Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own them, no matter how many times I write to Santa Claus. Or wish upon a star. Or, I dunno.
Author's Note: This is a special fic. It was inspired by my own school's Sadie Hawkins dance. Yes, the theme really was "Pretty in Pink." Many events in this story actually happened, but with my classmates and such. So, yeah. R+R, please! And enjoy.
Ryoma was staring at himself in the mirror, wondering why he was wearing a pink tie.
It was going to be a long night.
Sakuno had timidly but graciously asked him to go to the Sadie Hawkins with her. At the time, which was two weeks ago, Ryoma had said yes. He'd figured that it would be rude to say no, and there could be no harm in going. That was long before the night of the actual dance. Since then, he'd had his doubts. Tonight came the worst of these doubts.
For about the millionth time, he straightened his pink tie. No matter how he arranged it, it never looked right. It was pink. That just wasn't right.
Sakuno had begged him to wear it for her. It had been her Valentine's Day gift for Ryoma, and, more importantly, it matched the theme of the dance. Who in the world, Ryoma wondered, would choose "PINK" as the theme for a school dance?
Ryoma remembered asking Oishi about it, since he was, after all, student council president. Oishi had simply shrugged his shoulders, blaming "those crazy second-years" who were on the council. Ryoma had made sure to give him a good glare for that screw-up.
Every part of Ryoma's outfit besides the tie looked fine. He was wearing a black suit and a white shirt. And the tie. The stupid, pink, abomination of an accessory. Ryoma winced, then sighed. It was time to be done staring at the mirror, and time to start walking to Sakuno's house. On the way there, Ryoma wondered if this was a date. If it was, it was his first. Sakuno probably considered it as such, he figured. He stopped at a flower shop and decided to buy a pink rose for his date. He supposed it would be polite.
"Big date tonight?" asked the cashier as he rang Ryoma up.
"Yeah, whatever." Ryoma grabbed the rose and sauntered out of the store, undaunted.
In retrospect, he was grateful that Sakuno had asked him to the dance, and asked him so early. It had saved him embarrassment later. Tomoko, not knowing that her best friend had already asked Ryoma, made a huge banner that said, "Ryoma, will you go to Sadie Hawkins with me?" and hung it up in their classroom early one morning for Ryoma to see when he came in. Upon this discovery, Ryoma had been able to turn her down by casually explaining that he already had a date. If Sakuno hadn't asked him before then, he might have been pressured to say "yes" to her hyperactive best friend. The thought still made him shudder.
Ryoma arrived at Sakuno's doorstep and rang the bell. She was quick to answer. "Ryoma-kun!" She blushed. "You're early."
"Here." He held out the rose to her. Blushing, she took it. "Th-thank you…"
Ryoma stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You ready?"
"Oh! Yes." She tried her best to smile. Man, she's shy… Ryoma thought to himself.
The two of them walked together pretty much in silence. Every now and then, Sakuno would try to start a conversation with a friendly question, but rarely would Ryoma give her more than one word for an answer.
When they arrived at the place the dance was being held, the first person they saw was Tezuka. He had a date, and she was, of course, gorgeous, but little more than an ornament to Tezuka's arm. Tezuka himself was wearing a black suit and a light pink collared shirt without a tie.
"Echizen," he greeted politely. "Good evening."
"Good evening, Captain."
"Shall we?" Tezuka motioned towards the door. And the four of them walked into the dance together.
Immediately, Tezuka's date went to go freshen up a bit. Tezuka and Ryoma started talking about tennis (what else?). Needless to say, Sakuno felt a bit awkward, and started looking around the room for people she knew.
The first person she noticed was Kawamura, who was working refreshments. He was wearing a white shirt, white pants, and a white apron, and his vest and bow tie were both pink. Currently, he was mixing some sort of specialty drink. It looked like it had coffee, chocolate, and maybe caramel… Sakuno observed the rest of the refreshments. There were strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, bananas, and many other things to complement the impressive chocolate fountain in the center. In any case, not much was going on over there until randomly Inui came up to order a drink. He was sporting black pants and a short-sleeved, pink collared shirt, along with a headset he had pulled down around his neck. Sakuno gathered from the conversation that Inui had offered to help with some technical things and assist the DJ that night. He had his infamous notebook with him.
