I am a Dancer (Naruto fanfiction)

1: Painful Reality

"Girls! Let's get to Pyramid!" Abby Lee Miller ordered, causing me, my teammates, and our mothers hurry into the main studio room. On one of the mirror walls, Abby had stuck a pyramid-like structure of covered photos of us girls.

"This past week, ladies, has been tough for you all," Abby began. "The group routine, the duet, the trio, and the solos are there to prove that." She scanned over each of us critically. "So let's get right into the Pyramid."

Miss Abby snatched off the cover of the bottom-left photo. "Hirano!" I nodded shakily at her. "The trio was a hot mess. Nearly every turn of that routine was off with Mackenzie and Kendall. I've told you thousands of times, you need to work on your timing."

I nodded guiltily at her.

"The next one is.....Kendall. You were great, you were beautiful. You're kind of just.....there. Nothing you did made you stand out."

Kendall nodded bravely next to me.

"Then we have Mackenzie," Miss Abby continued. "You did great, until you reached that side turn near the middle. You need to watch your feet."

"Next we have Nia. I still see technical problems," Miss Abby sighed at her. Nia murmured an agreement, while her mother pressed her lips into a firm line.

"The we have Chloe. You had the expression, you blew the judges away, and finally we have Maddie, who had the overall high score for the Junior Solo Competition!" We all clapped as Maddie smiled, pleased with her success.

"Maddie did everything to perfection, girls," Miss Abby lectured, as our clapping died down. "She was always in sync, always stood out, was perfect in all her routines, nailed all her technical difficulties, and wowed the judges every time. That's what it takes to be at the top of the Pyramid."

The rest of the afternoon passed in a hazy whirlwind of lectures, lessons, and dancing. I hardly could tell which way was left or right. All I knew was Miss Abby was shaking her head at me when I left the studio with my mother.

"Let's go to the bookstore, shall we?" Mother suggested kindly, as we exited the studio. I nodded blindly, fighting the cold weather in my jacket. Mother slung my dance bag over her shoulder, trying to cheer me up.

"Yeah, okay," I mumbled.

"It's alright, Hirano," Mother soothed, holding my hand securely as we shivered in the wind. "It's alright to fall and be at the bottom. You're just going through the learning process."

"It's not okay, Mother," I said, holding back my tears. "Maddie was first again. I was at the bottom of the Pyramid again!"

"Hirano, don't let the Pyramid get to you," Mother said, steering me across the busy city street. "You are a good dancer, and Miss Abby knows that and wants you to get better."

"More like destroy me," I muttered under my breath. As soon as we stepped into the bookstore, I forced down a sob and admired the spacious store. Spiraling stairs allowed customers access to the upper five floors, complete with a gorgeous cafe on the second floor.

"Good evening, Hirano!" A familiar employee greeted me and Mother.

"Hi, Yanai!" I said back eagerly, spotting my favorite employer. This is Yanai Shizue. I caught him reading a comic book, during work hours and in exchange if I didn't tell the manager, he promised to introduce me to "anime" or something. I've never heard of it, but Yanai says it's good.

"Hirano, I'm going have to run a few errands," Mother said, pulling me aside. "Here's some cash to spend on a couple books and a snack. Don't go overboard, and I'll get you in an hour, alright, Sweetie?

"Alright, Mom." She kissed my forehead and left the store.

"Tough day, huh?" Yanai said, looking at me. I sighed in agreement.

"Yeah. If only life was nice and quiet," I added.

"Oh, guess what! We have a new shipment of the Naruto manga! Want to read one?" He asked excitedly, his voice dropping down quietly. "I said I would bring you to the World of Anime! So how about it?"

"If you say so, Mr. Advertiser," I laughed, pocketing my money. I followed Yanai to the Anime/Manga aisles. I looked at the colorful book covers glimmering proudly on the shelves. They tried to coax me to read them and experience their adventure.

"Naruto volume one, here you go!" He snatched a paperback book of a brand new manga and thrusted it into my hands "I think you'll like this book, enjoy~" he said cheerily.

"Hey, Yanai!" Another employee yelled, coming into the storage room.

"Yes, May?" He responded, turning to his coworker. "You need something?"

"Yeah, do we have any poetry books by Edgar Allan Poe?"

"Oh Mr. Poe! My favorite guy!" Yanai said dramatically. "Sure thing. I'll go find him!"

I turned the new book over in my hands carefully. So this is what's so popular in school these days. As an ALDC dancer, I spent hours stretching rather than reading manga or watching anime.

"But how come the book cover is on the back?" I wondered out loud.

"That's because it's manga!" Yanai said, overhearing me from the neighboring aisle. "Go on and read it!" I listened to him move away and looked at the manga cover again.

I went to the reading nook of the bookstore and glanced around before opening the book to the first page "supposedly starting from the front."

However, as soon as I opened the book, a wave of exhaustion swept over me. Maybe I'm more tired than I originally thought. All I could remember coming out of the studio defeated and worn out from classes and lessons.

I'll just close my eyes for a minute, I thought, shutting my eyes. I let myself lean against the bookshelf and--

"Hey, are you okay?"