Chapter Text
Well now Reki couldn’t sleep for an entirely different reason. Was he about to get cast as the lead in a musical he hadn’t actually even auditioned for? As terrified as he was, his body was apparently very confused because he also felt… excited? The idea of getting to sing alongside Langa again was making him jittery in every way possible. GAH! How on earth was he supposed to go to school tomorrow?
Figuring he couldn’t convince his mom to let him stay home, he prepared himself for the worst case scenarios of how the day could go. As an act of mercy from the heavens, Langa texted Reki that he couldn’t meet at their usual spot before school. So at least he didn’t have to deal with his friend wondering why he was still a complete, sleep-deprived wreck and asking questions.
Since he hadn’t slept anyway, Reki ended up being ready early and got to school with time to spare. Despite how much of a disappointment he was in most areas of his life, maybe for one day his teacher would be proud of him. The hallways only had a few students lingering, so he was able to slip by unnoticed until he got to his classroom where just under half of his classmates were already gathered. All their eyes immediately zeroed in on the redhead.
"Kyan, dude! Congrats on getting the lead in that musical. I didn't even know you could sing. But man, Adam was pissed! Good luck with that," an animated classmate standing near the front row chuckled.
Reki's stomach dropped. "W-what?" He squeaked out.
"You seriously haven't heard?" Another student asked.
"They posted the cast list this morning," the class president added. "Hasegawa was here early to talk to Kamata, so I'm sure he's seen it."
Langa was here!?
"If you're looking for them, they're probably still by the auditorium."
Reki didn't even drop off his bag or skateboard, he just turned-tail and rushed off in the direction of the auditorium.
Langa hated having to tell Reki he couldn't meet up with him like usual before school, but he wanted the chance to talk to Kamata. All he could think about was how miserable Reki looked and how singing without him just wasn't fun. No matter how many people had complimented him for his audition, Langa disagreed. He hadn't felt anything while singing up on that stage. Not like when he had sung with Reki at New Years.
Honestly, he hadn't known what to do. He didn't really know what was wrong with Reki, but he was stressed that he had done something wrong and made the redhead upset. He couldn't handle that. Reki was his best friend, his only friend. While some people might think that pathetic, Langa didn't mind at all. Reki was all he needed.
But that didn't mean he knew what to do about it. So he explained the situation to his mom. It was far from the smoothest or least awkward conversation, but he managed to get some good advice about organizing his priorities. And that was easy.
So first things first, he needed to let Kamata know he couldn't do the musical. He went to school early to let her know as soon as he could (his mom said that was the most polite thing to do). After getting to the school, however, he realized he had absolutely no idea where to find her. He wandered towards the auditorium, hoping for the best, nodding a good morning to a few people along the way.
Thankfully, he was rewarded with finding Adam and a boy with black hair standing in the hall.
"Langa," Adam purred. "How good to see you! Here bright and early to see our names at the top of the cast list? I can't blame you, I'm thrilled as well. Tadashi, aren't you excited to work with this kind of talent?"
Langa nor Tadashi had a chance to respond as Kamata burst through the doors with a large paper in-hand.
"Kamata, I don't know why you even bothered to print that. We all know who the leads are. Oh, but I suppose the supporting actors need to know their roles. "
Kamata simply rolled her eyes but didn't grace Adam with a verbal response. Instead, she carefully pinned up the paper and stepped away with a satisfied smile.
"Um, Kamata, can I speak with you?" Langa tried to ask.
"Huh? Well, of course, but shouldn't you check the list first?"
"Uh, well actually-" Langa was cut off by Adam shrieking.
"KYAN!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? HE DIDN'T EVEN AUDITION!" Adam tried to take a few deep breaths and calm himself down. "Oh, wait, this is a joke, right? This is a prank! That's fantastic, absolutely hilarious Kamata. Now where's the real list?"
"That is the real list, Adam. This isn't a joke," Kamata answered calmly. Adam, on the other hand, proceeded to shriek, his outrage attracting the attention of multiple other students who happened to walk past.
"You can't give the lead to someone who didn't even audition! That's completely unfair and unprofessional. I expected someone like you to respect the theater, but I suppose I expected too much," Adam retorted.
