courage dear heart | Yuki Ishikawa

01

I can do it, I have to.

I looked down the slopes where I could see the crowd cheering and hyping up the guy who just finished his backside 1440 triple cork, the same trick I was about to do.

I let out a shaky breath.

I can do it, I've done it a few times before.

I patted my left shoulder with my right hand trying to calm myself.

I moved with my board towards the starting poles and grabbed them tightly while the guy was waiting for his score.

90 points, well done i guess... but now It's my time to shine

I took a deep breath and dropped down into the vert. Everything seemed to slow down as I gained speed, approaching the ramp before the jump. The cheers from the crowd grew more distant, and I could feel my heartbeat slowing. I brought my knees up and my body soared into the air.

" Chō, are you ready?" a distant voice spoke

"Chō?...Na-bi!"The voice, now louder, pulled me back to reality.

I blinked few times and turned towards the direction the voice was coming from.
Reira, my senpai, who had peeked out the door to check why I was running late.

She is two years younger than me and 4'11", almost 20 cm shorter. With her chubby cheeks and sweet features, no one would guess that she is actually one of Japan's top snowboarders.

"I almost done, Reira-senpai"

Looking at myself in the mirror of the gym's bathroom, I stared at my almond-shaped green eyes — the same shade as my half Danish and half Swiss mother's, along with the small beauty mark near my right eyes that I also inherited from her.

Even though my features are less typically Asian, my heritage is still evident. I got the rest of my look from My father, who is half South Korean and half Japanese.

I covered my face up to my nose with my neckwarmer. My dark brown hair was pulled back into a low bun. I wore a cap to hide the rest of my face.

Perfect.

"is that really necessary? You looked like one of those kdrama characters dressed in black, trying to go unnoticed with just a cap and a facemask"

I looked down at my outfit, a black long sleeve off shoulder top and my leather black pants.

Ok, maybe she wasn't entirely wrong...

"That's fine, I'd rather avoid drawing attention" I replied as I put on my —obviously—black trench coat.

"Ok, now you either look like a pervert or a drug dealer" she said furrowing her brows.

"I don't mind as long as it's not Kim Na-bi" I gave her a wink, walking past her "let's go? We are late"

Reira sighed as she followed me out of the gym.

"There you are! What took you so long? And you, Chō, why the hell are you dressed like the Grim Reaper?"

I looked up from my phone and stared at Hirano Ayumu-senpai who was waiting outside our van.

"Ayumu senpai! Sorry for the wait. Where are the others?" I asked as I climbed into the van.

"The others left ten minutes ago," replied Hiroaki Kunitake-senpai, watching some videos on YouTube while seated inside the van.

All three of my senpai were dressed in the black uniform of the Japanese snowboard team.