Unfathomable

10.

Madara:

We came stumbling into my family's home, laughing.

"Mum!" I yelled.

My mum poked her head out of the kitchen. "Oh, my goodness! Madara, you didn't tell me we would have a guest!"

"It's okay, mum. We're just here for some tea. We need to get warm."

"I'm sorry if I cause any trouble", Hashi said warmly.

Mum looked surprised, but incredibly pleased with the fact that I'd gathered myself a friend like Hashirama Senju. "There's already some in the pot. Your brother made it, so it's strawberry flavour. There are some orange jam pockets Sonia made earlier, too!"

"Thanks, mum."

We stood by the counter, drinking tea and munching hot pockets with mum and Izuna, who had also joined when he'd heard our laughing from his room, never wanting to miss an opportunity for fun.

"My son wasn't too cruel of a teacher now, was he?" mum asked.

"Not at all! If you're son has one talent greater than skiing, it's teaching others how to ski." My heart sang. I was honestly very happy with Hashi's progress; at the end of the day, he skied happily down the most difficult green hill without ploughing, only using soft turns to break his speed. "He even showed me how he skied down the steepest black hill. It was..." Hashirama looked down, smiling, suddenly lost for words and I swore he was blushing. "It was..."

I looked away and blushed, too. It had been amazing, adrenaline surging through my body as it never had before because I knew he was watching, and I did one of the best skis of my life because of it.

"Show-off!" Izuna teased.

"So when are you going again?" mum asked.

"My little brother is coming over from England to visit tomorrow. I want to show him round. So..." Hashi looked at me. "I don't want to disturb your training too much, Madara."

"Meet me same place, same time the day after tomorrow", I said without hesitation.

"Oh, and please invite your little brother to dinner at our place tomorrow!" my mother said. "Seven pm?"

"Absolutely! Thank you so much", Hashirama said.

I looked down at the mess in front of me. No... This isn't happening... This can't be happening! I fought tears burning behind my eyes. Several people came up behind me.

"You all right, lad?" a gentleman asked.

"Yes, thank you, it's just... My skis!" my voice cracked.

Falling was part of the sport. I fell every week. I always wore a helmet and also a breast plate and back protector. I had fallen today, the one day I had between my two lessons with Hashi. But this time, I'd fallen so badly that my skis had cracked in two. Panic was surging through my body as I realised I couldn't afford new ones, and that the only ones I could borrow were Izuna's and I was way too tall and heavy for them. Possibly Hashi's, if I asked kindly, but I was too short and light for those and they were beginners skis! And my parents would never agree to buy new ones; they'd been adamant that anything ski- or snowboard related must be paid by me and Izuna ourselves.

"Be glad that wasn't your back snapping", the gentleman said.

Don't you understand?! I wanted to snap. I'd rather it be me than my skis! They're my SOUL!

At six pm, I started to get ready for dinner. A turmoil of thoughts had coiled up in my head, and I tried to detangle them as I detangled my wet hair using a brush and a blow-drier. Usually, my hair was wild, cut in layers and with natural waves making it stand out all over the place. But for the occasion, I blowdried it until it was straight like a heavy curtain and I used oil to make it shiny and smooth. It was years ago I did this, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it made me feel. But I couldn't quite detangle that coil in my head simultaneously. I couldn't describe what it consisted of. Probably a combination of my broken skis and something else.

I did a subtle base of just concealer and powder and added mascara and some glitter on my eyelids. I put on suit pants and a dark grey off-shoulder sweater and went down for dinner with Hashirama and his brother.

The dinner turned out to be an absolute feast.

The conversation between my parents, Sonia and Hashirama was warm, as always. Hashirama had a subtle shyness to him that caused his stories to never seem boisterous; he just politely answered my parents questions. They talked about Russia and England and Switzerland, about running a hotel and being an author. I joined in from time to time, but preferred to listen.

Hashirama's brother was... Interesting, to say the least. He was only seventeen, fair-skinned with white hair. He was about my size and incredibly stylish in a Korean street fashion kind of way, and wore grey cargo trousers with a chain along with a black shirt and a simple black body harness. He painted red stripes on his chin and cheeks that he told my parents he'd started painting after having spent time with an African tribe during a trip he did last summer. He was incredibly shy, hardly uttering a word, shyly shoving food into his mouth the entire dinner.

But what made the dinner so interesting was the interaction between him and Izuna.

Izuna, usually chatty, loving to tease me in front of guests and being brilliant at conversations, was dead silent, looking down at his plate, barely eating his potato with salmon and salad despite usually being a hearty eater, especially when served anything fish. As he reached his hand out to grab his glass of coke with ice, I could see he was trembling, poor baby. But I couldn't help but smirk, beside myself.

The tension between Izuna and Tobirama was so great, I was surprised it hadn't choked all of us already. I could see them stealing glances at each other from time to time, quickly averting their eyes if they happened to look at each other simultaneously.

I didn't blame Tobirama one bit. Izuna looked fantastic in skinny black jeans and a midnight blue, long chiffon shirt, a velvet choker around his neck and his hair in a high ponytail. He was almost bare of makeup except lip gloss. He was so beautiful, it made my heart ache. And it was apparently making Tobirama feel all sorts of things as well.

I had started to suspect something when Hashi and his brother had entered. He didn't come down, meaning he was probably blasting Red Hot Chili Peppers so loud in his sound-proof headphones while studying that he couldn't hear a thing. I texted him, knowing his phone was always on him, and he came running down the stairs.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said, energetic and flustered as usual. "I couldn't hear you coming, I had music in my-"

And that's when he caught sight of Tobirama Senju. He stopped dead and just stared, mouth agape. Tobirama wasn't better off himself, his fair face becoming even whiter.

"Hello, Izuna", Hashirama said warmly.

"Hi", Izuna whispered, but he couldn't take his eyes off Tobirama, and his mouth was still open.

When we were about to sit down to dinner, Izuna sat next to me, and Sonia was about to sit down at her usual place on Izuna's other side.

"Sonia, can't you sit next to me, please?" I asked.

She looked a bit confused at first, but when she caught my eye, she winked. She had noticed, too. 

"Of course, dear", she said, sitting down in my other side, leaving the seat next to Izuna the only available one for Tobirama to sit down at.

Oh, it was heavenly!

"By the way", Hashirama said. "Is there a place to get your hair cut here? Mine has taken a lot of damage in the cold."

"Madara cuts my hair", Izuna said shyly, the first thing he'd said since he's said "Hi" to Hashirama. Tobirama stared hungrily at him, as if unable to believe he was lucky enough to be allowed to hear Izuna's sweet voice. "He's really good." Oh, bless him.

Hashirama smiled. "I don't want to bother your brother. He has taught me how to ski already."

"I'll do it tonight in your salon", I said. "But I need to be alone to focus. Tobirama, I'm sorry, but you need to go elsewhere while I cut your brothers hair. Maybe Izuna can show you around? The town's really beautiful at night."

Tobirama choked on his water.

Izuna looked like he'd seen a ghost and won the lottery at the same time.