Skating on Thin Ice - Yon (Hesitant Steps)
A week later, the semester started and Ichigo turned in his article to Shuuhei. As their majors were mostly different, all of them had quite different timetables. Nonetheless, that did not stop Ichigo from meeting up with various groups of people for lunch on different days. In fact, he saw more of everybody except Toushirou.
It was only on a Saturday that he met the white haired skater practicing at the rink. In the first week, the rink booking schedule was sufficiently unreliable that his team only practiced on the college’s rink instead of using Byakuya’s private rink as well. They had only exchanged greetings then and Toushirou had rejected his invitation to go out for dinner, stating that he had work to do.
That night, he immediately messaged Rangiku, asking if she had a copy of Toushirou’s timetable. Although they were both different majors, hers sociology and him a double major in history and philosophy, most of their classes were held in the same buildings. A biology major, Ichigo’s classes were held in a slightly different part of the campus.
Two days later, when he met Rangiku together with some of his teammates for lunch, she passed him a copy of his timetable, neatly annotated with what she had found out about his practice times. “Thank you,” he muttered, wanting to keep it immediately.
Renji had however caught sight of it and immediately snatched it out of his hands. “Why, why, whose timetable is this? I spot something called the History of Philosophy on it.” Grinning, the taller redhead held it out of reach of Ichigo.
Scowling, Ichigo made an attempt to get it before deciding to reply before the rest of his teammates turned up. “Renji, look it’s… er… Toushirou’s. Please return it.”
“You’re no fun, Ichi.” Renji sulked briefly, having expected more resistance before returning the timetable intact, knowing it was important to the orange haired teenager.
Retrieving his box file, Ichigo slotted the timetable in and returned the plastic file to his bag. Timetable safe, he then glared at the redhead and remarked sarcastically. “Well, I think this doesn’t compare to how you have Byakuya’s schedule memorised so well. You’re probably more up to date than Rukia and even his secretary. I bet you’ll ace any test on it.”
“Why you!”
Before Renji could think of a suitable reply, the juniors that made up the first team came walking down the corridor, together with Yumichika. “Hey Shuuhei, Kira, Ikkaku, Yumi. Chad’s busy with something today, so he asked us to go ahead without him.” Ichigo called out.
“Okay. Where’re we headed to today?” Shuuhei asked as the group continued down the corridor, with Renji settling for a punch to the goalkeeper’s arm instead.
~~~
With schedule in hand, Ichigo managed to find two other suitable time slots where he could conveniently appear during the white haired junior’s skating practice. Toushirou had Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons off; coincidentally, both his afternoon class and Toushirou’s first class on Wednesday started at the same time. That meant he had a chance of asking the skater out for lunch before they made their way to school.
Together with the practice he attended on Saturdays before his own ice hockey practice later, it made for three chances a week and Ichigo believed that his persistence would eventually break down the barriers Toushirou had erected around himself.
August flowed into September, October then November. For college, Ichigo had tutorials, studying and the weekly lab reports, as well as the additional reading he was doing for medical school. As the first team goalkeeper, he had to attend the thrice weekly or more practices as they prepared for their season starting October, then came their regular season with games every weekend, and twice weekly practices. In addition, being the incoming Vice Captain of the team, he also had to learn some of the administration duties.
Together with his attempts at going after Toushirou, Ichigo was perpetually busy. It was a delicate balance yet he enjoyed it, for his team was performing splendidly on the ice and his efforts at reaching out to the white haired skater were starting to pay off.
Even though he had missed the New England regional qualifiers because it coincided with the second game of their season, it seemed that his message then had finally broken a hole in the icy walls of Toushirou’s personality. He had called Rukia, who had accompanied Toushirou, before his game and learnt that the white haired skater had easily qualified as the top competitor for the next round.
