Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.
"And one, two, three. One, two, three. Feather light steps, ladies and gentlemen; nobody wants to dance with an elephant. And don't break the rhythm. One, two – No, no, no! Karin-chan, please refrain from stomping on Jinta-kun's foot."
"The bastard was trying to grope me!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Kurosaki. You're just pissed that my team beat yours in soccer."
"You didn't win – you cheated!"
"How the hell did we cheat! The score was five to four. Get over it – ow!"
She smirks, satisfaction in her eyes as her dance partner pulls his hands away and grabs his foot instead, hopping on the spot she had stomped on as his face twists in pain and turns red.
"Karin-chan! When you are in my classroom, you are expected to act like a lady, and ladies do not attempt to cause bodily harm to gentlemen. Now, please apologize to Jinta-kun so we may continue our lesson."
"But, Nanao-sensei!"
Her teacher eyes her crisply, her arms crossed expectantly. There is a glare shining off of her glasses, making her appear scarier. But the most frightening moment is when Karin catches sight of her hand twitch and move upwards towards her face, obviously in an attempt to remove the corrective lenses placed upon her nose.
"I'm very sorry, Jinta!"she says hastily and out of breath. Nanao smiles in approval before turning away, and she takes this chance to saunter over to the smug redhead and whisper dangerously in his ear, "This isn't over."
With her own smug smirk at the fearful expression on his face, she nudges him away with her hip and follows Nanao-sensei to the center of the classroom.
"I think it would be best for the class if Karin-chan and Jinta-kun take a break from one another. Hanatarou, will you please switch partners with Jinta-kun?"
The trembling boy gulps several times, obviously displeased with the idea. But he is too cowardly to refuse with both Nanao-sensei and Karin appraising him impatiently, and so he surrenders his own shy and silent dance partner and slides over to the hotheaded girl, his eyes wide with fright. She grimaces at him, having known for a very long time that the small boy is frightened by her hostile personality and short temper.
But there's one person she can always count on to be accepting of her nature. In fact, she gets the feeling he looks forward to her visits even more than she does, though he's always as icy as possible and so damn formal.
Her new friend is fascinating to her; they spend their time with her asking questions and him answering to the best of his abilities. Sometimes he seems uncomfortable, and she pushes as far as she thinks she can before deciding to drop the matter he obviously does not want to discuss, even though it irks her to know he is keeping secrets yet have no choice but to ignore it. They make time for a game of soccer sometimes, however. He is getting better, having finally scored one goal against her a long time ago.
"Looks like you're finally a man now, Toush," she had said, chuckling at the glee on his face as he had stared at the ball, and then his feet, and then the ball once again, in awe.
But he is nowhere near winning. She takes too much pride in the effort she has put into excelling at the sport and convincing the other boys of her village she is worthy of their time to ever let him win. No matter how adorable it is when he seems smug about a goal that only scored because he kicked it in a totally random direction accidentally, causing it to bounce off of a tree and into the goal she is protecting.
"One of these days," she had told him, "I'll take you to one of my soccer games in the village. It'll be fun; the boys love having someone new to play with."
"And just how are you going to explain a random stranger no one has ever seen before showing up in your village?"
"Oh, I'll think of something. I can be creative when I have to be."
"Somehow, I doubt that is going to end well for me."
She had only punched his arm playfully, sticking her tongue out at his smirk.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Nanao-sensei suddenly pulls her out of her thoughts by clapping her hands for attention. "Today's class is over. You all did...splendidly." They can see her fumble over the compliment because they know they had been anything but. With a weary sigh, she continues, "We've all improved greatly from the beginning of the year. If we keep heading down this road, we'll be in perfect shape for the festival."
Everyone breaks off into excited whispers at the reminder, squealing or laughing at their chance to shine, except for Karin, who scowls angrily. She had almost forgotten the reason for all of this extra practice and trouble.
"Okay, settle down," their teacher says, though she is smiling at their excitement. "Next week we will be doing our costume fittings and holding our rehearsals. Until then, remember that you need to find a partner and practice! So, I'll see you all here tomorrow morning, bright and early. Good-bye."
The schoolhouse's door bursts open and all the children rush out at once. In their glee at finally being free for the day, the boys even forget that they are expected to politely hold the doors open for the ladies and let them go first. Instead, they push their way out ahead of them, and Karin hears their teacher sigh in exasperation from behind as she strides out lazily at the end.
"Hey, Kurosaki," Jinta calls over with a sneer on his face. She tries to ignore him, tucking her hands in her pocket, but he catches up with a slow jog. "Where're you gonna find a date?" he taunts. "I mean, who'd wanna go out with you?"
