Chapter 24: Getting Ready Their first training session for the Lovers’ Maneuver was at one o‘clock. As promised, Merle cleared it with May so that Yume and Mikhail were excused from afternoon practices at Kaleido Stage. May wasn’t exactly happy about them missing rehearsals, especially when the show was set to open in a matter of weeks, but Mia, Yuri, and Kalos were more than supportive of their decision to attempt the dangerous maneuver. In fact, Mia thought the Lovers’ Maneuver would make a great climax for Fire and Ice and had already begun thinking of ways to rework the choreography in order to incorporate it. Sora, who had dropped by Kaleido Stage to watch their morning rehearsal, was also thrilled when she heard the news. “That’s amazing, Yume!” she said, giving her sister a hug after practice. “I’m so happy for you.” “Thanks,” Yume said. “I just hope we can complete the training before opening night.” Mia’s decision to put the act in the show put more pressure on them, but she intended to do her best to rise up to the challenge. “I’m sure it will be difficult road, but I know you have it in you to succeed. You are my sister, after all!” Over by the door, Yume noticed Mikhail glancing down at his watch. “Sorry, Sora, but I think Misha’s trying to tell me it’s time to leave,” she said, gathering her duffel bag and tossing it over her shoulder. “Our first training session is today.” “Oh, sure, don’t let me keep you. You’re training with Merle, right? Tell her I said ’hello’.” “I will.” “And tell your boyfriend that he should come by our house for dinner some time. We’d love to get to know him better.” “You know?“ Yume blushed, still not quite used to thinking Mikhail as a “boyfriend” yet. She hadn’t even mentioned that fact to Sora yet, although she supposed the rumors had made their way through Kaleido Stage. “Well, it is called the ‘Lovers’ Maneuver’, isn‘t it?” her sister pointed out. “Besides, I was watching you during rehearsal, and during that love scene between Seraphina and Frost, you two were definitely not acting,” she added, causing Yume to burn an even brighter red. “May is very pleased. She said you finally managed to bring out the passion in Mikhail that she always knew he had inside him.” “I didn’t really do much,” Yume said modestly. “He found that passion on his own.” “But because of you, right?” “I really have to go, Sora. See you later!” “Bye, and don’t forget about the dinner!” Leaving Sora behind, Yume met up with Mikhail, who immediately moved to take her bag. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I can carry it. It‘s not that heavy.” “I don’t mind,” he said, taking it from her anyway. Frowning, he asked, “You don‘t have a fever, do you?” She gave him a quizzical look. “No, why do you ask?” “Your face is as red as a beet.” “Oh, it’s nothing. Come on, we’re going to be late if we don‘t hurry.” When they arrived at the skating center, Merle’s husband was working as usual behind the rental booth. He asked one of the other employees to take over for him upon spotting Yume and Mikhail, then walked over to join them. “Right on time, kids. Come on, I’ll take you to see Merle,” Sam said, taking the lead. As they made their way through the complex, Yume decided to ask Sam the question she had been wondering about since they day before. “Um, Mr. Palmer?” Sam glanced back over his shoulder. “No need to be so formal. Feel free to call me Sam. Everybody else does.” “Okay…Sam,” she said, feeling a bit awkward referring to an elder by first name. “I was just wondering why you and Coach Palmer never performed the Lovers’ Maneuver.” “Oh, I was never a candidate,” he said, surprising Yume. Since they were married, she had just assumed Sam was Merle’s partner. “I’m not even a figure skater. Back in the day, I was a hockey player. A pretty darn good one, too, if I do say so myself. Sure, I was no Wayne Gretzky, but I was pretty famous there for a while. Guess you never heard of me, eh?” “Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know much about hockey. It’s not very popular in Japan,” she admitted. Sam chuckled good-naturedly, taking no offense at her ignorance. “No need to apologize. That was a few years before your time, anyway.” “So you weren’t Coach Palmer’s partner for the Lovers‘ Maneuver?” “No, I didn’t meet her until a few years later. Quite a meeting that was, too! She called me a no-talent hockey brute; I thought she was a snobby ice princess. A month later, she was my girlfriend. Funny how things work out sometimes.” “Who was her partner, then? What happened to him?” Yume asked, even more curious than before. “If you really want to know what happened, I suggest you ask Merle yourself. It’s not my story to tell,” he said, stopping in front of a door. “Well, here we are. Yume, you’ll be in here with Merle. I’ll be working with Mikhail.” “Wait, we’re not training together?” Mikhail asked before Yume