Chapter Text
“Takemichi-kun, your mission is simple.”
The sky filled with a warm array of colors from the setting sun. A dark-haired beauty stepped out of the car, stiletto heels clicking at each step. They shivered at the cold breeze brushing against their freshly shaved legs exposed by the dress they wore.
“Are you listening?” The big-built man said, receiving a nod in return, “As I was saying, you’ll be staying upstairs—some other dancers stay there, so you’re not gonna be on your lonesome up there. S’got everything you need, and ask Yuzuha if you need anything else. Got it.”
He got another nod, “Good.” The big man stopped abruptly, making the beauty behind him crash into his back. “Before I forget,” He turned, towering over the brunette, “Anything you hear never leaves this place, or it’s trouble. Ya hear.”
The smaller form gulped a "Yes, sir.” A cold sweat runs down the back of their neck.
“The name’s Pah. No sir, shit—I ain’t ya old man.” The man, Pah, grumbled. “Got a name, sweet cheeks?”
“Hanamaki Michi.” Michi blushed, holding a scowl from the nickname. This whole thing was stupid, being a girl—a dancer no less. It would be such a problem if ‘Michi’ was not Michi but Takemichi.
——
“In order for this to work, you’ll have to go undercover.” The lanky, dark-haired guy said, pouring a glass of brandy and handing it over to the other male sitting across the desk. “Gather intel and bring it back to me. Anything you can find about my sister’s whereabouts.”
The other male, Hanagaki Takemichi, tilted his chin up, fingering the rim of the glass as he processed what he was being told. “So what would I have to do? Sell drinks to gather information? New recruit?” He asked.
The other in the room, known as Naoto, smirked in response.
“Not exactly,” Naoto placed a file in front of Takemichi, who looked through it thoroughly, finding a fake ID and documents. “Let’s say a figure like yours can work in our favor.”
——
‘Michi’ and Pah continued their way into the building; the smell of dry citrus and shaving cream filled the air. Michi looked around as the men continued with their day cleaning hair from the floor and counting money from the register, practically unaware of any other activities hidden within the barbershop.
“PehYan, I’m heading to the back. If anyone asks for me, say I’m busy.” Pah said to a tall and skinny fellow with eyes that were practically popping out of his head. Peh responded with a “Got ya, boss,” before perking and grabbing something from behind the counter.
“This came in for Inui, from their nice sponsor.” Pah grabbed the small gift bag and bouquet of purple dandelions from Peh, then clapped a hand on Michi’s fur-covered shoulder, dragging her (him) to a large white door that was poorly covered by a velvet curtain. As he left, Michi looked back to find Peh watching him form as he walked and turned away, slightly red when their eyes met.
Pah pulls open the heavy door with a grunt, letting out the warm air entrapped inside. A red carpet staircase twisted farther down, and the echo of a piano and jazz music bounced off the hollow walls. Careful in his brand new heels, he followed Pah down into an area with warm light, and the same carpet adorned the floor up to the stage and behind the bar. It was basically dead as the club was not open for another two hours or so, with bartenders readying the drinks and food that’s to be served and the musicians practicing for tonight's show.
As they continued to stage, a man with lilac hair looked up from the piano where he sat, stopping the melody he was playing and telling the rest of the band to take five.
“Sounds great, Mitsuya! D’ crowd’s gonna love it.” Pah smiled (for the first time since Michi had been with the man) and took a drink from Mitsuya’s whiskey glass.
Mitsuya slapped Pah's pudgy hand from his glass with a cool smile. “Yeah—well, I’ll hope it sounds good. Been working on this with the girls all week.” Mitsuya paused, finally taking in the other person with them. His gaze was gentle but still burned at Michi’s head, making him drop eye contact. “Hello, my dear, I don’t think we met.”
Pah "ahmed," placing a fat hand on the small of Michi’s back, pushing him slightly forward. “Right, this here is our new dancer, Maichy-“
“Michi, Hanamaki Michi,” Michi corrected.
“Yeah, I said that.” Michi must have made a noticeable face due to Mitsuya sending an amused snicker his way as he crossed his arm over top of the piano to rest his chin, “Anyways, this here is Mitsuya. He’s our main pianist and designs the costumes for the dancer.”
