Fic: The Camera Eye: Past is Prologue [Junji x Mahiro, NC-17]
Title: The Camera Eye: Past is Prologue
Chapter: Forty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, teasing
Pairing: Junji x Mahiro (Kiryu)
Disclaimer: Kiryu belongs to BP Records, I own the story only.
Summary: Mahiro’s win of a JAVA award brings back his memories of his first time at the awards podium, which led to an education in the not-so-nice side of the industry.
Notes: Sections of the story that take place in the present are in italics, the flashbacks are in normal type. The Kiryu characters are wearing the Amaterasu costumes - complete with the umbrellas - in the awards ceremony scene.
Mahiro was leaning over, looking at the bookcase he and Junji had at one end of their living room.
He had to find space for two more JAVA Awards among all the books, CDs, video games, electronics and framed photos. It wasn’t going to be an easy task. When two guys move in together - as he and Junji had recently done - they brought two lifetimes of stuff along with them.
It’s just that most new homeowners weren’t looking to add two trophies for Best Two-Person Sex Scene to the accumulation.
“Any luck, babe?” Junji said, coming out of the kitchen with a glass in his hand.
“I just have to move a few things,” Mahiro said. “Like, maybe this picture can get hung on the wall instead, and . . .”
He shuffled items around on the shelf, and then his eyes fell on the item that was front and center. A stylized sculpture of two men embracing, its engraved base reading, “BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 2014 - MAHIRO - A MIRROR FOR THE MODERN MAN.”
His first JAVA Award. The thing he should be completely happy about, which should have represented the pinnacle of his career. And yet . . .
He felt his jaw tighten, the way he always did when those memories came flooding back.
* * *
Kiryu Video - the indie porn company that Mahiro and Junji called home - had been affiliated with industry bigwigs Hard Candy Productions for about three months when he got summoned to the boss’ office.
At first, they’d been skeptical about the deal - but it had worked out in their favor. The first video they’d made for the company had a much higher budget than the stuff they’d done when they were truly indie, and their new overlords had left them alone as far as the creative process was concerned.
And there had been promises of using the actors in actual, big-budget (well, at least for porn) Hard Candy videos - which had come to nothing. That is, until now.
When Mahiro walked into the office, he saw the Hard Candy boss and Kobe Hiroki, one of their directors (who just went by the name Kobe onscreen). “Come in, Mahiro,” the boss said. “Sit down.”
“Hello, sir,” Mahiro said, bowing respectfully. “And to you too, Kobe-san.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kobe said, bowing back.
“Mahiro, we have a deal for you,” the boss said. “Kobe-san has been very impressed with the video you just put out for us. He would like to offer you a role in his next production.”
“Really?” Mahiro said. “Just me - not the rest of us?”
“It’s you we’re interested in casting right now,” said the boss. “And it’s something you’ll want to take.”
“It’s called A Mirror for the Modern Man,” Kobe said. “It’s a film made up of several vignettes, each with different actors, each based on The Great Mirror of Male Love.”
Mahiro nodded - he was familiar with the name. It was a literary work of the 17th century, featuring erotic love stories about samurai and Kabuki actors. It certainly was in keeping with his company’s tradition of “Kabuki Porn.”
“There’s a twist, though,” the director said. “The stories are transposed to modern times. Instead of a samurai and his apprentice, we have a veteran cop and his rookie partner. Instead of a kabuki actor and his patron, we have an actor in historical TV dramas and his manager. That last one is the vignette I want you for. I want you to play the actor.”
“Can I see the script first?” Mahiro said.
“By all means,” said Kobe. “But I think you’ll be impressed. It was written by a mainstream TV screenwriter under a pseudonym. He did this as a labor of love. He thinks there’s a real need for quality gay erotica. And I will introduce you to the man playing your manager ahead of time and let you get to know each other, so you’ll be comfortable with the sex scenes.”
Mahiro thought a moment. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of being cast in this thing without his co-stars at Kiryu Video - they did everything as a group. They even came up with stories for videos as a committee.
But doing this video might bring them more visibility as a group. It might get more people to buy their own product. So - it would really be for the benefit of all of them, wouldn’t it?
“Well?” said Kobe.
Mahiro sat quietly for a moment. Yes, this was for the benefit of all of them, wasn’t it? And if he did well, they’d probably offer role in Hard Candy productions to his friends as well.
He looked at the director and smiled. “All right,” he said. “Thank you for the opportunity - I’ll read the script, and if I like it? I’ll take it.”
* * *
Junji strolled up behind Mahiro - and got a glimpse of what his lover was looking at.
“Oh,” he said. “That.”
“You’d think I’d be happy about it, right?” Mahiro said. “You think I’d look at it and feel proud of myself, but . . .”
He took the award down and turned it over in his hands. He really had been happy and proud when he’d been on that stage, when they’d put it in his hands. And then . . .
* * *
Mahiro was on his last day of shooting his part when he saw a tall blond man with vaguely Western features stroll onto the set, casually.
“Who’s he?” he asked his director. “I’ve never seen him here before. He isn’t in the last scene - is he?”
“No, he’s not,” said Kobe. “He’s in the next vignette we’re shooting. He’s . . .” He glimpsed around, and whispered to Mahiro, “Come into the break room with me.”
Mahiro looked puzzled, but followed the director anyway. They were shooting in a studio rented from a “real” TV studio, so there was an actual break room, filled with a table and chairs and vending machines, down the hall.
Once they were in it, Kobe shut the door. “He’s called JiJi,” he said. “He’s playing the rookie cop in the longest segment of the video.”
“He doesn’t really look like a rookie,” Mahiro said.
“You know that, and I know that,” the director said. “The boss made me cast him. He said if I didn’t put JiJi in the starring part, he’d pull the funding for the whole project.”
“Why?” Mahiro said.
Kobe let out a sound somewhere between a chortle and a snort and a ran a hand over his hair. “You must not have that kind of thing go on in the horror industry,” he said. “JiJi is the boss’ boy toy. They’re using each other. The boss is flaunting JiJi around to make himself look young and studly, and JiJi is counting on the boss to make him a star. Which the boss is doing. This is the third production he’s forced him into.”
Mahiro didn’t know why he was surprised to hear of such a thing. He should have known it would go down like that in porn - though Kobe was right that things like that didn’t happen in the horror industry where his roots were. And it certainly didn’t happen in Kiryu Video, where everything was on the level.
It just sounded, well, sleazy.
“Is he any good, at least?” he said.
“Mediocre,” said Kobe. “We’re doing what we can with him.” After a pause, he said. “I can tell you one thing - when awards season comes, he’s going to try to get that guy a JAVA.”
“But don’t they only give them to porn stars who can, you know, act?”
“Officially. But there’s people who find ways to tip the odds in their favor.”
“You mean, pay people off?”
Kobe shook his head. “That’s illegal. If he gets caught, it will end his career. But bribes in the form of gifts and favors? All fair game. The question is whether enough association members take the bait - or if they reject it and vote for someone with real talent.”
Mahiro suddenly felt a bit disgusted. He’d loved everyone he met through Kiryu Video, and Kobe had really impressed him as well - but he was suddenly not feeling very positive about the company who were their new sponsors. Not very positive at all.
I can’t let this affect my performance, he thought. I just have to get out there and do the best that I can, and forget about the corruption.
He knew he was going to have a hard time looking their patron in the eye from now on, though.
* * *
“It started out as a great night, didn’t it?” Mahiro said.
“It started out as a fantastic night,” Junji said. “Hell, the excitement started when you got the nomination. I remember how everyone jumped around and high-fived you.”
“I didn’t think anything at first of the fact that I was competing head-to-head against JiJi,” Mahiro said. “I kind of forgot about what Kobe said about the vote-fixing in the excitement.” (Reality set in later, though, when he remembered Kobe’s words on the set - but still, being nominated was still exciting. He wasn’t even expecting that much.)
“I’ll bet the boss had a fit when he found out his boy toy wasn’t nominated as Best Actor,” Junji said, putting his hands on Mahiro’s shoulders and gently massaging them.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Mahiro said, dryly.
Because A Mirror For The Modern Man was a vignette video, and none of the performances were feature-length, JAVA rules stated that anyone nominated from the video had to go in the Supporting Actor category - which is why he and JiJi both ended up there, even though JiJi was being marketed as the video’s “star.”
“At least you impressed people on the red carpet,” Junji said. “You played it like a pro. Nobody would know it was your first time on one.”
* * *
Upon arrival at the ceremony, Mahiro found himself trying very hard to conceal the fact that he was feeling a little overwhelmed.
He wasn’t thinking much about that actual award - not when he found himself posing for photographers, both alone and with his co-stars, sometimes opening the paper umbrella he’d brought with him as a prop (purple, to match his kimono-based outfit). When the press wasn’t shooting pictures, they were asking him questions.
“What do you prefer - the ‘kabuki porn’ you do with Kiryu Video, or more modern settings like the video you’re nominated for?” one blogger asked.
