Ice Dreams by EternalLove
Chapter 1
Ice Dreams
Chapter 1
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It happened in slow motion. She was completing her triple lutz and he saw her fall before it actually happened. Her posture wasn't straight and her ankle was in the wrong position just before she landed. Idiot, he thought as he raced over to where she was. There was a large crack as she collapsed on her ankle and the wails of pain began. But she wasn't sobbing for her fall. Her dry-eyed cries were for the dreams that slipped through her fingers and onto the numbing ice of the rink. Damn it, he would have to get a new partner....
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"So who's my new partner going to be?" He asked smoothly as he sat back in the leather chairs of Miroku's office. The gentle sigh of the material was eaten up by the tense silence that hung in the ostensibly decorated room. Giant trophies and sparkling medals bedecked almost every inch of the walls while flamboyant posters showed glossy pictures of several famous skaters.
The coach gave an exasperated sigh and twirled his chair around to look out at his ice rink, the apple of his eye and one of the most prestigious figure skating buildings in the Eastern world. Not one of his skaters had ever faltered below 5th place in a championship and over 50 had received gold and silver metals in competitions. Such status, such prominence... and the greatest pair skaters from his rink since Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were reduced to a single as of yesterday afternoon. Miroku gave a faked sob and peered out from the corner of his eye to gauge his number one skater's expression.
"You're not going to even ask about your partner's critical condition?" Miroku exclaimed as he twirled his chair back to face him.
"She tore her Achilles' tendon and several ligaments in her knee. She won't be skating in the world championships. Now, who will be my new partner?" He asked again with a hint of impatience in his voice.
"We're still trying to pick someone suitable, but at the moment, we have a girl in mind." Miroku said as he leaned forward. "And try to be nice to this one, we don't have a year to waste in you finally forming some semblance of acknowledgement towards your partner."
"So? I want someone good, I'm not wasting my time for some up and coming junior high skater." He sneered. "Like that child you tried to pair with me two years ago."
"She was only a few years younger than you!" Miroku shouted in annoyance. "And she was cute! Judges always fall for the cute ones!"
"Enough of your pedophile obsessions, who is it?" He demanded.
"Higurashi Kagome." Miroku said in a tired tone as he leaned back in his executive chair. Why was his best skater also the most arrogant one? Or to be more specific, why did he put up with him? Ah yes, that's right, because Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru was the most talented skater he had ever seen in the ten years he had been at the rink.
"Kikyou's sister? I've seen her skate, she doesn't have an ounce of talent in her! Pick someone else or I'm not skating at all!" Sesshoumaru growled as he angrily stood up. "My career is not going to fall because of some immature little girl who can't even do a proper crossover."
"Sesshoumaru, for kami's sake, just sit down and listen to me for a second. I heard from some reliable sources that Kagome might even be a better skater than Kikyou, she just doesn't...erm...do too well in front of a crowd."
"A reliable source? Don't tell me you were spying on her." He said with disgust. Miroku gave a tiny flinch and only crossed his legs in a business like manner.
"As I was saying, I think you should give it a try. Kagome might just be your ticket to being the reigning world pair figure skating champions."
"Fine, I'll give it one week."
"One month, and NO buts about it. The competition is in 6 months." Miroku said with a warning voice.
With a whip of his long silver hair, Sesshoumaru elegantly marched out of the office. The door gave an earth shattering slam and Miroku jumped up to prevent the fall of one of his precious trophies.
"I give it one day." Miroku said with a shake of his head as he caressed the gleaming object in his arms.
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"I can't do this, I really really really can't." Kagome complained as she walked back and forth in the hospital room. "And this is YOUR dream, not mine! All I want to do is quietly skate by myself with no ugly cameras practically poking at me in the face!" She threw her hands up and finally took a seat in a chair next to the bed. But her legs moved up and down in barely contained fright. Her sister reached out and took Kagome's hand into her own, giving it an encouraging squeeze.
"It is my dream, but I won't be able to live it anymore. You have to do it for me. I don't want some inexperienced girl taking away the world championship title. If it's not me, than I would much rather have it be you."
"Kikyou! You're supposed to be mad! You're supposed to ignore me for taking your place!" Kagome yelled as she jumped back up and began her agitated pacing once more.
"Maybe I was at first, but this could be your chance Kagome! You've always been a better skater than me. Please?" Kikyou turned her deep brown eyes at the azure of her younger sister's.
