Chapter 15: Doubts Since she and Mikhail were still banned from attending skating practices, Yume woke up much earlier than usual with the intention of getting in at least a couple of hours of ice time before lessons officially began. She let out a huge yawn as she sat up and stretched out her arms, accidentally punching Fool in the face. "Hey!" "Oops, sorry, Fool," she said, swinging her legs over to the side of the bed. "Didn't see you - Waaaah!" "Are you all right?" From her spot on the ground, Yume groaned and rubbed at her hip. In her haste to get up, she had forgotten she had dropped her duffel bag on the floor last night, too tired from practice to do anything but fall straight into bed. She had even slept in her sweaty practice clothes, a fact that caused Fool to pinch at his nose in disgust when he moved closer to her and caught a whiff. "Ugh, you smell awful! Yume, go take a bath, and for once, I'm not just saying that just so I can see you naked." "I'm going, I'm going," she said, drowsily rising back to her feet and heading to the bathroom to take a shower. The blast of freezing cold water managed to wake her up a little more, but she was still quite out of it when she came back out. She barely acknowledged Fool's presence as she started getting dressed right in front of lecherous Spirit of the Stage, giving him quite the view until she caught sight of him literally drooling out of the corner of her eye. "You pervert!" she shrieked, tossing him in the desk drawer. "But you were the one giving me the free show," he protested from inside. "You can't blame me for doing what comes naturally to a man!" "I can, and I will." "Yume! Come on, let me out of here! This isn't funny." After she finished changing into some clean clothes, Yume took pity on Fool and released him before heading to the kitchenette to make some tea and toast. She needed caffeine and carbs, and fast. "What are you doing up so early anyway?" Fool asked. "The sun hasn't even risen yet, and you barely got any sleep at all last night." "Axel practice," she mumbled, fighting back another yawn as she sat down at the table with her breakfast. "I'm not allowed on the ice during the day, so I have to find whatever time I can to practice." "I see…" Yume took a sip of her tea and let out a sigh. Even though she had practiced until well after midnight the night before, her consistency on the triple axel had not improved at all. In fact, she got the feeling her technique was getting worse as she fell back into her old bad habits without Mikhail's guidance to keep her in line. It really might be impossible to win against Dominique without his help, she thought to herself. I don't know if I can do it by myself. She finished off her tea and toast and began to clear away the dishes, noticing that Fool was staring inside her empty cup again. He had done the same thing a couple of nights ago when she caught Tatiana in Mikhail's dorm room. "Okay, so what exactly are you doing?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity any further. "Tasseography," he replied without even looking back up. "Tasseography? You mean, like reading tea leaves?" She sat back down at the table. "What happened to your tarot and crystal ball?" From what she remembered of Sora's stories, those were the methods he favored when it came to his fortune-telling. "I felt like a change. Would you like to know what your future holds?" Yume stood up again and reached for the cup. "No thanks," she said, rinsing it out at the sink. "I don't believe in that kind of stuff. A street psychic once told me I would win an Olympic gold medal, and, well, that obviously didn't happen." "Perhaps that psychic simply misinterpreted the signs." "Maybe so, but I still think it's kind of silly to put much stock in fortune-telling. I believe a person creates their own future." "In that case, will you allow me to at least give you a little friendly advice?" he asked, floating above her shoulder. She glanced over at him. "What is that? Do you know the secret to performing a consistent triple axel?" "No, but I do know that if you continue following your current path, you will never achieve your goal." "You mean I'll lose to Dominique?" He shrugged. "Interpret it how you will, but know that the future can also be changed by the decisions you make or the people you meet." "Isn't that what I said before?" she said, walking back to her bedroom to grab her skates. "Don't worry about me, Fool. If I continue to work hard, I'm sure it'll work out in the end, somehow." Leaving Fool behind, Yume headed down to the rink and began her practice. Despite her best efforts, however, she was unable to get Fool's "advice" out of her head. She had tried to sound cool and confident in front of him, but maybe Fool's fortune-telling wasn't so off the mark. After all, she had yet to land a single clean triple axel so