Chapter Text
Kanade felt butterflies in her stomach as she watched the strange purple haired girl walk in through the electronic gates of the ice rink. Kanade couldn’t recognize her — this was a club session, so why was this random girl coming in? Was she new to the club? Where’d she come come from? Kanade’s thoughts flickered with excitement. She looked really good at skating; skinny and well-built, not to mention the way she walked.
Everyone’s eyes were cast upon this new girl as she walked through the corridor. After she turned the corner, a blast of cold air entering the corridor as the automated doors opened to the ice rink, Mizuki turned to Kanade.
“Oh. My. God. That’s Mafuyu! She was like, No. 8 at Novice A last year!”
Kanade didn’t recognize her name, “Oh, cool I guess?” Taking out her skates from her bulky bag, she started putting them on.
Mizuki shook her head, “Oh my god Kanade, you’re actually crazy… for someone who skated at Tokyo Block last year, you are not keeping track of nationals!”
Already nearly done with tying her first shoe, Kanade looked up at Mizuki. “Yeah… cause I didn’t go to nationals…”
Mizuki facepalmed and looked at the younger girls who were chatting in the corridor to see if they were talking about Mafuyu.
“Wasn’t Mafuyu Asahina skating at Shin-Yoko before?”
“What do you think happened?”
“Maybe she changed coaches?”
Mizuki turned back to Kanade, “Oh my god, when this club session’s over, I’m going to talk to her~”
“But her Mum’s there…?” Kanade said, now completely done with putting on her shoes. Reaching for her gloves in her bag she thought, ‘I mean, I’d like to talk to her too but…’
Kanade and Mizuki’s conversation was cut short when Ena walked over in skates. “Mizuki, it’s one minute before the session starts, hurry up and put on your skates!”
“Don’t worry Ena~, I can put on my skates in one minute~ plus, I don’t think Miku sensei will care if I’m late~”
“Sure, sure,” Ena rolled her eyes. “I’ll put your CD out in the queue for you.” Ena grumbled, snatching out Mizuki’s CD from her bag. Ena lightly jogged out to the rink-side as a loose swarm of other skate girls followed.
Kanade stood up, “Well… I’m gonna go too…”
Finally pulling out her skates from her bag, Mizuki waved, “Baii~”
Kanade slightly jogged to get to the rink-side. She didn’t want to be late. Her coach would lecture her again otherwise. Once inside the cold ice rink, she headed down the steps, to the crowded area around the CD player, to put her CD in the queue.
Glancing around for the “Mafuyu” girl, Kanade tied her long hair up into a bun. She was really curious about the purple girl, after all she was kinda—
As the clock struck exactly 7:15pm, the horde of children descended upon the ice. They immediately zoomed off to say “good evening” to all of the coaches. Kanade took her time to get on the ice - it was a 45 minute session anyways. As she mindlessly said “good evening” to all the coaches on the ice, she saw the purple haired girl, with her mother on the rink-side. They were talking to Kaito-sensei.
‘Kaito sensei is good at teaching triple jumps… maybe that’s why Mafuyu moved to this rink…’ Kanade thought. Stopping in front of her coach, she said her final “good evening”.
Miku sensei, Kanade’s coach grinned, “Good evening Kanade.” Her coach leaned against the skate barrier, “How was online school?” Kanade watched from the corner of her eye as Mafuyu got onto the ice with Kaito sensei.
“The same as usual…” Mafuyu was going around with her coach, saying “Nice to meet you,” to every coach.
“That’s good, alright. Kanade, can you do 2 laps of the Mohawk 6-step? I’ll go check the program-playing order while you do that.”
Kanade nodded and starting the steps. She ensured that she focused on her fingertips to make sure that the step was done well, otherwise her coach would make her redo it. While Miku sensei was kind and chatty, she did not tolerate any sloppy attempts.
The rink was kind of busy, but to be expected of a Tuesday evening session. Even if this specific club session for the B group was only for those grade 6 and above, there was still nearly 30 people on the ice. Kanade had taken a year to land her double axel for grade 6 but with the amount of people skating in Jingu, it wasn’t too hard to get around 30 kids to land double axel.
Done with her two laps, Kanade stopped back at where coach was — by the CD deck. Miku sensei was enthusiastically chatting to an older coach but she stopped, noticing Kanade.
“Kanade, I don’t think you’ll be able to play your program today. There’s 18 people in line before you and the order starts today from Okada.”
Kanade internally grinned at the fact - running her program always set her lungs on fire. “That’s unfortunate…” Kanade lied.
Miku sensei jokingly said, “You’re definitely secretly happy to not play your program.”
Kanade gave a small laugh. Her coach was about to say something when she turned to look at someone else, who was behind Kanade.
