Fic: The Camera Eye: Trophy Boys 3 - Happily Ever After-After? 1/2 [Multiple Pairings, NC-17]
Title: The Camera Eye: Trophy Boys 3 - Happily Ever After-After? 1/2
Chapter: Forty-fourth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, there is a link to the second part at the bottom of the first.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, foursome, prostate play, frottage
Pairing: Tomoya x Subaru (Royz) Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), MiA x Koichi (Mejibray), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), Junji x Mahiro (Kiryu), Byou x Jin (SCREW), aaaand . . . Mahiro x Subaru x Tomoya x Junji! (Plus mentions of Kouki (D=OUT) x Ryoga (BORN)
Disclaimer: Royz and Kiryu belong to BP Records, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Diaura belongs to AINS, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, D=OUT, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: The JAVA Awards finally arrive, and Subaru is facing his first experience with the red carpet - and the prospect of the After-After Party, where anything goes and hookups are heavy. Meanwhile, Uruha faces a showdown with his rivals from Heavy Hitter Productions, and the arrival of Koichi’s fashion rival turns out to resonate strongly with PSC Productions - and Subaru.
Notes: Here’s the list of the outfits everyone is wearing: Subaru and Tomoya, S.I.V.A. (blue and silver edition); Yo-ka, white version of Incomplete (with the hair he had in the Triangle era); Yuuki, Gypsy (with the hair from the Gossip era); MiA, Secret No. 3 (with the hair from the Raven era); Koichi, the white version of The Theatrical Show dress (as seen on this Shoxx cover); Kiryu characters, Etsu to Utsu; GazettE characters, Red; SCREW characters, the 10th Anniversary outfits; Kouki, Kabuki Disco.
About a week before the JAVA Awards, it finally started to sink in for Subaru that he really had no idea what to expect.
Sure, he’d been to parties before (like the Suicide Ball, where he’d met MiA) and industry events (the Newcomer of the Year/Performer of the Year banquet), but the JAVAs were, well . . . more. A lot more.
That became apparent as soon as Yuuki decided it was time to select the appropriate outfits. He took Subaru and Tomoya to a warehouse full of costumes from visual kei bands that had gone bust, and then looked and looked and looked until he found a pair of outfits that suited them.
“Isn’t this a bit . . . flashy?” Subaru said, holding the glittering blue-and-silver jacket in front of his chest.
“There’s no such thing as too flashy at the JAVAs,” Yuuki said. “You’re going to be surrounded by guys who are even more dressed up than this. Koichi will probably show up looking like a fireworks display.” He took something off the hanger and wrapped it around Subaru’s head. “And best of all, this outfit has a headpiece. I’m not risking Koichi having an opportunity to slap a tiara on you.”
“What about you?” Tomoya said. “Are you wearing something flashy, too?”
“My outfit is all black, like it usually is,” Yuuki said. “It’s contrasting with Yo-ka - he’s wearing all white. Of course, Yo-ka wanted to coordinate with Byou, since they work together on-screen so much, and then Byou had to coordinate with Jin, since he’s his date.”
Subaru looked down at the glittering outfit again. It was . . . nice, in a gaudy sort of way. He quietly wondered what MiA was going to be wearing to the awards. If he was coordinating with Koichi, well . . .
He knew that his friend had great difficulty saying no to his lover when it came to fashion. Hence, the tiara.
“But what’s going to happen when we get there?” Subaru said.
“We’ll talk about that when we get home,” Yuuki said. “It’s time you two got the full briefing.”
Said briefing took place in Yuuki and Yo-ka’s living room, with the two couples sitting around the living room table, takeout containers scattered around them. “The first thing you have to know about,” Yuuki said, waving his chopsticks for emphasis, “is the red carpet itself.”
“There’s going to be photographers,” Yo-ka said. “Lots of them. More than you’ve seen yet, even at the Expo.”
“You’re going to have the porn press, of course, but also the LGBT publications and maybe some mainstream news outlets. Beware of those - they tend to ask really dumb questions. They don’t understand what we’re all about at all.”
“And there will be guys competing for attention,” Yo-ka added. “It’s like a sport - they try to see who will get the most pictures taken. Pose when they want you to, but don’t try to grandstand - just be yourself. “
“If any bastards from Heavy Hitter or those assholes who said you didn’t deserve Newcomer of the Year try to give you shit? Find me, I’ll have my whip,” Yuuki said.
“And he’ll also be wearing broken-in boots this year,” Yo-ka said with a grin.
Yuuki gave his lover a playful smack. “That was a one-time mistake,” he said. “It’s not happening again!”
“When will we know when it’s time to go inside?” Subaru said.
“You’ll see other people drifting in that direction,” Yo-ka said. “The official signal is when the heads of JAVA bring in the briefcases that contain the envelopes. Everyone else just kinds of follows them.”
“There will be other members of JAVA greeting you and showing you where your table is,” Yuuki said. “They tend to seat people from the same company together, so you’ll be at the Eros table with us.”
“MiA, too?” said Subaru.
“They’re part of Eros now, so yes,” said Yuuki. “And then they have the awards. It’s long and kind of tedious, but there’s cameras - they stream the whole thing - so don’t get caught playing with your phone.”
“After the awards is over, we go to the main ballroom of the hotel for an afterparty,” Yo-ka said. “The cameras will follow us there, too. If you win an award, have it with you.”
“The afterparty is a few hours long, usually,” Yuuki said. “Then most people go get changed and they head to the after-after party. That’s usually held in some rich guy’s house.”
“Like the Suicide Ball was,” Subaru said.
“Yes,” said Yuuki. “And by the time people get to the after-after party, they’ve been drinking awhile.”
“When they get there, they drink even more,” said Yo-ka.
“So you have a bunch of drunken porn stars in a relaxed atmosphere,” Yuuki said. “As you might imagine, hookups happen. A LOT of hookups.”
“Most people end up either going upstairs with someone or leaving with someone,” Yo-ka said. “Usually not who they came with.”
Subaru and Tomoya exchanged glances. This did NOT sound like a good activity for a couple that had just become officially serious. Sure, they were going to have an open relationship like every other porn couple. But . . . were they ready to be hit on by strangers? Did they want to risk ending up so carried away by booze and the moment that they made bad choices?
“Does everyone go to the after-after party?” Subaru said, slowly.
“Most everyone does,” Yuuki said. “But it isn’t absolutely required. Nothing is except the ceremony itself.”
“And the afterparty, if you win,” said Yo-ka.
“We’ll be going to the after-after party,” Yuuki said. “We’ve gone the last couple of years. In fact . . .” He glanced over at Yo-ka. “SOMEBODY has already said that he has dibs on Byou for that night.”
“Hey, I haven’t gotten together with him for a long time,” Yo-ka said. “And it’s not like YOU aren’t going to end up going upstairs with Hiro or Karma within ten minutes.”
Subaru and Tomoya exchanged another glance. Would they ever get to the point where they were like that - so casual about your lover being with another man?
“You can do whatever you want,” Yuuki said. “Follow some basic protocol - but do your own thing. Just don’t get in front of Koichi when he’s having his picture taken. That can be deadly.”
Later on, as Subaru and Tomoya were making their way home, Subaru said, “It sounds like we’re going to have a full evening.”
“I’m going to be exhausted,” Tomoya said. “I still can’t believe that I’m going.”
“I told you.” Subaru took his hand. “You’re our writer and my date.”
“Subaru . . . what do you think about that after-after party?”
Subaru took a deep breath, the unseasonably warm February air flooding his lungs. He quietly wondered if the sakura would come out early this year. “Well, everyone seems to be going, but . . .”
“I know,” Tomoya said.
“We don’t have to stay there all evening, you know,” Subaru said. “We could just come in, say hi to some people, stick together and leave.”
“And not drink a lot?” Tomoya said.
“No, of course not, we don’t have to,” Subaru said.
Tomoya squeezed his hand. “Everything else - the red carpet and the awards and the afterparty - I’m looking forward to,” he said.
“Me, too,” Subaru replied.
They had quietly decided that they would deal with the idea of the after-after party, and the temptation it presented, when then night arrived - and that was that.
* * *
When the big night finally arrived, by the time their vehicle arrived in front of the site of the awards, Subaru felt like he’d had a full evening already.
He and Tomoya had gotten to Yuuki and Yo-ka’s early so Yuuki could do their makeup. MiA dropped by to have his done as well, although he said Koichi was doing his own.
“He starts getting ready two days before the JAVAs,” he said.
“Two days?” Subaru’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Well, his nails. He has them professionally done, and he always comes up with the polish design himself. Then his hair. He makes sure his dye is touched up. And then he meets with Tsuzuku and goes over and over and over every possible piece of jewelry for his outfit - and this year, mine, too.”
“What kind of outfit does he have?” Subaru said.
“He keeps that top-secret,” MiA said. “So you’ll find out when you get there.”
After the makeup, MiA left to go back to his own place, and everyone else got dressed. Yuuki was, indeed, wearing a long, elegant black skirt with high boots, a lace bodice, long gloves - and the highlight, a black hat with a huge brim. Yo-ka, meanwhile, wore a white outfit consisting of booty shorts, long boots and a top decorated with feathers - reminiscent of his most famous role as an angel. (Yuuki had added a jeweled circlet around Yo-ka’s brow - because there was no way he was letting Koichi get a tiara on him, either).
They piled into the van that was sent for them very carefully, and stepped out equally carefully. Subaru spotted MiA right away - he was directly across from them, wearing what seemed to be a black prince’s outfit trimmed with red and gold, complete with a red-lined cape.
“MiA!” Subaru cried, rushing toward him - and then suddenly stopped. He couldn’t hug his friend like he usually did - he’d mess up their outfits.
“You two look gorgeous!” MiA said.
“So do you,” said Subaru. “Um . . . where’s Koichi?”
“In his element.” MiA nodded toward a cluster of photographers that were frantically snapping away at an unseen person. They moved aside a little, to the left, and . . .
Subaru gasped. It looked for all the world like Koichi was wearing a bridal gown. It was made up of tier after tier of white ruffles, fanning out from his waist, while the top was a close-fitting white bodice that left his shoulders bare. His arms were covered with three-quarter length fingerless white gloves - all the better to show off his manicure.
What really made the outfit, though, was the fact that Koichi had added decidedly non-bridal accessories - a pirate eyepatch and a pair of scissors on a white ribbon around his neck.
“Oh, wow,” Subaru said, breathlessly. Koichi was handling himself like a model. He was posing effortlessly, glaring right into the lens one moment, then glancing away the next. They couldn’t get enough of it, either - they kept circling him like birds around their prey, all trying to get the best angles.
But Subaru’s contemplation of the other man was interrupted by someone yelling behind him, “Subaru-san!” He nearly jumped a mile in the air, whirled around - and found a microphone shoved in his face so abruptly he thought they were trying to whack off his nose.
“I’m H-Man from the Allporn blog,” said the microphone, until Subaru realized there was a person behind it - a grinning guy with enormous sunglasses and a loud Hawaiian shirt. Not to mention a video camera, which was also pointed at him. “How does it feel to have your first-ever JAVA nominations?”
And here it was - his first official red carpet interview. He just wished it had happened a bit more, well, gracefully.
“It’s terrific,” he said. “I can hardly believe I’m here. I mean, here I am, a newbie, and I’m surrounded by all these veterans.”
“What do you think got you here?” H-man said, pushing the mike even closer to Subaru. He backed off, slowly.
“The support of terrific co-stars and a great crew,” Subaru said, thinking if the mike came any closer, he was going to go tumbling headfirst off the curb, and that would be a terrible start to his first JAVAs. “Uruha has been wonderful, and the writers are unbelievable.”
“And finally - who’s your favorite guy to fuck?” The blogger’s face was now completely covered by a wide grin.
“My boyfriend,” Subaru said. “He’s on our writing staff.”
“Hi,” Tomoya said, giving the camera a grin and a wave.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky guy?” the blogger said. “Good luck tonight!” The camera and mike were removed, and Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are all interviews like that?” Tomoya said.
“I hope not,” said Subaru.
One thing was for sure, though - the night was just beginning.
* * *
As soon as Uruha stepped out on the red carpet, he felt like a soldier in the trenches.
His eyes were darting around, looking for signs of the enemy. Because he knew that they’d be here, and they’d be looking for him.
Ever since Heavy Hitter, Adonis and their supporters had fired the first shots, this had gone from an awards show to a war zone.
“Relax, love,” Kai said, patting Uruha’s arm. “You’re way too uptight.”
“I can’t help it,” he said. “This is the first JAVAs since they changed the format. They’re using this awards as a referendum on us, for all intents and purposes.”
