Dance Class (BaeMei)

After what felt like hours, Mumei finally made it back home. She painstakingly inserted her keys and went inside. She took the leash off of her pet and dragged her feet to her bed. She let gravity do its job and she planted her face right into her pillow.

“I… can’t feel my body…” She muttered.

Right as she said that; she felt something getting close to her bed.

“Animal, I’m begging you.” She pleaded.

She jumped on top of the bed and moved to her side.

“Animal. Please.”

She started licking her face.

“AnimaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!”

She tried covering herself to no avail. She got up to wash her face after Animal was done torturing her.

She fell to her bed again.

“I’d like some sleep, please.”

And then her phone rang.

“…Thank you.”

She looked to her side. It was a call from Bae.

“I bet she’s taking a bath…” She told herself.

She first tried to pick up the call by slapping her phone around. After failing a few times, she simply grabbed it and turned on the speaker.

“Helloooo?” She called out.

She could hear some water splashing.

“Muuuuuuuuuuuuumeeeiiiiii!” The rat replied.

There was also some echo in Bae’s voice.

Knew it. She thought.

“Hey, Baeeee.”

“Whatcha doin’?” Bae asked.

“Nothing much…” Mumei said with a yawn “…just dying.”

“Wait, what?” It almost sounded like Bae stood up. “What happened?”

Mumei rolled over, pushing her pet away.

“Animal.”

She heard how Bae laid back down.

“…Oh.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” Mumei said.

“Okay, well… when you say dying I can’t not get worried.” Bae almost sounded like she was pouting.

Mumei kicked her bed lightly.

“Well… Don’t.”

“Okaaaay, okay.” Bae said, trying to contain her giggles.

After hearing the splashing, Mumei stared at her ceiling, trying not to think about how her friend looks like right now.

“So what’s up, Bae?” Mumei asked.

“Nothin’ much.” Mumei could hear Bae playing with something. It might have been that rubber ducky she showed her the other day. “…Just wanted to hear your voice~.”

“Oh, gee.” Mumei giggled, “How flattering.”

Mumei tried to brush off the compliment while they kept talking some more.

“Are you using that new bath bomb you bought?” Mumei asked.

“Yep.” Bae splashed around a little, “Smells preeeeetty nice~.”

“That’s good.” Mumei stared at the ceiling and considered taking a bath after the call.

Wait She slowly turned to the direction of her bathroom. I don’t have bath bombs…

“Oh, actually…” Bae stopped splashing. “There’s something I wanted to ask.”

“Do tell!” The owl smiled. “I’m all ears!”

“Wanna go to dance class with me?”

The smile Mumei had disappeared instantly. She stared at her phone and blinked a few times.

Did she just?

“You mean like… Actual dancing? I have to dance???” She frantically asked.

“Yeah? Duh?” Bae told her.

Mumei made noises and rolled around on her bed.

“Will people be theeeeeere?” She asked, covering her face with her pillow.

“Well, yeah, it’s a class.” Bae laughed.

More noises.

“Can’t you bring your friends instead?” Mumei tried to avoid the invitation.

“I’ve brought Friendtaro along a few times.” She replied. “It was really fun!”

Mumei sighed.

“…When.”

“TomORROw!”

Bae managed to make Mumei burst out laughing thanks to using the same tone as Ina.

“Ahem, I didn’t laugh.” She tried to recover. “I, uh… have a schedule…”

“Oh yeaaaah, your scheeeduuuuule,” Bae teased her, “you’re doing absolutely nothing tomorrow, Mumei.”

“And nothing takes the entire day!” Mumei made a small smile, trying to hold back her laughter, “I’m so sorry, Bae!”

“Oh really? I’m soooo, so sorry, Mumei.” Bae got close to her phone. “Something came up literally just now and I won’t be able to play Overwatch with you next week.”

“Why…” Mumei glared at her phone. “…Why would you say that.”

“Mumei, it’s just one class!” Bae continued.

The owl planted her face on her pillow.

“Bae.” She sounded muffled.

“Mumei.”

“I…” She paused. “I’m gonna embarrass myself.”

“Izz fiiine!” Mumei could almost feel how Bae was waving her off. “You think I was an expert when I started out?”

“YES?” Mumei replied, “YOU’RE AMAZING!”

“Oh mah gawd…” Bae sounded a little muffled, like she had covered her mouth. “Okay, whatever, but you’ll be alright!”

“No I won’t!” Mumei kept denying it. “I’m gonna do something wrong and I’m gonna make a FOOL out of myself!”

“Mumei…” Bae sighed. “There are people that don’t dance, too!”

“I don’t care about the other people!” The owl blinked a few times, trying to think. “Okay, maybe I do care about the people… a little.”

“Uh-huh.”

Mumei could tell Bae was smirking.

“Bae…” She sighed. “You just want to see me get embrarraaaaassed…”

“Nuh-uh…”

Annoyed, Mumei got up.

“Give me one good reason why.” She said.

“Pffft… Why what?”

Mumei gave an exasperated sigh, trying to deal with the laughter Bae was failing to hide.

“One good reason why I, Nanashi Mumei, should go.”

“Well, Nanashi Mumei.” Bae played along. “I remember a certain someone saying she would love to go out with her friend, Hakos Baelz, more.”

