Another long one! This is rated MA for smut and bad language! Really, I don't swear this badly or this much in real life, it just seems to come out a lot when I write...! :/
This is my first reader-requested scenario and was requested by Inujuju712, who asked for a What If They Were Both The Same Age story. Hope you enjoy it and sorry for the wait!
FYI, I have a list of all scenario requests and will get round to them, though I can't guarantee what order they'll be in - so if you've made a request, don't worry, I've not forgotten. I've got a long list of possible Tero what-ifs that I've thought of myself too, so this fic could end up pretty long...
I'm also looking at the moment for Ego/Romantica what-if scenarios, so let me know in a PM or review if you have any ideas! I've not written those pairings before (only a bit of Hiroki within my Tero fics) so please bear with me if I don't get their characterisations quite right :D
Same Age
"You're not having one, Shinobu, and that's final!" Miyagi cut him off, before stalking off to the kitchen.
Shinobu stood stock still, shaking with anger. How dare Miyagi tell him what he could or could not do! The old man was bossing him around as if he were his father, not his partner, his equal! All Shinobu had said was that he'd been thinking about getting a tattoo and Miyagi had suddenly had a fit.
Do you want to look like a Yakuza? he'd asked, before implying that Shinobu had no taste, no sense and the intelligence of a four year old to even think of getting a tattoo. They look cheap and nasty, Shinobu. Think what it'll look like when you're an old man! Anyway, it certainly won't turn me on, seeing some cheesy dragon or rose or something engraved on your skin. What if it got infected, huh?
Shinobu spun around and marched to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. His foot flew out to kick angrily at the wall and he cursed at the pain now flowing through his toes.
Sometimes he couldn't understand how he had managed to fall in love with someone so much older than himself; someone who clearly was so very different from him, who liked things he hated and had absolutely nothing in common with him.
Not for the first time, he wondered how the hell he was supposed to close this damned age gap between them; if it was even possible.
Shinobu bit his lip guiltily, forcing away the fleeting question that flashed through his mind, the second of doubt that he and Miyagi really were destined to be together. They were so far apart… Would things have been easier if he were just a bit older, or Miyagi a bit younger?
Flinging himself onto his neatly made bed, he turned to the What If Machine.
"What if," he half whispered, "Miyagi and I were the same age?"
The black screen of the machine came to life and started to zoom in on a familiar room. The wardrobe and chest of drawers were in their usual place, Miyagi's boring black work tie hanging on the wardrobe handle. The large double bed, taking pride of place in the centre of the room, was occupied. Shinobu recognised Miyagi fast asleep on the left side of the bed, sprawled out underneath the rumpled navy blue sheets, his black hair flopping over his forehead and splayed across the white pillows.
He didn't recognise the other man sleeping next to his Miyagi, however.
Shinobu scowled as he moved forward to sit on the edge of his bed, peering closely at the screen to try and make out the details of this other man more easily. His eyes widened in shock when the man turned over and snuggled up to Miyagi, revealing his face.
There were faint streaks of grey running through the man's hair and his face was lightly lined, though the creases in his forehead ran deeper than elsewhere. His shoulders seemed broader than usual and there was more muscle – and perhaps even a bit more hair – on his arms, yet Shinobu instantly recognised himself, his pointed face, long lashes and small, red mouth.
He scrambled back in shock at the sight of his older self. This, then, was what he had to look forward to, this was what he would look like when in his mid to late thirties?
He wasn't sure he could keep watching this. It was too weird, too surreal – too scary even to see himself looking so much older. So much more manly – not to say that he wasn't manly now, he admonished himself, blushing.
"Uh, machine – not this – please can you show me what if Miyagi was my age – young, not if I was old like him."
The scene on the screen flickered once again, and suddenly Shinobu saw himself, young once more, and back in his parents' house. He was sitting at his desk in his room, paper and textbooks scattered around him. Shinobu recognised those books, they had been the ones he had used for his English classes in his second last year at school, not long before in his real life he had gone to Australia. That put him at about age seventeen.
He perked up, suddenly intensely interested. He was going to see Miyagi in his youthful years. He wondered what a teenage Miyagi would look like – and his mind immediately turned down a dirtier path, imagining his sexy lover with a younger and sprightlier body.
Licking his lips, he focussed back on the screen.
The doorbell had rung and the on-screen Shinobu padded softly down the stairs, frowning slightly at being disturbed. Opening the door, he looked out in surprise.
"Miyagi! What are you doing here?" he asked the boy on his doorstep.
A young teenager was standing in front of him, already tall, his long, straight, jet-black locks falling into his eyes. With his strong jaw, smooth, unlined skin and long legs tantalisingly sculpted by his fitted trousers, Miyagi at seventeen was extremely handsome, helped along by the broad, roguish grin he was now aiming at Shinobu.
As he sat on his bed watching the scene unfold, the real Shinobu considered that Miyagi was even more attractive than he had expected, although the younger version didn't have the sophisticated, refined and knowledgeable aura that his older self pulled off. The lithe figure, cheeky smile and teasing eyes made up for that, however.
