Chapter Two - The Price of Skating
Usagi and Misaki sat in the red sports car, both silent, but one of them had ideas and questions running thousands of miles into his brain.
"Just ask him, and if he says no, go to Takahiro,"
Stopping at a red light, the author looked over at the young boy, clearing his throat, which caught the boys attention easily, "Misaki? I have a huge favor to ask of you,"
"Ehh? Sure Usagi-San, since you are driving me from practice lately," the boy answered back, still gazing at the author curiously. The light turned green, to which Usagi began to slowly drive again, as it was nighttime and hardly any other cars were in the area.
"You do know I am a writer correct?" The boy tilted his head in confusion, only to nod his head.
"Yeah …"
"Well, I have been trying to think of new ideas, and after today's practice I think I've got something, you" the boy only responded by blushing bright red, giving owl eyes towards the older man.
Misaki pointed towards himself hesitantly, "M-Me?"
Usagi only nodded, still driving slowly into the night, 'u-uh but Usagi-San, what could you possibly want to do with me? I'm just a brat who does a 'woman's sport', remember?" The boy explained, still irratated at the first meeting from the man.
This only made Usagi smile.
"The brat knows how to hold a grudge almost as well as I do"
"Your girly sport though is, I have to admit, more daunting then I first thought, drug use, competing with injuries, ACL damage, five hour training sessions, and even with all your training commitments you still make time for Takahiro, friends, school and your girlfriend," the skater only turned brighter red at the word 'girlfriend'.
Misaki only stared at the window, "I-I don't have a girlfriend,'
"Hmm?"
"I don't know ... I've had plenty of weird love letters and gifts from girls who claim to be in love with me, but whenever I get them I just don't get interested," Misaki explained, not daring to look at the man, whom was now grinning.
"I knew it"
"So does that mean you prefer men?" The author asked non chantly.
"E-Eh?!' Misaki stuttered, his face only had a face of horror, 'Im not a homo! I know I do a girly sport, you aren't the first to think that, but not all male figure skaters are gay! Not all of us are feminine!" The boy ranted, waving his hands around frantically, which made Usagi bite his tongue in an effort not to laugh at the teenager.
"If only his fans could see him now"
The man cleared his throat, "You do realize not all gay men are feminine,' it wasn't a question, 'and what does you being a professional figure skater have to do with whom you want to lay in bed with at the end of the day?"
"S-Shut the hell up! you nosy, perverted writer!" Just at that moment Usagi parked his car in front of the apartment complex Misaki and his brother lived in. Within a second of complete silence, the man gave a deadly feeling aura in the car, which scared the boy, causing the teen to only sweat drop.
"What did you say to your elder?" Misaki only swallowed, Forgetting that the mans temper was very short like his own, as his brother had mentioned many times before.
'Professinal athlete? More like Professinal brat. And for someone who doesn't claim to swing that way you sure are quick to be defensive,"
"Because everyone outside the sport thinks that if a girl does figure skating 'she is graceful and so talented' but if a guy does it 'he must be gay!' That why I care so much!' The boy ranted, forgetting that he was afraid of the angry author just seconds ago, 'I would put expect you to understand,"
Usagi only signed, rubbing his temple, "Is that so? Then it makes even more important for you to help me with this book, you could effectively show what Olympians have to go through just to get to the biggest stage on earth,"
Misaki stayed silent for a moment, he hated to admit but it did sound like an interesting idea, "I don't know …"
"Then ask Takahiro, I'm sure his opinion matters the most you," that comment hit Misaki hard. The man was right, his brother had made very big sacrifices in order for Misaki to get to where he was. He owed his brother that much.
"O-Ok, if he says ok to the idea, t-then I'll do it," Usagi tried his hardest not to smile at the answer, only unlocking the door, which snapped the boy out of slight trance.
"Goodnight Mr Silver medal," Misaki almost gasped. He felt tempted to yell more insults at the writer, but he didn't want the older mans aura coming back, at least not tonight.
Without a word Misaki got out of the car, also taking his sports bag with him. As Usagi pulled away and Misaki was walking up to his apartment, both only had one thought on their minds.
"Whether of not Ni-chan/Takahiro agrees for me/Misaki to be part of this project, this is going to be the longest six months of my life …"
Big frickin' stupid jerk!' Misaki yelled as he entered his room, throwing his bag in frustration at his bed, before collapsing besides his bag.