“Am simply a guy with many talents,” Mitsuya cut in, winking at Michi. The jester should not have made the undercover investigator’s ear tips burn.
Clearing his throat, Michi added, “Sorta like a jack of all trades,” he smiled…Again this was an act Michi was putting on, yeah he wasn’t flirting intentionally. No, not one bit…
“Exactly!” The two stayed silent for a moment, Mitsuya’s eyes running up and down Michi’s body having the poor guy brow twitch in annoyance, growing self aware of his lack of feminine assets. Though, it didn’t stop Mitsuya from drinking up his figure.
“Um—“ Michi broke the silence, “It was a pleasure meeting you.” With a sultry smile, he held out a gloved hand towards the pianist.
Mitsuya gently grabbed Michi’s hands, planting a sweet kiss at his knuckle and giving a more than friendly smile up at the undercover investigator. “The pleasure is all mine.”
Michi flushed in frustration when Mitsuya winked a goodbye before she was pulled away and towards a door leading to backstage and up another short flight of stairs.
“Ugh, can’t you knock? This is the dressing room, ya know!” A voice yelled at the top of the stairs.
Pah rolled his eyes and knocked on the wooden railing half-heartedly. A new voice now yells "Come in,” then the two continue on their journey.
Upon reaching the top step, Michi was able to take in the ‘dressing room’—which was more like a big attic corridor. The vibe of the dressing room was a slight contrast to downstairs; wall lights were more muted, giving a shadowy, seductive feel, with lights closer to the vanities being the only source of actual lighting. The ladies (beautiful, each one of them) chatted and gossiped lively as they corrected their makeup or pulled dry rollers from their hair, adorning themselves with gorgeous pearls and feather boas. An overwhelming aroma of cigarettes, perfumes, and sour margaritas took over any breathable air in the area, but for some reason, it just added to the charm of it.
Pah grunted, and the girls quickly hush and shushed others, giving him their full attention.
“Alright ladies, this here is gonna be your new roommate, Hanamaki Michi.” Pah glanced an eye at Michi as if asking if he said it right, to which Michi nodded. “She’ll be a new dancer; I hope you’ll treat her decently, at least. Anyways—give her a friendly smile and a warm greeting.”
All the girls plastered a big (almost too big to be genuine) smile and cheered “Welcome Michi!” before continuing with whatever they were doing.
Michi allowed his eyes to glaze the room, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of a familiar pink-haired girl. Much to his disappointment, he did not.
“Yuzuha!” Pah shouted over the sea of dancers, pulling Michi as he approached a beautiful woman with golden eyes and long auburn hair rolled up in curlers. Michi assumed this was ‘Yuzuha’. “Ya know where Inui is, dollface? Got a package for them.”
Yuzuha knitted her brows at the nickname and spoke while applying her mascara.
“Probably with Emma in the back,” she twirled around in her chair to fully face the two.
“Oh, and for the last time, quit it with the nicknames. We wouldn’t want Mrs. to hear all the annoying names you got for us, do we?” Yuzuha crossed her arms, and for the first time, Michi saw Pah look nervous.
He’s married? Michi thought, surprised that even a gruff guy like him could find love.
“Yeah, whatever you say.”
Michi was dragged (which he hopes doesn’t become a habit while here) towards the back, where a couple sat at an open bay window, with one smoking out the window. One was taller with an elegant posture, wearing a dark shade of lipstick matching the burn scar on the side of their head, while the other was baby-faced with bright eyes and golden blonde hair.
“Oi Emma, you will be mentoring Michi,” Pah said, as if the thought just popped into his head. Emma, the cute blonde girl, sent a kind smile to Michi that he couldn’t help but to return. “And Inui, a package from lover boy.”
As the words left his lips, the rest of the dancers squealed and crowded to surround them. The latter grabbed the small gift bag and flowers after putting out their cigarette and sniffing the bouquet before handing them to Emma.
“What could it be?” A dancer asked.
“Another diamond ring, since the last proposal didn’t go as planned.” Emma snickered, leaning over Inui’s shoulder.
Inui scoffed, crunching their nose. “If he tried proposing again, I'd toss that shit out the window. We’re not even dating.” They rolled their eyes.
