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Shin is sober enough to know that kissing Yankumi isn't a good idea; he's drunk enough that he doesn't care. She's all loose limbs and wide smiles at his side. Her elbow bumps against Shin's every time she takes a draw from her can. She's grown careless over the hours, and her lips are wet with beer.
The quick dart of Yankumi's tongue over her lower lips makes Shin's grip on his empty can tighten. "What kind of a role model is this?" Shin says, pointing to the beer cans clustered around Yankumi's feet.
Yankumi sighs gustily, and another empty can joins her impressive collection. "Sawada, it's a hard truth, but to succeed in today's world, a man must know how to handle his drink. It's unbecoming to overindulge, but the bond between men grows deeper and stronger as they join in drink and song after a long day's hard work!"
"It's disturbing to hear you talk about the bond between men," Shin says. He sets his can down next to Yankumi's. His head feels fuzzy, and Shin hasn't had half as many drinks as Yankumi.
Shin isn't a stupid drunk--not like his idiot friends, brawling, and bawling, and passed out around the Ooedo compound's courtyard--so he doesn't tug on Yankumi's pigtail until she turns to face him; doesn't slide his hand to the nape of her neck and bring their mouths together when she does.
He doesn't think that Yankumi would break his nose. He's not as sure as he'd like to be: Yankumi isn't precisely sober, either.
Shin wishes, suddenly, that he'd been kinder to all of the girls who had confessed to him over the years.
"Yankumi," Shin says.
"Eh?" Yankumi says, distracted by Minami's shout as Kuma grabs him in a headlock. "Sloppy form," she says. "Put your heart into it, Kuma! Don't attack halfheartedly! Be a man!"
Minami gestures at her rudely from across the courtyard. His face his turning red.
"Kumiko," Shin says.
Yankumi blinks at him owlishly from behind the smudged lenses of her glasses. "Brat," she says, "don't be so forward."
Yankumi's jacket has long since been discarded. Shin curls his hand around her elbow, feels her surprise radiate outwards from the point of contact. Yankumi's arm tenses, and relaxes.
Shin's not a stupid drunk, but he's learned that sometimes the only way to win is to put everything on the line. "What would you do, Kumiko," Shin says, "if I kissed you right now?"
He's close enough to feel the heat of her blush.
"Sawada," she says.
"Shin," he corrects her.
"Sawada," Yankumi says. "You're drunk."
"Only a little," Shin promises. Yankumi's eyes widen in alarm when Shin leans in closer. He can feel her breath, short and fast, against his skin. "What would you do, right now?" Shin asks.
Yankumi yanks her arm free of Shin's grip, and falls off the step they're sharing. "Sawada!" she says. "I'd thought better of you! To drunkenly toy with a beautiful young woman's emotions is one of the most shameful acts a good man can commit! To take advantage of my current condition--even in jest!--is despicable! You're an intelligent, handsome young man who shouldn't need to fall back on such base trickery and manipulation!"
Shin leans over the edge of the step and looks down at Yankumi's outraged face. "Okay," Shin says agreeably. "What about tomorrow?"
Yankumi gapes at him.
"Tomorrow, when I'm hungover and miserable, and not at all drunk," Shin says. "Would you believe me then?"
"I don't understand!" Yankumi says. "You? Sawada? What?"
"You should learn to handle your drink better," Shin tells her.
Yankumi doesn't break his nose, but it's a near thing.