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"Whose idea was it to go ice skating again?"
"Yours."
En looked over his shoulder at Io with a hint of surprise. The green haired boy glared at him, gloved hands holding tightly onto the edge of the ice rink as if it was the only thing keeping him upright- and it probably was.
"Oh." En mumbled, turning his head back to see where he was stepping, his position all too similar to Io's. "I forgot."
That's right, Io had mentioned something about never having gone ice skating before, which En had found bizarrely unacceptable and had taken his friend to the rink on a whim. He was clearly regretting it now.
"I thought you said you had done this before." The younger boy said as he mirrored En's struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
"I have. I forgot that too I guess."
"I didn't think that was possible."
The second year student yelped suddenly as his foot slipped, grip quickly tightening over the railing and barely maintaining his composure. He sighed with frustration, looking up from the antagonizing element underneath him.
His eyes landed on the figure of a boy a few feet away from them, expertly spinning on one leg. He moved flawlessly over the ice, gliding elegantly and looking extremely content. They were in their element. Io watched him for a moment, wondering if the person could even be human.
Tired of his own pathetic display, Io turned back towards En who was already a few steps ahead of him.
"I'm going to ask that guy how to do this properly."
"Eh?" En blinked back tiredly at him, looking at the figure skater then back at Io with a groan. "How bothersome, why would you want to go talk to some stranger."
"They are clearly superior on the subject and could surely provide some form of assistance for advancing our progress." He stated. En looked as if he had just been asked to jump off a plane.
"No way. I'm going to keep going like this and when I reach the rink's entrance I'm going to go rest." He murmured stubbornly, continuing his painfully slow journey to the exit.
"Suit yourself." Io answered, eyes going back to the figure from before, who was now jumping terrifyingly high. As he slowly neared him Io wondered if he wasn't just about to embarrass himself. Then he almost slipped again and realized it could probably not get worse than how he already was.
Io was closer now and he could see the person more clearly. He had noticed their bright pink hair before but could now see numerous ear piercings and the way his hair was held up in a spiked and messy matter.
We couldn't be more different. Io thought, nearing the other anyway. Luckily the boy had stopped to check his phone, so Io was easily able to get their attention.
"Excuse me," He began, feeling slightly startled when he had those bright brown eyes on him. He forced himself to stay determined and finish his sentence. "This might be an odd request but it's my first time skating and, well, I was hoping there would be some advice that you could give me."
The pink haired had looked surprised at being approached, but quickly his face broke into a grin and he stood away from the railing.
"Yeah, sure! First time, huh? Always exciting, right?" He teased and Io almost rolled his eyes. The boy before him crossed his arms in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Alright! I'm no teacher but I think the easiest way to start off is by focusing on a point ahead of you and trying to reach it!" Ryuu skated backwards effortlessly (Showoff. Io thought.) and put a few feet of distance between them. "If you start feeling like you're falling, usually leaning forward can help keep balance." He put a hand on his hip and gave Io an expectant smile. The other boy thought he felt a bead of sweat on his forehead (which was ridiculous considering how cold it was).
"I haven't let go of this railing since I entered." Io explained slowly.
"Well that's obviously the first thing that needs to change." Ryuu laughed. Io wanted to disagree, but knew he should better just get this over with and let this person get back to their business. Slowly, Io let go of the railing and began to move away from it, almost immediately feeling out of balance and quickly acting on what the other had instructed about leaning forward.
"You need to lose some of that tension!" The pink haired called out, catching Io's attention. "Don't think about falling! Just stay focused on me!"
Their eyes met, and Io found himself doing as he was told, focusing on them, holding onto his gaze like a lifeline, every nerve in his body working only towards reaching the person before him.
A spark lighting in those brown orbs was what signaled Io that he had reached his goal. He found himself stumbling as he snapped out of his trance and tried to brake, but ended up being caught by a pair of arms.
"Whoa there! But hey, you did it!" The boy cheered. Io looked up to find those eyes very close. They were alight with a fiery energy that made Io grin as well, even though he knew his display had really been nothing to be proud of.
"Thanks for the tips." He said politely, regaining his posture and feeling unusually aware of the heat from the other's body.
