A Year's Time


"And now without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Jiraiya."

The lavish building had a steadily building crowd of people dressed in the best attired. As the lobby was flowing with energy, a lone man appeared on a small platform under a soft shade of lighting.

"No need for those kind of formalities." The young man known as Jiraiya to the crowd before him were all smiling, laughing softly at his bit of a joking manner. "But welcome everyone. Most of these portraits are from my latest collection entitled 'A Series of Shadows'. There are also others from my previous collections, and a few favorites of my own. Feel free to partake in the refreshments and open bar, and remember to keep your mind open for it is the key to your imagination."

A light sound of applause came from the all around the room as the open house began and onlookers began to scatter to numerous pictures hanging throughout the gallery.

Just as Yosuke had managed to duck behind a corner, he let out a huge sigh, leaning back against the wall in a shadowed area. Well, he thought it had been.

"You've gotten better at public speaking."

A voice so familiar made his head turn to the left, seeing someone from his early past standing nearby.

"S-Souji, what the, how in the-"

With that casual smile of his, he could see the sense of nervousness on the other. "Chie informed me that you were having another gallery exhibition. I was in town so I figured I would stop by since it's been a while."

A while was an understatement. It had been nearly an entire year since they had even been in the presence of one another. Strangely though, a year's time had seemed much longer when they were separated back in high school. Now, they were so busy nearly all the time, a year seemed like the blink of an eye.

"Of course, leave it to Chie to tell everyone as far back as Ted."

"Not happy to see me?"

"Nonono, it's not that I just ah…" Yosuke wasn't even really sure why he felt so off-kilter from Souji's appearance. Before he would've been more than happy, eager even, to have such time to spend with him. He had been his best friend, was that still the case now, well sure in a way. Yosuke generally didn't have much time to adequately socialize with the constant day in and out of new models and changing of sets for new shoots. Everything ran together, so much so, that he couldn't even remember the last time he had a proper girlfriend. "…If I had known, I would've worked out an excuse to ditch this sooner rather than later."

Souji made a move as if to head to one of the photographs. "Why would you do that? I'm interested in seeing some of your work."

"Y-You are?" Yosuke felt even more nervous than he had been when he stood up in front of the crowd. Why? He had no idea.

As they started from the first photograph, Yosuke tried to avoid eye contact with anyone else, not wanting to be swarmed with questions. His focus was solely on Souji, and he didn't even think he could attempt to concentrate on two things at once since his nervousness was making him wipe his hands on his black slacks.

Souji had never gotten him so worked up before. Just looking over at him, he could see the slightest change in his facial expression. The way he stared up at the photograph and made subtle comments here and there, he was almost…even more handsome than before if that was even possible. Inwardly kicking himself, he could barely register the question being asked of him from the silver-eyed man next to him.

"Is this one…from inside the TV?"

"The setting for it originated from that yes."

"Why did you decide on this dark concept?"

"You should know the answer to that question better than anyone…" Yosuke almost let that old term of familiarity slip. He'd forced himself to resign from saying it a few years ago after they had started college. The word had started to take a different meaning in Yosuke's mind, and he wasn't sure he could handle any weird tricks his mind had been trying to make. "…Everyone has a dark side or lingering secrets that no one knows."

Yosuke guided them past a few more of the photographs, letting himself be distracted with his explanation instead of that interested gleam in silver eyes.

"Each photograph represents a secret that someone could have, some more popular than others, but still, the idea was for the viewers to be able to relate to at least one of the photographs if not more."

"I think the series as a whole is amazing Yosuke."

The sudden compliment caught him off-guard. Making himself keep his mouth shut for a few moments to avoid from stuttering, he glanced away to suddenly see two women nearby wave at him. He'd recognized them from one of his previous shoots amongst other things.

"You give me too much credit Souji, but thanks."

"Jiraiiiiyaaaa! I've missed you since our shoot last month." A blonde clothed in a tight black dressed enveloped Yosuke in a hug before pulling back to survey Souji as well. "You didn't tell me you hung out with men just as good looking as you are."

"Natasha I'd be careful, this guy here was quite the player back in high school."

"Enette, Jiraiya has a player friend here, just your type."

A brunette in a long, black dress appeared next to her, looking over Souji with a smile. "So I see."

"Do you two need some company for the night?"

"Ah, well Natasha you know I'd love to say yes, but I haven't seen Souji in quite a while so."

"Awwww so cute, well we understand. Just keep us in mind if you do change your minds okay?" Natasha smiled and waved, wondering off with the other woman soon afterward.

