Chapter Text
The tail ends of summer that bring dryer, more mild days are always a signal for the start of school. For Daisuke, this meant his first year of university. The same goes for his twin sister, who ended up attending the same university as him, although under a different major. Both of them graduated with honors with distinction, with generous scholarships offered because of them. Yet as the well-off Kambes, they did not bother accepting the monetary rewards. Their family had plenty enough as it was.
The first week meant getting acclimated to- well, everything. It wasn’t all that intimidating to the Kambes, but higher education was higher education. The worst of it was for Daisuke, who was not the best at socializing throughout his schooling. This was a huge leap for the man, and now as well, he would not have Suzue by his side for the majority of the day. Not only would she have her own courses to take, but her major was very demanding. The only solace was that they were allowed to room together in their high end campus dorm. All of this meant only a social struggle for the man. Thus, she dragged him off to the clubs fair that very next week in hopes to solve that problem.
(Daisuke tried his best to talk to a few people in his courses prior. It seemed that his attempts at smiling weren’t the most inviting display.)
The main field held numerous booths, haphazardly consisting of collapsible tables and poster boards, that spread around a tent or two. It was rather packed. Students of all shapes and sizes crowded the tents, whether they were looking for a club, a fraternity/sorority, or just chilling and passing the time. Suzue valiantly tried to keep a hold on her brother while pacing through the sea of people, but at some point, it just wasn’t cutting it anymore. They paused near one of the entrances.
“Suke, how about you just go look? I want to make sure you pick something, is all,” she hummed with a slight frown. Daisuke regarded her with his usual cool expression, thinking it over in his head.
“Alright. I will be back shortly, then.”
With little fanfare, he had dropped off his backpack next to his sister’s feet before calmly walking back into the chaotic space. He skipped an aisle or two, since those were the ones they had managed to get down previously. Multiple voices talked over each other, to which he tried to ignore, but the ones that called out to his person as he walked by were another story. He would eye up the information displayed without addressing the people manning the station and move on quickly. A few more rows, and he completed the first tent. He let his feet take him leisurely over to the next set of booths.
His eyes instantly latched onto the small makeshift stage that was tucked away into the corner of the tent. Subtle music emanated from a hidden speaker, as to allow for others to still talk within the area.
One good turn… And we’re done...
It was slow paced, soothing, and haunting. This reflected in the two people that occupied the space and air of the stage. One was a short and slender woman who had dirty blond hair, reaching well down her back. It swayed gently as the two continued to rotate around the stage.
We’ll burn our hearts… Out in the sun…
The other was tall and bordering on spindly who had surprisingly light brown hair that flopped around on his head. The music swelled as the duo completed a half turn and pause of some sort, having the man facing Daisuke’s direction.
The dancer’s golden eyes brought the rich man’s world to a halt. How ironic.
The world began with a waltz, the world began with a waltz, the world began with a waltz…
His feet felt that they were made of metal, and the ground directly below his feet was a magnet. All he could do was lean slightly forward to watch the dancing with invigoration. The music, the motions- it was all so gorgeous to the man with elite tastes. The most exquisite sight of them all? The man leading the woman across the stage to three-four time.
The notes continued to float around their corner of the tent. Daisuke’s eyes stayed fastened to the pair as they drifted forward, side, together repticiously. Something fluttered in his chest when another delay in their steps had the man’s eyes briefly catching his own. This brought Daisuke out of his stupor just as the chorus finished once again. He huffed before scanning the room for the club that these two belonged to. A printed banner in cursive caught his eye.
“Hello! Are you interested in joining our ballroom dance club?” the person closest to the booth greeted. She had her pink hair in a messy ponytail, her body soft. He nodded while looking over the informative posters. “Oh, perfect! Did you happen to see the demonstration as well?”
“Yes. I would like to know how to join as soon as possible,” Daisuke hummed, picking up a pamphlet. He began to thumb it open as the club representative chuckled nervously.
“For sure! You can sign up for classes either right now, or during our open house the following week. You should be able to see when they-”
“When does the man who just performed take his classes?” he cut in with no hesitation, nor remorse.