Not many people had arrived yet, Sakuno discovered as she looked around the room. It was mostly the people who were helping with things, like Kawamura and Inui. Oishi was there too, checking on some last minute details. He was currently on his cell phone.
"Eiji? Hi. Guess who. Did you pick them up?... No, tell them they can take their time. What's that?... Eiji, be nice… Why? Because they're our dates, that's why!... What do you mean, she's being rude?... Really? That's not good. Tell her I'm sorry… Eiji, I can't leave. I still have things to do. Just bring them here. I'll talk to her… Please be nice, Eiji! See you in a few." When he had hung up, he walked over to the DJ's table and started going over some things with him.
Sakuno's eyes drifted around the room again. More people had started to arrive. She noticed Fuji, who was standing in the opposite corner of the room. Where he had found that baby pink tuxedo, she knew she'd never know. He had his camera with him.
Fuji was already having a good time, taking some interesting pictures. He smiled his usual smile. Many girls had their eyes on Fuji, but he didn't have a date. The reason? He had made it a game to cleverly avoid any girl who wanted to ask him to the dance. Some of his dodges had been rather brilliant. It had entertained him thoroughly for the past few weeks.
Soon he noticed that a certain first-year girl on her first date was staring at him from across the room. He raised his camera and pointed it directly at her. She quickly looked away, blushing. She was so funny like that. He took the picture anyway.
Sakuno couldn't help noticing the camera's flash. Had Fuji really taken a picture of her? Oh, dear… Suddenly she felt someone grab onto her from behind.
"Sakunoooooo!"
"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno turned to face her friend. "I didn't know you were coming. Did you get a date?"
Tomoko's bright smile quickly disappeared, and she pointed to the refreshment table, where Horio was stuffing his face. "I'm planning on ditching him," she declared. Then her focus shifted. "Ryoma-sama!" she yelled, glomping the object of her overactive affections, who was not too thrilled.
Momoshiro appeared out of nowhere, wearing jeans, a pink t-shirt, and a black blazer. "Is that your date, Echizen?"
"Sadly, no," Tomoko answered for him, and finally got off. "Sakuno nabbed him before I got the chance."
"Oh. Good thing." Momo and Ryoma both tried hard to hold back their laughter. Tomoko walked away, indignantly joining her real date by the refreshments.
Ryoma stopped twitching and turned to glare at the black-haired second-year. "Momo-senpai, that wasn't funny."
"Oh, sorry." He tried to look guilty. Then a smile worked its way onto his face. "Yes, it was!" Both boys burst out laughing.
After letting out a few stray giggles, Sakuno bravely flew to comfort her friend.
It took a minute for Ryoma and Momo to stop laughing. When they finally had, Ryoma said, "Momo-senpai, I didn't know you were coming to the dance. What's up?"
Momoshiro grinned. "Viper and I have a little wager. We're going to see which one of us can dance the best and the longest. The first one to collapse loses."
"What's at stake?"
"Oh, just bragging rights, this time."
"This time? What was last time?"
Momo sighed. "Well, you notice I don't have a date, right? I wasn't asked. Our last bet was on how many girls would ask us to the dance. I got none. Viper somehow managed to get a date at the last second." Momo snapped his fingers. "I had to buy tickets for all three of us."
"That's odd. I would have put my money on you," Tezuka observed.
Momo shrugged. "Yeah, that's what Inui said. Hey, Inui!"
Inui happened to be walking by, engrossed in his notes. He looked up.
"Tell them the odds of my bet."
"Well, let's see…" Inui flipped a few pages. "Kaidoh only had about a 2 percent chance of winning, based solely on the fact that you're more approachable. All odds were in your favor, Momoshiro. It's illogical." Then he continued walking.
"Why did Kaidoh accept this girl's invitation, anyway?" Ryoma asked.
Momo shrugged. "I dunno. Something about his honor."
"Speak of the devil," Tezuka pointed to the entrance, where Kaidoh could be seen escorting a very frightened-looking second-year girl. He was in all black, except for a pink carnation on his jacket. Kaidoh hissed when Fuji took a picture.
"Hey, what's going on?" The group of three was now joined by Oishi. He followed their eyes. "Ah, yes. Kaidoh with a date. Things we will never understand…"
"Oishi-senpai, where's your date?" Momo asked.
