“Ohhh, yeah… I could definitely see Ushio being an exception. Feel like she’d be great at both skiing and snowboarding. Come to think of it, is there anything she’s bad at?”
“Sure there is. Her spice tolerance is pretty abysmal, for one thing.”
“Ooh, you know so much about her… Is that ’cause you two are going out?”
“No, it’s because we’ve been best friends since we were in elementary school. And don’t try to catch me off guard with questions like that.”
It seemed the rumors about us had reached even Mashima’s ears. Not that I found this all that surprising, mind you—it just felt a bit jarring to be accosted about it by someone like her out of the blue.
“So you’re not denying it, eh?”
“I mean, no. But that doesn’t mean we want people going around spreading the word. All that’ll do is invite even more unwanted attention.”
“Ah ha ha… Okay, fair. My bad, sorry!”
She sure didn’t look sorry. If anything, she was being nosier than normal—probably because her usual minder wasn’t around (Shiina had gone off to the advanced course with the other more experienced skiers). I appreciated her going out of her way to socialize with me, but her tendency to tease me was as frustrating as ever. Not that she was anywhere near as relentless as Sera was in that regard, I supposed.
“Okay, everyone! Try to keep up with me, please!” the instructor called out.
Following her lead, we used our ski poles to slowly push down the gentle beginners’ slope. Not even the worst among us fell over at this speed, which was more than manageable enough for Mashima and me to continue talking.
“Gotta admit, though,” said Mashima, “I definitely hadn’t pegged you for the type of guy who’d wanna go out with a girl like her.”
“I’m not a fan of how you phrased that,” I replied.
“To be clear, I’m not even talking from a looks perspective or a physical standpoint. I just mean that, like…you two have known each other since way before she transitioned, y’know? Was it not hard for you to stop seeing her as a guy friend and start seeing her as a potential love interest? I feel like I’d have a pretty hard time with that.”
Now it really felt like she was trying to prod at my sore spots. That very conundrum had been a huge source of inner turmoil for me.
“Yeah, that history does make things a little more complicated,” I admitted. “But we’ve decided we wanna at least give this the old college try regardless.”
“Well, hey… Props to you, then,” said Mashima.
I frowned at this. She probably didn’t mean it in a condescending way, yet I couldn’t help wondering if she had the same misconceptions as those boys I’d heard gossiping about us in the bathroom, and she thought I was only dating Ushio as some sort of charity work or whatever.
“I’m not looking for ‘props’ or anything,” I said. “There’s nothing to commend me for. I’m going out with her because I want to, for your information. I don’t get why everyone keeps patting me on the back for it like I’m doing her some sort of favor.”
“Wait, are you actually getting a little pissed off?” asked Mashima, peering over to gauge my expression with mild concern in her eyes. “Sorry, should I apologize?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s not that big a deal.”
“Oh… Okay then.” With that, she faced forward once more.
The sound of the soft snow slipping beneath our skis grew ever louder as an awkward silence fell between us. Right as I was about to apologize for overreacting, Mashima cast a furtive glance over at me again.
“Maybe ‘props’ wasn’t the right word,” she said. “I guess I just meant that I realize you probably made that decision knowing people were going to sensationalize your relationship like it was some big, newsworthy event. And I wanted to say that I respect you for not being deterred by the thought of your classmates judging you for it and spreading rumors behind your back. That’s all.”
Mashima paused, then offered me a sheepish smile.
“Then again, maybe I’m not one to talk when I was kinda needling you about it just now, huh?” she added. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” I told her. “I could’ve been a little less prickly about it myself.”
I was relieved to have cleared the air with her. Things still felt a bit awkward, but at least it didn’t seem like there’d be any residual tension between us as a result of this interaction.
Though I had to say…it was strange to me that someone who was clearly capable of resolving conflicts maturely and amicably like this was the same person who’d taken such extreme measures to essentially force Nishizono to change her ways only a couple months back. That whole incident—despite supposedly being a show of how much she cared about Nishizono as a friend—had been so twisted and manipulative in my view that I’d honestly been slightly afraid of her ever since she told me the truth. But such was the duality of Mashima, I supposed.
Everyone had a dark side. Hers was simply a bit darker than most.
“I’ve gotta hand it to you, though, Kamiki. You’ve gotten a lot better at holding conversations with people.”
“You think?”
“Yeah—or at least with me, anyway. I still remember how shifty and awkward you were when we first started talking. Wouldn’t even look me in the eye.”
“I mean…I’ve always been kinda shy, to be fair. But yeah, I’d agree that I’ve gotten significantly better in that regard.”
“Well, it’s all relative, I guess. Some might argue that it shouldn’t take more than half a year for you to reach the most basic level of social interaction with someone.”
“Oh, shut up, you.”
“Ah ha ha!”
Our ski instructor came to a stop, then gave us some new directions. This would be our last drill before we broke for lunch. Our day out on the slopes was nearly halfway over already.
We ate our lunch at a little guesthouse not far from the ski resort, then returned for the afternoon portion of our skiing lessons. These were a bit more rigorous than any of the drills we’d done this morning, and by the time we were through, just about all of us newbies were going down the bunny slope without any trouble.
Once four o’clock rolled around, we finished up and climbed back onto the bus to return to the hotel. Our dinner was even fancier than the night before: an all-you-can-eat feast of jingisukan and other local delicacies. By the time I was finished gorging myself on grilled mutton and vegetables, I felt too full to walk normally.
“Oogh… Think I ate a little too much,” I groaned, rubbing my bloated belly as I flopped backward onto my bed after Hasumi and I returned to our hotel room.
The second day of our class trip had flown right by.
Skiing was a lot of fun. I knew this one-sentence review sounded like an elementary schooler’s journal entry, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say about the experience right now. I was feeling incredibly tired, both due to fatigue and my oncoming food coma, so my brain wasn’t functioning properly. I didn’t even have enough leftover energy to get up and take a shower.
Maybe I should just go to sleep. I can always shower tomorrow morning… Ugh, but I’m totally covered in sweat and probably filthy from falling on my face in the slush so many times… I should force myself to get back up and get it over with.