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“Tell me again why we're here?” Kakashi asked, staring up at the large, fancily designed sign that sat above the awning of the store he had been dragged to. “I don't need any new clothes.”
“Au contraire, my wonderful rival! The only things that you have are work clothes, and things that have been gifted to you over the years! You haven't gotten a new performance costume in ages!” Gai said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, and beginning to push him forwards into the store.
“That is because I haven't performed in ages, Gai. I'm not in the competitive leagues anymore, so why would I need to drop hundreds of dollars on glitzy outfits I'm going to wear exactly once?” he retorted, ducking out from his friend's grasp. Seeing Gai's nervous expression, he asked, “Is there something you're not telling me?”
“I... My students have been wondering what it would be like to see me skate competitively again. But, since I haven't done that in... far too long, I suggested that they get to be the judges of a competition,” he explained, “And much to their excitement, they asked if you would be skating too, and I said of course, because I know you wouldn't turn down a challenge like that. So, I figured that... we could get outfits for it. Give them a proper show.”
Kakashi ran a hand down his face, groaning. “Maa... Why wouldn't you just tell me that? If you knew I'd agree to the competition, why go through so much to avoid saying that?” he asked, hand resting on the scarf covering his lower face.
“Because I don't know if you're going to agree to a pairs routine, just to show them how it's done,” Gai sighed, jaw set and a worried look in his eyes.
Blinking, Kakashi opened his mouth, before closing it and shaking his head. “You wanted to take me shopping for performance outfits, without even telling me that there's a pairs routine? Or what it's to?” he said.
Gai looked away, the tips of his ears tinted red. “Is that a yes, on the performance?” he asked, glancing back at Kakashi.
“It's a yes, but I'm going to have to hear the song before we pick anything out for it. We've got to make sure it works with the song and aesthetic that we're going to want,” Kakashi said, shoving his hands into his sweatpants pockets and walking through the door.
As the inner doors slid open, Kakashi felt the warmth of the store hit him. Despite the season starting soon, the store wasn't very busy, only a couple of younger skaters browsing the aisles, chasing each other around with the plush skate guards. Gai followed him in, hanging out at his side as he scanned the shop. Usually, he would have gone and gotten something custom, rather than bought anything from a store, but neither he nor Gai had that kind of money to throw around anymore. Not since they both retired from competitive skating, at least.
“Can I help you two gentlemen with any- Kakashi?” the store clerk said, clearly recognizing Kakashi. “It's been a while, how are things?”
Kakashi stared at the clerk for a long moment, trying to put a name to the familiar face in front of him. Face blindness was more Gai's problem than his, but he would be lying if he said he had any idea who it was standing in front of him.
The younger man seemed to realize that Kakashi was having a bit of a hard time remembering him and sighed, hands resting on his hips. “It's Kabuto, remember? I haven't seen you since your students graduated from public lessons.”
Snapping his fingers, the face finally clicked into his memory. “I remember you, you tried to sabotage one of my students before the final performance of the season,” he said, freezing Kabuto in place.
“Well... Yeah, that wasn't my best moment, to say the least. I'm glad he still managed to pass, and that he's got you as a coach now. I really am sorry about all of that,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck, looking down. Taking a deep breath, however, he clapped his hands together and smiled at Kakashi. “Anyways, how can I help you both today? Is there anything that I can help you find?”
“We're looking for performance costumes. Normally, we'd go for custom, but this isn't for any official competition,” Gai answered, his hand back on Kakashi's shoulder. “Just show us where we could find men's costumes, if that's alright. We can handle ourselves from there.”
“Right this way, then,” Kabuto said, leading the two towards the back of the store. “Our men's options aren't quite as... bounteous as the women's and children's options, to say the least, but I hope that you'll still be able to find something that works.”
“Thank you very much! We'll let you know if there's anything else we need,” Gai said, waving him off as Kakashi went flipping through the racks.
Kabuto hadn't been lying when he said there wasn't much, that was for sure. Kakashi wasn't a fan of black performance outfits, even if his usual wardrobe would cause most to think otherwise. Automatically, that crossed out a majority of the shirts, and just about all of the pants. Turning to Gai, he held his hand out.
“Let me hear the pairs song, I'll look around to see if there's anything I can find for that before worrying about my solo costume,” he said.