In his hand Miyagi carried a full and rather heavy-looking plastic carrier bag from the local konbini.
"Yo, Shinobu. I remembered you saying your parents are away this evening."
"So?"
"So… I'm here to keep you company, make sure you don't get into any trouble." Miyagi winked at him.
"I never get into trouble," Shinobu replied, stony-faced. "What do you want?"
"Aw, so harsh, dude! And after I've gone out of my way to make sure you're not lonely… Won't you let your best buddy in?"
Shinobu rolled his eyes and stepped aside, letting the taller boy into the house.
Miyagi stepped inside, quickly exchanging his trainers for a pair of house slippers, and started jogging up the stairs to Shinobu's room without waiting to be asked. He had clearly been here many times before and was perfectly comfortable in the Takatsuki household.
"Oi, I've still got work I need to finish before we can hang out, so you'd better not distract me!" Shinobu yelled as he jumped up the stairs after him.
He entered his bedroom just as Miyagi landed with a loud thump on his bed. Swinging his feet up, Miyagi grabbed a comic from Shinobu's bedside table and settled down.
"Comfortable?" Shinobu asked sarcastically as he dropped back into his seat.
"Perfectly, thank you," Miyagi replied, not tearing his eyes away from the comic.
"Hey, Miyagi, what's in the bag?" Shinobu enquired curiously, suddenly noticing the plastic bag that Miyagi had dumped next to his bed.
"Refreshments," Miyagi merely replied with a grin.
Leaning forward, Shinobu opened up the bag to peer inside.
"Beer? Where'd you get that from? Woah – how much did you bring?"
"Enough for us to have a fun night. That's all," Miyagi smirked, finally looking up at Shinobu.
"This is a school night, you know!"
"So? We can still have a bit of fun. You'll be fine, don't worry. Anyway, how often do we get the opportunity to hang out with no adult supervision?"
"Won't your dad notice you're drunk when he comes to pick you up later?" Shinobu pointed out drily.
"He's not picking me up. I told him I was staying round here tonight. So there you go, no problems!"
Shinobu's mouth dropped open.
"You told him you were staying here? Man, thanks for asking first, Miyagi!"
Miyagi finally looked over at him with a small frown forming on his forehead.
"Shinobu, what's the hell's wrong? You always let me stay over, and you've stayed at mine loads. You've suddenly started to have a problem with me? I can go home if you want."
Shinobu looked away for a moment. "No, you don't have to leave. I've not got a problem with you – though maybe you could mention a bit in advance if you're staying over, you know."
Miyagi's expression cleared.
"Fair enough! Phew, I thought for a second my bro was getting sick of me!" he grinned.
Shinobu's lips pursed at the mention of 'bro'. Turning back to the desk, he immersed himself in his studies, leaving Miyagi quietly working his way through his comic collection.
Three hours later saw Shinobu sprawled on the floor with his back against the bed, having abandoned his studies. Miyagi was still lounging on his bed and both had a can of beer in their hands. A fair few empty cans also either filled Shinobu's bin or lay scattered around it where they had miscalculated their aim. They were currently in the middle of an argument about which animal was smarter, cats or dogs – Miyagi was heartily defending canine intellect while Shinobu was stubbornly insisting that cats were a dog's superior in every way.
Miyagi reached out a hand and gave Shinobu a light rap on the head. Without thinking, he left his hand there, fingers sliding through Shinobu's dark blonde hair. Shinobu, who had exclaimed loudly when Miyagi had hit him, now felt his eyelids slide shut under the pleasurable and slightly ticklish sensation of Miyagi's fingers in his hair. Under the influence of all the alcohol, with the warm weight of Miyagi's hand pressing gently on his scalp, he suddenly found himself quite sleepy.
His eyes flew open when he heard a loud, short tapping on his bedroom door. A moment later his older sister's head poked round the door. Miyagi's hand instantly left Shinobu and he sat up eagerly on the bed.
"Hey, Risako!" Miyagi practically sang, bright eyes staring greedily at his best friend's pretty sister.
"Oh, hi, Miyagi-kun," Risako replied, before turning her attention back to her brother. "I'm going out for a bit, Shinobu, you two alright here on your own?"
"S-sure," Shinobu slurred up at her.
Risako stared at him for a moment, taking in the sight of the carpet of beer cans and her brother's dopey-looking eyes.
"You kids are drinking on a school night?" she asked disapprovingly. "How much have you drunk?"
"Not that much. And we're not – hic – kids!" Shinobu snapped, hiccoughing. "We're fine!"
"Hmm, I'm not sure I should leave you…" she hesitated.
Miyagi seized the opportunity.
"You know, you're right, Shinobu here has had quite a bit, maybe you should stay and help me with him. I'm sure he'll pass out soon enough anyway, then you and I can hang out a bit just the two of us…" he winked, doing his best to seem alluring.
Shinobu's face seemed to turn a little red. He scowled at his friend, then turned back to his sister.
"I've really not had that much, you know, and this is the last one. I'll be fine! You go on, it's not like you want to hang around with us anyway. Go off to your boyfriend."
