Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump and the guys at Funimation.
Ski Trip
Chapter two; A Guiding Hand
Kurama chuckled at Keiko's dispense, noticing the humour in the mess she had managed to get herself into.
"Maybe you could help me up, instead of just standing around and laughing at me," Keiko said grumpily, feeling a little bit embarrassed and very vulnerable in her position on the snow.
"I'm sorry," Kurama quickly amended, and the humour obediently drained away from his face to leave the blank mask in place again. "Here, let me." He held out his leather-clad hand for Keiko. Even through the material of her glove, she could feel it's softness. 'From the Makai' Keiko judged quickly, from its texture and the fact that Kurama's hands weren't freezing off. Keiko found herself on her feet before she had much chance to think more upon his glove, and she swayed as her momentum nearly flung her down the mountain. Instead, she grabbed onto the first available surface; which just so happened to be Kurama's black zip-up jacket. She clung desperately to him until she felt herself being pried off.
"There you go." He smiled reassuringly.
"Thanks," Keiko mumbled, and busied herself by brushing down the back of her legs, which had been effectively frozen by the snow.
Keiko judged that Kurama would leave her alone now. She brushed off more snow until she thought he was effectively out of sight, so she could make a fool of herself with one less witness. She sighed and looked up, only to blink with surprise to find him still standing before her with a patient expression on his face. She blushed when she met his eyes, barely discernable through the sunglasses he wore.
"Oh, there's no need to wait," Keiko assured, and laughed tightly. "I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way down."
Kurama's expression did not change. "I insist Keiko. It would be a pleasure to accompany you, and are not we both heading to the restaurant over there?" He gestured to a building high up on the mountain slope facing them.
Keiko blushed again, realising that she may have sounded rude rather than capable. "Oh! Oh, all right then...I might slow you down, this is my first time," She said. Kurama waved it away 'that's not a problem'.
"Just follow me down, and you should be fine," He said calmly, and Keiko cringed at the faith in her abilities that she heard in his voice; a faith that she would shortly be invalidating.
So saying, he turned and started a slow, wide carving motion down the mountain for her to follow. taking her sticks in either hand with a tight grip, Keiko pushed off. The usual feeling associated with relying upon gravity and your thigh muscles to get you off the mountain in one piece returned to her. Then was the desperation she felt as the skis started widening, causing her to do the splits somewhat. She drew her legs together to avoid the painful position. No! She had pulled too far; the skis lay flat on the snow now, so there was no way to slow herself down. She shrieked ungracefully, and the panic caused her to lean back. The chill wind lashed at what portion of her face was exposed to the sun, and she caught sight of Kurama, who was still skiing down gracefully in peaceful oblivion to the small, human missile speeding towards
him.
five...
four...
three... Keiko shut her eyes,
two...
one...
impact! Houston, we have lift-off, Keiko thought numbly as she sailed through the air a good ten feet and landed sprawled in the path of another skier, who swerved just in time. She groaned, face still planted in the snow, as she remembered the look of horror that had passed over Kurama's face before the world had gone head-over heals. She hoped that she hadn't hurt him too much.
A pair of hands wound under Keiko's armpits and the world turned the right way up again as Keiko was lifted bodily upright. She could guess their owner.
"Are you alright? Nothing broken, strained?" inquired the soft voice. Keiko's hat and goggles had been knocked out of position by the collision, so she yanked them off her face in frustration. Her mouth was set in a hard line. She wasn't used to failing, even less to giving up after failing, and found this new feeling very depressing.
"I'm fine," She ground out.
"Here," Kurama held out a tissue to her, and she realised with a shock that tears were streaming out of her eyes. She let a sob out, more from embarrassment and annoyance at her lack of capability than sadness. Kurama seemed to realise this, as he simply laid a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to calm.
"It's bound to take you a while to learn, Keiko," He supplied. The hand started a circular motion on her tense muscles, and Keiko found herself relaxing into it.
"It's hopeless!" She said, even more embarrassed when her voice came out as a whiny blubber. The hand squeezed for a second before resuming its pattern.
"Don't say that Keiko. You may actually start to believe it."
She sniffed and shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't even ask if I hurt you."
Keiko caught her companion's wry smile through her tears. "I've taken worse blows than that." He glanced down the mountain to the ski lift. Still another five hundred feet or so. "Let's concentrate on getting you down the mountain. Just take it one step at a time. Or turn, if you like."
Keiko laughed at the small joke, and wiped away the last of her tears.
As soon as she had stowed the tissue away safely in her pocket, Kurama grabbed her elbow and turned her around, eliciting a yelp from the brunette. He stood behind her on his skis, and Keiko jumped in surprise when, within the same smooth motion, he slid one ski between hers.
"Just to be on the safe side. A lot of paths converge here, so there'll be more skiers to look out for," Kurama said as justification. Keiko nodded dumbly, and felt the heat rise in her cheeks as a strong arm wrapped around her waist. "Ready?"
"S-sure," Keiko stuttered.
"Relax, It will come more easily to you if you don't force the action. Let your body be driven, but not ruled, by gravity."
Kurama pushed off for a second time, and Keiko couldn't help but notice the feeling of security than overcame her; quite a different experience than the one she was used to. She could almost describe the sensation of skiing...pleasant. The turns came naturally, as her body swayed in time with the one pressed against her back.
"Lean on the lower ski, Keiko," He whispered into her ear, and the feeling sent a shiver down her spine that she was sure he would be able to feel. Her ski stick knocked his outer leg at a corner and she apologised absently, concentrating on his chest firmly pushed against her back, his thigh against hers. She had always thought that as he was slimmer, he would be physically weaker than Yuusuke, but her theory was apparently incorrect. Not that she would let Yuusuke hold her quite so close as Kurama was doing. 'I wonder why that is...'
"You're doing wonderfully," He murmured. "Never underestimate yourself, Keiko."
Keiko felt a strange and illogical delight in hearing her name on the kitsune's lips. "Thanks," she whispered back through a grin. It was as if the beauty of the moment would be broken if they raised their voices.
It hardly registered to her as the ground began to flatten out beneath her skis, and the line for the chairlift sped into view. She did notice when Kurama disentangled himself from her, as she glanced back, trying to hide her disappointment.
"You can do anything you set your mind to," He said as they joined the back of the queue.
Keiko turned and noticed him for the first time. Really noticed him. Noticed his warm smile, and the way that the sun lit up his hair and picked out coppery highlights. The way that he stood up straight but not aloofly, and the way that all his attention was on her. She blushed, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last half hour.
"Thanks," She repeated.
Well, that's chapter two. Thanks to my reviewers for 1st chappie.
I have a vague idea of where this story is going, but if you want to add something, I'm always willing to hear it. Apart from, 'Stick it where the sun don't shine'. Cheers.
Sukini
XXX