Skating on Thin Ice - Hachi (Achievements)
Barely two days later, and after a series of last minute arrangements, Toushirou flew down south to Greensboro for the Nationals, accompanied by Ichigo. Even though the orange haired goalkeeper had been discharged the morning following the skater’s visit, there had been many things to settle after Ichigo agreed to Toushirou’s text on being his minder during the competition.
Reaching the city in the evening, the pair headed immediately to their hotel from the airport. Following an early dinner and a quick walk to the Coliseum where the competition was to be held, they settled in for the night.
Waking early the next morning, they squabbled briefly before heading to the rink. Ichigo had insisted on carrying Toushirou’s skates with his uninjured arm and the skater had eventually given in. After the skater had practiced his short programme, getting used to the rink, the pair took a brief walk around the town centre, had lunch, before returning to the Coliseum to support Rukia.
Stepping into the stands, they looked around for good seats before the skater heard a familiar voice call out, “Sempai!” Turning, the pair spotted the blonde waving in the distance and headed over.
“Hi Rangiku.” Ichigo greeted the blonde before spotting her partner. “Yumi?”
“Kurosaki,” The black haired art major replied. “I came with Rangiku to support Rukia. As you know, ice skating is beautiful, unlike that brutal sport you play. Oh the elegance when the skater leaps into the air…”
Meanwhile, Rangiku had the white haired skater pressed between her arms and chest yet again. “I see you made up with Ichigo. That’s great.” She smiled cheerfully, letting go of the skater.
“Hn.” came Toushirou’s usual reply, only to be surprised when the blonde turned to the orange haired goalkeeper. “Ichigo! It’s great you made up with sempai. So tell me, how did you do it? Was it a kiss-and-make-up thing?”
Blushing furiously, the goalkeeper looked almost shocked at the question. Even Toushirou evaded the blonde’s gaze when he replied instead, cheeks turning slightly pink. “Matsumoto! That is enough. We don’t kiss and tell.”
The blonde reached out to pinch the skater’s cheeks. “Aww… Sempai, you’re so cute!”
“Matsumoto!” Turquoise eyes glared at her before the skater sat down a seat away from the blonde, leaving Ichigo to take the seat between him and the blonde.
The competition started soon after. Having agreed to Shuuhei’s request to write an article about the Nationals despite it not being a collegiate competition, Ichigo took out his notepad and pen and began taking notes on the competitors.
As he had expected, the level of competition at the Nationals was much higher than what he had seen at the collegiate championships. After a blue haired skater had been awarded the highest score for her short programme, the next competitor caught the goalkeeper’s eyes.
Turning to tap on the white haired skater’s shoulder, he whispered as the skater removed one of his earphones, “Isn’t that the girl in the photos?” Pointing to the busty blonde skater warming up on the ice, the pair recalled their trip to Urahara’s shop amidst the hustle and bustle of the previous few days.
“Looks like things are fine between the two of you now.” That was Urahara’s first sentence when they entered the shop together. Unfurling his fan as brown and turquoise glared at him in unison, he asked in his usual light hearted tone, “So what can I do for you today?”
Pulling out the thumbdrive from a pocket, Ichigo replied, “Someone passed this to us. We want you to take a look at it. We haven’t opened it yet.”
“My, my, I wonder what’s inside.” Waving the fan over his face, the lawyer inserted it into the laptop in front of him and ran a quick scan on it, ensuring that it was probably virus-free before opening the contents.
“Oh my! Yoruichi!” The blonde called out as the first file he opened displayed itself on the screen.
The two teenagers quickly averted their eyes from the screen after taking a brief look. Displayed across the full screen was a nude photo of a girl, taken as she writhed in what seemed to be ecstasy, with a plastic object sticking out from between her legs.
‘Oh fuck! That’s Nell.’ As the tanned detective entered the room, long purple hair swaying behind her in a ponytail, Ichigo noticed her playful expression turn serious immediately when she caught sight of the photo.
“Where did you boys get this?” The detective asked curiously after scrolling through the pictures stored in the thumbdrive.
“One of my teammates passed it to me when I was in the hospital. He said Gin Ichimaru had passed it to him and said something like ‘it was to make up for the pain’.” Ichigo replied.
“Hmm…?” The detective’s eyebrows knotted briefly before she spoke again, still serious. “Well, we’ve just got some proof that Aizen’s been doing stuff to some of his skaters and hockey players. I’m sorry, Hitsugaya, but Hinamori’s pictures are inside as well.”
As Toushirou’s expression changed, trembling in anger, Ichigo placed his arm comfortingly on the skater’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hoping to calm the skater down.
“Anyway, we’ll look through this and back this up. This isn’t enough proof though, since Aizen’s obviously smart enough not to appear in the pictures.” The purple haired detective continued, “There might be someone who could help though. See this girl? I think she’s one of Aizen’s skaters now.”
The two teenagers looked once more at the laptop, trying only to take in the features of the confused looking nude blonde posing wantonly on the screen, before turning away again.
“You might want to try to contact her discreetly. If she’s willing to testify against him, it would help greatly with our case.”
