#ryan&macey

They had made their way to the rink and sat at the bleachers. Eira began to lace up her skates then headed over to the ice. Kuon walked up to the rink barrier that divided the floor of the bleachers from the ice. “Eira,” he called before she could make it to the middle of the rink. She skated back towards him with a curious look. The barrier between them wouldn’t get in the way as he put his hands over the board, leaned in and kissed her. Having his eyes closed, he moved his hand to rest over hers. Eira was taken aback a moment, her eyes wide until she gradually closed them, reciprocating the kiss until Kuon broke the short moment. Eira could only blink at him as he smiled. “Good luck,” he said warmly. Eira grew a bashful smile in return and hurriedly skated out to the ice to mask the redness coming to her face. “Eira’s practicing her free skate and her short program. Ah, I’m so excited for her official debut I can’t stand it,” Jade said as she remained sitting on the bleacher as she crossed her arms. “The free skate is the longer of the two so it’s good to get it over with.”

Eira soon assumed her readied position and took in a deep breath. She then looked up at Jade and gave a short nod, signaling her to begin the music. She skated her routine for the song she sang herself for a previous event at Ryan’s school. She skated focused and elegantly throughout. Kuon watched with fixed eyes on her. Half-nervous at the possibility of her falling. He cringed slightly after each jump she performed. Jade gave a short chuckle. “Is this your first time seeing this in action? You don’t have to worry. She’s practiced this too many times to count. And if, on the most impossible circumstance, she does fall it’s nothing to just get back up and keep going,” she assured. “Huh, ok,” Kuon responded, her words managing to make him feel somewhat better. He turned back to watch Eira for the rest of her program until she ended with her finishing pose. You could see her attempt to catch her breath but her facial expression remained unfazed. Jade and Kuon clapped shortly, making Eira respond with a playful bow. Jade waited a moment for Eira to regain her breath before she played the next song for her short program. “Alright Eira, this is the one we’re getting the hang of. Focus and don’t think too much about the negatives,” Jade called out to her as she soon began the music. “Is she having trouble with this one?” Kuon asked as he turned to look at her again. “Ah yeah. She really wanted to use this song but it was difficult to come up with a good routine for it. It’s more upbeat, electropop, more dance than like.. interpretive. So what we got is an interesting attempt at a mixture of both elegant and dance which manages to trip her up,” Jade explained. Kuon furrowed his brows then turned to look at Eira’s routine. He noticed that her facial expression was more tense than how it was in her first routine. As the music began its first minute, it was a slow tempo which allowed Eira to complete a successful jump before the lyrics were heard. Kuon raised a brow and smirked. ‘Is that Ryan’s voice?’ He thought to himself as his smirk grew to a smile.

As the song continued Eira was able to perform spins and skate gracefully until they heard a beat come in which cued Eira for another jump that she performed prematurely, causing her to slip up before quickly recovering her balance and continuing on. Her moves became more complicated and fast, which looked impressive and matched the music, but seemed hard to handle. A break came as the music slowed down and a long note was held in the song. ‘Ryan can sing like that?’ Kuon thought being impressed at the siblings’ talents being used together. The song had slow moments where it seemed Eira became more relaxed and comfortable until the fast parts came again. After the song ended, Eira couldn’t keep her finishing pose as she bent down and put her hands to her knees as she caught her breath. “Eira?” Kuon called out to her as he raised an arm in front of him. She looked up at him then gave a smirk, reassuring him she was ok.

Later, they all went to take a break and sat at the bleachers. Eira put on her white and pink hoodie as Kuon bought hot chocolate for the three of them. “So what was that song for your short? I’ve never heard it,” Kuon asked with a smile. “Oh, it’s Ryan’s cover of a song he’s writing for Macey. He wanted to sing it himself as a test and oof, he could pull it off. But he insists on making it just for Macey. That her voice might compliment it a bit more he says,” Eira explained. “His version is just for you. That’s really cool of him,” he said. Eira nodded. They paused a moment as they took a sip from their drinks. “You know… I could probably help you with it,” he continued with a small smile. Eira turned to him with a raised brow. “Your program. I could teach you some stuff and you could even teach me. What do ya say?” He asked as he raised his cup to her. She hesitated a moment before Jade quickly came in and lifted her cup as well. “Oh thank god! Yes! Anything!” She said enthusiastically. Eira laughed shortly. “Alright. Let’s give it a go,” she said as she completed their cups coming together.

