Author's note: This is an AU where Suzuran and Primp have been fused, and all the kids now go to the same school, and are in the same class. So, yes, I am completely ignoring the canon thing of there being different worlds; they're all together and they're all friends, now-
oOoOoOoOo
"Mister Maguro...!"
Maguro looked over at the person who had called out to him, messing up his kendama trick in the process. It was lunch time, and had been standing under a shady tree, doing tricks. Now, he usually expected people to come along and talk to him; he was a big catch, after all, but... usually, it was the girls who would come chasing after him, not the boys.
"Hey, Klug! " He greeted, hanging his kendama around his neck as he turned to the other. "What brings you here?"
Klug looked up at him with an annoyed glare. He was hugging his book close to his chest with one hand, and had a piece of paper in the other.
"Ms Accord is worried about your grades, Maguro." He spared no hesitation with his explanation, thrusting the piece of paper into Maguro's hand. "The history exam is coming up, and you scored 18 percent on your progress test!"
Maguro looked down at the paper. It had on his handwriting on it, and a bunch of red crosses, with a big red "18" on the back, and a little note in cursive handwriting saying that he "will require mentoring".
He frowned a bit, looking up from the paper and back over to Klug. "And... what's it to you what score I got?"
"Goodness, Maguro, I knew you weren't the brightest, but I thought you could at least read." Klug said condescendingly, adjusting his glasses. "Ms Accord said you require mentoring."
"...And you're going to mentor me?" Maguro asked, raising an eyebrow at the other.
"Good to see you have basic comprehension skills." Klug muttered, before answering, "Yes! Of course I am!"
...Maguro took a step closer to the shorter boy, slowly folding up the paper in his hands. "You're getting a reward for this, aren't you?"
"Obviously." Klug nodded. "Why else would I bother with you?"
Maguro huffed a bit, crossing his arms. "Well, you might be rewarded for this, but what do I get for it? What's my incentive?"
Klug stared at him incredulously. "Uh, passing the class, maybe?! You don't get a reward! This is your punishment for not studying like you're meant to! And you should be glad that you have been assigned a mentor rather than being left to do it all on your own!"
"...I'd rather fail the class than have to sit in a room with you telling me what to do." Maguro put a hand on his hip. "Unless... I get to have a bit of fun with it, that is~ "
Klug groaned a bit, putting his book up to his face as he muttered under his breath something that Maguro couldn't understand, before finally looking back up at him. "So, you want something in return for me teaching you? Fine. Fine! What is it?!"
Maguro smiled cheekily. "Well... you're going to be teaching me something I don't really want to learn, right? So... I'll be doing the same for you. I'll be teaching you how to dance~ "
...Klug stared at him with a look of disgust. "...How about, uh, no...?"
Maguro shrugged a bit. "Guess I'm not going to have a mentor, then."
Klug growled in frustration, turning on his heels and beginning to storm off. "Fine then! Fail the exam, see what I care!"
"I bet you care about pleasing Ms Accord... "
Klug stopped in his tracks, looking back at the other. "I-I'll just tell her you wouldn't cooperate and there was nothing I could do...!"
"But there is something you can do, Klug." Maguro responded, beginning to walk over to the other. "In fact, it's you who's not cooperating...! Learning to dance isn't that hard...~! "
"But it's pointless!" Klug insisted. "I don't have time for pointless activities!"
"It isn't pointless; it'll be helping me study." Maguro pointed out. "And besides... you could use the exercise~ "
Klug looked offended at that. "I-I do not!"
"Sure you do. I could beat you in a race any day. " Maguro teased, grinning.
"Y-you have longer legs than I do!" Klug argued.
"Alright then... I'll give you a ten meter head start to run to that tree over there." Maguro pointed out a tree close to the school. "If I win, you do the dancing lessons and I'll study with you as hard as I can, assuming you come to all the lessons. If you win... I'll still study with you as hard as I can, but you won't have to do any dancing lessons at all."
"...And if I don't partake in this ridiculous idea...?"
"You can forget about getting that reward. "
Klug paused, thinking a bit. The tree wasn't that far away, so the head start would likely give him the upper-hand he needed to win... but he wasn't exactly the fittest, and if he lost, he'd have to go through the torture of dance lessons... He could always take the chance and not go to the lessons if he lost, but... he really did want that reward...