The announcement came, seeming to verify that the blonde on the ice was indeed the girl they were looking for. “On the ice now, we have number thirteen, Tia Harribel. Coached by Sousuke Aizen, and runner-up at last year’s Nationals, she will be skating to Monti’s Csárdás.”
“Hn… I’ll try to get her backstage then.” Ichigo smiled at Toushirou’s reply, glad that the skater had decided to confide in him. He then turned his attention back to the rink, watching as she cleanly landed a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. It was no surprise that her score, announced a few minutes later, placed her on top of the field.
Two skaters later, it was Rukia’s turn. “Number sixteen, Rukia Kuchiki, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. Narrowly missing out on the podium last year, she will be skating to Saint-Saens’ Le Cygne.” Ichigo watched as the black haired skater landed all her jumps cleanly, clapping along with his companions every time.
The judges thought it was a good routine as well, giving her a score of 63.76, ranking her third out of all the skaters who had competed. After the last seven skaters finished their routines, the announcement came yet again with a wrap up of the day’s scores. “This marks the end of the senior ladies’ short programme. The competition order for the free skate on Saturday will be in the inverse order of these rankings. The rankings are as follows: In first place, Tia Harribel, 69.03 points; second place, Umi Ryuuzaki, 67.45 points; third place, Iria Winner, 65.84 points; fourth place, Rukia Kuchiki, 63.76 points…”
~~~
The following afternoon, it was Toushirou’s turn in the short programme. He had drawn tenth place, immediately after the arrogant skater he had faced during the collegiate championships.
Waiting below the stands with the other competitors, he occasionally glanced at the television screen that carried footage of the ongoing competition. Focusing more on the music in his ears, he barely noted the scores that flashed on the screen.
When the eighth skater had been called into the rink, Toushirou calmly turned off his iPod and headed for the locker he had been allocated. Locking up the music player, he stretched in the locker room, warming up before returning to the waiting room. Several moments later, the taller skater before him was called out.
Tense despite his cool façade, he nodded to Coach Ukitake as the white haired coach walked up to him. “How’s everything?” the coach asked, smiling gently.
“Fine.”
“Good luck!”
Nodding in response to his coach, Toushirou waited silently as minutes passed, running through his routine in his mind. Soon after, the announcement came and he entered the rink to applause. “Coached by Juushirou Ukitake, we have number ten, Toushirou Hitsugaya. His first year competing at the senior level, Hitsugaya won the collegiate championships last August. He will be skating to Harvest Festival, composed by Kwan Nai-Chung.”
Blocking out everything around him, he made several rounds on the ice - a brief warm up, before coming to a stop and assuming his starting position. As the music echoed around the rink, Toushirou turned his full focus on the music and skated.
Landing his first jump, a triple Axel, cleanly as the music rose to a crescendo briefly, the white haired skater cavorted on the ice as the familiar exotic beat sounded. A faint smile made its way across his lips as he landed his second jump, a triple Loop, without any problems before launching himself into a flying camel spin.
Following the melody as it began to rise to yet another climax, Toushirou took off backward on the ice, making a triple Lutz. As he paused before his second jump in the combination, he caught sight of wavy brown hair out of the corner of his eye and met cold brown eyes in that instant he took off.
‘Aizen! He came for the competition after all.’ He caught sight of the slight grin on the coach’s face as he spun once, then twice. Distracted as he was, Toushirou felt like he was about to fall as he landed off balance. It took all his effort to maintain his balance, moving on quickly without touching the ice with his hand, somehow using his slight momentum to make up for the loss in balance.
‘Is he here because he found out?’ Even as he tried to focus on the music, the thought inadvertently broke his concentration and he ended his routine with his combined spin just a touch out of beat with the music.
Accompanied by applause, he skated across the ice to the kiss and cry area, where Coach Ukitake was waiting. Surprisingly, the brown haired coach who had been looking out from that area earlier, was nowhere to be found.
Raising an eyebrow as he looked as his student, Ukitake asked, “Is there anything wrong?”
“I just saw Aizen,” came the cool reply, sounding just a touch nervous.
“Here?” The coach asked, watching as the skater nodded. “I haven’t seen him at all though.”
Toushirou remained silent for the rest of the time as he waited, fist clutched to his mouth, a mixture of nervousness and serious contemplation. ‘Is Aizen here? Does he know?’ They echoed in his mind, casting doubt on whether he had actually seen the man.
The calm voice of the announcer took him out of his thoughts. “Technical score, 37.72, programme score, 37.38, total score for short programme, 75.10, current position, third.”
Ukitake smiled at him as he nodded coolly to the cameras, before heading back into the backstage area. ‘Third, but last year’s top three haven’t skated yet. Aizen…’ Immediately heading back to the locker room, Toushirou pulled off his skates and changed out of his outfit. Packing up his belongings, he then made his way around the backstage area, hoping to catch sight of Aizen again.
Unfortunately, even though he caught sight of the arrogant looking skater who was Aizen’s student, there were no signs that the brown haired coach had made any appearance.
