Icicle Palace - Chapter 2
Jun. 26th, 2024 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
argoflower The Ice Country's Prince
--That was one of my brightest childhood memories.
That memory was the start of everything, a core memory that's embedded itself deeply into my heart.
I remembered it was a long time ago that I was taken to a special rink set up in front of a brick warehouse, rather than the usual ice rink.
By then, my father already taught me how to skate, as if it were the most obvious thing to do.
Before I could call it 'fun' or 'enjoyable,' I felt like I needed to hurry and become even better, to be able to do even more difficult jumps or spins on the ice.
"Yukikaze, you'll definitely win a gold medal in the future. This is for your sake."
I grew up hearing those words all the time, and that became my 'normal.'
No matter where the location was, what I needed to do while skating was always the same.
When I was taken to the special rink at the brick warehouse, I felt nervous. I was sure that I would once again be faced with the reality that I wouldn't be able to skate as well as usual.
But my father said something different from what I expected.
"My brother asked me to take care of Kaede-kun for the day so he wouldn't be home alone. You go ahead and teach him how to skate."
As he said this, my father led my cousin, who was still very small and young, by the hand and brought him closer to me.
It was one thing if he was acting as a coach, but as an adult, my father isn't very good with small children. He would often leave them in my care and say he'll pick them up later before quickly leaving.
My cousin looked fluffy in his outfit: dressed warmly with a scarf, hat and wool gloves. I took his hand and decided to teach him how to skate.
Not only was it a weekday, but it was also cloudy and cold with snow forecasted in the afternoon, so the outdoor rink didn't have many people using it. So I was able to take my cousin's hand, who was skating for the first time, to skate around the ice rink without getting in anyone's way.
There were a variety of different songs playing in the rink. We skated while matching the rhythm of the songs, slowly during the soft songs and faster during the fast-paced songs. I made sure to hold both of my cousin's hands as I spun him around.
Little Kaede was squealing in excitement just from skating a little. Even if he slipped and fell onto the rink, he was still smiling happily. But he got tired soon after and asked to get off the rink, saying "let me rest a little!"
As my cousin sat on the bench and took off his gloves that were wet from the melted ice, I offered my own to him.
"These gloves are fine! But Yuki-nii, I wanna see you skate! You're always skating, aren't you? I wanna watch you! Show me!"
He came to watch my skating practice a few times before, so he must've remembered me from that.
"...but my skating might be boring to watch."
It probably would be boring, because I'm such a bad skater that I can't even do all the single jumps.
In my skating class, I have a younger classmate who started after me, but they can already do all the jumps. But if it's me, I still can't do it. Even though I was raised by my father, who used to be a skater himself...
"What do you mean? It's not boring at all! I wanna see more! More than what I saw at your practice before!"
My cousin tilted his head as he looked at me with wide eyes. Right after he did, the music that was playing on the rink changed.
"Hey, Yuki-nii! Skate to this song!"
For some reason, I felt like I was being pushed forward by my cousin's innocent smile.
The song that was currently playing was [Tatar's Dance]. I knew it because an older classmate used this song in the junior competition.
"...I got it, I'll give it a try."
Jumps were prohibited in this special rink anyway. In that case, maybe I would be able to skate a little better? I wanted to make my cousin, who excitedly said he wanted to see my skating, happy, so I stood in the empty rink.
I made hand gestures that followed the music, tried to do twizzles that I haven't mastered yet, and took steps forward on the ice the best I could.
Ah, this wasn't good at all. My skills were inadequate. Watching me skate like this must've been boring for him after all.
But the moment I looked up to see his reaction, I was surprised.
He was looking at me with wide eyes and a bright smile on his face.
...Let's skate properly until the very end.
With that thought in mind, even if I wasn't good yet, I continued to skate until the music ended, finishing with an upright spin in front of my cousin. In order to prevent myself from drifting away on the ice, I desperately went as fast as I could.
I'm sure if my father saw this, he'd be shocked and angry. He'd probably say something like "don't skate a program so half-heartedly like this!"
But only in front of my cousin--
The moment I tried to show off and make a pose...
Kaede let out a loud cheer, hopped off the bench, and ran over to me. He took off his gloves and clapped his small hands that were numb from the cold together until they were bright red. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were flushed pink as he looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
"Yuki-nii, you're amazing! You're just like a prince from an ice country!"
For some reason, my heart felt warm when my cousin praised my more than inadequate skating.
I was just...genuinely very happy.
If I could make someone this happy-- I wonder if I could win a medal too?
That was how I felt.
"It was really pretty! Yuki-nii's ice skating is the coolest thing in the world!"
"...I'm glad you enjoyed it."
I took off my gloves as I stepped off the rink and cupped my cute little cousin's cheeks with my hands. His cheeks were cold compared to my hands, which were warmed from skating for a long time.
My heart was feeling pleasantly warm.
That night.
My cousin said he was going to stay the night at my house. After I put him to bed, I had a dream.
...it was a strange dream.
In my dream, I was skating on an endless lake of ice. There was an ice castle that glowed with the colors of the aurora floating above me. There was a song playing somewhere, I recognized it as [Tatar's Dance].
Until now, it might've seemed like just a normal dream.
But in that dream, my arms and legs were moving so smoothly and freely. That movement was something I felt in my body. Detailed steps, quick and perfect spins, and jumps that were high and seemingly endless...
...was this the me in the future?
Would I be able to skate like this someday?
This freedom, this happiness...
