Fellas is it gay to bang your friend (a bit)

It's been a good night, that's easy to say. Good night with good people and good food. And good drinks. Way too many good drinks.

Taiga has long abandoned the futile effort of keeping count of his drinks. He's no stranger to alcohol, but he's usually more on the cautious side. Early morning rehearsals and the need to safeguard his vocal cords tend to put a damper on his general drinking enthusiasm. But tonight, he's discarded those concerns.

If Taiga has lost count of how many drinks he's downed, he's also completely lost track of the barrage of gentle head slaps and forehead kisses that have been exchanged among the whole group throughout the evening. As the night has been going on, those innocent forehead pecks have slowly evolved into more affectionate smooches on each other's cheeks. And as even more time has passed, these smooches have eventually grown into genuine kisses on lips. And perhaps these kisses have been a bit more frequent and a tiny bit more eager than one might expect.

"I love this group!" Jesse declares with the kind of loud enthusiasm that demands everyone's attention. He envelopes Taiga in a hug that threatens to squeeze the breath out of him. Jesse plants an affectionate kiss on Taiga's hair. "And just so you know, I love you second the most, Taiga! After Kochi, of course!"

As the alcohol continues to flow, the conversation naturally drifts towards reminiscing about their past and especially their high school years. The stories become more animated, and the laughter grows stronger with each memory.

Juri, his words slightly slurred, recalls a particular incident. "Oh, do you all remember when Kochi tried to impress that girl with that ridiculous magic trick?"

Kochi's cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Come on, it seemed like a good idea back then!" he defends himself.

"And let's not forget Jesse's brilliant plan to win that contest by cramming an entire pie into his mouth," Juri continues. "He looked like a hamster."

The group erupts into laughter, and Jesse proudly pats his belly. "I was young and ambitious. It didn't exactly go as planned."

After a few more hours of laughter and shared stories, their group reaches a consensus that it's time to call it a night – or, more precisely, their waning alcohol tolerance suggests as much. Taiga decides to make a quick pit stop in the bathroom before they leave.

Inside the bathroom, Taiga sways slightly on his unsteady feet, searching for something to anchor himself. As he reaches the sink, his eyes land on the closest person, who happens to be Shintaro. In his drunken stupor, Taiga's mind returns to their earlier conversation, where they were going through funny tales from their high school days. During that conversation, he was once again reminded how much they've been through with Shintaro. Maybe they shared a kiss or two as well, he's not sure. Yet, there's suddenly a feeling of appreciation that fills him.

"You okay there, buddy?" Shintaro asks, probably noticing Taiga staring at him.

"Shintaro is the best," Taiga mumbles and flashes a tipsy smile.

"Ah, I'm popular tonight! Such words coming from you!" Shintaro exclaims happily.

Then Taiga envelops Shintaro in an affectionate hug, his arms winding around Shintaro's neck. He buries his face into the warmth of Shintaro's shoulder. Somewhere in the brume of alcohol, Taiga's mind tries to send him a reminder that Shintaro isn't usually the type to initiate physical contact, and he's especially not into random cuddling like that. However, at that moment, Taiga cares little for such details. He simply revels in the comfort of the hug. His sensibility was cast aside a while ago, anyway.

Shintaro wraps his arm around him and pats Taiga's back, his voice a soft murmur against Taiga's ear. "I believe we've all had our fair share of drinks, Kyomo. It wouldn't be wise for you to head home alone tonight."

"Ahhhh no, don't abandon me here," Taiga whines, face still buried against Shintaro's shoulder. He can feel the subtle vibrations of Shintaro's low giggles resonating through his entire body.

"No, no, no, I won't abandon you," Shintaro reassures him, the alcohol lending a slight lilt to his words. "But how about you crash at my place tonight to sober up? We'll grab a cab together because, you know, even though you're a rich guy, taking a taxi solo all the way to Hachioji doesn't sound like the wisest plan, does it?"

The idea sounds more than appealing to Taiga, and he expresses his gratitude with an appreciative nod.

