Luna's POV
"Luna Saito of Canada has earned a free skate score of 154.67, putting her in first place."
Great. I'm way below my season's and personal best. Curse this weak heart and stamina of mine. As soon as the scores were announced, I put on a small smile to hide my disappointment. I immediately turn to my uncle beside me and mouthed a sincere sorry. And right after that, I stood up and turned back to my team behind me.
"Guys I'm so sorry. Its my fault. I messed up two of the jumps. I have no excuse, honestly." I say apologetically as I bow slightly.
"Oh stop it Luna. You did so good out there! Sure it wasn't your best but it was still amazing." Tessa said, reaching out before giving me a small side hug.
"She's right. I just know you'll blow us all off at the singles event. I'll still put up a fight though." Katelyn followed while she held my hand.
"Besides, we're still in the lead by a lot of points. And we'll skate in a bit so don't you worry. Mwahahaha!" Scott said mimicking an evil laugh to which Tessa just punched his arm.
"You idiot don't say that or you'll jinx it!" Tessa huffed in annoyance.
"But anyway, like Scott said, you have to stop worrying too much, Luna. We're a team so don't burden yourself. There's no blaming each other here." Patrick continued as he gave me a look of reassurance. I flashed him a look of gratitude.
"Thank you guys, really. I just feel really bad..." I say to them but I still exhale deeply, not even bothering on hiding my disappointment. I took a step back when I suddenly feel an excruciating pain from my right knee which made me drop on the floor, sitting.
Unconsciously, I grab my knee as tears start to well up in my eyes. On cue, everything was muted. It was like I was underwater. I clench my eyes tightly as I continue to sob quietly. From the pain? Yes. But mostly from the anxiety and disappointment that I know I could've done better. And now I feel nothing else but complete and utter fear that I may not even be able to compete in the singles event because of this sudden injury when this is the last one and only chance I have.
With my eyes still tightly closed, I could only hear my uncle shout, "MEDIC! Luna, Luna. Hey. Are you okay?!" I only whimper in response.
And though I want to open my eyes, I'm afraid to see how the others are reacting to this scene unfolding right before their eyes. In national television.
Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice shout in Japanese, "Move away please!"
I feel myself being lifted off of the ground and carried, I lean my head towards the familiar warmth of the man carrying me.
"You always save me, don't you?" I whisper, my eyes still closed.
"I guess. Keep your eyes closed if you're scared. I'll tell you when you can open them okay?" He whispered back while I could feel his chest vibrate as he talked.
I could only hum in response. He continued to whisper, "You did great hime. I'm proud of you. So don't feel bad. I know you're feeling that way. Don't beat yourself up. Even your teammates told you so."
My heart clenched at his words. He always knows what to say. He's already memorized me like an open book. I could only hum again in reply as tears slowly fall from my eyes once again, making me snuggle closer to Yuzu's chest.
After a few seconds, I could feel the atmosphere become a bit calmer, meaning we were already somewhere backstage away from the rink. "You can open your eyes now, hime."
Slowly, I flutter my eyes open and see we were in the clinic. I was seated on a hospital chair.
"Where's my uncle?" I ask Yuzu right away. As soon as I said that, the door opened and I saw Uncle Brian and a doctor enter the room.
"I'm sure you were watching her skate, right Doctor?" Uncle Brian asked.
"Yes, I was watching. From the looks of it, she fell kind of hard on her knee during her triple axel." The doctor replied as he started to ice and compress my right knee.
This time, it was Yuzu who asked. "That was the 2nd jump out of all the jumps. How come she didn't feel the pain right away?" Huh... that makes sense. I turn to look at the doctor to listen attentively.
"Well, I'm sure you're aware of this Mr. Hanyu but during your skate, you tend to have increased adrenaline. This kind of makes you forget any sort of pain during the rest of your program. Hence, the pain feels like its intensified after you're done. Maybe that's why Luna only felt the pain as soon as she heard her scores because there was still too much adrenaline running through her as of that time." The doctor explained thoroughly, leaving the ice on my knee before standing back up.
"So what exactly is wrong with her knee?" Uncle Brian asked.
"Well, it doesn't seem like she has torn a ligament because otherwise she wouldn't have been able to walk. However, she may have pulled a ligament on her right knee."
Silence fell upon the room as I could not muster any kind of reaction from the information he just said.
"Is it... is it serious? Can I still skate for the next few days?" As I spoke, I could feel Yuzu's hand run up and down my back and my uncle's hand on my shoulder.
"Well... if you can bear the pain, Ms. Saito, yes. Yes you can. We will have to continuously ice and compress it before the event. And you should also take pain relievers when you do decide to push through just to lessen the pain." The doctor explained.
Without even looking at Yuzu and my uncle, I reply immediately. "I can bear the pain. I'll do it."
"But Luna-" Yuzu was about to protest when the doctor spoke again.
"I do have to warn you, Ms. Saito. Pushing through which such an injury can lead to a more serious one that may cause you a lifetime of complications. Worsening that injury may mean you can no longer skate for the rest of your life."
