Kyoutani literally can't believe the situation he'd just gotten himself into. He knew it was a bad idea to agree to go ice skating with his little sister. He knew it.
Okay, so he could have just stayed on the sidelines and watched, but he hadn't done that because he'd wanted to be able to keep a close eye on Ayako. What he'd forgotten, was that his sister was actually an excellent skater. Kyoutani, on the other hand, was not. In fact, he can barely stay upright on the ice at all. But he'd paid money for his ticket to enter this ice rink and he sure as hell isn't going to waste it. He was going to skate, no matter what.
That had been his mentality about 10 minutes ago, and now that he's actually on the ice he's, predictably, having second thoughts. Especially because he literally can't even stand by himself and almost falls on his ass at least twenty times in one minute. It really doesn't help that Ayako had already gotten bored of watching him trying not to fall on his face and had skated off by herself a while ago.
Kyoutani clutches the wall like a lifeline and wonders if it's still worth it to try to make the most out of the 400 yen he'd spent on the ticket if he's just going to look like an idiot doing it.
He isn't sure how much longer he stands there holding the wall, but a couple of minutes must have passed before he eventually decides that maybe he should try to go over to his sister and ask her to teach him. No matter how ridiculous it would look getting taught by an 11-year-old, Kyoutani thinks it must be better than looking like a fucking loser hanging onto the wall by himself.
Looking around, Kyoutani spots his sister on the other side of the rink, talking to some girls that look her age. Great, so now he's got to cross the entire rink to get to her.
He loiters for a moment longer before eventually deciding that if he doesn't let go now, he would spend the rest of the decade clutching this wall, Kyoutani takes a deep breath and pushes himself off.
Okay, so he hasn't fallen yet. So far, so good. Now, he just has to take the steps to get across the rink. Fuck that gliding motion you're supposed to do, Kyoutani has no idea how to do it without face planting.
Taking slow, careful steps, Kyoutani tries to get farther away from the wall. He's gotten about maybe two metres before another person zooms by with incredible speed, and knocks Kyoutani off balance.
Panicking, Kyoutani screams internally as his legs scramble to regain balance underneath him. However, given that he already has trouble standing upright without any outside interference, Kyoutani realizes that he's going to fall right now if he doesn't do something about it. He flails and tries to hold on to the nearest thing, which happens to be a teenaged boy close by. Wrapping his arm around the boy's torso, Kyoutani struggles really hard to to regain his balance.
It seems that he's not doing a very good job, because he's still slipping and Kyoutani thinks he might be screaming out loud now, but he doesn't really care because right now he just really doesn't want to fall.
Kyoutani vaguely registers the boy who he's currently holding on to letting out a surprised "What the hell?" at Kyoutani's hold on him. Then, Kyoutani feels the boy trying to shake Kyoutani off and he's horrified because if he lets go Kyoutani will definitely fall.
"Get off me!" the boy yelps as he desperately tries to squirm out of Kyoutani's grip.
"No!" Kyoutani says in a panic.
Kyoutani can feel the boy struggling again, but that just makes Kyoutani tighten his grip, which in turn makes the boy struggle even more- until suddenly they're both slipping and cursing and trying to hold onto each other so they can stay upright.
Eventually, due to him trying to support Kyoutani's added weight while trying also not to fall himself, the other boy loses his balance completely and brings Kyoutani down with him in a string of curses.
Kyoutani lands on top of him, so his fall didn't really hurt as much, but he doesn't really think he can say the same for the other boy when he hears him crack his head on the ice.
Suddenly feeling immensely guilty, Kyoutani sits up and says, "Shit, are you okay?"
The other boy lets out a groan and sits up. It's the first time Kyoutani has actually gotten a good look at the guy since he'd been too preoccupied with trying not to fall before. He's got brown hair and brown eyes, and he's kind of cute. Immediately, Kyoutani feels guilty all over again, but this time also some embarrassment.
"Ugh, I'm fine, I think." the boy mutters, rubbing the part of his head that he'd hit on the ice.
"Okay. That's good," Kyoutani says in reply, because honestly, he's not sure what else to say. He'd literally caused this stranger to fall and hit his head, but at least nobody was injured, right?
"Yahaba! What happened?" another voice calls, and both Kyoutani and the boy, who must be Yahaba, turn to look at the source of it. Kyoutani sees another boy, probably around the same age as him and Yahaba, skating towards them.
"I fell," Yahaba says by way of explanation.