"...Alright, fine." He gently placed his book down on the ground, along with his hat. "I'll try your stupid race..."
"Good!" Maguro smirked. "Alrighty, I'll move ten meters back, and then we can run on your signal. "
Maguro did as he said he would, moving back. Klug gulped a bit, doing a few stretches to prepare. He could do this...
Deep breaths...
"...When I say go. Three... Two... One... Go!"
And they both set off running to the tree. Klug was winning at first, running as fast as he could... but tiredness quickly took over him, and he started slowing down a bit, letting Maguro catch up...
"There! " Maguro had hit the tree first, and Klug came a few seconds behind him.
The shorter boy leaned against the tree, red-faced and panting heavily. That had hurt... He had gotten a stitch from that...
"I won~ " Maguro bragged, taking his kendama from around his neck and pointing it at Klug. "So now you've got to do dance lessons. I'll study with you one time before your first lesson, but if you don't show up, then I won't show up any time afterwards."
...Klug sunk to the ground, groaning a bit. Maybe this could work for him? Maybe... he could teach Maguro everything in one lesson...?
...Probably not...
oOoOoOoOo
Much to Klug's surprise, his first lesson with Maguro the next day went surprisingly smoothly. That didn't mean it was a perfect study lesson, but it definitely went a lot better than he had expected from a kid with an 18% on his progress test.
They were studying Puyo history, and after a bit of a hump of arguing whether or not Maguro was allowed to listen to music while they studied, they got to work.
It almost immediately became clear that Maguro's main problem was that he never actually did the assigned reading; he only knew what he was told in class. So their study lesson followed a pretty simple routine; Maguro would read a few passages while Klug did some reading of his own, and then when Maguro was finished, Klug would get him to summarise what he had just read, clearing up anything that might have been unclear. Towards the end of the session, Klug wrote up some questions, and got Maguro to answer them, allowing him to use the book as reference if needed. Amazingly Maguro got almost all of them right.
"Wow, we're really making progress!" Klug smiled, looking down at all the right answers on Maguro's page. "Now the next step from here is for you to reread all you've read once more overnight, or a few more times if you want, and then tomorrow I'll ask you some more questions, and you'll have to answer those ones from memory, got it? And hopefully by then, you'll be getting a hundred percent on this topic, and we can move onto the next part!"
"Got it!" Maguro nodded. "So... I'm guessing that means you'll be joining me for your dance lesson after school today...~? "
Klug paused, looking up at the other. He had almost completely forgotten about the lessons he was meant to do... "Uh... yeah. I guess I am..."
"Good." Maguro nodded. "Remember; meet me in the drama room, no need to bring anything."
"Right..." Klug bit his lip a bit, beginning to pack up his things. "...What are you going to be teaching me, anyway...?"
"You'll see~ " Maguro tapped his nose as he stood up, and before Klug could protest to not being told, he had left.
"...Geez..." Klug looked down at the last book that was on the table, sighing a bit as he moved his hand to gently touch one of the pages. "...Strange, do you think I should go...?"
Why not? After all, you said it yourself; you've made so much progress. It would be a shame to waste it. And nobody said you had to be good at it. You just have to keep showing up and giving minimal effort until you finish your mentoring.
"...I guess you're right." Klug rested his head on his other hand. "I just hope he doesn't end up making me look like an idiot..."
...Do me a favour and leave me open so I can watch, will you...~?
"In your dreams." And with that, Klug closed the book, picking up his stuff and heading out of the library.
It was all for the reward...
oOoOoOoOo
Much to Klug's relief, the drama room was empty when he entered, aside from of course Maguro, who was standing on the side of the room next to a record player.
"So," Maguro started immediately as Klug set his belongings down on the bench that was lining the wall, "I bet you've been wondering what kind of dance I'll be teaching you...~ "
"If it's hip-hop, I'm out of here." Klug responded, crossing his arms.
"Oh no, no no, it's much more classical than that." Maguro shook his head a bit, smiling.
"...Ballet?" Klug guessed
"Getting closer." Maguro nodded. "It's a dance for two people."
"...A...a waltz...?" Klug frowned a bit. He wasn't very keen on the idea of dancing so close to the other...
