Unfathomable

26.

Madara:

I closed the cab door behind me, the sound of it echoing among the mountains, empty in the summer but still covered in snow. I was a bit early, and I hadn't texted my parents to tell them, figuring this was a great opportunity to prevent anyone to be out and meet me. Instead, I tiptoed into the hotel and to our living quarters, opened the door, and went in.

"Madara?"

I jerked, but it was only Sonia. "Hi."

"Oh, my dear boy!" She came and gave me a bone-crushing, Russian hug. "We've missed you so much! You've barely called!" She looked hurt, and my heart aches.

"I'm sorry, Sonia. It's just... I needed some time alone."

"Shhh, don't speak like that! I know. I know it must have been hard for you."

I swallowed and looked down. Hard for me... That was nothing compared to what Izuna must have gone through. I felt awful. Suddenly, I heard a voice from upstairs.

"Sonia! When is Madara coming?" Holy shit. It was Izuna. I felt my heart clench. "Do I have time to go snowboarding?"

I looked at Sonia with hope in my eyes. Could he..? But Sonia shook her head.

"I don't think so, dear", Sonia called up, giving me a meaningful glance. "He might be here any second. You don't wanna miss him!"

"He snowboards?" I whispered.

She smiled warmly. "Of course! You didn't think he would just sit on his paralytic ass and do nothing, did you?" She winked at me.

Confused, I tiptoed upstairs, making sure Izuna didn't notice. Outside his door, I stopped and looked inside. He was sitting at his desk, in his wheelchair, his hair tumbling down his back. He looked so calm, so... Content. It broke my heart. With tears in my eyes, I went to my room, closed and locked my door.

Izuna <3 (08.45 pm): I know you are home. Why haven't you said hello? Why didn't you come down for dinner?

Izuna <3 (09.12): Just so you know, I'm not mad at you. I have no reason to be. I know you have reason to be mad at me. I just miss you so much, it hurts.

Oh, my God, Izuna... Can't you see?

I was laying in my bed, listening to White Lies and crying, sending memes back and forth to Hashi. I planned on going out to ski tomorrow for the first time since... Since everything. I caressed the skis Hashi had gotten me that I'd lain down next to me in bed to egg myself. I did feel a mild tingling in my heart at the thought of throwing myself out of the steepest black hill once more. Hashi... He truly was what kept me going at this point. Still, I didn't know how much longer I could keep going. Not like this.

My goggles turned the world a fantastic blue, locking the scorching sun out of my retina as I slalomed downhill. I usually preferre going straight down, but I found slalom to be a good warmup for my knees. I needed to practice it though, if I wanted to be a more versatile competitor. I knew I was world-class when it came to slalom, but not as good as downhill.

The black hill was completely empty, only for me, summertime not really being the season for tourists to fill the hills up. That made me careless, so when something suddenly passed me from behind, I lost my smooth slalom-curves in pure panic, and I crashed straight into their back. We tumbled down the hill, which luckily was coming close to an end, before we stopped.

"What... What the hell?!" I screamed. I was furious. I knew the person had not really done anything wrong, turning past me in a soft curve so far away from me I should've been able to maneuver the situation. But I was still furious. "You can't just cut my way off like that!"