*Casually posts a chapter after a long hiatus without explanation*
Oh, also I'll be rewriting the first couple of chapters because I thought they were awful now that I've expanded the story enough to know what I'm doing.
Enjoy!
It hurts!
"Calm down a little, Raphtalia. You're kinda crushing my hand!"
"O-oh, am I? I-I'm sorry...I'm just so nervous..." she muttered as her grip loosened. Ah...sweet relief. Our attention was focused on the current competitor who was busy doing his first run of the day. As he grinded on a rail, a shower of bright sparks erupted from his board.
"An impressive display of magic on that grind, but- oh! It looks like the landing was a bit shaky. Let's see if he can finish out the run on a high note!"
One of the many announcer crews was set up nearby, so we could clearly hear their commentary. It wasn't anything special; just about what you'd expect at these types of events. Still, they definitely weren't helping Raphtalia's nerves. This is the first event of the competition and the atmosphere is understandably overwhelming for her. Being so close to the announcer's live commentary was a glimpse into what they'll be saying about her when she competes.
I gently squeezed her hand as the rider flew into the air on the final jump. He spun and grabbed his board before lighting it aflame. The entire board burned with orange flames as he continued to spin in midair, embers flying off in every direction. Thankfully he's far away from any spectators; that kind of power could be dangerous.
The crowd let out a combined "oooh" as the flames spun with him. Then, they gasped.
The rider's board struck the snow at an odd angle during the landing, sending him rolling down the snow to complete his run.
Raphtalia hissed through her teeth from beside me and grimaced. "Ooooh...That looked painful."
I nodded solemnly as the young man unstrapped one foot from his board and hobbled away with his head hung low. After a few moments, he realized that his board was still on fire and hastily flopped back onto the ground to cover it with snow.
"Yeah, that's tough for a first run. At least he didn't hurt himself too badly. Those big jumps can end your whole day if you're not careful."
"Yeah..." Her grip tightened again as Raphtalia took a deep breath. "How would you have rated that run, Naofumi?" she asked with a tone that was level, but forced. She's obviously trying her hardest to stay calm under pressure.
I scratched my chin as I thought out loud. "Well it's hard for me to judge the magic part of it, but he had a lot of trouble with landings. The tricks don't give you many points if you can't land them properly. On a scale of one to one hundred, I'd unfortunately have to give that one somewhere around...hmm... maybe a 40 or 50 at best?"
"40 or 50!?" Raphtalia's shock was understandable. "I know he fell on his last jump, but the rest wasn't that bad! He pulled off a few good tricks here and there!"
I shook my head. "Maybe, but that's the bare minimum. Look: the judges made their decision on it already." She followed my finger to look at the massive screen that was set up behind us. When she gazed upon the number beside the competitor's name, her ears wilted.
"Only 42.8 points?..." she muttered in disbelief. "I-I don't know about this anymore, Naofumi. I know this is what I've wanted to do for years, but I don't know if I can-"
"Shh, just relax." I took off one glove and cupped the side of her cheek. She flinched as my warm hand met her cooled skin. The overnight chill was still around in the late morning. "You don't have to be the best person out here, okay? All you need to do is go out there and show them what you can do."
"I-I know that, but I feel a little sick..." Raphtalia's tea-colored eyes quivered. I wanted to kiss her right then and there, but with so many camera men around, the last thing I needed was to be seen by the wrong person at the wrong angle for it to be posted all over the internet. I don't want her first appearance to be tied to a photo of her kissing some guy.
I want it to be of her absolutely crushing this competition.
My gentle bop on her forehead made her eyes widen. "You're going to be fine. I'm not kidding when I say you've gotten so much better since we first met. Think about it like this: that guy right there didn't do anything you couldn't do. In fact, you could have probably done the exact same thing and landed each trick without an issue."
Raphtalia's eyes left mine in favor of looking elsewhere. "You're just saying that."
"Not at all. Look at my face and tell me I'm lying to you."
She hesitantly brought her eyes back to my face, only to close them and take a deep breath. Then two, and then another one. Finally, she reopened them and clapped her cheeks using her hands. I ignored the fact that my own hand was still resting there and that she'd slapped my hand rather harshly.
"Okay...! I-I can do this! I've been doing this for months, right? It's the same thing!" she said, more to herself than me. She gave a quick fist bump. "All I need to do is try my best and do what I've always done. The score doesn't matter all that much!"
I nodded with a smile. "That's the way to look at it. The numbers are only there to show you how much better you can get. Even if you're not happy with your performance, I'll still be there to cheer you on the whole time."
She smiled back at me with a toothy smile that felt so truly genuine that it was blinding. "And I'll do the same for you. Not that I think you need my encouragement."
I huffed and couldn't resist rolling my eyes. "I mean...I wouldn't say no to a little encouragement from you..." She playfully slapped my arm and giggled.
"Fine. Out of all the girls here, I'll be cheering the loudest for you. I guarantee it."
"Then I'll make sure to listen for you."
Our conversation from that point forward was much more relaxed. We'd been given the order ahead of time, so every one of us knew when we'd need to be standing by for our first run. The first eleven riders set a modest bar for scoring purposes, if I had to say so myself. Most of them scored in the 60s or 70s. Three people wiped out on at least one trick and wound up in the low 40s.
Raphtalia's nerves resurfaced by the time it was her turn to go down the slope. Right before she moved to the top of the slope, however, I whispered into her ear. She blushed so fiercely that I swore she was going to pass out.
Maybe joking about celebrating with sex tonight was too far. Scratch that; it was definitely too far. Is it just me, or is it suddenly a lot hotter out here?
Oh well. At least she doesn't look scared anymore.
"Our next competitor is ready to go! A new face to the competitive scene, Raphtalia makes her debut this morning as a bit of an outlier among today's competitors. Not only is she one of only two demi-humans competing in this event, but reportedly she's only been riding for - are you sure this is right? - *ahem*, two months! Keep your eyes open, folks! This one should be interesting!"
I scowled at the announcer's tactless introduction. His whispered question to the man beside him was easily picked up by his microphone for everyone to hear. Even though he wasn't wrong, pointing out her lack of experience on live television was going too far. Raphtalia is already stressed enough as it is! Now everyone is expecting her to screw up!
Luckily, she's a lot more skilled than that asshole probably thinks. She'll show him.
My girlfriend - I still can't believe I get to call her that - shook out her limbs and flexed her fingers. Her eyes focused down on the track with laser precision as if the crowd and fans didn't exist. The cold front that brought the blizzard two nights ago was still around, so the weather was frigid despite the sun shining down on us. Raphtalia looked unfazed.
I want to scream some extra encouragement at the top of my lungs, but as a fellow competitor I just can't bring myself to do it. It would be inappropriate and it might break her concentration.
Then, she hopped twice and began her run down the slope.
My gloved thumb found its way between my teeth as I watched Raphtalia build up speed. Okay...so far so good. Nothing unusual. She's controlling her speed just like I taught her. Perfect, she's coming up on the first set of obstacles.
Raphtalia went straight for the ramp on the far right. She tucked her knees to her chest before leaping into the air, twisting the board in front of her and gripping it with her hand to perform a Method. It's a simple grab, but sometimes simple is all you need for your first trick.
Her landing was solid and she barely lost any speed. Fantastic!
She carved through the snow until she reached her next obstacle of choice: a set of grind rails that sloped diagonally upward, then diagonally downward. With her speed still high, her knees buckled a bit as her board struck the rail, but the change in direction slowed her enough to regain control.
