Broken Ice [Yuzuru Hanyu]

4. First Practice

"So I understand there are a few limitations that we have to work with regarding your health." I nodded. "What is the condition of your ankle at this point?" 

"I've been seeing my therapist regularly and I've been back on the ice for about a month now. Jumps and spins are okay for a short period of time but I still have to take painkillers before every practice." I explained. "My coach had shortened my daily practice to 4 hours with a 10-minute break every hour." He nodded in approval.

"And your anemia?"

"I have to take a dose of iron supplements three times a day but I still sometimes get bouts of dizziness and my vision will blackout for a few seconds." Brian held his chin in a thinking pose.

"Okay, we can work with that. I'm going to follow the same practice schedule as your previous coach but because I brought you here to prepare for the bigger events, we are going to frequently test your limits, are you alright with that?"

"Absolutely, coach." He clapped his hands excitedly, a happy smile on his face.

"Okay so because both Yuzuru and you have to be careful, I'm pulling both of you out of the World Championships next month just to be safe." He said this while grimacing, knowing that Yuzuru will definitely not be happy about this. "Practice for the next month or so will just be technique and conditioning so we can build up some strength." I nodded, knowing better than to argue with his judgment.

"Alright, meet me at the rink and we'll get you started then. Locker rooms are at the far left so you can get ready."

In the locker rooms, I changed out of my outdoors outfit into a black long-sleeved shirt and grey leggings. I took out a familiar blue pill bottle from my bag and popped one painkiller into my mouth before lacing up my skates. When I got back to the rink, Yuzuru was sitting on one of the benches with a pout on his face. He looked up when I approached.

"Hello, Hanyu-san." I set my towel and water bottle on the bench next to him, "what's wrong?" He flashed a comical glare in Brian's direction.

"He said I can't do World next month." Oh, that. I laughed at his childishness. His face relaxed when I did, getting up and stretching a bit. "You don't have to call me Hanyu-san, just Yuzuru is fine, Miran-san." 

"Okay, Yuzuru-san." I reached down and took off my skate guards. Pointing to the rink, I said, "shall we?" He grinned and we both stepped onto the ice. Brian stepped away from coaching another girl and approached the two of us. 

"Alright, you two, let's start off simple today. We're going to do a little mirroring exercise and Yuzuru is going to lead so Miran just copy everything he does, okay?" We both nodded and he skated away. 

Yuzuru turned to me, "have you done mirror before?" I shook my head no. "Okay, first time so I" he pointed to himself then to me, "will face you." I nodded. He put a bit of space between us and flared his arms out in a pose that I copied. 

When he took off, it took all of my concentration just to keep up with his steps, then I also had to focus on the position of his arms and predict his next steps. Mirroring is not easy, especially when you have Yuzuru Hanyu as your partner. Yuzuru often went into positions that tested my flexibility and challenged my strength, all while making them look like the easiest things ever. In other words, he was frustratingly good. 

After a while, I started to get used to his style and could predict what kind of step sequence he would do and what his favorite arm positions were. When I looked up from his legs for the first time, I realized that he was already staring at me. His dark eyes were serious and playful and they held my stare long enough for me to miss the next step. I stumbled a little and quickly recovered, my cheeks heating up when I heard him laugh a little at my mistake. 

"Yuzuru, Miran!" We glided to a stop in front of Brian. "That was a good session, we'll be trying that again later on. Go get some water and we'll work on some jumps." 

-

My first practice ended on a fairly good note. Coach Brian had me practice a lot of triples and tested a few quads. I fell a couple of times so my right hip is starting to bruise but that's just the beauty of the sport. My right knee is already quite decorated with purple and blue after those consecutive knee glides Brian had me do. It was already 11 am so the rink is about to be opened to the general public, meaning we as professional skaters need to get our last practice done right around now. 

The TCC rink worked differently than my rink back home. The one in Beijing was a private rink so it was only open to Coach May's team but the TCC is a public space so we have to share the day with others. Usually, on the weekdays, the skaters come in at 7 and practice for four hours then come back for a night session at 9 pm. Then on weekends, it's free practice meaning skaters can come in at any time and practice a program or something. 

I had already changed out of my sportswear and now donned a fluffy white turtleneck sweater and jeans, my skates still on the bench next to me. I could have left but Javier had asked me to eat lunch with him and Yuzuru. We had an exchange of greetings during one of the breaks and he congratulated me on my Olympics gold, in which I did the same for his bronze. He and Yuzuru were still on the ice doing some last-minute quad practice. 

Yuzuru said something to Javier and his eyes became really big, causing Yuzuru to laugh. I couldn't hear what he said but Javier suddenly had a very determined look on his face. He skated in a large circle and without warning entered into a quad lutz. Unfortunately, his landing wasn't as good and he fell onto his butt. I could hear Javier's laugh from where I am and suppressed a little smile. He was shaking his head as he made his way back to Yuzuru who was doubling over in laughter. Javier motioned for Yuzuru to try it, his face embarrassed. 

Yuzuru took his starting position and started to skate. When he entered into the quad lutz, it was as if I was watching it in slow-motion. Every rotation was as clear as day and I was absolutely captivated. He landed really low, nearly touching the ice but it was stable. Then his leg must have lost its strength as he rolled back onto his back and spun a few times on the ice, arms and legs spread wide as he laughed his head off. 

This time, I couldn't help but laugh as well as Javier helped him up. They came back to where I was, slapping each other on the backs like children. 

"Miran, did you see that?! Yuzu went flying!" I laughed and gave them their towels and water bottles.

"I saw, that was insane. You two are insane, I've never seen anyone do a quad lutz at the end of practice where you are already tired as heck." Javier waved me off sarcastically as if to say 'nah, it's normal.' I turned to Yuzuru, "how is your ankle?"

"It's okay, I took painkillers. Yours?" I showed him the ice on my ankle and he made a face of realization. 

"Oh!" I turned around at the sound of Javier's surprised voice. He was pointing at my skates on the bench. "You have Yuzuru's signature on your skate. Wait..." He looked over at Yuzuru who was innocently taking a sip of water. "Then that signature on your skate is..." He moved his finger to point at me. "...yours?!" I grinned and sheepishly scratched the back of my neck.

"Yeah, we exchanged signatures after the Olympics last week." Javier looked as if he was rethinking everything that happened in his life. It was so comical that I laughed. Yuzuru just looked confused the whole time, wondering why I was laughing and why Javier looked as if his soul just escaped his body. 

In an attempt to change the conversation, I pushed the two of them in the direction of the locker rooms. 

"Let's go for lunch!"