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Yujiro could say with confidence that he did not like it when things became unpredictable. He preferred following his scripts, doing the dances as intended, and he hated changing anything without talking it over with either his unit mate or his manager. And, of course, he always made sure to discuss any changes he wanted made with Aizou, since, you know…that was the appropriate thing to do! Yujiro knew how to work as a team.
Aizou, on the other hand? He did things completely and utterly at random. He did things that were unpredictable and it always threw Yujiro under the bus while trying to catch up to him. For example, when Yujiro had been feeling down before one of their concerts, while they sang their opening song of Yume Fanfare, Aizou stopped dancing to turn to him and gesture to him during the first chorus. Yujiro had been so stunned that he’d stopped too, unable to tear his eyes off of him while they sang their song. Of course, Yujiro had wanted to do it to Aizou too, as thanks, but still! Aizou had done it first, and Yujiro had been left scrambling.
Another instance was when they got their first job doing a musical play. It had been going terribly at first, with Yujiro being unable to get along with their director, and Aizou…god, Aizou had never acted before- not for a professional play where the audiences would need to sit through a few hours of their acting. It wasn’t fair to expect him to be a pro when he’d never done it before. At the time, Yujiro had been fully prepared to take on the role of mentor to Aizou, even if he wasn’t going to actually help him act.
And then? One day during the rehearsals, quite literally out of nowhere, Aizou and one of the actresses, Kurashita Aoi, went off script. On a scene with him in it!
He had absolutely no idea when to take his cue to continue the scene since they went so off script. They had basically added an entirely new scene! Was Yujiro supposed to just stand there like an utter dunce and let them talk? He felt completely out of the loop and couldn’t stop himself from pouting back then. If it had ended badly with the director, Yujiro definitely would have scolded Aizou…but in doing his ad lib, everything with the director and the play smoothed over, and Yujiro had to admit that he had been impressed. He always knew Aizou would surprise him…even if sometimes it exasperated him to hell and back.
There were so many more instances of Aizou going off script and shocking him. And if it looked like it was going to end badly, or if their audiences were growing more and more confused, then it was up to Yujiro to recover quickly and cover for him. As much as it always baffled and shocked Yujiro whenever Aizou did something unpredictable, he prided himself in being able to recover quickly and act as if he was in on it all along.
The thing about it was that those instances usually didn’t involve Yujiro, or it involved him lightly, and didn’t interfere too much with his performance, like Yume Fanfare. But he’d never ad libbed something- done something so unpredictable, that Yujiro’s mind became a blank mess.
It was during one of their concerts, after the release of their second major album. The two had begun to sing and dance to Meoto, which, in Yujiro’s opinion, was probably one of his favorite songs they’d ever sung.
The choreography was already intense and different from their usual dances, as when they sang the first “my heart belongs to you” before the first verse, Aizou was required to lower Yujiro into a dip. It matched the lyrics and the theme of the song, yes, and he could hear the gasps and cheers of fans. But he could also feel the judgemental gazes of fans who didn’t like that sort of thing.
The song continued, and the two would hold a hand out to form a distant heart together as well.
At the end of the first chorus is when things got…tricky.
“My heart belongs to you…” Yujiro sang as Aizou lowered him into a dip for the second time. However, once Aizou pulled him up and twirled him out, instead of continuing with their brief dance together before the start of the second chorus, Aizou grabbed Yujiro’s shoulders and brought him in close and-
Eh? Ehh??
Aizou was much closer than he was supposed to be. His eyes were on him, too. And…and…
Aizou’s lips were on his.
Yujiro’s eyes widened, and for a moment, it felt like time had come to a standstill. As if the stage, the lights, the crowd- just everything in the world around him went dead silent. Like the two were the only people left in this big white void. Like nothing else in the world mattered. It was just him and Aizou.
As soon as it had started, it was over, and Aizou was spinning out to go behind him and start the second verse. “Are you cold? Please don’t get sick, put this haori on…” He sang, lowering his hands on either side of Yujiro’s shoulders, as if to put a haori on Yujiro’s shoulders to protect him from the cold. Yujiro turned his head slightly to look at his hands, his mind still struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
Sure, he and Aizou have kissed before- on their necks, their wrists, their cheeks, Yujiro once kissed Aizou’s abdomen while Aizou kissed Yujiro’s shoulder…and they even kissed the corner of each others lips for their Julietta single several months back. But this? This was a full on lip to lip kiss. The same kind of quickly stolen kiss a prince would give the beautiful princess in a fairytale.
And just as magical.
No, what was Yujiro thinking? It couldn’t be “magical”. It was Aizou, for god's sake! They kissed for work, and nothing more! But then…why did Aizou kiss him on the lips on stage..? He knew that Aizou hated fanservice that teased two guys together, preferring that the guys were just together instead of making girls scream and fantasize about something that was borderline creepy.
Thankfully, Yujiro was still able to continue with the song like normal and continue doing the dance, his eyes flickering to Aizou occasionally whenever he could to try to gauge how Aizou could possibly be feeling right now. To try to see what he was thinking after blatantly kissing Yujiro on stage. Was he proud? Embarrassed? Regretful? Was he thinking this would boost their popularity? Get them trending?
He didn’t know. He wasn’t even sure if he’d want to know.
Aizou had taken his first actual kiss, after all. And Yujiro wasn’t even mad about it.
In fact, all he really felt was shock, confusion and worry. About what this meant for LIPxLIP, and for them. Would he feel sick to his stomach if it was just for the fans after all?
His mind was plagued with worries, but Yujiro was a skilled liar, and was able to keep all of his worries shoved deep down and continue to sing as if it were his last stage.
“My heart belongs to you…” Yujiro sang in the final chorus of the song before the climax of the final bit. As he did, Aizou lowered him into a dip for the third and last time. Only this time, as scripted because Yujiro wasn’t a heathen like Aizou was, excuse you, Yujiro lifted his hand up to rest on Aizou’s cheek. It was supposed to show that the married couple had truly grown to love and care for each other. When practicing the choreography of the song at first, Yujiro truly thought nothing of it…but now? After Aizou kissed him like that? It felt strangely intimate, even for them. He saw Aizou’s gaze soften slightly before he pulled him back up and the two continued dancing.
“We won’t be apart now and for all eternity, we’d be drawn to each other even in our next life. Each of our love returned, a husband and wife supporting each other through thick and thin…” The two of them sang as they danced quickly.
“I hurry to return back to you,” Aizou turned to him as he sang.
“My heart…” Yujiro turned to him too, his blue eyes snapping up to Aizou’s face as Aizou began quickly walking closer to him in strides.
“Belongs to you…” Aizou finished the song, lifting a fingerless gloved hand to caress Yujiro’s cheek.
It was at that moment that Yujiro finally understood.
Yes, the act of kissing him had likely been an unplanned impulse. But there was absolutely no regret on Aizou’s face. Only soft fondness. His brown gaze was so gentle as he stared at Yujiro’s face that it made Yujiro’s own heart skip at least a couple beats. The truth of the kiss all but slapped him in the face at that moment.
Aizou…does he like me?
It made sense. Of course, that didn’t mean that Yujiro understood why Aizou liked him, but still…it made him happy nonetheless. They would definitely need to have a lengthy discussion after their concert was over. He couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his face, his cheeks turning bright red.
The sweet moment was soon ruined, though, when the two failed to step back to get into position for their next song, which, in Yujiro’s opinion, was such a shift in atmosphere that he almost missed his cue.
Jeez…who came up with the setlist? To have Rodeo play right after Meoto is jarring…
In either case, Yujiro and Aizou both performed well, with a strange new feeling of closeness in their hearts.