The Universe Listened | Kiribaku

Shadows settled on the place that you left

Pulling his tired body up from the cold stage, he gave a bow, a nod towards the judges who weren't even paying attention to him for they were writing things down on their clipboards, and walked behind the curtain to where his father, who was smiling like a dumbass, waited.

A shoulder collided with his. A well-built shoulder clothed in a white long-sleeved shirt belonging to a redhead, a familiar face that didn't fit with the hair. Katsuki searched his brain for several long minutes until he saw a dog, a husky with two different coloured eyes and a harness secured tightly to its lean body. It didn't take long for the pieces to click inside his head, for him to remember those eyes....

...but he could have sworn his hair was a different colour.

As a memory from several years prior flooded his mind and clouded his vision, he stood there long after the tingling sensation left his shoulder. Upon turning around, mouth open to yell at the shithead who just ran into him, he saw that he was already on stage ready to begin his performance.

He wasn't going to watch.

He wasn't going to watch.

He didn't want to watch...

...so why did he end up watching?

From where Katsuki stood, off to the side tucked behind a curtain away from the eyes of the audience, the redhead didn't even seem to be trying his hardest to win. It seemed... sloppy but that sloppiness looked as if it was intentional. Yet it was flawless in a way that angered Katsuki beyond belief.

Everyone who was there to put themselves out there was trying so hard to be perfect, even he tried to be perfect when performing. But then that kid, with the stupid hair that created this feeling inside of Katsuki that he couldn't quite place, danced without any care of being watched or fear of being messing up.

It was envy. Katsuki was feeling envy. He wanted to be able to show others his feelings, to tell a story without trying hard to not mess up. That feeling of envy infuriated him.

Just as the final words of the song playing loudly, Now, that should be celebrated, the blond stormed out of the room and slammed the door just as his father went to call for his son to come back. He knew he had lost, again, and he hated losing, so much. Perfecting every dance, every move felt like a waste if he wasn't going to succeed.

He found himself in the waiting room, light flooding in from the glass covered walls. Chairs lined the walls and by the door he had just come out of was a bulletin board where the results of the dance would later be placed. Katsuki leaned his head on the closest window and stared out at the frost covered world. The cold outside began to seep through the glass, a burning sensation erupting from the section of his forehead that was pressed against the frosty window.

Slowly his eyes fell shut and he thought back to his dance, trying to pinpoint any sort of mistake that might have docked him even half a point. He was perfect, the dance was perfect. There was doubt, though, deep down he doubted himself because there was just something about the way that kid danced that told Katsuki he wasn't going to privale above him no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears he poured into each spin, twist, and arch.

"Son?" the voice of his father echoed through the rather empty room and yanked him from his thoughts. "What're you doing out here?"

"Fresh air."

"It isn't that fresh in here, outside is your best bet." A sigh. The weight of his hand resting on Katsuki's shoulder finally made him open his eyes. "You did fantastic."

"Screw off old man."

All the older man did was emit a small chuckle. He was used to his son's rude, and rather vulgar, language. His mother was the same, feisty, loud, headstrong. He could tell his son was angry, worried even that his first place spot might be taken but he would support him no matter what, even if he disapproved of his son's arrogant attitude.