Chapter Text
Noel Noa, the number one striker.
And Isagi Shion, a former professional ice skater and coach of the sport.
The two were a couple for 3 years, but decided to separate due to some difficulties they both faced. Furthermore, over time they realized that their love had completely disappeared.
What neither of them knew was that Shion was pregnant.
She found out a month after their break up. At that time she was two months pregnant.
However, she did not want to inform her ex-partner about the issue, since they are currently nothing of hers and telling him that she was pregnant with him would only be an annoyance for him. So he decided to keep the pregnancy a secret from his ex and raise that baby alone.
.
Seven months later, a boy was born, whom they named Yoichi, Isagi Yoichi.
Yoichi didn't look like his father at all. His blue eyes were as beautiful as the sea, his black hair had a sweet smell of blueberries. His skin was so perfect and soft, with those slight pink tones on her round cheeks against his fair complexion.
He was beautiful.
"Oh~? Normally newborn babies aren't as beautiful as yours, they're usually ugly. But yours is so beautiful~ I'm so jealous that your baby is even more beautiful than me!" Vitalia Novikova, a close friend of Shion, joked. The Japanese woman laughed at her comment.
"I don't know whether to be glad that he doesn't look like her father at all..." Shion muttered somewhat disappointed.
"Don't be like that, Shion. Didn't you tell me that it was better that Noa didn't know about this? Well, it's better that she doesn't seem like it" Vitalia said when she saw her friend doubting her.
"Maybe... I hope Yoichi grows up and becomes a strong child" Shion wished before placing a kiss on the baby's forehead.
.
Four years later, Yoichi was a sweet boy, who was like an 'angel' according to people. He was kind and polite, so he quickly won the affection of the people.
One day, Shion decided to take Yoichi to her work so she could see what it was like to be an ice skating coach.
When the boy saw how people skated on the ice, he fell deeply in love with the sport.
Shion was happy that Yoichi liked the sport and started training him.
When she began coaching the boy, she realized the innate talent that boy had with the sport.
It didn't take him long to become recognized and win gold medals in many competitions.
However, his life was not as magnificent as the media made it out to be...
.
Yoichi sacrificed his entire childhood to ice skating, thinking he could make his mother proud of him.
But no, over time it seemed to Shion that nothing Yoichi did was enough, even though he is one of the best skaters of his generation.
Shion was never satisfied with Yoichi's performance. There was always something wrong, something to improve and perfect. Making Yoichi suffer constant pressure.
It can be said that Shion is not a good coach because she put too much pressure on her students and destroyed them physically and mentally just for some medals and money. She didn't care about the health of her students at all, only the fame she would gain from them.
But despite all the abuse her students suffered, she was considered one of the best ice skating coaches in the world. This is because one of her students, Rei Miyamoto, won the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Well, she will be a bad coach, but not a bad mother, right?
Well no, Shion is not a good mother, and all of Shion's students knew it, but in front of the media, she was a very sweet and kind single mother.
But you shouldn't trust the media too much.
In reality, Shion abused her son mentally, verbally, and even sometimes physically.
Not only was Yoichi a genius at ice skating, but he was also a great pianist, painter, volleyball player, violinist, soccer player and more.
Isagi Shion wanted her son to be a great prodigy, that everyone would be envious of because of his multiple talents, so she decided to put him in a lot of extracurricular activities. She though she was never satisfied with the results of her son.
And because of that, Yoichi constantly received pressure from his mother, and that caused him to have a lot of problems with his mother and to have no friends, apart from his mother's other students (who he didn't consider friends either, because he grew up with the idea that in ice skating you shouldn't have friends)
"Yoichi? What the fuck are you doing? You're doing it all wrong" Shion scolded with a cold tone.
"Forgive me, I'll do better" Yoichi, who had tried to jump a quadruple axel, apologized.
"'You'll do better', you always say that, but I don't see results, Yoichi." Shion's tone became angry.
"But I won gold medals in the vast majority of the championships I participated... In addition, I always end up on the podium..."
"And? It's not enough, it doesn't matter if you're one of the best skaters of the generation, if you're not the best, you're worthless"
At 13 years old, Isagi Yoichi was one of the best skaters in the junior category, he could even be considered the best. Every time he participated in a championship, he was on the podium, with a silver or gold medal, he was not usually seen with a bronze, in fact, he only came in third place twice in his entire career.
The academic situation was not the best either, Shion constantly criticized his son's grades despite being among the best in the school.