Gai pulled out his phone, plugging his earbuds in and handing one to Kakashi, who put it in his ear and moved closer. The song started with piano, a little bit different than the violins he usually picked out, and it was slower. When lyrics picked up, Kakashi raised his eyebrows. That certainly wasn't normal for Gai. It was smooth, however, and it was definitely something they could work with. He couldn't help the grin that tugged at his lips at a couple of the lines. This definitely was something that Gai picked out specifically for the lyrics, and how well they fit the two of them.
It took a while for the song to pick up, but Kakashi gasped slightly when it did. He wasn't sure if he had ever heard something like this as a skating song from Gai, but he loved it. It didn't pick up for very long, just long enough, and just bold enough to encourage some fancier footwork, and it faded off peacefully at the end, giving the final pose of the routine a lot of options.
“That's not half bad. I actually really like that,” he said, passing Gai the earbud back. “There's a lot that we could do with that.”
Gai laughed. “You've got ideas, don't you? That's your planning tone,” he said, slipping his phone and earbuds back into his coat pocket. “What do you think for outfits?”
Kakashi pressed his knuckle to his lips, playing back the song in his head as best as he could remember, trying to piece together something. “Cool colours. Light colours. Long sleeves? That doesn't matter, I don't think,” he said, counting off on his fingers.
“Long sleeves for you, short sleeves for me, maybe?” Gai suggested, turning his attention back to the racks.
“Invisible sleeves, not short. It'll give options to alter for gloves.”
“We may not get that here. We've gotta keep more open minded on this one, since our options are kind of limited.”
Kakashi hummed, glancing at something on one of the lower racks and crouching down to get a better look. Lifting the hanger off the rack, his eyes widened.
“Oh, that's perfect! You've got good luck at finding good outfits, rival!” Gai laughed, continuing to rifle through the rest of the upper racks.
He certainly did, he thought, staring at the shirt in his hands. It was sheer and white, with silvery-blue streaks wrapping around lower on the sleeves, and around the waist. In those silvery-blue streaks, however, was a faint dusting of golden glitter that was a part of the fabric. As he shifted it, occasionally there would be a glint, a flash, of the golden glitter as it caught the light.
“Golden flash...” he muttered to himself, turning the garment over. A bittersweet smile found its way to his face as he remembered his own coach. This would be perfect. He checked at the price tag. More than perfect, actually.
“Look here!” Gai said, and Kakashi turned to see him holding up a light green shirt, sparkling leaves decorating the lower hem. The glitter was thick near the bottom, the shirt fabric slightly darker as well, but it faded as it went up, into a pastel green with smaller leaves at the shoulders. The sleeves were the same pastel green, and they were longer, unfortunately, but it was definitely something they could work with.
“I think we've both nailed it with these ones,” Kakashi laughed, “Is it in your size?”
“Yep! I already checked. Now we just have to find something for solos...”
Finding outfits for solo performances turned out to be a futile effort. Anything else that either of them liked was either in the wrong size, or in the wrong cut. With a sigh, they resigned themselves to using previous outfits for their solo outfits, bringing their new shirts up to the front cash.
Kabuto rang them up, asking only once if they wanted to buy a pair of tights to go with either shirt, being turned down by both. Kakashi hated the tights they had. Cheap material and worse patterns. Gai simply stated that he was worried about his thighs tearing them, much to Kabuto's amusement.
On their way out, Kakashi looked into his bag, seeing the golden glitter shine slightly in the evening sun that filtered through the bag.
“You really did find something incredible, there,” Gai said, looking over his shoulder. “It reminds you of Minato, doesn't it?”
Kakashi nodded, closing the bag. “I wonder what he'd think about me now. I've grown a lot as a skater since he passed.”
Gai put his arm around Kakashi's shoulders, smiling at him gently. “I think he'd be proud of you. Just as I think that my father would be proud of me.”
“You sure have grown since then as well. I remember when you could barely land a waltz... now you've landed quads at some of the largest rinks in the world,” Kakashi said, leaning into the touch.
Gai nodded wordlessly, glancing down at the scarf that Kakashi still had covering his lower face. Tentatively, he reached up, fingers brushing the edge of it. Rolling his eyes, Kakashi pulled it down, his hand guiding Gai's, and leaned in, just barely brushing his lips against Gai's. Before Gai processed it, Kakashi's scarf was back over his face, and he was staring ahead at the snowy street before them.
It was nice, he thought as Gai pressed his lips against his cheek, the two of them laughing. A pairs routine... It had been a while since he'd done one. Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright this time.
He hoped so, at least. Only time would tell, however. So, in an act that he desperately prayed wasn't overstepping his boundaries, he looped his free arm around Gai's waist, and kept walking.
Forwards was the only way he could go, after all.