far that morning... Come on, don't let what that little pervert said get to you, Yume, she mentally berated herself, dusting the ice off the back of her leggings from yet another fall. If you start believing you're going to fail, it's over before you've even begun. You just need to forget about it and concentrate on - She was startled from her thoughts when she heard the door to the rink open. Yume spun back around, her eyes widening when she saw who was standing at the entrance. "Mikhail!" At the sound of his name, Mikhail immediately turned around to leave. "Wait, Mikhail!" she called out, skating over to the boards and grabbing her skate guards. To her surprise, he actually stayed where he was and waited patiently for her to join him. "I didn't realize you were in here," he said when she came over. "Sorry for interrupting your practice." Yume shook her head. "I don't mind," she said, glad that he was at least talking to her again. Maybe he just needed a little time to get over what happened, like Clarissa had said. "It looks like we had the same idea, huh? You don't have to leave, you know. There's plenty of ice for both of us, and I -" "No, I don't think I should," Mikhail interrupted. "But why? If this is about the other day, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that. You were right. Whatever you do - or don't do - with Tatiana off the ice is none of my business." "It's fine. Don't worry about it." "Really? You forgive me?" She let out a sigh of relief. "That's great! Now Coach Wong will allow us to come back to practice, and you can help me perfect my triple ax-" Mikhail held up a hand, signaling her to stop. "There's something I think you should know, Yume," he said, leaning up against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. "I've agreed to become Dominique Fontenot's coach." Yume felt as if she had just been punched in the gut. "What? You're coaching Dominique?" "She came to me last night and asked me to help her with her triple axel. I thought it sounded interesting, so I agreed." "B-But -" "I've already taught you everything I know about landing the axel, so shouldn't Dominique get that same chance to ensure a fair competition?" It was hard to find fault with that logic, but… "In that case, why not train us both?" "Dominique's a complete beginner when it comes to the triple axel. If she's to become good enough by the end of the week to compete against you, I need to focus only on her training. I won't have time to work with you." "Then… Would you rather skate with her, after all?" Yume asked, clutching at the front of her sweatshirt. "Jason told you, right? That whoever wins the competition earns the right to be your partner?" "I'm aware of the wager, yes." "So you don't care who you skate with?" "I want to skate with the best," he replied. "This competition will be a good challenge for both of you. No matter who wins, I will honor the agreement, so if you want to continue skating with me, then prove that you deserve it. Win the showdown and show me that you are a worthy partner." With that announcement, Mikhail turned around and left the rink. ***** That arrogant jerk! Yume thought a couple of hours later, plopping down on the sand after she had finished running the length of the beach. He hasn't forgiven me at all! If Mikhail truly had forgiven her, he would have said that the competition didn't matter, that he wanted to continue skating as her partner no matter what the outcome of the showdown was. Instead, he had done almost the complete opposite by agreeing to coach her main rival. No matter what Mikhail said about "fairness" and wanting to skate with the "best," it seemed pretty obvious to Yume that he would much rather skate with the more technically sound Dominique. It had been stupid to believe that they could ever become real partners in the first place. She threw an arm over her eyes, blocking out the mid-morning sun. What was she going to do if she lost the showdown and Mikhail partnered with Dominique? She had uprooted her entire life to skate with him. At this point, would she really be happy skating with somebody else? Sebastian - Dominique's current partner - was a good skater, but the thought of pairing with him felt…hollow, somehow. Uninspiring. And what about Fool's claim that she was "destined for the stage"? Granted, Yume wasn't the type to normally believe in that sort of thing, but he had been right about Sora, and a part of her had really wanted to have faith that she if she worked hard enough, she could someday become a true Kaleido Star, just like her sister. However, if she couldn't even get Mikhail to acknowledge her as his true partner… "Hey, you," a heavily accented voice called out, distracting Yume from her thoughts. She sat back up and looked behind her, surprised to see Tatiana Pekrovskaya, of all people, walking toward her. She glanced