“But we’re going to be fine,” Kai said. “We always are. Look- your actors are enjoying themselves.”
Sure enough, there was Aoi, going around the sidelines, showing off for adoring fans. There was Koichi, pulling MiA into the frame so the photographers could get two-shots of him and his lover. Yo-ka was surrounded by bloggers poking mikes in his face, but he looked calm and collected.
“They’re all okay, yes,” Uruha said.
“And you’ll be, too,” Kai said. “You have your ace in the hole - don’t you?”
Uruha nodded. “The papers were signed this morning. We can make the announcement at any . . .”
There was a commotion on the red carpet behind him. He turned to see a group of what could only be described as gym rats in sharp suits - short hair, no makeup - getting out of a limo and waving to the crowd. And leading them was another suit - an older guy with salt-and-pepper hair and big sunglasses. Instantly, a flock of bloggers and press headed in his direction.
Uruha felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. He was face-to-face with his nemesis - Sakai Osamu, producer at Heavy Hitter Productions. And he wasn’t alone - Murasaki Ichirou, his counterpart at Adonis, was with him.
“What do you think you bring to this awards ceremony tonight?” one of the bloggers asked Sakai.
“What we’ve always brought to the industry,” Sakai said. “We bring erotic entertainment by and for men - the industry the way it’s always meant to be.”
“And we bring variety,” Murasaki said. “We think the Association will finally value something other than overblown epics.”
“Porn was never supposed to be about the same kind of plots you’d find in mainstream movies,” said Sakai. “People don’t turn to porn to see some kind of philosophical epic about angels and devils. What the hell is this - Hollywood? I don't think so. People watch gay porn to see men fucking other men, and that’s just what we deliver. And I mean MEN, not pretty boys.”
Uruha’s jaw twitched faster. That comment was obviously being lobbed right in his direction. All porn houses except Heavy Hitter had pretty boys (and did Murasaki realize his ally was insulting Adonis’ own guys?), but only one made videos about creatures from heaven and hell.
“It’s about time videos that aren’t about romance got their due,” Murasaki said. “We think they’re going to tonight.”
“Romance?” Sakai scoffed. “The hell with romance. It’s the last thing in the world men want to see in their porn. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional as all hell.”
That did it. Uruha couldn’t just stand there anymore. How DARE that bastard call him . . . say he was . . .
He suddenly shrugged Kai’s arm off and stalked toward the group. “Uruha!” Kai called - but he paid him no mind.
“Sorry,” Uruha said, “but I beg to differ. In fact, I beg to differ very strongly. The last time I looked, I wasn’t delusional.”
“Uruha-san,” Sakai said, “you’re welcome to your opinion, but you’re reaching out to the wrong audience. You seem to be out of touch with what MEN want.”
“And you seem to be out of touch with who’s actually buying all-male adult videos,” Uruha said. “Furthermore, you’re out of touch with just what they’re buying.”
The bloggers’ recorders were humming and cameras were clicking. They were recording an industry feud in progress - and they loved it.
“I do know that our sales quadrupled when we started reaching out to the male audience,” said Sakai, looking all-too-pleased with himself. “Have you made any strides like that recently? Or do you still keep spinning your wheels filming little creampuff Kansai blonds?”
A direct shot at Subaru. That son of a bitch, Uruha thought. All his actors were special to him - okay, so MiA was a very special kind of special - but Subaru was, well . . .
He was the first star that Uruha had created with his own two hands since Kai’s debut as a seme. The others had all come to him with careers already - Aoi, Ruki and the Screw Crew from other majors, the Nine Films crew and the Suicide Boys from indies. But Subaru was Uruha’s own. He might have been discovered by Eros, but Uruha made him a star.
It was time to bring out his big guns.
“Actually, we have made strides,” he said. “And I’ve got an announcement - a big one.” He reached for one of the nearby microphones, and a blogger put it in his hand. Okay, it wouldn’t carry his voice much further than the group - but it would make him feel like what he was saying was important.
Uruha looked around at the group, and then said, “As of this morning, PSC Productions is pleased to announce that we have closed a deal with Kiryu Video. We will be distributing their product from now on. Their actors will be appearing in our productions as well - we’re developing a very special part for Mahiro as we speak.” Which wasn’t exactly true - but he was sure as hell going to tell his writers to include the actor in the pirate video.
“And furthermore,” Uruha added, “I will be acting as co-producer for their My Dragon sex comedy videos.” He made sure he was looking at Murasaki when he said that. You people think you’re kings of erotic humor? he thought. We’re coming for you.
Murasaki looked stunned. “They . . . they made it official?”
Uruha nodded. “Signed, sealed, delivered. Meaning they’re exclusively ours for the length of the deal. And that, gentlemen, is that.”
He held out the mike at arm’s length, made sure everyone’s eyes were on it . . . and then, he dropped it and walked away.
But he couldn’t resist a small glance over his shoulder to see the looks on the enemy’s faces. Muasaki was flabbergasted. Sakai was furious.
Good, he thought. Let them fume. And then, as if the timing was planned, a van pulled up, the doors opened . . . and out spilled a group of men in brightly-colored traditional Japanese outfits. Kiryu Video’s stars had arrived.
The bloggers instantly abandoned the Heavy Hitter/Adonis alliance and stampeded toward the newcomers, determined to get the scoop on the deal. Mission accomplished, Uruha thought.
* * *
Across the red carpet, Koichi also took notice of the new arrivals - and he wasn’t happy.
“Fuck,” he said. “It’s HIM.”
“Him?” said MiA, looking confused.
“You know who I mean!” Koichi said. “Geisha Boy!”
Subaru, meanwhile, had wandered over toward them after a long and confusing stretch of being pulled this way and that. Here there was someone wanting to take his picture, there was a press person wanting a quote, and on the other side of the velvet ropes there were fangirls, smiling and waving, one of them even giving him a stuffed seal. He’d drifted back toward MiA and Koichi for a moment of peace.
“Who’s Geisha Boy?” he said.
“From Kiryu Video,” Koichi said. “The minute he steps out on the red carpet, every camera within a 50 mile radius flocks to him. He’s a magnet - him and his damn flashy formal kimonos and his flashy color-coded co-stars. And once he’s there, it’s all over. Nobody’s getting their picture taken for the rest of the night.”
“Are you sure it’s . . .” said MiA.
“Oh, it’s him. They all ran for him like bats out of hell. This is why I like to get here early - to get my picture taken before he comes.”
“What’s up?” Tomoya said, approaching the group, holding both Subaru’s just-in-case bag and Koichi’s big pink rabbit bag.
“Koichi seems to have spotted a rival,” Subaru said, glancing across the red carpet . . .
What he saw took his breath away.
The so-called Geisha Boy wasn’t very tall. He was just as short as Ruki, in fact, if not shorter. He did, though, cut an incredibly impressive figure in an elaborate purple-and-gold outfit that was like a hip, modern twist on a traditional formal kimono. He was posing for the cameras with a fan.
There was no denying that in addition to holding himself like a model, the newcomer was beautiful, with intense eyes under his chin-length dark hair. Subaru found himself staring a moment too long.
He quickly tore his eyes away. He couldn’t look at guys with moony eyes anymore - he was together with the love of his life.
Except when he glanced over at Tomoya, he was staring at the newcomer, too.
“Does he have you two under his spell like everyone else?” Koichi said.
Subaru blinked and looked back at the other couple. “I . . . I just wanted to see what you were worried about,” he said, quickly, hoping he wasn’t blushing.
“Me, too,” Tomoya added.
“Maybe I need to beat him at his own game,” Koichi said. “Maybe I need to come up with my own idea of a formal kimono - but with a twist. Something big and outrageous on my head . . .”
A reporter approached them - a short, squat guy with enormous glasses and an ill-fitting suit. “Excuse me,” he said. “I was told this was the all-male awards, but it seems there’s women here. Tell me, miss, are you a female porn star?”
“I am not a MISS,” Koichi nearly snapped. “You’re right in that this an all-male event! And I’m as male as everyone else here!”
“Begging your pardon,” the reporter said, “but you ARE wearing a dress.”
“The red carpet isn’t about gender,” Koichi said. “It’s about fashion! And if the occasion calls for a dress? Then you wear a dress!”
Subaru was beginning to inch away from the scene when he realized that the so-called Geisha Boy was crossing in his direction, trailed by reporters. And before he knew it, without really knowing why he was doing it, he was turning and walking in the other man’s direction, Tomoya following along with him.
“Where are we going?” Tomoya said - but he stopped as soon as Subaru came face-to-face with the other man. All Tomoya could do was stare.
Subaru bowed low. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Subaru - and I just wanted to say that your outfit is really, really beautiful.”
Tomoya suddenly looked worried, and glanced around to see if Koichi was paying attention. Fortunately, he was speaking to another reporter - one that seemed to be a bit more understanding than the guy who’d thought he was female.
“Thank you.” Geisha Boy bowed back. “We’re lucky in that our company has a nice connection for costumes. I’m Mahiro - and I know who you are, Subaru. I was there the night you won Newcomer of the Year.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Subaru reached up to rub the back of his head - and then realized he’d be messing up his hair, not to mention his headpiece. He quickly put his hand down. “That was a real shock. I still can’t believe it. This is my boyfriend, Tomoya, by the way. He’s just joined our writing staff.”
Tomoya bowed. “Hi,” he said.
“Hello. You might be writing videos for us in the future.”
Subaru looked baffled. “Why?”
“Your company just signed a partnership with ours. We’ve been looking to get out of our old deal for awhile - my boss wasn’t happy with Hard Candy at all.”
“I didn’t know you were with them,” Subaru said.
“It was a distribution deal,” Mahiro said. “Kiryu Video produced the videos, Hard Candy released them. They also promised to cast us in their big productions - but . . .” He glanced away.
Another man in a stylized kimono - this one a bright blue - sidled up to Mahiro, leaning on his shoulder. “I turn my back for two seconds and you’re hitting on every guy at the awards?” he said, teasingly.
“Not every guy,” Mahiro said. “Just these two. I have my standards.” He turned back to Subaru and Tomoya. “This is Junji - he’s my boyfriend.”
“Hi!” the other man said, giving a wave. “And I know who the cute little blond is. Subaru! But who’s the other hottie?”
Tomoya bowed. “Tomoya. I’m his boyfriend.”
“We’ve only been together officially a little while,” Subaru said. “We just finished moving into our own apartment.”
“Congratulations,” Mahiro said. “That sounds like us - we officially got together a short time ago, too.”
“We were kind of dancing around each other for a long time,” Junji said, wrapping his arm around his lover. “You know how it is when you work together.”
“Actually, Tomoya just started working with us,” said Subaru. “He just worked on his first screenplay.”
“That and the relationship kind of happened at the same time,” Tomoya added.
“Have you ever considered being on-camera?” said Junji.
“Um . . . not yet?” said Tomoya, glancing over at Subaru, thinking . . . what would it be like, doing a scene with Subaru, being together in front of the cameras. . .
But before his train of thought could go any further in that direction, Koichi’s voice boomed from behind them, “There you are! And you’re . . .” He trailed off, as if stunned into silence that Subaru could be a traitor.
“Hi!” Subaru said. “Mahiro, Junji, this is MiA, one of my best friends, and his boyfriend, Koichi.”
MiA bowed politely, looking a little baffled. “I think we’ve met,” he said.
“We have,” Mahiro said. “Last year’s JAVAs, backstage. I was a presenter.”
“You were?” Subaru said. “What did you present?”
“Best Supporting Actor. I won it two years ago - for one of the few videos Hard Candy actually cast me in.”
“You gave Yuuki his award?” Subaru said.
“Oh, God, that poor guy,” Mahiro said. “I saw him fall on the way up to get the award and I didn’t know whether to go down there and help him up. He got up on his own.”
“Well, you might have been a presenter, but MiA was a WINNER last year,” Koichi said. “He got Best Specialty Video for MiA Amore. He’s up again tonight for the sequel.”
“It was no big deal, really,” MiA said.
“Of course it was a big deal!” Koichi said. “An award is an award!”
A steady stream of people started to head toward the hotel where the awards was being held. Apparently, the heads of JAVA had already made their entrance with the envelopes. “I think we should go in,” MiA said.
“It was nice to meet you.” Subaru bowed toward Mahiro and Junji. “We’ll see you at the afterparty, I hope?”
“You definitely will,” Mahiro said. “I’d like to talk to you more, Subaru.”
Subaru felt his heart flutter a bit. I shouldn’t, he thought. Not with Tomoya right here . . .