As the group makes their way out of the restaurant, Taiga's senses remain in a delightful fog. He vaguely registers the comical sight of them all fumbling with their shoes. Then there's something about Jesse confidently taking care of the bill, whipping out his credit card, and making a grandiose show of settling the tab. Somewhere in the middle, he casually tosses a few bills Taiga's way as change, though Taiga doesn't remember ever being involved in the financial transaction to begin with. The night's drinks are clearly doing their tricks on his short-term memory.

Stumbling outside, it's again a bit of a blurrish moment for Taiga. Shintaro's arm is wrapped around him, offering both support and a sense of warmth.

Taiga occasionally forgets whose comforting arm he's leaning on. He needs to steal glances at Shintaro as if he's making sure he hasn't inadvertently latched onto a stranger's arm instead.

Then, his next point of some sort of recollection is the inside of a taxi, with the gentle nudge from Shintaro jolting him awake. Taiga blinks groggily, trying to regain his bearings. The landscape outside the window doesn't look familiar, and although he feels a bit more sober now, he still has trouble piecing together the events of the past few hours.

As if by some miracle, they manage to get out of the taxi and make their way to the building and the elevator. Taiga immediately forgets which floor they need despite asking it a couple of times, so he leans his head against Shintaro's shoulder who-knows-how-many-times already that night. Shintaro lets him stay like that through the whole short elevator ride.

Arriving at Shintaro's place, Taiga doesn't give much thought to his surroundings despite it being his first visit to his apartment. He flops onto the sofa with all the grace that is like a deflating balloon. Of course, he'd never be that blunt when sober. But maybe tonight, under such drunk circumstances, he's granted a free pass for once. Especially when Shintaro plops down beside him with an equally graceful descent, and Taiga can't help but think maybe Shintaro is not all that sober either.

Taiga suddenly notices his vision is somewhat blurry, and his left eye is itching. He suspects that his contact lens has either shifted within his eye or fallen out, even though he has no recollection of it happening. Taiga rubs his eye in an attempt to alleviate the discomfort.

"Could you check my eye to see if my contact lens is still in its place?" he asks for Shintaro's assistance.

Taiga tilts his head back, and Shintaro swifts closer and carefully spreads Taiga's eyelid to inspect his eye.

Shintaro crinkles his brows as he squints at Taiga's eye. "Care to tell what am I actually supposed to look for? I've never done this before."

Taiga tries to open his eye wider and does his best to provide Shintaro with the best instructions he can muster in his state. "Just look for the circle thingy... it's like, ummm, a very faint gray line around the... what do they call it, the iris?"

Shintaro furrows his brow as he inspects Taiga's eye, but after a moment, he shakes his head. "I don't see anything like that," he says. "Are you sure it's still in there?"

"Nope, not sure at all."

"Do you need a mirror to check?" Shintaro suggests, clearly trying his best to be helpful, at least somehow.

"Maybe it's fine," Taiga says.

"Well, if it comes to that, I'll make sure to carry you to the hospital if needed."

Taiga grins. "Oh, but that sounds nice," he jibes. "I wouldn't mind getting carried by you."

Shintaro clicks his tongue. "You know, I wouldn't mind it either."

Suddenly, Taiga feels weird as he's pretty sure they're flirting. But it's also alluringly exciting. It's as if he's entered into a scene straight out of a romantic Hollywood movie, or more, one of those outrageous tales his friends and senpai love to tell – the kind of where bringing someone home after a night of drinking typically leads to just one thing. That kind of one-night-stand scenario is entirely uncharted territory for Taiga. He's never been in a situation like that, but funnily this moment somehow feels exactly like one.

"Any ideas about what do you want to do next? Should I suggest something?" Shintaro asks, reaching out to Taiga's hand and giving it a playful wave between them. Taiga appreciates the touch, and he's more focused on the tingling feeling of a strong hand in his than on what Shintaro just asked because he does know what he'd like to do next.

Taiga fixes his position to settle himself onto his legs, his movements somewhat unsteady. He fixes Shintaro with a sudden intensive gaze as he leans in closer.

"You know what?" Taiga lisps. "I'm going to be brutally honest here. Why bother with all this flirty foreplay when we can just... fast track to the make-out-and-fuck part?"