Yuzuha came from behind Michi and spoke out, “You keep toying with that poor man’s heart.”
“It’s what he deserves; you guys didn’t grow up with him.” Inui said, finally pulling the gift out of the bag. The gift in question was a small box, which made the others coo and ooh. Opening it, the room was exposed to an expensively elegant pair of sparkly diamond earrings.
While the others awed (even Michi couldn’t take his eyes away from the shining stones) at the earrings, Inui looked unfazed, like getting a pair of diamond earrings were just a regular Tuesday meal. A dull smile played on their lips, and Inui slipped the jewelry on.
“A little subtle today, huh?” Inui said, flipping their hair back to flash the earring.
“Yeah, no—you’re the only one of us that gets expensive presents.”
Inui faked a dreamy sigh, “I’m a materialist; it's the best way to my heart.”
“Unless you’re Kokonoi,” someone cut in, and the dancers giggled as if it were some inside joke that Michi wasn’t a part of. In a sense, he wasn’t really.
Pah left shortly after with a “show start’s in two hours; be ready by then!” and with that, the girls were left to their own devices.
Michi is stranded there, awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. That was until someone hooked an arm around his.
“Michi, was it?” It was Emma, leaning closer to Michi. “I’m Emma; that's Inui." Emma gestured to Inui, who was once again smoking and leaning on one crossed knee.
Michi bowed politely.
“I’ll introduce you to everyone later; let’s get a drink!” With that, Emma (followed by Inui) leads Michi out the dressing room and down to the bar once again.
The bar looked more full of staff as the place was about ready to open for the night. Emma hopped on top of the bar stool and patted the next seat for Michi to take; Inui slid into the one next to his.
A bartender, one with blonde hair and green eyes, placed three glasses of tequila, each blue in color with a cherry in the center.
“Here you are, ladies. Try not to drink too much before the night even starts.” The blonde said.
Inui snickered, grabbing their glass and taking a sip. “Too late for that; already had three shots before.”
The bartender knitted his eyes. “I expect nothing less from the alcoholic,” Inui flipped him off, which the blonde returned half-heartedly.
“With an attitude like that, no wonder you can’t catch a date with Baji.”
The bartender went red. Michi didn’t know if it was from anger or embarrassment.
“I don’t wanna hear it from someone who can’t even decide which victim they would be sleeping next to tonight.”
Inui scoffed, "Oh, please, I never stay the night.”
Emma turned to Michi, rubbing her temples. It seems like this encounter is common between these two.
“Anyways, thanks Chifuyu!” Emma chirped, sipping from her glass and encouraging Michi to do the same.
“Who’s Baji?” Michi asked, actually doing his intended job now that he can.
Emma sided him curiously, “Baji runs another club across town. He usually visits here with boss from time to time, mostly to flirt with Chifuyu and ends up leaving empty-handed…It’s kind of pathetic to watch.”
“Pah?”
“No, Pah isn’t our boss; he just runs the place. I mean boss boss, he only comes to visit with Draken sometimes.” Emma sighed; a warm color dusted her cheeks at the mention of ‘Draken’.
So there is someone higher ranked than Pah... interesting. Takemichi took a mental note of that; he has to gather a good amount of information to Naoto by the end of the week.
"So, Michi, what brings a gorgeous woman like yourself down here? With your looks, I would've mistaken you for a rich man’s wife.”
Michi clenched the glass between her hands; it’s one thing passing with looks, but he didn’t really come up with a full backstory for Hanamaki Michi. Poor planning, he knows, but Naoto kind of just gave him the documents and a new identity and basically said, ‘Work off of this.'
Takemichi is really beginning to wonder why he let Naoto Tachibana boss him around.
“Uh-well, I guess you can say I've always been the sort of adventurous type.”
Emma raised an eyebrow. “Then write a book, maybe even travel the world—like yeah, this place is exciting and all, but are you sure you know what you’re getting into? Burlesque is sometimes safe, depending on who you work, but this club is run differently.“
Michi swallowed the lump in his throat; it was going to be difficult to get her off their trail. Takemichi would just have to get a little personal—not too much, but enough to avoid raising too many questions.