"No, come on, not that look!" Kagome grimaced but her sister only continued to stare at her with tearing eyes. "Alright! I'll do it! But don't blame me if I fall in front of thousands of people."
Kikyou gave a triumphant smile. "Millions, it's a world wide televised broadcasting."
Kagome gave a groan and sat back in the chair, covering her face with her hands. "Thanks for making me feel better."
"Always."
Looking up at the blank ceiling, a tight feeling of apprehension began to knot in her stomach. Sesshoumaru had sometimes come to her house to skate with Kikyou on the pond nearby. He was tall, refined, and handsome; traits that intimidated Kagome. Her sister had never spoken ill of her partner but in all forms of arts that requires two people, a bond of love had to form in order to make a pair a step above others. And just looking at those lifeless amber eyes hinted that falling in love was out of the question...
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He tightly cross laced his skates and then double knotted before stuffing the remainder into the already interwoven laces. Standing up, he leisurely walked towards the rink then stepped onto the ice and he was home. Pumping his legs up and down, his feet began to move faster and faster till he was in a quick sprint. Then a change of position and he was doing a crossover all around the rink. The biting cold wind played with his hair, teasing it out of the loose braid he had put it into. He slowed down when he heard the entrance doors bang close.
A young girl walked towards the small bench holding his things and fearfully looked across the ice. She was of the usual petite build that most female skaters were and her long black hair was pinned up in a severe bun. Her slow walk emphasized how averse she was to be here and ungracefully, she shuffled towards the bench. His eyes were caught by hers and for a brief moment he was trapped in ocean blue depths that trembled in innocence. He shook his head and went back to his warm up, deliberately doing a perfect axel to daunt her. When he completed the move he looked over to see her face but only found the girl hunched over, tying on her own pair of skates. But she didn't go on the ice after she was done and only patiently waited right by the small entrance gate.
"Kagome!" Miroku was in his usual thick sweatshirt and dark trainer pants. He reached over to hug her but with a shake of her head Kagome warily stepped back from his wandering hands. He gave a cheery grin and then motioned her to go on the ice. Biting her lip, she reluctantly obeyed and stood on the ice.
A minute passed of her simply standing, and then she began to smoothly glide forth. She skated back and forth across the rink while putting on a pair of gloves to keep her fingers warm. And even then, she wasn't trying out any moves, just monotonously skating back and forth. Sesshoumaru shot a glare towards Miroku but he was strangely concentrating on the girl. With a scowl, he started rehearsing the program for the competition. What the hell is coach was thinking was beyond him. All he knew was that his new partner didn't have the qualities of a good skater, or even a passable one.
She sincerely tried to do the routine, she really did. Her body had already memorized it by heart after watching Kikyou run the routine by her daily at home. But out here, in a foreign place with strange hands lifting her from the stability of the earth, it was too much. When Sesshoumaru's hands would clamp on her waist to throw her up into a triple lutz, she flinched and the lutz always came out unconfident and sloppy. Miroku didn't complain but she never failed to feel a sense of disappointment and disparagement from her partner. He never smiled at her in support or even talked to her. What words he traded were orders, like move faster or smoother.
She tried to lose herself in the music, forgetting the faces that latched onto her in the rink. She closed her own eyes and thought of the ice pond back at home, the security and the opening feeling of being alone. But pair figure skating always called for intimate touches between the partners and that feeling of being alone was quickly swept away by unwanted hands.
Then things plummeted to a new low when he stopped showing up for practice. Disapprovingly, Miroku would call Sesshoumaru every day but the skater never answered the phone and after two weeks, the coach gave up. Taking up his own skates, Miroku tried to run Kagome through the routine himself, but even that was dreadful. The coach's wandering hands were intolerable and more than not, Kagome was forced to slap him on the cheek for his advances. It was now a few days before a month would be over and Kagome's practices never improved. And he still didn't show up...
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She glanced around and then tip toed in. Miroku had already given her the keys to the doors in case she wanted to practice when nobody was around but this was the first time she had taken liberty of them. Digging out the flashlight in her sweatshirt she aimed the light towards the walls till she spotted the row of switches that turned the lights on. She flicked them all up and light poured throughout the immense room. Hesitating, she turned a few of the switches off till only a few spotlighted the rink, giving it a more intimate look. Dumping her duffel bag on the floor, she slipped off her sweatshirt and sweatpants into her usual attire of a pale leotard and an ash blue skirt. After turning the music on she quickly skated out into the middle of the rink and took her position. And the dance began.