"Yeah, I can see that," the boy teases, before turning his attention to Kyoutani. "Who are you?"
"Kyoutani," says Kyoutani because he doesn't feel like saying that he was the one who had latched on to Yahaba and caused them both to fall.
It seems that Yahaba doesn't really care about that, though, because he says, "He held on to me while he was slipping and then we both fell."
Kyoutani kind of glares at Yahaba for that, because even though it really was his fault that they fell, Yahaba didn't have to go around telling people that.
Yahaba either doesn't see or doesn't care about the glare that Kyoutani had sent his way, and dusts himself off a bit before standing up. Kyoutani, however, makes no move to do so, because he hasn't forgotten about his nonexistent skating skills, and he really isn't in the mood to fall on his ass another time in front of Yahaba.
When Yahaba notices that he hasn't gotten up yet, he raises an eyebrow down at him. The nameless boy just gives him a weird look. Kyoutani doesn't like this, being stared down at when he's sitting on the ground while they're standing at their full height, but he also can't get up, so. He just sits, and stubbornly waits for the others to leave, or something.
Yahaba seems to understand what's going on a moment later, and the questioning look in his eyes shifts to one of amusement instead. A smirk appears on his lips, and he says, "Kyoutani-kun, would you like some help getting up?"
Kyoutani feels his ears burn, and glares back. His pride won't allow him to give in that easily. "No, I'm fine."
Yahaba just smirks even wider as he turns to his companion. "Did you hear that, Watari? He says he's fine, so maybe we should just leave him here."
Watari nods his head as if agreeing with Yahaba. Then, Kyoutani feels a stab of panic, because if Yahaba and Watari leave, he's not sure he'll be able to get up on his own.
Just as Yahaba's about to turn away, Kyoutani says "Wait,"
Yahaba looks at him, and says in the most annoying, cordial tone ever, "Yes, Kyoutani?"
Kyoutani grits his teeth, before saying, "Please help me up."
Yahaba grins and extends his hand for Kyoutani to grab. Kyoutani grabs it only slightly begrudgingly. As he stands up, he stumbles once, and Yahaba catches him. Kyoutani feels his cheeks heat up and mumbles a thanks before catching sight of Watari out of the corner of his eye, watching them with an amused expression on his face.
When Kyoutani's standing again and no longer in danger of toppling over, he decides that he probably owes a proper apology to Yahaba for knocking him down. So, he says to him, "I'm sorry for knocking you over. It's good that you're not hurt or anything."
"Yeah, you'd better be glad that I'm okay, otherwise I could have totally sued you for that." Yahaba says, and wow, Kyoutani sort of regrets ever thinking that he's cute because this guy's kind of an asshole.
It's at this moment that Watari shoots Yahaba a look before excusing himself and leaves. Yahaba calls out a farewell and Kyoutani casts him a curious glance as he skates away.
"I said I'm sorry, what more do you want from me?" Kyoutani huffs to Yahaba once Watari's gone.
Yahaba smiles, and Kyoutani feels himself blushing because okay, even though this guy's kind of a dick he's not really all that bad and plus his face is sort of really cute.
"How about you buy me something from the café across the street and we'll call it even?"
Kyoutani blushes even redder before mumbling "Okay," because he really does kind of want to spend more time with Yahaba.
But then Kyoutani remembers Ayako and looks around the rink for her, and when she's nowhere to be seen he's kind of more than a little worried. Then, he feels his phone buzz from his pocket and takes it out to find a text from his sister.
From: Ayako
You looked kind of busy so I already called Mom to pick me up. She says to take the train home whenever you're done
Kyoutani sighs, relieved that nobody's kidnapped her or anything, before putting his phone away and looking back up at Yahaba, who's now looking at him curiously.
"Just looking for my sister. Turns out she already went home," Kyoutani explains.
"Oh? Were you here with your sister? How cute," Yahaba teases.
Kyoutani feels his face burning again. God, he blushes way too much around Yahaba. "Shut up."
Yahaba laughs, before turning towards the exit. "Come on then, let's go. The afternoon rush should be over at the café now."
He's skated a few strides before he realized that Kyoutani wasn't following him. Turning back, Yahaba asks him, "Do you need help skating back to the exit, Kyoutani?"
This time, Kyoutani doesn't even respond, but instead reluctantly nods his head. Laughing again, Yahaba holds out a hand to him.
Kyoutani reaches out and firmly grasps Yahaba's hand in his own.
A/N: Posted this on ao3 a while ago, but forgot to here.