You arrived after a decently long limousine ride to the location, most of it spent in silence.
But that was alright with you. You didn't mind silence. Not with him. There wasn't much to talk about either, it seems.
He held the door open for you, and you thanked him with a small nod.
You approached the receptionist, offering a polite smile.
Todoroki-Kun walked up to the receptionist.
"We have lessons with the head dancer," he said plainly.
"Name?"
"It should be under Todoroki."
"Ah. Here it is. Have fun." She handed a brochure to him and he took it.
You bowed to her kindly and turned to follow Todoroki-Kun.
He took a hold of your arm, and you almost pulled away (given your situation with Tadao-San this morning), but you waited.
You felt his grip. It wasn't anything other than gentle. He wasn't controlling or frustrated, commanding or anything. He was simply guiding you to your destination.
So you didn't pull away.
He seemed to find the door he wanted and knocked.
"It's open!"
He held it open for you again, letting your wrist go.
You smiled and thanked him again, walking in.
The dance instructor was standing there gracefully, a polite and playful smile on her face.
"Hello!" She said happily. I assume you two are Todoroki Shoto and Nazumi Hanae. I'm Nomura Bella. Call me Bella. You can step into the changing rooms and get ready. There's one on either side of the room. We begin immediately."
"Yes, Ma'am," you said simultaneously.
"Oh, Nazumi-San," Bella said, "Your butler dropped your things off here already, they should be in the corner."
You looked at the corner of the room, seeing a meal, and a small stack of clothes with your favorite tennis shoes and maroon headband on top.
You smiled. "Oh, thank you!"
Bella smiled at you.
You gathered the clothes and walked into the changing room.
.o0o.
Todoroki was left in the company of Bella while Nazumi went to get changed. He figured it couldn't take too long to get changed. What was taking you so long?
He held a sigh. He supposed he could wait just a little bit longer.
"Ah, here comes the bride," Bella said, almost sarcastically. Most likely for their benefit.
He looked up to the dressing room, seeing you walk out.
He almost gasped.
Your hair was freshly brushed and pulled back into a ponytail. You were wearing a sleeveless grey workout top tucked into your high-rise black leggings.
He had to force himself to look away.
"Is something wrong?" You asked sweetly.
He looked at you again. "N-Nothing," He stuttered, damnit, he stuttered, "I've just never seen you in casual clothes before. Forgive me if I seem strange."
"Oh," you said, almost as if you realized something. He caught you looking him over. "No need to apologize."
He nodded simply, catching another look at you as you stood a respectful distance away from him, facing the instructor. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught you fiddling with your shirt, tucking hair behind your ear. You avoided looking at him.
He never realized how beautiful you were.
"Alright," Bella said, drawing his attention away, "As you know, your fathers have hired me to teach you four traditional dances that will be taking place at the Gala at the beginning of next month. Now, we only have a few weeks to learn these, so we will be working very hard to learn these as quickly as possible."
Todoroki and you passed each other a short glance.
"Now," she continued after a moment, "do either of you have experience with dance?"
Todoroki shook his head. And when he looked to you expecting to see the same, he was surprised to see your hand, slightly and timidly raised.
"I do," you said.
"Oh, that's great! What kind of dance?"
He was shocked.
"Well…" you started, "Ballet, technically, but I do mostly figure skating."
"Wow, very, very nice," she said. "So that would mean that you understand the importance of timing of music and precision, I assume?"
He watched you smile. "Yes, that is correct."
"Well, then I'll ask you this; what timing of music would best fit a traditional waltz?"
"Wouldn't it be three fourths?"
"Correct! Wow, you're good at this. So, with that in mind, I've chosen four songs to learn choreography to, but your main dance will be to the Merry Go Round of Life from Howl's Moving Castle. All the songs have been cleared by both your parents, so no need to worry about them objecting to anything—I did all that. So, with that, I will dance through it with the music, then we'll start learning. Sound like a plan?"
He nodded, seeing you nod with him in affirmation.
She smiled. "Let's get started."
.o0o.
She requested her dance partner—a man named Eric—to join her as she started the music and began dancing.
Todoroki and you stood near the wall to avoid being hit by the dancers. He observed their steps—simple, but still complex in the timing with the music—as well as the synchronization between the partners. The relationship they seemed to have, the trust they had in one another…it was an art in and of itself.
This was one of the first times Todoroki was concerned about this upcoming event. With the Sports Festival, wedding planning, and everything else, how were they supposed to have this much…chemistry as their instructors did in such a short amount of time?