"Eiji's bringing her." Oishi smiled.
"Who is your date?" Tezuka seemed unusually curious.
Oishi chuckled nervously. "Well, Eiji and I were invited by the twins."
Momo gasped. "You got asked by the twins?"Even Tezuka seemed impressed.
"Who are the twins?" asked a naïve Ryoma.
"They're BABES!" cried Momo, waving his arms around.
"Well, you can look for yourself, Echizen," Tezuka commented, once again gesturing towards the door, where there seemed to be quite a flutter.
There was Eiji, in the middle of it all, looking very proud of himself, with identical twin girls on either arm. He grinned and posed as Fuji took a picture.
"What a character," Tezuka remarked. Oishi went to claim one of Eiji's token babes. It was then that everyone realized that the Golden Pair was wearing matching (and very disturbing) magenta suits.
Oishi had to apologize to his date. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up. I had to take care of a few things…"
"Oh, it's alright," she assured him as she squeezed Eiji's arm. "Your friend took care of us. He was quite the gentleman…"
It was clear that both girls were in love with both boys. Oishi gave Eiji a look, curious as to how he had fixed the situation when it had sounded so hopeless over the phone. Eiji just shrugged.
"Aren't you quite the charmer?" Oishi muttered. Eiji's date giggled.
"Well, would you like to dance?" Oishi asked his date.
"We need to go freshen up a bit." The other one pulled her sister off to the restroom. Oishi and Eiji just shrugged it off and went to go join their group of friends, who had migrated to the refreshments to chat with Kawamura.
"So, how'd you get stuck doing refreshments, Kawamura-senpai?" Momo asked.
"Oh, well, I knew everyone would be here, so I wanted to come, but I don't really dance…" Kawamura rubbed his neck. "So I decided to do refreshments."
"Can I have something, Taka-san?" Oishi leaned over the little counter. "Something with caffeine… I've been setting up this thing all day…"
"Sure." The drink master set to work. All were in awe. Except Eiji, who had discovered the chocolate fountain, and was currently consuming chocolate-covered marshmallows as fast as he could prepare them. Momo joined him. "This fountain rocks! I gotta get me one of these…"
"Mmm-hmm," was all Eiji could say in reply, his mouth full of fluffy, white pillows of sugar.
"Eiji, you'll make yourself sick…" Oishi sighed. But even he couldn't resist dipping a strawberry in the chocolate.
Soon they were all doing it. This thing is addictive, Ryoma observed silently.
They all stopped at the sound of Inui's voice over the speakers. "I have an announcement to make. Our DJ is ill from consuming too many chocolate-covered marshmallows before this evening's events." How ironic. "I will be filling in. How are you all tonight?"
There were some scattered cheers and called-out answers.
"That was only about 10 percentof your possible volume. You can do better than that. How are you all tonight?"
Louder cheers, some screams.
"Still only 75 percent... We'll try again later. Ladies and gentlemen, please extract your bodies from the chairs, tables, and/or chocolate fountain, and relocate to the dance floor."
Awkward silence.
"IT'S TIME TO BOOGIE!" Inui yelled, actually rather well for someone who wasn't used to being "hip." There were cheers throughout the crowd, and the dance floor was quickly filling with people.
"Alright, Viper, it's on!" Momo dragged Kaidoh away from his date and onto the dance floor. Kaidoh just hissed, unable to think of a comeback for the moment.
They started showing off their dance moves. After a minute, it became clear that Momo was the better dancer, but Kaidoh wasn't bad at all. The rest of the group watched with interest. But the Golden Pair didn't seem too impressed.
"Come on, Eiji, let's dance." Oishi headed towards the dance floor.
"We'll show 'em how it's done, nya." Eiji followed enthusiastically.
Fuji felt like a little boy on Christmas morning. Members of the Seigaku Tennis Club… were dancing. Even Inui was getting into the whole DJ thing. Photographs were taken. These were shots Fuji knew he'd never get again. He normally sought after only the rarest of pictures, knowing he could get shots of his fellow tennis players playing tennis or just standing around any day. These were a one-time deal. Perfect for his scrapbook of odd pictures.
Then he noticed the two humbugs standing in the corner. He went up to them with a smile. "Oh, come now. I get shots of you two standing around all the time. Let me see you dance."
