Part two
Kaoru smiled triumphantly to himself as he measured the party's reaction to his and 'girl' Haruhi's entrance.
Almost all the non-dancing guests were looking up in interest, some in awe, some in curiosity, and he noted with satisfaction that recognition of how beautiful Haruhi scrubbed up was apparent in quite a few faces. He grinned. He loved dramatic entrances.
And Hikaru…?
Kaoru gave the sea of faces a searching glance as he escorted an awkward Haruhi down the golden stairway; when he finally spotted his twin's face, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The girl next to him was speaking, but it was blatantly obvious from the look on Hikaru's face that she was chatting to herself. He was looking up at Haruhi with at least twice the shocked amazement of everyone else, and his face was such a burning red that he looked like he had a fever. Kaoru wouldn't be surprised to see blood dripping from his nose.
Sniggering, he finally let go of Haruhi's arm once they had safely reached the floor and let her be completely surrounded by oblivious classmates and a flustered Casanova.
"Haru-?"
"No, that's not Haruhi! It's his cousin - she came to the first year ball."
"Are you dating Kaoru?"
"I love your dress!"
"Uh, my name's Shi-!"
"Do you want to dance?"
"Why did you come in with Kaoru?"
"My name's-!"
"What's your name?"
"I'm good at dancing!"
Haruhi shot the bemused younger twin a wild look, which said plainly, You did this. Don't you dare leave me here, you jerk. Kaoru just winked evilly before skipping off to find his brother, leaving Haruhi to get bowled over trying to satisfy her classmates' frenzied curiosity.
Kaoru found Hikaru standing in exactly the same place as when he'd spotted him on the stairs (the tall girl had finally given him up as a lost cause and had wandered off) and he rolled his eyes before sideling over. Hikaru merely acknowledged his presence by tilting his head in Kaoru's direction, his eyes still locked on the little he could see of Haruhi through the crowd.
"You like?" Kaoru smirked, patting his brother teasingly on the cheek.
"Uh... how'd you get the dress...?"
"I arranged it all. Because I'm just that awesome." He explained, still grinning delightedly at his handiwork and the awe-struck look on Hikaru's face. "So, you gonna ask your beautiful girlfriend to dance?"
"...It looks nice on her..."
Kaoru sighed.
"That it does. Are you going to ask her to dance now?"
"Yeah..."
He just stood there.
Kaoru sighed again dramatically, resisting the urge to slap his forehead comically in frustration. Finally, he took matters into his own hands and looked over at her again, hands placed on his cheeks.
"Oh, look." He simpered, his voice a tone higher than normal as he happily provoked his slow-to-recover-quick-to-get-jealous twin. "It's Bossa Nova talking to Haruhi!"
Hikaru twitched.
"She looks pretty happy!"
"..."
"Why, I think he might be asking her to dance-!"
"Like hell he is!"
And with that, Hikaru stomped over, leaving Kaoru to snigger behind him.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Haruhi was just politely asking a stammering Casanova about his plans for the future, thankful that his presence helped her escape from explaining herself to everyone else, when Hikaru burst loudly between them. He possessively grabbed Haruhi's hand and glared viciously at the redhead, who in turn jumped nearly a mile into the air.
Without a word, he promptly dragged her off, ignoring Haruhi's startled protests and the mystified stares from their surrounding classmates. He only stopped when they reached an empty corner of the dance floor.
"Hikaru!" Haruhi instantly snapped, giving up trying to pull her hand away and frowning irritably at him. "What are you doing? I was trying to talk-"
"Dance with me!"
"-to Cass...What?"
"I..."
Hikaru finally turned to look at her, brow furrowed into a glare and face flushed pink. After a second, he let his hand soften and finally fall, his fingers brushing hesitantly against hers.
"I... want you to dance with me. Okay? Dance with me. …I mean, please dance… with me…"
For a second, she just blinked at him as he struggled, bewildered. Then her lips suddenly twitched in bemusement, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
"You're so…" She cut herself off and snorted, shaking her head as Hikaru pouted slightly. "Sure, I'll dance with you. I've been forgetting the steps all night though."
