Fen: Hey guys, Fen and Fang here for another CoM and uh… well, I'll let Fang explain this one since this was his idea.
TWF: *still wearing Tengu mask* I shall chop off every single head with mah BLADE! This is for not having Fire Emblem: Heroes in my country, arseholes! ALELELELELELELELE! :O
Fen: OI! Put that away! Now! Drop it! Drop it! Drop i~t?
TWF: … *dips the blade into a can of oil*
Fen: What are you-
TWF: *lights oil on fire* I have upgraded my Blazing Sword! It is super effective!
Fen: Dammit Fang! *puts out flames with extinguisher* Not now! We got a CoM chapter to do! Behave yourself!
TWF: *running around in pain like an idiot* AHHHHHH! IT BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRNS! IT BURRRRRRRRNS! D8
=TWF is Knocked Out=
Fen: Baka…
Kiva 13: The Tango
"Well, anata. It's our turn now. Are you ready for this?" Cordelia asked, as both of us held hand-to-hand.
"Yeah, but I don't know what got you into this." I chuckled. "Let alone how you know it."
"I think our children set us up in the first place. And I want our family to see our efforts of making the Dance Festival a worthwhile event in Plegia." she added.
"I bet it was Severa who coined the idea."
"Either way, it's time." she added. "We might as well give it our very best to win this competition."
"Yeah, you're right." I shrugged. "Let's go."
How in the world did we end up like this? Well, there's an explanation for that.
Flashback - 3 months ago…
"A Dance Festival?" I got out, as Severa, Anna and I are in the working area.
"Uh-huh! I hear Olivia and Inigo will be the judge for that big competition. Grandma too!" Severa got out.
"The Dance Festival is gonna be one of the biggest projects yet! This year, Plegia gets to sponsor the whole competition! Think about it, Kuro! Just how much gold will flow in our country!" Anna exclaimed happily, already having money signs in her eyes, even though she's my secretary.
"Mom you're doing it again." Little Anna pouted. But, of course, like mother, like daughter. "You should mention about many, MANY other sellers that came for this event, too! It's gonna be amazing!"
"Like mother, like daughter…" Severa deadpanned.
"Watch, they're gonna spike up the taxes and interest rates on this festival…" I sweat dropped.
"Oh, no, no, Kuro-king! We got something even better!" Anna grinned.
"Yeah. I'm putting you into this competition, Daddy." Severa grinned too.
"EHHHHH?! Why me?!" I gawked.
"Duh! Business 101, King Bat!" Anna exclaimed. "Won't that get their attention even more? I mean, c'mon! The King of Fangires and Plegia, takes center stage into the competition and graces his entry with his passionate dancing skills! No titles are involved, so it's just dancers overall!"
"Somehow that should be Gaim's job with the dancing…" I muttered.
"Anyways, you'd be the cherry of the whole goldmine, Kuro! There's no stopping now!"
"Uh… one problem." I got out. "I… kinda forgot how to dance."
"…sorry?" Severa blinked, confused. "What was that, Daddy?"
"Look. It's been a while. The last time I danced was when your mom and I danced at the Summer Outrealm on the beach years ago." I said. "And I'm so used to formal dances… no thanks to Maribelle almost breaking my legs to do that…" I grumbled.
"Either way, you can't turn back!" Anna exclaimed, slamming her hands on my table. "It's already sealed and done!"
"Geez, and here I thought the women in my family don't let me have a say. Now my secretary too…" I sighed exasperated. "Look, there's still work and there's-"
"Hold it right there!" Severa stopped me. "Regarding work, Shiro, Owain and I can handle them! So, for the next three months, you'll be spending some time with Mom in Grandma's dancing school! And you got no say in this, Daddy! Capish?"
…
…
…
…
Actually, come to think of it, this is actually a good time for me to take a long break and start focusing on some stuff. I just can't stick to paperwork all the time. I can tell Severa is really concerned for me, hence the said proposal.
"Hello~! Earth to bat brain! Are you in there?!" Anna asked, waving her hands in front of my face.
