The Academy - Side B

Dance in the Darkness Again

"Miss Eri?"

"Y-yes?"

"You...um...you dance very well."

"T-thank you."

"Also...y-you look very pretty."

Eri blushed. Kazu's hand was on her waist, his other hand holding her own, while her own free hand was on his shoulder. He led her in a slow four-step dance in time to the music, and couldn't help noticing each and every expression she made; the way she bit her lip and looked down, the way her eyes sometimes darted up to look at him, the way she smiled shyly at the ground. 

Eri, for her part, was too nervous to look at Kazu. Her heart was beating too fast for her to stay calm, and she knew her face was bright red. She kept her eyes down, scared she'd be embarrassed. 

But she couldn't help glancing up every so often to see Kazu with a slightly awkward look on his face, which was as red as hers. But what made her smile was the fact that his eyes seemed to convey happiness. She'd noticed how the shadows behind them had cleared up as soon as he'd kissed the back of her hand and began to dance with her. And that made Eri a little happier.

*  *  *  *

"You've improved a lot since we last danced."

"Of c-course I have. It's been a few years, hasn't it?"

"Also, you look beautiful today. Lavender suits you."

"T-t-thank y-you."

No matter how many years had passed, Eri still blushed every time Kazu said she was beautiful. She buried her face in his chest, but they continued to dance. He had an arm wrapped around her waist, while his other hand held hers. 

Looking up, Eri smiled at Kazu. "I was just thinking of the first time we danced together," she said quietly. "Things were so different back then."

"I remember." Kazu couldn't help chuckling. "Back then, I was so formal with you."

"And look at us now."

The two fell silent, thinking about their relationship with each other in the past. They were still dancing, but their minds were elsewhere.

Kazu had, on Eri's wishes, made sure to keep his hair a little ruffled (she loved seeing his hair like that), never mind that he was attending a royal wedding. He wore a white shirt under a navy-blue blazer, along with trousers of the same colour, and black shoes. To his father's horror, he'd had his left ear pierced on one of his travels, so now there was a plain black stud in the earlobe.

Eri liked the piercing. It makes him even more good-looking than before. Shaking her head, she smiled and continued to dance. She was wearing the same outfit from the wedding: a soft lavender dress that ended at her ankles, and whose delicate, see-through sleeves were bell-shaped and ended a little above her elbows. The back of the dress was also see-through to some extent, which made Eri nervous, though she was quite sure Kazu was scaring off everyone who was trying to stare. Her sandals were of the same colour, and were dotted with silver beads - the colour of the earrings and bracelet she'd chosen to wear. Her hair was braided in the same style as Lila's, though not put up in a bun.

Moving with the music, they were among the most graceful dancers on the floor. Everyone was watching the royal couple, but when Lila and Valerian took a break to greet their guests, all eyes were on Eri and Kazu.

"Who are they?" An old man asked his wife.

"I heard they are friends of the princess from her days at school," his wife replied. "There was a rumor that the man was the princess' bodyguard for a while."

"And the woman he's dancing with?"

"Their dancing is too relaxed and intimate for them not to know each other," another man said. "Perhaps they are lovers."

"Wait...I know the man!" A young girl standing next to the three others gasped. "He's part of the Shadow Warrior clan! I think he's in the leading family as well!"

"Is he?" The elders seemed more interested now. "Then, the girl is probably from another noble family," the first old man said. "Not one of ours, I'm certain."

"From another land, maybe," his wife suggested. "There is no dearth of noble families in the Mini-Lands."

Had they known Eri's lineage, they would have been extremely confused. On one hand, she was the granddaughter of the Brickman family, one of the most powerful members of the nobility ever known. On the other hand (and this would be what concerned them more, given it was her father's side), she was a farmer's daughter as well. 

Perhaps it's best that nobody here knows who I really am, Eri thought. Well, except for my friends.

"Shall we make our graceful exit, Miss Rosen?" Kazu whispered in her ear. His lips gently brushed against her ear, tickling her. Giggling, Eri nodded. 

"Let's go, then."