Living A Dead Dream (Baji x OC)

56

"... Eh?"

"Yeah, I told you I was held back."

Danny stared at Baji with an almost unreadable expression. Currently, she was hanging out with him, Kazutora, and Chifuyu, and she had asked the former two how the entrance exams had gone. Kazutora, without much surprise, had passed and gotten into one of the local high schools. Baji, on the other hand... "I... do not remember that..."

Kazutora and Chifuyu chuckled to themselves. "He mentioned it a few times, Danny," Kazutora said, an amused smile pulling at his lips.

"You and Takemitchy are both forgetful, huh?" Chifuyu added, chuckling to himself.

"And you told me ta pay attention," Baji teased with a snigger and a smirk.

"Ah, can it," she grumbled, looking away from the three with a hint of an embarrassed blush.

"Oh, hey, the ice skating rink's open today," Chifuyu pointed out when he saw the building up ahead. "You guys wanna go?" He grinned.

"Yeah!"

"Nah."

"Eh, why not, Baji?" Danny asked.

"He's no good at it," Kazutora said with a grin.

"No," he instantly rebuked. "I just don't like ice skating."

"Aw, come on. I'm a lil rusty, but I can teach ya." The best she could, and without moving her arm wrong, she clasped her hands together. "Please?" By now, the bandages around her hand and the stitches were out, so while she still couldn't use her arm much, she could still do some stuff with her hand.

Instantly, Chifuyu's face lit up, an idea coming to mind. This was their chance. All he had to do was convince Baji to go, then leave the two of them alone for a while. Danny had just told him not to tell Baji. She never said anything about giving them a push in the right direction. This was it. Today was the day that his abundance of Shojo knowledge could be put to use. He'd love to have those interactions with a girl himself, but helping Baji out was a great second option for now. "Yeah, come on, Baji. It'll be fun." Operation: Love on Ice, begin!

"What's the worst that could happen?" Kazutora voiced with a shrug as he looked expectingly at his friend.

His eye twitched as his sharp gaze went from one to the other. After his eyes settled on Danny's blue ones, he let out a sigh as he turned his head away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine, whatever..."

The three cheered before practically breaking into a sprint for the building, leaving Baji behind to shake his head. Despite his exasperation, he smiled.

Danny was the first one on the rink out of the four. Thankfully, the place was empty except for the staff, so they could get the place to themselves for a while. Before she had even stepped onto the rink, she took a deep breath. It had been a little over a year at this point since she had ice skated, so she wasn't sure how well she'd do. Only one way to find out.

By the time Baji had gotten his skates, Kazutora and Chifuyu already had theirs on, but they were standing and staring at the rink. His eyes wandered over to where they were staring and he found himself completely entranced by the sight.

She glided effortlessly across the ice, each and every one of her moves as smooth as butter. She lept, leaving the ice as she did a spin, and then, she landed without faltering even the slightest bit. In that moment, it was just her and the ice, all of her troubles seemed to just melt into the rink. But, that didn't last long because she noticed the three watching her. "You guys comin' or what?" she called out with a grin as she made her way toward them.