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Daichi was a good tutor, but only with specific types of students.
A lot more teachers were calling in sick as of late, and a number of substitutes had transferred to a better studio. That left him to deal with multiple classes. Satoshi usually tutored students around their twenties, which was why majority of them were so polite. However, teaching fourteen year olds came like a heavy burden. No one was paying attention. The very moment he turned his back, everyone started whispering and snickering.
For once, he demanded that they all stay and practice for ten extra minutes. Had it been any other class, it might have worked, but these kids knew that he had no real power over them. They up and left at the time they were supposed to, and were less than friendly with Daichi about it.
“Ughhhhh,” He wished he could claw at something and squish it with his bare hands, but he let his frustrations show by using the studio after class to dance away his anxiety. The sound of violins bounced off the walls, and he did something calmer as a warm-up not to stress himself out.
“One, two, three, four, I can’t take this anymore!” He stretched his hands up over his head before letting them fold out and entwine at his chest.
“Five, six, seven, ei-” He frowned and pulled his fingers apart with force. The image before him in the mirror was not that of a graceful dancer, but that of a pissed off wanna-be choreographer. “-I’m too upset to put any effort into my whining. God, this isn’t what I want!” He did not want to become just like his colleagues. Every day was another struggle with them. They whined and moaned about how some students were beyond helping just as easily as they talked about which ones they preferred to star in upcoming live performances. No favoritism. That was a complete and utter lie. There was definitely favoritism. They spoke as if they hated their job, and Daichi loathed that kind of attitude. He did not want to become like them, but the image staring back at him was not a person he used to know. The person that loved music, art, and the beauty of a good performance must have died five years ago. Keeping his spirits high was an endless struggle.
“What am I even doing here…” This was not what he imagined himself doing for the rest of his life, but it was the only thing he was cut out for. No matter how much he enjoyed coaching Satoshi’s class, he could not get over the fact that he was not a teacher. The title was not one he wanted to bear. It was too much responsibility, and he knew that now. It was also a title he never wanted anyone to give to someone who was not suitable for the position. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let out a calm, drawn-out sigh to the sound of strings, and allowed the melody to bring him some peace of mind.
“Hey, Daich,” Of course, peace of mind did not come easy when Hibiki decided to sneak up on him and scare him half to death. He staggered, and nearly fell to his knees with fright.
“F-for crying out loud! You should wear a bell strapped around your neck!” Hibiki completely ignored his outburst, and his eyes fixed on the stereo that was still playing classical music.
“You played something similar last time. Is that Vivaldi?” Daichi forgave him, and shook his head.
“Albinoni. Good guy if you want strings to dance to.” He figured Hibiki got his name from the other teachers that barely spoke to him. The atmosphere in this building was always tense. No one liked him particularly, and seeing Hibiki approach him all of a sudden came across as fishy. He watched Hibiki in silence. The man said nothing. It was dead-silent for a long while, until his colleague snapped his fingers, and pointed at Daichi with determination shining in his eyes.
“Put your leg up on my shoulder.” Daichi blinked, and his lips parted.
“...I’m sorry, what?”
“Hmm, I see. So, you can’t do it.” He furrowed his brows, and grimaced at the retort. It was an odd request to start, but now he was acting as if it was meant to be a challenge.
“Hibiki, I can do it, alright. I just don’t see-” Hibiki sighed in the middle of his explanation. It irked him enough to narrow his eyes, take a step back, and flawlessly raise his leg high until it hovered a little above Hibiki’s shoulder. He folded his arms over his chest, and raised his chin high.
“There. What now?”
“Looks painful.” Hibiki let his hand rest over Daichi’s ankle to pull his foot down and let it finally rest on his shoulder to help him regain some balance in his stance.
“That’s not easy to do.” Daichi shrugged.
“Sure it is.”
“Not with crossed arms, it isn’t. You’re pretty smug for a substitute.”
“Hey, just because I’m a substitute doesn’t mean I’m not good at what I do.” Hibiki ran his hand down Daichi’s leg, something Daichi would normally not have allowed him to do if he did not have a solid grip on his foot. Any sudden movement right now could cause him to topple over. Now, the reason to why Hibiki wanted him to put his foot on his shoulder made some sense. The touch tickled through his black tights, but he said nothing until Hibiki spoke up.
“You have excellent proprioception.”
“...I’m sorry, what?” He felt like he was saying that a lot with Hibiki. The man was unpredictable.
“You’re very nimble.” Hibiki looked him up and down curiously, and flashed him a warm smile. “How much do you weigh?” He had no clue what was going on anymore. At the very least, Hibiki released his leg so he could stand down on both his feet.
