3.3
We split up to change our clothes, got ready, and met at the rendezvous point.
We moved to the front of the lift in a car with myself, Kushida, Ryūen, and Kitō.
We decided to board the two-person lift in the combination of me and Ryūen, and Kushida, and Kitō.
We decided that this combination would be the least likely to cause trouble.
To be on the safe side, we let Kushida and Kitō go first and put a couple of pairs between us before getting on the lift.
By doing this, we also aimed to avoid a standoff on the lift.
“Can't you and Kitō get along a little better?”
“That's impossible. If Kitō insists on it though, that's a different story.”
Staring at the snowy mountains, Ryūen replied as if to throw up.
“So you're saying there's not much hope. If that's the case, so be it, but it's a rare chance. Kitō seems to have gained some trust from Sakayanagi. I thought you might be thinking of using this as an opportunity to get into their pocket. In some cases, you might be able to make an ally of him.”
Ryūen, sitting beside me, thought that this school trip was mainly about gathering information, and he wasn’t wrong. In fact, it was likely that Sakayanagi thought something similar.
“Kitō's appearance ain't completely human, but he seems to be full of loyalty. Besides, Sakayanagi was naturally wary of me when he formed a group with me. A bad negotiation would be counterproductive.”
“You're rather pragmatic, aren't you?”
So far, I had little interaction with Kitō, and I still didn't know anything about him in detail.
However, we could strongly sense from his attitude that he thoroughly disliked Ryūen and that he was trying to protect Class A together with Sakayanagi. I hadn't heard of any problematic behavior from Kitō himself. If he carelessly negotiated to bring him into his side, it would be like asking for information to be passed down the tubes.
“Besides, the only personnel we needed from Class A was Katsuragi. Kitō and Hashimoto are good enough as small fries, but not good enough to be our pawns. It's not worth the risk.”
That seemed to be the reason why they treated Kitō and Hashimoto with continued hostility instead of a friendly manner.
While he acknowledged Kitō and the others, he seems to give special recognition to Katsuragi by far.
The lift arrived and we got off at the advanced course.
Kitō, who was waiting ahead of us, called Ryūen to the starting point with a glance.
He said he wouldn’t waste any time and got straight into the race down the hill.
“Hey, give the signal.”
Ryūen instructed Kushida and ordered her to count for the start.
“Both of you, be careful.”
Kushida raised her hand and began the countdown for the start. They were a few meters away from each other and poised to start skiing. Who would be the winner?
“Start!”
The moment Kushida lowered her hand, they both got off to a good start at nearly the same time.
“Let's go after them, shall we?”
“Oh, are you sure? I'm not sure I can keep up with you....
“Well then, you can slowly catch up to us.”
After a few seconds, Kushida and I started to slide down the slope.
Ryūen and Kitō were battling back and forth, going with the flow.
They skied down the slope at high speeds, arcing beautifully to the right and left.
My technique, which was still incomplete yesterday, began to improve with their example.
A longer, more advanced course would allow me to learn more in-depth and deliberately.
Apart from that, the battle between Ryūen and Kitō was almost even.
I thought one of them would pull ahead sooner than the other, but it was pretty much a dead heat. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t much difference in technique, and they were equally competitive. Even after the halfway point of the course, there was still no sign of a decisive advantage. The two skiers were still tangled up, and just as the race was coming to a close, the horizontal distance they had maintained between each other began to close. It resulted in a dangerous situation.
The two skiers were now at risk of colliding with each other due to the overlap in course positioning.
No, this wasn't a mere coincidence.
It should be considered a warning, as though they were suggesting that it'll still be a victory even if you tackle your opponent and make them fall.
I copied both of their moves and accelerated, absorbing almost all of their techniques.
“Die, Kitō!”
“Get lost, Ryūen!”
I sensed the delayed sound of such voices, and just before they were about to collide, I forcefully inserted myself in the small gap between the two.
The intrusion of a third party caused the two to scatter to the left and right in a panic.
Both sides glared at me, but I succeeded in forcing them to keep their distance.
After skiing down the advanced course in one go, Ryūen and the others stopped slightly ahead of me.
Ryūen and Kitō immediately turned around and approached on foot.
“Why did you interrupt us?”
The two men were about to grab me with an angry tone.
“Because I thought it was dangerous,” I said. “You got overzealous and tried to win in something other than skiing.”
“A match is a match in any form. Ryūen knew that.”
“It doesn't matter if the opponent understands it or not, that's not a skiing match.”
After a round of complaints, Kitō glared at Ryūen and then skied away.
He seemed to feel that the atmosphere had dissipated, that they would compete later.
At that time, Kushida also came down the slope and arrived at our place.
“The three of you are too fast, or rather, Ayanokōji-kun was quite abnormal...!”
Ryūen also approached with a disgruntled look on his face as he stomped through the snow.
“Are you really a beginner? Did you lie?”
“Lie? No, yesterday was my first time skiing.”
Ryūen didn't believe it, spat, and headed for the lift alone.
I guess that's a relief for now. Maybe.
“It's no wonder he's so angry, I mean, you were skiing spectacularly. It was like the hero of a comic book who does everything perfectly with his talent, even if he doesn't work hard. Like Ryūen said, was it really only your second time?”
I hate to say it, but I’m not that kind of comic book hero.
Over the years I had lived, my body and soul accumulated countless experiences.
Even if skiing itself was new to me, sports in general were basically connected by broad and shallow lines.
I just tried to connect them with the verbal and visual information I received.
“You don't believe me?”
“No, I do. But I might not have believed you if I hadn't seen your skills when dealing with Amasawa.”
At that time, I had shown Kushida a fight between White Room students, even if it was only for a moment.
Did that doubt and skepticism from then add credibility to my improvement in skiing?
“That's great.”
I was praised once again, but I couldn't bring myself to accept the praise.
“No, it's not.”
“This again.”
It couldn't be helped that they only saw it as a show of modesty.
But in fact, Ryūen and Kitō's skiing was that of experts, true role models.
They may not have accumulated as much experience as I have.
In that sense, they have much more sense than I do.
“Let's head for a lift, too. Now that the trouble's finished, we can enjoy skiing.”
“Yeah, right. It might be difficult for those who can't ski though.”
That's true for fun in general.
It would be nice if people could enjoy skiing even if they were terrible at it, but that's not the case.
Whether it was video games or sports, those who weren't good at them often didn't enjoy them.
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