Princess of Ice
Tuesday 4:15pm
Ding Dong!!
Mrs. Mizuno rushed down the stairs of her penthouse apartment, while her hands were still busy putting on her earrings. There was almost an hour before she had to go to work, but she liked to plan ahead. She opened the door, surprised that Usagi, Rei, Minako, and Makoto had arrived so early today. They normally did not arrive until sometime after she had left for work.
"Is Ami home yet?" Usagi immediately bit her lip self-consciously, she knew that she should have first greeted Mrs. Mizuno politely; she wished that she had remembered.
Mrs. Mizuno merely smiled, disregarding the slip of manners from one of Ami's friends. She was used to it by now, considering the fact that there were some rather rude and couth people that went through the hospital system too. It sometimes amused her that the girl with black hair was so much more ladylike, but the others were almost completely different. "Girls, I didn't expect you to be so early, Ami should be home soon, she is practicing for her test at..."
"We know, the usual, she's still at juku (cram school)." Minako blushed, she didn't mean to cut in, but it was an unconscious act.
Mrs. Mizuno's face registered surprise at this announcement. She turned away, gesturing them casually for them to make themselves at home, something she did out of politeness and habit, not actually because she wanted them to. She muttered quietly to herself, "so she hasn't told them....". Her remark escaped them, unnoticed, but the discomposure in her face was all that was needed to show them that something was wrong.
They stared at her, but didn't dare to say a word. Mrs. Mizuno was nice and polite to them, but not exactly friendly enough for casual talk and they didn't foresee that in the near future either. She suddenly seemed to remember her place; and turned to smile at them. "The Ashuri Skating Championship is on television right now, I'll turn it on so that you can watch while you wait."
The four of them (Usagi, Rei, Minako, Makoto) sat very still, some would even call it stiffly, on the three seater couch, in the Mizunos' living room, no one dared sit in the two seater by themselves. Mrs. Mizuno sat with them in the single couch, watching the Championships intently. They were quiet, not because they were absorbed in what they were watching (Akiyama-san – their idol, wasn't due to compete until last because of his good results), but because they dared not move.
They would have preferred to have the meeting at the Temple where the atmosphere was more relaxed, where screaming and yelling was allowed. And where the surrounding ornaments, not to mention the glasses they drank with, did not cost a small fortune. But Tuesday meetings were at the Mizuno abode because it was more convenient for Ami to get to after her late juku session. The time they were there, they had knocked over a vase, worth an obscene sum. Ami gasped as she cleaned up after them and her hands shook as she removed the pieces. They all saw the slight displeasure on Mrs. Mizuno's face when she had come home early but they dared not ask why. According to Ami, the vase had dated back to the days when she was dating Ami's dad, a vase made by a struggling, but now famous artist, thus her favourite vase worth a small fortune.
It was probably one of the only times when they had hoped that someone would yell at them, but Mrs. Mizuno only sighed when she heard the news and left them to themselves. The elegant doctor did not blame them and said nothing of her feelings. She was always like that, calm and courteous, a professional woman, but perhaps that was what made them so nervous around her. None of them planned a repeat of last time's episode.
They all sighed in relief as the front door opened, revealing an exhausted Ami in the doorway holding a large tote bag. "Ami, you're home from juku!"
"Juku? Oh... I ummm..." Ami suddenly looked completely lost and confused for a moment, then her face cleared, and her brow unlocked, "oh, yes." She turned away from her friends and hurried upstairs to her room, throwing her bag in the wardrobe at the foot of her bed.
"Hey Ami!" Ami jumped, she hadn't noticed that Minako had followed her into her room. Now everyone was there with her. "Nice bag. Can I see it?"
She blushed, "oh, it's just an old bag, you wouldn't be interested. Anyway, I've just put it away, maybe next time?"
"Dear, a letter came for you." Ami took it from her mother's hand. Looking at the post office stamp, she blushed once again as her heart leap to her throat. It was from Ashuri. The dishevelled writing on it was instantly recognizable. As she opened the letter, she could feel the stiffness of the envelope that usually signalled that a photograph was attached. No, she couldn't open it until they were gone otherwise, the whole secret would be out.
At that moment, Akiyama's name being announced on the television caught their attention. He was on! "Umm... Girls, I think..." Once again, Mrs. Mizuno's remark remained unfinished; the girls had all heard the television presenter announcing his warm-up before his competition.
"Now there's his favourite move, the triple axle – double luntz, fantastic landing from Akiyama-san."
"His arms are beautiful, look at that grace, like wings."
"Well he is the Tsunami, sweeping everything up as he passes. He's coming up to his single spin following the double loop jump, it's almost one of his trademark moves, tracing the figure 8 with the vertical split, the run-up to the triple-toe now..."
"Oh no! His left foot touched the ground!" Ami suddenly exclaimed.
"Oooo! Ito-san, that wasn't good. I believe his left foot touched the ground, a double footed landing."
"Yes, that's right, now that was a careless mistake on competitor Akiyama's behalf."
"Any chance of his recovering?"
"Oh, it's a close call. The judges could penalise him heavily for something like that. He might lose his first place to competitor Tsuzuki."
"Ito-san, something must have been on his mind, ne?"
"Whatever it is, if he is to have a chance at consecutive gold medals he has to get it out of his mind at the next round."
"Yes, I hear that his famous quad-triple axle-toe will be part of the routine."
The girls gasped at the news from the commentator and was surprised that Ami would pick up something like that. "Ami-chan, how did you know?"
"Oh," she shrugged, "I just like to watch, you know me, I study everything."
"Ami, is that true, what they said?"
Ami turned to her mother. "Tsuzuki will get all 6.0's, unless Akiyama gets all 6.0's in his designs – free skate, there's no way he can win. Tsuzuki is weak on that part, but he won't let the first place slip from him that easily, Akiyama will have to work hard to get it. That was a good quad-triple axle-toe though..."
The music signalling the end of the routine faded away, they waited for the scores anxiously, almost as if they were in the competition themselves. "Wow! Look at that! He got 5.8's and .9's! He'll definitely win!"
"That's not enough. He's left the door wide open for Tsuzuki. I think the designs will be good to watch tomorrow night..."
'Hi Ami, I'm in Ashuri at the moment, two more days to go. I'm counting down every minute of it; I hope that everything will go well, although as I mentioned last time, I am having some difficulties concentrating. I hope that you have been practicing, have you still got my lucky charm? ...'
The door opened as Mrs. Mizuno stuck her head in the doorway. "They're in the kitchen having snacks. I know you're anxious to read the letter, but try not to be so long, you know I feel... uncomfortable..."
Ami nodded and smiled. She understood her mother's feelings. Her mother still hadn't figured out why her daughter had mixed with friends like that yet, so unlike herself. Ami hurriedly placed the letter back in its envelope, and opened the wardrobe at the end of her bed. Reaching in, she took out a wooden box, full of letters, and placed the letter with the others. White crepe from a short mini-dress draped across her forehead lightly, she looked up and touched the dress material lightly, her mind drifted off into a dream.
A sudden sharp crash forced Ami from her reverie, Usagi's scream and... Ami didn't need to be a genius or use any part of her 300 plus IQ to know that Usagi must have broken yet another one of their delicate fruit juice glasses. She smiled; luckily, her mother had now learnt not to serve them juice in crystal.