Javier:
"Is the practice rink open yet?" I whispered to Coach Brian while he was on the phone. He nodded once and gave me a thumbs up so I grabbed my skates and headed that way quickly. I felt bad. I really did, but I couldn't spend another second in that room with him, listening to him defending my stupidity. I sighed heavily and rubbed at my chest. God, I had made that comment randomly and thought it was harmless at the time, but now it was all anyone could talk about and they'd twisted it into something that hadn't been my intention at all. That was the media though. I should have been more aware of myself and remembered that.
I jogged the last few feet and pushed the door open with my shoulder, wincing when my skates knocked against my thigh. I hissed and was rubbing at it when I heard music playing inside the rink. Huh... There was still quite a few hours until the competition actually started and I thought that I would be the only one out here practicing this early. Who else would be crazy enough to -
My breath caught in my throat when I saw a dark head shoot across the rink in a flash. Shit. Of course he was here first...
Current World Champion and Olympic favourite. I'd seen on the news how some of his fans had flown from all over the world just to see him skate. The wonder child from Japan. Yuzuru Hanyu. Even thinking of his name made my skin prickle with goose bumps. They said Yuzuru was fast becoming the greatest figure skater of our time and it was hard to argue watching him launch himself in the air and land a quadruple salchow like he was born doing them. If it were anyone else, my competitive jealousy might have spiked, but watching Yuzuru skate was somewhat like an honour. It didn't feel right to be jealous of him.
The music playing tinkered to an end and Yuzuru stopped in the middle of the ice. His chest was heaving and he waved his arms around slowly. I tiptoed closer to the rink just as another piece of music started playing. I'd never heard it before, but the rhythm was slightly different from what I'd usually seen him skate to in his competition programs. Yuzuru moved his body along with the music, bending and flowing and twisting his body in a way one rarely saw one move on something as precarious as ice skating blades.
The music turned darker and I watched him transform with it. He threw himself across the ice and my mouth fell open. My heart skipped a beat for a second when he dropped low and touched the ice, but he hadn't fallen he was just... gliding. Yuzuru ended his performance with his signature spin and then there was quiet in the arena.
I didn't realise I was clapping until Yuzuru spun around to look in my direction.
"I ...I'm sorry." He mumbled, skating to the edge of the ice.
"No, I ... That was beautiful." I chuckled and his eyes widened just a little. "I've never seen anyone skate like that before."
"I was just..." He breathed and waved his hands back to the ice. "I was just messing around. If you need the ice...I can leave."
"I was just coming to warm up." I shrugged and bent over so I could sit down on the bench and put on my skates. "You don't need to go. We can ..." I grunted as I pulled on the lace and tightened it around my ankle. "We can skate together if that's OK with you."
"To...gether?" He blinked at me and I nodded sharply.
"I don't mind." I smiled at him. "I'm Javier...by the way." He nodded minutely.
"Hanyu Yuzuru..."
"I know." I chuckled and he sucked in a breath as a blush coloured his cheeks. He looked back at the ice behind him for a moment.
"OK." He said eventually. "We can skate together."
I glanced to the side at Yuzuru as we skated around the edge of the ice lazily.
"Hey. What was that you were skating to just now?" I asked and he dipped further away from me for a bit, fidgeting with his hands.
"Nothing."
"Didn't sound like nothing." I commented and he sniffed, wiping at his nose with his gloves.
"It's just something I like listening to sometimes." I nodded slowly.
"I like it."
"You do?"
"Mmm." I hummed. "It suits you." I grinned at him and he laughed softly, tucking some of his dark hair behind his ear.
"Really?"
"Is there anything else that you like skating to?" I asked him.
"Um..." He hesitated.
"Can I hear it?" I pressed and he bit his bottom lip before smiling at me slightly.
"OK..." He skated over to the laptop that was open on the table near the music system and tapped a few keys. When the music came on, I hung back in front of the Kiss and Cry booth to watch. Yuzuru looked my way quickly and after a while he started to skate again.
"Yes!" I laughed when he flew through the air and flung his leg in the air after kicking up some ice. "What the hell, that was so cool." I clapped my hands and he giggled when he skated past me, bowing a bit. I joined him in the middle of the rink and tried to copy what he was doing, but I knew there was no way I looked as graceful as he made it look.
"Bend." He poked at me.
"I'm trying!"
"From the core."
"I am."
"No, you're letting go too quickly."
"What?"
"Can I just..."
"Hey, that tickles..."
"Stop moving." He ordered and I cackled when he pinched my side.
"Wait, stop, I can't - "
"Yuzuru." Came a sharp voice from the side of the rink. Yuzuru let go of me like I was on fire and folded his arms behind his back.
"Sensei..."
Yuzuru:
Shit. I was in trouble. I could see it in the way Takahashi Sensei's lips were pinched and he had his eyes glued on Javier.
"I thought you were practicing." He said to me in Japanese.
