Cold Fever - Chapter 2 - Part 4
The content warning is in the footnotes0.
Autumn
Fujishima was waiting for Kusuda at a coffee
shop near the train station closest to his company. As he gazed out the window,
he thought about how the days were getting shorter. After 5 p.m., it quickly
grew dark, and by 6 p.m., it was pitch black. As the mornings and evenings were
getting colder, some people passing by were already wearing winter coats.
Fujishima had called Tohru earlier, saying, “I
have to work overtime at the company, so I’ll be an hour late.” He didn’t
mention meeting Kusuda because Kusuda had asked him, “Please don’t tell Tohru
about this.”
Earlier that day, Kusuda had called Fujishima
on his cell phone with a serious tone. He hadn’t been willing to share details,
saying they would talk when they met, but it was definitely related to Tohru.
“Sorry for being late,” Kusuda said as he
arrived at the shop after 7 p.m. The last time they had met, Kusuda had worn a
suit and had a clean-cut hairstyle, but now he looked more relaxed. His hair
was longer, and the style of his suit had changed. What caught Fujishima’s eye
the most, though, was the large necklace and ring he wore. Big accessories
could easily look vulgar, but the ones Kusuda wore were elegant, likely because
of the intricate craftsmanship and how well they matched his outfit.
“Did you have the day off today?” Fujishima
asked.
“No...” Kusuda shook his head. “I’m coming from
work. Ever since my brother and I started a company last year, we haven’t had
any days off.”
“A company...?”
Kusuda tilted his head and asked, “Hasn’t Tohru
mentioned it? I quit my previous job last year and started an accessory brand
with my brother.”
Even though they saw each other every day,
Fujishima realized they mostly stayed close together and hadn’t had many
conversations.
“These are a necklace and a ring my brother
made. They’re a bit unique, don’t you think?”
The design, with a delicate interplay of
flowers and snakes, was beautiful even to Fujishima, who wasn’t knowledgeable
about such things.
“It’s been a year since we started the company,
so we’re still stretched thin, but it’s more interesting than my previous job,
and it’s rewarding. Since it’s a small place, we have the freedom to move
around. We’re even planning a collaboration with an independent fragrance brand
owned by a friend of my brother’s.”
After speaking all at once, Kusuda clasped his
hands together, looked down, and sighed deeply.
“But being such a small company, there are
issues with the budget... and, well, the budget...”
Kusuda glanced up at Fujishima.
“I asked Tohru to take photos for our
advertising posters.”
Hearing all this for the first time, Fujishima
could only nod in response, saying, “I see.”
"He was happy to take on the task and
showed me a few photos to get a sense of the style... but then..." Kusuda
suddenly bowed his head right in front of Fujishima.
"I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to ask,
but could you please convince Tohru for me?"
"Convince him?" Fujishima still
didn't quite understand what was going on.
"There was a photo among the ones Tohru
showed me that my brother really liked. But later, Tohru told me that it was
included by mistake and that it shouldn’t be used for the advertisement. He
asked for it back. Now my brother insists that it has to be this photo, and
we're stuck..."
"...What kind of photo is it?"
Kusuda took a clear file out of a document
case.
"I returned the original to Tohru, so all
I have here is a copy. One of our staff scanned it into a computer and
superimposed the collaboration’s accessory and necklace to draft a design...
But please don’t tell Tohru that we made a copy."
He opened the file, and as soon as Fujishima
saw what was inside, his heart skipped a beat. The copy depicted a nude photo
of two people. One person stood in front while the other embraced them from
behind, biting their shoulder. The chest of the person in front bore the words
“LOVE & HATE” horizontally, with images of perfume and a necklace
positioned in the right corner.
"The theme of our collaboration is 'LOVE
& HATE.' Doesn’t it match perfectly? I’d really like to use this one if
possible."
Both faces in the photo were cast in deep
shadow. Fujishima wasn’t sure, but he felt that the man in the back looked like
Tohru. If that was the case, the person standing in front would likely be
himself. It seemed like it. However, because so many nude photos of the two of
them had been taken over time, he couldn’t recall when this particular one was
shot.
As Fujishima stared intently at the file,
Kusuda asked, "Is it no good after all?"