got the chance. “No, the training regimen is different for each partner, so we’ll be working with you separately. Don’t worry; even though I’m not a figure skater, I’m not totally clueless about the sport. Living with Merle for thirty-something years, you pick up a thing or two. She’s filled me in about how the training should go.” “I guess I’ll see you later, then,” Mikhail said, kissing Yume on the cheek. “Yeah,” she sighed, unable to hide her disappointment. She had been looking forward to them training for the Lovers’ Maneuver together. “See you later. Good luck!” “You, too.” After Mikhail and Sam left, Yume turned around and lightly knocked on the door. “Coach Palmer?” The door was unlocked. Pushing it open, she popped her head inside the room, surprised to see it was a small gym. Merle, spotting her, waved her in. “Come in, come in,” she said. “You can just drop your skates by the door. By the way, in the future, you don’t need to bring those with you. We won’t be doing any skating during this training.” “We won’t?” Yume asked, confused as she set her skate bag down on the floor. The Lovers’ Maneuver was supposed to be a figure skating act, wasn’t it? Merle laughed. “I was surprised, too, when I first started training. Are you warmed up?” “Yeah.” “Good.” She placed her hands on her hips as Yume walked over to join her. “First things first: I don’t want you to tell Mikhail anything about what happens during these practices. Sam should be telling Mikhail the same thing right about now.” Yume cocked her head to the side. “Why not?” “It’s important that you two don’t figure out what the Lovers’ Maneuver is until Fool judges you worthy of performing it. Otherwise, you may be tempted to try it before you are ready, and if you do, you will certainly fail. So promise me that whatever happens in this room remains just between us.” “I promise. I won’t say a word.” “Okay, then let’s begin. For today, I want you to do sit-ups.” “Sit-ups?” Out of all the training exercises Yume had envisioned since Merle agreed to train them, doing sit-ups certainly wasn’t one of them. “It’s important for you to have a strong core,” Merle explained. “Your basic core strength is decent, but if you want to perform the Lovers’ Maneuver, it’ll needs to be improved. As a bonus, it’ll probably help with your jumps as well.” Yume supposed that made sense, although sit-ups still seemed a bit of a letdown when she had prepared herself for something more brutal, like the things Sora had done to train for the Legendary Maneuver. She lay down on a mat Merle had already placed on the floor, her knees bent with feet on the ground, and asked, “How many do you want me to do?” “Oh…” The coach glanced down at her wristwatch. “Just keep going until I tell you to stop.” Yume started out by keeping track of how many she had done, but upon reaching the mid -700s, she lost track and decided to stop. Merle didn’t seem to be paying attention to the count anyway, only occasionally looking at her watch to check the time. “Pick up the pace, Yume,” Merle ordered when she noticed Yume begin to slack off a little. “You shouldn’t be tired yet!” That was easy for her to say! Yume wondered how much time had passed since she first started. She must have done at least two or three thousand sit-ups by now, but Merle showed no signs of letting her stop any time soon, much less take a break. Still, she didn’t complain. It was only the first day of training; if she couldn’t even make it through something like this, she would never be worthy of performing the Lovers’ Maneuver. Finally, when Yume had reached the point when she thought she could physically do no more, Merle gave her the signal to stop. “That’s it for today. Good job.” Yume sighed in relief and fell back on the mat, her chest rising and falling as she attempted to catch her breath. Her sweat-drenched shirt clung to her torso like a second skin. “Here,” Merle said, handing Yume a towel and a bottle of ice-cold water. “Drink up.” “Thanks.” Yume sat back up and twisted off the cap, gulping down the water like a man who had found an oasis in the desert. “After you’re finished with that, do some cool-down exercises, then feel free to take a shower if you want. There are some showers in the locker room down the hall.” “That sounds great,” Yume said, using the towel to wipe away some of the excess sweat, “but I didn’t bring a change of clothes.” “I’ll get you some things from our shop. What size do you need?” Yume told Merle what size she wore, and when she finished with her cool-down, the coach had returned with a T-shirt and shorts. “See you tomorrow, same time, same place,” Merle said. After the coach left, Yume remembered that she had meant to ask Merle about what had happened with her partner that prevented them from performing the Lovers’ Maneuver. She had been so focused on her training, she completely forgot about it. “Oh, well,” Yume said