She picks up her pace, trying to lose him, but he keeps up, so finally, she swings around and sends him a sharp glare.
"Watch it, Jinta," she growls. "You know my sister would never date anyone I didn't approve of, and if you keep pissing me off, it won't be that hard to give you a less than perfect evaluation." No need to mention that she and her family have had a rather touchy relationship for the past few days. At least he gulps and backs off.
"And who I bring as a date is none of your business," she goes on, swerving back around to continue on her path.
He blinks, intercepting her path. "You mean you already have one?" he asks, disbelieving, and she glowers at him again.
"Like I said: None of your business." Shoving him aside with her shoulder, she strides away.
.. ღ ..
"I'm here, Toush," she calls out to the clearing as she bounds into it that same afternoon. Looking left and right eagerly, she spots him relaxing by the lake and rushes over, beaming.
"Good afternoon, Miss Karin," he retorts politely, as always. "I trust your day went well?"
"Fine," she answers back softly, so he knows it hadn't. Rather than ask her, though, he simply gazes out at the river, letting the sound of the small ripples wash over them as she stands behind him. Finally, she calms down. "Hey, Toushiro?" she speaks up in a small voice.
"Hmm?"
"Do dragons have to put up with this etiquette crap?"
He can hear the bitterness laced in her tone and chuckles. "Of course. In fact, you think you have it bad, but dragons hold such high values in manners that there are rules and regulations for everything. Everyone is expected to learn them." He pauses for a moment, in thought, before smirking. "Though I suppose many of the female dragons are significantly more...enthusiastic than you are."
"That sucks," she says in disgust. "All the rules, I mean."
"They are even worse if you're a noble," he tells her pointedly.
"You have nobles?" she asks incredulously, blinking down at him.
"Yes. Even dragons have a hierarchy. There are four noble families – one for each element. The Kuchiki family is the most well-known among our kind, but most likely because they are so involved in the councils. The other noble families prefer to keep to themselves."
"That's kind of like our village," she observes. "Though we don't have noble families. We just have the wealthiest families that live in the city."
"The city?" he asks curiously.
She grins widely. "Yeah, the city! I went there once. It took a whole day of travel, but it was awesome. The city is huge!" To emphasize her point, she pulls her hands out of her pockets and throws them in the air. "There are all these shops and big buildings. And the people are so strange. Actually," she says proudly, "I got my soccer ball from the city. It cost me a month's allowance since everything there is so expensive, but all the boys in my village were so jealous."
"It sounds wonderful," he breathes out, mystified by the idea of such a big place. He's only ever been in his childhood home and his current one. Of course, the central city, where all the council members live, is known to be enormous, but he's never been there. He and Momo had only ever gazed at it in awe when younger, since they'd had a view of it from their dwelling.
She nods eagerly. "It is. I hope I can take you sometime. They have all these cool sword displays from legendary heroes. And there's a watermelon farm there. I'll invite you if I ever get to go again."
"That sounds lovely," he replies in a soft voice, and his lips twitch up at idea. Perhaps he would even get to see this bazaar Matsumoto is always raving about. She lives in one of these cities, after all, and he's sure that's why she has such eccentric and expensive tendencies.
She lapses off into silence, lost in her exciting memories, and he kicks the water a few times, enjoying the coolness. Finally, deciding they've stalled enough, he decides to pursue the topic of her problem.
Twisting his neck to look back at her, he casually asks, "How were your classes?"
With a sniff, she replies carefully, "Fine."
He sends her a stern look. "Miss Karin."
She makes a face. "Worse than usual," she complains. "Of course Jinta was being an ass since we got partnered up." He'd learned of her rivalry with a boy from her village during one of their soccer games, when she'd explained that all the practicing was to beat his team. "And I messed up twice," she piles on. "And my feet hurt. And I don't want to do this anymore!"
He smirks at her rant, having heard it many times before. He'd been fascinated by the first time, but now he's well aware of all the issues she has with femininity.
"Well, did you practice like you were assigned to?" he asks her sternly.
She rolls her eyes. "Who are you, my teacher?" she drawls. When he only raises an eyebrow, she glares at him, red in the face and flustered. "Okay, I didn't, all right? I had too many other things to do. Kami, get off my back."
He smirks, having expected the answer. "If you don't practice, of course it'll seem worse," he tells her pointedly.
She smacks his head from behind. "Well, that isn't why today was worse than usual, for your information," she defends herself. "Actually, we've been having too many extra practices and lessons. The Starlight Festival is coming up soon, so of course Nanao-sensei is breathing down our necks even more than usual."
"Festival?" he asks in wonder, his forehead wrinkling as he tries to remember whether he has ever heard of such an event happening at this time of year. Of course, since he's never interacted with humans before, he only draws a blank.