"Huh? You've got a boyfriend now, Risako?" Miyagi asked in disappointment, causing the older girl to laugh slightly.
"Yes, Miyagi-kun, I have a boyfriend, so sorry! Ok then, I'll be off. Shinobu, that really had better be your last, I don't want to have to explain to Mum and Dad when they get back why you've been ill – or why your room stinks more than usual."
As Shinobu stuck his tongue out at his sister, she shut the door behind her and they heard her patter down the stairs. After a couple of minutes the front door snapped shut and they were alone.
Miyagi sighed and settled back on Shinobu's bed.
"Shame."
Shinobu scowled.
"Would you please stop flirting with my sister?"
"Why?"
"It's gross."
"No it's not, she's hot!"
Shinobu swung round to bat at Miyagi, but his hand accidentally knocked against the older boy's beer which he had balanced on his stomach. The can fell forwards and instantly cold, wet liquid sloshed out onto Miyagi's chest, soaking into his school shirt.
"Argh! Fuck, that's cold! Shit, Shinobu, can't you watch yourself!"
Miyagi grabbed the can and turned it upright, but not before half the contents had spilled out.
"Sorry!" Shinobu gasped, wide-eyed.
He tried to pat the wet stain dry, but it was soaked through. Stumbling to his feet, he grabbed some tissues but even those only soaked up some of the moisture, and naturally they couldn't remove the stain. Swearing, Miyagi huffed and quickly undid the buttons, yanking the shirt off.
"It's gone all the way through, even my skin's wet. Shu, can you get me a towel?"
Shinobu didn't seem to have heard. He had knelt on the floor, the wet tissues in his hand, mesmerised as Miyagi took off his shirt. Now he stared at the damp flesh in front of him, and without thinking, slowly leaned forward and tentatively ran his tongue along Miyagi's collarbone, lapping up the trickle of beer.
He heard a short intake of breath. Looking up, he saw Miyagi staring at him in shock. It vaguely occurred to his beer-addled brain that if he were in his right mind, he would be jumping back in horror right now, pleading insanity. But as it happened, the many units of alcohol he had consumed over the course of the evening had given him some extra courage. Leaning close to one another like that, feeling the warmth radiating from Miyagi's body, hearing his ragged breath, Shinobu's eyes flicked down to focus on the soft, full red lips in front of him and he suddenly lunged forward, pressing his lips to Miyagi's.
Miyagi's exclamation was muffled by Shinobu's mouth and he found himself pressed back against the pillows, Shinobu's body lying on top of his.
Both inexperienced, neither was adept at kissing and the shock of the situation held them still for a few moments, faces still pressed together, Miyagi's eyes staring at Shinobu in disbelief. After a moment, however, the shock began to wear off and their teenage hormones, released and made rampant by the liberating effect of alcohol, took charge.
Shinobu had seriously expected Miyagi to throw him off. Hell, even he didn't really know what he was doing. But Miyagi didn't push him away. Instead, he started to move his lips against Shinobu's. Before either knew what had happened, they were kissing each other fiercely, sloppily.
Shinobu pressed down against Miyagi even more and in response Miyagi wrapped his arms around Shinobu, pulling his head down to him. In their desperation, they bumped noses and foreheads, teeth clashed against each other, but neither cared. They were suddenly too hungry to care about anything except that they were pressed as closely together as possible, that their mouths were mashed together and their hands free to roam.
They were naked before either had a chance to think what they were doing. They tore at each other's clothing, all the while trying to only break their kiss for as short a time as possible. When they were naked, Miyagi pushed Shinobu down, making sure he was on top. Shinobu didn't even resist much, finding that his legs all too naturally parted to allow his friend access.
Miyagi didn't touch him there. Even as his mouth hungrily sought Shinobu's, even as his hands eagerly roamed the soft skin on the boy's back, chest and outer thighs, he steadfastly kept them away from the very obvious evidence of Shinobu's masculinity. Settling between the boy's slender, trembling thighs, he pushed forward, trusting his instinct to find his way inside.
Shinobu practically screamed as he felt Miyagi press inside him in one fell swoop. His fingernails dug deep into the older boy's back as he fought back tears when he felt Miyagi start to move in and out. Miyagi was just so hard… He cried out, begging the other to slow down, to give him a moment.
Miyagi was panting in his ear, trembling from the rush of pleasure as he jerked his hips forward, too overwhelmed to find a rhythm. Moaning, he finally comprehended what Shinobu was saying and paused, still buried deep inside the boy. Gasping, his wide, glistening, wild eyes bored into Shinobu's and giving a deep, guttural groan, he bent down and hungrily kissed him, thrusting his tongue into Shinobu's mouth.