The owl fell to her bed again, rolling around a few times.

“That someone may or may not have meant MAYBE going out to watch a MOVIE or going to the CAFÉ”

“Ohhhhh maaahhh gawwwwd.”

“Don’t you ohhhh maaaahhh gaawwwwd me.” Mumei pouted. “I’m gonna screw up for sure.”

Bae started giggling.

“Don’t laugh!” Mumei yelled at her.

“Hey!” Bae retaliated, “You laugh more than me!”

“No I don’t, I never laugh.” Bae kept giggling, making Mumei frown. “Don’t chortle at my predicament!”

“Mumeeeiii, don’t worry!” Bae tried to reassure her again. “You’ll do fiiiine!”

Bae realized that fell on deaf ears after hearing more unintelligible noises.

“WAIT! WAIT!” Mumei jumped out of bed. “I HAVE TO TAKE ANIMAL TO SCHOOL!” She almost sounded relieved. “Sorry Bae, I’m bus—”

“It’s actually a few streets away from Animal’s school.” Bae interrupted her.

The energy Mumei had disappeared, and she fell to her bed again.

“…What.”

“I literally met up with you one day!” The owl could hear some splashing sounds. “And you made fun of me for being all sweaty!”

“…I choose to ignore that.” Now Mumei was the one waving Bae off. “I’m just gonna sit in the corner and watch you.”

“What? No!” Mumei could her Bae moving. “That’s embarrassing!”

“And you think me dancing isn’t?!”

They bickered for around an hour until Bae managed to convince her.

“Okay, you’re allowed to watch, but—!” Bae slammed her hand on the tray where she placed her phone. “—I can drag you to dance with me one time!"

“Will the teacher even let you do that?”

“Yeah, she’s really nice…” Mumei heard something different in Bae’s voice, like half of her face was in the water. “The class blub blub already kno—blub you anyblubways…”

“…What?” Mumei barely understood.

“Nothin’.”

Mumei closed her eyes, imagining what she would have to do.

“…Alright.” The owl sighed.

Water splashed again.

“REALLY?!” Bae screamed.

“I CAN’T JUST SAY NO AT THIS POINT!” Mumei yelled back.

“Okay!” Bae sounded very happy. “I’ll meet you at the park and then we’ll go drop Animal off!”

“Yeah… sure…” Mumei slightly smiled after hearing the rat’s excitement. “I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t stay too long in the bathtub!”

“And whose fault is it that I’ve been here so long?” Bae asked her.

“I’M SORRY!”

“I’m kidding! Bye Mumeeeeiiiiii!”

Mumei hung up.

“Ughhh…” It almost sounded like she was in pain.

She rolled off of her bed and struggled to stand up.

“Gotta eat.” She said.

The owl heated up leftovers from earlier that day and slowly ate them. She fed Animal too, denying her pet’s attempts to make her go out to walk again. She tried her best to ignore the plans for tomorrow, but they ended up clouding her mind.

“Wait,” She realized something. “My clothes.”

She finished up her chores and headed to her bedroom to choose her outfit. She stared at her selection of clothes, or the lack thereof.

“…I keep forgetting my wardrobe is empty.” She said while staring at her shirts. “Okay, so…”

She grabbed a shirt. “I’ve seen people wearing shirts, that’s normal.” Then her pants. “These are a thing.” Then a hoodie, “It might get chilly.” And finally, her shoes. “These things too… and I don’t want to go anymore.”

She covered her face and groaned.

“It’s for Bae, it’s for Bae…” She convinced herself to go through with it. “I can do this.”

The pep talk unfortunately didn’t help with Mumei’s anxiety. She barely got to sleep, constantly rolling around in bed thinking about all the possible ways things could go wrong.

“What if I get lost?” She shook her head. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense… what if it rains…?” She rolled over. “No, don’t say that.”

Mumei tried her best to shake off all the bad thoughts.

“It’s been a while since we’ve met up…” She closed her eyes. “…I’ll do it.”

---

The next day, the owl tried to act normally, taking some time to draw after taking Animal out on a walk in the morning. She struggled to get anything done, waiting for the time to leave. The lack of sleep and anxiety made her get grumpier and grumpier each passing hour.

After packing her knapsack with more than enough supplies to last her a week “just in case”, she left with Animal. People steered clear from her. Not because of her pet, but because of the scowl she had on her face. Mumei didn’t even realize it because she kept repeating a phrase in her head:

It’s for Bae, it’s for Bae, it’s for Bae.

It had almost turned into a mantra at that point.

They reached the park and Mumei looked around. She couldn’t seem to find her rat.

“I did get here pretty early.”

She also finally noticed the people around her getting frightened.

“Wait…” Mumei looked at herself. “Is something wrong with my clothes?”

“Oh, no.” She grabbed her hoodie. “I swear if there’s a stai—"

“MUUUUUUUUMEEEEIIIIIIII!!!”

The owl looked up to find her rat calling out to her. The scowl she had immediately disappeared and was replaced by a warm smile. They walked towards each other and Mumei wrapped her arms around her.

“Baaaaaaaaaaaeeeee you look sooooooooo cuuuuuuute!”

The bashful rat gave her a small smile.

