Chapter Text
“Is this the place?”
It was a crisp autumn day and Usagi was only in leggings and a tank top. Her shoulders shivered as she hugged her arms close to herself for warmth. The building in front of her was an old one, with the upper floors being brick while the bottom floor had large glass windows. They went from hip to far above Usagi’s head, two windows on either side of an old door. Above the door was a sign “ Gold Flower Dance Studio” . Inside it looked empty - were they even open?
“I hope it’s open,” Usagi said, rubbing her arms again. “I need to warm up.” With a step forward and a push, Usagi found herself stepping directly into the door. Her nose crunched up against the wooden door while her forehead smacked against it. “Ouch! Stupid door!” Backing up, Usagi gave the door a few more vicious pushes, but it didn’t budge. Angry, she gave it a kick, which was a bad idea, as her toes ached and were probably bruised. “Owie, owie, owie!” Usagi brought her foot up, one of her hands going down to hold the sore appendage. She hopped on one foot as she whined in pain, until she lost her balance, that is. Landing butt first on the ground, Usagi felt drained and humiliated before she even got to open the door. At least no one was here to see her - ass on the ground, bruised nose and forehead, with her foot injured from her own stupid kick.
It was at that moment that the door to the dance studio opened. A handsome face with black hair came into view as the door swung towards Usagi. “From the outside it's a pull, you know?” The handsome stranger looked down to Usagi on the ground with a confused look in their eye. They took in the sight of Usagi, in far too little clothes for the weather, on the ground after a clear fight with the door. “Are you…okay?” There was no doubt in Usagi’s mind that they thought she was some stupid, clumsy idiot. How did she not realize it was a pull door? Maybe…it was time for Usagi to go home.
Usagi rose from the ground, trying to keep her face cool and collected. Slowly and deliberately, Usagi wiped the dust and dirt from her leggings. If she could just act calm, then this person wouldn’t think she was a complete bimbo, right? She cleared her throat. Imitate someone mature - someone who wouldn’t fall on their ass fighting to push open a pull door!
“Thank you for informing me.” She spoke rigidly while bowing. “I’ll be going now.”
As she turned to go, the stranger yelled out. “Hey! Don’t leave! You wanted to come in, right?”
The stranger jogged to her side and Usagi got to see the stranger up close. Their handsome face was softened up close. Their lips were supple and soft, their cheeks full. The stranger’s hair was black with an undertone of blue. And like Usagi, they were woefully underdressed for the weather. Short athletic shorts and a t-shirt. Oh, and she was a woman, too. The voice gave it away for sure. “You don’t need to run off.”
“I…” Usagi was going to refute the woman, run off and never let this pretty lady who saw her shame see her again, but the earnest look in her eyes made Usagi pause. “Well, if you say it's okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” The stranger escorted Usagi back to the dance studio, pulling the door open for her and letting her walk inside. It was a small space, it felt very tiny. Usagi couldn’t see more than ten people fitting in here comfortably, probably less than five dancing at a time.
The inside of the studio felt different from the outside. First off, it was warmer here. Usagi felt the coolness on her skin dissipate the longer she stood inside. Second, the floors were different from any kind of floor she’d seen before. What she was standing on right now was normal. That was just regular old carpet - and the small reception desk besides her had carpet under it too. The rest of the room, though, was covered in some strange black material. Usagi had never seen it before. Everything else seemed normal, though. To the left of the door Usagi walked in from was a small reception desk, and to the right of the door Usagi walked into was a cubby. She could see a pair of sneakers sitting in one of the holes. Opposite of the entrance, Usagi saw another door. And on one side of the room was a floor to ceiling mirror, while the other side had this bar thing.
“Make sure to take your shoes off.” The stranger instructed from behind Usagi as she wiped the bottom of her shoes off. It was then that Usagi noticed that the woman’s shoes were odd too. They were all black except on the bottoms, which were silver and metallic. Deciding she’d embarrassed herself enough already, Usagi didn’t ask what they were and just took her shoes off, placing them in a cubby. The two walked onto the black flooring, which sprung under Usagi’s steps. The sound of the stranger’s shoes was distinct before she sat on the floor. Usagi followed suit.