"This is Tohru and you, right? The faces
aren’t clear, so I didn’t realize it at first either, but the guy in the back
sort of looks like Tohru, so I figured the person in front might be you,
Fujishima."
Realizing that Kusuda knew who they were,
Fujishima suddenly felt a rush of sweat down his back. He was embarrassed.
"If it’s you, Fujishima, I understand why Tohru
might refuse. I get it, but we still really want to use this photo. The faces
aren’t visible, so some of our female staff thought the person in front was a
woman. Since the concept of the campaign is unisex, having the gender be
ambiguous actually works well for us."
Kusuda hurriedly added, “Not that I’m saying
you look feminine, Fujishima, but just that the way the photo is composed, it
can come across like that...”
Fujishima didn’t know how to respond.
"If you’re completely against it, I
understand. But if you’re okay with it, could you convince Tohru for me?
Please." Kusuda bowed his head deeply in front of the table.
"He won’t listen to me anymore, so...
please, I’m asking you."
Seeing Kusuda’s serious expression, Fujishima
couldn’t bring himself to say no on the spot. In the end, he promised,
"I’ll ask Tohru," before leaving the coffee shop.
On the train ride home, Fujishima thought about
it. He never imagined that the secret photos they took just for fun would lead
to something like this. Honestly, he was embarrassed and didn’t like the idea
of the photo being used in an advertisement.
When he got home, Tohru was waiting for him,
having skipped dinner. Even though they ate together as usual, Fujishima
couldn’t stop thinking about what Kusuda had said earlier.
"Tohru," he called out.
The man across the table looked up.
“Could you show me some photos later?”
Tohru hesitated for a moment, then asked,
“Which ones?” Unable to say “the nude ones,” Fujishima awkwardly replied,
“Later…”
After they finished eating, Tohru handed
Fujishima four photo albums, but they were filled with pictures of stones and
landscapes. None of their nude photos were there. Although they had taken
countless playful photos together, Fujishima had never seen the actual prints,
nor had he ever asked to see them.
As Fujishima returned the albums to Tohru, he
murmured, “So… there aren’t any of us?”
Tohru tilted his head in confusion.
“We took a few, didn’t we…?”
Realizing what Fujishima meant, Tohru muttered,
“Ah,” and left the room, returning with three files in hand. Fujishima opened
one of the files but quickly closed it again. It was a photo of him kissing Tohru,
his face filled with a dazed, ecstatic expression.
“Isn’t this what you wanted to see?” Tohru, who
was sitting next to him, peeked over.
“Well… it is, but…”
Tohru forcibly reopened the page Fujishima had
closed. Fujishima squeezed his eyes shut.
“Take a look. You’re beautiful,” Tohru said.
Fujishima slowly opened his eyes, but all he
saw was his own profile, looking blank and blissful. Tohru flipped to the next
page. This one was even more startling. It showed him being embraced from
behind by Tohru, his legs spread wide in front of the camera. His erect penis
was fully visible, and it was obvious from the positioning that Tohru had
penetrated him from behind.
Fujishima quickly closed the page, but the next
one showed the same position, only this time Tohru was pinching his nipples.
His back was arched dramatically, and his half-open mouth seemed about to
release a moan. After just three pages, Fujishima gave up and closed the file.
“You’re not going to look anymore?”
He couldn’t bear to look directly.
“N-no, that’s enough…”
He was embarrassed for having asked to see such
photos. Wanting to cool down his flushed face, he tried to go to the bathroom,
but Tohru forcefully stopped him and sat him down on his lap.
“Let’s look together, okay...?”
Tohru said in a sweet, coaxing voice. When Tohru
licked his earlobe, Fujishima shuddered, making Tohru laugh. Despite saying he
didn’t want to see any more, Tohru continued flipping through the pages,
describing each embarrassing photo.
“Look at this. The color of yours is different
from mine, right? It’s lighter and prettier. It’s thin but long. When I grab it
with my right hand, it fits just right...”
That didn’t seem like something that should be
praised as “pretty.”
“This one shows the color of your nipples
really well. Yours are usually light, but when I play with them, they gradually
turn red. This must have been taken then.”
