"Skate with me!"

This little girl, the one who had always appeared bored by her mothers side was now leaning both of her slender arms on the top of the skirting of the ice rink. She had a smile of some sorts on her face, she appeared cheeky as her head was tilted and her eyes were shining.

Another pair of skates brought your attention to the centre of the ice where you saw Alexei jump, spinning three, no- four times and land though it wasn't a smooth landing. You had flinched when he had almost fallen, losing his balance and once he was straight again, you could see his lips moving and his face twisted in pain, anger and disappointment in himself. It was almost like he was scolding himself.

"I'-I'm.. going to put my skates on.."

"I'll come with you, is this your doggy? It's very cute!" She was already running on the ice, towards the edge when her skates met the black floors made to assist in walking with a pair of skates. You didn't wait for her but you had been watching the look on her face and you didn't understand why she was like this; so animated and seemingly glowing.

She pounced towards the dog and Makkachin stayed by your side after sniffing around a bit. You then turned around, leaving the poodle to follow as the seven year old girl also straightened up to follow.

"I'm Kanako, by the way."

"[Name]."

She kept looking up at you, significantly taller due to the shoes she wore and you entered the locker room to open the first one, grabbing the skates to put them on the floor as you removed the sneakers from your feet and placed them in the locker. You closed it, observing the way Kanako looked up at it and then sat on the bench as she mirrored you.

You began slipping your feet in, tying the laces and then you heard the younger girls voice again, "Do you enjoy skating?"

At first, you didn't know how to react to such a simple question. It was a closed question, 'yes' or 'no' but the more you held off answering, the more you wondered if she was asking this for you or for her. What would she say if you asked her the same question?

"I... I like it, sometimes.. It makes me calm - sometimes I might, I might feel like I'm floating." Kanako heard you, your voice and remembered back to when she was with her mother and you were on the middle of the ice, speaking so loud and dominant towards her mother, she knew then that she had to know you - you were a queen on the ice and everyone knew it but Kanako thought you'd be just as indecisive as her, only doing what her mother wanted just as she might have guessed you did.

"Do you? Like skating.. I mean." Sitting back, you rolled your ankle to feel the tightness of the laces and was satisfied, you looked to your right to see Kanako and she had two arms behind her, leaning against the bench as she looked up at the ceiling. Her mouth was tightly closed as her eyes caught every corner or the concrete above her,

"Watching you, I really liked it."

She was silent and you weren't sure why you were beginning to feel afraid of what she might say,

"Mum always put you on TV. She would sit on the couch really late at night and watch you perform, and her face was always boring."

A questioning look was directed at her, "She looked like she was," She began to kick her legs in an almost desperate manner, "I don't know, bored! She was sad or thinking of something really hard. Whenever she watched you, she wouldn't listen to me and Alexei, she would just be asleep with her eyes open."

"So I would watch with her sometimes and she said that she really liked this girl, you, who she watched so much. She said you still had lots of potential and that she could make a better performance for you than you could.. That's.. when I wanted her to teach me."

Standing, Kanako looked away from the ceiling to look at you and she also stood, "But do you like it?" You questioned again, more determined to hear her answer.

"I like it when mum gets happy when I do something she likes, so yeah, I do - I like skating a lot, it's really pretty as well."

You'd be lying if you said your heart didn't sink at her words.

Hand in hand, Kanako and yourself walked back to the rink and saw Alexei sitting on the first row of the bleachers. He had been leaning back, his arms resting in his lap as his fingers fiddled with each other and he opened his eyes when he heard familiar steps coming towards him.

He caught sight of his sister, ready to start questioning her before he caught sight of you as well, "I was holding her hand, it was so warm! Are you jealous!?" Kanako beamed and it almost frightened the boy, his brows furrowed and he backed away from his youthful sister as warmth travelled up his neck at the thought of holding your hand.

He opened his mouth to retort but stopped once you were making laps around the ice, full speed and almost touching the skirting walls the entire time yet you fled the edges so confidently that he was a little afraid that you might hit it with your skate and land a terrible fall.

The sound of the skates echoed faster and louder as there was no music present and suddenly you were on your two feet, gliding fast yet steady as if floating. You had caught sight of a newcomer and stopped your race to let your eyes adjust to them, from their light brown hair to their lush, silky jacket made for exceptionally cold weather.

She was watching with a tiny smile on her face and you refused to make eye contact until she spoke up, walking to her children, "Ahh~ all my children are here, isn't this great?"