“So then, what are we doing first exactly?” Eira asked as she let down her hair then moved to hold Kuon’s hand, walking out of the rink together. “Well, if we’re gonna do this, you’re heading to my place of expertise,” He said in a confident tone. “You have an area of expertise here in New Athens? Wouldn’t your stuff be in Yumemi?” She asked unsurely. “No don’t worry. I take my expertise on the go. Kaze follows me everywhere,” he said. “Right..” Eira responded with an amused roll of her eyes. Kuon had walked to the rink from the hotel him and Kaze were staying in for their visit. It wasn’t a far distance so they walked back to the room he was staying in. They went up to the room as Kuon unlocked the door and abruptly swung it open. “Kaze! Get up you bum we’ve got work to do,” he called obnoxiously, knowing his brother would be asleep. Kaze jolted awake, making him sit up on the couch he was laying on. “Ah I’m up!” He said in a startled tone. A few cans fell to the floor and clattered. Eira went to pick up one of the cans and read the label. It was a popular type of energy drink. She walked up to Kuon and let him read the can as well. After he read the label, he walked up to Kaze and moderately slapped him behind the head. “Ow what the heck?” Kaze said as he rubbed his head. “What are you doing making yourself stay up again? You’re gonna get yourself sick again and who’s going to have to buy the flu medicine… again!” Kuon said. “No no don’t worry! Honestly, these are just from last night I swear. I haven’t been doing this for like nights in a row. I was just working on some new stuff for when we get back to Yumemi. This place is giving me new inspirations that are fueling me,” Kaze explained. Kuon went and pulled him by his arm to stand him up. He eyed him a moment until he brought him into a close hug. “Alright I believe you. Just try not to do anything crazy,” Kuon said. “But that’s what I’m all about,” Kaze joked as he hugged him back. “You know what I mean,” Kuon said more seriously. “I know,” Kaze responded seriously as well. They broke the hug then glanced over to Eira who only watched on.

“So what work did you say we have to do?” Kaze said as he went to sit on the couch again. “Ah for you, never mind. You clearly need to catch up on your sleep now. Wake up at a reasonable time and sleep again at a good time too to get your sleep schedule back in order,” Kuon instructed as he closed Kaze’s laptop and put it under his arm. “Yes dad,” He joked as he gave a fake salute. Kuon put his hand over his brother’s eyes and pushed him to lay down across the couch once again. “Rest up, Kaze. So that after I can see what you put together,” Eira said with a wink. Kaze smiled and nodded before closing his eyes. Kuon went to the bedroom and grabbed a duffle bag. He then took Eira’s hand and lead her out of the hotel room.

“What’s all that for?” Eira asked as she put her own duffle bag she had brought from skating besides his in the back seat of his car. “Do you know how to fight?” Kuon asked with a smile as he turned on the car. “Um.. kick boxing classes since before college, why?” She asked. ‘Oh man she could beat me up if she wanted to!’ Kuon thought to himself. “Oh! W-well then you’re already a step ahead! Dance is a combination of a lot of stuff and martial arts and fighting is one of them. We’re going to train up at my kind of gym,” he said surely. “And the laptop?” She asked pointing to it on her lap. “Music,” he responded. They soon drove to a recreational facility where it was open to use if you had a membership there. “Oh, I don’t have a NAFA membership..” Eira said as they got out of the car and walked to the building. “That’s ok, I have my membership from the one in Yumemi, YMFA. They’ll let you in anywhere and you can sign up under me as a guest,” he said surely. They walked in and were greeted by the woman at the desk. “Welcome to the New Athens Fitness Association. Membership card please?” She asked politely. “I came from Yumemi, I have the membership from the branch up there is that ok?” Kuon asked as he showed his card to her. “Totally fine, sir. Go on ahead,” she said. Kuon soon lead Eira to the fitness room after passing various studios and even a large swimming pool. “Ok! You already have fitness clothes on so I’ll get changed and we’ll work,” he said surely.

