RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Fourteen: Shall We Dance?

Kyouhei Kurosaki, at first, thought that he had seen it all wrong. No way.

But there she was, dancing with a strange expensive-looking guy smiling up to him like a gushing high school girl. What was she doing? And who was that man? No, scratch that. Kyouhei knew who was the guy, but he could not understand how Yuko ended up dancing with him. He was too drawn at the look of them as a couple, that Kyouhei did not even realize how deep he had been frowning then.

"What's wrong?" Noticing his disturbed mood, Ami Komatsu who was dancing with him at the time asked this question with a worried face. The sound of her voice quickly brought back Kyouhei to reality, though it took him a short moment first to realize what she just said to him.

"Nothing, nothing," Kyouhei simply shook his head as he quickly eased out the lines on his face and faked a smile towards his partner. Realizing how out of sync they were with the music at that time, he then tried to smoothly reverse a step back, gently guiding Ami to turn around as he danced with her with such ease movements and confidence.

"Wow," Ami breathily sighed, grinning right away after Kyouhei did a graceful job of leading her in their dance, "You are a pro at this, huh?"

Kyouhei chuckled back, taking the compliment as it is, "Not really. Months of practice, I guess."

"How many girls have you danced with in the past then?"

The question took him off guard, and Kyouhei inhaled as he tried to count them in his head. Watching as how serious he had taken her words, Ami giggled at the look of his face and lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Don't answer that," she said to him, smiling and letting out a sigh as she continued, "I didn't really want to know. Bad habit."

"Okay," Kyouhei just answered, nodding back, "There's not that many of them anyway, Miss Komatsu."

A pause.

"So are you dating someone right now?"

She was not able to stop herself before the words had suddenly flown out of her mouth. And as soon as she uttered them, she immediately regretted it. She watched as Kyouhei slowly tried to process what she just said. She was too straightforward and very blunt. Kyouhei was dumbfounded and a little nervous to answer earnestly while he thought of a good reply to tell her.

"Bad habit again, sorry," she, later on, apologized, though it never really sounded that sincere. Then she smirked at him, "But I would really like to know if you're single or not, Kurosaki-san. I want to know more about you."

She was really going for it, and he could clearly see the intent in her eyes. And for some reason, her beauty got him thinking twice. Yuko warned him, but she was dancing with another guy. Will this be fair now? And at the moment, Kyouhei felt dumb when he subconsciously looked past Ami's shoulder to glance where Yuko was dancing with someone else. She was smiling, and she did not even care now... She would have seen him already...

Right? So this is fair.

"I'm not..." he stopped, his eyes going back to the one who was standing in front of him as he met her eyes, "I'm not dating anyone."

And even when he was conflicted with guilt and envy inside, Kyouhei tried his best to smile away the hidden emotions. While, Ami Komatsu, who was more than thrilled after hearing his response, widely grinned as she gave Kyouhei the most delighted expression she could ever give.

Two people, different feelings, and different motives... Where would this unexpected progress lead to?

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"She's..."

"I know."

From a distance, Yuko Amazawa and her new ally, Osamu Sato, discreetly watched Kyouhei and Ami from a distance as they dance along with the other couples around. As it turned out, Sato had not yet met either Kyouhei or Ami prior to the moment he had seen Yuko at the party. And now that Sato got the chance to see the two of them, he still could not believe his eyes. 

General Rei and Empress Aoi were also reincarnated. 

"They don't remember their old memories, like how we do," Yuko informed Sato, faking a smile over her words as she kept the routine of the dance went on. 

"Are you sure, Your Highness?" Osamu probed, slightly frowning, "That's weird."

"I think it's better that they don't and it's okay not to call me in that way now. We're living different lives already, call me Amazawa instead," Yuko remarked, glancing back to where Kyouhei and Ami were with a keen eye as she tried to read the sudden shift of mood between those two. What were they laughing about?

"I don't think I could adjust to that right away. But I'll try," Osamu admitted. His words quickly bringing Yuko's attention back at him.

"Then start practicing and never call me Your Highness anymore," Yuko ordered, "It'll be weird if someone hears you call me like that."

Sato laughed at that and let out a short sigh.

"Well, things do really change once you've been reborn in another life," He replied in a laidback tone after a second, and as if to prove his point he gave Yuko a mischievous smile as he went on, "I got to admit too. I had never really believed in gods in the past until now. After waking up one day with this identity I kept seeing in the mirror and my dreams and learning that my past life was actually all real and had truly happened in history, I found it quite funny and ironic."

"Yeah? Why so?" Yuko raised a brow.

