The Swimmer and the Skater

Ayaka hesitated every time she used an ice tub, no matter how often she did it. She lowered herself into the water, enduring the initial shock and forcing herself down by willpower alone. Her muscles tightened, and she began to shiver as she settled in. The chill quickly dulled the soreness; the only part she was truly grateful for.

It did not take long for her to become accustomed to it; well, as accustomed as she ever could. She reached over to check her phone. Kanae had replaced her in a competition today, and Ayaka wanted to see the results.

Kanae appeared on her screen holding a gold medal. Ayaka felt a wave of relief; everything had turned out well. Kanae was a talented skater who often faltered when the stage was not bright enough. One might call it playing down to her competition.

She moved on and checked the comments, wanting to see the praise she herself never received. Instead, the comments failed to live up to her expectations.

“See, why do we keep sending Ayaka to these competitions? Give the other girls a chance.” 

“haha, Ayaka would’ve only gotten a silver.” 

“We have some real talented skaters; you’d never know it with Ayaka's favoritism.” 

“I didn’t miss Ayaka at all, did any of you?”

Ayaka slammed her phone down.

“Why are they talking about me? They should be praising Kanae,” she muttered to the empty room. “I swear the internet is useless.”

She pulled a towel over her head to block out the outside world, choosing instead to focus on the cold she was enduring. Even the ice was warmer than the comments.

Kaito had just finished working out when the reporters showed up. He was starting to believe his coach had betrayed him. He slipped into the tub room, hoping the ice would subdue not only his sore muscles but also his pursuers.

As he sank into the tub, he felt safer almost instantly. Ayaka heard someone enter the tub next to her, but she was too relaxed to worry about it.

Daichi burst into the room with an anger that could almost be felt. Luckily for Kaito, the ice had already dulled his senses.

“Why do you always run away?” Daichi demanded. “All you need to do is answer a few questions.”

Kaito let out an exaggerated, blissful sigh. “I needed to deal with my sore muscles. Maybe some other time.”

Daichi circled around the tub like a shark. “We both know that next time you’ll have something else to take care of.”

Kaito countered, “We should be preparing for the Olympics, not answering questions right now.”

Daichi did not slow his circling. “I know that. But if you do not answer their questions, I am not allowed to send them away.”

“You’d think the committee would understand how important our training time is,” Kaito muttered.

Daichi did not miss a beat. “They also know how important publicity is.”

Ayaka found it entertaining to hear Kaito assert himself a little. She guessed he could only do that with people he was comfortable with.

Daichi bumped into Ayaka’s arm and jumped, letting out an inaudible noise.

“What the hell?” he sputtered, shivering.

Ayaka pulled the towel off her face and gave him a look that said everything.

“What? You want to pick a fight with me, too?” she asked, holding up her phone with the comments still on the screen.

Daichi bowed, still in shock. “No. Forgive me.”

He pointed a finger at Kaito before leaving, in a hurry, that he had not shown earlier.

Kaito looked over at Ayaka. She felt like his savior again. He was starting to feel as though he owed her a debt he could never repay. He nodded to her in thanks.

“I told you; cannibals,” she said with a smile.

Kaito was not ready to talk and could only manage a confused, “What?”

“The kind that eat you alive and spit you out,” Ayaka clarified. “A nasty tribe of them called reporters.”

Kaito finally caught up. “Ah. Yes. Persistent.”

All the natural confidence he had shown moments ago evaporated, replaced once more by awkwardness. Letting her know she was not someone he trusted, not that she expected to be.

Kaito paused in thought for a brief moment. “How do you handle them?”

“Oh, going to ask the loser for advice now?” Ayaka worried for a second that her playfulness might scare him off.

Kaito lifted his arms in protest. “I never said that. I would be honored to receive your advice.”

A laugh escaped the figure skater everyone loved to hate, directed at the swimmer everyone simply loved.

“I know, I was just teasing you,” Ayaka said at last. “Hope I didn’t offend.”

Kaito relaxed a little. “No. Never.”

It was not quite assertive, but it carried a surprising confidence. She nodded in approval, then sank deeper into the tub and pulled the towel back over her face. Kaito assumed she was done talking and followed her lead.

“My method probably wouldn’t work for you,” Ayaka cautioned. “I just bully them as much as they bully me.”

Kaito pulled the towel off his face and looked her way. “They bully you?”

“I’m not you, golden boy,” she said dryly. “I can either be a punching bag or a boxer.”

Kaito tried to grasp what she meant. The media had never bullied him. He did not pay attention to the news, but he could at least form a vague idea.

“You’re trying to imagine what that’s like?” Ayaka sensed him stirring in thought even with the towel over her face.

She sat up and removed the towel again.

“Imagine if they burst in here right now and took our picture.”

He answered immediately. “I wouldn’t allow them to publish it.”

She smiled. “And for you, they would do as you ask.”

She placed the towel back over her face. “For me, they’d blur you out and claim I’m flirting with men instead of rehabbing.”

Kaito could not believe it. Their worlds were so different.

“If I hadn’t won that medal, no one would bother me,” Kaito thought out loud. “If only I could give it to you.”

Ayaka pulled herself out of the tub. “I’ll get my own, but thank you.”

Kaito turned. She was fully clothed, but he still felt shy at the sight.

“I know you will,” he said, confidence slipping through again.

Satisfied with that response, Ayaka left the room without another word.

Kaito remained in the tub, lost in contemplation. She had given him more to think about in five minutes than all the years of his coaches’ nagging.