Chapter 9

Whore's Portrait

Unexpectedly for himself, Juza felt joy and relief when he saw Banri return with Director Izumi, although he didn't reveal his feelings. Humbly bowing his head, Settsu apologized to them and promised to take acting seriously, so Sakyo eventually relented and allowed him to return to the troupe.

From that point on, Banri started to attend all the Autumn Troupe's rehearsals, including early in the morning, when he wanted to sleep the most. The performance improved day by day, and they soon received stage costumes and props. The only concerning issue was threat letters in which someone demanded to cancel their show. Naturally, they didn't succumb to the threats, but the day before the premiere they found their costumes torn to shreds. They had no time to look for the culprit. The best they could do in these circumstances was to restore the costumes, which they managed to do in time thanks to Banri and Omi's sewing skills.

The premiere didn't go very well. They all were nervous to perform for the first time, and on top of that, Sakyo blanked on his line in the middle of the show, which would have been ruined if not for Juza, who saved them with an apt ad-lib. After the performance, Sakyo was depressed while Taichi was clearly anxious and constantly ran to the toilet. The Autumn troupe seemed to be falling apart again...

Something had to be done about this, so Director Izumi secluded herself with Sakyo to cheer him up, as she said. One could only guess what the two of them did alone, but the following day Sakyo performed better than the rest. But Taichi still seemed to be troubled by something. No one knew what was going on with him until one evening Omi brought him to the common room.

Taichi fell to his knees and cried, begging them to forgive him. It turned out that he had acted on the orders of inmate 0606 Reni Kamikizaka, nicknamed Kamikaze, who was a former theatre producer serving time for corruption and sexual harassment of his employees. Everyone was appalled, but it was clear that Taichi was just a tool in Kamikaze's hands. They had to give him a chance to justify himself.

- How about doing a portrait? – Banri said as Taichi sniffled on the floor. – When I watched everyone's portraits, only Taichi's felt off to me. Now I see why. Show us your real portrait, Taichi. Not the one you did before. Use it to convince us.

- Okay, I'll do it, - Taichi raised his tear-stained eyes. Everyone was looking at him encouragingly.

- Since I didn't show my own portrait, I'll do it too, - Banri added. – How about we meet in the auditorium in an hour or so?

Everyone agreed, and an hour later Taichi took the stage while the rest of the Autumn troupe took spectator the seats in the front row.

Taichi's true portrait was that of a good-natured guy entangled in the snares of fateful circumstances. He wanted to become popular so that people around him would finally notice and like him. One day he crossed paths with Reni 'Kamikaze' Kamikizaka, who accepted him into his theatre Godza. Kamikaze molested him in exchange for giving him secondary roles, but he didn't report the man to the police because he unwittingly took part in Kamikaze's corruption scams. As a result, he ended up behind bars as Kamikaze's accomplice. Once in jail, Kamikaze promised to make him the leading actor of Godza when they were released on the condition of ruining the Mankai theatre club, which Kamikaze hated because of the failure of his own theatrical career. Excited by the prospect of becoming a leading actor, Taichi did everything Kamikaze told him, but his conscience gnawed at him all the time. He realised that he defiled theatre and therefore lost the right to perform on stage.

Tears rolled down Taichi's cheeks again as he dejectedly hung his head when Banri, Juza, and the rest of the Autumn troupe got up on the stage and stood next to him. It was impossible not to forgive Taichi, who clearly wasn't acting when he begged them to forgive him and promised to break all ties with Kamikaze for good.

- Good job, Taichi. We're all with you, – Banri wrapped his arm around Taichi's shoulders. – Now it's my portrait's turn, right.

He stayed on the stage while the others took the audience seats in the front row and turned their eyes to him.

- My life was always on easy mode, - Banri began, looking straight ahead. - I always did what I wanted and succeeded in everything I did. No one could ever beat me at anything. No one ever challenged me, no matter what I said or did. Even my high-school classmates didn't say a thing against me when I showed up to school wearing eyeliner. They knew I'd punch their faces off if they started bullying me for that. My life was so dry and boring... To quench my undying thirst, I set my sights on the criminal world and joined the Yakuza. I wanted to get a taste for life, but it never happened.

Banri shook his head with a rueful smile and then visibly braced himself before continuing:

- Soon after I joined the Yakuza, I became a prostitute. I'd been whoring myself to the crime kingpins in exchange for their patronage. In this way I became the clan's second lieutenant, although I was younger than all my rivals. I had high status and a lot of money and sex. I thought that was all I needed in my life, but I still felt hollow and cold inside.

