It's been about a week since then, and things have gotten calmer and crazier at the same time. Fakir's been helping her catch up when she's forced to stay after classes, and even if it's taking longer and only a tiny bit (not that he's surprised with her professors letting her fall through the cracks instead of helping her – yes, he's bitter), he can see that she's improving and makes sure to tell her so (the right way this time). That alone is enough to make her grin, and he can't help but smile softly, too, mostly when she's not looking. Honestly… She's such a simple thing.

Their living arrangements have gotten better, too. They don't fight anymore, at least not much, something they and their neighbors all appreciate. He still makes her food (she survives almost solely on bread and managed to burn water their first week together – friends now or not, there's no way he's letting her cook), but now they eat together when they have time, sometimes in companionable silence, sometimes talking about their classes or different techniques they can try during practice or how Mytho and Rue are doing. That carries over while he washes and she dries the dishes. It's nice and fun and domestic (though they both blush heatedly when that word crosses their minds).

Things are better.

Today, Ahiru's beginning class is going to be getting a look at the advanced class to see what they can do – hopefully, what they'll be able to do someday if they work hard enough (or that's what Cat-sensei says, at least…usually while looking disappointedly at Ahiru…). Ahiru brightens at the news. That means she'll get to see Mytho, Rue, and Fakir, all at once, and see them dance! How lucky!

Their classroom doors open, and the advanced class strolls in, beautiful and handsome and mesmerizing. After introductions, mostly for formality's sake, they start their dance right away, and none of the younger students can look away. Ahiru figured she'd want to see Mytho dance the most, maybe with Rue since they're so good together, but she finds herself drawn to Fakir instead, and she can't take her eyes off him. His movements are precise and controlled, definitely gorgeous, his face stoic, as always, but…there's emotion hidden there, too, just beneath the surface, that's helping to drive him. She wonders if the others notice or if it's just because they're roommates and they've been practicing together that she can see it. She can't quite put a name to the emotions she sees, too fleeting and complicated, but when he catches her eye, she feels caught for some reason and looks away quickly. Are her ears burning or is that just her imagination? She's pretty sure she hears Pique snickering and a conspiratorial Lilie 'ooh'ing around her. Great…

Fakir, for his part, nearly stumbles at the look, but catches himself and forces himself to focus on the dance. What the hell? This isn't like him. So Ahiru was watching him, so what? That's what she's supposed to be doing. Why would that (almost literally) trip him up so much? He's never cared about who was watching him before. Why is his heart beating so quickly and why does his face feel so warm outside the exertion? Is he…embarrassed? Shy? It's true that he figured she'd watch Mytho and Rue instead, given how she used to (does?) feel about him, but why would her shift make him so flustered? She's watched him dance so many times during practice. None of this makes any sense…

Their dance is over before he can blink, and after a healthy amount of applause, including from a still-slightly-flushed, but shyly-smiling Ahiru, Cat-sensei claps his hands. "All right, and now, my class will show you what they can do!"

"Qua-?!" Ahiru cuts herself off, slapping her hands over her mouth. Her classmates chatter excitedly around her.

"We are?!"

"Oh, wow!"

"Finally!"

"I didn't think we'd get to show off for another few months, at least! Maybe till next year!"

"In front of Prince Mytho, too! And Fakir!"

"And Rue! She's so pretty and talented!"

"This is the best day of my life!"

Cat-sensei claps his hands again, a little louder this time. "All right, all right, that's enough!" The noise dies down, and he motions for them to stand. "I know you're excited for this surprise, but if you want to show off your skills, you need to get up! Up, front and center, everyone!"

They do as they're told, Ahiru purposely trailing behind so she can take deep breaths and try not to panic. She's always wanted this, sure, at least in a way, but she thought it would be later, more toward the end of the year, when she was at least a little better! She doesn't think she's ready! There's no way! She'll totally fall or trip or accidentally do it to someone else! She'll be a total laughing stock—!

