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Faces in the Mirror, The

Because of a few words from 'Corn', Kyoko lived her life just a bit differently. Things still fall apart in Tokyo with Sho, and when they do, Kyoko realizes she's not much more than an empty shell.

Now, she's determined to find the real girl hidden behind the faces in the mirror.

Chapter One

A Step in the Right Direction

Fingering the ends of her recently trimmed hair, Kyoko allowed herself a small smile as she caught sight of her reflection in the window of a store as she walked down the street. It had been a long time since she'd had her hair professionally cut, and it made a huge difference in her appearance to have her long black hair neatly cut and pulled back into a half ponytail with a few bangs to frame her face making her honey colored eyes stand out. Now, if she could only learn how to apply a light amount of makeup and finish updating her wardrobe, her new look would be complete.

Upon reaching her destination, Kyoko adjusted the bag she'd been carrying over her shoulder and walked through the door of the Creative Arts Dance Studio. In the two months since she'd been to The Cat's Meow, she had since quit her least favorite of her three part time jobs and after a bit of searching, had taken up dance classes to try and add a bit of fun to her life. The first few lessons had been intimidating, but while the work was hard and something she wasn't used to, Kyoko still loved the feeling of finally getting the moves down and moving to the rhythm of the music.

"Hi there Kyoko-chan!" the receptionist called out warmly. Smiling back, Kyoko gave a shallow bow making the woman chuckle before she walked off down the hall that lead to the studio she was in. Being part of the general dance class, Kyoko was exposed to a different type of dance approximately every two weeks. The point being, to allow the participants of the class to discover what types of dance they preferred so they could move onto taking dances classes for that specific type. So far, the class had covered hip-hop, ballet, and jazz.

Stopping by the locker room next to the studio, Kyoko changed into a pair a light blue short shorts and a printed t-shirt that read "I'll try being nicer when you try being smarter". Undoing her half ponytail, Kyoko ran her fingers through her hair a few times before pulling it all up into a high ponytail with a few stray bangs falling forward to frame her face. Satisfied, she made her way over to the studio where she found an empty place on the floor to start stretching.

Several minutes later, the instructor walked in took a quick head count and disappeared again before anyone could ask what was going on.

"Do you think it has to do with the new dance type we're supposed to start learning today?" one of the girls asked out loud. Ignoring the conversational debate that broke out, Kyoko focused on keeping her breathing even as she continued stretching. After her first few lessons, the instructor had asked her to stay behind for a few minutes so they could talk. At first, Kyoko had been worried she might have done something wrong, but that hadn't been the case at all. Instead, the instructor had been interested in where she'd gotten such perfect posture. It had taken quite a bit of willpower for Kyoko to avoid making a scary face, but she'd managed to satisfy the instructor with a rather vague answer. After that, the instructor had informed her that while such good posture would help make her movements look better, she needed to work on her flexibility and had handed Kyoko a long list of stretches to work on daily.

Being the determined person she was, Kyoko had practiced the stretches on an almost religious basis, never missing a day, and even doing the stretches two or three times a day if she could make room for it in her schedule. As such, her flexibility had greatly increased at a rate that had amazed her instructor and classmates till she had reached the point that she could do the splits and lift her leg up next to her head without trouble. After all that hard work, Kyoko was loathe to lose the flexibility she'd worked so hard to gain, so she had continued her religious stretching, enjoying the benefits of a more and more supple body.

Looking up as the instructor returned, Kyoko's eyes widened in surprise as she watched a trail of guys follow in behind her. The class was meant for girls, so the sight of so many guys set a whole new flurry of whispers around the room. Clapping her hands together loudly, the instructor called for all the girls to line up according to height from tallest to shortest. Finding herself between two girls close to the middle of the line, Kyoko furrowed her brow as the guys proceeded to line up opposite the girls also according to her height. The only reason she could fathom for this was if the new type of dance involved a partner; which would probably mean the guy standing across from her was going to be her partner for the next two weeks.

Realizing this, Kyoko subtly studied the guy across from her. He was a few inches taller than her with light brown hair and brown eyes. A rather average looking person if she had to be honest. If it weren't for the fact that she could tell he was well muscled in a way that only a dancer could be, she'd have taken him for any old guy off the street. Gathering the groups' attention with a sharp whistle, the instructor smiled as she began to explain the direction the class would be taking for the next several weeks.

"Alright girls and guys, for the next few weeks we will be studying dances that involve partners. All of the guys in this room are from a more advanced dance class, so they will be able to help you girls through learning the moves instead of struggling alongside you. Now, while I go get the appropriate music, take a few minutes to get to know the person standing across from you since you'll be working with them for some time."

Before the instructor had even disappeared from sight, most of the girls had flocked to their partners, and Kyoko could tell that several of them would be spending the next few weeks attempting to flirt more than learn how to dance. Turning her attention to her partner who'd had to walk over to her; Kyoko gave him a light smile and dipped her head in a shallow bow.

"I'm Mogami Kyoko, it's nice to meet you."

"Ah, I'm Nakano Koji," the boy replied, seeming puzzled at Kyoko's polite manners that seemed out of place in the room full of flirting girls. Noticing this, Kyoko smirked.

"I'm afraid I won't be accosting you with poor attempts at flirtation like my classmates are attempting with their partners Nakano-san. I hope you aren't too disappointed." Laughing, Koji shook his head.

"Nah, I'm relieved actually. I wasn't really looking forward to combining with this class since I figured it would be a big waste of time spent with an annoying girl. I'm glad I got a partner who's serious about learning to dance."

