A/N: *Gasp* I'm finally getting to the climax of the story! I threw some angstshipping into this chapter to sweeten it a little, but don't worry, things start to go up hill again for poor Anzu and Yami! This is also the chapter where the inspiration for the story is revealed. I'll see you at the end to explain more about that!
WARNING: Attempts to describe dancing were undertaken in this chapter. The authoress has no experience with dance. Please forgive any mistakes she makes while attempting this!
Disclaimer: Not Mine!
"A little help here?" Marik asked, appearing behind Ryou as he dangled a tie in front of him. Ryou startled from where he had been peaking around through the side gallery at the people performing on stage right now.
Marik and Anzu were performing only two slots before him and Miho, but he wasn't worried. They'd all do amazing, he could just feel it. So why was the air so heavy with depression around his friends?
Yami of course.
He hadn't shown up. Anzu was beyond upset, and Marik was pissed, but the smell of his cologne made Ryou forget about that for a moment, turning instead to smile at the way he was dressed up nicely for their dance.
For their first dance, the jazz selection, he was wearing a pair of dark dress pants and matching jacket, looking pretty hot in a badass way, in Ryou's opinion, with his usual white blond hair messed up perfectly. What an oxymoron.
Opening the jacket, Marik revealed the shirt underneath which he would do at some point in the dance, and thus, he had to wear the tie. Needless to say he hadn't been pleased at the stylist's choice, since Ishtar Marik did not like ties.
Still, it gave him an idea for this evening.
"You see," he said lightly to partner, pulling him closer easily so that they could whisper without interrupting the audience watching the pair onstage with either winces or enraptured expressions, "I happen to have no idea what I'm doing. Care to lend a helping hand?" He was flirting shamelessly but Ryou laughed quietly, a big smile on his face.
He didn't appear to be nervous in the least about his performance, something Marik envied. He hated to admit it, rarely did, but he was nervous.
Anzu was distracted, she usually danced better when she was upset, but this was a pretty low blow on Mutou-san's part to come back from. Marik wasn't sure his phone call had done any good at all, but he kept scanning the doors, hoping to see the teacher's wild hair one of those times.
Not to mention he was maybe just a little bit worried about himself. It wasn't like he messed up often but he was human, these things happened.
So to take his mind off the matter he had snuck up behind Ryou where he was watching the dance performances, luckily alone. He still remembered the first time Ryou had approached him...offering to tie his tie since he looked hopelessly confused.
The thought made him chuckle as well, nerves still roiling in his stomach. Ryou reached up with gentle surety to take the tie in his hands and sling it around his neck, fingers making quick work of the knot while not making it tight.
It was perfect...just like him.
Marik could have hit himself over the head for having such a ridiculously cheesy thought. They just seemed to burst out of the nonexistent fluff reservoir inside him when he looked into Ryou's adorable puppy dog eyes.
All that cuteness was bound to drive me loopy eventually, Marik reasoned. They stared at each other a moment longer, the nerves and stress slowly building up inside Marik until he felt like he might explode.
Ryou started to glance away as the performance finished when suddenly he felt Marik grab him and throw him backwards against the wall. He gasped but Marik joined him immediately, not seeming even aware of how rough he was being as he kissed him in a furious, passionate way, lips and tongue demanding against Ryou who reciprocated as best as good despite his shock.
Their lip locking was cut short as footsteps approached only to stumble with shock at seeing the two boys kissing so passionately right there in the side wing.
"M-Marik we're up after the next dance," Anzu stammered, blushing obviously under the low lights. Marik pulled away, allowing Ryou to get his first real breath of air in the past two minutes.
"Is that...how you take out your nerves...before a performance?" Ryou panted, staring openly at his boyfriend with a cheeky expression. Marik grinned a little ruefully despite himself, cheeks even a tiny bit flushed.
"Something like that," he struggled to admit with a small self conscious shrug, before caressing Ryou's face one last time with his hand, and then turning and nodding once to Anzu, following her up and out of the wing.
"Are you ready?" He asked, turning to her once they reached the top, just getting settled to go out on stage. His nerves had quieted to small buzz now, the kissing having done wonders for his mind. Ryou was right; it was his way of calming himself down.