"H-Huh? Oh sorry, uh… I… guess I do need some time off…" I said. "Okay, I'll leave everything to you guys while I'm gone. But if I hear one thing about any of you slacking off-"
"Go now or I'll make you." Severa glared me rather hard and her tone sounds pissed, too.
"Oh? This is a pleasant surprise, my sweet." Kaa-san got out, seeing Cordelia and I in her dancing studio. And yes, I'm not kidding when I built her a studio. After everything she did for me and my family, which also includes my kids and grandkids loving her to death, I dedicated some of the money for her, so that she can spread dancing around Plegia as well, hence, here we are.
"Yes, and I need your assistance on this, Mother. Kurogasa can't dance the way he was during his youth." Cordelia explained.
"Ah, I see. Getting rusty, are we?" Kaa-san chuckled.
"Look, I know it's been years, but c'mon, give me some space." I pouted embarrassed. "Anyways, do you think you could… reteach me the basics, Kaa-san?"
"I can, but within three months?" Kaa-san pondered.
"I have a better proposal, Mother." Cordelia offered. "Is there any dance that matches with our compatibility?"
"Hm?" Kaa-san raised her eyebrow a bit.
"Cordelia, what are you doing…?" I whispered.
"Just trust me." Cordelia smiled.
"Hm…" Kaa-san pondered a bit, thinking carefully. "Ah, yes. There is one. But it is one of the most difficult dances within my arsenal, yet, this dance can easily express their feelings for one another."
"I see." I said.
"However, I must warn you. Maribelle must never learn of this. Should she find out, I cannot cover you for your mistakes, my son. You wouldn't want her to smack you with her parasol to no end, do you?" She asked, making me pale rather considerably. "Yes, I heard as much. She almost broke your legs before you and Cordelia got married."
"She was being such a perfectionist! That's what!" I exclaimed comically.
"In any case, we should start as soon as possible." Cordelia noted. "Anata, we should give our fullest to meet Severa's and our family's expectations."
"Yeah, alright." I nodded. "Please do so, Kaa-san."
"Very well. Let us begin."
For the next two months, both Cordelia and I trained our butts off for the dance, and even the rumors of seeing Cordelia and I attending Kaa-san's class spread like wildfire. I just really hope Maribelle doesn't hear about this… Oh who am I kidding? I'm screwed if she shows up!
"Oh my, both of you are fast learners…" Kaa-san smiled, as both Cordelia and I have becoming much more efficient with the dance, despite the initials of constantly putting Cordelia through lots of falls and mishaps.
"We have a great teacher." Cordelia smiled. Turning to me, while she smiled, I noticed some black aura seeping out from her body, adding, "Despite his clumsiness… don't you think so, anata?"
Man, Nee-san must have really rubbed off on her… "Um… yes…" I mumbled.
"Oh, this is where you two were!" we heard a familiar voice, and it turned out to be my granddaughter Louise running towards both of us and hugged both of us dearly. "I've been looking for both of you!"
"Why? What's wrong, Louise?" I tilted my head.
"Your granddaughter had just completed her training as the perfect woman."
…crap, here she is… the bane of my dancing existence.
"Oh? Seems like you two are often here, from what my sources told me." Maribelle entered the studio, looking at both Cordelia and I.
"Uh… how did you find this place?" I gulped nervously.
"I told her!" Lissa popped out of nowhere, scaring the crap out of me. "She was so busy hitting her hammer down, she didn't know about the whole rumor that ran for two whole months!"
"Why yes, Lissa dearest." Maribelle smiled. Turning her attention to me, the same black aura seeped out from her, holding her parasol with authority, asking, "And did I hear you have put her son through harsh labor as a substitute King? My, oh my, how quite daring you are, you King of Bats."
"Uh…" I sweated profusely. This was bad! REALLY bad!
"Therefore, I came here to propose to you a challenge!" she exclaimed, pointing her parasol at me. "King of Bats, I shall enter the Dance Festival to make you, the King of Fangires and Plegia, humiliated from my society's highly refined dance!"
NOOOOOOOO! Nononononono! This is what I DON'T want! It's bad enough that she whacks me with her parasol if she sees me dance, but for her to enter the contest is signing a death warrant!