"Yeah, festival," she replies casually, finally settling down beside him and crossing her legs. "What? Dragons don't have festivals?"
He shakes his head. "Oh, no. We do. I just simply wondered what human ones are like."
"Boring as Hell and stuffy as a turkey," is her irritated review. "Every year, the girls have to dress up in frilly dresses and the men in formal wear. You know, collared shirts and ascots and clean hair. It's mandatory since it's tradition."
He listens in fascination. "Dragon festivals are quite different, then," he tells her. "It is the one annual event that is not formal. My sister always enjoyed it, for she could finally wear her new clothes of her choosing rather than a required uniform."
"Lucky," she breathes, clicking her tongue. "Wish we got to pick." Suddenly, her nose scrunches up. "And it's even worse if you're taking my classes. It's another tradition that the students have to give a dance at the town square at midnight, just because some dumb ass legend says so."
"...Legend?" he asks, inclining his head in curiosity.
There's a pregnant pause before her face turns beet red, and she huffs in embarrassment and swats his arm, refusing to look at him.
"Anyway," she goes on in a higher pitched voice, "tell me about your festivals. They've got to be helluva lot more interesting."
He disagrees, but launches into an explanation anyway, because it's what she wants to know. He simply files away her reaction for a later time, when it's safe to ask again, and launches into tales of assorted stalls and gourmet food and rambunctious laughter and happy memories. She listens intently to everything, looking excited by everything. He can never quite get over the look of wonder that passes over her eyes as she learns something new about him and his kind. Usually she looks impressed, which is always a great stroke to his ego, even if she probably wouldn't allow it if she realized what it did to him.
"That sounds cool," she breathes, cutting off his description of booming fireworks. "I mean, we have booths and stuff too, but it's not like we have any fun dragon powers to make them more interesting. It's mostly just food."
"That sounds interesting to me," he replies shrugging. "I have never tasted much human food before."
There's silence as she narrows her eyes at him in bemusement, gazing at him critically as if trying to figure out whether he means it. And then...
"...You wanna go?" she offers, raising her eyebrows.
He gapes at her. "What? You mean, to your village? To your festival?"
She shrugs. "Sure. We have lots of people from other towns come too, you know." Under her breath, she grumbles, "Probably because of that stupid legend." Shrugging again, she assures him, "We could probably sneak you in and no one would realize that you're not, you know...human."
"I don't know..." It could be risky, and he could get discovered. That's partly the reason he tries to stay away from humans. A large gathering might not be a smart idea, especially with his foreign quirks that Karin is always laughing about. When he bites his bottom lip, unsure of her idea, she suddenly ghosts her hand over his. His breath catches in his throat as he gazes down at it before flickering her eyes up to her. She smiles encouragingly.
"What do you say, Toushiro?" she asks in a low voice. "Will you be my date for the festival?"
A date? As in an intimate partner to spend all of her time with? He's never been anyone's date before.
"I...of course," he finally murmurs back, turning red in mortification.
She smirks mischievously. "Great!" she exclaims, slapping his thigh. "Then that means you'll have to be my partner for the Starlight Dance at midnight! We'd better get practicing soon. I mean, you're so clumsy, and we'll have to work on that. Plus, you need to learn all the steps -"
"Wait. W-What?" he splutters, confused.
She gazes up at him innocently, though on her face, it doesn't look very innocent. "Well, everyone doing the dance has to have a date to be their partner," she explains in a matter-of-fact tone. "But all the boys in my village are either too stupid or too scared of me. So you'll be perfect...You know, since you're the only one left I can ask. Besides, it would show that stupid Jinta that I can get a date," she grumbles. He, however, ignores that and instead jumps on the problem.
"Are you insane?" he hisses, ripping his hand away, no matter how much he misses her touch. "I can barely walk two feet without tripping. What makes you think I can dance? Which, by the way, I know nothing about, seeing as how dragon dances are completely different from human ones."
"Oh, how would you know that?" she challenges with a snort.
He glares at her, sarcastically saying through his gritted teeth, "Well, unless you humans pair up with the dragons of your own element and showcase your water powers by slithering through it while making it fly through the air in an intricate pattern, I'm fairly certain our dances are polar opposites."
"You do that?" she exclaims in awe, beaming at him. "Amazing! You have to show me sometime."
"Stop trying to change the subject," he snaps at her, and she huffs at being discovered so easily.
"You worry too much," she grumbles. "I'll teach you the dance, okay? And if I can learn it, you can bet your sweet tail that you can. It just takes practice."