Michi allowed his eyes to get glassy—when in doubt, no one can overpush a woman’s tears. “I guess you’re right,” he tightened his throat, adding more to the act. “The truth is... I lost a friend of mine not too long ago. She was also a burlesque dancer—not here, but yeah. I was hoping I could get a little closer to her by joining the industry. She was all I had after my family—” he cried out, holding on to the blonde girl and sobbing into her shoulder. This was a lie, of course. Well, not completely—the Tachibana family has taken care of Takemichi for as long as he could remember when his family no longer could. Michi did, however, tell a little white lie to sell the role, and that on itself deserved an award.
Emma cooed and quickly comforted Michi with a soothing hand through her black curls.
Michi composed himself, wiping the tears from her eyes and giving the two a watery smile.
“Thank you for that; please keep this to yourselves. I would hate for people to start to think I’m not taking this seriously when I am, but you know... He whispered solemnly.
“No, we completely understand! You have our word that this doesn’t leave this bar”
Michi only smiled; he managed to save his own ass—again, no thanks to Naoto, who sent him blindly in with nothing but a name and the clothes on his back.
Emma glanced behind Michi as he took a drink of the really sweet drink, her eyes catching a figure walking up to them. “Hey, Mitsuya!”
Michi twirled in the spinning bar stool, catching the sight of Mitsuya. He smiled at them (his eyes lingering a bit too long on Michi, but that went unnoticed). “Ladies,” he tipped his fedora, “I hate to break up a coworker's bonding, but I need to take Miss Hanamaki’s measurements for her costumes.”
Emma gave the guy a skeptical look. “Like I’ll ever leave a girl with you alone in an empty room,” Mitsuya looked taken aback; a cold sweat ran down the side of his head.
“C’mon Emma, I’m not that type of guy, and you know that.” Emma humphed, sticking her nose up.
"Fine," she sighed, sliding off her stool.
She motioned to Inui to come alone and the three of them followed Mitsuya back to the dressing room and over to a small corner that had a privacy screen divider.
Mitsuya walked over to a desk and pulled a cabinet open, taking out measuring tape. Emma and Inui took a seat at the desk—Emma using the desk’s chair and Inui plopping their asses right on top.
“Excuse me for asking, but do you mind stripping to your undergarments? It’ll make measuring easier.” Mitsuya asked, most gentlemen like—Inui must have made a comment to Emma because the both of them snickered and hit their shoulder playfully.
Michi couldn’t help but feel his face burn a bit.
“Oh um…”
Mitsuya must have noticed the hesitation as he said, “If you are bothered by my presence, would you like Emma or Inui to measure you…not that it would be quite exact.” He whispered the last part but smiled warmly.
Michi gulped. This was completely going to blow his cover. Takemichi wasn’t expecting to strip on his first day on the job (innocent or not), and if the girls do it, it might make the situation bigger than it already would.
“You can go behind the screen and do it if you’re uncomfortable with everyone here,” Inui chimed in, leaning back on their hands, making their chest stick out more. “However, if you’re going to be in this type of industry, better start growing a pair, especially with Mitsuya’s designs—he puts you in little to nothing out there.”
“Showing a little skin is what burlesque is all about,” Mitsuya winked at Inui, who simply scoffed.
Mitsuya turned to Michi again, “But really, I’ll be respectable and won’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
Michi nodded, saying that he’ll be more comfortable behind the screen, like Inui said. Mitsuya agreed, walking Michi to be covered by the screening, turning around with his back facing him to give Michi privacy, which Takemichi was grateful about.
Takemichi shuffled around to take off his dress, folding it nicely and throwing it over top of the screen. There was a mirror, and Michi saw his reflection. Takemichi has always been on the more slim and lean side; his body grew more muscle over the years—especially with the hard labor that comes with being a private detective, although he’s had wider hips compared to any of the other male counterparts around him. There was a time where Takemichi hated how his body curved in the wrong places for a guy, but for Michi, it fits fine.
Well, there goes any remaining masculinity he had, Takemichi thought, frowning at his reflection.
“Ready?” Mitsuya asked, his back still to Michi.
“Oh, yeah.”
Mitsuya turned, facing Michi. Michi stood in her undergarments, a silk bloomer tied mid-waist.