“I don’t think you can really prefer one type over the other,” Mahiro said. “My favorite video is always the one I’m shooting at the moment.”
“How do you feel about competing against your own co-star for the award?”
“There’s a lot of great talent in that category,” Mahiro said. “It’s anyone’s game. I’m just flattered to even be included among them.”
“Thank you,” the blogger said and moved away. Mahiro took a deep breath. He was beginning to wish he’d brought a fan as a prop instead of an umbrella. He could use it right now - even though it was the winter.
A short distance away from him, a blond in a black leather outfit was saying to his companion - a tall young man with half-blond, half-black hair - “Did you see that? Did you SEE that Geisha Boy? They were all taking pictures of my outfit - and the minute he arrived, they all flocked over to him!”
“Koichi, we’re newbies,” his companion said to him. “He’s a nominee. We’ve only put out a few videos. Just be glad that anyone took your picture!”
“I’m going to make sure my outfit gets more attention next year,” the blond said as he and his companion walked past Mahiro. “I think I’m going to dye my hair pink.”
Junji leaned on Mahiro’s shoulder. “You’re off the hook,” he said. “PSC Productions just arrived. That means Aoi. They’ll all go over to him now.”
Mahiro glanced across the red carpet to see a group of people in black leather outfits alight from a row of vans and cars. Sure enough, the biggest superstar in the industry was among them, blowing kisses to the crowd and waving.
If JiJi did get nominated for Best Actor, he thought, he’d have to compete against that guy. He’d lose for sure - even with the bribes.
“Where did the others go?” Mahiro said.
“They went indoors,” Junji said. “We might as well go in there, too. We can get a drink before the ceremony starts.”
They headed toward the hotel, as the press continued to throng around the PSC Productions group. Mahiro passed his boss, who had his arm around JiJi, talking softly to him.
I just wonder if that bribe is going to go through, he thought. I hope someone from another company wins.
As they entered the main ballroom, they passed a short man with shoulder-length auburn curls, dressed in a very revealing outfit that seemed to be made of black feather boas. “Why are we at this corporate whore show anyway?” he said to his companion, a taller man with ice-blond hair.
“Our boss told us it was important to make contacts, love, remember?” the companion said.
“With Hard Candy? Adonis? The hell with that.”
“It can’t hurt.”
“Yo-ka, we’ve stayed with Eros because we thought we could avoid that kind of shit, remember? Next thing you know, they’ll be signing us up for some kind of deal like Kiryu Video has. Well, I’ll show them. I’m going to look as un-corporate as possible. I’m going to straighten my hair and dye it pink!”
There’s about to be a run on pink hair dye in the industry, Mahiro thought as they made their way to their table. He was glad to be content with his basic black.
* * *
“You got really bored and fidgety during the ceremony,” Junji said, leaning his head over Mahiro’s shoulder. “Even more bored and fidgety than you were this year.”
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Mahiro said. “I didn’t think there would be so many awards.” He winced. “And so much terrible humor.”
“The hosts they get are always awful, aren’t they?” Junji said.
“I think I was half-asleep by the time my category was called,” said Mahiro. “And I wasn’t expecting to win, anyway.”
* * *
The previous year’s winner of Best Supporting Actor took the stage to thunderous applause. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you! Wow, a lot of new faces here. Looks like we’ve got a lot of people eager to get into the industry! Hey, why not? Good pay and lots of sex, right?” The crowd cheered.
“Okay, time for me to get down to business. Here’s the nominees for Best Supporting Actor.” He began to read the names - there was one from Adonis, one from PSC Productions, one from another Hard Candy production, Mahiro and JiJi - and when the boy toy’s name was called, JiJi smiled and waved, looking every inch the golden boy who had it in the bag.
The whole room seemed to expect it, too. So an audible gasp went up when the presenter called out instead, “Mahiro, A Mirror for the Modern Man, Hard Candy!” Then the crowd roared in approval - and Mahiro found himself heading up to the podium.
Good Lord. He’d gotten an award. Not just any award - one of the two acting honors, the most coveted prizes in the business. He suddenly felt like he’d overcome his earlier career struggles, the stalled horror career, the being told that he was too short to be a hero.
Not to mention his talent having overcome industry corruption.
He grasped the trophy and said, “I don’t know what to say. I really don’t. This is a thrill beyond belief.” He found himself thanking Kobe for being such a great director, Hard Candy for giving him a shot in a major video, his friends at Kiryu Video (named one by one) . . .
Finally, he said, “Thank you!” and rushed back to his seat - but froze before he got there. He saw JiJi get up out of his seat and take off toward the back of the room, the boss going after him . . . but before he did, the boss turned around and glared daggers at Mahiro.
If looks could kill, Mahiro would have been on the floor, as bloody as he was in his old horror films.
* * *
“That bastard tried to ruin your moment,” Junji said, gently rubbing Mahiro’s shoulders again.
“Tried, but he didn’t succeed,” said Mahiro. “At least, not at first. I sat down at the table, and everyone was congratulating me, and it was pretty much everything I’d dreamed about ever since I first got into acting.” He touched the award, gently, remembering that moment, everything that piece of metal and wood had meant to him.
And then had come the afterparty, and his lesson in the harsher side of the business.
* * *
He’d breezed through the press conference, and was now in the afterparty, being introduced to people from other companies, having his picture taken (a few times with Aoi, who’d won Best Actor that night - and wasn’t that a huge honor?) and giving a few more quotes. He put his award down on their table and got his umbrella, since one photographer wanted a shot of his “geisha look.”
Once that guy was done, Mahiro was looking forward to getting a drink and a few minutes’ peace, and headed for the bar, umbrella still in hand, passing a doorway . . .
A hand came out of the doorway and yanked him into the hall. Before he had the time to respond, he was propelled out a side door and into the alley - where he found himself facing a very, very angry boss of Hard Candy.
“You little fucking bastard,” the boss snarled. “You STOLE his award! It was Jiji’s award, and you STOLE it!”
Mahiro just stood there, frozen. What the fuck was happening? He’d been kidnapped from the party - by his own boss - and then accused of . . .
“I didn’t steal it!” he said. “They gave it to me!”
“Bullshit they did!” the boss yelled. “It was going to JiJi! I had EVERY assurance it was going to JiJi! And they called YOUR name instead!” He grabbed the front of Mahiro’s lovely kimono, crumpled it in a ball and slammed the star’s back against the brick wall. The umbrella he’d still been holding clattered to the ground. “How did you do it, huh? How many guys did you have to FUCK to fix the voting?”
“I didn’t!” Mahiro said. “I did nothing! I don’t even know who votes for these awards! Even if I did, I wouldn’t fix it!”
“You think you’re such hot fucking shit just because you’re a REAL actor, don’t you?” the boss said. “You and your fucking spook films? You ain’t SHIT! You’re not a star! You’re just a fucking shrimp who . . .”
He suddenly stopped, snatched Mahiro’s umbrella off the ground and broke the bamboo stem over his knee. He shoved the ragged, sharp piece toward the cringing actor, who tried to duck out of its way . . .
And then, a voice was yelling the boss’ name, and a hand was grabbing his wrist. It was Kobe.
“That’s enough,” he said. “You’re drunk and you’re upset. Leave the boy alone.”
The boss dropped the broken umbrella and staggered backward. “He stole the award!” he said. “It was my boy’s award, and he stole it . . .”
“Why do you think it was your boy’s award?” Kobe said.
“It was. It just WAS.” The boss punched the wall next to Mahiro’s head, and he jumped.
“Did you bribe the Association members again?” Kobe’s face was a stoic mask.
“Define ‘bribe!’” the boss snarled.
Kobe sighed. “I’m going to let this drop for now - if you promise you’re not going to interfere with this boy’s career in the future. If you deliberately under-distribute Kiryu Video’s product, or you don’t publicize them, I’m going to Sparxxx and make sure to spill every little bit of this - including the bribes. And I KNOW you did it, and you’ve done it before. Now step aside. Go back to your boy toy, and I’m taking Mahiro back to his friends. And you owe him a new purple paper umbrella.”
The director took Mahiro’s arm, leading him back into the hotel. Mahiro just followed, feeling numb.
“Are you all right?” Kobe said.
Mahiro nodded. He was all right physically, at least.
“That bastard’s got a history of bribing people to advance his latest plaything’s career,” Kobe said. “I can tell you right now he promised big gifts to several key voters - but they didn’t fall for it. They voted for who should have won, and that’s you. You were brilliant, Mahiro - and don’t let him or anyone else tell you otherwise.”
“How did you know I was out there?” he said.
“One of your friends saw it happen,” said Kobe. “The boy who’s wearing blue. He came and got me right away - he’s very worried.”
“Kobe-san - why did you let him go? Why didn’t . . . why couldn’t you call the cops out on him? I mean, they could arrest him for assault, couldn’t they?”
Kobe paused in the hall outside the party, turned around and looked at the actor. His face bore a cynical expression.
“The whole company is heavily backed by the Yakuza. The heads of it are all Teflon-coated because of that. If I called the cops? They’d just let it slide - because they know.”