“...Kinda personal, don’t you think?”
“I wanna try something out.” Daichi groaned, but when he saw that Hibiki refused to move from the spot, he leaned in close to whisper in his ear just to satisfy his curiosity.
“Hm…” Hibiki had a smug grin on his face. “Sure, let’s try. Dance is all about pushing your limits, anyways.”
“I-I don’t weigh
that much
, you asshole!” Hibiki sat down on the floor and gave his knee a small pat.
“Let’s try a front plank. I’ll carry you.” From the sound of it, this exercise was meant for two.
“Oh. You’re thinking… adagio?” Hibiki quirked a brow.
“Is there a problem?” Daichi looked a little uncertain. Doing partner acrobalance poses sounded fun, but Hibiki was a person he had no experience with. If they had access to an actual gym, this might have been easier, but as it was now, doing something even this simple would be a risk. Yet, there was a part of him that really wanted to try this again. There was really only one objection he had to voice.
“So, you’ll hold me up with your feet? I’m very glad you’re wearing socks…” Hibiki looked offended, but Daichi supposed it was more for show than it was genuine hurt.
“For your information, I have lovely feet.”
“I’ll need evidence before I can believe that.” He burst into laughter and grabbed Hibiki’s hands when he was about to literally pull his socks off. “Not now, you moron! Fine, I’ll be your partner for a while, but you’re keeping those socks on!”
Daichi waited for Hibiki to bend his knees so he could grab his arms and let him place his feet near his abdomen, lifting him up in the air. It was surprising to see how steady Hibiki’s posture was. He did not even look as if he was under any sort of pressure. Tempted to see just how determined his colleague was, he let go of his hands and wondered if he was going to maintain his balance. Unsurprisingly, his pose remained steady, arms and legs straight to keep him from wobbling. There was only one way for this to go south.
“If you tickle me with your toes, I’ll kill you,” Hibiki let out a disappointed ‘aw’ and chuckled.
“Why’d you have to put it in my head? Now, I’m really tempted.” Daichi glared at him, and reached out to grab his hands again so he could keep himself steady just in case his teammate decided to do anything stupid. Seeing Hibiki from this angle, and watching their intertwined hands gave him an idea he had not had in years.
“How much do you press?” Hibiki cocked his head slightly. Daichi noted that the confused expression on his face was kind of cute.
“What?”
“Bench press. Your average weight. I wanna try something out,” It was Daichi’s turn to look smug as Hibiki muttered the number reluctantly. “-weren’t you the one who said it was all about pushing your limits? Grab my hands tight.” Hibiki was skeptical, but did as Daichi asked. Daichi used Hibiki’s arms as leverage to push one leg back over his head until the other followed, taking advantage of their stance to do a forwards cartwheel by the help of Hibiki’s strength. Once he felt enough weight shift and his foot touch ground, he let go of Hibiki’s hands to straighten his back and raise his arms high, breaking the handstand they had done to successfully pull off the move.
“Woo! Fun! Not bad for someone who only bench presses twenty kilo!” Hibiki pulled himself up to sit straight, somewhat embarrassed.
“I don’t-! Nevermind, so,” Hibiki stopped himself to skip ahead to the more important part of the conversation. “-you’ve done couple’s acrobatics before?”
“That was nothing! Wanna see something cool? How long do you think you can hold me for?” Hibiki smiled, appreciating the enthusiasm, and meeting it with just as much joy.
“For as long as I have to. You’re not as heavy as you say you are.”
“Either that, or you’re just stronger than you say you are. No, wait, nevermind, I’ll take the former.” Hibiki chuckled, and Daichi motioned for him to lie down on his back again. Hibiki did as he instructed without protest.
“You thinking about doing a handstand again?” Daichi hummed questionably.
“I was thinking we could do a barrel roll, but… that might be too difficult since we don’t know each other’s limits yet, hmm…” There were quite a few things he could not do acrobatically without a partner, and since Hibiki was willing, this was a good opportunity to practice some fundamentals.
“Let’s just do a handstand to L sit.” If that was no problem, then they could try out a couple of different positions.
“You mean, I’ll get a nice shot off your ass? My pleasure,”
“Dude, you’re a professional. Act like it.” Hibiki stretched his arms out for Daichi and made grabby hands in his direction to try and speed him along. Daichi stood over his head, and took a hold of his hands to brace himself. It felt dangerous to engage in something like this without his usual partner, but Hibiki proved he could carry his weight through the cartwheel. It was only a test to see how much further he could be pushed before giving in.