A hand appears on her shoulder out of nowhere, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she blinks. Following it, she sees it's Fakir, and her eyes widen. He's never…touched her before…not like this, anyway. Her heart speeds up, and she can feel her cheeks heating up slightly. "F-Fakir…?"

"Remember our practice, and do your best. Pretend we're not here." A tiny, almost subconscious smile comes to his face, and his hand slips to his pocket. "You'll be fine."

She blinks again and then grins, feeling better already. She never thought he'd do something like this for her, at least not so early into their friendship, but he did say he'd be helping her from now on, so maybe this is part of that. Pumping her fists, she nods determinedly. "R-right! Thank you!"

He watches her hurry to get in position with the others, her happy face stuck in his mind as he goes to sit with Mytho and Rue. He swears his face is warm again, and he catches the other two eyeing him like they know something he doesn't, a respective smile and smirk on their faces. He ignores them and looks ahead to watch as the beginning class starts.

For their level, each student differing in places, they do very well. There's a very tall, muscular girl who clearly knows what she's doing, but she's too robotic and fierce and angry, almost competitive. The last three aren't necessarily bad, but when paired with the first, it can make or break the dance, and for her, Fakir can already see it's the latter. He can also tell that it's something she's working through, though, and he's vaguely intrigued enough to see what she'll do once she's past it. She could be in the advanced class rather easily then.

The others are mostly average, some falling higher or lower on the bar than others. A lot of them are trying way too hard, not that he's really surprised. They want to make a good impression. Still, he wonders if they realize they'd make a better one if they danced like they're not there, like he told Ahiru to do.

Speaking of Ahiru, his attention quickly leaves the others to find her, and he has to stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief. Good. She is listening. She's still shaky and unbalanced and her movements are far from pretty, but it's still better than she was last week, and he can't help but feel a jab of pride when Pique and Lilie and a few others look over at her like she's sprouted another head. He'll take it.

All the same, he grimaces and clenches a fist to keep himself from standing when, at the very end, Ahiru's foot catches on the back of her ankle and she crashes to the floor with a startled cry.

Her classmates laugh and his do, too, minus him and Mytho and Rue, the upperclassmen girls snickering, and Cat-sensei only sighs before clapping his hands again. "Thank you, beginning class! That was very good!" The 'most of you' is left unsaid, but a red-faced Ahiru still winces in picking herself up from the floor and hurrying to sit in the far back, knees drawn to her chest and looking away from everyone. She blinks back the tears that prick her eyes, sniffling quietly. It's already bad enough. She won't make it worse by crying in front of everyone.

The rest of the class is a free period for the classes to interact, and Fakir is just getting up to go make sure Ahiru didn't hurt herself when he hears it.

"Did you see that duck girl's performance?" one of his classmates says to her friends, laughing rather shrilly, if Fakir does say so himself.

The other girls laugh and snigger, too. "Are you kidding? How could you miss it? She's the worst dancer in the whole school!"

The first girl, Melody, waves her hand like she's about to share the latest gossip. "Oh, it's worse than that! She's the worst dancer I've ever seen! I don't know why she even bothers! She has zero talent!"

Clenching a fist, Fakir's had enough. "Yes, and you'd be the authority on that, wouldn't you, Melody?" His quiet, yet sharp voice manages to cut through the others' chatter, and everyone turns to look at them, not that Fakir cares.

Melody blinks, caught off guard, before she smirks, tilting her chin up like she's something special. "Well, I am in the advanced class alongside you, Fakir."

Oh. He gets it now. He's one of the best dancers the school has (not bragging, just repeating scores), and since she's in his class, she thinks she's got a leg to stand on, huh?

Well, now he almost feels bad for her.

Almost.

"Dancing alongside me doesn't mean we're on the same level. According to our scores, you still have a long way to go." Melody and her friends gasp, a hand flying to her chest. Fakir isn't fazed. He's just stating facts, after all. "For that matter, dancing below us doesn't make anyone less than we are either. We all started out here, too, if you'll recall. Ahiru may not be great now, but she does have potential and talent." He smirks. "Something you'd know if you really were looking down from where I am." Again, just telling the truth.

