It's aliiiiiive!!!
Wow, long hiatus. And just after I said I'd finally got internet. Well, turns out my gap year is a lot more demanding than I could have ever imagined, and my internet a lot more sucky, too. Nevermind. I'm at home for the next week and a half for the easter holidays, which means better internet and TIME!
So...
Here it is, the second installment of 'The Drinking Contest'!
(Oh, and here's part one, in case you've forgotten what happened!)
Chapter 2
Nakajima counted down slowly, relishing the control he had over the other students. He seemed completely at ease, cradling his shot glass in his hand, leaning slightly back in his chair and surveying the room over the top of his glasses. The silence was stifling - Koji felt tense and he wasn’t even going to be participating.
At the signal from Nakajima, each participant downed their shot. It was actually quite interesting, mused Koji, how different people coped. Keita, for instance, started choking as soon as the liquid hit the back of his throat, and had to be thumped on the back by Endo. On the other hand, excluding Nakajima himself, Shichijo was the only person who was completely unaffected by what had passed through his lips. He set his glass down on the table coolly and turned to check on Saionji, who was pulling a face at the aftertaste left in his mouth.
This reminded Koji that he had set himself the task of keeping an eye on the more vulnerable members of the group. He fixed his gaze on Takuto, expecting to see the strain showing already. However, Takuto had finished his shot without incident, and despite seeming to share Saionji’s sentiments about the aftertaste, hesitantly pushed his glass back into the centre of the table, ready for the second round.
Koji caught his eye and Takuto gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back, beginning to relax a little when he saw that no one had had any problems yet. Unfortunately, this sense of relief was short lived. In fact, it ended as soon as Shunsuke opened his mouth.
“See, Shinomiya-san, we told you it’d be fine!” he said, much too loudly, even for him, and apparently unaware that he was practically shouting. Koji barely resisted rolling his eyes; he should have known Shunsuke’s assertions of drinking ability were too vehement to be true. He obviously was not as seasoned a drinker as he would like people to believe, or at least didn’t realise when he crossed the line from sober to somewhat tipsy. And come on, even Keita wasn’t showing signs of drunkenness yet!
“Tol’ you ‘twouldn’t be a problem…” Shunsuke repeated more quietly, as an elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruse brought him back to his senses a little. There was a strange expression on the tennis player’s face as he looked at his friend - a mixture of amusement, exasperation and… something else that Koji couldn’t quite make out. He made a mental note to investigate it later, when he wasn’t so busy.
Koji decided to turn a blind eye to Shunsuke’s state for the time being; he was only slightly drunk, after all, and Koji knew from previous experience of drunken friends that he would be more willing to do what he said the more drunk he got. If a scene could be avoided, so much the better. On making this decision, he sat back in his chair and awaited the next round.
“So, did everyone survive?” Niwa asked cheerfully above the low hum of conversation that had erupted. “Ready for round two?” Without waiting for an answer, he swiftly gathered up the glasses that had not found their way back to Nakajima and deposited them expectantly in front of his friend.
“I, myself, am definitely ready. I’m going to win this,” he announced to the room at large, with a none-too-subtle glance at Saionji, who looked rather unimpressed.
Nakajima also raised an eyebrow at this attempted display of masculinity.
“It’s a pity you can’t apply yourself this deeply to your student council duties, Tetsuya. Save your bragging for later, when you’ve actually achieved your goal, hmm?” he drawled, his implications heavy in the air.
Niwa scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. Luckily for him, Nakajima appeared to have moved on from teasing him and was pouring more measurements of vodka into the glasses.
The next couple of rounds passed with more confidence. Now that people knew what to expect, they were quick to drink the shot and return their glass to the centre of the table for a top-up. However, the speed the drinks were flowing and the seemingly never-ending supply were making Koji exceedingly nervous again. He scrutinised every movement, every word that anyone said, for signs of the contest getting too out-of-hand so that he could finally nip this ridiculous idea in the bud and go to bed. Or at least, go to bed without a guilty conscience that the people who were none-too-good at looking after themselves needed him and he was somehow failing them.