around, wondering if Tatiana was referring to somebody else, but Yume was the only other person in the vicinity. All the other skaters - including Mikhail, working as Dominique's coach - were at the rink, having practice. "Yes, you, the Japanese girl," Tatiana said, apparently noticing Yume's confusion. "Um, if you're looking for Mikhail, he's not here," Yume said, trying to brush the sand out of her matted hair. Somehow, Tatiana seemed to have a knack for showing up whenever she was a sweaty mess. "He should be at the practice rink. You should check there." "I'm not looking for Misha." The petite blonde came to a stop, arms folded over her chest as she looked down at Yume. "I was actually looking for you." "Me?" She nodded. "Honestly, though, why must I be the one to clear up this silly misunderstanding? You were the one who jumped to conclusions. It's not like it's my fault, although I can't say I didn't try…" "Uh, Miss Pekrovskaya?" Yume interrupted. "What is this all about? Why were you looking for me?" "Misha sent me," Tatiana said. Without invitation, she sat down beside Yume. "He wanted me to tell you the truth about what really happened that night he didn't show up at your little practice." Yume shook her head. The last thing she wanted to hear was all the intimate details. "You don't need to do that. Really. I overreacted. If you and Mikhail are dating again, then I -" "We're not. Not that I haven't tried to win him back." Tatiana sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I doubt you'll believe me, but nothing happened between us that night. I admit I wanted something to happen, and even spilled some wine on my dress on purpose so I would have an excuse to come up to his dorm room, but my seduction failed." Her voice softened. "He doesn't want to be my partner anymore, on or off the ice." "Miss Pekrovskaya…" "It's fine." She turned her head away, brushing a hand across her cheek. "I knew what his answer would be even before I came, but I had to at least try, you know?" "But if the reason why you were in his room that night was so innocent, why didn't Mikhail tell me that himself?" Yume asked, her hands balling into fists. "I just don't understand him sometimes. It's so, so…frustrating!" "Look, there's something you should probably know if you're going to be his new partner," Tatiana said after a brief pause. She had mostly lost the antagonistic tone in her voice. "The thing that Mikhail values most in the world is trust." "Trust?" "It's what makes him such a great pairs partner…and boyfriend. He's the dependable sort. When we were on the ice together, I never worried that he would drop me or make a mistake, and I knew he would never cheat or lie to me. He's just not the type of guy. I think it has a lot to do with his family situation." "His family situation?" "He hasn't told you anything about his family?" "No, he hasn't," Yume admitted, frowning. "I don't really know much about Mikhail off the ice. We've never talked about personal things like that." "I'm not surprised. He doesn't like talking about himself much." "What about his family?" Tatiana shook her head. "It's not my story to tell. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you himself. Getting back to what I was saying earlier, though," she continued, "I hurt Misha deeply when I betrayed him. I didn't even realize how much until I saw him again. I think it led to him being afraid to trust someone else again. This is just a guess, but he was probably starting to trust you a little and thought you trusted him, so when you doubted him -" "- I hurt his feelings," Yume completed. Tatiana shrugged. "Like I said, it's just a guess. I dated Misha for two years and skated with him for even longer, but even then, I never felt like I completely knew him. Maybe, in the end, he didn't trust me as much as I thought he did." She stood back up and patted the sand off the back of her skinny jeans. "Anyway, now that you understand what happened, my job here is done. The rest of it is up to you." Yume got up as well. "Thank you, Miss Pekrovskaya," she said. "Yes, well…" Tatiana stuffed her hands in her pockets and glanced away. "I just did what Misha asked me to do. It's not like I told you out of the goodness of my heart, or anything like that. Honestly, I couldn't care less about your stupid fight." "Still, I appreciate it. I think I understand Mikhail a little better now, thanks to you." "As if anybody can ever really understand Misha," she scoffed. "Anyway, I need to get going. My flight leaves soon, and I'm running late because of you." "You're going back to Russia?" "I know when I've lost. I have no desire to stick around here, making a fool out of myself trying to win back a man who obviously doesn't want me anymore. I have more important things to do with my time." Tatiana started to walk back, but paused a few feet away, her