"The feeling is mutual Nakano-san," Kyoko replied, feeling her insides churn at the disgusting behavior of the other girls.

"Please, call me -kun not -san," Koji admonished. "We've got to be close to the same age, and –san seems a bit too formal for someone who's going to be my dancing partner." Kyoko nodded as the instructor came back and placed a CD into the stereo that sat at the front of the studio. She blinked in surprise as what she could recognize as swing music from America came out from the speakers and drowned out any lingering conversations going on.

"For those of you who haven't guessed it already, we're going to start learning how to swing dance today," the instructor called out, waving for a guy who had been standing by the door to join her. "Oshiro-san here will be my partner for demonstrating the moves to you. Now, spread out around the studio and make sure you have plenty of room to move." Once the instructor was satisfied with the spacing, she turned to her partner.

"Alright now, everyone pay attention to what we do…"

*%%*

By the time the lesson ended, Kyoko was more tired than she'd been in a long time, and rather dizzy to boot.

"Sorry Mogami-kun!" Koji apologized yet again. Kyoko's flair for dancing had taken him by surprise and he'd forgotten that she wasn't used to swing dancing yet even though she was picking up on it so quickly, so he might have accidentally spun her around more than necessary making her a bit too dizzy.

"It's fine Nakano-kun," Kyoko repeated, holding up a hand to try and forestall further apologizing. "It's not like I'm hurt, and it was actually pretty fun." Seeing him nod in understanding, Kyoko left Koji behind in the studio as she returned to the locker room to shower and change back into a set of normal clothes. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Kyoko groaned as she realized the time. She had half an hour to make it to the Daruyama for the evening shift that she worked there.

"Good work today Kyoko-chan!" the instructor called after her as she left. Taking a quick moment, Kyoko spun on her heels and gave a quick bow before slipping out the door and taking off down the street.

Arriving at the Daruyama half an hour later, Kyoko was greeted by the Boss' wife at the door who handed her her work uniform. "How was dance class today, Kyoko-chan?" she asked curiously, the light in Kyoko's eyes already making it obvious that things had gone well.

"It was great. We're learning about American swing now, and it's a lot of fun. I'll have to tell you about it later, but I should get to work now." Styling her hair into a quick messy bun, Kyoko double checked her appearance in the mirror before heading out to start work on the floor on the restaurant. The Okami smiled as she watched the girl get to work. She'd always been a hard worker ever since her husband had hired her, but recently the girl seemed to be happier about life and it made the customers love her even more. Still, sometimes when the girl didn't think anyone was looking, an empty look would come to her eyes as the smile faded away. The Okami wasn't sure what it was, but something was missing in the girl's life even if she did a good job pretending she was fine.

*%%*

Standing across from Nakano-kun, Kyoko watched the movements of the instructors with a sharp eye, noting every possible muscle movement. More than a month had passed since they'd started working with their partners, and the class had moved from American swing to the salsa and then the waltz. Now, they were spending their last week quickly covering the basics of the tango. Honestly, while the partner dances were fun and different, Kyoko missed the dance styles she was originally introduced to that didn't require her to have a partner.

Nojiko Tachibana, the instructor, had asked the girls to start seriously thinking about whether they wanted to continue dancing, and if so, in what areas. Kyoko didn't have to think about it too hard. She'd already checked her finances to make sure she'd be able to pay for the classes without trouble, and would be moving on to a jazz class at the end of the week when the general class came to an end.

Allowing Nakano-kun to lead her through the steps they'd just been shown, Kyoko couldn't help but give a silent sigh of relief that the general class was coming to an end. The efforts of the other girls to continuously woo their partners had gotten on her nerves from the very beginning, and while she didn't think she was an amazing dancer, she tended to be one of the first –if not the first- to get the new dance moves down while the others wasted a lot of time being silly.

After a few minutes more, the instructor glanced at the clock and called for an end to the class, admonishing that everyone practice their parts so they'd be able to move on the next day. Bidding Nakano-kun goodbye, Kyoko waited for the studio to be nearly empty to approach Tachibana-san.

"Excuse me," Kyoko intoned politely, "but I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute."

"Of course, Kyoko-chan," Tachibana-san replied with a smile. She'd taken a strong liking to Kyoko with her hard work ethic, and while she didn't have much of a say, she hoped the girl would pursue a field of dance that would allow her to continue teaching the girl. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I've decided which dance class I'd like to move into, so I was wondering if you could help me sign up for it." Blinking in surprise, Nojiko nodded. Usually it took the girls until the last minute to decide which area of dance they wanted to pursue. Reigning in her surprise, Nojiko felt a stir of curiosity.

"Is that so? Which one did you chose then?"

"Jazz." The blunt answer struck Nojiko as a bit strange, but as the word sunk in, she couldn't help but smile. What were the chances of the girl picking the one non-partner dance that she taught on a higher level?

"I'm glad to hear that Kyoko-chan. It looks like I'll be able to continue teaching you then."

"Ah, really?" Kyoko said, a glimmer of excitedness coloring her voice. She really like Tachibana-san and had hoped -in what she had believed was beyond reason- that the woman would be able to continue being her dance instructor. "I'm glad to hear that. In that case, please continue to take good care of me," she intoned, bending in a polite bow.

"Of course, and don't worry about the paperwork, I'll get it all taken care of." Beaming, Kyoko left the studio a bit later with a skip in her step. Life was finally beginning to take a turn for the better.

*%*

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