A few minutes later, it seemed as though maybe luck was on his side after all, at least as far as one of his charges was concerned. There appeared to be a bit of a delay in getting the next round out, and most of the people gathered around the table had their eyes fixed expectantly on Takuto. He didn’t seem to notice, however, absently staring at the light reflecting off the shot glass he was rolling between his long fingers. He was probably wondering how best you would capture it in paint, Koji decided.
“Aren’t you going to put your glass back in the centre, Iwai?” asked Shichijo politely, “I believe that that is what Nakajima is waiting for.”
“Oh! I’m sorry,” Takuto apologised, snapping out of his reverie and flushing a little, “I didn’t realise we had to announce when we’d had enough. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, everyone.”
Shunsuke leaned forward across the table, a wicked smile on his face. “Backing out after only three rounds?”
Takuto looked taken aback. “Well, that’s three more than I would normally have had!” he laughed softly.
“Hey… was that a joke I just heard?” Niwa grinned triumphantly, clapping him on the back. “Always knew you had it in you! But who’d have thought it’d take alcohol to mellow you out?”
“Really, Niwa, he probably would be more, ah, ‘mellow’ if you weren’t so abrasive with him all the time,” sniped Saionji, before turning abruptly to Takuto, who looked vaguely confused at this interlude. “But it is nice to see you more relaxed around us,” Saionji concluded, kindly. He sat back and crossed his arms, indicating the end of the discussion. Niwa opened and shut his mouth a few times, but apparently decided not to get into an argument at that moment in time.
Meanwhile, a few others had been murmuring their agreement to Saionji’s statement, and Takuto glowed, quietly happy. Koji smiled too, pleased with this development.
Nakajima cleared his throat. “Are we ready to continue yet?” he asked, surveying the remaining participants. The next round of shots was already poured out, the clear liquid shimmering in the tiny glasses. Koji wondered idly why he was so impatient to carry on. Quite possibly it was because the effects on other people would be stronger if they had more alcohol in a shorter space of time. He’d better keep an eye on Nakajima - he didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him, and there could well be ulterior motives behind this ‘harmless’ game. Koji checked himself; since when had he turned into such a suspicious person? This contest was definitely bringing out the worst in him, paranoia-wise.
“Of course we are, now we’ve got rid of the straggler!” said Shunsuke, again unaware of the very high volume of his voice, his face rather pink now. Koji pointedly shot him a glare for his insensitivity, which did absolutely no good whatsoever, as he appeared not to register it, but gave Koji a lot of satisfaction.
“Just a minute, Nakajima. I don’t think I’ll be continuing either,” spoke up a voice that had, unusually for him, been fairly silent throughout the contest.
“Eh? Naruse, too?” Shunsuke squawked. Next to him, Keita winced at the noise.
Naruse beamed a winning smile around the table. “It’s just not really my thing. But of course, I’ll be sticking around to see who wins! I’m rooting for my honey, naturally!” He glanced across Shunsuke to where Keita, looking self-conscious and bashful, was hurriedly burying himself in conversation with Endo.
The glasses were passed out once again in quick succession and the participants drank. It was painfully obvious now who really needed to be taken out. Shunsuke first and foremost; Keita a close second. Koji didn’t really mind how much of an idiot they were making of themselves, it was more the horrible prospect of looking after vomiting, or at least very hung over, students for half the night and most of the next day. The others, he wasn’t so bothered about - they could take care of themselves.
As he was thinking this, he suddenly found himself being addressed for the first time in quite a while. Most of the others had forgotten he was there.
“Loosen up a little, Shinomiya. You’re creeping me out with your continual glaring!” Niwa said, attempting a joke.
