Chapter Text
Hidaka Saori loved social dancing since she was young. It all started when she was 5 years old and saw a ballroom dance competition on the TV. She pointed to the screen telling her parents “I want to do that too” and her parents soon enrolled her in the nearest dance academy. Saori was a bit of a clumsy girl but she managed to get the hang of the basics. She continued on dancing all the way to high school slowly getting better and better and finding herself enjoying it more and more. Soon enough, she found herself a first year high school student signing up to join the social dance club. She nervously clutched the registration form in her hand as she approached the hall used by the club. Standing anxiously by the entrance, she looked around, set at ease by the upperclassmen dancing around her. She scanned the room in awe of the technical strength of those senpais. Many of them danced with such grace and elegance that they seemed to be floating across the dance hall. One pair drew her attention in particular, a pair that seemed to stand out amongst the others. A tall girl with short black hair leading another girl who was just as tall with long pink hair. Saori recognized the couple as Miyake Aoi and Yano Hiiro. Those two were a renowned pair when they were in middle school. Saori still remembered how beautiful they looked in their middle school’s competition two years ago, one where Saori and her partner placed third.The purple haired girl would admit that she was envious that the pair looked so perfect and danced so well together. They stood out in the most stunning way, something that Saori herself never found she could do. She also envied the consistency the pair had. Throughout her time dancing, Saori never had a set partner, instead she found herself bouncing between partners and roles filling in as a follower and leader where necessary. It meant that she ended up having good dance fundamentals and a strong lower core since she needed to be flexible and adaptable to her revolving door of partners, but also meant that she could never quite settle in and feel truly comfortable in any particular role.
Saori was shaken from her thoughts when a loud “WOAH” came out from beside her.
“They are SO GORGEOUS” exclaimed an orange haired girl who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere beside her.
Saori jumped in surprise and the other girl shot her hands up to her mouth in slight embarrassment.
“Opps, sorry, did I scare you, I’m so sorry, but they look so beautiful, I WANNA DO THAT TOO!” The orange hair girl exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement causing her twintails to bounce along with her.
Seeing the two in the doorway of the dance hall, a third-year senpai approached the pair, “Hello, are you two first years? Are you looking to join the social dance club? I’m Kanie Jun and I’m the club president.”
Saori and the orange haired girl offered a respectful bow towards their senpai, after which the orange haired girl spoke first, “I’m Seto Rika, it’s nice to meet you senpai. I was just passing by and was TOTALLY pulled in by how beautiful everyone looked dancing. I love to dance too” she said while jumping in place and twirling her finger, “but I haven’t done this type of dancing before, I’ve only seen this on the TV.”
Kanie-senpai then turned to Saori, gesturing towards the paper she held shakily in her hands, “what about you then?” Kanie-senpai asked. “Seems like you have already filled in the paperwork to join?”
Saori quickly extended the paper she was nervously clutching in her hands, “y-yes, I have already filled out the club registration form.”
Kanie-senpai gently took the form out of Saori’s nervous hands and began looking over the form. “Hidaka Saori, do you have prior experience? You look familiar and the name too.”
“Uhmm… yeah, I have some experience. I’ve been dancing since I was like 5 or 6. I danced in a few competitions in middle school, but I never did super well. I would be surprised if you heard of me.”
“Tsukiko-sensei would probably know for sure. I don't keep track of the middle school scene as much since I started competitions here, but Sensei would know, she likes to keep track of the lower levels for any rising stars. Anyways, Hidaka-san, what role do you take?”
Saori paused for a moment, “actually, I don't really have a set role, I’ve spent a lot of my time switching back and forth between follower and leader… Mostly just filling in wherever people need me. I’ve bounced between a few partners as well.”
Kanie-senpai offered a thoughtful hmm. “And what about you Seto-san?” she asked, turning towards the orange haired girl, “are you interested in joining the club? We accept newcomers as well, anyone who is interested in social dance can join.” Kanie-senpai offered Rika a charismatic smile.
Rika jumped excitedly clapping her hands, “I would LOVE to join. I can’t wait to learn to dance” Rika concluded with a twirl in place.
Kanie-senpai chuckled to herself, “it’s nice to see some passionate newcomers. Wait here, I’ll get someone who can show you two around.” Kanie-senpai walked off and began speaking to a pair who then approached Rika and Saori. Introducing themselves and giving a brief tour of the club.
After the tour, Saori and Rika thanked the senpais who guided them and departed from the dance hall. As they returned to the main wing of the school, Rika began to strike up a conversation.
“Hidaka-san, you know how to dance like that? That’s so awesome.”
“Thanks Seto-san, but I’m nowhere near as refined as some of the other senpais.”
“Really? I’d love to see you dance” Rika replied cheerfully.
“I don't know if my dancing is really all that. Plus I need to find a partner, but with the amount of experience I have compared to the other first years… I’m not sure how easy it will be for me to partner up” Saori replied dejectedly.