Mahiro just nodded quietly. He’d heard many times about the realities of that - the Yakuza frequently had the cops in their pockets.
As they walked back into the room, they were instantly surrounded by his friends. “Are you all right?” Takemasa said, grabbing Mahiro’s hand and squeezing it.
“What happened?” Hiyori grabbed the other hand. “He didn’t hurt you - did he?”
“No,” Mahiro said. “Just broke my umbrella.” He smiled ruefully. “I liked that umbrella, too.”
“This is the bastard we’re working for?” Mitsuki said. “I say we get out of the contract!”
“We can’t,” Takemasa said. “Not for two years. But as soon as it’s up? We’re going to ask our bosses” - meaning, the bosses of Kiryu, not Hard Candy - “to get us another deal.”
“Yeah, but if this gets out?” Mitsuki said. “Junji can’t be the only person who saw him get grabbed!”
“Everyone else was too into the booze and trying to impress the press,” said Hiyori.
“Or hitting on each other,” said Takemasa. “And a lot of them were at the bar in the back of the room - like us.”
“How are you really feeling?” Junji said, putting a hand on Mahiro’s shoulder. “Do you need to go somewhere quiet?”
Junji knew him too well. He just wanted to get away from this atmosphere. It didn’t feel like a celebration to him anymore. He closed his eyes. “I want to get out of this party,” he said.
“I can take him back to my place,” Junji told the others. “It’s not far from here.”
“You don’t have to,” said Mahiro.
“I want to,” said Junji. He went over to their table and collected Mahiro’s award. “Besides, after this shit? I don’t feel like staying at this party, either.” He looked at their other friends. “You guys just have a good time. I’ll message you.”
“I don’t think we’re staying much longer, either,” Mitsuki said. “This party’s kind of ruined.”
Hiyori leaned over and hugged Mahiro. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m fine.” Well, not really - but he wasn’t going to scare Hiyori any more than he already was.
As he and Junji left the hotel, he avoided looking at the award that was now in his friend’s hand. It was no longer a glittering prize. It was a reminder of how he’d now seen the dark side of an industry that was supposed to be his new loving, welcoming home.
* * *
“How were you really feeling when we left?” Junji said.
“At that point? Just sort of numb,” said Mahiro. “I just couldn’t believe that it happened. A huge high to a huge low, that fast . . .”
“I was worried about you,” said Junji. “Which is exactly why I brought you to my place. I figured you needed to be somewhere quiet, and to talk.” He covered Mahiro’s hand with his. “Of course, I didn’t know what it was going to lead to.”
* * *
Mahiro sat on Junji’s couch, toying with the glass of whiskey he’d been handed. “Good thing I still have a bottle,” Junji said, sitting next to him. “It was a birthday present from a friend back home - I hadn’t opened it yet.”
The smaller man took a sizeable sip of the amber liquid. It burned his mouth and throat, but he almost welcomed it. It was something real in the midst of the horrid, surreal mess the evening had become.
“Thank you,” he said. “I sort of needed this.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Junji said. “What happened, I mean. Not the whiskey. Well, you can talk about the whiskey if you want.”
“I just can’t believe that bastard did that,” Mahiro said, before taking another sip.
“Tried to fix the awards, you mean? Good thing he didn’t get away with it.”
“That, and . . .” Mahiro took another drink. “Just the way he came at me like some kind of raging animal. You’d never know he was in charge of a company. It was like getting mugged in an alley.”
“I’m just glad I saw him grab you,” Junji said, pouring out a glass of his own. “If I hadn’t . . .”
“I’m not going to think about it,” Mahiro said. “I don’t want to deal with him directly ever again. Let him go through our boss.” He looked down into the glass. “There was never anybody like that in the horror industry. Never.”
“They were all nice people, huh?” Junji said. “Never know it from the films they make, but hey.”
“They were to some extent,” Mahiro said. “Until they started telling me I was too short to be a hero.”
“Really?” Junji leaned forward. “They SAID that to you?”
“It’s why I left horror and came to porn,” Mahiro said. “My career stalled, I asked why, and I was told I was too short to play leads. Over here, on this side of the business, nobody said that to me. Everyone treated me with respect. I was really starting to feel comfortable.”
“You’re comfortable with us, aren’t you?” Junji said.
Mahiro took another drink. “You guys have been terrific. I couldn’t ask for a better group of co-stars. Everyone I worked with on Mirror was wonderful, too - especially Kobe. He’s a fabulous director. But after tonight, I don’t know anymore.”
“It’s just one bastard,” Junji said. “Don’t let him affect your view of the whole industry. You’ve got people behind you who’ve got your back. Me, especially. If anyone tries to do anything like that to you again, I’ll take him out myself!”
“You would?” Mahiro was fully halfway through the glass now. Well, damn, this was a first for him. He didn’t usually drink whiskey without a mixer. There were all kinds of firsts tonight. Never been on a red carpet before, never won an award before, never been assaulted outside a hotel by a crazed video executive before . . .
“Damn right I would!” Junji said. “He looks like a pushover! I’ll bet I could knock him out with one punch!”
“Don’t ruin your hands,” Mahiro said. “You need them for other things.” He looked down into his drink. “He said I wasn’t a star. He called me a shrimp to boot.”
“Fuck him!” Junji took a sip of his own glass.
“No thank you,” Mahiro said. “He’s the last person in the world I’d do that with.”
“You want to prove him wrong?” Junji put his glass down and put his hands on Mahiro’s shoulders. “You want revenge? You go out there and prove that you ARE a star. You give the most spectacular performances any guy ever gave - and there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to say you don’t have talent, or you stole an award. The whole WORLD will be able to see how gifted you are, how charismatic you are, how hot and sexy you are - everything his JiJi WISHES he was!”
Mahiro leaned over and put his hand over Junji’s. “You know how to say the right things at the right time, you know that?”
“I’m just saying what’s true.”
“Including the hot and sexy part?”
“Hottest guy I’ve ever done a scene with,” said Junji. “Don’t tell any other others I said that.”
“I won’t,” Mahiro said. “Except I’m going to say it back to you. You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever done a scene with, too.”
“Oh, yeah?” Junji leaned over toward him.
Maybe it was the alcohol in his blood, maybe it was a need to be held and touched after what he’d gone through tonight, but he found himself leaning toward his friend. He hadn’t had offscreen sex with any of his co-stars, at least not yet . . .
Perhaps it was time to remedy that.
He put a hand on the back of Junji’s head to draw him in closer, leaned over more, and brought his lips to the taller man’s.
Junji didn’t seem surprised or startled at all. On the contrary - he kissed back quickly, his lips soft and warm and delicious. Mahiro decided to go a bit further, to open his lips and push his tongue forward - and a thrill ran through his body as he felt his partner respond, hot wetness rubbing against his own.
They broke apart, breathlessly, just looking at each other for a long moment - and then, Junji brushed Mahiro’s hair out of his face and said, “Looks like I’m going to get the futon. And the lube.”
Mahiro just nodded. He watched Junji get up and start to go to the closet, and he started unfastening his elaborate outfit, laying the pieces over the arm of the couch one by one. By the time Junji finished laying out the bedding, Mahiro was down to his underwear - a fact that was very much appreciated by the taller man. “I’ve got some catching up to do,” he said, looking Mahiro up and down. “Especially if I want to get my hands on that!”
He began to remove his own awards night outfit, quickly, the blue silk pieces piling up next to Mahiro’s purple ones. Mahiro ran his eyes over what was being revealed - he approved, very much. His friend had a damn nice body - clearly, he worked out, especially from the looks of those arms.
Mahiro slid his underwear down and off, and when Junji lay beside him, both were completely naked.
“Hi, gorgeous,” Junji said.
“Hi, yourself.” Mahiro leaned over, and they began to kiss again.
There was something that just felt right about their closeness in this moment. Mahiro kissed Junji hungrily, letting his lips open again, pushing his tongue toward the other man’s and rolling them both over so he was lying on the bottom, Junji on top of him.
Junji took full advantage of the position - he ran his tongue back and forth across Mahiro’s lower lip, pushed it into his mouth again, then slid it out, down over his chin and his neck. He stopped, kissing the pulse line, running his tongue along it.
“Your heart’s beating so fast,” Junji said, breathlessly.
“That’s because of you.” Mahiro ran his fingers over Junji’s hair, thinking it felt so lovely and thick - and soft, considering the large amount of color treatments that were part and parcel for their industry.
“Well, I’ll have to make it beat faster.” And Junji slid his tongue lower, until he encountered a nipple, which he flicked across, rapidly.
Meanwhile, his fingers were trailing along Mahiro’s belly, running circles around his navel and dipping into it, teasing. He caressed his way to the other man’s hip, sliding his hand downward with agonizing slowness.
And meanwhile, he was sucking on the nipple, his mouth so hot and wet and amazing, pulling back enough so he could blow air over it, his breath feeling cool against the warm, wet flesh, then lowering his head again, surrounding the bud and sucking hard.