But, he said, “I’d like to talk more, too.” He backed up, then turned, quickly heading for the main entrance, Koichi and MiA following them.
Mahiro and Junji watched them go. “What did you think?” Junji said.
“He’s even cuter in person than he looks on video,” said Mahiro.
“His boyfriend was adorable, too,” said Junji. “Think they’re going to the after-after party?”
Mahiro wrapped an arm around Junji’s waist and hugged him. “We said we weren’t going to seek out other guys there this year, you know.”
“This isn’t seeking out,” Junji said. “This is coincidence. Really fortunate coincidence. We just happened to meet them.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so,” Junji said. “And if we all end up at the after-after party together? Even more fortunate.”
They both laughed, as they headed toward the awards.
* * *
Subaru felt a tap on his shoulder as he and Tomoya made their way into the ballroom, looking for an association staffer who could guide them to the Eros Video table. He turned around to see a very familiar, very tall figure dressed in a sparkly silver suit.
“Kouki!” he said, throwing his arms around his friend. “I didn’t see you before!”
“I was trying to talk to you on the red carpet, but you were a little busy,” he said. “More like a lot busy, because you’d have to be to not see me in this outfit!”
“It was nuts!” Subaru said. “Between the bloggers and the fans, it was nonstop!”
“One of them even gave him this,” Tomoya said, holding up the stuffed seal.
“How are you holding up, Tomoya?” said Kouki. “This is your first exposure to the porn industry madness, isn’t it?”
“This is my first event, yes,” Tomoya said. “I heard about the others from Subaru, though, so I kind of knew what to expect.”
“Oh, you have NO idea what to expect from the JAVAs,” said Kouki. “Except for bad dirty jokes from the host. You’re going to have those in abundance.”
“I got forewarned about that by MiA,” Subaru said. “And Koichi told me I’m going to have to suppress the urge to headdesk on the table.”
“That’s why they serve booze at this thing.” Kouki patted Subaru’s shoulder. “I have to locate my boyfriend and our table. We’ll see you at the afterparty, okay?”
“Okay!” Subaru said - just as his other sleeve was tugged on. He turned to see MiA.
“Koichi and I found the Eros table,” he said. “I’ll show you where we’re going.”
“Are we next to Uruha’s group?” Subaru and Tomoya walked through the throngs of flashily-dressed men.
“On one side. There’s a Hard Candy table on the other side - the Kiryu Video people are there. There’ll probably be with us next year. Koichi’s already plotting how to outdo Geisha Boy next year.” MiA shook his head.
“What did he bring in the bunny bag, anyway?” Tomoya said. “I’ve been carrying it for him all night.”
“Makeup. Hair stuff. Things to fix his costume in case of an emergency. And one or two other things he didn’t tell me about.”
No sooner had they settled into their seats when the lights went down, and a band began to play a fanfare. An offstage announcement said, “Welcome to the 2016 Japan Adult Video Association Male Awards! And now, here’s your host . . .”
“Not this guy again,” Koichi mumbled as a comedian bounded onto the stage. Sure enough, no sooner had the host settled into position that he launched into a long string of double-entendres, along the lines of “The association found it hard to narrow down the list of performers - but not as hard as the performers found their co-stars!”
MiA winced. Koichi resisted the urge to facepalm, because that would mess up his makeup. Subaru just sat there blank-faced.
After a seemingly endless string of painful non-humor, the host said, “And now, without further ado, the awards! As we all know, things are switched up a little this year - awards will be given to videos in several categories, and then the winner of each of those categories goes on to compete for Best Video. And so, to present the first of our categories, Best Porn Parody, please welcome Hard Candy’s dynamic duo . . .
Well, PSC/Eros had no nominees in this particular category. Subaru got out his phone and pulled up a selfie he’d taken of himself and Tomoya on the red carpet earlier, messaging it to his brother with a note saying, “In the awards now - first chance I got to send this!”
And that’s when he noticed he had a new Twitter follower - “kiryu_mahiroofficial.” He glanced over at the other table - and saw Mahiro with his phone as well. (Where does he keep it in that kimono? Subaru wondered.) The other porn star gave him a little smile and a wave.
Subaru waved back - and then looked for kiryu_junjiofficial, since he figured that was the other man’s Twitter. He barely noticed the fact that they called out Adonis Video as the winners, until he realized he had to put his phone down and clap, since everyone else was clapping.
At the PSC Productions table, Uruha made a mark on a napkin in front of him. He’d drawn a line down the middle, marking one side “Us” and the other “Them.” He’d record every win in the video categories by either PSC or the Adonis/Heavy Hitter alliance. Well, this was one for the “Them” side.
It was okay. The night was still young.
* * *
An hour later, Subaru was quite bored.
They’d presented the awards for Best Music and Best Video Packaging Design. They’d given out Best Wall-to-Wall - which, of course, went to Heavy Hitter, with great fanfare on their part.
“Thanks for this great honor,” Sakai loudly announced. “This is living proof of what the porn public really wants, and we intend to keep giving it to them! Raw, hot, heavy and unapologetic - the very essence of what this industry is SUPPOSED to be about. Because in the end?” He held his award over his head. “It’s about SEX, stupid!”
Uruha gritted his teeth. His mark on his napkin was a big, black slash.
This was followed by a musical performance, and then Best Orgy - won, of course, by Heavy Hitter, with more loud posturing. Next, one of the stars from Adonis came out and read the list of awards that were presented off-camera - the people who ordinarily would have gotten them during the show, until Heavy Hitter changed the format.
Every once in awhile, Subaru found himself glancing over to the table next to him. Or, rather, glancing over at a certain someone. Mahiro was, well, holding some kind of strange fascination for him.
He looked as the other man absently tapped his fan on the side of his face, checked his phone again, actually paid attention to what a presenter was saying. He was full of energy, to be sure - he never seemed to be sitting still.
And then Subaru reminded himself that he had to be looking at the stage, not the lovely man in purple - it was only polite. (And besides, he was sitting here with the love of his life! What was he looking at another man for?)
Finally, the host said, “And now, it’s time for an always fun award, Best Threesome, in which everyone tries to figure out which tab is going in which slot!”
“That’s you,” Tomoya whispered. “It’s one of your awards, Subaru!”
He didn’t want to tell his boyfriend it was the one they had the lowest chance of winning - Hard Candy had won the Best Threesome award just about every year, Yuuki had told him. Still, he had to at least look hopeful.
The presenter - a willowy guy from Adonis - came out and read the list of nominations. There was a group from Hard Candy, of course, one from Adonis, two different threesomes from Heavy Hitter, and finally, Subaru/Yo-ka/MiA. The guy ripped open the envelope. “And the JAVA Award goes to . . .”
Subaru just sat there with a frozen smile on his face, in case one the cameras that was carrying the livestream happened to fall on him. Just call the guys from Hard Candy already, he thought . . .
“Subaru, Yo-ka and MiA, Datenshi Blue 2, PSC Productions and Eros Films!”
There was a pause where the three of them just looked at each other across the table and blinked - they didn’t hear that, did they? Oh, yes, they did! They all leapt to their feet, and then their whole table was leaping to their feet, and they somehow had to get out from the mob and make their way to the stage.
It’s an award, Subaru thought. I really won a JAVA Award!
There were three statuettes, one for each of them. “Who talks first?” Subaru said as soon as they got there.
“We have no idea what we’re doing here,” Yo-ka told the audience. “We weren’t exactly expecting this.”
MiA decided to take control of the situation. “I think I’m going to speak for the group when I say I couldn’t have done this scene with anyone else,” he said. “I love both these guys a lot, and the scene came from the heart, honestly.”
“I second it!” Subaru said. “The whole video wouldn’t have come out like it did if we didn’t have each other’s backs - and a great crew behind us.”
“And I have to thank Uruha for always believing in us,” Yo-ka said. “He has a level of trust in us that few directors do.”
They all raised their trophies at once and shouted, “Thank you!” - more of a fortunate coincidence than anything else. The staff was leading them back to their seats - and as they passed the Hard Candy table, Mahiro reached out a hand to high-five Subaru.
“I can’t fucking believe it!” Yuuki whispered as they got back. “You guys broke Hard Candy’s stranglehold on that award!”
“You’ve been with the three of us,” Yo-ka said, casually, dropping back into his seat and wrapping an arm around his boyfriend for a kiss. “You know what it’s like.”
“Look, Tomoya,” Subaru said, gingerly setting it down on the table. “We have an award to put on our shelf!”
“Next to the Newcomer of the Year Award,” Tomoya whispered back.
Subaru looked at the light reflecting off the surface of the award. Maybe, he thought, this is the beginning of a hot streak for us.
* * *
But that was followed by a long stretch of cold. Best Comedy was up next, and it went to Adonis - beating out that year’s My Dragon Productions video. Ruki lost Best Oral yet again - and to add insult to injury, it was to a guy from Heavy Hitter.
“Fuck,” he grumbled, punching his fist into the table while the lunk was up there giving his speech. “Do I have to suck a fucking telephone pole to win this award?”
Uruha frowned. He wondered if Heavy Hitter had bribed or campaigned their way to this one. Everyone knew that Ruki was the best in the world at his specialty - why did he keep losing?
Fortunately, Ruki was avenged - by an unlikely person. Koichi leaned over and whispered to Tomoya, “Give me my bunny bag.”
Tomoya slid it under the table to him. Koichi took something out of it, got out of his seat, and sprinted toward the stage just as the Heavy Hitter guy was descending. He gave him a smile and a gracious bow, said, “For the winner” - and plunked something on his head.
It was a princess tiara like the one MiA had won last year. The audience roared with laughter. The lunk snarled, yanked it off his head and hurled it back at Koichi - but the point had been made.
Koichi made his way back to the Eros table - but Uruha stood up from the PSC one to give the pink-haired porn star a big high five. Any differences that had been between them in the past were definitely bridged.
When Best Two Person Sex Scene came up, Subaru found himself full of nervous anticipation - because he knew that he and MiA were competing head-to-head with Yuuki and Hiro. He leaned over and whispered to Yuuki, “Good luck!”
“I told you, I don’t care about awards!” Yuuki whispered back. “It’s just something else on the counter!”
Their competition was a duo from Heavy Hitter, one from Hard Candy, and, as it turned out, Mahiro and Junji from Kiryu Video.
“And the award goes to . . .” The presenter ripped open the envelope. “Mahiro and Junji, A Strange Attraction, Kiryu Video!”
They looked as shocked as Subaru had for the threesome video. One of their friends - the guy with the facemask - smacked Mahiro’s shoulder and said, “Go up there! It’s your award!”
And Subaru found himself with a very deep case of mixed emotions. True, he wanted this award, for either himself or for Yuuki. But if it had to go to anyone else, he was glad it was them.
The two climbed up on the stage. “We’re a bit stunned,” Mahiro said.
“Just a bit,” said Junji. “Especially given the competition.”
“I’m going to tell you something about this particular scene, though,” Mahiro said. “Junji and I, well, we’d been co-stars and friends with benefits for a long time - and then, after we did this particular scene, he confessed to me. We’ve been a couple ever since.”
“It took a scene like that to make me realize it,” said Junji.
“So this award really, really means a lot to us,” said Mahiro, “especially since we’re sharing it together.”
They two of them kissed - it was traditional for the winners of this award to make out on stage, but they needed no provoking. And when they came back to their seats, Subaru went over and high-fived Mahiro - like Mahiro had done to him.
The show moved on to Best Star Vehicle. Uruha sat up at attention. This was a big one for them. They were competing against Heavy Hitter two times over. They had two, Heavy Hitter had two, and the fifth slot was taken up by Adonis.
But most important of all - this was the category MiA Adore was in. His valentine to MiA. His shrine to him, for all intents and purposes. You might say this contest was just slightly personal to Uruha.
The presenter read off the nominations. Subaru reached over and squeezed MiA’s hand.
“And the award goes to . . . Inside Byou, PSC Productions!”
Another surprise. Uruha just sat there, stunned. All he could hear was that the winner was NOT MiA Adore . . . even though it was another one of theirs.
But he knew he had to get up there, since he’d produced and directed Inside Byou. And Jin was going up there, also, since he’d given the writer a co-producer credit on it - the fourth-wall-breaking structure of the video had been his idea, after all.
There were two trophies for Best Specialty Video - one for the star, one for the producer. Uruha said, “I’m going to let Jin do the talking. This video really is his baby.”
“Yes, because I had to sell this guy on the idea,” Jin said. “I even had to make a demo video of one of the scenes. Well, it turns out I was right.”
“Yes, you were right,” Uruha said.
