"Rinkside Sweethearts." || Ruian

Part 1 - "The Ice that Binds Us."

- This book is inspired by the book icebreaker written by Hannah Grace -

- Skating Rink -
(An's POV)
{An, Rui}

My skates scrape across the ice as I gracefully glide around the rink, perfecting my routine. Everything needs to be perfect for my competition, I refuse to get lower than a 9.0 score. I always get told I try too hard, but I want my parents to be proud of me and I want to feel accomplished and do better then everyone else. 

I do the last pirouettes, 15 twirls on the tips of skates, my surroundings are a blur of blue and white as I spin. My skirt flowing violently as my body swirls over and over again.

My routine ends with a leap, I land on the tip of my skates, the music ends and I smile, panting slightly to catch my breath. Suddenly my head turns as someones claps fill the silence.

"Well done! Bravo!"

"Oh, thanks."

I smile, skating to the rinks exit. I sit down on one of the benches and search through my bag, looking for a water bottle. The person who was clapping comes over to me, I recognize him, his name is Mui or something? I can't remember. I do know that he's on the hockey team, and is one of their best players.

"So you can do an entire skating routine, but not be able to keep your bag organized well enough to find your water bottle?"

He smirks, teasing me as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall of the rink.

"Oh shut up."

I mumble, finding my water bottle and screwing open the lid, taking a sip of it. I have to admit, I'm a bit tired, but I want to do my routine at least 3 more times before I leave.

"My names Rui Kamishiro, pleasure to meet you."

Ohh so that's what his name was, Rui! He reaches out his arm for a handshake and I politely raise my hand to shake his.

"So, do you have a name or..?"

"Sorry- i'm An Shiraishi. Introductions completely slipped my mind."

I laughed awkwardly, stopping myself and taking another sip of my water looking down at my feet. I just made a fool of myself, I can be so stupid sometimes.

"Your pretty good at figure skating. It's probably exhausting practicing that whole routine all day."

"Yeah, it takes a lot of effort and time but it's all worth it in the end!"

"Hm."

He smiles at me, I feel my cheeks blush slightly. Stop it, focus! I shake my head a little and stand up, leaving the water bottle on the bench.

"Leaving so soon? Just when I was finally getting to know you."

He smirked, watching me go over to the small cassette player to begin the music and start my routine all over.

"So sorry, I have to practice practice practice. I have a competition in 2 weeks and I need to be ready."

"Well you seemed pretty ready to me, your routine was flawless from what I saw."

"Aw thanks, but really I need to practice again."

He nods, he's a hockey player so he probably understands the need to practice. I watch him pick up his things and leave. What an odd guy, coming over to watch me skate and now he's just leaving? Strange indeed.

- Skating Rink -
(Rui's POV)
{Rui, An}

I came back to the rink today. I'm not sure why, but that girl with the long blue hair intrigues me. Maybe it's her smile or determination, but there's something about her I can't shake out of my head.

"Atta girl!"

I yell, as An perfectly lands on the ice. She's incredibly strong and graceful as she glided around, executing her routine perfectly. I watch her smile, continuing her routine as if my praise gave her more energy. I liked watching her skate, it was pretty.

For some reason, I keep coming back. All week I've come to watch her skate, every day she's there. From right after classes until 6pm she's out on the ice, skating her little heart away. We've gotten closer, making small talk when she takes her breaks. I watch her drink her water, or fix the laces on her skates. She always smiles and never looks tired after a skating session, it enamours me how she can have so much energy.

"So, comps coming up soon isn't it?"

"Mhm. Just 9 days away! I'll have to practice harder these last few days if I wanna be able to get first place."

I watch as she bends down to tie her skates, I can't help but take small glimpses at her breasts as they squeeze together, her arms reaching over to fix the loose skates.

"What're you doing?"

"Oh- um-"

I froze, I barely noticed she sat up and I had no idea what to say to her.

"How do you not get tired after skating so much? Like honestly, you go out for at least 3 hours a day and practice. How does that not burn you out?"

Great going Rui, acting more suspicious then before for changing the topic so quick. Thankfully, she didn't seem to care so much and went with it.

"I dunno. I guess I hardly realize the time passes since I like skating."

"Hm nice."

She smiles, standing up and putting her hands on her hips, making her way back towards the rink.

"An-"

She turns to me, her face full of confusion.

"Huh? What is it?"

"I just- don't overwork yourself okay? It's not healthy. Maybe stop for the day or something.."

I wouldn't want this cute girl to end up tiring herself out, or worse. I was slightly worried for her, she was going back on the ice after practicing for nearly 3 hours. I don't understand how her body is able to do this for so long.

"Don't worry too much. Really, I'll be fine."

I sigh, she's stubborn and no matter what I say it probably won't get to her. So instead I simply nod and watch her go over to the cassette player, her skirt flowing gently as she moves. I worry for her, I wouldn't want her to push herself too hard to the point where she breaks. 

(An's POV)
{An, Rui}

I notice rui's concern, why does he care so much? We hardly know each other. But I call out to him, hoping it'll calm his nerves a little.

"I'll be fine, calm down. I feel fine and I will take a break, just one last run alright?"

"Yes yes, just be careful. I really think you should rest."

I felt a bit tired, but I'd push myself until I reached my goal. All I wanted was to be the best, and to make my way eventually to join the Olympics. I turned on the music and started my routine, Rui watching me closely from the bench.

"Don't blame me when you collapse Shiraishi, come on! Just take a small break."

I rolled my eyes but continued with my routine, no matter what he says my determination will get the better of me. I start by gliding around the ice and then doing some spins, my skating matching the music perfectly. I hummed gently to the music, pushing myself to the limit before reaching the end of my routine.

I did my last twirls, the consecutive 15 which went after each other, my head hurt as a spun which was something I wasn't used to. It was weird, and slightly alarming, suddenly my body lurched and everything went black. They last thing I saw was rui's alarmed face, as my head hit the floor.