Souji almost laughed as he looked at Yosuke. "Perks of the job…Jiraiya?"

"It happens a lot." Yosuke almost sighed as they continued further into the gallery, ending up almost near the end in an area lit in light blue. "I don't want anyone to know my real name, because, well you know how out of hand that can get sometimes."

"So I should consider myself lucky then?"

"If you wanna put it that way." Yosuke showed one of his grins, one that he hadn't done in a long time; it felt strange to feel his lips tug in that motion again.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Souji turned to the other.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

Yosuke practically let out a sigh of relief. "Yes. All these proper functions make me feel almost claustrophobic sometimes. I usually leave early anyways."

"Where would you like to go then?"

"How about my studio?"

Souji's eyebrows shot up at the suggestion. "I'm mildly intrigued, lead the way."

With a roll of his eyes and a smile, Yosuke did lead the way. Only managing a slight wave to a few people before he was out the door and out on the main sidewalk with Souji by his side.

The night air was hardly cold at all. The downtown area was lit up with lights, people walking down the sidewalks in animated conversations. Yosuke glanced over at the other, suddenly finding himself wondering just where had Souji been for the past year?

"It really feels like it's been ages since I've seen you."

"I know." Souji looked up to the sky as he gradually slid his hands into the pockets of his navy suit. "I've been working a lot with my father's company, traveling a lot to help different offices. It's been pretty hectic, so I'm grateful for this break."

"How long are you in town for?"

"About a week assuming nothing comes up. I'm in the process of being permanently located here in Tokyo though, so hopefully that will happen soon."

"Let me know when it does. I'll see if we can move close enough to manage some semi-normal hang out sessions."

"Just like old times?"

Yosuke smiled at the notion, feeling the strange quiver of excitement. He'd never felt this happy with anyone else. That remembrance made him tense up a bit as they crossed the road and headed towards a building on the corner.

"Well you know that would depend on if you have some girlfriend that is going to be nagging you." Yosuke did his best to voice the statement in a way that would hide the curiosity that he had. As he fumbled for the key to open the door to the building, he could hear Souji chuckle.

"No such thing." The door swung open and as they walked into the entrance before starting up the stairs, Souji returned the same question. "And you?"

"Me?" Yosuke rubbed the back of his head, almost shameful as he gave his answer. "The closest thing to a girlfriend I've had is a random hookup with a model here and there."

"I see."

Souji said nothing else as they reached the top of the stairs and walked into an open area. Yosuke flipped on the subtle lighting that had been used in the previous shoot. A stool was set in front of a white background, the camera set a few feet away from the set up.

"Well this is my office if you want to call it that."

"Looks nothing like mine." Souji stated as he looked at every corner of the place, ultimately ending up standing near the stool with his hand sliding on the surface of it.

"I don't generally have cute office workers like you probably do, but I do get the occasional model or two."

What was wrong with him? Yosuke wasn't even sure why he kept suddenly bringing up all this pitter patter about models. Seeing Souji more focused on the stool than anything else, he decided he needed to change the topic back to something else.

"Wanna take a few pictures of me?"

Yosuke blinked at first, seeing how Souji had already beat him to that subject change and was moving to sit down.

"Uh sure, yeah sure why not?"

Thankful for the change in the awkwardness that he felt had started forming somehow; he went to get his favorite handheld camera from off a rack nearby. Going through the normal routine of turning it on, checking the focus and lighting, he then started with some shots from further away.

"Do you get many male models?"

"Eh sometimes. If I ever do I usually have to pick them out myself."

Yosuke was starting to become more focused on the shots than the conversation, letting himself almost relax more as he felt in his element.

"Why do you have to do that?"

"I'm not really sure why honestly, just a weird habit of mine."

There was a slight change in Souji's expression as he moved to slip off jacket of his suit. After tossing it aside, he looked back at the camera just as it clicked again.

Yosuke was steadily moving closer, adjusting the focus on the camera as he did so.

"Would you have picked me out of the line up to model for you?"

Souji had that smirk on his face that he normally did whenever he already knew the answer to his question.

Yosuke felt his finger hit the button to snap the picture just in time to catch it.

"Probably."

"You kept saying how you've had random hook ups with models before, does that include men?"

The question was so sudden that it made Yosuke stop in mid movement. He paused, slowly lowering the camera from his face as he noticed how he was pretty much directly to the right of where Souji sat.