I've never liked those rails for that reason. Even a little bit too much speed can send you flying in an awkward direction.
She slid up and down the rail, flailing her arms just a bit to keep her balance. I barely had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief as her board returned to the ground. The next obstacle was a half-pipe that stretched at least a few meters high, and Raphtalia didn't have a lot of speed left to do much with it.
That apparently didn't scare her like it should have.
My teeth clamped down on my finger as I saw her glow with energy, crouching low and twisting her upper body. As her board slid up the half-pipe, her body shimmered with rainbow-like energy and she took off into a series of spins.
180, 360, 540, 720, 900!?
"YES! WOOOOOOOOOOO!"
A 1080! And she landed it perfectly! Whoever said that must be happy for her, just like me!
Oh wait, that was me. Whoops. Now the other competitors are staring. I coughed into my hand and let my eyes return to my girlfriend as she completed her final trick. A 360 spin with a single backflip and a clean landing marked the end of her first run.
I'd give it 100 points if I was a judge, but I'm extremely biased so it might not count. That's what a good boyfriend would do, right? Sue me.
Just kidding. Raphtalia would stab me if I cheated her way to victory like that. Then Sadeena would stab me, and Rifana would probably stab me multiple times. The first one would be for Raphtalia, and the rest would be just for the hell of it, I think.
Thoughts of being assaulted aside, it was definitely a solid run but nothing extraordinary. For her first run, I'm very proud of her for taking the slightly cautious route...most of the time. That spin off the half-pipe had me so terrified that I nearly bit through my glove.
My thumb hurts.
Now that the adrenaline and panic had worn off, I finally heard the crowd's response. Or rather, the lack of a crowd response. What's going on? They're all just staring at the-
Raphtalia: 69.2
My eyes widened. "Wait, what?..." I found myself mumbling. Why is nobody cheering? That's not even a bad score for the first round. I know it wasn't the flashiest performance, but to have nobody cheering her on? What gives?
"Ooo and it looks like the judges are giving Raphtalia a somewhat low score on that run. I'll admit that most of it was well-executed, but her performance was a bit on the plain side. Not bad for her first official run, but we'll see if this hurts her chances of making it into the final round," The announcer behind me said objectively, paying no attention to the silence around all of us.
Does nobody else see what's wrong here!?
"Hey. Stop freaking out."
I turned my head to look at a young man beside me, who flinched as soon as my eyes bored into him. Seeing this, I took a deep breath but failed to calm myself. "How am I supposed to stay calm when we all know that score isn't that bad!? Not a single person cheered for her!" I shouted.
He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know why you're so surprised. You do know what country we're in, don't you?"
My nostrils flared, sending small puffs of warm air over my lips. "But the queen-"
"-Can't control everything," the man cut me off, turning to look at the crowd. "She can promote equality all she wants, but she can't single-handedly change the mind of everyone in Melromarc. Get real." Only now did I see the black and white striped tail sticking out of his lower back. What is he, some kind of cat demi-human? How did I not notice him before?
His dismissive scoff made me want to slug him right in his face, but I held myself back. Getting violent wouldn't help anyone. I settled for clenching and unclenching my fists in order to burn off the anger. Once I'd calmed down, I turned to him again.
"So this is normal for demi-humans in these competitions? Absolutely no support whatsoever?"
He eyed me warily for a few moments before turning his eyes back to the slope and nodding. "Yeah. We're allowed to compete on equal terms, but that doesn't mean anyone has to cheer for us. It's always been like this, and it probably always will."
I could feel my frustration building in my knuckles. "You've got to be kidding me! That's so petty!"
"Hmph. You're not from around here, are you?" he asked, sending a thin smile my way. It vanished a moment later. "Feel free to be the only one to cheer for her, but you'll just put a target on your back. I tell my sister to stay home and watch me on TV instead of coming out here."
"Your sister?"
"You're on deck, Iwatani."
I didn't get a response from him since I was called over to the slope to wait for the next rider to finish before my turn. Arms crossed, I found my fingers tapping irritably against my bicep. Why the hell can't people just be normal!? What could have possibly happened in the past to make people like this!?
This is giving me flashbacks to the night I saved Raphtalia. If I wasn't pissed before, the memory of that night always manages to bring up those feelings. Are there really that many people in this country who hate demi-humans that badly? Why? What the hell did they ever do to earn that scorn?
Speaking of scorn, I hope that doctor from my first week is rotting in hell.
I just hope I don't start wishing the same of everyone else here.
The guy before me was done before I knew it, and the crowd cheered for him the way they'd cheered for everyone except Raphtalia. My face twisted into a scowl that I didn't bother to hide. They're not worth caring about; they're just trash masquerading as people.
There aren't even any demi-humans out in the crowd despite plenty of them being in town last night. Do they stay away from these types of things on purpose? I suppose that would make sense. The people who live up on this mountain may be a bit better when it comes to discrimination, but I guess that doesn't extend to all the fans who traveled to see the competition.
Plus, who knows if these people would get violent if demi-humans started cheering as loudly as the humans did for their competitors. I'm already worried that Raphtalia will get harassed at some point today just for being a demi-human. I should try not to bring any extra attention to her that might make things worse.
"Good luck." The cat demi-human from earlier was next in line after me, and he gave a lazy thumbs up. I barely managed to return the gesture with all the anger running through me right now.
At this rate, I might wind up doing something stupid.
Standing at the top of the slope would have normally brought a smile to my face, but the only thing I managed to feel was annoyance. Half of the fun in competing is the spirit of competition for me. I genuinely want to have everyone put their all into their performance and for me to still come out on top. Winning isn't anywhere near as important this time around thanks to Raphtalia, but I'm not going to half-ass my run just because I'd love for her to win.
She of all people would know if I intentionally let her win. Furious wouldn't even begin to describe her, no matter how hard it is for me to imagine an angry scowl on Raphtalia's beautiful face.
The man beside me gave a thumbs up to tell me I'm good to go. I pushed off with my back feet and began my run, wind whistling in my ears as I picked up speed. I'd already planned on using different obstacles than Raphtalia for the sake of diversity. It's subtle, but the judges would compare our performances side by side much more strictly if we try the exact same things.
Rather than veering off to either side, I chose to go straight down the middle toward the vehicle parked as an obstacle. It's a tricky one to use because there's barely any ramp to perform a trick off of, and the vehicle is oddly shaped to begin with. However, it lets me do a few interesting tricks that nobody has ever seen before.
Let's hope Raphtalia has a good camera.
I slowed my approach. As my board slid off the ramp, my body flipped forward and I reached out with my hands to touch the roof of the SUV. I allowed myself to handstand on the roof of the car for just a moment before bending my elbows and pushing off, finishing my front flip and doing a quick 180 spin in the process.
My landing was rough. I could feel the board pulling away from my back foot for a second, almost sending me tumbling to the ground. Next up is a decent-sized ramp; a good chance to add some magical flair.
"But how can healing and support magic be used for something flashy?" one might ask. Well I've found the perfect answer to that for anyone out there wondering.
They can't. A big ol' nada. Absolutely fucking nothing unless your definition of "magical flair" consists of making a person glow slightly green or blue.
Useless ass magic. Why couldn't I have been born with lightning magic or fire magic or anything else!?
Instead of having magic to rely on for bonus style points, my only option is to go nuts on the tricks. I imagine most competitors won't be able to use magic in the first place, so maybe it isn't a big loss, but anyone at the very top is going to be able to use it to their utmost advantage.
Good thing I'm not trying to compete for this world's equivalent of the Olympics or anything.