In the locker room just before the game was about the start, the orange haired goalkeeper hastily typed a message on his cell phone before sending it out. "Sorry I didn’t manage to catch you in action. Congrats on qualifying! =)"
Since then, Toushirou had been slightly more responsive to having meals with him and occasionally joined him and the rest of the ice hockey team for dinner after their practice. Despite this, they still hardly met in college given their respective busy schedules.
~~~
What Ichigo considered the next ‘breakthrough’ in their relationship happened one day during practice.
It was one of the rare weekends that he did not have a game and the team had been given the day off, having kept their unbeaten record since the start of the season. It was however the weekend before Toushirou’s Eastern sectionals and it had been easy for Ichigo to decide to catch up on his reading at the rink while he watched the white haired skater practice.
Having decided to sleep in slightly later, it was an unusually angsty Toushirou that he saw at the rink when he entered almost an hour later than his usual time. He had learnt how to read the white haired skater’s moods over time and when his morning greeting had not received the slightest acknowledgement, Ichigo knew something was not right.
Choosing a seat closer to the rink, the biology major took out a book on the endocrine system, but decided not to put his headphones on. His decision was proven right when he picked up growls, hisses and the ungainly clatter of skates on the ice surface while he read, picking up from where he had stopped the night before.
With things between them going slow but seemingly steady, or at least Ichigo thought, it was rather impossible for him to head over and hug Toushirou, despite how much he would have liked to. ‘I’m willing to bet that he doesn’t want any help whatsoever now.’
The next time an awkward noise came from the ice, Ichigo looked up and met the white haired skater’s gaze. Obviously scowling, turquoise met and held brown eyes for a moment before Toushirou turned away with a ‘Tsk’ noise. ‘It looks like I need to plan something or he’s gonna be like this for the rest of the day.’
Returning to his book, the orange haired sophomore concentrated on finishing the current chapter he was reading before thinking of a plan. After coming up with something he knew would have met with Rangiku’s approval, he waited for the ideal moment to put it into the place.
When Toushirou’s skates clattered on the ice in an awkward landing for what seemed the umpteenth time, Ichigo stood up and called out, “Shall we go for lunch? I’m kinda hungry already.”
Seeing the skater hesitate for a moment, he continued, even though it was a little early for lunch, “We’re not going to having practice today, so you can actually practice later after lunch. Please?”
Grudgingly the white haired skater headed for the stands where his bag was. Seating down, he pulled off his skates and changed into shoes. Still frowning and obviously thinking of whatever was bothering him, Ichigo asked, “Where do you want to go for lunch?”
Seeing Toushirou shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, he continued, “Let’s go to that Japanese place two blocks down. I feel like having that today.” Selecting that place since he knew the skater loved the slices of watermelon they offered with the set meals, Ichigo was surprised when he did not pick up any sign of increased interest or muted excitement that usually accompanied that choice. ‘This really must be something big.’
Ten minutes later, they were seated in the small Japanese eatery and waiting for their food. They did not talk much even normally, but today was different - Toushirou had a look of intense concentration on his face together with an irritated frown. That bothered Ichigo. ‘What exactly is he thinking about? Should I ask?’
The orange haired sophomore was not sure if the white haired skater considered him close enough to ask about something that seemed personal. ‘…Why the hell am I thinking so much? I’ll just ask. Even if he doesn’t answer, at least I’ve tried.’ Just as he opened his mouth, the motherly waitress came with their orders. “Here’s your unagi bento and your teriyaki bento. Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you.” Ichigo replied, watching as Toushirou nodded his head absent-mindedly before he picked up the chopsticks and began eating. Ichigo picked up his set of chopsticks and transferred the two slices of watermelon to the skater’s bento box, where they joined the two slices there already. “For you.”
“…Hn.” It sounded normal, but was not accompanied by the usual sparkle in turquoise eyes.
“Okay then. We’re going for dessert after this. You have the rest of the afternoon to practice anyway.”
“…Hn.”
Listening to yet another distracted grunt, Ichigo decided to tuck into his lunch first. He could work out things over dessert later; after all, Toushirou had agreed, he already had plans for it, and besides, he was hungry.