"Well, that's why you have me, isn't it?"
He gave her a sheepish grin and firmly grabbed her hand again, backing onto the dance floor. Then he turned to face her and tentatively placed a hand on her waist, the space between them painfully formal. Haruhi remembered just in time to place her hand on his shoulder before he hurriedly pulled her into the first step in time with the music.
They moved in slow circles, stepping in time with the soft beats of the orchestra. However, it wasn't long before Hikaru noticed something putting him off. Determined not to ruin the silent and content moment between them, he tried to ignore it, hoping that Haruhi would simply realise what she was doing and correct it.
When that proved too difficult, he tired to silently amend it himself, shrugging her hand and adjusting his feet.
When that proved too annoying, he decided to give her a pointed look and hoped she'd notice.
And when he realised what an ignorant hope that was, he decided to simply announce the problem in a loud, obnoxious hiss.
The whole process had taken about ten seconds. He never claimed to be patient.
"Haruhi," he snapped, "stop dancing the freaking boy's part!"
Haruhi blinked at him. "Huh?"
"You keep stepping on my feet and putting your hand on my waist. Do I look like a freaking girl? Jeeze!"
"Oh. Do I?" She paused for a second then shrugged, uncaring and oblivious to Hikaru's irritation. So what if she was dancing a bit wrong? She was dancing, wasn't she? "Well, that's to be expected, I suppose. That is the only way I've danced for three years. Dancing the other part so suddenly gets confusing."
He huffed, annoyed but not really surprised at her indifference to the gender roles. "But it's wrong." He insisted. "And you have to dance right, because I'm not dancing the girl's part."
"Why? It's-"
"Because I'm not a girl! And you are!"
She sighed.
"Hikaru, shut up. You have a big mouth." She drawled, to the point as always as she cast a weary glance around them. A few of the other dancers had caught onto Hikaru's last sentence and were giving them perplexed - and slightly worried - looks. "I'm trying to keep a low profile here. Well, not that it really matters if everyone knows it's me anymore, I guess… and not that I've done that good of a job so far…"
Hikaru sighed as Haruhi paused in thought. As they span around, her hand subconsciously began to inch down towards his waist again and he twitched in frustration.
"Look." He stated, successfully waking her up from her musing. He took her hand and firmly placed it back on his shoulder. "Right. Keep. It. There. Move it and… I'll lick it."
"Ew…"
"Exactly." He smirked, before he glanced down at her un-coordinated feet, apparently taking her lack of feminine knowledge - and dancing skill - into his own hands. "Feet are simple. Just do the opposite of what you normally do, right? And try not to step on me."
He hesitated slightly, then, fighting down a warm blush, finally shortened the distance between them, his hand snugly at her waist and his fingertips brushing the small of her back. He ducked his head so he could mutter into her ear.
"I've never had to tell a girl how to dance before… so, just listen and don't laugh at me, okay?"
"Mm-hmm." She smiled, bemused as he paused.
At first, she thought he was trying to remember how the steps would go for the girl's part, but then she suddenly realised that he was simply listening to the music, waiting for a beat for them to step into. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that things like formal dancing was something that someone of his class was expected just to know.
"Left, Haru." Hikaru suddenly spoke up hurriedly, smoothly stepping out and rolling his eyes as she stumbled after him. "Right… left…right-and-feet-together… left… right… don't-try-to-lead-you're-not-a-man… left… right… left… and out!"
With that he spun her softly out, smiling fondly as she blinked, looking lost. He twirled her back to him and captured her hand again, instantly stepping back and muttering the steps to her.
Feeling relaxed and genuinely enjoying himself for practically the first time that night, he sniggered as he watched her frown intensely at her feet, peeking out from the bottom of her dress. He suddenly realised that, in his irritation, he had been acting rather churlish which Kaoru always seemed to tell him off about.
