iii

Hiiii! I can't believe I'm uploading so consistently rn. Maybe its because of how I immediately thought of this story and partly because of the pandemic that's going on. Safety reminder: PLEASE DO STAY AT HOME especially if you're in countries with high numbers of COVID cases like mine here in the Philippines. But also I feel so inspired to write MAINLY just because of our man, Yuzu-kun. ❤️

Anyway, let's get onto the story! Hope you enjoy and freely leave comments 🙂-----------------------------3rd Person POVOf course she likes the thrill. She likes exhilarating, fast music because it makes her heart beat right out of her chest from the excitement.

Originally, all of Luna's jumping passes are placed at the second half of her program for the bonus and for Luna, just for the heck of it. But she doesn't want to risk it right now. She doesn't want anyone to notice.

She then makes her entrance to her favourite jump, her triple axel. And of course she was rusty. Landing was sloppy, clearly under rotated and position in the air was not tight, and she knew that. What did she expect being out of the ice for 7 years. But still, she continued.

Two jumping passes in the second half won't be so bad right? Luna thought to herself . And that's what she plans to do. She did her step sequence and choreographic sequence and her spins. Right on the dot, when the music slows down before the second half, she stood, posed, and breathed slowly and deeply. She cannot forget that. And then, she did her 2nd jumping pass, a triple flip triple toe combination. And what shocked her was how it feels like she never left the ice. As she was gliding through the ice for her last jumping pass, she did an extra creative entry to a double axel triple toe (which was supposedly a triple axel triple toe double loop but seeing as how she needs to be careful).

All these things, she forgot how other people are watching, amazed at her grace and emotions during her performance. As she finished her final combination spin, she smiled so wide, posed, and bent down as she was breathing heavily.

She was tired, yes. She has to work on her stamina. But she was happy. It was not perfect but she was contented. At that moment, she knew she was ready to be back. Luna calmed herself, slowed her breathing to normal so as not to worry Brian and Tracy. Of course after her performance, a huge round of applause from the skaters and the coaches erupted. Tracy rushed to Luna to hug her and whispered "You did so good Luna. Are you okay?"

Luna nodded as she made eye contact with the Asian guy who was smiling at her. She immediately looked away and blushed a shade of bright pink. How can I even blush harder when my cheeks are already numb and frozen, I'm such an idiot. But she shook her head and nodded towards Brian as well signalling hi and that she's feeling okay.

I was staring at the Asian guy who was walking back towards the lockers with a Pooh towel hanging on his shoulder when I was snapped out of my trance. AGAIN. The hell Luna Saito. Its the second time today. Snap out of it damn.

"You. Were. AMAZIIING!" Jason suddenly bursted out and hugged me. "That was great job chica. For someone who's been away from the ice for so long, wow." Said Javi who was smiling fondly at me. "I can't believe I'm training with you Luna! I can't wait to learn so much from you." Zhenya smiled and held my hand. "Guys c'mon. I have so much improvement to do before the series starts. And ,y triple axel. It was sh*t" I laughed with them.

"Luna! Come here!" Brian gestured to me. As I was skating towards the benches, there was that Asian guy again and he was talking to Brian too. Oh great. Just great. I thought to myself as I mentally facepalmed."Yes, Brian? What's up?" I said as coolly as I can. "Let me introduce to you, Sochi Olympic Figure Skating Champion, Yuzuru Hanyu." Brian said as he gestured to the guy. Hanyu? Japanese?

In shock, we greeted each other with a bow. Despite growing up here in Toronto, I was always taught by my parents to never forget my roots, especially in front of people with the same race. And so I shook his hand and said in japanese "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hanyu-san. I'm Luna Saito." He looked at me with wide eyes and then he smiled "Nice to meet you Luna-chan. Please call me Yuzuru or Yuzu." As I was about to get lost in his eyes, AGAIN. Damn it Luna get a grip, Brian spoke up and said "I see you didn't forget your Japanese huh Luna. Anyway, here's why I called you here. Yuzu here, in terms of skill and artistry, is the top skater right now. So, I want to ask you. What's your goal for the season?" He looked at me expectantly as if telling "it better be not what I think it is"

But of course, ya girl is hard headed as hell and so I ignored him and looked back at the rink saying, "The Olympics sounds good, right?" I thought to myself It's perfect. It's right before my timeline so there's not gonna any problems at all. Its my last year so why not go all out at once.

Brian just sighed deeply as if he knew I was going to say that.Yuzuru spoke up and said "Really? I can't wait to train really hard with you then!" Brian cleared his throat and said "You sure you can do this? Luna, the competition out there now is not like it was before. Its tougher, and the skills of the ladies out there, they can perform quads now. Its gonna be tiring. And I don't want you to be --" I cut him of immediately and widened my eyes at him silently gesturing to Yuzuru. "I can do it. I have you now, Brian. I said I want to do this. Besides, it's not gonna be hard, right? I mean, you saw earlier. I think I can learn quads fast and perfect my triple axel." I looked at him, begging him not to say anything else. And as if magic, he understood me and said "All right. Learning them is not gonna be easy. But I'm gonna have you and Yuzu train at the same time so you guys should always come to me in pair. He's the most skilled in quads here so I'm gonna need his help."

