Chapter Text
Cirque du Soleil is magic. Not just magical or stunning, Cirque du Soleil is actual magic and Hinata had fallen under its spell when he was in junior high. He’d seen the posters and the big top and begged his parents to take him; he saved up his allowance for weeks to help pay for the tickets and when they went, Hinata was captivated. Spellbound and enraptured, he knew he was going to become an aerialist—just like the Little Giant of the Big Top.
But it wasn’t easy. Hinata spent hours upon hours trying to teach himself, and he was relatively successful, but he never received any formal training. His technique was abysmal and the only help he got was when he joined the high school gymnastic club—a school which he had to cross a literal mountain every day to reach. He learned a few proper forms on rings and even placed pretty well in the tournaments the team qualified for, but everyone just laughed at him when he said he wanted to be a professional acrobat. Oddly enough though, the teasing and mocking never once bothered him. If anything, it was just fuel on the fire of his determination, so when he graduated high school and was faced with a choice, he didn’t hesitate.
The first troupe he got to perform in was a traveling circus that had stopped in Japan, and when they returned to their home country of Brazil, Hinata went with them. His parents and sister saw the passion he had and wished him well, but there were dark, lonely nights that Hinata would remember the disappointed look in his father’s eyes when he waved goodbye at the airport.
But the glory of performing always outshone that gloomy memory. The bliss of freedom Hinata felt when he was soaring through the air, held back only by the silks wrapped around him, was something he would never give up for anything. For five years, Hinata traveled all around Central and South America, performing in every troupe that would have him. He picked up Portuguese, Spanish, and eventually English, although that one had been a real pain in the ass. By the age of twenty-two, he’d built a bit of a reputation—most people liked to call him the “Little Shrimp” because of his height, but he refused to acknowledge that nickname, he wasn’t that short! He’d gained twenty centimeters since high school! He was just shy of 5’ 8” and, although he would never ever admit it out loud, his smaller stature made it easier to maneuver in the air, especially the few times he’d worked with a partner.
Physically, he was in the best shape he’d ever been—intense Olympic-level workouts for almost a decade will give a person one hell of a toned body—so when Natsu called him late one night (she could never remember the time differences) and told him that Cirque du Soleil was hosting a once-in-a-lifetime audition in Tokyo, he packed his bags and rushed back home faster than a crow taking flight.
On the morning of the audition, he packed his gear and took the bullet train to Tokyo. He got distracted by the Skytree and lost in Shibuya crossing, so by the time he finally reached the audition center, he was so nervous he felt like vomiting. His stage fright had never been as bad as when he walked into the auditorium Cirque was using to host their auditions. All the experience and composure he’d built up over the years left him entirely when he checked in with reception and was given his timeslot. He nervously bowed too deeply and stumbled over his words so much that the pretty girl at the desk asked him if Japanese was his second language. He groaned as he stretched out and checked his rigging for the billionth time.
He’d always had to take care of his own gear for acts, so a lot of his performances were static—he had only been in one troupe that had enough personnel to control his silks for him, so he was pretty comfortable doing all his own maintenance, and all of his routines were choreographed for fixed silks. His eyes darted around the area filled with everything from clowns to tumblers and even other acrobats, each one flashier than the last. The simple black costume he had saved up to have made for him seemed so plain compared to everyone else’s and his nerves skyrocketed again.
This was Cirque du Soleil—the number one traveling circus in the world! The only circus to have become famous enough to be considered a household name! Hinata was running to the bathroom before he’d even processed the realization that he would soon be partaking in the single most important audition of his life. He’d always had a weak stomach and was prone to pre-performance stage fright, but it had never been quite this bad. He didn’t know if he wanted to vomit or cry—maybe a bit of both as he rapidly searched around for the bathroom.
He was so consumed with his own nerves that he didn’t notice that he’d wandered into a secluded part of the auditorium until he heard the tell-tale swish of silks being twisted and pulled—he knew that sound better than he knew his own heartbeat. When he turned a corner and saw where the sound was coming from, his breath left his body and his heart stopped beating for a moment.
Weaving around a pair of exquisite black silks was the most stunning aerialist Hinata had ever seen. The man was even more toned than Hinata, and he was long and lithe—so very graceful. For once, Hinata didn’t focus on the technique of the aerialist before him; he didn’t think through the tricks the dark-haired man performed on a technical level—he simply watched and lost himself in the story the man was weaving with nothing but his body and two aerial silks.
Beautiful.
The thought spun around and around Hinata’s head as his eyes were glued to the aerialist. So, when the performer opened his mouth and started shouting, Hinata was snapped out of his stupor with such force that he flinched back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!? This is a closed practice!” His voice was low and deep, and as he shouted at Hinata whilst mid-split and upside-down, Hinata forgot how words worked.
“Well? Do you need me to repeat it in English?” He asked as he rapidly descended from the silks with a fluid ease that drew Hinata’s eyes to the man’s toned abs—he just had to be shirtless, didn’t he?
“No! I’m Japanese!” Hinata shouted back as he ripped his gaze away from the aerialists’ torso—it was absurd how defined the dips in the other man’s hips were; even Hinata’s weren’t that well defined!