“So, my name’s Seiya Kou.” No longer a stranger, Seiya gestured to Usagi. “What’s your name?”
“Usagi Tsukino!” She said with a nod.
“Nice to meet you, Usagi.” Seiya cleared her throat. “Now, this may sound rude, but, why are you here?”
Usagi flushed a bit, remembering the embarrassing position Seiya found her in. “I came here to learn how to dance?”
Seiya chuckled a bit. “You don’t sound too sure about that.” When she saw how red Usagi was getting, though, she moved on. “Did you call at all? I don’t remember anyone mentioning someone new coming by.”
“I - I was supposed to call? I thought these kinds of things were places you could just walk into?”
“Well, here that’s a bit true, I suppose,” Seiya scratched her head. “But not at other studios.” She got up and went over to the little desk before coming back over with a flier. Usagi glanced at it. The flier was crudely made. Hastily done by someone with no real knowledge of design. On the top of the page it had the studio’s name and address along with their typical hours. Below that was a calendar showing the weekly schedule for group lessons and their costs. “We’re pretty flexible here, but that’s really because so few people come…” Seiya frowned and looked at the paper. “I forgot to include prices for private lessons there…”
“Private lessons?” Usagi parroted back.
“Yeah, one on one lessons that can be scheduled whenever you and your teacher are both free.” Seiya nodded her head. “So, if you couldn’t make group lessons or wanted more lessons than offered, you can book private lessons.”
“Oh, okay!” Usagi nodded. “So should I call this number and come back later?”
“No no no!” Seiya said quickly. “Why don’t we have a free trial lesson right now? You came all the way out here, afterall.” She offered a hand out to Usagi who took it.
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to get in your way.”
“You’re not getting in the way of anything,” Seiya assured her. “So, what’s your skill level at?”
Usagi had a nervous look on her face. “I think the last time I danced was in elementary school. I got kicked out of my class, though…my teacher said I was unteachable…” It was a memory Usagi had repressed but came back to her in full force.
“Jeez, what a mean elementary school teacher.” With a lighthearted laugh and a small pat on the shoulder, Seiya gave Usagi a smile. “I promise I won’t be that mean. Not at first, at least.” A playful wink punctuated the end of her sentence. Relief washed over Usagi at how nice Seiya seemed to be. “Why don’t we stretch first?”
After Usagi agreed, Seiya led Usagi through some stretches. It was amazing how far dancers could stretch! When they went to touch their toes, Usagi was barely getting her fingers to her ankles but Seiya had her palms touching the ground. They did stretch after stretch. Each one tugging at a new muscle Usagi didn’t know she even had. Stretching felt like a workout itself! After Seiya said she was done, Usagi sat and watched Seiya do even more stretching. She brought her leg behind her head effortlessly and made doing a full split look like it was nothing! Dancers were really amazing.
“How long have you been dancing for?” Usagi couldn’t help but ask while Seiya was taking a sip of water after her routine. The woman paused, thinking for a moment.
“About thirteen years now?” She closed her water bottle and set it on the floor. “Yeah, ‘cuz I started around eight so thirteen sounds about right.”
“Wow, that’s really cool.” Usagi said. She can’t think of a hobby she’s been into for more than ten years - unless you count reading manga - Seiya must’ve been really dedicated. “So you’re around twenty?”
“Twenty one as of this July,” Seiya gave her a grin.
“Woah, we’re only a month apart then! I turned twenty one in June!” For a moment, Usagi was impressed, before becoming depressed that someone her age had such an amazing skill while she could only boast about Sailor V arcade high scores.
“Well, it's good to see someone my age interested in learning.” Seiya shrugged. “Y’know, so many people think it's too late to learn new things at twenty so they don’t even try - which is a shame, really. It's never too late to learn a new thing.” Those words made Usagi lose that fleeting moment of self loathing. Seiya was right! It was never too late to learn! She was going to become the best dancer ever!” Anyways - how do you feel about learning some tap dancing?”
“What’s that?”
Instead of verbally answering, Seiya quickly moved her feet. Usagi didn’t understand all the quick shuffles and rotations, but it made a lovely noise. Snaps and taps that had a melody to them. When Seiya saw how impressed Usagi was, she kept going with a grin on her face. Her heels and toes moved so smoothly and to a rhythm that Usagi felt she could never match. After a minute, Seiya ended her improv routine.
