The next days were filled with preparations for the Etoile election. Miyuki in particular was busy trying to shape Nagisa and Tamao into the harmonic couple they had to be in order to win. Finally admitting defeat on the subject of dancing, she turned to the champion of elegance and beauty: Shizuma. The former Etoile agreed to coach the two girls, even though being in close proximity of Nagisa brought on feelings Shizuma had trouble handling. Late one evening, she knocked on Miyuki's door.
"Come in!" came the familiar voice from within.
"Miyuki, did you ask me to help Nagisa and Tamao just because Nagisa is hopeless when it comes to dancing or did you want to make sure that I really wouldn't be able to get over her?" Shizuma dropped onto Miyuki's desk chair, exhausted after a long day of school, studying and coaching.
"Well, if Miator enters a couple for the election, I want them to be as good as possible. And Nagisa won't be able to do this without your help, you know that. If there's the side effect of you thinking about your decision to go on without Nagisa, then that's not entirely bad." Miyuki smiled innocently.
"Nagisa really is hopeless, but Tamao is not good enough to teach her. Nagisa would need a partner who can really dance well, to at least feel what it is supposed to feel like. Then, she should be able to dance well with Tamao." Shizuma gazed at her friend thoughtfully.
"How about you show her? There's not a single person on this hill who can dance better than you." Miyuki suggested.
"Dance with Nagisa…do you have any idea what that means? How that would make me feel? And her probably too…" Shizuma's voice trailed off.
"I think I can guess what you mean. But we all have to make sacrifices for our school I know you have already made more than most girls…but would it be so awful to spend a few minutes showing Nagisa what dancing is all about?"
Shizuma took a while to think about Miyuki's words.
"No, it wouldn't be so awful. I'll do it tomorrow, but one dance will have to be enough." She stood up.
"I'm really tired. I'll go to bed. Thanks for listening, Miyuki." She bent to kiss her friend on the cheek before leaving the room and heading for her own bed.
The next evening, Shizuma bolted to her room before dinner, locking the door, glad to be alone. The coaching with Nagisa and Tamao had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. Sitting down at her desk, she reached for her diary in the small drawer.
Dancing with Nagisa today…it was more than I could handle. My father taught me to dance when I was a little girl and he still dances with me whenever we meet. When he had finally accepted that I love women, he gave me a piece of advice that his father had given him when he learned to dance. "If you want to have sex with a woman, take her to the bedroom. But if you want to seduce her, do it in the dance". And that's the way I really learned to dance- by viewing it as a way to love and seduce.
So that is the way I danced with Nagisa…she felt it. I could see it in her eyes. And she responded. She didn't see or hear anything in that room except for me while we danced. And I know the others saw it, too. The looks on their faces gave them away. Tamao stared at me as if I'd just climbed out of a spaceship that had crashed through the ceiling and Miyuki looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time.
And I…I felt Nagisa in my arms, I saw her beautiful eyes gazing at me as if I was the most wonderful woman in the world, I felt her move with me…I can't do anything against it, I love her. I love her so very, very much. And I want her…so what can I do? The Etoile election is only two days away…I can't take this opportunity away from Nagisa and Tamao, I just can't…
Shizuma carefully closed her diary and put it back in its place. Changing into a pair of comfortable flannel pyjamas, she climbed into her bed. Sexy and lacy wasn't her style tonight. She put on her earphones and beat down her memories and feelings with loud heavy metal music until she finally fell asleep.