"And for that, we shall accept your challenge." Cordelia smiled, accepting it like it was nothing.
"HUH?!" I gawked.
"It is a deal, then." Maribelle got out, as both women shook hand. "We shall see you in the Dance Festival." And with that, Maribelle and Lissa took her leave, leaving Louise confused with the whole thing.
"Grandfather, what is actually going on?" she blinked.
"It's over… my life is forfeit… I'm screwed…" I moaned like a zombie.
Just one week before Dance Festival arrived, after we completed the dance tutorial from Kaa-san, Cordelia and I were picking a song, for a dance routine we'd have for the competition. And yes, with thanks to Miriel's contraptions, the whole land has taken more of a modern look. And that included music.
"Well, what about this one?" Cordelia asked, as both of us listened to the music.
"No, not this one…" I frowned. And yes, we listened via headphones and CD's. I kid you not. Like I said, it's becoming more modern. Heck, it's becoming borderline futuristic. Like with Laurent with his mini-transporter when he delivered the Escaflowne back then. Or this new invention he made, which is basically a hologram pad for calling people! I don't know where he's getting these ideas from!
"But I do like the tapping sounds." Cordelia frowned before she took out the CD. "You sure are having a hard time for picking just a song, yes?"
"It's gotta be just right." I said. "And besides, with this kind of dance, either way, I've signed my death warrant with Maribelle being the executioner…"
"You really are my worrywort bat." she giggled before placing a new one and played it. Just then, both our eyes wide open, suddenly feeling like we're in a trance. "Oh my…"
"Okay, now this is good." I said, feeling the rhythm. "Yeah, definitely. I can dance to this. What do you think?" I asked, her, but for some reason, she had that familiar expression, as if she started to imagine the whole dance.
"I may not understand some of the foreign language in it, but… it resonates well with me…" she muttered. "And it is as if… I can see how it's planned out…"
"Really?" I asked surprised.
"Yes…" she trailed off, now fully immersed herself with the song. It's rare for me, but I couldn't help but smile. "Anata, let us use this song to express everything. Our love… our passion. Everything."
"Heh… well okay, but there's no turning back."
"Your death sentence with Maribelle?" she teased.
"Don't push it…" I frowned.
End Flashback
And now here we are… now the spotlight is focused on us. We had to go through the preliminaries and managed to get a spot in the finals. And yes, Maribelle managed to get through too. And so far, Maribelle and Donnel are the fan favorites.
"And now, let us invite the final dancers! Their Royal Highnesses themselves: Kurogasa and Cordelia Kururugi!" Anna called out, as both of us got ready for it. Cordelia stepped out first, and took off her long coat to pass it to Anna. It was a red dress with white sides that fell to just above her knees with spaghetti straps on her shoulders and crossed at her back with red high heels.
"Hah, this, I must see." Maribelle got out, crossing her arms.
"Let us begin." Kaa-san said, as she played the music, thus started our dance.
(BGM: Veronica Verdier - Asi se Baila el Tango)
"What?" Maribelle said, listening to it. "What is this? What is this? What kind of music is this? It sounds rather salacious…"
Oh boy… here we go…
Despite all of that, Cordelia slowly slid towards the center of the stage, with everyone looking at us. She started to untie the knot on her side and the moment she untied it…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Maribelle was shocked seeing the long skirt had become a very, VERY short one, almost revealing her red underwear and the cloth is said to become a tail on her right side. Keeping her poker face, she thrusts her left and right arm one by one, making a suave body wave before she extended her left arm, calling me to come to her, while both of our eyes remained unfazed and passionate.
"Whewwwwwww…" Gaius whistled, as he was with Lissa. "This is getting sweet."
While having my coat on my shoulder as I wore a white collared dress shirt, with black dress pants and shoes, both Cordelia and I start dancing around one another, slowly building up the 'fire' in us before both of us faced one another, and I threw away my coat.
"Oh my gosh, look at Maribelle, she's frothing at the mouth." Lissa giggled.