“Really? Then why is your hair brighter than a tangerine?” The man raised a ridiculously perfect brow and crossed his arms, his dark eyes piercing into Hinata’s with a vengeance.
“I’m a natural red-head, thank you very much! And I was just looking for the bathroom—I didn’t know anyone was practicing in here!” As the other man approached him, Hinata realized just how incredibly tall he was—he dwarfed Hinata by a good twenty centimeters and was well over six-foot, but Hinata had never let his height bother him before and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it bother him now. Even if he was forced to tilt his head back as the jerk stared down at him.
“So? Why exactly are you interrupting my practice?” The way those dark eyes roamed over him lit a fire under Hinata’s skin and he felt his face reddening, but he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or…something else.
“I told you. I was just looking for the bathroom before my audition!”
“Oh right, they’re hosting that today…what’s your act?” Those dark eyes that Hinata couldn’t stop looking at narrowed with skepticism, and the fire that had been lit earlier exploded as Hinata lost his temper.
“I’m an aerialist, you jerk! And my name is Hinata Shouyou,” Hinata rolled his eyes and huffed, “your manners are absolutely horrendous.”
“You’re the one who interrupted my practice. If anyone lacks manners here, it’s you. What are you even doing here? Making memories? The audition process for Cirque is intensive, so why are you wasting your time bothering real aerialists?” Hinata had been wrong, this bastard wasn’t beautiful, he was awful!
“Real aerialist?! I am a real aerialist, you jerk! I’m not just here to ‘make memories’—I’m going to nail this audition and join Cirque du Soleil!”
The jerk narrowed his eyes and shook his head, “Don’t make it sound so easy.” He turned back to his silks and started tying up the fabric in a complicated knot Hinata hadn’t seen before. When he looked over his shoulder and raised a brow, Hinata tensed, “Well? Are you going to spend all day just staring at me or are you going to go get ready for your audition?” He snorted and turned back to his silks, “You’re not going to nail anything by ogling me.”
Hinata released a wordless scream and stomped out of the room, heading back to his gear. He didn’t even feel nervous anymore—he just wanted to prove that jerk wrong. He was still grumbling angrily as he made a few more adjustments to his rig, which is why he almost missed the conversation next to him.
“Oh man, did you hear? They said that aerialist will be sitting in on the auditions today.” Hinata’s ears perked when he heard “aerialist”, and although he knew it was rude, he started eavesdropping.
“Who are you talking about?”
“You know, the infamous Cirque aerialist—Kageyama Tobio. They call him the ‘Tyrant of the Big Top’ because he’s such a pain in the ass to work with. He’s the one who was in that acc—”
“Hinata Shouyou?” Hinata jumped and answered the man who called his name.
“Ah, I’m Ittetsu Takeda. It’s nice to finally meet you. We’re ready for your audition now,” the soft smile on the older man’s face made Hinata smile in return and he took another deep breath as he followed Takeda.
He made quick work of setting up his rigging onto the smaller stage and bowed politely to Takeda and the man sitting next to him who had introduced himself as Keishin Ukai.
“I’m Hinata and I’ll be performing an aerialist routine I choreographed myself.” He nodded at the sound technician and when the music started, he lost himself in the performance. It was a routine he had started choreographing when he’d first started out; over the years, as he learned new tricks and new techniques, he incorporated them into the act until it became a culmination of everything he had experienced.
As he spun and danced around the silks, his body flowed with the motions, moving as if it was his nature to fly. Each wrap, climb, and drop swirled into the next movement and he’d never felt so free. He stopped thinking about the audition or the nerves that had almost overtaken him and simply focused on the slide of silk, the rush of air, and the twist of his body as he wove the story of who he was—who he had started as and who he became. And maybe, just maybe, who he could become. Hinata knew this was one of the best performances he’d ever put on, and he couldn’t help but grin at the thought of that aerialist from before eating his words. He wanted to make those dark, dark blue eyes wide with astonishment.
Kageyama could not understand why Ukai had insisted that he sit in on the aerialist auditions today. He would much rather spend his time practicing, especially now that his injury had fully healed, which was why he snapped when he saw a head of bright orange hair interrupting his closed practice. Kageyama couldn’t get the remarkably small aerialist out of his head and he kept trying to figure out exactly where he’d heard the name Hinata Shouyou.
The mystery was solved when he slipped into the small auditorium being used for auditions and saw Hinata performing. As the tiny redhead twisted and turned in the air, Kageyama remembered exactly where he’d seen him before—in the gymnastic tournament he’d participated in during high school.
Watching the way Hinata moved around the silks and flew through the air, Kageyama remembered the thoughts he’d had about that same redhead all those years ago.
Overwhelming. Hinata Shouyou was even more overwhelming now than when he was in high school and Kageyama couldn’t take his eyes off him. High-level physical agility and reflexes, finely tuned bodily control, and a fierce determination that lit those bright amber eyes of his on fire. It was amazing and watching Hinata’s toned body twist around the silks was heating Kageyama up from the inside out. But, when the tiny aerialist made stupidly easy mistakes that illustrated his lack of traditional training, Kageyama couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he’d been doing all this time.