When it came to the final announcement on the placing for the short programme, it did not come as any surprise to him that he placed sixth in the field.
~~~
That night over dinner, Ichigo sensed that there was something wrong with Toushirou. Coming out of the bathroom after his bath, the orange haired goalkeeper saw the white haired skater seated on his bed, towel around his neck and staring off into blank space.
Seating down on his own bed, opposite the skater, Ichigo asked, meeting clouded turquoise eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
“I saw Aizen when I was skating. After the results were out, I went to look for him. I couldn’t find him. Coach didn’t see him too.” The skater paused before he asked, sounding just a bit worried, “Do you think he knows?”
“Tosh’, don’t worry.” Putting his uninjured right hand on the skater’s shoulders, Ichigo met Toushirou’s gaze squarely. “Even if he is here, there’s nothing he can do to you. I’ll be around and there’re a lot of other people at the competition. I can ask Coach Ukitake about getting a backstage pass if you’re worried.”
“There’s no need to. I’m just… never mind.”
“It doesn’t matter if Aizen is here or not. He might just be trying to play mind tricks on you. Stop thinking about it and go sleep.” With that, Ichigo rose to his feet and headed for his bag. Retrieving a thin volume, this time one entitled, ‘Introduction to Psychiatry and Mental Disorders’, the orange haired sophomore returned to his bed and read a few pages before deciding to call it a night.
The next morning, Ichigo only woke up after hitting the snooze button twice times. Expecting the skater to be waiting impatiently for him, he sat up and looked around the room groggily, only to realise that Toushirou was absent.
Suddenly alert, Ichigo got out of bed, looked more carefully around the room, and finally spotted a piece of paper on the table that had not been there the night before. “Kurosaki, I’m off for a swim. I’ll be back soon.”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Ichigo stretched slightly before he headed to the bathroom to wash up. By the time he was done, the skater had not returned and feeling lazy, he decided to change in the room instead of occupying the bathroom. Just as he had stripped down to his briefs, the door opened with a ‘click’, admitting a wet Toushirou, clad in the same fitting white trunks he had worn the previous time.
“You’re back.” Ichigo remarked, trying but failing to stop his eyes from wandering down to the skater’s lightly muscled chest, flat stomach and the white trunks.
“Hn… I decided not to bother you, since you can’t swim now.” Toushirou replied coolly, noticing that the goalkeeper was looking at him. In turn, he raked his eyes appreciatively across the more muscular body and the slight bulge in the black briefs.
Feeling a stirring in his groin, Ichigo suddenly turned away from the skater and bent down to pick up his jeans. “Hurry and shower. We’re going to be late otherwise.” Keeping his voice as neutral as he could, he concentrated on the various disorders he had read the night before, pulling on his jeans before struggling to put on his shirt. Shrugging on his jacket but not putting his injured left arm through the sleeve, he was ready by the time the skater had come out of his bath, dressed to go.
After a quick breakfast, they made their way to the Coliseum, just a short walk away. Parting with the skater at the backstage entrance, Ichigo headed for the stands to watch the practice session. Sitting with Yumi and Rangiku, they watched the practice, with the black haired art major going ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ah’ over a particular brown haired skater. It did not take long for Ichigo to learn that the youthful looking skater was Tsubasa Li, current world and Olympic champion.
Following Toushirou’s practice, they met Rukia for lunch and wished her good luck before returning back into the Coliseum for the senior ladies’ free skate competition. Ichigo and Toushirou had also passed Rukia an anonymous letter for her to place in Tia Harribel’s locker; the pair had decided against looking for the skater herself, given the possibility of Aizen’s presence.
Slightly more than two hours later, it was Rukia’s turn on the ice. “Presenting number nineteen, Rukia Kuchiki, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. Placing fourth in the short programme, she will be skating to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for the free skate.”
Waltzing across the ice in a shimmering black outfit, the black haired skater dazzled the crowd with her spins and landed all her jumps cleanly. The audience clapped heartily when she was done; her performance simply summarised by Yumichika in three words, “That was beautiful.”
Two skaters later, Rukia’s score of 123.13 for the free skate still stood as the highest mark awarded. It was only the blonde, Tia Harribel’s passionate skate to Bizet’s Carmen that won her highest accolades.
“I think Rukia’s going to finish second,” Ichigo announced to the group, having been calculating the scores on his notepad. Barely a minute later, the calm tone of the announcer could be heard throughout the stands. “Here are the final results for this year’s senior ladies figure skating championships. In first place, Tia Harribel, with a combined total score of 196.36 and in second place, Rukia Kuchiki, with a combined total score of 186.89. Coming in third, Umi Ryuuzaki, with a combined total score of 185.67 and fourth, Iria Winner, with a combined total score of 174.09....”
They celebrated briefly and stayed for the prize presentation and photo taking, the black haired art major snapping several shots of Rukia standing on the podium. Taking into consideration that the senior men’s competition was the following morning, they had dinner as usual before retiring to their hotels early.
~~~
The next morning, Ichigo and Toushirou both rose early. Coming out from the bathroom after changing, Toushirou turned to the already-changed Ichigo and asked, “Breakfast?”
