Chapter Twenty-four
It was Saturday. The rink was crowded with people as twenty-three year old Houjun whizzed his way past the holes in the crowd. Grinning, he sped up before sliding to a spectacular stop, spraying a curtain of ice all over Saihitei, whose eyes narrowed at the attack. Ryuuen's first time at the rink wasn't proving a success. The young man glowered at his cousin and his tenant from behind, and Houjun laughed so hard at his expression that he nearly tripped.
"Come on, Ryuuen!" Myou Jyuan yelled excitedly from the middle of the rink. For some reason the tall well-built man had taken to the ice very well indeed. They were colleagues now, in charge of their own public relations company, which was actually just a step up from Houjun's own communications degree to Myou Jyuan's business management course, and the cooperation was flourishing. These days, they had become close friends.
Saihitei's mouth twitched. "If I weren't an instructor, you would be a –snowman- by now," he growled, wiping at the ice on his blue and yellow jacket. Houjun laughed and skated off to join Myou Jyuan in the center of the ice.
It was amazing what could happen in four years, he reflected, as the fluorescent lights from the top of the skating arena glinted off the blades of a passing skater. He had built his life by himself, without the support of his parents or his family, no connections but his own, and he admitted that the years had been hard and difficult. But now, standing at the pinnacle of his life and his work, he was proud of what he had managed to accomplish.
He had remained in contact with his parents, though they had were distant relations now. Myou Jyuan had been surprised when he found out, but shrugged it off. "I guess you can never get along with people who want to rule your life for you," he had said then, and though it had been so long ago, Houjun had remembered it, and agreed with it. No one really knew what had happened that time, except for him, but he brushed the memories aside decisively. Then, he had been young, still childish. Now, as a grown man, he was decidedly more confident of his own abilities and his decisions, and if anything, he had only benefited from everything life had put him through.
He still remembered Genrou, though the image was but a fuzzy one now. He drew strength from it up till today, the memory that someone had loved him, and opened his eyes to the shackles that the modern world placed on bias and closed hearts. Through the highs and lows, that memory had stayed with him, of nights long past, filled with love, uncertainty, and stoked by the warmth of darkness.
You gave your life
And your endless love
You set me free
And showed the way
He looked up just as Saihitei grabbed him in an arm-lock and Ryuuen proceeded to mercilessly shove ice down his shirt. Houjun shouted and struggled free as the instructor laughed at him uncontrollably, and Ryuuen tottered unsteadily, before he revised his options and advanced on the inexperienced skater with a menacing look on his face. Ryuuen squeaked as Saihitei glided for cover, looking over his shoulder with that wicked grin on his face.
Then suddenly, a bright spot of color outside the rink caught his eye.
That looks familiar…
And as wild, feral eyes, dancing with light, blazed up and trapped his gaze, he blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing.