Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh nor do I own Crans-Montana, if I did I would run it better. (Ducks flying ski) I do however own Rock and Ice school of the extreme as it is pure fiction. I also do not own the stereotype 'snow bum'.
A word from my voices and then on with the story.
Although she owns nothing she is owned by us, we will always be here ready to provoke the fic writer within….beware, we are lurking…..
It had all started when Mokuba had wanted to go away for Christmas. Being unable to resist his younger brother's patented puppy dog eyes Seto had been compelled to take a break over the Christmas holidays. Well not Mokuba's idea of a proper break from work but it was close enough for Seto, thank you very much.
"Setooo …." Well it had to start some time and now, two hours, five minutes and fifty three seconds into this holiday was good going for his little brother.
"What is it Mokie?"
"Can we do something interesting when we get there? Please, please, PLEASE?" During this little explosion of hyperactivity Mokuba had been jumping up and down in his seat and had almost upset my coffee over me, my books, my laptop and the brochure of the resort we were headed to.
Dammit, why can't he ever sit still during a flight, I mean I can manage it, it really isn't that hard…
"Look Mokie, I have to get some work done but I have rented a chalet and you can just play video games all day just like you usually do….."
"Aw but I wanna do something new….can I look at the brochure?"
Anything for a quiet life, hey maybe I can even get rid of him for a few hours. This may have its advantages.
Seto sighed and handed over the brochure, on the front was a mountain logo in pink and blue, a stupid beaver creature to the right of it and the words 'Crans-Montana' splashed underneath it. Mokuba stopped bouncing and grabbed it out of his brother's hands.
"Cool, thanks Seto."
"You know Seto when you said chalet I thought you actually meant a chalet not a floor of one…"
"So I read the print wrong, so sue me!"
Seto was suddenly interrupted by an "Ok I will." Frowning in a poor imitation of his death glare Seto continued
"What is wrong with it anyway, hmm? Sure it isn't as big as our home but we are only here for a few weeks so what does it matter?"
"Umm nothing…umm eep!" Mokuba was tackled after the second 'umm' and was mercilessly tickled by Seto. The pair were in the lounge and were rolling across the floor as Mokuba made desperate attempts at escape and was followed by Seto, who coincidentally was grinning evilly.
The flat in question was the top floor of a big chalet, it was in fact two flats pieced together, one forming a downstairs with three bedrooms, the other forming one master bedroom, a lounge/dining room, a kitchen, a cosy corner and a huge covered balcony. The flat was fully furnished and was of course no longer for rent, Kaiba had bought it when he saw the population size of the town, about 300 people and those in this building about1 occasionally moving up to 5 most of the other occupants in the building were over 60 and those in the town were of no concern. This had been a brilliant idea as far as he was concerned, he would not be bothered and he could check in on his Swiss bank accounts.
"Seto… Seto….SETO I'M BORED."
Seto fell off his chair and dropped his book.
"Alright, alright geez, I was only reading! What do you want to do then?"
Mokuba bounced into sight and waved a page from the brochure under his nose. The page was an advert for a ski and snowboard school. Splattered across the page over a picture of some boarders jumping and doing tricks was the name of the school 'Rock and Ice school of the extreme'.
"Well I guess we can have a look at it…"
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So that is how, half an hour later Seto and Mokuba arrived at the office of Rock and Ice school of the extreme. The building itself was no disappointment; a rock wall was running along the edge of the building, it was tall and was at present covered in ice so that it provided an excellent ice wall. There was currently an instructor and pupil attacking the wall, the pupil was standing at the base of the wall staring up at the instructor whose blond hair glinted out from under a helmet, all else about him obliterated by the sun above him.
Entering the building Seto noticed a desk, wooden and thick to the right of him.
Striding up to the desk Seto noticed the distinct lack of a people, inside the building or behind the desk.
"Hello? Anybody there?"
Despite the lack of apparent life at Seto raising his voice the door behind the desk flew open and a woman walked in. she was tall, had her hair tied back in a pony tail and was wearing a pair of boarding trousers and a long sleeved t-shirt saying 'Swiss powder addicted'. She had her legs mostly hidden by the desk but the sound of a cast was still audible. "Hi and welcome to Rock and Ice, we specialize in outdoor pursuits and have a number of instructors for all levels. How can I help?"
"Well, I was looking to…" Seto was interrupted by Mokuba who was peeking round his older brother's coat (for this holiday Seto had brought black slacks a deep blue polo neck, a black wind breaker and of course the understated scarf)
Blinking his eyes in a highly cute and supposedly appealing way Mokuba started talking over Seto,
"I wanted to do something new and I saw your advert and I would like to try snowboarding…please?"
"Of course! We have several instructors around at the moment but it will depend on what time you want lessons and what experience you have."
Seto watched this exchange mutely, half amused by Mokuba, half wanting to strangle him for the interruption. Finally he cleared his throat and started to take charge.
"He has no experience and I would like to have him go out in the morning."
The woman behind the desk nodded and started to type at a hidden computer looking through the class bookings.
"Would you be after a group lesson or a private one? We don't actually run that many beginner classes for groups so it might be easier to have a few private lessons first…"
Seto looked at the girl hard, is she trying to get more money out of me or is she actually being helpful?
