Exception
By: Aviantei
37. Throw Down!
Lavi spent the majority of the macarena trying to get Kanda on the dance floor, and all he had to show for it was a slightly crooked bowtie and a few bumps on his shins that would likely turn into bruises by morning. Even so, there wasn't any property damage, and in comparison to how things had ended at the last dance Lavi had dragged Kanda to, the resident rabbit was glad enough to leave it at that. If Kanda wanted to miss out on the chance to party, he could be lame all by himself. But for now…
"Who's ready to jam?!" Lavi said as he bombarded his way into the group of friends, almost barreling Johnny over with the force of his glomp alone. Ari had gotten stuck under her brother's other arm, thanks to Ivy dodging out of the way. Lavi grinned, nonetheless. "I bet I can out dance all of y'all."
"Pass," Ivy and Lenalee said in unison. Lenalee, because she knew better from experience; Ivy, because the best she could pull off was following preset dance moves. Anything more complicated than that was beyond her.
"Ohoho, Nii-san," Ari said, raising a hand to her mouth in mock modesty. The tone of her voice straight up ruined the effect, though. Recognizing the mischievous glint in his friend's eyes, Johnny wondered if he should just retreat to join Kanda. "Do you really think you can beat me at this game? I won't even need to take my heels off to outmaneuver you." While Ari had been hoping to use the dance as an opportunity to inch closer to Allen, she had no qualms about showing off in the process.
Just glad for the fact that competition was happening that didn't happen to involve him (at least he hoped so), Allen continued bobbing along to the current pop music. "Just make sure you two don't hurt yourselves," he said. He definitely wasn't looking forward to ending the evening with someone in an ambulance. It was a bit sad that that was a valid concern amongst his friends.
"What, you don't wanna join in on the action, Brit?" Lavi asked, spinning around to face Allen. What was impressive was how Lavi managed to time the motion to the music. While it hadn't been her original plan, Ari agreed wholeheartedly and turned her expectant gaze on Allen, too. "This will be a lot more fun if we all get in on it. It'll be fun~." Lavi accentuated the last word with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Allen eyes darted between the Bookman siblings closing in on him and the rest of their group. Lenalee and Ivy weren't going to be any help, so Allen locked his gaze with Johnny's and mouthed a none too subtle "Help me."
"Huh, me?" Johnny pointed to himself and glanced around, but there wasn't anyone else familiar in sight. "I-I mean, I'm not very—"
"Johnny, Johnny, mon ami." Without even missing a beat (in the conversation or the song blasting over the speakers), Ari switched up her targets and latched onto Johnny's arm. While he hadn't been planning on running (much), that was all it took to capture him. "Did you really think you were going to be able to retreat so easily?" She didn't even need to add You promised to back me up. It was more than implied.
I know, I know, Johnny thought, counting on the wonders of best friend telepathy to help him out. You don't gotta remind me. Message received, Ari beamed and nodded. "I guess I'm in, too?" he said, tossing up an errant prayer that nobody would die. Being a member of the Science Club tended to mean you imagined the worst case scenario—then made it ten times worse. It was the only way to survive, really.
The Bookman siblings cheered in unison and shared a high five without any ulterior motives. "Alright, that makes three! I know Ivy-chan, Yu-pon, and the Lenalady are out, but there's gotta be more people than that. Lena, can you maybe invite some more of your friends?"
Flicking her curled pigtail away from her face, Lenalee smiled. "You never do anything halfway, do you?"
"Absolutely not!"
We know, everyone thought, including some of the fellow Black Order High students in the immediate earshot around them. What was impressive was how many different emotions they had between them for a two word sentence. Even so, a few of the others that overheard had just enough curiosity and lack of concern for their wellbeing to want to be involved in the coming mess.
Lavi cheered, his sheer enthusiasm enough to make his voice audible over the pounding speakers. "Alright, let's get this thing built up and ready to go!" The surrounding Black Order High kids started to cluster in, and Ivy took the moment to step aside from the havoc. Here to backup Allen or not, boundaries were what kept friendships healthy. "Alright, I'll go tell the DJ to put on some good tunes." He wound up to dash off but stopped at the sound of Ari's laughter.
"Goodness, Nii-chan, you're not thinking big enough." Ari tried to stifle her chuckle behind her hand. "Why just stop at the music? Let's turn this into a proper showdown!"
Why do I not like the sound of this whatsoever? Allen thought, but he was too late to voice any objections as the Bookman siblings bolted off, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Johnny sympathetically patted Allen's shoulder. "We're bloody screwed, aren't we?"
"Most likely," Johnny said, adjusting his glasses.
"Um, guys?" Lenalee asked, squinting through the lights and towards the DJ podium. "Maybe you should look at this?"
The silhouettes of the Bookman siblings were unmistakable as they not only flipped through the song guide, but also chatted with the DJ, flailed around a bit, and somehow walked out of the encounter with a microphone in hand. After another quick scuffle, Ari had taken control of the mic and stepped forward, Lavi quick on her heels as the music dimmed. A few students muttered, and Ari let them sweat a bit before clearing her throat.
