YUZURU HANYU: PHANTOM OF THE ICE

PRELUDE

September 19 , Year 2005 , TOKYO

It was just the beginning of the year. No one else was walking on the Tokyo street, at this hour, despite being early noon.

And yet, a quite short man was walking down the street, scratching his curls on the back of his head. He seemed nervous, looking around at all the tall blocks of flats.

A warm breeze made his hair tangle and untangle in a second, making them fall on his face irritatingly.

Shoma Uno was never that nervous and anxious again. It wasn't his first time coming to Tokyo, but he had never visited this area again.

He looked up at the block of flats that towered before him. Checking up on the names on the cable phone, he pressed the one saying "Hanyu-Kuwashi", waiting for someone's answer.

"Hello?"

"Ummm it's me, Shoma."

"Oh! Yeah, come up to the 3rd floor."

"Okay, I'm coming."

After having jogged up the stairs, he nervously knocked on the apartment door in front of him, holding the golden necklace tightly on his hands.

The door opened shortly after, revealing Yuzuru, who obviously had just began his day, with a bowl of cereal on his hand.

"Hey, Shoma-san. How's your stay at Tokyo?"He asked, wearing a polite smile to his old acquaintance.

Shoma smiled back nervously and gestured at the necklace. "It's alright...They found this on the rink. I remembered it was Mira's so I offered to give it back to her. Sorry for the sudden call I gave you." He said a bit timidly.

Yuzuru's eyes were now glued on the necklace. Oh, he knew very well how Mira had found this necklace. He remembered everything, no matter how hard he tried to forget.

It was as if a wave of memories washed over his brain, blurring the reality and sinking him back into the events that took place 13 years ago, in the skating rink of Sendai.

It was almost as if...

As if he had worn his mask again...

THE PHANTOM OF THE ICE

August 25 , Year 1995 , SENDAI

I left the last box in front of the apartment's door, sighing happily. My creation was a huge pile of boxes right next to the entrance, that took me far too long to even count.

The elevator dinged and my sister stepped out of it, resting her hands on her belly. "So? Was it as difficult as you thought?" She taunted me, making me roll my eyes.

"Yeah yeah, look; we must get them inside. Can you help me a little?" I whined and picked up one of them, but my sister seemed to think about it.

"Oh, come on, Kuua! I want to go to training after some hours!" I said again, and Kuua finally nodded, picking up a small box.

"You're right. With teamwork, we might be able to sleep on a proper bed tonight." She retorted and entered the house with me.

It wasn't very spacious, but it was western style and very cozy, so it would do. Me and Kuua just wanted to come back to our hometown, and since our old house was too old to stay, what else would we do?

I looked around at the room, imagining how the rest of my life would seem inside it. I smiled to myself; being in Sendai was the only thing I wanted.