with a shrug. “It’s probably none of my business anyway.” She grabbed her skate bag and the clothes Merle gave her and headed down the hall to the locker room. When she entered, she heard running water coming from one of the shower stalls, but other than the woman inside, she was the only one there. Yume found an empty locker, stuffed her bag inside, then started stripping out of her sweaty clothes, wrinkling her nose when she caught a whiff of the stench. “Yeah, I definitely need a shower,” Yume muttered, tossing the stinky shirt aside. While she was pulling off her sports bra, the person inside the stall turned off the water, ending their shower. Yume didn’t pay any attention to her until… “Yume?” Yume froze. She knew that voice -- that very masculine voice. There was no mistaking the Russian accent, but just to be sure, she glanced over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of a dripping-wet Mikhail stepping out of the shower, completely nude. Just as quickly, she whipped her head back around, her cheeks on fire. “M-Misha, what are you doing in here?” she asked, covering her breasts with her arm even though she had her back turned to him. “I think I should be asking you that question.” “I just came to take a shower.” “In the men’s locker room?” “Th-Th-The… You mean, this is the men’s locker room?” “Didn’t you notice the sign on the door? The women’s locker room is across the hall.” Yume felt like an idiot. She hadn’t been paying attention at all. Since Merle had said the locker room was just “down the hall”, she assumed it was on the same side of the corridor as the practice gym and walked in with only a cursory glance at the sign. “Or maybe you came in here on purpose?” Mikhail had moved closer toward her. She sensed him standing right behind her and felt his breath blowing against the back of her exposed neck. Yume let out a small gasp, but she didn’t move away, frozen in place. “May I touch you, Yume?” he asked in a low, tender voice. She found herself nodding, a pleasant shiver shooting up her spine when Mikhail lightly ran his fingers up her bare arms. Her pulse quickened, and it became difficult to breathe properly. His freshly-showered scent surrounded her, smelling of spice and soap. “May I kiss you?” Again, she nodded, inhaling sharply when his lips brushed against her left shoulder. His butterfly kisses continued across her shoulder blade and up her neck until he reached her earlobe. At that point, she turned her head toward him, silently begging him to kiss her on the mouth. Mikhail was just about to oblige when Yume, realizing what his ultimate intention must be, whipped her head back around. “Wait, no,” she said, grabbing her discarded T-shirt and pulling it back over her head. She didn’t notice -- or care -- that she had put it on inside- out. He stepped back. “Something wrong, Yume?” “N-No, nothing,” she lied. “I’m just all sweaty and stinky and gross… I really should go take a shower. Uh, alone,” she added before he could suggest taking one together. “Oh. Then I’ll wait for you outside,” he said. “Meet you at the bench when you’re done?” “Uh, yeah, sure.” After gathering her things, Yume ran out of men’s locker room as fast as she could. ***** Yume felt better after her shower, no longer as flustered as she was before. In fact, the whole situation was rather funny when she thought back on it. She couldn’t believe she had made such a stupid mistake! If Pilar and the others heard about what happened, they would laugh their heads off. Not that she had any intention of telling them. And especially not Pilar. Heading outside, she found Mikhail exactly where he said he would be, dozing on a bench near the entrance of the skating center. His training session with Sam must have been just as tiring as hers. Yume walked over to wake him, but paused upon feeling a nervous, fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach. I’m being silly, she thought. What almost happened was no big deal, right? Except maybe it was. After all, she knew he wasn’t a virgin. He’d slept with Tatiana, and maybe even a few other girls she didn‘t know about. And now that they were dating… Yume jumped, startled from her train of thought when Mikhail stirred back awake. “Yume?