Despite that whole situation, Yoichi wanted his mother's love, something he only received for a few years, before he started to become famous in skating.
He also wondered who his father was, but his mother always told him that that man had abandoned them, making Yoichi begin to hate his father for abandoning them.
Not knowing what really happened and that his father was going to end up being the person who would help him escape from Shion...
.
"Yoichi, do you want to come with Yuki, Mei and me to walk around there after training?" Asked Miya Takahashi, one of the half-breed's companions.
"No thanks, I have more things to do" he politely declined the proposal.
"Oh, okay. Let us know when you have free time and we'll go out! See you tomorrow Yoichi!" Miya said goodbye happily as he left.
If Yoichi had to describe his 'friends' and companions it would be like this:
Miya Takahashi, someone kind and helpful, was his rival and friend.
Yuki Takahashi, Miya's twin sister and someone very direct who completely ignores people's feelings and could insult them without any problem or remorse.
Mei Hashida, a strange girl with an art-obsessed and somewhat crazy older brother.
And Leonor Luna, a Spanish woman who for some reason decided to come to Japan to train with Shion. And she is also Yoichi's closest friend.
Then there are more people, but who do not have a relationship of 'friends' with Yoichi.
.
The Junior Grand Prix has arrived, where the junior category skaters will have to compete for the gold medal.
Miya and Yoichi mentally prepared themselves to perform the mini program.
Since Shion honestly did not provide much support to his students.
Miya had finished his mini program, it went pretty well, although he had some mistakes that Shion would surely challenge him for later.
Before Yoichi left, Shion stopped him.
"Yoichi, don't even think about making any mistakes, this must be perfect. I won't tolerate even the slightest mistake" Shion warned.
"It's okay, I won't make any mistakes, I promise you," the young man assured before leaving.
"Make sure you win the gold medal, Isagi Yoichi, don't let me down"
Yoichi had carried out the mini program without errors, it was perfect. So he came first in the mini programs. However, there was no need to let our guard down, there was still time left.
"Yoichi! Your presentation is amazing!" Leonor ran to Yoichi and hugged him while she congratulated him, his friends were also congratulating him on that presentation. But what about Shion? It is not known, she saw how his son came first and left, without congratulating him or anything, something that affected the young man quite a bit.
.
But
Despite how well he performed the mini program, in the free skate he was unable to overcome his rival, Mikhail Vyazemsky, a Russian skater with whom he had a close relationship due to all the confrontations they had during the competitions.
Mikhail scored 211.31, winning the gold medal
Yoichi scored 209.16. He was 2.15 points behind the Russian, obtaining the silver medal.
And Miya scored 198.52, placing third with the bronze medal.
Yoichi couldn't believe it, he came second? For 2.15 points? No... It wasn't possible, Shion was going to be very upset.
Yoichi cried, he wanted to go to a private place to cry alone, but it was not possible because the press began to persecute and harass Yoichi.
Nobody protected him
Miya was busy answering questions from the press, and the girls were busy with his stuff.
No one helped Yoichi escape from the press, the young man was harassed mercilessly by those shameless adults.
Shion saw everything that was happening with his son, but he didn't help him either, he simply limited himself to observing that chaos.
.
Just as Yoichi imagined, Shion was very upset with her son.
"How could you have fallen so low? If you lost it was because you didn't try hard enough, you are so useless. Your only duty was to win, but you couldn't achieve it"
"Forgive me mother-"
"Shut your mouth, you are such a worthless son... Good for nothing"
The young man was used to his mother treating him like that, but he still felt terrible when she treated him like that...
"ISAGI YOICHI, YOUNG JAPANESE SKATER BREAKS INTO CRY AFTER PLACING SECOND"
"Isagi Yoichi bursts into tears after coming in second place in this year's Junior Grand Prix."
@NaminK31: He just exaggerated, it wasn't a big deal to come in second place. At least he was on the podium, those who should really cry are those who were not on the podium despite having tried hard 🙄🙄
@KenMi87: He's crying just because he came second, if he had tried harder he would have won lol
@KiraRyou: Literally, you're right. It wasn't Mikhail's fault for trying harder than him, right? He didn't try at all, he doesn't even deserve to be on the podium 😂😂
@HyoMin_6: Couldn't he have gone somewhere else to cry? 💀
@YumiYume: Leave it, he just wanted to get attention, that's why he cried in front of the cameras
@KatieSt980: Poor Mikhail, he tried so hard only to have some shitty Japanese throw a tantrum and get all the attention 💀💀
@Kuronze: Why don't you shut the hell up? You're probably calling it useless while you're sitting on the couch eating chips. He is the Japanese skating prodigy, one of the best junior skaters, but what about you? What are you? You can't even keep up with Yoichi.