Melody narrows her eyes and growls. "That's rich, coming from the guy who always put her down before! Why are you defending her all of a sudden anyway?" Fakir's smirk falls, a dark frown sweeping in. It's true, fair, but it still hurts. God, he really does suck at communicating. That's not what he meant…! "And what was with that little encouragement before?" She sneers. Fakir never really noticed how ugly she was before. The ink of personality stains the cover, he supposes. "You don't smile! You never smile!"

That's not true – or at least, not entirely. He's smiled a few times lately, thanks to Ahiru. Not that they need to know that. Not that it's anyone's business but their own. He growls slightly in the back of his throat, glares a little more. "I was wrong, and I'm changing." Stopping himself before he can say more, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, standing tall. He doesn't need to explain anything to these people. His brother and Rue are the exceptions, of course, but they already know at least part of what's going on. His eyes are steely in finding Melody's once more. "Talk about Ahiru like that again, and we will have a problem."

Declaring class over for himself for the day, he turns on his heel and storms from the room, Melody and all the other students watching after him, sensei, too. Their gazes fall on Ahiru next, who'd been watching the entire thing speechless and red-faced, and she only blushes further at their stares before remembering herself. Shooting up and tripping over her feet on the way, she bolts for the doors. After what he did for her, she can't just let him go like that! "Sorry, sensei! See you after class!"

She can hear him calling after her, but she's already gone, and she has no intention of stopping. Not until she's found him.

Luckily, she doesn't have to go very far. He's only made it most of the way down the empty hallway, bright sunlight streaming through the half-open double doors at the end.

"Ah—Fakir!" He stops in his tracks. Too nervous to turn around to face her after all that, he turns his head toward her the slightest bit so she knows he's listening. She's nervous, too, so she squirms, but she calls on her courage to come closer, just to his left, and offer a tiny, shy smile. "Um...t-thank you!" Realizing how silly that probably sounds, she hurries to clarify, "F-for, um, back there, I mean! Defending me like that! It was...well, surprising, but really nice, too!"

She smiles brightly, and Fakir does a double take when he sees it. She's never looked at him like that before. What's with his face heating up and his heart beating quicker all of a sudden? Why is he thinking that she looks pretty like that? Why does he want to see her do it more?

He surprises himself by huffing a laugh, letting a small smile grace his lips in turn – one he lets her see (her eyes widen, and she's pretty sure her heart does flip flops, though she doesn't understand why) – and reaching out to flick at the little hair tuft that always sticks up at the top of her head. He's never...done that before... Although, he supposes, with their friendship just starting, there will be a lot of 'firsts' incoming. "Yeah, well…the only one here allowed to mess with you is me. Anybody else tries, and I want to know about it." He fixes her with a gaze that might be considered...protective if she saw it coming from anyone else, but...there's no way Fakir...right...? "Tell me if anyone else says anything like that to or about you. Got it?"

She blinks, shocked and happy and awed and so many other things that she doesn't even know how to name them, and then realizes he's still waiting for an answer. Snapping out of it, she nods. "R-right! Got it!"

Sighing a bit in relief at all this being done, she hesitates a moment before, feeling bold, reaching out to flick one of his unruly bangs away from his forehead. Sticking her tongue out playfully at how caught off guard he looks, she suddenly runs a few steps ahead, reaching back to grab his hand and pull him along. He yelps, startled. "Come with me! As thanks, I'll show you one of my favorite spots in town!"

It ends up being the ice cream shop (because of course it does), and technically, according to their program's dietary regimen, they're not really supposed to have that, but she knows Fakir sticks to it like glue, and she can always work it off with the run back to school, so... "Just trust me! It'll be fun!"

And lo and behold, it is. They don't make it (read: sneak) back to their dorm until well after curfew.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Any feedback is much appreciated! Thanks so much for reading!