"Kyan let me know ahead of time that he couldn't make it to the auditions during lunch, so arrangements were made ahead of time to let him try out after school instead. Still completely appropriate, don’t you think?”
Langa couldn't trust his ears, stepping up to view the list himself. The first two lines read:
Jun (Lead)………………………………………………………….…………..Kyan Reki
Yukito (Lead)...…………………………………………………….… Hasegawa Langa
Reki… tried out for the musical? Langa couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face for a moment. Why didn’t he tell me he was going to try out? But thinking about getting to be on stage next to Reki again, he didn’t care. He could imagine those amber eyes staring into his own, the redhead’s voice echoing in his head. Getting to hear Reki sing again, that’s all Langa really wanted. But if they happened to touch hands or dance around together, like they were the only two people around? He was melting at the thought. The blunette eventually realized there was still an argument going on next to him.
“But-but… him!? Of all people!? He’s so… ordinary! Can he even sing?”
“Yes, he can,” Langa answered immediately, turning back to the others.
“Oh, Hasegawa, you’ve heard him sing?” Kamata faced Langa, who simply gave a small nod.
Completely on que, Reki turned the corner, panting hard from his rush to get there. “Reki!” Langa exclaimed excitedly, his eyes shining. Reki smiled weakly, unable to escape the rush he felt when his best friend looked at him like he was the most interesting thing in the world. He glanced at the others, noting the smugness behind Kamata’s eyes, the absolute venom pouring off of Adam, and Tadashi… looking as unbothered as ever.
“Hey Kyan! Good to see you,” Kiriko exclaimed. “Here to see the list or did you already hear the good news?”
Reki laughed nervously. It was his body’s only response in this situation. Thankfully, the bell rang, saving him from the noises he was attempting to turn into coherent words.
“I’ll see you all after school! We’re meeting to talk about everyone’s parts and when rehearsals will start. Catch you later!” Kamata waved as she left. Reki used the opportunity to avoid Adam’s wrath and headed immediately back the way he had come. He didn’t even register Langa calling after him until he was halfway down the next hall and the blunette had caught up to him, grabbing his arm to slow him down.
“Reki?” Langa asked, his voice small, as if afraid of speaking any louder.
“Huh? Oh, sorry man, I’m just processing everything,” Reki finally looked at Langa, worried his friend would look upset. Instead, his eyes were still full of excitement.
“I just…congrats, Reki,” Langa smiled and everything that had happened in the last two days was completely worth it.
“Uh, thanks. You too. Congrats I mean,” Reki mumbled. “You’re playing the other lead, right?”
Langa looked surprised that Reki knew, but nodded. Both boys resumed walking to class, side-by-side this time. “I’m so excited to get to sing with you again,” he said matter-of-factly, still looking forward, causing Reki to sputter. With that, the blunette looked directly at his best friend. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
Somehow, Reki survived class and even managed a somewhat normal lunch with Langa watching skateboarding videos. He spent most of the day in agony, eyeing the clock on the wall tick closer to his doom. How could he tell Langa he hadn’t actually auditioned? And how was he going to prevent Adam from making him disappear, never to be heard from again? AND HOW WAS HE EVER GOING TO LIVE IT DOWN WITH HIS TEAM!? But every time he made eye contact with Langa, it seemed like maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out.
Somewhere between daydreams of singing alongside Langa again and plans to flee the country and change his name, class ended. Now he found himself walking back down the hallway to the auditorium with his best friend next to him… who was currently saying something.
“Huh?” Reki asked, realizing he hadn’t been paying attention.
“Are you okay? You’re just… a lot quieter than usual,” Langa observed.
“Yeah, man, I’m fine,” Reki said on instinct. “Don’t worry about it.”
Langa still looked worried, but he didn’t say anything else. The pair entered the auditorium, finding that quite a few other students had already gathered there, presumably the rest of the cast. Reki glanced around nervously, expecting to find an irate blue-haired boy leading a posse of angry fans. Instead, his eyes saw familiar green hair and broad shoulders surrounded by giggling girls.