“Don’t I get a word in?” Byou said - and the audience laughed. “I have to thank Jin, the love of my life, and Uruha, who’s the best director I’ve ever worked with, and my other co-stars in this video, Manabu and Kazuki. And . . . damn, I still can’t believe this!”
“I can’t believe it, either,” Jin said. “Thank you, everyone!”
When Uruha slid into his seat and made his mark on the napkin, he was stone-faced. Kai squeezed his shoulder and whispered, “I know you wanted that one for MiA, love. But you have to remember . . . he won this award last year. They don’t usually give it to the same person for showcase videos two years in a row. Plus, this will be a great career reviver for Byou. And WE won that one, not Heavy Hitter.”
Uruha glanced over to the Heavy Hitter table. Yes, they looked NOT happy - and he could take satisfaction in that.
Four category awards down. Two to go.
* * *
When Best Romance came up, it probably would have shocked everyone in the room if it did NOT go to PSC.
Their competition was two videos from indie companies, one from Adonis and Kiryu Video’s A Strange Attraction - the same video that Junji and Mahiro had just won for. When the presenter called out, “Heart of the Ocean, PSC Productions and Eros Video,” Uruha was gesturing for Yo-ka and Subaru to come up there with him even before the words were fully out of the guy’s mouth.
The director said, “The view from up here is starting to look familiar,” which drew a laugh. He added, “Before I go further, I’d like to thank the young lady who submitted the script for this film - it wasn’t eligible for Best Screenplay because it came from a contest, but I’m having a replica of this award made and sent to her. So, Peaches” - the pen name the writer had used on the script - “this is for you.”
He turned to Yo-ka and Subaru and said, “And furthermore - a romance video is only as good as its two stars, and these guys were absolutely outstanding. I couldn’t have asked for leads with better chemistry. You surpassed my expectations night after night - and yes, if you haven’t seen the film, most of it takes place at night, in Okinawa.”
“We had a lot of drunken people stumbling out of bars making faces at our cameras,” Yo-ka said, which got a laugh.
Barely had they sat down after that one when the host announced Best Screenplay, and then Jin was up there again. Uruha glanced over at the Heavy Hitter table at that point - oh, yes, they were starting to look steamed. This was just what they didn’t want - PSC/Eros was racking up the biggest awards of the evening.
Sorry, guys, Uruha thought. They don’t hand out prizes for writing and acting for wall-to-walls.
While Jin was speaking, a JAVA staff member came up to the Eros table and whispered something to Yuuki. He nodded to Yo-ka, and both of them got up and started to leave.
“What’s going on?” Subaru whispered.
“We’re presenting, remember?” Yuuki whispered back. “We won last year.” He squeezed Subaru’s shoulder. “Good luck.”
Oh, yes - if they were going, they were going to present Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Subaru glanced over at MiA, who looked pretty unruffled despite the fact that, well, he had a much better shot at winning the award he was nominated for than Subaru did.
The host said, “And now, to present the award for Best Supporting Actor, a real homme fatale” - a reference, of course, to Yuuki’s video of last year - “and I’m not going to say anything else about him, because he’s likely to come after me with his whip. Please welcome the one, the only - YUUKI!”
When Yuuki came out, he looked like he was none too amused at the lame intro, but he settled into place and started reading off the Teleprompter as he’d been instructed. “It’s my pleasure - well, lots of things are my pleasure” - he rolled his eyes at that - “to present the award for Best Supporting Actor. Any of these guys could be a winner, because they all gave performances of a lifetime. Here are the nominees . . .”
Subaru realized that he was more nervous for MiA right now than he’d been for himself. He reached over and squeezed his friend’s hand as Yuuki read off the names. MiA squeezed back, keeping his eyes on the stage.
“And the award goes to . . .” Yuuki ripped the envelope open. “MiA, for Datenshi Blue 2: Heaven, Hell and Earth!”
As soon as MiA’s name was mentioned, Subaru dropped his hand and jumped out of his seat, punching the air in excitement. He turned to hug MiA - but MiA was wrapped up in Koichi at the moment. When Koichi let go, Subaru grabbed MiA and just about squeezed the air out of him - then remembered he had to let go so his friend could go to the stage.
MiA looked stunned as he climbed the podium, picking up the award gingerly. “I . . . I don’t know what to say,” he said. “This is an incredible honor. Just incredible. And I wouldn’t be here without so many people - everyone at the late and lamented Avalon Video, and everyone at Eros Films for giving me a second chance . . . Tsuzuku, Meto, Subaru, Yuuki, Yo-ka, I love you all so much . . . And Uruha . . . You’ve been so incredible, on so many levels. I can’t thank you enough - for everything.”
Subaru quickly glanced over at Koichi. Sure enough, the pink-haired man was frowning.
“But most of all, this award is for Koichi - because the biggest blessing of my life has been having you in it. I love you, baby.”
The audience burst out in thunderous applause as MiA rapidly made his way back to his seat, breathless - and applauded again as Koichi caught him up in his arms and kissed him.
“You scared me for a second,” Koichi whispered.
“You should have known I’d save the best for last,” MiA answered - and then suddenly stopped as Koichi reached into his bunny bag, pulled something out, and plopped it on MiA’s head.
Oh, no. Not another tiara. Not the thing he’d put on the Heavy Hitter guy.
He reached up, gingerly, expecting to encounter the spikes of a princess crown . . .
Instead, he felt something smooth and metallic. Koichi whipped a mirror out of the bag and held it in front of MiA’s face.
There was a gold circlet studded with jewels, which dipped down to a point over his forehead. It looked like something a dragon-riding prince in a fantasy novel would wear - not a Disney princess.
“I thought this one suited you much more than what I gave you last year,” Koichi said. “And remember - you have to wear it for every public function all year! How many guys get to be Best Supporting Actor?”
MiA’s face broke out in a wide smile. “I’ll wear it with pleasure,” he said, before kissing Koichi again.
* * *
Yo-ka had to wait until it was his turn to present. Before he went out, Uruha went up there two more times - once to accept Best Drama for Datenshi Blue 2, and again to collect Best Director for Heart of the Ocean - at which point the host interrupted and said. “I’ve just been handed a note from the Association - this is the first time that one director has won three years in a row - in the regular OR male divisions of the Association - since Hideki O did it in the mid-80s.” The crowd roared.
Finally, the host said, “And now, the porn industry’s very own dirty angel, everyone give it up for Yo-ka!” Subaru watched his friend walk out onto the stage - and felt MiA squeeze his hand.
Save your energy, Subaru thought. They don’t give Best Actor awards to newbies.
“A lot of huge names in the industry have stood up here to receive Best Actor awards over the years,” Yo-ka said. “Yoshiki, Atsushi Sakurai, Aoi . . . Well, tonight, one man will be joining in their company. Here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role . . .”
Why was I even considered the leading role in this? Subaru thought as Tomoya squeezed his other hand and Yo-ka read off the names. Yo-ka had more screen time than me - didn’t he? Shouldn’t he be the lead actor and me the supporting?
“And the award goes to . . .” Yo-ka ripped open the envelope - and a huge smile spread over his face. “I couldn’t be happier to announce this. Subaru, for Heart of the Ocean!”
It didn’t sink in at first. He couldn’t have heard that right - could he? That had to be another guy’s name. But then Tomoya was grabbing him and hugging him, and MiA was as well, and Koichi was giving him a little push and saying, “Get up there, Subaru!”
Subaru stumbled out from behind the table in a daze. He kept stumbling and dazing all the way up to the podium, where Yo-ka caught him in a huge hug. Oh, my God, what to do now? He’d never thought about winning! He’d never considered it! Now he had to make an acceptance speech!
He turned toward the audience and said, “I’m a little stunned right now.” Everyone laughed and applauded. “Oh, my God, who do I thank . . .” A sea of faces was swimming in his head, but he couldn’t come up with what any of them were called. Think, Subaru, think! he told himself. Come up with the names!
Okay, start with the obvious, the guy right here on the stage with him . . . “Yo-ka. Because a leading man in a romance is only as good as his partner, and Yo-ka was the best partner a guy could have.” Good, good, move on from there . . . “Yuuki, who believed in me from the beginning. Uruha, for having faith in me and being the best director anyone ever had. MiA . . . I just don’t know what I’d do without you, and Kouki, you’ve been wonderful . . .and Tomoya, my boyfriend and our newest writer, you’re everything to me . . .”
And then, finally, real inspiration. “But most of all, this is for the fans! Because your love and support makes all of us what we are! Thank you so much!” He exited the stage with applause ringing out all over the room . . .
The first thing he saw was Mahiro, standing with his hand out for a high five, like before. He smacked it.
It’s all over now but the parties, Subaru thought as he sank into his seat, just looking at the thing in his lap.
“Two awards to put on the shelf now,” Tomoya whispered. “Can you believe it?”
Subaru shook his head. He couldn’t believe it in his wildest dreams. But if this was a dream, it was a pretty damn good one.
* * *
For Uruha, the moment of truth had arrived.
There was one award left to give - Best Video. His tally on the napkin showed that PSC would have three entries, the Heavy Hitter/Adonis alliance the other three. They were neck-in-neck. It was anyone’s game now.
He was betting heavily on Datenshi Blue 2 to carry the day - it was the one that had the best shot.
The host strode back onto the stage to introduce the final presenter of the evening. Giving out Best Video was a huge honor that was usually reserved for industry legends - they’d even had straight and foreign porn stars present it.
They had a legend tonight, all right. The host said, simply, “I need say only one word - AOI.”
Aoi walked onto the stage to a standing ovation. “Great,” Ruki grumbled. “Just what his ego doesn’t need.”
The superstar surveyed his kingdom for a moment, and then said, “How are you people doing? Much better now that I’m here, right?”
Most of the crowd laughed. Yuuki, who had just returned to his seat along with Yo-ka, looked annoyed. Ruki facepalmed.
“So what we’re going to do right now is give out Best Video,” Aoi said, “and as you all know, they switched it up a bit this year, so Best Video will be given from among the category winners. Weird, I know, but whatever works. So, here they are. Best Porn Parody, Fifty Shades of Gay, Adonis Films. Best Wall-to-Wall, Come and Get It, Heavy Hitter Productions. Best Romance, Heart of the Ocean, PSC Productions and Eros Films. Best Star Vehicle, Inside Byou, PSC Productions. Best Comedy, Where Are My Pants?, Adonis Films. And Best Drama, Datenshi Blue 2: Heaven, Hell and Earth, PSC Productions and Eros Films.”
There was a pause while a drum roll sounded, and Aoi said, “And now I just stand here and look pretty while you sit there in suspense.” The crowd laughed. “The award goes to . . .”
He ripped open the envelope. “Well, this is a surprise.”
Uruha’s heart sank. Had they lost? Had the Adonis/Heavy Hitter alliance bested them?
“HEART OF THE OCEAN! PSC Productions and Eros Films!”
They’d won . . .with Heart of the Ocean? Not Datenshi Blue 2? Not the epic? The little shot-in-Okinawa-written-by-a-contest-winner romance video?
Uruha and his co-producer from Eros started making their way to the stage - and in keeping with Uruha’s tradition by now, he gestured for all the PSC and Eros people to join him up there.
He was going to let the co-producer speak first. He had to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t quite expecting this.
As he stood there, listening to the head of Eros go on about the spirit of cooperation between their two companies, Uruha’s eyes fell on the Heavy Hitter table. They looked - crushed. Not just disappointed, as he expected. Sakai looked flat-out angry.
And suddenly, it hit him just why they were so upset. It wasn’t just that he’d bested them. It was the TYPE of video he’d beaten them with, after all their hot air on the red carpet about nobody wanting to see romance anymore. Uruha knew exactly what he was going to say.
“Thank you to one and all,” he told the crowd. “And I just want to say something. There’s been some talk among some people in this industry that romance is dead, that audiences don’t want to see erotic love stories anymore, that all they want is raw, pure, hard sex. Well, the Association seems to think romance is alive and well, don’t they?”
Oh, he was on a roll now. He looked right at the Heavy Hitter table and said, “Face it - this whole night has been about romance. Look at all the loving moments we’ve had here on this stage. Jin getting the Best Star Vehicle award for a script he crafted out of his love for Byou. Mahiro and Junji getting the Two-Person Sex Scene award for their first time together as lovers.” He looked at them. “You two are part of our family now, I’m looking forward to working with you - with ALL of Kiryu Video - in the future. MiA dedicating his Best Supporting Actor win to his boyfriend, Koichi. And finally, us getting this award for a romance video. Love is in the air, love is everywhere, and love and sex go together like hand in glove - and don’t you forget it! Thank you again, all!”
