Chapter Text
A perfectionist.
That’s what everyone called Kenma Kozume after their first meet on the rink with him,and he couldn’t argue.Kenma had spent years trying to perfect every move he’d ever performed as a figure Skater,he wanted to do his very best from the moment he started.
The grunt that left his lips when his skate slipped on the ice and he nearly face-planted onto the rink was almost embarrassing,and he huffed a frustrated sigh as he slid to the floor to stop his spin.The ice was cold against his legs as he sat in the middle of the sea of glassy white,his hands touch the cold surface and he stood back up.
He glided across the ice for a moment before he moved to do the spin again,the sound of this skate breaking through the top layer of the ice was almost comforting as he closed his eyes to feel for the momentum of the spin.Which was broken when his skate once again caught on the ice and he nearly fell.He sighed deeply as he tilted his head back,the lights nearly blinded him as he looked up.
”Kozume-Kun,Take a break.” The soft yet firm voice echoed across the empty rink,and her tone told Kenma if he didn’t she’d make him.He turned and stared at the older woman,who crossed her arms as best as she could with one cup in each hand.Her pale skin blended with the ice,but her dark hair broke through the illusion.
Kenma,not wanting to push her buttons,pushed and glided across the rink towards her.As he neared,she held out one of the cups toward him with a small smile “What is it?”
”Not poison.” She pointed out,and Kenma tilted his head at her with a look of ‘seriously?’ And she lightly laughed, “It’s hot chocolate,shut up and drink it.” She pushed the drink into his hand and took a sip of her own.Kenma,ever the skeptic,opened the lid and sniffed the drink.
”Thank you,Kiyoko-San.” And he finally took a sip of it,Kiyoko nodded in approval as he drank some.Kenma turned and looked over the rink as the warm cocoa warmed his throat,he lifted his foot and looked at the skate “I think I need more practice.”
”I think you need new skates,Kozume-Kun.” Kiyoko told him as she leaned over the guard of the rink,then pushed back her hair to prevent it from falling into her drink “How long has it been since you’ve replaced your skates?”
”I’ve never replaced them.” Kenma admitted,”My mother gave them to me,they were hers.”
Kiyoko hummed once,a skeptical tone to it as she finished the mouthful of hot chocolate she had. “There’s the problem,you need your own skates.You’ll get hurt.” She bent over the guard and looked at the skates on Kenma’s feet. “Or break your ankle,whichever happens first.”
”Kiyoko-San!” Kenma gaped at her,and she laughed at his expression.Kenma huffed at her and turned away,instead he looked over the rink and his skate marks.He studied the marks and had a few thoughts on how to prevent the slips from his skate,and in attempt to change the subject he glanced over his shoulder, ”What did that Tanaka guy want? You said he called.”
Kiyoko gathered herself after a moment,and she took a few deep breaths to control them. “Oh,he was asking for date ideas.” Kenma raised a brow,”Him and Chikara’s anniversary is coming up,so he wanted help on deciding what to do.”
Kenma turned with a small nod “Oh,makes sense now.” He placed his drink down on the guard,before he could push off the guard and back onto the rink Kiyoko grabbed his arm.
”You need to take a break,you’ve been at that spin for nearly five hours.” She instantly let go as she remembered how Kenma tried to avoid touch at all costs,”You’re going to hurt yourself.”
”But it has to be perfect.” He grumbled,then dug the toe of his skate into the ice under his foot. “It’s not done yet.”
Kiyoko sighed and ran a hand through her hair,she looked at her watch “You have twenty minutes.If you go over it,I’ll tell your coach to bench you from the next competition.” Kenma gaped at her “Don’t look at me like that,Kozume-Kun. You know that you do this far too often.” She pointed at him with a stern look.
”Fine.” He dragged,then pushed away from the barrier towards the center of the rink.
She wasn’t wrong,Kenma knew that. He’d trained to hard he’d gotten physically ill several times,he hated every time it happened even if it never stopped him from doing it again.It was almost like how he’d get so worked up about the perfect set in highschool that the team would force their way into his home and make him rest,it pissed him off.
”Kiyoko-San!” The cheery tone echoed in the empty building,Kenma stopped to watch the chipper blonde skip along the rows of seats and towards the dark-haired woman.Kiyoko smiled as she watched her make her way over.
”Hello,Hitoka.” The blonde squeaked and covered her bloomed red face,Kenma couldn’t stop the grin of amusement as he skated closer to the duo. “Hitoka,this is Kozume-Kun. I don’t know if you remember him.”
