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“Okaaaay, everyone kiss the birthday boy!”
“What in the world are you talking about?” Nanami asked calmly, leveling an even and unimpressed stare at Gojo. The other people around the table, at various stages of drunkenness, reacted a little more explosively.
“Oh my~” Mei Mei murmured from behind her drink. Nanami had lost count how many she’d had, but she was definitely ordering the most expensive one every time. As to be expected, since she only came after she heard that Gojo declared he’d pay for everyone’s order tonight as soon as the server let it slip that it was Nanami’s birthday.
That server. He’d come over to card everyone at the start of the night. Nanami still wasn’t sure why he accepted the invitation, probably because Shoko was the one who sent him the text. As soon as he saw Gojo grinning next to her, he should have just left.
But Ijichi was here too, and Nanami liked his company well enough. And it was rare for Utahime to be in town, let alone go to any gathering that Gojo was at. She also probably only came for Shoko, who was well into drunk territory now. So he sat down against his better judgement, and was now paying for it.
“It’s simple! If you don’t have a gift for Nanamin, ya gotta give him a kiss before we leave!” Gojo’s smug look was sure to set off Utahime, who was already winding up after her fifth beer. “We can’t let him leave with nothing, it’s his birthday!”
“A fact you did not know when you planned this, so I don’t see why it’s relevant now,” Nanami sighed.
“Actually, er, I did bring a gift for Nanami,” Ijichi said, raising his hand slightly. He was nice enough, but always seemed so nervous. Probably because Nanami had mostly run into him when Gojo was there too after they all graduated. The natural reactions to Gojo Satoru were either anxiety or anger.
“Oh, is that what was in this bag?” Gojo said, holding up a simple small gift bag. Ijichi looked panicked.
“Give that back!” he nearly yelled as Shoko leaned over to peer into it too. Ijichi snatched the bag successfully as Gojo just leaned back in his chair. “I thought that’s why you were organizing this in the first place!”
“Hm? Oh, no, totally a coincidence! It’s just been a while since we all hung out like this, and I happened to have a free night.” So Gojo had gotten Shoko to invite everyone, because he knew they’d be more likely to show. Annoyingly clever, and clearly effective. “But now that I do know, we gotta do right by our friend!”
“Don’t call me that,” Nanami murmured, taking a sip of his drink. Gojo chuckled.
“Well, I didn’t get you anything,” Shoko said with an uncoordinated shrug. She was sitting between Nanami and Gojo, and leaned forward quickly for an exaggerated and loud closed-mouthed kiss on the lips. “Happy birthday, Nanami!” she declared, raising her glass in a toast. Gojo started fully laughing.
Utahime looked like she was blushing, but that might have been the alcohol. Mei-Mei smirked and took another sip. Ijichi’s mouth had fallen open in shock. Shoko had already shifted her attention to flagging down the server for another round. Gojo had finally stopped wheezing with laughter and was regarding Nanami curiously with a smirk.
“Thank you, Shoko,” Nanami said impassively. It wasn’t a particularly intense kiss, so it seemed easier to just go with it. Especially as he wasn’t sure Shoko would remember it the next morning anyway.
Across the table, Utahime muttered, “I’m not kissing you.” So it was a blush. She seemed more attuned to Shoko than Nanami, though.
“That’s perfectly fine,” Nanami said with a shrug. He didn’t know Utahime very well anyway, so he would have been surprised if she participated.
“Utahime, you’re no fun,” Gojo said with a pout.
“You want a show so bad, you kiss him!” she snapped back on instinct. Then she locked eyes with Nanami and softened. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” Nanami assured.
“Wait wait wait,” Ijichi said quickly, gripping the gift bag a little harder, “you’re actually ok with this? With the whole hare-brained kiss idea?”
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was that he was turning twenty one, and was about to start a cushy corporate job and he wanted to celebrate a little. Maybe it was that he hadn’t actually celebrated a birthday in years. And maybe it was the fact that all his friends were undeniably attractive, so there were worse ways he could think of to celebrate.
Maybe it’s that he hasn’t had a kiss of any sort in years, too.