“Good evening, my name’s Mafuyu Asahina! Looking forward to working with you all” Kanade turned around to see the purple girl. Looking at her up close, Kanade could see that her eyes were purple like her hair, with a glint of sky blue in them. Mafuyu’s eyes met Kanade’s for a moment. Kanade felt a shiver run up her spine as the loneliness in Mafuyu’s eyes drew her in. The sadness that glittered in Mafuyu’s eyes completed betrayed that of the wide smile plastered to her face.
Kanade and Miku sensei both mumbled back their pleasantries. Miku sensei tapped Kanade on her shoulder as she said in a polite tone.
“Mafuyu, this is Kanade-chan. If you ever need anything feel free to ask Kanade or me. Oh, I’m Miku sensei by the way.”
Mafuyu let out a small polite laugh and nodded before Kaito sensei pulled Mafuyu away to greet another coach.
Kanade simply stared. Miku sensei leaned into Kanade’s ear. “You should ask her to teach you the remaining triples.”
Kanade shook her head, “I think she should practice herself instead of teaching me…”
Miku sensei smirked, “Well, you can also learn by watching. Anyways, Kanade, you should start jumping now.”
Kanade nodded and left. She was going to jump through all of her jumps and then practice triple flip and loop — she was still learning to stabilize the two jumps.
Kanade’s attention wavered, her eyes instinctively following Mafuyu as she took her first lap around the rink. There was something almost hypnotic about the way Mafuyu moved—fluid, precise, yet with an undeniable sense of distance, as if she was skating not just on the ice, but through some barrier between herself and the world. Kanade’s focus slipped for a moment, and she almost missed her landing on a single Axel, barely saving herself with a tight three turn.
She quickly corrected herself, trying to push the thoughts of Mafuyu from her mind. She had her own training to focus on. Still, every time she glanced up, Mafuyu was there, skating with a kind of quiet intensity that made Kanade’s chest tighten with both admiration and something else… something harder to define.
Her gaze flickered back to Mafuyu’s mother, who stood at the edge of the rink, arms folded with an air of silent, unquestioned authority. It made Kanade uneasy—these skate mothers were always a bad sign. While they were around, it was always much harder to talk to their kids. There was a strange sharpness to Mafuyu’s mother’s presence, a seething coldness. Kanade shivered.
Trying to shake off the feeling, Kanade did her best to focus on her own skating. She executed a clean single axel (it was a single axel for fuck’s sake). Content, she went back over to Miku sensei.
Miku sensei, who had been watching from the rink's edge, shook her head in amusement but didn’t look disappointed. "Kanade, it’s just a single axel, you okay?”
Kanade bit her lip, not sure how to answer. She wasn’t sure how to explain the curiosity—and the strange unease—that had settled in her stomach since Mafuyu had stepped onto the ice.
Miku sensei raised an eyebrow, sensing her hesitation. "It’s Mafuyu right?"
Kanade nodded, but said nothing, still unsure if she could articulate the nagging feeling Mafuyu left in her.
Miku sensei laughed, “I know you’re nervous because you two are the same skate age so you need to look really good but there’s no need to be so competitive about it.” Kanade frowned. She was the least competitive person in the world.
Miku sensei, sensing that Kanade needed time to process her thoughts, clapped her hands together. "Alright, enough daydreaming. Hurry up and do salcow." Miku sensei used her hands to ‘shoo’ Kanade as she skated away.
Kanade nodded, her thoughts still swirling as she tried to push them aside. She focused on her jump, determined to land her salcow like normal. She could sense Mafuyu’s gaze on her, though, just at the edge of her awareness. Kanade caught herself glancing over at Mafuyu once more, her curiosity overtaking her focus.
Mafuyu had just landed a triple flip, her movements graceful, her face set in a soft, thoughtful expression. There was something about the way Mafuyu skated, like she was carrying an invisible weight. The quiet, sad shimmer in her eyes returned when their gazes met again, and Kanade quickly looked away.
She steeled herself and jumped her double salcow.
As the session went on, Kanade continued to skate, each time making sure her focus stayed on her jumps, her spins, the steps. But each time she crossed the rink, her eyes would inevitably flicker toward Mafuyu. And every time, she would steal the briefest glimpse of the loneliness in those purple eyes, the sweet but forced smile, and she would feel her heart twinge in a way she couldn’t explain.
By the time the session ended, Kanade’s body was exhausted from the jumps and spins, but her mind felt just as tired. She had wanted to reach out, maybe even get her LINE details, or just mumble a “hi”. But Kanade struggled to find the courage to go up to her.
