Subaru sighed as he walked towards the area of the ice rink that the ice princess was hiding out at. His mother asked him to go check up on the girl, and to ask her is she wanted to join for lunch in the Lodge restaurant. It seemed that everyone had this idea that he and Keiko seemed to be a perfect match for each other. That was completely mental, she was an uptight, witty, and seemed to not think high of him or Fuuto. Subaru walked into the building to find hardly anyone there. He could hear the faint sound of someone skating. No music played over the loud speakers that he could hear.
Swish, Click, Swish, was all he could hear. Which made him curious about what was going on. When he turned into the inner rink his questions where answered. Keiko at that moment landed on the ice with a flerish, and glided by on one foot before changing her bodies' direction. The movement was quick that it seemed like a trick of the eye. But as he drew nearer to the ice, he seemed mesmerized by all of the girl's movements. The way her body contorted, the speed she skated, and the weightlessness she seemed when she threw herself into the air. He watched as she finished her audenanceless performance.
Subaru picked up the water bottle that was sitting on the bench near the entrance to the ice and leaned against the outer wall, holding the bottle over the ice waiting for her to skate over to him.
"I see you came down from the mountain super-star." She said as she turned to him with heavy breath.
"It's lunch time, the others wanted you to join." He shrugged.
"And they sent you?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she pushed off the ice towards him with her hands on her waist.
"They all pointed out that I owe you an apology for this morning." He explained holding the bottle out to her.
"I see, so this is a ploy to get you to apologize." She nodded as she placed the bottle to her lips.
"Well, I actually do owe you one." Subaru said.
"And what would you be apologizing for? Walking in on me or saying skating isn't a sport?" Keiko asked stairing at him with slightly narrow eyes.
Subaru scratched his head, and sighed. He knew that this girl was a prankster; she was easy going and a nice person from Ema's blogs. But he didn't know how stubborn she was or that she slightly held grudges. Keiko, he knew planned to put him through the ringer while he apologized. Which is why his brothers pushed him to come get her. Hell, Ema said that she was a little disappointed in him because of his behavior this morning towards her friend. Which made him feel even guiltier.
"I am sorry for walking in on you this morning, truly sorry." He said bowing his head towards her.
"And?" She asked.
"I'm also sorry for what I said about skating and that it isn't a true sport. That isn't the case." He looked her in the eye.
He watched as Keiko folded her arms across her chest and tapped her nose as she thought of her response. The action was different then what Ema would do when some one apologized to her. Ema would normally smile and except, but she was very forgiving towards her brothers and their actions. He knew that Riana would make Kyo suffer for a few hours after he apologized before she would for give him. Niami would either go home for the night or make Masaomi sleep on the couch. Airi would give Tsubaki the silent treatment, which would drive him crazy because he hated the silent treatment. Mimi would find Azusa's script and hide it somewhere for a while. He wasn't sure what Cessa was like when Natsume messed up big time nor what Sophie would do to Hikaru. Those two where mysteries to him, but he never wanted to find out.
"Get on the ice if you're really sorry." A voice brought him out of his worrying thoughts.
"Huh?" He looked at Keiko.
"Get a pair of skates and get out on the ice." She looked him in the eye.
"Wait! You want me to skate?" He asked surprised.
"Yes." She said innocently.
Sighing disgruntled, Subaru walked away from her and back up the stairs to the skate rental. The older gentleman that was behind the desk was watching a hockey game. Coughing to get the mans attention, the man turned to him and chuckled.
"I see you're the one that pissed that nice girl off." He spoke smiling at Subaru.
"U-Um can I get a pair of skates?" Subaru asked unsure what the older man meant.
"Pissing off ones girlfriend isn't a good thing to do on Christmas Eve. Size?" The man asked turning away from Subaru.
"Size 13… What? Girl-Friend?" Subaru asked exclaiming.
"Yes your girlfriend their. I watched as you walked in and waited for her to finish. " The man chuckled.
"That's not, um we're not. Um.." Subaru wasn't sure what to say.
"She's a nice girl, helped out a young girl learn how to skate this morning. You should be proud of that one there." The man held out a pair of skates to Subaru.
"U-Um thanks." Subaru said walking away from the desk.
Walking back to where Keiko was now sitting down rubbing her ankles together. Which was curious to him as he sat next to her.
"Why are you rubbing your ankles together?" He asked untying his boots, making conversation.