“It’s not much though.”

She was wearing a long-sleeved crop top, leggings, her snapback and sneakers. She had a sling bag as well, it didn’t look nearly as packed as Mumei’s bag.

“I still like it.” Mumei told her with a bright smile, squeezing her a bit harder. “How’d you know I’d be here so early?”

Bae hugged her back, “I just know you that well.”

“Stop knowing me,” Mumei giggled.

The hug was starting to last a little longer than what Bae expected, she turned to look at the owl.

“Wazzup, Mumei?”

The owl leaned forward a little more. “Nothiiiiing…” She rested her head on the rat’s shoulder.

“Do you still smell the bath bomb?” Bae asked.

Now that Bae mentioned it, Mumei couldn’t help herself.

“It’s pretty nice…”

“Wow!” Bae laughed. “I can’t believe Nanashi Mumei sniffs her friends!”

Mumei’s smile turned cold. She grabbed Bae’s shoulders and moved her away.

“You asked!”

“I never told ya to do it!” Bae told her.

Mumei could almost feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

“You literally asked!!!”

Bae kept teasing her while they walked to Animal’s school. Bae watched while Animal yanked her chain around, trying to sniff everything. Now that Mumei’s scowl was gone, people only avoided them when Animal started barking.

“Oh,” Bae turned to look at her. “What were you doing before you hugged me?”

Mumei stared at Bae.

“…Walking towards you.” She replied.

Bae tilted her head while she glared at her.

“…Before that.” She said.

“Oh!” Hehe!” Mumei turned forward, reeling Animal back before she launched herself to a passerby. “Um… checking my outfit…”

“Are you really that worried?” Bae poked her, “You look great.”

Mumei checked Bae’s clothes once again.

“Not as good as you…” she said.

“Oh shut up.” Bae slightly shoved her with her hips. “This is just a normal outfit.”

Mumei looked at herself dejectedly.

“Oh… no…”

Bae realized what she just said. “I didn’t mean it like that!” She held Mumei’s hand. “I swear you’re fine.”

“If you say so…” Mumei replied.

The rat managed to sound convincing enough to make Mumei smile again. After getting past the park, they still were some streets away from Animal’s school. They kept talking while Animal lead the way.

“Wait, now that I look at you again…” Bae slightly pulled Mumei’s hoodie up, revealing her shirt. “Didn’t you wear this on the last meeting?”

Bae quickly slapped her hand away and fixed her outfit.

“Bae,” She blushed. “I don’t have clothes.”

“Hmmm…” Bae put her hand on her chin. “Hehehe…”

“Don’t laugh.” The owl told her, slightly pouting.

“Guess we’re goin’ shoppin’ on our next date!” Bae told her with a wink.

Mumei’s face lightened up. “Ooooh! That’d be great!”

“I’m gonna get you sooooo many outfits you won’t even know what to wear!” Bae giggled. “You better bring your necklace, too!” She pointed at her. “Don’t think I didn’t notice!”

Mumei looked down. She clutched her chest where Bae’s gift should have been.

“If I fall… and it breaks, I—”

“I’m jooookiiin’” Bae leaned in, putting some of her weight on the owl. “I’m happy you care about it so much.”

“I promise I’ll wear it when we go out again.” Mumei reassured her.

“You better!” Bae smiled at her.

While walking some more, Mumei’s brain finally processed what happened. Her eyes widened.

…Date? We’re going on a date? She thought.

Her neck almost cracked when she snapped to look at Bae. Nothing seemed different about her; she still had the same warm smile with no blush to be found.

I’m taking this too seriously, aren’t I.

Mumei slightly pouted. She shook her head and kept walking, ignoring how her rat had been calling out to her.

“—meeiiii… Muuuumeeeeeiiiiiii…" She kept saying.

“Huh?”

Bae was pulling on her sleeve.

“We gotta turn here.” She told her.

Mumei looked around, they were right on the corner of a street.

“…Oh!” She exclaimed.

Bae leaned in to get a closer look at Mumei. “You good?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah!” The owl replied. “I was just… thinking things.”

“…Suuuuuure.” Bae didn’t seem satisfied with her answer. “Do you need help? Let me walk Animal for a bit.”

Mumei stared at her. “If you want…”

She slowly handed Bae Animal’s leash. The pet in question noticed and glanced behind her.

“Why are you so reluctant?” Bae started to get worried.

“You’ll see.” She told her, letting go of the leash.

“…I’m sca—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Animal didn’t even let Bae talk back. She immediately took off when she made sure Mumei wasn’t holding her leash anymore.

“MUMEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!” Bae held on for dear life while Animal ran as fast as she could. She darted between people, circled around anything interesting all the while dragging Bae with her.

“Just please stop at your school, Animal!” Mumei yelled at them.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Mumei giggled to herself, enjoying her walk without having to keep Animal in check.

---

When Mumei arrived at Animal’s school, she found her pet waiting for her and Bae lying down on the floor, somehow unharmed.

“Did you have fun?” She asked Bae with a smile on her face.

“Did I have…?” Bae barely raised her face to look at her. “Are you kiddin’ me?!”

“Thank you for helping me, Bae!” She told her with a grin, offering her hand.

“Urgh…” Bae accepted it and got up. “You could’ve at least warned me!”

