#kiitomare

like. their ways, ideas, and habits clash and make them struggle insanely. kiito shows mad ambitions out of the blue, and it evokes the firm "i won't lose to him" on mare's part. though he never imposes more demands on rhodonite than before, never asks for their help or support working his way to his dream single-handedly, mare still feels lagging. he can obviously see minorikawa change and grow, thus he's suffering trying to keep up with him (this is not something he signed up for /j) and constantly fuming since he can't stand the mere thought of minorikawa shining on stage brighter than him ???? like. WHAT THE HECK !!!! i'm the star of the show here cOME ON !!!! also, wait, what is this?.. something's odd... like... like he feels inspired and almost awestruck ???? in a weird way that he certainly M U S T deny like his life depends on it... he practically does a complete one-eighty on kiito, and it's fucking SCARY, i'll tell you that

funsies aside, the potential is right there. they learn to respect, pay heed, and understand each other in a special way that's always gone past them. it's not that they've been absolute pricks towards each other all this time, no. they just saw each other as so different that they never really bothered to deal with it and, worse yet, work harder to change it in any way, fully aware that the two of them aren't really the type to dwell around each other longer than needed

joke's on them. halfway through the year, mare acts like kiito's dream is his own and might come off as even more determined than him. at times, when there's no hope left and the goal seems totally out of his reach, mare just gives kiito a nudge. he gives him a stroke on the head and a hug because YES !!! he wants this loser to be rewarded for all the load of work he's done for everyone in rhodonite and his dream !!! and woah... turns out there's this side to mare, mindful, candid, and genuinely kind that kiito never had the chance to see for himself and, coincidentally, is extremely weak to

do i need to mention how they both crash out in the funniest way as they realize they might be crushing on each other? i'm also giggling at the thought of kiito asking tsukasa for all kinds of advice and the latter making fun of him in a light-hearted way, cheering him on, and rooting for them to figure out complicated feelings and all the misunderstanding brewing between them