"A little bit faster." Maguro smirked a bit, turning on the record player. Somewhat jazzy music begun to play.
"I'm going to teach you to do a tango. " He finally revealed, looking triumphantly at the other.
...Klug looked like he was ready to leave there and then.
Maguro quickly turned the record player off, going towards the middle of the room. Best get the lesson started as quickly as possible, he decided. "Come over here, and I'll start teaching you a few very basic steps so you can get a feel for it... "
Klug glanced down at his book on the bench, as if considering if he should grab it... but then, with a resigned sigh, he went and stood in front of Maguro.
Maguro stepped closer to him, wrapping his right arm under Klug's left arm, and resting it on his waist. Klug stiffened a bit.
"Hey, hey, relax...~ " Maguro assured. "Put your left arm around me, over my arm, and just hold onto me, okay...?"
Klug hesitantly did as he was told, feeling rather awkward.
"Good! " Maguro praised, smiling. "Now, I'm going to put this hand up," He put his left arm up with his hand out, "And you're going to take your hand and hold onto the top of mine, alright?"
Klug did as he was told, though giving out a little squeak as Maguro suddenly pulled him slightly closer. He could really see their height difference when the other was this close...
"Very good. This is pretty-much a default position, okay? Whenever I tell you to get into position, assume that this is what I want you to do with me, got it...? "
Klug nodded a bit, feeling... a bit warm, for some reason.
"Cool...~" Maguro nodded back. "Now, throughout these lessons, keep in mind that I'm going to be your lead, okay? I'll teach you how to do a bunch of moves and stuff, but I'm not going to teach you a real routine. That's because the way tango works is not memorisation as such, but a feeling. You're going to learn how to tell when your lead wants you to do a certain move with them, and eventually it'll become natural, like two birds flying in perfect harmony...~ "
Klug frowned slightly. "That's an odd metaphor..."
"It'll make more sense once we get to that point." Maguro assured. "Now, to teach you your first basic step..."
Maguro spent a lot of time teaching Klug how to move around the dancefloor. It was a little difficult, with Klug accidentally stepping on Maguro's feet or not moving his own feet in time. Halfway through, Klug was certain that he would never get it right.
"You're not relaxed enough." Maguro told him. "You're so worried about how you're meant to move that you're not actually moving right."
"S-so, what- am I just not meant to focus at all?!" Klug asked, irritated.
"Calm down." Maguro sighed a bit. "Just... close your eyes."
"How will I be able to see your feet, then?"
"You're not meant to look at my feet. You're meant to feel how I'm leading you, not see how I'm stepping."
"T-that doesn't make any sense..." Klug frowned.
"Just trust me. Close your eyes, and let me lead..."
Though still frowning, Klug did as he was told, closing his eyes.
"One, two, three, four..."
Klug could feel Maguro moving, and almost instinctively stepped to move along with him. Then there was another step, and then another... So many steps, so much counting... But by the time Maguro told him to open his eyes, he realised that he hadn't stepped on the other's foot even once.
"Great~! " Maguro praised. "Now, let's try that again, but with your eyes open. Then we can move onto moving in time with the music."
Klug nodded a bit, and then on Maguro's count, they began to dance together. Step after step... Klug just kept staring into Maguro's eyes (as well as he could behind all that hair) as they moved in sync with each other, trying his best not to focus on his feet, but on the way Maguro's body felt as he lead him...
"...You know, you don't have to press your chest up against me like that while we dance." Maguro teased a bit as they came to a stop. "Not that I'm complaining...~ "
"S-shut up..." Klug felt himself go rather warm in the face, and he gently pulled away from Maguro, going to get a drink from the apple-print drink bottle that Ringo had given him. Maguro smiled, going to go get the record player ready.
"I think we have time to teach you how to step in time with the music, and then we'll be just about finished for today." He told Klug, fiddling with a knob of some sort. "You know, once you managed to relax, you actually showed to be quite good at this...~"
Klug rolled his eyes. "Of course. I'm a born natural at everything. I'm a genius...!"
...Still feeling rather warm, he unzipped his vest, taking it off and putting it to the side.
"Oooh, pulling out the big guns now, are we? " Maguro teased, music playing as they went back to the centre of the room.
