“That’s not concerning,” Raidou said dryly.

A cold head-dunk in the bathroom sink hadn’t done nearly enough to extinguish the flames licking up his spine, but at least it had slapped some sense back into his head. He could look at Genma in that slim-cut, high-collared shirt with its slide of mesh down the throat and still think: Off limits.

Kurenai, stunning in scarlet, wasn’t the same kind of risk, but Raidou had to work with her too. And now there was Ryouma in a clinging, translucent tank-top, Kakashi sweat-soaked and actually happy, and Ginta side-eyeing them all like a damn buffet.

Raidou took the drink. It tasted like licorice and burning.

“Where’s the rest of your team?” he asked Ginta, once he was done coughing.

Ginta hooked a casual thumb over his shoulder, indicating a shadowed alcove. “Kasumi and boyfriend are back there, with Abe and a girl they just met. Usagi’s with Satomi… Somewhere. Maybe a love hotel.” He grinned like a flick-knife. “And I’m all, all alone.”

Well, at least he was keeping tabs like a responsible lieutenant.

“It takes real dedication to be lonely in this crowd,” Kurenai observed silkily, cementing herself a spot on Raidou’s short list of favorite people.

Ginta sipped his cocktail, and smiled at Ryouma over the rim. “I can be very dedicated when the situation calls for it.”

Ryouma’s sudden flush was visible even under the strobing club lights. He glanced, bizarrely, at Kakashi, then looked away and buried his face in his drink. Kakashi gave Ginta a pleasant, eye-curving smile that made Raidou think of murder.

And Raidou had been worried the evening might be awkward.

“I’m hungry,” he announced. “Who wants food? My treat.”

“I do,” Genma said. He added, unexpected and suddenly fond: “Good thing Ueno took that new post, or she’d bankrupt you.”

Laughter rumbled low in Raidou’s chest. “She’d have danced us off our feet first.”

“She’d’ve tried,” Ryouma said, slinging an arm over Kakashi’s shoulders. “Turns out we’re pretty good.”

Kakashi, to Raidou’s surprise, didn’t translocate across the club, or out of the building. He shifted his weight on one hip, leaning fractionally back against Ryouma, and now Raidou was definitely getting everyone food, because the last time Kakashi had been willingly cuddly, it’d involved a pint of blood loss and a lot of morphine.

It didn’t take much effort to steer everyone back out onto the street. Ginta tagged along, to Raidou’s complete lack of surprise. Kurenai also accompanied them, linking arms companionably with Genma. Her dagger-spike heels put them at the same height, and their heads tilted together like a secret, her curls a glossy shadow against Genma’s lighter up-do. The sight of them together made Raidou’s stomach tighten with sharp, hot want.

He breathed it out.

It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten hard for a colleague, but it was the first time he’d nearly acted on the impulse, in public, after lecturing on the goddamn issue for three months. He hadn’t even drunk that much.

Ryouma and Kakashi were also walking together. Ryouma’s hands sketched expressive shapes in the air while he elaborated on a personal theory — something about using breakdancing in combat — and Kakashi listened with mild skepticism, but made occasional encouraging sounds.

Ginta caught Raidou’s eye, and gave him a look that was all-too-knowing. Raidou, politely, elected not to punt Ginta over a rooftop.

“So what are we getting?” Kurenai asked, lifting her head. “Sukiyaki? Ramen?”

“Sushi,” Kakashi said, interrupting Ryouma mid-sentence.

Ryouma blinked and suggested, “Tempura?”