Next Day Mikan's POV
I walked into class and everything seemed normal again. The day passed by quickly. I made no contact with my partner and Luna and Mochu bullied me about having no talent once again. Everything seemed normal.
During Lunch Mikan's POV
I sat at my table alone. Then I heard my cell phone go off.
"Mikan, please don't kill me when I make this announcement." I heard my uncle say before hanging up the phone. I hung up, wondering what he could mean.
"Attention all students. I must say that the dance contest will begin next Saturday. Be sure to practice a routine and song with your partner and practice a lot." I heard my uncle say over the PA system.
"Oji…" I muttered. I began to stomp to the doors of the lunchroom. Then I felt a hand on my arm.
"What are you doing?" I asked lowly, turning to see Natsume.
"Do I meet you at your studio, today?" he asked. I nodded.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go slaughter my uncle." I said. He let go of my arm and I walked off to do the said task.
Natsume's POV After School
Since school ended late today I just decided to walk with Mikan to her apartment. I made sure to wear a hoodie so that nobody would notice us together. It was a silent walk. As we head up to her apartment, she got out her keys. We walked the spiral staircase up to the studio. I changed from jeans to sweats while she went to the bathroom. When she came out she was in a long flowing skirt, a tank top, and flats. Her face was clear and moist unlike a few seconds ago where her face was dry and filled with fake zits.
"The magical transformation." I said.
"Haha, real funny. Get over here." She said. We entwined fingers. For some reason, I liked the feeling I got, but ignored it. She let go of me and the feeling left.
"Stand up straighter." She said. I raised my eyebrows. Who was she to command me? She placed both her hands on both of my shoulders from behind me and pulled them back.
"Work with me. We are more used to hopping around and moving our feet all over the place in dancing. With classic, your feet stay close to the ground and it's the same routine over and over again." She said.
"Slow dancing is the topic for the first round. There are two basic ways to slow dance." She said.
"The first type is the more classical old style type, where we join right hands. My left hand goes lightly on your shoulder and your left hand is on my waist. Your hand stays on my waist, got it? I've already had too many people have too many slip ups, or should I say, slip downs." She said. As she explained, she positioned us.
"Slow dancing is the simplest dance you could probably learn and I heard you learn quickly, so we won't have a problem. First you have your base position. The steps from my view are forward, base, left, base, back, base, right, base. You continued like that. Occasionally you will spin your partner around. Do not twirl them like a merry go round. It's a slow gentle spin, like this." She said, guiding me to perform all her instructions. The way she looked when she danced was beautiful. And she was so focused too. I stepped on her foot by accident, because I was too busy taking in her appearance.
"Ow!" she said.
"Sorry." I muttered.
"Remember to keep your feet close to the ground." She said. We continued on for a bit longer.
"Okay now, the other way to slow dance you put both your hands on my waist and I put both my hands on your shoulder." She said. I lowered my hands the tiniest bit.
"Keep them on the waist, Natsume." She said, pretending to sound mad. I chuckled and raised my hands again.
"The steps from my view are forward, left, back, right, and I continue like that. All you have to do is really follow along. There isn't much spinning in this type of slow dancing, so don't worry about it." She said. I nodded as we continued to practice the routine.
"Simple, right?" she asked. I nodded.
"Really dude, you gotta be more social." She said.
"Okay, so which one are we doing?" I asked.
"Which one are you more comfortable with?" she asked.
"I think I like the second one better." I answered.
"Good. We'll probably stand out that way too. People are going to do the more classic way for the judges to enjoy, but if we stand out it is better." She explained. I nodded.
"I think that's it for today. Out of the classical songs on my ipod or ones on the internet, try to find a song for us to dance with." Mikan commanded. Again I nodded.
"I guess that's it for today. Wow, it's already 5. That certainly didn't feel like an hour. Be here tomorrow with options for songs." She said, leading me to the door.
At The Academy Natsume's POV Still
I walked in my shared dorm and everybody turned to me.
"So where were you?" they all asked.
"Partner's place." I answered. I walked over to the computer.
"And what were you doing?" Mochu asked.
"Practicing." I answered, shortly, my voice monotonous.
"So how'd it go?" Ruka asked.
"The word internet tutorials should pop in your head." I lied. She doesn't want people knowing she can dance.
"And…" Koko said.
"I had to be like a foot away from her because she would step on my feet. I had to take a taxi here." I lied. They all broke down laughing. Yeah right. We were dancing perfectly, except the time I stepped on her foot.