Hearing this, Rika perked up, “OH! I have an idea, why don't you partner with ME? I may be new, but I learn REAL fast. I can catch up to speed in no time.”
Saori paused and thought about it for a moment. It wouldn't be the worst thing to have a dedicated partner, but she did have some concerns, “let me think about it” she replied, “it’s not the worst idea, and it would be nice to have a stable partner for once…” Saori trialed off.
“Then how about we talk to Tsukiko-sensei and Kanie-senpai about it. Senpai gave me a club registration form to fill out. I’ll do it tonight!” Rika pointed to her backpack where she placed the form. “Come on Hidaka-san, what do you say? I think it’ll be super mega fun.”
“Sorry Seto-san, but I’m just not quite sure yet. If I’m going to pick a consistent dance partner, I want to take my time and choose. There’s a lot to consider in a partner dynamic, there’s your on stage chemistry which can involve physical synergy, like how tall you are compared to your partner. There’s also things like how aesthetically the pair looks which goes into some more intangibles like the vibes between partners. And that’s not even getting started on HOW you dance together whether or not you and your partner can be in sync and understand each other’s movements. But I guess developing those skills takes time and lots of work and…” Saori paused realising she had been unintentionally monologuing, “sorry Seto-san, I know a lot about dance, I’ve been doing this since I was young and I have loved it for so long. Sorry if I bore you.” Saori looked down in shame.
However, Rika’s eyes sparkled with delight, she placed her hands on Saori’s face and tilted her head upwards so their eyes met, “I love that you are so passionate about dance, just hearing you talk about it makes me convinced that we should be partners.”
Rika jumped and did a twirl in front of Saori, extending her hand to the purple haired girl, “why don’t you give it a try? What’s the worst that could happen?”
Saori smiled and extended her hand to meet Rika’s. She gently pulled the energetic girl towards her, reaching out and grabbing her other free hand, “fine, I guess we can be partners. We can talk to Tsukiko-sensei and Kanie-senpai about it. There’s a lot to figure out though after you get up to speed, maybe they can help us.” Saori stared into Rika’s golden eyes which sparkled back at her with pure joy.
“I hope we can make this work.” Saori said quietly to herself.
Rika tilted her head forwards until their foreheads touched, “I’m sure we will do wonderful things together.” Rika whispered back.
Breaking from their embrace, Rika energetically pulled out her phone, “oh, and we should add each other on line so that we can keep in touch.”
Saori pulled out her phone too, “yes that would be a good idea if we want to be partners and all.”
“Speaking of partners, you should call me Rika!”
“Ok Rika” Saori replied hesitantly, “you can call me Saori then.”
After the pair exchanged line IDs, they made their way to the front entrance of the school. “Well, I will see you tomorrow then Saori, have a good day!” Rika cheered and waved excitedly at her new dance partner as she turned and headed home.
Saori waved back and returned her goodbye. Standing at the front steps of the school, Saori pondered what she had gotten herself into by agreeing to partner with the seemingly boundlessly energetic Rika. Saori wondered if she could keep up with the energy of her partner, but it seemed like a better alternative than bouncing around with different partners for another three years. Saori hefted up her backpack and began heading home too.
The next day Saori and Rika approached Kaine-senpai about wanting to partner up. After some consideration, the club leader decided it might work, though given the discrepancy in skill, Kaine-senpai suggested that Saori take the leader role as she had more experience and would be able to guide Rika. Their first actual club session mostly consisted of orientation for all the incoming first years. Showing them the location of the dance and practice halls, as well as giving them a breakdown of the major events their club took part in.
“You may already know this, but in case you don’t, there are four major dance competitions that take place throughout the year.” Kaine-senpai spoke in front of the crowd of first years, “the first is the White Heron Cup which takes place in June. It gives the newer members just enough time to get a handle of the basics. The second is the Autumn Festival which takes place in September. Then there’s the Snow Ball which takes place in December, and to finish the year off, we have the famous Quadrille which happens in March.”
Saori nodded her head, she was quite familiar with these competitions, spending a great deal of time watching the Quadrille especially which marked the highlight of the school. The Quadrille was the school’s main attraction and a reason why it was so well known for its social dance club and program. Many students who won and had great success in the Quadrille went on to become famous dancers beyond high school with many choosing to pursue professional careers in ballroom dancing.
“Many of you may be familiar with the Quadrille,” Kaine-senpai continued, “each of the three competitions prior act as qualifiers to the Quadrille. The top pairs selected from each competition are invited to partake in the Quadrille. The White Heron Cup and the Quadrille are closed competitions, only those from our school will partake in the White Heron Cup and the Quadrille is through qualifications. However the other two events are open competitions, so you may see others perform from different schools nearby. Though for us, all 3 events are effectively open as any student from our school may join.” Kaine-senpai paused and glanced towards Tsukiko-sensei to see if she missed anything. Sensei gave her a nod and the club leader continued her explanation, “if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of the upperclassmen or Tsukiko-sensei. If it’s regarding the Quadrille qualifications, it would be better to talk to Tsukiko-senpai or myself directly. With that, I will let you all get to practice. Best of luck!” Kaine-senpai ended with a charismatic smile before dismissing the group of first-years.
