Amongst the sea of swirling skaters, Takeba and fellow bystanders awe at Leader’s and Mitsuru’s synchronous flips. However, to her dismay, further ahead Aigis fervently pursues Mochizuki. Yamagishi holds Amada’s hands as Iori, brandishing a camera, briskly circles the slow yet adorable pair.
Where does that leave our masculine duo?
Coming here was decided by a mass majority SEES’ vote. Donning a pair of rental ice skates, Akihiko pulls a reluctant Shinji along as they waddle towards the rink. It’s evident who voted what.
“It shouldn’t be so bad…” Akihiko says — to coax his friend as means to build himself up — before stopping right at the edge. His eyes lay fixed on shiny flooring much like a cat staring down a brimming bathtub. Mentally, he prepares for inevitable demise because unlike Yamagishi and Amada, they refuse to admit they’re inadequate as well.
“Okay, on the count of three.” He nudges the other in the arm too vigorously for comfort (and balance). “You hear me, Shinji?”
before he even sets foot on the ice, Shinjiro thinks that there will be hell to pay. gracefulness has never been a strong point of his, and with two feet on solid ground he’s managed to exist that way just fine. balanced on two fine blades on a sheet of ice ? not so much. the other members of SEES took to it like ducks to water, and he finds himself cringing at the fact that he’s likely gonna show himself up the second metal meets ice.
it’s just a run of bad luck, really.
knuckles whiten against the edge of the rink, and his glare shifts to akihiko, who seems desperate to chase away any lingering doubts in his own mind under the guise of offering him some modicum of comfort. tch.
at least it’s a prime opportunity to prove that he’s no coward. shinjiro takes one step onto the ice, hands still firmly clinging to the side for extra support, and finds the foot that touches the ice slipping from under him. the ice rises to meet him pretty quickly, and with a groan, fixes his glare to akihiko.
“ come on, the ice is great. ”
