Chapter Text
-Good morning, Satoru.
-Hey, Haru…
-I caught you still in bed, didn’t I?
-Shit, yeah…- Satoru rubbed his eyes, throwing the sleep mask somewhere over the bedsheets. -…yeah, you did. I’m sorry, I’ll get there as soon as I can.
-Don’t bother. That’s why I’m calling you, actually. Remember I told you the gym would be closed tonight for maintenance?
-Mhm.
-Well, they moved their schedule. They’re here right now and didn’t bother to let me know until they saw me standing out here.- Haru’s breath shivered, the cold air made a ruffle through the phone.- Of course they didn’t let me in, you know how it is with these people.
-That’s awful.
-It is, but it’s great for you. You’ve been working hard lately, stay in bed and rest, I’ll see you tonight instead.
-Alright, thank you, Haru.
-Take care.
Thank god. Satoru felt bad for Haru being stuck out in the cold like that, but couldn’t think much more about it before giving up to the mattress again.
When he woke again it was almost noon, the intense sun coming through the curtains didn’t let him rest anymore. Satoru laid on his back, staring at the ceiling until he was completely back in his body.
The extra hours of sleep were a much needed, rare treat. With national competitions becoming increasingly soon, practice took up more and more hours of his day. To the point where Satoru heard the grinding of ice against metal in his dreams. He found himself going over steps and choreography at any other time of the day when he wasn’t on the ice ring.
Like now, he walked to the kitchen in a rhythm, humming a classical song and vaguely motioning his arms to the routine he’s practiced a hundred times this week.
Two or three mental rounds of the choreography later, breakfast was hot and ready. That’s one thing Satoru loved about these tressfull dates, being able to eat almost twice as much as he usually does to compensate for the calories burnt in training. Following a diet wasn’t always easy, but he always figured out a way to sneak in foods that satisfy his sweet tooth.
Now that his coaching was rescheduled, Satoru didn’t know how to spend his day. As he scrolled on his phone beside an empty plate, he considered training on his own. The gym was off limits though, ordered by Haru herself, handling machines brought the athlete unnecessary potential injuries. Gojo found this boundary annoying, but actively kept his promise to obey Haru to save her the stress.
Some light stretching would have to do. Gojo’s flexibility suffered severe backtrack during the colder months, he made sure to work his body properly once or twice a day to keep this from happening. Satoru wasn’t really in a hurry to break a sweat, he’d have enough of that later tonight.
Satoru got busy in the matter of seconds. The freetime allowed him to catch up with everything he had left unattended in the past couple of weeks. Laundry, homework, his personal routines, and a suspicious stain on the kitchen counter that was a pain to clean. Unlike what he thought, the day passed by pretty quickly. The sun began to set and the text message from Haru confirming the time for practice popped up on Gojo’s screen…
Short notice. Not like he was doing much, but the hydrating facemask still had some time due. Satoru spread the collar of the shirt as wide as it could go and passed it through his head extremely carefully. The face mask was intact, thank god, those things are expensive. Having his stuff and himself ready, Satoru grabbed the keys on his way out and made them dangle on one of his fingers, making them sing.
❄️
-Let me…- Gojo caught up to Haru on the entrance to the gym, he pushed open the door and let her walk past him.
-Oh!- She laughed with surprise. -I didn’t hear you coming, thank you.
-Really, you didn’t? I thought I was being super noisy with all this snow.
Haru’s heels didn’t echo through the room when they hit the wooden floors. The place was unusually quiet. During winter, and especially at night, not many were drawn to come here. Except those who were used to the cold ess of the ice, of course.
Chatter and shouting drowned the space. There were sharp hits and tough slams. A high pitch, very repetitive, noise annoyed Satoru in an instant.
-Didn’t we reserve the gym in advance?- Gojo glanced over at Haru, who was already steps ahead of him, looking for someone.
-We did!- She said without stopping, Satoru had no other options but to follow behind her.
The more they walked, the noisier it got. A group of men who Gojo could only identify as hockey players polluted the place with their loudness and smell. Things laid around in the ground everywhere, making it a mineland to walk through. A loud thump cracked when two players ran straight into each other in the middle of the ice ring, sending them straight to the freezing floor.
-Mr. Yada.- Haru spoke confidently to the man in front of her when he was done yelling, what sounded like gibberish to Gojo, to the men that flew past him in skates.
The so-called Mr. Yaga was easily twice Haru’s size and had a terrifyingly firm voice. Gojo stood in front of him too, but it took a lot more effort and willpower than Haru.
-Mr. Yada.- She called again, it seemed he hadn’t heard her the first time.
-Oh, Miss Haru.- Yaga only nodded at Satoru as a form of a greeting. The boy nodded back very with a tense neck. It seemed like the coach was quick to put two and two together in a second. -You’re here to train?
-That’s it. Since the gym closed this morning, there was an agreement for a fixed schedule today, surely you must have seen it, Mr. Yaga.- Haru scrambled around in her purse to show him the evidence displayed on her phone.
-I didn’t know about this.- Yaga turned his head for a split second to yell a correction to one of his students before his focus was completely back on the conversation.
