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Kageyama’s entire face contorted into a cocktail of curiosity and trepidation, and Suga couldn’t help but chuckle. “Come on, Tobio. It’s tradition. It’ll be fun.”
Nose wrinkling, Kageyama shook his head. “I don’t skate, Suga-san. I don’t know how.”
“Everybody has to learn.” Even as he cajoled his boyfriend into indulging in one of Suga’s favorite parts of winter break, he propelled Kageyama toward the rink in downtown Sendai, where cheery music was playing on speakers mounted onto nearby streetlamps.
However, Kageyama’s objections went no further, and they were soon lacing up rented skates and teetering carefully toward the ice.
Suga bit back a giggle as he watched Kageyama put a foot on the ice, take it right back, and repeat. Sneaking up behind him, Suga put his hands on Kageyama’s hips and whispered into his ear, “All you have to do is take that first step.” Plucking a kiss on his cheek, he added, “I believe in you.”
Slowly, the tension melted out of Kageyama, and he took his first proper step onto the ice.
Suga took Kageyama’s hand. “Follow my lead. Do what I do.” He went through the most basic motion of skating, and his smile bloomed into a grin when Kageyama mirrored his every motion with that freakish ability of his to absorb information instantly.
They wobbled around the rink a few times, and Kageyama’s shaking baby deer legs slowly and surely lost their dependence on Suga’s superior balance honed by a decade of practice. When they coasted to a stop on the side nearest to the hot beverage cart, Kageyama looked over at Suga with his bright blue eyes alight.
“I did it.” His chest puffed and his back straightened, and Suga couldn’t bite back a laugh.
“I like this Tobio better than Negativity-kun who didn’t want to try.” Suga elbowed Kageyama in the side, knocking the wind out of him and making him list dangerously on the edges of his blades. “C’mon, I’ll buy you some milk tea.”
Suga bought drinks while Kageyama claimed a table, and they sat shoulder to shoulder overlooking the other skaters churning out laps at various levels of skill.
Kageyama put down his drink and asked, “Who taught you to skate?”
His brow raising at the question, Suga offered hesitantly, “My mom. Why?”
“I skated once before.” Kageyama’s head drooped, and he fixed his gaze on his hands as he wrung them and fidgeted. “A long time ago.”
“Oh?” Suga covered Kageyama’s nervous ones with his and stilled them. “When you said you don’t skate, I assumed —”
Kageyama’s lip curled in distaste. “I was six. My mom was sick on the day she was going to take me skating for the first time, but she knew how much I really wanted to go, so she talked my dad into taking me.”
Suga held his breath. Kageyama didn’t talk about his home life often, but the patches of information he had received didn’t paint a very good picture. Especially when it came to his father. Kageyama barely even mentioned his dad, and Suga knew what this conversation was costing. ‘You don’t have to tell me if you —”
“He didn’t want to go, but he did. We were there for about a half an hour before he got a call from work. They wanted him to go in for a meeting.” Kageyama’s voice cracked. “So he left.”
Frowning, Suga squeezed Kageyama’s hand. “I’m sorry your day got cut short like that. It’s hard to have a —”
Kageyama shook his head vigorously. “No. He left. Not ‘we’.”
“You mean he —” Suga’s eyes flew open wide and horrified, and he flung his arms around Kageyama. “You must have been so scared.”
Stiff in Suga’s embrace, Kageyama ground out, “I was there by myself until it was dark out. Finally, the guy who rented out the skates noticed a pair missing and found me curled up in a corner trying to keep warm.”
Tears prickled in Suga’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Tobio. I shouldn’t have made you do this. I just thought you were nervous and —”
Kageyama pressed a finger to Suga’s lips and gave him a hint of a smile. “I got to spend time with you, and you won’t leave me here alone.”
Suga kissed Kageyama’s finger and smiled. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“Let’s go again.” Kageyama stood and offered a hand to Suga.
Suga accepted it and nodded. “Thought you’d never ask.”