God, Yoichi felt so bad now, if all the scolding from his mother wasn't enough, people's comments made everything even worse.
Although he had to thank Kuronze for being the only person who was defending him from all the hate he was receiving.
"I wish I had never been interested in skating..."
.
Time passed and Yoichi hated the sport even more.
That passion for skating disappeared, it became a great hatred. That boy who loved and enjoyed skating competitions became a teenager who was only interested in winning, without caring who he hurt along the way.
The mongrel's friends noticed this change and asked him why, however, they only received a rude answer.
"What do you care?"
"Yoichi, we are your friends, of course we care-" Leonor couldn't finish her sentence when she was interrupted.
"I don't need friends, I don't need anyone to win, I just need myself. This shitty sport is not for us to make friends, if you want to make friends, go to another sport." Those words left his 'friends' very surprised.
"But Yoichi! Aren't we best friends?" Leonor was worried about her best friend.
"That's true! You can't treat your best friend who supported you so much like that" Mei said defending Leonor.
"Shut up, I don't care what our friendship was like in the past, currently it doesn't exist anymore." After that, the mongrel continued practicing as if nothing had happened.
Great, Shion completely ruined an innocent child and turned him into a monster with no feelings...
Yoichi was going to turn 15, that meant he could participate in the Winter Olympic Games that would be organized that year.
There were 2 months left for his birthday and 3 for the Olympics.
His intention was more than clear, to win the gold medal and break records, such as being the first Asian to win it or the youngest skater to win it.
Therefore, he was training non-stop.
However, one day, a Russian woman appeared and told him.
"This way you won't be able to go far or win the gold medal, Isagi Yoichi"
"Ah? Who are you? And why are you telling me that?" The young man asked, surprised by the appearance of that woman.
"Vitalia, I used to be the best skater in the world 15 years ago, and I tell you that because when you skate, you don't show passion or love for the sport, on the contrary, you show hatred. Your techniques and jumps will be good, but that's not going to secure the gold, if you don't show passion or love"
"And what do you want me to do? I'm not going to love a sport that ruined everything for me, I'm only interested in winning competitions, not feeling passion for this sport. I sacrificed my entire childhood for this sport, and I plan to win gold my way"
"I say this because if you love skating again as you did when you were little, you will be able to show that passion with your programs and they will look better. But if you want to listen to me or not, it's up to you" Vitalia knew perfectly well that even if she said all that, It wouldn't make Yoichi love the sport again, but she wanted him to take it into account.
"Do you think that by telling me that you are going to make me love skating again? How pathetic." Vitalia did not pay much attention to what the Russian said since she suspected that he would say that and she left, leaving the young mongrel alone in that great skating rink.
"What a strange woman, although she seems familiar to me..."
.
There was 1 month left for Yoichi to turn 15, and he had to go to Germany with Shion due to some business she had in that country.
When they arrived, Shion left Yoichi at Noa's house, so that he could stay there while she worked.
"Why do I have to stay at a stranger's house?" Yoichi asked.
"He's not a stranger, he's a friend of mine, and I'd rather you stay and live there than pay for a hotel room, so you shut your mouth and behave when you're with Noa" Shion responded disinterestedly to his son.
"It's okay, mother."
The mongrel arrived at Noa's house, and greeted him cordially before entering.
"Make yourself at home and don't be embarrassed, okay?" Noah said.
"Alright"
A week passed and the two began to get along well. Yoichi thought that the Frenchman could be a great father and Noa thought that the mongrel was a good boy with a lot of talent in skating and in everything he did.
Noa, who was sitting on one side of the couch, asks the mongrel why he started skating.
"Oh, because one day I accompanied my mother to her work and there I saw several people skating, and I quickly fell in love with that sport. Although I currently hate it" Yoichi replied
"Oh yeah? Your mother is Shion, right? And who is your father?" Noa asked, somewhat curious.
"I don't know, I never met him, I only know that he abandoned my mother before I was born. Although one day I saw a photo of him from years ago when he was 5 years old, I only remember that he had white hair and he didn't look Japanese" After what the young man said, Noa realized that it was his son.