I just hugged him and whispered "Don't worry too much Uncle. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. I prepared myself for this. But please, PLEASE, don't tell anyone about my condition. I just want to live like a normal skater." I pulled away looking at him and he nodded reluctantly.

I looked at Yuzu and said in Japanese "It looks like we're gonna be training partners, Yuzu-kun?"  "Looks like it Luna-chan. Don't worry I'll take reaaaally good care of you." He replied while smiling and patting my head. I blushed a pink shade and looked away and said "Riiiight. Of course you will." I laughed jokingly.

"All right! You two let's go train those quads!" Said Brian who ordered us to follow him to the rink.

I absolutely CANNOT develop feelings. There's no way. NO. It's gonna make leaving more painful than it already is...

*****"So I see Brian has assigned you a training partner, huh Luna?" Jason said while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

We are currently at a cafe near the rink for lunch and it was me, Zhenya, Javi, Jason, and Yuzu.

I just laughed at Jason and said while nudging Yuzu "Looks like it? I suppose he wants me to train with the 'best' to get my skills back as soon as possible."Best friends. That's the goal. Just there. The line. The boundary.

"Yep and now I'm stuck with Zhenya. Thanks for stealing my training partner, moon." Javi said sarcastically as he came up with a new nickname for me. Zhenya said "Hey! What's wrong with me being your partner?" Which made us all laugh.

It's my first day yet I already feel like I'm gonna miss this...******It was now 7 in the evening and for me, starting and ending at 7 was kinda late. My brother's not here yet. I don't mind though because it means more time for me to practice. It was just me, Yuzu, and Brian as the others left already. We were practicing my quad toe and quad salchow since after lunch and took just 3 2-minute water breaks. I suggested it because I don't want to waste time lounging around doing nothing. As for the technique, it was Yuzu who taught me how he does it for himself. So I adapted his technique. Because of that, it's almost NEAR perfect. And you would not believe how many times I fell today. I feel like my ass is bruising all over and my knees will look like rotting flesh.

After nearly perfecting the jumps, I just sat at the ice, yes the ice, and looked at Yuzu training his jumps. He makes everything look so flawless and graceful despite all that power that needs to go into jumping. I want to be like that. I want to be an Olympic champion.

And so I stood up getting ready to practice my jumps again when Brian shouted"NO! Sit your ass down or I'm gonna make you. We still have months before the season starts Luna. Stop worrying. You already got 2 jumps in the bag. Rest or I'm gonna tell this to your mom."

"I'm not tired! I can still do a few jumps! I'm gonna rest I promise!" I shouted back. Yuzu just looks at me worriedly. Maybe because my hair is all over the place from falling a thousand times. Yuzu skated towards me and said "Luna-chan. Don't stress yourself too much and rest. I can already tell that you'll be able to learn everything fast. Besides, its your first day back. Okay?"

I just stared at him and groaned with my arms crossed on my chest. I was about to say something when,

"Luna Saito! Get back here and let's go home." A voice from the door said. It was Sky. He looked at me as if threatening me that if I don't listen to hi,, he's not gonna allow me to come train again. "Good. Your brother's here. Great timing as always, Sky."  Brian said to my brother. "'Course. That's why I'm your favourite nephew" Sky just smiled and they both laughed.

"Whatever you two." I said as I rolled my eyes and went to the benches to removed my skates. "My stuff is in the locker bro. I know you'll carry it for me anyway." I told Sky. And so he went to the lockers and got my bag. When I was untying my laces, a pair of delicate hands took them and untied them for me. I looked up and saw Yuzu kneeling in front of me. I just stared at him in silence. He removed my skates for me as I change into my slides. He looked up to me and said while ruffling my hair  "Oyasuminasai, Luna-chan. Have a nice rest and let's train hard again tomorrow." He left and went to Brian who was in the middle of the rink and on his phone.

I turn my head towards the door when I heard someone clearing their throat. He was raising his eyebrows and raised mine back at him. He just sighed and said "Let's go home." I can tell he wanted to talk about it but he didn't pry any further.

We were gonna leave and I said "Bye Uncle! Bye Yuzu! See ya tomorrow!" I waved at them.

As the door closed slowly, I saw Yuzu's face just smiling at me.

Best friends. Period.

-----------------------Chapter 3 yaaaay!

I hope you guys enjoyed it!Please feel free to leave and comment and don't forget to vote. Follow me as well! Thank you and keep safe!

Stay golden, lovelies! ✨