“Oh! Haru? He’s, um, in our advanced level classes on Wednesdays. A-Are you new to ballroom or do you have experience?” she stuttered back, not sure how to go about dealing with this commanding man.
“Ah- I have never danced before. I could manage still, if I took both. Correct?”
“I hate to say it, but it’s not that simple,” she squeaked. “How about you try out the open house and sign up from there? You can become a member right now if-”
“Then I will do so. Where do I sign?”
￥￥￥￥￥
Daisuke returned to his twin with a smirk, quickly explaining the club he joined. He paid the measly pocket change fee of five dollars to become an undergrad member and memorized the details about the open house that was going to occur that Friday. He steadily ignored the pounding of his heart at the idea of seeing the fluffy haired man again. (Suzue did pick up on something having shifted in her brother, despite his outwardly calm stance.)
Suzue had decided to join him in this adventure, with her curiosity peaked. It was like the best of both worlds, where she gets to see Daisuke more often in a week, and he gets in some necessary socialization.
Between the both of them starting to get swamped in their homework, time happened to fly by. Friday, and the ballroom open house, was upon them before they knew it.
￥￥￥￥￥
Some kind of upbeat and energetic song filled the air as the Kambes sat towards the back corner of the wide open space. The one to welcome them and set them up for the event was the same one from the booth, who they came to learn went by Mahoro. You couldn’t call it a ballroom by any means, with tile lining the floor instead of hardwood, but it held its purpose. The room had a semi-high ceiling, with old fairy lights strung through the wooden rafters. The chairs they sat on matched those outlining the room on two of its sides with a DJ-esque set up and snack/drink table taking the other two. Daisuke definitely felt out of place in the sparsely funded room.
His foot bounced impatiently as he constantly scanned over the room in search for the taupe haired man. Admittedly, they arrived a little early, with some of the club still doing their last bit of set up. It was awkward with one old couple occasionally dancing to a waltz, and a few students on their phones across the room. Some other people slowly joined in on the dancing from time to time, perhaps instructors, yet there was still no sign of Haru by the time lessons began.
A new man, definitely older, introduced himself as Katsuhiro and the lead instructor for the evening. The same girl from the demonstration was there and introduced herself as Akasuki and the follow instructor. Some banter later, they offered a quick demo of the steps the room would learn shortly for the waltz.
Suzue nudged his leg with her knee. “That instructor is really cute,” she whispered into his ear, pointing at the follow instructor.
“Okay.”
“... Nothing, huh. Well, she’s mine now anyways. I hope she isn’t the one you seemed to fancy during your little spile.”
Daisuke glanced uncaringly at her with a barely audible scoff before returning his gaze to the (not as) captivating (as with Haru) waltz. Just as they ended, some of the clapping blurring with the tail end of the song, a familiar face rushed into the space. He shrugged off his bag and jacket before slapping on a name tag and rushing over to another club member. The rich man gulped at the sight of the other in a coral button up with a (an ugly, oh my god-) lime green tie laying limp against his chest. Daisuke’s sister had to drag him up to remind him to join in on the lesson.
Daisuke decided then and there that he would learn to follow as an excuse to dance with Haru.
The basic for the waltz felt comfortable and familiar to the Kambes. Daisuke fell into the motion of left foot forward, right to the side, step together, and a switch of weight; the reverse happening over the next measure. It was almost a bore for him. Not for Suzue, though, as she usually found herself tripping up on the weight shift. She had taken on being a lead in a similar fashion to her twin’s justification.
Although Haru wasn’t teaching, Daisuke would watch him as an example, as he was dancing with another TA to aid the instructors. Sometimes his gaze would drift to places that might not be proper, and he would quickly shake off his wandering thoughts. Haru was later introduced to be a TA, which the rich man had already guessed. He immediately knew his next bet at being in his ‘class’ was to find out when he TA-ed.
After another move was learnt, they got into partners around the spacious room to practice properly. In two lines, they were to rotate dancing partners every time the instructors said so, or after a song. Daisuke would curtly introduce himself to the variety of leads that he ended up with, and they would always come across more fiddly after the exchange. (Who wouldn’t when the attractive man would utter only a few words, offer a nod, and stare the poor soul down the whole dance?) He just simply wanted to feel what it was like to glide along the floor with a lead like Haru. Was it too much to ask?