Expecting a reply in the affirmative, the skater was surprised when the goalkeeper replied, “Erm… just give me a moment.” Raising his eyebrows curiously as Ichigo turned away from him, hands seeming to struggle with something, Toushirou took a few steps over, wondering if he needed help.
Suddenly turning, Ichigo found himself centimetres away from the skater, holding the silver chain and pendant he had bought the day before. “Tosh’, er… I bought this yesterday. It’s for you. Anyway, I was hoping that it would be something good to concentrate on while you skate. Think of it as an anti-Aizen charm.”
“Thank you, Kurosaki.” Toushirou’s hand took the chain and crescent-shaped pendant that the goalkeeper held out. His colder fingers met Ichigo’s warmer hand for a brief moment, before he drew back instinctively, the chain firmly grasped in his fingers.
Noticing but ignoring the pink blush on the goalkeeper’s cheeks, he deftly unfastened the catch on the chain. He then brought the silver necklace round his neck before fastening the catch. Tucking it under his shirt and feeling the metal cold against his skin, Toushirou turned to Ichigo again, “Breakfast then, shall we?” Ichigo grinned in response, embarrassment gone, picked up his bag then headed for the door.
Following breakfast, the pair met their friends in front of the Coliseum as arranged the night before. After a chorus of ‘Good lucks’ from his companions, Toushirou made his way backstage, reporting first to the official in charge before heading to change.
Similar to the previous day, he sat in the waiting room waiting for his turn, earphones plugged in. The only difference this time was the cool touch of metal against his skin. Oblivious to the skaters, coaches and officials who walked in and out, it was only when Coach Ukitake tapped him on his shoulder that he realised it was almost his turn.
Not having the time to keep his iPod with his belongings, Toushirou passed it to his white haired coach before beginning on his stretching. Minutes later, he was called and he proceeded onto the ice as he was announced. “In sixth place following the short programme, we have Toushirou Hitsugaya, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. He will be skating to Return of Spring, composed by Gu Guan-Ren for his free skate.”
Making a full oval on the ice, Toushirou fingered the crescent pendant before coming to a stop in front of the judges and assuming his starting position. Starting softly, the music rose to a crescendo almost immediately and with perfect timing, the white haired skater landed his first triple Axel.
Concentrating on the music, he aced his double jump combination before following up with a step sequence and a camel spin. Seconds later, Toushirou leapt into the air, spinning four times, before landing cleanly, pulling off his quadruple toe loop without a hitch.
Gaining confidence, the white haired skater flowed with the music as it took on yet another different tempo and landed a series of consecutive jumps, starting with a triple Salchow coming off a spin combination. Even the triple jump combination, a triple Axel-triple toe loop-double loop, with the triple toe loop recently upgraded from a double toe loop, posed no problems.
The music sped towards its ending in presto time and accompanying it, Toushirou spun on the ice, increasing his speed suddenly in the final upright spin part of the spin combination, ending exactly as the music did. Accompanied by boisterous applause, he skated to the kiss and cry area and nodded as his coach smiled at him.
Minutes later, the announcement came. “Element score, 79.10, programme score, 81.45, total for free skate, 160.55 points, combined total, 235.65 points. Toushirou Hitsugaya currently leads the field.”
‘I hope that’s high enough for the podium.’ Heading back to the waiting area, he was congratulated by several skaters, including Tsubasa, before he settled down in a corner to watch the rest of the competition with Coach Ukitake next to him.
The beige haired skater who placed second in the short programme, Elliot Nightray, eventually edged out his score in the free skate narrowly, before it was finally Tsubasa’s turn. Toushirou watched on the screen as the brown haired skater, skating to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, landed all his jumps perfectly, earning a score of 167.98.
When the final scores were released, Toushirou paid careful attention to the announcement. “Here are the final results for this year’s senior men’s figure skating championships. In first place, Tsubasa Li, current world and Olympic champion, with a combined total score of 251.31, silver goes to Elliot Nightray, with a combined total score of 240.08. Coming in third is Misaki Takahashi, with a combined total score of 236.24 and pewter goes to Toushirou Hitsugaya, with a combined total score of 235.65....”
It took a few moments for it to sink in and slightly dazed, Toushirou found himself being congratulated by other skaters in the room. In turn, he also made his way across the room, shaking hands with the other skaters.
Minutes later, he was called with the other medallists out onto the ice once again for the photo taking and prize presentation. Getting on the podium first, turquoise eyes searched the filled rink for bright orange. When he finally caught sight of Ichigo, standing with Rukia, Rangiku and Yumichika, he waved, a faint smile on his lips.
That night, they celebrated with a dinner, opening a bottle of champagne, with both their coaches as well as Byakuya joining them.
Later that night, on the way back to their room in the hotel, Ichigo, supporting a slightly drunk Toushirou, heard the skater mumble, “Thank you, Ichigo.” Back in their room, he gently placed the unconscious skater on his bed before heading for a quick shower.