''Mr silver medal!' I bet he would fall just by trying to skate on the ice!' The teen closed his eyes, the only thing his mind wash turning was the incident that caused him to lose his gold medal.
It was the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships, Misaki remembered waking up from a hospital that was near the World Championship stadium, in foggy state of mind. He could feel his chin and forehead pulsing from the stitches that were on added after his performance.
"Uhh ... My face ... It hurts so much, wait, how did I get here?' Misaki thought silently, he tried sitting up, only to feel a hand push him down gently, green eyes met the concerned eyes of his coach, Yuna Sakamoto.
"Misaki, please rest, you passed out after finish your long program ... You did so well, you're now the silver medalist of men's singles, you never fail to surprise me," Yuna said, smiling at the eighteen year old skater.
Then a thought hit the boy, "But I fell five times ... How did I even medal?"
"Misaki, your spin combo, artistic marks and technical diffculty for the short program still place you ahead the other skaters, hell, you're the only skater would did any type of quad jumps,"
"Wait, if I'm the silver medalist , then who won?" Yuna only signed slightly, before meeting her skaters eyes again.
"Kim Sungsu, from South Korea," Misaki wasn't surprised, Sungsu couldn't do any quad jumps, only triple, which is still impressive but not as valuable, at seventeen he was almost a year younger then Misaki, and Misaki's biggest rival.
Misaki only looked at the window of his room, trying to hide his obvious disappointment, "I see ... Good for him I guess …"
Yuna could tell her skater was having a hard time accepting it, but the boy was too stubborn for his own good sometimes.
A knock interrupted them, before the door opened, revealing two Japanese officials standing outside the door, along with Misaki's older brother Takahiro, "Takahashi, we have delayed the medal ceremonies till tonight, will you be well enough?"
Misaki drozed off for a moment, giving only a nod. The two officials simply left the room, leaving just Takahiro outside the door.
Takahiro approached his brother, only placing a his hand on his brothers shoulder, "Congrats on the title, Misaki."
The skater only turned his head to face his brother, smiling, a obviously fake smile, at Takahiro, "Thank you Nii-chan, I'm very happy about my success,"
Takahiro frowned slightly, he knew Misaki was never good at hiding his disappointment, but at least Misaki moved up from his bronze position at the pervious World Championship …
Three hours later -
"From Japan, we are proud to present at the World Figure Skating Championships, men's singles silver medalist , Misaki Takahashi," the announcer said in Japanese and then translated later in English. Misaki took a deep breath, waving both his hands up in the air, waving at his fans in stands and on the television screens.
He walked up to the bronze medalist, a Russian figure skater, whose name Misaki could never remember properly and shook hands with the skater. Misaki then stood on the second platform, which got a huge applause from the stands with people shouting "Japan! Japan!".
A competition official, assisted by a medal holder, came to Misaki smiling at the teen, giving the teen a bouquet of flowers and placing a heavy silver medal around the boys neck, that was collected from the medal tray. The official then shook hands with the silver medalist, who tried saying congrats in Japanese, but it was so heavily botched that Misaki could barely understand.
As the official stepped away Misaki raised his bouquet, causing a loud roar of cheering from the stands. The rest of the medal ceremony went on in a complete blur.
"I was so close ... And I screwed up even before my program, I've let Japan down ... But most importantly, I've let my parents down, and Ni-chan down …"
The boy was snapped out of his thoughts as the South Korean national anthem ended and the announcer announced in multiple languages the names of all the medalists, causing the crowd to explode in applause, but something surprised Misaki.
The crowd was being louder for him instead of the gold medal winner Kim Sungsu.
"Japan! Japan!" Some people screamed wildly, waving Japanese flags.
"I love you Misaki-Sempai!" A random girl yelled in the crowd, even some of the Russian, South Korean and American fans were getting into it.
"Ehh? But I lost ... Why are they more excited about me?"
Misaki looked up at up at Sungsu, to see the same amount of confusion, but the confused face on the Korean skater soon turned into that of hidden anger.
From that day, both knew that their sports rivalry would be more intense then it had been previously. Before it was just friendly fire, now it was on a whole different level of competitiveness. It was now skater versus skater.
"Misaki? Misaki! Are you ok?" Misaki opened his eyes, to have his eyes meet his brothers eyes, who was sitting on the bed next to Misaki.
"Oh! Welcome home, Nii-chan!" Misaki chirped, trying to forget the memory/dream he just had.
Takahiro only looked at Misaki worriedly, "Misaki, did you have a bad dream?"
