Kazuha tried to ignore the hundreds of eyes on her as she moved, darting through the air like a swan.
It was her dance company's opening performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City, and she and her group would be staying there for a few weeks as part of their global tour. Kazuha had practiced extensively for this particular moment, and as she flew and spun, she focused single-mindedly on the task at hand.
Keep her legs straight and her toes pointed. Keep her arms aloft.
Every little piece of advice felt like a string tugging her upwards, keeping her spinning through the air like a bird.
Finally, her performance ended, and she took a swooping bow as roses soared onstage. She flashed the standing, roaring audience with a carefully practiced, sweet smile, and danced offstage with almost ethereal lightness.
However, once she was backstage, she stumbled down the hallway through the tech crew and their booths, ducking into a spacious side room full of dancers and workers at the hall. Exhausted, she took a heavy seat on a chair and began the careful task of untying the laces of her dance shoes.
Kazuha's performance had been a special feature- therefore, she wouldn't be going back onstage to bow, since she had already had her moment. She was easily the most popular dancer in her troupe, and for good reason. The name Nakamura Kazuha had become synonymous with hard work and perseverance; she did not stop, and worked herself sick some days. But she came to dance anyway.
Kazuha lived and breathed dancing. On her days off, she practiced. She rarely went out, except with one person, her best friend, who was-
"Zuha!"
-Kim Chaewon.
The only Korean dancer on the otherwise all-Japanese dance troupe, Chaewon had originally been bullied because of her poor grasp of the language. However, once Kazuha caught her troupe members bullying the black-haired girl, she'd taken it upon herself to train her in Japanese, and Chaewon had quickly caught on, and was fairly fluent in just a few months. Additionally, with Kazuha's presence associated with Chaewon's name, the other girls backed off instantly and Chaewon was scot-free.
"Chae," Kazuha sighed, and the other girl immediately bent down to help her untie her laces. Chaewon was still in full stage makeup, and she looked quite pretty- dark brown eyes, short black hair, glowing skin, and a cute face that made her look younger than her actual age, 23 (which was pretty young to begin with). She wore a black leotard and black tutu that faded to white at the edges, and her black hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck (because she didn't have enough hair to do it higher).
"Your performance was amazing," Chaewon complimented, her Korean accent just barely emerging over her Japanese. "The dancers and I saw it on the TV in the room. You were so elegant!"
"Arigatou," Kazuha laughed, flexing her foot once it was free from her slippers, and tapping her sore toes. Chaewon pulled herself into a lotus position on the chair next to Kazuha, a wide smile painting her beautiful face. "I concentrated very hard."
"I'm glad," Chae answered, nudging the other girl. "I think there were some agents or something in the audience."
"Really?!" Kazuha's face crumpled, her oversensitive mind suddenly hyperfocusing on every error she thought she'd made.
"Hey, I know that face," the Korean girl grumped, shaking her head at Kazuha. "No, no, no, Zuha-chan. You did so well. Don't do that to yourself. Any agency would be so, so lucky to have you!"
Kazuha tried to force a smile, but she was so certain she'd made a glaring mistake at the end that would absolutely ruin her chances.
"You know what?" Chaewon mused. "The ballet master is taking us out later for a small party at some club in Manhattan. New Yorkers know how to party, apparently, so she rented out a club where we can celebrate our opening night."
Kazuha's head began to shake before she even knew what she was doing. "No, no, we've got another performance and-"
"It's in two days, and today's was flawless. Come on, Zuha. You can't miss it! You're part of the reason we got all the money we did."
Kazuha bit her perfectly painted lip, then instantly regretted it. The mural of emotions on her face caused Chaewon to giggle.
"See, Zuha? It'll be fun!"
YOU ARE READING
sun and star | petalz
Fanfiction⇍ { ENTERTAINMENT AU } ⇎ { COMPLETED. } ⇏ nakamura kazuha is a ballet dancer. she knows this for a fact. she is a dancer, and a good one, too; she's won several awards for her dancing, and is known for keeping perfectly in shape. but her world does...