"Oh," Shintaro reacts but doesn't seem taken aback even the slightest by Taiga's words. "You want to fuck?"

"Yes."

Shintaro grins. "Okay, good, because me too," he concludes. Within that, Shintaro pulls Taiga flush against him.

Following what's really happening proves to be a bit challenging. Their movements are slightly uncoordinated as their lips meet in a messy kiss. Taiga can sense the familiar scent of Shintaro, mixed with the lingering smell of alcohol, as their tongues meet.

Soon, Taiga realizes that their hands are wandering impatiently and they've already ventured to lower parts when his foggy mind has registered properly whose hand is where.

Their hands move with urgency as Shintaro fumbles to open Taiga's pants. He dips his hand inside and locates Taiga's hardened erection, clumsily starting to jerk him. Taiga eagerly bucks his hips upward, but the coordination is lacking, and the friction falls short of satisfying. Taiga manages to kick his pants off, letting out a satisfied sigh as his cock finally enjoys freedom from its constrictive confines.

Their drunken fumbling continues as they attempt to disentangle themselves from their clothes. Buttons and zippers prove to be particularly challenging, and their movements are anything but coordinated. Shintaro tugs at Taiga's shirt, nearly sending a button flying across the room, while Taiga wrestles with Shintaro's belt. Fabrics keep twisting and limbs tangling, but piece by piece, their clothing ends up scattered on the floor until they're fully naked.

Shintaro gives his buttock a firm squeeze as Taiga trails wet kisses along his neckline. Then Taiga moistens his own fingers in his mouth and, with a quiet hiss, encourages Shintaro to move his hand slightly to get better access to finger himself.

Taiga relishes the sensation of Shintaro teasingly pinching his nipples while he continues to finger himself, although it's going on very clumsily. He needs to bring his hand back a couple of times and spit on it to add more slickness, and it's probably pretty disgusting, but he's too hurried to care. Soon, Taiga urges Shintaro to half-lie on top of him, throwing a leg over his shoulder, almost unintentionally hitting Shintaro's face with it. With determined focus, he guides Shintaro's hard dick to his entrance. He closes his eyes and lets out a moan, although his whole crotch area feels quite numb from all the alcohol.

Shintaro starts thrusting into him, with the first push deliberate and so slow, followed by a second. Just at that moment, Taiga decides to open his eyes, and their gazes lock. Shintaro abruptly halts, and Taiga also freezes.

They stare at each other straight in the eye.

"Ummmmm," Taiga begins, but before he can finish his sentence, Shintaro asks at precisely the same time, "What the heck are we doing?"

It's a very good question, Taiga realizes.

He's naked under naked Shintaro. Shintaro, whom he has known for ages and with whom he's probably spent more time than with anyone else.

Taiga can effortlessly replicate the precise yakiniku sauce concoction that Shintaro prefers, down to the exact ratios of ingredients. He can even describe the way Shintaro peels off his socks with the sole of his foot, a quirk that's like second nature to him. And when it comes to sleeping positions, Taiga knows precisely which one Shintaro prefers. Quite a soulmate stuff. But not once in his life has Taiga ever thought that Shintaro could be something more than that. Soulmates just exist, that's it.

And now they almost fucked. Or, practically, they already started fucking. Which is not disgusting or awkward or foul, it's just weird, the thought hits Taiga.

"You and me, we just... I mean, you just started..." Taiga attempts to start several sentences, but each one gets cut by his amused chuckles in between. It's such an absurd situation that Taiga can't believe he's in there, and his laughter slowly starts growing.

Then Shintaro bursts into hilarious laughter with him.

"I'm sorry for laughing," Shintaro manages to apologize to Taiga between fits of chuckles, adding, "But seriously, this is just too bizarre. I suppose you won't be offended if I suggest that let's not take it until the end?"

"No, no, no, please, let's definitely not continue," Taiga hurries. "You can take your cock out of my ass."

Shintaro pulls out, and they recollect themselves back to the seating position, still chuckling. Shintaro wipes his sweaty face and flops his head against the headrest, and Taiga does the same.