"It's just warm in here." Klug insisted, adjusting his glasses and bow before getting back into position.
And so they danced. The shadows outside were long by the time they had finished, and Klug found himself feeling rather tired out as he slowly walked home.
...So, how was it...? Strange asked. Not as bad as you thought it would be, hm...?
"It's tolerable." Klug answered, absent-mindedly staring off at the horizon.
I personally would love to go again. The music was pretty great. Not perfect, but better than the other music I've heard recently.
Klug rolled his eyes a bit. "It's not my fault you don't appreciate my kind of music. Nebula Step is a pretty good song; you've admitted that yourself, so I don't see why you can't just deal with the rest of my music."
Personal preference is a picky thing. If Strange had arms, he would have shrugged. But alas, he was just a book. But I'll admit, it's really growing on me.
"Well, that's good at least..."
When they got home, Klug collapsed onto his bed. He had reading he wanted to do, but right now, he was feeling too tired... Maybe he could just... close his eyes for a little bit...
...But a little bit turned into a lot as he drifted off to sleep...
oOoOoOoOo
Their lessons went on for a long time. Almost every day, they would meet up and have their lessons together.
In Klug's lessons, Maguro learned a lot of things, and soon enough, Maguro was going off on his own and doing chapters before they even started covering them, managing to get things 100% right without Klug needing to help much. Of course, there were a few things that Maguro had trouble wrapping his head around, but when that happened, Klug was always there, and they worked things through with minimal problems.
In Maguro's lessons, things started off slow and simple, but soon enough started to get a little more complicated, with spins and boleos, and as it got more complicated, it also got more intimate, especially with things like leg wraps and dips. However, Klug found himself rather enjoying the lessons, to the point where he would sometimes arrive in the drama room before Maguro even got there.
A week before the exam was set to happen, Maguro and Klug made a deal. If Maguro got over 90% on his test, then he and Klug would show off their dance moves to the rest of their friends. Klug agreed that it was worth it to see just how far Maguro had come.
Test day came around, and the atmosphere was tense. The classroom was completely silent aside from the scribbling of pencil on paper and the occasional sigh.
Klug kept glancing over at Maguro, silently hoping that the other was doing well... even if that meant he ended up having to dance in front of everybody. It would be all worth it, after all.
When the results finally came around, they were all hesitant. All of Maguro's friends had heard of his 18% after all, and they all wanted to see if he had done better this time.
Of course, Klug had gotten a 100% on his test (studying with Maguro had helped him too, though he might've not realised it). Raffina had gotten a 93%, Amitie had gotten a 77%, Ringo had gotten an 89%, Sig had gotten a 62% and Arle had gotten an 81%...
They all crowded around Maguro, holding their breath as he looked down at his paper. Maguro was silent, wearing a poker face.
Eventually, he quietly spoke. "I... can't believe it. After all this work..."
...The others swapped looks.
"...Maguro..." Amitie started... but she was cut short when he slowly smiled at them, showing them his piece of paper.
"Exactly 90 percent. "
The cheering that he got from his friends was deafening. Screaming and squealing, all of them smothering him with excited hugs, jumping up and down. They were ecstatic.
"Maguro, you've improved so much~!" Ringo praised. "You've improved by 72% and that's...! That's amazing~!"
"Why, thank you~ " Maguro grinned, playfully ruffling her hair. "I know I'm amazing~"
Klug cleared his throat a bit.
"...Buuut I wouldn't have been able to do it without Klug. " Maguro finished, smiling at the other.
Klug blushed a bit, smiling back. "Well... I can say the same for you about our little show this afternoon."
"Show?" Amitie questioned, tilting her head a bit. "What show...?"
"You'll see~ " Though it couldn't be seen under his hair, Maguro winked at her. "All of you, meet us in the drama room after school, okay? We've got something to share with you..."
Everybody was very curious about what it was, but neither Klug or Maguro would say. Eventually, everybody had packed up their things, and were heading back to class.
However, Raffina and Amitie hung back...
"...Amitie, I'll bet you a chocolate bar that they're going to tell us they're dating."
"Well, I was hoping that they were going to put on a play for us, sooo... you're on~!"
oOoOoOoOo
Klug and Maguro had arrived in the drama room before everybody else, setting things up. Maguro fiddled with the record player, while Klug set his book up on the bench so that Strange would be able to watch them dance for once.
