Cold Hearted - Yuzuru Hanyu

Chapter II

Esmes's nerves were finally starting to creep up on her as she entered the ice alongside the rest of the last group of women doing their short program that day for their six-minute warm-up.

Earlier that morning when Alina and her had sat together in their room doing their hair and makeup whilst chatting animatedly, nothing. Not a single nerve but now she felt like her legs might give out, and the early morning jumping drills hadn't helped either.

The three Ereri Girls would be skating in the order of Evgenia, then Alina and last of the entire competition Esme with around one or two skaters in between all the girls to allow their coaches to have time with them between.

None of the three girls dared to look at each other or their coaches as they were presented and started to do their warmups. It didn't feel like even a minute had passed before the one-minute left announcements came through the speakers and it was time to get off the ice.

The girls all lined up behind the boards but Evgenia who stayed and her music Nocturne started.

When Evgenias stable short program ended, Esme could see the red dress of Carolina Kostner come closer to her.

"You're skating after me, aren't you?! Carolina asked a shocked-looking Esme. It was like the entire purple arena had quieted down as her childhood hero spoke to her, even though it exploded with cheers as Evgenia broke her own world record.

"Yeah, I'm last," Esme answered.

"Good luck!"

And with that Carolina got out on the ice, with Esme next.

Esme sat alone in the kiss and cry since Tamara had to go back to Russia, Eteri was taking care of Evgenia, Sergei was keeping an eye on Alina during interviews and Daniil was nowhere to be found. Her skating wasn't very good. So after having a touchdown in every jump but her 3A and a fall in her combination jump she ended up twelfth, still qualifying for the free skate but not good enough to reach her teammates on the podium tomorrow even if her program was flawless. Luckily for Esme though, she didn't have a lot of media obligations unlike Alina and Zhenya so instead of forcing a sad smile on her face for multiple more hours, she grabbed her things, notified Sergei of her leaving and walked back to the village where she would spend the entire night prepping for the next day's competition.

Esme had almost been up the entire night going through her notes, practising off the ice and it was visible as she was sitting on the floor of her room with her fifth cup of coffee in her hands. Even though it was just a simple black coffee, every time Eteri would come into the room she'd hide it under the bed that her back was currently leaning against since Alina sat behind her on it and was stitching live flowers on her braided bun. Apparently, Alina had found them yesterday and thought they might bring good luck to Esme. And whilst she wasn't completely sure about the good luck part, the red flowers that matched her dress did make her happy and thankful for the younger girl.

When Alina was still competing as a junior and had just transferred to Sambo 70, she had gotten quite close to Esme due to their similarities of having learnt the basics and technique at another coach before transferring. Both girls had also been separated from their families at a young age to train with Eteri which had made them get a somewhat of a sisterly bond. So when Alina turned senior and had started to beat Esme in competitions, she couldn't be mad at it as she expected it and always cheered for Alina.

Zhenya and Esme were a completely different story sadly. They didn't hate each other like many thought. They just weren't particularly close due to their fierce rivalry when they were younger. Esme and Evgenia had been close when Esme first started to compete on an international level the year after Evgenia. In the beginning, Esme beat Zhenya in most competitions in juniors due to her powerful and consistent 3A she had learned under professor Mishin whilst Evgenia had never managed to land one due to her bad jumping, especially axel technique. That was when the cracks in the relationship between the two girls who both always felt a need to win had started to appear. In their later years when Evgenia had earned the nickname Miss Stability and Esme had been pushed off to the side, their relationship had soured even more and Esme knew that was mainly her fault. So the girls just didn't speak to each other if it wasn't necessary.

The purple arena was once again filled to the brim as the ladies started their free programs. Esme would be skating her program Carmen earlier than Alina and Evgenia due to her only ending up twelfth yesterday. She was kind of hoping that everyone would mess up so that she might end up third and take some of Eteris's anger that was directed at her away. But she couldn't fully commit to that since most of the other girls were really nice. It's just that when you've lived with your coach since the age of eight and said coach could be quick to anger and to blame you, you have to learn how to act like that to survive. But sadly Esme's wish didn't come true that day.

She found herself once again all alone in the kiss and cry, this time with wilted flowers in her hair as all her hard work had been in vain with a seventh overall finish as a small trickle fell down her face, yet she still put on her best smile for the audience whilst shaking from the cold of the ice and trying to catch her breath.

It had all been in vain.

Short Program:

Free Program: