were the first pair rounded up by the veterans.
Trays of shots, limes, and salt shakers sat at the table next to Vi, who'd looked them both up and down before sliding one of the trays closer to them.
"Having fun yet, rookie?" she had asked, taking a gulp of her own beer. "Natsuna said this one's one of her favorites, so you better win." Vi pointed first at Minako, and then at Rei.
Of course Minako was somehow already the favorite.
Rei nodded solemnly. Secretly, she'd feared Minako was going to drink her under the table, but she'd be damned if she didn't go down without a fight.
Vi patted her on the shoulder and her attention had switched to another pair of first years.
Minako had grabbed two of the tequila shots, limes, and a salt shaker for the two of them and she set one in front of Rei.
Rei should have known from the glint in her eyes that she couldn't even safely take tequila shots with the blonde. She should have known, but Minako had a way of stripping all rational thought from her mind.
Before she could process what was happening, Minako had lifted their conjoined hands and licked an uneven line across the back of Rei's hand, just above her thumb.
Rei had tried to jerk her hand away, but that had only caused Minako to stumble into her, her chest pressing against her as she tried to catch herself.
Rei hadn't missed the absolutely gleeful look that had flashed across Minako's face as she tripped.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Rei had snarled, but Minako was already sprinkling salt over the wet trail and doing the same to her own hand.
Rei had tried not to shiver at the warmth of her breath grazing over her hand again.
Minako's lips were just a little glossy and Rei briefly thought about how they'd look slightly swollen and freshly kissed.
"Just making sure you're prepared," Minako had said sweetly, her eyes anything but.
Shots were being passed out around them, Vi and Natsuna glaring at each other as they held their glasses up.
Drowning out the sounds of cheers and whoops from their teammates, Rei drew her hand up to her mouth.
Like some twisted, sultry mirror of herself, Minako dipped her head to meet their hands, her tongue darting out to follow the line of salt she'd drawn on her own hand.
Rei had tried to stop the sharp inhale she made when their lips were that close together, feeling as if that singular moment had lasted a lifetime. Just as quickly, she'd registered the taste of salt and pulled away.
They each knocked back their shots and Rei had snatched up one of the limes before Minako could try anything else.
Rei hated tequila. It tasted like hand sanitizer and smelled of future disaster.
However, it was hard to hate tequila when it had brought her within inches of Minako's lips. No, that was wrong. It should be the other way around, shouldn't it? She was mad at tequila, she thought.
Things had started to blur a bit from there, her original shot and the beers starting to take effect.
Blood rushed through her ears and she could feel her heartbeat in her throat. It was surprisingly steady considering she was trapped in a bar with no foreseeable plan of escape.
The second hour passed and she hadn't quite paid attention, but she was mostly certain they'd only had two rounds of drinks. A third cup had been shoved into her hands, but it hadn't tasted quite so foul and Rei had realized it was water.
Well at least the upperclassmen were considerate of their hydration. She supposed it would be a bad look for both teams if all their rookies got alcohol poisoning their first weekend on campus.
Still, it relieved her to know that as much as it was a competition to out drink the volleyball team, they still had their safety in mind. Rei doubted they'd be allowed to leave the bar without checking in with Vi or one of the other seniors first.
Minako's flirtations had only continued to increase, she'd seemingly used any excuse she could find to initiate light touches whenever and wherever possible. A bump of their shoulders, grazing their knuckles together, a hand on her bicep to 'steady' her from a bump that had never happened.
It was starting to drive Rei crazy. Minako was starting to drive her crazy.
She could feel it. Years of carefully crafted discipline and aloofness unraveling over the course of less than an hour. Though, she supposed Minako had been tugging at that thread from the moment they'd met.
For better or for worse, Rei had made it to the second round of tequila shots. Like for worse, she assumed.
Minako's eyes had lit up dangerously as they approached the tables.
Each of their respective captains had greeted them and Rei noted the slightly glassy look in Vi's eyes. She suspected her own weren't much sharper.
Surprisingly, the second round of shots passed without incident and Rei had narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Minako.
Minako, for her part, smiled demurely and discarded her lime in her empty shot glass.
That was the last thing Rei remembered clearly. Everything started to blur past that point.
At some point, Vi thrust a drink into her hands and said, "You got game, Hino." She'd looked Minako up and down approvingly and Rei had to fight the urge to put herself between them.
Minako had simply giggled and pressed her mouth against Rei's ear. "I think your captain is underestimating my game," she whispered, her breath hot against Rei's neck.
Her self-control was slipping dangerously, Rei could feel it. Every little touch set her on fire, every glance made her core ache, every word made her want to capture those lips with her own.
Either the veterans had slowed their eagerness to pass out drinks and were just having fun themselves, or Rei was losing all sense of time. Probably both, but a new drink hadn't been immediately handed to her as soon as she finished the one Vi handed to her.
Minako was more than holding her own, but the slight flush on her cheeks and the occasional misstep let Rei know that she was feeling it too. She was hardly built like a tank, but then again, neither was Rei.
In the haze of it all, Minako had somehow guided them down to the dance floor, a literal sardine pit of bodies crashing against each other.
The music was deafening and people kept elbowing her from every direction, but somehow Rei held on to her sanity.
Minako was bouncing, coming to life in a way Rei had yet to see from her. She was electric, her body moving to the beat and their tied hands forcing Rei to at least try to match its rhythm.
Minako was grinning, radiating an infectious energy that drew her in.
The bass dropped and the only warning Rei got was a flash of bright blue eyes before Minako was spinning, lifting their connected arms over her head until Rei's arm was settled around her waist and her back was pressed against Rei's front.
Minako's free arm held her there as she grinned backward into Rei's hips, flowing seamlessly into the beat of whatever overplayed pop song was playing.
Rei swore her brain had stopped working for a moment or five. She grasped desperately at whatever sense of composure she'd had going into this afternoon, but everything felt so fuzzy.
The icy restraints she usually had in place had shattered, leaving her stranded in the dance pit with nothing better to do than place her left hand on Minako's other hip and grind right back.
Minako's head tilted just slightly in her direction and she saw the hungry look in her eyes before they were obscured by the movement of her bangs, damp with sweat.
It felt like only seconds had passed as they stayed like that, body to body, lost within the crowd. But suddenly a hand was on her shoulder and two volleyball players were staring down at her with smirks plastered across their faces.
"Shot time," one of them shouted over the music, the other starting to shoulder a path for them through the crowd.
Rei untangled herself from Minako who only looked mildly offended at the interruption. The two of them stumbled after the veterans toward the stairs.
When they finally broke free from the dance pit, Rei did an actual once over of Minako.
She was panting, her hair was mussed, and her eyes were wild with energy. She should be tired, but she appeared more alive than Rei had ever seen her. She was also looking back at Rei like she wanted to eat her for dinner.
Rei turned and made way to the tables.
When they arrived, Rei noticed a few cut ribbons set on the tables and a couple pairs of rookies gulping down glasses of water.
It was down to just three pairs, Asuka and her partner included.
The redhead sidled up to Rei with a grin. "So you've been hanging in there," she said, looking like she'd barely had any alcohol at all.
Rei grunted something along the lines of 'sure.'
Asuka's partner looked like she was going to have the nastiest hangover. The poor girl was hunched to Asuka's height despite being at least five inches taller than her.
"How the hell are you so sober?" Rei scowled, feeling her own world tilt dangerously.
Asuka smirked. "I'm half German, this is light work, Hino," she said with a flip of her hair, striding toward the shots table and hauling her partner behind her.
Rei pitied the girl. She made to follow, but she was jostled by movement from Minako.
"V! I've missed you." Natsuna had scooped Minako up in a massive embrace, causing Rei's arm to jerk toward her.
Minako was laughing, a light hearted noise that sent pangs of jealousy through Rei's skull. The two of them looked so easily close and at-ease with each other.
Rei grit her teeth.
Natsuna was whispering something in Minako's ear, eyes darting occasionally over to Rei.
Whatever she said made Minako smirk and lean closer, their foreheads touching as they whispered back and forth.
Her manners forgotten, Rei tugged their bound arms to her side, pulling Minako away from the volleyball captain.
Natsuna made a noise of protest, but Rei ignored her. "It's shot time," Rei said through clenched teeth, trying (and failing) to keep her face neutral.
Natsuna gave Minako a knowing smile and tapped a finger to her cheek and Rei decided she was better off not knowing.
Minako said nothing, but an odd look had crossed her face as she allowed herself to be dragged away.
Rei also thought it best not to think about that. She was too drunk to truly feel embarrassed about her display of possessiveness, but she had no desire to confront it.
They reached the table just in time to watch the third remaining pair surrender. Both were swaying on their feet, but Vi was the one untying them, so it must have been the volleyball player who surrendered.
As soon as they were untied, they each slumped into nearby chairs and were immediately surrounded by upperclassmen patting their backs and handing them water.
Vi gestured toward her. "We're still down by one, you and Soryu need to clutch this," she commanded.
Rei nodded seriously, a faint bit of clarity returning to her. She might despise drinking, but she hated losing even more. And she certainly didn't want to lose to Minako.
The shots were handed out and Rei tossed hers back without a second thought. Blinking from the sour taste of the lime, she caught Minako looking at her, expression still unreadable.
She was about to call the blonde out on it, but shouts erupted around them. Rei turned and found Asuka's partner crouched near the table, looking scarily close to vomiting.
Asuka stood next to her, sucking from the lime and looking rather disdainfully at the girl near her feet.
Vi gave a quick tug at the ribbon holding them together and it ripped without much effort.
The volleyball player immediately bolted in the direction of the bathroom, a couple of her teammates trailing after her, waters in hand.
Vi looked to Rei. "All you, Hino."
Rei turned to Minako, preparing to steel herself for the inevitable war of attrition, but the woman's face had gone pale.
"Rei," she said quietly, "I really have to pee."
Fucking hell.
A/N: I'm not original enough, nor do I have the energy in me, to be making up OCs, so I will be throwing random characters from other fandoms into here if I need to fill out names and iykyk.