Just So You Know You'll Never Know
-Dengon Mitsukai
Usui Pirika finally lands her first job and she can't afford to blow it – literally. Her brother Horokeu is trying to be the next big snowboard sensation: but will Piri fall for his biggest competition yet? Pirika x Ren.
I was painting way late at night and I got the idea for this one when I accidentally painted the hat I was drawing on Pirika orange. Someday I'll get it up on Deviant Art so you can see my inspiration. To all of you who know I write yaoi: I'm not going soft, I just thought this would be an interesting concept.
Disclaimer: I love Hiroyuki Takei. I'm not going to steal his work.
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Prologue: Take Our Tears And Put 'Em On Ice
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Usui Pirika awoke to the sound of crashing. She sighed, falling back onto her messy sleeping bag with a grunt of frustration, figuring it was just her stupid brother Horokeu banging around, excitedly getting ready to hit the slopes. She'd only had her job for two days, did he have to be so rowdy? They couldn't afford her loosing this job, especially since Horokeu himself was currently making no income to support them. However, when Pirika confronted her childish brother about their situation, he'd probably just grin at her and reply, "My work lies in the snow as does yours. Give it some Faith."
Well, faith alone wasn't going to pay the bills. Not that they really had any, but Pirika was tired of sleeping in the Recreation Hall of the local ski lodge. In fact, she was tired of spending her life living in a ski lodge during the summer. But the truth of the matter was that she was lucky to be living in a ski lodge, let alone a dry and comfortably warm area with a roof above it.
Sighing, Pirika threw on her orange cap, making her way towards the staff room in order to change into her working clothes. It was a dawn to dusk job, but if she didn't pull through for herself and her carefree older brother, they'd never survive.
Surely enough as Pirika entered the staff room, she saw Horokeu banging around, fixing himself something to eat from yesterday's leftovers. Kuso, she thought, watching her brother stuff himself with Cheerios. I never make it in time to get the cereal. Horokeu watched her grimace, and stopped flinging Cheerios into his mouth. "Pirika, want some?" he asked, pushing the half-eaten box towards her.
Pirika smiled. "Onnichan, finish them yourself. You need the energy."
Usui Horokeu shook his head indignantly. "You need the energy, too, Piri. Now that you're a SnoBunny, chasing borders like me around, you're going to need all the Cheerios you can manage to scrounge up."
Cheeks flushed, Pirika took a handful. "Don't call me SnoBunny, I'm a Slope Girl." She shoved the Cheerios into her mouth hungrily, lacing up her orange chucks and putting on her army camouflage pants and black tank. "And don't knock it, either. It's the only income we've got."
The Usui family had been ripped from the seams two years earlier, when Horokeu and Pirika's parents were killed in a car accident. The shock took place immediately as the two were thrown into the harsh realm of adulthood. Soon their expenditures became more than they could provide for, and the two were forced into work. However, from his youngest years Horokeu had worked on the trade of snowboarding and he could not resist the call of the slopes. He decided his part of their income would come from his boarding – however, he had yet to be discovered.
And so, Pirika applied for a job on the slopes to stay close to her brother as a Slope Girl, in charge of snowboarding safety and helping to teach beginners how to Snowboard. She wouldn't let their tragedy get the better of them. They had to survive no matter the cost.
It was eight o'clock and soon the daily's would start to appear. Pirika threw on her orange pullover hoodie and grabbed her snowboard. "I'm going to go open the slopes, Horo. Wanna come with?"
Horokeu nodded, following his sister to the slopes. He never could have imagined his innocent baby sister having such determination, and yet he somehow knew that they'd pull through mostly because of her from the beginning. He couldn't help but feel like a bother more than a brother. But snowboarding was in his very heart and soul, and if he couldn't support them doing something he loved, he'd rather die anyway.
The day unfurled just as any other would. The rest of the so-called SnoBunnies showed up and the day officially began. Pirika's first class of Snowboarders consisted of a whiney eight year old named Riku and a set of ten year old twins named Yoh and Hao. Hao proceeded to push Riku off the mountain and down a slope, and Pirika had to rescue her. Aside from that incident, Yoh and Hao peacefully learned how to snowboard with Riku, even though they refused to go down unless they were allowed to hold hands.
The rest of the day went smoothly. She watched Hao convince Yoh time after time to go down the bunny slope with him, wiping away his otouto's tears and holding his hand tightly. They were cute. They reminded Piri of her and Horo's past, when Horo had been the one convincing her that the bunny slope wasn't too large to tackle. And look at them now – she was teaching brothers the same things her beloved onnichan had taught her.
She smiled, turning to another snow bank to check on the rest of the advanced borders, when a set of tiny hands shoved her down. Pirika sprung up, looking behind her, only to see Hao beside himself with laughter. "ASAKURA HAO, I OUGHT TO TELL YOUR MOTHER!" Pirika shouted, grabbing his wrist.
Hao wriggled free, laughing excitedly. "USUI PIRIKA, I OUGHT TO PUSH YOU DOWN AGAIN!" he roared, laughing even more.
Yoh grabbed his brother's hand, swinging it in his own. "Um, onnichan, I don't think you should be so rude to the girl who taught us how to Snowboard. Usui Pirika, Hao-kun is sorry." Hao rolled his eyes, and Yoh jabbed him in the ribs. "Really, he is."
Pirika sighed, pulling off her soaked hoodie. The mountain was freezing. She supposed it should be... after all, it was a mountain. She turned to Yoh, only to see a look of horror upon his face. Whipping around, Pirika saw what had turned his face so sour – a boy was tumbling down the slopes, his board still attached to his feet as he struggled to break free. Pirika, unthinking, lept onto her board and raced towards the boy. "GIMME YOUR HAND!" she shouted, grabbing onto the boy.
The boy, who had green hair, latched onto her as she swung him off of the course and to a stop. Immediately his friends were at his side, and among them was none other than Horokeu. "Horokeu, who is this?"
"Um, that's Tsuki Lyserg. He was practicing for this week's competition, and his board broke... Is he gonna be okay?" Horokeu asked, hovering over Lyserg with a Chinese boy at his side.
Pirika sighed. "He's got a fracture, but nothing broken. Tsuki Lyserg, is it? Well, I'm sorry, but you won't be able to participate in the competition. Your leg won't heal by then."
"WHAT!" Lyserg shouted, his first words to Pirika. "You don't seem to understand, this competition is big time! Like, I could get sponsored! This fucking sucks!"
Pirika looked at Horokeu. "Is this why this happened? Kuso, onnichan, you guys shouldn't be pushing yourselves so hard! It's just ridiculous. It's only snowboarding, and it should be fun not painful."
It was the Chinese boy's turn to speak. He had purple hair and glowing golden eyes, and across his face was a small smile. "Well, it can't be fun without the pain. And besides, you're here to help us. What could be better? I bet you know exactly what you're doing, zipping from snow bank to snow bank to help retards like him. And if he can't handle a hill like that he'll never get sponsored." The boy's voice was smooth and deep. "Tao Ren. Nice to meet you."
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"You're still hung up on that arrogant son-of-a-bitch Tao Ren, aren't you? Don't worry, I'll kick his ass hardcore when it comes time to get signed." Horokeu laughed, stuffing his face with leftover chicken.
Pirika sighed. Something about that boy was going to make this the summer she'd probably never be able to forget.
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HEY KIDDO'S! Hope you enjoyed. Please review and tell me what you think. Love to all my faithful and cutie little readers. LOVE YOU TO BITS AND PIECES! Dengon Mitsukai