"It helps to warm up my feet again, believe it or not even with ice skates and thick soaks on my feet still freeze. It was also something my mother told me to do after each performance short or long." Keiko explained as she took another sip of her water.
"So even though you live on the ice your feet freeze?" Subaru asked and she laughed slightly.
"Even with that true, I inherited my grandmothers horrible circulation, so my feet and hands get cold very quickly." She explained as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head. That's when he noticed the gloves she was wearing on her hands.
"Ever skated before?" She turned and asked him as he finished tying his skates.
"No I haven't." He admitted standing up and nearly sitting back down.
"Oh then this will be fun." She giggled into one hand while holding out her other.
"Why is this goanna being fun?" He asked taking the gloved hand.
"Because your goanna fall a lot Superstar." She grinned at him.
He fallowed her on slightly shaky balance to the entrance of the ice. He held onto the wall beside him as she stepped onto the ice effortlessly. Under his feet it felt like the ground wasn't there, when he placed his own skate on the ice.
"I know its goanna feel weird at first, like the ground isn't there but find your center of balance." She spoke quickly as he held onto the wall.
"Ok, once I have my balance then what?" He asked once he focused on his balance.
"Keep your feet angled out, its easier then keeping them pointed straight." Keiko explained.
Once Subaru angled his feet correctly, it improved his balance and he was steady on the ice.
"You're a quicker learner then Yusuke." She laughed.
"You taught my brother?" Subaru raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"I actually taught both of them. In London they have an outside Ice rink and we went one night to get out of the house and away from the books we where studying. Yusuke is a nightmare when cooped up infront of a physics book to long." She stated with one hand on her hip and one pointing up at the ceiling.
"I imagine he gets on your nerves often enough to prank him." Subaru laughed.
"Actually, he is an easy target to prank, he leaves himself open to often." She giggled before becoming serious again.
"Ok your going to push off with your left foot, like your walking." She explained as she placed herself next to him to show him and took his hand.
It was sometime until the family came looking for them, and when they found them. Keiko was laughing holding her sides with Subaru sitting on the ice laughing. Watching as the skater circled around and came to a stop infront of him, she held out her hands to him. The scene was one they weren't expecting since earlier that morning they where fighting like a cat and dog in the dinning kitchen area. Hikaru looked at his older brothers and grinned. He knew that there was something there, it just needed a spark.
"Ok, how many times is that now?" She laughed.
"Um… 12?" He stood chuckling.
"I think its more then that." She shook her head.
"Oh, I see. You decided to make a move on her?" A voice came from behind Keiko.
She turned suddenly causing Subaru to loss his balance and pulling her down next to him on the ice. Both looking out to where the voice was coming from and saw the family all watching. Hikaru had a devilish grin on his face, like he was secretly telling them that the tension he said was between them this morning was really there.
"I was actually putting him through skating as payback for this mornings actions, nothing more. Just like Ema making Yusuke do all the chores after he apologizes for being a dumbass." Keiko said getting up and dusting off her pants.
"I say it's a good punishment." Hikaru laughed as Sophie smacked him in the shoulder.
"Are you alright Subaru?" Masaomi asked looking at him with concern.
"I'm fine, just fell a few times." Subaru waved it off as he got up.
"Subaru, why did you make Keiko fall too?" Wataru asked looking at him.
"It was an accident." He scratched the back of his head as the two of them glided to the wall where the family where standing.
Once the other brothers poked fun at Subaru some more, Keiko spoke.
"Apology excepted Subaru. Just never say Ice skating isn't a sport ever again around me, ok." She smiled at him, unknowing that her smile caused his heart to speed up faster then when Ema would smile at him. It was nearly jumping out of his chest with how fast it was beating.
"Ok Keiko." He agreed as they returned his skates and headed towards the condo.
"Now, Subaru can teach you how to snowboard tomorrow!" Hikaru said excitedly as the two groaned at this. This causing everyone to roll their eyes. Miwa was excited to see if Hikaru's plan would work since she knew about it. And pushing her 9th son to look for the girl and apologize was just step one, since the two young adults didn't go along with the original step one of the plan earlier. Now it was time to prepare Christmas Eve dinner and see what the next day brings.
Hey Readers! … Sorry for such a late update, life has been quite busy lately. But here is the latest chapter of Ice and Basketball! Hope you all enjoy it.