The chance didn’t come until after another few sets of learning and applying. As they let people try on their own, he had already met with Suzue once or twice. She was catching on alright, but she still wasn’t the lanky man. Said lanky man joined in a handful of people ahead in the line, to which Daisuke counted down the number of partners he had to deal with until Haru could join him. Surely, in time, he had come around to Daisuke after a few partners. By this point, they had people going around the room, down the line of dance. (Leads facing down the line of dance, follows backing it.)
“Hey. Nice to meet you, my name is Haru,” the other man greeted, offering his hand out for a handshake. Daisuke inhaled sharply before committing to a sturdy handshake. A slight downturn to Haru’s lips and his early ‘nice to meet you’ had him feeling that the man before him knew of him already.
“Same to you. My name is Daisuke. I have not danced before. Please teach me well,” he droned on, not quite letting his hand go just yet. Haru’s face flushed slightly as he removed his hand aggressively and grumbled under his breath, something about attractive and stubborn. Not that Daisuke was paying much attention. The song had started, so the taller man scrambled to get their frame together and begin their waltz.
Daisuke was nearly pliant under the other man’s lead. He did as the expert hands told him to do, following the basic steps well with an occasional box step to keep them from running into other people. He felt as light a cloud, dancing with the man. He felt graceful and pretty. They did not talk during their dance, as much as the rich man was desperate to question him on his schedule. The taller man shot down a lot of his attempts, anyways. And before he knew it, the song quieted down, only to swell into a new one. Haru thanked Daisuke for the dance, and swiftly switched partners.
￥￥￥￥￥
“When does Haru TA?” he questioned the other TA that the man had danced with earlier. They had taken a break between styles to have some pizza. Daisuke refused to have his share.
“Oh! He just started doing Tuesday beginner classes. Does that answer your question?” he revealed.
“Yes, thank you.” He crossed the room (well, went around- one does not cut through the dancing space-) to the sign up desk the second he finished speaking. Shortly after, he returned to his seat next to Suzue, newly signed up for the Tuesday beginner classes. “I’ve signed you up, as well. Akasuki is teaching that night.”
￥￥￥￥￥
The Kambe siblings had stayed to learn cha-cha as well. Daisuke ended up dancing with Haru a few more times, but few words were exchanged. Haru had to correct the rigidness that the other man kept during the more fluid dance, which Daisuke was more than happy to listen to. The stagnant hip issue was not solved by the evening, but the steps were what mattered for the time being. (No, Daisuke did not find his breath quickening when Haru rested his hands near his waist to show him how to move his hips. Not at all.)
The event was winding down, with a handful of people left now, as Suzue offered to lead her brother in a last cha-cha. They began with the usual weight shift before Daisuke stepped back with his right foot, rocking with a step of the left foot, before doing three quick steps to the right and then mirroring this footwork from the left side. His sister led him well, and even squeezed in some spins. They found themselves smiling at their mistakes, and quickly learning from them.
The Kambes soon packed up their minimal belongings and began to head back to their shared dorm shortly after. Daisuke had been yawning throughout his last few dances before they played the final waltz, and song, of the evening. By then, he was nearly dead on his feet. Suzue was fine, considering she normally stayed up way too late reading. She had to help keep him up right as they left the building.
Daisuke didn’t appreciate it as much once he spotted a certain dancer at the bus stop.
“Haru,” he called sleepily while maneuvering himself out of his sister’s grip. The man whipped his head around to look at him with quizzical eyes. “Let’s get some drinks. And talk about ballroom.”
“We can talk now. You’re doing good for a first timer,” he grumbled towards the rich man, of whom continued to slide his way over to the man.
“And drinks?”
“No. Go home, Daisuke.”
He found himself frowning despite knowing better. “But how about-”
“Shut up. I need to get home,” Haru half heartedly hissed as the bus pulled up. “I can’t stay close to campus in fully-furnished student res like some people.” He quickly fled to the safety of the bus without a glance back.
Daisuke would never admit that he let out a very frustrated sigh while watching Haru settle into a seat in the back of the nearly empty bus.