He saw a faint glimmer of lights in the building and curiously turned the icy handle of the door. It submissively opened and music poured out and washed over him. It was the melody from their routine. He crept closer to see who was at the rink so early in the morning and was surprised to see his partner there. But it couldn't be her, was it Kikyou? He moved closer to see, slowly becoming entranced by the skater's perfect movements. She skated as if every emotion within her would tear her apart if it wasn't unleashed. Every sensation was cascaded into the spins and turns of the dance. Love, hate, fear, and sadness was etched in the flowing rhythm of her body and he felt his breath slow as he got sucked into the dance itself. She skated near him and he caught a flash of her face. It was Kagome but she didn't notice him. She was in another place, that infinite heaven that briefly elevates a soul into pure beauty.
She surpassed him. She had risen from being far below him and his attention to completely capturing his eyes and being in a level he could only hope to attain. He kept his gaze on her when she finished. She wasn't even breathing heavily from the exertion of the dance and when she lifted her head, he was surprised a second time to see tears streaked on her pale cheeks. She glanced off to the side and gave a small gasp to see him there. She surreptitiously swiped the tears on her face before giving a hard look at him.
"What are you doing here?" She asked accusingly as she skated over. "Do you always sneak up on everybody?"
She went to her bench and began to furiously pull her skates off but he found his hand stopping her.
"Wait." He said softly and sat down next to her. He pulled out his own skates and swiftly put them on. Standing up, he held out a hand to her and she stared at it with cautious eyes.
"I thought the reason you stopped coming to practice was that you thought I was horrible at skating." She said.
"I did."
She winced at his words. "So after watching me skate once, you decide that I'm good enough to finally be in your presence? Why should I skate with you now? I already intend to hand in my resignation to Miroku today. I couldn't skate in front of a crowd before, but now I know it will be even more impossible with a cold partner with you. You didn't help me, you didn't give me a chance, you didn't even try talking to me!"
She slapped his hand away and returned to taking off her skates. After flinging them into her duffle bag, she angrily grabbed her clothes and stomped away. He looked down at his hand in wonder, she had refused him...
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"I'm resigning." Kagome said as she plopped down into the chair in front of Miroku's desk. "I can't take another second of that arrogant man looking at me like I'm completely worthless. And besides, I can't skate in front of crowds, I've got stage fright." She started to get up but Miroku motioned her down his hands.
"Alright, I can see your point. But, you've got potential Kagome, incredible potential. And I can guarantee you and Sesshoumaru spots in international ice skating championships. Do you know how far you could go?" Miroku pleaded with her. "And Sesshoumaru looks at everybody that way, even me. I think it would be too harsh of you to just give up on him right now, especially when you've come so far."
"You call doing the practices by myself far?" She said flatly.
"Eh....ok, maybe you got a point there. But have you even tried to see him skate? Really skate? Pair skating calls for a balance of passion and skill. I think half the reason why Sesshoumaru and Kikyo were able to somewhat skate together was because of how patient she is."
Kagome gave a wince. That's right, she promised her sister she'd fulfill her dream. But it was not only unfair, but arrogant of Sesshoumaru to immediately think that she was an incompetent skater after only seeing her skate a few times. He didn't take the time to understand her stage fright or to even spare a word of acknowledgment. She felt herself seething at the mere thought of his coldness. Miroku, spotting the angry glint in her eyes, quickly brought up his last resort.
"Alright, maybe a change of settings will do you two good. I have a cabin up north with an immense ice pond and several natural hot springs. We'll go there to practice and to improve our health at the same time. What do you say? I heard Kikyou telling me that you love hot springs."
What a way for Miroku to hit her in her weak point. She was a hot spring fanatic and would give her soul to have her own natural hot spring. She pulled at her fingers, bit her lip, and fidgeted in her seat. What weighed more, her dislike for Sesshoumaru or her love for hot springs?
"We'll spend the weekend there and of course, everything will be taken care of. Your transportation, food, housing, etc."
"Well, I guess-"
Miroku grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down in the American way of sealing a contract. With a grin that could possibly outshine the sun, he ushered her out of his office and immediately launched his plan: Get The World Championship Cup. It took a great deal of energy and time to do what he did, and if cunning was the way to get those two skaters together, he would just have to soil his hands and play bad.