He hoisted the award and gave Heavy Hitter a big smile - and that was the biggest Fuck You he could launch at them. He decided this was the best awards night of his life.
To Part 2
Chapter: Forty-fourth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, there is a link to the second part at the bottom of the first.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, foursome, prostate play, frottage
Pairing: Tomoya x Subaru (Royz) Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), MiA x Koichi (Mejibray), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), Junji x Mahiro (Kiryu), Byou x Jin (SCREW), aaaand . . . Mahiro x Subaru x Tomoya x Junji! (Plus mentions of Kouki (D=OUT) x Ryoga (BORN)
Disclaimer: Royz and Kiryu belong to BP Records, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Diaura belongs to AINS, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, D=OUT, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: The JAVA Awards finally arrive, and Subaru is facing his first experience with the red carpet - and the prospect of the After-After Party, where anything goes and hookups are heavy. Meanwhile, Uruha faces a showdown with his rivals from Heavy Hitter Productions, and the arrival of Koichi’s fashion rival turns out to resonate strongly with PSC Productions - and Subaru.
Notes: Here’s the list of the outfits everyone is wearing: Subaru and Tomoya, S.I.V.A. (blue and silver edition); Yo-ka, white version of Incomplete (with the hair he had in the Triangle era); Yuuki, Gypsy (with the hair from the Gossip era); MiA, Secret No. 3 (with the hair from the Raven era); Koichi, the white version of The Theatrical Show dress (as seen on this Shoxx cover); Kiryu characters, Etsu to Utsu; GazettE characters, Red; SCREW characters, the 10th Anniversary outfits; Kouki, Kabuki Disco.
About a week before the JAVA Awards, it finally started to sink in for Subaru that he really had no idea what to expect.
Sure, he’d been to parties before (like the Suicide Ball, where he’d met MiA) and industry events (the Newcomer of the Year/Performer of the Year banquet), but the JAVAs were, well . . . more. A lot more.
That became apparent as soon as Yuuki decided it was time to select the appropriate outfits. He took Subaru and Tomoya to a warehouse full of costumes from visual kei bands that had gone bust, and then looked and looked and looked until he found a pair of outfits that suited them.
“Isn’t this a bit . . . flashy?” Subaru said, holding the glittering blue-and-silver jacket in front of his chest.
“There’s no such thing as too flashy at the JAVAs,” Yuuki said. “You’re going to be surrounded by guys who are even more dressed up than this. Koichi will probably show up looking like a fireworks display.” He took something off the hanger and wrapped it around Subaru’s head. “And best of all, this outfit has a headpiece. I’m not risking Koichi having an opportunity to slap a tiara on you.”
“What about you?” Tomoya said. “Are you wearing something flashy, too?”
“My outfit is all black, like it usually is,” Yuuki said. “It’s contrasting with Yo-ka - he’s wearing all white. Of course, Yo-ka wanted to coordinate with Byou, since they work together on-screen so much, and then Byou had to coordinate with Jin, since he’s his date.”
Subaru looked down at the glittering outfit again. It was . . . nice, in a gaudy sort of way. He quietly wondered what MiA was going to be wearing to the awards. If he was coordinating with Koichi, well . . .
He knew that his friend had great difficulty saying no to his lover when it came to fashion. Hence, the tiara.
“But what’s going to happen when we get there?” Subaru said.
“We’ll talk about that when we get home,” Yuuki said. “It’s time you two got the full briefing.”
Said briefing took place in Yuuki and Yo-ka’s living room, with the two couples sitting around the living room table, takeout containers scattered around them. “The first thing you have to know about,” Yuuki said, waving his chopsticks for emphasis, “is the red carpet itself.”
“There’s going to be photographers,” Yo-ka said. “Lots of them. More than you’ve seen yet, even at the Expo.”
“You’re going to have the porn press, of course, but also the LGBT publications and maybe some mainstream news outlets. Beware of those - they tend to ask really dumb questions. They don’t understand what we’re all about at all.”
“And there will be guys competing for attention,” Yo-ka added. “It’s like a sport - they try to see who will get the most pictures taken. Pose when they want you to, but don’t try to grandstand - just be yourself. “
“If any bastards from Heavy Hitter or those assholes who said you didn’t deserve Newcomer of the Year try to give you shit? Find me, I’ll have my whip,” Yuuki said.
“And he’ll also be wearing broken-in boots this year,” Yo-ka said with a grin.
Yuuki gave his lover a playful smack. “That was a one-time mistake,” he said. “It’s not happening again!”
“When will we know when it’s time to go inside?” Subaru said.
“You’ll see other people drifting in that direction,” Yo-ka said. “The official signal is when the heads of JAVA bring in the briefcases that contain the envelopes. Everyone else just kinds of follows them.”
“There will be other members of JAVA greeting you and showing you where your table is,” Yuuki said. “They tend to seat people from the same company together, so you’ll be at the Eros table with us.”
“MiA, too?” said Subaru.
“They’re part of Eros now, so yes,” said Yuuki. “And then they have the awards. It’s long and kind of tedious, but there’s cameras - they stream the whole thing - so don’t get caught playing with your phone.”
“After the awards is over, we go to the main ballroom of the hotel for an afterparty,” Yo-ka said. “The cameras will follow us there, too. If you win an award, have it with you.”
“The afterparty is a few hours long, usually,” Yuuki said. “Then most people go get changed and they head to the after-after party. That’s usually held in some rich guy’s house.”
“Like the Suicide Ball was,” Subaru said.
“Yes,” said Yuuki. “And by the time people get to the after-after party, they’ve been drinking awhile.”
“When they get there, they drink even more,” said Yo-ka.
“So you have a bunch of drunken porn stars in a relaxed atmosphere,” Yuuki said. “As you might imagine, hookups happen. A LOT of hookups.”
“Most people end up either going upstairs with someone or leaving with someone,” Yo-ka said. “Usually not who they came with.”
Subaru and Tomoya exchanged glances. This did NOT sound like a good activity for a couple that had just become officially serious. Sure, they were going to have an open relationship like every other porn couple. But . . . were they ready to be hit on by strangers? Did they want to risk ending up so carried away by booze and the moment that they made bad choices?
“Does everyone go to the after-after party?” Subaru said, slowly.
“Most everyone does,” Yuuki said. “But it isn’t absolutely required. Nothing is except the ceremony itself.”
“And the afterparty, if you win,” said Yo-ka.
“We’ll be going to the after-after party,” Yuuki said. “We’ve gone the last couple of years. In fact . . .” He glanced over at Yo-ka. “SOMEBODY has already said that he has dibs on Byou for that night.”
“Hey, I haven’t gotten together with him for a long time,” Yo-ka said. “And it’s not like YOU aren’t going to end up going upstairs with Hiro or Karma within ten minutes.”
Subaru and Tomoya exchanged another glance. Would they ever get to the point where they were like that - so casual about your lover being with another man?
“You can do whatever you want,” Yuuki said. “Follow some basic protocol - but do your own thing. Just don’t get in front of Koichi when he’s having his picture taken. That can be deadly.”
Later on, as Subaru and Tomoya were making their way home, Subaru said, “It sounds like we’re going to have a full evening.”
“I’m going to be exhausted,” Tomoya said. “I still can’t believe that I’m going.”
“I told you.” Subaru took his hand. “You’re our writer and my date.”
“Subaru . . . what do you think about that after-after party?”
Subaru took a deep breath, the unseasonably warm February air flooding his lungs. He quietly wondered if the sakura would come out early this year. “Well, everyone seems to be going, but . . .”
“I know,” Tomoya said.
“We don’t have to stay there all evening, you know,” Subaru said. “We could just come in, say hi to some people, stick together and leave.”
“And not drink a lot?” Tomoya said.
“No, of course not, we don’t have to,” Subaru said.
Tomoya squeezed his hand. “Everything else - the red carpet and the awards and the afterparty - I’m looking forward to,” he said.
“Me, too,” Subaru replied.
They had quietly decided that they would deal with the idea of the after-after party, and the temptation it presented, when then night arrived - and that was that.
* * *
When the big night finally arrived, by the time their vehicle arrived in front of the site of the awards, Subaru felt like he’d had a full evening already.
He and Tomoya had gotten to Yuuki and Yo-ka’s early so Yuuki could do their makeup. MiA dropped by to have his done as well, although he said Koichi was doing his own.
“He starts getting ready two days before the JAVAs,” he said.
“Two days?” Subaru’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Well, his nails. He has them professionally done, and he always comes up with the polish design himself. Then his hair. He makes sure his dye is touched up. And then he meets with Tsuzuku and goes over and over and over every possible piece of jewelry for his outfit - and this year, mine, too.”
“What kind of outfit does he have?” Subaru said.
“He keeps that top-secret,” MiA said. “So you’ll find out when you get there.”
After the makeup, MiA left to go back to his own place, and everyone else got dressed. Yuuki was, indeed, wearing a long, elegant black skirt with high boots, a lace bodice, long gloves - and the highlight, a black hat with a huge brim. Yo-ka, meanwhile, wore a white outfit consisting of booty shorts, long boots and a top decorated with feathers - reminiscent of his most famous role as an angel. (Yuuki had added a jeweled circlet around Yo-ka’s brow - because there was no way he was letting Koichi get a tiara on him, either).
They piled into the van that was sent for them very carefully, and stepped out equally carefully. Subaru spotted MiA right away - he was directly across from them, wearing what seemed to be a black prince’s outfit trimmed with red and gold, complete with a red-lined cape.
“MiA!” Subaru cried, rushing toward him - and then suddenly stopped. He couldn’t hug his friend like he usually did - he’d mess up their outfits.
“You two look gorgeous!” MiA said.
“So do you,” said Subaru. “Um . . . where’s Koichi?”
“In his element.” MiA nodded toward a cluster of photographers that were frantically snapping away at an unseen person. They moved aside a little, to the left, and . . .
Subaru gasped. It looked for all the world like Koichi was wearing a bridal gown. It was made up of tier after tier of white ruffles, fanning out from his waist, while the top was a close-fitting white bodice that left his shoulders bare. His arms were covered with three-quarter length fingerless white gloves - all the better to show off his manicure.
What really made the outfit, though, was the fact that Koichi had added decidedly non-bridal accessories - a pirate eyepatch and a pair of scissors on a white ribbon around his neck.
“Oh, wow,” Subaru said, breathlessly. Koichi was handling himself like a model. He was posing effortlessly, glaring right into the lens one moment, then glancing away the next. They couldn’t get enough of it, either - they kept circling him like birds around their prey, all trying to get the best angles.
But Subaru’s contemplation of the other man was interrupted by someone yelling behind him, “Subaru-san!” He nearly jumped a mile in the air, whirled around - and found a microphone shoved in his face so abruptly he thought they were trying to whack off his nose.
“I’m H-Man from the Allporn blog,” said the microphone, until Subaru realized there was a person behind it - a grinning guy with enormous sunglasses and a loud Hawaiian shirt. Not to mention a video camera, which was also pointed at him. “How does it feel to have your first-ever JAVA nominations?”
And here it was - his first official red carpet interview. He just wished it had happened a bit more, well, gracefully.
“It’s terrific,” he said. “I can hardly believe I’m here. I mean, here I am, a newbie, and I’m surrounded by all these veterans.”
“What do you think got you here?” H-man said, pushing the mike even closer to Subaru. He backed off, slowly.
“The support of terrific co-stars and a great crew,” Subaru said, thinking if the mike came any closer, he was going to go tumbling headfirst off the curb, and that would be a terrible start to his first JAVAs. “Uruha has been wonderful, and the writers are unbelievable.”
“And finally - who’s your favorite guy to fuck?” The blogger’s face was now completely covered by a wide grin.
“My boyfriend,” Subaru said. “He’s on our writing staff.”
“Hi,” Tomoya said, giving the camera a grin and a wave.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky guy?” the blogger said. “Good luck tonight!” The camera and mike were removed, and Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are all interviews like that?” Tomoya said.
“I hope not,” said Subaru.
One thing was for sure, though - the night was just beginning.
* * *
As soon as Uruha stepped out on the red carpet, he felt like a soldier in the trenches.
His eyes were darting around, looking for signs of the enemy. Because he knew that they’d be here, and they’d be looking for him.
Ever since Heavy Hitter, Adonis and their supporters had fired the first shots, this had gone from an awards show to a war zone.
“Relax, love,” Kai said, patting Uruha’s arm. “You’re way too uptight.”
“I can’t help it,” he said. “This is the first JAVAs since they changed the format. They’re using this awards as a referendum on us, for all intents and purposes.”
“But we’re going to be fine,” Kai said. “We always are. Look- your actors are enjoying themselves.”