I lost a lot of speed from my last trick, so this one won't be very spectacular in comparison. With a twist, I bent backward and spun while hugging my knees to my chest for a Cannonball. The world spun around me until I counted two full rotations and I leveled out before my board hit the snow again.
One more obstacle stood in my way of seeing Raphtalia at the bottom of the hill: another ramp.
I picked up as much speed as I could before launching into the air, pulling the board back and to the side for my signature move: the Japan. I let myself slowly, agonizingly slowly spin through a single backflip while holding the trick. Every moment felt like it would end with my head slamming against the snow, but this is nothing I haven't done before. The world slowly rotating underneath you is misleading and you're much further from it than you think.
I released my board at the last moment and completed my flip, landing on the snow. The crowd went wild. There was a moment where I felt proud of myself for enjoying their cheers, but then I remembered how they refused to give the same courtesy to the person I care most about. Feeling vengeful, I decided to get a bit of payback.
Instead of slowing down gradually, I chose to wait until I was right in front of the crowd before harshly digging my heels into the snow, sending a massive cloud of freezing snow into their faces.
Their cheering immediately stopped when they saw that I wasn't smiling at them, but smirking. Serves them right. Most of the people who weren't caught in it didn't care and kept cheering, but at least my message was delivered, vague as it was. To be honest, my message might be lost and they might just think I'm an asshole.
Raphtalia screamed and cheered from her spot off to the side, still on the competitor's side of the banners and separated from the crowd. Smiling at her, I quickly unstrapped myself from my board and ran over to her for a hug.
She's warm. This is the only thing I could want after a good run.
"Naofumi, that was incredible! Holy- I mean, how do you even think of some of those things!? And it all looked so...so...wow!" she babbled a bit. I tightened my hug a bit and silenced her.
"I'm sorry."
"Wh-what? What do you mean?" she asked. Raphtalia pulled away and our eyes met. "If you're talking about the crowd, I already knew they'd be like that. You don't have to apologize for them."
I felt my brow furrow and it was suddenly hard to look her in the eyes. "I know, but- ack!"
I flinched as Raphtalia flicked the tip of my nose. When my eyes reopened, her smile was a bit more devious than I think I've ever seen it. It reminded me of the type of face Rifana or Sadeena would make when they're about to lay down some serious teasing. In other words, it looked dangerous.
She moved her face much closer to mine, almost making me take a reflexive step backward. "It just made it that much easier to hear you shouting. I liked it."
Is my face heating up? It is, isn't it?
With a pout, I scratched my warm cheek. "Heh, I-I guess so..." I muttered. Shit, did my voice just crack? What am I, twelve?
"And don't think I forgot what you said before I started my run, Nao-fu-mi," Raphtalia cooed as she traced a finger along my jawline in a teasing manner, each syllable of my name drawn out more sensually than I've ever heard it. Then she gently patted my cheek and turned away. "A-anyway! We should get back to the top for our next run, right? That other demi-human boy is up next."
Damn her, changing the subject so suddenly after saying such a thing! Sadeena must be a bad influence on her! I'll get that woman somehow!
Oh wait, is she blushing?...She is! I'm not the only one!
"Yeah, let's start heading back up."
People stared as we stepped over the banners and into the crowd before walking back up the hill. I made sure to hold Raphtalia's hand just in case someone got rowdy or something. With all these people busy staring at us instead of the guy starting his run, my danger senses are going off. They wouldn't dare attack us, though. We have giant security guards for that kind of thing.
Still, it only takes an instant for someone to get seriously hurt. Security can only react so quickly.
Raphtalia and I made small talk on our way back up the slope. "The judges sure are taking their time figuring out your score. What do you think is holding them up?" she asked. I shrugged, adjusting the board in my hand.
"No clue. My run wasn't that crazy, was it?"
"More than you think. I've watched slopestyle competitions for years and I don't think I've ever seen a run as unique as yours! How did you even manage to make such a huge spin after slowing down so much?"
"I don't know. I just sort of knew I could do it in the moment." I momentarily released Raphtalia's hand to scratch my chin. A young woman suddenly appeared in front of us at that moment, startling me enough to recoil backward.
That's dangerous! Don't just walk in front of people like that without warning!
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. "So Mr. Iwatani, this was your first official heat in today's competition and your first appearance in the competitive slopestyle. That was quite the performance you just put out! May I ask you a few questions about how you feel today?" she asked excitedly. Between the microphone in her hand and the cameraman behind her, it was obvious that she was a reporter of some kind.
Ugh, just leave me alone.
"E-excuse me?" she muttered in shock. Did I say that out loud? I sure didn't mean to, but it's too late now. May as well roll with it.
Shaking my head, I stepped around her. "Sorry. I don't do interviews," was all I said to justify my actions. It's not like I'm lying; I really do hate interviews. The questions they ask are always loaded to prompt a certain response, and most wind up digging into my personal life more than I'd like.
"Eh? B-but surely you have something to say after a run like that!" She stepped in front of us once more, the camera following her movement. "I won't take much of your time! Please! I was just blown away by your performance! You're a rookie and you come out with something like that!? People will be dying to know who you are!"
Her pleading eyes almost made me give in, but that was crushed when the cameraman moved far too close to my face. I grimaced and gently pushed the camera away. "No comment. And get this thing out of my face! Don't you see you're scaring my girlfriend?"
Dammit, I let that one slip. I was hoping to keep our relationship a secret from the media, but I guess I went and mucked that one up right from the get go.
"Please, Mr. Iwatani! Just a few words about yourself, please!" she begged. I narrowed my eyes at her, hopefully scaring her in the process. I've been told before that my eyes can be frightening, and for once I'm actually thankful for it. The girl recoiled in shock.
"C'mon Raphtalia, let's go," I said, tugging on Raphtalia's hand.
"O-oh, right."
My teeth grinded together as the reporter let us leave. Why am I so frustrated? All she wanted was to ask a question or two then move on, but something about her annoyed the hell out of me.
"N-Naofumi? Is there something wrong?" Raphtalia's voice made me realize it. I'm not annoyed by the reporter asking me questions; I'm annoyed because she didn't even bother to acknowledge Raphtalia, who also just made her first run ever. Even after I pointed her out, the reporter ignored her entirely as if she didn't exist.
Looks like I found yet another racist. Either that, or the news station she works for wouldn't want her to interview a demi-human.
Ugh...Maybe I was a little too tough on her personally.
I shook my head and forced myself to smile at her. "It's...it's nothing. I'm just being reminded of how different this world is from mine, in some not-so-pleasant ways."
Raphtalia squeezed my hand with her ears flattened against her head. "You really don't need to worry about me, you know. It's fine! I'll just focus on me and what I can do, just like you said. So don't ruin your own reputation for my sake. Please?" she asked, stopping me in my tracks with a frown.
"But-"
"Please."
"But I really don't like interviews anyway-"
"Naofumi," Raphtalia's voice picked up a threatening tone. "Promise me you won't lash out at people just because they ignore me. I'd rather be ignored than attacked. At least I'm safe."
I barely managed to hold my ground against her for a few seconds. Those tea-colored eyes of hers and the angry wagging of her tail made it impossible to win, but I probably wasn't fighting to win to begin with. I just want what's best for her, and if she wants me to act as normally as possible, I will.
"As long as nobody starts talking shit about you, I'll...try... to be nice," I said with a pout. My eyes naturally wandered away from her, but I could still see Raphtalia's unamused, flat look out of my peripherals. "I just want to keep you safe. I'm not used to seeing people be so...straightforward with this type of thing, so it puts me on edge all the time. I feel like everyone is an instant away from pulling out a knife or something."