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, sorry, I guess I fell asleep. Have you been waiting long?” “No, not at all,” she said in a forced, cheerful voice. “I just came out a minute ago. Training must have been rough, huh?” “It wasn’t too bad.” He stood up and wordlessly took her skate bag. “I expected worse.” “What did you have to do?” “I’m not supposed to tell you.” “Oh, right.” She had forgotten about the promise she had made to Merle. “Well, I guess we should start heading back.” “Yeah.” They started walking back to Kaleido Stage, neither saying much of anything. Yume wondered if Mikhail was disappointed about what almost happened in the locker room. Well, obviously, he would be. She was disappointed, and she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to do it yet! “Something wrong?” he asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “Huh?” “Nothing. I just…” He shook his head. “Never mind. Want to go out for an early dinner before we head back?” “I’m not really hungry right now,” Yume lied. In truth, after her training with Merle, she was starving, but she wasn’t in the mood to go on a date when she was feeling so self- conscious. “Oh, yeah, me, neither.” Talking about dinner reminded Yume of the conversation she had earlier with Sora. “Um, my sister wants you to come over for dinner sometime, by the way.” “When?” Yume shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever works for you would be fine, I guess. She didn’t say.” “Pick a date, and I’ll be there.” “Really?” “You sound surprised.” “No, I just…” She blushed and mumbled, “Never mind.” Mikhail smiled, reaching for Yume’s hand, and she began to relax for the first time since they left the rink. Maybe she was just reading too much into things. He wasn’t behaving much differently than usual; she was the one acting all nervous and awkward. If he didn’t know she was a virgin before, he certainly knew it now. Yume couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be with him like that, however. She had to admit, she liked what she saw during that brief glimpse of Mikhail stepping out of the shower. Really liked. A private smile danced on her lips as she remembered that moment, and her body tingled at the memory of his lips on her naked skin… “Yume?” “Huh?” Broken from her less-than-innocent thoughts, she realized that they had arrived back at the dormitories without her even noticing. “Oh, we’re here.” “Are you sure nothing is bothering you?” Mikhail asked. “You’ve been acting strange.” “I’m fine,” she insisted with a nervous giggle. “I was just thinking about…things.” “What kind of things? The Lovers‘ Maneuver?” “Uh, yeah, that,” Yume said, mortified by the thought of telling him what she had been really thinking about. “I can’t wait to find out what it actually is. Coach Palmer didn‘t give me any clues at all.” “We’ll just have to wait until that Fool judges us worthy to find out.” “I suppose so…” But she still didn’t understand what they had to do to prove that they were worthy enough to perform the Lovers’ Maneuver. Merle had mentioned something about them needing to form a “deeper” bond, but Yume had no idea what that even meant. Would making love give them that necessary deeper bond? That was what lovers usually did… “Well, anyway, I think I’m going to take a short nap before dinner,” he said, chastely kissing her on the cheek. “See you later.” “Wait.” As he moved to hand her back her bag, Yume grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, stopping him. “Um, you can come up to my room if you want,” she said quickly before she could change her mind. “Really?” “If you want.” Feeling silly for repeating that, she let go of the grip on his sleeve and brushed a strand of her still-damp hair behind her ear. “So, do you want to?” Mikhail frowned -- not exactly the reaction she expected. “Yume, you don’t have to force --” “I’m not.” “Are you sure?” Instead of answering, Yume pulled him back toward her and gave him a long, passionate kiss on the lips. Mikhail, though taken by surprise at first, soon responded in equal measure, dropping their bags on the floor in order to properly embrace her. He pressed one hand against the small of her back, while the other cradled her neck, his tongue swirling around inside her mouth with practiced ease. Yume moaned, yearning for more as she pressed her body against his. “So, your room or mine?” she asked when they finally broke apart. She looked him straight in the eye, determined not to lose her nerve. “Yours.” The decision made, Mikhail scooped up their bags from the floor and Yume took him by the hand, leading him upstairs to her dorm room. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer against her ribcage, reminding her of when she took the ice for her free program at All-Japan. They were almost at her room when the door next door opened and Pilar and Clarissa walked out. “Oh, hey, Yume, Mikhail,” Clarissa said. “Did you just come back from your special training?” “Y-Yeah,” Yume said, flustered by their sudden appearance. “Well, we were just on our way down to the cafeteria. Want to join us? Beside Clarissa, Pilar smirked at the sight of Yume and Mikhail still holding hands. “I have a feeling these two have other plans in mind, Clarissa. Am I right?” Yume blushed and dropped Mikhail’s hand like a hot potato. “I was just walking Yume back to her room,” Mikhail lied, picking up on her embarrassment. Pilar cocked an eyebrow, not buying the story at all. “Really? What a gentleman. Rare these days.” Ignoring her, Mikhail handed Yume her skate