~~~
“Where are we going? I need to practice.” Toushirou asked as they took a different turn that led away from the rink after their lunch.
“Well, you agreed on coming for dessert since you have the rest of the afternoon to practice. It’s not going to take long and you need a little time for the food to digest first.” Ichigo replied calmly, having already expected the question.
“Make it quick then.” The white haired skater huffed as he followed along.
A few turns and several streets down, they stopped in front of a small, tastefully decorated shop. Opening the door as a bell rang out, crystal clear, Ichigo called out, “Afternoon. Isane? Kiyone? Anyone?”
“Sorry, just give us a minute. Have a look first,” came a familiar voice from inside the shop.
“No problem. We’ll just take a look then.” Ichigo replied as he watched the white haired skater take in the shop with his usual observant gaze.
It was a small dessert shop, with the cashier facing the door. Next to it stood the ice cream chiller and the cake display chiller, and on the blackboards on the wall behind, was the menu detailed in chalk. Aside from ice cream, which was not all that popular during winter, the shop also sold cakes, teas and hot chocolate.
Wooden tables and chairs made up the seating area, while the walls of the shop were painted a sky blue, interspersed with white, making it seem as if one was seated amongst the clouds.
The same voice called out again. “Hi, good afternoon, welcome to Itegumo. What would you like... Kurosaki-kun?”
Ichigo sounded equally surprised at seeing the other sophomore, also his senior high classmate and friend. “Orihime? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I’m working part time here.” The orange haired girl replied with a smile. “Is there anything I can help with? Kiyone-san is behind putting the finishing touches on a cake.”
Turning to the white haired skater who was observing the exchange, Ichigo asked, “Toushirou, do you want to try their ice cream? It’s excellent. They have macha, goma, kokuto and yuzu,” reeling off several Japanese flavours that could not be found in most ice cream places.
“Would you like to try any? You can try all of them before you make your choice. We make all the ice cream here ourselves.” The cheerful girl smiled at the white haired boy, who was intently looking at the various ice cream.
“Orihime, please help me open the door to the cake display,” came another voice from the doorway behind the chillers.
“Right away,” came the reply before the orange haired girl turned to Toushirou and handed him a sample. “Please excuse me for a moment.”
Ichigo watched as the skater nodded while he tasted the ice cream before being interrupted by the second voice, its owner having made her appearance.
“Hey Ichigo, nice to see you. You’re early today. Where’s Rukia?” The dark blonde girl spoke as she fitted the cake into its slot in the display. “Thank you, Orihime.”
“Oh, I came without her today. This is Tou… er… Hitsugaya-sempai, from our college.” Ichigo changed his form of address as piercing blue-green eyes turned themselves on him in the middle of his introduction.
Kiyone smiled as she glanced at the white haired junior before turning back to Ichigo, “So what can I get you today?”
“A scoop of macha in a cone. Thanks.” Ichigo replied as he watched Orihime scoop a scoop of the cream coloured kokuto flavour before handing it to the white haired skater. ‘He’s having brown sugar. I guess he misses the stuff his grandmother makes.’
After paying for his ice cream, Ichigo seated himself opposite Toushirou and asked, “So, how’s the ice cream?”
“It’s not too bad,” came the reply, although the eager excitement in the turquoise eyes gave the skater’s mood away to the hockey player.
They settled back into a more comfortable silence this time. As they ate their ice cream, Ichigo found himself becoming slightly distracted by the sight of the skater’s pink tongue licking at the cream coloured scoop of ice cream. Deciding that it was time to ask the question now that Toushirou’s mood seemed to be better, he began, “You know, studies have shown that eating ice cream can improve your mood.”
Having gotten the full attention of the skater, he continued, “Mind if I ask what was bothering you during training and over lunch?” Following a long pause, Ichigo watched as the frown reappeared briefly before the skater replied.