Raphtalia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed loudly. "You know as well as I do that the security guards checked everyone for weapons on the way in. And if someone did try to start a fight, the guards would be on them in an instant. Her Majesty doubled down on security for the event today, remember?"
Oh, I remember all right. The four of us in the Squad had to check with Aultcray before doing anything for the event. Our visit to his office was far from pleasant. The entire time, Mirellia was busy threatening people phone call after phone call to get more guards for the event. Apparently a bunch of them were...unaccounted for.
That usually means that they either drank too much after the concert last night, or they overslept. With a client like the queen, I imagine they won't get away with it.
"Yeah, but still...I'm just worried," I muttered as we continued up the mountain. All of a sudden, the massive board lit up with a new set of numbers.
Naofumi Iwatani: 82.8
Fohl: 79.5
"It looks like I did pretty well for my first run. Not bad at all," I noted. Raphtalia's jaw dropped at my score.
"Pretty well!? Naofumi, you got the top score in the first run! That Fohl person is the only one close to your score!" she said excitedly before her brow furrowed. "Why have I never heard of him before, though? Is he new, just like us?"
I raised an eyebrow. "He said demi-humans don't get any exposure here at all. It's possible that he's been around for a long time but nobody knows his name."
"You've talked to him?"
"More like he talked to me. I may have gotten a little, uhh...heated... when nobody cheered for you..."
"So he kept you out of trouble, is that it?" Raphtalia's tone was flat again.
"Y-yeah..."
"Hmm. I'll have to thank him if I ever talk to him, then."
That was all Raphtalia had to say on the matter. I would have thought she'd want to talk with the guy since they're the only demi-humans in the competition, but she seemed completely disinterested. Maybe "not being human" isn't enough of a similarity to warrant a connection of any kind. By the time we reached the top of the hill, the last four competitors had already finished their run.
A short intermission followed before the second heat of the competition. Without a lot of time to rest, we didn't do much other than sit down on a bench and relax. We'd have something to watch once the second round began, so the few minutes of rest gave me time to think a little. My mind wandered to my various...friends? Do I consider them friends?
I guess I do.
I know Itsuki said he's competing in a slalom race on the other end of the slopes, but where are Ren and Motoyasu? I thought at least one of them was planning on competing today.
I hate to admit that I was hoping to see them show off a little. Aside from our first few days here, I never got the chance to see what they're capable of. Did something happen? For one of them it might be believable, but both of them? The stars must be out of alignment or something today.
Motoyasu might be with that orange haired girl or maybe even Sadeena for all I know. The man's escapades are such a complicated mess now that he's got multiple women in the mix that I don't bother to keep up with the details anymore. I'm surprised he hasn't taken a chill pill since the whole debacle with Malty getting suplexed by Sadeena. I still can't believe that even happened, to be honest.
I'll be genuinely shocked if the guy ever manages to settle down. Maybe he's just born for a life of chaos.
Itsuki is already accounted for, so that leaves Ren as the enigma. Where in the world is he? Wasn't he signed up to compete in this same slopestyle competition as me? Not to mention how strange he's been acting as of late. Every day he seems to be in such a rush to be somewhere as if his life is on the line.
Maybe his life is on the line? I really should be a better friend and ask just in case he's being threatened or something. I sent him a quick text to make sure he's still alive.
Time passed in relative silence up until Raphtalia's name was called. Her second run was much better than her first one in pretty much every way. She chose to jump over the SUV just like I had on my first run, but instead of a handstand she simply did a double backflip over it. It was impressive considering how tiny the ramp before the vehicle is, and I couldn't help but clap for her despite nobody else doing the same.
I didn't care if I was the only one. I'll cheer on my girlfriend because I want her to succeed.
After she stuck the landing, she quickly hopped her board onto a table and grinded. Midway through, she hopped and spun in a 180 before landing again, hopping again and doing another 180 spin to reset back to her original position before landing back on the snow. It was a simple trick that nobody had done yet today, so that usually nets some bonus points from the judges.
Her final trick was something that nearly made me shout and cheer again. Once again choosing the large ramp at the end, Raphtalia exploded into a shower of rainbows using her magic. Along with that, she managed to pull off a 720 spin along with a single frontflip and some kind of grab that I couldn't see because of all the rainbows and spinning. Either way, it was captivating to watch.
During the intermission, she'd mentioned how she was creating an illusion using a combination of light and shadow magic. I couldn't really wrap my head around the tiny details that went into creating what she wanted, but Raphtalia was basically capable of manipulating lights and shadows to create whatever effect she desired.
It's like being able to add color filters and after-effects to an image on your phone, but way more complex. Plus, she has to hold the magic while doing tricks in midair. It sounds really difficult to pull off, but if she improves her magic as quickly as she's improved her snowboarding skills, Raphtalia will wind up being one heck of a competitor. Her magic is unusually well-suited for performances like this.
Unlike my stupid magic. I feel like healing wounds and strengthening bodies is as practical as magic can get, but it doesn't make you go "Wow!" Okay maybe it does, just not in this context. Most people would be amazed if I fixed a broken leg with a few minutes of effort.
I'm just a little bitter, okay? Okay.
My second run wasn't anything to scoff at either. Since I went for shock value on my first run, I focused on pure difficulty with my tricks this time. I'll spare the details, but I may or may not have...bent the rules a tiny bit ahead of time. Nobody would ever notice the bit of extra life force floating inside of my body and giving me the reaction time to know if I'd faceplant into the ground on a hard trick, so I don't think I'm cheating too badly.
I'm sure Raphtalia would agree with me. Yup, definitely.
She wouldn't be suspicious about me managing to land a 1800 spin on the last jump because of it.
Nope, definitely not.
Regardless, the crowd absolutely lost their minds. Raphtalia was visibly shaking when I first walked up to her, looking as if she'd seen some kind of god in the flesh. I'd decided to be a bit playful and blew a bit of air into her ear.
It flicked my nose. It was really soft. How is it possible for it to be so soft?
On our way back up the hill, the reporters were twice as aggressive as before. The girl from earlier was persistent, I'll give her that. Despite my resistance earlier, she continued to follow us and ask me questions. I almost wanted her to start trying to question Raphtalia, if only to get her attention off of me for a few seconds. It was literally suffocating.
And that was just her. There were three other reporters and cameramen stalking me everywhere I went, it felt. It was never this bad in Japan! What the hell, people!?
Thankfully I withheld any scathing comments this time, though I did have to push a microphone away from my face once or twice.
Raphtalia and I decided to burn some time before the third and final heat. With nowhere in mind, we found ourselves stopping by a small cabin that sold food and drinks. It was conveniently located on the very edge of downtown, with benches and little umbrellas set up outside so customers could watch the competition while eating.
"I still can't believe you scored an 85.2," Raphtalia said as she sipped on a milkshake. I could see the slightest trace of a pout on her lips as they sucked the drink through her straw. "I can barely imagine landing a 1080, let alone an 1800. How'd you even do that, anyway?"
I could feel a bead of sweat slide between my shoulder blades. With a nervous chuckle, I took a sip of my hot chocolate. Its warmth made me sigh happily before turning to Raphtalia's impatient gaze. "I just made a good jump, that's all. I stretched really well so I didn't hurt my back from twisting so much, but I'm just as surprised as you. I didn't think I'd land it. It just sort of...happened."