Being the more powerful of the two, he could control the kiss easily, and it made him feel in control again. As selfish as it was, he needed that.
"As I'll ever be," she responded, passion he was grateful to see burning in her eyes despite the sadness still marking her face. It had been swallowed by nerves and excitement as well.
Marik couldn't help a small smile of his own, leaning down and pulling her tight to his body in a short, slightly awkward, but extremely meaningful embrace. He released her almost immediately but a smile grew on her face anyways when he looked away again, obviously embarrassed at the show of emotion.
He had never hugged her before, not outside of the actual dancing anyways.
"Neither of us is going to screw up now," he said gruffly, and she agreed. Nothing else mattered right now except the dance.
He didn't tell her about the person he saw entering the auditorium in the left corner of the room.
It wouldn't do to upset her right now when they were about to go out.
He reminded himself to kick Mutou-san's ass for having the worst timing ever...after the dance of course.
...
Ryou watched the first dance from the shadows, though he crept out of the side wing a little for a better view. He wasn't the only one, several dancers had filtered back in to watch the performances, but one person in particular caught his eyes.
Was that...Mutou-san? He was here!
The dark string, brass and percussion beginning of Michael Buble's haunting rendition of 'Cry Me a River' filled the auditorium, and he turned back to watch as Marik appeared on stage, suddenly absorbed above all else as the air was sucked right out of him.
God he was beautiful.
He had seen him dance a couple times during performances in class, or after school, but Marik preferred to practice without an audience, and Ryou knew, even if he wouldn't admit it, that his own presence distracted the stricter boy.
Only once had he seen part of his and Anzu's actual performance in costume, and the amount of jealousy he felt was overwhelming. The whole dance was a darkly beautiful seduction, followed by rejection, and then unbridled sexy anger. Could anger be sexy? Only the way an expert like Marik portrayed it.
The shortened remix of the song he and Anzu had fought through putting together was the perfect mix of the three stages, bringing the couple up and down as she went from trying to draw Marik in to being thrown around by him like a rag doll.
The audience gave loud impressive gasps as he seemed to snap her body easily around in his arms, making her bend to his will, sometimes nearly dropping her right to floor before whipping her right back up again.
She played the part well, but really this was Marik's time to shine, it was the perfect type of dance for him. Jazz, but not so lively to make you want to puke, it almost had a theatrical feel to it with all the ominous music and moves.
Despite it all, Ryou only wished it would end sooner than it did. He hated the anger and jealousy he felt when he saw Anzu wrapped around him like that, but he knew they still had one more piece to go, and he wouldn't disrespect either of them by not watching.
Truly, they had worked hard to perfect this and it was a piece of art.
...
Yami watched their first performance with awe, having only caught the tail end of their practices, usually when they were just perfecting a sequence. No wonder she had wanted so badly for him to see this. How could anyone help but be impressed?
He was no expert, but it looked flawless to him, absolutely the most beautiful thing of life. She slid so naturally into the role of seductress, moving around the stage with a prowling grace that made him hungry for her.
Marik was good to, he would have admitted if he had to, but only if he had to. He wasn't ready to forgive him yet, even if he should be thankful. It had taken him about two rage induced seconds to pick himself up and go out where his car waited faithfully.
Now he wasn't so much depressed as mad at himself for procrastinating so long.
Depression? Screw it.
It wasn't worth missing seeing his beautiful Anzu in her element.
Ryou seemed to agree as he leaned against the wall only a couple steps down from where Yami was now. He had caught his eye just before the performance, and if he knew he was here, he doubted Marik would be kept in the dark for long.
Unless Marik already knew he was here which wouldn't surprise him either. That boy had some very dark powers when he was motivated.
He truly thought Anzu could not get more beautiful then she was there in her short but full light golden skirt and lovely bodice that unlaced fully in the back giving him a tantalizing view of her smooth unbroken skin nearly to her tail bone.
He had no idea how she stood let alone danced in those heels, but he wasn't complaining either. The jealousy didn't catch up with him until their second performance though.
