Destined

Surprise

The next day, I'm preoccupied with finding out more about Ko. Her eyes hold so much mystery and sadness, I can't help but want to know more.

"Focus, Yuzu. You either train with your focus up max, or get off the rink." Brian yells from the other side of the rink.

Another failed triple axel. I can't seem to get them right today, maybe I'm just too distracted.

"Alright go try out your quad toe. You should be able to land that one, it's been clean for the past few days." Brian orders, offering me some tissue from Pooh-San.

Weirdly enough, everyone here was very open to the idea of a male skater bringing a Pooh tissue box to training. There was almost no negative responses to Pooh-San sitting by the rink side. Almost.

"Come on," I mutter in Japanese as I set up for the quad toe.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ko walk past with some folders in her arms.

I take off, but it's so horribly off.

I crash onto the hard surface of the ice, letting out a painful yelp as I slide and hit the barrier.

If there's any sport crazy enough to require you repeatedly slam yourself on a hard surface, it's figure skating.

I try to get up by supporting myself with my hands, but I fall back down and wince as pain shoots up my arm.

Looking down, I discover a large cut on my right palm, dripping dark red blood on the ice.

"Yuzu, are you alright?" Brian shouts from the rink side, stepping on the ice with his sport shoes and hurrying towards me.

I give a nod, and a thumbs up with my left hand.

Brian takes one look at me, and frowns.

"Oh dear. That doesn't look good, let's get you on the bench. Can you stand?"

Without waiting for my reply, Brian pulls me up like a rag doll and supports me. We hobble back to the rink side slowly, while I continue to drip blood all over the ice.

"Coach... Sorry for dirty your ice.." I say, embarrassed.

"Son, it's nothing. Just be more careful next time alright?" He comforts, and we make the slow walk-hobble back to the rink side in silence.

Once we reach rink side, Brian seats me in his office, and looks for the first aid kit.

"Hey Ko, can you help him? I'll go look for the first aid kit." He calls out, jogging towards the changing rooms.

Ko shuffles into the room, her dusty blue bag slung over her shoulder. I notice there's a small brown fox dangling from the side. How cute.

"Sit," she says.

I am taken aback for a second, and this time, it's not her eyes that leave me speechless.

It's the fact that she just asked me to sit in Japanese.

"Wait--you can speak Japanese?"

"Why not?"

"But--"

"Shush, let me take a look at the wound. Sit down." She orders, rummaging through her old backpack.

She produces a blue pouch from her bag. Upon closer look, it's a furry Stitch pouch.

"Aren't first aid bags supposed to be red?" I snicker.

She grumbles something like "pshhht" and pours a small bottle of clear solution on my wound, causing me to wince and jerk my hand away.

"Aren't guys supposed to be brave and strong?" She snickers, her dark eyes holding a twinkle of mischief.

"Shut..up.." I stammer as I feel blood rushing up to my cheeks. How embarrassing.

Brian walks in on this exact moment, holding a first aid kit. He raises an eyebrow and smirks, walking out again.

"He's a nice guy." Ko smiles, dressing my cut.

"Who? Coach?" I say, wincing as she applies pressure on the wound.

"Yeah, he gave me a job even though I'm horrible as a receptionist." She replies, winding a roll of bandage in a smooth motion from my wrist to palm.

"You're really skillful at this, Ko." I comment, marveling at how deftly her hands move to cover my skin.

"Eh, you lot always get injured, it gives me good practice for school."

"I heard you're a medical student. Tell me more about yourself."