Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy, and please R&R!

"Pay attention, Dancer Girl," Akira told her sharply, cutting off the music. "Now try again."

Aya defiantly squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, resuming her position beside Tetusya as she struggled to keep her breathing at an easy level. Akira had been drilling them on the duet choreography for the past hour and—as always—apparently nothing she did was good enough in the Devil's eyes.

Aya took a deep breath, allowing her eyes to gently close. She could feel the sweat dotting across her forehead and neck and soaking her leotard. With a second deep breath, she let the tension in her body go, easing her body into a loose, invigorated state. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and glanced at Tetsuya. He caught her glance then gave a miniscule nod signaling he was ready, and she returned her gaze to the Devil standing only a few feet away.

"From the top," Akira signaled, clicking the sound system into life.

As the lulling pizzicato of the cello thrummed into existence, Aya focused on the movements of her body. The choreography wasn't all that complex, although it required a certain precision and attention to detail that she had been struggling to attain ever since she had first seen Diana Roberts perform. Because it was only their first day running through the piece, Aya was still working on making sure her body was generally in the correct position. Fleshing out the details would come later, once she was confident she wouldn't accidentally bump into Tetsuya by making a wrong move.

She did her best to let the music guide her movements, her arms and legs swept along by the melody in a counter-balancing act to Tetsuya's movements. She kept her breathing steady, her full breaths matching the slow pace of the song's opening sequence. And, paying keen attention this time, she managed to pull off the move she had previously fumbled without a hitch.

Here, things became more difficult. Honing in her concentration on which moves came next, Aya stepped forward, meeting Tetsuya's hands and beginning the first sequence where they moved in tandem as the main melody came to life. His large, steady hands closed around hers, and they stepped to the side, Aya bending in a move reminiscent of a plie before extending her left leg behind her and moving into the next position.

Aya felt herself relax as her body reflexively shifted from step to step. The time spent practicing last night and this afternoon was beginning to pay off, the flow of the dance slowly working its way into her muscle memory. She spun with Tetsuya before splitting away, ready too—

Stumbling, Aya realized she had missed her cue. From the corner of her eye she caught Akira frown as he leaned over toward the sound system, ready to turn the music off again. For a split second her mind froze, completely blank as she tried to recall which move came next. Then her left foot came down and her arms swept up into position. Her rhythm reestablished, Aya took another deep breath and allowed her body to continue along its path, her right foot sliding forward. Akira paused then stood back up, letting the music continue. Relieved, she quickly glanced at Tetsuya to see that he hadn't missed a beat. Their eyes met for a brief moment and he raised his eyebrows ever so slightly, his question clear: you good? Aya responded with a quick half smile: all good.

Then the dance pulled Tetsuya out of her line of sight, and Aya allowed her consciousness to be swept up by the music once more. The movement consumed her, both body and mind, guiding her throughout the duet.

Breathing deeply, her body met Tetsuya's and they came to rest in the final position, the music dying in the air around them. Aya held her position, her heart fluttering in relief. She had done it—finally she had made it straight through. She still had hours upon hours of practice lying before her, but at least she had managed to clear the first hurdle.

Akira nodded, and Aya and Tetsuya relaxed, rising from the final pose. Tetsuya caught her attention and shot her a huge grin, which Aya couldn't help but return giddily. After all of her hard work and the many disappointments, she was finally a solid and permanent member of COOL. She had finally reached what she had been aiming for, and it was exhilarating to come to the studio each day and know with such certainty in her heart that she loved what she was doing. After her ankle injury, she had been sure she would never again feel such peace when dancing. At least, not until she had seen Akira dance. And now that she finally had the chance to dance beside him….

Well, she wasn't quite dancing beside him. Aya couldn't help admitting—at least to herself—that she was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be performing the duet with Akira.

But she quickly scolded herself. After all, she still got to see Akira every day. And besides, Tetsuya and all of the other troupe members deserved a chance to shine, just like Tetsuya had said. She should stop being so selfish.

"Well, it's a start," Akira said flatly. Aya turned to see him frowning at her, brows creased, and her stomach immediately sank.

"Keep working on it, Dancer Girl," he told her sternly. "I want you to be focusing all of your energy on the details, so you need to get the rest of it down pat."

"I know that," she replied firmly. And she did know that. It was only their first official day practicing it after all.

Akira's frown deepened. "Knowing isn't good enough. I want you to have the basics down by tomorrow's session."

Aya felt her lips tighten, but she nodded. Akira was right, of course. But her stumbling wasn't for lack of trying. Hearing her own thoughts, Aya immediately stopped herself. Making excuses wouldn't help anything. Akira was right—she needed to get this down. If she wasn't up to par, she'd bring the whole rest of COOL down with her, especially Tetsuya during the duet. She would just have to work harder.

"Understood," she replied, meeting Akira's gaze head on. Akira nodded, then turned toward Tetsuya. He opened his mouth, then seemed to hesitate.

"You, too," Akira told him quickly, frowning. Then he glanced back at Aya. "I want both of you devoting as much time as possible to this number."

Aya nodded, feeling relieved that it was summer break. Getting this down was already going to be difficult. She was going to need the extra time off from school to practice.

Akira turned around, looking at the other troupe members who were beginning to warm up around the studio—Aya and Tetsuya had arrived early to work on their duet. "We'll start up in five minutes," he announced.

Thankful for the break, short though it was, Aya moved toward the benches in the back, Tetsuya following after her.

"He shouldn't have been so harsh on you," Tetsuya told her softly as they sat down beside each other.