Gazing at the white haired skater as he towelled dry his hair after his shower, the orange haired teenager could not resist leaning over and ruffling his hair after he was done. Then, after placing a chaste kiss on the forehead of the slumbering skater, Ichigo climbed into bed, softly whispering, “Sweet dreams, Tosh’.”
Reaching the city in the evening, the pair headed immediately to their hotel from the airport. Following an early dinner and a quick walk to the Coliseum where the competition was to be held, they settled in for the night.
Waking early the next morning, they squabbled briefly before heading to the rink. Ichigo had insisted on carrying Toushirou’s skates with his uninjured arm and the skater had eventually given in. After the skater had practiced his short programme, getting used to the rink, the pair took a brief walk around the town centre, had lunch, before returning to the Coliseum to support Rukia.
Stepping into the stands, they looked around for good seats before the skater heard a familiar voice call out, “Sempai!” Turning, the pair spotted the blonde waving in the distance and headed over.
“Hi Rangiku.” Ichigo greeted the blonde before spotting her partner. “Yumi?”
“Kurosaki,” The black haired art major replied. “I came with Rangiku to support Rukia. As you know, ice skating is beautiful, unlike that brutal sport you play. Oh the elegance when the skater leaps into the air…”
Meanwhile, Rangiku had the white haired skater pressed between her arms and chest yet again. “I see you made up with Ichigo. That’s great.” She smiled cheerfully, letting go of the skater.
“Hn.” came Toushirou’s usual reply, only to be surprised when the blonde turned to the orange haired goalkeeper. “Ichigo! It’s great you made up with sempai. So tell me, how did you do it? Was it a kiss-and-make-up thing?”
Blushing furiously, the goalkeeper looked almost shocked at the question. Even Toushirou evaded the blonde’s gaze when he replied instead, cheeks turning slightly pink. “Matsumoto! That is enough. We don’t kiss and tell.”
The blonde reached out to pinch the skater’s cheeks. “Aww… Sempai, you’re so cute!”
“Matsumoto!” Turquoise eyes glared at her before the skater sat down a seat away from the blonde, leaving Ichigo to take the seat between him and the blonde.
The competition started soon after. Having agreed to Shuuhei’s request to write an article about the Nationals despite it not being a collegiate competition, Ichigo took out his notepad and pen and began taking notes on the competitors.
As he had expected, the level of competition at the Nationals was much higher than what he had seen at the collegiate championships. After a blue haired skater had been awarded the highest score for her short programme, the next competitor caught the goalkeeper’s eyes.
Turning to tap on the white haired skater’s shoulder, he whispered as the skater removed one of his earphones, “Isn’t that the girl in the photos?” Pointing to the busty blonde skater warming up on the ice, the pair recalled their trip to Urahara’s shop amidst the hustle and bustle of the previous few days.
“Looks like things are fine between the two of you now.” That was Urahara’s first sentence when they entered the shop together. Unfurling his fan as brown and turquoise glared at him in unison, he asked in his usual light hearted tone, “So what can I do for you today?”
Pulling out the thumbdrive from a pocket, Ichigo replied, “Someone passed this to us. We want you to take a look at it. We haven’t opened it yet.”
“My, my, I wonder what’s inside.” Waving the fan over his face, the lawyer inserted it into the laptop in front of him and ran a quick scan on it, ensuring that it was probably virus-free before opening the contents.
“Oh my! Yoruichi!” The blonde called out as the first file he opened displayed itself on the screen.
The two teenagers quickly averted their eyes from the screen after taking a brief look. Displayed across the full screen was a nude photo of a girl, taken as she writhed in what seemed to be ecstasy, with a plastic object sticking out from between her legs.
‘Oh fuck! That’s Nell.’ As the tanned detective entered the room, long purple hair swaying behind her in a ponytail, Ichigo noticed her playful expression turn serious immediately when she caught sight of the photo.
“Where did you boys get this?” The detective asked curiously after scrolling through the pictures stored in the thumbdrive.
“One of my teammates passed it to me when I was in the hospital. He said Gin Ichimaru had passed it to him and said something like ‘it was to make up for the pain’.” Ichigo replied.
“Hmm…?” The detective’s eyebrows knotted briefly before she spoke again, still serious. “Well, we’ve just got some proof that Aizen’s been doing stuff to some of his skaters and hockey players. I’m sorry, Hitsugaya, but Hinamori’s pictures are inside as well.”
As Toushirou’s expression changed, trembling in anger, Ichigo placed his arm comfortingly on the skater’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hoping to calm the skater down.
“Anyway, we’ll look through this and back this up. This isn’t enough proof though, since Aizen’s obviously smart enough not to appear in the pictures.” The purple haired detective continued, “There might be someone who could help though. See this girl? I think she’s one of Aizen’s skaters now.”
The two teenagers looked once more at the laptop, trying only to take in the features of the confused looking nude blonde posing wantonly on the screen, before turning away again.
“You might want to try to contact her discreetly. If she’s willing to testify against him, it would help greatly with our case.”
The announcement came, seeming to verify that the blonde on the ice was indeed the girl they were looking for. “On the ice now, we have number thirteen, Tia Harribel. Coached by Sousuke Aizen, and runner-up at last year’s Nationals, she will be skating to Monti’s Csárdás.”