When I was young, that's what I was thinking about in my dream.
Novel Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
--That was one of my brightest childhood memories.
That memory was the start of everything, a core memory that's embedded itself deeply into my heart.
I remembered it was a long time ago that I was taken to a special rink set up in front of a brick warehouse, rather than the usual ice rink.
By then, my father already taught me how to skate, as if it were the most obvious thing to do.
Before I could call it 'fun' or 'enjoyable,' I felt like I needed to hurry and become even better, to be able to do even more difficult jumps or spins on the ice.
"Yukikaze, you'll definitely win a gold medal in the future. This is for your sake."
I grew up hearing those words all the time, and that became my 'normal.'
No matter where the location was, what I needed to do while skating was always the same.
When I was taken to the special rink at the brick warehouse, I felt nervous. I was sure that I would once again be faced with the reality that I wouldn't be able to skate as well as usual.
But my father said something different from what I expected.
"My brother asked me to take care of Kaede-kun for the day so he wouldn't be home alone. You go ahead and teach him how to skate."
As he said this, my father led my cousin, who was still very small and young, by the hand and brought him closer to me.
It was one thing if he was acting as a coach, but as an adult, my father isn't very good with small children. He would often leave them in my care and say he'll pick them up later before quickly leaving.
My cousin looked fluffy in his outfit: dressed warmly with a scarf, hat and wool gloves. I took his hand and decided to teach him how to skate.
Not only was it a weekday, but it was also cloudy and cold with snow forecasted in the afternoon, so the outdoor rink didn't have many people using it. So I was able to take my cousin's hand, who was skating for the first time, to skate around the ice rink without getting in anyone's way.
There were a variety of different songs playing in the rink. We skated while matching the rhythm of the songs, slowly during the soft songs and faster during the fast-paced songs. I made sure to hold both of my cousin's hands as I spun him around.
Little Kaede was squealing in excitement just from skating a little. Even if he slipped and fell onto the rink, he was still smiling happily. But he got tired soon after and asked to get off the rink, saying "let me rest a little!"
As my cousin sat on the bench and took off his gloves that were wet from the melted ice, I offered my own to him.
"These gloves are fine! But Yuki-nii, I wanna see you skate! You're always skating, aren't you? I wanna watch you! Show me!"
He came to watch my skating practice a few times before, so he must've remembered me from that.
"...but my skating might be boring to watch."
It probably would be boring, because I'm such a bad skater that I can't even do all the single jumps.
In my skating class, I have a younger classmate who started after me, but they can already do all the jumps. But if it's me, I still can't do it. Even though I was raised by my father, who used to be a skater himself...
"What do you mean? It's not boring at all! I wanna see more! More than what I saw at your practice before!"
My cousin tilted his head as he looked at me with wide eyes. Right after he did, the music that was playing on the rink changed.
"Hey, Yuki-nii! Skate to this song!"
For some reason, I felt like I was being pushed forward by my cousin's innocent smile.
The song that was currently playing was [Tatar's Dance]. I knew it because an older classmate used this song in the junior competition.
"...I got it, I'll give it a try."
Jumps were prohibited in this special rink anyway. In that case, maybe I would be able to skate a little better? I wanted to make my cousin, who excitedly said he wanted to see my skating, happy, so I stood in the empty rink.
I made hand gestures that followed the music, tried to do twizzles that I haven't mastered yet, and took steps forward on the ice the best I could.
Ah, this wasn't good at all. My skills were inadequate. Watching me skate like this must've been boring for him after all.
But the moment I looked up to see his reaction, I was surprised.
He was looking at me with wide eyes and a bright smile on his face.
...Let's skate properly until the very end.
With that thought in mind, even if I wasn't good yet, I continued to skate until the music ended, finishing with an upright spin in front of my cousin. In order to prevent myself from drifting away on the ice, I desperately went as fast as I could.
I'm sure if my father saw this, he'd be shocked and angry. He'd probably say something like "don't skate a program so half-heartedly like this!"
But only in front of my cousin--
The moment I tried to show off and make a pose...
Kaede let out a loud cheer, hopped off the bench, and ran over to me. He took off his gloves and clapped his small hands that were numb from the cold together until they were bright red. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were flushed pink as he looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
"Yuki-nii, you're amazing! You're just like a prince from an ice country!"
For some reason, my heart felt warm when my cousin praised my more than inadequate skating.
I was just...genuinely very happy.
If I could make someone this happy-- I wonder if I could win a medal too?
That was how I felt.
"It was really pretty! Yuki-nii's ice skating is the coolest thing in the world!"
"...I'm glad you enjoyed it."
I took off my gloves as I stepped off the rink and cupped my cute little cousin's cheeks with my hands. His cheeks were cold compared to my hands, which were warmed from skating for a long time.
My heart was feeling pleasantly warm.
That night.
My cousin said he was going to stay the night at my house. After I put him to bed, I had a dream.
...it was a strange dream.
In my dream, I was skating on an endless lake of ice. There was an ice castle that glowed with the colors of the aurora floating above me. There was a song playing somewhere, I recognized it as [Tatar's Dance].
Until now, it might've seemed like just a normal dream.
But in that dream, my arms and legs were moving so smoothly and freely. That movement was something I felt in my body. Detailed steps, quick and perfect spins, and jumps that were high and seemingly endless...
...was this the me in the future?
Would I be able to skate like this someday?
This freedom, this happiness...
When I was young, that's what I was thinking about in my dream.
Novel Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
