Beauty And A Beast

Chapter 8

Sana

"What the fuck are you doing!?" I whisper-shout, only because I don't want to wake Momo and her family up.

"Woah, you always seem so eager to bury a knife in my throat."

"Well, I might just do it if it pleases you." I say and raise it higher, only for her to push it back.

"My brother says he's taking you to the first Dance. Is it true?"

"Yes, and what do you care? Do you know it's-" I stop and turn my phone on. "three in the morning!?"

"Yes, which is why I didn't ring the bell and greet your parents-"

"My parents are dead."

"Did I ask?"

She. Did. Not. Just say that. We stare at each other for a long time and I think I can see Tzuyu's mask shattering. I shake my head and attempt to close the window but something blocks it from doing so.

"Wait, no, I'm sorry-"

"Leave." I command, walking away from the window and to the door to exit my room. I try to open it but Tzuyu runs to me and holds the door closed, leaning on it with her palm.

"I told you to leave."

"Hey, c'mon, I'm sorry."

I turn to walk away but she grabs my wrist and pulls me towards her.

"Chou-"

"Sana."

Her tone is soft, something I never thought I'd hear from her and my name coming from her lips has me looking up into her gray eyes. Something about them feels different, something about this whole Tzuyu feels different.

"I'm sorry. That was-"

"Bitchy. Cocky bitchy."

Tzuyu chuckles and shakes her head. "True. But I really am sorry." her tone turns serious again. I simply nod and what she says afterwards takes me by total surprise.

"What happened to them?"

"I- uh-" I blink a few times. "My mother died in childbirth. My father was killed when I was twelve."

Tzuyu tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear, soothing me but surprising me as well. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"It's okay." I mumble. As soon as I realize Tzuyu's hand is still gripping on my wrist and we're still standing close to each other, I take a sharp breath and stumble back.

"What are you doing here again?"

"Yeah, right, I came to make sure you don't crash my brother's toes."

"What?"

"It's three days to the Dance and you obviously still don't know how to dance."

"And you're here to what, teach me?" I scoff. "No." I reply when Tzuyu shakes her head.

"Okay, I knew you were going to say that. So, first of all, I wouldn't want my brother coming home with calluses all over his toes. And-" Tzuyu sighs, "I couldn't be bothered more, but I'm sure you don't want to humiliate yourself in front of all the people who voted you. Because many did."

As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I had a total of over seventy votes and, now that I'm stuck in this thing, I could as well win it. And to do that, I need more votes. I really can't afford to humiliate myself.

"Fine. What do I need to do?"

Tzuyu shows a dimple before taking her phone out of her pocket. After scrolling down for a bit, she settles on a slow waltz.

"Seriously now?"

"Not my fault, that's what they play." Tzuyu shrugs. She takes off her black leather jacket, remaining in a white shirt, unbuttoned at the top and exposing her collarbones. She puts her arms behind her back and makes a step back.

"For starters, you'll learn the basics on your own. I don't want you stomping on my toes." she says and starts making small steps to the right and left. "Do you expect to learn by staring at me?"

I huff and start mirroring her steps, my eyes pinned at Tzuyu's feet so I won't lose a step. I hear Tzuyu chuckle and shoot my head up at her.

"What?"

"Nothing, just-" she stops the music and searches for another waltz. After finding another slow one, she walks closer to me. "You're doing good on your own. But you'll be dancing with my brother so we need to make sure you don't stomp on his toes." she adds and slides an arm around my waist while the other holds my own.

"Wh-what are you-"

Her hand placing my open palm over her shoulder has me shutting up and taking a sharp breath. Once the waltz starts, she starts swaying with me, my focus entirely on my feet. I can feel her piercing gaze on the top of my head and it's making me more nervous than I'd like to admit.

"Looking at your feet is rude."

With a hand under my chin, she tilts my face towards her own, her icy gaze meeting with mine. "Eyes on me, Minatozaki. Won't be that hard." she smirks at me again, those annoyingly cute dimples never leaving her face.

"Still thinking highly of yourself." I scoff. We continue dancing silently until Tzuyu interrupts the silence again.

"Hey, you need to loosen up a bit. Don't be so tense." she murmurs but, with the way she's holding me, loosening up seems a lot tougher than it should. "Relax."

"Easy for you to say."

"Dancing is not a fight in the ring. You need to let yourself to the music. And-" she tugs me closer, pressing my body to hers. Her action has me looking up at her with surprise, "For god's sake, you need to be close to your partner."

"What I need is for this dance to come to an end." I react and try to push away from Tzuyu but she wraps two arms around my waist and holds me in place.

"What you want and what you need are two things entirely apart Minatozaki."

With that, we continue swaying, my palms resting on Tzuyu's chest and her arms on my back. For some reason I don't want to think about, all this seems extremely relaxing. For some weird reason, I allow myself to lean my head over Tzuyu's chest and close my eyes.

"You know, this isn't exactly how dancing works-"

"Really now?" I scoff and lift my head up. Tzuyu is just smirking at me, like always. "You're insufferable." I shake my head. Tzuyu chuckles, removing her arms from my waist.

"A thank you for my help would be enough."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"But you needed it."

"Did not."

Tzuyu chuckles again and shakes her head as she makes her way to the window she came in from. "I told you before Minatozaki. What you want and what you need are two different things. And trust me, I know that better than anyone."