-RE-WRITTEN-

(Please refer to the 'Ending Note' for further information)

Rikku: Whew, another chapter re-written after so long! I sincerely apologize for the wait – how long has it been? Months:( My inspiration when down the drain and my already tight schedule boosted… I'm so sorry guys, blame me but don't abandon this fanfic.

Winter of Love
Chapter 4: Couples Only?

About a week and a half flashed by without a moment to spare. It was the busiest I've ever been in my life with all my heavy studies. I was just beginning to adjust well with my new friends, although some visited more often than others – Pirika and Manta for example.

Manta was easy to get along with and up for any discussions. He was my age, but his lack for height and those big round eyes made him especially adorable. Pirika, on the other hand, only paid visits to the little shrine with one thing in mind. Her brother. Oh, and what ways she could torture him into training and surpassing Yoh. I barely had the chance to talk to her whenever she came around, but eventually, I had gotten used to the havoc and chaos the two siblings inflicted in one household – just as all the others had.

One morning, however, a day after one of Pirika's routine check-ups and another run-down wall, Horohoro approached me, a large smile spread across his face and a sheet of paper clenched in his hand with much anxiety.

I glanced up from one of Anna's 'training books', though every word was going in one ear and out the other, as I felt his presence jolt into my room. "You look happy."

"And I am!" he cried in a rather unexpected outburst. Quickly, the book had been pushed out of my grasp as he shoved the sheet of paper in its place.

"A free day of skiing or snowboarding at the local ski lodge…" I began reading nonchalantly, until my eyes reached the end of the headline. "… couples only? What the - "

"C'mon!" the shaman pleaded, snatching the advertisement from my hands to observe it, as if to reassure himself that there wasn't a single flaw. "It'll be fun. I'll make it fun. I can teach you how to snowboard if you don't know how, and they have rentals - "

"Wait, wait!" I sputtered, standing up to just barely reach the shaman's height. I felt my cheeks tinge with heat as my mind failed to grasp the concept. "You want to take me? But – but… it says, 'couples only'! I… I…."

"I know that, it's just that I… um…" At that moment, Horohoro's eyes loss their excitement as they fell to the floor, his face burning as red as mine. "I wanted to invite you, that's all… I… I mean, I don't have any other intentions if that's what you think…"

I was filled with unease as my entire face scorched with heat, and I feared I might just illuminate the room with how bright my cheeks were glowing. I remembered the first time Horohoro had smiled at me, and compared to how down he appeared right then and there, I felt myself compelled to accept the invitation. "Okay, I'll go with you."

Immediately, that same smile appeared on his face. "Good. You won't regret this, Miho, I promise I won't take advantage of this or…" he trailed off, a glint of embarrassment and realization in his eye.

I raised a brow. "I never mentioned anything about you taking advantage, Horohoro…"

For a second, he looked as if he was mentally slapping himself, just until he quickly changed the subject. "I'm gonna ask Yoh and Anna if they want to come too…"

I waited until he left the room. He didn't bother to look back once as he dragged himself out the door. I sighed, dropping to the floor. Picking up Anna's book, I shook my head. "What have I gotten myself into?"

xxxxx

After a long hour of constant persuading, Yoh had finally convinced Anna that she'd have a good time at the lodge and that he would, indeed, make up for all the chores the following day.

It was still early, and the four of us took a bus to the ski lodge, leaving a note behind at the shrine just in case someone bothered to drop by. When we reached the nifty location, with snowy white hills patterning the mass piece of land, our first task was to convince the man at the ticket booth that we were actually two pairs of 'happy' couples.

Anna and Yoh simply stuck beside each other, as Anna refused to get intimate. Yoh chuckled, leading the man on with false details of their engagement and their living arrangements, to the point where he let them pass, simply to put an end to all of Yoh's rambling.

A grin crept on Horohoro's face. I eyed him suspiciously as we approached the booth. Right then, he slid a bold arm across my waist, drawing me affectionately towards his body as he began to explain how he was such a pro boarder and that he'd self-conduct all lessons for his 'girlfriend'. Immediately, I remembered the role appointed to me and clung to Horohoro's jacket with as much mock-affection as possible, secretly loathing the situation and plotting the shaman's demise.

