A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

"Eh? It's too slow again this time? Ugh... this is so hard... I was actually listening to the music carefully."

"Ah! Sorry, Wakaba-san, I accidentally stepped on you..."

To the girls present, Chihaya Tetsuya, despite his deficient knowledge of certain matters, had always been a genius with a keen understanding and the ability to apply knowledge to other situations. However, this time, when they saw Chihaya Tetsuya's clumsy dance steps that could never match the rhythm, and his bewildered expression as he never got the point, while feeling quite fresh, they couldn't help but start to worry about the Wakaba family banquet.

"It may be a bit rude to say this, but Tetsuya doesn't seem to be very suitable for dancing."

As someone who studied with him and mastered the basic steps in half an hour, Nagasaki Suyo couldn't help but say:

"We've been practicing for an hour, but Tetsuya can't even combine the basic steps with the rhythm..."

"……Feel sorry."

Under the dual effects of continuous exercise and psychological pressure, a blush of shame appeared on Chihaya Tetsuya's face.

"I tried really hard to listen to the music, but I couldn't immediately connect the dance steps to the music in my head..."

"Well, it's probably because Tetsuya-kun's way of thinking has been completely solidified into that of a designer..."

Shoko Toyokawa, who had been assisting and guiding from the side, also shook her head helplessly.

As Chihaya Tetsuya's designer apprentice and lover, she knows Chihaya Tetsuya's way of thinking very clearly.

"The transformation between images and abstract concepts is completely different from the coordination between music and movement. Don't waste time on meaningless transformations in your mind; just follow your intuition and take your first step!"

Toyokawa Shoko tried to correct Chihaya Tetsuya's misconceptions through language.

"Even if you say so, things that are impossible are impossible..."

However, Chihaya Tetsuya, whose eyes were almost circled, was completely unable to solve this problem easily.

"When I heard the waltz that Wakaba-san just played, the first thing that came to my mind was evening gowns and the art of medieval Europe... It's really hard for me to forget all that and focus on the dance steps."

"That is to say, when you hear the music, something in your mind takes precedence over the dance steps..."

Nagasaki Suyo shook her head helplessly.

"That's a real headache. We can probably get you to memorize things like dance steps, but how can we help you with this kind of mental problem?"

Faced with this sudden problem that they had never thought of before, Shoko Toyokawa and Motoyo Nagasaki could not help but fall into deep thought.

On the other hand, after hearing the reason why Chihaya Tetsu couldn't keep up with the pace, Wakaba Mutsu, as the instructor, immediately thought of a possible solution -

"Xiangzi, Sushi."

She didn't talk to Chihaya Tetsuya directly, but turned to look at the two people who were at a loss.

"I have a method, but...it requires the consent of both of you."

"what?"

"Agreement from both of us?"

Toyokawa Shoko and Nagasaki Motoyo both showed somewhat puzzled expressions.

"I don't know what you're going to do, but since you have a solution, why not give it a try?"

Toyokawa Shoko waved her hand and said.

"After all, we don't have that much time. From now on, no matter what method we use, we must make sure that Tetsuya-kun masters the most basic ballroom dancing within a week!"

"Well, that's what I thought too."

Nagasaki Suyo nodded.

"After [TGC], Zhe Ye will basically have no time to practice, so if possible, it would be best to lay a solid foundation before then."

"Yeah, I understand."

After receiving affirmative responses from the two, Ruoye Mu nodded slightly, then she immediately came in front of Chihaya Tetsuya and whispered to the bewildered man:

"So... Chihaya-san."

"kindness?"

"Next, please put your arms around my waist."

“…Huh?”*3.

The three people present all made sounds of great surprise, and Ruoye Mu, perhaps influenced by the "time pressure" rhetoric of the two people just now, before Chihaya Tetsuya could respond, she directly took the initiative to pull Chihaya Tetsuya's sleeve, and at the same time, she also moved closer to Chihaya Tetsuya's chest——

"Wait, wait, Wakaba-san, before that, could you please explain why you're doing this!?"