“Joe!?” Reki rushed over to his teammate, relieved to see another familiar face.
“Oh, hey kid!” Joe exclaimed when he noticed the redhead trying to get through the hoard of females. “I’m glad you tried out, I heard you scored the lead,” Joe excused himself and slung an arm around Reki as he lead him away. “Apparently girls are into dudes who can act,” he said with a wink. “Oh, but I forgot you’re already trying to catch someone else,” he discreetly added as they walked up to Langa.
“You must be Langa! Reki talks about you all the time! I’m Joe,” the green haired boy said, holding out his hand. Langa was caught off guard by the western greeting, but managed to recover and shake Joe’s hand, looking at Reki with a question on his face.
Reki laughed nervously. “Joe, what are you doing here anyway? Isn’t this a meeting for the cast?”
“Yep, that’s why I’m here.”
“...what?”
“Kiriko begged me to join her musical. She said she had the perfect part for me. And that girls would love it. So who am I to deny the people what they want?”
“I doubt that’s what the people want,” a voice from behind them commented. “But I guess some find enjoyment from performing monkeys.”
“Cherry!?” Reki gasped, earning a death glare from the pink-haired one.
“I told you not to call me that outside of skating,” he hissed.
“Why on earth are you here, Kaoru?” Joe asked, seemingly very surprised to see his friend.
Cherry shrugged. “Kamata and I struck a deal.”
“Wait, don’t tell me you’re in the play too!” Joe’s mouth hung open.
“Well someone has to bring actual talent to this production.”
Thankfully, the about-to-be-bicker-session was cut-off by Kamata calling everyone to attention. While she welcomed everyone and thanked them for participating, Reki realized that Adam had shown up at some point and was now standing near the stage. He ducked slightly, not wanting to meet that guy’s devil-red gaze if he happened to turn their way. Then Kamata passive-aggressively asked anyone that wasn’t part of the official cast to leave and Reki watched at least half the people in the room awkwardly trudge away, including Adam and Joe’s respective fanclubs. It left a much more intimate cast of individuals behind for Reki to scan his eyes over.
Kiriko beckoned them all to come forward to the edge of the stage, but Reki was frozen in place until Langa gently took his wrist and Joe put a large hand on his back, both leading him forward.
“Alright, first things first, let’s go over the cast and make sure everybody is here! When you hear your name, come up and get your script and sheet music from Kikuchi. I see our two leads made it. Kyan and Hasegawa, you will be playing Jun and Prince Yukito. Adam will be playing Oshiro Reiji…” And so the list continued. Reki was trembling as he received a large packet of paper from the pianist. He tried to listen to Kamata as she rattled off the list, catching a few names he recognized like “Joe” and “Sakurayashiki”. He glanced at Langa to see the other boy already flipping through his copy of the script. Reki looked down at the one in his own hands, too nervous to consider opening it. He just stared at his name that was scrawled on the front. The longer he stared, the more wrong his own name looked.
Eventually, everyone had their part and Kamata urged them all to read through it a few times over the next week to get an understanding of the plot with an emphasis on getting to know their own character. With that, they were dismissed.
"Hasegawa!" The director called before they could leave. "Hey, you said you had something to talk to me about this morning. Sorry I didn't get a chance to hear you out. Is there still something you need?"
Langa looked at Reki, then looked back at Kamata, seemingly a bit embarrassed. "Uh, no, I think it's fine now," he said with a small shake of his head.
"Oh, alright, but if you guys do have any questions or problems, you let me know, alright?"
"Yeah, don't let Kiriko scare you. She's a big softie, especially for underclassmen," Joe laughed.
"What can I say? They're way better than dealing with my grade," the woman replied with a smirk. Noticing Adam's approach, she turned to address him. "So what do you think of your part?"
"I think I might actually agree with you, Kamata." Adam was smiling, but the emotion in his eyes was anything but friendly.
"See? I knew that part was perfect for you. Antagonists always have the best songs. And a character with more complex motivations is better suited for someone with your… talents."