“Oh, God, yes,” Mahiro moaned. “Yes, Junji . . .”
Junji’s fingers were still teasing him, now low on his belly, tickling and lightly pinching, but not moving down right where he wanted them - which made Mahiro let out a little moan.
“Do you want more?” Junji said.
“You know I do!” Mahiro said, breathlessly.
“Why don’t you show me what you want?” Junji rolled them over so they were both on their sides. “Do it to me.”
Oh, he didn’t have to be asked about that twice. He reached out and ran his hand along the taller man’s torso, thinking he had such a fucking delicious body, just enough muscle to seem truly male, without seeming like a macho lunk.
He didn’t take as many detours as Junji had, though. He went right for the prize, his fingers sliding across the hardness, tracing the shape. Mahiro closed his eyes, just allowing himself to explore this lovely cock slowly, without worrying about whether directors were getting what he was doing on-camera.
“Mmmm,” Junji said. “Keep going . . .”
Mahiro ran his fingers up the shaft, rubbing his palm back and forth over the tip, hearing the other man’s moan of pleasure. Junji was reaching around Mahiro’s body, grabbing at his ass, squeezing it.
“I want to be in this gorgeous thing,” Junji said. “I want to fuck you hard.”
“Yes,” Mahiro moaned, his fingers wrapping around Junji’s shaft, starting to pump him, to rub that cock bottom to tip, caressing all the while.
Then, Junji grasped him, and Mahiro felt those fingers sliding around his cock - and he remembered that this was the reason he was stroking Junji in the first place. He’d wanted the other man to do it to him.
He was so carried away by what he’d been doing that he’d forgotten.
The two men stroked one another, fingers dancing over hard flesh, covering every inch with caresses, a light brush bringing a little shudder, a deeper and faster stroke provoking a full moan. Mahiro opened his eyes so he could look at the other man’s face, at the blissful expression, the eyes closed in pleasure, the light flush that was spreading over his whole body.
“I want you in me,” he told Junji, breathlessly.
“How do you want it?” Junji said, his fingers caressing just under the head of his lover’s hardness, making Mahiro shudder.
“I want you to fuck me hard and deep. I want to really feel it.”
“Get up on all fours,” Junji said, sliding his hand away from Mahiro. The smaller man let go of his lover in turn and took the requested position, looking over his shoulder at Junji getting the lube bottle and slicking his fingers.
He moaned as the first finger penetrated him. Junji was working it in and out slowly, taking it a bit deeper with every thrust, rubbing here and there as he moved.
“Do you like this?” Junji slid the second finger in.
“Oh, God, yes,” Mahiro gasped. Moving back on Junji’s fingers, he began to thrust his hips a lttle.
“Your ass is beautiful,” Junji said. “Really gorgeous - I can see why the fangirls love it so much. You keep it hidden in those kimonos for the first part of the video, and then you get naked and they can suddenly see the whole thing.” He bent over and kissed one cheek as he slid in the third finger. “And I’ll bet they all want to grab it.”
“Ohhh . . .” Mahiro moved his legs further apart, feeling those fingers moving in him, gently opening him up, rubbing against sensitive spots that drew a different timbre of moan with each caress.
“Now tell me what you want again.” Junji slid his fingers away, wiping them off on a tissue.
“I want you to fuck me,” Mahiro said. “I want to feel you deep in my body.”
Junji pulled the bottle open again and slicked his own cock. “What else?”
“I want you to make me come - hard.”
“Oh, you’ll get that.” Junji knelt behind Mahiro, “And more.” He grasped the other man’s hips and started to push forward, slowly.
Mahiro felt the pain that always accompanied initial penetration, but he took a deep breath, trying to relax his whole body, feeling the pain ebb bit by bit as Junji filled him more.
There was a pause as both lovers breathed heavily, Mahiro gripping at the futon below him, anticipating what was to come later. And soon enough, the other man started to move backward, slowly, his cock sliding through Mahiro’s channel, stimulating every inch of nerve endings.
Junji began to push forward, then pull back, the slow caress from within gradually becoming a thrust, each one deeper than the one before it, until Mahiro was starting to feel filled to the brim, not knowing where he ended and Junji began - and not caring.
Junji sped up, until he was plunging into Mahiro hard, both men starting to moan loudly, Mahiro moving his hips as fast as his lover’s, Junji’s fingers moving across Mahiro’s back and shoulders, caressing him.
As the two moved together, hips churning, breath coming in ragged gasps, Mahiro shifted his hips a little, trying to get the most pleasure, to feel pressure on his sweetest spots - and then, one hard thrust hit a place that made him see stars.
His fingers and toes curled, his belly tightened, a hot and tingling sensation ran through his whole body, from his nipples to his cock and back. He cried out, feeling himself trembling on the brink of ecstasy but not quite coming. “Again,” he moaned. “Please!”
Junji began to thrust against the spot, over and over, and Mahiro let out a deep groan, his hands clutching the bedding even harder, drops of sweat running down his chest and back, his hips churning against the other man’s.
Then, Junji reached around Mahiro’s body, grasping his erection and stroking it, and Mahiro let go, the orgasm rocketing through every inch of his body, hot ecstasy absolutely consuming him as he nearly screamed.
He collapsed to the futon, breathing hard, feeling Junji thrust a few more times into him - and then letting out his own cry, then pulling out and flopping to the bedding.
The two just stayed there for a moment, both of them feeling breathless and boneless, drained in the best possible way. Then, Junji managed to sit up enough to grab the container of baby wipes he’d brought out with the lube, cleaning both of them up - after which he just flopped down, Mahiro rolling over so he was lying on him.
The smaller man just lay there with his head on Junji’s chest, feeling his breathing and heartbeat return to normal. He felt peaceful, mellow . . . the polar opposite of what he’d felt like before.
Best of all, he felt alive again. The numbness was gone.
“Why didn’t we do that before?” Junji said.
“I don’t know,” Mahiro mumbled. “But we’re going to do it again.” He kissed Junji’s lips, softly. “You’re really beautiful.”
“Not as much as you,” Junji said.” He pulled Mahiro closer. “Mmm, you feel good in my arms, too. I’m glad we’re sleeping here like this.”
“Mmmm.” Mahiro was starting to doze off, easily. He didn’t think he’d be able to, after the bad experience of earlier. But this, well . . .
It hadn’t erased what had happened. But it certainly neutralized it.
He was certainly comfortable right now - more so than he’d been in a long time.
* * *
“That was our first time together,” Junji said. “Okay, we’d had sex on camera before that - but I like to think of it as our REAL first time together.”
“It was,” Mahiro said. “Something good came out of that night.”
“I should have told you I loved you then and there, you know,” Junji said. “We waited too damn long.”
“It wasn’t the right time,” said Mahiro. “Neither one of us was ready. And we’re making up for lost time now - right?” He turned around, put down the awards and wrapped his arms around Junji.
“I just thought of something,” Junji said. “Your first award was from the night we first made love. And the new awards were from the day we finally said ‘I love you’ to each other. Maybe these awards don’t belong in the living room. Maybe they belong in our bedroom - because they represent something private to us.”
Mahiro looked over at the first award. Until now, when he looked at it, all he saw was the bad part of that night - the way the boss had turned on him, attacked him, insulted him.
But . . . Junji was right. It was a memento of the first night they’d made love. (And the second, and the third - Mahiro ended up staying for two nights after that, until the two of them had to go to work on a new video).
He picked up all three awards and went into their bedroom. He arranged them on the dresser, with the two Best Two Person Sex Scene awards on either side of the Best Supporting Actor one.
It looked like the new awards were supporting the old one. Like they were transforming all the negatives associated with it into positives.
“Perfect,” he called toward the living room. Junji came in and looked at the bureau, turning his head this way and that.
“It really is,” he said. “Okay, that settles it. They stay here.” He wrapped his arms around Mahiro’s waist. “Until your gorgeous, talented self gets us more of them. Then, we’ll just have to get a bigger bureau.”
“Only if you help me get them,” Mahiro said. “I do my best work with you.”
The two of them kissed, and tumbled to their bed together, the trophies on the bureau now completely forgotten. They had better things to think about.
* * *
There were other good things to come out of Mahiro’s awards night debacle. Kobe had quietly gone to the association, without naming names, and let them know about bribes and corruption in the voting - and a stringent set of anti-corruption laws were passed, which stated that anyone caught bribing judges would find their associated company banned from any future awards.
JiJi’s career had faded away - almost as soon as the boss got tired of him and moved on to the next boy toy. When the Kiryu Video crew last heard, the man formerly known as JiJi was working at his father’s auto garage.
Mahiro kept his word to never deal directly with the boss again - which meant he never got cast in another Hard Candy production, but that was fine. He was perfectly content with Kiryu Video.
He became even more content when their deal with Hard Candy ran out, and they ended up signing with PSC, which was, as Kobe told them, “The company with the most integrity in the business.”
But the bond with Junji was ultimately was redeemed the whole thing. Because that first night together ultimately led to a life together.
