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Goshiki was panting as he held his arms out wide and bowed his head slightly, finishing his routine. The lights that were previously dimmed for dramatic effect turned back on. Applause started slowly, but then the roar of the crowd was raised until it was a thundering cry of clapping and whistles. He heaved slightly, his shoulders relaxing and his feet turned back to face the judges instead of being held outwards away from them. This was his first short program skate in a while. Instead of looking to the judges however, he looked upwards to see Y/n clapping, when their eyes met, she blew him a kiss and he turned away shyly, still appreciating the gesture of affection.
This was years after the pair had gotten together though. Because just as everything else, a good partnership must start from somewhere. And theirs started with an arranged partnership for the 2018 Olympics.
Goshiki held his duffle bag close to his body, walking into the building, the chill of the ice hitting his nose, turning it pink. Closing his eyes, he sighed and inhaled the smell of the ice, it's a cold and bitter smell but one he had grown to adore. When he opened his eyes, he spotted his coach, who was staring at the rink. A girl was currently occupying it.
His partner was in the rink. They hadn’t ever met before, so this was going to be the first time they were skating together. Goshiki would be using his coach, and Y/n would be using her choreographer for the duration of the partnership.
This partnership was all anyone in the skating world could talk about. New and upcoming short program star Goshiki Tsutomu pairing with the ever elegant and persistent winner of women’s single skating L/n Y/n. She’s a skilled spinner, while Goshiki has a natural talent for jumps. A combination of this magnitude was bound to be a perfect match.
Goshiki ran up to his coach, who just signaled for him to get his skates on. While he started pulling off his shoes and started to put his skates on, he saw her spin. Her back arched to perfection and her head tilted to the right as her skates skidded flakes of ice around her feet. Then she took off.
Chasing after nothing she skated around the rim of the rink, switching from facing forwards to skating backwards. Her arms trailing up her body before slamming outwards in a show of anger. She crouched down and held her leg outwards as she spun in a tight circle before getting back up and jumping a double axel.
“She’s perfect.” He whispered aloud. His coach just gave a small grunt before urging him to get onto the ice. He got on, wavering for a moment from the sleek frozen water beneath his feet, he regained his foot before bolting off to chase after her.
“Hello!” He shouted. Goshiki could see a short grin spread onto her face as she leaned forward to extend her leg out and twirl in yet another perfect twist.
“Hello, Goshiki right?” She set her foot down and skated over to him, going around him in a circle with her hand placed on his chin turning him around with her. “You have the best eyes for skating.”
Goshiki felt a blush creep onto his face. She confused him, but also thrilled him in the best possible ways. “How exactly do I have the best eyes for skating?” He chuckled before grabbing a hold of her arm and then reaching out to hold onto her shoulder as he spun them around, Y/n copying his motions and holding onto his shoulder as well.
“Your eyes are brown enough to see the emotion in them, yet dark enough to manipulate which emotion the person who looks at them sees. Therefore, they are perfect.” Goshiki swallows thickly, his throat feeling dry. She leaned closer and held onto his face with both of her hands before letting go and twirling around fast, Goshiki caught on after a moment and spun her around by grabbing onto her hips and spinning them. He lifted her slightly and she leaped outwards, Goshiki trailing after her before doing a double axel and then going in for a jump and twisting his ankles around to do a spin mid-air.
“I’ve never skated with a partner before, I usually do just the short program.” He had to call out again seeing as she was too fast and had already begun to get close to the ice and ran her hand along the floor as she skated into an oval shape.
“Ah,” She exclaimed before skating in close to him and holding onto his face, yet again. He lifted her and she balanced her torso lightly on his shoulder. “So, you're a virgin.”
Goshiki almost dropped her from how stunned he was. He spluttered for a moment, when she cradled his face and pretended to stare into it longingly, she continued, “A pairs skating virgin. Unless of course...” She trails off with a devilish smirk.
She raced off to exit the rink, finally seeing her choreographer. Goshiki still felt the pull to keep skating with her. He wanted to keep skating with her, even if they hadn’t prepared a routine it still seemed as if she was preforming for a large audience, trying her best to remain completely in character. But something in him told him that her flirty nature wasn’t an act.
The lights went back to being bright. Y/n exhaled heavily as sweat dripped from her forehead and ran down her loose t-shirt. Goshiki was sure he didn’t look any better, his breaths taking a toll on his heartbeat as he tried to slow it down. Y/n laughed lightly before patting the side of his face making a remark, “You know, I think I like seeing you like this. All sweaty and flushed. It’s a good look on you.” She skated off, resting her arms on the padded gating before wrapping a towel around her neck and drinking half of her water bottle. She left Goshiki with a redder face then he had had before and looking like the definition of embarrassed, seeing as he had resorted to covering his face with his hands.
Goshiki went over to where Y/n was standing, but instead of looking tired she looked furious.
“How do you feel about staging a kiss for this routine?” The choreographer asked, not really asking Goshiki or Y/n, but rather Goshiki’s coach.
“As long as it works with the piece, I am fine with a kiss.” The coach stated before looking through his clipboard and writing down some statements for both Y/n and Goshiki to review from this practice of their routine.
Y/n glared daggers at her choreographer before complaining, “You've never made me kiss anyone before in any of my routines. Why is this one different?” Goshiki felt upset at the fact that she didn’t want to kiss him. Over the weeks of training, and going out to eat together after practice, Goshiki had grown attached to her. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to be her partner. The truth was that he wanted to be her partner both on and off the ice.
“This piece is more,” The choreographer paused, looking for the right words, “More sensual, than some of your other pieces. A kiss is exactly what is needed.”
Y/n’s next words dripped with poison, “Fine.” Her top teeth biting onto her bottom lip and the air practically hissed from her mouth. She pushed off from her right foot and started her cool-down skate, stretching her arms by holding them outwards across her body. Goshiki was upset, rightfully so. He also kicked off and followed her.
“Why don’t you want to kiss me?” He asked. They weren’t across the rink, far apart from each other, they were close, for the first time since Goshiki had met Y/n, she let him get closer.
“Because you don’t want to kiss me either.” She said it as if it was the only truth in the whole world. She tried to kick off away again. But Goshiki held onto her.
“I never said that.” With his words he knew that he had confessed. Y/n understood that what he was saying was a confession just from looking into his eyes.
“I don’t want a stage kiss to be our first kiss though.” Her mood lightened as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Goshiki felt uncomfortably warm, but he liked it. Goshiki lifted her up slightly and started skating backwards, mimicking the last component of their routine. Bumping their noses together slightly, Goshiki could feel his heart race. Y/n slid her tongue out to lightly wet her lips. She kissed him. Both of their lips chapped and dry from all the time they had spent skating on the ice. But it was a perfect kiss nonetheless.
The audience gasped. One single red light focused in on the very beginning of their routine, Y/n doing a quick Lutz and double axel as she charged forward to Goshiki. Goshiki copied her movements, their synchronized actions in perfect time. She ran her hands along the length of her body, before leaning her back against Goshiki’s chest, he leaned down and bushed his lips against her ear, “Ready?” His hand brushing over hers, their rings shining under the crimson colored lighting.
She breathed out, “I'm always ready when I’m with you.” He held back a grin.
And the music began.