Chapter Text
Their walk to the doctor’s room was pleasantly quiet, the only sounds disrupting the peace of the empty hall were those made by Sukuna’s heavy steps and the much lighter movements of his little brother. If he didn’t know that it was completely impossible, Sukuna could have said that he was hearing Yuuji’s nervousness in the way he was fucking walking.
It was almost distracting, but thank god he wasn’t talking at the moment, this way Sukuna could completely focus on deciphering the different sensations he could get from moving or touching his shoulder.
After a few years of dealing with the same stupid injury, he could already tell if he would need to take a break from playing or not just by the type of pain he felt. And if he was going to be forced into leaving this gaming season, he wanted to get used to the idea as soon as possible.
“God. Sukuna, I’m so so sorry.”
Ugh, there it was. Sukuna didn’t know why he kept hoping for silence when it came to his brother, but truth to be told, he had kept his mouth shut for the impressive amount of two minutes! That was an improvement.
“I didn’t know I was using so much force, I thought you’ll barely move!” The anxiety in his voice was so evident Sukuna felt his own heart quickening its beating.
How his brother could have such an impact on his emotional state was still a mystery for him.
Sukuna didn’t immediately reply, instead he took a deep breath, something he had learned to be very useful when he had to deal with the team as their captain, or even in his daily life, when he was feeling a bit on edge. He also made a conscious effort to not groan or express just how tired of the situation he truly was, adopting a more neutral and cold tone as he talked next.
“It’s fine Yuuji, It was going to happen anyways at some point. If not with you, with Choso, or Yuuta or any rival in our next game. I’m a hockey player, I know the risks of the game.”
“Yeah but-”
“Brat. Enough of that, stop torturing yourself before I give you a good reason to cry.” His brother relaxed a bit after that, the firm tone combined with his usual empty threats always worked on him.
“And don’t worry about me, it doesn’t hurt that much this time. The pain only shocked me, that’s why I fell, but all of you stupid drama queens just looove to overreact. I’m sure the doc is going to throw a heat patch at me and call it a day.”
“Hey! Don’t say that as if you were not just as much of a drama queen yourself!” Yuuji dared to lightly punch his good arm, stopping to stare at him for a second, almost as if he was searching for something. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
Sukuna would have liked to be more sure than he actually was, but he couldn’t lose hope. He couldn’t give up so easily. His shoulder had been causing him trouble for some time now, but it seemed to be less frequent as time went by, or so he wanted to believe.
What Sukuna could assure him of, was that he wasn’t planning on leaving the ice just yet. He would play for as many more years as he was capable of holding a stick.
The captain turned and offered Yuuji a soft smile, the one reserved just for family, the one he used to reassure his little brother since they were just kids and the brat was afraid of everything the world had to offer them.
“I'm 100% sure.”
After being checked, as Sukuna had predicted, the doctor established that he was fine considering his medical record and previous incidents, this time the pain had been more of a warning for Sukuna to not overexert himself rather than a real issue.
Yuuji went back to the rink feeling less anxious, and Sukuna was ordered to have a shower and see their physiotherapist before going back home. But after the massage, with a bandaid over his nose, his muscles deliciously relaxed and the heat patches already working their magic, Sukuna couldn’t think of anything other than going back to the rink.
There was no way in hell he was missing whatever thing the figure skaters were doing on the ice, not after seeing such a beautiful creature waiting for his turn on the rink.
Sukuna had been informed about the skater’s situation and even agreed to share their space with the team. He could understand the issue of not being able to practice on the ice for people like them, people who felt more comfortable with a pair of skates on their feet than walking over dry land.
The few times he had to keep himself away from the rink he had craved its chillness like a desperate man, like a suffering addict unable to get the adrenaline rush that made his world run faster as he quickly slid between faceless rivals. He missed the freezing air that filled his lungs as that familiar burning spread through his body every time he pushed his muscles to their limit.