Sure enough, there was Aoi, going around the sidelines, showing off for adoring fans. There was Koichi, pulling MiA into the frame so the photographers could get two-shots of him and his lover. Yo-ka was surrounded by bloggers poking mikes in his face, but he looked calm and collected.
“They’re all okay, yes,” Uruha said.
“And you’ll be, too,” Kai said. “You have your ace in the hole - don’t you?”
Uruha nodded. “The papers were signed this morning. We can make the announcement at any . . .”
There was a commotion on the red carpet behind him. He turned to see a group of what could only be described as gym rats in sharp suits - short hair, no makeup - getting out of a limo and waving to the crowd. And leading them was another suit - an older guy with salt-and-pepper hair and big sunglasses. Instantly, a flock of bloggers and press headed in his direction.
Uruha felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. He was face-to-face with his nemesis - Sakai Osamu, producer at Heavy Hitter Productions. And he wasn’t alone - Murasaki Ichirou, his counterpart at Adonis, was with him.
“What do you think you bring to this awards ceremony tonight?” one of the bloggers asked Sakai.
“What we’ve always brought to the industry,” Sakai said. “We bring erotic entertainment by and for men - the industry the way it’s always meant to be.”
“And we bring variety,” Murasaki said. “We think the Association will finally value something other than overblown epics.”
“Porn was never supposed to be about the same kind of plots you’d find in mainstream movies,” said Sakai. “People don’t turn to porn to see some kind of philosophical epic about angels and devils. What the hell is this - Hollywood? I don't think so. People watch gay porn to see men fucking other men, and that’s just what we deliver. And I mean MEN, not pretty boys.”
Uruha’s jaw twitched faster. That comment was obviously being lobbed right in his direction. All porn houses except Heavy Hitter had pretty boys (and did Murasaki realize his ally was insulting Adonis’ own guys?), but only one made videos about creatures from heaven and hell.
“It’s about time videos that aren’t about romance got their due,” Murasaki said. “We think they’re going to tonight.”
“Romance?” Sakai scoffed. “The hell with romance. It’s the last thing in the world men want to see in their porn. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional as all hell.”
That did it. Uruha couldn’t just stand there anymore. How DARE that bastard call him . . . say he was . . .
He suddenly shrugged Kai’s arm off and stalked toward the group. “Uruha!” Kai called - but he paid him no mind.
“Sorry,” Uruha said, “but I beg to differ. In fact, I beg to differ very strongly. The last time I looked, I wasn’t delusional.”
“Uruha-san,” Sakai said, “you’re welcome to your opinion, but you’re reaching out to the wrong audience. You seem to be out of touch with what MEN want.”
“And you seem to be out of touch with who’s actually buying all-male adult videos,” Uruha said. “Furthermore, you’re out of touch with just what they’re buying.”
The bloggers’ recorders were humming and cameras were clicking. They were recording an industry feud in progress - and they loved it.
“I do know that our sales quadrupled when we started reaching out to the male audience,” said Sakai, looking all-too-pleased with himself. “Have you made any strides like that recently? Or do you still keep spinning your wheels filming little creampuff Kansai blonds?”
A direct shot at Subaru. That son of a bitch, Uruha thought. All his actors were special to him - okay, so MiA was a very special kind of special - but Subaru was, well . . .
He was the first star that Uruha had created with his own two hands since Kai’s debut as a seme. The others had all come to him with careers already - Aoi, Ruki and the Screw Crew from other majors, the Nine Films crew and the Suicide Boys from indies. But Subaru was Uruha’s own. He might have been discovered by Eros, but Uruha made him a star.
It was time to bring out his big guns.
“Actually, we have made strides,” he said. “And I’ve got an announcement - a big one.” He reached for one of the nearby microphones, and a blogger put it in his hand. Okay, it wouldn’t carry his voice much further than the group - but it would make him feel like what he was saying was important.
Uruha looked around at the group, and then said, “As of this morning, PSC Productions is pleased to announce that we have closed a deal with Kiryu Video. We will be distributing their product from now on. Their actors will be appearing in our productions as well - we’re developing a very special part for Mahiro as we speak.” Which wasn’t exactly true - but he was sure as hell going to tell his writers to include the actor in the pirate video.
“And furthermore,” Uruha added, “I will be acting as co-producer for their My Dragon sex comedy videos.” He made sure he was looking at Murasaki when he said that. You people think you’re kings of erotic humor? he thought. We’re coming for you.
Murasaki looked stunned. “They . . . they made it official?”
Uruha nodded. “Signed, sealed, delivered. Meaning they’re exclusively ours for the length of the deal. And that, gentlemen, is that.”
He held out the mike at arm’s length, made sure everyone’s eyes were on it . . . and then, he dropped it and walked away.
But he couldn’t resist a small glance over his shoulder to see the looks on the enemy’s faces. Muasaki was flabbergasted. Sakai was furious.
Good, he thought. Let them fume. And then, as if the timing was planned, a van pulled up, the doors opened . . . and out spilled a group of men in brightly-colored traditional Japanese outfits. Kiryu Video’s stars had arrived.
The bloggers instantly abandoned the Heavy Hitter/Adonis alliance and stampeded toward the newcomers, determined to get the scoop on the deal. Mission accomplished, Uruha thought.
* * *
Across the red carpet, Koichi also took notice of the new arrivals - and he wasn’t happy.
“Fuck,” he said. “It’s HIM.”
“Him?” said MiA, looking confused.
“You know who I mean!” Koichi said. “Geisha Boy!”
Subaru, meanwhile, had wandered over toward them after a long and confusing stretch of being pulled this way and that. Here there was someone wanting to take his picture, there was a press person wanting a quote, and on the other side of the velvet ropes there were fangirls, smiling and waving, one of them even giving him a stuffed seal. He’d drifted back toward MiA and Koichi for a moment of peace.
“Who’s Geisha Boy?” he said.
“From Kiryu Video,” Koichi said. “The minute he steps out on the red carpet, every camera within a 50 mile radius flocks to him. He’s a magnet - him and his damn flashy formal kimonos and his flashy color-coded co-stars. And once he’s there, it’s all over. Nobody’s getting their picture taken for the rest of the night.”
“Are you sure it’s . . .” said MiA.
“Oh, it’s him. They all ran for him like bats out of hell. This is why I like to get here early - to get my picture taken before he comes.”
“What’s up?” Tomoya said, approaching the group, holding both Subaru’s just-in-case bag and Koichi’s big pink rabbit bag.
“Koichi seems to have spotted a rival,” Subaru said, glancing across the red carpet . . .
What he saw took his breath away.
The so-called Geisha Boy wasn’t very tall. He was just as short as Ruki, in fact, if not shorter. He did, though, cut an incredibly impressive figure in an elaborate purple-and-gold outfit that was like a hip, modern twist on a traditional formal kimono. He was posing for the cameras with a fan.
There was no denying that in addition to holding himself like a model, the newcomer was beautiful, with intense eyes under his chin-length dark hair. Subaru found himself staring a moment too long.
He quickly tore his eyes away. He couldn’t look at guys with moony eyes anymore - he was together with the love of his life.
Except when he glanced over at Tomoya, he was staring at the newcomer, too.
“Does he have you two under his spell like everyone else?” Koichi said.
Subaru blinked and looked back at the other couple. “I . . . I just wanted to see what you were worried about,” he said, quickly, hoping he wasn’t blushing.
“Me, too,” Tomoya added.
“Maybe I need to beat him at his own game,” Koichi said. “Maybe I need to come up with my own idea of a formal kimono - but with a twist. Something big and outrageous on my head . . .”
A reporter approached them - a short, squat guy with enormous glasses and an ill-fitting suit. “Excuse me,” he said. “I was told this was the all-male awards, but it seems there’s women here. Tell me, miss, are you a female porn star?”
“I am not a MISS,” Koichi nearly snapped. “You’re right in that this an all-male event! And I’m as male as everyone else here!”
“Begging your pardon,” the reporter said, “but you ARE wearing a dress.”
“The red carpet isn’t about gender,” Koichi said. “It’s about fashion! And if the occasion calls for a dress? Then you wear a dress!”
Subaru was beginning to inch away from the scene when he realized that the so-called Geisha Boy was crossing in his direction, trailed by reporters. And before he knew it, without really knowing why he was doing it, he was turning and walking in the other man’s direction, Tomoya following along with him.
“Where are we going?” Tomoya said - but he stopped as soon as Subaru came face-to-face with the other man. All Tomoya could do was stare.
Subaru bowed low. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Subaru - and I just wanted to say that your outfit is really, really beautiful.”
Tomoya suddenly looked worried, and glanced around to see if Koichi was paying attention. Fortunately, he was speaking to another reporter - one that seemed to be a bit more understanding than the guy who’d thought he was female.
“Thank you.” Geisha Boy bowed back. “We’re lucky in that our company has a nice connection for costumes. I’m Mahiro - and I know who you are, Subaru. I was there the night you won Newcomer of the Year.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Subaru reached up to rub the back of his head - and then realized he’d be messing up his hair, not to mention his headpiece. He quickly put his hand down. “That was a real shock. I still can’t believe it. This is my boyfriend, Tomoya, by the way. He’s just joined our writing staff.”
Tomoya bowed. “Hi,” he said.
“Hello. You might be writing videos for us in the future.”
Subaru looked baffled. “Why?”
“Your company just signed a partnership with ours. We’ve been looking to get out of our old deal for awhile - my boss wasn’t happy with Hard Candy at all.”
“I didn’t know you were with them,” Subaru said.
“It was a distribution deal,” Mahiro said. “Kiryu Video produced the videos, Hard Candy released them. They also promised to cast us in their big productions - but . . .” He glanced away.
Another man in a stylized kimono - this one a bright blue - sidled up to Mahiro, leaning on his shoulder. “I turn my back for two seconds and you’re hitting on every guy at the awards?” he said, teasingly.
“Not every guy,” Mahiro said. “Just these two. I have my standards.” He turned back to Subaru and Tomoya. “This is Junji - he’s my boyfriend.”
“Hi!” the other man said, giving a wave. “And I know who the cute little blond is. Subaru! But who’s the other hottie?”
Tomoya bowed. “Tomoya. I’m his boyfriend.”
“We’ve only been together officially a little while,” Subaru said. “We just finished moving into our own apartment.”
“Congratulations,” Mahiro said. “That sounds like us - we officially got together a short time ago, too.”
“We were kind of dancing around each other for a long time,” Junji said, wrapping his arm around his lover. “You know how it is when you work together.”
“Actually, Tomoya just started working with us,” said Subaru. “He just worked on his first screenplay.”
“That and the relationship kind of happened at the same time,” Tomoya added.
“Have you ever considered being on-camera?” said Junji.
“Um . . . not yet?” said Tomoya, glancing over at Subaru, thinking . . . what would it be like, doing a scene with Subaru, being together in front of the cameras. . .
But before his train of thought could go any further in that direction, Koichi’s voice boomed from behind them, “There you are! And you’re . . .” He trailed off, as if stunned into silence that Subaru could be a traitor.
“Hi!” Subaru said. “Mahiro, Junji, this is MiA, one of my best friends, and his boyfriend, Koichi.”
MiA bowed politely, looking a little baffled. “I think we’ve met,” he said.
“We have,” Mahiro said. “Last year’s JAVAs, backstage. I was a presenter.”
“You were?” Subaru said. “What did you present?”
“Best Supporting Actor. I won it two years ago - for one of the few videos Hard Candy actually cast me in.”
“You gave Yuuki his award?” Subaru said.
“Oh, God, that poor guy,” Mahiro said. “I saw him fall on the way up to get the award and I didn’t know whether to go down there and help him up. He got up on his own.”
“Well, you might have been a presenter, but MiA was a WINNER last year,” Koichi said. “He got Best Specialty Video for MiA Amore. He’s up again tonight for the sequel.”
“It was no big deal, really,” MiA said.
“Of course it was a big deal!” Koichi said. “An award is an award!”
A steady stream of people started to head toward the hotel where the awards was being held. Apparently, the heads of JAVA had already made their entrance with the envelopes. “I think we should go in,” MiA said.
“It was nice to meet you.” Subaru bowed toward Mahiro and Junji. “We’ll see you at the afterparty, I hope?”
“You definitely will,” Mahiro said. “I’d like to talk to you more, Subaru.”
Subaru felt his heart flutter a bit. I shouldn’t, he thought. Not with Tomoya right here . . .
But, he said, “I’d like to talk more, too.” He backed up, then turned, quickly heading for the main entrance, Koichi and MiA following them.
