* ˚ ✦ sidelines then skateparks (sk8 the infinity x male oc) * ˚ ✦

the road that led me here

There are times where Langa does things Ayaka doesn't completely like. They're not intentional, and Ayaka knows Langa doesn't mean any harm.

His dad didn't mean it either.

But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt any less.

Langa started snowboarding when he was just two years old, Ayaka only being a year old. Langa and Dad would go up the mountains, while Ayaka stayed home with their mom. Once in a while, Nanako and Ayaka would go up to the mountains as well and watch the two.

The first time Ayaka saw them, he started to laugh, and reached out toward them. He was so happy, this looked like so much fun! He couldn't remember things when he was one, but it always stuck in the back of his mind.

He was now three, in his mothers arms as he was still watching his dad and Langa. His mom would point to them and narrate what they were doing.

But, Nanako had noticed as Ayaka was getting older, he would start to get more wary when going up to the mountains.

She would watch as Ayaka clung to her when he saw someone fall into the deep snow. Once, when Langa had accidentally fallen Ayaka turned away and covered his ears. She had felt him tremble, and had Langa walk over to reassure Ayaka he was okay.

Despite that, he still loved watching people snowboard.

He started writing in a journal. Writing in great detail everything he would see Dad or Langa do while snowboarding. Tricks, techniques, stance, everything. Even if he didn't know how to write it out so well, since he was only 4, he still tried.

When Ayaka was 5, he started to learn how to snowboard himself. But, it ended up going very wrong.

Dad had placed him on the snowboard he had bought for him, and slowly pushed him around the snow.

Ayaka felt his heart race—but not in the good sense.

His palms started sweating, and he started imagining all the things that could go wrong. He could crash, get hurt, or embarrass himself in front of everyone. His thoughts had become so overwhelming that he had ended up blacking out and fell forward.

He was five, he didn't know how to deal with this.

He felt so ashamed of himself, but Dad and Langa kept telling him it was okay, and that he could try another time.

Another time came, and the same thing happened again when Ayaka was 7.

The thought of hurtling down a mountain at high speeds, with nothing to hold onto except a thin board, terrified Ayaka. He tried to brush off his fear, but every time he thought about snowboarding, his heart would race and his palms would sweat.

He has absolutely no idea why he was like this. Langa and Dad had no problem with snowboarding.

So why, why was he the only one who had trouble?

Ayaka closed his door silently, a deep frown on his face. He threw his gear off and placed his snowboard on his bed. He walked over to his desk and pulled out his journal, flipping through the pages until he found a blank page.

Backside Rodeo:

Langa approached a ramp at high speed, and when he reached the end of the jump, he began this backside rotation, turning his body in the opposite direction to his front foot.

It was weird, because he also started a backflip at the same time. He must had to have timed it perfectly, rotation and everything. That has to be the key.