And that was worth more than a treasure trove of awards.
Chapter: Forty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, teasing
Pairing: Junji x Mahiro (Kiryu)
Disclaimer: Kiryu belongs to BP Records, I own the story only.
Summary: Mahiro’s win of a JAVA award brings back his memories of his first time at the awards podium, which led to an education in the not-so-nice side of the industry.
Notes: Sections of the story that take place in the present are in italics, the flashbacks are in normal type. The Kiryu characters are wearing the Amaterasu costumes - complete with the umbrellas - in the awards ceremony scene.
Mahiro was leaning over, looking at the bookcase he and Junji had at one end of their living room.
He had to find space for two more JAVA Awards among all the books, CDs, video games, electronics and framed photos. It wasn’t going to be an easy task. When two guys move in together - as he and Junji had recently done - they brought two lifetimes of stuff along with them.
It’s just that most new homeowners weren’t looking to add two trophies for Best Two-Person Sex Scene to the accumulation.
“Any luck, babe?” Junji said, coming out of the kitchen with a glass in his hand.
“I just have to move a few things,” Mahiro said. “Like, maybe this picture can get hung on the wall instead, and . . .”
He shuffled items around on the shelf, and then his eyes fell on the item that was front and center. A stylized sculpture of two men embracing, its engraved base reading, “BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 2014 - MAHIRO - A MIRROR FOR THE MODERN MAN.”
His first JAVA Award. The thing he should be completely happy about, which should have represented the pinnacle of his career. And yet . . .
He felt his jaw tighten, the way he always did when those memories came flooding back.
* * *
Kiryu Video - the indie porn company that Mahiro and Junji called home - had been affiliated with industry bigwigs Hard Candy Productions for about three months when he got summoned to the boss’ office.
At first, they’d been skeptical about the deal - but it had worked out in their favor. The first video they’d made for the company had a much higher budget than the stuff they’d done when they were truly indie, and their new overlords had left them alone as far as the creative process was concerned.
And there had been promises of using the actors in actual, big-budget (well, at least for porn) Hard Candy videos - which had come to nothing. That is, until now.
When Mahiro walked into the office, he saw the Hard Candy boss and Kobe Hiroki, one of their directors (who just went by the name Kobe onscreen). “Come in, Mahiro,” the boss said. “Sit down.”
“Hello, sir,” Mahiro said, bowing respectfully. “And to you too, Kobe-san.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kobe said, bowing back.
“Mahiro, we have a deal for you,” the boss said. “Kobe-san has been very impressed with the video you just put out for us. He would like to offer you a role in his next production.”
“Really?” Mahiro said. “Just me - not the rest of us?”
“It’s you we’re interested in casting right now,” said the boss. “And it’s something you’ll want to take.”
“It’s called A Mirror for the Modern Man,” Kobe said. “It’s a film made up of several vignettes, each with different actors, each based on The Great Mirror of Male Love.”
Mahiro nodded - he was familiar with the name. It was a literary work of the 17th century, featuring erotic love stories about samurai and Kabuki actors. It certainly was in keeping with his company’s tradition of “Kabuki Porn.”
“There’s a twist, though,” the director said. “The stories are transposed to modern times. Instead of a samurai and his apprentice, we have a veteran cop and his rookie partner. Instead of a kabuki actor and his patron, we have an actor in historical TV dramas and his manager. That last one is the vignette I want you for. I want you to play the actor.”
“Can I see the script first?” Mahiro said.
“By all means,” said Kobe. “But I think you’ll be impressed. It was written by a mainstream TV screenwriter under a pseudonym. He did this as a labor of love. He thinks there’s a real need for quality gay erotica. And I will introduce you to the man playing your manager ahead of time and let you get to know each other, so you’ll be comfortable with the sex scenes.”
Mahiro thought a moment. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of being cast in this thing without his co-stars at Kiryu Video - they did everything as a group. They even came up with stories for videos as a committee.
But doing this video might bring them more visibility as a group. It might get more people to buy their own product. So - it would really be for the benefit of all of them, wouldn’t it?
“Well?” said Kobe.
Mahiro sat quietly for a moment. Yes, this was for the benefit of all of them, wasn’t it? And if he did well, they’d probably offer role in Hard Candy productions to his friends as well.
He looked at the director and smiled. “All right,” he said. “Thank you for the opportunity - I’ll read the script, and if I like it? I’ll take it.”
* * *
Junji strolled up behind Mahiro - and got a glimpse of what his lover was looking at.
“Oh,” he said. “That.”
“You’d think I’d be happy about it, right?” Mahiro said. “You think I’d look at it and feel proud of myself, but . . .”
He took the award down and turned it over in his hands. He really had been happy and proud when he’d been on that stage, when they’d put it in his hands. And then . . .
* * *
Mahiro was on his last day of shooting his part when he saw a tall blond man with vaguely Western features stroll onto the set, casually.
“Who’s he?” he asked his director. “I’ve never seen him here before. He isn’t in the last scene - is he?”
“No, he’s not,” said Kobe. “He’s in the next vignette we’re shooting. He’s . . .” He glimpsed around, and whispered to Mahiro, “Come into the break room with me.”
Mahiro looked puzzled, but followed the director anyway. They were shooting in a studio rented from a “real” TV studio, so there was an actual break room, filled with a table and chairs and vending machines, down the hall.
Once they were in it, Kobe shut the door. “He’s called JiJi,” he said. “He’s playing the rookie cop in the longest segment of the video.”
“He doesn’t really look like a rookie,” Mahiro said.
“You know that, and I know that,” the director said. “The boss made me cast him. He said if I didn’t put JiJi in the starring part, he’d pull the funding for the whole project.”
“Why?” Mahiro said.
Kobe let out a sound somewhere between a chortle and a snort and a ran a hand over his hair. “You must not have that kind of thing go on in the horror industry,” he said. “JiJi is the boss’ boy toy. They’re using each other. The boss is flaunting JiJi around to make himself look young and studly, and JiJi is counting on the boss to make him a star. Which the boss is doing. This is the third production he’s forced him into.”
Mahiro didn’t know why he was surprised to hear of such a thing. He should have known it would go down like that in porn - though Kobe was right that things like that didn’t happen in the horror industry where his roots were. And it certainly didn’t happen in Kiryu Video, where everything was on the level.
It just sounded, well, sleazy.
“Is he any good, at least?” he said.
“Mediocre,” said Kobe. “We’re doing what we can with him.” After a pause, he said. “I can tell you one thing - when awards season comes, he’s going to try to get that guy a JAVA.”
“But don’t they only give them to porn stars who can, you know, act?”
“Officially. But there’s people who find ways to tip the odds in their favor.”
“You mean, pay people off?”
Kobe shook his head. “That’s illegal. If he gets caught, it will end his career. But bribes in the form of gifts and favors? All fair game. The question is whether enough association members take the bait - or if they reject it and vote for someone with real talent.”
Mahiro suddenly felt a bit disgusted. He’d loved everyone he met through Kiryu Video, and Kobe had really impressed him as well - but he was suddenly not feeling very positive about the company who were their new sponsors. Not very positive at all.
I can’t let this affect my performance, he thought. I just have to get out there and do the best that I can, and forget about the corruption.
He knew he was going to have a hard time looking their patron in the eye from now on, though.
* * *
“It started out as a great night, didn’t it?” Mahiro said.
“It started out as a fantastic night,” Junji said. “Hell, the excitement started when you got the nomination. I remember how everyone jumped around and high-fived you.”
“I didn’t think anything at first of the fact that I was competing head-to-head against JiJi,” Mahiro said. “I kind of forgot about what Kobe said about the vote-fixing in the excitement.” (Reality set in later, though, when he remembered Kobe’s words on the set - but still, being nominated was still exciting. He wasn’t even expecting that much.)
“I’ll bet the boss had a fit when he found out his boy toy wasn’t nominated as Best Actor,” Junji said, putting his hands on Mahiro’s shoulders and gently massaging them.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Mahiro said, dryly.
Because A Mirror For The Modern Man was a vignette video, and none of the performances were feature-length, JAVA rules stated that anyone nominated from the video had to go in the Supporting Actor category - which is why he and JiJi both ended up there, even though JiJi was being marketed as the video’s “star.”
“At least you impressed people on the red carpet,” Junji said. “You played it like a pro. Nobody would know it was your first time on one.”
* * *
Upon arrival at the ceremony, Mahiro found himself trying very hard to conceal the fact that he was feeling a little overwhelmed.
He wasn’t thinking much about that actual award - not when he found himself posing for photographers, both alone and with his co-stars, sometimes opening the paper umbrella he’d brought with him as a prop (purple, to match his kimono-based outfit). When the press wasn’t shooting pictures, they were asking him questions.
“What do you prefer - the ‘kabuki porn’ you do with Kiryu Video, or more modern settings like the video you’re nominated for?” one blogger asked.
“I don’t think you can really prefer one type over the other,” Mahiro said. “My favorite video is always the one I’m shooting at the moment.”