The ice was his passion, his reason to wake up every morning and the last thing he thought of before going to sleep; and just like he had hated to be kept away from it, he knew those skaters would be hating it too. Sukuna supposed that this frustration would be even worse knowing that they were preparing themselves to participate in a big competition, as Suguru had told him.
And he was not really that interested into figure skaters, sure, they were flexible as fuck and that was hot, but to be honest, Sukuna was convinced that he was just as agile as any of those pretentious fuckers. They danced on ice, sure that was cool, pretty even, but could any of them dance on ice as they were being chased and attacked by five dudes? He thinks not.
But of course, a pretty face would always be a pretty face, and something about that guy felt… weird. It had been only a few seconds, and with everything that was going on, he couldn’t really appreciate the guy’s features, but that wild black hair, piercing green eyes and pale skin, slowly turning pink with the chilly air, it had been a rare beauty he hadn’t expected.
A beauty he felt drawn to, just as the ice rink allured him every single day.
When he entered the area surrounding the rink, he saw his teammates occupying the half at the main entry’s left side, while the three figure skaters moved around in the other, never too close to the others. These two sides were the ones usually assigned to their team and the visitor’s side respectively. Sukuna found this detail funny.
In the area surrounding the ice, near the line dividing the rink by its center, were two large benches, one per team, Getou was seated in his usual spot on their bench, and on the other, the player found a stranger attempting some sort of small talk. Suguru wasn’t really engaging with it, his gaze was focused on his players and that familiar little frown plastered on his face. Sukuna had scared him.
As he approached his coach, he scanned the ice looking for the guy with the piercing green eyes, but despite their very reduced number, he couldn’t fixate his gaze on the man for more than two seconds due to their speed and so oftenly changing trajectories.
“Sukuna.” Getou acknowledged him with concerned eyes and tension on his shoulders. “How are you? Yuuji said that you’d be heading home.”
“Yeah, well…” He sat by his side, leaning forward to try to follow the skater’s moves again. “It's not every day that I have entertainment like this.”
“They are wonderful, aren’t they?” The other man interjected excitedly. “They can perform better with the entire rink for themselves, but we are very grateful that we can share the space with you guys.”
Sukuna turned to look at, who he supposed, was the skater’s coach with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. He was not used to having a complete stranger just talking to him like they were close or like he was absolutely not special in the slightest. He had been chosen as the best hockey player of the year, thrice , what was this guy’s deal?
“Sukuna this is Gojou Satoru, former professional figure skater and current coach of the new Zen’in generation of skaters.” Suguru introduced like he was being forced to mention all of this guy’s achievements.
Sukuna could imagine the man bragging about them if Suguru hadn’t done so already for him.
“Gojou, this is Ryomen Sukuna, our team captain and ever raging star.”
“I’m not always angry, you fucking jerk!”
As he elbowed the man smirking next to him, Sukuna heard the former skater scoffing, adjusting his sunglasses as he turned to look at his disciples. Why the fuck was he wearing sunglasses inside of the fucking rink?!
They fell into a comfortable silence, but as Suguru kept watching the hockey team, Sukuna didn’t bother to dissimulate the fact that he was ignoring his own teammates in favor of focusing entirely on the opposite side of the ice, determined to study the skater’s movements as carefully as he could.
After a few more seconds, his eyes found him, and if he had been pretty before as he moved over the ice he was straight up gorgeous . A lean figure with ink black hair and the face of a cold hearted angel.
He was a beautiful contrast of black and white, a figure enveloped by the tightest clothing, something similar to what Sukuna could recognize as a pair of black leggings, a long sleeved jacket and a few more layers that peeked from underneath it, all in black. His skates were also pitch black, turning his gloves and the very little skin he had exposed into the only details that could match the ice’s paleness.
Sukuna thought that not even the purest snow could ever compare with his beauty, and as he danced to a silent song no one else but him could hear, the player felt more and more hypnotized by him. His grace, the smoothness of every little turn, every precise jump and every spin, how his body seemed to be controlled by some sort of force of nature, bending his limbs like there were no bones inside of him.