Mahiro and Junji watched them go. “What did you think?” Junji said.
“He’s even cuter in person than he looks on video,” said Mahiro.
“His boyfriend was adorable, too,” said Junji. “Think they’re going to the after-after party?”
Mahiro wrapped an arm around Junji’s waist and hugged him. “We said we weren’t going to seek out other guys there this year, you know.”
“This isn’t seeking out,” Junji said. “This is coincidence. Really fortunate coincidence. We just happened to meet them.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so,” Junji said. “And if we all end up at the after-after party together? Even more fortunate.”
They both laughed, as they headed toward the awards.
* * *
Subaru felt a tap on his shoulder as he and Tomoya made their way into the ballroom, looking for an association staffer who could guide them to the Eros Video table. He turned around to see a very familiar, very tall figure dressed in a sparkly silver suit.
“Kouki!” he said, throwing his arms around his friend. “I didn’t see you before!”
“I was trying to talk to you on the red carpet, but you were a little busy,” he said. “More like a lot busy, because you’d have to be to not see me in this outfit!”
“It was nuts!” Subaru said. “Between the bloggers and the fans, it was nonstop!”
“One of them even gave him this,” Tomoya said, holding up the stuffed seal.
“How are you holding up, Tomoya?” said Kouki. “This is your first exposure to the porn industry madness, isn’t it?”
“This is my first event, yes,” Tomoya said. “I heard about the others from Subaru, though, so I kind of knew what to expect.”
“Oh, you have NO idea what to expect from the JAVAs,” said Kouki. “Except for bad dirty jokes from the host. You’re going to have those in abundance.”
“I got forewarned about that by MiA,” Subaru said. “And Koichi told me I’m going to have to suppress the urge to headdesk on the table.”
“That’s why they serve booze at this thing.” Kouki patted Subaru’s shoulder. “I have to locate my boyfriend and our table. We’ll see you at the afterparty, okay?”
“Okay!” Subaru said - just as his other sleeve was tugged on. He turned to see MiA.
“Koichi and I found the Eros table,” he said. “I’ll show you where we’re going.”
“Are we next to Uruha’s group?” Subaru and Tomoya walked through the throngs of flashily-dressed men.
“On one side. There’s a Hard Candy table on the other side - the Kiryu Video people are there. There’ll probably be with us next year. Koichi’s already plotting how to outdo Geisha Boy next year.” MiA shook his head.
“What did he bring in the bunny bag, anyway?” Tomoya said. “I’ve been carrying it for him all night.”
“Makeup. Hair stuff. Things to fix his costume in case of an emergency. And one or two other things he didn’t tell me about.”
No sooner had they settled into their seats when the lights went down, and a band began to play a fanfare. An offstage announcement said, “Welcome to the 2016 Japan Adult Video Association Male Awards! And now, here’s your host . . .”
“Not this guy again,” Koichi mumbled as a comedian bounded onto the stage. Sure enough, no sooner had the host settled into position that he launched into a long string of double-entendres, along the lines of “The association found it hard to narrow down the list of performers - but not as hard as the performers found their co-stars!”
MiA winced. Koichi resisted the urge to facepalm, because that would mess up his makeup. Subaru just sat there blank-faced.
After a seemingly endless string of painful non-humor, the host said, “And now, without further ado, the awards! As we all know, things are switched up a little this year - awards will be given to videos in several categories, and then the winner of each of those categories goes on to compete for Best Video. And so, to present the first of our categories, Best Porn Parody, please welcome Hard Candy’s dynamic duo . . .
Well, PSC/Eros had no nominees in this particular category. Subaru got out his phone and pulled up a selfie he’d taken of himself and Tomoya on the red carpet earlier, messaging it to his brother with a note saying, “In the awards now - first chance I got to send this!”
And that’s when he noticed he had a new Twitter follower - “kiryu_mahiroofficial.” He glanced over at the other table - and saw Mahiro with his phone as well. (Where does he keep it in that kimono? Subaru wondered.) The other porn star gave him a little smile and a wave.
Subaru waved back - and then looked for kiryu_junjiofficial, since he figured that was the other man’s Twitter. He barely noticed the fact that they called out Adonis Video as the winners, until he realized he had to put his phone down and clap, since everyone else was clapping.
At the PSC Productions table, Uruha made a mark on a napkin in front of him. He’d drawn a line down the middle, marking one side “Us” and the other “Them.” He’d record every win in the video categories by either PSC or the Adonis/Heavy Hitter alliance. Well, this was one for the “Them” side.
It was okay. The night was still young.
* * *
An hour later, Subaru was quite bored.
They’d presented the awards for Best Music and Best Video Packaging Design. They’d given out Best Wall-to-Wall - which, of course, went to Heavy Hitter, with great fanfare on their part.
“Thanks for this great honor,” Sakai loudly announced. “This is living proof of what the porn public really wants, and we intend to keep giving it to them! Raw, hot, heavy and unapologetic - the very essence of what this industry is SUPPOSED to be about. Because in the end?” He held his award over his head. “It’s about SEX, stupid!”
Uruha gritted his teeth. His mark on his napkin was a big, black slash.
This was followed by a musical performance, and then Best Orgy - won, of course, by Heavy Hitter, with more loud posturing. Next, one of the stars from Adonis came out and read the list of awards that were presented off-camera - the people who ordinarily would have gotten them during the show, until Heavy Hitter changed the format.
Every once in awhile, Subaru found himself glancing over to the table next to him. Or, rather, glancing over at a certain someone. Mahiro was, well, holding some kind of strange fascination for him.
He looked as the other man absently tapped his fan on the side of his face, checked his phone again, actually paid attention to what a presenter was saying. He was full of energy, to be sure - he never seemed to be sitting still.
And then Subaru reminded himself that he had to be looking at the stage, not the lovely man in purple - it was only polite. (And besides, he was sitting here with the love of his life! What was he looking at another man for?)
Finally, the host said, “And now, it’s time for an always fun award, Best Threesome, in which everyone tries to figure out which tab is going in which slot!”
“That’s you,” Tomoya whispered. “It’s one of your awards, Subaru!”
He didn’t want to tell his boyfriend it was the one they had the lowest chance of winning - Hard Candy had won the Best Threesome award just about every year, Yuuki had told him. Still, he had to at least look hopeful.
The presenter - a willowy guy from Adonis - came out and read the list of nominations. There was a group from Hard Candy, of course, one from Adonis, two different threesomes from Heavy Hitter, and finally, Subaru/Yo-ka/MiA. The guy ripped open the envelope. “And the JAVA Award goes to . . .”
Subaru just sat there with a frozen smile on his face, in case one the cameras that was carrying the livestream happened to fall on him. Just call the guys from Hard Candy already, he thought . . .
“Subaru, Yo-ka and MiA, Datenshi Blue 2, PSC Productions and Eros Films!”
There was a pause where the three of them just looked at each other across the table and blinked - they didn’t hear that, did they? Oh, yes, they did! They all leapt to their feet, and then their whole table was leaping to their feet, and they somehow had to get out from the mob and make their way to the stage.
It’s an award, Subaru thought. I really won a JAVA Award!
There were three statuettes, one for each of them. “Who talks first?” Subaru said as soon as they got there.
“We have no idea what we’re doing here,” Yo-ka told the audience. “We weren’t exactly expecting this.”
MiA decided to take control of the situation. “I think I’m going to speak for the group when I say I couldn’t have done this scene with anyone else,” he said. “I love both these guys a lot, and the scene came from the heart, honestly.”
“I second it!” Subaru said. “The whole video wouldn’t have come out like it did if we didn’t have each other’s backs - and a great crew behind us.”
“And I have to thank Uruha for always believing in us,” Yo-ka said. “He has a level of trust in us that few directors do.”
They all raised their trophies at once and shouted, “Thank you!” - more of a fortunate coincidence than anything else. The staff was leading them back to their seats - and as they passed the Hard Candy table, Mahiro reached out a hand to high-five Subaru.
“I can’t fucking believe it!” Yuuki whispered as they got back. “You guys broke Hard Candy’s stranglehold on that award!”
“You’ve been with the three of us,” Yo-ka said, casually, dropping back into his seat and wrapping an arm around his boyfriend for a kiss. “You know what it’s like.”
“Look, Tomoya,” Subaru said, gingerly setting it down on the table. “We have an award to put on our shelf!”
“Next to the Newcomer of the Year Award,” Tomoya whispered back.
Subaru looked at the light reflecting off the surface of the award. Maybe, he thought, this is the beginning of a hot streak for us.
* * *
But that was followed by a long stretch of cold. Best Comedy was up next, and it went to Adonis - beating out that year’s My Dragon Productions video. Ruki lost Best Oral yet again - and to add insult to injury, it was to a guy from Heavy Hitter.
“Fuck,” he grumbled, punching his fist into the table while the lunk was up there giving his speech. “Do I have to suck a fucking telephone pole to win this award?”
Uruha frowned. He wondered if Heavy Hitter had bribed or campaigned their way to this one. Everyone knew that Ruki was the best in the world at his specialty - why did he keep losing?
Fortunately, Ruki was avenged - by an unlikely person. Koichi leaned over and whispered to Tomoya, “Give me my bunny bag.”
Tomoya slid it under the table to him. Koichi took something out of it, got out of his seat, and sprinted toward the stage just as the Heavy Hitter guy was descending. He gave him a smile and a gracious bow, said, “For the winner” - and plunked something on his head.
It was a princess tiara like the one MiA had won last year. The audience roared with laughter. The lunk snarled, yanked it off his head and hurled it back at Koichi - but the point had been made.
Koichi made his way back to the Eros table - but Uruha stood up from the PSC one to give the pink-haired porn star a big high five. Any differences that had been between them in the past were definitely bridged.
When Best Two Person Sex Scene came up, Subaru found himself full of nervous anticipation - because he knew that he and MiA were competing head-to-head with Yuuki and Hiro. He leaned over and whispered to Yuuki, “Good luck!”
“I told you, I don’t care about awards!” Yuuki whispered back. “It’s just something else on the counter!”
Their competition was a duo from Heavy Hitter, one from Hard Candy, and, as it turned out, Mahiro and Junji from Kiryu Video.
“And the award goes to . . .” The presenter ripped open the envelope. “Mahiro and Junji, A Strange Attraction, Kiryu Video!”
They looked as shocked as Subaru had for the threesome video. One of their friends - the guy with the facemask - smacked Mahiro’s shoulder and said, “Go up there! It’s your award!”
And Subaru found himself with a very deep case of mixed emotions. True, he wanted this award, for either himself or for Yuuki. But if it had to go to anyone else, he was glad it was them.
The two climbed up on the stage. “We’re a bit stunned,” Mahiro said.
“Just a bit,” said Junji. “Especially given the competition.”
“I’m going to tell you something about this particular scene, though,” Mahiro said. “Junji and I, well, we’d been co-stars and friends with benefits for a long time - and then, after we did this particular scene, he confessed to me. We’ve been a couple ever since.”
“It took a scene like that to make me realize it,” said Junji.
“So this award really, really means a lot to us,” said Mahiro, “especially since we’re sharing it together.”
They two of them kissed - it was traditional for the winners of this award to make out on stage, but they needed no provoking. And when they came back to their seats, Subaru went over and high-fived Mahiro - like Mahiro had done to him.
The show moved on to Best Star Vehicle. Uruha sat up at attention. This was a big one for them. They were competing against Heavy Hitter two times over. They had two, Heavy Hitter had two, and the fifth slot was taken up by Adonis.
But most important of all - this was the category MiA Adore was in. His valentine to MiA. His shrine to him, for all intents and purposes. You might say this contest was just slightly personal to Uruha.
The presenter read off the nominations. Subaru reached over and squeezed MiA’s hand.
“And the award goes to . . . Inside Byou, PSC Productions!”
Another surprise. Uruha just sat there, stunned. All he could hear was that the winner was NOT MiA Adore . . . even though it was another one of theirs.
But he knew he had to get up there, since he’d produced and directed Inside Byou. And Jin was going up there, also, since he’d given the writer a co-producer credit on it - the fourth-wall-breaking structure of the video had been his idea, after all.
There were two trophies for Best Specialty Video - one for the star, one for the producer. Uruha said, “I’m going to let Jin do the talking. This video really is his baby.”
“Yes, because I had to sell this guy on the idea,” Jin said. “I even had to make a demo video of one of the scenes. Well, it turns out I was right.”
“Yes, you were right,” Uruha said.
“Don’t I get a word in?” Byou said - and the audience laughed. “I have to thank Jin, the love of my life, and Uruha, who’s the best director I’ve ever worked with, and my other co-stars in this video, Manabu and Kazuki. And . . . damn, I still can’t believe this!”