"I've never been propositioned by a male model before if that's what you're asking."

That nervousness that had slowly managed to be ebbed away came back in a sudden rush. Yosuke stared at grey eyes, seeing the playfulness there; surely it was just a joke. Souji wasn't like that. He just never had been, he was too straight and cool and everything, too everything to be gay.

"You're so tense." Souji moved his left leg, his knee nudging at Yosuke's upper thigh. "I was just kidding."

But something in the way their eyes locked for a brief moment after that suddenly made Yosuke feel like it wasn't just a joke. With a slightly erratic laugh, he had to force himself to back away, turning in the process to hide his face that was suddenly flushed with red.

"We've got a full reel here. I can develop them later on so you can see them sometime this week." Yosuke was muttering anything to get his mind off the strangeness forming between them. Setting the camera back on the rack, he turned back around, still feeling a little flustered as he made his way back over to where Souji sat.

"What's on your mind?"

And there it was.

That impeccable thing Souji always had been able to do with Yosuke. He could always tell when he was hiding something or whenever he was feeling overly awkward or uneasy.

"Nothing important."

"It's important if it's bothering you."

"It's not really bothering me though."

"Yosuke look at me."

Brown eyes had been cast off to the side, Yosuke's hands in midair as he had been trying to emphasize that he was fine even though both himself and the one in front of him knew that he clearly wasn't. Gradually, he let their gazes align together, feeling how his heart beat suddenly stopped for a few seconds.

"I feel like something is…weird here."

"Weird how?"

"With us."

Souji paused for a moment, seemingly thinking over the statement.

"Come here."

Yosuke heeded the command, approaching the front of where Souji sat. When he stood still, he felt that knee brush at his leg again just from the closeness, yet a hand had suddenly found its way alongside his right cheek.

"It could just be that we haven't seen each other in a while. I missed you, you know?"

Feeling strangely at ease from the hand on his cheek, he breathed out a little easier. "I missed you too, partner."

The word breathed new life into that interaction. For some reason there was a startling streak of an unseen emotion in grey eyes, and before Yosuke knew it, he was half-way being dragged down and half-way forcing himself to straddle the lap before him. Souji had grabbed onto his arm and then his hips so fast, their bodies crushed together upon impact, the closeness disappearing entirely as their lips had ended up meeting in the quick movements.

Where was this going? Yosuke could remember standing up several feet away just a mere minute ago. How had he gotten here in the lap of his best friend, whom he had always assumed was straight? He'd always figured he, himself, was straight too. So why was he so drawn to Souji…why had he always been so drawn to him? Why had he always found himself thinking too much, or too far into everything involving him? Why did his dreams always betray him and leave him with that daily reminder when he woke up that Souji had been in his thoughts even while he was sleeping?

Perhaps all those questions could be answered now.

"You never told me you were into guys." Yosuke breathed out in between the workings of another long kiss. Their hands had started moving, tugging at the buttons of shirts, hips constantly moving together on their own accord.

"I wasn't until I saw someone who looked like you." Souji ran his hands damn near skillfully over Yosuke's sides, already working his fingers at the fastening to the black pants. "The entire time I fucked him, I could only imagine fucking you instead."

Yosuke half-way moaned as he breathed out uneasily, his body even shuddering as he felt one hand palming at the front of his pants, the other already undoing the clasp on them.

"How many guys have you been with then?" As much as he was aroused right then, Yosuke still felt almost jealous at the concept that Souji had already been with another man.

"Only a few." Souji muttered over Yosuke's collarbone as his hand pushed down past the other's boxers to grasp onto the erection layered in hints of wetness already. "Only when the frustration got to be too much on business trips."

Another shudder from his body made Yosuke grip at the back underneath where his fingers were sprawled.

"I should ask you how many models you slept with." Souji leaned his head up, whispering lowly against Yosuke's ear as he let his fingers slick with that bit of pre-cum before moving that hand around to start to rub at the entrance between the clefts of his ass.

"H-Half…" Yosuke almost choked in his breathing, gripping more onto the figure in front of him as he felt a finger start to push into him. "…Half I didn't even sleep with. They just wanted to suck me off for whatever reason."

"Well you are sexy as hell so I don't blame them."

The finger pushed into him gradually. It was such a foreign feeling making his fingers twist more into the fabric of the shirt that he had been gripping onto. Burying his face against Souji's shoulder, he could only breathe out uneasily; moans slowly slipping in as well as a second and third finger had been gradually worked in the movements and pressed deeply into that tightness.

