It was early on Monday morning when Mikasa awoke. Annie, unlike Mikasa, was bedraggled with a rather scruffy appearance. The duo, who had come to accept the rigidness between them, nodded court hellos as they left their dorm together. Both wore soft zip up track suits to shelter their skin from the cold fall air.
Mikasa's tall stature towered over Annie's, a stark contrast between the two. The differences continued; an innumerable amount that made them quite a pair to look at.
Mikasa was dark, with a sheet of black silk for hair, and black-gray galaxies for eyes. Annie was lighter, but not bright, with thin tendrils of woven gold and cold, sun freezing eyes.
What united them together was the indifferent attitude they both carried. Neither cared, and if they did the never showed it. They realized how twisted and sinister the world of ice skating was. Competitors were all to willing to betray a comrade to climb to the top of the ladder, carrying a heavy burden of anguish on their shoulders.
"We're here," Mikasa said as they entered the building. It was numbered thirty four, most likely the thirty fourth rink out of one hundred, Mikasa assumed. Annie was also a highly skilled skater, qualifying for seniors at her ripe age of sixteen.
She checked her time, making sure they were punctual. Her clock read five fifty eight, so they were just early.
"You?" a monotone voice called. "What is a junior skater like you doing in the top class?"
They were addressing Mikasa most likely, unless another junior had made it into the class.
"I hear other senior skaters were omitted from this class, so why the fuck are you here?"
"Levi!" a little yelp followed his brash statement. "Sorry about him. I'm Petra Ral." The girl stuck out a hand for Mikasa to shake, only to lower it as she quickly realized Mikasa was not going to accept.
"Mikasa Ackerman," she replied, walking past the auburn haired girl. A frown etched on her face, wondering why Mikasa was in such a horrendous mood so early. She sighed, deciding to allow it to roll off her shoulder.
The room was filled with the few select skaters, all lined up and stretching. Mikasa gently placed her bag on the floor next to a mirrored wall, unzipping her track jacket to reveal a basic skate leotard and leg warmers.
"Fix your stuff, brat," a voice called from behind her as she started her basic stretches. "Its so damn messy, you didn't even properly fold your track suit."
"Shut up chibi," she ignored him. "I'm positive I know how to fold."
Suddenly, she felt her back pressed against the mirrored wall, a dark, menacing glare on Levi's face. He placed one hand on the left side of her head, the other with his forearm pressing into the mirror.
"Do not ever insult my height, newbie." He pressed firmer into her, attempting to intimidate the tall girl. It was close to impossible though, as he only came up to the bridge of her nose.
"You're not scary," she said calmly. "I know most female skaters are lean muscle, but I do wrestle, so I have more strength than you. If you threaten me again I will not hesitate to throw you."
"Tch," he said. "You talk big for a junior skater. Need I remind you, I'm an upperclassman, sophomore."
"You don't look like one, asshole."
A virulent silence hung in the air, neither of them moving. To an onlooker who wasn't aware of the situation, it could easily be misinterpreted for something other than a hostile confrontation.
"Get off of me," she growled.
"Gladly, I don't want your filthy body near mine anyway."
With one last rancorous gaze, he pushed himself away and strode to the opposite wall.
Mikasa screamed internally. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was stoic, unemotional, and calm. She wasn't one to take bait or lose her temper so easily. She felt it was justified in an average human's case, but in hers it was unacceptable. You cannot let a little boy get in the way of your career, she scolded herself.
It was troubling how easily he pulled on her inaccessible strings, yet he moved her temper around like she was his own puppet. It disgusted her how lethal it was for her to allow him to slip through her fortress, but whatever move she made to block him out failed.
"Ackerman," a new voice called to her. It was deep, with a comfortable sound resonating though it. "Reiner Braun, nice to meet you."
"Hm," she said.
"I saw some of your performance during the application, and want to tell you your form for your camel spin is amazing."
"Okay," she said. A feeling of pride swelled in her, but she pushed it back down. She didn't want to mix her outward emotions with her goal.
Mikasa knew she was deeply devoted to her family, especially Eren. If in the past, somebody asked Mikasa what she wanted to achieve in life, she would have answered to protect her family. Fifteen years into her life and the lines hadn't even began to blur. She never felt her own needs and wants rush to the surface, her feelings never overruling her familial devotion.
Before she knew it, her stretching time was up, leaving her with her hour of free skate. She was lacing up her boots as Erwin skated by.
Proud and statuesque, he stood in the middle of the ice rink.
"Class 1S," he addressed them. "I'm Erwin Smith, three time olympic medalist and Japan's two time senior champion. I'll be personally training each one of you, shaping you to become your best. This class lesson I will be observing to see each of your skills and talents. As I said during the assembly, each of you are taking a second additional discipline to your singles skating. You have all chosen pair skating, correct?"
