Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

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"I don't know."

"Why would you come to learn if you haven't even looked into it?"

"It's precisely because we didn't understand it that we came to learn it."

Uesugi Kai's words seemed to have stumped Murata. He paused for a moment, then explained, "Yorai has six main elements: music, dance steps, yukata, naruko... Explaining each one would be too troublesome. In short, it's a very energetic dance."

It seems you don't understand the theoretical knowledge either.

I'd heard of the Yoru-ko dance in my hometown of Ehime Prefecture.

It is a traditional dance celebrated at a festival.

However, due to its development in recent years, this dance has been incorporated into many other Western musical styles, such as jazz and disco.

The style and dance are varied; some are serious, some are otaku-oriented, and there's also that kind of night dance that only energetic girls can perform.

"Ahem, anyway, let's start by learning to keep the beat, which is the most basic thing in dance."

“Okay.” Uesugi Kai watched him walk up to her, his back to her.

"one two three."

Murata raised Naruko's hands high and, after two quick steps, slid to the other side, during which Naruko made a crisp sound in his hands.

Kai Uesugi suddenly found this thing rather interesting.

The short section that Murata demonstrated in front of me was quite smooth.

The hands, moving from right to left, step and swing to the other side in two steps according to a specific rhythm, without any sense of sluggishness, but rather a continuous and smooth motion.

"Hmm? Follow me and learn." Murata lowered his hands, straightened his body, and said.

"I don't have your Naruko."

"Ah, sorry, sorry, I forgot," Murata quickly went to the drawer at the back of the classroom and took out a pair of naruko for him. "Come on, learn with me first. It's only a short section, not too difficult."

"Row."

Holding two naruko (drumsticks) made of vermilion, yellow, and black, Uesugi Kai began to raise his arms, pinch the naruko, and place them above his forehead, following the movements Murata had taught him.

"one two three."

He was in front, his legs moving smoothly from side to side for two steps, and his hands gliding smoothly to the other side.

Kai Uesugi hadn't figured out what was going on yet.

Murata turned around and asked, "Should I do it a few more times?"

"be sure."

......

"The charm of night dance lies in its fusion! So there's no need to worry about any constraints; it's perfectly normal for a piece of music to feature multiple styles."

Following the previous movement, Murata moved his hands from left to right, then from right to left, until his arms were level with his hands, and he squatted down while shaking Naruko, who was making a clear sound in her hands.

Kai Uesugi watched silently with unwavering eyes, and then meticulously practiced each movement as Murata demonstrated, seamlessly connecting them together.

Murata couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Uesugi-san, you're amazing!"

"It's alright." Uesugi Kai lowered his hands.

"Haha, but we haven't even finished learning the first part yet, so don't be too confident. We still have at least a few weeks to learn. We need to solidify the basics first, then practice with the girls, rehearse with the Waseda students, and finally, of course, participate in the year-end festival performance."

Murata smiled.

"Alright, I won't waste any more time. Next is a bending over, then withdrawing your hand and turning around. The most crucial step is to turn your head and show a smile."

"Let's continue."

Perhaps it was the blessing of Hanamaru Hanabi's promise to give her a belated birthday celebration, but Uesugi Kai studied especially diligently that afternoon.

Murata, as the vice president of the dance club, didn't hold back at all and taught everything he could.

Unfortunately, there was no music, so the two of them could only chant "one, two, three" to keep time for the dance.

By evening, Uesugi Kai felt he had sweated quite a bit.

A series of steps, waves, and handshakes.

It looks easy, but when you actually start moving, your physical strength is depleted quite quickly.

As the sun sets on a clear day, the winter days are always much shorter than those in summer.

"Alright, that's enough for today. We've completed a small part of the basic training." Murata said with a smile, his forehead covered in sweat. "The whole dance is more than ten minutes long. We'll have to jump across a whole street, which will be even more tiring."

"That's it?" Uesugi Kai lowered his hands from their raised positions.

"If you want to stay here, that's fine too. I'll give you the key, and you can practice on your own."

"Then give it to me."

"Huh? I thought you were just joking."

Kai Uesugi said, "Since I have nothing to do at home anyway, I might as well practice more here."

Murata gave him a "you're awesome" look, then pulled a key from his pocket and tossed it to him. "Here, keep up the good work. I'm going out for some barbecue."

"you alone?"

"Otherwise what?" Murata smiled and spread his hands. "I already said I don't have a girlfriend. Okay, that's all for now. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Murata left the dance studio, while Uesugi Kai looked towards the girls at the other end of the classroom.

Hanabi Hanabi, Ayaka Rie, Rika Kyuu, and several other girls were still practicing the movements, continuing even though they were so tired that their hair was covered in sweat.

...They really work very hard.

Since those girls are working so hard, what reason do I have to be lazy?

Kai Uesugi supported himself on his knees and stood up again, beginning to practice the first movement he had learned that afternoon in front of the mirror.

###Chapter 510 Striving Towards Hanabi###

Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

Dance studio at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Even at 9 p.m., the indoor incandescent lights were still on.

"Hanabi, look, Uesugi is still practicing over there."

Hanabi Hanamaru tilted her head slightly and looked into the corner of the dance studio.

Over there, Uesugi Kai was alone, shaking the naruko in her hand, repeating the same rhythm over and over again.

"He jumped pretty well." Ayaka Rie looked over and said with a smile, "At least his waving movements didn't feel awkward, they were quite smooth."

Hanabi Hanamaru stared silently at his retreating figure for a long while before slowly saying:

"Kai-kun, you must have worked really hard today..."

Rie Ayaka nodded: "He's really working hard. He came here around 1 p.m., and it's been almost eight hours now. We took a break in between, but he hasn't taken a single break."

"Hey, Hanabi-chan, did you and your partner have a fight?" A girl who was practicing dance with her came over and asked. Their hair was covered in sweat, and they had taken off their thick clothes and were only wearing a sports shirt.

Hanabi Hanabi is quite a celebrity at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to her knows that she got married.

After all, not many girls would choose to get married right after turning 18.

Hanabi Hanabi nodded: "I guess so..."

Do you guys argue too?

"They said they had an argument, but they didn't really argue." Rika Kuju followed the girls' gaze and looked at Kai Uesugi.

"Huh? If it wasn't an argument, then what was it? It seems like Hanabi-chan and your partner haven't been seen together these past few days."

“The Cold War,” Kyushu Rika said with a smile as she turned around, “is like a young couple sulking over not buying one more cup of milk tea.”

The girls seemed quite curious about this, laughing as they kept asking Hanamaru Hanabi questions.

What did he do to make you angry?

"It's...nothing..."

"Hanabi-chan, tell us about it." A girl grabbed her hand.

Hanabi Hanamaru seemed embarrassed by everyone's enthusiasm and subconsciously lowered her voice: "It's just... it's just that Kai-kun didn't go home last night."

All the girls gathered in a group shouted "Eh—" in unison.

Did he leave you home alone?

"That's so unfair."

"After getting married, you can't possibly stay out all night, right?"

"Sure enough, men change after they get married. No matter how much he used to say he loved you, it was all a lie."

Kitagawa Sakakisa, never one to miss a good spectacle, crossed her arms and smiled at the group of gossipy girls, saying:

"And it wasn't just once! Uesugi didn't come home for a whole week."

......

"poor."

"Scumbag."

"unreliable."

The girls were initially surprised and covered their mouths, then one after another, they uttered a string of insults against the scumbag.