Welcome back, my lovely reader!
I left you on another mini-cliffhanger last time, didn't I lovely? It just has to be like that sometimes, doesn't it? Well, your wait is over and now we can see how that overtime match will play out!
Ah who am I kidding, we know why you're really here, yeah? You want to see our favorite twins and their new bunny-sister, right? No shame in that, but I hope you'll humor me as I give you a little more sporty drama first.
Let's jump right in!
—♥—
Episode 8:
Can I Do It This Time?
"Welcome back to Ice Stone Lodge here on beautiful Mt. Crystal Lake!" Jasmine called out with a bright grin to the camera.
"Say that line three times fast, Jas," Jaron hummed out melodically.
"Ice Stone Lodge, Mt. Crystal Lake. Ice Stone Lodge, Mt. Crystal Lake. Ice stone Lodge, Mt. Lystal Cake-"
"Ha!" The greyhound barked out.
"Ohhh... shut up! We should focus on our overtime anyway!" The mouse squeaked out with a fussy glare at the dog.
"Right you are, Jas, let's get down to the gate where our current points leader, Kai Hanna is set to drop in!" Jaron said to the camera, the scene already having shifted to the snow leopard.
The camera panned over to the leopard as he offered a slight grin and shrugged. "Maybe I should start charging by the hour, huh?" He dialed his music up and pushed off, moving into the pipe.
Kai had nothing to prove on this run, it was just for fun to him, as if he were just practicing, but he knew Hiroshi would lose his mind if he didn't put it out there. He hit the first pass and launched off it, spinning in a controlled flourish.
Sticking his landing he moved right on to the second, mixing things up with an end over end, seeing the pipe then the sky repeat a few times before settling and hitting the ramp once more. His third pass showed more casual but skilled tricks.
The leopard hopped up on the edge of the pipe on his quick fourth pass, grinding on it like a skateboarder would, even going so far as to remove his mouthguard and stick his tongue out at the camera as the drone zipped by.
Grinding his board to a halt he showed another playful grin at the camera, then cocked a brow, his eyes looking challenging. "Your move, Roshi."
The buck had been watching the whole thing up top on the TV, he was a professional and could clearly see the leopard was having more fun with it than dialing fully in. Still, the effort was there and when Kai called him out, his teeth snapped together before he stomped over to the gate.
Seeing the buck stomping over, the lead staffer tilted his own head. "Hey, not my business, but you might want to shake that off and focus. Don't you guys trash talk all the time?"
"This is different..." Hiroshi snarled as he locked his boots into place with a scowl.
"Yeah, okay. Try to keep your head screwed on right when you drop in." The staff member rolled his eyes and trotted out of the way as the camera came in.
"And here comes our other competitor for this special exhibition run, Hiroshi Yukazama!" Jaron called out to the viewers.
"He looks pretty serious, guess Kai lit a fire under his tail!" Jasmine hummed out as the buck quickly glanced at the camera before snapping his goggles into place, dialing his music, and pushing off.
Why was he so upset? Other boys had trash-talked him much harsher than Kai had. The leopard's jabs were playful at worst, and encouraging at best, so why was he so riled up by them? The questions whirled in his mind as he hit the first jump.
His tricks came out in a controlled, nearly mechanical flourish. Years of skill coming to the front, showing he'd broken the X3 in easily. Broken it in easily, because Kai, Jarome, and even Kayla had helped him. He'd gone from being a loner in firm control of his own destiny to having to rely on others to keep his dreams alive.
His second pass showed a full mimic of Kai's end over end, even adding a quick corkscrew to it to one-up the leopard as he stuck the landing. That's when it dawned on him, Kai was different, because Kai earnestly had gone out of his way to help, and had been a ... friend.
Hiroshi's eyes widened as he snapped out of his own headspace a moment too late, he'd gone up for a fourth pass, having completely been going on autopilot for the third one, not even remembering what tricks he had done, but the crowd roaring their approval.
Last season Madeline had stuck a fourth trick by the claws of her footpaws, but that wasn't happening this time. The buck missed the side of the pipe and came straight down without a slope or anything to ease the tumble. He drew himself up into as tight of a ball as he could, feeling a stabbing shock of pain against his hip and shoulder as he impacted the compressed snow.
"Roshi!" Kai screamed out and was already rushing over to the buck from the waiting area since he was mostly down the pipe. There was a collective gasp of shock from the rest of the spectators, Kayla pushing her paws over her mouth, Madeline just wincing at the impact.
