"MUUM!!!"
"WHAT?!"
"Where is my Pokemon hoodie!!!!"
"In the dryer!!"
"And my black jeans?!!"
"In the closet!!"
"And----"
"AKI!!" Sophie yelled back and wobbled into the living room, "stop running around! Everything is ready, just calm the fuck down!"
"How can I calm down," he called back from the laundry room, "when it's my first day of school that literally determines my future for several years to come!!!!"
Sophie let out a heavy sigh and fell down on the sofa, massaging her temples, "can you at least freak out quietly, please?"
"What did you say?!!!" he yelled from his room now, "I can't hear you!!"
"Nothing," she whispered to herself, "I said nothing."
Five minutes later he ran up to her in his red hoodie over which he had his red winter jacket and with a black and red backpack over his shoulder.
At least I don't have to worry you would get hit by a car. Unless the driver is blind.
She thought and they made their way out of the flat, down the elevator, and entering the building garages where a driver was already waiting for them since Sophie could not drive yet with her injured leg though did not use Yuzuru's clutches anymore.
"And don't forget," she said as they walked towards the car, "that I have the meeting so Elliot will pick you up after the afternoon practice and drive you home."
"I know," he answered with an eye-roll, "you don't forget to put him on the list at TCC."
"I---"
"And don't forget to change the key-code for our flat---"
"I---"
"And don't forget that today you need to pick me up at 3 pm since I have the new jump class with Yuzu."
"I---"
"And don't forget that tomorrow I will have a normal morning session, so no more sleeping in!" he raised his finger, "we need to be at the rink at 6:30, got it?!!"
"Aki!" Sophie cried out and stopped in her tracks, "I am the parent here! Elliot is already on the list, new code is 1421, I will, of course, pick you up on time today and be also on time tomorrow morning!"
"You are never on time," he muttered and sped up to the car before she could catch up with him and give him an earful.
________________
Akira was eyeing the driver from the back seat and wondered how could that guy make it as a professional driver if he drove so slow. He was switching between staring at the back of his head and his own watch, seeing that they are on time but they could be on time....more.
"We are on time, Aki," his mum said as if she could read his mind, "stop freaking out."
"I wish," he said crossing his arms, "you would be taking the gravity of the situation with more seriousness."
"And I wish----"
"WE ARE HERE!!" Akira shouted and pressed his palm against the window, staring at the large building the driver was now parking in front of.
It was beautiful. Majestic. Crowded with kids and teens. Would all of them fit into his birthday party? He was not sure, but he wasn't one to back off from dreaming big. He jumped out of the car and strode towards the building, ignoring his mum shouting after him to slow down so she could catch up.
He stopped at the large double-door and watched her limping up the stairs and visibly grunting her teeth. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down his fast heartbeat but ended up just jumping on the spot until his mum made it all the way up to him.
They walked - no they strolled, painfully slow - to the principal's office, and to his relief, his new teacher was already there to pick him up and his amazing, yet excruciatingly sluggish mum stayed behind to settle some more paperwork.
"Don't forget to add Elliot on the list here as well," he whispered into her ear, and before she could answer he was already in the hallway, waiting for the teacher to catch up.
They walked through the long hallway, passed by dozens of kids and he grabbed the straps of his backpack with both hands, straightening his back and trying to match the height of the other kids that seemed his age.
"So," the teacher said with a smile, "are you looking forward to your first day, Akira?"
"Just Aki, please," he corrected her, "and yes! I can't wait!" quickly adding, "Mrs. Wooldridge."
"And you do figure skating, right?"
"Correct!" he exclaimed happily, "I will win the next Olympics!"
"Oh," she chuckled, "that is a very admirable goal!"
He inhaled to also name drop Yuzuru but the school ring interrupted him and all the kids from the hallway scattered away, hurrying into their classes.
The teacher opened the door to his classroom and he quickly eyed the number on it to memorize it, his fingers around the backpack straps tightening.
"Good morning, children," the teacher said and all the kids gave her their greetings as well, though with much less enthusiasm, "as we discussed before your holiday break, let's welcome your new classmate!"
She pointed at Akira and he made his way in the middle of the elevated floor in front of the blackboard.
"Hello!" he said with a wide grin and bowed deeply, seeing some of the kids chuckle with their hands over their mouth when he straightened up.
Ah! Stupid me! People don't bow here!