"No!" Misaki exclaimed, a little too quickly.
"Good I was worried about you!" Misaki was silently thankful that his brother was so oblivious sometimes. The skater sat up, having forgotten to take off his shoes at the door, as he took off his shoes, it revealed bloodied feet with white cotton pads tapped down on various locations, most the cotton pads were now covered with old blood.
"Still breaking in the new skates?" Takahiro asked, not very disturbed by the bloodied foot and toes. Evidence of how many times he has seen this display.
"Yes ... Sakamoto-Sensei wants me to use new skates for the Olympic Games, and managed to get me custom boots ... Ow ..." Misaki moaned, Takahiro only rubbed his brothers shoulders, hugging him from the side. He got up, leaving the room for a few seconds, returning with a first aid kit.
"Misaki, I don't want to see you skate the whole weekend, Sakamoto-Sensei made it clear that she wants you to rest, and you have school work to catch up on," Takahiro said,taking off the other shoe, both feet matched each other in blisters and bloody spots.
Misaki only laid down, removing his hair tie, and the bobby pins that were still attached to his bangs and loose hairs. The teen winced as his bother wrapped new bandage on his feet and toes, but bit his tongue to prevent himself from yelling in pain.
"Yes Nii-chan ... And I heard back from Mitsuhashi Universty ... They said they can give the sports scholarship, but only after the Olympics are over …"
"That's fantastic Misaki! Maybe we should talk more tomorrow when you're not trying to hide your pain?" Takahiro joked, pointed at Misaki's foot slightly.
"Oww! Ni-chan!" Misaki huffed, crossing his arms. Takahiro only laughed at his brothers display, Misaki still acted like an eight year old at times.
Takahiro got up, leaving the room, "Goodnight, Misaki,"
Without waiting for a response, Takahiro shut the door, leaving Misaki to lay on his bed, deciding wether or not it was good idea to takeoff his clothes with newly bandaged feet.
one week later -
"Ow!" Was stretched through out the hospital, which came from the room of a certain figure skater ...
"Yes, he no doubt has a stress fracture,' a elderly doctor concluded, as he wrote notes on his clip board.
Misaki was sitting a exam table, still cringing at the pain in his left foot. Takahiro was sitting in one the chairs, obviously obviolos to the pain Misaki was under seconds ago.
'I strongly recommend that he stay off that foot for at least a week before training again,"
Misaki looked up, somewhat horrified, "A week?! But the Olympic trails are going to be here before I know it!"
The boy flailed his arms around, which made the doctor and Takahiro sweat drop at the display.
"Misaki, a week off won't hurt you, in fact it will actually benefit you,' the old man smiled, writing down on a piece of paper and talking to someone on the phone. He momentarily hung up, sliding himself by the teens foot. Carefully wrapping it with gauze, slightly shocked at the amount of blistering.
'Especially at this rate, then again I've seen athletes do everything imaginable to their bodies. Drugs, anorexia, bulimia, pilling, you name it, I've seen it,"
Misaki looked at his foot nervously for a moment but it did not go unnoticed by his brother, "Misaki, are you ok?"
The skater gave a nervous smile, "Yes! I'm fine! I just realized I have to ask you something!"
"Oh?" A nurse entered the room assisting Misaki into a wheelchair. One he was in, the brothers walked out (or at least one of them did) heading to their car.
"Usagi san wants to do a interview with me, is it ok if he does it?"
"What the hell am I thinking?! I'm basically offering myself on a silver platter for that entitled jerk!"
"Sure! I don't see why not!" Takahiro agreed with almost no hesitation or room to think. Misaki only smiled in return. When they finally reached the car, Misaki sat in the passenger seat, bowing to his nurse.
Takahiro spoke to her for a minute, while Misaki only tear dropped at his brothers approval.
"I'm screwed …"
"Misaki? What do you want for dinner?" Takahiro interjected. Misaki didn't even notice the car was moving, or even when they were leaving the hospital parking lot.
"Oh ... Uh ... Actually I have homework to catch up-"
"if you want to do that maybe I should ask Usagi-San if you can stay at his place for the night," Takahiro suggested. Without warning, Takahiro took out his phone, dialing a number and changing lanes.
'Hey Usagi! Can Misaki stay at your place tonight? I have a night shift and he says he has homework-"
"Atleast he didn't mention the book project-"
"Oh! And it's ok for you to interview him too," Misaki felt his whole body freeze.