They continued kissing like that for a few minutes, Miyagi still not moving inside Shinobu. Gradually the younger boy started to grow accustomed to the feel of Miyagi's member inside him, and the passionate kisses rekindled the desire inside him. Moaning into Miyagi's mouth, Shinobu started to move his hips slightly, and Miyagi took that as a sign that he could continue.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled part way out and then pushed inside again, shuddering with pleasure. Shinobu wrapped his legs around Miyagi's waist and moaned softly, still feeling the pain and strange discomfort of having such a large, hard rod pressing into him, but at last feeling little jabs of pleasure as Miyagi finally hit his prostate. Above him, Miyagi closed his eyes and let his hips move as they wanted. Pounding into Shinobu frantically, he finally fell forward, burying his face in Shinobu's neck as he released.
After a minute, he groaned, carefully pulled out and rolled over. Next to him, Shinobu's hand trailed down to his groin and grabbed hold of his still stiff dick, pumping it vigorously until he too quietly came. Within minutes, squished next to each other on the single bed, covered in a mixture of beer and cum, they each fell fast asleep.
The next morning Shinobu awoke slowly, disturbed by the rays of the sun peeking through his thin curtains. Groaning, he turned to view the clock on his bedside table, pausing as he felt a strange jab of pain in the lower half of his body. Blearily focussing on the clock, he suddenly sat up as he realised he was supposed to have woken up half an hour ago; in his drunken state, he had forgotten to set his alarm.
As he sat up, he again felt a rush of pain, emanating from his hips and rear. Wincing, he glanced down at his body, only now realising that he was naked. Memories of his night of passion with Miyagi flooded back to him and he whipped his head around, only to find that he was alone in the bed.
Shock and disappointment hit him; he wasn't sure what he would say to Miyagi (what did you say to your best friend, who incidentally was also a guy, the morning after you accidentally, drunkenly lost your virginity to him?), but he hadn't expected him just to run off and abandon him like some cheap one night stand.
Sighing, he heaved himself out of bed and darted quickly into the bathroom in case his sister was around. Cleaning himself up, he threw on his school uniform and rushed downstairs. In the kitchen he grabbed an unopened bottle of water and quickly made a piece of toast which he ate as he ran awkwardly out of the front door, wincing at the pain.
He just managed to catch the train before it left the station, right on the dot. The carriage was full of commuters and other students and he was squashed like a sardine, pressed into the hot armpit of another man who was holding on to the overhead bar.
As the train finally slowed to a halt at Shinobu's stop, he breathed a sigh of relief and gladly pushed his way out of the humid carriage. As he approached the school, he felt a small ball of nerves grow in his stomach and he glanced around anxiously, keeping an eye out for Miyagi. They weren't in the same class, however, so the morning passed without Shinobu seeing him.
Shinobu finally caught up with Miyagi at lunch time. He had just put his cleared plate of katsu curry away and was making his way out of the hall when Miyagi entered with a couple of other students from his class. Their eyes met and Shinobu felt his stomach lurch slightly. Miyagi gawked at him with wide eyes before looking away in embarrassment, his cheeks reddening. He tried to hurry past with his friends, but without thinking, Shinobu's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, dragging him out into the hallway with him.
Shinobu peered around surreptitiously, checking that no-one would overhear them, then turned to Miyagi when he felt the other boy try to tug his arm out of Shinobu's grasp.
"Where'd you go this morning, Miyagi? I woke up and you'd disappeared," he frowned.
Miyagi didn't look in his eyes as he mumbled,
"I had to leave early, I realised I'd forgotten a book I needed for one of my classes."
Shinobu raised his eyebrows, not believing Miyagi's lame excuse for a second.
"Huh, whatever. It'd have been nice if you'd at least left me a note, you know, instead of just rushing off like that after… what we did…" his voice trailed off and he glanced around a second time.
Miyagi was looking more and more uncomfortable.
"Yeah, sorry… Mind if I go have my lunch now?"
"Stop avoiding me, Miyagi! We need to talk about this!" Shinobu hissed in frustration.
Miyagi's head whipped up and he glared at the unrelenting boy.
"No, we don't, Shinobu! The last fucking thing I want to do is talk about it! We were drunk, we made a mistake and did something stupid, let's just forget about it, ok?"
Shinobu stared at Miyagi incredulously. The older boy had scrunched his face up into an angry scowl, eyes narrowed and shooting daggers at him. He ground his teeth together, then forced himself to try and calm down.
"Well, I can't 'just forget about it', you git! And why do you just assume that it was wrong?"
"What?! We're two guys, Shinobu! Of course it was a mistake! I'm not a fucking homo, you know! I like girls, I've always liked girls. That's not gonna change. Now that's it, it's done, let it go. I don't ever want to talk about it again, you hear me? And don't fucking say anything to anyone else, alright?"
Shinobu straightened his back in indignation. His chest swelled out as he felt anger rising up inside him and he glared just as forcefully as the other boy as he spat,
"Fine! If you want to be a fucking arsehole, go ahead and forget it about it then! In fact, you can forget about me entirely 'cos I don't want anything else to do with you!"
With that, Shinobu spun on his heel and marched away down the corridor, trying to ignore the light moisture that was welling up in his eyes. Miyagi stood rooted to the spot, staring after Shinobu, his mouth hanging open and a furious look on his face.