"So watcha doing?" Kitsuneme asked.
"Searching for music for the routine." I said.
"Why?" Yuu asked.
"You're the smart one. You can't dance without music. I'm serious. She gives me things to do when she should really work on her dancing." I lied once again. She doesn't need to work on her dancing. It's perfect.
"Who knows if she does work on it at home? I mean, she does have a studio in her condo." Ruka said. Everybody raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I think these are enough songs. I put like 3 songs." I said.
"Did we even tell you our partners?" Kitsuneme asked. I shook my head.
"Well, I have Usami. Koko has Miyo. Yuu has Yura. Mochu has Luna. And Ruka has Kana." Kitsuneme said. All those girls are pretty capable at dancing their type of music, and they learn quickly, so they can probably pick up classic dance quickly.
"Our routine is pretty simple." Yuu said.
"Yeah, it's the same thing for every couple." Mochu said. I downloaded the songs I found to the ipod and dragged it to the classical playlist.
Next Day At 4 Natsume's POV
I just walked up to the studio, since the door was open.
"Okay, today we are going to work on the entrance and we'll pick out of the songs we found." Mikan said, the minute she saw me.
"Entrance?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow. She raised an eyebrow in return.
"Don't we just get on the dance floor when they call our names?" I asked. She crossed her arms and shook her head.
"But I'm glad you voiced out your question. Since this is the most simple of dances, we need to stand out. So first, they will call our names. You will be a little far away from me. When they call us again, Matt will shine the spotlight on you. Do you know what you will be doing?" she asked. I shook my head.
"You will be walking up to me and then asking me to dance. Then you will lead me to the dance floor and the song will start." She replied.
"That is really corny." I said.
"No. It's very classic. My uncle said there was going to be a prize at the end for the winners, so I like prizes. And if it's money, I have my eyes on a necklace in a jewelry store begging for me to buy it. But two low paying jobs are not gonna help me." I said. Two?
"Two?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. Let's practice and then we'll pick the song." She said, walking over to a seat in the corner.
"Now, they have called our names twice and the spot light is on you. Make your way over towards me. Take my hand gently. And now what do you say?" she asked.
"Dance with me." I said, plainly. She sucked her teeth.
"Of course you don't know courtesy. You have never danced classic in your life. Nor have you been taught ballroom etiquette. You say, "May I have this dance?" I reply with a nod and you lead me to the dance floor." She corrected.
"Now let me hear you say it." She commanded.
"May I have this dance?" I asked.
"Okay, and it wouldn't kill you to smile. I know, Natsume Hyuuga does not smile, so you don't have to, but don't make your face too stoic. You have emotions under that cold voice and stoic face. I know it." She said. This girl can read me, oddly enough. She stood from the seat and I guided her to the middle of the studio.
"Good. Now, you found some songs, I assume." She said. I nodded and walked over to the computer by the seat she was in. I connected the ipod to it and played three songs. In the end we chose, Because You Loved Me (don't listen to it on your computers just yet). We practiced the dance for a little and it was time to go before we knew it.
"Make sure you have a tux ready for the competition." She said. I gave a look of disgust that she laughed at.
"Told you there was emotion. Do you prefer that I wear a long flat dress or a puffy dress? I mean, I'm comfortable in both, but I don't know about you since this is your first time dancing classic." She asked.
"Flat." I answered. She nodded and I left.
Saturday of Competition Natsume's POV Still
We agreed to meet in the basketball courts to go over the routine one last time with the proper clothing and then go to the gymnasium where the competition was gonna be held. It was gonna be set up as if it were an actual ballroom event. I walked to the gym and found Mikan there with a robe on. I raised an eyebrow as I walked up to her.
"What? Are you in your pajamas?" I asked.
"No, you retard. I knew the basketball courts were cold." She said, taking off the robe. She looked absolutely gorgeous and amazing. Wearing a long purple dress she walked over to a bleacher and sat down gracefully. Her face was clear of any fake zits or fake dry skin. I walked over to her, standing up straight in my tux. I offered my hand.
"May I have this dance?" I asked. She took my hand and stood.
"I see you're not gonna smile." She said. I led her to the middle of the courts and put my hands on her waist. She put hers on my shoulders lightly and we began to dance.
"Perfect." She said through the middle and we let go.