Kenma gave a half-assed wave that earned him another stern look from Kiyoko, “Kozume…? You were at Nekoma High,right? You were their setter.” Kenma nodded,his head turned downwards as he twisted his skate into the ice again.
”Alright,” Kiyoko,his savior, turned to Yachi and gently grabbed her wrist. “We should go.Kozume-Kun,don’t overwork yourself.” And she led the younger woman away from the rink “You have ten minutes!”
”Yeah,yeah.” Kenma huffed and made his way back onto the rink,his head going back into his skating zone as he glided across the ice.He used the time to go over his routine from the beginning,he figured it would help with the spin.
Another annoyed groan left him when his skate slipped across the ice,he stopped and bent down and looked closer at his skates.They were,in fact, pretty old.The white was starting to discolor and the blade of the skate was starting to rust at the base where it met with the shoe,He sighed.
”Ah—Kozume-Kun!” Kenma turned with a huff,annoyed at being interrupted again.His attitude dropped when he spotted his coach waving at him from the opening of the rink “I’m glad you’re still here,I need to talk to you!”
Kenma pulled out his hair tie and ran his finger through his hair as he got closer,he stopped himself with the guard and leaned against it “I’m listening…”
”I have a proposition for you,I think It’ll be good for you and us.” His coach says,a giddy excitement in his movement,Kenma raised a brow at him “There’s a sports magazine doing interviews and pages on different sports and their preparations up until the day of competition.” He stops and gives Kenma the moment to say anything.
”Go on,” Kenma said,he wanted to hear the whole proposition before he made any choices.Possibly a stupid one that would make even Hinata question him.
”The interviewer will come by once a week until competition at the end of the month.A photographer will come by and get photos for those few weeks.That’s all you have to do. Answer a few questions and have your photo taken.” His coach stared at him and waited.
Kenma looked up towards the ceiling “Hmm… I don’t know…” he twisted a strand of hair around his finger.
”Oh,please,Kozume-Kun! It’ll be such good publicity for you and us! You never do anything like this!” The man wrapped his hands together and attempted to give him puppy eyes.
Kenma rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically “One condition.” The man nodded and waited for Kenma to continue “The company pays for my new skates.” And the man rapidly nodded and attempted to throw himself over Kenma in a hug,the smaller man only slid away with a curt “No hugs.” And the man nodded.
”Right,sorry.Thank you so much,Kozume-Kun! I promise it’ll be great!” He turned and rushed off “I’ll let them know!”
”Oh,what have I gotten myself into?” Kenma asked himself and pushed back across the rink to continue his practice,his form gentle and graceful as he moved across the rink like he had never stepped foot outside of it.
He lightly groaned when his stomach twisted in pain,and he held a hand over his stomach.When was the last time he’d eaten that day? He’d never been able to keep track of his own food intake, it took him nearly six months to create a regular food schedule since he’d stop depending on—.
He shook his head as he took off his skates,and he sighed when some of the pressure left his feet and ankles,he rubbed at them for a moment before he put on his socks and shoes.He stays sat for a moment to let his feet adjust to Regular shoes as he scrolled through his phone,liking posts from other skaters and sports promoters.
Once his feet had adjusted,he stood and left the rink arena.He was stopped for a bit as he’s pulled into conversation by Taylin,the front desk worker,before he left with a small wave.
The winter air was refreshing against his slightly sweaty skin,and he breathed a soft sigh as he greeted the quiet grounds outside of the rink’s building.The street lamps Gave a soft glow to the sidewalks and the snow along the ground.
Kenma almost forgot how beautiful snow could be,especially in the morning with the golden hour sun turning everything into a golden version,he’d wished he’d appreciated it in school. Then again he wouldn’t have known, since he spent so much time inside when he wasn’t at practice early in the morning.
Kenma had barely walked through the door of his apartment when he was tripped and landed on the floor with a thud despite him catching himself,he turned and stared with his eyes half narrowed and half confused “Dude,seriously?”
The soft mew of the little calico ball of fluff was the answer,Mochi rubbed his head against Kenma’s leg before he sat and stared at him with his big green eyes.Kenma lightly scoffed as he kicked off his shoes from his spot on the floor “You’re lucky you’re cute,otherwise I’d call that an attempted murder.” And Mochi’s meow was the only response.
Kenma fed the cat and dragged himself into the shower,almost melting when the warm water washed over him. And he had to reach out and open the bathroom door to stop Mochi from alerting any neighbors as he screamed through the door for Kenma to let him in.