The class all nodded. "Good." Erwin stated, "As you can see, because of Petra's injury, our class has one extra male. Annie and Mikasa,one of you will practice with two partners. I believe you know that there is the 2S class. They will join us during some practices, but due to ice space we had to keep you separate. Lastly, during this free skate session I will watch to see whose skating styles will work well together. Your time begins now."
Mikasa finished lacing her boots and stepped onto the ice, revering the feeling of skating. She knew her goal for today; landing a triple axel-triple toe combination. She warmed up, doing forwards and backwards crossovers around the rink. While she was doing this she observed her fellow class men with a keen eye.
Annie was a quintessential skater, with a perfect jump form and landing. She spun around in a scratch spin, her body perfectly rigid. Her technique was sheer beauty, but she lacked artistry in her lines.
Reiner was a powerhouse, his moves focusing on the crowd pleasing ones as apposed to the ones that racked up points. His specialty was obviously the spins, as he used his large mass to accelerate quicker than Mikasa could imagine doing.
Bertholdt was a gentle, graceful skater. His tall stature spread over the ice as smooth as butter. He would be a good pair partner, Mikasa decided, hoping she would be paired with him. Their large heights would compliment each other. and she was sure he would be strong enough to hold all of her muscle mass.
Levi whizzed past her, making her thoughts come to a complete stand still.
If anybody could hear her thoughts, she would mortified.
He was perfect. Absolutely perfect. She shook her head quickly in denial. There is no way his form and artistry is that good. She repudiated the very thought, but couldn't help notice as he landed a triple axel-triple toe combination. The very same one she was working on toady.
His left leg was held up in the air, a swooping arc that was so captivating. His arms were extended to hold his balance, cutting through the air cleanly. As he made a mohawk turn he caught Mikasa's lingering eye, smirking at her dazed expression.
"Ackerman, don't stand with your mouth open. You might catch flies. They always are drawn to trash after all."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:
"He is annoying," Mikasa snarked to her brother Eren.
"Calm down," he told her, pushing his empty tray of food away. "He can't be that bad!"
"Sorry to tell you, but your idol is a jerk."
Eren sighed, taking a sip of his water. "Are you going to eat those?" he questioned, averting his energy on something else.
"Take them," she pushed the remainder of her chicken towards him.
"You're always cold, so maybe he doesn't like that?"
"Cold," she snorted. "He is the definition of cold."
"Mikasa, can I have your potatoes?" Sasha called from the other side of her. She and her close friend Connie sat with them, Armin at the end of the table studying away.
"No," Mikasa said, putting the remainder of her potatoes in the trash can. Sasha looked flabbergasted, whimpering about the poor food going to waste. Connie nervously patted her head, a feeble attempt to comfort her.
"We have our free hour now," Eren said, "could you help me with my double axel?"
She sighed, looking at her little brother. She had originally planned to use their free hour after lunch to sleep, but she agreed somewhat reluctantly.
"Sure, meet me at rink thirty four."
"Thank Mikasa," Eren hugged her. "I'm totally landing it today!"
"Okay Eren," she agreed as she picked up her bag. "I'll be right back. I'm going to drop my stuff off at the dorm and get changed."
She walked away, sprinting across the campus for the extra exercise. Annie was in their room when she got there, sitting on her bed and watching a tape. Her gaze was intense, burning into the screen with passion, anger, and love. It was a contradicting stare the Mikasa had never seen before. On Annie's screen was a man, skating across the ice. Mikasa wanted to inquire who it was, but decided to leave it for now. She had agreed to meet Eren, and didn't feel like putting up with his whining if she were late.
Fifteen minutes later, she and Eren were walking into the rink together.
"Is this rink rather far from your skating classes?" she asked him. "This is where my classes are held, but what about you? Will you make it to class on time? I don't want you to get in trouble of lateness."
"Mikasa," he sighed exasperated, "you doubt my sprinting skills."
"Fine," she said. They finished putting on their skates and stepped onto the rink.
It was quiet other than the small scratching noise of another skater. It was Levi, spinning around in circles. Petra stood in the bleachers, calling out commands to him.
"Levi!" her voice called, "you're forgetting to support your wrists during your spins." Instead of snorting back at her, he nodded solemnly and repeated his sit spin. Mikasa gaped. She was surprised this woman had so much influence over Levi.
"Levi!" Eren called, skating over to him. "Wow, its actually you!"
"Eren," Mikasa muttered under her breath, cursing her brother at his amicable nature.
Levi said nothing to Eren, instead looking right past him to say to Mikasa, "bringing your boyfriend along, huh?"
"Idiot," she said, noting Eren't mortified expression. "This is my brother."