"Oh, absolutely. And I'm going to have so much fun seducing this snow bunny on stage," Adam purred, lightly brushing his hand on Langa's arm. "You better give it your best, Red, or I'll end up stealing the show and your Prince."
Reki prickled. He didn't really know what Adam meant, but seeing him touch Langa made the redhead burn. He clenched his jaw and tried to look determined. Adam simply smiled and walked away with a wave. With eyes still trained on him, Reki flinched when he thought Adam was going to turn around again, but instead he noticed the dark blue-haired boy cast a quick glance towards the stage before quickly turning away again and walking off even quicker than before. Reki turned his own gaze to the stage, noticing the only person up there was the pianist organizing his sheet music with his back to everyone else in the room.
"Oh, that reminds me: sorry if there are any typos in the printed copies, I was up pretty late last night making changes to Hasegawa's part," Kiriko apologized.
"Huh?" Reki and Langa eloquently responded in unison.
"Oh, well that part was supposed to be for a female lead. It was originally the role of a princess, but when I realized how perfect you were for the part, I changed it to a prince. Besides, BL romance stories are trendy lately."
"R-romance?" Reki squeaked.
"Yeah, I tried to add a little bit of everything even though the play is mainly an adventure. Hasegawa’s prince is your character’s love interest.” Reki’s face must have given away his inner panic, because Kamata looked suddenly panicked too. “Is that alright?”
The ginger was completely short-circuiting. He thought Langa was just the other lead, not his FREAKING LOVE INTEREST. Wait, do they end up together? Is it just one-sided? Do they have to act like they’re in love? DO THEY HAVE TO KISS?
“Kyan? Is that going to be a problem?”
Reki tried to snap his brain back into the present. “No!” he shouted, making everyone else in the circle jump. “Wait, yes, I mean no…” realizing he had absolutely no idea what question he was even answering anymore, he took a deep breath. “I meant it’s fine. Cool. I’m alright with it.”
“Great! Please read through the script at least a few times before we meet again next week. See you later!” While Kamata said her goodbye, Reki finally risked glancing at Langa, even though he knew his face was probably still bright red. But the other boy was staring at the floor, seemingly farther away than normal inside his own head.
After saying goodbye to Joe and Cherry, Reki and Langa began making their way home together, opting to walk instead of skate after such an eventful day. They were almost to the corner where they would have to split up when Langa finally spoke. “Um, Reki?”
“Yeah? Oh, sorry I’ve been so quiet, I guess I’m just really in my head today.”
“It’s alright. It’s just…why didn’t you tell me you were auditioning?” Langa stopped walking to look directly at Reki while he asked.
Reki stopped too. Was he supposed to explain that he had chickened out and hadn’t actually auditioned anyway? Instead, he decided to go with the simplest answer that was still close to the whole truth. “I… was afraid of disappointing you,” he said quietly, not able to look Langa in the eye.
“Why did you think you’d disappoint me?”
“I guess I was worried that if I tried out but screwed it up or didn’t get a part or it wasn’t like how I sang at New Years then…” you wouldn’t want to hang out with me anymore , his brain finished.
“Reki,” Langa said quietly, waiting for the redhead to finally look at him again. “I only wanted to audition because I wanted a chance to sing with you again.” Reki’s insides swooped at those words accompanied by the little smile Langa gave him. “It wouldn’t be fun without you.”
Reki couldn’t help the blush that spread across his face. “Uh, yeah, you too man,” he said, trying to hide his face behind his arm. It wasn’t until he looked up again that he noticed Langa eyes were cast down again, with his brow furrowed.
“Is something else bothering you?”
Langa looked at Reki with wide eyes, then turned his face away slightly. “Are you really okay with me playing your love interest? Kamata said the part was originally a princess and my understudy is a girl, so I could give the part to her instead…”
“No way, dude,” Reki said, giving Langa an affectionate punch in the arm. “I’d much rather get to be up there with you instead of some girl I don’t know. Like you said before, it wouldn’t be fun without you,” he finished with his signature grin. That seemed to do the trick, as Langa looked happier and more relaxed than he had been all day. The blunette nodded his agreement and they went their separate ways with an agreement to hang out soon.