Once Kenma was in his sleep wear,he pulled his Nintendo switch from the dock and dropped onto the couch.He looked through his games as Mochi jumped into Kenma’s lap and curled up, the man gently petting over his head a few times before he started his game.
❆ ❅ ⋆ ⊹ ⋆ ❅ ❆
“Kozume-Kun!” Kenma turned to his left as he walked through the Café of the rink,which was essentially the other half of the main entrance,and Kiyoko waved him over. Yachi sat across from her,she gave him a small smile and Kenma gave his own small one in return.
”Hello,Kiyoko-San.” He played with the lace on his skate as he stood at the end of the table.
”Have you eaten?” Kiyoko asked him,and to him it felt more like a demand. He lightly shook his head,and his hair shifted with the movement. Kiyoko gave him a known look and she patted the chair next to hers.“Sit,eat something.”
Kenma lowered himself into the chair and watched the older woman slide a plate with a muffin on it toward him,he opened his bag and started to look through it for his wallet. “Here,let me pay-.”
Kiyoko held up her hand and shook her head. “No.No payment,just eat it.” She then slightly pushed the plate closer to him. Kenma stared at her before she raised her eyebrows in a stern look “I mean it,Kozume-Kun.Just eat it.”
Kenma sighed, he knew he couldn’t argue with her. So he picked off a piece of the muffin and put it into his mouth, Kiyoko gave him an approved nod and turned back to her own food.
”I’ve got some job thing.” Kenma spoke,he didn’t really know why he felt the need to they’ll them;but he did anyway.
Kiyoko raised her eyebrows in interest and surprise. “You don’t usually do jobs,is it special?” She shared a look with Yachi and back,it told Kenma he couldn’t back out now that he’d told them.
”It’s some magazine thing for a sports magazine,they’ll have someone. Interview me once a month until competition. And they’ll have a photographer come and take some photos of my practicing and stuff.” Kenma put another piece of the muffin into his mouth and realized his bag and skates were still in his lap. He placed them onto the floor as Kiyoko finished her own bite.
“How did your coach convince you to do that? You don’t like interviews.” Kenma pursed his lips as he looked up to her,and she tilted her head with a smile that told him she knew he took her advice “The company is paying for your new skates,aren’t they?” He nodded “Thank gods, I was scared you’d get hurt if you kept using those skates.” She motions towards the floor where Kenma had just placed the skates.
“Yeah,I’d rather not retire before I even hit twenty-five,thanks.” Both girls chuckled at him,and Yachi got up to throw her garbage away into the can.
”I’m also glad you’re doing this magazine thing,you need to branch out and do more things.” Kiyoko tells him and he groans,she laughs “I promise I’m not trying to act motherly, I just really am glad you’re doing this is all.”
”You’re embarrassing.” Kenma grumbled and he stood up,he picked up his things as Kiyoko yelled after him that she was ‘just saying’ and Kenma turned and stuck his tongue out at her as he entered the rink stadium.
”Kozume-Kun!” His coach rushed toward him as he closed the door behind him “You’re just in time! The interviewer and the photographer are here,they’d like to meet you.”
”Okay…” Kenma raised to his tiptoes to attempt to see the two guests,he could only see their figures against the bright white of the ice rink. He followed his coach through the isles between all the seats.
“Uh,actually-.” His coach tripped over a chair stand that stuck out and he composed himself quickly,and he flushed in embarrassment “The photographer guy,he said he knows-well,knew- you in highschool.”
Kenma’s steps faltered for a moment,and he blinked at his coach “He…knew me?” His coach nodded.“Did you get his name?”
The man shook his head as they bearded their guest’s figures in the slightly dark area.“No,but he’s tall with dark hair and he’s rather charming.”
Kenma stopped dead in his tracks just as they rounded the last aisle of seats,and he blinked at his coach “Dark…tall…” Kenma felt his heart start to pound in his chest “No…no,no—coach,tell me it’s not-.”
His face hadn’t really changed,but it was now more defined with age and maturity,and his grin when he saw Kenma was nearly identical.
”Hello,Kenma.” The man teased as he finished playing with the setting on his camera “Long time no see.”
He thought he was seeing things for a bit,and he rubbed his eyes to check if they had tricked him.The face stayed the same as he blinked away the swirls of colors that he’d created when he rubbed his eyes too hard,but his eyes were correct.
Kuroo Tetsuro.