At least Keita seemed to find it funny. In fact, he was finding most things hilarious at the moment, giggles punctuating much of what was said - a perfectly reasonable excuse for removing him from the contest. His eyes were too bright, and he also seemed to be having problems with balance, or spatial awareness, or something, as he had just toppled sideways off his chair onto Endo’s lap.
Surely under normal circumstances, he would at least be blushing by now? And attempting to move? But this new, alcohol-influenced Keita lay across Endo’s lap, gazing up at him with his huge doe-like eyes, a small smile upon his face. Endo didn’t seem that concerned, either, despite the fact that, now Keita had started to move, it was only so that he was sitting rather than lying on his lap. Endo, with a quizzical look at the boy on his lap, put his arms hesitantly around Keita, who beamed and snuggled closer.
Eight identically baffled faces watched this little display.
“Wha-?” A half-formed question died on somebody’s lips as Endo gave a rather nervous smile and started to speak.
“Well, this is a… slightly awkward way of us telling you,” he began, weakly, “But, yes, it is what it seems. Keita and I have been a couple for a few months, and…” He trailed off.
“And you didn’t know how to tell us?” suggested Takuto helpfully, in his gentle voice.
Endo nodded his gratitude, “Yes. We-” He was cut off, however, by Nakajima.
“Well, well. This is interesting,” said Nakajima, a wicked glint in his eye. “I never imagined something quite so,” he paused, looking for the right word, “’diverting’ being divulged in our little game. But surely there’s a certain person who might have something to say about this?”
All eyes followed his to Naruse, who was sitting, cool and collected, watching the scene unfold. He looked vaguely startled to have been put on the spot like this.
“Uh, yes. Looks like you won, Endo. Congratulations. Take care of him,” he stated absently, lacking his usual flair.
“What’s this? I would have thought you would have put up more of a fight than this?” Nakajima sounded almost disappointed.
“It seems as though someone hasn’t done their research,” observed Shichijo with interest.
“And what might you mean by that?”
“Maybe Itou-kun isn’t his ‘honey’ after all…”
---
This was really difficult to write, for no apparent reason as far as I can work out. It's not my favourite bit of writing I've ever done, but I'm hopefully now out of the writer's block!
So...
Here it is, the second installment of 'The Drinking Contest'!
(Oh, and here's part one, in case you've forgotten what happened!)
Chapter 2
Nakajima counted down slowly, relishing the control he had over the other students. He seemed completely at ease, cradling his shot glass in his hand, leaning slightly back in his chair and surveying the room over the top of his glasses. The silence was stifling - Koji felt tense and he wasn’t even going to be participating.
At the signal from Nakajima, each participant downed their shot. It was actually quite interesting, mused Koji, how different people coped. Keita, for instance, started choking as soon as the liquid hit the back of his throat, and had to be thumped on the back by Endo. On the other hand, excluding Nakajima himself, Shichijo was the only person who was completely unaffected by what had passed through his lips. He set his glass down on the table coolly and turned to check on Saionji, who was pulling a face at the aftertaste left in his mouth.
This reminded Koji that he had set himself the task of keeping an eye on the more vulnerable members of the group. He fixed his gaze on Takuto, expecting to see the strain showing already. However, Takuto had finished his shot without incident, and despite seeming to share Saionji’s sentiments about the aftertaste, hesitantly pushed his glass back into the centre of the table, ready for the second round.
Koji caught his eye and Takuto gave him a reassuring smile. He smiled back, beginning to relax a little when he saw that no one had had any problems yet. Unfortunately, this sense of relief was short lived. In fact, it ended as soon as Shunsuke opened his mouth.
“See, Shinomiya-san, we told you it’d be fine!” he said, much too loudly, even for him, and apparently unaware that he was practically shouting. Koji barely resisted rolling his eyes; he should have known Shunsuke’s assertions of drinking ability were too vehement to be true. He obviously was not as seasoned a drinker as he would like people to believe, or at least didn’t realise when he crossed the line from sober to somewhat tipsy. And come on, even Keita wasn’t showing signs of drunkenness yet!