“Coach Soi Fon’s original choreography called for a quadruple toe loop during the free skate, so I could upgrade one of the double toe’s to a triple. It’s been two months but…”
“You know, I haven’t heard of a skater being able to tackle your current routine after taking a three year break and practicing only about half a year before your first competition. Also, you have another two months before the nationals. You’ll be able to do it by then.” Ichigo replied with a smile.
Seeing the unconvinced expression on the skater’s face, the orange haired hockey player continued, “Rushing things doesn’t always help. You still have to work on unlocking your emotions during your skating too,” repeating something he overheard Coach Ukitake saying and earning himself a glare.
“Taking a break and coming back to it when you’re less bothered helps. Just so you know, all of us have confidence in you.” With conviction, Ichigo replied, brown eyes meeting turquoise ones, as if attempting to impress on the skater his faith in him.
“…Hn.” Turning his head away, Toushirou turned away before he began munching on the crispy cone, licking at the diminishing ice cream in between.
In the ensuing silence that followed, Ichigo spent his time observing the customers that entered as the small shop slowly filled up, sneaking glances at the white haired skater, and never failing to be distracted by the skater’s deft tongue.
Later back at the rink, Toushirou decided to try the jump once again after warming up. Throwing a glance at the orange haired figure bent over a book in a corner, he accelerated as he sped over the ice before digging into the ice and leaping into the air. As he spun in the air, time seemed to slow down momentarily as he counted silently, ‘One, two, three, four.’
Landing a little unsteadily and pushing down on the ice with his hand to regain his balance, he made a small loop before coming to a stop. ‘It seems he’s right.’ As the glimmer of a smile crossed his lips, the white haired skater decided that the ice cream had helped as he continued with his practice.
~~~
The following Sunday, having already changed into his ice hockey goalkeeper uniform, Ichigo stepped out of the locker room for a brief moment while his team members were getting changed and getting ready before their game. ‘Dialling… Rukia’, the screen of his cell phone read. ‘Why’s Rukia not picking up? It’s the third time, my game’s starting and the competition should be over.’
Pressing the button that indicated ‘End Call’, the orange haired goalkeeper looked at the time on the screen and decided to call someone else.
Four rings later, he heard a very familiar cool tone down the line. “Yes, Kurosaki?”
“Erm…” ‘Damn it, just ask him.’ “How were the Sectionals?”
“Okay. I qualified for the Nationals.”
“Congrats, Toushirou!” Ichigo replied, a grin on his face. ‘I wonder how he’s feeling now.’
“Kurosaki,” the cool voice carried an edge of irritation, “how many times do I need to tell you to call me Hitsugaya?” Then came a pause and Ichigo almost wondered if the skater had put down the phone. “Good luck for your game and thank you for calling.”
Eyes wide, Ichigo replied, “Thank you. I’ll see you when you’re back then. I need to go.”
“…Hn.” With that, the call was cut and the orange haired goalkeeper headed back to the locker room.
“Hey Ichi, it’s almost time. Why are you grinning? Who did you call just now?” Renji called out, spotting the returning goalkeeper and the phone in his hand.
“Just Rukia.” Despite that, Ichigo could not help blushing slightly as he kept his phone in the locker.
“Hey lemme see your phone. I don’t believe that.” Renji walked over, grinning.
“Coach’s here, too bad.” Ichigo replied, smirking and thanking Coach Ise for his lucky escape as he made his way over, joining the team as they gathered around their coach.
~~~
The next day, their victory was highlighted in a newly published article on the collegiate ice hockey website. “Shinou retained their unbeaten run to the season and top spot in their conference (10-3-0) as they swept their conference’s second placed Boston College (9-2-2) 5-2 in yesterday’s game. Shinou’s goalkeeper Ichigo Kurosaki made several splendid saves during the second and third halves, denying Boston any chance of forcing a draw. That moves Kurosaki up to second on the goaltending leader board. Renji Abarai, team captain, led the scoring, neatly slotting in the first goal of the game…”
That week, Ichigo invited Toushirou for Thanksgiving dinner at his house. Toushirou accepted the invitation. It was the first time since his parents’ death that he celebrated Thanksgiving.