They recline there for a while, in a semi-horizontal position, gazing up at the ceiling as their laughs and breathing gradually regulate. The once-spinning room feels more stable than it did a few moments ago, and Taiga realizes he's maybe sobering up, although just a little bit.

"You know, Shintaro," Taiga starts because he really wants to tell what he was thinking. "I totally, like, know exactly how you like your yakiniku sauce."

"Oh, really now? You're quite the expert, huh?" Shintaro looks amused by the sudden topic change.

Taiga nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, for sure! I mean, you prefer lots of garlic and that, umm, special sesame sauce thingy. You've got a real distinct taste."

"Ah, correct, you got it right! So, maybe next time we'll just eat yakiniku instead of doing ridiculous shit like this?"

"Deal," Taiga concludes and offers his hand to Shintaro to take it. They shake their hands to seal their agreement.

Then, out of the blue, a thought appears to strike Shintaro.

"Oh shit, I didn't use protection," he says, his speech coming out slightly slurred. It's probably because of the alcohol, or then it's just a result of the previous fit of laughter. Or both.

Taiga props himself up a bit. "Let's leave that discussion for tomorrow," he suggests, choosing not to stress about it tonight because he's too tired for that. "And even if anything happens, don't say a word to your manager! Just imagine the panic it would unleash. He'd likely assume you've potentially impregnated someone. While telling him the actual truth wouldn't exactly decrease his stress level either..."

Shintaro laughs, maybe because of the mental image he gets. "Hahaha, you're absolutely right," he agrees, looking immediately less concerned.

Suddenly, Taiga's stomach growls loudly. "I'm hungry," he admits.

"Me too. But that's easily fixed!"

Shintaro tiptoes to the kitchen, his bare bottom wiggling a bit comically as he walks. He returns with a bag of potato chips, tears it open, and returns to the couch by placing the bag between them. They start munching, and Taiga can't help but appreciate the comical absurdity of everything there. Thursday night, drunk, naked, Shintaro's sofa, potato chips. One could easily take one down, and it'd still be as comical as that.

"If you want, we can just keep this little... incident between us," Shintaro says between the bites.

"Mmmh, you think so?" Taiga asks. "But you'd love to tell this story, wouldn't you?"

"Well, you're not wrong. I mean, it's frigging hilarious!"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of person who spills the beans to our members about these kinds of things. But if you ever feel like sharing this tale, go ahead. Like you said, it's frigging hilarious, after all. Why let a good story go to waste?"

"Honestly, I just want to see their faces and reactions when I tell them that, of all people, we ended up banging each other. Although just a bit."

Taiga bursts into laughter, covering his mouth with his hand. "That sounds so absurd when you put it like that."

*****

The story manages to sound even more absurd in daylight and when they're sober.

Juri's reaction is pure Juri.

His eyes shimmer with disbelief and amusement, and his mouth yawns wide open, looking like it might split into two any second. Juri appears torn between wanting to burst into uncontrollable laughter and bombarding Shintaro with more questions, all while having that befuddled expression.

"Wait, what?" Juri exclaims. "You did what?"

"I said, I fucked Kyomo. But just a bit."

"I'm not sure I follow that part. How do you... uh, fuck someone 'just a bit'?"

Shintaro smirks. "Well, it's a bit complicated to explain. Let's just say we got started, but then we decided to stop before things went... I'm not saying before they went too far because they already did, but we stopped in between."

"Complicated, eh? This is pure comedy gold!" Juri concludes with a chuckle and sends a questioning gaze to Taiga as if he's expecting him to reveal Shintaro is only pulling a prank on him there. Taiga simply offers an amused snort in Juri's direction, well aware that Juri knows his gesture is a confirmation that this story is, indeed, the unembellished truth, with nothing more to add.

"But next time," Juri adds, pointing a finger dramatically at Shintaro and then swiveling to aim it at Taiga, "if you two are having an after-party somewhere, you must invite me there as well. I also want to do such stuff with Shintaro and Kyomo! Even if it means I get to fuck only 'a bit'."

