Takumi’s POV

We all rented our ice skates and were putting them on as we talked and laughed happily.

“Kita-kun, do you even know how to ice skate?” Aimi asks looking up to me from her skates.

“Kind of.” I answer smiling to her.

“I love ice skating.” She comments as she sits up.

“Ryuji too.” Masaki says as he laces up his own pair of skates. “He’s actually the one who taught Takumi.”

“Aww, that’s so cute. I wish I could have seen it.” Hanako says letting her inner fangirl come out and making me blush a little.

It was true. Ryuji skates really well. He was actually the reason why I wanted to learn; seeing him do all those spins and jumps made it look really cool. I reminisced about those days and smiled to him. He smiled back and added.

“It sure was cute to watch him fall.”

“Hey!” I call out.

“Haha, yeah and remember when he would hold onto the sides of the rink to get up.” Toui recalls.

We all laughed as Toui imitated my movements. He looked specifically to Chiharu’s laughing face and beamed.

After we were all done we got up and enter the rink together. There was music playing loudly in the area and colorful lights of different shapes danced on the glossy ice floor. At first we all skated relatively close to each other, but after each one found their pace we became separated. I ended up trying to keep up with Ryuji and Aimi who, unfortunately for me, were the fastest ones. They easily glided as I watched my every step and talked to them.

 

Hanako’s POV

Masaki had found a way to get us to skate alone. We purposely slowed down so that we were behind the others.

“Hey, I know this song.” I say as I notice a familiar beat start to play.

“It’s that one song that got number 2 on the Oricon, right?” He says recalling correctly.

“Yeah, that one. It was in the drama with Matsumoto Jun.” I say trying my best to remember the name.

“Well, when you put it like that it gets harder.” He jokes.

“Yeah, Matsujun is in like a million dramas.” I agree and we laugh lightly to each other.

Suddenly he becomes extremely silent. I look up to his thoughtful eyes as he seems to be metalizing something. I try my best to figure out what he could be thinking of so that I could continue the conversation.

 

Masaki’s POV

I realize that I had been slipping away and letting myself go in front of her and hold back a little to keep myself from being deceived at all. Though she looked like she wouldn’t do that and I truly liked her way I still couldn’t trust someone off the bat. It wasn’t arrogance and I didn’t think I was superior; it’s more of a test. I was making sure that she’s trustworthy. It was necessary since I had learned from past experiences that I get easily infatuated in people.

She began to switch subjects as I answer each and every one of them. It almost seemed like she was going through everything she could to see which one I responded the most to. It was strange to see someone strive like that when just a few minutes before we were easily conversing. Suddenly she stopped talking and everything was dead quiet. She didn’t try anymore after that and I felt bad. I took her hand with out a word and she looked up to me with a smile.

“Are you cold?” She asked with a giggle.

“Mmm.” I nodded and looked to the side.

She held onto my arm and we skated quietly but this time much less awkwardly.

 

Ryuji’s POV

As we skated I couldn’t stop myself from looking over to Aimi all the time. She looked so pretty; almost angelic. I tried my best to conceal my thoughts. I didn’t want to seem overwhelming. She, herself, was pretty quiet unless an actually interesting topic came up. Mostly we would enjoy each others presence…that is when we got to be alone. Whenever Takumi was around we felt obligated to talk so that he wasn’t caught up in our silent atmosphere which had proven to make him extremely uncomfortable. Though at first I noticed it was a bit difficult to speak to both at the same time later on I found a way to use it to my advantage. I could say things to Takumi about myself that I was actually directing to Aimi and bring up topics that I would question both about though I mostly wanted to hear her answer. Our conversations were flowing and Takumi had said something unexpectedly funny. We all burst out laughing and Takumi lost his balance. He landed right on and Aimi and I stopped and helped him up, each one taking one of his arms. He was as red as a pepper from embarrassment and we all knew.

“Eh, why don’t we go to the benches for a bit?” I say trying to fix the situation.

“Yeah, I was tired anyway.” Aimi picks up where I left off.

We all head out real slowly to leave the rink. At contact with solid ground Takumi unconsciously let out a sigh. I hid a grin at my friends’ reaction and saw Aimi do the same. We all sat and Takumi instantly began to undo his skates.

“You’re not going to skate anymore?” I questioned.

“No, I’m kind of sore now.”

“Did you know it’s possible to become paraplegic from a fall like that?” Aimi points out.

“Really?” Takumi asks worried.

“Yeah, it has something to do with the impact with the spine.” I added looking to Aimi who nodded in agreement.

“Exactly, an impact of great force would put a lot of pressure on the spine actually causing it to break.” She says in a brilliantly scientific air. I smiled at her intellectual demonstration. I’ve always liked smart people and she seemed to do it so naturally that there was no way she wouldn’t look beautiful as she spoke.

