Chapter 301: Not Falling, That's Impossible
With great anticipation, everyone finally arrived at their destination, the Ski Resort.
Every winter, when there's enough snowfall, the Ski Resort opens, and many tourists come to experience skiing.
Of course, there were also many beginners like Kaede and his friends, mainly to experience the atmosphere of skiing and have fun.
After entering and borrowing a complete set of gear, everyone went to the Ski Resort, ready to start their activities.
Although Kaede had skied a few times before, he was still a beginner, so everyone chose the same, twin-tip skis.
Coming out of the changing room and looking at the vast expanse of white snow, Eriri happily said, "Wow!!! What a huge place!! Kaede-kun, should we start right away?"
"Of course not."
Patting Eriri's hat-covered head, Kaede said, "I just hired a coach to give everyone some basic instruction. We can't just start without knowing anything. Alright, the coach is here."
Kaede found an experienced middle-aged coach who took everyone to a beginner-friendly area and began basic instruction.
Body balance, foot posture, arm posture, he taught them little by little.
Although one coach had to teach several people, fortunately, everyone wasn't stupid. They might have been a bit rusty, but they quickly remembered the basics, and with Kaede nearby, there were no problems.
After more than half an hour of learning, the coach's task was complete, and he left. Now it was time for everyone to try on their own.
Holding their ski poles, Eriri excitedly looked at Kaede: "Kaede-kun, Kaede-kun, let's start quickly! I've already learned!"
"Oh? Really?"
Kaede stood still, looking at Eriri with a smile and saying, "Then you go first, I'll watch over you from beside."
"Hmph hmph, just you watch!"
Tilting her head proudly, Eriri maintained her balance and slowly swung her ski poles, smoothly beginning to move forward.
Kaede couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It seemed pretty good?
But soon, as Eriri's speed increased, the girl became a bit out of control. Her hands began to flail helplessly, and then trying to stop, she lost her balance and fell sideways onto the snow.
Shuffling on his skis to Eriri's side, Kaede looked at her sitting in the snow and said with a smile, "How is it? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"En, I'm fine."
Nodding, Eriri brushed the snow off herself and slowly stood up: "OK, let's continue!"
Seeing Eriri fall and then get back up, the others also eagerly started moving.
However, everyone's skill level was pretty much the same, with no special skiing talent. For the first ten minutes or so, they basically moved a few meters and then fell.
Kaede was a bit better, having some foundation. After wobbling a few times, he was finally able to move forward slowly and smoothly, and he could even perform the stopping action.
"Yah!"
Falling to the ground again, Eriri watched Kaede glide past her effortlessly and pouted unhappily: "Why is it harder than I imagined?"
Just as she finished speaking, Utaha, who was passing by on her other side, stumbled forward and also fell onto the snow.
Seeing that she wasn't the only one, Eriri relaxed and started laughing happily: "Hahaha, lost your balance, didn't you? That's what you get for being so tall!"
Shaking her head and sitting up, wiping the snow off her goggles, Utaha glared at Eriri and said, "At least I'm a bit better than you. It seems you haven't even reached ten meters yet, have you? I've already broken through, you know. I just need to practice the stopping motion well."
Eriri thought back and realized it was true?
"Hmph, I refuse to believe I can't even beat you. Let's compete!"
"Oh? Quite confident, aren't you? Then let's give it a try."
And so, the two novices enthusiastically began their novice competition, seeing who could ski further without falling and stop successfully.
Kaede saw the two playing with such gusto and had no desire to join the fun. He slowly glided over to the President.
He didn't realize it until he looked, but the President had made significant progress without him noticing. Now he no longer fell, though he would sometimes wobble left and right, unable to maintain a straight line.
"President, should the two of us have a little competition?"
"En?"
Looking up at Kaede, who had come over, the President smiled and said, "Sure, I originally just planned to casually join in, but I didn't expect it to be quite interesting, so I've been playing until now."
Without the rivalry between Eriri and Utaha, Kaede and the President started skiing slowly and chatting.
As they skied, the President saw Uchimaki Subaru and Usami practicing not far away and chuckled, "Oh, that's nice. It looks like Usami is making a little progress."
"Huh?"
Kaede was startled by the President's words, then smiled and said, "It seems you've been watching all along, President, and said nothing."
"Ahaha, isn't that interesting? This kind of youthful romance story, of course, must be watched quietly. The only thing I'm dissatisfied with is you, Asakura, and Sawamura. You two got together so quickly, and many things didn't even happen at school, which takes away a lot of the fun."
"Club President, you really are..."
Kaede shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Well, you still have Usami and Uchimaki's side to watch, which should be enough entertainment for you, Club President. But Club President, there's no fun in just watching others. Don't you want to try looking for someone yourself?"
"Looking for someone myself?"
The Club President's eyes beneath his goggles revealed a hint of a smile. He looked at Kaede and said, "Asakura, just because I don't talk about certain things doesn't mean they don't exist, you know."
After speaking, he pushed off with his hands, quickly surpassing Kaede and gliding forward.
Kaede, meanwhile, involuntarily stopped. He watched the Club President's retreating figure and scratched his head.
"There really is someone?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Kaede smiled and turned to head toward Eriri.
Eriri, who had been slightly outmatched by Utaha and was the first to concede defeat in their competition, saw Kaede approach and asked curiously, "Kaede-kun, weren't you skiing with the Club President? Why did you come over here?"
"Because I found out something interesting, and the Club President took off, so I came over."
Helping Eriri stand up, Kaede leaned close to her ear and whispered something, which immediately shocked Eriri.
"Eh? Really?"
Her expression also made Utaha, who had just returned, equally curious.