They didn't speak to each other for several days after that. They ignored each other, simply walking past as if they hadn't even seen the other whenever they passed in the corridor. On the sixth day, however, Shinobu was eating lunch at a table in the dining hall alone when Miyagi suddenly dropped into a seat beside him and also began eating.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shinobu demanded.
"Eating my lunch," Miyagi replied lightly, turning to him and grinning. Without giving Shinobu a chance to reply, he rambled off in light conversation as if the past few days hadn't even occurred.
Shinobu stared at him in disbelief, but before he could interrupt or stalk off, two girls stopped by their table.
"Hi, Miyagi-kun, Takatsuki-kun! Do you mind if Hanako and I sit here?" one of the girls asked.
"Er, sure, no problem, Fujiwara-san," Miyagi replied, gesturing to the empty chairs opposite as if to offer them to the two girls.
Smiling happily, the girls placed their lunch trays onto the table and slid into the seats. Fujiwara Yukiko, a pretty girl with a heart-shaped face and glasses, smiled coyly at Miyagi as she guided the chopsticks to her lips. Masaoka Hanako, it turned out, was quite a chatterbox and the table soon became a riot of loud guffawing and high-pitched feminine squeals of laughter.
When the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch hour, the girls led the way to the back of the hall to return the dirty dishes and trays to the kitchen. As they walked, Miyagi nudged Shinobu conspiratorially and nodded towards Yukiko. In a low voice he said,
"Not bad, eh?"
"Huh?" Shinobu asked, confused.
"Fujiwara-san. I think she likes me, she's been giving me these kinda 'come here' looks for a couple of weeks now. I don't normally go for girls with glasses, but she's actually pretty cute – funny too, don't you think?"
Shinobu stopped suddenly and glared at Miyagi.
"What is it?" the darker boy asked, seeing Shinobu's expression.
"You really can be such an arse, Miyagi," Shinobu replied through gritted teeth, shaking his head.
Miyagi scowled.
"Look, Shinobu, I just don't get what your problem is. I told you – what you and I did was a mistake. It only happened once, it's not even that big a deal, I don't know why you're so hung up about it!"
"Well, don't strain your brain over it, Miyagi! Go on and ask her out, I bet you're dying to get your leg over, right?!"
"Shinobu, would you stop it! We're friends, I don't want that to change! I don't see why it has to. Why are you getting so upset about me fancying Fujiwara?" An idea suddenly occurred to Miyagi. "Unless you want her too?"
Shinobu smiled ruefully.
"No, I don't fancy Fujiwara," he replied, slowly raising his eyes to meet Miyagi's clueless ones. "So, if you want her, go for it and good luck. I'll see you around, or whatever."
And for the second time, he walked off leaving a confused and troubled Miyagi behind him.
The following Friday night saw Miyagi following Fujiwara Yukiko into her bedroom, feeling slightly nervous. They had been on a date and Miyagi had treated her to dinner and then a film at the cinema. Not that they had seen a lot of the film; Yukiko was like a hungry succubus and she had spent the best part of the film eagerly trying to suck Miyagi's face off.
Their heated kisses and fumblings in the dark had aroused Miyagi and Yukiko both, and she had invited him back to her home, reassuring him that her parents were out on a date of their own and wouldn't be back until late, so they would have some privacy.
Now Miyagi perched on her bed, feeling a little knotted ball forming in the pit of his stomach. Yukiko stood before him, somehow managing to appear both confident and coy at the same time.
She ran her hands over Miyagi's shoulders. Feeling that he was tense, she asked,
"You have done this before, right, Miyagi-kun?"
Memories flashed through his mind, a vision of Shinobu naked and moaning underneath him, and Miyagi almost winced, pushing the thoughts as far as possible out of his head.
"Yes," he replied, without elaborating.
Yukiko bent forward to kiss him, then carefully straddled him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
His earlier arousal flaring up, Miyagi promptly responded. Soon they were both naked on Yukiko's bed, fervently kissing one another while Yukiko's hand fumbled for the drawer in the small table next to her bed, pulling out a condom.
Despite his best efforts, Miyagi couldn't stop the memories from filling his head. Every time one of them intruded he shoved it out, only to get distracted and let down his guard, allowing another to creep in.
Yukiko's lips reminded him of Shinobu's. When Shinobu had kissed him, he had expected his lips to be hard, but they weren't; they were soft and warm and flushed ever so red the more they kissed.
Her skin was smooth, just like Shinobu's, and when she pushed his hand down between her legs, he almost jerked away, expecting to find Shinobu's hardened member and instead feeling her warm wetness.
Her high-pitched gasps and moans almost grated in his ear; the groans and incoherent mumblings of Shinobu's smooth, low voice had urged him on, made him lose control. Now he felt himself almost resisting, suddenly reluctant to continue, to enter Yukiko despite his arousal.
Moaning, she wrapped her legs around his waist and breathed,
"Do it, Miyagi-kun… Fuck me!"
