Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

4.

Eventually, Athena returned to her bedroom to get some rest.

From the papers they handed her, the competition started on the next day with the ladies' Short Program, whatever that meant...

The next morning, she woke up after a decent night of rest and hoped for a great day ahead.

Well, it didn't start out great.

Her first instinct was to order room service but when she took the phone, she was quick to realize that it wasn't working properly.

Athena quickly got dressed in loungewear and stepped out of her room, with full intent on going to the reception to fix the problem.

She was furiously typing on her phone to reply to a few emails sent by her team when she hit something hard and felt herself falling.

Except she never hit the ground.

Strong arms held her in position and prevented her from falling to her feet. It was only then that she realized she had hit someone.

"I'm so sorry, I was distracted on my..." She said in English naturally, knowing how bad her Spanish was.

Her eyes fell on the person in front of her and found the same guy that was on the bench the previous night, a mask still covering his features.

"You ok?" He asked with a hint of an accent.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yes. You be careful." were his next words, slowly uttered as if he was considering them hard, English clearly being hard for him. It surprised Athena that she now had this knowledge given that the lady that was with him yesterday had spoken in clear English.

"I feel bad... I was thinking that maybe I should buy you coffee to make up for my lack of attention?"

"I... Not drink coffee."

Every single thing about him confused her. Yesterday she was sure he couldn't be older than 18, but his strength while holding her today made her wonder about his real age.

"Something else?"

"It ok. English bad. Have good day." Was all he said before disappearing and leaving her.

The young princess was dumbfounded and immobile, still gathering her thoughts about the sudden encounter when Joanna showed up, leaving her own room.

"Your highness? Is everything ok?"

The question brought her back to real life.

"Uhm... The phone in my room isn't working and I wanted to ask for room service. I was just about to go downstairs to try to fix it."

"You could have asked me to take care of it! Just go back to the room and I will talk about the matter at the front desk. Meanwhile, what should I get you for breakfast?"

"Anything sweet. You know what I like."

"Of course."

"Thank you, Jo."

With that fixed, Athena ate the arranged breakfast before changing clothes again. There was no way she could show up for an event without looking somewhat presentable in her parents' eyes, meaning that she needed to be wearing a knee-length dress in a neutral color and high heels. Even if this wasn't necessarily a comfortable outfit to watch sports.

Sunglasses and phone in hand, she left her hotel room and met with the bodyguards at the hotel lobby.

Thankfully, the paparazzi seemed to ease off today and she had a relatively normal trip to the skating arena.

Even on arrival, just a few photographers seemed to notice her. They looked Japanese given how they bowed in respect and asked permission before taking her picture. Only Japanese photographers were that nice...

They took a few pictures of her and thanked her for the time she spent doing so.

In no time she was entering the cold arena and being guided towards a VIP booth with food and a heating system she was glad to have.

She watched girl after girl come out and to their routines that were both short and not greatly entertaining. The jumps were cool the first time she saw them, but after seeing a bunch of girls doing the same it lost the magic.

Only after about two hours of the event had passed did she understand just how bored she was.

Athena started realizing why her mom had no desire to attend this whole thing and asked several times if she wanted to go for real.

The bad thing was that she didn't understand anything or how the scores were given. Other sports tend to be easier, especially when they involve balls... It's usually self-explanatory, you know when someone scores or is winning but even gymnastics was easier to understand than figure skating.

There were apparently two scores, one for technical and one for components, but that is all she understood.

Suddenly, the will to be in this place wasn't as great, but at the same time, the alternative still looked worse.

As boring as that day was, it was something different and that was exactly her goal.

"Ah, tomorrow will be even better!" she heard from her side.

"Why?"

"Because it's the men's event! Remember when I said there was a Spanish guy that looked hot? He's skating tomorrow!"

"Huh... How do you even know my schedule better than me?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Of course, Joanna."

"I'm actually a Figure Skating fan! This whole weekend is like a dream for me."

"You are? You never said anything!"

"It's not up to you to worry about me or what I like, your highness."

"I still care... So, is that Spanish guy your favorite?"

"No"

"Then why are you always talking about him?"

"Because he seems like your type and is a really nice guy."

Athena rolled her eyes at her maid and kept the conversation.

"I already told you that's not why I'm here... So, who's the favorite?"

"Hanyu. He's Japanese and is on a series of record-breaking performances time after time. If he's at his top form, probably unbeaten."

"That good?"

"You will see!"