The man lifted Bella off the ground in the crescendo of the music, and the anxiety in his chest in turn seemed to crescendo.
I have to do that?
Well, shit.
He glanced over at his fiancée. You seemed to be observing the two dancers intently, watching their movements while simultaneously memorizing them and intending to practice them. He saw your hand moving—even swaying—with the music, with the dancer's movements.
He squinted, wracking his brain. Was it a tick? Or a form of memorization?
Did it matter?
He turned his attention back to the dancers who were completing their final steps. He watched the man gently grab her hand and bow in front of her as the song came to an end, then stood.
The music turned off.
He was trying not to be as nervous as he was. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous about this. It was just a dance. He's going to be a hero! He has much more nerve-wracking things to do in his career than dance with his...wife…
He swallowed.
Bella settled that in order to learn the dance, they would split with the two who knew the choreography. Hanae with the man-er, excuse him, Nazumi-and he would be with Bella.
For some reason, he didn't like the idea. But he had no reason to object, so he didn't.
She went through the basic movements and steps, having them practice them with her.
Over...and over...and over...and over...
And over…
He was a hero. He could handle repetition. He could handle muscle memory. He had...patience.
But did it really take this many turns to get the wheel going on its own, really?
But he kept quiet.
They practiced the greeting of the dance and the twirling and technicalities of the beginning of it. It seemed more traditional than a waltz in some ways, incorporating old Japanese-style moves into the dance as well. He recognized them from the tape his mother showed him a long time ago...of herself.
How free she was.
As he saw you dancing with the other person-one that knew what they were doing-in the way she moved, the way she stepped…
He couldn't help but think of….her.
His mom.
Of course, he didn't know enough about Nazumi, and he hadn't seen his mother in a very long time to really compare the two, but he imagined that they would at the very least get along. She was polite, his mother was cool-tempered, at least...most of the time.
She seemed gentle and understanding, so was his mother. He missed her.
You were both beautiful. It seemed to him you were insecure about your looks, about your attitude, the kinds of words and amount of words you spoke. Something in your life was telling you that you couldn't be yourself, and he simply wanted to shut it up under lock and key.
But perhaps it was too late. Perhaps too many years of pressure, of lessons, of skilled training and punishments, the true you isn't able to come out, even if he were to do something about the causes of it.
Perhaps...all he could do was steal glances into the small windows you allowed yourself when you thought no one was watching.
He brought his attention back to the dance, back to his partner and the lack of music as the woman had him practice simply the steps up to the lift he had been worried about.
And here it was.
"One two three, one two three, one, two...spin...and lift-!"
He panicked as he lifted her up, Bella giving a little kick-off for leverage.
He had no idea that Bella was made of pure muscle. Startled by the sudden weight, he slipped his grip on her.
Panicking further, he attempted to correct his mishap and get proper grip on her, but that only led to the two of them on the ground with a small yelp from both of them.
He thought he heard a laugh, and looked up at you with your partner. Eric's cheeks were puffy with the laugh he was trying to hold in, and you had your fist against your mouth, mirth filling your eyes. Your knees were slightly bent from shaking because you were laughing. You averted your gaze to try and maintain composure, but never quite reached 'perfection'
His cheeks warmed from embarrassment, but Bella recovered faster than he did.
"That's alright! That's alright. Tons of students are unprepared or aren't strong enough to pick up a girl on the first try. Or me, for that matter, haha. Well anyway, let's try again. After a water break."
She offered her hand to him to help him up, and he took it, once again surprised at her strength as she seemed to lift him with ease.
"Okay. Let's all get a drink and start up again."
The students nodded respectfully to their respective teachers (A/N: with respect) and took a step away to get a drink.
Todoroki still saw a small smile resting on your lips as you walked over to where the two of you placed your bags and water bottles.
Todoroki debated saying anything to you, especially after that show of humiliation he presented, but he decided to anyway.
"Enjoy the show?" He tried to keep his tone neutral, with an edge of playfulness so you didn't get the wrong idea or that he was condemning you for laughing at him. That was the last thing he was going to do.
You quickly looked up at him, seeing his sly expression and playfulness, seeming surprised at him for it.
You quickly composed yourself, matching his slyness.
You glanced at the two professionals conversing among themselves.
"I'm glad it wasn't me," you whispered, taking another sip of water.
His mouth twitched and he coughed to hide his chuckle as he did the same, hearing another small giggle next to him.
And there it was.
The window into the true you.
.o0o.
A/N: Happy Halloween for those who celebrate (because I don't) and for those who don't, well wishes to you and God be with you!