“So, whadda think? Want to give it a shot? I think we have an old pair of tap shoes in the back.”
“Yes! That looked like so much fun!”
Seiya unstrapped her shoes before going through the door against the back wall. She came back out with an older looking pair of tap shoes. Kneeling on the ground, she helped Usagi into the shoe while explaining the parts of it. The important two parts were the metal on the heel and toe, which would be used to make those lovely sounds. Once Seiya had finished putting them on, Usagu stepped in them. They felt weird to wear, but as her feet touched the ground she could hear the click of metal against the floor. Usagi tried a few shuffles and taps while Seiya watched her with a smile, but she couldn’t recreate any rhythm of melody like Seiya had. She tried shuffling with more aggression, digging her toe into the floor, which only caused her to stumble forward.
Seiya caught her by the shoulders with ease. “Easy there.” There was something about Seiya’s voice that made Usagi look the woman in the eye. It was so smooth and playful, it reminded Usagi of the summer in an odd way. “Let’s not fall on our faces too early.” Seiya winked. Usagi felt her cheeks flush - Seiya was breathtaking, especially with a smile like that. It was sly and crooked, while being inviting and warm. It was then that Usagi could feel how close they were and her face went red as she regained her own footing and pulled away.
“Yeah! My bad.”
Their lesson began in earnest after that. Seiya was a great teacher, never getting mad at Usagi for tripping or stumbling or not getting it right away - but she was getting a little comfortable with laughing as Usagi messed up. Slowly but surely, Seiya walked Usagi through doing basic shuffles and ball changes without losing her balance. They did heel-steps and step-heels, which Usagi still wasn’t entirely sure on how they were different, but they did both anyway. Usagi was still envious of how Seiya seemed to flow through all these motions and made them look effortless. Meanwhile Usagi felt like a robot when she did them.
“Alright, you’re doing great.” Seiya said during their water break. Usagi, not thinking of bringing water, was waterfalling from Seiya’s bottle. “I think we should wrap up by trying to put all these moves together. Maybe do them in a string of movements?”
Usagi gulped down the water. “Do you think I can do that?”
“Sure! I think you could do it fine,” Seiya encouraged her with a smile. The fact that Seiya believed in her so earnestly made Usagi believe in herself too. She gave Seiya her bottle back before going out to the middle of the floor. “Okay, so why don’t you do five shuffles in place, three heel-steps to a new spot, five more shuffles, then a step-heel back to your starting point.”
Usagi nodded, furrowing her brows in concentration. “Alright!” It took all her focus to do like Seiya said. She counted her shuffles in her head. All while making sure her balance was steady and she struck the ground properly. After that she started her heel-steps, walking towards Seiya who sat on the cubby by the door watching her. She did her shuffles again before a thought hit her. Did she turn around and step-heel back or did she do it backwards? Her mind flurried as she tried to think of her response. At that moment, the dance studio door swung open and Usagi’s fraying concentration broke as she tripped onto the floor.
“Bunhead!”
The nickname made Usagi’s head shoot up. When it was just Seiya, though, Usagi couldn’t help but frown a bit. Why wouldn’t it be Seiya? The one who used to call her Bunhead hadn’t called her that in so long. Seiya kneeled by her.
“You okay?” She asked, concerned.
“Yeah. Fine.” Shaking off that memory, Usagi looked up to the door. Two women looked down at her. One tall with brown hair and the other short with silver hair. Both looked shocked to see her.
“Oh,” the brown haired one said. “Seiya, I didn’t know you had a private lesson today.” She was wearing trousers and a light jacket, with an athletic bag strung over her shoulder.
“I didn’t, she kinda just…walked in.” Seiya said while helping Usagi up. “I was giving her a free lesson because she was interested in learning.”
“Well, I guess it's a good thing we didn’t all go see Kakyuu at the same time.” The shorter one said while taking off her shoes. She was really pretty. Her clothes seemed simple but they hugged her frame so perfectly. “Or no one would’ve been here for this girl.” She gave Usagi a look that made her skin crawl. Her eyes seemed so critical! “You have nice legs for dancing.”