"Please, don't refer to me like that." She heard you as did Kanako and Alexei. You had received to two looks of confusion and one look of humour but they weren't known by you when you suddenly sped up to do a triple axel. You landed with ease and recited the lyrics of your song within your mind, trying your best to ignore the family watching you.

"Oh nonsense, [Name], you should know I'm very proud that I was able to bear such an exquisite child twenty-five years ago." She sounded absolutely delighted, clapping her hands together once and you stopped, flinching whilst the two younger people were staring at your back, burning holes into the flesh and you cringed internally.

"What- what do you, what do you me- bear? Twenty-fi-"

"... Alexei.. What does that mean..?"

The three of them saw you slowly turning around, a monotonous look that hid the rage glaring back at them and Masaru smiled, looking so innocent and happy yet her eyes were the complete opposite, her eyes were cold, manipulative and cunning too. It made you almost feel disgusted, "What is wrong with you?"

She didn't blink an eye, smiling even more when she managed to rile you up, "Do you have any shame? Talking so boastfully about a half-sister of your children without even saying it directly to them? Why're you so troublesome?! Why can't you leave me alone!"

You saw it, the way her face almost dropped and she look the the two beside her. Both of them were watching you with mouths agape and Kanako spoke first, "Half-si-sister? What's.. what is that?"

Her eyes were wide in disbelief and Alexei answered without taking his eyes off of you, emotions flooding within him wildly as he fell back, his back meeting the chair and he spoke, almost breathlessly, "It means.. Mum is also [Name]'s mum.. she.. Mum had [Name] before she had us.."

He burned bright red and slapped himself in the face when he spoke those words out loud, making them more real and more true when his mother wouldn't say anything, "What the hell?!"

"Oh shush, Alexei and Kanako, [Name] is your sister-"

"But, I don't understand! That must mean she was eight when you had me! Where was she?!" Alexei was standing now, pointing to you and suddenly, you wanted to go home. You didn't want to skate and you wanted to pet the sleeping Makkachin in the locker room. You wanted to go back to Yuuri's bed and you wanted to disappear.

"..."

She was quiet, of course, you knew Masaru wouldn't be as cruel and as heartless to reveal that she left Ryoto and her daughter for their current Father in Russia. She just looked at you, almost testing you as if she was waiting for you to say it. Either that or something else to ease the situation.

"Things happened. Life just decided something things weren't right and we got split." Yuuri flashed in your mind, "It was for.." You remembered your father, those scary nights in your home, "It was for the best."

"I.. guess we can say that.." Another wave of rage came over you and you wanted to smack the facade off her face, the sad look she presented and you hated it for looking so genuine. She couldn't have regretted what she had done. She did it and she continued with it, she cheated on her husband and then left to be with that foreign man. She left her only child and now she stood, face contorting with a look of disheartenment which you severely despised.

"I'm leaving."

She jumped when you began skating to the rink edge and spoke out quickly, her voice echoing as she almost sounded desperate, "W-Wait, [Name], tell me. How is Viktor? Is he good to you?"

You could laugh in her face, the things she said and the way she acted. It was so obvious that she wanted something, trying to act like an actual parent again, trying to seem like she was actually concerned - she made you sick.

"You make me sick. I feel so.. sad when I think about how I was brought into the world because of you and my drunk Father. I'd like to say I don't want to speak to you, talk to you or even have the slightest contact with you... but, I don't know if that's possible. Your children are very nice. I want to help them," Your gaze flickered to them, "I'd like to befriend them before they're tainted by you.. But I suppose that would mean I've insulted you and I don't think they would like to be friends with a girl who despises their Mother."

Taking in a large breath, you prided yourself in having tearless eyes stare at her again, the way her face continuously dropped and her smile turned to a frown of heartbreak, "So, as I said before, I'm leavi-"

"[Name]? Wha- What's happening? This is your Mother?"

Yuuri looked frightened as he stood by the door, you rolled your eyes and felt tired from the situation at hand. You didn't know how much Yuuri had heard but you guessed that by the look on his face, it was almost all of it. Viktor came from behind him, calling his name with Makkachin prancing through as well.

He stopped as well, his eyes catching the woman he had met earlier and the two younger people with her. He saw you as well you took note of how Masaru smiled at the sight of him, so fake and so smiley, it made bile rise up your throat by the way she looked at Viktor, it made you angry.

"Ah, I love family reunions.." You turned away and breathed softly to yourself, "How god damned troublesome.."