After the man let us pass, we headed for a small equipment store, where Horohoro helped me pick out a black snowboard, decorated with red flames and glistening from the smooth coat of paint. We started the mini lessons right after, and despite the many falls and outbursts of laughter (Horohoro laughing at me), I quickly got the hang of all the braking at turning. I smiled with much appreciation, noting to myself that Horohoro was no liar when he referred to himself as a 'pro'.

One hour of small practice hills later, I found myself trudging up a steep hill, clenching at my board as I followed the boy's lead.

"All set?" he asked when we reached the peak.

"Uh-huh." I answered almost reluctantly, as my mind began to register how tall the hill was. I looked to Horohoro as he shone with confidence and then to other hill just behind ours. I caught sight of Yoh and Anna skiing down the rather difficult route ahead of them. Just when Yoh had slipped and began his dangerous tumble down the hill, I felt the comfort of a firm hand on my shoulder.

I turned to the smirking shaman. "You know, I'm actually really glad you agreed to this, Miho." Horohoro said almost shyly.

I nodded, at a loss for words. I smiled, as it was all I could manage to do and peered down the hill once again.

"Not too high for you, is it?" he challenged, a mischievous hint about his voice.

"No, not at all." I replied, playing along as a daring grin took form.

"Well… you are a fast learner, I wouldn't doubt you for a second."

"Then we both agree I won't go stumbling down this hill?"

Horohoro nodded, clearly amused. I knew he was expecting me to end up flat on my face, but I was determined to stomp all over that ego of his.

"I guess you wouldn't mind doing this on your own then?"

"What was that?" I questioned, all that self-reassurance draining out of my system. He caught me off guard there. Damnit, my mind was complaining.

"Well, with all that potential and drive, I wouldn't wanna get in your way, Miho." A mock-smile danced menacingly across his lips. He winked, almost taunting me. "I'll just go off on my own then."

I watched as he smoothly weaved down the hill, past other boarders, racing down at an amazing breakneck speed.

"Damnit, Miho." I whispered, gritting my teeth together. "Damn you and all your determination bull…"

I groaned. I lost sight of Horohoro, but I told myself he was probably watching from afar, ready to rub it in my face if I screwed up. I tugged on the sporty boarder-glasses (?) that nested on my head and sighed. I couldn't turn back. Failure was not an option.

Against all odds, I shifted my weight until I felt myself gliding down the hill. I'm not falling, I confirmed to myself in mild-shock. I felt my confidence build up again as I began to weave right and left, clearing an easy path for myself. I was thrilled. I kept reminding myself at that instant that the first thing to do was to make Horohoro eat his words. Then to laugh at him. Oh, and to point while laughing too. Then to drill it in his head that Miho Sugiyama was no pushover. Then…

I blacked out. Well, not entirely. But I froze and my train of thought just ran off a cliff. Oh crap. Now I was the one eating my words as I pooled an enormous amount of regret.

Why didn't I acknowledge that the other hill straight ahead was meant to meet with mine at the very bottom? Why didn't I notice there were also boarders coming down that hill, and heading my direction? Why didn't I realize that there was one boarder in particular, inching closer and closer to the end where we would both meet in a collision course? I was going to clash right into him. But I couldn't steer out of the way – my mind had stopped willing the board at my command.

And he hadn't seen me either. He was too preoccupied by a group of giggling girls, obviously pointing and gawking at him. I couldn't do a thing about the situation; I just waited for the crash. All I cared about at that moment was whether or not the impact would kill me before my father could. My fear of Horohoro witnessing my embarrassing accident was the least of my worries.

But it was not until the other boarder and I were just a few feet away from each other that I recognized his sharp blue spikes of hair… and the dashing black eyes that suddenly landed on mine, wide with horror…

"MIHO!"

And with that said, we crashed. I had shut my eyes before we actually connected, but the pain was alarming; it was excruciating. But I was alive. I just couldn't understand what sort of position I had landed in… because it was soft. A nice withdrawal after the sharp pain of the crash. My board wasn't weighing down my feet anymore. It had fallen off somewhere.

But then my mind started making a jigsaw puzzle out of the scenario, and slowly, the setting became apparent to me. Shit.

My eyes jolted open, only to find Horohoro under my tiny package. Curse my luck; I had fallen on top of him! But he didn't look hurt at all. Nor was he wincing with much ache like I was. In fact, he was grinning. I suddenly realized how close our faces were as the tips of our noses touched.