This information was not new to Saori, she enrolled in this school knowing full well the schedule of dance competitions. Part of the reason why she enrolled here in the first place was so that she could participate in these competitions. While she was hesitant at first, joining without a partner, her desire to dance and encouragement from her parents spurred her to applying. After Kaine-senpai’s explanation, Saori looked around to see what she should do next. The first years had begun to disperse into groups with the experienced members with their partners joining some of the upper years in practice while the beginners went to a separate part of the hall where they would be taught the basics. While Saori was a more experienced dancer, her partner, Rika, was most definitely not so the purple haired girl was a bit unsure of whether she should join her partner with the beginners or practice her steps by herself a bit until Rika was done with the introduction. Speaking of her partner, Saori spotted the orange pigtails of her partner. She seemed to be talking to a girl with dark brown hair and a side ponytail, a girl Saori did not immediately recognize but soon placed as Mizushima-san, one of her classmates. Saori had heard a bit about Mizushima-san and her partner, Matsuyama-san. They started dancing together in middle school and both were pretty talented. They weren’t high caliber dancers, but they showed quite a bit of promise. Rika, noticing Saori looking her way, turned from Mizushima-san and enthusiastically waved over her leader. Saori made her way hesitantly towards Rika.
“Wow, I didn’t know there were so many festivals and dance competitions here. Listening to Kaine-senpai talk about them got me all hyped up!” Rika exclaimed jumping up and down, “Saori, we HAVE TO win one!”
Saori heard Mizushima-san stifle a chuckle while the purple haired girl shook her head gently, “it’s not that easy Rika, there are a lot of REALLY talented pairs, especially for a beginner like you, it might be hard to learn the technique to compete with some of the others who have been doing this for years."
“It’s ok Saori, with you as my leader I’m sure we can make it out as a top pair. Never underestimate the power of Seto Rika!” her follower replied.
Mizushima-san then turned towards Saori, “it’s nice to see you here Hidaka-san.”
“Likewise, where’s Matsuyama-san?” Saori asked, looking around for Mizushima-san’s partner.
“Oh, Dalia?” Mizushima-san returned, “she went off ahead and Rika-chan wanted to talk to me a bit.”
“I didn’t realise you two knew each other.”
Mizushima-san giggled, “we don't, Rika-chan introduced me to herself during the entrance ceremony, ever since then we’ve grown quite close. Anyways, I need to go practice with Dalia. Good luck, you two” Mizushima-san waved as she turned towards the practice hall to reunite with her partner for dance practice.
“Well then” Rika piped up, “shall we go practice too?”
“You need to learn the basics first don't you?” Saori inquired.
“I guess so, but are you going to come with me? You said you’ve danced since you were young so you probably already know all the basics.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about what to do. It’s hard to practice alone, though I’ve done that before, but it also probably wouldn’t be that helpful to do the beginner lessons” Saori mused.
Undetected by the pair, Kaine-senpai approached, having overheard their conversation. “I think it might be worth it if you accompany Seto-san to learn the steps, Hidaka-san.” Kaine-senpai offered, “sorry for intruding but I couldn’t help but overhear your concerns. I think it might be good if you are there to help Seto-san learn the steps, it will also help you build synergy as a pair, which is vital if you are going to do well in competition. Also who knows, with such an experienced leader, Seto-san is bound to pick up the steps much quicker. Just a suggestion though. I understand if you would rather practice a bit by yourself, Hidaka-san, until Seto-san has the basics down.”
Saori offered a thoughtful hmm, “maybe you’re right Kaine-senpai, it might help Rika if I was with her through learning the steps. And yeah, I guess it would help us build synergy as partners… Alright Rika, I’ll go with you to learn the basics.”
Rika cheered, “YAY, Saori, I WON’T let you down. I’ll have the basics down in no time.”
Kaine-senpai smiled and waved the two off, “good luck you two, can’t wait to see what you two can do.”
With Kaine-senpai’s dismissal, the pair offered a slight bow as they headed over to the beginners section so that Rika could learn the basics of ballroom dance. Accompanied by Saori as her leader, Rika held true to her word and learned the basic steps at a surprisingly fast pace, even garnering attention from Tsukiko-sensei who praised Rika for her quick ability to learn the steps and how quickly she was able to surpass the levels of her other beginning level peers. Soon enough, Saori and Rika were practicing amongst the more experienced members with Rika having fast tracked her learning with much the help of Saori who had experience being both a leader and a follower, she was able to provide useful pointers to Rika and get her to learn at an even more accelerated pace.