Raising her hips, she slid herself onto him, and before he knew it, Miyagi was screwing her. It did feel good, he admitted it, though it was different from his previous experience. Shinobu had been so damn tight…
He couldn't stop it now, the memory of fucking Shinobu filled his head and he squeezed his eyes tight, forgetting the girl underneath him entirely as in his mind's eye he pictured Shinobu naked and aroused before him, eyes bright, cheeks flushed and lips parted, panting softly as Miyagi penetrated him.
Miyagi groaned and whipped his hips forward as he recalled the taste of Shinobu's mouth, the feel of the boy as he clamped around him and spasmed, how it had felt when Shinobu's wetness had erupted onto his stomach.
Underneath him, Yukiko writhed and cried out, and Miyagi's ears converted the sound into that of Shinobu's voice. He heaved forwards one last time and came.
Pulling out, he slowly pried his eyes open, starting guiltily when he saw Yukiko underneath him, beaming happily up at him.
Jumping up, he grabbed his clothes and quickly dressed himself.
"Miyagi-kun, what's the rush?" Yukiko asked, surprised.
Unable to bring himself to look her in the eyes, Miyagi garbled,
"Your parents'll be home anytime soon, right? I'd better go."
"They won't be here for a while, can't you stay for a bit?"
"No, sorry Fujiwara-san–"
"It's Yukiko!"
"Er, Yukiko-san, look, I really have to go, I'm not sure… I mean, I don't… I don't know… Look, I just have to go, ok?" he mumbled as he headed towards the door.
Yukiko tracked him with anxious eyes.
"Miyagi-kun, what's the matter? Have I done something wrong? Don't you like me anymore?" she asked, sounding more and more upset.
"No, look, I'm sorry! It's not you, it's me. Look, I'll see you at school, alright?"
And with that, Miyagi rushed out of the house, leaving a naked and very upset girl behind him.
He stumbled about, feeling completely confused and overwhelmed. Finally he made it home and crawled into bed, but before he fell asleep, he kept thinking the same disturbing thought over and over again.
He had just had sex with a very pretty girl whom he knew lots of guys wanted. So why the hell had he only been able to go through with it, only been able to come, by thinking of his male best friend?
On Monday morning, Miyagi dragged himself out of bed, seriously not looking forward to going to school that day. He had made no attempt to contact Yukiko over the weekend and explain his behaviour, and he was dreading bumping into Shinobu.
It turned out that he was right to be anxious. He was on his way to his second class of the day when he bumped into Yukiko in the corridor. She was standing by the lockers being comforted by a group of girlfriends. One of them tapped her on the shoulder when she spotted Miyagi, and Yukiko looked around, revealing a red, blotchy, tear-stained face. She had been crying so hard that her tears had even left little streaks of water on her glasses. Her face hardened when she saw Miyagi. Striding up to him, she gave him no chance to speak, but slapped him as hard as she could across the cheek before running off down the corridor, closely followed by her friends.
Miyagi stood in shock, clutching his cheek. While he hadn't expected a physical attack, he couldn't deny that he had deserved it. A voice behind him, however, caused him to close his eyes for a moment. The day had suddenly got even worse.
"What was that about?" Shinobu asked.
Sighing, Miyagi turned to face his best friend, lowering his hand to reveal a deep red print across his cheek. He felt a lurch in his heart – and his groin – as he saw Shinobu, recalling the pleasure he had had the other night thanks to his memories of his friend naked in his arms.
His eyes were drawn down to Shinobu's small, red mouth and he forced them up to look instead into his cool, grey eyes. Shinobu was watching him curiously, but Miyagi could still feel that there was a distance between them that hadn't been there until the night he turned up on Shinobu's doorstep with the intention of getting royally pissed.
Instinctively he knew admitting the truth would only make things worse, but the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them. Hell, he'd never been able to lie to Shinobu; he'd never needed to before anyway, as ever since they had been little kids, Shinobu had always been the one person he could be completely himself with, faults and all, without the fear of being judged.
"She's mad at me because I slept with her and then left…"
As he had feared, Shinobu's face hardened before him and he looked up at Miyagi with an expression of extreme distaste.
"You slept with her?"
"Yeah…" Miyagi hung his head, no longer able to look in Shinobu's eyes.
"God, Miyagi, you just stick your dick anywhere you can, don't you," Shinobu spat, shaking furiously.
"Hey, that's unfair, that's not true!" Miyagi shot back, suddenly getting angry himself, but Shinobu merely sneered and stalked off. "Well, fuck you, Shinobu!" he yelled after the retreating boy.
Deciding he'd had enough for one day, Miyagi hoisted his bag further up his shoulder and strode towards the front of the school and out of the wide double doors. No-one paid him any attention in their rush to get to their next class, and he slipped out without anyone noticing.
He wandered off, not really caring where he went, just needing to get some space. Finally he found himself on the bank of the river and he slipped his bag off his shoulders and dropped down onto the grass.
Lying back, he rested his head in his hands and gazed up into the light blue sky.
Why was he feeling so confused?
Why had he run off on Yukiko like that?
And why couldn't he get Shinobu out of his head?