He suspected that Shion was pregnant, but since she never informed him of that, he thought that she wasn't and continued living his life. But upon learning that Shion had a son and with what the boy told him, he thought that possibly he is hia father.
But
What should I do? Tell him that he is the father who "abandoned" him? Hide it? He really didn't know what to do about it.
"Not?"
"Oh, forgive me, I started thinking about some things"
"No problem"
"Well, what were you telling me?"
"Oh, about that, I asked you if you enjoyed soccer."
"Ah, that. I do it, I enjoy playing soccer, although I also like to win, but I prefer to enjoy it"
"And come in first place and win?"
"I'd rather lose and have achieved a hat-trick than win by a penalty"
"There's no point... Winning is everything..." Yoichi muttered.
"I don't know who taught you that, but I don't think so, it's also important to enjoy sports." Those words from Noa only left Isagi staring at him without saying anything.
Yoichi was confused, they told him that the important thing was winning, not his feelings. He had to focus on coming in first place and ignore his feelings, another reason to stop loving skating and consider it an obligation.
His only duty was to win and stand out, nothing more... But why was he never satisfied with his achievements and victories? Oh, that's true, because he left his feelings aside.
He missed the Yoichi from 2 years ago, the one he was before the Junior Grand Prix, the one he was before taking Shion's words too seriously, the one he was before when he had not yet fallen into this deep abyss. He didn't know how to escape this abyss, she was slowly drowning in it.
Hhe missed his friends, Leonor, his passion for skating, enjoying the sport... Something that he completely forgot after falling into this abyss.
Yoichi felt so alone these days, he considered himself a tool to win gold medals, not a young skater trying his best to win. He sacrificed his entire childhood for this future? One so unstable and disastrous?
"I want to escape from this damned abyss... I want to escape drowning, I can't take it anymore... But I don't know how to achieve it..."
They were in great silence for 5 minutes.
"Well, Yoichi, do you like soccer?" Noa asked to break the silence.
"Football? No, it's boring to me. I don't like my team's motto of 'All for one, one for all' It doesn't make sense..." The young man answered sincerely.
"Do you think so? What if tomorrow you accompany me to watch a match between my team against Real Madrid and I show you that soccer is not what you think, that it is more fun than you think?" The Frenchman suggested upon hearing Yoichi's response.
"Mother isn't going to be angry? Because if she's going to be angry, I'm not going" Yoichi asked, somewhat worried.
"Nothing is going to happen, if she says something to you, tell me and I will explain everything''
"Okay, then I'll go."
"Another thing, if they ask you who you are, tell them you're my nephew, okay?"
"okay"
Yoichi didn't expect watching that match between Bastard Munchen and Real Madrid was going to completely change his perspective on football...
.
The next day, Noa took him to the game and told him to go to the stands to watch the game, and that's what he did.
Although he did meet someone he didn't expect to meet in the stands.
With Leonor Luna, his ex-best friend and partner.
"Yoichi...?" The Spanish girl said surprised
"Oh, hello Leonor" the mongrel greeted dryly.
"Hello..." Leonor returned the greeting, surprised.
There were still a few minutes left before the game started, so Leonor began to ask some questions.
"What are you doing here...?"
"I came because Shion had some business in Munich," the mongrel responded calmly.
"I don't mean that, I mean that you are here, watching the game"
"Oh, that's because my uncle told me to come see him."
"Your uncle...?"
"The white-haired guy over there, Noa" Yoichi said, leaving Leonor stunned again, was the best striker in the world his uncle? Incredible.
"And you? What are you doing here, Leonor?" Now it was Yoichi who asked him
"I'm here for my brother, Leonardo, to see him play"
"I understand..."
After that, they both remained silent and watched the game without speaking to each other again.
Maybe they used to be best friends before, but everything changed, nothing is the same with Yoichi anymore. Leonor wanted so badly to go back to the past, where she and Yoichi were good friends.
"How is it possible that he has fallen into a great abyss... He is drowning and doesn't know how to escape..." Leonor thought sadly.
While the Spanish girl lamented about that great friendship that was destroyed for Shion and watched her brother, she noticed that the black-haired man who was next to her had his eyes shining while she watched the game, as if he were delighted with it. soccer.
"Amazing... Soccer is better than I thought..." Sure enough, it was a good idea for Yoichi to come, since he discovered how interesting soccer could be