Hinata has it all, everything an aerialist needs to make it in this profession, so why the hell hasn’t he reached the same technical level as Kageyama? As Kageyama stared, he lost himself in the story the acrobat was weaving—the story of someone who had retained every shred of experience he’d been given and sewed it into the fabric of his skillset. For a brief moment, Kageyama wondered how much more amazing Hinata would be if he was just given the chance. The look on his face must have shown his thoughts because Takeda laughed softly and handed him a packet—it took Kageyama a second to pull his gaze away from Hinata and look down at the pieces of paper that he belatedly realized were Hinata’s profile and audition application.
Zero. Nil. None. Hinata Shouyou had absolutely no formal training; he’d performed in a remarkable number of troupes, but aside from his gymnastics club in high school, he’d never received any coaching. And yet Kageyama couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting back to the tiny aerialist.
Self-taught. If he had to name the performance, that’s what he’d name it. It was captivating, seeing the way Hinata emulated what he’d seen and imitated what he loved with all the fiery passion in his heart.
“Well, I think that’s that,” Takeda murmured and Ukai snorted out a laugh.
“Wait, what?” Kageyama still had his eyes on Hinata as the aerialist finished his routine, his toned chest panting slightly from the exertion. The simple black ensemble was skin-tight and under the stage lights, it gleamed like the soft reflection of jet-black wings under a bright sunny day.
A crow. A redheaded, fiery black crow was flying through the stage and when Hinata let himself fall into the last drop, Kageyama gasped. The free fall was reckless—unbridled and undisciplined, and yet completely and utterly mesmerizing because of it. When Hinata pulled on the silks and stopped his descent, he flowed to the ground and lay there for a moment, his bright amber eyes wide and his soft pink lips lifted into a brazen smirk.
The little dumbass was practically high from the endorphins and the look in those dilated eyes resonated within Kageyama’s heart—he knew that feeling, knew that sensation. It was the one he chased after every time he climbed those silks. The feeling of being enraptured.
Takeda and Ukai applauded and Kageyama was snapped out of his trance. Hinata jolted a little and jumped to his feet before bowing politely. When those big amber eyes stopped on Kageyama, they actually managed to widen even further and the lips that had been grinning before popped open into a surprised little circle. Kageyama turned away from that surprised gaze and busied himself by looking through Hinata’s profile—not that he understood all of it. Kageyama knew a lot of languages, but he had no freaking clue what was written on some of the pages—was that Spanish? The only thing Kageyama could read on the page was “Ninja Shouyou” and he really hoped that had been translated wrong…
“Thank you, Hinata. That was wonderful! This technically isn’t how the hiring process works, but the truth is that we were already considering how best to use you in the show we’re currently building. The audition was more of a formality—after Ukai and I watched your audition reels and saw how well you did on the strength tests we started thinking about a specific role for you.” Takeda was smiling at Hinata, who looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“You realize that we almost never do this, right? Most auditions end with the applicant being put into our database and then called back later for a casting call if they fit into a role for one of our shows.” Ukai said as he drummed his fingers quietly on the desk as he looked over Hinata and when he glanced at Kageyama, understanding dawned on him with such force that he almost swayed.
They didn’t…they couldn’t be thinking…
“Hinata, we’d like to formally offer you a probationary contract with Cirque du Soleil for our show ‘Spellbound’,” there were literal stars in Hinata’s bright eyes and Kageyama swore he saw tears forming, “under the condition that you partner with our lead aerialist Kageyama Tobio.” The stars fizzled out and the tears that had been forming morphed into heat so intense it was a wonder Hinata didn’t set anyone on fire with his eyes.
Shit.
“Wait, what?”
“Huh?” Their voices mixed together as they both stared at Takeda, who simply smiled in return as he adjusted his glasses.
Kageyama met Ukai’s gaze and knew with absolute certainty that he officially had no more say in this matter. The showrunner and writer just smiled at him as Kageyama groaned.
So much for getting back to how everything had been before his accident.
Hinata didn’t understand exactly what was happening. The roar of his heart was deafening, and the rush of adrenaline had left his mind a bit fogged.
Did he just get offered a contract with the Cirque du Soleil?
He swayed on his feet as Ukai and Takeda started talking about the specifics of the contract and Hinata knew he should have been paying very, very close attention, but his eyes kept returning to the dark blue ones that had taken his breath away while he’d been performing. He’d been so caught up with the routine that when he saw the aerialist from before, he thought he might have been hallucinating.
Hinata wondered if he was still hallucinating when he realized that the aerialist from before—the jerk who had made him so angry he forgot his nervousness—was the infamous Kageyama Tobio. The young aerialist who had made a reputation for himself.
Kageyama Tobio…his new partner…
Hinata almost laughed—or maybe that was hysteria setting in. There was no way. It wasn’t possible. There was no way he had finally made it one step closer to his dream just to be forced two steps back by his new partner, the “Tyrant of the Big Top”.