"I wonder how you would've responded if I tried this with you when we were younger."

Souji was only half-way reminiscing as he had Yosuke almost bucking back into his fingers now, that spot having been discovered and the needy moans becoming more evident.

"Y-You know…I would've done pretty much anything with you." Yosuke muttered in short gasps, finally starting to feel himself being shifted off the stool, held up in that same position before Souji began to lower them to the floor.

"There were so many nights I wanted to have you in my bed and do so many things to you…" He let his fingers slip out just as he had them situated on the floor, his hands now moving to undo his pants and to also unzip them. "But if I can have you here and now, I'll definitely take that."

The words faded away between them as Yosuke pushed his pants away at the same time they were being tugged off his legs. Eager for whatever was about to conspire, he let his legs spread, Souji situating himself in between as Yosuke stared at the hand that the other was stroking over himself with.

He never imagined he'd be lying on the floor, in his studio of all places, almost silently begging with the look in his eyes for his best friend to fuck him. Swallowing uneasily, a plea died in the back of his throat as he felt something much thicker than fingers starting to press at his backside. It started pushing in more, finding a deep place in that tightness.

Souji groaned, hovering over Yosuke as his hands balanced himself and half-way guided him into that heat. Grey eyes remained fixated on brown as they dripped with a few stray tears from the initial pain, their breaths were shallow, bodies almost trembling as they both had to adjust at first. Whenever the moment passed, Souji could feel a hand moving around the back of his neck, fingertips tracing into his hair as if to urge him forward.

He did just that. Leaning down to capture Yosuke's lips in a rough kiss as he started gradual thrusts in and out. As the intensity between them grew it showed in how tangled they became in one another. Their kisses almost messy, moans subsiding only to be replaced with gasps or sharp inhales.

Souji became almost unrelenting as he dug his fingers into fair-skin hips, the thrusts become so fast and hitting so deep that it elicited that smacking sound that he had only ever envisioned having happening with the one underneath of him. It was a delicious noise, one that drove him to fuck even harder.

"Yosuke…I've wanted you for so long."

The words breathed out hotly against Yosuke's lips made him suddenly clutch at the locks of silver hair his hand had been tangled in. There was so much lost time they had to make up for, so much time that Yosuke never knew as a possibility between them until that night.

"You have me now..." Yosuke had breathed back, his words brushing over Souji's lips as he drifted his fingers into that mass of silver hair even more. "…You have all of me now. And no one else can have you but me now, got it Souji..?"

Souji would never say it, but he had always secretly loved it whenever Yosuke called him by his first name instead of anything else. The agreement was sealed with no words but another series of deep kisses, becoming off-set by muffled moans as the intimate moment between them began to reach the highest levels of pleasure that either had ever felt.

It was as the moans became more of uneasy breathing that was leading up to something else that Souji could feel the tightness clamping down over him more, the way Yosuke's body tensed and trembled as he neared his release was more than evident. As if to encourage him, he ran a hand down, stroking over the erection that had been dragging traces of pre-cum over his shirt. Stroking it roughly in time with his thrusts, he stared down, breathing roughly against those lips as he watched him reach that moment.

Yosuke felt the weight of that stare, his moan turning to a ragged scream as he clutched tightly at anything of Souji he could get his hands on. His name was passing his lips, feeling his lips cut off with a single kiss as he felt his hips jerk, cum spurting out over the hand that had grasped onto him mere moments ago. It was as he felt another spurt of cum release that he felt a thrust made deep into him. The rough groan that came from Souji was more than enough evidence to know he had reached his release too, but Yosuke could feel the cum spurting inside of him, feeling it dripping out even along his sides as Souji withdrew from the kiss slowly.

"Mmm…I wonder how this is going to affect your work."

The comment made Yosuke become flustered. "S-Shut up. Unlike you, I can control my sexual tendencies."

"It's just because I'm around you again that I find myself unable to control them. Besides, you don't know how much sexier you've gotten." Souji muttered as he bit at Yosuke's lower lip.

"You really are a perv." Yosuke stated in reference to previous times, yet, he certainly didn't mind that fact now. "But as long as you don't go sleeping with another look-a-like of mine…then it's fine."

Souji smirked before letting it fade into a genuine smile. "No one else can have me but you, and no one else can have you but me. So that just means I have to be your only model from now on."

Yosuke made a face, but a kiss had him laughing it off.

If he could, he'd really only have Souji ever model for him. But what they had now was more than enough.

~ fin.