“That wouldn’t have been as fun.” Mumei replied.

“Anything to make my Mumei smile…” Bae said, holding her head to help with her dizziness. “Okay, let’s just… drop Animal off and we’ll go to class.”

Animal was really happy after getting to run wild, dragging Bae with her, so they didn’t have many problems leaving her at her school.

“Do we really have to go…” Mumei started to sulk.

“Oh no you don’t!” Bae held her arm and pulled her. “You already promised!”

“I mean I did, buuuut!” Mumei tried arguing, “We could go to my place and just lay down!”

“Mumei…” Bae looked at her with a pout.

“Don’t puff up your cheeks.”

“Mumeeeiiii.” Bae made the pout bigger.

“My god, you’re so cute.” Mumei poked Bae’s cheek. “Alright fine, you win.”

“Yay.” Bae’s pout turned into a grin. “Now let’s go already! I’m sure you’ll have another breakdown if we don’t arrive early.”

“I’ve NEVER done that!” Mumei tried to protest, knowing full well Bae was right. “…We still have enough time.”

“Yyyyep!” Bae held Mumei’s arm and started walking. “Oh, maybe we could… wait, hold on.”

Bae stopped dead in her tracks.

“What?”

“…Is that my teacher?” Bae said while squinting her eyes.

“Your what?” Mumei kept asking.

“It is!” Bae smiled and started pulling Mumei again. “Let’s go say hi!”

“Wait! Bae, wait!” Mumei tried to pull back, but she couldn’t stop her.

“Hey Teach!”

Bae approached a woman with a similar outfit to hers. She turned to look at them and gave them a bright smile. Mumei almost felt blinded by it.

“Oh Baelz!” She waved at them. “Fancy meeting you here!”

“You know me, master of coincidences.” Bae told her with a giggle. “We just dropped off my friend’s dog.”

She nudged Mumei so she would say hello. The owl moved behind Bae and held her shoulders.

“H-hi.” Mumei said. She bent her knees a little to hide herself better. “I’m Mumei…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Bae held her hand to reassure her. “She’s a bit shy.”

The teacher tried to smile again to see if it would help Mumei calm down. It didn’t but at least she got a better look at her.

“Ohhh!” She exclaimed. “Is she the one you told me about?”

“Yeah!” Bae moved Mumei so she’d stand next to her. “She’s ready to dance!”

“B-Bae!” Mumei turned to glare at her. “You said I wouldn—”

The teacher clasped her hands together.

“Really?!” She almost looked like she’d jump for joy. “I’m really glad!”

Bae could feel Mumei staring daggers at her. She nudged her.

“Just go along with this for a bit, I’ll explain what we said later!” Bae pleaded.

Mumei grumbled a little then returned to Bae’s back.

They decided to walk together to the studio, the teacher tried to strike up a conversation with Mumei a few times to get acquainted with her. The owl only gave short answers without a chance to follow-up, or she’d rely on Bae to do the talking for the both of them. Somehow the teacher didn’t feel dispirited and kept trying.

“I’m so happy you finally brought your girlfriend along, Bae!” The teacher remarked.

Bae’s tail stood straight up. Mumei turned to look at her.

“Your wha—"

“MY FRIEND, YES.” Bae looked straight ahead. “I’M REALLY GLAD TOO.”

“Oh…” The teacher smiled mischievously, “Well, with what you’ve said about her I just assumed…”

Mumei’s face lit up.

“Wait, she talked about me?” She asked.

Got her. The teacher thought.

“Mm-hmm!” She replied, “She keeps talking about how much of a hard worker you are! She never gives specifics, but she always sounds proud when she talks about you.”

Mumei blankly stared at the teacher.

“She always does her best in class, but every now and then she'd slow down or get distracted while saying ‘I’d love to dance with her’!” She continued.

Mumei slowly looked at Bae. The rat grabbed her ears and tried to cover her face with them.

“Is that true, Bae?” Mumei asked.

Bae glanced at her for an instant. “…Maybe.” She replied, “…Is something wrong with that?”

“No, nothing.” Mumei told her.

Bae gave up trying to hide herself and put her hands down. Mumei slowly held her hand and squeezed it, giving her a warm smile.

The teacher seemed to make a really satisfied face after witnessing that. And thankfully, Mumei was more open to talking with her, mainly to tease Bae some more.

“So, Mumei, do you know how to dance?” The teacher asked.

“W-well…” The owl looked down. “I know… older… dances… like… I mean… old people music…”

“Huh.” Bae said. “I thought you told me you didn’t know any.”

“It’s…” Mumei closed her eyes, trying to come up with an explanation. “It’s complicated.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The teacher told her, “I was simply curious.”

Mumei breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at the studio early. The teacher invited them inside. Bae let Mumei go in first so she could check the place out. After getting past the entrance and the reception desk, she found herself in a huge room with the front wall and the wall on her right covered with mirrors. She leaned in and stared at herself from different angles.

I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. She thought, feeling the dizziness setting in. She had to hold her head and walked a few steps back.

She managed to feel better after going back to the entrance and closing her eyes. She tried to start over by facing the corridor to her left right before the dance floor. She could see a few shoe racks and lockers on her left and the hallway itself lead to bathrooms and changing rooms on the right.