"Fuji-senpai, I don't normally dance…" Ryoma looked away.
"Well, what about you, Tezuka?"
Tezuka just shrugged.
"You dance?" Ryoma looked up at his superior.
"Oh, Tezuka's a great dancer," Fuji said proudly. "You should see him—"
"Sorry I took so long," Tezuka's date suddenly appeared at his side. "The twins came in, and I was talking with them…"
"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno suddenly appeared as well. "I found you."
Suddenly the music changed to a swing beat. Fuji smiled and held up his camera. "I want pictures."
"Swing, eh?" Ryoma smirked and looked up at the tennis captain. "Maybe I can beat you at something, after all."
"Really?" Tezuka looked skeptical, but slightly interested.
"I'm afraid Tezuka is the swing king at our school, Echizen." Fuji smiled.
"Mada mada dane." And with that, both Tezuka and Ryoma dragged their dates onto the floor.
Sakuno was surprised. Ryoma could dance. She found herself being spun and swung around in ways she never realized possible. She felt inadequate, and every now and then, she could sense that she had missed a step or done something wrong.
"I'm so sorry, Ryoma-kun… I'm not very good."
He actually smiled at her. "It's okay. You're doing fine, Sakuno."
She blushed and tried to focus on her movements again. Soon she fell back into step, and she actually found herself enjoying the dance. A smile brightened her face. She was so happy… Tonight was going to be the best night of her life.
Suddenly the music changed. The song was over. Fuji ceased his rapid picture-taking and started to walk away, declaring Tezuka "still king." Ryoma congratulated the winner, shaking his hand.
"I just can't beat you, can I?"
"You show great swing-dancing potential, Echizen."
They proceeded to chat in their odd way. Sakuno began to feel a bit out of place again. She looked at Tezuka's date, who seemed thoroughly dizzy. The disoriented third-year looked down at Sakuno and suggested, "Perhaps we should get something to drink?"
They both headed over to the refreshments table. Sakuno asked Kawamura for something cold. He whipped up a strawberry milkshake and handed it to her. "How's your date going?"
Sakuno blushed. "Uh, alright, I guess…"
"Is Echizen treating you well?"
She blushed redder. "Well, as much as I've talked with him. He seems a bit busy talking with other people sometimes," she admitted.
"Don't worry, Sakuno-chan. He'll come around." Taka gave her a big smile, which made her feel a lot better.
The song was salsa. Inui had left his station at the DJ's table and was walking around, taking notes on some of the more interesting dance moves. He decided he should be focusing on the tennis team members, and his gaze fell upon whatever it was Momo and Kaidoh were doing.
"What is this, some sort of competition?"
"Yes, senpai," Kaidoh answered.
"And I'm winning," Momo added.
"I will outlast you," retorted Kaidoh.
"Interesting…" Inui took some notes and left, heading towards the refreshments. Momo and Kaidoh took no note of it and kept dancing. But soon Inui returned with a large pitcher in his hand, filled with… something. The two second-years stopped dancing.
"Just to make it more interesting," Inui began. "Let's say the loser has to drink this." His glasses glinted. "Or are you both chicken?"
Momo and Kaidoh took a closer look. It was… well, in this light they couldn't tell what color it was. But it looked pretty disgusting… Kind of gooey… almost like blood…
Momo turned to his rival with an odd grin on his face. "Oh, it's on." Kaidoh just hissed.
Inui went back to the DJ's table, setting the juice on the front of it. "Let me see you do the electric slide…" And he changed the music.
Ryoma had never seen such a vigorous electric slide in his life. His eyes drifted to the Golden Pair. There they were, joining Momo and Kaidoh in doing the same dance, a trend which was spreading. Nothing unusual there… No, wait. Something was weird. Then he realized that the pair wasn't exactly doing the electric slide anymore, but had added some variation onto it. Then they strayed completely. But whatever they did, they were doing exactly the same thing. And Ryoma couldn't tell who was leading, and who was following.
Their dates had long since retired to the tables, realizing that the two were having a lot more fun with each other than with them. So the twins were just sitting and talking about… whatever it was girls talked about.