She slapped my shoulder. "Like I'd believe that for a second. You're such a bad liar! You don't just somehow pull off five full spins in midair! You have to have some kind of secret!" She playfully slapped my shoulder again and again.
"Enough already! I don't have a secret! Cut that out!" I said in between laughs, shielding myself with my free hand. Raphtalia kept trying to slap my arm and I repeatedly tried to deflect it with mine. In the end, we wound up basically playing a game of patty-cake like children. Still, we both were laughing by the end. We can look as stupid or childish as we want.
We're in love. Love makes you do stupid things, or so I've heard.
"Excuse me!"
Raphtalia and I stopped our flirting at the sound of a girl's voice nearby. A girl with white and black hair and a striped tail stood in front of us, eyes closed. I looked behind me just to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else.
"Yes, you! You're Naofumi Iwatani, aren't you? The one competing against my brother?" she asked, hands poised on her hips. She looked to be maybe 16 or 17 years old at most, with a small body in pretty much every sense of the word.
Raphtalia cleared her throat. "This is him, yes. Your brother must be...what was it? Fohl?" she asked, tail flicking behind her and occasionally swiping across my leg.
The girl hummed and nodded. "That's right. And you must be Raphtalia!"
"That's me. Can we help you?"
"Hmph! He's too good for you!" the girl announced loudly, tail flicking back and forth behind her.
...
"You wanna run that by me again, little girl?" I found myself saying with zero hesitation. Both the girl and Raphtalia flinched at my tone but I continued. "I don't know what you're talking about. She's not good enough for me? I'm inclined to say it's quite the opposite, but you don't know the first thing about either of us. You're in no position to say anything on the matter."
"But she's average! She can't do any of those impressive tricks you can do! She's no match for you, so why are you hanging out with her!?" the girl cried in response. Wait a minute...
That's what she's talking about?
"Excuse me, but what in the world are you talking about?" Raphtalia asked with her ears pinned backward. "If you must know, I've only been snowboarding for a few months. Naofumi has been teaching me, so I'm obviously not even close to his level yet. And the reason we hang out together is because we're dating."
"But you'll get there soon," I said.
"Oh hush."
"AHEM! So if he's teaching you to get better, why is he competing against you? Only one of you can win, you know!" the girl said. Only now did I notice that her eyes hadn't opened once this entire time. Is she...blind? But there's no way! How could she see everything going on if she can't see?
Actually, if she's blind, shouldn't she have someone helping her get around? There's a lot of people that she could bump into. That's dangerous!
Raphtalia let one hand rest on top of my knee. "Naofumi may be my boyfriend, but he also enjoys competing in these sorts of things. It'd be selfish of me to ask him to quit just because I want to win. Besides, I think it's fun to know who I'm up against." She smirked in my direction, and I huffed in response.
Still, the slight pulling at my cheeks told me I'm smiling.
"That doesn't make any sense!" the girl replied with a pout. "If he really cared about you, he would let you win-"
A voice cut her off. "Atla? Atla! Where are you? Atla, there you are! I told you to stay put so I know where you- AGH!"
The boy from earlier, Fohl, ran up to the girl and was immediately jabbed in the stomach. He crumpled to the snow and groaned in pain. Ouch...talk about a way to greet someone.
"And I told you that I don't need your babying, Brother! I can handle myself just fine and you know it!" the girl said with a huff. "You should focus on preparing for your final run. Unless, of course, you'd prefer to lose to Mr. Naofumi for a third time today."
Hey, don't drag me into this!
"Nao...you! What have you done to my sister!?" Fohl was still clutching his stomach as he pointed accusingly at me. I held my hands up in surrender.
"I have done absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."
"Naofumi, please choose your words better," Raphtalia said with a sigh. "You must be Fohl, right? I wish I could have seen your runs from a better angle. Oh, and you have my thanks for keeping my boyfriend on a leash. He's...not from around Melromarc, so he doesn't understand how these things go for us demi-humans."
The boy's tail lashed angrily for a few seconds before his eyes softened. He crossed his arms and looked away. "Yeah, well...you're welcome. It's rare to see anybody care about how we do at these competitions, so it threw me for a loop," he said before looking down at his sister. "And you! Why are you out here bothering people?"
The girl named Atla shrugged. "Am I not allowed to walk around on my own?"
"You're blind, Atla."
"That's never stopped me before, Brother. You know I can see just as well as any of you."
"Yeah, but...ugh, fine. Let's just go get something to eat, somewhere else," Fohl said as he tugged his unwilling sister along. He was easily a head or two taller than her, so it almost looked like a parent dragging his child along after she did something bad. It's ironic, really. Based on their interaction, it's almost like she's the one keeping him in line rather than the other way around.
"They're an interesting bunch," I muttered, going back to sipping my drink. Raphtalia hummed. "I don't think that Fohl kid likes me very much. Did I do something wrong?"
She shrugged. "Maybe he's just competitive? You're the only one beating him, after all. It's possible he sees you as some kind of rival."
"I don't know how I feel about that."
"I don't think you have much of a choice in how he feels."
"Don't make it sound like he has some kind of man-crush on me."
"Even if he does, he'll have to fight me for you," Raphtalia said with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure I've got him beaten in the looks department, don't you think?" I groaned and rolled my eyes theatrically, making her giggle. She took that joke way too far, but ended it in a sappy lovey kind of way. It made me want to curl up and die from sweetness overload.
"So what do you think about the whole "I'm blind but I can still see" thing she had going on?" I asked, trying my best to change topics. Raphtalia thought for a few seconds while slurping down her milkshake. The whipped cream on top was pretty much all that was left, and she coughed as the intense sweetness hit her full-force.
I patted her back once to help, and she smiled in thanks. "I'm not completely sure, to be honest. She didn't seem like she had any issues moving around. Maybe she has some kind of magic that lets her see?"
"Magic eyesight? Now that sounds like something out of a fairy tale," I mumbled to myself. "Speaking of magic, I guess mine is pretty useless for this kind of thing."
She leaned back on the bench, letting her tail drape over her lap. "Maybe, but it's useful for all sorts of things. You're good enough at snowboarding that you don't really need magic for it."
I rolled my eyes. "And yet you can literally make rainbows fly out of you whenever you want. Just try to tell me that's fair."
"We will begin the final round shortly. All competitors, please return to the stand." The announcer's voice echoed over the loudspeaker, summoning us back to the course to wait for our final run. Raphtalia and I shared a nod before tossing our cups into the waste bin and grabbing our boards.
When we arrived, Fohl gave me an angry look. Seriously, did I do something wrong? It's not like I attacked his sister or anything.
The first batch of riders completed their final runs. The one who set his board on fire in the first round decided to create a ring of flames to jump through on his last jump. It was impressive, and he managed to land his trick with no problem. Another competitor landed sideways and lost control of his board. His ankle looked to be in really bad shape.
I would have helped if they'd let me down there, but the paramedics will take care of it. It's their job, after all. Besides, I'm not exactly trained for fixing broken bones. I'm trained on how to create a makeshift splint and everything, but not fixing the bone itself.
Fixing Kizuna's leg was a stroke of luck on my part. Thank goodness I didn't screw that up.
Raphtalia gently poked my cheek before she got ready for her final run of the day. "You'd better keep your eyes on me, Naofumi. I'm about to show you everything I've got," she said. Something about her confident smirk made my cheeks heat up.
"As if they aren't glued to you all the time," I fired back, earning a kiss on the cheek.
"Good. I like it that way." With that, Raphtalia turned and walked over to the slope to wait her turn. After a few minutes she was given the OK and began her final run.