After leaving her knapsack in one of the lockers and preparing herself, Mumei walked to the dance floor again. She didn’t let herself stare at the mirrors too much and looked around more. She realized that there was a row of seats to her left.

“Nice.” She told herself. Now she had a great spot to watch Bae.

She walked towards there and just before she could take a seat, the rat grabbed her by the hoodie.

“Let’s do some stretches, Mumei!” She said while pulling her to the middle of the room.

“Whyyyyyyy.” Mumei let herself be dragged along.

The teacher joined them and taught Mumei how to do them correctly.

“Ow, ow, ow! OW!” Mumei recoiled in pain when Bae helped her with some leg stretches.

“You’re almost done, you can do it!” Bae cheered her on.

“Ooowww uuughhhhh.” Mumei groaned. “Why do I even need to stretch this much?”

“So you don’t get hurt!” Bae carefully helped her return to a normal position. “Now let’s do the other leg!”

“I’m already getting injured… ow! By just doing this.” Mumei told her. “Do we actually need stretches… to do Fortnite dance—OW OWWW!”

Bae pushed her even harder.

“What the hell are you talking about.” Bae let her lie on the hardwood floor.

“Kronii and Fauna told me!” Mumei tried kicking her, but Bae moved away from her. “Do you not learn those?!”

“Oh mah gawd, we learn different dances here!” Bae answered while rolling her eyes. “It’s just been k-pop cuz that’s what everyone wanted.”

Bae helped Mumei stretch for a little while longer after she apologized. When they’re almost done, other students started showing up. All of them said hello while mentioning very similar things:

“Hey Bae! Is that your girlfriend?”

“You finally brought your gf, Bae?”

“Wow, I thought you were joking when you said you’d bring your girl here.”

Mumei slowly turned her head to look at Bae. The rat couldn’t face her.

“Baaaaaaeeee.” Mumei pulled on Bae’s shirt. “Didn’t you say you brought Friendtaro here before?”

“…Yeaaaaahhh?” Bae shakily replied.

“Did they say the same things?” She kept questioning her.

“…Nooooooo” Bae’s face started turning red. “Because she’s… Friendtaro… you know…?”

Mumei started to understand.

“What name did you use when you talked about me?” Mumei smiled. “Just owl, right?”

“I said… my owlfriend…” Bae’s accent was so strained it actually sounded like she said “girlfriend” somehow.

Mumei pulled Bae’s cheeks. “WHY IS YOUR ACCENT SO THICK AT THE WORST TIMES?!” She screamed at her.

“HOW ISH FHAT MHY FAUWT?” Bae tried to reply.

“OWL! JUST SAY OWL!” Mumei smooshed Bae’s cheeks.

“AHM SHORRYYYY TOWWWLLLL!” Bae pleaded.

Mumei let her go and laid on the floor again. She covered her face, hiding her blush. The other students and the teacher were pretty happy with their new guest.

The both of them slowly stood up after recovering. Mumei tried to introduce herself, but she quickly moved behind Bae after looking at everyone.

“Hi… I’m Mumei.”

The others smiled at her.

“Oh that’s your name!” One of them exclaimed. “Nice to meet you!”

Mumei felt a little relieved after realizing everyone was nicer than she expected. Bae explained what they were going to do that day and how Mumei would be watching them during the class. Thankfully, no one had any issues with the owl.

That was until they started with the class.

“…Hey, Molly?” One of them leaned in to talk with another.

“…Yeah?” She replied.

“Do you feel that?”

The girl just nodded, refusing to look at anything but herself in the mirror.

Bae failed to properly explain what “Mumei likes to watch” meant. The owl sat on one of the seats behind them. She had her eyes wide open, carefully scanning everyone. She rarely blinked and her eyes darted around whenever she noticed something interesting about someone’s dancing, adding to the fear the others felt. Her face was expressionless, they couldn’t tell if she was judging them.

Maybe she’s actually a pro? They thought to themselves.

Little did they know the poor owl had absolutely no idea if they were doing well or not.

That looks so cool… Mumei thought while leaning in trying to get a better look at their dancing. Just then, they switched to more complicated dance moves. Wait, how do you do that?

The student her eyes landed on felt a shiver run down their spine.

Oh that girl’s movements look smooth. Her eyes kept scanning everyone. The teacher looks great, too.

Even the teacher felt a little bit of stress from the owl’s eyes. Bae noticed everyone’s suffering and decided to act.

“Time to dance, Mumei!” She walked to the back of the room while the others took a small break to grab her.

“Wait, wait, wait waitwaitwait!” Mumei tried grabbing onto her seat. “Bae please! I’m not ready!”

“You totally are!” Bae tickled her so she’d let go. “Now c’mon!”

“I have two left feet please no!” She kept begging.

Bae dragged Mumei to the middle of the room with her. Mumei tried to stay calm but after staring at herself again, she tried to stick close to Bae.

“It’s okay, Mumei.” The teacher told her. “You don’t know the basics so it’s okay to just go with the flow!”

“What does that mean?!” She asked.

“Just follow along!” Bae told her.

The teacher turned the music back on and started dancing. The students seemed to already know it and followed along with the choreography. After making sure everyone was dancing, she’d move around them, watching their movements.