Usagi lit up, looking down at her own legs. They didn’t seem that special. “They are?”
“Yeah.” She confirmed with a nod. “They’re nice and long. That could be a big advantage.” That was awesome! No one had ever told Usgai that she had some special thing like that! This must’ve been fate! Usagi was going to become the best dancer ever! “Oh, my name is Yaten by the way.”
“Usagi Tsukino!” She replied. What a relief! Yaten wasn’t scary at all.
“My name is Taiki Kou, nice to meet you.” The tall one said. “That being said. Yaten and I would prefer to have the studio alone while we plan our routine.”
Seiya made a face next to Usagi that she caught. “Yeah, we can get going. C’mon Bunhead, let's take our shoes off.” The other two walked into the back door while Seiya moved to the cubby. She sat down on top of it as she started to take her shoes off. Eyeing Seiya up, Usagi slowly sat on the ground as she started to take her own shoes off. Something Yaten and Taiki had said definitely put a damper on Seiya’s mood.
“What’s the routine for?” Usagi asked after she got one shoe off. Seiya’s chin was in her chest as she fiddled with her laces. It was like the warm summer day had gotten clouds all of a sudden.
“The Annual New Years Eve Tap Competition.” Her tone was gloomy. There was one-hundred percent something was going on with that competition to make Seiya so blue all of a sudden. “We do it every year.” Both sets of shoes were off and Seiya stood up quickly, taking both sets of tap shoes into the back.
Usagi sighed. “A competition, huh…”
When Seiya came back out she had an athletic jacket on. The shoulders and collar were red, while the arms chest and center were white, and the sides were purple. On her back was a backpack. She went straight back to the cubby, sitting on it again as she grabbed a pair of sneakers and began putting them on. Usgai followed suit, not sure how to bring up the competition again.
Yaten came out from the back, looking totally different. Her designer clothes from earlier were gone, replaced with leggings and a tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Looking at Seiya made her sigh.
“Can you stop by Kakyuu’s place before you go home? She feels so guilty about all this that I think she’s going to make herself sick.” Yaten gave Seiya a begging look. “So please put on a happy face and assure her everything is okay?”
After a long sigh, Seiya nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do that.” She turned and opened the door. “C’mon, let's get going Bunhead.” That nickname again… Usagi shook it off before waving to Yaten and following Seiya out of the door. “Which way are you heading?”
“This way,” Usagi pointed down the street towards the station. “Which way are you going?” She prayed that they went the same way. All this cryptic talk of some New Year’s competition, apologies, and Kakyuu had her curious. Usagi just had to get to the bottom of it all. It seemed like such a juicy story!
“Same way as you,” Seiya said with a small shrug.
Usagi walked slowly purposefully, hoping Seiya would match her pace. The longer they walked, the more potential information Usagi could pull out of her. Luckily, since Seiya was so nice, she matched Usagi’s pace. Unluckily, Usagi wasn’t sure how to bring up these tempting plot threads. Did she ask more about the competition? More about Kakyuu? What was she apologizing for? How did all this make Seiya sad? Usagi’s head was spinning with too many possibilities - she wasn’t sure where to start!
Seiya’s eyes trailed to the side as they passed a small grocery store. “...Go on without me, Bunhead. I’m gonna grab some flowers.” In a quick step Seiya had changed directions, walking straight into the grocery store.
“Wait!” Usagi called out, quickly trailing behind. The two were now dictated by Seiya’s pace as she walked with a purpose towards the small stand of pre-made bouquets. “I’m pretty great at picking out flowers, you know! What’s the occasion?”
Seiya had a small frown on her face. “My friend Kakyuu - the one Yaten mentioned - she got into an accident recently…”
“Oh my god! Is she going to be okay?” Usagi gasped and covered her mouth.
“It wasn’t life threatening - so she’ll be fine in that way - but…” Her voice trailed off, wobbling a bit. “Her right ankle and foot are so broken…. She’ll be able to walk again, but dance? Probably not.”
“That’s so awful.” Was all Usagi could manage to say. “I’m sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” When she said that, Seiya gave her a look. A shocked but grateful look. She seemed dumbfounded.
“You would? But you don’t even know her.”
“So?”
