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“Skateboarding is just like dancing,” Kaoru said matter-of-factly, but it was almost like he was scolding him.
Like he should know how to do this already.
“How the hell is it like dancing? I’m not waltzing away from cops, that’s for sure.” Kojiro huffed, shrugging his stained chef’s coat off his shoulders, tossing it onto the back of a chair.
“It’s methodical. Clean. There are rules.”
“Who said there’s rules in skating?” Kojiro’s nose wrinkled at the thought.
“The technique , dummy,” Kaoru sighed, slipping his own yukata off, folding it neatly before placing it on Carla.
“I mean… I guess I get it,” Kojiro lied, crossing his arms across his chest and sizing the other man up.
“It was just a comparison to make it easier for you to understand, Joe. I cannot dumb it down anymore,” he chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head.
A small smile tugged at his lips before he could stop it.
“What? You got somethin’ to say?” Kojiro’s lips couldn’t help but upturn at the sight of his friend laughing at his own cluelessness.
“No, I’m just baffled that you asked me to teach you out of all people.”
Cherry was still trying to figure it out. Plenty of girls would’ve bent over backwards to get him alone, to get close to him.
“Well… I just didn’t think you’d judge me, you know?” He mumbled, shrugging, scuffing his heel against the floor.
“And whatever gave you that idea?” Kaoru teased, rolling his lips.
Truthfully, Joe could’ve asked anyone.
But the second that woman pulled him aside after her meal and invited him to the charity ball, his mind flitted to his best friend.
It was honestly embarrassing how long he’d gone without properly learning how to dance. He just didn’t think he’d need this skill. It’s not like it’d ever come up before.
“If you don’t wanna help me you could’ve just said that,” Kojiro huffed, seemingly a bit embarrassed.
“No. I’m up for the challenge. We’ll make a dancer out of you yet.”
Kaoru stretched his arms above him, nothing but a straight line of slender limbs.
Kojiro rolled his shoulders back, his muscles stretching and pulsing underneath the thin ribbed tank top.
Both men tried to keep their gazes anywhere but each others’ bare skin.
“So, how’re we doing this thing?” Kojiro’s hand rubbed at the back of his neck, already looking out of place despite him being in the place he was most comfortable.
Their little makeshift dance floor was the product of about five minutes of shoving chairs and tables to the side – just enough room for two partners to twirl comfortably.
“With me, you idiot. Come here,” Kaoru rolled his eyes, holding his arms up loosely, left arm just barely curled, the right pointed outward palm facing Kojiro.
“Uh… Alright,” Kojiro murmured, stepping forward until he was about a foot away from him, raising his arms stiffly.
He didn’t touch Kaoru, just kind of flickered his gaze across his arms like he was gauging what he should do next.
Kaoru sighed loudly, shaking his limbs in a gesture to beckon him. “Cradle my arm with your right. Hold my hand with your left.”
He slipped his arm underneath Kaoru’s, feeling his cool smooth marble skin against his own.
Kaoru tried to repress his shudder as Kojiro's warm sun kissed skin initially touched his.
The moment was nearly ruined when Kojiro gripped Kaoru’s hand tightly, like he was holding a bar of soap he didn’t want to slip through his fingers.
“Ow – ow – not like that –” Kaoru hissed in pain, shaking his hand out.
“Sorry, my bad,” Kojiro apologized, grimacing.
“You have to hold her hand like you like her, Kojiro. You can’t just grab her like an ape with a bushel of bananas.”
“Are you gonna help me or what?” Kojiro nearly growled, gaze flitting away from the honey irises that always saw right through him.
One hundred suckers could fawn at his feet, but Kaoru would always be completely immune to it.
“I said I would help you, and I am. I never promised to be nice about it,” Kaoru said, a smirk playing on his lips, prompting an eyeroll and smile from Kojiro.
“I don’t know why I expected more from you, Cherry,” he chuckled, before relaxing slightly in his grip. “So, stance. Pretend like I like her. Got it.”
“It shouldn’t be that hard for you.”
Kojiro shrugged. “Don’t really know the gal, but I do know you. Might make it easier on me to start out with someone I know.”
Kaoru’s breath hitched in his throat, choking on his casual vulnerability. Kojiro wasn’t an emotionally unavailable man by any means, but… he wasn’t open like this with Kaoru. Not lately, at least.
He cleared his throat, blinking the thought away.
“I’m going to be teaching you a basic box step. Nothing too fancy, just enough for you to hopefully blend in.”
“Forward, right, close. Back, left, close. Memorize that quickly,” Kaoru continued, still gripping Kojiro.
He easily could’ve been apart from him to give him direction. Kojiro knew that, too. Despite that, they were both too stubborn to part first.
Kojiro’s lips twisted in concentration, brows pulling together as he repeated the steps in his mind.
“Carla, play a waltz playlist, please,” he ordered politely, smiling as the strings of the classical tune flooded through Carla’s speakers. “You’re leading, so I’ll follow.”
After a few more directions of which foot to move with which direction, they were off, stumbling around the makeshift dance floor.
Kojiro’s steps were clunky and heavy footed, like he was stomping. He was mumbling expletives with nearly every step of the dance, sweat beading on his brow with determination.
Kaoru was almost amused if he actually wanted Kojiro to fail. But this wasn’t anything like the S.
It was a promise turned challenge – he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to see it through to the end.
The song ended, and Kojiro was nearly drenched in sweat, which was so odd to Kaoru. There were nights where Kojiro finished an entire race without breaking a sweat.
He was clearly nervous. Afraid of failing.
“Let’s take five. You can watch me.”
Kojiro leaned his hip against a table, gulping down a glass of water as Kaoru launched into the waltz.
Kaoru’s steps were precise, calculated, like he was slicing through air – walking on it, even. He twirled and flowed around the room like the stroke of a brush to a pad of paper.
He sucked his teeth to keep time, little tuts for each move. His eyes were focused, the same as when he was balanced on Carla, hugging a tight corner.
Kojiro was mesmerized.
The reason Kaoru was so good at this is because he didn’t treat it as “Kaoru” dancing. He was just as much Cherry on the dance floor as he was at the S.
The song finished again, and Kojiro was staring.
Kaoru tugged at the neck of his loose top, breathless. “It gets easier the more you practice, like skateboarding.”
“Yeah… I can see that,” Kojiro murmured, breaking his stare to look at the empty cup in his hands.
“Not sure I can learn to be that dainty with one lesson,” he laughed, setting the cup down on the table, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“It is not about being dainty, Joe. You’ll just need to bring the same confident approach to two different mediums, is all.”
Kojiro nodded, pushing away from the table. “The charity ball is a couple of weeks away. You busy tomorrow night?”
“Continuing to teach you for free?” Kaoru scoffed, thankful he had a master level poker face. “What’s in it for me?”
“Hmm… I’ll treat you to dinner sometime,” Kojiro flashed a grin.
Kaoru raised a single brow.
“Dinner here Cherry, here –”
“I knew you meant here. But one dinner? Not nearly enough.”
He rolled his eyes, folding his arms, his grin firmly in place. “Yeah, yeah, I lowballed you. One dinner for every lesson.”
Kaoru’s eyes glimmered behind his glasses. “Agreed.”