"Uh, Haruhi…" He spoke up hurriedly in an attempt to redeem himself, blushing madly when she glanced up at him. "That dress, it… looks nice on you. Uh, you know, it… I mean… the dress… no, you look… pretty… like, really nice… tonight… like… that…" His words trailed off pathetically.
Oh-my-God, I don't even understand what I'm saying. I'm sure I was being cool until about ten seconds ago.
"Was… that a compliment?" Haruhi muttered, amused but genuinely lost to what he was saying (Hikaru cringed).
"Yes, it… was… 'cause… Oh, for crap's sake!"
She stared at him, startled and suddenly doubting her boyfriend's precious sanity. "…Huh?"
"Haruhi, you look really-!" He paused and quickly scanned his brain for an adequate word to describe her. Beautiful? Stunning? Entirely gorgeous?
"Pretty." He decided.
Sure, it didn't sound as impressive, but for some reason it was a hell of a lot easier to say.
Blinking at him for a second, Haruhi finally smiled fondly, seemingly getting what he was trying to say. "Thanks, I guess." She snorted, exasperated as Hikaru grinned back, instantly feeling decidedly more devil-may-care.
"You know, for a tanuki." He added for good measure, smirking as Haruhi wrinkled her nose at the old nickname that still haunted her now and again.
"I never understood why you lot were so adamant about calling me that…" Haruhi sighed slowly.
As Hikaru began to snigger and insist that it was her fault for being so Tanuki-ish, Haruhi looked almost sadly over at the dancing couples around them.
There was the chairman and Miss Kuragano, smiling shyly at each other as they waltzed, and some other ex-costumers, all looking happy in themselves and with whom Haruhi had been genuinely fond. At the sidelines, she could see Casanova, surrounded by a swarm of friendly classmates, and Kaoru, talking animatedly to a girl with a magnificent beehive hairdo.
She smiled as the girl said something and Kaoru threw back his head and laughed.
Her hand tightened around Hikaru's. "I think… I'm going to miss this." She confessed softly, the words slipping out almost without her noticing.
Hikaru blinked at her, perplexedly. "…huh? Miss what? The homework?"
Sparing him a vaguely irritated glare, Haruhi looked back over her classmates and made a face, as though she wasn't quite sure what she meant herself. She didn't notice that the two of them were now barely dancing, just pacing around rhythmically in a loop.
"I don't know… just this." She admitted hesitatingly, not used to explaining such things. "Everyone. Everything. It all annoyed me at some point but… I'll really miss it."
There was a long pause until, to Haruhi's complete embarrassment, Hikaru burst out laughing with a loud snort. She flushed and glared at him.
"Don't laugh at me!"
"Ahahahah…"
"Hikaru! You're such a pain. I'm being serious."
"Heh… I know." Haruhi frowned as he grinned wickedly at her and sniggered fondly, his eyes shining bright. "I know." He repeated, smiling. "Silly, silly Haru."
She huffed, unimpressed. "What?" She drawled, stubbornly refusing to respond when he lent his forehead happily against hers.
Hikaru peered at her, amused, and his smile widened impishly as he teased, "You think you'll get rid of everyone that easily? Don't think that's happening, do you? I think we all…" He lent forward shyly, closing his eyes. "…love you far too much for that."
Haruhi just had time to blink in surprise at his words, then smile happily, when their lips met hesitantly; both lent into the other, oblivious to the impact of one of the most popular boys in the year sweetly kissing an apparent newcomer in the midst of all their classmates.
Instantly, the air around them was filled with coughs, disappointed whines, and a single distinctive wolf-whistle.
It took Hikaru about half a second to realise that kissing in the middle of the dance floor wasn't really the thing to do at a formal ball.
And it took him even less than that to realise that he didn't really care.
Sorry for how long the last chapter took. :3 I don't why it took so long, but it did. I really enjoyed writing about flustered Hikaru again though :D
I hope you liked it, and thank you very much for reading~! 8D Pretty please review, with cherries on top~? :D
Love~
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