This one they announced to be a 'lyrical contemporary' dance, though he wasn't sure what that meant, he could immediately see the difference. He recognized the song; it played on the radio a lot.
They danced romantically at times while more desperately at others to the sound of 'You Found Me' by The Fray, though it was all very emotional, and above all else, graceful. Each throw was perfectly timed to the music, and when she jumped into his arms, legs creating a perfect V around his waist he curled a little then threw her straight up in the air, catching her flat body on his palms again like a child.
He felt his stomach tighten with jealousy, especially as he longed to be in Marik's position himself. The Egyptian was shirtless in simple loose black pants that flared when he moved, but Yami could care less who he showed his body to.
He remembered that this was the dress Anzu had put up such a fight for though, saying she didn't want to reveal too much skin. What she ended up with instead took Yami's breath away first, and then second made him want to kill Marik for even looking at her while she wore it.
It was short –extremely short. When she jumped the material was swept loosely about her legs, flashing the white lining provocatively though it also revealed the bare coverings of her other areas beneath the skirt.
It stood in dark contrast against the white lining, but the dark midnight blue colour was the same as the outside of her skirt and the skin tight bodice that hugged her frame all the way up to the top of her breasts where it cut off in two simple straps that formed a halter top.
Despite the straight cut top of the dress, there was nothing unattractive about it, since it was made up for entirely by the path carved through the dark coloured fabric, revealing shockingly bare ivory skin from her right hip all the way across her stomach in a broad diagonal line before thinning out as it curved around the side of her left breast, curling up to the top where it dipped downwards a little, showing modest cleavage.
The white bordering of the missing fabric made it stand out even more, appearing like a swan's neck or a bass cleft sign across her dress only a million times sexier than either of those things.
The dance ended far too soon as he stared at them in a daze, bowing to the roar of applause. Evidently, he wasn't the only one who found that dance utterly amazing. He was surprised anyone could move at all after such a heart rendering performance.
Not only could he hear the pain in the artist's voice, but you could see the longing in the dance to. It was hard to describe the feeling. Mostly just...stunned, he supposed, but the humbling part was that that was Anzu up there dancing.
He'd be damned if she didn't have a heap of scholarships on her doorstep after today, she could study anywhere she wanted, whenever she wanted, whatever she wanted. She was clapping her own hands together now, looking delighted as she threw her arms around Marik who spun her once happily in a friendly embrace, though he noticed Ryou wincing from where he stood.
It didn't make him particularly happy either, but he didn't think he really had a right to complain even silently.
The judges sitting at their table in the front looked at each other, conversing for a moment before standing up and giving them a standing ovation as one, which just brought the crowd to their feet once again. It was an emotional thing to watch.
Little did he know, it wasn't nearly as emotional as what he was about to see. Several more performances followed, none quite as striking as theirs had been, but all beautiful. He was proud to see Ryou and Miho perform excellently, looking pleased with themselves.
Miho was beautiful, and Ryou was stronger than he had expected for such a sweet, gentle guy. He lifted her with ease, and in the second dance when his shirt was unbuttoned half way down the front he had a surprising amount of muscle.
Yami was just glad Marik couldn't hear his thoughts or he'd probably rip his head off. Not only did he hog Anzu's attention, but he was extremely territorial about anything to do with Ryou. Even the most innocent of observations was taken the wrong way by the fierce Egyptian.
What a pain, albeit slightly helpful, but still, a pain in the ass for Yami.
The final performance, the only one per a semester where all the seniors got up on the stage together and performed as one, was truly the most breathe taking. It started with a girl, Yami didn't know who she was, bending and spinning gracefully in time under the spotlight to the quiet beginning of 'Beside You' by Mariana's Trench.
When your tears are spent, on your last pretence, and you're tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defence. When it's in your spine, like you've walked for miles and the only thing you want is just to be still for awhile...
The lyrics wove almost tangibly through the air, and when several harmonies burst to life, from the shadows of the stage under suddenly bright lights leapt a multitude of dancers. The dance was perfectly choreographed for each arc of the music to introduce a new line of dancers, leaping through the air gracefully.