“I’m just going to take the sizes of your neck, waist, arms, legs, and hips.” He said calmly, as if reassuring Michi, “I could take more, that is, if you like my hands all over you.”
Michi blinked at Mitsuya as he wrapped the tape around his neck.
“That was a joke.”
“Haha,” Michi chuckled dryly.
“Tough crowd,” Mitsuya jokes. “Neck, fourteen inches!” He yelled. Michi hears the squeaking of the cabinet being opened again and Emma yelling, “Okay!”
Michi stood still as Mitsuya called out numbers of Michi’s body—which Michi was glad the undergarments gave extra padding to his flatter areas. Mitsuya paused, however, when he got Michi's hips.
He tilted his head. “Waist, thirty-seven ‘dot’ two... hips, fifty ‘dot’ eight!”
“I’m sorry, what?” Inui said stunned. .
Michi looked confused as Emma pushed Mitsuya to the side and remeasured Michi’s hips before letting her jaw drop.
What’s wrong? Could they have seen past their disguise? Takemichi thought to himself, and it must have translated to his expression because Emma cleared her throat and explained.
“It’s nothing, Michi,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “We just weren’t expecting you to have such a large behind...”
“What-“
“It’s not a bad thing; if anything, it’ll get you more attention here. We just weren’t expecting it, y'know, since you’re so slim.”
Was it really that big? Michi thought, looking back to face the mirror to check his ass in the reflection.
Mitsuya noticed Michi’s reaction. "Like Emma said, it’s not a bad thing.” He called out the last measurements and gave Michi the ‘okay’ to get dressed again. “You cover well for having all that—plus most men like that.”
Mitsuya may have thought the words were encouraging, but all Michi could think about was how he did not want any attention from men and how everyone's words were destroying what little masculinity he had left.
——
Michi has been there for three days now, and he has to say that being a dancer is no joke.
From the workouts and meal plans to have each dancer looking their best to the tiring and muscle-aching training and practices. All in heels, no less! Michi was just about done and wanted to complete his mission already.
He could understand the importance of it, but for the love of god, they weren’t even putting him on stage yet; he’s been mostly watching the performances of the other girls.
Well, that was before today.
After Yuzuha called a break, the girls dropped their seduction stance and went to change.
Everyone paused as Pah's voice boomed over the quiet, almost empty studio.
“Because Renge is going to be out sick for a while—”
“I told her to use protection, but she didn’t listen!” Inui yelled.
Another dancer chimed in, “I heard the baby’s father propose... gotta hand it to her; she got a man tied down.”
“"Anyways—someone else is going to take her spot for tonight.” Pah pointed at Michi, “Get this one dolled up for tonight; she’s going on!”
“No, Pah—“
“She’s not ready. Don’t do that to her.”
“Michi’s only been here for a week!”
The other protested, to which Pah waved his hand dismissively, “I don’t wanna hear it, okay—plus, she fits the image we’re going for tonight.”
Yuzuha raised her hand. “Why not let me do it? I know the steps.”
“Because your brother is visiting tonight, and I would like it if he didn’t cause over a thousand yen worth of damage.” Pah said tiredly.
Yuzuha scoffed, “You’re acting like he couldn’t pay you back.”
“Yes, but it’s not the money; it’s the time. I had to close the club for five months last time I put you up there.”
"Sir, the Shiba family has arrived." PehYan interrupted. Pah nodded, acknowledging what was said; this was a cue for PahYan to leave, but not before shyly nodding at Michi.
The other two in the room (besides Michi) snickered at the lanky guys weird behavior.
"Nervous?"
Michi gave a shaken chuckle. "That obvious?"
Mitsuya shrugged, straightening out as Yuzuha by putting the finishing touches on her hair.
"A little, but you got nothing to worry about. Just keep your lips moving with the audio." He smiled warmly at Michi. "And if anything, I'm—I mean, the girls right there with you."
Michi nodded. "Just hope they like me." Mitsuya scoffed playfully, like Michi had said something impossible.
"Of course they'll love you!" He said, lightly grabbing Michi's chin with his thumb and pointer finger, directing his head to look up at Mitsuya from his sitting position. "Who couldn't love a face like this?" Mitsuya winked as Michi stood and examined himself in the mirror.