No matter the reason, Nanami just nodded and said flatly, “it seems easier to just go with it at this point in the night.”
“Attaboy!” Gojo said and slapped him on the back, nearly spilling his drink. “Mei-Mei? How about it?”
“I don’t think he could afford my kisses,” Mei-Mei said with a smirk from the other side of Nanami. “But since it is your birthday, I suppose I can make an exception.”
Shoko had gotten up to stumble over to the bar and get another drink faster than trying to flag down the server. Gojo took this opportunity to slide himself over next to Nanami, and patted him excitedly on the shoulders. “Oooooh, you’re lucky Nanamin, even I haven’t gotten a kiss from Mei-Mei before!”
“That’s because I know you can afford it,” Mei-Mei said with a wink. “So the ball’s in your court, Gojo.”
Gojo put a hand to his cheek in mock bashfulness behind Nanami’s shoulder. “Oh, I bet you say that to all the good-looking rich boys.”
“I do,” Mei-Mei confirmed, leaning forward and focusing her attention on Nanami now. Her kiss was soft at first, a little surprising. Her fingertips caressed Nanami’s cheek, tracing the sharp cheekbone, and just as Nanami’s lips parted slightly to deepen the kiss, she broke it and leaned back with a smirk. Her thumb ran over his cheekbone once more, and she adjusted back to her seat. “Once you get to the executive level with that new job of yours, you should give me a call.”
“O-ho-hoooo!” Gojo jeered in Nanami’s ear. Nanami hit him in the face with a folded napkin without looking. “Seems like she likes you, Nanamin~”
“A girl never reveals her secrets,” Mei-Mei said with a smirk. “Happy birthday.”
Nanami gave the smallest of throat clears. “Thank you.” He was trying his best to remain seemingly unaffected, but the way that Gojo was leering hinted that maybe that was a fight he was starting to lose.
“Ijichi?” Gojo said, turning to the man across the table. Utahime had also gotten up at some point during Mei-Mei’s kiss, probably to go find Shoko. “How about it, huh?”
Ijichi looked like a deer in the headlights, his face beet red. Definitely not just from the alcohol. “Y-you’re the one next to him!” he blurted out in a panic.
“Hm? But my gift is that I’m paying for his drinks.” Gojo pointed at the nearly finished glass in Nanami’s hand. “Oh, but you also got him a gift, right!” He reached across the table and snatched the gift back from Ijichi’s hands again, handing it over to Nanami. “So I guess you’re off the hook!”
“I guess,” Ijichi murmured, somehow turning even redder. “You don’t have to open it now,” he said nervously. “It’s just a tie, nothing big.”
“I see,” Nanami said slowly, putting the bag on the table next to his glass. “Thank you, Ijichi.”
“Just a little thing to remember us by at your new job,” Ijichi explained, rubbing the base of his neck absently. “Anyway, I gotta head in, it’s getting late.”
“I also have a previous engagement,” Mei-Mei said, finishing her drink. She slipped a business card to Nanami as she stood up from her seat. He took it quickly and as subtly as he was able to with Gojo staring at the exchange, and stuck it in the gift bag.
“We have to go too,” Utahime said, appearing with Shoko leaning on her shoulders. “She hit her limit, finally.”
Gojo blinked. “But it’s so early!”
“I’ve had enough of you for a year,” Utahime said through gritted teeth. Gojo grinned.
“Alright, see you again in a year, then.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Utahime yelled, and then took a deep breath to calm herself as Shoko giggled from her shoulder. “Anyway, Nanami, I took care of your drinks for the night. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” Nanami nodded in appreciation.
Utahime glanced at Gojo. “You’re still paying for mine and Shoko’s, though,” she said with finality, and started to lead Shoko towards the exit without waiting for a response.
“Heh. Well, guess I gotta go settle up,” Gojo mused. “It’s your bedtime soon anyway, right, old man?”
“My preferred bedtime was an hour ago,” Nanami informed him. Gojo laughed.
“I’d say staying up a little late to get that kiss from Mei-Mei was worth it! I could feel your blush from all the way over here.”
