Katsumi's Point Of View
There stood a woman at the rink entrance, whose appearance seemed foreign. She seemed frustrated and her gaze fell on me. I wiped away the tears without hesitation because whoever she was I didn't want to sully my first impression. The woman whose long blonde hair draped around her shoulders and extended past her hips, her bangs that were pulled back revealed piercing blue eyes. I noticed that she was wearing a galaxy hoodie over what looked to be a long gray shirt and blue jeans. She began to put on her skates really quickly and skated over to me. As she got closer, I pulled myself up from the ground so our eyes would meet.
She seemed skilled enough on the ice to stay upright, though I've never seen her around here before. I'm confused at the moment because she doesn't appear Japanese and I don't know if I should speak English. "Oh no sweetheart, you are doing that all wrong. You need to point your non-dominate foot more to land balanced," she spoke in almost perfect Japanese to me. My face was flustered, her Japanese skills were even better than my own. The woman also seemed to notice the flaws in my skating and highlighted each mistake, she must be a skater but I've never seen her at a competition. I have actually never seen her before in my life. "Hello," I politely bowed, "I hate to say this but the rink is closed." I looked at her anxiously hoping she would leave, however, she drew closer to me. "Oh dear, but I only want to help you. Here, let me see your right leg," she said as she reached for my right hip in a kind way but I still jerked away and fell backward onto the ice. She got down to my level as well and still reaching for my leg, grabbed it. "This stretch should help you out lots," she spoke calmingly but instead of stretching, my leg came completely off in her hand. She jumped back with a huge shocked look on her face, then she smiled and put it back in place.
Tears streamed from my eyes, this woman persistently tried to help me or what she believed would help me. While I tried to turn and run, she eventually grasped onto my leg while I was down and it came off into her dainty hands. Her expression faded from a smile into a look of horror, oddly only to return to a smile. Frustrated, I began to yell, "Why? Why am I so entertaining to you? I never asked for any of this. I just wanted to skate and that's all I ever wanted." The tears continued down my cheeks, "No one is supposed to know about this, not even the judges know but now you do. I lie to myself each day, telling myself I actually belong. No one knows how to help me and so I don't have a coach either."
Her smile got wider as she looked at me in my frustrated state of yelling and tears. "I know exactly how to help you," her voice seemed almost angelic and to good to be true. "How can someone like you help me?" I snapped at her. My words were filled with venom towards this woman but I didn't understand why? She appeared kind and was offering a lot, but what would she receive on her part. "Why are you interested in helping me? Do you pity me?" I spoke with disdain since the offers I have received about coaching were all set upon my failure. "Your dominant leg was your right leg, right? I am a ballerina, we have to learn how to dance with switching dominant legs all the time. If I could teach you that, your skating would improve tremendously. How do you feel about that?" She looked at me with the biggest eyes in the world.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, this woman must be crazy or something. Yet, I believed every word she spoke, because she had hope and faith that I was not finished with my skating career. Today I was through with crying over failed jumps or regretting my past decisions, with her by my side I could focus on my skating career. In that moment, I realized I had someone who supported and believed in me, a person who I couldn't wait to make proud. I grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes, "Please be my coach. I will do everything I can, give everything I can to become a great skater." Her eyes seemed to fill up with hope as she spoke to me, "Okay, I will be your coach. Is there a dance room in this rink? We will have to start there first before we can get you back on the ice with proper jumps. Oh, and by the way, my name is Rosalina but you can call me Rose. It is nice to meet you, ummm." I interrupted, "My name is Katsumi, but you may call me Kat and yes there is a dance room." She smiled at me and said, "Okay, let's get started then, you only have so much time to learn the basics of dance."