as usual, momo's own lack of defenses batters away at the many walls maki has built up over the course of her life. while momo fixes her hair, maki stands at the edge of the wall, near the railing. her mind is far away for the moment, thinking about the day she was told she'd have to give up ballet and learn something more practical instead.

momo's question brings her out of her head. maki nods. "yes, we need to do some stretches," she says. "just do what i do." she has no doubt momo knows well enough how to stretch before exercise, but maki wants to specifically tackle the muscles they'll be using today. as she demonstrates, her form is flawless; underneath those expensive clothes, maki's body has been honed to its peak. she's much stronger and more athletic than she looks, and she's flexible as well, easily able to touch her toes whether standing or seated. she is the yukimura family's concealed weapon, after all.

when they're done, maki stands up straight again. she stretches her arms out in front of her, fingers interlocked, and cracks her neck. "most of the dances i know are for two people," she explains. "but it's possible to adapt them for a human and a pokemon, potentially. we can also go over some basic ballet moves."

[ Momo Sakai ]

maki nods; starting with ballet positions is what she was planning anyway. "do what i do, then." she backs up into the bar, placing both hands on it while still facing forward. it's mostly the position of her legs that changes at first; she goes through first position, second position, all the way to fourth position, making sure momo is keeping pace with her. it's not like these are particularly difficult, so she ramps it up just a bit by using her arms now as well, to demonstrate the full position.

as she does so, with the focus she's giving the exercise, her tiny smile fades away and her eyes set in a more neutral, even cold, look. it's not that she's unhappy; she's just too busy trying to remember what she learned as a child to put her mask on right now.

"there's various mimes, too," maki says after a while of silence. "for example, this--" and she spreads her hands above her head, gesturing by twirling them around each other briefly. "-- is an invitation to dance, essentially."

[ Momo Sakai ]

she watches momo's movements carefully. while she has a lot of enthusiasm, it might not be too appropriate for the movements they're practicing. maki shakes her head. "you have too much..." her voice trails off as she tries to find a nice way to say it. she offers momo another small, manufactured smile. "...energy?" she suggests. "you're good at copying my movement, but you go too fast."

she turns fully toward momo, coming closer, and extends both hands to take hold of the other girl's wrists. maki guides her, going slow and languid, so she can get a better feel for it. "when it comes to ballet, you have to be patient," she explains. "i think... the same could go for your appeals, sometimes." oh, yes, maki's been doing some research. she doesn't like not knowing things that the people around her do know. knowledge is one of the few ways she manages to exert control over her own life. there are few things she's bad at )though things like cooking and cleaning are an especially sore point, and she would never willingly admit this).

[ Momo Sakai ]

maki steps back to observe, and nods to momo. "better," she says, which is high praise from her. "once you learn the basics, you can always adapt it more to your... style." and when it comes to dance, the basics are incredibly important. despite how boring it could be to practice the same thing over and over, practice ensured that you wouldn't hurt yourself. that's why maki hasn't touched upon the subject of ballet in a while; she knows that if she tries too hard, she might overdo it.

(that, and maybe she's still a little sour about being told to discontinue it, deep down.)

"there's many other ballet mimes," maki says. "it'd be impossible to go through all of them... you can always look them up later." honestly, she only remembers a few of them anyway.

with that, she pulls out her phone and turns on some music. it's a simple piano song, easy to keep up with. "you can try incorporating the movements i showed you, if you'd like." maki stands back, still facing momo, like a stern but gentle teacher. to anyone who knows her darker side, they might be shocked to see how easily she takes to instruction.

[ Momo Sakai ]

she watches carefully with sharp eyes. naturally, since momo has only just learned the moves, they're not quite as refined as someone who's spent months practicing the basics. but for a beginner, she's doing well. is it because of her eagerness? maki was this eager, she remembers, once upon a time. as a child she'd wanted so badly to impress her parents, so that she'd thrown herself into her studies and paid attention to little else. gradually, the eagerness had faded into a numb oblivion as maki forfeited her right to a normal life.

well, she'd never had that 'right' anyway, being born into the yukimura family. the scope of their power and influence left no room for casual pursuits.

her phone automatically skips to the next song, one with a little more energy. pausing for a moment, maki makes a decision. she reaches her hands above her head and twirls them in the same sign she'd just taught momo, and then extends a hand. "shall we dance together, then?" there is the tiniest, faintest gleam of rebellion in the gesture, though momo won't know it.

[ Momo Sakai ]

the dance is a little clumsy, given how long it's been since maki has done anything like this. there's been a few galas where she's danced with her brother, but that was a show they put on to impress their stockholders and business partners more than anything. it was more restrained, less emotive, just a script they were following. even her movement had been restricted by the expensive dresses she wore to those events.

her she has more freedom, and in some respects she's not sure what to do with it. while they dance, there's moments of brief hesitation as maki decides what to do next. for the most part, she finds herself leading, but there are times her hesitance would allow momo to take over if she pleased.

the feeling is entirely different from dancing with her family. maki loses herself in it, and it seems like a much longer stretch of time than it actually is. as the song finally hits its climax, she twirls and then lifts momo into the air, just for a moment, so her feet leave the ground. the gesture seems to come easily to her, her arms not even shaking, betraying that she's much stronger than she looks.

then the song ends, and maki stops moving abruptly, like a puppet with its strings cut.

[ Momo Sakai ]