It was nothing short of spectacular.
Between a triple front flip on the first jump, a center grab while grinding on a rail, and a 1200 Indy with one fist raised into the air the whole time, I was in awe. I didn't care who was listening. I cheered and clapped my heart out. It made me happy to see how far she's come for her dreams.
Maybe nobody else here believes she can, but I really do think she could do this kind of thing professionally if she practiced enough. And to think, only a few months ago she could barely stand up straight on a snowboard. Now she's competing on a level not far from mine.
I've snowboarded for nearly seven years, three of which I did competitively. Her progress is actually frightening.
If I can do anything for her, it'll be to give her the best shot at doing something she loves. Whether that's being a teacher or someone to strive to beat, I'll be that person.
I waited anxiously for her score to appear. How would the judges respond to her only run without magic? Will they think she was focusing on her trick, or will they think she ran out of ideas for using magic? Will the effect be positive or negative?
The use of magic is such a strange thing to be graded on since it only affects the overall style of the performance, which is 40% of the score. 60% of it is based purely on the tricks performed and how well the rider nails each one. I imagine it's possible for magic to actually take away from someone's score if it adds nothing to the performance or just looks plain bad.
Maybe not being able to use magic for this isn't such a bad thing, after all? Only a few people here could use it in the first place. Finally, after several minutes of deliberation, the judges posted Raphtalia's final score to the top of the board.
Raphtalia: 79.9
The moment my eyes laid upon those numbers, I closed them and let go of a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. That kind of score is absolutely something to be proud of. Raphtalia managed to wow the judges more and more with each run, which isn't always easy to do. You only get three chances to show them what you've got. Each one needs to be both unique and well-executed to actually get a good score.
The fact that she never fell once is what I'm happiest about. No matter what she did, Raphtalia did it well. As the person who taught her, she definitely made me proud.
I found it difficult to focus on the riders ahead of me because I was too busy thinking of Raphtalia. She probably won't win since I'm here, but she might make it into 3rd place with a score like that. That'd be pretty amazing for her first competition. I don't think she's prideful enough to get upset at not winning 1st place.
More importantly, she's bound to attract some attention from sponsors if she manages to make it into the top 3 on her first competition ever. Those sponsors look for talent globally, from what I was told, so it doesn't matter if she's a demi-human in Melromarc. She'll manage to get noticed one way or another.
I'm excited for her to finally achieve something big for herself after so long.
"Go! Go! Naofumi! Do your best! Naofumi!"
"E-eh!? Sister, what are you saying!?"
I turned to see the little girl from earlier cheering for me despite it not even being my turn. She waved and smiled when I noticed her. Maybe that thing about her being able to see with her eyes closed is true, after all. With one eyebrow raised, I hesitantly waved back at her and her cheering got twice as enthusiastic
Fohl wasn't having any of it.
"Sister, be quiet! And why aren't you cheering for me instead!? You don't even know him!" he whined, sounding more like a neglected child than an older brother.
Atla's tail was like a propeller, flicking back and forth so quickly that I worried she'd hurt someone's leg beside her. Luckily, the humans in the crowd gave her a pretty wide berth. As one of the only demi-humans in the audience, she stuck out like a sore thumb. If that wasn't enough, her obnoxious cheering certainly made her stick out.
It's endearing but also a little strange. The feeling of having a younger sister there to cheer you on is a bit different when it's not your sister doing the cheering for you. Add onto that the fact that her actual brother is right here, glaring at me and tail fluffed up in anger, and you get a recipe for one really weird situation.
I want to hurry up and get out there to finish this. I have just the plan for my last run, with no possible rule-bending included.
The wait wouldn't have been so bad without Atla causing a scene nearby. I would have turned to her brother and pleaded with him to make her stop, but I seriously doubt he has any control over her whatsoever. She would just ignore him. I tried my best to zone out so I didn't have to hear her anymore.
Before long, Fohl tapped me on the shoulder. "You're up again."
"Thanks." I breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully he understands that I'm thanking him not just for shaking me from my thoughts, but also for reminding me that I can escape from his wacky sister sooner if I get a move on. Too bad there isn't telepathy magic, otherwise I'd totally try to learn that for awkward situations like these.
I'm sure Ren would appreciate having an emergency voice that can talk to him in his head sometimes. Speaking of which, where in the world is he? He still hasn't responded to my message from earlier.
A few stretches at the top of the slope helped me clear away the irrelevant thoughts. As the frontrunner of the competition, the crowd is either watching to see me succeed or hoping that I screw up big time. I can still hear Atla screeching over the rest of the crowd, but I forced her voice to blend in with everyone else's.
This is it.
With this final run, I'll give it everything I've got.
The man to my right gave me a wave before I took off to the roaring sounds of the crowd. Even the whistling of the wind didn't drown it out this time. I stuck with the SUV for the first section, leaping forward and spinning while upside down before landing. Thankfully I judged my jump height just right; helmet grazing the roof of the SUV as I spun.
It wasn't perfect, though. My board dug awkwardly into the snow on my landing and I nearly lost control. My 720 spin wound up being more like a 660 spin with some of it being finished on the ground. In other words, it was sloppy but at least I didn't wipe out.
Not wasting any time, I slid to the dual rails that Raphtalia had chosen on her first run. They make me nervous because of the way they're sloped, but I managed to nail the trick I'd been planning in my head. It was more of a skateboard trick that I'd picked up from internet videos but it translated surprisingly well to snowboarding.
I dug my back foot into the rail and lifted my front foot as soon as I hit the metal rail, doing a tail grind up the slope. My heart leapt into my chest as I hopped, switching from a tail grind into a nose grind by pressing only the front of my board onto the rail on the way down. I leveled off just before my board cut into the snow once again with no issues on the landing.
My face feels hot even though it's ice cold from the frigid wind cutting it like a blade. The adrenaline of the moment nearly made me slow down to admire my surroundings, but I managed to stay focused long enough to swerve toward my third and final obstacle of the day: the half-pipe.
With as much speed as I could manage to get before liftoff, I bent my knees and twisted my upper body before going vertical. The pull of gravity felt non-existent for a few seconds as I spun and flipped with my body hunched as close to my board as possible for minimum drag. I'd originally planned on a 1080 spin with a double backflip and a grab, but found that I'd spun much too hard for this trick.
I'm not going to land it! I've lost count of my rotations!
I panicked as the world spun wildly before my eyes, unable to fully grasp how far I am from hitting the ground. At any moment I could strike the ground, breaking whatever body part I'm unfortunate enough to land on. My helmet is protecting my head, but it can only do so much. The chance of death is small but suddenly felt way too big.
In the end, I just kept spinning and flipping until my feet hit the ground once more.
For a moment, I couldn't believe what had happened. Only an instant earlier I was wondering if I'd die, and now I'm slowly drifting down the final slope at the end of the run.
A loud ringing noise echoed in my ears as if someone cranked a guitar amp up to 11 right next to my head and blasted a note. My vision blurred, the members of the crowd merging with one another then separating over and over. The colors of their outfits painted an abstract picture whose constant motion made me feel like I was going to vomit.
I could barely feel my legs. There was only the bare minimum amount of feedback coming from my nerves, telling me that I was still slowly sliding along the snow toward the end of the slope. I blinked, recovering a bit of clarity and remembering to slow to a stop. The ringing in my ears subsided just enough for me to hear the roar of the crowd. And with it came a nauseating realization.
For the first time in years, I was afraid of snowboarding.