“How do you feel about competing against your own co-star for the award?”
“There’s a lot of great talent in that category,” Mahiro said. “It’s anyone’s game. I’m just flattered to even be included among them.”
“Thank you,” the blogger said and moved away. Mahiro took a deep breath. He was beginning to wish he’d brought a fan as a prop instead of an umbrella. He could use it right now - even though it was the winter.
A short distance away from him, a blond in a black leather outfit was saying to his companion - a tall young man with half-blond, half-black hair - “Did you see that? Did you SEE that Geisha Boy? They were all taking pictures of my outfit - and the minute he arrived, they all flocked over to him!”
“Koichi, we’re newbies,” his companion said to him. “He’s a nominee. We’ve only put out a few videos. Just be glad that anyone took your picture!”
“I’m going to make sure my outfit gets more attention next year,” the blond said as he and his companion walked past Mahiro. “I think I’m going to dye my hair pink.”
Junji leaned on Mahiro’s shoulder. “You’re off the hook,” he said. “PSC Productions just arrived. That means Aoi. They’ll all go over to him now.”
Mahiro glanced across the red carpet to see a group of people in black leather outfits alight from a row of vans and cars. Sure enough, the biggest superstar in the industry was among them, blowing kisses to the crowd and waving.
If JiJi did get nominated for Best Actor, he thought, he’d have to compete against that guy. He’d lose for sure - even with the bribes.
“Where did the others go?” Mahiro said.
“They went indoors,” Junji said. “We might as well go in there, too. We can get a drink before the ceremony starts.”
They headed toward the hotel, as the press continued to throng around the PSC Productions group. Mahiro passed his boss, who had his arm around JiJi, talking softly to him.
I just wonder if that bribe is going to go through, he thought. I hope someone from another company wins.
As they entered the main ballroom, they passed a short man with shoulder-length auburn curls, dressed in a very revealing outfit that seemed to be made of black feather boas. “Why are we at this corporate whore show anyway?” he said to his companion, a taller man with ice-blond hair.
“Our boss told us it was important to make contacts, love, remember?” the companion said.
“With Hard Candy? Adonis? The hell with that.”
“It can’t hurt.”
“Yo-ka, we’ve stayed with Eros because we thought we could avoid that kind of shit, remember? Next thing you know, they’ll be signing us up for some kind of deal like Kiryu Video has. Well, I’ll show them. I’m going to look as un-corporate as possible. I’m going to straighten my hair and dye it pink!”
There’s about to be a run on pink hair dye in the industry, Mahiro thought as they made their way to their table. He was glad to be content with his basic black.
* * *
“You got really bored and fidgety during the ceremony,” Junji said, leaning his head over Mahiro’s shoulder. “Even more bored and fidgety than you were this year.”
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Mahiro said. “I didn’t think there would be so many awards.” He winced. “And so much terrible humor.”
“The hosts they get are always awful, aren’t they?” Junji said.
“I think I was half-asleep by the time my category was called,” said Mahiro. “And I wasn’t expecting to win, anyway.”
* * *
The previous year’s winner of Best Supporting Actor took the stage to thunderous applause. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you! Wow, a lot of new faces here. Looks like we’ve got a lot of people eager to get into the industry! Hey, why not? Good pay and lots of sex, right?” The crowd cheered.
“Okay, time for me to get down to business. Here’s the nominees for Best Supporting Actor.” He began to read the names - there was one from Adonis, one from PSC Productions, one from another Hard Candy production, Mahiro and JiJi - and when the boy toy’s name was called, JiJi smiled and waved, looking every inch the golden boy who had it in the bag.
The whole room seemed to expect it, too. So an audible gasp went up when the presenter called out instead, “Mahiro, A Mirror for the Modern Man, Hard Candy!” Then the crowd roared in approval - and Mahiro found himself heading up to the podium.
Good Lord. He’d gotten an award. Not just any award - one of the two acting honors, the most coveted prizes in the business. He suddenly felt like he’d overcome his earlier career struggles, the stalled horror career, the being told that he was too short to be a hero.
Not to mention his talent having overcome industry corruption.
He grasped the trophy and said, “I don’t know what to say. I really don’t. This is a thrill beyond belief.” He found himself thanking Kobe for being such a great director, Hard Candy for giving him a shot in a major video, his friends at Kiryu Video (named one by one) . . .
Finally, he said, “Thank you!” and rushed back to his seat - but froze before he got there. He saw JiJi get up out of his seat and take off toward the back of the room, the boss going after him . . . but before he did, the boss turned around and glared daggers at Mahiro.
If looks could kill, Mahiro would have been on the floor, as bloody as he was in his old horror films.
* * *
“That bastard tried to ruin your moment,” Junji said, gently rubbing Mahiro’s shoulders again.
“Tried, but he didn’t succeed,” said Mahiro. “At least, not at first. I sat down at the table, and everyone was congratulating me, and it was pretty much everything I’d dreamed about ever since I first got into acting.” He touched the award, gently, remembering that moment, everything that piece of metal and wood had meant to him.
And then had come the afterparty, and his lesson in the harsher side of the business.
* * *
He’d breezed through the press conference, and was now in the afterparty, being introduced to people from other companies, having his picture taken (a few times with Aoi, who’d won Best Actor that night - and wasn’t that a huge honor?) and giving a few more quotes. He put his award down on their table and got his umbrella, since one photographer wanted a shot of his “geisha look.”
Once that guy was done, Mahiro was looking forward to getting a drink and a few minutes’ peace, and headed for the bar, umbrella still in hand, passing a doorway . . .
A hand came out of the doorway and yanked him into the hall. Before he had the time to respond, he was propelled out a side door and into the alley - where he found himself facing a very, very angry boss of Hard Candy.
“You little fucking bastard,” the boss snarled. “You STOLE his award! It was Jiji’s award, and you STOLE it!”
Mahiro just stood there, frozen. What the fuck was happening? He’d been kidnapped from the party - by his own boss - and then accused of . . .
“I didn’t steal it!” he said. “They gave it to me!”
“Bullshit they did!” the boss yelled. “It was going to JiJi! I had EVERY assurance it was going to JiJi! And they called YOUR name instead!” He grabbed the front of Mahiro’s lovely kimono, crumpled it in a ball and slammed the star’s back against the brick wall. The umbrella he’d still been holding clattered to the ground. “How did you do it, huh? How many guys did you have to FUCK to fix the voting?”
“I didn’t!” Mahiro said. “I did nothing! I don’t even know who votes for these awards! Even if I did, I wouldn’t fix it!”
“You think you’re such hot fucking shit just because you’re a REAL actor, don’t you?” the boss said. “You and your fucking spook films? You ain’t SHIT! You’re not a star! You’re just a fucking shrimp who . . .”
He suddenly stopped, snatched Mahiro’s umbrella off the ground and broke the bamboo stem over his knee. He shoved the ragged, sharp piece toward the cringing actor, who tried to duck out of its way . . .
And then, a voice was yelling the boss’ name, and a hand was grabbing his wrist. It was Kobe.
“That’s enough,” he said. “You’re drunk and you’re upset. Leave the boy alone.”
The boss dropped the broken umbrella and staggered backward. “He stole the award!” he said. “It was my boy’s award, and he stole it . . .”
“Why do you think it was your boy’s award?” Kobe said.
“It was. It just WAS.” The boss punched the wall next to Mahiro’s head, and he jumped.
“Did you bribe the Association members again?” Kobe’s face was a stoic mask.
“Define ‘bribe!’” the boss snarled.
Kobe sighed. “I’m going to let this drop for now - if you promise you’re not going to interfere with this boy’s career in the future. If you deliberately under-distribute Kiryu Video’s product, or you don’t publicize them, I’m going to Sparxxx and make sure to spill every little bit of this - including the bribes. And I KNOW you did it, and you’ve done it before. Now step aside. Go back to your boy toy, and I’m taking Mahiro back to his friends. And you owe him a new purple paper umbrella.”
The director took Mahiro’s arm, leading him back into the hotel. Mahiro just followed, feeling numb.
“Are you all right?” Kobe said.
Mahiro nodded. He was all right physically, at least.
“That bastard’s got a history of bribing people to advance his latest plaything’s career,” Kobe said. “I can tell you right now he promised big gifts to several key voters - but they didn’t fall for it. They voted for who should have won, and that’s you. You were brilliant, Mahiro - and don’t let him or anyone else tell you otherwise.”
“How did you know I was out there?” he said.
“One of your friends saw it happen,” said Kobe. “The boy who’s wearing blue. He came and got me right away - he’s very worried.”
“Kobe-san - why did you let him go? Why didn’t . . . why couldn’t you call the cops out on him? I mean, they could arrest him for assault, couldn’t they?”
Kobe paused in the hall outside the party, turned around and looked at the actor. His face bore a cynical expression.
“The whole company is heavily backed by the Yakuza. The heads of it are all Teflon-coated because of that. If I called the cops? They’d just let it slide - because they know.”
