A/N: Since I'm on my uni's ballroom dance team, this is the fic idea that originally came to mind when I saw the prompt for this writing contest. Because I learned the American style of ballroom dance and the gang would be learning the international style, I decided to have them learn the basics of the waltz, which is similar, if not the same, for both variations. I hope you enjoy reading, and please review!

**EDIT: Sorry, I was reading through and realized there were some grammatical errors, but they should be fixed now (-_-')

Word Count: 1,511

"One, two, three. One, two, three…"

Ran muttered the beat under her breath, with a lot of emphasis on the "one." Her feet matched each count with the precision of a perfectionist athlete, but the effortless grace that was supposed to go with it… was a bit lacking.

She could feel the hard leather soles of her heels slip, just a bit, with each step she took on the smooth, wooden floor of the dance studio. A quick slide back into position was working well enough for the basic, bare-minimum, but any sort of moves were going to leave her scrambling—she just knew it.

There was a light squeeze on her hand, and her partner, Shinichi, attempted a reassuring smile.

But Shinichi didn't reassure. He couldn't. Even if he was skilled at reading people, and solving crimes, human interaction usually led to a thick awkwardness that would ooze into the conversation like tar. His attempt at a reassuring smile, for example, was more like a half-nervous grimace of sorts.

Ran squeezed his hand back, and flashed him a slight smile of her own.

She could manage.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sonoko, relaxed, and surprisingly graceful. Ran almost had to double check to make sure that this Sonoko and the one she knew since they were kids were one and the same. But then, Sonoko was an heiress, the one expected to carry on the Suzuki legacy—she supposed this was the side of her friend that only made an appearance at functions or whenever she served as a representative of her family. For all appearances, the gossip-prone, and sly matchmaker that she would move mountains for was nonexistent.

As much as she cared about Sonoko, though, there were moments where she felt that she wanted to crawl into a hole with embarrassment. This was one of those moments.

Ran was sure that this was all an elaborate plan that Sonoko concocted… Sonoko probably had to attend the class anyway, and decided to use it as a matchmaking scheme to officially get the "married couple" together. Who knew what Shinichi was told, but she was only informed to get a pair of heels and meet at the dance studio.

The unspoken agreement between the two of them was to humor the heiress.

It certainly helped that she already had feelings for Shinichi anyway.

The next step almost made her wince.

Apparently, her 3 yen heels were cutting into her feet, along with making her skid on the floor.

But she wasn't going to think about it, since that would only make her feet seemingly hurt even more.

Ran thought back to what the instructor had said earlier, when explaining the roles of a couple. There was the leader, typically male, and the follower, usually female. It was the leader who was supposed to be a frame, a support for their follower. The follower was responsible for being graceful, while going along for the ride.

So Shinichi was her frame, and she was supposed to be a flower… The tenseness of her body was more reminiscent of a venus fly trap, ready to strike at any moment.

Shinichi, being the detective geek, was probably all too aware of how tense she was.

Perhaps if her shoes weren't 3 yen, she would make an attempt to relax. But they were, so she was more focused on ignoring the pain, ignoring the sliding that accompanied each step, and ignoring the actual heel that wobbled threateningly beneath her.

There was a jarring sense of wrongness when she misstepped. The flow in her steps stalled, just for a second, but it was enough to feel like there was a record scratch, of sorts.

Shinichi stopped, letting her readjust her position.

Ran managed a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Shinichi."

They made eye contact for a second before he looked away, his cheeks a bit flushed.

"It's… it's no issue."

With a nod, she went back to counting the beat

"One, two, three. One, two, three…"

After the second count, they flowed back into motion.

oOo

Shinichi had, actually, noticed Ran struggling with her heels.

He was trying to lead, but in his hold, he could feel her wobble a bit as she tried to stay balanced, and her muscles tense as she struggled to correct the slip of her heels… or at least tense more, since she was already on edge.

He knew that struggle. He'd been there before.

Being a Kudo, his mother insisted that he took ballroom dance lessons, and he'd brought a pair of formal shoes, which also had the hard leather sole. Needless to say, he ended up bringing actual ballroom dance shoes to his the following classes.

The suede sole made things significantly easier, even if he had forgotten to brush the bottom of his shoes in order to restore their grip.

Ran, however, didn't have that advantage. From the way her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, she was probably in pain too. It was the least he could do to help ease her tension, quell that nervousness.

He made sure to keep his steps small, and pivots slight, so that it would be easier for Ran to follow, even with her struggles.

Sonoko, he noted, was probably counting on him being some sort of chivalrous knight, trying to be understanding, and help Ran. That girl (since he could never consider her a woman, with all the matchmaking schemes she's come up with), was probably gleefully leering at them, with eyes sparkling behind a mask of sophistication. He wouldn't believe it if anyone told him otherwise. Especially since she had that sly, matchmaker look of her's when she approached him about the ballroom dance class in the first place.

But Shinichi would go along with that girl's plans since he and Ran had an unspoken agreement to humor her.

It helped that he already had feelings toward Ran.

He just didn't have the courage to actually confess. What if Ran rejected him? He'd rather know for sure before he said anything. Until then, he was stuck going along with Sonoko's plans.

And hoping that there wasn't another case, for that matter.

Ran would probably kick him into the next week if that happened, and Sonoko would be spitting bullets. If he did happen to confess, he knew he would get a rejection for sure. If Ran didn't reject, Sonoko would for her.

Shinichi almost shivered at the thought.

An enraged Ran was terrifying.

He had faced kidnappers, murderers, serial killers… while he could stare down and face each of them, even if his life was threatened, an enraged Ran was more than enough to make him reconsider his life choices.

A quick glance toward Ran was enough to make sure that she in a more neutral mood. Or at least not irate.

Her look of concentration was enough to dissuade him from asking how she was doing. Deduction could only take him so far, but the fact that she was muttering the beat under her breath was enough to convince him that he was right.

So he remained silent, listening to the song that was playing, and leading Ran through the steps. If he let himself, he could get lost in the music, but then there was Ran, who was already struggling, already starting to get a sheen of sweat on her face, not from physical exertion, but from fighting with her shoes. In all likelihood, she wouldn't be able to keep up if he did.

"One, two, three. One, two, three…"

Her footwork, even with that fault from earlier, was the best out of the other beginners in the class. Perhaps if he asked her if she wanted to take it easy, to rest a bit, would she listen? Would she still persevere regardless?

Somehow, he had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew what her answer would be. There was a reason as to why she was a karate champion, after all. Knowing her, she would probably flash him a smile, pretend that nothing was bothering her, pretend that there was nothing wrong, pretend that she didn't know that he could see right through her façade.

He would probably scoff in response, and make some comment regarding Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

She would probably get irritated at him bringing up Sherlock Holmes… again.

But maybe, just maybe, she might listen, since it did seem like she was struggling even more with those heels than she was earlier.

Before he could say anything though, the music had stopped.

"Alright everyone! Followers, go back to your side of the room, and leaders go back to the other. We'll be covering some more steps."

There was a momentary pause before the din of people exchanging parting words and heels clacking on the wooden floor.

In the dark labyrinth of his mind, Shinichi decided to get Ran a proper pair of high heels, whether she wanted them or not. Something told him, however, that she probably would.