Yuzuzha left, having gone to go meet her brothers, which left Mitsuya and Michi all alone in the dressing room—the other girls having gone backstage to wait for their chance on stage.
Michi took in his appearance. Mitsuya had made the little number he was wearing for his performance tonight, that being a beautiful red corset top with black lace curling up the sides. Emphasizing his smaller waist, the bustier leaving nothing to the imagination as it displayed his freckled tan skin, and a long ruffled skirt with a slit to showcase his legs.
He rubbed his arms.
Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like he was going up alone; he was only subbing in for a background dancer. The spotlight wouldn't even be on him for too long, and yet that still didn’t stop the feeling of throwing up from taking over his senses.
Mitsuya came from behind, lifting Michi's chin. "Keep your head up high; you'll do fine." He reassured. Michi exhaled, trying to get all his performers' anxiety out of his system.
Turning to face Mitsuya, now standing an extra inch or two taller because of the heels. Mitsuya smiled, taking Michi's hand and kissing his knuckles—it became a thing he does to Michi when they are together.
Still hand in hand, Mitsuya led Michi down to backstage, where Emma stood waiting to go on with Michi and watch Inui perform.
"Michi, come see!"
Mitsuya gave Michi one last wink before letting go of him and going off to be with the rest of the band.
Michi's cheeks felt warm as he waved at Mitsuya, making his way over to Emma, who raised a brow at him. "Be careful of Mitsuya," Emma warned, looking back at Michi. "He's a terrible flirt. Anyways, look at Inui."
Emma pulled Michi closer to get a better view of the stage. Inui was wearing a custom floor-length gown that dragged slightly with each step; her dress was a harsh pink color, closer in shade to red; a bit longer and much more elegant compared to Michi’s sultry look for tonight. Her makeup was elegant, with classic red lips and smokey eyeshadow; the drawn-on mole at the top of her cheekbone added to the look; and her hair was perfectly curled from the dry rollers that were sitting in their hair three hours prior. Michi couldn't help but be entranced by how they moved and 'sung to the song playing. Inui was just pure grace and blinding light—shining off the diamond earrings that were gifted to her.
"They're so natural..." Michi said breathily as he watched Inui bend at the knee, crouching to lean over the front row. Inui reached out a gloved hand, caressing a guy's chin, who looked like a walking price tag. The guy leaned over his seat, seemingly being dragged by Inui's touch, his eyes transfixed with a hypnotic gaze. No doubt, he was definitely infatuated by the performance.
Emma pointed at said guy, "That's Kokonoi...Inui's'sponsor'." She said, "Inui calls him that because they refuse to be tied down in a relationship, even though the poor guy is in love with them." The blonde rolled her eyes, and Michi watched as Inui whispered in Kokonoi's ear then kissed his cheek, making Kokonoi turn a dark shade of red and wolf whistle as he was shoved by Inui back into his chair.
Emma points into the audience again, now at a small group. There, Michi saw Yuzuha sitting together with two men.
"That's Taiju and Hakkai—Yuzuha's brothers...They run a wrestling ring across town, along with a few lounges, of course. Mitsuya visits them from time to time."
Michi looked over to the side of the stage, where seated at the large loveseat was a large man, way bigger than Pah and two other men combined. Beside him stood a similar-looking man just shy a few inches of his senior and Yuzuha, who happily chatted away while the servers poured their drinks.
One could definitely tell they were related and a powerful family, as they held a strong aura to them. Takemichi took another mental note of the guest Emma explained to him, remembering to report back to Naoto of any information he finds.
Michi was brought back to the foreground by the cheers and applause of the audience. Inui had finished their performance with an alluring pose that drove the crowd crazy.
Emma giggled, "Inui is a popular one if you couldn't tell..." Michi nodded.
"Drinks, ladies?" Someone from behind them whispered. Emma turned, along with Michi, facing a waiter with red curly hair that was tucked back in a weird style.
"Ah...thank you, Sendo-San!" Emma said, taking both shot glasses that were displayed to her downing one, and offering the other to Michi.
Michi blinked at the glass. "Liquid courage... A must have to get rid of performance anxiety."
Michi gently grabbed the glass; he turned to Sendo and smiled with gratitude, downing the drink. He his eyes pinching at the burning taste; when he opened them, he saw Sendo staring at him, only to avert his gaze and grow red at the face when being caught.