"Attention to the attendants of the Black Order High School and Millennium Private High School collaborative dance!" she said, handling the mic like an overenthusiastic talk show host. Trying to slip through the stalled out crowd, Ivy did her best to pretend like she didn't know them. "I'm sure that most of you from my lovely school don't need introduction, but I'm Ari Bookman!"
"And I am her fantastic brother, Lavi Bookman!" Lavi leaned over Ari's shoulder to try and get some mic time. "If you ask us, there's no point in having a dance without hyping things up a bit, so we're gonna have a dance-off." Still seated at the table, Kanda considered leaving right then and there. "Anyone is free to join in, even you Noah guys."
Seated at her own table, Road raised an eyebrow. "Well, well," she said, "it looks like I don't even have to try anything at all to get my one up."
And the world will be much safer for it, Tyki thought beside her, seriously craving a cigarette. He was just about to consider slipping out for some fresh air before he recognized the pair on stage. "Oho, look what we have here…"
"Well, you know. Assuming you lame-os can dance," Ari said from the stage. You could almost hear the collective snapping of all MPHS students in attendance. Undeterred, Ari smirked and shook her head, her updo bouncing in waves of red. Johnny buried his face in his hands, trying not to smudge his glasses in the process. "But, hey, we don't judge. We're gonna have a good time, even if you guys do suck."
"Aw, hell no!"
The sound of a high pitched voice emerged from the crowd, and numerous students shuffled out of the way as a new pair trounced towards the stage. Wearing matching suits and makeup and looking identical if it weren't for their hairstyles, two of Millennium Private High School's most notorious students, collectively known as Jasdevi, arrived on the scene.
The duo standing at the bottom of the stage, the brunette pointed up at the Bookman siblings. "You think you can just go dissing us like that when our school let you use our location, huh?" he said with a sneer. "There's no way we're gonna let you one-up us like that."
"Yeah," the blonde said, slouching over, "you little Black Order kids are going down, hee!"
While such a conflict would have normally led to an all out throwdown, the Bookman siblings knew how to read the atmosphere (even if some people would say otherwise about Lavi). Taunting the Noah may have been a bonus, but they really did just want to have fun on as massive of a scale as possible. It was time to put in some crowd control. Ari put a hand to ger heart in mock distress. "Nii-chan, it seems to me like we have some challengers."
Lavi nodded, his still present bandana keeping his hair from spilling into his face. "I'm guessing that you folks are part of the Noah crew. If you're gonna come at us, why don't you share your names?"
"Devit!" said the brunette.
"Jasdero, hee!" the other said, flicking his long blonde hair over his shoulder.
The two leaned back to back and posed. "And together we are Jasdevi!"
"Ooh, impressive," Lavi said, awarding the twins a short round of applause. Ari followed suit. They may have been sworn rivals, but the Bookman siblings could still appreciate a good show. Maybe they'd have a better dance off than they anticipated. "Of course, you're gonna need a little bit more than some synchronization to best us. Think you're up for the challenge?"
Devit pointed at the stage with his hand in an imitation gun shape, and Jasdero did the same. "Just you watch. We'll wipe you Black Order flunkies right off the floor."
"Alright, alright, alright," Ari said, using her probably stolen microphone to whip the crowd back up into a frenzy. "You heard 'em folks. The Black Order vs. Millennium Private dance-off is set to begin. Anyone who wants to participate should come up to the DJ and sign up. One sheet for us, one sheet for the Noah. We throw down in twenty minutes. Be there or be square!"
Ari half considered a mic-drop, then remembered that it was probably a bit more expensive than she (read: the Old Panda) could cover and gently returned it to the very confused DJ. To their credit, though, they quickly turned the music back up and go the music rolling again, even as a wave of students from both schools alike rushed forward to mob the sign up sheet. With a few well placed elbows in sides and kicks to shins, Ivy extracted herself from the crowd and almost collapsed on the table.
Kanda looked up. "Break time?"
"Fuck yes."
While the ballroom rented out by Millennium Private was a monster, the hall immediately outside the place wasn't a slouch in the size department, either. The ceiling was just as high, and numerous other halls and doorways seemed to lead into different rental spaces. Since the area hosted the restrooms as well, a few other students were lingering about, taking a break from the bustle inside the dance. Despite being a place of respite, the pounding music was still audible through the walls.
Kanda was more concerned about getting some semi-fresh air and escaping the impending riot inside. He leaned against the wall, with Ivy right beside him, enjoying the relative silence. Ivy smoothed out her top and leaned over to look at Kanda. "You doing alright, Yu-kun? This isn't too much for you, is it?"
Kanda grunted, trying to ignore the ever growing frenzy from inside the ballroom. "I'd say it could be worse, but I don't wanna curse anything." Ivy snickered, even as Kanda sighed. "I'll admit that this isn't my thing at all. And that helping out the rabbit and the beansprout is a pain in the ass. But if I couldn't put up with this much shit after this many years, we'd probably have a problem." Ivy gave a bemused smile and bumped her hand against Kanda's arm. "I just…don't get the point of dancing."