“Hn… I’ll try to get her backstage then.” Ichigo smiled at Toushirou’s reply, glad that the skater had decided to confide in him. He then turned his attention back to the rink, watching as she cleanly landed a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. It was no surprise that her score, announced a few minutes later, placed her on top of the field.
Two skaters later, it was Rukia’s turn. “Number sixteen, Rukia Kuchiki, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. Narrowly missing out on the podium last year, she will be skating to Saint-Saens’ Le Cygne.” Ichigo watched as the black haired skater landed all her jumps cleanly, clapping along with his companions every time.
The judges thought it was a good routine as well, giving her a score of 63.76, ranking her third out of all the skaters who had competed. After the last seven skaters finished their routines, the announcement came yet again with a wrap up of the day’s scores. “This marks the end of the senior ladies’ short programme. The competition order for the free skate on Saturday will be in the inverse order of these rankings. The rankings are as follows: In first place, Tia Harribel, 69.03 points; second place, Umi Ryuuzaki, 67.45 points; third place, Iria Winner, 65.84 points; fourth place, Rukia Kuchiki, 63.76 points…”
~~~
The following afternoon, it was Toushirou’s turn in the short programme. He had drawn tenth place, immediately after the arrogant skater he had faced during the collegiate championships.
Waiting below the stands with the other competitors, he occasionally glanced at the television screen that carried footage of the ongoing competition. Focusing more on the music in his ears, he barely noted the scores that flashed on the screen.
When the eighth skater had been called into the rink, Toushirou calmly turned off his iPod and headed for the locker he had been allocated. Locking up the music player, he stretched in the locker room, warming up before returning to the waiting room. Several moments later, the taller skater before him was called out.
Tense despite his cool façade, he nodded to Coach Ukitake as the white haired coach walked up to him. “How’s everything?” the coach asked, smiling gently.
“Fine.”
“Good luck!”
Nodding in response to his coach, Toushirou waited silently as minutes passed, running through his routine in his mind. Soon after, the announcement came and he entered the rink to applause. “Coached by Juushirou Ukitake, we have number ten, Toushirou Hitsugaya. His first year competing at the senior level, Hitsugaya won the collegiate championships last August. He will be skating to Harvest Festival, composed by Kwan Nai-Chung.”
Blocking out everything around him, he made several rounds on the ice - a brief warm up, before coming to a stop and assuming his starting position. As the music echoed around the rink, Toushirou turned his full focus on the music and skated.
Landing his first jump, a triple Axel, cleanly as the music rose to a crescendo briefly, the white haired skater cavorted on the ice as the familiar exotic beat sounded. A faint smile made its way across his lips as he landed his second jump, a triple Loop, without any problems before launching himself into a flying camel spin.
Following the melody as it began to rise to yet another climax, Toushirou took off backward on the ice, making a triple Lutz. As he paused before his second jump in the combination, he caught sight of wavy brown hair out of the corner of his eye and met cold brown eyes in that instant he took off.
‘Aizen! He came for the competition after all.’ He caught sight of the slight grin on the coach’s face as he spun once, then twice. Distracted as he was, Toushirou felt like he was about to fall as he landed off balance. It took all his effort to maintain his balance, moving on quickly without touching the ice with his hand, somehow using his slight momentum to make up for the loss in balance.
‘Is he here because he found out?’ Even as he tried to focus on the music, the thought inadvertently broke his concentration and he ended his routine with his combined spin just a touch out of beat with the music.
Accompanied by applause, he skated across the ice to the kiss and cry area, where Coach Ukitake was waiting. Surprisingly, the brown haired coach who had been looking out from that area earlier, was nowhere to be found.
Raising an eyebrow as he looked as his student, Ukitake asked, “Is there anything wrong?”
“I just saw Aizen,” came the cool reply, sounding just a touch nervous.
“Here?” The coach asked, watching as the skater nodded. “I haven’t seen him at all though.”
Toushirou remained silent for the rest of the time as he waited, fist clutched to his mouth, a mixture of nervousness and serious contemplation. ‘Is Aizen here? Does he know?’ They echoed in his mind, casting doubt on whether he had actually seen the man.
The calm voice of the announcer took him out of his thoughts. “Technical score, 37.72, programme score, 37.38, total score for short programme, 75.10, current position, third.”
Ukitake smiled at him as he nodded coolly to the cameras, before heading back into the backstage area. ‘Third, but last year’s top three haven’t skated yet. Aizen…’ Immediately heading back to the locker room, Toushirou pulled off his skates and changed out of his outfit. Packing up his belongings, he then made his way around the backstage area, hoping to catch sight of Aizen again.
Unfortunately, even though he caught sight of the arrogant looking skater who was Aizen’s student, there were no signs that the brown haired coach had made any appearance.
When it came to the final announcement on the placing for the short programme, it did not come as any surprise to him that he placed sixth in the field.
~~~
That night over dinner, Ichigo sensed that there was something wrong with Toushirou. Coming out of the bathroom after his bath, the orange haired goalkeeper saw the white haired skater seated on his bed, towel around his neck and staring off into blank space.