-I know these hours correspond to your team, but please understand that nationals are just around the corner for us. -Even when practically begging for what she wanted to get, Haru spoke patiently and clearly. Satoru always admired her for being able to stand her ground against all the competitive figures in the industry. It was a tough world out there.
-I see.- Mr. Yaga fixed the dark glasses on his face. Who wore sunglasses indoors? At night? The man became an instant riddle for Satoru. -Give me ten minutes to bring the practice to a close, then it’s all yours.
-Thank you, Mr. Yada.- Haru bowed and Satoru copied her movement, bowing once again when walking past him.
-Warm up, Satoru, I’ll be right back.
The skater had to look for a free space for longer than he would have wanted to. Were all jocks this messy? Leaving his bag on a stall and pushing a few others away to make more space, he began stretching. After a few minutes, the heat of his body allowed him to take off his jacket.
Satoru took great value in this little time he got to himself before every practice. A moment to connect with his body, to breathe and to prepare himself for the hours to come. Going in with a clear head was his key to success, something he couldn’t do with all the noise around him.
He rolled his eyes, that annoying, repetitive clang didn’t stop for a second. Soon he found out the origin of it. The puck was a small, black cylinder that the players pushed around with their hockey sticks. Satoru didn’t know anything about the sport, but he found the movement of the dark puck hypnotizing.
He followed the player who dominated it, handling it with precision and avoiding anyone who got in his way. When he got closer to the goal, he didn’t shoot right away like Satoru expected him to do, but waited for the perfect moment to strike. The puck went in between his opponent’s legs and directly against the net that bent with the force of the throw.
Pretty impressive. Not any less annoying though.
-Ready?- Haru came by, enthusiastic as ever. She held a water bottle for each and a bright wrapping paper. Satoru couldn’t help but smile. Haru knew a sweet treat would always get him in his best mood. God, he adored that woman. -Let’s get you on the ice.
❄️
-Is that what he needs the entire ring to himself for? Come on, who gave him or that lady the right to kick us out like that?
-Oh, please, I’d pay to see you have a try at whatever he’s doing over there.
-Do a little spin? I can do that…
Suguru heard his teammates blabber, but didn’t pay much attention. As annoyed as he was to have his practice interrupted, he couldn’t help but follow the silhouette that now dominated the ice, sliding on it effortlessly.
-Check this out.- His teammate interrupted again, standing in front of them two. He put his arms over his head and performed a pitiful pirouette. Suguru had no choice but to look at him as he blocked the sight of the skater. -I’d say that was pretty close, ha!
The moment he turned over to see if the skater had catched his teasing, the white haired guy kicked the ice with the blade of his skate, jumping in the air and spinning at an amazing speed. How many turns did he make? It was hard to tell. The landing echoed, the skater came down on only one of his feet with his arms beautifully and strategically raised at either side of him.
The two who were complaining couldn’t manage another word out of their mouths. One of them hit the other.
-You wanna give that a try too?
-Whatever.
But Suguru couldn’t get his eyes off the skater, he’d been staring straight at him since the moment he set foot on the ring. He moved like a swan in a lake, and Suguru was hypnotized by it. Being used to the rough and quick nature of Hockey, seeing such an elegant and slow stance on the ice was definitely new for him. And how amusing.
-Hey, dude.- His teammate blocked his sight again. -We’re going to grab something for dinner. We’ve got to make something out of the dismissal, don’t you think?
-Yeah, for sure.- Suguru tried looking around his head. -You’re leaving now?
-We are. You’re coming, right?
Suguru looked at his teammate in the eyes and then wandered off to the ring again. The skater was leaning over an edge, speaking with his coach. There was something so intriguing about him. His expression, his posture, his feather-like movement. Suguru couldn’t put his finger on it, but he’d find out.
There will be more team nights out in the future.
-I’ll catch you guys there.
-There’s plenty of space in the car, you know?
-Yeah, yeah I just… I have to speak to Mr. Yaga about something.- The lie slipped out his mouth like a branch. Suguru noticed the stranged looks from his friends. -I don’t want to hold you back with all the boring stuff. Plus, you know how Mr. Yaga is, I’ll save you the trouble-
-Whatever you say, captain.- They shared a glance and turned their backs but came back to him. -You sure?
-Positive, I’ll be there in no time.
Suguru let out a sigh when they finally walked away. He walked over to Yaga, acting out his lie. The man was surprisingly entertained with the skater that had gotten back to action.
-Geto.- Yaga didn’t look at him. -I heard the guys were going out, you’re not going with them?
-I am, I just need a few minutes of quiet.- The coach nodded, eyes still glued to the athlete. Suguru was back in his trance in the blink of an eye. He spoke indifferently, though curiosity bubbled up inside him. -Who is that?
-Gojo Satoru.
Geto admired him in awe. It was odd to him to think of it this way, but Gojo Satoru’s name sounded strangely like his own, in a way.
-Satoru.- Suguru repeated, the name tasted like honey on his lips.
-He’s Haru’s prodigy.- Yaga finally diverted his attention from the skater to his own student. -Why’d you ask? Did he catch your eye?