“Tol’ you ‘twouldn’t be a problem…” Shunsuke repeated more quietly, as an elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruse brought him back to his senses a little. There was a strange expression on the tennis player’s face as he looked at his friend - a mixture of amusement, exasperation and… something else that Koji couldn’t quite make out. He made a mental note to investigate it later, when he wasn’t so busy.
Koji decided to turn a blind eye to Shunsuke’s state for the time being; he was only slightly drunk, after all, and Koji knew from previous experience of drunken friends that he would be more willing to do what he said the more drunk he got. If a scene could be avoided, so much the better. On making this decision, he sat back in his chair and awaited the next round.
“So, did everyone survive?” Niwa asked cheerfully above the low hum of conversation that had erupted. “Ready for round two?” Without waiting for an answer, he swiftly gathered up the glasses that had not found their way back to Nakajima and deposited them expectantly in front of his friend.
“I, myself, am definitely ready. I’m going to win this,” he announced to the room at large, with a none-too-subtle glance at Saionji, who looked rather unimpressed.
Nakajima also raised an eyebrow at this attempted display of masculinity.
“It’s a pity you can’t apply yourself this deeply to your student council duties, Tetsuya. Save your bragging for later, when you’ve actually achieved your goal, hmm?” he drawled, his implications heavy in the air.
Niwa scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. Luckily for him, Nakajima appeared to have moved on from teasing him and was pouring more measurements of vodka into the glasses.
The next couple of rounds passed with more confidence. Now that people knew what to expect, they were quick to drink the shot and return their glass to the centre of the table for a top-up. However, the speed the drinks were flowing and the seemingly never-ending supply were making Koji exceedingly nervous again. He scrutinised every movement, every word that anyone said, for signs of the contest getting too out-of-hand so that he could finally nip this ridiculous idea in the bud and go to bed. Or at least, go to bed without a guilty conscience that the people who were none-too-good at looking after themselves needed him and he was somehow failing them.
A few minutes later, it seemed as though maybe luck was on his side after all, at least as far as one of his charges was concerned. There appeared to be a bit of a delay in getting the next round out, and most of the people gathered around the table had their eyes fixed expectantly on Takuto. He didn’t seem to notice, however, absently staring at the light reflecting off the shot glass he was rolling between his long fingers. He was probably wondering how best you would capture it in paint, Koji decided.
“Aren’t you going to put your glass back in the centre, Iwai?” asked Shichijo politely, “I believe that that is what Nakajima is waiting for.”
“Oh! I’m sorry,” Takuto apologised, snapping out of his reverie and flushing a little, “I didn’t realise we had to announce when we’d had enough. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, everyone.”
Shunsuke leaned forward across the table, a wicked smile on his face. “Backing out after only three rounds?”
Takuto looked taken aback. “Well, that’s three more than I would normally have had!” he laughed softly.
“Hey… was that a joke I just heard?” Niwa grinned triumphantly, clapping him on the back. “Always knew you had it in you! But who’d have thought it’d take alcohol to mellow you out?”
“Really, Niwa, he probably would be more, ah, ‘mellow’ if you weren’t so abrasive with him all the time,” sniped Saionji, before turning abruptly to Takuto, who looked vaguely confused at this interlude. “But it is nice to see you more relaxed around us,” Saionji concluded, kindly. He sat back and crossed his arms, indicating the end of the discussion. Niwa opened and shut his mouth a few times, but apparently decided not to get into an argument at that moment in time.
Meanwhile, a few others had been murmuring their agreement to Saionji’s statement, and Takuto glowed, quietly happy. Koji smiled too, pleased with this development.
