Hero Audition Ch. 14

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/14/

Role Model

I learned my dance wasn’t terrible since it had an effect on Melia which gave me some confidence.

I practiced some more on my own in front of the dorm mirror before heading over to see Rose again. I have a newspaper reporter with me today. She is a young girl, and she looks fresh on the job. Apparently the other girls already had someone assigned to them yesterday, but they didn’t have anyone to cover me yet. The fate of being the fifty-first rank.

“Rose-san! I’m here!”

I shouted from the entrance of the bar to the back. Looking around, I couldn’t see where they were.

Before long, I heard the loud thumping footsteps from the back.

“Geez, quiet already! I know you’re here; I can hear the door open!”

Rose came out of the back while yawning despite it already being noon. Thinking about it though, this person’s job would have them working all night. They should be sleeping right now, but they are helping me instead. I can deal with a little nagging.

“Sorry…..do you want me to come by later?”

“Oh ho, thank you for your concern. But my body has been trained for this.”

Rose answered with a wink. But that isn’t quite what I’m talking about. Rose, you haven’t shaved yet, so their is stubble on your cheeks and lips. Plus you must’ve gone to sleep without removing your makeup because their are broken bits and flakes all over your face.

“Who is this?”

Rose stuck out their stubble covered chin towards the newspaper reporter behind me.

“Oh….a reporter. They’re covering the audition, so people can vote for us.”

“Hmm. It’s hard being a hero…..well, be sure to capture my good side. Shall we get started right away?”

Rose prepared two chairs and arranged them in front of the stage. Those would be for themself and the reporter.

Picking up on their intentions, I immediately made my way onto stage and the made the appropriate preparations. I’m feeling confident because of how effective it was on Melia yesterday.

I spread my legs out and pulled the end of my skirt up to the base of my thighs. I stop right at the line where you think you’ll be able to see my butt without actually being able to see. I then dropped my waist.

I moved, shaking my hips more violently than I did last time. This was what worked on Melia. But when I turned around, Rose was looking at me with their arms folded over. Their eyes were thin, bored, and not excited.

I stopped dancing immediately and turned my whole body around again.

“Uh…..um…..what did you think?”

“Miss Reporter. Well? Do you feel any heat in your crotch?”

Rose threw my question right to the reporter sitting next to them.

“Wha-…..I’m not really sure what is going on…..”

They obviously never knew their assignment was going to be like this and started staring at their feet after all the blood drained from their face. This might actually be their first assignment.

“Lily. This is you current ability. Did you practice yesterday?”

Rose gave me a stern look. If they are going to help me, of course they will want me to do it properly, but I really did practice.

“I-…..I did! It was very effective on my roommate in the dorms, so I should have improved.”

“Hmm…..Well, I suppose practice won’t do you much good if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. I will give you an example once. Switch places.”

Rose walked onto the stage while warming up by spinning their arms around. Meanwhile I moved down and sat in the chair Rose was using before.

On stage, Rose stood with their back to us and their legs spread out.

“Wow…..it really is different from a coach”

The reporter praised Rose while we waited for them to start. I can’t objectively compare, so I don’t know what thye’re doing differently yet, but they really are just standing there.

However I soon understood why the reporter gave their praise. Rose lowered their waist and slowly swung their hips back and forth. They would stop for a short instant and then swing back.

Despite those slow movements, I could feel my body heating up. As the speed of Rose’s hips gradually accelerated, so did my heartbeat. I could feel the thumping of my own heart and the rapid pumping of my blood.

Rose leaned forward, crouched down, then rapidly raised her upper body. The curvaceousness of their back from their waist to their neck is beautiful. This time their movements focused more on a back and forth movement rather than left to right. As small of a thing it is, in that moment, I could focus on nothing else besides the movements of Rose’s hips.

My body is hot. Heat slowly gathers in my lower stomach. It is amazing how a real dancer’s twerking can have such an impact on the human body.

Rose shook their hips up and down as if they were giving off the last, finishing touch. It moved violently like a bouncy ball ricocheting off the walls.

Every time Rose’s waist moved towards the floor, my own hips reacted the same way with a jerk. After around the tenth time, my waist would float off the chair. I’m trying to forcibly hold down my own body, but it won’t listen to what I want.

I bit my right hand and desperately tried muffling my voice, but the reporter in the nearby chair was having a worse time of it than I was, so I stopped holding back.

My body reacted even more once I started letting my voice out. After Rose swung their hips for a number of times beyond what I could count, my mind went blank, and everything exploded. I had to use the back of my chair to support myself and not fall over as my body convulsed.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I basked in the pleasant afterglow while seeing that the reporter girl had sunk to the floor at some point. The upper body was slumped against the chair, so she avoided falling over at least.

“You two, are you all right?”

After finishing their dance, Rose left the stage and came over to us. The patchy facial hair, cracked make-up, and oversized muscles brought me back to reality. Any trace of an afterglow left my body. I was once again keenly reminded that a dancer should do their best to have a beautiful appearance.

“I-…..I’m all right. Rose-san’s dance, was amazing……why is it so different?”

It wasn’t just me feeling pleasure. The reaction from the reporter girl is all the feedback I need to understand the difference between us. She wasn’t gasping on the floor when I was finished.

“The trick is to use movement and stillness. When you move, move. But when you’re still, be still. The movements from your dance were too erratic and blended together.”

Rose signaled for me to stand up from the chair. I forced my trembling legs to prop up my still stiff hips. I stretched out my body once and forced the shaking to end.

Stillness and movement. Certainly, when Rose was on standby, they were like a statue. And when they’d shake their hips, they would always move to a certain point and stop like a switch had been flipped.

Yet when their hips moved slowly, it was as if time had slowed with them and drew me in while the fast, violent movements sped up the world to bombard me with passion. Stillness and motion. Plus the numerous patterns contained in those movements.

“L-…..Like this?”

Keeping Rose’s dance in my mind, I tried moving around while making clear stops in the movements.

“Hmm…..you will need more practice. You won’t understand anything just working off of me, so have a friend take a look. A different girl from the one you asked last night.”

It’s still no good. At this rate, I will end up practicing twerking all week, and it still won’t be enough.

“That….the competition is less than a week away! If I don’t learn any other dances, I’ll be useless when fighting monsters!”

“Oh my, you can just make the monsters horny with the twerk then.”

“……Does that work?”

“I am kidding. Probably. I’ve never tried before, so I don’t know. Besides, this dance gives you a good grasp of the basics. If you cannot even do this, you won’t be able to perform anything else. Practice with someone watching.”

Rose moved to the back of the store as if to put an end to the conversation. I made eye contact with the reporter, but she just shook her head. Nothing of note has really happened today, so I probably won’t be getting an article in the newspaper.

With slumped shoulders I slowly headed home while trying to figure out who I’m supposed to dance for.

Chapter 13 ⊥ Chapter 15