Seating down on his own bed, opposite the skater, Ichigo asked, meeting clouded turquoise eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
“I saw Aizen when I was skating. After the results were out, I went to look for him. I couldn’t find him. Coach didn’t see him too.” The skater paused before he asked, sounding just a bit worried, “Do you think he knows?”
“Tosh’, don’t worry.” Putting his uninjured right hand on the skater’s shoulders, Ichigo met Toushirou’s gaze squarely. “Even if he is here, there’s nothing he can do to you. I’ll be around and there’re a lot of other people at the competition. I can ask Coach Ukitake about getting a backstage pass if you’re worried.”
“There’s no need to. I’m just… never mind.”
“It doesn’t matter if Aizen is here or not. He might just be trying to play mind tricks on you. Stop thinking about it and go sleep.” With that, Ichigo rose to his feet and headed for his bag. Retrieving a thin volume, this time one entitled, ‘Introduction to Psychiatry and Mental Disorders’, the orange haired sophomore returned to his bed and read a few pages before deciding to call it a night.
The next morning, Ichigo only woke up after hitting the snooze button twice times. Expecting the skater to be waiting impatiently for him, he sat up and looked around the room groggily, only to realise that Toushirou was absent.
Suddenly alert, Ichigo got out of bed, looked more carefully around the room, and finally spotted a piece of paper on the table that had not been there the night before. “Kurosaki, I’m off for a swim. I’ll be back soon.”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Ichigo stretched slightly before he headed to the bathroom to wash up. By the time he was done, the skater had not returned and feeling lazy, he decided to change in the room instead of occupying the bathroom. Just as he had stripped down to his briefs, the door opened with a ‘click’, admitting a wet Toushirou, clad in the same fitting white trunks he had worn the previous time.
“You’re back.” Ichigo remarked, trying but failing to stop his eyes from wandering down to the skater’s lightly muscled chest, flat stomach and the white trunks.
“Hn… I decided not to bother you, since you can’t swim now.” Toushirou replied coolly, noticing that the goalkeeper was looking at him. In turn, he raked his eyes appreciatively across the more muscular body and the slight bulge in the black briefs.
Feeling a stirring in his groin, Ichigo suddenly turned away from the skater and bent down to pick up his jeans. “Hurry and shower. We’re going to be late otherwise.” Keeping his voice as neutral as he could, he concentrated on the various disorders he had read the night before, pulling on his jeans before struggling to put on his shirt. Shrugging on his jacket but not putting his injured left arm through the sleeve, he was ready by the time the skater had come out of his bath, dressed to go.
After a quick breakfast, they made their way to the Coliseum, just a short walk away. Parting with the skater at the backstage entrance, Ichigo headed for the stands to watch the practice session. Sitting with Yumi and Rangiku, they watched the practice, with the black haired art major going ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ah’ over a particular brown haired skater. It did not take long for Ichigo to learn that the youthful looking skater was Tsubasa Li, current world and Olympic champion.
Following Toushirou’s practice, they met Rukia for lunch and wished her good luck before returning back into the Coliseum for the senior ladies’ free skate competition. Ichigo and Toushirou had also passed Rukia an anonymous letter for her to place in Tia Harribel’s locker; the pair had decided against looking for the skater herself, given the possibility of Aizen’s presence.
Slightly more than two hours later, it was Rukia’s turn on the ice. “Presenting number nineteen, Rukia Kuchiki, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. Placing fourth in the short programme, she will be skating to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for the free skate.”
Waltzing across the ice in a shimmering black outfit, the black haired skater dazzled the crowd with her spins and landed all her jumps cleanly. The audience clapped heartily when she was done; her performance simply summarised by Yumichika in three words, “That was beautiful.”
Two skaters later, Rukia’s score of 123.13 for the free skate still stood as the highest mark awarded. It was only the blonde, Tia Harribel’s passionate skate to Bizet’s Carmen that won her highest accolades.
“I think Rukia’s going to finish second,” Ichigo announced to the group, having been calculating the scores on his notepad. Barely a minute later, the calm tone of the announcer could be heard throughout the stands. “Here are the final results for this year’s senior ladies figure skating championships. In first place, Tia Harribel, with a combined total score of 196.36 and in second place, Rukia Kuchiki, with a combined total score of 186.89. Coming in third, Umi Ryuuzaki, with a combined total score of 185.67 and fourth, Iria Winner, with a combined total score of 174.09....”
They celebrated briefly and stayed for the prize presentation and photo taking, the black haired art major snapping several shots of Rukia standing on the podium. Taking into consideration that the senior men’s competition was the following morning, they had dinner as usual before retiring to their hotels early.
~~~
The next morning, Ichigo and Toushirou both rose early. Coming out from the bathroom after changing, Toushirou turned to the already-changed Ichigo and asked, “Breakfast?”
Expecting a reply in the affirmative, the skater was surprised when the goalkeeper replied, “Erm… just give me a moment.” Raising his eyebrows curiously as Ichigo turned away from him, hands seeming to struggle with something, Toushirou took a few steps over, wondering if he needed help.