Even without looking at the photos, Tohru’s
commentary alone made Fujishima’s face turn bright red. After what felt like a
torturous, endless commentary, Tohru said, “This is my favorite photo,” and
turned to the last page of the first file.
It was a photo of Fujishima’s upper body. He
was looking back and smiling slightly in the bluish-white light. It was a
natural smile, without any trace of seduction.
“You have a nice expression, don’t you? The
blue light following the lines of your body almost makes it look like you’re
glowing; it’s beautiful,” Tohru said.
Fujishima nodded. “It looks like I’m in the
moonlight.”
“I took it to look that way. That’s my
technique,” Tohru laughed, then hugged him tightly. The weight of his body
pressed down, almost crushing him, and even though Fujishima still felt the
lingering embarrassment, he found it overwhelmingly comforting to the point of
losing himself.
“Let’s look at the others too.” Tohru tossed
aside the first file and opened the next one. Though the photos were shocking
at first, as they continued, Fujishima’s eyes began to adjust. Even the photos
of them having sex and kissing came to seem like just another part of reality.
At the end of the third file was the photo
Kusuda had shown him. As Fujishima stared at it, he asked, “Do you like that
one?”
“I don’t really care for it. It was taken when
I first started doing nudes, and you weren’t used to the camera yet, so you
looked really tense. You had a face like you were about to cry, and I was on
edge the whole time,” Tohru said.
Still staring at the photo, Fujishima muttered,
“Love and Hate, huh?”
“What did you just say?” Tohru’s sharp voice
made Fujishima realize he had slipped up.
“How do you know about that?” Tohru demanded.
Fujishima regretted his careless mistake. It
was only natural for Tohru to know the product's theme, given that he had been
asked to take the photos for the poster. The timing was too coincidental to
pass it off as an accident. Fujishima felt it might be better to just come
clean instead of trying to cover it up.
“I heard from Kusuda. He said there was a photo
they wanted to use for the advertisement...”
“That bastard…” Tohru spat out as he jumped off
the bed. Fujishima desperately clung to his back, knowing that otherwise, Tohru
might storm off to Kusuda’s house in anger.
“It’s... it’s fine, isn’t it, if they use it
for the poster? You can’t even see our faces…”
Tohru turned around, flailing his hands like a
child. “What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean...?”
“Didn’t you say from the beginning not to show
the nudes to anyone?”
Had he said that? Maybe he had. But he had
completely forgotten until now.
“Yes, but it’s okay. Just this once. You can’t
even see our faces...”
Tohru pursed his lips and furrowed his brow.
“Kusuda and his brother like it, don’t they?”
The man across from him didn’t respond. Even
though he himself didn’t like it, Fujishima felt somewhat irrational about
having to convince Tohru.
“I don’t like it,” Tohru stated firmly.
“Absolutely not.”
Tohru stubbornly insisted on saying “no,” and
Fujishima thought it was because Tohru was angry that he had forgotten their
original agreement.
“I’m sorry for forgetting what I said in the
first place. But… if you think of it as helping someone out…”
“I just—” Tohru said irritably, slamming his
hand against the wall. “I just don’t want everyone to see you naked!”
Fujishima blinked, unsure how to respond, and
lowered his gaze.
“It’s not even that big of a deal…”
“That’s not the point! I’m the only one who
should get to see you naked, and I’m the only one who should take photos of
you!”
It was only then that Fujishima finally
understood what exactly Tohru was so upset about.
“Oh… I see…”
Without thinking, he muttered aloud, only for Tohru
to snap, “What do you mean, ‘you see’?”
Fujishima thought carefully, struggling to
string together the right words in his mind.
“I’m not good at saying this, but… if I’m going
to undress in the future, it will only be in front of you, and the only person
who will take such photos will be you,” Fujishima said, pausing before
continuing. “So… about that one photo, it should be okay, don’t you think?”
Tohru made a strange expression, somewhere
between pleased and like a sulking child, before he turned his back to
Fujishima with a sullen look.
…About a week later, Kusuda called Fujishima.
He reported that Tohru had agreed to let them use the photo. “But he did punch
me once. That guy doesn’t understand the word ‘mercy,’” Kusuda muttered with a
sigh.
Footnotes
0. Content warning: NSFW.
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