AN: For clarity's sake, I will refer to Kurama as Kurama except when Himeko is speaking directly to him. Referring to him as two people off and on gets way too confusing, way too fast. And thanks to all my lovely reviewers. If I had known humor would get me lots of praise, I'd have tried it sooner!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I have kidnapped Yusuke and am holding him for a ransom of a Puu plushie!
"Proper Steps"
Taking a deep, calming breath, Hiei glared at the girl who knelt next to his feet, placing them in the proper position for what had to be the eightieth time in twenty minutes. It would not do to set her on fire, like he so dearly wanted to. Or to chop her into bitty bits...not that he could, since Kurama had practically ripped the katana from his hands as they left Reikai. And he couldn't yell at her, or she'd probably cry and then Keiko would come after him. Shuddering, he focused his attention on her and tried to actually listen to what she was saying.
Though he was a master fighter and a powerful demon, she was a dancer, and she knew what she was talking about. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.
Finally, she rocked back on her heels and stood gracefully, going over to the wall. Yusuke snickered behind one hand and grinned at Hiei, who merely glared death in his direction. Too bad looks couldn't kill...not that death seemed to affect the other Reikai Tantei.
Slowly, Himeko began to go through the beginning movements with them all. She did it slowly so they could watch and copy her, but she almost groaned aloud when both Kuwabara and Botan tripped on each other's feet and went sprawling, the former into Kurama, who was actually doing rather decently, and the latter into Hiei, who had managed to make his feet do what they were supposed to.
"I'm sorry!" Botan squealed. "I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault!"
"Hey, are you saying it was my fault?" Kuwabara demanded heatedly, still sprawled on the floor on top of Kurama.
"That seems to be obvious, baka," Hiei sneered.
"Watch it, shorty!" Kuwabara bellowed, scrambling to his feet and offering a hand up to the somewhat squished Kurama.
Sighing, Himeko jumped into it, helping Botan straighten herself out and watching Hiei replace his feet under him. The grim reaper smiled and bounced back to her place in line. Kuwabara looked at her, confused, and shrugged.
"Are we starting at the beginning?"
"Yes," she smiled, managing, barely, to keep from grimacing. "Just put your feet in the starting position...though you may want to spread out a bit to avoid a recurrence of that...most graceful fall." Even Kuwabara knew she was teasing, so after a laugh, they went back to practicing. The entire group made it through the warm-up without any more mishaps, so Himeko, glancing at the clock, declared them ready to split up into partners and learning how to dance in pairs. Immediately, everyone rushed to pick their own pairs, adding a moment of levity to the situation when, finished dividing themselves, the pairs were extremely messed up. "I'm afraid I'll have to fix this a bit," she said, slightly apologetic. "Yusuke and Keiko is all right; so are you two," she added, indicating Kurama and Shizuru. "But...since none of you know exactly how to dance...um, Kazuma-san, I'm going to pair you with Botan, and ask Yukina to dance with Hiei. The height differences are too great, if you expect to learn fast. You can complicate things for yourself later with height differences." Looking ready to protest, Kuwabara shut up when Keiko kicked his shin and glared.
Botan and Yukina switched places and Himeko nodded thoughtfully. "Do any of you know how to waltz?"
Choking on air, Yusuke coughed loudly. "Waltz? Like...ballroom dancing?"
"Exactly like," she replied. "That is another name for it."
"I know a little," Kurama spoke up. Shizuru shrugged, shaking her head.
"All right...um..." She wrinkled her forehead and looked at them all in general. "Okay. First, face your partners. Good. Ladies, place your right hand on your partner's shoulder." She waited until they had complied. "Guys, your left hand will go on your partner's waist. Okay, now, clasp you free hands out to the side." They looked more or less like accomplished dancers right then, for a split second. Then Himeko snickered. "Kazuma-san, Botan-san, the point is to dance as a pair. I'm sorry I had to reshift you, but you won't dance well at arms' length." Everyone looked at the pair, who now looked like they were trying to dance with an invisible hoola hoop between them.
Flushing, they stepped closer to each other. "All right. The waltz is a simple enough dance. We're going to use a basic box step with none of the usual flourishes. Okay? Watch me, and the placement of my feet. I'm going to do the placement for guys first. Here, forward with your right foot, close it with the left, to the right, close it, back right, close left. Step left, close right. Only the last step is led with the left foot, all right?" The boys nodded vaguely. "Girls, yours is different. Back left, close right. Step left, close right, Step forward left, close right, step right, close left. Think you've got it?" Tentative nods were her answer. "Ready to try it together?"
She clapped her hands in the general beat and started counting for them, "Step, close, step, close, step, close..." It took ten seconds for her dancers to make one wrong step, and chaos erupted as Kuwabara and Botan tripped for the second time, Yusuke stomped on Keiko's foot, and Hiei's steps were just a trifle bigger than the pretty koorime's, and he ended up dragging her around. Only Shizuru and Kurama had managed to make a full square.
"Okay...maybe we should try this a little slower," she giggled, trying hard to stop. Hiei shot her a death glare that, miraculously, missed her completely.
"Maybe this is a waste of time!" he growled.
Completely unfazed, she lifted one eyebrow and motioned to the door. "You know where the door is, then, Hiei-san. If I'm wasting your time, I apologize and respectfully request you leave my studio so I can avoid wasting the time of the others." Everyone stared at the two of them, locked in a glaring contest.
It was Yukina who solved the problem. She placed a gentle hand on the fire apparition's arm. "Won't you stay, Hiei-sama?" she asked. "I'm having so much fun, and if you leave, I won't have a partner." Red eyes met red, and Hiei sighed, nodding. He crossed his arms over his chest and silently dared any of them to comment on how easily Yukina had stopped the argument cold.
No one rose to the challenge. "So, if we could get back to the waltz," Himeko said, eyeing the pair thoughtfully.
AN: Apologies to any waltz enthusiasts. I was using my brother as a model, and he hasn't got a clue...so! Hope you liked it! You know what to do next! I'll say...two reviews per chapter should do for now...though I'd like more...(hinthint)