back still turned to Yume. "One more thing, Yomi." "Um, it's Yume, actually." "Like I care," Tatiana said. "I just wanted to say… Well, good luck with that Triple Axel Showdown, okay?" She took off before Yume even had time to react to what she had said. ***** "Come on, Yume! You can do it!" Pilar yelled from behind the boards as Yume prepared to launch into yet another triple axel attempt. She built up speed and launched from the left outside edge of her blade, trying to keep in mind everything Mikhail had taught her during their previous lessons. Though she felt good going into it, she had too much of a lean in the air, making it almost impossible to stick the landing correctly. She stumbled out of it, almost crashing right into the boards. Pilar clapped her hands and cheered. "Good try, Yume! You almost had that one." Sighing, Yume skated over to Pilar and took the water bottle she offered. "You have got to be kidding me," she said, taking a swig. "That landing was horrible!" "But at least you managed to complete all three-and-a-half rotations this time. That's something, right?" "It won't matter during the Showdown if I can do all the rotations if I can't land the axel cleanly." Leaning back against the boards, Yume let out a groan. "Why did I let you talk me into doing this?" "Hey, you're blaming me? Even after I agreed out of the goodness of my heart to be your coach? I could be sleeping right now, dreaming incredibly naughty dreams of me and Leon Oswald, you know." Yume resisted the urge to role her eyes. While she did appreciate the offer, especially after hearing from Clarissa and the others that Dominique had landed her first triple axel that morning under Mikhail's tutelage, Pilar wasn't exactly the best person to help improve her jumping technique, seeing as she had never landed the jump herself. In fact, Pilar's idea of "coaching" seemed to be limited to giving out unearned praise and encouragement, without offering any real advice on actually landing the jump. "Pilar, it's getting kind of late," Yume said, turning back around just in time to see the other girl hide a yawn behind her hand. "You look exhausted. Why don't you just go to bed?" "But I volunteered to be your coach. I can't just shirk on my responsibilities." "I'll be fine on my own, really." Pilar cocked an eyebrow. "Is that your subtle way of saying, 'Hey, Pilar, you suck as a coach and haven't helped me at all, so you might as well give it up and call it a day?'" "I-I wouldn't say -" She laughed, not offended at all. "Okay, okay, I get the message," she said. "I'll go, but you should think about heading to bed soon yourself." Frowning, Pilar reached for Yume's hand resting on the boards and gave it a light squeeze. "I know you want to win this thing, chica, but these late nights are going to kill you if you keep it up. You need your rest." "I won't stay much longer," Yume promised even as she crossed two fingers behind her back. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Pilar stared at her for a moment, as if trying to determine whether or not she should believe her, before finally releasing Yume's hand. "Okay, I'll see you at breakfast then." After Pilar left, Yume resumed her practice. She managed to land a handful of clean triple axels, but compared to the number of jumps she two-footed, under-rotated, or fell on, it was hard to consider those more than just minor successes. She had to improve her consistency if she had any hope of winning against a strong jumper like Dominique. "So you're the one who has been coming here late at night to practice these last couple of days," a female voice said after one particularly hard fall. "I should have known." Yume scurried back up to her feet and brushed the ice off the back of her leggings. "C-Coach Wong!" she exclaimed upon seeing May standing at the boards. "Um, I know it's way after hours and I shouldn't be here, but since you banned me from coming to practices, this is the only time I have to prepare, so I -" May held up a hand. "I'm not here to scold you, Yume," she said, a rare smile on her lips. "In fact, I'm actually rather impressed by your dedication. Reminds me a lot of your sister." Yume let out a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to get in even more trouble with May than she already was. "That being said," the coach continued, turning serious, "you can't keep doing this." "B-But -" "I will not allow the star of my ice show to run herself ragged to the point of physical exhaustion. That's a good way to get yourself injured, or even worse." "But I may not be the star at the end of the week," Yume said in a soft voice, staring down at the ice. "Haven't you heard? Whoever wins the Triple Axel Showdown will become Mikhail's partner." "Yes, I've heard," May said, crossing her arms and smirking. "I even have to admire Dominique a little for her spunk. This