The next target of Shintaro's storytelling is none other than Hokuto. He listens to the explanation without a hint of reaction, maintaining a stoic expression as if he's listening to a weather forecast. However, when Shintaro wraps up the story, Hokuto's brows knit together, and he appears lost in deep thought for a moment.

"Okay," Hokuto begins, his tone measured. "I don't quite get it."

Shintaro, who clearly anticipated a different reaction, raises an eyebrow. "You don't?"

Hokuto shakes his head. "No, not really."

"Well, you know, sometimes that kind of stuff happens when you get drunk."

But Hokuto quickly cuts him off. "I get that you guys were drunk, but why on earth would anyone halt in the middle if they've already started? Or better yet, why start at all if you weren't planning to finish?"

"Good questions, so few answers," Shintaro shrugs.

Jesse's reaction is, as expected, on the next level. As Shintaro finishes recounting the story, Jesse bursts into laughter - that contagious hearty laughter of his - that fills the room for a solid five minutes. Jesse slaps his knee, wipes tears from his eyes and even pounds the table a few times.

Once he's managed to catch his breath, Jesse turns to Taiga and Shintaro with a wide grin. "Man, you've got to tell that story again! I want to enjoy every bit of it now that I know the ending!"

Taiga fakes a defeated groan, but Shintaro gladly agrees to recount the story once more.

When Jesse suggests Shintaro tell the story for the third time so he can record it and keep it as a memento for future reference, both Taiga and Shintaro firmly chant a stern "Jesse, NO."

"Alright, I won't push my luck," Jesse keeps laughing. "But seriously, this has to be one of the best after-party stories ever! Call it Member Love at its best."

As Kochi strolls into the room, he barely needs to cast a cursory glance at everyone before realizing something utterly amusing is going on. "Morning, everyone. Do I even want to know?" he releases a sigh. "But then again, you'll probably tell me anyway, even if I wanted to or not."

"Yup, get prepared," Taiga warns him. Kochi is well-acquainted with their group's tendency for chaos and unpredictability, so Kochi probably thinks he's mentally prepared to hear anything.

But Taiga is absolutely sure that poor Kochi wasn't prepared to hear Hokuto's blunt "Just discussing here how Shintaro and Kyomoto managed to have sex but just a little bit" announcement, accompanied by Jesse's loud "AHAHAHAHA" laughter.

"You did what?" Kochi gulps, looking confused. "Guys, stop being weird and tell me the whole thing."

Kochi then listens attentively to the story despite occasionally grimacing at some parts, especially when specific body parts such as naked buttocks and hard cocks are mentioned.

After hearing the story, Kochi leans back and puffs some air as if he's processing everything. "Well, if you want my comment, which I'm pretty sure you don't, but I'm going to say it anyway - I'm surprised 0%. If it's you two, or basically any of you, I can imagine anything like this happening."

He then adds with a shake of his head, "But please, save me from those details in the future. I've said a few times that I don't want to think about my members in such situations. I like you guys, but I don't fancy hearing anything about your certain body parts going to certain places."

*****

Later, as they've managed to wrap up their YouTube video successfully and Taiga kneels down to pack his bag, Shintaro saunters over.

"Yo," Shintaro says. "I forgot to ask, how was your hangover a day after?"

"Not too bad, how about you?"

"Survived! And now I've got energy for the rest of the year as we managed to shock everyone quite nicely."

"That we really did," Taiga chuckles. "I think only Jesse was slightly disappointed when he heard that this doesn't mean you'd be my boy now."

"What do you mean I wouldn't be your boy?" Shintaro scoffs, feigning offense. "I am your boy - your Shintaro! I'll always be your boy, Kyomo."

"Okay, okay, not demoting you," Taiga concedes.

"Don't think you could demote me after such a meaningless thing. My penis was inside you for maybe 15 seconds. And since we were drunk, it gets counted in half. So, penis-ass-interaction maximum 7.5 seconds."

"Very well," Taiga smiles and stands up. "Okay, my boy, let's go home."

"Respective homes," Shintaro corrects.

"Whatever you say," Taiga says and ruffles Shintaro's hair.