bag. “Here, go eat with your friends.” “Are you sure?” Yume asked him in a low voice. “You don’t have to go…” “There’s no rush.” In a louder voice, he said, “See you girls later,” before heading back downstairs. Sighing, Yume watched his back until he was out of sight, then unlocked her door. “I’ ll just put this in my room,” she told the other two, referring to her bag, “then we’ll go eat.” ***** “Sorry, Yume. I have a feeling we interrupted something,” Clarissa apologized a few minutes later as they headed down to the cafeteria for dinner. “No, it’s fine, really,” Yume insisted. Though disappointed, a small part of her was actually relieved. Elizaveta, who had join the group along the way, asked, “What are you talking about? What did you interrupt?” Pilar grinned. “Yume and Mikhail. They were about to get their freak on until we ran into them in the hallway.” “’Get their freak on?’” She tilted her head to the side, obviously unfamiliar with the American slang. “What does that mean?” Yume was wondering that herself, although she had a pretty good idea what Pilar meant without having to ask. And she was right, much to her mortification. “You know, getting lucky? Bumping uglies? Hitting a home run? Making the beast with two backs?” Elizaveta, however, still didn’t seem to get it, so Pilar continued going through a long list of euphemisms and double entendres -- including some in Spanish that nobody but she had a hope of understanding -- until Clarissa took pity and cut in. “Just use plain English, Pilar. You’re confusing the poor girl even more.” “Aw, you’re taking all the fun out of it, but if you insist…” Pilar sighed, resting a hand on Elizaveta‘s shoulder. “Liza, listen up, ’cause these are the facts of life. You see, when two people like each other very much, they sometimes like to get together and fu--” Clarissa slapped a hand over Pilar’s mouth, censoring the final word. “No need to be crude.” “Hey, you were the one who told me to speak plain English,” Pilar pointed out, pulling the hand away. “So, do you get it now, Liza?” “Um, yes, I think I understand…” “Good.” Turning her attention back to Yume, Pilar threw an arm around her shoulders and lowered her voice to a loud, conspiratorial whisper. “So, anyway, just between us girlfriends, how is he? “Excuse me?” Yume blinked, not quite sure how to interpret the question. What was she talking about now? “You know…” Honestly, she didn’t, and judging by the confused look that had returned to Elizaveta's face, neither did she. Clarissa just looked exasperated. “If you’re asking if he’s a nice boyfriend, then, yes, he is,” Yume told Pilar, who rolled her eyes. “Geez, you really are inexperienced when it come to this sort of thing, aren‘t you? What I meant is, how is he in bed?” she clarified. “A guy that hot has got to be wild in the sack, right? Come on, let me live vicariously! Do you know how long it‘s been?” Yume’s cheeks flushed a flaming red when the meaning of Pilar’s question became clear. Clarissa smacked herself in the forehead. “Pilar, I can’t believe you asked that. Well, to be honest, I can, but, seriously, that is none of your business!” she admonished, taking the words right out of Yume’s mouth. “Actually, he’s supposed to be quite wonderful as a lover,” a soft voice said, the three girls turning their attention to a blushing Elizaveta, the least expected of the group to say such a thing. “I-I mean…uh…” “How do you know this, Liza?” Pilar asked, a touch of suspicion in her voice. Elizaveta waved her hands in front of her, turning redder by the moment. “It’s not what you’re thinking. Yume and I -- We overheard them talking, and she said…um…” “Who said?” Noticing how flustered Elizaveta had become, Yume came to her rescue. “Tatiana Pekrovskaya. That time we eavesdropped on Mikhail and his ex… Well, the subject kind of came up.” “Ah.” That answer seemed to satisfy Pilar, though she immediately returned to the original topic. “In that case, did he live up to expectations?” “I wouldn’t know,” Yume said, mustering up as much dignity as she could under such an embarrassing interrogation. Mentally, she added with a touch of bitterness, You interrupted us before I could find out! “So you haven’t…?” “No. Not yet.” “Well, I guess it is a bit soon,” Pilar said, rubbing her chin. “You just started dating a few days ago, after all.” “That’s right,” Yume replied, remembering Mikhail’s words just before he left. “There’s no rush.” “But he is a man…” “That doesn’t matter,” Clarissa said. “If Yume’s not ready, then she’s not ready. Besides, not all guys are like that.” Turning to Yume, she added, “If he does try anything, don’t let him pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do, okay?” “I won’t,” Yume said, grateful when Elizaveta brought up a new subject soon after. But how did you know when you were ready? DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Stage doesn’t belong to me.