It was only on a Saturday that he met the white haired skater practicing at the rink. In the first week, the rink booking schedule was sufficiently unreliable that his team only practiced on the college’s rink instead of using Byakuya’s private rink as well. They had only exchanged greetings then and Toushirou had rejected his invitation to go out for dinner, stating that he had work to do.
That night, he immediately messaged Rangiku, asking if she had a copy of Toushirou’s timetable. Although they were both different majors, hers sociology and him a double major in history and philosophy, most of their classes were held in the same buildings. A biology major, Ichigo’s classes were held in a slightly different part of the campus.
Two days later, when he met Rangiku together with some of his teammates for lunch, she passed him a copy of his timetable, neatly annotated with what she had found out about his practice times. “Thank you,” he muttered, wanting to keep it immediately.
Renji had however caught sight of it and immediately snatched it out of his hands. “Why, why, whose timetable is this? I spot something called the History of Philosophy on it.” Grinning, the taller redhead held it out of reach of Ichigo.
Scowling, Ichigo made an attempt to get it before deciding to reply before the rest of his teammates turned up. “Renji, look it’s… er… Toushirou’s. Please return it.”
“You’re no fun, Ichi.” Renji sulked briefly, having expected more resistance before returning the timetable intact, knowing it was important to the orange haired teenager.
Retrieving his box file, Ichigo slotted the timetable in and returned the plastic file to his bag. Timetable safe, he then glared at the redhead and remarked sarcastically. “Well, I think this doesn’t compare to how you have Byakuya’s schedule memorised so well. You’re probably more up to date than Rukia and even his secretary. I bet you’ll ace any test on it.”
“Why you!”
Before Renji could think of a suitable reply, the juniors that made up the first team came walking down the corridor, together with Yumichika. “Hey Shuuhei, Kira, Ikkaku, Yumi. Chad’s busy with something today, so he asked us to go ahead without him.” Ichigo called out.
“Okay. Where’re we headed to today?” Shuuhei asked as the group continued down the corridor, with Renji settling for a punch to the goalkeeper’s arm instead.
~~~
With schedule in hand, Ichigo managed to find two other suitable time slots where he could conveniently appear during the white haired junior’s skating practice. Toushirou had Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons off; coincidentally, both his afternoon class and Toushirou’s first class on Wednesday started at the same time. That meant he had a chance of asking the skater out for lunch before they made their way to school.
Together with the practice he attended on Saturdays before his own ice hockey practice later, it made for three chances a week and Ichigo believed that his persistence would eventually break down the barriers Toushirou had erected around himself.
August flowed into September, October then November. For college, Ichigo had tutorials, studying and the weekly lab reports, as well as the additional reading he was doing for medical school. As the first team goalkeeper, he had to attend the thrice weekly or more practices as they prepared for their season starting October, then came their regular season with games every weekend, and twice weekly practices. In addition, being the incoming Vice Captain of the team, he also had to learn some of the administration duties.
Together with his attempts at going after Toushirou, Ichigo was perpetually busy. It was a delicate balance yet he enjoyed it, for his team was performing splendidly on the ice and his efforts at reaching out to the white haired skater were starting to pay off.
Even though he had missed the New England regional qualifiers because it coincided with the second game of their season, it seemed that his message then had finally broken a hole in the icy walls of Toushirou’s personality. He had called Rukia, who had accompanied Toushirou, before his game and learnt that the white haired skater had easily qualified as the top competitor for the next round.
In the locker room just before the game was about the start, the orange haired goalkeeper hastily typed a message on his cell phone before sending it out. "Sorry I didn’t manage to catch you in action. Congrats on qualifying! =)"
Since then, Toushirou had been slightly more responsive to having meals with him and occasionally joined him and the rest of the ice hockey team for dinner after their practice. Despite this, they still hardly met in college given their respective busy schedules.