“I can’t believe it, either,” Jin said. “Thank you, everyone!”
When Uruha slid into his seat and made his mark on the napkin, he was stone-faced. Kai squeezed his shoulder and whispered, “I know you wanted that one for MiA, love. But you have to remember . . . he won this award last year. They don’t usually give it to the same person for showcase videos two years in a row. Plus, this will be a great career reviver for Byou. And WE won that one, not Heavy Hitter.”
Uruha glanced over to the Heavy Hitter table. Yes, they looked NOT happy - and he could take satisfaction in that.
Four category awards down. Two to go.
* * *
When Best Romance came up, it probably would have shocked everyone in the room if it did NOT go to PSC.
Their competition was two videos from indie companies, one from Adonis and Kiryu Video’s A Strange Attraction - the same video that Junji and Mahiro had just won for. When the presenter called out, “Heart of the Ocean, PSC Productions and Eros Video,” Uruha was gesturing for Yo-ka and Subaru to come up there with him even before the words were fully out of the guy’s mouth.
The director said, “The view from up here is starting to look familiar,” which drew a laugh. He added, “Before I go further, I’d like to thank the young lady who submitted the script for this film - it wasn’t eligible for Best Screenplay because it came from a contest, but I’m having a replica of this award made and sent to her. So, Peaches” - the pen name the writer had used on the script - “this is for you.”
He turned to Yo-ka and Subaru and said, “And furthermore - a romance video is only as good as its two stars, and these guys were absolutely outstanding. I couldn’t have asked for leads with better chemistry. You surpassed my expectations night after night - and yes, if you haven’t seen the film, most of it takes place at night, in Okinawa.”
“We had a lot of drunken people stumbling out of bars making faces at our cameras,” Yo-ka said, which got a laugh.
Barely had they sat down after that one when the host announced Best Screenplay, and then Jin was up there again. Uruha glanced over at the Heavy Hitter table at that point - oh, yes, they were starting to look steamed. This was just what they didn’t want - PSC/Eros was racking up the biggest awards of the evening.
Sorry, guys, Uruha thought. They don’t hand out prizes for writing and acting for wall-to-walls.
While Jin was speaking, a JAVA staff member came up to the Eros table and whispered something to Yuuki. He nodded to Yo-ka, and both of them got up and started to leave.
“What’s going on?” Subaru whispered.
“We’re presenting, remember?” Yuuki whispered back. “We won last year.” He squeezed Subaru’s shoulder. “Good luck.”
Oh, yes - if they were going, they were going to present Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Subaru glanced over at MiA, who looked pretty unruffled despite the fact that, well, he had a much better shot at winning the award he was nominated for than Subaru did.
The host said, “And now, to present the award for Best Supporting Actor, a real homme fatale” - a reference, of course, to Yuuki’s video of last year - “and I’m not going to say anything else about him, because he’s likely to come after me with his whip. Please welcome the one, the only - YUUKI!”
When Yuuki came out, he looked like he was none too amused at the lame intro, but he settled into place and started reading off the Teleprompter as he’d been instructed. “It’s my pleasure - well, lots of things are my pleasure” - he rolled his eyes at that - “to present the award for Best Supporting Actor. Any of these guys could be a winner, because they all gave performances of a lifetime. Here are the nominees . . .”
Subaru realized that he was more nervous for MiA right now than he’d been for himself. He reached over and squeezed his friend’s hand as Yuuki read off the names. MiA squeezed back, keeping his eyes on the stage.
“And the award goes to . . .” Yuuki ripped the envelope open. “MiA, for Datenshi Blue 2: Heaven, Hell and Earth!”
As soon as MiA’s name was mentioned, Subaru dropped his hand and jumped out of his seat, punching the air in excitement. He turned to hug MiA - but MiA was wrapped up in Koichi at the moment. When Koichi let go, Subaru grabbed MiA and just about squeezed the air out of him - then remembered he had to let go so his friend could go to the stage.
MiA looked stunned as he climbed the podium, picking up the award gingerly. “I . . . I don’t know what to say,” he said. “This is an incredible honor. Just incredible. And I wouldn’t be here without so many people - everyone at the late and lamented Avalon Video, and everyone at Eros Films for giving me a second chance . . . Tsuzuku, Meto, Subaru, Yuuki, Yo-ka, I love you all so much . . . And Uruha . . . You’ve been so incredible, on so many levels. I can’t thank you enough - for everything.”
Subaru quickly glanced over at Koichi. Sure enough, the pink-haired man was frowning.
“But most of all, this award is for Koichi - because the biggest blessing of my life has been having you in it. I love you, baby.”
The audience burst out in thunderous applause as MiA rapidly made his way back to his seat, breathless - and applauded again as Koichi caught him up in his arms and kissed him.
“You scared me for a second,” Koichi whispered.
“You should have known I’d save the best for last,” MiA answered - and then suddenly stopped as Koichi reached into his bunny bag, pulled something out, and plopped it on MiA’s head.
Oh, no. Not another tiara. Not the thing he’d put on the Heavy Hitter guy.
He reached up, gingerly, expecting to encounter the spikes of a princess crown . . .
Instead, he felt something smooth and metallic. Koichi whipped a mirror out of the bag and held it in front of MiA’s face.
There was a gold circlet studded with jewels, which dipped down to a point over his forehead. It looked like something a dragon-riding prince in a fantasy novel would wear - not a Disney princess.
“I thought this one suited you much more than what I gave you last year,” Koichi said. “And remember - you have to wear it for every public function all year! How many guys get to be Best Supporting Actor?”
MiA’s face broke out in a wide smile. “I’ll wear it with pleasure,” he said, before kissing Koichi again.
* * *
Yo-ka had to wait until it was his turn to present. Before he went out, Uruha went up there two more times - once to accept Best Drama for Datenshi Blue 2, and again to collect Best Director for Heart of the Ocean - at which point the host interrupted and said. “I’ve just been handed a note from the Association - this is the first time that one director has won three years in a row - in the regular OR male divisions of the Association - since Hideki O did it in the mid-80s.” The crowd roared.
Finally, the host said, “And now, the porn industry’s very own dirty angel, everyone give it up for Yo-ka!” Subaru watched his friend walk out onto the stage - and felt MiA squeeze his hand.
Save your energy, Subaru thought. They don’t give Best Actor awards to newbies.
“A lot of huge names in the industry have stood up here to receive Best Actor awards over the years,” Yo-ka said. “Yoshiki, Atsushi Sakurai, Aoi . . . Well, tonight, one man will be joining in their company. Here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role . . .”
Why was I even considered the leading role in this? Subaru thought as Tomoya squeezed his other hand and Yo-ka read off the names. Yo-ka had more screen time than me - didn’t he? Shouldn’t he be the lead actor and me the supporting?
“And the award goes to . . .” Yo-ka ripped open the envelope - and a huge smile spread over his face. “I couldn’t be happier to announce this. Subaru, for Heart of the Ocean!”
It didn’t sink in at first. He couldn’t have heard that right - could he? That had to be another guy’s name. But then Tomoya was grabbing him and hugging him, and MiA was as well, and Koichi was giving him a little push and saying, “Get up there, Subaru!”
Subaru stumbled out from behind the table in a daze. He kept stumbling and dazing all the way up to the podium, where Yo-ka caught him in a huge hug. Oh, my God, what to do now? He’d never thought about winning! He’d never considered it! Now he had to make an acceptance speech!
He turned toward the audience and said, “I’m a little stunned right now.” Everyone laughed and applauded. “Oh, my God, who do I thank . . .” A sea of faces was swimming in his head, but he couldn’t come up with what any of them were called. Think, Subaru, think! he told himself. Come up with the names!
Okay, start with the obvious, the guy right here on the stage with him . . . “Yo-ka. Because a leading man in a romance is only as good as his partner, and Yo-ka was the best partner a guy could have.” Good, good, move on from there . . . “Yuuki, who believed in me from the beginning. Uruha, for having faith in me and being the best director anyone ever had. MiA . . . I just don’t know what I’d do without you, and Kouki, you’ve been wonderful . . .and Tomoya, my boyfriend and our newest writer, you’re everything to me . . .”
And then, finally, real inspiration. “But most of all, this is for the fans! Because your love and support makes all of us what we are! Thank you so much!” He exited the stage with applause ringing out all over the room . . .
The first thing he saw was Mahiro, standing with his hand out for a high five, like before. He smacked it.
It’s all over now but the parties, Subaru thought as he sank into his seat, just looking at the thing in his lap.
“Two awards to put on the shelf now,” Tomoya whispered. “Can you believe it?”
Subaru shook his head. He couldn’t believe it in his wildest dreams. But if this was a dream, it was a pretty damn good one.
* * *
For Uruha, the moment of truth had arrived.
There was one award left to give - Best Video. His tally on the napkin showed that PSC would have three entries, the Heavy Hitter/Adonis alliance the other three. They were neck-in-neck. It was anyone’s game now.
He was betting heavily on Datenshi Blue 2 to carry the day - it was the one that had the best shot.
The host strode back onto the stage to introduce the final presenter of the evening. Giving out Best Video was a huge honor that was usually reserved for industry legends - they’d even had straight and foreign porn stars present it.
They had a legend tonight, all right. The host said, simply, “I need say only one word - AOI.”
Aoi walked onto the stage to a standing ovation. “Great,” Ruki grumbled. “Just what his ego doesn’t need.”
The superstar surveyed his kingdom for a moment, and then said, “How are you people doing? Much better now that I’m here, right?”
Most of the crowd laughed. Yuuki, who had just returned to his seat along with Yo-ka, looked annoyed. Ruki facepalmed.
“So what we’re going to do right now is give out Best Video,” Aoi said, “and as you all know, they switched it up a bit this year, so Best Video will be given from among the category winners. Weird, I know, but whatever works. So, here they are. Best Porn Parody, Fifty Shades of Gay, Adonis Films. Best Wall-to-Wall, Come and Get It, Heavy Hitter Productions. Best Romance, Heart of the Ocean, PSC Productions and Eros Films. Best Star Vehicle, Inside Byou, PSC Productions. Best Comedy, Where Are My Pants?, Adonis Films. And Best Drama, Datenshi Blue 2: Heaven, Hell and Earth, PSC Productions and Eros Films.”
There was a pause while a drum roll sounded, and Aoi said, “And now I just stand here and look pretty while you sit there in suspense.” The crowd laughed. “The award goes to . . .”
He ripped open the envelope. “Well, this is a surprise.”
Uruha’s heart sank. Had they lost? Had the Adonis/Heavy Hitter alliance bested them?
“HEART OF THE OCEAN! PSC Productions and Eros Films!”
They’d won . . .with Heart of the Ocean? Not Datenshi Blue 2? Not the epic? The little shot-in-Okinawa-written-by-a-contest-winner romance video?
Uruha and his co-producer from Eros started making their way to the stage - and in keeping with Uruha’s tradition by now, he gestured for all the PSC and Eros people to join him up there.
He was going to let the co-producer speak first. He had to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t quite expecting this.
As he stood there, listening to the head of Eros go on about the spirit of cooperation between their two companies, Uruha’s eyes fell on the Heavy Hitter table. They looked - crushed. Not just disappointed, as he expected. Sakai looked flat-out angry.
And suddenly, it hit him just why they were so upset. It wasn’t just that he’d bested them. It was the TYPE of video he’d beaten them with, after all their hot air on the red carpet about nobody wanting to see romance anymore. Uruha knew exactly what he was going to say.
“Thank you to one and all,” he told the crowd. “And I just want to say something. There’s been some talk among some people in this industry that romance is dead, that audiences don’t want to see erotic love stories anymore, that all they want is raw, pure, hard sex. Well, the Association seems to think romance is alive and well, don’t they?”
Oh, he was on a roll now. He looked right at the Heavy Hitter table and said, “Face it - this whole night has been about romance. Look at all the loving moments we’ve had here on this stage. Jin getting the Best Star Vehicle award for a script he crafted out of his love for Byou. Mahiro and Junji getting the Two-Person Sex Scene award for their first time together as lovers.” He looked at them. “You two are part of our family now, I’m looking forward to working with you - with ALL of Kiryu Video - in the future. MiA dedicating his Best Supporting Actor win to his boyfriend, Koichi. And finally, us getting this award for a romance video. Love is in the air, love is everywhere, and love and sex go together like hand in glove - and don’t you forget it! Thank you again, all!”
He hoisted the award and gave Heavy Hitter a big smile - and that was the biggest Fuck You he could launch at them. He decided this was the best awards night of his life.
To Part 2