"So," the teacher took over, "would you like to say a few things about yourself? For example what---"
"My name is Akira," he eagerly jumped in, "but everyone calls me, Aki. I am a professional figure skater," he puffed out his chest, "and I also have a large collection of Pokemon cards," he heard some kids snicker in the back seats and quietly added, "if any of you would like to trade...."
The teacher patted his back and pointed at one of the seats in the back next to a girl with hair that looked like sunrise.
"That is Violet," the teacher explained, "you will share the desk with her, and I am sure you will get well acquainted with the others during the break."
She flashed him another smile, and he nodded, quickly striding to the desk and sitting down next to the girl.
"Your hair is so cool!" he whispered to her and she looked at him with her eyebrow raised.
He wasn't sure what she meant with that reaction but when she huffed and rolled her eyes he rather turned away and opened his backpack.
"As always," Mrs. Wooldrige said loudly, "we will start with Math, while your brains are still fresh."
Akira quietly whined and fished out his Math workbook and notepad, neatly arranging them on the desk. Violet took out her things too but messily threw them on the table, making her pen roll all the way to his side.
He caught it before it could fall off, handing it back to her with a wide grin but she snapped it from his hand and turned to face the blackboard.
The hour was nothing short of torture and he gulped on empty finding out they are exactly at the same level where he ended in Japan, his hopes of being ahead destroyed. He was also astonished when during the lesson he could hear several of the kids quietly chatting and the teacher completely ignoring it as if it was okay to talk during class. He didn't agree with the school system in Japan of everyone wearing uniforms and defined hair cuts - killing individuality - but he would never dare to talk over the teacher like that.
He wondered if all teachers will be benevolent like Mrs. Wooldridge when the school ring finally announced the end of the mathematical agony and he immediately straightened his shoulders.
The kids started to pile up at his desk and he happily wiggled in his seat, flinging his hair.
"Hey," one of the boys said, "so you are Chinese or something?"
"Nope," he gave him a wide smile, "Japanese. The land of the rising---"
"So," another boy jumped in, "you gonna help us with math homework then, yeah?"
"Eh?" Akira produced and frowned, "I am not good with math."
The kids around him laughed and he looked around, scratching the back of his head.
"What kind of Asian are you if you are not good in Math?!" a girl said and Akira looked at her with confusion all over his face.
"I am Japanese," he specified, "but why should I be good in Math?"
"Every Asian is!" the girl said and added with a snicker, "no wonder they kicked you out of Korea if----"
"Japan," he interrupted, "and I was not kicked. I moved here to train with Hanyu Yuzuru to----"
"Well, that sucks," a boy next to him huffed, and Akira noticed that Violet stood up and left the classroom, "we all kinda hoped that getting a Chinese classmate would help us with Math."
"I am sorry," he mumbled and grabbed his pen, twisting it in his sweaty hands, "but I can trade some Pokemon cards?"
They all burst into laughter and one of the boys even facepalmed himself, "oh shit! How old are you?!"
"Almost ten!" Akira exclaimed and twisted the pen even harder, "Pokemons are a big thing in Japan! Even adults----"
"Well, you are in Canada now," another girl said and sat down on the edge of his desk, wrinkling up his notepad with her bottom. He gently pulled it out and straightened the pages as she continued asking, "so who do you follow on TikTok?"
"Um," he pushed the notepad away and reached back for his pen, "I don't have a TikTok account."
"Oh," she let out and continued, "so how many followers do you have on Insta?"
"I--" Akira looked around and sunk lower in his seat, "I don't have Instagram either," he mumbled, hypnotizing the pen in his hands, "no social media. My mum ----"
"Wait!!" one of the boys exclaimed, turning to the other kids, "my dad once watched a documentary about a Korea where people don't have internet and stuff like that. It was not the Korea with the professional e-sports players, but a different one. Like one that is cut off from the rest of the world!" the kids had their mouths open and the boy turned to Akira with eyes wide open, "are you from THAT Korea?!!"
"It's North Korea," Akira explained, "and n-no, I am not from there. I am from--"
"Shame," the boy said, "it looked pretty cool."
The children started to listen to the boy and what he knew about North Korea, Akira inhaling several times to interrupt and correct him but always opted not to. Shortly after Violet came back and the school ring announced the start of another class.
Akira fished out the schedule and whined once more, seeing that they have another class of Math.
"A double Math class on Monday??!!" he whispered in shock to Violet and she shrugged her shoulders but eyed him with curiosity, no traces of her previous hostility.