~~~
What Ichigo considered the next ‘breakthrough’ in their relationship happened one day during practice.
It was one of the rare weekends that he did not have a game and the team had been given the day off, having kept their unbeaten record since the start of the season. It was however the weekend before Toushirou’s Eastern sectionals and it had been easy for Ichigo to decide to catch up on his reading at the rink while he watched the white haired skater practice.
Having decided to sleep in slightly later, it was an unusually angsty Toushirou that he saw at the rink when he entered almost an hour later than his usual time. He had learnt how to read the white haired skater’s moods over time and when his morning greeting had not received the slightest acknowledgement, Ichigo knew something was not right.
Choosing a seat closer to the rink, the biology major took out a book on the endocrine system, but decided not to put his headphones on. His decision was proven right when he picked up growls, hisses and the ungainly clatter of skates on the ice surface while he read, picking up from where he had stopped the night before.
With things between them going slow but seemingly steady, or at least Ichigo thought, it was rather impossible for him to head over and hug Toushirou, despite how much he would have liked to. ‘I’m willing to bet that he doesn’t want any help whatsoever now.’
The next time an awkward noise came from the ice, Ichigo looked up and met the white haired skater’s gaze. Obviously scowling, turquoise met and held brown eyes for a moment before Toushirou turned away with a ‘Tsk’ noise. ‘It looks like I need to plan something or he’s gonna be like this for the rest of the day.’
Returning to his book, the orange haired sophomore concentrated on finishing the current chapter he was reading before thinking of a plan. After coming up with something he knew would have met with Rangiku’s approval, he waited for the ideal moment to put it into the place.
When Toushirou’s skates clattered on the ice in an awkward landing for what seemed the umpteenth time, Ichigo stood up and called out, “Shall we go for lunch? I’m kinda hungry already.”
Seeing the skater hesitate for a moment, he continued, even though it was a little early for lunch, “We’re not going to having practice today, so you can actually practice later after lunch. Please?”
Grudgingly the white haired skater headed for the stands where his bag was. Seating down, he pulled off his skates and changed into shoes. Still frowning and obviously thinking of whatever was bothering him, Ichigo asked, “Where do you want to go for lunch?”
Seeing Toushirou shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, he continued, “Let’s go to that Japanese place two blocks down. I feel like having that today.” Selecting that place since he knew the skater loved the slices of watermelon they offered with the set meals, Ichigo was surprised when he did not pick up any sign of increased interest or muted excitement that usually accompanied that choice. ‘This really must be something big.’
Ten minutes later, they were seated in the small Japanese eatery and waiting for their food. They did not talk much even normally, but today was different - Toushirou had a look of intense concentration on his face together with an irritated frown. That bothered Ichigo. ‘What exactly is he thinking about? Should I ask?’
The orange haired sophomore was not sure if the white haired skater considered him close enough to ask about something that seemed personal. ‘…Why the hell am I thinking so much? I’ll just ask. Even if he doesn’t answer, at least I’ve tried.’ Just as he opened his mouth, the motherly waitress came with their orders. “Here’s your unagi bento and your teriyaki bento. Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you.” Ichigo replied, watching as Toushirou nodded his head absent-mindedly before he picked up the chopsticks and began eating. Ichigo picked up his set of chopsticks and transferred the two slices of watermelon to the skater’s bento box, where they joined the two slices there already. “For you.”
“…Hn.” It sounded normal, but was not accompanied by the usual sparkle in turquoise eyes.
“Okay then. We’re going for dessert after this. You have the rest of the afternoon to practice anyway.”
“…Hn.”
Listening to yet another distracted grunt, Ichigo decided to tuck into his lunch first. He could work out things over dessert later; after all, Toushirou had agreed, he already had plans for it, and besides, he was hungry.
~~~
“Where are we going? I need to practice.” Toushirou asked as they took a different turn that led away from the rink after their lunch.