“Straighten your back, watch your shoulders.” She corrected some of them, helping with their postures or just giving tips to avoid injuries.

So like this and… Mumei tried to copy the others, but she started worrying she would scare them again.

“Um…”

Focus on Bae, focus on Bae. A new mantra was created.

Fortunately, Bae was used to Mumei’s gaze, so she didn’t mind. She tried to exaggerate her movements a little so she could be easier to follow.

You slide and… Mumei tried copying Bae. …Kick and—

“Oops.”

She didn’t measure the distance correctly and kicked Bae in the shins.

“OW!” Bae jumped but managed to keep dancing.

“I’M SORRY!” Mumei apologized.

“Mumei, you don’t have to do it exactly the same.” The teacher told her.

“N-no, it’s okay!” Mumei reassured her. “I can do this! I can—” She tried to do a jump but failed to account for the momentum she had. “WHOA!”

She crashed into Bae, taking her down to the floor.

“HEY!”

Bae hugged Mumei while falling so she wouldn’t get hurt. After making sure she was okay, she started pulling Mumei’s cheeks.

“WHAT ARE YA DOIN’?!”

“AHM SHOWWY!” Mumei kept apologizing. “IT WASH AHN ACKSHIDENT.”

The other students laughed a bit at their scene then quickly helped them back up. The teacher almost wanted to make the both of them take a break, but they wanted to keep going. After giving Mumei a few pointers, she continued with the class like normal.

Mumei took the teacher’s advice to heart and her dancing started to improve a little bit, avoiding more injuries. That wasn’t really the case with Bae, as Mumei kept getting close to her and stepping on her.

“Hey, Mumei?” She called out to her.

“Y-yeah?” Mumei was too focused on not tripping up again.

“Is constantly stepping on me also an accident?” She asked.

“No, that’s intentional.” The owl replied.

Bae glared at her. “OH MAH GAWD!” She pushed Mumei so she’d stay away from her.

The teacher kept watching them, happy that Bae finally got to bring her friend here. Still, she wondered what she could do to help with Mumei’s dancing.

“Hmm…” She put her hand on her chin. “What did she say before…?”

“Oh!” She recalled her past conversation with her. “Maybe we could try that…”

The teacher stopped the music and clapped her hands.

“All right class!” She smiled at them. “Time to make pairs!”

“Make pairs for… what?” One of them asked.

They didn’t notice the song had changed; it took a second to pick up. They started hearing a pair of cellos playing. The music slowly got louder with a steady, calm rhythm.

“Let’s do some waltz!” The teacher said.

Maybe this is what Mumei was talking about? She thought.

She didn’t get a chance to look at her new student’s reaction because of the groaning she began to hear.

“C’mon you already know the basics!” She tried to convince them. “I know some of you want to show off to your date!”

“One thing is showing off and another is throwing my date around.” One of them complained. “Also who dances to waltz these days?”

“Want me to dance with you, Shaun?” She walked towards him. “Don’t be shy! Let’s take it from the top.”

While the others laughed at Shaun’s predicament, Bae turned her attention to her owl. She was staring at… herself?

“…Mumei?”

Bae got closer to get a better look. She thought Mumei was looking at herself in the mirror, but now it appeared like she was staring into the void.

“Hey…” Bae pulled on her sleeve. “You good?”

Mumei shivered and shook her head, like she had woken up from a trance.

“Y-yeah.” She finally answered. “I’m okay.”

Mumei moved in front of Bae and positioned herself a little bit to the left.

“Um…” She spread her arms. “Here.”

Bae tilted her head. She extended her arms as well, still confused.

“You want a hug?” Bae asked.

“What? N-no!” Mumei started to blush. “Just… come here!”

She reached out and grabbed Bae’s left hand. Then, with her right hand, she pulled her close and placed it under her arm, on Bae’s shoulder blade.

“Oh!”

“…And then you grab my arm.” Mumei gestured her.

“It’s okay, I got it…” Bae told her while holding the upper part of her arm. “W-wait, you’re gonna lead?”

Mumei breathed in.

“Here we go.”

She started taking steps back, keeping Bae close to her. Then she moved forward, paying close attention to her surroundings. And once again, she stepped back.

Okay, got worried for a sec. Bae thought. The heck was that staring about?

“One, two, three…” Mumei muttered to herself. “…One, two, three…”

Bae turned to look at Mumei, then felt a shiver run down her spine all the way to her tail. Mumei was making an extremely serious face.

“And then…”

Mumei started doing the basics with Bae: A natural spin turn, a whisk, a pivot then a spin…

“…Whoa.”

Everyone’s eyes were drawn into their dancing. They watched how Mumei lead Bae perfectly, letting her shine as her partner. They even moved closer to the walls so they could have the floor to themselves.

Mumei slowly added more variations, somehow getting Bae to follow her. The rat could feel her heartbeat rising with every spin.

What the… She thought. How’s she doing this…?

Bae didn’t even feel the need to look around to make sure they wouldn’t crash into anyone. She felt she could trust Mumei’s leading wholeheartedly. Then the owl decided to spin faster and faster.

“W-wait this is too much!” Bae pleaded.