In his mind, he saw Shinobu's head snapping back, his pale cheeks turning white, his brow creasing and jaw hardening at the news that Miyagi had slept with Yukiko.
Shinobu had been upset. And angry.
He'd said he didn't fancy Yukiko. So he wasn't jealous over her. Why would he even care who Miyagi slept with anyway? Sure, the two of them had slept together, but they'd been drunk, they'd lost control – that didn't mean anything.
Though if it didn't mean anything to either of them, he realised, why was Shinobu so unwilling to let it go? And why, he admitted uncomfortably to himself, did the memory of their night together arouse him so much?
He didn't want Shinobu, not in that way. Did he? Of course not, he couldn't! Right?
"Argh!" he groaned in frustration, sitting up and tugging at his hair with his hands.
He liked girls. He definitely liked girls. Even if the feel of them was a bit weird, more squelchy than he'd expected and not quite as tight as Shinobu's arse had been around his dick…
Feeling his dick twitch, he pushed that thought from his mind.
Another memory replaced it.
"You've got a boyfriend now, Risako?" he asked, and Shinobu scowled, his face turning red at Miyagi's ceaseless flirting with his sister.
Miyagi had flirted with Risako. And Shinobu had been… jealous? Shinobu was jealous?
The sudden realisation hit him. Shinobu was jealous when Miyagi flirted with his sister; he was upset when Miyagi had slept with Yukiko; he hadn't found it weird that the two of them had spent a night together, rather he had got angry and upset when Miyagi suggested they just forget it had happened.
How had he not seen it before?
Shinobu was in love with him.
And he? How did he feel about Shinobu? He had honestly never looked at the boy in that way before – but when Shinobu had kissed him, he hadn't felt any desire to push him away. In truth, Shinobu's lips pressed against his had felt quite natural and it hadn't taken long for him to be turned on by the boy. Even now, at the slightest thought of Shinobu's lips, or his chest, or thighs, or arse, Miyagi could feel his body stirring.
Shit. He wanted Shinobu. Shit. And he'd been the one to push him away and mess everything all up.
Scrambling to his feet, he started to run back in the direction of the school. He had been sitting by the river, picking apart the whole sorry situation, for at least two hours and it was nearly time for the school's lunch break. If he was lucky, he'd be able to find Shinobu and straighten this whole mess out.
Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky. He pushed his way through the crowds in the corridors and the lunch hall, but Shinobu was nowhere to be seen. When the bell went, he sighed and abandoned his search, leaving the school again to wait out the afternoon in front of the gates, ready to ambush Shinobu when he left to go home.
He almost missed the boy as he left the school surrounded by a rush of students eager to abandon their classes for the day. Trailing behind him, he just managed to jump onto the same train as Shinobu, though it was too packed for him to make his way down the carriage to speak to his friend.
He finally caught up with him when they got off the train. Jogging up to Shinobu, he called out his name, expecting him to stop and wait for him. However, Shinobu stared round at him in surprise then ran off towards the exit. Scowling, Miyagi tore after him.
Rounding the corner of the station, he grabbed Shinobu's arm, tugging on it to get him to stop. Shinobu struggled, trying to free his arm.
"Miyagi, stop it!" he yelled, causing a few passers-by to glance worriedly in their direction. "Let go, damn it! What the hell are you doing?"
"Shinobu, I've been trying to find you all afternoon, I need to talk to you. Stop struggling, for god's sake."
Shinobu paused and glared up at him.
"Oh, so when I need to talk to you, you tell me to shut up and forget about it, but I have to listen to you whether I want to or not?! Well, guess what, dickhead – I'm not interested in hearing all the disgusting graphic details of your sordid sexual escapades with Fujiwara!"
Miyagi started to smile; man, Shinobu was so unbelievably jealous. He was so cute!
"I wasn't going to talk about that. This is something different. Something really important. Please, can you just listen? Let's go back to yours…"
"Inviting yourself round again?" Shinobu mocked sarcastically; however, he gave the tiniest nod and started to lead the way back to his house which was only five minutes walk from the station.
The house was empty when they arrived, Shinobu's parents still at work and his sister at university. Kicking off their shoes, they trudged in silence up the carpeted stairs to Shinobu's bedroom, leaving their school bags by his door.
Shinobu sat on his bed and crossed his arms, spreading his legs over the bed to prevent Miyagi from sitting down.
"Alright then. Spill. What do you want?" he asked coldly.
Miyagi walked over to Shinobu's tidy desk and pulled the chair out, straddling it backwards. He wasn't quite sure where to begin.
"Shu, I'm really sorry," he said solemnly.
Shinobu froze.
"For what part, exactly?" he asked.
"All of it. For being mean to you and pushing you away, especially. And for sleeping with Yukiko." He saw Shinobu's face harden again. "That was a mistake."
"Sounds like you've been making a lot of mistakes lately," Shinobu hissed.
"Yeah, I have." Miyagi never took his eyes from Shinobu. "And I'm sorry."
"Why was she a mistake then? You were pretty damn keen the other day. Did she get all clingy or something?"
