Sorry it's been so long... I had spelling bee (which I won! YAAY! ^^) AND SATs, so I was freaking out! O0 And I still have homework, but I can do that tomorrow… xP

Alright, here we go, I have no idea what will happen now, but okay! xD

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"Are you gonna stay for practice?" I asked as we walked to the institute. My mother had wanted me to continue tango lessons here, and Ryoma had offered to walk me there. At first, I pushed away the idea of exercise, but as the warm-colored leaves floated and swirled around playfully around us, it felt so much better.

My iPod continued playing.

Adam Lambert – Time for Miracles

"Uh, no, not really." He laughed.

"Do you have tennis?"

"Nope." He smiled widely. I had felt as if he had suddenly gotten… lighter. Happier. I really didn't know, but… I liked it.

"Then stay!" I nudged him and pulled him by the jacket.

"Naw, I'm fine…"

"Just watch?" I pouted, stopping in my steps.

"Oh, fine." He chuckled as he rolled his eyes. Those last days, I had started noticing how beautiful his smile really was. It crooked up on the left side, giving him a bit of a child-who-did-something-wrong kind of look.

I hung my left arm on his neck, and was surprised to see him return the gesture by wrapping my waist. The moment he suddenly looked solemn was when my iPod shuffled.

Better Days – Tim Urban

"Are you okay?" I asked, staring into his cat-like eyes.

"You know," he began openly. "After I shared that with you… I don't know… I mean, ever since I found out, unfortunately, through another source… I kind of closed myself up… but now, you're really helping me get over this… not completely, but…"

I smiled at him, because, for the first time, our friendship had gotten much deeper.

"Thank you." I replied. "It's because of you that I learned to be a good friend."

We both chuckled at the thought and proceeded upstairs.

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The days floated by easily. I'd pick up Ryoma a few blocks from his school after tennis and we would talk and laugh along the whole way, sometimes stopping by to sit at a park. He would watch my tango lessons, and we'd continuously smile at each other and joke around. We were in different schools, but we helped each other with homework. And everything was perfect.

Until I made one stupid, stupid decision.

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"Demi, could you stay for awhile?" my thin tango teacher called out as the rest of the students exited the room casually.

"Sure!" I exclaimed. Ryoma leaned against the door, looking at me with his head tilted, which was extremely cute.

"I do know that you really have potential for the Nationals," she began happily.

"Oh, of course not…" I denied, taking her comment as flattery.

"No, Demi, please, listen." She continued seriously. "Unfortunately, we cannot sign you up without a partner."

"Yes, I know." I began. "But I told you, I'll get a partner soon."

"No, Demi." She said quietly, staring deeply into my eyes. "There is no more time. He wouldn't be able to learn. If you want to pull this off, you will really need to get someone who already knows the dances." She discretely glanced over at Ryoma, who was casually looking around.

"Ryoma!" I whispered in shock. "He would never dance, miss!"

"But he-"

"How about this." I suggested. "We dance together temporarily, and I get a partner. Then he watches our dances, learns them, and then we go to the Nationals together. Easy. Simple."

"Demi, but if he doesn't learn-" the teacher continued.

"Then he will come with me!" I completed nervously. "But it's worth a shot!" She stared into my pleading eyes for a few seconds and then muttered a "why not?", only to then walk away, leaving only my happiness to blossom.

"Ryoma," I walked up to him. "We… I… well… there's a problem."

"What is it?" he asked, as he stood up straight and began making his way out.

"Well…"I began, following him. "Um, for the Nationals, I was going to get a partner…"

"Yeah."

"And it would be a bit hard for him to learn the dances…"

"Mm-hm."

"So I would show him the steps with someone who knows the dances." I completed nervously, biting my lip, as we both stopped in our steps and stared at each other. I was trying to find something – anything – in his stare that would reveal his sentiments. Yet, nothing did I find but the deepness of their color.

"Temporarily?"

"Of course." I blurted out quickly.

"Fine." He said calmly. "But only for the meanwhile." He walked in front of me, and I silently cheered and clapped. I wouldn't be cheering at the Nationals, though.

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At first, Ryoma only watched the lessons, either with an expression of deep concentration on the dances or deep meditation about his choice.

And soon, we were doing quite simple steps, and over and over had he made me promise that this wouldn't be discussed. On these last days, he also seemed much more… serious. As if I had done something to ruin his life.

"It's just 'cause I didn't really sign up for this…" would be his most common excuse, and it succeeded at keeping me from snapping back.

One night, as we both returned home and I set up my mattress, Ryoma (as unusual, for this only had started happening when I had asked for his help) had abruptly turned off the lights and turned his back to me. I had felt a deep discomfort, and decided to speak up.

"Echizen?" my voice came out weakly, finding this reference quite strange. The room remained deadly silent. "Are you there?"

"Hai." He half barked, only to confirm his presence.

"I… I've been feeling that…" I continued, discouraged to move on, yet feeling obliged to. "That you're mad at me… mad at me for, well, making you do the tango thing with me and all, and… you really don't have to… if you want, you can just quit…" Silence. "And, well, I just don't want you to be mad at me…" Silence. "Are you there?"

"Hai." Came his weary voice.

"Then… what do you think about it?"

He sighed in deep annoyance and continued.

"I'm not mad at you, I don't want to quit. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"What do you mean, R… Echizen?"

"What I mean is, if you pick the wrong guy."

"Ry… Echizen… I'm not getting married. It's a tango competition."

"I don't think this is safe for you in the first place…"

"Why are you talking about safety, Ryoma? This has nothing to do with-"

"You know what? Maybe you should just quit anyways…"

"Ryoma, what are you talking about? What would you say if I told you to quit tennis?"

"I'm not telling you to quit… It's as if you were telling me to change teams, or something…"

"Well, you wouldn't!"

"Unless SeiGaku was harming me…"

"Ryoma, you're speaking nonsense!"

"But this whole comp-"

"You know what? Good night. I don't want to talk about this anymore. You're just acting strange."

We both pulled up our covers in a huff and stared at the ceiling, unable to look at each other's faces.

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Okay, no good ideas for this part, but it's because all my GREAT ideas are all about the future chappies! So just be a little patient while the plot is written ! ^^

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