Hinata!!! on Ice

Chapter 1: Before

Confession: This is super late because of a number of things. The first week it was supposed to be out, I lost power because of a tropical storm and it didn't come back until the following week. The second week I felt too crappy to focus on writing. The third week I decided that I wanted to update (almost) everything and decided to put everything off until I finished them. I have two other chapters of this already written to make up for it and they will be up soon.

This story was 100% inspired by the artwork above (that I also used for the cover) by Sequoia-lana on DeviantArt. It's gorgeous and I wish I had the skills to create something half as good.

Enjoy!

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Chapter One: Before

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It wasn't a secret, not really. How could it be when his name and face aired internationally multiple times a year? He just had no reason to say anything about it. No one asked or mentioned it and for Hinata Shouyou, it was a part of the past, even if it had only been a few months.

Similarly, it also wasn't a secret that Hinata had become interested in volleyball fairly late in his life. Serendipity, a chance meeting. Simply riding his bike and seeing him on tv. It was the same for his old hobby too.

Hinata was a toddler when he first saw the figure skaters on the tv while his parents watched the Winter Olympics. Despite the constant moving he was forced to deal with, even back then, his mother let him take lessons. He'd fallen in love the second his blades hit the ice. Though most considered him clumsy, Hinata took to the ice like a fish took to water. His monstrous stamina, even as a child, was more than enough to power him through the lessons with ease. He fell of course, but he never lost hope--how could he when he was always having so much fun? Even when he struggled, the ice was like a second home to him, a calming presence in his chaotic young life.

Of course, that meant it couldn't last.

By the time Hinata was seven he was good. A prodigy for his age, though not even close to being old enough to compete in the Junior circuit. He had excellent balance and his jumps, though small and with few rotations, were flawless, not to mention he was (and planned to stay) highly flexible. Some of his rinkmates were jealous and didn't like him for his natural ability but it didn't end up mattering much because the inevitable happened. His mother was transferred for work again and the friends he'd made, the rink he'd grown accustomed to the last couple years, and the teacher he respected (and his second teacher he'd had since he started) were gone.

None of them wanted to stay in touch.

They ended up in Hasetsu. It was a small, coastal town in Saga, Japan. It was beautiful, but it wasn't Takashima. The only upside, he supposed, was that there was an ice rink. It was kind of surprising since, according to his mother, the town was known for its hot springs, but Hinata wasn't going to complain.

He ended up loving Hasetsu more than he'd ever have wanted to admit--at least not to his mother. It was in Hasetsu that he met his mentor, Yuuri-nii, and his friends Yuuko-san and Nishigori-san, along with their three baby girls. They were younger than Natsu, though not by much, and the four got along like wildfire. He ended up getting into dance (thanks to Yuuri-nii) and was trained under the famous Okukawa Minako.

When Yuuri-nii had left for college in America, Hinata struggled a bit with the adjustment--normally he was the one who was leaving, afterall. They did stay in touch, though, which Hinata appreciated a lot. But he was given a mission and he wouldn't fail his mentor and older brother figure. It was Hinata's job to make sure Vicchan wasn't lonely while his owner was gone and he took it very seriously. Yuuri-nii had taught him a lot over the years they spent in contact. While the older skater was in Hasetsu, he taught Hinata everything he could about figure skating, and when they weren't on the ice--even after he left--he'd helped with everything else. Making sure the adorable poodle was happy was the least he could do.