"Hm, because you can't dance?" Ivy smirked a bit, even as Kanda's eyebrow twitched. He looked away, even as Ivy shuffled closer, tapping her heel against the wall. "Come on, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not like I can dance worth a shit, either."
"Well that's surprising."
"Is it really? Before I came here, I never had much of an interest in this sort of stuff at all, you know." She'd been too busy getting into trouble for that. Ivy tucked some hair back behind her ear and stared up at the high ceiling.
"Sure, but you're so stubborn I thought that you'd make yourself good at it by sheer willpower." A couple of other students slipped past, chattering amongst themselves. "Well, at least it won't be awkward that we can't dance together."
Ivy blinked, nudging Kanda in the side. "Yu-kun, I didn't know you even cared about that," she said with a teasing lilt.
Kanda shrugged, even if there was a faint heat pooling in his cheeks. It was a damn good thing they'd slipped away from the others. As things were, Ivy decided to keep the fact that she saw him blush to herself. "Well," Kanda said, "I didn't know if you cared about it, so—oi."
"Don't oi at me, muster." Ivy pulled her fist back from the light bop that she'd delivered to Kanda's head, not dropping the mock frown she'd put on. "If you're worried about that stuff, all you gotta do is ask me. I'm not gonna bite, dumbass."
"Last I checked, you had a pretty nasty set of fangs hidden." Ivy raised her fist again, but Kanda caught her hands in his. "Easy there, it's a compliment and you know it." Since it wasn't like she could disagree with that, Ivy held his hands in return. "But I hear your point. I should be talking to you more."
"Mm, damn straight." Ivy snuck in a kiss on Kanda's cheek, then worked on tugging Kanda back towards the ballroom. "As much as I love playing hooky, we should probably get back. With our luck, a bloodbath's probably broken out by now." While Ivy was skilled enough to bust up a fight between her friends, it still wasn't incredibly high on her priority list. She pulled open the door with her free hand, letting out the sound of a very familiar rabbit's voice shouting through the speakers.
"Hell yeah, dance competition participants of every kind! It's time to bust a move!" Lavi shouted, and Ari beside him lead the crowd in a resounding cheer. The Noah twins were also on the DJ platform, helping whip up a frenzy that even overpowered the music. Ivy and Kanda both paused in the doorway, even as a few other students ducked past them to join the festivities.
Ivy glanced at Kanda. "On second thought…"
"You don't have to tell me twice."
Their retreat from the ballroom was swift.
In the center of the impromptu dance off, there was no such thing as a retreat. There was only the floor, the music, and your sick moves. When you stared down the opposing dancer, all you could do was convert your passion into motion and try to stand out on top. There was no room for any sort of error. If you didn't have conviction, you could easily find yourself in a moment of defeat.
And Ari loved every single moment of it.
The dance competition had quickly exploded into a massive throw down. Lenalee and Johnny had volunteered as judges, and the Noah twins had quickly shuffled in some of their own to serve as a fair committee. While bias was a concern on everyone's minds, that quickly fell away after a few rounds and everyone got into the music. With a little audience polling involved, soon everyone had gotten into the rhythm, the rivalry between their schools forgotten—or at least much less of a concern in the moment.
"Not bad, don't you think, Nii-chan?" Ari said, applauding for the latest pair that had just finished up their display. Without any hesitation, the next pair came in as the DJ spun the next track, all accompanied by an energized introduction from the blonde Noah twin. "There's some good talent out there. We might actually have some competition."
Lavi sipped at his soda, nodding his appreciation. It would have been fun, even if everyone sucked, but it was nice to have a little extra hype going on. Besides, sweeping the competition without a fight wasn't even fun from the winner's perspective. "That's all cool by me, oh little sister of mine. Doesn't mean we won't come out victorious."
"Come on, Nii-chan, you know I always play to win." Ari spotted Allen in the cluster of dance party participants and waved, and the nerve-wracked Brit did his best to wave back. "Oh, whoops! I gotta introduce the next participants. Be right back!" Skipping as she crossed the stage, twirling as she went and accepted the mic and pulled the next names from memory. "Alrighty folks, we're still rolling along here. Looks like next up from Millennium is Tykiiii Mikk! And coming from Black Order, we have—"
Even though he'd been prepared to cheer for his own side, the sound caught in Lavi's throat. Emerging from the cluster of MPHS students was a tall figure that Lavi couldn't have mistaken if he tried. And to make matters worse, one Tyki Mikk just so happened to catch sight of Lavi, and that was exactly what he'd planned on. It just took a smirk and a wink for several unintelligible sounds to spill out of Lavi's mouth.
Now, now, Red. Why don't you watch and make this evening worthwhile?
[Author's Notes]
In which Jasdevi completely crash Ari and Lavi's parade (and also my outline).
Thanks go out to Lastel Inra for the follow! Hopefully you continue to enjoy the fic as it progresses!
Considering that I know how I want this arc to end, it's sure been giving me some issues. But, hey, when you have a dance off, what could possibly go wrong? What's that? Lots of things? Damn, u right...
I'm also not ready at all for NaNoWriMo, let's go-
Still, things are moving. I'll see you guys for the next update on this fic's anniversary in December! Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[10.28.2019]