Takemichi couldn't understand why people were staring at him so hard...Maybe his disguise wasn't as convincing as he thought.
"C'mon Michi, we’re needed on stage," Emma said, practically dragging Michi behind the lowered curtain.
The lights dimmed before the curtains raised again. It took a moment for the music to start playing through the speakers, and in that small amount of time, Michi gathered as much confidence as he could. Which wasn't a lot. His gaze shifted over to Mitsuya, who sat at his piano, arms over top, allowing his chin to rest on them. He winked at Michi when he noticed that Michi was eyeing him, having the brunette flush.
The song started, and Michi put on the most charming smile he could muster. He focused on his movements, making sure to be in sync with the other dancers and the music, but also staying flowy so as to not appear too stiff. All his one week of dance rehearsal and training worked him to this moment — although this moment came sooner than expected.
The music continued, and on cue, Michi and the other dancer walked off stage into the audience. This was the part of the song where the dancer pulled people from the crowd. The girls (and Michi) spread out, pulling people out of their seats, guys and women alike, having the stranger dance with them before moving on to another victim.
Michi pulled an arm of a waiter with longish hair with fringes tied back and glasses. Forcing a smile, he pulled his tie, bringing him closer as he lip syncs to the lyrics now, the hot spotlight shining on him. The waiter gave a nervous chuckle while Michi twirled and stepped around him, remembering each step from rehearsal.
He withheld a groan of pain, already feeling the blisters on his heel pop in his too-small-for-his-size heels, having been given a previous pair to fit the theme of the performance.
Michi moved on to the next person, finishing with a kiss on the cheek to his dance partner, who looked about ready to drop dead as it seemed like too much blood rushed to his head. The next person who was chosen for tonight was some group of rich-looking older guys (probably late thirties, Michi assumed). Michi hopped on the tabletop with the help of the gentlemen at the table. They moved their drinks for Michi to have more room to dance on, which Michi found the gesture polite.
He crouches down at the knee in front of one of the men, lip-syncing his part again. The men at the table whistled and cheered at their buddy when Michi used a gloved hand to caress his jaw and reached between them to grab his drink, taking a gulp of the sweet liquid. He finished the move with an eskimo kiss to the guy's nose, keeping up with his showgirl personality type of "sweet, innocent, and playful.".
With a bounce in his step, Michi hopped off the table—well, actually, he tripped over his footing (these damn heels) and into a pair of strong arms. Michi can't really tell, but he knows this person is really big to be about to wrap his arms completely around him...and that they smell really good. Kind of like a cool winter breeze mixed with the strong scent of rum.
He’s gently lowered back to his feet when he is finally able to see his savior. It was...one of Yuzuha's brothers, the big one; Michi didn't really know which name went with which brother.
Anyways, the larger of the siblings stared down at Michi, then down at his shirt, which had a dark stain on it — oh no...
Noticing the empty glass in the man’s other hand that wasn’t holding onto Michi, he realizes that he must have caused him to spill his drink trying to catch Michi. Michi really wanted to apologize — he felt like this guy would snap him with just two fingers if he didn't. However, someone coughed, getting Michi's attention and signaling to him to continue with the performance.
Michi tried his best to not want to curl up in a ball and cry before putting back on a smile and continuing his act, giving the guy a wink and using his unoccupied hand to twirl himself before rushing to stage with the other dancers.
On the last note, the girls did one final pose, and the crowd cheered and whistled. They all took a bow then scurried backstage, where Inui and the rest of the dancers were.
Emma pulled Michi's arm once they were now off stage. "You're were natural out there, dollface," she praised, having Michi's cheeks turn a shade red.
"You were adequate...for your first time, of course," Inui said coolly. The other girl praised Michi and the other dancer for a good performance, until a voice broke over them.
"Alright ladies, you have an hour break. Spend it wisely." It was Yuzuha coming in from a different entrance. The dancers spread out, some going up the stairs to change and some heading to the bar for drinks.
Before Michi could follow Emma and Inui, though, he was stopped by Yuzuha gently grabbing his shoulder.
