Chapter One
The school holidays were ending in one and a half months, and Genrou was determined to make full use of the time he had left. He stood on the outside of the plastic wall which separated the large frozen oval of ice and the corridor, and watched as the skaters went round and round.
"Well, come on, Genrou!" Kouji shouted impatiently at the entrance to the rink, waving madly at his friend. "Let's go!"
He walked over and grinned sheepishly at his best friend, reaching for his wallet and pulling out the smooth bill with a slightly regretful expression on his face. Kouji grabbed their tickets, and ushered him in, throwing him a pair of blue and white gloves in the process. "You've got socks on, right?" but before Genrou could answer Kouji squatted down and pulled up the hem of his blue jeans, checking for the said item. "Good." Nodding in satisfaction, he led the way to the rental counter.
They lined up to get their skates. When it came to Genrou's turn, he stood there hesitatingly, unsure of what to do.
"Size?" the burly man behind the counter asked, looking him over. Genrou shrugged. "Well take off your shoe and put your foot on the scale."
"36. Here." A hefty pair of skates was thrust at him and he staggered under their weight as Kouji shoved him aside and greeted the man. A few minutes later, Kouji noticed that Genrou was snarling softly under his breath.
"What?" he asked, pulling the laces tight and tying them deftly. It's been a long time since I did this…he thought absentmindedly to himself as he finished. When Genrou didn't answer, he sighed and twisted to face his friend, "What is it, Genrou?"
The auburn hair fell slightly onto the taller man's brow, covering his eyes as he answered in an amazingly level voice. "I can't tie these things."
An eyebrow arched.
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After Kouji had finished lacing up Genrou's skates, they stood up awkwardly and made their way to the edge of the ice. The taller and less experienced of the two froze on the spot, his hand clenching tightly on the side bar as Kouji leapt merrily onto the ice and spun around in a few, slightly off-balance, circles.
"You go ahead," Genrou tried to smile. In this case, he only succeeded in baring his unusually sharp canines, giving him the look of wholly wolfish nervousness. Kouji nodded and glided off.
Genrou put a hesitant foot onto the ice, wincing as his stepping slid and he wobbled wildly to the side, gripping the bar so tightly his knuckles turned white. He gritted his teeth. How do those idiots make it look so easy?! He took one step, then another, and then another.
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[Three hours later]
He had to admit it was kind of fun, even though his feet felt half-frozen and his hands warm through his gloves. He had progressed to walking on the ice a safe hand's grasp away from the bar, and for some reason, going round and round in aimless circles no longer seemed as boring. Kouji was somewhere ahead, occasionally whizzing in and out of the crowd with the rest of the speed skaters and hockey-skaters.
I need a break, he thought, sliding ungracefully to the side and nearly flipping over the low bar in exhaustion. He looked up, his gaze moving enviously over the scene before him, from left to right…even that little boy seemed to be doing much better…back to the left…was that old woman crazy or just unafraid of the unknown dangers of spinning in barely-notable circles? He sighed and looked directly across him where another boy stood casually, black gloves dangling from the tips of his fingers and his hair hidden by a cap. Was it his imagination, or was the other skater looking at him?