After a beat Seiya grinned. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, Bunhead. That’s a really nice thing for you to offer.” She looked towards the flowers. “So, you said you’re good at picking these out?”
“Yeah!” She confirmed, but really it was a lie. She didn’t know a thing about bouquets. Usagi always just picks the bouquets with the most pink flowers. So that’s what she did here, she grabbed the bouquet that had the prettiest pink flowers and handed it to Seiya. “I’m sure Kakyuu will love these.”
“I’m sure. I’ll tell her there from our new student.” Seiya hugged them to her chest before her eyes lit up with a realization. “A new student!” An eager look was in her eye now. “Bunhead, would you come with me briefly to meet Kakyuu? She’d be so excited to hear we got a new student. We haven’t gotten one in ages!”
“Sure!” This was great! Not only could Usagi make Kakyuu and Seiya feel better, but she also would hear some more of this juicy story! Now it was time to see how the Kakyuu accident, Seiya’s depression, and the New Years Eve competition all fit together!
After buying the flowers and leaving the market, Seiya led Usagi down the street. Pass the station and a more centralized urban area to a more residential one. They came in front of a house about the size of Usagi’s. Seiya opened the gate and led Usagi in, bringing her up the driveway. She didn’t even bother to knock on the door as she let herself in.
“Kakyuu?”
“In my room…” A sad, pitiful voice called out from up the stairs. The pair took their shoes off by the door and walked up the stairs. Usagi admired the nice clean floors and eyed up some pictures on the wall. One had very young versions of Seiya, Yaten, Taiki, and an unknown redhead standing in front of “ Gold Flower Dance Studio”. They all had big grins on their faces as they showed off medals. Another picture showed just the redhead and Seiya in the middle of a dance. It was stunning. They were most likely preteens in the picture, but they looked so much older. The last photo seemed recent. Seiya and the redhead stood arm in arm on the top of a podium, on the second step was Taiki and Yaten, and on the third step was an odd pair. A woman with blonde hair that almost seemed orange and to her right a woman's black hair that was up in two cat-ear buns with braids coming out.
They made it to a door that Seiya gently pushed open. “Hey Kakyuu. I brought you something - and someone.”
The room was very nice. Gentle golds and reds. There was a bed in the corner with red blankets and a woman on top of them. She was the redhead from the pictures, Kakyuu. She was very pretty, just like in the pictures, but very clearly distressed. Her eyes were puffy and red and her cheeks discolored from tears. A big cast was on her right foot. When she looked at Seiya and Usagi, her eyes were so pain filled that Usagi could feel just how devastated she was.
“Seiya I’m so sorry.” She hiccuped.
“Don’t be sorry,” Seiya said quickly, walking over and forcing the flowers into her hand. “Don’t you think these are pretty?” She said, quickly trying to change the subject.
Kakyuu sniffled, looking down at the flowers. “They are. Thank you. Can you get a vase for them?”
“Sure.” Seiya said, walking towards the door. As she passed Usagi, she gave the blonde’s shoulder a clap. “Oh, I’d like you to meet Golden Flower’s newest member.” With that, she left them.
Seiya was right, though Kakyuu did perk up at that. “Really? You’re a new member?”
“Totally! I saw an ad in the newspaper and had to check it out. I showed up today ready to dance and Seiya gave me a free trial lesson! I had so much fun - so I’ll definitely go back.” Usagi recounted her experience today and Kakyuu seemed to smile softly.
“The ad worked? I wonder if we’ll get more people…” Kakyuu played with the petals on one of the flowers. “My mother opened that dance studio back when I was young, but we’ve never had many dancers. A few stay for a few months or a year before moving to a bigger studio… ah, but I’m so glad you want to join!”
“And I’m sure Bunhead will be a natural in no time.” Seiya interjected as she came back in. There was a vase with water in her hands that she brought to Kakyuu’s bedside. “You should’ve seen her today, Yuu. She was tapping like a pro.” A cutesy nickname. Seiya and Kakyuu must be close. Well, that was a bit obvious considering they’d been friends and dance partners since they were children.
Usagi went red. “Oh, stop. I wasn’t that good.”