"He'll... I think he'll be okay..." She whispered to Kayla as the leopardess looked back at the rabbit. "I've taken drops like that before, he got into a good tuck."
"Gods! Are you okay, man?!" Kai had beaten the medical staff over as he dropped to his knees next to the buck.
"I'm... fine..." Hiroshi winced as he slowly tried to pick himself up, then gave a pained gasp as he collapsed back down into the snow.
"Idiot! Hold still and let the medical guys check you out before you try to move!" The big cat snarled.
Hiroshi just hissed through his teeth as he glanced up at Kai. "Sorry..."
"For what?" Kai frowned as the medical staff pushed forward.
"C'mon give us some room here!" One of the MT's snarled as Kai backpedaled while they started looking the downed rider over.
"Oh gosh... well, why don't we go to a commercial, we'll have more info for you when we return, everyone!" Jasmine huffed out, trying to shift back into her own professional tone.
"We'll be right back, everyone!" Jaron called out as the feed cut and an impromptu commercial break started.
—♥—
"The x-rays came back. He ended up dislocating his shoulder on the impact, and also has a thin hairline fracture on his pelvic cavity. The doctor is recommending he avoid any strenuous activity for the next few months, but he could theoretically be back on the slopes after a few weeks of r and r." Kai explained to the other riders that were all waiting in the lobby area after having gotten the news from the doctor.
"Well, at least that's something... You know Hiroshi will be back at it in like two weeks tops!" Jarome mewed out with a grin.
"Yeah, but if he takes another fall anywhere in the area, he'll be done boarding, for good most likely. It'll slow his overall recovery rate too." Madeline offered her own words, a realistic foil to Jarome's optimism.
"Tch... He'll be fine, Madeline!" Jarome hissed out then looked over at Kai. "Can we go see his stupid ass now or what?"
"Uh yeah... they said he wanted to see me first, but I wanted to give you guys the update."
"Well, we have our update, now hurry along and see him, my friend." Raul placed a paw on the necklace he wore and nodded to the large cat.
"Yeah, get your tail moving, don't keep him waiting, brother!" Kayla mewed out as well, putting her paws on her hip, looking similar to how their mother used to look when she was scolding him.
"Okay okay! Just don't look at me like that, geez!" Kai hissed out and stomped off.
Kai pushed into the small room, Hiroshi looking his normal composed self as he sat there in the bed. The buck inclined his head as the leopard entered. "Kai, glad to see you."
"Are you? Isn't it my fault you're like this, man? We wouldn't even be here if I hadn't been goading you on." The leopard hissed out as he took a seat next to the bed.
"I put myself here by daydreaming on the pipe, Kai. All you were doing was trying to spark my competitive spirit as I did yours when you started last season." Hiroshi sighed as he leaned back into the pillows of the bed.
"That's true, I wasn't goading you to be malicious, I just wanted to see you beat my score, see you rub it in those Gemini guy's faces." Kai offered him a grin and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So what are you gonna do?"
Hiroshi sighed and shook his head. "I'll be professional, I'll nurse this damn arm and hip injury for the bare minimum, then get back to things."
Kai nodded at that and frowned. "I won't try to talk you out of it, I know how it is... Still, you will have to be extra-"
"I know what I have to be and don't have to be, Kai," Hiroshi cut him off, his words sounding calm but pointed as he spoke.
"Sorry... I'm not trying to placate you or something, just worrying." Kai sat up straight and looked out the frost-covered window of the hospital.
Hiroshi frowned and then seemed to shore his composure up before just rapidly snarling out, "I get it... Look, I appreciate you lighting a fire under me, you're... my friend okay? I wanna kick your ass in the points totals after that shit you pulled too, so don't think I'm going to go easy on you!"
"Heh... Yeah, I appreciate that. I feel the same, that's why I'll make you fight tooth and nail, make you earn every last point!" The leopard shoved his paw out, the buck gripping it as they closed grips as if ready to arm-wrestle.
"Hmph... I'll miss one competition but I should be back to form then. You better get as many points as you can, you'll need them when I'm back." They parted grips as the leopard grinned at the trash talk.
"Yeah, I know I will, man." Kai shook his head and slowly rose from the seat. "Hey, we can talk more later, you've got a whole waiting room full of riders wanting to see your ass. Let me get out of here so they can visit too."
Hiroshi snorted and shook his head. "Don't bother, tell them to just wait. I'll be discharged within half an hour."
"Already?" Kai tilted his head curiously.