Eventually, the others came in, seating themselves, and Maguro took it upon himself to announce what was going on.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, what you may not know is that over the past few weeks, Klug has not only been teaching me," He smirked at them, "But I have also been teaching him. Teaching him what, you may ask? Well..."
He did a dramatic point in Klug's direction. Klug didn't really catch it at first, but when he did... "-Oh, you want me to?- Okay, okay. Maguro has been teaching me to dance."
"Less dramatic than I would have liked, but that's okay...~" Maguro shrugged.
Amitie gasped just as dramatically as Maguro would have liked. "You're going to show us a dance routine?!"
"N-not really a routine, but... yeah, we're going to dance for you." Klug nodded.
Amitie turned to Raffina with a triumphant smile. "Looks like you've got to pay up~!"
"You said a play, not a dance. Neither of us won the bet, Amitie."
"-Awww..." Disappointed Amitie noises...
"...What kind of dancing are you doing anyway...?" Raffina questioned, putting her focus back on Klug and Maguro.
"The tango~ " Maguro smiled. "And Klug's pretty good at it~ "
"Oh, is he now...?" Raffina smirked a bit, standing up. "Because it just so happens that I know how to tango as well...! You wouldn't mind having me as your partner, would you, Klug...~?"
"U-uh..." Klug looked over at Maguro... who was giving him an encouraging smile. "...I guess not..."
"Good." And Raffina went up to the middle of the room. "Music please, mister Maguro~"
Maguro went to the record player, and Klug and Raffina took their positions. The music came on, and they started to dance... but...
"-O-ow! Watch where you're stepping!"
"You're not doing it right...!"
Maguro watched them, confused. He was certain that he had taught Klug well, so... maybe Raffina just wasn't very good...?
...Or...
"Raffina, you're not leading right!"
"Wha- Me, leading?!"
"Yeah; you're taller...!"
"Klug, you're the boy; you're meant to lead!"
...Oh.
Maguro quickly stopped the music. "Okay, okay, hold on...!"
He went over to the pair as they split up. They were both glaring at each other.
"This is my fault." Maguro explained, putting his hands on both of their shoulders. "Uh, Klug, I kinda... forgot to teach you the lead part. Raffina's technically right; you're meant to be leading..."
Klug looked up at him, looking taken aback. "S-so you mean... I've been dancing the girl part this entire time...?!"
"Hey, hey now, if two boys are dancing together, it's not the 'girl' part... " He gave the other a small smile. "All it means is you can only dance with somebody who knows how to lead. Like me, for example. "
Raffina went to sit back down, hiding a smile behind her hand, and trying not to laugh. This was actually pretty funny to her...
Klug crossed his arms, frowning at Maguro. Maguro kept his nervous smile, heading back over to the record player and resetting it. "Now, now, Klug, don't look at me like that. You're a great partner, you know. Come on; we can show these guys how good you really are... "
Klug kept glaring at him for a second... before his gaze finally softened, and he looked down, sighing. "...Fine..."
The music started up again, and Maguro went and took his place with Klug. They started off a little bit slow, but eventually, they got into the swing of things, moving in time with the music, barely even noticing that the others were there.
They were moving almost on instinct... it was difficult, but at the same time, so very easy. It was so tiring, but so invigorating, and Klug didn't even realise it was over until he heard the loud applause from his friends.
Maguro let Klug up from their dip, and Klug almost immediately wrapped his arms around Maguro, resting his head against the other's chest as he closed his eyes, panting a bit. It was so exhausting to dance like that...
"You did so well!" Arle praised. "I wish I could dance like that...!"
"Are you sure~?" Maguro joked, gently stroking Klug's hair. "Because if this little cutie can show you anything, it's that dancing like this is really tiring... isn't it, Klug...~? "
Klug's face went a dark red, his fingers gently curling around the fabric of the other's shirt. "S...shut up..." He was too tired to really fight back, though, so he just stayed there, waiting until he had gotten his breath back.
...Raffina leaned over to Amitie and whispered to her, "You wanna make another bet?"
"What kind?"
"These two are going to tell us they're dating before the end of term."
"A whole block of chocolate?"
"You're on."