"I was. I am." I tried not to grimace as I skated over to the laptop to switch off the music.
"It doesn't look like it to me. Do you think paying me means you can waste my time?" He said darkly and I shook my head sedately. "This is Worlds. You think you are here for yourself? You are here to represent the pride of your country, Yuzuru. The whole of Japan is looking at you. Watching." His eyes drifted to Javier again and he sneered.
"I'm sorry..." I muttered uselessly.
"You shouldn't be helping your rivals." He mumbled. "Get off the ice, we need to go over some warm ups on land."
"Hai, Sensei." I said, grabbing my laptop and skating to where he was waiting quickly. "And I thought I told you to stop skating to nonsense. Classic music invokes - "
I looked over my shoulder and gave a confused looking Javier a small wave goodbye. Well...it had been fun while it lasted.
"Come." Takahashi Sensei helped me onto the ice. "No more nonsense now, right? Make sure you remember the choreography exactly. No deviating." He hissed.
"Wakari masu." I said to him and made my way to the center of the ice.
I tried to focus like I was supposed to but my mind kept wandering back to the practice session I'd had with Javier earlier. Javier Fernandez... The Spanish figure skater who had popped up from almost nowhere only 3 months ago and was already collecting scores high enough for me to worry just a little about retaining my title as World Champion. I'd been surprised to see him in the practice arena so early. All the rumours I'd heard about him suggested that he was lazy and he was only skating by with pure talent and luck at the moment. Once he got tired of the hard work required to make it in the figure skating world, he would retire and balance would be restored. He hadn't seemed lazy though. Maybe a little undisciplined and sloppy in his technique...definitely charismatic. But not lazy.
I'd never said anything about it to anyone, but most of the skaters I competed with frequently enough knew that I liked to be in the middle of the rink for most of the practice time. This was when I focused on preparing my jumps and I wasn't sure if it was out of respect or fear that most of them gave me the space to do that.
I was just going through my step sequence leading up to my triple axel entry that I knew was giving me problems when something knocked into me and I dropped onto the ice like a stone. It all happened so fast I didn't even have time to try to break my fall. My head felt like it as ringing and my chin was on fire.
"All skaters, please leave the ice. Attention. All skaters, please leave the ice."
I wanted to move, but I couldn't even get my lungs to take a deep breath. Shit. What the hell was happening? I couldn't breathe... was I dying? It felt like I was dying.
"Hanyu-san? Can you hear me? Can you tell me if anything hurts?" I tried to nod at the man leaning over me but my head was spinning so badly. Why was I spinning? I could feel my back was on the ice so there was no way I could be spinning. Oh God, was I really dying?
"Medic. We need a medic." I lifted my hand to rub my tightening chest but the man stopped me. "Hanyu-san. Don't move, OK. Hold on."
The world tilted upright suddenly and I slipped on the ice but moving helped the tight feeling in my chest disappear and I could breathe again. I sucked in hungry gulps and leaned on the medic beside me who was dabbing at my chin. When his gloved hands came away they were red with blood. Was I bleeding?
"Are you OK to walk on your own?" One of them asked me and I made a noise that I hoped sounded like a yes. I just needed a second.
"Let's get you off the ice."
"Can you skate?" My coach asked roughly and I picked at the bandage the medic had wrapped around my head. From the tone of his voice I knew it wasn't really a question.
"I can skate." I said and all the heads in the room spun around to look at me in shock.
"What?"
"Are you crazy?"
"Takahashi Sensei. I can skate." I said looking directly at him and making my voice as firm as I could right now. He returned my stare for a long time then nodded once.
"If he says he can skate, he can skate." He muttered and I got up quickly. It made me dizzy but I swallowed it down.
"Hanyu-san..."
"I'm fine." Takahashi Sensei's words from earlier were still ringing in my head. He was right. I wasn't just here for myself. I was here to represent my country and to NOT skate... to not at least TRY to do my nation proud would be the worst dishonour I could give them. I just needed to focus.
"Yuzuru..." I heard as we left the dressing room.
"Javier?" I blinked and he stared at me open mouthed.
"I saw you fall...Are you OK?" He whispered as he moved closer to me and Takahashi Sensei coughed discreetly.
"I'm fine." I bowed my head at him stiffly and swayed a little.
"Whoa, hey...careful." Javier reached out to steady me but I pulled away from him quickly. I didn't need my coach to get even madder at me.
"Thank you. I have to go now." I said quietly and Javier's eyes widened.
"You're...you're still going to skate? Are you crazy?"
"Yuzuru. We don't have time for distractions." Takahashi Sensei grunted at me in Japanese and I swallowed my irritation. As annoying as he was, he was always right. I had lost focus for as second earlier when I had been thinking about Javier and look what happened.
"It was nice meeting you." I said softly to Javier and followed behind my coach as he led me back to the ice.
Focus, Yuzuru. Only Focus will get you gold.