After they were ready, Kuon turned on the music and began to train with Eira. There would be moments when she would have to catch up with him and times where he would have to catch up with her. But then there would be that close moment where they would be in sync. They would jab and high-kick at their punching bag as they stood on opposite sides of it. After they had that training done, Kuon began to show her some of the dance moves he uses for his own dance group competitions. Eira put in the song she was using for her program and skipped to the fast paced parts to see what they could put together. Kuon would teach her how to do certain steps and how to perform complicated turns until she got the hang of it. After she had gotten their practice in, Eira changed the song to the slower pieces that she was more confident in and began to teach him a thing or two about her own experience. He would struggle with keeping his balance, causing her to laugh out loud. Kuon looked at her with a warm smile, watching how he was actually able to bring out a looser side of her. As they tried to practice on Kuon’s balance a final time, he began to fall to the ground before he dragged her down with him. They laughed a while as they lay on the floor. Kuon then opened his eyes to look at her. Noticing the silence, Eira opened her eyes as well. “Can I kiss you?” He asked in a warm tone. Eira rolled her eyes and chuckled before he tilted his head up and kissed her. They shared their moment until the double doors opened abruptly. “There you guys are! Are you ready because we need to get more practice in!” Jade said before she looked down at them. They looked back at her with wide surprised eyes. “Oh uh, am I interrupting something?”

The evening soon came and they made their way back to the ice rink. They greeted Rick and invited him to watch Eira’s attempt at perfecting her program. Kaze had stopped in as well and made his way into the rink. Jade and Rick went to sit on the bleachers while Kaze went to stand beside Kuon by the rink barrier. He fist bumped him shortly to greet him before they turned to look at Eira. Kuon looked on at her with eagerness for her to begin, gripping the barrier beneath his hands. Eira skated to the center of the ice as she tied her hair up once again. She took a breath then looked up at Kuon and gave a nod. He pressed play as the music began. The first minute of the song was the slow piece so Eira performed it with ease with small turns and skating. She landed a small jump before the lyrics began and continued to skate until the beat was set to come in. Once the beat came she performed her jump, landing it instantly. They all cheered excitedly as Eira continued, a smile growing on her face. She performed a smooth and quick step sequence with the beat of the music, incorporating turns and twirls. Once the music changed she performed another jump, landing it as well before going into a long scratch spin, going with the first long held note of the song. She then began to skate gracefully to go with the music that changed to a slower tempo. Kuon watched on with amazement and eagerness in his eyes. The music soon began to pick up again, cueing Eira for another jump, again landing it. She then went to the fast footwork once again, incorporating her arms to show she was dancing. The song was just about over as she performed the final jump before spinning at top speed to go with the final note being held in the song. Her spinning began to slow as only the small bit of instrumental was left before ending on her finishing pose. They all stood and cheered loudly, making Eira put her hands over her mouth in excitement but she still managed to give a short bow.

Eira made it over to the floor and was quickly hugged by Kuon and Kaze. “Hey I heard you were having a rough time with your stuff. If you were I’d never be able to tell! You did awesome!” Kaze said. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “Eira! You’re so ready to kick this all the way home!” “Yeah, I’m impressed. Keep at it,” Jade and Rick came in. Her face began to flush at the attention she was receiving. “Hey, you mind if I share this moment?” Eira said. “Let’s do it!” Kaze said. Eira pulled her phone from her pocket, held it up, and took a group picture of all of them together. “First successful run through of my new short program. Can’t wait for the debut,” Eira read her post out loud before posting.