Suddenly turning, Ichigo found himself centimetres away from the skater, holding the silver chain and pendant he had bought the day before. “Tosh’, er… I bought this yesterday. It’s for you. Anyway, I was hoping that it would be something good to concentrate on while you skate. Think of it as an anti-Aizen charm.”
“Thank you, Kurosaki.” Toushirou’s hand took the chain and crescent-shaped pendant that the goalkeeper held out. His colder fingers met Ichigo’s warmer hand for a brief moment, before he drew back instinctively, the chain firmly grasped in his fingers.
Noticing but ignoring the pink blush on the goalkeeper’s cheeks, he deftly unfastened the catch on the chain. He then brought the silver necklace round his neck before fastening the catch. Tucking it under his shirt and feeling the metal cold against his skin, Toushirou turned to Ichigo again, “Breakfast then, shall we?” Ichigo grinned in response, embarrassment gone, picked up his bag then headed for the door.
Following breakfast, the pair met their friends in front of the Coliseum as arranged the night before. After a chorus of ‘Good lucks’ from his companions, Toushirou made his way backstage, reporting first to the official in charge before heading to change.
Similar to the previous day, he sat in the waiting room waiting for his turn, earphones plugged in. The only difference this time was the cool touch of metal against his skin. Oblivious to the skaters, coaches and officials who walked in and out, it was only when Coach Ukitake tapped him on his shoulder that he realised it was almost his turn.
Not having the time to keep his iPod with his belongings, Toushirou passed it to his white haired coach before beginning on his stretching. Minutes later, he was called and he proceeded onto the ice as he was announced. “In sixth place following the short programme, we have Toushirou Hitsugaya, coached by Juushirou Ukitake. He will be skating to Return of Spring, composed by Gu Guan-Ren for his free skate.”
Making a full oval on the ice, Toushirou fingered the crescent pendant before coming to a stop in front of the judges and assuming his starting position. Starting softly, the music rose to a crescendo almost immediately and with perfect timing, the white haired skater landed his first triple Axel.
Concentrating on the music, he aced his double jump combination before following up with a step sequence and a camel spin. Seconds later, Toushirou leapt into the air, spinning four times, before landing cleanly, pulling off his quadruple toe loop without a hitch.
Gaining confidence, the white haired skater flowed with the music as it took on yet another different tempo and landed a series of consecutive jumps, starting with a triple Salchow coming off a spin combination. Even the triple jump combination, a triple Axel-triple toe loop-double loop, with the triple toe loop recently upgraded from a double toe loop, posed no problems.
The music sped towards its ending in presto time and accompanying it, Toushirou spun on the ice, increasing his speed suddenly in the final upright spin part of the spin combination, ending exactly as the music did. Accompanied by boisterous applause, he skated to the kiss and cry area and nodded as his coach smiled at him.
Minutes later, the announcement came. “Element score, 79.10, programme score, 81.45, total for free skate, 160.55 points, combined total, 235.65 points. Toushirou Hitsugaya currently leads the field.”
‘I hope that’s high enough for the podium.’ Heading back to the waiting area, he was congratulated by several skaters, including Tsubasa, before he settled down in a corner to watch the rest of the competition with Coach Ukitake next to him.
The beige haired skater who placed second in the short programme, Elliot Nightray, eventually edged out his score in the free skate narrowly, before it was finally Tsubasa’s turn. Toushirou watched on the screen as the brown haired skater, skating to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, landed all his jumps perfectly, earning a score of 167.98.
When the final scores were released, Toushirou paid careful attention to the announcement. “Here are the final results for this year’s senior men’s figure skating championships. In first place, Tsubasa Li, current world and Olympic champion, with a combined total score of 251.31, silver goes to Elliot Nightray, with a combined total score of 240.08. Coming in third is Misaki Takahashi, with a combined total score of 236.24 and pewter goes to Toushirou Hitsugaya, with a combined total score of 235.65....”
It took a few moments for it to sink in and slightly dazed, Toushirou found himself being congratulated by other skaters in the room. In turn, he also made his way across the room, shaking hands with the other skaters.
Minutes later, he was called with the other medallists out onto the ice once again for the photo taking and prize presentation. Getting on the podium first, turquoise eyes searched the filled rink for bright orange. When he finally caught sight of Ichigo, standing with Rukia, Rangiku and Yumichika, he waved, a faint smile on his lips.
That night, they celebrated with a dinner, opening a bottle of champagne, with both their coaches as well as Byakuya joining them.
Later that night, on the way back to their room in the hotel, Ichigo, supporting a slightly drunk Toushirou, heard the skater mumble, “Thank you, Ichigo.” Back in their room, he gently placed the unconscious skater on his bed before heading for a quick shower.
Gazing at the white haired skater as he towelled dry his hair after his shower, the orange haired teenager could not resist leaning over and ruffling his hair after he was done. Then, after placing a chaste kiss on the forehead of the slumbering skater, Ichigo climbed into bed, softly whispering, “Sweet dreams, Tosh’.”