Mumei slowed down, making a turning lock into an oversway. She kept trying different variations, surprising everyone in the class.

“…I thought she was a newbie?” One of the students asked.

“I thought that too…” The teacher replied, closely observing their dance. “But this leading looks like she’s been dancing for years.”

Bae looked at Mumei’s face.

She’s… smiling? Bae blinked a few times. The embarrassed expression she was making just a few minutes ago was completely gone. It’s like she’s having the time of her life.

Bae found herself smiling with her. With another spin and a whisk, they moved together around the floor. They made a running spin turn and slowly stopped. Mumei lead Bae making her lean back. She did it slowly until a point Mumei knew was Bae’s limit.

“Oh!” Bae exclaimed. “Then I can…”

Bae kicked with her right foot. Mumei nodded and brought her close again. The move surprised the others enough to make them start clapping. It really felt like Mumei was trying to make Bae shine as bright as possible.

They kept dancing until the song started to fade out. Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off of them. They did a few more spins until Mumei finally turned to look at Bae. The rat was smiling just as much as her, she wasn’t paying attention to anything else.

“Hey, Bae?” She called out.

Bae snapped out of it.

“Y-yeah?” She replied, she was having too much fun dancing.

“I’m gonna throw you now.”

“…Wha—”

On the last spin, right as the song ended, Mumei let Bae go. The rat couldn’t stop the momentum that had accumulated and kept spinning, drifting away from Mumei.

“MUUUMEEEEIIIII!” She screamed.

The owl simply watched while Bae tried to slow herself down, only to slip and fall to the ground.

“You good?” She asked.

The others also snapped out of it and went to help Bae. The rat stared at the owl, her expression was a mix of anger, pain, astonishment and a bit of happiness. Her classmates and teacher had to stop her before she launched herself at Mumei.

---

After the class was over, the teacher apologized profusely for her experiment. Neither Mumei or Bae minded and admitted they had fun, but the teacher still wanted to make up for it. While they went to pick up their pets from school together, Mumei gave Bae a piggyback ride. Afterwards, the teacher bought them drinks and they said goodbye.

“I can’t feel mah body…” Bae whimpered.

“Tell me about it.” Mumei told her. “Are you going to get in or not?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Bae sounded completely defeated while she got on the red garden cart they had bought because she was getting too embarrassed from the piggyback ride.

“Don’t you think this is more embarrassing?” Mumei asked.

“I just didn’t want you to get tired.” Bae admitted.

While she was getting comfortable, Mumei tied Animal’s leash to the handle so she could pull it. After making sure it was secure, she turned to look at Bae.

“Ready?”

The rat just nodded while handing the owl her coffee.

“The teacher was really nice paying for our drinks.” Mumei said after taking a sip.

“Told ya she’s super nice…” Bae replied.

Mumei looked at her rat lying down on the cart. It was just big enough for her to fit in, her feet dangled off the end of the cart. Bae noticed her staring and blushed a little.

“We could kinda fit if… If you got on first and I…” Bae struggled to finish the sentence.

“No, it’s okay.” Mumei laughed. “I’m not that tired.”

“Okaaaaaaay.” Bae tried her hardest to hide her blush.

“Do you want anything?” Mumei showed off her knapsack. “I got some snacks.”

“Nah, I’m good.” Bae smiled at her.

“’Kaaaaay, let’s go, Animal.” Mumei called out so they could start walking back. Thanks to the school spending her energy, Animal was plenty satisfied, so she happily pulled Bae at a reasonable pace.

The sky had turned completely orange. The warmth of the sun and a gentle breeze made their walk a little rejuvenating. They still had to deal with people staring at their makeshift carriage, however.

“I’m so ready to just lie down and sleep forever.” Mumei said.

“How are ya gonna do that if you’re drinking coffee?” Bae asked her.

Mumei stopped herself short from taking another sip. She held up her drink and stared at it.

“I…” She made a confused face. “I don’t know why I asked for this…”

“Give it here.” Bae told her, offering her iced tea. “Let’s switch.”

Mumei accepted but found herself in another predicament. Now she had to drink from something Bae already placed her lips upon.

Really? She asked herself. I’m really getting embarrassed NOW after all I did back at the dance studio!?

She sighed and forced herself to take a sip. She didn’t notice how Bae was struggling for exactly the same reason. They couldn’t talk to each other for a little while after that.

“I’m sorry but I really gotta ask.” Bae finally spoke up. “What even happened back there?”

Mumei quickly finished the iced tea before the embarrassment was too much to handle. She threw the cup at a garbage can with an exaggerated amount of force to try to go back to normal.

“WELL!” She started answering. “I… it’s weird.”

“Oh, I know it’s weird.” Bae giggled. “It’s you after all.”

“Okay so you know all about… my civilization stuff, right?” Mumei asked.

Bae nodded.

“Then, um…” She continued. “Sometimes… there are things that may happen, that could… you know, make me remember things.”

“I’m guessing it was the music?” Bae tried to follow up.

“Yeah!” Mumei was happy her friend understood. “And it just… just HIT me in the face with all the information.”

“And just like that you’re a master of waltz.” Bae said, “Dang, wish I had that ability.” Bae sounded slightly sarcastic.

“You… you don’t want that.” Mumei told her. “It feels WEIRD.”