“Well, you agreed on coming for dessert since you have the rest of the afternoon to practice. It’s not going to take long and you need a little time for the food to digest first.” Ichigo replied calmly, having already expected the question.
“Make it quick then.” The white haired skater huffed as he followed along.
A few turns and several streets down, they stopped in front of a small, tastefully decorated shop. Opening the door as a bell rang out, crystal clear, Ichigo called out, “Afternoon. Isane? Kiyone? Anyone?”
“Sorry, just give us a minute. Have a look first,” came a familiar voice from inside the shop.
“No problem. We’ll just take a look then.” Ichigo replied as he watched the white haired skater take in the shop with his usual observant gaze.
It was a small dessert shop, with the cashier facing the door. Next to it stood the ice cream chiller and the cake display chiller, and on the blackboards on the wall behind, was the menu detailed in chalk. Aside from ice cream, which was not all that popular during winter, the shop also sold cakes, teas and hot chocolate.
Wooden tables and chairs made up the seating area, while the walls of the shop were painted a sky blue, interspersed with white, making it seem as if one was seated amongst the clouds.
The same voice called out again. “Hi, good afternoon, welcome to Itegumo. What would you like... Kurosaki-kun?”
Ichigo sounded equally surprised at seeing the other sophomore, also his senior high classmate and friend. “Orihime? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I’m working part time here.” The orange haired girl replied with a smile. “Is there anything I can help with? Kiyone-san is behind putting the finishing touches on a cake.”
Turning to the white haired skater who was observing the exchange, Ichigo asked, “Toushirou, do you want to try their ice cream? It’s excellent. They have macha, goma, kokuto and yuzu,” reeling off several Japanese flavours that could not be found in most ice cream places.
“Would you like to try any? You can try all of them before you make your choice. We make all the ice cream here ourselves.” The cheerful girl smiled at the white haired boy, who was intently looking at the various ice cream.
“Orihime, please help me open the door to the cake display,” came another voice from the doorway behind the chillers.
“Right away,” came the reply before the orange haired girl turned to Toushirou and handed him a sample. “Please excuse me for a moment.”
Ichigo watched as the skater nodded while he tasted the ice cream before being interrupted by the second voice, its owner having made her appearance.
“Hey Ichigo, nice to see you. You’re early today. Where’s Rukia?” The dark blonde girl spoke as she fitted the cake into its slot in the display. “Thank you, Orihime.”
“Oh, I came without her today. This is Tou… er… Hitsugaya-sempai, from our college.” Ichigo changed his form of address as piercing blue-green eyes turned themselves on him in the middle of his introduction.
Kiyone smiled as she glanced at the white haired junior before turning back to Ichigo, “So what can I get you today?”
“A scoop of macha in a cone. Thanks.” Ichigo replied as he watched Orihime scoop a scoop of the cream coloured kokuto flavour before handing it to the white haired skater. ‘He’s having brown sugar. I guess he misses the stuff his grandmother makes.’
After paying for his ice cream, Ichigo seated himself opposite Toushirou and asked, “So, how’s the ice cream?”
“It’s not too bad,” came the reply, although the eager excitement in the turquoise eyes gave the skater’s mood away to the hockey player.
They settled back into a more comfortable silence this time. As they ate their ice cream, Ichigo found himself becoming slightly distracted by the sight of the skater’s pink tongue licking at the cream coloured scoop of ice cream. Deciding that it was time to ask the question now that Toushirou’s mood seemed to be better, he began, “You know, studies have shown that eating ice cream can improve your mood.”
Having gotten the full attention of the skater, he continued, “Mind if I ask what was bothering you during training and over lunch?” Following a long pause, Ichigo watched as the frown reappeared briefly before the skater replied.
“Coach Soi Fon’s original choreography called for a quadruple toe loop during the free skate, so I could upgrade one of the double toe’s to a triple. It’s been two months but…”
“You know, I haven’t heard of a skater being able to tackle your current routine after taking a three year break and practicing only about half a year before your first competition. Also, you have another two months before the nationals. You’ll be able to do it by then.” Ichigo replied with a smile.
