Work Text:
Hot.
It was too hot.
Kensuke was almost–no he was really jealous that even though SOARA sweated as much as GROWTH did carrying and playing their instruments onstage, their new costumes looked a lot lighter at least.
Growth’s new costumes looked really dashing in person compared to the initial flat 2D design sketches, and the unique fabric cuts with an added underlayer glittering fabric still gave a beautiful style when they twirled.
But they were heavier to wear, and being covered from neck to toe with the heavy fabric made them sweat a lot faster. There were a few times where Kensuke had to be careful not to slip during the fast moving choreography because of the sweat that dripped on the stage.
Being handsome princes came with a heavy price…literally.
Kensuke had no complaints about his costume as long as it didn’t hinder his acrobatic moves–although he did wish internally that he could have had his neck area or waist expose more skin. He couldn’t complain out loud though, since the other three members of Growth were in the same boat as him getting used to their new costumes.
“I don’t know how Kou manages with that long cape, it looks super heavy and hard to move in…” Kensuke talked out loud to himself as he was cooling off with a portable fan, loosening his neck collar to cool off during a break. “Ah, I guess he did have a long cape before when we wore the 2019 stage costumes.”
As he listened to the music from the backstage hallway to keep track of the time, Kensuke was glad that although they were only doing half medleys of their duet songs, Apostasy was still long enough to buy him a well deserved cool down break. He felt a little sorry for Ryota to have to jump straight into Apostasy right after Promessa. Kensuke remembered that Ryota complained the swords they use for Apostasy are heavier than Promessa’s swords, so he has to quickly adjust to the weight during the transition.
Kensuke wasn’t alone for too long before he was discovered by his partner for the next duet.
“Ah! Ken-kun! There you are!” Mamoru found him, running up like a happy dog. Mamoru was lucky to have a break for two songs, so he wasn’t sweating as much as Kensuke. “Great job during Promessa! Onii-san is really impressed how you and Ryo-kun look so cool dancing with swords!”
“Haha…thanks, Mamoru,” Kensuke appreciated the compliment, but he was still dying of stamina inside. “We should have you dance with a sword sometime!”
“It looks like a lot of fun! But I wonder if I can dance properly with a sword in one hand?” Mamoru wondered as he took a seat next to Kensuke.
“I’ll teach you the tricks on how not to drop it first,” Kensuke said. He recalled past times during rehearsals when Mamoru had a sword for the main story part of the stage, he accidentally kept dropping it because he couldn’t get a good grip on the handle.
“Oh! Ken-kun is a great teacher! I’ll be in your care!” Mamoru clapped.
Kensuke laughed. Staring at Mamoru, Kensuke did have to admit the short cape style that went front to back around Mamoru’s shoulders looked really cute. Mamoru’s hair was also cut shorter and styled differently with his bangs parted in the center compared to being parted to the side before when he had long bangs.
Adorable.
Kensuke would’ve loved to kiss the back of Mamoru’s neck, but he didn’t want to make Mamoru feel surprised or throw off his focus before their duet song, so he’d have to wait till later.
“Ken-kun? Is something wrong?” Mamoru noticed Kensuke hadn’t said anything.
“Ah–nothing! Let’s both do our best for Namonaki, yeah?” Kensuke held up his fist.
“Mm~!” Mamoru nodded and bumped fists with Kensuke.
A staff member came running to call them. “Fujimura-san! Yaegashi-san! Please go on standby at the hallway side entrances!”
“Yes!”
Kensuke got up and started to head to his standby spot, but for a moment he was confused why Mamoru was following him.
“Mamoru? We enter on opposite sides, remember?” Kensuke reminded Mamoru.
Mamoru stared blankly at Kensuke and gasped. “That’s right! I forgot!” Mamoru quickly ran in the opposite direction, asking a nearby staff member which way to go.
Kensuke chuckled and hoped Mamoru wouldn’t get lost on the way.
~
“A path of sharing the pain~!”
“A path of sharing the pain~!”
“Life had now begun~!”
Kensuke and Mamoru turned to face each other. The final part of the duet was to press their hands flat against each other and lift them up in the air as they danced around each other in a slow circular motion.
But the moment Kensuke placed his palm against Mamoru’s, his hand slipped.
Needing to make a quick recovery so Kensuke’s mess up wouldn’t throw Mamoru off the rhythm, Kensuke switched up the position of his hand so his fingers were gripping around Mamoru’s hand. Luckily Mamoru didn’t react to the change and they both sang the final notes together before Kensuke could let go and finish the pose kneeling down in front of Mamoru.
The audience applauded with excitement before the lighting and song changed for ZIX’s entrance. Kensuke didn’t have time to think about his mess up as he and Mamoru transitioned off stage, jumping in the air to match ZIX’s rhythm and energy.
The moment Kensuke made it backstage, he wanted to smack himself in the head.
“Ahhh, I’m an idiot!” Kensuke told himself, hiding his embarrassed face. He didn’t think his sweating palms would mess him up since all the previous performances had run smoothly. Kensuke hoped he didn’t grip Mamoru’s hand too tightly.
Kensuke looked at his hand that held Mamoru’s hand and could still feel the warmth radiate from his skin.
~
“Ken-kun?”
“Oh, Mamoru! Great work today! Ready to head home?” Kensuke said as he finished changing back into his normal clothes.
“Um–yes! But there’s something I wanted to ask you first…” Mamoru looked nervous as he played with his hands.
“Yeah?” Kensuke had a hunch about what was on Mamoru’s mind, but he waited for Mamoru to continue.
“When we were finishing our Namonaki duet and you–you suddenly grabbed my hand tightly…”
“Oh! Sorry if I gripped it too tight!” Kensuke apologized.
“No, no! It didn’t hurt! But–Ken-kun, did you change up the hand choreography on purpose?”
Kensuke blinked and stared at Mamoru, whose cheeks were turning redder by the minute.
Mamoru didn’t think Kensuke slipped up, but rather it was the opposite.
Well, Kensuke certainly didn’t want to shatter his princely image now.
Kensuke smiled. “Haha, yup! I wanted to hold your hand properly for our last performance of our duet!” It wasn’t technically a lie.
“O-Oh…” Mamoru looked really cute getting embarrassed over small things.
“Was it bad?” Kensuke asked.
“N-No! But it made my heart pound like DOKI DOKI! It took all of my willpower not to make a weird face during the song!” Mamoru answered. “The staff-san were really worried about me when I melted backstage like a puddle!”
“Aw, I wish I could have seen that,” Kensuke said honestly.
“Ken-kun!”
Kensuke laughed. “Sorry! Anyway, let’s hurry home! I can’t wait to take a bath to wash off all the sweat! Let’s take a bath together, Mamoru!”
“Ahh, yes a nice relaxing bath sounds nice–huh, together? Wait, Ken-kun!” Mamoru quickly grabbed his bag and hurried to follow Kensuke.