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Kiss is a strong word though. It's more like mushing two random parts of their body together than anything romantic. Like touching fingertips or something, just more stuffy.
See, Baji never really thought about romance, and neither did Mikey. The two boys were more interested in throwing hands than holding them. Haru and Senju weren’t nearly as violent as them, but they were more than happy to play along when the opportunity for another wrestling match came up.
Their only exposure to romance was Shinichiro’s pathetic love life (or the lack of it) and whatever the hell he has going on with Wakasa. Baji knew that boys were supposed to like girls and that girls were supposed to like boys in a mushy way (ew). Problem is, the only girls Baji hung out with were his mom, Senju, and Emma.
Senju and Emma were girls but Senju was more like a boy than a girl, and yeah, Emma acted like a girl but Baji didn’t like- like her.
So no, Baji doesn’t think he likes girls.
Baji also knows, because of Wakasa, that boys can like boys too. And girls can like girls. He’s seen the way Wakasa looks at Shinichiro, and Baji’s mom has had a few girlfriends, even if they never worked out. Still, it was like looking at something happening in a movie or in a manga — Baji knows it’s a thing, but it’s not him , yeah? Boys, girls, whatever, he’s not gonna like-like anyone.
Besides, romance was for losers. Baji just ignored it whenever his classmates asked if he liked anyone.
Mikey, Haru, and Senju all thought the same.
The only person in their five-person group who was interested in dating was Emma, but she didn’t like just any boy because, in her words, “boys are gross.” Even the boys she liked didn’t escape that insult. (Girls are weird.)
That didn’t mean that the topic didn’t come up though.
It was just Baji and Mikey in the Sano family dojo that day. Grandpa Sano was in a different room, just a shout away, but the two boys were as alone as they could be. Shinichiro had bought them a bucket of fried chicken, a bribe so that they wouldn’t bother him for the next few hours while he was off on a date, but he didn’t check in with Takeomi to see if the younger Akashi siblings were coming. Mikey and Baji took full advantage of this.
One way or another, they started making fun of Shinichiro. It started with guessing where he was taking the girl, somehow leading into how he’d screw up bad enough for the girl to dump him.
“Poor Shin-nii,” Mikey snickered, not sympathetic at all. “If it’s not spilling coffee on her dress, then it’s telling her about his undying love for her when they’ve only gone on 2 dates.”
“Yeah, at this point, are we even sure he’s kissed someone?” Baji adds. “He’s so old already and the only thing he’s done is hold a girl’s hand.”
Mikey laughs, shoving more chicken into his mouth. “We’re going to have our first kiss before him at this point.”
“That’s so sad— Hands off!” Baji swats Mikey's wandering hands away from his portion, hissing at the other in warning. Mikey pouts.
“Shin-nii’s saving his kiss for ‘someone special’.”
“What’s so special about a kiss that it needs to be saved anyway?” Baji huffs, licking the oil off his hands.
Mikey shrugs. He gains a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Hey, Keisuke…”
Most of Mikey’s ideas are stupid so he's immediately on guard. “What?”
“You wanna try it?”
“Hah? Kissing?”
“Yeah, we can beat Shin-nii to it.”
Baji nibbles on the bare chicken bone, thinking it over. On one hand, he doesn’t really want to kiss Mikey. On the other hand, he doesn’t not want to kiss Mikey either. To kiss or not to kiss Mikey, that is the question.
“Come on, Keisuke,” Mikey’s Cheshire grin grows wider. He squats down in front of Baji, making him slightly taller than the sitting boy. “Just think about how funny it’d be when Shin-nii comes home and we’ve kissed sooner than him ! We’re younger AND we did it before he did.”
When Mikey puts it like that…
“Kay,” Baji grins back, on board to have something to hold over Shinichiro.
“Cool, I’m doing it now,” Mikey plops his bum down in between Baji’s legs, his legs fanning out to cage Baji’s hips. He squishes Baji’s face in between his hands and plants a loud kiss on his lips, complete with the obnoxious “Muah!” sound effect.
Baji waits a few seconds for some kind of feeling.
Mikey huffs after they've let the moment simmer enough. “Well, that was kinda lame.”
“Yeah, I don’t get the point.”
“Me neither! What’s Shin-nii even saving for?”
“Maybe we didn’t do it right?”
“Hmm… okay, let’s try again.”
Their lips press together again. It’s just as lame as the last one, but it tastes more like chicken now. Baji licks his lips, making a face.
“Your breath stinks, Mikey.”
“That’s not very nice, Keisuke.”
“Maybe you’re just a lame kisser— ow ow ow, oW!?”
Mikey pouts, his legs loosening their boa-constrictor hold over Baji’s stomach. Baji rubs the tender flesh of his torso where Mikey’s bony knees dug into them.
“Jesus Christ, Mikey!”
“You’re so rude, Keisuke! I bet Haru would treat me better than this!”
“Go kiss Haru then!”
“I will! Tomorrow! When he comes over.” Mikey clambers away from Baji, arms crossed. He grabs the remaining bits of Baji’s fried chicken and books it. “I’m taking this as an apology for calling me a bad kisser!”
“Oi, get back here, you asshole!” Baji howls, scrambling after the other boy.
By the time Shinichiro comes back home, Baji and Mikey have been thoroughly scolded by gramps for getting their greasy chicken-stained fingers over the furniture and the two of them have completely forgotten to brag about their kiss to Shinichiro.