And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up, and I will hide you, when it gets too much. I'll be right beside you...I'll be right beside you...
Their clothing matched the music to a T, with the loose abstract fabric and its eye catching colours. The women wore what appeared to be semi-transparent black leggings with golden ribbons wound down around each leg, attaching at the ankle and the waist.
You're overwhelmed, and you've lost your breath, and the space between the things you know is blurry none the less. When you try to speak, but you make no sound, and the words you want are out of reach, but they've never been so loud.
Equally faded black tank tops, hugged their skin from the skinniest to the largest female on stage. Over their arms and chests was cloth that looked similar to the ribbon wrapped around their legs, shimmering and flowing like organza material, clasped just once in the center of their chests beneath the bosom line.
And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up, and I will hide you, when it gets too much. I'll be right beside you...I'll be right beside you...I will stay, nobody will break you.
The sleeves were purposefully large and draping, tightening only at the wrists so that their hands were free to paint lines through the air like doves in flight.
Trust in me, trust in me, don't pull away.
The men were dressed similarly with tight black leggings, though they were solid black with only one ribbon adorning their left leg, and they wore simple shirts open over their chests in flowing gold, almost like a sheet draped over them that puffed up when they spun or gained air.
Just trust in me, trust in me. Cause I'm just trying to keep it together, cause I could do worse, and you could do better.
Every single person on stage was completely bare footed.
Breath taking beauty even though Yami had no idea where among them Anzu was until –wait.
In the middle of the song, a sudden lull of the music, dropping the percussion and piano when the dance had just been building to a frantic tornado of shifting colors and bodies. Everything froze, sliding to the ground, while one woman was lifted in the air by a male that Yami didn't recognize.
He narrowed his eyes, watching as the woman bent in his arms above his head like malleable rubber. He knew that face, that body, even from a distance. It had to be Anzu. She hadn't even told him she had a solo in the group piece!
Tears are spent, on your last pretence, and you're tired eyes refuse to close, and sleep in your defence.
The music picked back up again and Anzu was thrown backwards into someone else's arms though she sashayed her way forward, putting herself back in the dance as with each flick of her wrists a different group of female dancers stood with her like streams of golden fire, moving to her command.
And if your heart wears thing, I will hold you up, and I will hide you when it gets too much. I'll be right beside you, nobody will break you.
The men moved between the rows, lifting, throwing, and spinning different people as they went, adding to the general mess of the beauty unfolding before the audience, who watched absolutely enraptured.
And if your heart wears thing, I will hold you up, and I will hide you when it gets too much. I'll be right beside you, nobody will break you.
It ended with most of the dancers curled on the ground, falling section by section until the only one left standing was the original girl, half standing as she froze in a curtsy position along with the music.
Needless to say the applause was spectacularly deafening.
A/N: Okay...I have a feeling that takes the prize for worst description of dancing ever T_T However! This chapter captures my original inspiration for this entire story. The idea for this fic first came to me as I finished watching the "Season 0" and then heard the song "Beside You" by Mariana's Trench (Canadian!). I instantly got this image of a massive group of dancers dressed in black and gold, barefoot, all dancing to this beautiful song. I'm not sure where it came from in my crazy brain, but I couldn't let it go, and immediately the fact that Anzu wants to be a dancer reminded me of it. I also finished getting assessed close to that time, so the idea of a learning disorder, a dance recital, and a very interesting romance between tutor and frustrated student came to life! SO that's my inspiration babble, I hope you enjoyed learning these mostly uninteresting and useless facts xD
CHEAP PLUG: Anyone notice the hints towards a back story for Marik lately? Or are curious about all the missing details in their relationship? Well...there's a couple chapters left of this story...and you know there's always the companion fic that might explain a few things which I will be posting afterwards...*hint-hint-nudge-nudge*
Finally, here's the update for the next chapter:
"I asked around, and I was told the proper way to thank a performer who has done exceptionally well...and to beg forgiveness from a woman you have offended...is to give her roses," he said, pressing the bouquet into her arms.
Yay, Yami's finally getting it right! Tune in next week for a very fluffy romantic chapter!