Getting off the ice, Kanade watched as Mafuyu chatted to a few other girls by the rink-side, Mafuyu putting on one of those slinky Edea edge cases on her edges. Kanade could see that Mizuki was trying her best to talk to Mafuyu, but was stuck behind the flock of girls.
Kanade, tucking her CD back into its case, lingered, wondering whether or not to wait and talk to Mafuyu.
Mafuyu’s mother was speaking to Kaito-sensei at the other side of the rink. ‘This is my one chance to talk to Mafuyu today…’
Kanade took a deep breath. She had nothing to lose by saying something, right?
Stepping closer to Mafuyu, pushing through the other girls, Kanade called out, “Mafuyu, I-I didn’t r-really have a chance to introduce myself properly but I’m Kanade Yoisaki… ”
A deep knot formed in Kanade’s stomach. “Nice to meet you Kanade.” Mafuyu smiled, her eyes ever so slightly lighting up.
Kanade hesitated but then smiled back, feeling a little more confident. “I—I just wanted to say, um… welcome to the rink. You’re, r-really good. It’s nice to have you here.”
Mafuyu’s smile faltered for just a second before responding with a wider smile. “Thank you Kanade, you’re really good too.”
Kanade felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment, as another girl grabbed Mafuyu’s hands and started talking to her. Falling back to the back of the crowd, Kanade felt slightly giddy. But watching Mafuyu talk to the other girl, she could see that Mafuyu seemed to… stand there like a statue. Kanade couldn’t really describe it.
Her anxiety fizzing away, Kanade grabbed her things and decided to go and take off her shoes. Sitting down on the bench where she was sitting earlier, she undid the butterfly knot at the top of her left shoe.
Mizuki and Ena walked over and sat down beside Kanade.
“I’m so tired~” Mizuki complained, untying her shoes and throwing them off her feet.
Ena snorted, “It’s not like you’re even jumping triples Mizuki.”
“Says Ena who doesn’t either~”
Kanade spoke up before they started arguing, “Well, triples don’t really matter since you two are doing ice dance…” While the ISU doesn’t allow same sex partners, Mizuki was biologically male and Ena was female, so they could partner together to do ice dance. Even if Mizuki was trans.
“Well I guess…” Ena mused, wiping the ice from her blades with a rag. “Oh yeah, you two, do you want to go to this new cafe I found when you guys have time?”
Mizuki flashed a grin, “Yeah of course~!” Mizuki leaned in closet to Ena, “but, you better not eat too much or otherwise you might grow too heavy for lifts~”
Ena frowned. “I have a fast metabolism.”
Mizuki hummed, “Sure buddy~ sure~”
Kanade, already having her shoes packed, stood up. “Text me the details for when we’re going… bye guys…”
“See ya!” The chorus of the two’s voices chimed from behind. Waving one last time, Kanade walked away, through the electronic gates.
But she halted.
‘Should she wait to say goodbye to Mafuyu…?’
‘No…’
‘It’ll just be awkward…’ Kanade thought, starting to walk again. Exiting the building, into the night, Kanade headed towards her father’s car. Opening the door, Kanade slid in.
“Thanks for waiting, Dad” Kanade murmured, bucking in.
“No problem,” her father replied quietly, eyes on the road as he pulled away from the curb. “How was practice?”
Kanade nodded, staring out the window as the turquoise building of the rink faded behind them. “Mhmm, it was alright. A new girl joined the club.”
“That’s cool, she nice?” Her father asked, clicking the indicator as he changed lane.
“I haven’t really talked to her yet but I suppose so…”
Her father nodded from the driver’s seat before there was a stretch of silence.
“You seem tired.” Her father spoke.
Kanade shrugged, “Just a little…”
There was another long silent note. As they turned the corner onto their street, he said, “You’re doing well Kanade. I know that I don’t say it enough but I’m proud of you.”
Kanade didn’t know how to respond. “Thanks…”
*******
After eating dinner together, Kanade decided to retreat into her own room. Settling down into her worn chair, she opened her laptop. It glowed softly in the dark, with a slight whirring as it came to life. Opening up her music software, Kanade plugged in her headphones and opened a new file.
An image of Mafuyu’s haunting smile and eyes floated around in Kanade’s head. A finger involuntarily twitched.
Laying her fingers down on the MIDI keyboard, she pressed the D maj7 chord. ‘The song should start in a major… move into a section of B minor before going back into a major key…’ From her first chord, she moved to next chord in the chord progression and to the next. ‘Dmaj7…Amaj…Bmin…to Gmaj7…’
There wasn’t anything yet to the song she was writing, just emotions that she wanted to transcribe into music. Changing the chords a bit and playing them again, Kanade lost herself in her thoughts.
‘How does one write her loneliness…?’