“But, how come the first songs we danced to didn’t do anything?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” Mumei replied. “Maybe I just… haven’t processed that information yet?”

“I guess those dances are pretty modern.” Bae said.

“I mean… I’m barely even an idol so it kind of checks out…” Mumei sulked.

“I’m sure there were different kinds of idols way back,” Bae tried to reassure her. “Maybe you just haven’t gotten the right spark to jog your memory.”

“Maybe.” Mumei said. “But it’s fine if I just keep learning.”

“Yeah!” Bae grinned at her. “We can learn together!”

Mumei smiled back.

“That’s really interesting, though.” Bae continued. “So does that mean you know all the… older dances?”

“Mm-hmm.” Mumei affirmed. “If there’s a trigger that unearths the memory.”

“That’s so cool!” Bae exclaimed.

“But maybe not all of them are what people would call fun…” Mumei said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Mumei looked away. “Let’s say I may or may not have mimicked a dance that may or may not have ended with trying to rip someone’s heart out after hearing some strange music in a documentary.”

Mumei slowly turned to Bae after not hearing a response. The rat was staring at her in shock.

“…What?”

“Nothing, I—” Bae sighed. “I should really be used to that at this point.”

Mumei just giggled at her response. “I’m glad you don’t mind.”

After walking some more, Mumei realized something.

“Oh, speaking of remembering…” She reached into her knapsack to grab a journal. “I should write this down.”

She plucked one of the feathers from her head and started to jot down some notes. She realized she wasn’t writing anything on the second sentence.

“…Right.” She put the feather back on her head. “I don’t have ink.”

She looked around her knapsack to find a pen and started writing.

“You’re writin’ about what happened today?” Bae asked after taking another sip of coffee.

“Ye— Yeah.” Mumei almost tripped and fell after focusing too much on her journal. “It’s better to remember with this than with… anything else.”

“Gotcha.”

Bae kept watching while Mumei took her notes. She felt warm and fuzzy whenever Mumei smiled and giggled to herself.

“Hey, Mumei?” Bae waved at her.

“Hm?” Mumei turned to look at her.

“Did you have fun?” She asked.

Mumei covered her mouth with her journal, but slowly revealed her grin.

“…Yeah.”

“I’m glad!” She smiled back. “Guess getting pulled by Animal almost breaking my arms and then thrown around by a certain owl was worth it.”

“Sorryyyy.” A small blush appeared.

“It’s fiiiiiine.” Bae told her. “This carriage isn’t bad at all.”

“Hehe.”

Mumei kept writing a little more. She stopped while they almost reached the park. Bae looked at her again. The smile was still there but now it looked like Mumei was thinking about something.

“Muuuuumeiiiiiii, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“I don’t know what I should do with that invitation…” Mumei responded.

“Oh, you mean what the teacher said?” Bae giggled. “I’m happy I reeled in a new classmate!”

“…Was all that part of your evil plan?” Mumei glared at her.

“Nah, I was as surprised as everyone when you did that.” Bae threw her now empty cup of coffee into a trash can. “Also shut up, you’re the one with evil plans.”

“Yeah sure!” Mumei frowned. “And the next step is making you my dance partner!” She blurted out.

They both started to blush after processing what Mumei said.

“…I’m pretty bad at it…” Bae almost whispered. “I barely kept up…”

“…I could teach you.” Mumei said. “I don’t mind.”

“REALLY?!” Bae almost fell off the cart. “YOU’RE NOT KIDDIN’?”

Mumei nodded. “How about… at my place after we’re done shopping?” She offered.

“Sounds great!” Bae grinned, showing her teeth. “Now I really have to think about what outfits I should make you wear!”

“As long as they’re cute.” Mumei stopped to give Animal some water. “And maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“Uhhh… maybe we can try dancing something more than waltz.” She replied.

“Sure!”

Mumei looked away after going back to walking.

Something that matches would be nice… She thought.

“…But first we gotta do something about mah body…” Bae lightly kicked her legs. “I don’t think I can even get up.”

Mumei moved to pat her head. “I think there’s a simple solution to that.”

“I don’t think Kronii would turn back time on me.” Bae moved Mumei’s hand and held it. “Unless Fauna’s there to convince her.”

“No, we’ll just need Fauna, actually.”

“Ohhhh, okay.” Bae got comfortable in the cart. “Some tea and a massage would be nice…”

“Exactly!” She walked up to Animal and smiled. “So, Animal!”

Her pet’s ears perked up. Bae’s ears perked up too, but in her case, she started to get worried.

“Go to Fauna’s! Quick!”

Bae instinctively held onto the cart as hard as she could.

“…Why would you do this to meeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!”

Animal immediately took off after hearing Mumei’s command. Mumei wasn’t even surprised she still had that much energy left. She happily watched as the both of them disappeared into the crowd of people getting off work close to the park.

“I’ll just take it easy.” She started walking. “It’s not that far anyways.”

She took out her journal to keep writing some more.

Waltz… tango… quickstep…

“There’s a lot we could do…” She told herself. “Should we stick to waltz or try something new?”

She giggled and put her journal away. The answer didn’t really matter to her. As long as she could have more fun with Bae, anything would do.

t. Name