He could have excused his staring with something as simple as his sexual desires, but that was not it. His body was the epitome of perfection, of everything he could find attractive in a man or in anyone that walked this earth with a material form, and yet he knew he wasn’t utterly captivated only by his strong and long legs, by his round ass or jaw-dropping flexibility.
There was something else and he couldn’t quite place what it was.
He approached one of the other skaters and soon after the remaining one joined them and talked for a bit. Then the two girls slid to the edge of the rink and waited there, eyes following the man’s motions just as curiously as Sukuna’s own.
They were allowing him to use all the space they had, their half now empty and still, ready for the guy to enjoy as he pleased. Nearing the limit in between the two halves of the rink he stopped and turned to face the two girls, he looked down as if he was thinking about something.
He was closer now, and Sukuna could appreciate much better all the curves and lines his muscles drew under the different layers of textile. He shook his hands quickly, as if he was fighting the cold surrounding him, then, he raised his head and started to perform, using all the space he had to create some sort of circle.
As he moved forward gaining speed, he occasionally turned and moved his arms, executing what Sukuna assumed was part of a choreography. After tracing the circle a few times, he did the first jump, landing perfectly to keep moving backwards, and turn himself after a few more meters.
Even as he kept moving, going faster and faster, every shift and change, every undulating shape created by his limbs was beautiful and delicate, a dance Sukuna felt almost too intimate to be seen by strangers like him.
The way he moved over the ice made him completely forget how ruthless the surface really was, especially for players like him.
But his dance came to a stop after a new jump, one that Sukuna perceived as less smooth, he wasn’t sure of the reason, but something in that move was off. Maybe it had been the number of turns he executed as he was still in the air, or the not so fluent way he had landed afterwards, but something didn’t work.
The skater was aware of it too, since immediately after he groaned, almost so loud that he was able to hear it despite the loud crash of hockey sticks fighting for the puck barely a few meters away from him.
The skater returned to his teammates, and the white haired man finally said something that managed to catch his attention.
“Looks like little Megumi needs all the ice for himself.”
Little Megumi?
“He seems to be pretty good.” Added Suguru without much interest.
But Sukuna directed his attention at the other coach for the first time in a while, intrigued with what the man could say about such a fascinating creature like him. He wanted to know it all.
“Oh, he’s our little promise. He’s the only one good enough to have a chance to make it to the Olympics this year.”
“The Olympics!?”
Gojou widened his smile in the most twisted way, staring at Sukuna from above his sunglasses.
“You’re witnessing the rise of a new star, Ryomen. Make sure to remember his name, remember Fushiguro Megumi .”
His mind was running a million thoughts at the same time, still processing the fact that he was sharing the ice with an athlete that could make history, not as a great skater inside of their country, but as a medalist among stars from every country in the world, as a winner in the most famous sport competition.
His skills, his talent and beauty could be known worldwide, and if Sukuna had already been captivated by this young man, now he felt unworthy of being in his presence. Him, an injured hockey player, who was using borrowed time to keep pushing his luck in the game, who still needed some work to manage his anger issues.
A man who had dismissed so carelessly a disciple so beautiful and complex as it was figure skating.
The world had stopped in its turning just so he could reconsider the true nature of this dangerous dance performed on the same ice he so often stains with blood, and the talent of the man he had witnessed executing only a fraction of what most likely was a piece of art.
He was still staring at the former skater when a new voice joined them, firm and perhaps a bit harsh, but still nice to hear.
“Satoru.”
“Yes, little Megumi?” Gojou jumped off the bench, quickly approaching the skater waiting on the other side of the barrier.
His cheeks and nose were tinted with a blush in a darker shade of pink, a tone of color that made his gren eyes shine even more mesmerizingly.
“I can’t pull the triple axel, not today at least. I’ve tried to execute it using our entire half but without the whole rink I can’t get enough impulse. I even doubt that I could make it without executing part of the choreography too.”
As Megumi explained himself, Gojou crossed his arms over his chest, considering their options.