"Oh, thats right. I forgot dirty people like you couldn't get a boyfriend."
She grit her teeth but skated away, pulling Eren along with her.
"Eren, let's see your axel first." He nodded at her command, skating forward. He pushed off the ground, keeping his body too open as he spun. He landed gracefully, but the start up was messy.
"You did a delayed axel. Close your body more during the ascent of your jump, and make sure to bring your arms in. You almost under rotated that one."
"What a nit pick you are," Levi called from the other side of the rink. She glared at him once, before returning to help Eren.
"I am not," she protested.
"If I wanted to help my dear little brother I would do it differently," Levi said. "I highly doubt he has enough muscle mass to land an axel."
"You," Mikasa glowered at him.
"Listen up brat," Levi then directed his words towards her attentive younger brother. "Go to the fucking weight room."
"Yes sir!" Eren remarked, enthralled that his idol had taken notice of him.
For Mikasa, however, that was the last straw. Eren was her sole responsibility and pride, and for him to intrude on her time with him was indefensible.
:-:-:-:-:-:-
Levi sighed as he sat in his bedroom after practice. Who was she?
Her hair was black, kept shorter than most girls he knew. She never wore it up during practice, an unusual thing for a figure skater to do. She was beautiful, although he admitted it rather reluctantly. She was tall, statuesque, and handsome. She towered over other women in figure skating, a whole head above the rest, both in height and skill. Her skin was pale and delicate, not a single scar on her face. The thinnest wisps of hair would always splay across her skin, contrasting the dark hair to her porcelain complexion.
When she skated, it took his breath away. He felt it was a involuntary idea when he first saw her. She was only a junior skater after all, and he had seen senior skaters perform. War raged within himself as he remembered the jump she had landed earlier during practice. A quadruple flip, one of the hardest jumps even Erwin had omitted him from attempting, due to the danger of it. It was flawless, executed perfectly. When she landed it her face stayed gentle as if she had not exerted a great task onto her body, her features gently satisfied.
When she spun it resembled the way his head felt. It was dizzying, confusing, yet at the same time brilliant. She would whisk through the air, her back perfectly arched no matter what spin form she was holding.
Her complex footwork reminded him of their banters. Underlying messages were held in each and every one of them. Why did she anger him so much? He was aware it was all his fault, as he was the first to treat her harshly. Whenever she talked it irritated him, her monotone voice droning as a background fly.
He felt strong feelings for her. It hit him like a storm, a scream that could not be ignored. He only knew her for a mere three days now, but felt an emotion unlike any he had felt before.
Pure hatred.
Sometimes people say when you meet somebody of importance in your life, it will come naturally, quietly, discreetly. Levi disagreed. This woman would be of importance in his life, but she came in banging pots and pans on his heart and head.
She was so unique, so different.
Mikasa Ackerman, he thought, will be the death of me.
A/N- I hope you all enjoyed! Before my "ice skating dictionary" comes, I want to give a shout out to Anna cii Bunny and LifeInMyHead! They both reviewed and I am so so grateful. Without further ado: the list of terms.
Jump combinations: when one jump is executed, on the landing of the first a second jump is taken. There is no extra push or start, so right from the first jump into the second jump. (I write them like so: jump1-jump2, ex. double axel-triple toe loop)
Double, Triple, and Quadruple jumps: They increase in difficulty as the number of spins go up. For the double jump, skaters spin twice in the air as apposed to one, three for triple, and four for quads. Triple jumps are considered difficult, while quadruple jumps are exceedingly difficult.
Also note:
Even though an axel is listed as harder than a toe loop, a double or triple toe loop is harder than a single axel.
Nobody (real life) has ever landed a quadruple axel in a competition, so its near impossible.
Most men jump larger jumps then women.
Mohawk turn: where a skater is skating on one foot and places their other foot on the ground while picking up the one that was already there. This lets a skater who was originally going forward change their direction to backwards.
(if you look this up on google, I believe there is a diagram)
"Discipline" Types:
Single: Where a man or woman skate by themselves.
Pairs: A man and a woman skate together. They usually have throws, holds, and other tricks done together. Synchronization is very important.
Ice Dance: Similar to pairs, but no acrobatic moves are allowed (throws, holds, etc). They are more dancing to the music.
Synchronized Skating: where a team of boys, girls, or both skate in sync. They have programs and perform tricks unique to that discipline.
Also, while Mikasa and Eren are both junior skaters, that only applies to their singles level. The tests for each discipline are held separately, so a skater could be a senior singles skater, but only a juvenile pair skater.
Lastly, most competitive skaters only focus on one discipline, as it will help focus all of their energy into one thing. In this book I'm having them do two for a) plot purposes b) showing their genius in real life.
Once again, thank you for reading! Have a good day!