"No. But I thought I liked her like that and it turned out I didn't."
"So after you got what you wanted from her, you decided you weren't interested in her anymore. Lovely."
"It wasn't like that!" Miyagi burst, starting to get annoyed. "Look, I really did think I wanted to be with her! But when I tried, it just… I don't know… Was weird. It felt wrong. She was the wrong person."
"How many more people are you going to get through until you find the right one, Miyagi?" Shinobu shook his head, watching Miyagi with exasperated eyes.
"None. I know who the right person is now." Miyagi noticed immediately that Shinobu's face paled at his words. He hesitated, unsure quite how to proceed. He believed that Shinobu cared for him, but he wanted to make sure before he irrevocably blurted out his own feelings. "Shu… We've known each other a long time now… You-you do care for me, right?"
Shinobu's face instantly became guarded, a wary, suspicious expression haunting his features.
"What?"
Miyagi looked down for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he continued,
"Do you love me, Shinobu?"
"What the hell?!" Shinobu shouted, jumping up from the bed.
Miyagi shot up from the chair and bounded across the room, grabbing Shinobu's shoulders.
"It's alright, you know –"
"What the hell are you saying, Miyagi?"
"I only realised it earlier, the way you react to me, the way you kissed me that night–"
"That's bullshit! That's ridiculous! Get off me, you imbecile!" Shinobu gasped, blushing furiously, struggling to get out of Miyagi's tight grip.
Miyagi shook him, desperate to make the other boy understand.
"It's ok, Shinobu! Don't you get it? I love you too!" he shouted.
Shinobu suddenly stopped struggling, his arms flopping limply to his sides, wide eyes staring in shock at Miyagi, who was panting, his face leaning close to Shinobu's.
"What?" he whispered.
"I said I love you," Miyagi repeatedly simply. "I know I've screwed it all up, but I've been really confused, I've only just understood myself."
"You… You really mean that?"
"I really mean it."
"That night we spent together…"
"…I enjoyed it. It felt natural. And that fucking freaked me out, Shinobu. I've never looked at another guy like that. But I'm sorry I said it was a mistake. I know it's hard enough to make yourself vulnerable like that to another person, and it was a risk for our friendship and I went and bulldozed over everything. I never meant to hurt you… I was just really, really confused and actually, a little bit scared." Miyagi's voice grew quieter and quieter. "Shu… Will you forgive me?"
Shinobu was trembling in his arms. Staring at Miyagi's chin, he felt moisture start to well up in his eyes and gave a quick nod. The next moment he was gasping in surprise as Miyagi's lips pressed against his. He grabbed handfuls of the older boy's shirt and tilted his head up a bit, feeling the pressure of Miyagi's tongue against his lips as the other tried to deepen the kiss.
Miyagi felt relief wash over him as Shinobu accepted him back. Wrapping his arms around the boy, he marvelled once again at how natural it felt to hold his oldest friend in this way. This time he was not drunk, he was not in denial, and he would never again make such a mess of his relationship with this person, whom he now realised he had loved for years.
The What If Machine slowly zoomed out of the scene and a moment later the screen was blank. Shinobu sat transfixed, and jumped when there came a sudden knock on his bedroom door.
The handle turned and Miyagi poked his head around the door.
"Hey, Shu-chin. Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I hate it when we fight. I still don't think a tattoo's a good idea, but I know it's your body so is your choice. I guess it's something we can discuss anyway, calmly, like adults. Why don't you come out of your room now, let's forget about it for the moment and just watch some TV together or something."
Shinobu stared at Miyagi, then suddenly burst into tears. Startled, Miyagi hurried forward and pulled the sobbing boy into his arms.
"Hey, baby, I said I'm sorry! Why are you so upset?!"
Shinobu had buried his face in Miyagi's cotton shirt. Without moving, he choked out in a muffled voice,
"You slept with some girl! I had to watch you have sex with a girl!"
"What?!" Miyagi exclaimed, thoroughly bewildered. "Shinobu, what on earth are you talking about? I promise I've not been with anyone, male or female, since I've been with you. I love you, you idiot."
"I know!" Shinobu wailed.
"Then where did you get that crazy idea?"
"I know you haven't! But I still saw it… Even if it's not true, it's horrible, Miyagi, so horrible… She was naked, you were inside her!" Shinobu's voice grew even more hysterical.
Miyagi squeezed the boy even tighter against his chest and looked around the room furtively, trying to figure out what could have upset his lover so much. Understanding dawned on him as his eyes landed on the What If Machine.
He pursed his lips. The damn thing. What Shinobu had asked, he didn't know, but he had known that machine would be trouble. Shinobu was clever, too clever perhaps – with his imagination, that machine could prove to be quite dangerous.
And Miyagi wasn't prepared to let anyone, or anything, get in the way of his relationship with his precious Shinobu…
A.N. Phew, that was a long one! Hope it wasn't too clichéd... Please review and let me know what you think! Next chapter is written, just needs me to edit it, so the next update won't be such a long wait.
By the way, a 'konbini' is a convenience store.