It's a feeling that every beginner feels the first time they try something new. The excitement of succeeding tempered by the pessimism of possibly injuring yourself. It's something I haven't felt in a long time, too used to counting my rotations and flips to make sure I don't fall. Years of experience and countless mistakes forced me to build those mental walls as sturdy as I could make them.
Having those walls suddenly broken in midair was frightening. The fact that I managed to land was nothing short of a miracle.
As the adrenaline wore off and my senses returned to me, I forced myself to breathe slowly. Once I regained clarity I unstrapped my board and walked over to Raphtalia who was busy screaming like a fangirl at a concert. Normally that type of behavior would have put me off, but I found myself smiling at her.
She crushed me in a hug as soon as she could. "Naofumi, that was...! That was...! I mean just...wow!" Raphtalia babbled, unable to find the words to express how she felt. I couldn't help but chuckle since I felt the same way.
It really was incredible, but it sure didn't feel as incredible to me. I focused instead on hugging her, enjoying her warmth for all that it was worth. Loosening my grip let me look her in the eyes.
"Raphtalia, please remind me never to do that again."
"E-eh? What do you mean?" she asked, eyes widened in shock. "Is something wrong? What happened? Did-" I cut her off with another hug, tighter than the last one. All those people who say they can die happy after hugging their loved one are full of garbage.
I want to feel this way forever. Why would I want to die happy when I could live even happier?
"Just...I wasn't thinking clearly at the end. I lost control and got scared."
She cupped my face with her hand. "You were scared? What do you mean you lost control?"
I shook my head but didn't pull away from her touch. "I forgot to count my spins and flips. Everything just blurred together and I thought I was going to wipe out. I haven't felt that way in a really long time, Raphtalia."
"Oh..." she muttered, pulling my head closer and planting a peck on my cheek. My skin felt so much warmer there than it had a moment ago. "But you managed to pull it off, so it's all right, right? You don't need to be scared anymore."
I sighed and leaned into her, letting my snowboard fall from my hand in favor of using it to hug her again. "Don't ever do what I just did, please. That was reckless and dangerous," I muttered into her hair.
She shook her head and giggled. "Don't worry. I don't think I'll ever manage to do something like that in my lifetime. You're a special kind of crazy for even trying that."
Maybe I am a special kind of crazy, but I think I can live with that.
The rest of the competitors finished up their final runs and the award ceremony began. Much to my annoyance, I'd only gotten the chance to see the very end of Fohl's final run. But what little I saw was impressive. He's beyond skilled, bordering on what the kids may call "insane". I only wished I could have seen the rest of what he can do.
"We will now announce the final scores!" the announcer said into a microphone. He walked between the judges at another table to collect their final answers before standing in front of the podium. "In third place, with an overall score of 76.0, Raphtalia!"
My eyes lit up as Raphtalia's name was called. We shared only a moment's glance before I buried her in my arms and lifted her up, much to her annoyance. This hug was probably tighter than any I'd ever given someone in my entire life, but I'd probably never been so excited for someone else's sake before. It makes sense that I'd be happy.
"Naofumi..! Can't...breathe...!"
I don't care! I'm just so proud of you!
"Naofumi, seriously! Let go! I need to go up there!" Raphtalia's complaints finally made me relent, lowering her to the ground. She turned and jogged over to the podium to stand on the #3 spot. I quickly took out my phone and snapped a picture of her bashful smile before it vanished. The way her cheeks got even redder when she noticed my phone pointed at her made her that much cuter.
Even though the number of people clapping for her was minimal, it was better than nothing. That's more than I expected from a crowd of humans in Melromarc.
"In second place, with an overall score of 80.0, Fohl!"
The announcer's voice rang out once more, and the white-haired demi-human walked to stand on the podium on the #2 spot. He looked unhappy for some reason. His sister was cheering for him, though, which is a step up from earlier. Maybe their sibling relationship is better than I thought?
"And finally, in first place with an incredible score of 84.9, NAOFUMI IWATANI!"
The crowd erupted into cheers around me, some people patting me on the shoulder or grabbing at my clothes. I quickly walked up to the podium to escape them and stepped up to the #1 spot at the top.
"GO MR. NAOFUMI! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Atla screamed from directly in front of us. My eyes twitched. Why can't that girl just cheer for her brother and be done with it!? Why does she have to cause problems that don't need to be problems!?
"It seems like you have a secret admirer, Naofumi." Raphtalia's amused tone was not lost on me. She's enjoying this, isn't she!? Isn't that supposed to be a bad thing!?
"You'd better keep your hands off my sister," Fohl said through grinding teeth. "Just because you won, doesn't mean you're good enough for her!"
"Relax! I have absolutely no intention of doing anything with your sister! Raphtalia and I are dating!" I pleaded, trying to calm him down. However, Atla's cheering eventually turned into a chant that echoed throughout the crowd with her as the leader. She would say something and the crowd would echo it a moment later.
It was such a nightmare that I hid my face behind my hand.
Raphtalia patted me on the back from my right side. "Oh, don't be so upset. I knew you'd have a fanclub one day, but I didn't think they'd be so...enthusiastic," she said with a sheepish chuckle.
"Raphtalia?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"Aww, I love you too, but save it for when we get back to your room."
I don't know why I said it, but I felt like it needed to be said at that moment. I don't think Raphtalia would suspect me of ever cheating on her with literally anyone in the crowd, but I wanted to reassure her - and myself - just to be safe. It was nice to be able to say such a thing so brazenly in front of other people.
After a short delay for clapping, the announcer came and placed a medal around each of our necks. The gold medal around my neck was obviously not real, or at least I think it wasn't. I'd never seen a genuine gold medal before in my life, so maybe it was. Regardless, the cameramen snapped a billion photos of the three of us before we were allowed to leave.
We had to fight through so many reporters on our way back to downtown for dinner that I almost started running away from them. It took Raphtalia's puppy-dog eyes to get me to answer two questions from each reporter so they'd leave me alone. Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy their curiosity. The crowd felt a lot less suffocating without the cameras and microphones in my face.
Raphtalia and I got food at the cafe to celebrate, though it was too crowded to say hello to anyone we knew. Rifana, Wyndia, and a few girls I didn't recognize scurried around the cafe taking food orders and refilling drinks. With a warm meal in our bellies and medals around our necks, we retired to my room to relax.
I ripped off my hat and shook out my hair once we entered building 301. "Whew...thank goodness that's over," I muttered. "I'll be happy when I never have to answer questions in front of a camera again."
Raphtalia giggled as she brushed a bit of snow out of her tail using her hand. "If you keep doing what you did today, you won't get away from them anytime soon."
"Then maybe I should stop."
"And do what? You'd be bored without snowboarding." She eyed me curiously. "Or...are you still worried about what happened?"
I shook my head. "No, not too much. It was a rookie mistake, but that type of thing happens to people, I guess. I just need to be way more careful in the future." We walked up the stairs and I swiped my key to enter my room. It was clean, with no clothes or trash lying about.
Suddenly feeling exhausted, I barely managed to untie my boots before ripping them off and flopping onto my bed. Raphtalia joined me a few seconds later, moaning in delight as the soft sheets caressed her body. "Ohhh...this feels nice..." she drawled.
"Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh..."
Now that we were alone, I was suddenly assaulted by the thought of what I'd offered earlier. My face burned as I remembered the way I whispered in her ear.
"If you want, we can celebrate later with...that. We have everything we need."
I buried my face further into my sheets in the hopes that she couldn't see it. How could I suggest such a thing!? It sounded sexy at the time, but now it just feels stressful! My heart won't stop pounding in my eardrums! Is this what it's like every time!? Or just the first time!?
