LMI 36

“O-okay.”

Being dragged along, Koi belatedly realized. It must still be awkward for him. He thought to himself and diligently followed Ashley.

“Okay, now tell me.”

Ashley dragged Koi to a secluded spot behind the school, and only when they were alone did he speak. The opportunity had come, but Koi couldn’t bring himself to speak.

I joined the cheerleading team and I have to crossdress. I have to practice the choreography. And they say I even have to skate. I don’t even have skates. Why? Because I don’t have money!

“Koi.”

Ashley said to Koi, who had squeezed his eyes shut.

“Tell me, or I can’t help you.”

He soothed Koi in a gentle voice. Ashley clearly wanted to help Koi sincerely. But because he had worn so many masks until now, Koi couldn’t easily reveal his true self.

“Koi.”

Ashley said to Koi, who was just hanging his head without saying anything.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“N-no.”

Koi quickly shook his head. His ears turned red with shame.

“…I’m just embarrassed.”

“About what?”

The question came back again. Koi groaned deep in his throat before finally letting out a sigh.

“Actually, um…”

Koi spoke with difficulty. Ashley listened patiently to his disjointed words. Koi told him as honestly as possible. Except for the fact that he had to crossdress.

“So that’s how they’re trying to solve it, since there was a vacancy.”

Ashley muttered after hearing the whole story. Koi was nervous, but fortunately, Ashley didn’t seem to know anything more. He must not have known the latest news since he broke up with Ariel. That was a relief.

Hmm, Ashley thought for a moment before speaking.

“So, your concerns are that you don’t know how to skate and you don’t have skates, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“It’s best to buy skates that fit your feet, but you only have to do it for one season…”

“Yeah.”

Ashley offered a solution to Koi, who was inwardly nervous.

“Let’s do this. There’s an ice rink in my basement. You can practice there.”

“A-an ice rink? In your house?”

Ashley continued, seeing Koi’s surprise.

“I probably still have the skates I used to wear when I was little. Let’s see if they’re your size. How about it?”

“O-okay.”

Koi nodded absentmindedly. Then Ashley smiled brightly and said.

“So, that’s all solved, right? Are there any other problems?”

“Um…”

Koi blinked. There weren’t any. All his worries had disappeared in an instant.

“A-no, there aren’t.”

Koi nodded hastily, his face growing increasingly flushed.

“Really, they’re gone, all of them.”

Eventually, he looked up at Ashley with sparkling eyes, his gaze so fervent, as if directed towards a god, that Ashley almost burst out laughing.

“That’s good.”

He continued with a smile on his face.

“So, how are we going to practice? You need to practice every day to get used to it, but I don’t finish practice until 7:00 PM. If we go to my house together after that, have dinner, and practice skating for about 2 hours, it’ll be around 11:00 PM, won’t that be too late? Will you be okay?”

“I’m. I’m okay.”

Koi nodded hastily.

“My part-time job usually ends around that time anyway.”

In reality, his part-time job ended at 10:00 PM, but that was just when they gave out the pay. Cleaning up the trash, doing the cleaning, checking the inventory, and locking up took at least an hour, and sometimes up to two hours. Of course, he didn’t get paid for that.

“I can quit my weekday part-time job.”

Instead, he would have to work at the store every weekend, but there was no choice. Managing his grades was the top priority.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

Ashley asked with a frown. Seeing the obvious concern on his face, Koi deliberately smiled even brighter.

“It’s okay, this is more important right now.”

“…I guess so.”

Ashley nodded, agreeing with Koi’s words.

“Okay, so that’s settled then. What should we do? Should we start right away today?”

“Please. I don’t have much time to practice. I need to memorize the basic moves too.”

Every day, every hour was precious. He had glanced at them, but he couldn’t understand how to do any of the moves.

“The cheerleading team has a lot to do.”

Ashley said.

“Okay, then let’s meet at 7:10 PM. I’ll leave the engine running, so come to my car. I parked it on the road in front of the school. Can you find my car?”

“I should be able to.”

There were hardly any cars left at that time. The Cayenne was bound to stand out. Still, Ashley didn’t seem reassured.

“Call me if you can’t find it.”

After leaving those words of caution, he hurried away. It was almost time for the ice hockey team to start practicing.

Koi on the cheerleading team, huh.

Ashley sighed as he practically ran.

He really put the saying about crossdressing a man to ward off bad luck into practice.

*

After class, while sitting alone in the quiet cafeteria waiting for Ashley, Koi searched for the basic moves that Ariel had given him. He couldn’t understand them well with just words and pictures, so he looked up videos, but he still couldn’t understand them even after watching them.

Why are people moving their bodies like that?

Koi, who couldn’t even do a simple cartwheel, couldn’t imagine how or what principle it was based on in the first place. Even when he was very young, he couldn’t even do the easiest somersault.

Can I really do this?

Time passed quickly as he sighed and watched the videos over and over again. He was startled by the loud ringing of the alarm he had set in advance, and he hurriedly packed his things and left the cafeteria.

He had already checked where Ashley’s car was. Now he had to go get his bike first. Sarah often used her bike, but no one would steal Koi’s, which was obviously old and worn out. This time too, Koi, after retrieving his bike that was left alone, skillfully stepped on the pedals and got on.

Finding Ashley’s Cayenne wasn’t difficult. After passing the athletic field and leaving the parking lot, he saw his car right away. Ashley, who had checked in the rearview mirror that Koi was coming on his bike, opened the trunk.

“Go sit down.”

Ashley, who had gotten out of the driver’s seat and stood in front of the wide-open trunk, said.

It’s my bike, shouldn’t I do it?

Hesitating, Koi headed for the passenger seat, but after seeing him lift the old bike into the car with one hand, he obediently sat in the passenger seat.

Ashley quickly returned to the driver’s seat and fastened his seatbelt. After checking that Koi had fastened his seatbelt as well, he skillfully turned the steering wheel and asked.

“I was thinking of having dinner at home, is that okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, great, of course, great.”

Koi, who had answered with a bright expression, soon turned red. He was embarrassed and ashamed that he seemed to have revealed his intention to save money. Whether Ashley noticed Koi’s feelings or not, he continued.

“If we eat, we’ll have to practice right away, so stopping anywhere else would waste time.”

“Ah, I see.”

That’s a relief then. Koi was inwardly relieved. Ashley skillfully drove the car straight towards the countryside.

*

The dinner that Ashley had prepared was made in advance by the housekeeper, and as expected, the amount was enormous. Koi had never seen such a big salad bowl before. So, he eats this much greens too. Moreover, seeing the mashed potatoes that were served right next to it, also filled to the brim in a salad bowl of the same size, Koi felt inwardly afraid of how much more was left to come.

Contrary to expectations, all that Ashley put out in front of Koi and himself was chicken salad, steak, and mashed potatoes. Koi, who had been expecting more food to come out, looked at Ashley sitting across the table and asked curiously.

“Do you not eat much at home?”

“Well, it’s not really that.”

Ashley added, getting up from his seat as if he had belatedly remembered.

“This is all there is right now.”

“Cough.”

Koi, who had cut a large piece of steak and put it in his mouth, suddenly choked. He hurriedly pounded his chest and gulped down water, barely regaining his senses. After looking back and forth between his and Ashley’s plates, Koi made a decision and cut half of the remaining meat. This was the only way.