“Yeah, I saw you trying it back there, and I think it would be much harder to get the necessary impulse to execute the triple than the triple itself. But we both know that this move needs to be practiced at least a hundred times before it even seems decent for a judge.”
“That’s why I’m telling you this.”
“Hum…” He turned to face them on the bench before asking. “I think you already told me this Getou, but, at what time do you usually finish training?”
“We have about two hours left.”
As Gojou hummed in thought, Sukuna kept staring at the promising skater, smirking in amusement when Megumi let his eyes wander over his body only to turn his head to the side when he noticed that he had been caught checking him out.
He really wanted to see him perform without any limitations.
As the other coach opened his mouth to add something, Sukuna voiced his proposition.
“We can lend him the ice for a few minutes, let him perform that part a couple of times so he can worry a bit less about it, and meanwhile I can talk to the team.” He spoke loudly, directing his words to no one in particular before turning to search for Suguru’s approval. “You know they won’t be able to focus if I’m here just chilling after that crash against the board and I feel like I should apologize for screaming at them like that.”
Suguru thought about it for a second, as Sukuna’s gaze returned to the skater, exploring his frame with a playful smirk. The pink had turned into red and his eyes seemed to contain a new spark Sukuna felt like he couldn’t get enough of.
“Okay. We will give you 30 minutes to use the rink as you please.” His coach finally announced as he stood up to call his players, not without threatening the captain first. “And you better lecture them on all the shit they’ve been doing this evening, I can’t stress enough how stupid they can get sometimes.”
Sukuna laughed wholeheartedly at that.
“Yes, coach!”
After that, nothing seemed to happen and at the same time, everyone was moving around. The players went back to their bench, and asked Sukuna about his shoulder, while the skaters talked for a bit before starting to dance again.
A scrawny little man walked quickly out of the rink, and by the time Sukuna had explained his situation and said sorry for his little outburst he was back with a mobile set of speakers, probably too heavy for him to carry alone. Once he had delivered them to Gojou he approached them to warn them about the music the skaters would be playing in no time.
Sukuna was buzzing in excitement, and even before he had the chance to ask for Suguru’s permission, the guy had already commanded them to relax for a bit and watch the performance from where they sat on the bench.
The captain approached the barrier and waited from there, standing right in front of the centerline, until the first notes of a piano broke the silence and the black haired beauty started to dance.
The movements that Sukuna had seen him execute a few moments prior were now more dramatic and clean, giving each curve of his arms more purpose, and every arc that he drew with his body a new secret meaning.
The melody was accompanied by the soft humming of a man, and barely a handful of words in a language he couldn't understand, but those were nothing but a verbal enhancer to all the emotions that had been poured into the music, and into the skater's own body.
Megumi was moving with the melody, performing as if he had turned into the very sounds that filled the rink like a temple on its time for the oration.
Every turn, every sample of immaculate skill, as he raised his leg, or turned to slide backwards, all of it, every single detail, contained so many feelings , Sukuna wondered how could he even manage them all. The emotion expressed within the slightest shift of his limbs was overwhelming and all consuming, a force he could only compare with something like the raw power held by nature.
His performance was, in a way, like the tides, too great to be stopped or tamed, too unique and wild to do nothing but surrender at their mercy. Sukuna felt like he was witnessing a type of precision that could never be imitated, in the same way no one could ever capture the true beauty of the ocean or an icy landscape.
Fushiguro Megumi was a newly discovered realm, filled with wonders to explore and learn about. And as he executed that final jump he had been unable to pull before, now with absolute perfection, as he allowed the mask of the flawless performer to fall, even for a brief second, so he could smile excitedly; Sukuna knew he couldn’t go back to a world where he didn’t know about the skater.
By the time the music stopped, and the entire hockey team started to applaud, Sukuna knew he would always be admiring him from the other side of the barrier, waiting for the performance to end so he could praise the skater in any way the man would allow him to.
He secretly hoped to be able to congratulate him with a kiss the next time.