Seiya was putting the flowers into the vase. “Oh, don’t be humble, Bunhead.” She turned her head to look at Kakyuu. “Don’t let her lie to you Yuu - she was great.” Kakyuu giggled a bit and Usagi didn’t miss the way Seiya grinned in satisfaction. It was sweet, how hard Seiya was trying to brighten Kakyuu’s spirits.
“I believe you,” Kakyuu smiled. “Thank you both for coming… it's only been a few minutes, but you’ve both managed to make me feel so much better.” The smile faltered a bit. “I still am sorry, though, Seiya. Without me - you don’t have your partner for the New Years Eve competition.” That’s what it was! The lightbulb in Usagi’s head went off. It all made sense now. The New Years Eve Tap Competition was a partner event, and now that Kakyuu is injured, Seiya doesn’t have a partner! How tragic!
“There’s always next year.” Seiya said firmly.
Kakyuu frowned. “Maybe… but I’m not sure if I’ll be able-.”
“Nope! No. Nadda. I don’t wanna hear any pessimism.” Childishly, Seiya cut Kakyuu off and covered her ears. “You’ll be fine by next year. I know it.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be fine Kakyuu!” Usagi chimed in. “Modern medicine is amazing! You’d be surprised at what can happen! And my friend Ami Mizuno is going to be the best doctor ever! So if you ever need a better doctor, I can hook you up!”
Kakyuu gave a forced smile. “Thank you. I guess I should try to be optimistic… But anyways, Seiya, you should call the organizer soon and tell them we won’t be able to perform. Maybe they’ll give you a refund on the entry fee if you call early enough.”
“Yeah, I can call tonight.” Seiya huffed and crossed her arms.“I’m sure Yaten and Taiki will get first, but the thought of Galaxia and her weird-ass minions being second and third piss me off.”
Kakyuu sighed. “We can only hope Yaten and Taiki can secure first place, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Who’s Galaxia?” Usagi asked.
Seiya groaned. “A bitch.”
“Seiya!” Kakyuu chided softly. “You’re not wrong, but still.” Looking at Usagi, Kakyu elaborated. “Galaxia is a woman our age and she’s very nasty at competitions. She hates us - especially me for some reason. And she has three friends just like her. I guess you could say she’s been our…enemy? Rival? Since we were kids.”
“Enemy! Definitely enemy!” Seiya spat out. “I remember when we were ten and she pushed you down right before it was our turn to dance! Don’t you remember, you fell right on your knee! I was so mad!”
“So mad that you punched her and got us disqualified. ” Kakyuu said in a pointed voice.
Seiya huffed. “Worth it.”
“Why don’t we dance then?” Usagi said suddenly, making both Kakyuu and Seiya give her a confused look. “She sounds mean! So I wanna beat her too! You and I can dance at this New Year’s thingy Seiya!”
Seiya paused, clearly thinking. “You want to? It would be a lot of work, Bunhead. Especially at your level. You’d need to do workouts three times a week, plus practice at least four times a week too.”
“Sure! I can do it! I’ll work super hard. And I’m sure we’ll beat her.” Usagi nodded. “You said I was a natural! And Yaten said I had good legs for dancing! We’ll definitely beat her!” After processing what Usagi said, Seiya laughed.
“I like the way you think, Bunhead! Let’s do it! We’ve got about three months, let’s get you competition ready.”
After that exchange, Seiya and Usagi got comfortable sitting on Kakyuu’s floor. The three of them discussed a workout plan and practice plan for Usagi. They told Usagi more stories about past competitions and Galaxia. Kakyuu spilled that Seiya was the lead in all their high school musical productions - so obviously Seiya had to give Usagi a quick demonstration of her talents. They talked on and on until the sun was setting and it was time for everyone to go. Seiya hugged Kakyuu goodbye and then it was Usagi’s turn.
“It was so nice to meet you Kakyuu! I hope you get better soon!” Usagi said as they embraced.
“It was my pleasure to meet you, Usagi.” Kakyuu squeezed the blonde. “Please take care of Seiya for me now. You’re her dance partner now … until I get better.” That last part was said weakly. “Please, dance hard for me, would you?”
“Of course.” Usagi promised as she pulled away. “I’ll make the entire Golden Flower Dance Studio proud! Just you wait.”