Chapter Thirty-Five: Just Dance, Dachii

In a neighborhood in Asuka...

Fujii was sitting on a rooftop near Shizuka's house, taking a moment to watch the sun go down.

"I really hope my squad is safe."

Just then, he got a call from Yoritomo. He swiped his watch and answered it. "Hey, found out anything?"

"Yes. The perpetrators, they might be targeting Dachii Jones."

"Dachii? Why do you say that?"

"Hikari found one of them engaging in conversation with him not too long ago. We should be on high alert."

Fujii remembered something. "He DID bust out that crazy black-hole power back in Asmana, maybe they could be after that?" he thought.

"Right. Does Dachii know?"

"No, it's just a hunch, so we will keep him in the dark for now. He's a...personality, alright. Last thing we need is him causing trouble because of this."

"I see."

"We're gonna have him and Akari dance in Shizuka's place. That way, we can lure out the perpetrators, find Shizuka's daughter, and confirm if Dachii is the target or not, all while keeping him safe."

"Heh, dancing, you say? That'll be fun to watch!"

"Of course, YOU WOULD think that. Anyway, are you planning to head back?"

"Yeah, I'll be there, I'm going to see if I can find any more info first. We have to be sure of their intentions."

"Alright then."

He hung up the phone, leaving Fujii to his thoughts.

"Would someone actually be after Dachii? If so, who?"

He stared up at the sky, then he jumped off the roof and walked away. A hooded man, face unseen, watched as he left.

Meanwhile, back at the Asuka Festival...

"Okay, show me how you dance."

"Woman, WHAT?"

"We only have about 4 hours until the start of the Dance Competition. I need to see how good you are."

Dachii and Akari were busy in the Courthouse, practicing for the competition. Akari was now dressed in an elegant white dress that was short enough for her to dance in, while Dachii had robes on, which seemed way too big for him.

"I'm not good at all. Let me watch, like the other three! I don't wanna dance!"

Akari sighed. "Not even with me?"

He looked her up and down. "Nope. Still not worth it."

The other three just watched and tried to contain their laughter as Dachii glared at them. Akari lifted Dachii's arms and spread them out.

"Here, now turn them THIS way."

He tried to turn his body, but he ended up hitting Akari in the face. "Ow."

"Sorry! I told you this wouldn't work!"

As Luca continued to laugh, one look from Akari at him made him cough and look away.

"Well, Dachii. I'll dance. You just like, follow my lead, or bop your head, or something."

"Can I do it off-stage?"

"No."

As he groaned, Akari began swaying smoothly and gently, going back and forth, up and down, as everyone else watched in awe.

"See? Dancing is not that hard."

As the boys just stared at her, Hikari began to clap. "Yay, Akari! With you dancing for us, we might win the entire thing!"

Akari smiled for a moment and then she went back to practicing her moves. She began to twirl in place, and Dachii attempted to sit back down but she grabbed his arm.

"When we get on stage, I'll need you to twirl me."

"Uh..."

He looked her over again, a smile playing on his lips before he covered it up. "How do I do that?"

"Spin me like a top. That should work. Try it."

He grabbed her by the shoulders and attempted to spin her, but he accidentally threw her to the ground. "OW."

"Sorry!"

"Never mind, we'll figure it out when the time comes."

Luca leaned over to Marachii and whispered: "Is he gonna embarrass himself on stage?"

"Yes, yes he is."

Later that day, a group of well-dressed men and women walked into the Courthouse, all in robes and dresses. They paused when they reached the room that Squad S-1 was in.

"The Princess? And her squad?"

Akari looked up, still dancing.

"Oh, hi. We're...here to dance too."

Makoto entered the room. "Squad, meet your opponents for the Competition!"

All of them lined up. Each of them had distinct hair colors: blue, yellow, orange, gray, white, and gold. Makoto pointed to them one by one.

"There's Jun Shimazaki. Hirokazu Hayashi. Natsuki Shimizu. Ayaka Kubota. Madoka Masanori. And Kiyoko Kihara."

Each of them stepped forward. The guy with the blue hair, Jun, looked over at Dachii and Akari. "So, which of you do I have to kill? The human or the Princess?"

"Both of us," Akari replied.

Jun almost fell over. "WHAT? But it's a one-on-one competition, not teams!"

"Shizuka is missing, and this is an important situation."

"Fine! Whatever!"

Marachii counted the number of contestants. "Wait, if Dachii and Akari are a team, and the rest are their own team, there's an uneven amount of contestants!"

