Chapter 12: The Ballroom of Politics

The Shima’s Dance

A rigid woman stood in front of a group of performers about to take stage, she broke the silence. “All right everyone prepare to represent us well, this dance is of critical importance to this event and to our clan’s standing. I picked everyone here for this event because I have the utmost faith in your abilities to perform this dance, as a team. Thank you for your dedication to this dance, I know it may seem silly but trust me, this event is important to me, and our clan. Now go and make me proud.” Her gaze fell upon the single individual that stood out. She whispered, in a tense strained voice, “ This is a test of your worth, don’t let me down, in the one thing you are good at.”

Orihime, gracefully but slowly spun around slowly moving her bright colored fan in rhythm she was wearing a flamboyant pink Kimono, with long Sode sleeves with fan patterns in a bright gold color. She was turning so slowly at the start of the dance that it almost didn’t look like a spin. As the music slowly sped up after about 15 minutes of slow and methodical movements, Orihime slowly turned faster and faster, until soon she seemed to be flying across the floor almost like a spinning top. The first 15 minutes were slow to the point of exaggerated micro movements, the later 15 moved at a reasonable pace, the following 15 were a rapid flurry of movements and a blaze of color. Finally ending in almost a stand still statue like state, staring unblinkingly forward, for another 15 minutes, that seemed to feel like an eternity.

Orihime

Orihime was in the front center of the performers behind her, yet also in line with them. In the odd circleish pattern that they moved in, she had managed to always make herself the center. The ability to seem like the center even though she truly wasn’t, was something that couldn’t really be taught but was a requirement for a performer to stand out, usually that wouldn’t be necessary in this dance, but her mother had required it from her, and so she had. As she finished the last 15 minutes she caught a glimpse of a dark blue figure in a sea of black. She managed to do this without seeming to move her gaze from its fixed state. She almost broke her statue like state, to smile, the boy she noticed really was like her, one who was able to stand out.

Juran

Juran applauded loudly disrupting, the eerie, hush, still that had settled over the gathering. The ballroom had been dead quiet partly for not knowing when the dancers' stare down would end, and also due to what he liked to believe was awe of the performance. As a consumer of the traditional arts he was one of the first to recognize the ‘end’ of the end and thus had been the first to break the vast expanse of silence. The Sodomite villa was a vast, sprawling settlement with many large establishments within its boundaries. One of these was the ‘ ballroom’ where this event was being mainly held. It was actually more of a theatre or stadium with a sprawling dance floor and stairs leading up to multiple rows of viewing seats. The wide floor was packed with guests and the seats above were also full, almost everyone was actually there physically in person but there was also a large screen with an even larger audience of “ common folk” that couldn’t make it or didn’t get an invite where they could watch the main event live through the interweb stream.

Juran had insisted his faction bring this stream to everyone in Japan that was interested; he wanted them to see this cultural phenomena that had been put on display by the Shima clan and their dancers.

The only actual representative of the main family that performed was Orihime and she had been the star, while also making the group shine as well if that makes any sense. That being said, she was not the star of the family, she was the youngest of five sisters and two brothers, and that was just from the main branch politically she was beneath many of the extended clan when it came to political importance. In addition, in the scheme of the political battlefield most of the Shima’s were near the bottom of the totem pole.

He found it somewhat ironic that the person the Shima’s had counted on to shine was only there, for her duty which was probably nothing more than a burden, that had been thrust upon her due to her status in her own clan. Despite all that she had performed marvelously, he was proud of her, well maybe not really her in particular but he was proud of what she had represented for the Shima clan, which in turn helped represent his goals. This performance had helped push his agenda forward, marvelously presenting an old Japanese tradition to the masses of New Japan. Juran needed the Somas, to retain their power and influence to keep the Sodomites from completely taking over the Japanese faction and essentially setting up Ryunosuke as a dictator, and having a clan like the Shima’s retain influence helped immensely. With the Shima’s traditional ways and even their traditional food business booming it helped keep the balance of power out of the Sodomites hands while also not adding steam to the Soma’s clan especially with the rise of Escanor Soma’s wonder food pill. This ball in itself was a bit of an enigma, as the Shima, Soma, Sodomite, and United Japan factions all had their fingers in the pie for different reasons but were coming together to make this happen. On paper it seemed to benefit everyone equally, but depending on the night it turned out one clan may pull ahead, slightly in the game of politics, hosted in this political ballroom.

What Juran didn’t see coming was the slow rise of a fourth family faction, taking the floor in the game of politics.

The Transition to Another Dance

Gon applauded loudly, following quickly after the political leader near the top of the stands had started it. Soon the ballroom was ablaze with cheers, and claps many in the stands stamped their feet to the final closing rhythm of the drums as the dancers bowed, and disappeared. He knew he stood out, he was the only male in a Kimono, the blue loose fitting top stood out starkly in a sea of men wearing finely tailored suits, and formal wear. But at the moment he didn’t care he had been taken aback by someone else who was standing out. That was the person he was supposed to partner with and build a working relationship with, Orihime. She had been a vision to see, and shown an insane amount of self control and also stamina. While many of the other dancers had subtly switched out depending on the phase of the dance she had performed the whole thing from start to finish. He also recognized that part of the reason the other dancers were able to do this was despite it being a group dance, and not an individualistic dance, she had stood out enough that others could swap out of the central view points in particular due to their identical costumes and makeup. She had been the only one in a different Kimono than the others, this was probably due to status in the family, but also a punishment as she stood out any mistakes would be noticed by everyone and bring shame upon herself.

Despite all this she had delivered a flawless, elegant, performance. Gon smiled to himself, this event would be way more interesting than he thought and the task that his parents had assigned him had, now became something that seemed possible and he looked forward to trying to accomplish it. But most of all, for the first time in life, he was coming to respect someone from his own generation.

Once the drums had ended, Ryunosuke, the main host of the event and provider of the facility. Stood and spoke into a microphone that boomed throughout the room and also broadcasted to the interweb stream. He was in a large suite that was above even the top booths where the first man had applauded from. “ Now we will immediately transfer from the traditions of old, to a modern take on the old style European ball that our ancestors had adopted. But, there is a twist. While this is still a social ball, where you must pick your partner and enjoy yourselves. Yes enjoying yourself is a requirement,” he winked and earned laughter from the crowd. “ There is also a surprise contest with a surprise reward! Those who can impress the judges including myself, and many other of the most powerful people in this room. The couple we deem worthy will have a chance at a surprise reward. This contest is a test of stamina, and elegance, two things that don’t always go together. Mind you, this contest is voluntary, if you would like to just socialize and treat this as a usual ballroom gathering feel free. But those who are brave enough, will be rewarded, those that lose will be humiliated.” He paused, and laughed before continuing, “ Trust me, I know how to humiliate people.” This earned him an uneasy chuckle, from the crowd and many of the political leaders in the crowd. “ Now let the Ballroom Social begin.”