Ryoma turned back just in time to see Oishi lean over with his hands on his knees so Eiji could do an impressive flip over his back, like a gymnast on a vault. There was much applause. The Golden Pair continued their little "N'Sync" routine, and Ryoma was thoroughly creeped out. So he decided to observe what Momo and Kaidoh were doing.
The two second-years were dancing their little hearts out, and Inui was thoroughly enjoying the process. "Now Tango! Mambo! Rambo! Waltz! Two-step! Three-step! Twenty-step, haha! Fox Trot! Jitterbug! Moon Walk! Bunny Hop! Macarena! Disco! Break Dance! Square Dance! Line Dance! Pole Dance!"
Kaidoh and Momo abruptly stopped, panting. "WHAT?" they said in unison.
Inui blushed and looked down at his notebook. "Er, right. Not that one. Let's see… Nope. That's all I have." He changed the music. "Just dance for me! Hahaha, DANCE!" The two took one last look at the pitcher of juice and decided to follow orders.
Ryoma shook his head. What strange people he knew. Then he went to go talk to Tezuka again, who was leaning against the opposite wall.
Sakuno was sort of wandering around, trying to find some way not to bother Ryoma. She happened upon Fuji, who was changing the film in his camera.
He turned to her with a smile. "Did you have fun tonight?"
"Yes," she responded, blinking. What did he mean by that?
Fuji looked at his camera. "Maybe I should just put this away… There's not much time left."
Sakuno glanced up at the clock. It was ten minutes 'til 11 o'clock, which was when the dance ended. Where had all that time gone? She suddenly felt really sad. Tonight had been lovely, but it wasn't quite what she had wanted. She was surprised at how high her expectations had been, and now she wasn't quite sure what she wanted.
Inui's voice came over the speakers. "This concludes this evening's events. I expect to see you all at school on Monday." Many groans. "Here it is: the last song. For all you lovers, crushes, love-hate relationships, various 'items', fiances, and/or married couples."
The song came on: a slow, romantic song. It couldn't be over yet… Sakuno ran onto the dance floor. Where was Ryoma?
She stood on a chair to get a better view. She saw Inui by the DJ's table, taking some last-minute notes. Kaidoh and Momoshiro had collapsed on the floor by that area. The Golden pair was sitting on chairs to the side, Eiji leaning sleepily on Oishi's shoulder. Fuji was near them, putting away his camera. Kawamura was still behind the refreshments counter, wiping it off and cleaning up. Horio was still stuffing his face. Tezuka was dancing with his date, looking very refined and very at home. Then Sakuno finally saw Ryoma, who was also on the dance floor, looking around absently with his hands in his pockets. She got off the chair and started heading towards him when Tomoko grabbed her arm.
"Come on, Sakuno, this party's over. Let's go home."
Sakuno didn't look at her best friend. Ryoma was right in front of her, looking her direction.
"One more dance?" She heard herself say.
Ryoma smiled. "Sure."
Tomoko patted Sakuno's shoulder and whispered, "See you later."
Sakuno put her hands on Ryoma's shoulders, and he rested his hands on her waist. And they danced. Inside, Sakuno was beaming. But she only smiled lightly as she looked into his eyes and said, "Thank you for coming with me."
"Thank you for inviting me," Ryoma responded politely.
They became silent. Sakuno looked at the floor. What did she want tonight to be that it wasn't? What was missing?
She looked around. Most of the other couples were wrapped up completely in each other. She felt Ryoma's hands shift slightly on her back. On an impulse, she put her head on his shoulder.
Ryoma blushed a little. Then he just smiled and pulled her a little closer. This wasn't so bad.
Sakuno couldn't help smiling. Now she realized she had everything she wanted. Tonight had been perfect.
…
Inui loomed over Kaidoh and Momoshiro with the pitcher. "The two of you were lucky; it was a tie. Momo danced better, but Kaidoh lasted longer. Just as I calculated."
Fuji came over. "Inui. Can I try that juice?" He gently took the pitcher and poured himself a glass.
All watched in horror as the goopy "juice" made its way into Fuji's mouth. After he was done, he smiled and said, "Oh, you two. It's just chocolate and strawberries."
Momo sat up, shocked and upset. "You mean we nearly killed ourselves to avoid drinking something that was actually good?"
Kaidoh just hissed as he lay there on the floor.