Seeing the unconvinced expression on the skater’s face, the orange haired hockey player continued, “Rushing things doesn’t always help. You still have to work on unlocking your emotions during your skating too,” repeating something he overheard Coach Ukitake saying and earning himself a glare.
“Taking a break and coming back to it when you’re less bothered helps. Just so you know, all of us have confidence in you.” With conviction, Ichigo replied, brown eyes meeting turquoise ones, as if attempting to impress on the skater his faith in him.
“…Hn.” Turning his head away, Toushirou turned away before he began munching on the crispy cone, licking at the diminishing ice cream in between.
In the ensuing silence that followed, Ichigo spent his time observing the customers that entered as the small shop slowly filled up, sneaking glances at the white haired skater, and never failing to be distracted by the skater’s deft tongue.
Later back at the rink, Toushirou decided to try the jump once again after warming up. Throwing a glance at the orange haired figure bent over a book in a corner, he accelerated as he sped over the ice before digging into the ice and leaping into the air. As he spun in the air, time seemed to slow down momentarily as he counted silently, ‘One, two, three, four.’
Landing a little unsteadily and pushing down on the ice with his hand to regain his balance, he made a small loop before coming to a stop. ‘It seems he’s right.’ As the glimmer of a smile crossed his lips, the white haired skater decided that the ice cream had helped as he continued with his practice.
~~~
The following Sunday, having already changed into his ice hockey goalkeeper uniform, Ichigo stepped out of the locker room for a brief moment while his team members were getting changed and getting ready before their game. ‘Dialling… Rukia’, the screen of his cell phone read. ‘Why’s Rukia not picking up? It’s the third time, my game’s starting and the competition should be over.’
Pressing the button that indicated ‘End Call’, the orange haired goalkeeper looked at the time on the screen and decided to call someone else.
Four rings later, he heard a very familiar cool tone down the line. “Yes, Kurosaki?”
“Erm…” ‘Damn it, just ask him.’ “How were the Sectionals?”
“Okay. I qualified for the Nationals.”
“Congrats, Toushirou!” Ichigo replied, a grin on his face. ‘I wonder how he’s feeling now.’
“Kurosaki,” the cool voice carried an edge of irritation, “how many times do I need to tell you to call me Hitsugaya?” Then came a pause and Ichigo almost wondered if the skater had put down the phone. “Good luck for your game and thank you for calling.”
Eyes wide, Ichigo replied, “Thank you. I’ll see you when you’re back then. I need to go.”
“…Hn.” With that, the call was cut and the orange haired goalkeeper headed back to the locker room.
“Hey Ichi, it’s almost time. Why are you grinning? Who did you call just now?” Renji called out, spotting the returning goalkeeper and the phone in his hand.
“Just Rukia.” Despite that, Ichigo could not help blushing slightly as he kept his phone in the locker.
“Hey lemme see your phone. I don’t believe that.” Renji walked over, grinning.
“Coach’s here, too bad.” Ichigo replied, smirking and thanking Coach Ise for his lucky escape as he made his way over, joining the team as they gathered around their coach.
~~~
The next day, their victory was highlighted in a newly published article on the collegiate ice hockey website. “Shinou retained their unbeaten run to the season and top spot in their conference (10-3-0) as they swept their conference’s second placed Boston College (9-2-2) 5-2 in yesterday’s game. Shinou’s goalkeeper Ichigo Kurosaki made several splendid saves during the second and third halves, denying Boston any chance of forcing a draw. That moves Kurosaki up to second on the goaltending leader board. Renji Abarai, team captain, led the scoring, neatly slotting in the first goal of the game…”
That week, Ichigo invited Toushirou for Thanksgiving dinner at his house. Toushirou accepted the invitation. It was the first time since his parents’ death that he celebrated Thanksgiving.