(A bit inspired by the story "Dancing on ice" from the game "Time Princess")

Ice skating has been a part of your life since you were little. You can't say whether it was your passion or your mother's influence, but you loved what you did. Your mother was Russian, and had already been one of the most famous skaters in her country, but then she married your father, who is Japanese. They both moved to Japan when you were a baby.

And since you were 5 years old, your mother trained you at the city's skating rinks. Even though she was your mother, she was strict and a perfectionist, she expected the best from you, and the demands were a little too high. She put you in small championships from an early age, and anything beyond first place was out of the question for her. She would go to all your competitions, but she would only hug you if you came in first.

Your father was never in town, but he went to your competitions when he could. Even so, it was almost always just you, and your mother's cold shoulder. Until that changed when you started dating Akaashi. He went to all your competitions, even if you didn't win or anything, he was always there to hug you and tell you good job. It had been a good few years since you had finished anything other than first place.

But you didn't know that would change today. You had been training relentlessly, your mother had put more pressure on you than usual, this was one of the most important competitions of your life. You felt more pressure than usual. You made a few mistakes in the landing, which made you lose several points, and in the end, you came in second place. The girl who came in first was beaming, smiling at every photo that was taken of her, the girl in third also was happy.

But you were holding back tears in second place, the weight of the medal around your neck reminding you of your mistakes. That second place trophy in your shaking hands made you feel ashamed. Akaashi went to you as soon as he was allowed, he knew how you were feeling. You got down from the podium, and he immediately hugged you, careful not to crush the bouquet of flowers he had brought for you.

And from there, you could see your mother leaving the stadium with an expression of disappointment, shame, anger, everything but affection. You thought you couldn't feel any sadder, until you saw the girl who came in first step down from the podium, heading towards her mother's arms.

"You did great sweetie, I'm so proud of you, I love you so much."

The woman said, which made you sob even harder against Akaashi.