“Well, it’s finally time,” Natsuki thought to herself, straightening out her uniform top as she took one last glance in the mirror.
She had only just arrived back at Garderobe this afternoon along with Shizuru, Anh Lu, and King Bao. During that time, Headmistress Oleander had promptly shoved a stack of books at her, instructing her that her studying was to commence the very next day since she was going to be attending the anniversary party tonight.
Although she took the books without a word, Natsuki still hadn’t decided on what she was going to do about the Gakuenchou’s offer. She hadn’t had the time to really think about the situation since she’d been occupied with spending time with Shizuru in Annam.
“What am I supposed to do? Become the new Headmistress? Go back home? Either way, I’m going to be letting someone down…”
Messaging her temples, the soldier continued her trek towards the dancehall as she pondered her future.
“Now’s not that time to worry about this. Oleander-sama told me to enjoy this evening…Eh, but how am I supposed to do that around a bunch of ruling royalty? I don’t predict this night to be very fun at all…”
With a sigh, Natsuki trudged her way up the stairs and onto the veranda that was packed with people, scanning the faces for her friend all the while, but it wasn’t until after she had entered the building that Natsuki finally spotted her.
Shizuru was adorned in a black formfitting dress, it’s thin straps rolling over her soft, yet strong shoulders. The outfit, that's hem was lined with lace, draped down to her ankles, the slit on the right side reaching up to her thigh occasionally flashing glimpses of the pearly white skin beneath.
Natsuki swallowed at the sight, suddenly finding her mouth unusually dry.
As she began to take her first step towards the goddess across the room, a hand grabbing her by the upper arm suddenly halted her movement.
“Excuse me miss, I’ve never seen a uniform like that before. What country does it belong to?”
“The Republic of Vedel,” Natsuki informed the older man who was also adorned in a military uniform, taking note that it belonged to the Army of Florince.
Before she knew it, the girl was immersed in a conversation with several other military leaders. They exchanged war stories and battle tactics, and Natsuki found herself naturally intrigued, actually adding to the discussion here and there, especially when the curious men questioned her about her home country.
Eventually the talk came to a lull, and glancing back over where she had seen Shizuru chatting with some other Otome earlier, she was surprised to see the woman staring back as if she’d been watching her for a while now.
After eye contact was established, the Column immediately began walking over, and Natsuki quickly excused herself from the men to meet her friend partway.
“Ara, I’m glad to see that my date finally showed up.”
“It’s not a date,” the emerald-eyed girl argued, “Oleander-sama requested that I attend, so I had to come anyway.”
“Hm, I see,” Shizuru muttered, “By the way, who were those men you were speaking with?”
“Huh? Oh, just some military commanders.”
“Ah.”
“What? Is there something wrong with that?”
“No, not really…It's just that they kept you away from me.”
“S-Sorry,” the girl stated, causing the older woman to chuckle softly.
“Well, now that we are together, how about a dance?”
The other frowned, “…Do we have to?”
“Please?” Shizuru pressed, stretching out her hand.
With a huff, Natsuki consented, taking the offered hand in her own, “Fine.”
The two made their way out on the ballroom floor just in time for the small orchestra to start up their next tune, both women breaking apart to turn and face one another once they had found an open space.
“How perfect. You do remember this one, don’t you?”
The raven-haired girl just smirked, “How could I forget? This is the dance you drilled into me.”
“Let’s see if my lessons paid off then,” Shizuru replied, a playful little smile on her face, “Lead the way.”
And Natsuki did just that. Taking the woman’s hand once again, she pulled Shizuru closer to her body, sharp emerald eyes piercing into crimson pools, as in unison they took the first step.
Seamlessly they glided across the dance floor along with the other couples, keeping in rhythm with the mid-tempo beats with elegant ease.
“It would seem that Natsuki does remember,” Shizuru remarked before spinning outward.
Upon her return, the younger girl was quick to respond, “I had a good teacher.”
More spiraling strides were made, the two women weaving their way through the crowd unconsciously as they recounted earlier days.
“I do recall you being rather cross with me at the time though.”
“What? Because you were forcing me into it? Of course I was angry.”
“You did ask for help—”
They parted again, pausing their conversation, before slipping back into position.
“—and you did pass the exam.”
Natsuki scoffed, “That still doesn’t mean I enjoyed it. Dancing has never been one of my strong points.”
“I think you’re doing fine right now,” Shizuru commented, “You’ve been flawless in your steps.”
“How would you know that? You’ve been looking me straight in the eye this entire time.”
“I would feel it if you messed up,” the woman whispered suggestively into Natsuki’s ear before twirling outward again.
On this draw back, however, Shizuru wasn’t expecting Natsuki’s stronger pull and slid in her heels past where she should of stopped, but still managed to maintain her balance once she did come to a halt.
Their faces were mere inches away, noses actually brushing along with their heaving chests. Time seemed to stand still for the two as they stared into one another’s eyes, both keenly aware of their closeness, and both not caring that the dance was still continuing around them.
And then the intimate moment was shattered, Natsuki grimacing before stumbling back a few steps, drawing her left arm to her body.
“Natsuki—?!”
“It’s alright. Just a little twinge is all.”
Before anything else could be said, a voice across the room called out Shizuru’s name, and she and Natsuki both turned to seek out the source.
What they saw was a group of political leaders along with Headmistress Oleander, one of the men waving the older girl over.
Rather than address the group, Shizuru turned back to Natsuki with concerned eyes, but before she could question her friend, Natsuki cut her off.
“Go on.”
“But—“
“I’m fine, Shizuru,” the girl reassured with a weak smile, “Besides, it’s not every day that these politicians get to speak with the Graceful Amethyst herself.”
The chestnut-haired woman didn’t look convinced, but silently obeyed, slowly and reluctantly making her way across the floor as she slipped back into her usual contented composure.
Natsuki watched her friend’s retreating back, sighing softly before weaving her way through the mass of people to make it outside, and once she had distanced herself from the building, she finally allowed herself to express her discomfort.
“Damn, that hurt…” she cursed under her breath, gazing down at her incased forearm.
It still did hurt. In fact, it had hurt the entire time she and Shizuru had been dancing, Natsuki somehow finding the strength to cover up her pain and keep going for her friend’s sake, but now she was beginning to get anxious about constant ache that seemingly wasn’t going away."That was so stupid…but…Shizuru did look happy…If she was having a good time, then it was more than worth it."
Trying to move the limb again, Natsuki gritted her teeth as a sharp pain coursed under her skin.
"Eh, maybe I should go see Youko just to be safe…"
And with that final thought, the girl headed in the direction of the underground infirmary.
1. I imagine the ballroom dance containing elements from Bolero and Foxtrot. I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to dance styles and terminology, so if you’re curious about either of those, just go to YouTube like I did XD
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