Banri lowered his gaze as he put his hand on his chest where his heart was beating. He wasn't acting as he stood in the spotlight on stage. His thoughts and feelings were true.

- And then one day I was framed. The head of the clan bailed on me and did nothing to get me out of jail. That's how I ended up in South Hill. I wanted to turn over a new leaf, but soon after I got here, Azuma-san invited me to join Mankai Bitch Club. One can't escape their destiny... So I thought and returned to prostitution again. My life went on as before until after I was given a cellmate named Juza Hyodo.

Juza's eyes widened a bit in surprise as he gazed at Banri, who was looking at him from the stage.

- Gonna make him beg me for sex, I said to myself, but when I tried to seduce him, I found myself hanging upside down by my legs. Nobody'd ever done this to me in my life... After I begged for mercy, he laid me down and then walked out without a second glance at me. It was the first time I was so worked up... - Banri closed his eyes, a wistful expression lingering on his face.

Juza watched him with breathless attention. After a moment, Banri opened his eyes and continued:

- After that, all I could think about was defeating him. I just couldn't let him get away with what he'd done to me. I tried to provoke him again, but it didn't go how I wanted. The thought that he'd continue to ignore me was driving me up the wall. I was stalking him to get a chance for revenge when I saw him enter the prison's theatre club. I peered through the door and got dragged into Mankai Company. As everyone here knows, we fought a lot at the club. I was annoyed and thought, like hell I'd let Hyodo touch me, but then Sakyo-san handcuffed us together...

Banri locked eyes with Juza again as he encircled his wrist with his fingers, and Juza felt a rush of heat to his cheeks, realising what Banri was going to confess next.

- Hyodo took me by force when we were alone, and the following day again... - Banri also blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. – He completely took over me, so I decided to defeat him in another way. When we were assigned with the portraits, I thought it was my chance to beat Hyodo because my acting was much better than his, but I ended up losing to him again...

Banri shamefacedly looked away, remembering his attempt to avoid facing the results. Juza and the rest of the Autumn troupe watched him with baited breath.

- I've never felt more pathetic than I did then, - Banri plucked up his courage to look up at his troupe mates again as he spoke. – But it also felt like something started to stir up in me. When I was given a second chance to start over, I realised my aspirations, something I've never had before...

Banri gazed into Juza's eyes while Juza also gazed back at him.

- My life's biggest regret is living in ignorance and thinking that nothing could be more fun than sex. Whoring? Selling my body to make extra cash? To hell with that! – Banri spoke emotionally. - I found what really excites me! I found someone who gives me thrills, who fires me up! They're right here! I don't want to be a whore anymore. From now on, I'm giving up prostitution forever to start a new life as an actor!

Banri fell silent and bowed when the next moment he heard loud applause. Juza and the rest of the Autumn troupe stood up, clapping their hands vigorously, and then climbed up to him on the stage.

- Right decision, Settsu, - said Sakyo approvingly. – I take your word for it. You'll have to work twice as hard to become a good actor.

- Sure thing, Sakyo-san. It'll be all good, - Banri assured him heartily before looking over at Juza.

As their eyes met again, they understood each other without words. Juza couldn't hold back a shy smile of joy: it was perfectly clear to everyone that Settsu had just confessed his love to him from the stage. Banri blushed a little while his heart palpitated with joy: Hyodo's eyes were telling him that his feelings were reciprocated.

Seceral minutes later, when they returned to their cell, Juza pulled Banri close by the waist. All he wanted right now was to kiss Settsu's lips, and it didn't matter to him at all now how many dicks those lips had sucked off before... He wanted all of Settsu immediately and knew that he always would, no matter how many men had screwed Settsu before him. It was all in the past. The only thing that mattered was their present and future, where he was Settsu's only and last man for the rest of their lives.

Epilogue

After serving five years, Juza and Banri were released from South Hill on parole for good begaviour. Together with Sakyo, Omi, Taichi and several other inmates released some time earlier, they joined the new Mankai Liberty theatre founded by Director Izumi on the outside, and soon married each other.

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Author Note
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I'm very excited to finish this long JuBan fic. The end crowns the work! :) Welcome to my X(Twitter) page /Fantazeus for discussions!