take my hand, take my whole life too

While Burning gave his speech about the battle on Namek, Casey scanned the crowd for a familiar face. She didn’t see him anywhere! If he’d given her the dress, surely he’d have at least shown up to see her in it. She began to wonder if it really was Neko-Otoko who had gotten her the garment, but she didn’t see him here either. She checked the rafters, the dark corners, anywhere he might have hidden himself. She was peeking under the stage in hopes of spotting him when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Spooked by the surprise of it, she turned to see nobody there. She looked in the other direction and saw only a flash of movement. Finally, looking back the original way, she saw Mahito, with a stupid grin on his face, giggling to himself.

“Boo.” He stuck out his tongue, playfully.

“Mahito!” Casey found herself laughing too. You got me. Thanks for the dress, by the way.”

“You look great in it.”

“Where’d you get it?”

Mahito hesitated. “Mmmm… I’m not sure I should answer that.” His smile was somewhere between smug and nervous, and he didn’t meet her gaze. Whoever had owned the dress before was definitely dead and transfigured in some forgotten corner of the city.

A slow, romantic song began to play, and people shuffled to get on or off the dance floor. Casey recognized the melody. Can’t Help Falling In Love. A cheesy old classic. Still, she saw couples she recognized take to the dance floor. Jickler with Utahime, FreakGen with Jun. Even Burning was in the arms of a beautiful girl she’d seen at the tournament a few times. She had to admit, it looked nice, to be with a partner like that.

“So what do you think?” Mahito, standing right behind her, observed the pairs too. “Are we a couple? A duo?”

“That mushy stuff is dumb. And slow dancing’s boring, don’t you think?”

“Is that a no?”

“I… don’t think I’d mind, if it was with you.”

His hand found hers, and, deep in his soul, something clicked into place. She guided him onto the dance floor.

“How do humans do this?” Mahito asked.

“Like this.” Casey put a hand on his shoulder, guiding him and demonstrating the steps. “Copy me.”

He got the hang of it quickly, and they were soon in perfect sync. “See?” said Casey. “Pretty boring, right?”

He twirled her with an intensity that caught her off guard, but left her laughing. She did the same thing to him once she was on her feet again. As the song went on, the two of them got more and more extreme with their movements, occasionally colliding with people next to them, but they didn’t care. Neither one could keep the smile off their face.

When the song ended, Mahito pushed Casey into a deep dip, and kissed her. Her grip on his hand tightened, and she kissed him back. For once in her life, it didn’t feel forced or performative. It felt electrifying.

Two souls, sharing the exact same frequency.

When the two finally pulled away, Casey realized quite a few of the other dancers, and Empire officials on the sidelines, were staring at them. She went red with embarrassment, all but burying her face in Mahito’s shoulder.

“Haha! Don’t worry about them,” he reassured her, patting her on the back. “They’re just jealous of us.”