Makoto nodded. "Right you are, human! That's why we have our last competitor! He applied this morning!"

Another person, a male, stomped through the door, wearing robes. Dachii immediately jumped back when he saw who it was. "HIM?"

"Haha! I knew you chumps were up to something!"

"Our last competitor: Arata Takahiro!"

Arata walked right up to Akari and Dachii, who immediately walked and hid behind Akari. "Well, Princess? You and the human come to lose?"

"Arata. Go away."

"Oh, you'll have to make me, once I win this MONEY!"

Hikari groaned in annoyance, Marachii had a look of confusion on his face, and Luca sat back, eating more beef jerky. Makoto stood in the middle of the room, checking his watch. "Okay, it seems we don't have long before the competition is to start!"

He walked out the door. "Follow me, everyone!"

Jun elbowed the gray-haired girl, Ayaka, next to him. "Think that obnoxious boy will be any good at dancing?"

"Give him a chance! I'm sure he'll be passionate about this."

Arata burst through the door, knocking nearly everyone over. "OUT OF MY WAY, LOSERS!"

"Or...maybe he's just a jerk."

At the dancing stage...

The group made their way to the dancing stage, and they entered through the back way, waiting behind the curtains. Dachii could hear a huge crowd waiting for the action to begin. "Great, just great. Dancing? In front of all those people?"

Akari leaned close to his ear. "It'll be fine. I'm here to do most of the work."

Makoto went through the curtains, with a microphone in hand. "Oh my! This is an even bigger crowd than I expected! Welcome to the Annual Dance Competition! I believe this is the 450th anniversary of it!"

The crowd erupted in cheers. "And it's gonna be a great one! We have surprising match-ups, rising superstars, and A TON OF FUN AHEAD!"

More cheers could be heard. "Without further ado, let's bring out the contestants!"

"Jun Shimazaki, Hirokazu Hayashi, Natsuki Shimizu, Ayaka Kubota, Madoka Masanori, Kiyoko Kihara, Arata Takahiro, Dachii Jones, and Princess Akari Asato!"

The crowd had some surprised gasps and cheers, and each of the competitors walked out. Dachii saw Marachii, Hikari, and Luca sitting in the very front row, giving hopeful looks, while the rest of the seats were filled with lavishly dressed Voltians, all staring intensely at him.

"Where's Shizuka?"

"I don't know, but why is that one HUMAN up there? The weird one with that Element!"

"Forget the human, check out Princess Akari! She looks amazing!"

"Now, now, I know some of you may be wondering where our Dance Superstar Shizuka Nakamura is, but since she hasn't been able to make it, the Princess and her human will replace her!"

Akari waved at the crowd, who cheered for her. Dachii just stood behind her, trying to avoid the bright lights and cameras on the stage.

Hikari clapped for her. "Come on, Akari, win this!"

"Now, let's begin our first match of the competition! Since I KNOW you've all been waiting, let's start out with a treat: Princess Akari's team VS. JUN!"

More cheers from the crowd.

"Now then, participants, please take your places."

Everyone else retreated off stage as Akari, Dachii, and Jun were left standing there. Akari stepped forward, glancing back at Dachii.

"Let me handle this, okay? If I come towards you, then that means I want to do a duo dance."

"A what?"

"Just grab my arms if I come close."

Makoto let the crowd quiet down, and then he began. "Everyone ready? 3...2...1...DANCE!"

Akari and Jun faced off as music played. Jun smiled and held out his arms, almost as if he was welcoming her. "Go ahead and dance, PRINCESS."

"Okay."

She immediately began swaying and moving like an acrobat, moving her body in ways Dachii never thought possible. The soft, melodic music helped emphasize her movements.

"Oh, wow..." Dachii thought, not able to do anything but watch. Akari spun in place off one leg, before putting her arms up and down across her body and moving like a cheerleader.

Then, a bell rang, and she stopped, but not before doing a backflip, landing right next to Dachii, receiving tons of claps and cheers from the crowd. "Woah. Why didn't you just apply by yourself?"

"Reasons."

"Which are—-?"

Jun clapped his hands. "Enough talk kids! Now let's show you some REAL moves!"

He began tapping his foot as another bell rang. Then he began to get low and shake his shoulders to the best.

"1! 2! Now let's go!"

He put a hand on his hip and began shimmying left to right, doing an occasional spin in between. Then he got right in front of Akari and did a few smooth moves before the bell rang.

"How's THAT, Princess?"

"Terrible."

"WHY, YOU——!"

