Disclaimer: The OC's are mine. Bleach and its characters are not mine.
Chapter 10: Playful
As they stood there contemplating what to do, there was a knock on the door. Sajin's heart skipped a beat when Amaya stuck her head in. "Excuse me, Captain Komamura? Sorry to interrupt, but Third Seat Takara will be unable to come in today."
"Is she ill?" Iba asked.
Amaya narrowed her eyes and said in a mock-cheery voice, "No, sir. She had to go shopping. She figured you would not mind her absence for such a worthy cause." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Sajin wondered if it was due to a dislike for Takara attending the ball with him instead of her, or a dislike for Takara in general.
She disappeared from view. A moment later, however she returned.
"The ball is only a few days away," she said wistfully. "Do you know how to dance?"
Sajin shook his head. "I was actually hoping to avoid it as much as possible."
"Oh, you can't," Iba put in. "All of the captains are required to start the first dance."
Sajin's heart stopped. "When was someone going to tell me this?"
Iba cleared his throat and held out the invitation all of the officers had received a few days prior. Sajin read over it quickly. Well, he thought angrily to himself. There it was in black and white, three lines down on the invitation.
"Lucky for you I just so happen to know an excellent dance instructor," Amaya said. "It's gonna cost you, though." She grinned evilly.
Sajin smiled. "That's fine; I'm desperate."
"Meet me by the gates when you are finished working," Amaya called as she left.
"That ought to be interesting," Iba said. "Are you going to use the oppurtunity to tell her?"
Sajin shrugged. He wished he had more time to think of exactly what he was going to tell her.
…
"The most important rule that you need to remember when dancing," Amaya said, "is that smooth is more important that stylish. As long as you are doing the basics, doing them right and on time, you will be fine. You will also be less likely to step on anybody's toes. Have good posture, but do not be so uptight that you aren't having any fun. At the end of the dance, that is all it is really about: having fun.
"Now," she continued, "put one hand on my waist and the other in my hand." He did, and then she led him through the steps of the waltz.
The room they were in was one of the old training rooms that was rarely used anymore.
"At least no one will walk in on my awkward attempts at dancing," Sajin joked.
"Believe me, you are doing much better than I did when I was first learning to dance. If you haven't noticed yet, I can be a little clumsy."
Sajin thought back to that first night and smiled. "Blame it on the knickknacks."
They went through several classical ballroom dances. When they had finished with all of the dances Amaya was sure they would be dancing to the night of the ball she, they paused, both a little breathless. Amaya said, "I am sure they will not have any like it, but would you like to try dancing to something a little more upbeat?"
Sajin nodded. Amaya put on a fast-beat song. She taught him hip-hop dancing. It was freestyle, yet it was somehow still centered on the partnership between the two dancers.
For such a large man, Sajin was rather coordinated. Only a few times did he stumble. Only once did he bump into Amaya.
That once, though, he sent her tumbling to the ground. She landed flat on her butt, her eyes flying open and her mouth forming a perfect "O". Sajin tried valiantly not to laugh.
"Oh, you think that's funny, huh," Amaya grumbled. Sajin nodded, his body shaking with suppressed laughter. "Are you going to help me up?"
Sajin put a hand out. Amaya took it. Very quickly she yanked on his hand and kicked his legs out from under him, catching him completely off guard.
He hit the ground with a loud thud, landing partly on Amaya. They looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Apparently I am not the only clumsy one around here," Amaya said between laughs.
"The only thing clumsy about me is you," Sajin said, still laughing.
Only when their laughter began to die down did Sajin finally notice how close he was to Amaya. In fact, he was still pinning her to the floor.
Amaya noticed as well. "You should probably get up now," she said.
Sajin nodded. "I probably should." He did not move.
"Maybe if I made it worth your while?"
Sajin's brain could not process what that was supposed to mean. He couldn't think with her this close. Kami, why had he never noticed before how beautiful she was? He lowered his head down to hers. Maybe…
He felt Amaya's hand touch his side. Then he burst into laughter once again as she began tickling him. She used the moment when he was laughing too hard to react to roll him over until she was pinning him down.
Amaya smiled. The way she was looking at him made Sajin's heart pound. She started to get up.
"Amaya," Sajin said. She gave him a questioning look. He took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Amaya said softly.
Sajin shook his head. "For not realizing sooner that it was you." Then he explained everything to her. It all seemed to come out in a rush.
When he finished, there was a long silence, until Amaya said, "I hope you didn't tell any of this to Takara."
Sajin shut his eyes. All of the times Sajin had been rejected in his past should have prepared him for this, made it hurt less. But it didn't.
"Oh," he said. "I understand."
"Good. Oh, and Captain?" She waited until he opened his eyes to continue. "Remind me to thank Nanao the next time I see her."
Sajin was beyond confused at this point. His brain could not process what that meant, not with her so close to him. Was it just his imagination, or was she getting closer?
Amaya lowered her face down to meet his, her eyes closing slowly. His own eyes slid close as he felt her warm lips on his own.
For all of the times he had imagined this very moment, he never could have dreamed it would feel so good. It felt as though he had finally found an answer to a question that he had long since given up on.
Amaya was the first to pull away, but she did so reluctantly.
"You can't just leave Takara dateless three days before the dance," Amaya explained. She grinned evilly. "Well, I wouldn't mind, but I thought you would, being the gentleman that you are. Besides, we will have time to be together soon."
"You really want to be with me?" Sajin whispered, still amazed by the thought.
Amaya answered with another kiss. She pulled away and brushed a hand over the side of his face. The expression on her face told him that she wanted to be with him as much as he needed to be with her. He pulled her gently down to him so that her body still covered his, with her head on his chest. He wrapped an arm protectively around her.
They spent a long time just lying there together. The sun had gone down and the moon was almost at her peak by the time they finally left.
Sajin grinned like an idiot the entire way back to his quarters.
AN: Awww. A little fluff does the soul good, I think. :3 That little "answer to the question given up on" thing refers to that feeling you get when you finally remember something that has been bugging you. You always get that little feeling of "OH!" when the lightbulb finally comes on and it brightens your entire day. Or at least that is how it is with me.