"Michi, if you can..." she tucked a loose hair of Michi's behind his ear. "Come with me; my brother wants to speak with you." The auburn-haired girl gave a gentle smile, but even with how calm she was being, Michi couldn't help but sweat.
Her brother was the guy she spilled his drink on...
He was so fucked.
---
Maneuvering the crowd was a challenge, with guys coming from nearly every corner trying to pull Michi to their table (or lap) and unwanted hands going to grab him if Yuzuha didn't smack them away. She even held Michi's hand as they made their way to where her brothers were.
All to say, Michi hasn't felt this same holding a girl's hand since he and Hina were younger going through the haunted attraction on Halloween.
"Alright..." Yuzuha breathed out when they finally reached the table.
Without the rush of the performance and terrible lighting, he was finally able to see the man’s face clearly, and while he wasn’t attracted to men—well, not that attracted to men—he couldn’t help but stare at how ruggishly handsome he was. From the strong jaw to the broadness of his large chest. Hell, he would swoon if he actually was a woman.
"Michi," Yazuha started, "this is my older brother, Shiba Taiju. He owns a couple of the Shiba lounges, as well as the current owner of the Black Dragon's Underground Wrestling Ring." She said, as if proud to show off her brother.
Taiju gave a small bow to Michi, "A pleasure to meet you, Ms...." He trailed off, waiting for Michi to introduce himself.
Michi gave a blushing smile and a cute bow, "It--uh...Hanamaki Michi." He mutters, feeling a little uncomfortable—not at Taiju (though he did leave a powerful presence), but with the other Shiba brother that has yet to be properly introduced—feeling the burning stares of the lanky-looking lad.
"Apologizes for my younger brother, Hakkai..." She leaned over and lowered her voice to a hush whisper. "He's very shy around girls—pretty girl nonetheless. So, don't mind his lack of a response." She explained, having Michi do an understanding 'oh' shape with his lips
Straightening out, Michi faced the siblings once again.
"Ms.Hanamaki." Yazuha pulled out a chair to sit, gestering for Michi to do the same—to which he does, right across from Hakkai. Taiju continued, "I must say, you made quite the impressionable performance. My lovely sister tells me it was your first show."
Yuzuha smiles proudly at Michi, rubbing the bare skin of his upper arm tenderly.
"Thank you...and my humble apology to our shirt; I'll be more careful."
"No need to apologize!" Taiju's strong voice exclaimed, "It is merely a stain. And as luck would have it, it's not even one of my favorites." He chuckled as Yuzuha raised a judgemental brow.
"Didn't I buy you that shirt?" Her voice dripped with sass, which caused the younger of the Shiba siblings to let out a small laugh, but his face instantly blanked to a deer in headlights expression when noticing Michi's eyes on him.
Michi tried waving at the boy, giving him the same charming smile he does, but then Hakkai just went full face red and craned his neck up to look at the ceiling. Yuzuha really wasn't kidding about her brother being shy around girls, Michi thought; at least now he knew his disguise was somewhat believable.
The soft humming of slow jazz that Mitsuya's band played filled the empty space. Yazuha clapped her hands together. "Well, let's enjoy this hour break with some drinks." She raised her hand, signaling for a waiter to come over—the same waiter that Michi was dancing with. How funny.
"A round of your finest on my brother's tap if you will," Yuzuha cheekily smiled, her gaze catching the sight of Taiju rolling his eyes.
The waiter took down the order and walked away to bring it to the bar—Michi tried not to notice the way the waiter kept glancing in Michi's direction, causing a chill to run up his spine.
It was, to put it mildly, startling how much more attention he was given as a woman than as a guy. Hell, he would have donned the heels and pearls years ago if he had known that this was all it needed to obtain a drink and a warm bed. When a hand comes to rest on the small of his back, he lets out a faint gasp.
He swiftly casts a peek at Taiju, who is casually talking to his siblings while taking no notice of the way Takemichi's eyes are piercing into the side of his face.
He sighs, hiding his scarlet face behind a bar menu. On the plus side, once Hina returns home and he is back to his normal routine, the weeks spent parading around in a red dress will have been worth it.
He comes to a halt, remembering the small flat he used to live in, his scumbag landlord, and his useless job as a waiter at the downtown diner. Perhaps he should have stopped after saving Hina.