Chihaya Tetsuya, whose wrist was held, asked hurriedly.

After hearing this, Ruoye Mu said in a flat tone:

"Because the standard move of ballroom dancing is for the man to hug the woman's waist."

"But when you were teaching me just now, you clearly told me that I only needed to strike a pose and there was no need to actually hug her—"

"But that's assuming Chihaya-san can keep up with the music on his own."

Wakaba Mu shook his head expressionlessly.

"Since Chihaya-san is unable to combine the music and dance steps independently, he can only rely on his partner's guidance to transform his original independent movements into follow-up movements without having to think."

"Even so... Just hugging a girl's waist doesn't seem right no matter how you think about it..."

Thinking that his lover was right beside him, Chihaya Tetsu felt a trickle of cold sweat beginning to seep out of his forehead.

However, Ruoye Mu was quite calm about this and said:

"It doesn't matter. They both just agreed... right, Xiangzi and Sushi?"

"Huh? Ah... this..."

After hearing this, Toyokawa Shoko blinked, then she glanced at the panicked expression on Chihaya Tetsuya's face, then at Wakaba Mutsu's calm expression that made it hard to tell what he meant, and finally threw the topic to Nagasaki Suyo beside her -

"What do you think, Sushi?"

"Hey, me..."

Logically speaking, based on the principle of impartiality, Nagasaki Suyo should not have hesitated about Wakaba Mutsu's proposal, but for some reason, when she saw Wakaba Mutsu's little hand tightly holding Chihaya Tetsuya's sleeve, she always felt that Mu's idea was not as simple as she appeared.

From the banquet to finding a dance partner, to learning ballroom dancing, to the slightly ambiguous posture now, and her somewhat abnormal enthusiasm... although the reasons are very sufficient, they are a bit too sufficient and logical, as if she had planned the whole process from the beginning.

But... couldn't it be? That was Mu, the always silent and pure-hearted woman, could she really be so calculating? And... did she really have some feelings for Zhe that she hadn't revealed to anyone?

……

"Well, anyway, the most important thing right now is to get Tetsuya to learn ballroom dancing as soon as possible. So... for now, let's just do as Mu says."

It just so happened that she also wanted to observe how Mu would react when the distance between them got a little closer.

In this way, this impromptu dance class entered the second stage of advancement.

27

Chapter 27 Coordination training for couple dance steps.

Wakaba Mu's suggestion was very effective, because at this moment, Chihaya Tetsuya was in a state where one hand was tightly held by her and the other hand was on her waist. So as long as Wakaba Mu moved his feet slightly, Chihaya Tetsuya would be immediately pulled along and take the correct steps according to his movements. Although this kind of guided dance steps seemed a little slow and stiff, it was much better than Chihaya Tetsuya's previous appearance of being completely out of rhythm.

However, although the dance steps gradually returned to normal, Chihaya Tetsuya's state became even more chaotic than before -

(This is too close!)

Even though he had done his best to keep his body as far away from Wakaba Mu, in this position, the obvious height difference between the two of them had to keep his arms completely pressed against Wakaba Mu's back if they wanted to keep in step. Furthermore, he was also trying his best to control his breathing, which had become disordered after an hour of continuous exercise, so as not to offend Wakaba Mu, who was only a few centimeters away from him.

It's a pity... Even this silent and invisible endurance couldn't be hidden from the girl who had been patiently observing him for several months.

"Mr. Chihaya, controlling your breath is also a very important part of dancing. Although the movements of ballroom dancing are not very intense, they are still quite long."

Wakaba Mu stopped guiding and gave a reminder.

"If you keep holding your breath like this, you're likely to make a more serious mistake due to lack of oxygen."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chihaya Tetsuya, who was forced to stop as well, started coughing violently after hearing what Wakaba Mu said because he couldn't catch his breath. Wakaba Mu saw this and considerately loosened his arms around Chihaya Tetsuya's body, and came to his back and patted him gently.