“Jealous?” Nanami poked. He was still feeling the pleasant buzz of the alcohol. Gojo gave him a glance he didn’t care enough to try and decipher.
“Sure! But maybe I can get her to kiss me on my birthday…” Gojo made to stand up, and Nanami grabbed a fistful of the front of his shift, keeping him in the chair. “What’s up?”
“Utahime paid for my drinks.” Nanami would later blame the alcohol for this half-hearted attempt to tease Gojo, or rile him up, or just that he’d always been a little curious how the Gojo Satoru kissed.
“Yeah, I know, but I still gotta pay for the rest of them-”
“-that means you don’t have a gift for me.”
Something clicked in Gojo’s brain and he smirked that annoying confident smirk he reserved for when he knew he was getting to someone. “Oh? You tellin’ me you want a kiss?”
“This entire thing was your idea,” Nanami said simply. “And you’re not going to go through with it?” Gojo narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to read Nanami. Nanami released his shirt. “You don’t have to. I’m joking.”
“You’re not.”
“Maybe I’m not,” Nanami admitted with a shrug.
Gojo chuckled. “I knew you had a crush on me!”
Nanami rolled his eyes. “Do you ever just shut up?”
Gojo looked off to the distance in thought, and then replied in an uncharacteristically serious voice, “only when I have a dick in my mouth.”
Nanami raised one eyebrow, noticing how close Gojo was to laughing at his own joke. “Hm,” was all Nanami said in response, and without a funny reaction to play off of, Gojo moved on.
“You’re right. It would be hypocritical of me to not kiss you!” Gojo turned in his seat, putting his hands on either side of Nanami’s face and starting to squish his cheeks a little.
Nanami raised his hand and grabbed one of Gojo’s wrists. “Don’t just do this as a joke,” he warned.
Gojo faltered, blinking twice behind his oval sunglasses. The pressure against Nanami’s cheeks lessened, but his hands were still cupping Nanami’s face. Gojo leaned forward until their foreheads touched lightly. “Right,” he said softly. Nanami could feel his lips get closer as their foreheads disconnected. “Happy birthday, Nanami,” he said softly, pressing their parted lips together. It started surprisingly gentle, a bit of soft pressure and then an invitation for Nanami to come in a little stronger. It was not what Nanami expected, given Gojo’s brazen and aggressive personality. It was almost sweet. No, not almost, it was sweet. It was Gojo Satoru offering himself, gently, rather than commanding attention. Nanami pushed into the kiss and was met with an eager and muffled sound as Gojo’s hands on his cheeks relaxed even more. Nanami’s hand moved from Gojo’s wrist to the back of Gojo’s head, pushing them into an even deeper kiss. It felt like he could just devour Gojo entirely, in a way he never would have imagined was possible. It was making his head start to spin.
It was that sensation, of knowing he wanted more of this, that caused Nanami to break the kiss. Gojo’s glasses had slipped a little, and his eyes, that brilliant blue, seemed just a bit unfocused as they took some deep, near-panting breaths together. “Thank you,” Nanami whispered softly, “Satoru.”
Gojo let out a low whistle in response, leaning back and straightening his glasses again. “Kissing me like that and using my first name? You trying to take me home tonight?”
“No,” Nanami answered bluntly. Gojo deflated a little, almost imperceptible if you weren’t looking for it. “Not tonight, anyway.”
“So you’re just gonna get me all riled up and then do nothing?” Gojo teased with a pout.
“Yes. I’m not sober enough to be a brat tamer tonight for someone like you.”
“Pft, there’s no one like me,” Gojo scoffed, but Nanami did not miss the way the tips of his ears turned a little pink. “Raincheck, then?”
Nanami considered this. “Maybe,” he conceded.
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises tonight,” Gojo said with a genuine smile. It’s been a while since Nanami saw that expression on his face.
“So are you,” Nanami said, standing up to leave. “I wouldn’t have guessed that Gojo Satoru was a bottom.”
Gojo fully blushed at that, not just the tips of his ears. Nanami smirked.
“Thanks for this, Gojo,” he gestured to the table full of empty glasses and plates. Maybe celebrating his birthdays again wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He might even do it again next year.