Or am I just going crazy!? I don't know anymore!
"Hey, Naofumi?"
"Y-yeah?"
Raphtalia's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts, and her body shuffled a bit before sliding beside mine. Her arms wrapped loosely around me and her face drifted closer to me before her lips captured mine.
This is all so sudden! I'm not mentally prepared for this yet!
Still, I did my best to kiss her as passionately as I could. My stomach was doing flip flops and it had nothing to do with the steak I'd eaten earlier. Raphtalia rolled herself on top of me, and my hands found themselves snaked around her waist in a loose embrace. For several minutes our lips joined and broke apart just long enough for us to catch our breath before diving back in.
It was, in a word, exhilarating.
If I said I was thinking clearly right now, I'd be the worst liar in the history of liars. There's been a lot of liars throughout history.
I felt a pressure in my pants and decided that it was do or die time. Now or never, as they say. But still, something about it felt rushed. Isn't the first time supposed to be romantic? Is this what people consider romantic? The porn videos don't show this type of thing, so I have absolutely no idea whether this is how things are supposed to go.
"N-Naofumi?..." Raphtalia's voice was more akin to a breath with my name on it, and that made the pressure in my lower half worse. I'm fairly certain she could feel it at this point, especially since her cheeks were horribly flushed.
"Yeah?..."
"Can we...um..." she mumbled a few things under her breath and looked away from me. Hold on a minute, is that a bad thing? What went wrong? I thought everything was going fine! Sort of! "Can we not do...um...that, tonight? I-I know we've been together for a while now, and I know you might be waiting for it, but-"
I silenced her with one last kiss that made her eyes widen like saucers. When we broke apart, I cupped her face with one hand while the other held her on top of me at the waist. "Raphtalia...I was thinking the same thing," I admitted with a blush that I just knew was there. "It feels...I dunno...too sudden? Not the right time? I- jeez, I have no idea what I'm even saying anymore."
I shook my head and took a deep breath but Raphtalia stole it with another kiss that I wasn't expecting. She smiled down at me with a blush, looking equal parts beautiful and adorable and sexy and - I'm babbling mentally, aren't I?
"Thank you...for understanding," she said as she slid off of me and hugged me from the side. I turned to my side and hugged her with both arms, enjoying the way her ears tickled the sides of my face from below.
"I love you," I muttered into her hair. She giggled and her arms squeezed me tighter for a moment.
"I love you too. I...I think we'll know when it's time to take the next step, but tonight doesn't feel right. Besides, I'm exhausted." Raphtalia let out a deep breath and slumped into me. "I knew today would be rough, but I wasn't expecting to feel this tired afterward. I only actually did things for a few minutes!"
I chuckled. "There's a lot of excitement on days like these, and it wears you out really fast. I'm proud of you for making it into the top three today, seriously. You really impressed me."
She looked up at me for a moment with a tired smile before happily burying her face into my chest. "I wouldn't have made it here without you, you know," she said, voice muffled by my clothes.
"Maybe, but you made the most of what I gave you. That deserves praise, don't you think?"
"Hmm, maybe."
We stayed like that for a few minutes, tangled in each other's arms. These moments are rare because of how busy our lives are, but they're so, so worth it. I want to fall asleep like this, but we need to change out of these wet clothes beforehand. But I feel so perfect right now...
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!
My phone buzzed in my pocket, yanking me from the vestiges of dreamland and back into reality. Reality at the moment isn't so much worse than dreamland, but still. I pulled it out and checked to see messages from Motoyasu and Itsuki, mostly congratulating me on winning 1st place today. Motoyasu had attached a picture of me that he'd seen on TV, doing the handstand on the SUV from the second round. It was a great picture, I had to admit.
I'd asked both of them to try to find Ren, and apparently Itsuki had seen him with Wyndia at some point earlier this he was with Wyndia? That seems odd; I thought the last time they were together he'd blown up at her?
I decided to get to the bottom of it. "Hey Raphtalia, can you text Wyndia for me?"
She groaned a bit since I'd apparently woken her up. "Huh? Why?" she tiredly mumbled.
"I haven't heard anything from Ren all day, and apparently Itsuki saw him with Wyndia earlier. He hasn't responded to any of my texts all day."
"Eh? All right then." She dug into her pockets and retrieved her phone before typing a message away and sending it. I sent Ren another message just in case, but wasn't really expecting a response anymore.
Twenty minutes passed, then thirty, and finally a full hour passed and the night had already begun to fall.
"Okay, where the hell are they? Neither one of them are answering the dang phone!" I angrily muttered. "I know Wyndia was at the cafe earlier, but shouldn't she be done by now?"
Raphtalia nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting a bit worried about them myself. Should we check Ren's room just in case? Maybe he got drunk and fell asleep or something."
"I guess..." I said, unconvinced. Ren didn't seem like the type to get plastered for no reason. Unless there was a reason and he really was shitfaced in his room all day. Oh well, no harm in checking on him, I guess.
We walked up to the next floor where Ren's room is and knocked on his door. Whatever was going on in there stopped the second I did, like he turned off the TV or something. "Ren, are you there? You haven't texted me back all day so I came to check on you. You okay?" I called out.
"N-Naofumi? Wh-wh-what are you-" came Ren's voice, followed by hushed whispers. Raphtalia and I shared a confused glance. Was someone else there with him? Why were they being so sneaky? After some muffled noises came from the other side of the door, it cracked open just enough for Ren's face to peek through.
"Naofumi? Wh-what's wrong? What are you both doing here?" he asked, face flushed and looking terrified. My concerns about him being somehow in danger were starting to feel more realistic by the second.
"Are you okay? You haven't responded to my texts all day. You didn't show up to the competition, either," I said. Raphtalia tried to peek through the crack in the door but the boy shut it until nothing more than his eyes were visible on the other side.
"D-don't worry about me! I'm fine! Yup yup, just fine! I wasn't feeling great earlier so I-I skipped out on competing, but I saw you guys! You did great, haha! Congratulations!" he said. His tone of voice was nervous and panicky, all the more reason to investigate.
"Why are you acting so strangely?" Raphtalia finally asked. "If it's something we can help with, we'd be happy to-"
"No no, everything's fine!" he cried in response. "Nothing wrong at all! Everything's just fine and dandy here now! Just uh...watching some...TV? Hey, Naofumi WAIT-!"
Unamused, I finally grabbed the door and swung it open only to see something I wasn't expecting at all.
"Shut the damn door, you idiot! And- HEY! YOU TWO GET OUT OF HERE, WHAT THE FUCK!" Wyndia screamed, covering her naked body with the bed's only blanket. Her hair was all over the place, and now that I take a closer look at him, Ren's clothes are on backward.
Were they really...?
"Ren...what..." I muttered, unsure of what to say. In the end, no words actually came out to ask my question. What the hell happened for them to get to this point? Didn't they yell at each other last time they talked? I don't think people go from "I hate you" to "I want to bang your brains out" that fast.
"I-I'm sorry but, uh... bye!" Ren quickly pushed the two of us out of his room and shut the door in our face. Raphtalia and I just stood there for a few seconds in shock before finally sharing a mutual look with our mouths hanging wide open.
We trudged our way back to my room in a stupor before changing into pajamas and laying down to sleep, but our eyes were wide open. We hadn't said a word to each other ever since the...uh...incident. Nothing needed to be said; we both knew exactly what the other was thinking, and I'm pretty sure I knew how Raphtalia felt about it too.
Since when did those two even like each other?