"Yeah, just like now."

"Ahem...Hmm, sorry..."

Chihaya Tetsuya wiped the corner of his mouth in embarrassment.

"Because the distance is so close, I can't help but worry about all kinds of problems..."

"Even if that's the case, you shouldn't be so concerned about even breathing, right?"

As Wakaba Mutsu spoke, he looked at the other two people who also saw the scene.

"Xiangzi and Sushi's expressions were also speechless."

"Hey, wait a moment, I'll go get you a glass of water..."

Nagasaki Suyo, who was originally a little worried about the inexplicably ambiguous atmosphere between the two, finally let go of the doubts in her heart after seeing this scene, and sighed deeply.

It was obvious that Ruoye Mu and him were no longer strangers who needed to worry about these issues, but he still acted so cautiously...

Sure enough, even if some people already have a lover and have experience, some things are destined not to change.

"It's not just the aura... your posture is a bit too stiff, isn't it?"

Toyokawa Shoko, who had been concentrating on the two people's dance steps, couldn't help but add:

"Mu has been trying very hard to slow down and shorten his pace, but Tetsuya-kun's steps are still quite hesitant. And... he's clearly taking steps forward, but his body is leaning back. Doesn't Tetsuya-kun find it strange?"

"Because if I move too far forward, there's a good chance we'll end up stuck together, right?"

Chihaya Tetsuya explained:

"After all, my stride is much longer than Wakaba-san's, and in this posture—"

"Don't worry, I don't mind at all."

Ruoye Mu used her signature calm tone to guide:

"The tempo of ballroom dancing is inherently slow, and the range of motion is entirely controlled by the dancer. As long as you're familiar with the specific movements beforehand, the situation Mr. Chihaya is worried about won't happen."

Having said that, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Chihaya Tetsuya with her straight eyes that seemed to leave no room for doubt.

"So... precisely to avoid any mismatches between us on the day of the banquet, we must proactively adapt to each other's bodies and movements during practice."

"Although I do understand what you mean, this statement is too strange!"

Chihaya Tetsuya couldn't help but complain:

"Anyway, from now on, all you have to do is stop controlling your breathing, stop intentionally pulling your body back, and try to get as familiar with Wakaba-san's stride as possible, right?"

"So, how many restrictions did you just put on yourself..."

Nagasaki Suyo handed the cup of water to Chihaya Tetsuya.

"It's obvious that this kind of restrictive training won't work... Come on, drink some water before continuing."

"Ugh……"

After being lectured by the three parties, Chihaya Tetsu had no choice but to take the cup of water with a helpless look on his face, and drank it all in one gulp with an indescribable feeling.

It's obvious that he made such efforts entirely out of respect and love for Wakaba Mu, he really doesn't understand other people's good intentions... But, well, to be honest, he was indeed a little overprotective of Wakaba Mu.

Thinking of this, Chihaya Tetsuya subconsciously looked at the girl standing right in front of him.

Ever since he learned about the story of Wakaba Mutsu and his mother Mori Minami, Chihaya Tetsuya always thought of her as someone who "needs protection".

On the one hand, it was because of her overly obedient personality, and on the other hand, it was because of her unpredictable expressions and tone. When Chihaya Tetsuya was with Wakaba, he would always think twice before making any effort to consider whether his words or actions would offend this girl whose inner thoughts were hard to tell...

But now it seems that her ability to accept and adapt seems to be much stronger than she imagined.

In this case……

"Okay, let's continue."

After returning the empty cup to Nagasaki Suyo, Chihaya Tetsuya came to Wakaba Mutsu again.

This time, he decided to lift all restrictions as the three of them had just said, and put his arms around her waist as Ruoye Mu had said.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

After feeling the extremely obvious heat and power coming from behind him, Ruo Yemu's mouth corners rose slightly.

"This way, I can better confirm the situation on my side."

……