Mahiro just nodded quietly. He’d heard many times about the realities of that - the Yakuza frequently had the cops in their pockets.
As they walked back into the room, they were instantly surrounded by his friends. “Are you all right?” Takemasa said, grabbing Mahiro’s hand and squeezing it.
“What happened?” Hiyori grabbed the other hand. “He didn’t hurt you - did he?”
“No,” Mahiro said. “Just broke my umbrella.” He smiled ruefully. “I liked that umbrella, too.”
“This is the bastard we’re working for?” Mitsuki said. “I say we get out of the contract!”
“We can’t,” Takemasa said. “Not for two years. But as soon as it’s up? We’re going to ask our bosses” - meaning, the bosses of Kiryu, not Hard Candy - “to get us another deal.”
“Yeah, but if this gets out?” Mitsuki said. “Junji can’t be the only person who saw him get grabbed!”
“Everyone else was too into the booze and trying to impress the press,” said Hiyori.
“Or hitting on each other,” said Takemasa. “And a lot of them were at the bar in the back of the room - like us.”
“How are you really feeling?” Junji said, putting a hand on Mahiro’s shoulder. “Do you need to go somewhere quiet?”
Junji knew him too well. He just wanted to get away from this atmosphere. It didn’t feel like a celebration to him anymore. He closed his eyes. “I want to get out of this party,” he said.
“I can take him back to my place,” Junji told the others. “It’s not far from here.”
“You don’t have to,” said Mahiro.
“I want to,” said Junji. He went over to their table and collected Mahiro’s award. “Besides, after this shit? I don’t feel like staying at this party, either.” He looked at their other friends. “You guys just have a good time. I’ll message you.”
“I don’t think we’re staying much longer, either,” Mitsuki said. “This party’s kind of ruined.”
Hiyori leaned over and hugged Mahiro. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m fine.” Well, not really - but he wasn’t going to scare Hiyori any more than he already was.
As he and Junji left the hotel, he avoided looking at the award that was now in his friend’s hand. It was no longer a glittering prize. It was a reminder of how he’d now seen the dark side of an industry that was supposed to be his new loving, welcoming home.
* * *
“How were you really feeling when we left?” Junji said.
“At that point? Just sort of numb,” said Mahiro. “I just couldn’t believe that it happened. A huge high to a huge low, that fast . . .”
“I was worried about you,” said Junji. “Which is exactly why I brought you to my place. I figured you needed to be somewhere quiet, and to talk.” He covered Mahiro’s hand with his. “Of course, I didn’t know what it was going to lead to.”
* * *
Mahiro sat on Junji’s couch, toying with the glass of whiskey he’d been handed. “Good thing I still have a bottle,” Junji said, sitting next to him. “It was a birthday present from a friend back home - I hadn’t opened it yet.”
The smaller man took a sizeable sip of the amber liquid. It burned his mouth and throat, but he almost welcomed it. It was something real in the midst of the horrid, surreal mess the evening had become.
“Thank you,” he said. “I sort of needed this.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Junji said. “What happened, I mean. Not the whiskey. Well, you can talk about the whiskey if you want.”
“I just can’t believe that bastard did that,” Mahiro said, before taking another sip.
“Tried to fix the awards, you mean? Good thing he didn’t get away with it.”
“That, and . . .” Mahiro took another drink. “Just the way he came at me like some kind of raging animal. You’d never know he was in charge of a company. It was like getting mugged in an alley.”
“I’m just glad I saw him grab you,” Junji said, pouring out a glass of his own. “If I hadn’t . . .”
“I’m not going to think about it,” Mahiro said. “I don’t want to deal with him directly ever again. Let him go through our boss.” He looked down into the glass. “There was never anybody like that in the horror industry. Never.”
“They were all nice people, huh?” Junji said. “Never know it from the films they make, but hey.”
“They were to some extent,” Mahiro said. “Until they started telling me I was too short to be a hero.”
“Really?” Junji leaned forward. “They SAID that to you?”
“It’s why I left horror and came to porn,” Mahiro said. “My career stalled, I asked why, and I was told I was too short to play leads. Over here, on this side of the business, nobody said that to me. Everyone treated me with respect. I was really starting to feel comfortable.”
“You’re comfortable with us, aren’t you?” Junji said.
Mahiro took another drink. “You guys have been terrific. I couldn’t ask for a better group of co-stars. Everyone I worked with on Mirror was wonderful, too - especially Kobe. He’s a fabulous director. But after tonight, I don’t know anymore.”
“It’s just one bastard,” Junji said. “Don’t let him affect your view of the whole industry. You’ve got people behind you who’ve got your back. Me, especially. If anyone tries to do anything like that to you again, I’ll take him out myself!”
“You would?” Mahiro was fully halfway through the glass now. Well, damn, this was a first for him. He didn’t usually drink whiskey without a mixer. There were all kinds of firsts tonight. Never been on a red carpet before, never won an award before, never been assaulted outside a hotel by a crazed video executive before . . .
“Damn right I would!” Junji said. “He looks like a pushover! I’ll bet I could knock him out with one punch!”
“Don’t ruin your hands,” Mahiro said. “You need them for other things.” He looked down into his drink. “He said I wasn’t a star. He called me a shrimp to boot.”
“Fuck him!” Junji took a sip of his own glass.
“No thank you,” Mahiro said. “He’s the last person in the world I’d do that with.”
“You want to prove him wrong?” Junji put his glass down and put his hands on Mahiro’s shoulders. “You want revenge? You go out there and prove that you ARE a star. You give the most spectacular performances any guy ever gave - and there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to say you don’t have talent, or you stole an award. The whole WORLD will be able to see how gifted you are, how charismatic you are, how hot and sexy you are - everything his JiJi WISHES he was!”
Mahiro leaned over and put his hand over Junji’s. “You know how to say the right things at the right time, you know that?”
“I’m just saying what’s true.”
“Including the hot and sexy part?”
“Hottest guy I’ve ever done a scene with,” said Junji. “Don’t tell any other others I said that.”
“I won’t,” Mahiro said. “Except I’m going to say it back to you. You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever done a scene with, too.”
“Oh, yeah?” Junji leaned over toward him.
Maybe it was the alcohol in his blood, maybe it was a need to be held and touched after what he’d gone through tonight, but he found himself leaning toward his friend. He hadn’t had offscreen sex with any of his co-stars, at least not yet . . .
Perhaps it was time to remedy that.
He put a hand on the back of Junji’s head to draw him in closer, leaned over more, and brought his lips to the taller man’s.
Junji didn’t seem surprised or startled at all. On the contrary - he kissed back quickly, his lips soft and warm and delicious. Mahiro decided to go a bit further, to open his lips and push his tongue forward - and a thrill ran through his body as he felt his partner respond, hot wetness rubbing against his own.
They broke apart, breathlessly, just looking at each other for a long moment - and then, Junji brushed Mahiro’s hair out of his face and said, “Looks like I’m going to get the futon. And the lube.”
Mahiro just nodded. He watched Junji get up and start to go to the closet, and he started unfastening his elaborate outfit, laying the pieces over the arm of the couch one by one. By the time Junji finished laying out the bedding, Mahiro was down to his underwear - a fact that was very much appreciated by the taller man. “I’ve got some catching up to do,” he said, looking Mahiro up and down. “Especially if I want to get my hands on that!”
He began to remove his own awards night outfit, quickly, the blue silk pieces piling up next to Mahiro’s purple ones. Mahiro ran his eyes over what was being revealed - he approved, very much. His friend had a damn nice body - clearly, he worked out, especially from the looks of those arms.
Mahiro slid his underwear down and off, and when Junji lay beside him, both were completely naked.
“Hi, gorgeous,” Junji said.
“Hi, yourself.” Mahiro leaned over, and they began to kiss again.
There was something that just felt right about their closeness in this moment. Mahiro kissed Junji hungrily, letting his lips open again, pushing his tongue toward the other man’s and rolling them both over so he was lying on the bottom, Junji on top of him.
Junji took full advantage of the position - he ran his tongue back and forth across Mahiro’s lower lip, pushed it into his mouth again, then slid it out, down over his chin and his neck. He stopped, kissing the pulse line, running his tongue along it.
“Your heart’s beating so fast,” Junji said, breathlessly.
“That’s because of you.” Mahiro ran his fingers over Junji’s hair, thinking it felt so lovely and thick - and soft, considering the large amount of color treatments that were part and parcel for their industry.
“Well, I’ll have to make it beat faster.” And Junji slid his tongue lower, until he encountered a nipple, which he flicked across, rapidly.
Meanwhile, his fingers were trailing along Mahiro’s belly, running circles around his navel and dipping into it, teasing. He caressed his way to the other man’s hip, sliding his hand downward with agonizing slowness.
And meanwhile, he was sucking on the nipple, his mouth so hot and wet and amazing, pulling back enough so he could blow air over it, his breath feeling cool against the warm, wet flesh, then lowering his head again, surrounding the bud and sucking hard.
