Straightening the Crown

Morita was once again checking her foot. Ayaka had a brief, dramatic thought that this was going to last the rest of her life. It no longer hurt, but his constant prodding was still annoying. She reminded him silently that she was top-grade… at least in figure skating.

“Reiko sensei, I’m being inspected again,” she said with dead seriousness. “If there’s a factory producing Fujimoto Ayakas that needs inspecting, I’ve found our expert.”

Reiko cleared her throat. “Sorry, Morita sensei. She can be… playful.”

Morita did not even look up. “If I didn’t know that after all this time, I should probably retire.”

Ayaka nodded in agreement. He still did not know she was top-grade; clearly, he should retire. The others in the room had no idea what she was agreeing with.

“Everything is looking good,” Morita assessed. “She can remove the boot.”

Reiko looked at him with hopeful eyes. Morita shook his head; how was she an Olympic‑level coach.

“No practice yet,” he added, watching both of their expressions fall.

“Can I at least keep the boot as a souvenir?” Ayaka asked, eyes wide and pleading like a child begging for a present.

“The boot was made specifically for you. I don’t see why not.” Morita smiled, the kind of smile a parent gives when they have made their kid happy.

“Yes!” Ayaka pumped her fist and snatched the boot before anyone could change their mind.

“In two weeks, she can likely start some light practice,” Morita continued, “but she will need to come back to get ‘inspected’ beforehand.” His attempt at humor was not subtle, but it landed.

Reiko bowed, once again offering a heartfelt, “Thank you,” to the doctor.

Morita thought they thanked him more than anyone else in the facility. He might even miss them. He looked at Ayaka’s bright smile as she tested her foot; he would miss them.

Ayaka waved as she backed toward the door. “I’m going to go show Kaito my new foot!”

She ran out, clutching her prize.

Reiko sighed under her breath. “It’s the same foot, Ayaka.”

Ayaka skulked around the swimming facility, peeking into every room she could reach without technically trespassing. If anyone happened to walk by, they might have mistaken her for an overzealous fan who had snuck onto the grounds to ambush her favorite athlete.

Disappointment crept across her face as she ran out of doors to check. She had been searching for nearly twenty minutes, and there was still no sign of her target.

Technically, there had been no sign of him since the Olympics. It was as if he had forgotten about her. Ayaka understood why, and she didn’t hold it against him. Getting her boot removed had simply given her the courage to go disrupt his world one more time.

Voices echoed down the hallway ahead. She looked up and spotted Ren and Takeru. Ayaka waved at them with wild enthusiasm, and they jogged over the moment they noticed her frantic signaling.

“Whole once again, I see,” Takeru said, immediately glancing down at her feet.

“Yep. Almost ready to win that medal,” Ayaka replied with full confidence.

Ren pointed toward a door leading outside. “Kaito said he was going to get some fresh air.”

Ayaka was already moving, tossing a quick “Thanks!” over her shoulder.

“Guess she wasn’t here to see us,” Takeru muttered, sulking.

Ayaka spotted him sitting beneath a tree, staring down at his phone. Anyone else she would have assumed was depressed, but this was Kaito; he might just be tuning out the world. She slid down beside him without looking directly at him, leaning her back against the trunk.

“What are you looking at?” she asked, as if they had been mid‑conversation all along.

He did not think twice. He simply handed her the phone and tilted his head back toward the sky. Ayaka scrolled through the articles he had been reading.

“Silver, Not Gold.” 

“Hayasaka Kaito, No Longer Flawless.”

The headlines were not exactly wrong, but they were clearly crafted to provoke. The comments underneath were even worse.

“If he was injured, he should have rested.” 

“He seemed scared to me.” 

“It was like he was watching the Australian guy instead of focusing on his own race.”

Ayaka’s fingers twitched with the urge to reply. He broke the record too; how could he have been injured, scared, or unfocused. These comments would be heaven to her now, but she understood how it all starts. How it burrows under the skin.

She pressed her lips together and handed the phone back.

After a brief moment, she stood and stepped in front of him, blocking the patch of sky he’d been staring at. She bent down, picked up an imaginary crown, and placed it carefully back on his head.

“Hmmm,” she murmured. “It still fits quite well.”

Kaito instinctively touched the top of his head, unsure what she meant.

Sensing his confusion, Ayaka explained, “When athletes reach a certain level of expectation, the public creates a perfect crown for us. One that fits only if we never make a mistake.”

She lifted her own imaginary crown off her head and turned it in her hands as if inspecting it. Somehow, Kaito could feel the weight of the one she had placed on him.

“The problem is that we’re human, just like everyone else.” She paused, running her thumb along the rim of her invisible crown. “We are not perfect. So, the crown sits a little lopsided.”

She glanced back at him. He was watching her now, fully present, no longer lost in the noise of headlines and comments.

“You just had your first wobble,” she said softly. “And we both know that never feels good.”

She held up her own crown again. “Mine has wobbled and fallen harder than yours. Look — see the dents?” She pointed to imaginary marks along the rim.

“I still wear it with pride,” she said. “Because it’s a crown I earned.”

Kaito felt he was still getting used to her quirkiness, but he had to admit he understood everything she was trying to say. He stood and straightened his imaginary crown.

“How do I look?” Ayaka could not remember if this was the first time he had ever been playful with her.

“I don’t know,” she said, circling him and inspecting him from different angles. “You might look better in a swimming cap and some goggles.”

Kaito realized he should have talked to her earlier. Of course, she could save him from anything. He glanced back toward the door of the swimming facility.

“Shall we go find out?”

The two of them headed back toward the place he had been trying to escape only moments ago; but this time, it felt like he was going home.