Darksteel

Chapter 27; Please do not step on your dance partner's toes.

Asta was not sure how long he danced with Nico-- yet he certainly would not have minded dancing with her the whole night.

And possibly for forever.

In a way, he was quite glad his original date hadn't come; it was a blessing in disguise. Instead, he simply held Nico close as they swayed back and forth to the music. 

From this point in the ballroom, Asta could see everyone; Jeremiah and his date gently kissing in a corner of the room, Mr.Potter dancing with Miss Ruse, both blushing like awkward school students, and Adar with one of his many dates saying to the others, "Easy, ladies. There's enough of me to go around."

 Gentleman indeed.

Yet, as Asta looked closer, it appeared that whichever girl Adar DID choose to dance with, he gave her his undivided attention and seemed to make pleasant, polite conversation. For once.

Looking back to Nico, Asta found that she had gently laid her head on his chest as they slow danced, pressing her body up against his. 

She felt soft and delicate next to him, like a tiny rose.

 "I can hear your heart beating." she said quietly after a while.

 "Well, that's a good sign. I'm not sure what I would do if it wasn't beating." At that moment, Asta wondered if perhaps he should just stop talking all together. He certainly wouldn't make a fool of himself as much.

But Nico only laughed as they continued to dance.

 "Do you think anyone recognized me?"

 Asta hoped not. He wasn't sure how the Headmaster would feel knowing that Nico was actually a girl, but he WAS sure that it wouldn't end well. This plan had been risky, but it was worth it in the end.

Or so he hoped.

Adjusting his mask, Asta glanced around the ballroom once more and spotted Jin and Blue standing in a corner, casting glances his way. He ignored them. Nico, however, noticed and asked, "Could you ever consider forgiving them?"

 "Not for the next few hundred years, at least."

 She sighed, and he felt her delicate fingers trace their way up his spine and neck and curl gently in his blond hair. "I can't blame you really. What they did was horribly wrong, and Jeremiah shouldn't have even brought up the fact that you are a Monster Lord. It only served to put suspicion in their minds." Nico lifted her eyes then and looked deeply into his, "But couldn't we all just be friends again? Like we used to?"

 Asta frowned slightly. He wasn't sure he could; those boys had betrayed him, leaving him to die in the woods. He wasn't sure he could ever forgive that. Right now, he didn't even want to think about it.

Stepping back slightly, he took hold of Nico's hand and led her deeper into the crowd, away from Blue and Jin. 

He couldn't forgive them, not now, not ever maybe. But if Graduation was as horrible as they said it was and they would all need to work together, then perhaps Asta wouldn't have a choice.

                              ...................................

Adar stood on a balcony, alone, enjoying the quiet solitude of the night.

 Finally, he had managed to escape the clutches of his multiple dates who wouldn't. Leave. Him. Alone. And yet here, with only shadows and the distant sounds of music and laughter for company, he felt that perhaps now he could finally breath.

 Then, just because there was no one to hear him, he shouted "Freeeedoooom!" into the cloudless, starry sky.

"Pardon, sir?" No one, it seemed, except the butler.