"Did you mean what you said about my hair?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah," he nodded with a wide grin, "it looks like a sunrise!"
She chuckled and run her hand through her ponytail, "It's ginger. Don't you have ginger people in Japan?"
Akira bounced happily on his chair, delighted that she remembers he is Japanese, "No, we don't. Only foreigners. But I met ginger people before, but yours is super bright."
She grinned from ear to ear but then Mrs. Wooldridge started her class and Akira snapped his neck to her and took out his notes.
As soon as that lesson was over, Violet once more left the classroom and Akira chose to rather go after her and get to know her better than to stay for another round of interrogation.
He walked into the hallway but Violet was nowhere to be seen no matter where he looked.
He turned back but when he made the first step inside of the classroom, he saw most of the kids gathered around one of the boys who sat down on his desk, crumpling up his notes again.
The boy was pulling on the skin at his temples, squinting his eyes, and all of the children around him burst into laughter.
Akira slowly backed out from the room and stood frozen in the hallway before turning and running to the nearest restrooms.
To his relief, there was nobody there and he looked into the mirror, trying to figure out what is wrong with his face.
He was the only Asian in the classroom but he has seen several other Asian kids in the hallway as well as on the streets of Toronto itself. So that could not be it. He leaned closer to the mirror, his sweaty hands pressed against the cold sink.
He opened his eyes wide, squinted, and back to open wide. Could it be that he was not Asian enough? His eyes were slightly rounded, at least more than other Japanese people had it, thanks to his genes from his mum. And they were not dark, but green.
He pulled on his own temples and let go again with a heavy sigh. His chin began to tremble and he instantly shook his head, trying not to give in to the overwhelming feeling.
Akira stared at his own reflection, holding the bridge of his nose to stay composed and when once more the school ring announced the start of the next class, he reluctantly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Just. Get. Up.
He opened his eyes and without giving the mirror another look, slowly dragged himself into the class, but for the remainder of the day, he always left the classroom as soon as the lesson was over and spent the breaks in the bathroom, staring at his own reflection. Racking his head with what is wrong with his eyes.
He was counting the seconds till 3 pm and when the time finally came, he shot out of the classroom and ran outside. His mum was not there yet and he looked up at the grey sky, jumping up and down and suppress crying. Because he knew himself well enough to expect bursting into tears once he sees Sophie. And that was the last thing he needed because she would cry as well. And so he kept jumping and staring at the sky, inhaling the sharp cold air that reminded him of the air at the rink and when he heard his mum's soft voice next to him, he stopped and gave her a wide grin.
"It was awesome mum," he said smiling and strode quickly to the car, leaving her limp behind him, "I sit next to a girl called Violet, she has really cool ginger hair and the other kids are great too, but I didn't catch their names yet. And so far we have had only Mrs. Wooldridge, do you know if we will have more teachers or just her? But she seems super nice too but for some reason, they put a double class of Math straight on Monday and other Math classes are always a double-hour as well. That is pretty terrible. But hopefully, I will manage to get through it."
He did his best to keep blabbering about everything and nothing throughout the whole car ride to avoid any direct questions from her and when they finally entered TCC he felt as if at least part of the weight fell from his shoulders.
Yuzu! Jump class! Maybe with other kids, but still, I can finally do jumps!
______________________
Sophie sat at the cafe and watched her son through the glass separating her and the rink. Under Yuzuru's supervision, he was taking turns with the other novices and attempting a given jump. Most of them were doing doubles, but Akira was attempting his first triple Toe Loop and she was amazed to see that even on the first attempts he was close to landing it.
It seemed that Yuzuru was not surprised by it at all and kept giving Akira advice and corrections with an expression deep in focus.
After a while, she switched her gaze to the other half of the rink where was Tracy with a class of little children showing them the absolute basics and Sophie couldn't stop giggling watching their little feet wobble on the ice, deep concentration all over their faces.
She let out a heavy sigh, recalling how little attention Akira paid to her both when he got into the school and when she picked him up. Not giving her goodbye and blabbering mostly to himself when the school was over.
And she knew it would be only getting worse the older he gets, the less he will need her and the more he will ignore her.
Sophie closed her laptop and put her arms over it, resting her chin on her hands and staring at the children.
She wanted another kid for a few years now, the thought crossing her mind for the first time when she dated the guy who had his own daughter. And his busy schedule that would complicate having another child was one of the biggest contributors to her decision to break things off.