"I know you're just saying that to change my mind," he retorts, rolling his eyes. "How many times have you complained about the same dance now?"
She laughs sheepishly. "Well, you seem like a fast learner," she attempts lamely. When he doesn't seem any more convinced, she jostles his shoulders. "Oh, come on, Toush. You're my only hope! Everyone else has probably already partnered up. Even Jinta is taking my sister. I don't even want to go, but I can just imagine his stupid mocking next week if I have to tell sensei I have to sit out because no one will go with me. That is not acceptable!"
He shakes his head adamantly, blocking out her desperate rant. He will not make a fool of himself. It's not as if he needs to give Karin any more material to tease him with. When he crosses his arms as a final say, firmly keeping his gaze from her face because he knows it will change his mind, she changes her tactics and gives a deep sigh.
"Fine," she relents, dropping her hands and looking down sadly. "If you really don't want to, then I won't force you."
He slowly and mistrustfully cracks open one eye, trying to figure out her game. What is she playing at now? However, his breath catches when he notices the hurt expression on her face. His arms unfold halfway.
"I guess I'll go by myself," she continues sorrowfully, her shoulders drooping. "It's not your job to take me, after all. I was just looking forward to our date. I guess I'll have to find someone else to spend the night with."
Something claws at his chest just then. A rare but familiar sensation of jealousy. And does she have to say it like that? It only makes it sound that much worse. He'd forgotten in the argument that dancing also meant being her escort for the evening, and that had been what he'd wanted. He would get to make memories with her and learn new things about her culture, keeping her to himself the entire time. Of course, he does that every afternoon, but it would be different since they would technically be spending time as a...couple. A pleased shiver runs up his spine at the word.
"But I shouldn't expect too much," she cruelly goes on, and he finds himself softening against his wishes. "I'd known all this time that I would probably have to go alone anyway. I mean, for all these years, I always went with Grimmjow."
A low growl rumbles from the back of his throat at the name. So that bastard had been her date all these years, had he? He'd probably laid his filthy hands on her hips, pulling her close. It makes him sick to think of such a thing. And now, she would only be reminded of what she had lost at the dance.
"He always went for me, even though he hates dancing," she tells him, giving a weak, pathetic chuckle. "I thought this year would be even better, since we would be married, but then that happened."
That. When she'd been viciously attacked by the same man she had trusted, who had only laughed at her fear. When he'd had to save her. When he had destroyed all of her hope and dreams of the two getting together. It had been his fault. Looking into her downcast eyes, he can't help but think it to be the truth.
"Miss Karin..." he says sadly, hesitating putting a hand on her shoulder. He's never been good at comforting others, and he's sure he would only make it worse.
"He's been the only guy to ever want to go with me," she goes on, sighing.
His grits his teeth. That isn't true! He's liked her way before this Grimmjow – at least he thinks so. He's certainly been infatuated with her since the moment she stepped foot into his clearing. But, of course, he can't tell her that, so he bites his tongue to keep from blurting it out.
"I guess I'll just tell Nanao-sensei that I have to sit out, and when Jinta starts laughing, I'll just -"
"...I'll go," he murmurs, cutting across her and looking down in embarrassment. She fumbles over her words and looks down at him with wide eyes.
"What?"
He clears his throat, and then repeats more loudly, "I said I'll go, so you can tell your sensei that you have a...date to dance with."
"Really?" she gasps, brightening up.
He nods curtly. "Of course, you'll have to teach me," he tells her. "I don't know much about human dances, and I'll have to get used to my feet."
"That's great!" she cries out, whooping and throwing an arm over his shoulder in her joy. "Not your clumsy feet part, but the going with me part. We'll be such wonderful dancers that Jinta will be eating his words!"
He rolls his eyes. "Is everything a competition with you?" he asks tartly, though he really can't be irritated with her arm around him. Though he can't help but think that she'd forgotten about her sadness over Grimmjow a little too quickly...
"A little competition is healthy," she retorts defensively, slapping his shoulder. "And I don't accept failure!" Suddenly, she's deadly serious. "That means you'll be giving everything you have to practice, practice, practice. I'll come over every afternoon, right after classes. Of course, it'll be too weird if you're still so clumsy, so you'll have to practice all week to walk properly. And I'll have to deem you presentable before you go into the village, of course. So every day, all day, you better be walking. I'll bring you the steps to the dances we learn, and when you're not walking, you'll be dancing with me. You'll also have to wear a costume. It might be suffocating, but you'll have to put up with it..."
As he listens to her pile on more and more work, he can't shake the feeling that he's been taken advantage of.
Phew. Finally done! How long has it been? (Too long...)
So, next chapter, we get to enjoy some clumsy and embarrassed dancing :)