“Oh, God, yes,” Mahiro moaned. “Yes, Junji . . .”
Junji’s fingers were still teasing him, now low on his belly, tickling and lightly pinching, but not moving down right where he wanted them - which made Mahiro let out a little moan.
“Do you want more?” Junji said.
“You know I do!” Mahiro said, breathlessly.
“Why don’t you show me what you want?” Junji rolled them over so they were both on their sides. “Do it to me.”
Oh, he didn’t have to be asked about that twice. He reached out and ran his hand along the taller man’s torso, thinking he had such a fucking delicious body, just enough muscle to seem truly male, without seeming like a macho lunk.
He didn’t take as many detours as Junji had, though. He went right for the prize, his fingers sliding across the hardness, tracing the shape. Mahiro closed his eyes, just allowing himself to explore this lovely cock slowly, without worrying about whether directors were getting what he was doing on-camera.
“Mmmm,” Junji said. “Keep going . . .”
Mahiro ran his fingers up the shaft, rubbing his palm back and forth over the tip, hearing the other man’s moan of pleasure. Junji was reaching around Mahiro’s body, grabbing at his ass, squeezing it.
“I want to be in this gorgeous thing,” Junji said. “I want to fuck you hard.”
“Yes,” Mahiro moaned, his fingers wrapping around Junji’s shaft, starting to pump him, to rub that cock bottom to tip, caressing all the while.
Then, Junji grasped him, and Mahiro felt those fingers sliding around his cock - and he remembered that this was the reason he was stroking Junji in the first place. He’d wanted the other man to do it to him.
He was so carried away by what he’d been doing that he’d forgotten.
The two men stroked one another, fingers dancing over hard flesh, covering every inch with caresses, a light brush bringing a little shudder, a deeper and faster stroke provoking a full moan. Mahiro opened his eyes so he could look at the other man’s face, at the blissful expression, the eyes closed in pleasure, the light flush that was spreading over his whole body.
“I want you in me,” he told Junji, breathlessly.
“How do you want it?” Junji said, his fingers caressing just under the head of his lover’s hardness, making Mahiro shudder.
“I want you to fuck me hard and deep. I want to really feel it.”
“Get up on all fours,” Junji said, sliding his hand away from Mahiro. The smaller man let go of his lover in turn and took the requested position, looking over his shoulder at Junji getting the lube bottle and slicking his fingers.
He moaned as the first finger penetrated him. Junji was working it in and out slowly, taking it a bit deeper with every thrust, rubbing here and there as he moved.
“Do you like this?” Junji slid the second finger in.
“Oh, God, yes,” Mahiro gasped. Moving back on Junji’s fingers, he began to thrust his hips a lttle.
“Your ass is beautiful,” Junji said. “Really gorgeous - I can see why the fangirls love it so much. You keep it hidden in those kimonos for the first part of the video, and then you get naked and they can suddenly see the whole thing.” He bent over and kissed one cheek as he slid in the third finger. “And I’ll bet they all want to grab it.”
“Ohhh . . .” Mahiro moved his legs further apart, feeling those fingers moving in him, gently opening him up, rubbing against sensitive spots that drew a different timbre of moan with each caress.
“Now tell me what you want again.” Junji slid his fingers away, wiping them off on a tissue.
“I want you to fuck me,” Mahiro said. “I want to feel you deep in my body.”
Junji pulled the bottle open again and slicked his own cock. “What else?”
“I want you to make me come - hard.”
“Oh, you’ll get that.” Junji knelt behind Mahiro, “And more.” He grasped the other man’s hips and started to push forward, slowly.
Mahiro felt the pain that always accompanied initial penetration, but he took a deep breath, trying to relax his whole body, feeling the pain ebb bit by bit as Junji filled him more.
There was a pause as both lovers breathed heavily, Mahiro gripping at the futon below him, anticipating what was to come later. And soon enough, the other man started to move backward, slowly, his cock sliding through Mahiro’s channel, stimulating every inch of nerve endings.
Junji began to push forward, then pull back, the slow caress from within gradually becoming a thrust, each one deeper than the one before it, until Mahiro was starting to feel filled to the brim, not knowing where he ended and Junji began - and not caring.
Junji sped up, until he was plunging into Mahiro hard, both men starting to moan loudly, Mahiro moving his hips as fast as his lover’s, Junji’s fingers moving across Mahiro’s back and shoulders, caressing him.
As the two moved together, hips churning, breath coming in ragged gasps, Mahiro shifted his hips a little, trying to get the most pleasure, to feel pressure on his sweetest spots - and then, one hard thrust hit a place that made him see stars.
His fingers and toes curled, his belly tightened, a hot and tingling sensation ran through his whole body, from his nipples to his cock and back. He cried out, feeling himself trembling on the brink of ecstasy but not quite coming. “Again,” he moaned. “Please!”
Junji began to thrust against the spot, over and over, and Mahiro let out a deep groan, his hands clutching the bedding even harder, drops of sweat running down his chest and back, his hips churning against the other man’s.
Then, Junji reached around Mahiro’s body, grasping his erection and stroking it, and Mahiro let go, the orgasm rocketing through every inch of his body, hot ecstasy absolutely consuming him as he nearly screamed.
He collapsed to the futon, breathing hard, feeling Junji thrust a few more times into him - and then letting out his own cry, then pulling out and flopping to the bedding.
The two just stayed there for a moment, both of them feeling breathless and boneless, drained in the best possible way. Then, Junji managed to sit up enough to grab the container of baby wipes he’d brought out with the lube, cleaning both of them up - after which he just flopped down, Mahiro rolling over so he was lying on him.
The smaller man just lay there with his head on Junji’s chest, feeling his breathing and heartbeat return to normal. He felt peaceful, mellow . . . the polar opposite of what he’d felt like before.
Best of all, he felt alive again. The numbness was gone.
“Why didn’t we do that before?” Junji said.
“I don’t know,” Mahiro mumbled. “But we’re going to do it again.” He kissed Junji’s lips, softly. “You’re really beautiful.”
“Not as much as you,” Junji said.” He pulled Mahiro closer. “Mmm, you feel good in my arms, too. I’m glad we’re sleeping here like this.”
“Mmmm.” Mahiro was starting to doze off, easily. He didn’t think he’d be able to, after the bad experience of earlier. But this, well . . .
It hadn’t erased what had happened. But it certainly neutralized it.
He was certainly comfortable right now - more so than he’d been in a long time.
* * *
“That was our first time together,” Junji said. “Okay, we’d had sex on camera before that - but I like to think of it as our REAL first time together.”
“It was,” Mahiro said. “Something good came out of that night.”
“I should have told you I loved you then and there, you know,” Junji said. “We waited too damn long.”
“It wasn’t the right time,” said Mahiro. “Neither one of us was ready. And we’re making up for lost time now - right?” He turned around, put down the awards and wrapped his arms around Junji.
“I just thought of something,” Junji said. “Your first award was from the night we first made love. And the new awards were from the day we finally said ‘I love you’ to each other. Maybe these awards don’t belong in the living room. Maybe they belong in our bedroom - because they represent something private to us.”
Mahiro looked over at the first award. Until now, when he looked at it, all he saw was the bad part of that night - the way the boss had turned on him, attacked him, insulted him.
But . . . Junji was right. It was a memento of the first night they’d made love. (And the second, and the third - Mahiro ended up staying for two nights after that, until the two of them had to go to work on a new video).
He picked up all three awards and went into their bedroom. He arranged them on the dresser, with the two Best Two Person Sex Scene awards on either side of the Best Supporting Actor one.
It looked like the new awards were supporting the old one. Like they were transforming all the negatives associated with it into positives.
“Perfect,” he called toward the living room. Junji came in and looked at the bureau, turning his head this way and that.
“It really is,” he said. “Okay, that settles it. They stay here.” He wrapped his arms around Mahiro’s waist. “Until your gorgeous, talented self gets us more of them. Then, we’ll just have to get a bigger bureau.”
“Only if you help me get them,” Mahiro said. “I do my best work with you.”
The two of them kissed, and tumbled to their bed together, the trophies on the bureau now completely forgotten. They had better things to think about.
* * *
There were other good things to come out of Mahiro’s awards night debacle. Kobe had quietly gone to the association, without naming names, and let them know about bribes and corruption in the voting - and a stringent set of anti-corruption laws were passed, which stated that anyone caught bribing judges would find their associated company banned from any future awards.
JiJi’s career had faded away - almost as soon as the boss got tired of him and moved on to the next boy toy. When the Kiryu Video crew last heard, the man formerly known as JiJi was working at his father’s auto garage.
Mahiro kept his word to never deal directly with the boss again - which meant he never got cast in another Hard Candy production, but that was fine. He was perfectly content with Kiryu Video.
He became even more content when their deal with Hard Candy ran out, and they ended up signing with PSC, which was, as Kobe told them, “The company with the most integrity in the business.”
But the bond with Junji was ultimately was redeemed the whole thing. Because that first night together ultimately led to a life together.
And that was worth more than a treasure trove of awards.