bet sounds exactly like something I might have come up with back in the days when I was competing against Sora. It's Mina Murray all over again, really." "Mina Murray?" May gave a dismissive wave. "Never mind. The past isn't important right now. What is important is that you win that Showdown. Dominique may be a fine technician, but nobody is going to come watch a show with her and Mikhail as the stars. Mikhail needs you to be his partner. You're the only one who can draw the performer out of him, Yume. I still believe that." "But you just said I couldn't practice." "Correction: I said you couldn't practice this late at night. You need your sleep." "Then I can come back to regular practice?" "I've already given Mikhail permission to return so that he can coach Dominique; it's unfair not to do the same for you," May said. "However, I have an even better idea." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper, which she handed to a confused Yume. Yume unfolded it and read the address scrawled on it. "Cape Mary Skating Center?" "My old skating coach owns it," she explained. "If I could, I would offer to coach you myself on the axel, but I still have three other pairs and various other skaters to work with in preparation for the show. I just don't have the time to give you the individual attention you need, so I'm sending you to Meryl. She's the best of the best. If anybody can help you, then she can. Everything is already taken care of. Just show up at the rink at nine tomorrow morning. She'll be waiting for you." "I don't know what to say," Yume said, still staring down at the piece of paper in her hand. "Thank you, Coach. I really appreciate this." "You just do your best to win that Showdown. Now get off the ice and go to bed already. You look like you're about keel over." She didn't need to be told twice. "Yes, ma'am!" ***** The next morning, Yume slept right through breakfast, waking up only thirty minutes before she was supposed to meet Merle Palmer for practice. She took a quick shower, grabbed her skates and a couple of pieces of toast, and ran out of the dorm as if the building was on fire. Fortunately, the Cape Mary Skating Center wasn't located far from Kaleido Stage, so she managed to arrive on time with just a few minutes to spare. "Yume Naegino, I presume?" an older woman asked when Yume entered the center's private rink. She was already out on the ice. "I've been expecting you. Yume nodded and sat down to change out of her sneakers and into her skates. Merle skated over and adjusted her glasses. "I must say, you don't look much like your sister." Yume glanced up from lacing up her boot. "You know Sora?" She chuckled. "Everybody here in Cape Mary knows Sora," she said. "But, yes, I'm acquainted with her. In fact, I was the one who taught her how to skate." "You were her skating coach?" Yume's eyes widened, aware of the story. In order to win the lead in a previous ice show Kaleido Stage had put on, Sora had learned to skate in only a couple of weeks. Though she had ultimately lost the role to the much more experienced May, Yume had always been impressed - and, honestly, perhaps a little jealous - by her sister's ability to pick skating up so quickly. If Merle had managed to take a complete beginner like Sora and turn her into a figure skater in such a short period of time, then maybe she could work the same magic on Yume's triple axel. "I enjoyed working with Sora. May, as well," Merle said. "They both had incredible determination and guts, both necessary things to become great skaters. I hope I can expect the same from you." She frowned, watching as Yume stepped onto the ice. "I've seen you skate in several televised competitions over the years, Yume," she continued. "You may not look much like your sister, but you do have Sora's ability to draw people into your performances. It's really quite remarkable, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of stage Sora Naegino's little sister will show us. However, the jumping…" Slumping her shoulders, Yume sighed. "I know. It needs work. That's why Coach Wong sent me to you." "The triple axel, right? And you only have a few days to learn how to land it consistently?" "Can you teach me?" "I can teach you, but only you can actually learn it. I do not like wasting my time, so once we begin, I need you to give me one hundred percent. No whining, no complaining, no talking back, and most important, no quitting. Got it? I'm a tough coach, but put in the work, and you have a good chance of succeeding. Can you do that?" Yume nodded and straightened her posture, feeling hopeful for the first time since she and Dominique made the bet. "Yes, I'll do everything I can to learn the axel." Merle smiled. "Good, that's what I like to hear. Now let me see what you've got, kiddo." DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn't belong to me.