"Don't you agree though?" Osamu gawked at her, briefly smiling, "It had never occurred to me that I would even be chosen to live a life of a spoiled brat like this. When in fact, I used to be a kid born out of wedlock and work my way through hunting and killing just to make a living. The gods do know their humor, and I'm not saying this to mock them. To be honest, I'm quite liking how free I am right now. Like you..."

"Me?" Yuko echoed, snorting as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't get mad, Amazawa-san, but seeing you right now in this appearance?" Osamu's voice lowered a little as he leaned a little closer and whispered in a gentle voice, " It really changed a lot with how I look at you compared to the past. It's so weird, but I don't really mind."

Yuko blanched at his words and instinctively stepped on his foot with a sneer, looking quite offended. Osamu bit back a yelp, resisting to bend in pain, but judging with how his face contorted with intense control, she did it quite harshly. Her sudden attack quickly halted their movements as they stopped in the middle of the dance floor while Yuko just glared at Osamu.

"That's way below the belt there, Kaoru," Yuko said in a harsh whisper, still clutching Osamu's shoulder in a tight grip as she reprimanded him, "I'm still your Emperor, in case you've forgotten. I may not have the same body that I had before, but I still am the Emperor, you hear me?"

 "Yeah, I certainly felt that," Osamu replied in a croaked voice, whimpering, "You still had the same strength as before. Sorry, your Highness."

"You better be," Yuko warned and she pulled Osamu back to moving but immediately got interrupted when she hit a huge wall behind her. Yuko turned around and both she and Osamu gaped at the person who had been standing right there.

"Is something wrong here?" Kyouhei suddenly asked in an intimidating voice, his eyes glaring at Osamu. The threat was very evident in his question and Yuko quickly interfered as she smiled at Kyouhei and shook her head.

"We're okay, Kurosaki-san," Yuko replied to him, eyeing Ami for a second as she noticed how Kyouhei and the woman's arms were linked together, "Sorry for bumping into you. But since you're here, let me introduce you to Mr. Osamu Sato, the only son, and heir of the Sato's, the founders of the Seiko-Sato holdings. Sato-san, this is Mr. Kyouhei Kurosaki, my client and a representative from the Socio-Liberal party, and this beautiful woman with him is Miss Ami Komatsu, daughter of the prominent Komatsu family."

"Pleasure to meet the two of you," Osamu shifted and bowed at the two of them, to which both Kyouhei and Ami had also returned with a formal dip of their heads. It suddenly turned awkward and the silence quickly overtook the words. Yet before anyone could even get a chance to speak up to break the tension, the MC suddenly spoke through the speakers, stealing everybody's attention in an instant.

"We've been giving the couples too much liberty, don't you think?" the man on the platform said as he gave the crowd a smile over the microphone in his hand, "And since we've gathered lots of pairs on the dance floor why don't we give it a twist? All gentlemen let's try to ask the ladies whom we have not yet partnered with tonight to slow dance as we play one more special song before the nearing end of the party. Shall we? Let's do it! Let's start the 'Dancing with a stranger' twist!"

And on cue, the song started playing, its sweet intro softly filled the hall with its melody and vibrant sound. Kyouhei, Ami, Yuko, and Osamu all shared awkward glances as people started shifting partners around them. Yet none of the four tried to make a move yet, and as the heavy air slowly pressured them, Osamu eventually did the first move as he stepped back from Yuko's hold and approached Ami with an innocent smile.

"May I have this dance?" he asked her as he reached out his palm towards her. And Ami, who knew she had no other choice but to accept it, just willingly nodded and took his hand. They soon walked away from Kyouhei and Yuko as they chose to dance from a distance. 

He better not touch her too much, Yuko briefly thought to herself as she continued to observe the way the two dance now. But while she was too busy watching them, Kyouhei gathered his courage to finally do what he had always been wanting to do since the sweet dance started a while ago.

He took one step closer to Yuko, straightly looked at her, even unconsciously blocking her view of Ami and Osamu dancing from afar that made Yuko finally stare back at him and saw the determination in his eyes. He slowly raised his arm, palm up, and leaned closer.

"Shall we dance, Yuko-san?" was all he said, waiting.

And feeling that she was completely trapped and unable to decline, Yuko let her own body moved on its own. Nodding as she took his hand, she let him lead the way without saying anything. And before she could even realize what just happened, she was already dancing in the middle of the crowd, in the arms of this young naive man...

Who used to be her greatest rival from the past. The same one she could not let herself forgive and forget until now. And somehow, this entire situation was getting too complicated. But why wasn't she running away yet?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Fourteen