Mokuba piped up at this "I would rather go in a group, if there is one…"
The woman looked slightly sheepish at this "well there was one until yesterday… I would be taking it but I um…"
Seto leapt in on this hesitation, eyes gleaming, here was the reason she had been trying to get him to pay more for lessons.
"Would this be something to do with the cast on your leg by any chance?" he smirked evilly and glared at her whilst asking, earning him a kick from Mokuba
Ok so it was mean but he wasn't about to let his little brother out with a school where the instructors broke limbs during lessons.
"I would be taking the lesson but I fell and broke my leg." The woman was glaring back at Seto with just as much intensity as he had been glaring at her.
Mokuba gave in to his curiosity and the overwhelming desire to shut Seto up, "How did you break your leg? I bet you were doing something really cool like cliff jumping or trick skiing or boarding or…" he was cut off by laughter, the woman was laughing almost close to tears, this was odd by most people's standards but the Kaiba brothers were having a had time dealing with the woman. In unison they cried "WHAT?"
Laughter gradually subsiding the woman replied "I can understand why you would think that, seeing where I work but it was nothing as 'cool' as that, I slipped on some ice outside the local bakery and fell badly, that was a couple of days ago."
The Kaiba brothers were both just staring at her.
"Up until yesterday someone could cover for me but he had to do his own classes"
Seto looked at Mokuba for a minute, it would get him out from under my feet for a while but can I trust these teachers? Mokuba had given up looking at the woman and was looking at the floor somewhat dejectedly.
Seto gave a long sigh and caved in.
"Alright, who have you got for a morning slot, perhaps 9-12?"
The woman and Mokuba smiled, "Just let me check our database and I can give you a list."
A few more minutes tapping at the computer and…
"Here you are, we have J, Tina, Andy and Marco. I would recommend J, he is one of the best teachers we have and he can also teach skiing, skating and is currently teaching climbing on the ice wall."
Remembering the blond on the wall Mokuba smiled, "Seto can I go with J please? I think I will really like him."
Seto sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time in the last half hour. "Fine," resigning to this new development Seto booked the lesson "Can you have him arrive at 9 at this address. Can I also have his phone number and the number of this office?"
and what kind of a name is 'J' any way, I mean it isn't cool to reduce one's name to a letter…. I would just be S or K and Kay is a girls name...
"Sure, J's number is the hand written one on the card and the office number is there too. If you need anything just ask for Ellie and someone will find me for you. Will you need J to take you for equipment?"
Mokuba started, "Seto I forgot I'll need to rent some kit!" Ellie raised an eyebrow, "J can take you in the morning if it would be easier for you." Seto thought about this and decided against buying Mokuba a board until he had at least decided if he would ever do boarding again after this little episode. "Yes thank you Ellie, I would appreciate if J would take Mokuba out and rent some things for him. Will I need to pay a deposit beforehand?"
Ellie laughed again but this time at some type of internal joke. "Nope J is your deposit, he will try to get you a good deal on the rental too."
Seto left the address on a card at the desk, he wrote Mokuba's name on it and a contact number for him, turned, strode towards the door and thanking Ellie for her help, left.
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Outside he and Mokuba looked at the ice wall. The instructor was now below the pupil and to the side, the pupil three quarters of the way up the wall securing his ropes looking very confidant and just as the instructor leant back away from the wall the pupil stumbled but then caught his grip again. The instructor cheered and encouraged the pupil up to the top.
Mokuba lead Seto to the car and Seto starting up the car turned to Mokuba and asked "are you sure you want to start this tomorrow? I can always call Ellie to reschedule…." Mokuba just turned to look at Seto from the front seat and shook his head despairingly.
A few minutes later J came in to the office. Ellie hobbled over to him and waved the card under his nose.
"J, look at this, you just got a meal ticket! Someone has just booked you to teach their little bro how to snowboard. You've been booked for as long as it takes."
J, who was taking off his helmet, shook out his blond hair and running one hand through his hair reached out with the other to take the card. "Who is it then? Do I need to start speaking tongues, French, Spanish, Italian or German?"
Ellie sniggered and continued waving the card at J. Reaching out his hand for the card J took it and glanced at the names on it, then he did a double take and his jaw dropped. Stuttering slightly he exclaimed "E-e-ellie do you know who this is? I go to school with this guy! He owns the largest gaming company in the world. How did I get to teach Mokuba snowboard? What did you do?"
Ellie was trying not to wet herself laughing at J. "Jou you know how much you talk about this guy. I thought you would enjoy this assignment…."
"Ellie, how can you do this to me, I mean, I appreciate the work but come on. I'll get fired within five minutes of getting there, he hates me, I like the kid but his older brother makes my life hell on earth, no matter what I do or feel!"
Ellie let out a sigh. "Look J all you have to do is to turn up and take the kid to rent some stuff then teach him how to board. You never even need to see the older one."
Jou looked at the floor, not quite believing his luck, or lack of it.
"Alright, I'll do it but on one condition, if get I fired I will hold you personally responsible and you will so owe me one."
Ellie just looked at Jou and laughed. "Ok, ok I accept your terms, just show up on time at that address." Seeing the look on Jou's face she relented slightly, "Jou, it will be alright I promise, even if this doesn't turn out alright we will still be here for you. You will still have a job 'cause you are family."
Well that is all for now. Tell me what you think. R and R please.