Nakajima cleared his throat. “Are we ready to continue yet?” he asked, surveying the remaining participants. The next round of shots was already poured out, the clear liquid shimmering in the tiny glasses. Koji wondered idly why he was so impatient to carry on. Quite possibly it was because the effects on other people would be stronger if they had more alcohol in a shorter space of time. He’d better keep an eye on Nakajima - he didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him, and there could well be ulterior motives behind this ‘harmless’ game. Koji checked himself; since when had he turned into such a suspicious person? This contest was definitely bringing out the worst in him, paranoia-wise.
“Of course we are, now we’ve got rid of the straggler!” said Shunsuke, again unaware of the very high volume of his voice, his face rather pink now. Koji pointedly shot him a glare for his insensitivity, which did absolutely no good whatsoever, as he appeared not to register it, but gave Koji a lot of satisfaction.
“Just a minute, Nakajima. I don’t think I’ll be continuing either,” spoke up a voice that had, unusually for him, been fairly silent throughout the contest.
“Eh? Naruse, too?” Shunsuke squawked. Next to him, Keita winced at the noise.
Naruse beamed a winning smile around the table. “It’s just not really my thing. But of course, I’ll be sticking around to see who wins! I’m rooting for my honey, naturally!” He glanced across Shunsuke to where Keita, looking self-conscious and bashful, was hurriedly burying himself in conversation with Endo.
The glasses were passed out once again in quick succession and the participants drank. It was painfully obvious now who really needed to be taken out. Shunsuke first and foremost; Keita a close second. Koji didn’t really mind how much of an idiot they were making of themselves, it was more the horrible prospect of looking after vomiting, or at least very hung over, students for half the night and most of the next day. The others, he wasn’t so bothered about - they could take care of themselves.
As he was thinking this, he suddenly found himself being addressed for the first time in quite a while. Most of the others had forgotten he was there.
“Loosen up a little, Shinomiya. You’re creeping me out with your continual glaring!” Niwa said, attempting a joke.
At least Keita seemed to find it funny. In fact, he was finding most things hilarious at the moment, giggles punctuating much of what was said - a perfectly reasonable excuse for removing him from the contest. His eyes were too bright, and he also seemed to be having problems with balance, or spatial awareness, or something, as he had just toppled sideways off his chair onto Endo’s lap.
Surely under normal circumstances, he would at least be blushing by now? And attempting to move? But this new, alcohol-influenced Keita lay across Endo’s lap, gazing up at him with his huge doe-like eyes, a small smile upon his face. Endo didn’t seem that concerned, either, despite the fact that, now Keita had started to move, it was only so that he was sitting rather than lying on his lap. Endo, with a quizzical look at the boy on his lap, put his arms hesitantly around Keita, who beamed and snuggled closer.
Eight identically baffled faces watched this little display.
“Wha-?” A half-formed question died on somebody’s lips as Endo gave a rather nervous smile and started to speak.
“Well, this is a… slightly awkward way of us telling you,” he began, weakly, “But, yes, it is what it seems. Keita and I have been a couple for a few months, and…” He trailed off.
“And you didn’t know how to tell us?” suggested Takuto helpfully, in his gentle voice.
Endo nodded his gratitude, “Yes. We-” He was cut off, however, by Nakajima.
“Well, well. This is interesting,” said Nakajima, a wicked glint in his eye. “I never imagined something quite so,” he paused, looking for the right word, “’diverting’ being divulged in our little game. But surely there’s a certain person who might have something to say about this?”
All eyes followed his to Naruse, who was sitting, cool and collected, watching the scene unfold. He looked vaguely startled to have been put on the spot like this.
“Uh, yes. Looks like you won, Endo. Congratulations. Take care of him,” he stated absently, lacking his usual flair.
“What’s this? I would have thought you would have put up more of a fight than this?” Nakajima sounded almost disappointed.
“It seems as though someone hasn’t done their research,” observed Shichijo with interest.
“And what might you mean by that?”
“Maybe Itou-kun isn’t his ‘honey’ after all…”
---
This was really difficult to write, for no apparent reason as far as I can work out. It's not my favourite bit of writing I've ever done, but I'm hopefully now out of the writer's block!