"Ah, no problem!" He spoke, now in a more relaxed tone, letting go of Io and unexpectedly making the green haired feel unbalanced. "Hope you get the hang of it soon!"
Io nodded and the other took it as his cue to leave. He skated away easily with a small wave.
Struggling in his way, Io slowly made it around the rest of the rink, shakily reaching for the rail once he stood across from En's table outside the rink.
"How was it?" En asked in a bored tone.
"He just told me a few tips about not falling."
"Ah, so not worth it then."
"I made it here, didn't I?"
"Hmm." En made a careless noise. Io sighed at the other's tone.
"Why are you sitting down?"
"I got tired. I'll go back eventually." He murmured, like it was the worst sentence in the world.
"Do what you want." Io said as he pushed away and began to skate around the rink once more. He tried to touch the railing as few times as possible, focusing ahead of him. That second thing turned out harder than he thought it would as he moved closer to where the pink haired was. The skater was making some incredible moves that often caught Io's eyes, making him lose balance quite often.
As he forced himself to focus ahead of him, he noticed a pink cellphone on the railing clearly belonging to the guy with matching hair. Io realized the skater was recording himself at the moment, and decided to stop and wait.
I don't want to ruin his shot. Io rationalized. He neared the railing and leaned against it, finally allowing himself to fully focus on the other's performance. The whole thing felt unreal to Io- the way the pink haired could make all those moves look as easy as breathing. How flawless it made him look. How different Io felt from him.
We're on completely different levels. He mused, thinking not only of the other's evident skill but of his quickness to assist him, his bright and energetic nature. I must not be even 1/10th his worth.
Io blinked as he realized the performance was over and the pink haired was skating towards him with a grin.
"I don't think I've seen you fall yet, you're doing pretty good." He teased.
"Thanks." The green haired joked. The other laughed, and Io thought he didn't mind skating. Not at all.
En groaned as he stepped back onto that cold and unforgiving element that constantly threatened him with pain and ridicule. He held onto the railing, eyes searching for the friend he had come with to that godforsaken place to maybe convince him of leaving before the 3 hours they'd been allowed, but was met with an unexpected sight.
There was Io, just talking with that other guy! They weren't even skating! They were just leaning against the railing together and talking!
"That's not what ice rinks are for." En mumbled as he kept moving. He neared the pair but they seemed lost in their own corner of the frozen universe. En literally reached them and the two did not look at him, did not move- just kept talking. En raised an eyebrow in confusion and a good a mount of annoyance. He found in himself the will to abandon the railing just long enough to go around them. He looked back as he kept moving, the two completely unfazed.
En was sitting outside again by the time Io had finished his second lap around the rink. En greeted him with an annoyed look which Io did not acknowledge.
"Gave you more tips I guess, that guy?" En said humorlessly.
"Ryuu."
"What?"
"His name is Ryuu."
En blinked at him for a moment before shaking his head in surrender. Io began his third lap around the rink.
En outright groaned as he watched those two talking again. Io would go around the rink but whenever he reached the area where Ryuu was he'd just stop and the pink haired would go talk to him for like twenty minutes! Then Io would go around the rink and repeat the process all over again.
Who are they even kidding, why are they still in the rink?
This was definitely not what En had expected when he brought Io to the ice rink. Sure, he had no problem with Io making new friends, or whatever he was doing, but the green haired had barely spoken to En in the past 2 hours. He also hadn't exited the rink despite En having sat outside multiple times.
He sighed, giving up on the whole affair. He had no desire to go back into the rink, and had no desire to go after Io. He pretty much just regretted having woken up that morning at all.
Something pink caught his eye as he saw the figure skater making his way to the exit. He easily stepped out and stretched his arms with a content sigh. En followed him with his eyes as Ryuu walked to a table to the left of the rink's entrance, while En's was to the right.
En looked back at the rink, which Io was still skating around. The green haired eventually reached the exit and finally stepped out. En was about to sigh in relief and tell him to get going so they could leave, when Io turned to the left and sat down at Ryuu's table.
En stared at them silently before standing up from his chair and walking out of the building.
I'll sleep in the car.
Later that night, Io may or may not have asked Ryuu for the videos he took of himself at the rink, and the next day Ryuu may or may not have asked Io out for dinner. Honestly, En didn't want to know.