“If you feel like quitting at any point because I’m too heavy, just say ‘stop’ and I’ll break the pose.”
“Get on top of me already, Daichi.” While still standing, Daichi made sure to flick Hibiki’s forehead as punishment. He grabbed his hands tightly, and bent over as much as possible before putting any weight onto Hibiki. Slowly but carefully, he pulled his legs off the ground until they were in a straight angle above his head. He swallowed, and breathed out softly. It was still difficult to pull it off, despite how much strength Hibiki had in his arms. His own strength was meeker by comparison, and he was starting to fear it was too much for his physique. He met Hibiki’s gaze as he was upside down, his brown locks clinging to his eyelashes and obscuring his vision. Even with his sight momentarily impaired, it did not take a genius to see that Hibiki was smiling.
“Oversized shirts look good on you,” H paused a little to take in a breath. “-especially when gravity pulls them over your neck and exposes your chest.” If Daichi turned his face to look in the mirror, there was no doubt that he would find his cheeks flushed with both embarrassment and exhaustion. Did Hibiki not know that saying something so inappropriate while in such a dangerous pose could compromise their entire practice?
“D-Don’t distract me or I’ll-!” He was already feeling his arms shake, but he watched carefully as he switched to sit, and fortunately never brushed his foot against Hibiki’s face as he expected himself to do by accident. He held that pose for another second or two, before letting his legs rest at either side of Hibiki’s waist to let go of his arms. He pulled his hands up to his face to hide so he could breathe out. That small scare was enough to send shivers down his spine. Hibiki sat up with both hands wrapped around Daichi’s thighs as he peeked up at him from between his legs.
“Why are you hiding? That was impressive!”
“Y-you’re-” Daichi slapped Hibiki’s hands off his thighs, and took a step to the side, cheeks still flushed. Luckily, he could blame it all on the exercise. Still, there was something satisfying about doing acro practices with Hibiki. It might have been the adrenaline rush, or the onslaught of compliments Hibiki seemed to shower him with, but he wanted to try something more. Hibiki got up from the floor to brush himself off, and Daichi stepped closer, biting his lip to keep himself from grinning.
“Wanna see something neat?” Hibiki cocked his head again. It was just as cute as the first time.
“Neat how?”
“How about a double sideways aerial salto?” Hibiki made a face. A face that Daichi could not help but smile at. His colleague leaned closer, and seemed to hesitate to ask the question.
“...You’re not really a dance instructor, are you?”
“Sure, I am.” Hibiki did not believe him. Daichi didn’t blame him for it.
“Step back, I’ll show you.” Daichi put his hand against Hibiki’s chest to back him against the wall. The floor helped him gain a bounce in his steps, and he managed to successfully perform his salto without error all until it was time to stick the landing. Forgetting the walls were not cushioned, and that there was no mattress ready for him to drop and avoid having to think of a landing, he slipped up at the last second, and would have fallen to the floor had Hibiki not acted fast and wrapped his arms around him.
“Oh, t-thanks. I forgot the momentum of one of these can be-” He turned stiff when he felt Hibiki’s hand rest against his chest before it slid all the way down to his hip. Daichi could feel Hibiki’s chest press against his back, and the hot air that caressed his neck at the other man’s every word.
“Let’s dance together.” Daichi would have been distracted by the fond embrace, and would have made a comment about how Hibiki’s hand should not linger on exposed skin but on the fabric of his pants if they needed to go somewhere. Though, that did not matter. Not as much as what he was suggesting. He turned his head slightly to look Hibiki in the eye. It was at this close proximity that he noticed his colleague had blue eyes.
“When you say ‘dance’ you mean…?”
“The acrobatic kind. Let’s make our own routine. I think we can make a good duo.” Daichi wondered if that was really true. Hibiki was obviously still practicing some sort of acrobatics. Meanwhile, his last serious session was several years ago. While he still had the body and half the stamina he did before he started dancing, he was not sure if the payoff was fair.
“I’d love to. But…” This was not something he should be getting himself into. Acrobatics was a demanding sport. All he was fit for now was dance. Yet, he constantly tried to reach out for more than he could grasp. Maybe Hibiki was his ticket out of a mundane lifestyle that had become nothing but a chore. He considered his options carefully.
What did he have to lose?
“...Sure.” He felt himself swallow a breath. “Sure, let’s practice here Monday through Friday. Satoshi’s room is vacant from four to six. That gives us two whole hours. How does that sound?”
He wondered if this was a direct answer to his question, or an attempt to start things early out of eagerness, but Hibiki spun him around to lead him into a graceful dance.