A bell rang, and Akari put both hands on her hips and began moving to the now faster-paced beat. She timed her moves with the beat, which slowed and sped up in a pattern.

She turned back and forth, moving in a motion. Dachii yet again watched in awe, and even Jun looked jealous.

"1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4."

After one more round of movements, the bell rang, signaling Jun's turn. He glared at her and began dancing aggressively, shimmying right in front of her and sliding around.

"You! Can't! Handle! This!"

He got into a squatted position and held out his arms as he continued to shimmy in front of the pair. Soon after the bell rang again, and Makoto walked onto the stage. "Times up!"

"I better have won! I better have won!" Jun was sweating hard now, breathing heavily.

"Let's see what our judges think. It's a shame they couldn't be here in person this time."

A holographic scoreboard came up, showing seven rows, each for one judge.

"Jun has received 63 points, and Akari's team has received 68 points! Team Akari moves on to round two!"

An uproar of cheers came from the crowd, and Hikari was standing up, clapping. "Akari! You go, girl! And Dachii, even though he didn't do anything."

Dachii sighed as he got off the stage. "Phew, at least she won it for us."

They sat down next to the others as Marachii patted Dachii on the shoulder. "You have to dance next round! We all want to see it!"

"Oh HELL no."

Makoto called the next match: "NATSUKI vs. HIROKAZU!"

As the two men got on stage and began to dance, Akari whispered to Hikari, making sure no one else could hear.

"Did you see anything suspicious? Anything we should be concerned about?"

"Right! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking!"

"Hikari!"

"You were just dancing so good! I lost focus!"

"Wow, Hikari, wow. Now if they come and snatch Dachii—-"

Dachii perked up. "Who's gonna snatch me?"

Both girls immediately stopped talking, turning to look at him. "Oh, uh, Arata. He'll kidnap you if we lose. Scary man, he is."

"He's just annoying, to be honest. The scary comes after."

Both girls breathed a sigh of relief as Dachii seemingly turned his attention back to the stage.

"Now then, like I was saying, we have to keep watch."

"Okay, okay!"

Akari looked around, but nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. Eventually, the match between the two men was over, with Natsuki winning.

"Next up, AYAKA vs. MADOKA!"

The two young women took the stage as Dachii glanced them over. "Wow, they dressed up nice—-"

Akari slapped her head. "Really, Dachii?"

"What? I gotta be honest!"

Soon after, the round was over, and Ayaka took a close victory. The final match of the first round was set to begin. "And now, ARATA vs. KIYOKO!"

As both Arata and the young girl walked up to the stage, Arata laughed. "A little girl against me? This is EASY WORK!"

Kiyoko scoffed. "How can a brute like YOU dance at all?"

"Start this up and find out!"

"Ready? 3...2...1...DANCE!"

Arata immediately did a few stomps and began breakdancing in front of Kiyoko, who just watched awkwardly. His movements were accurate but slow, and he finished it off by putting his hands on his head and shaking his hips back and forth.

"HAHA! Eat that, fool!"

As her turn began, Squad-1 just watched, cringing at the sight of Arata's dancing. Akari got up, stating:

"After that, I need to get some water."

Hikari got up and followed her away from the stage. "Me too!"

Dachii watched them head towards the streets. "Where are they going? I don't see any water fountains nearby?"

Luca shrugged. "They're royals. They know how and where to get whatever they want."

Dachii just ignored it and went back to watching the dancing, but he found someone new sitting next to him.

"Hey, Dachii. Nice job making it out of the first round."

"Omari? Where'd you come from?"

Omari laughed, a bit eerie for Dachii's taste. "Oh, from a run. I told you I'd make it here, didn't I?"

Luca and Marachii looked at Omari, with curious looks on their faces. "Who is that, Dachii? A friend?"

"Well, something like that."

Omari watched Arata dance until the bell rang. "Look at him. Such a big oaf. Just as cringeworthy as the rest of them."

Omari looked back to see Akari and Hikari beginning to head back, water bottles in their hands. "Well, that's my cue. Win the Dance, Dachii."

He slowly got up and whispered one more thing as he left. "I'll be waiting."

"Waiting for?"

He chuckled and walked away. When Akari and Hikari reached the seats, they handed each of the boys a water bottle. Luca drank from it, saying:

"Well, that guy seemed solid."

Akari and Hikari immediately stopped drinking. "What guy?"

"Oh. Dachii's friend, or whoever."

Both girls looked at each other.

"Oh no."

Makoto interrupted them, his mouth to his mic. "Score is in, and ARATA wins!"

"Yes! I'M AWESOME!"

—-