Both of us took a step and as Cordelia leaned on her back, my right arm being able to support her, ensuring she didn't fall before both of us stood up. Holding onto my arm, both of us walked around a bit before I gave her a quick pirouette spin before holding her hand. Both of us slowly slid down nearly to our knees before slowly getting back up, enjoying this moment.
"Wooooow…" Yukina said in awe, seeing the dance.
"The dance of passion, Tango." Kaa-san got out, as we continue to dance.
I took Cordelia for a spin, as her leg latched onto my side while the other remained on the floor and our faces remained close to one another. Cordelia leaned back, as I kept my stance. While she's at it, I can already feel the heat coming out from Maribelle's glaring daggers at me. Cordelia came back up, getting my attention again before she did some fancy footwork and I did a few too, keeping up with her flirtation.
"Um… is your mom okay?" Nah asked Brady, pointing to her, who was looking livid right now.
"I'd… rather not poke the beehive like Pa always says." Brady sweat dropped.
Giving her another spin and having my right arm on her stomach, both of us took a few slides and Cordelia kicked up high at the end before I made her spin, holding her close to me. She managed to do some more fancy footwork, dancing around me. As she did that, I noticed the whole place had their focus on us before I gave Cordelia a few pirouette spins and holding her arm, stopping her as she got into her stance. As she turned and slapped my arm away, I turned away, standing strong without even looking at her.
"Oh my…" Olivia murmured.
"I'm so jealous. Words can't describe what I'm seeing!" Inigo exclaimed.
She made a few gestures with her arm, seductively approaching towards me before hugging me with much love, up to the point of her left leg wrapped on mine.
"GH!" Maribelle snapped, seeing the temptation before her eyes.
As I turned back to her, Cordelia made quick fancy back steps, making me walk forward to go get her. As I waved my right arm to the side, she kneeled before me, as if she's begging for mercy before I held her arm and brought her back up. Giving another pirouette spin, she leaned back once more, catching her in my arm. As I pushed her back up, I quickly took a step forward and hugged her waists with vigor, making everyone around us gasped out loud.
"That's it, I'm done." Gaius waved off, turning around.
"Wow, talk about intense." Lissa giggled.
As she felt my intense love for her, both of us synchronized taking a few steps forward, before she fastened her pace. Not before I managed to grab both of her arms with much elegance and authority, Cordelia let out a teasing smile onto Maribelle before being pulled back to me. We did some fancy footsteps and made her lean onto my chest while holding her arm out once more. I leaned a bit forward while she leans back; thus, making my right hand feel her left side from top to her hip.
"It seems like we have a clear winner." Kaa-san smiled.
With the song about to end, I pulled her up and gave her a quick pirouette spin and she stopped, raising her right arm up before I pulled her back to me while she spun. I managed to lift her up a bit, letting her land on my thigh as she landed both of her legs on them. With a kick up high after that, I brought her to the front, making me lean forward as she was now on one knee, leaning on her back as our dance ended with both of us looking at each other, our faces very close up to the point of kissing.
And the song ended.
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*CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP!*
"Well played, my King!"
"That was the most intense dance ever!"
More and more positive cheers came from all directions, as Cordelia and I let out a small smile.
"It would seem like they fell for our charms, my love." Cordelia giggled a bit.
"Yeah, except for one." I smiled sheepishly, pointing to Maribelle with her face pretty much like a dog being infected with rabies…
"It would be best to get a move on now. She'll be chasing you right about… now." Cordelia timed it.
"KUROGASA KURURUGI! WHAT IN NAGA'S NAME WAS THAT?!" Maribelle snapped, holding her parasol with authority. Wait, where did she pull it out?!
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled as I ran away with Maribelle giving chase.
"There will always be some things that would never change." Cordelia smiled, looking on at the chase.
TWF: *dressed as a male Tango* Take the lead! :D
Fen: No… -_- but anyways yeah, in case you didn't know, that dance was from Take the Lead, starring Antonio Banderas.
TWF: Like Puss in Boots? o.o
Fen: Yeah, like Puss in Boots.
TWF: Lol… I feel like I wanna add an additional letter in there to make it sound dirty. XDD
Fen: *blushes madly* SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!