“Well in that case I’ll stay right here.” Takumi answers definitely.

“Let me see if you’re ok.” Aimi says and touches Takumi’s back lightly and he turns as she makes him twist to check if he’s fine.

Instantly my smile fades as I watch her being kind to him. I know I can’t stop her and that makes me even more miserable.

“Well, I’m going to keep skating. See you guys.” I stand to leave to the rink hoping that it’ll calm me down.

 

Aimi’s POV

Upon hearing Ryuji say that I immediately turn away from Takumi and look up to the beautiful boy. “No, don’t go! Let’s stay together all evening.”: is what I wish I could say but instead I just watch him without blinking.

“You sure?” I question calmly, hiding my feelings perfectly.

“Yeah, you just make sure Takumi’s ok.” He says softly with a light smile, also hiding his feelings very well and walks off.

After we’re left alone Takumi and I become silent. I keep thinking about Ryuji and I know exactly what had made him get up. It was my horrible habit of not realizing that not everyone knows what’s going on in my head. Even if I really was only checking on Takumi, Ryuji got the wrong idea. I look over to Takumi who’s looking to the side. I kind of feel bad for him. After all it’s not his fault; he doesn’t know that he’s getting in the way. I decide to cheer him up.

“Hey, Kita-kun, do you want to hot chocolate?”

“Huh?” He says looking back to me.

“I bet you’ll feel better with something warm, right?”

“Uh, sure. Here.” He agrees handing me some money for the drink.

“Be right back.” I say and walk off into the crowd.

 

Takumi’s POV

She’s being so kind. I wonder if it’s because we’re getting to know each other more. As I think about this I look around me. Somehow we had all become separated; Chiharu and Toui were in the middle of the rink chasing the lights, Hanako and Masaki had completely disappeared and Ryuji was skating violently and spinning like it was going to cost him his life. It was strange to be left alone with Aimi. Didn’t she like Ryuji? She told me she did. So why would she choose to stay here with me and drink hot chocolate. As I wondered this I saw her come back with two foam cups in her hands. She wasn’t looking to me, instead she seemed like she was searching for something in the sky or in the horizon however as soon as she reached me she handed me my cup with the smoothest expression. We sat there quietly enjoying our drinks. Between sips I stuttered a word or two and she would look over to me as if ready to hear whatever I had to say but I would loose track of my thoughts as soon as I looked at her and she would slowly turn forward again. After doing this a few times I felt ready to die. In the end she was the one to start talking.

“Oh yeah, when are you free, Kita-kun?” She said with a glimmer in her eyes.

“W-why?”

“Well, remember you promised me that you would give me dance classes so I could dance as well as you?” She smiles at me.

How that smile broke my heart.

“Sure. Uh, well it can be after my practices with the boys.”

“Ok, I’ll have to make sure the other guys don’t see though.” She adds.

I look at her with questioning eyes.

“You know, so that they don’t get the wrong idea.” She explains.

“Right.” I smile lightly.

 

Chiharu’s POV

Somehow that funny blonde boy seemed to really get to me. He was absolutely listening to everything I said. I could clearly see that. It was beautiful to observe him observing you. The way he was open and not one bit judgmental was like an invitation to tell him anything and see what kind of pretty faces he would make. I found myself laughing without a second thought various times.

“You sure you have to leave already?” He asked with pleading eyes as we skated towards the edge of the rink. My heart twinges and at that very moment looking at his doll like face I realize it; he was lassoing my heart and that was something I could never stand for. I immediately made it my top priority to find some material purpose for him as soon as possible. Straightening my position I step off the ice and turn back to look at him with the same icy chill of a winter wind.

“Yes. Thank you for spending the night with me though.” I check his reaction and see I’ve succeeded in confusing him. The same girl who till now had been one step from falling for him was once again leading the conversation.

He stepped out of the ring also and stood beside me as we undid our ice skates.

“Well, no problem. But wouldn’t you like to go out again sometime this week?” He asked looking over to me. It was like watching a race where the one who had been leading till now suddenly lost his spot to the person who was behind him and starts desperately using all his strength to win. I showed how amused I was by it letting out a cat’s grin.

“I don’t know, like I said my schedule is sort of made up as I go but in case I don’t anything better to do in my free time I’ll call you. At least you know how to make someone laugh.” I say balancing the amount of sweetness and bitterness in the phrase.

“Ok then, in any case just call me.” He smiles a bit. “Here’s my number.”

After setting things up, I called for the girls and we left. The two talked about things I didn’t care to pay attention to as I listened to Spyair’s Sakura Mitsutsuki.