Aya shrugged uncomfortably, hoping none of the other members could overhear. She didn't want anyone thinking she expected special treatment or that she was complaining. "Well, he's right," she told Tetsuya. "I'll just have to practice hard tonight to make sure I've ingrained it in my mind."

"But it hasn't even been 24 hours," Tetsuya replied, frowning at her. "His expectations are a little unreasonable."

Aya bit her lip, though she raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "That seems kind of silly coming from you, since you didn't make a single mistake today."

Her response seemed to take Tetsuya off guard, and he shrugged looking a touch embarrassed. "My dad's making me take extra classes over the break to prepare for med school," he explained. "I just want to make sure I'm devoting enough time to this duet since my schedule will probably get tighter as the summer goes on."

"Why would you volunteer for the duet if you were going to be so pressed for time?" Aya asked, awed by Tetsuya's dedication. It sounded like pure suicide to her.

"It's not really a big deal," Tetsuya said lightly, brushing her comment off. "I'll have a lot more time than I normally do during the school year, so it shouldn't be too tough. But I still want to make sure I don't get complacent."

"I don't know how you do it," Aya replied, shaking her head. "You're like a super human—great grades and a great dancer? I can barely manage being a dancer with COOL, and my grades are hopeless."

"That's not true!" Tetsuya said quickly. His conviction took Aya by surprise, and she blinked as he grabbed her hands. "You're a great dancer Aya—not just anyone could win the nationals, you know."

Aya smiled, giving Tetsuya's hands a squeeze in return. "Thanks, Tetsuya. I appreciate it."

"Alright, line up everyone!" Akira called. With a sigh, Aya stood. Now that she had sat down for a few minutes, her body was beginning to feel heavy from running the duet over and over. This double practice schedule was going to take a little getting used to. She took a drought from her water bottle and a deep breath, then headed over to her place on the floor.

"You know, if you're planning to practice tonight, I could join you," Tetsuya told her, taking up his position next to her.

"Won't you be busy with school work?" Aya asked, feeling guilty. She didn't want to take up even more of his time when he already sounded so busy.

"No, the class is only three times a week," Tetsuya replied. "And besides, I'll be practicing anyway. It'll probably be better for both of us if we practice together, right?"

"Then that would be great," Aya said, smiling once more. Tetsuya's willingness to help made her feel even guiltier—he was so dedicated, and here she was feeling down because she wasn't going to get to dance with Akira. She needed to stop being so selfish and be more appreciative to have such a good partner.

A/N: That's it for this chapter! If you're interested about some of the details/background behind stuff from this scene, feel free to keep reading, but it's definitely not necessary :D

First things first, the song they're dancing to is 2Cellos' cover of Sting's "Shape of My Heart." Originally I had the opening sequence of "Something Inside" from August Rush in mind—the cello solo at the beginning is just beautiful and I really adore it. Plus it had just the right amount of angst to it. But the rest of the song doesn't fit the duet quite well enough. It's a great song, but I wanted a more classical-sounding piece rather than the wailing vocals. I thought perhaps Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor (which is where the cello solo is from) might fit, but the rest of the concerto isn't quite as dramatic as the opening solo.

So then I struck out to find the perfect song—I knew I wanted it to have a cello, at least. And while searching I ran across 2Cellos. I had seen their cover of "Smooth Criminal" a while back but had forgotten about them. The first video I saw was their song "Thunderstuck," which is just… GAH. I adore it. I almost chose that song for the duet, but it doesn't quite fit the original dynamic I had in mind for the dance (although I could totally picture Akira choosing it for a normal COOL song, since it's very upbeat and seems to match COOL's strong style). But then I heard their "Shape of My Heart" cover and it all clicked into place. I think cellos are just beautiful (if I had the chance to learn to play any string instrument, I would choose cello instantly. I'm originally a pianist, by the way, although I haven't played in a few years). Anyway, that's how I decided on the song for their duet. As an added awesome bonus, it just happens that the song is a cello duet (kind of), which fits with the title of this fanfic. So it all just sort of fell into place :3

Oh, just be to clear, they're obviously not performing classical ballet, but rather the more modern dance style of COOL. However, I imagine this piece is a bit different than COOL's normal bill, since I envision COOL's usual dances to be rather fast paced and filled with a lot of vibrant life and high jumps (at least based on the portrayal in the manga). This song is obviously more slow and somber, but I also don't think it's quite like lyrical style dances (like what they perform on Dance Moms*). Instead, I think it's more like a slower version of COOL's style, however you wish to picture that in your mind. Although I am drawing on what little I know of classical ballet to describe some of the movements and positions, given that I have a very minor background in ballet (I danced for about 13 years, although it was mostly tap and jazz and just for fun—not professionally or anything). Plus, given Akira's ballet background, I get the feeling that he draws from the classical dance styles to inform his own style. And ESPECIALLY given that Aya's primary background is ballet, it would make sense that she would think of her new dance steps in terms of how they relate to the ballet positions she's already familiar with.

Anyway, as always, apparently I'm incapable of keeping my ramblings concise. (And wow, lots of assonance in that sentence.) But I hope you enjoyed it! Originally I had said I would try to keep my posts to every few days. Obviously that didn't happen this time around. I will try to keep it to a few days, but given how few views this story has gotten so far, I'm not going to pressure myself too much about it. But we'll see, I really liked this chapter more than the first, so hopefully that'll help motivate me.

(*Disclaimer: I do NOT watch Dance Moms, but I have seen dance performances from it. Just don't want anyone to have the wrong idea xD)