"Shit! I have to do homework and be harassed by that author!? Ni-chan, can't you see what you're subjecting me to?!"
Misaki felt the car stop, realizing that he was at the penthouse building. With a silent groan, the teen got out of the car, careful not to not put weight on his foot as he balanced long enough to get his crutches.
"Do you need help getting upstairs, Misaki?" Takahiro looked worried as Misaki slipped on his bag, before balancing on his crutches.
"I'm fine, Ni-San. I'll take the elevator," the teen began to walk away, waving his brother goodbye, as Takahiro was slowly driving away, heading to work.
Misaki looked up at the building, the boy inhaled deeply before slowly walking to an night of torture with the author.
Five Minutes Later -
Misaki stood outside the door, with hesitation, knocked on the door three times.
Seconds later, the door opened. Only it wasn't the author. It was a redheaded woman.
"Uh ... Sorry I must I have the wrong penthouse-"
"Oh! Are you the figure skater?" She asked, stars were filling her eyes. Misaki tried his best not sweat drop at the woman. Not matter how popular the boy was, he still was awkward around any positive attention he relieved when outside the rink.
Misaki rubbed the back of his head, "ehh, yes I am. Is usami-San here?"
Without waiting, the woman pulled Misaki into the apartment, it was a miracle that Misaki still had balance with his crutches.
"Sensei! Misaki is here! Get started tonight! I mean it! I've already lost enough sleep because of you missing your damn deadlines!" The woman was now yelling with flames behind here and blood vessels pulsing in her fists.
Misaki just stood there dumbfounded.
"What the hell? A moment ago she was nice, but now she looks like she could actually kill someone ... I better not get on her bad side," the teen silently noted to himself.
A door slamming caused him to jump almost five feet in the air. The woman had left.
"There you are brat,' Usagi was standing on the top of the stairs, making his way down, not failing to notice the cast and crutches.
'What? Fell too many times again?" Misaki tried to ignore the smirk sketched on the man's face. But he found himself still hitting his own tongue.
"Not that it's your concern, but this the forth stress fracture I've had, so no, it's from me landing in feet enough," Misaki huffed. Usagi only gave a bored look, walking towards the boy.
Without warning, Misaki felt himself being lifted up, with his crutches landing on the floor.
Usagi was holding the skater bridal style, walking towards the couch casually, 'Eh?! What the hell! I can walk I'm not handicapped!"
The silver haired man ignored the skaters struggles, placing him unceremoniously onto the couch.
"You would of taken too long, silver brat," usagi sat down at the opposite couch, grabbing his laptop, 'Takahiro said you also needed dinner-"
Misaki felt a small wave of panic, "No! I mean ... I already ate a lot before I went to the doctor today,"
Usagi only stared at him, "If you insist. Wait a minute, I have to get my coffee from upstairs.
The man walked up the stairs, disappearing into another room. Misaki looked around, in awe of how big the place actually was.
"I guess he is a popular writer,' A stack of books was displayed in the table, but what go the teens attention was the different pen name, 'Eh? Why would he use a different name then his normal books?'
Misaki picked up a copy, opening to a random page, instantly he knew why.
"As he moaned deeply in my grasp, I felt myself connect for my one love, Takahiro …"
"What the fuck?! This pervert is using ni-chan for his filthy fantasies?!"
"I'm back brat-" without warning the author felt his book nearly hit him the face. He was met with the enraged look on the skaters face.
"What the fuck you perverted asshole?! Why my brother?"
"None of your concern," misaki was now at his boiling point.
"Why my brother? Won't any guy do for you?!" ,isakimisaki screamed at the man.
Usagi's eyes widened, now only giving Misaki a look scarier then a death glare. The man walked over the boy, pushing the teen onto his back.
"What would you know about Takahiro and I?" Misaki struggled to move against the man's iron grip.
"Get off! You're hurting my leg!"
Usagi got up momentarily. Which received Misaki, only to feel himself being lifted into the air. Only staring at the floor.
"Hey! Put me down! This isn't funny!" Usagi carried the boy over should ignoring the demands of the skater. Misaki felt as they were headed upstairs into the authors room. Before he could yell anymore, he felt his weight being placed over the man's lap.
"Ehh?"
"You said any man would do, right?" Misaki let out a gasp as he felt the man's fingers loosen his pants slowly.
Misaki felt his face sweat in horror and embarrassment.
"Mother and father in heaven, please help me!"