I hated how much it hurt. I hated how everyone was watching. I hated how badly I managed to screw up. And I hated how embarrassed I must've looked right before him, at that instant.

I tried to get up but his arms were neatly wrapped around my waist, holding me down onto his rather built body – making this all the more awkward.

"Let me go." I muttered, glaring daggers.

"No." His answer was blunt.

"Take your hands off me." I stressed my words this time, trying to make myself clear.

"No."

I wanted to slap him, to make him curl in pain. But I couldn't. For my arms were my only support, sternly placed on the snowy ground to lift my entire self as far away from him as possible. Which was not all that far to begin with. If I were to lift just one of them, and allow my weight to collapse… nevermind our noses touching, our lips would have surely connected too.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Hm? Aren't you comfortable too?"

"Pervert." I grunted, biting my lip to resist from screaming.

The boy chuckled, finally releasing me. Quickly, I pulled myself off him, turning my head as I rubbed my aching wrists.

"Hey… are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I responded, grabbing my snowboard from where it had landed. Without turning back or returning the question, I marched off in another direction.

"I didn't mean to get you mad." He had caught up to me. "I was just having fun."

"Does 'fun' always end up being something perverted for you?"

"I'm sorry, I…"

"And what's worse is that all this could've been avoided if you had bothered to pay attention to where you were going instead of getting distracted by those girls, I can't believe you - "

"Wait a second." Horohoro had stopped walking. I turned around with a questioning look, but immediately noticed the smirk on his face.

"What?" I demanded.

"I know what this is about!"

"Other than me being publicly embarrassed like that for the sake of your 'fun'?"

"Miho, you're jealous." He stated in an annoyingly sing-song voice.

"Jealous?" I repeated. "Jealous of what?"

But the shaman just laughed. He trudged up to my side and patted my shoulder. "Oh, it's okay to deny you have feelings for me. I mean, if it makes you feel any better."

"Stop twisting up the situation to your own amusement."

Suddenly, he stopped laughing. He glanced at me. His expression was so innocent, I couldn't help but look away and blush. "Alright, alright. Let me make it up to you at least… How about lunch?"

I didn't want to give in to him. He had me wrapped around his finger and I hated it. But the sincerity in his voice… and that apologetic look…

"Give me a chance, Miho."

I fidgeted with the board in my hands. "Fine… but don't assume you can buy my forgiveness! Miho Sugiyama is no pushover!"

He snorted at my speech. "Did you have that prepared or something?"

I blushed. "No, I just…"

Cutting into my sentence, he grabbed my hand. "Come with me."

xxxxx

I had to admit, lunch was pleasant. Horohoro took me to his favourite joint in the area and bulled his way back onto my good side. I couldn't hold a grudge against someone like him, even if I wanted to. Never in my life had I met a character like Horohoro.

We stood by the entrance of the lodge, waiting for Yoh and Anna to meet up with us anytime soon. Both our snowboards were nestled in Horohoro's arms without much difficulty. Silence drifted between us. I watched as couples of every sort enjoyed themselves; being cozy, holding hands, kissing… all the romantic crap I couldn't stomach back then.

"I had fun." I finally said.

"I did too." He smiled. "You're always so uptight at home and you hardly ever speak to me. I was really looking forward to getting to know you today."

I chuckled. I didn't want to admit the gratitude I was feeling towards him, but I returned the smile. "So what did you learn about me today?"

Horohoro grinned. "That'Miho Sugiyama is no pushover'… oh, and that she just happens to look her cutest with an expression of sheer embarrassment."

I shook my head, a sense of pure exhaustion washing over me. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Rikku: Ta-dah! Rewrote this all in two hours on my one day off! Once again, I apologize for the wait, I don't mean to lose inspiration, but it tends to happen from time to time. Please review guys! I need the extra motivation nowadays! xD

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x-Rikku-x

xxxxx

Ending Note: It is absolutely necessary to read this re-written chapter (if you already read this chapter before it was re-written, I'm afraid you must read it again) along with all the other chapters that will be re-done; the newly added and/or changed events may affect the outcome of Winter of Love… not to mention, better explanations of the stuff that happened in the further chapters will be provided as well. Thank you!