She just wanted to have one more chance to go through the early years without the worry of running out of diapers and not having money to buy more, the worry of not being able to cook a meal nutritious enough as the ingredients were too expensive. Not able to buy hundreds of tiny little socks and little cute outfits that she could dress the baby into. Instead of a rocking crib, sleeping with Aki lying between her and Akio.
Well, maybe the last part she would not change, but for everything else, she wished so badly to be able to experience it all one more time. This time with money.
And being needed by her child just a bit longer.
Hearing the baby's first words.
Watching its first steps.
Singing lullabies.
Suddenly, one of the little girls fell on the ice, and she shot up to help her, being brought back to reality when she realized where she is and saw Tracy skating towards the girl and picking her up.
Sophie sat back down and opened her laptop, running her hand through her hair and switching her focus back to work.
By the end of the session, she made her way to the rink and let Akira know that she has to leave for her meeting and reminded him that Elliot will pick him in two hours after his regular session is done.
He only rolled her eyes at her and muttered, "I know!", skating away to give the triple Toe Loop few more tries.
Instead, Yuzuru skated over to her, grinning from ear to ear.
"He is doing really great," he said with enthusiasm, "I mean, being able to do double Axel from footwork is much harder than a triple Toe Loop, so it's no surprise. But I am amazed he is not getting discouraged by the falls."
"Hmm," she muttered in response, "that's for now. If he doesn't land it or at least somewhat lands it in a week, he will start getting grumpy."
Yuzuru chuckled and she wished him a good rest of the day and turned around, leaving for her appointment.
__________________
Akira was finishing his cool-down exercise at the end of the last session when he noticed Elliot standing at the edge of the rink and skated to him right away.
"Hello, Aki," he said with a mischievous smile and his eyes wandered to one of the skaters on the ice, "you should have told me you have such hot guys here."
"Eh?" Akira produced and traced where his friend was looking, "Peter? He is hot?"
"Oh, hell he is!" Elliot whispered enthusiastically, "I just can't pinpoint if he is one of us or not."
"What do you mean?"
"If he is gay."
"Oh," Akira said and looked at Peter once more, "he looks at my mum from time to time."
"Well," he said and kept looking at Peter, "your mum is very easy on the eyes. And he might be simply swinging both ways, you know?"
"I don't," Akira frowned, "but I can ask him!"
"OH NO!" Elliot exclaimed and pulled Akira closer to him, "please don't say a thing, okay? Usually, my gaydar is pretty good, I will just need more time to assess this one properly."
"As you wish," he muttered, and looked up at his friend, "do you think I look good too?"
"Sure you do," he looked down on him, flashing him a smile, "you will grow up into a heartbreaker one day!"
"And now?" Akira continued, "Do I look good?"
"Sure," Elliot said and frowned a little, "I like your hair. You have such thick hair from your mum, that you will never have to worry about going bald one day. But then, from your dad I guess, they are super soft and shiny."
Akira smiled and pulled his friend into a tight hug.
"But do you know what I like the most about you?" he continued, "your personality. You are always fun and most of all, you always say what's on your mind. That is, at least for me, a nice change from the posh people in Beverly Hills."
Akira chuckled and pulled away, "I don't always say what I think, though."
He curled his finger at Elliot to bend down and when he did, he whispered into his ear.
"Do you see those two?" he whispered, pointing at his training mates, "that's Darya and Roman, they are -" he made a pause and lowered his voice even more as if saying something forbidden, "ice dancers."
"Oh," Elliot said and frowned.
"But I like them," Akira continued, "so when I talk to them, I don't say that ice dancing is lame. And I clap with others when they do an element that they believe was difficult."
Elliot laughed and squatted down to his level, "so you are not an ice dancer?"
"ME?!" he exclaimed and pressed his hand against his chest, "I would never....I am in the singles. I do jumps! People clap when I do an Axel, not a silly twizzle."
"Ahh," Elliot said all-knowingly, but Akira doubted he understood anything.
"It's like gymnastics on ice. What they do is just dancing."
"But," Elliot countered, "dancing is hard too. Especially on ice. I am sure if you would give it a try, you would find----"
"Pffft," Akira waved his hand in disregard of such a silly notion of trying ice dancing and flung his hair, "I will finish the cool-down exercise and on the way home, I will tell you all about figure skating."
Elliot stood up with a weak smile and nodded, "can't wait."