I'm supposed to feel worried with what he said right? Any other skater who would hear this would feel like their world just crumbled down upon them. Meanwhile, I'm just here. As I heard what he just said, I just chuckle lightly.
"Doctor. I have nothing to lose. I'll still do it." I reply immediately with a genuine smile this time.
From my peripheral vision, I could see Yuzu bow his head down sniffling lightly. It seems that my uncle felt that me and Yuzu should talk alone.
"Let's let her rest first. Yuzu, I'm leaving her in your care. Doctor, what else should we do before the ladies' event?" Uncle said, gesturing for the doctor to have a talk outside of the room.
Once again, complete and utter silence. I could only hear Yuzu lightly sniffling as if he was holding back his tears.
"Hey. What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you in pain? Is your ankle hurting?" I ask worriedly as I reach for his hand, trying to look up to his face but was covered with this bangs.
"There you go again... You're the one going through something unbearable and yet you still have time to worry about me." Yuzu whispered still keeping his head down.
"Of course I worry about you. Why wouldn't I?" I ask him, caressing the back of his hand softly.
"You should take care of yourself more. Didn't I tell you I'll still marry you after all of this. When everything dies down and we're both ready." He whispered. At what he said, my hand stopped moving. He still thinks that way...
"Yuzuru. Look at me." I said making him look at me straight in the eye. I could only smile apologetically at Yuzu, his eyes kind of red. "Thank you. I would love to spend my lifetime with you. But we already talked about this, didn't we? Back home in Canada. We're already here. We don't have to hold back because we don't know what the future holds, right?"
After a few seconds of silence, he wipes his tear-stained face and takes a deep breath. "I know you'd say that. I just thought I could change your mind last minute." Yuzu said as he pouted.
I chuckle lightly, "Nope. It looks like you'll be the driver of my wheelchair until before the men's event on the 16th."
"Sure looks like it. Well, at least I get to spend time with you. I'll even take you to watch me practice." He said, ruffling my hair.
"Hey, that's not fair. I'll only get jealous..." I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest.
*slight warning as we enter a bit of a heated moment. I warned you!*
"You know... I've been wanting to do this." Yuzu's tone suddenly turned serious.
"Do wha-" I was cut off with his soft lips kissing mine. The kiss is gentle, just like how Yuzu normally is. A couple of seconds later, he pulled away and looked at me dead straight in the eyes.
"W-what was that for?" I ask, slightly flustered at how Yuzu is acting right now. He doesn't even reply as he stared at my lips and kissed me once again. This time, it was not as gentle. I could feel the hunger and passion as he held my face closer. Unconsciously, I close my eyes and my hands travel to his soft, fluffy hair.
Yuzuru bit my lower lip which made me open my mouth, giving him entrance. As the kiss got more intense, his hand traveled down my stocking-covered leg, making me yelp a bit. What has gotten into this guy?
Yuzuru growled (which i found really, really hot btw) in response as I could feel he was about to tear the stockings I'm wearing. My hand immediately grabbed his hand before I pull away from the kiss.
I put my forehead against his before saying breathily. "No, Yuzu. How will I get out of here? People will see. There are probably media waiting outside. What do you think they'll say when they see me with a torn leotard, huh?"
"I don't care about them. You can just wear place my jacket on your legs when we get out." Yuzu whispered huskily.
"Yuzu no. Maybe later? Just not here. Now shut up and kiss me."
And without hesitation, we continued our heated make out session. In the heat of the moment, we didn't hear footsteps nearing the room.
*end of 'heated moment'*
The door open slightly to reveal my Uncle with his eyes widened at what he just witnessed. Yuzu and I pull away from each other, our faces flushed red probably not only from what just happened but also from the embarrassment of being seen by my uncle. As he saw Yuzu and I's messy appearance, my Uncle immediately pulled the doctor away who was just right behind him so the doctor did not see what happened.
"Doctor! I forgot to ask you something else. Let's uhm, walk this way. Let's get coffee while we're at it." I could hear my Uncle stumble on his words due to his nervousness.
As soon as we hear the footsteps go farther and farther, we both exhale a huge sigh of relief. I placed a hand on my chest before punching Yuzu's shoulder.
"What was that for?! We almost got caught, you idiot!" I whisper-shouted at him angrily, my face still blushing from embarrassment.
"Ouch! I told you I've been wanting to do it! I haven't even done what I actually wanted to do." He said as he whispered the last statement which I couldn't comprehend.
"What was that?!" I asked in annoyance.
"Nothing! No need to get mad, Luna-chan. Didn't you feel a bit excited?" Yuzuru asked, laughing lightly.
"Excited? Excited of what?"
"You know, being caught. Its kind of exciting isn't it?" He continued.
"Baka!" I shout covering my face, my face turning even more red if that's even possible. Yuzu laughed even more at my reaction.
After a few seconds, his laugh died down and I peek through my hands to look at him.
"Okay, kinda..."
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CUT! Another chapter everyone! I hope you guys liked this one as well. Send some love, vote and comment 💕
I'll try to update again tomorrow for y'all.
Stay safe and stay golden, lovelies ✨