"I have trained you well. Now let's get to the gymnasium." She said. I nodded and followed behind her. She pushed the doors open and everybody looked at her. The guys drooled at the beauty of her face and perfect skin. She walked to an empty table and sat herself, not bother to acknowledge any of the drooling boys or talking to anybody. I sat down at another table with Ruka, Yuu, Mochu, the twins and all of their partners. Everybody in the group just call Koko and Kitsuneme the twins sometimes because they really act like twins, even if they are not blood related. Luna was admiring me in my tux and everything.
"Okay everybody! Let's get this competition on the road. I'm your principal and you all know that. As you know, we can't have a competition without judges. Our first judge from right to left in their view is the vocal teacher Reo. The second is your language arts and drama/acting teacher Narumi. And last is your math teacher Jinno. There are about 100 groups tonight. We will be narrowing it down to 20. Let's get on with this. First up are Yuu and Yura." The high school principal said. Great, an American Idol all over again. Jinno is Simon, Narumi is Paula, and Reo is Randy. Yuu got up and walked to the center stage. Yura met up with him there. They danced the very classic way of slow dancing. Mikan was right that all of them did it that way. And she was right about them not having an entrance either. After 99 pairs of people dancing it was finally gonna be our turn. Mikan had requested from her uncle to go last the day before at practice.
"Don't you dare laugh at my routine." I warned all of my friends.
"Last but not least, Natsume Hyuuga and Mikan Sakura." I got up and walked through the crowd.
"Natsume Hyuuga? Mikan Sakura? Please get on the dance floor." The principal said. The spotlight shone on me. I walked up to her and extended my hand to her. Everybody gasped, stunned that Mikan Sakura looked beautiful on this one night.
"May I have this dance?" I asked.
"Of course." She said with a smile, giving me her hand and standing. I gave a small smile making all of the girls in the room faint. I led her quietly to the middle of the dance floor, keeping my back straight. All eyes were on us.
[ Play .com/watch?v=VTxnqUhhlIY ]
She put her hands on my shoulders, mine on her waist and we began dancing to the music. Midway, she leaned her head on my shoulder. I stiffened a little.
"Relax. Secret weapon." She said. I could tell many girls were glaring holes in Mikan's back. When the song finally ended, we received the largest applaud from the crowd. We turned towards the judges. Narumi had tears in his eyes. That pussy, it was just a dance.
"Reo, you're comments, insults?" the principal said.
"Very good. You were the only pair to utilize the second form of slow dancing. I'm glad you dressed appropriately Hyuuga, seeing as you are the most modern dancer in the school." Reo said.
"Narumi?" the high school principal asked. Narumi sniffled.
"It was absolutely beautiful! You looked like a real couple! Jinno, please take over." he sobbed.
"You did an excellent job. The fact that you were able to come up with an entrance was even better. I saw no faults in the performance." He said. Everybody gasped. Jinno had found a fault in everybody's performance but ours. We did really well.
"Told you the entrance would work." Mikan whispered, next to me. I separated from Mikan and walked to my table. My friends were standing in front of me. Then Koko, Kitsuneme, and Mochu broke down laughing. I punched each of them.
"I think you were awesome, Natsume. Sakura could have done better, but she was never good at anything. She must have put on a lot of makeup to cover her zits." Luna said. I didn't respond and sat down.
"Sakura did pretty good in my view." Ruka said.
"Yeah, yeah, as long as we get through to the next round. She told me there's a prize at the end of this whole thing." I said.
"Where did she hear that?" Mochu asked.
"You should know. Her uncle." I answered. He nodded.
"Okay everybody. The judging is done. Everyone please stand by your partner and come up to the stage when your name is called." The high school principal said. I walked to Mikan and stood by her. He went through 19 names. Crap, we didn't make it.
"In first place so far is…. Natsume Hyuuga and Mikan Sakura." He announced. Mikan wrapped her arms around my neck and began jumping up and down.
"We made it!" she yelled in her nerdy voice. She skipped to the stage. Everyone had wide eyes at her reaction. I just walked onto the stage slowly.
"I'm sorry to those of you who did not make it. We welcome you to continue dancing classic and your classic classes will carry on until the end. The next topic for the competitors is… fox trot. We welcome you to attend the competition still and encourage all you friends still dancing." He said. We all separated.
Mikan's POV
Why did I hug him?! That's so crappy! I'm so stupid, too! I better not fall for him. I'll end up breaking his heart or vice-versa. He is known for being a playboy sometimes.
