| [Apr. 8th, 2017|10:47 pm] |
Others joined them: Ginta, Usagi, even Satomi, and then a whole flood of ninja Ryouma barely recognized or didn't know. Civilians and the saner shinobi cheered and danced and beckoned the show-off ninja off the floor. Usagi and Satomi disappeared together again. Ryouma tried Genma's one-and-a-half air flare, bruised his shoulder, and tried once more.
When he came off the floor for the last time he found Genma, Raidou, and Kakashi all on the same side of the circle, sweat-soaked and breathless. Kakashi's shirt had lost another two buttons and come halfway off his shoulder, baring a slice of pale skin between the crumpled placket and the deep cut-out of his sleeveless black undershirt-and-mask combo. Raidou'd shucked his shirt altogether, and was wiping the sweat off his face.
Kurenai was with them, sensuously swaying, her skin dewy and her black hair tangled loose around her shoulders. She offered Ryouma a genuine smile, and a shot glass of something electric blue. "You've certainly livened this place up."
"Life of the party, that's me." He tossed the drink back and gasped at the burn. Pure alcohol. She laughed at him, caught Raidou with one hand and Genma with the other, and tugged them back with her into the crowd.
Kakashi reached out and brushed two fingers over Ryouma's cheekbone. A fleeting touch, barely a skim, gone before Ryouma could lean in. He showed the glitter-dusted tips to Ryouma. "You're shiny."
"An' you're undressed." Ryouma tugged the collar of Kakashi's shirt back up his shoulder. "You're having fun, right?"
Kakashi's eye crinkled, pupil dilated into the grey in a way that could be drinks or could be the strobe-lit dark. "Yes," he said. "Are you?"
"Yeah." Ryouma was still holding Kakashi's shirt-front, he realized, and Kakashi hadn't yet pulled away. That was definitely the drinks. He forced himself to drop his hand. "You were good out there."
"I'm always good," Kakashi informed him, a man reporting on the basic facts of the universe. A smile stole into his voice. "You, however, fell over."
"Hey, I got back up." Ryouma lifted the tiny shot-glass in his other hand, realized it was empty, and shoved it in his pocket. That left both hands nothing to do. He shoved them in his pockets, after the glass.
"We're friends, right?" he asked. "Even if we weren't teammates — even if the team got reorganized — you'd still talk to me, we'd still hang out."
Kakashi stared up at him for a second, brows pinching, as if he were slotting puzzle pieces together and coming up with a different picture than he expected. Then, slow enough to signal the movement, he reached up and gently ruffled a hand through Ryouma's wet hair. "Yes," he said.
Ryouma drew a deep breath.
Kakashi's friendship wasn't something he'd ever dreamed of having, either. It was a precious gift in its own right, worth fighting for, worth keeping.
It could be enough.
"Okay," he said. "Let's get another drink." |
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