the scrape of ice blades ring out in the room. the sun is just beginning to rise and spill in from the windows that loom above the rink.

gentle music begins from the speakers drowning the rink in sound as the music rises and swells along to an overly practiced routine.

the music ends as y/n finishes with flare, his arms drawn out to wrap around himself then coming to extend forward gracefully. he huffs quickly his breath stolen after the third run through of his routine.

a small applause draws him out of his muddled thoughts and he looks to where the noise is coming from.

"now how many times have you done that?" a woman smiles leaning over the rinks railing. her long black hair spilling over her shoulders, she tilts her head awaiting an answer.

"how many times is too many for you coach?" she shakes her head with a huff, ridding herself of her hard guards and gliding across the ice to stand in front of her student.

"how many times have i told you not to overwork yourself? just because you have special access to the rink doesn't mean you have to be here at the wee hours of the morning." she points a finger into his chest to punctuate her statement.

"i mean the sun has barely risen and you're already here!" he smiles in turn, a small laugh shaking his shoulders.

"i know i know, but i have to get this perfect," he takes her hand, the one with the ofending finger and clasps it in his hands. "you know how much this means to me.."

she stares a moment, her gaze softening and she clasps his hands back.

"with all this extra practice you better win gold. i want a framed picture with you holding up that damn medal." he smiles wide in turn, nodding his head in confirmation.

"i owe you two of them, if i remember correctly?" he feins thought his finger resting on his lips. she cackle's brightly and slaps a hand between his shoulders.

"you sure as hell do! and don't you forget it." the sun has fully risen, beams of light spilling in through the windows.

"right!" she claps her hands together, "the rest should be coming in within the hour? there's something i'd like to go over with you before they arive." y/n nods at her following her off the ice, he slips his hard guards on and sits down beside her on the bench.

"i have a friend.." she begins handing y/n his water bottle.

"okay.." she spins a piece of hair around her finger, her gray eyes looking towards her skates.

"he's a volleyball coach. we've been friends for a while and i sort of.." she pauses raising her gaze to level with y/n's own.

he quirks a brow questioning her and urging her to continue.

"I offered lessons, his team needs work on their balance as well as partner work.. and i may or may not have given them your name as a reference." y/n gapes, she'd offered his time, his time that wasn't hers to offer.

"but practice and the competition.. how am i supposed to balance that with a boys volleyball team!?" he sets his water bottle aside, and rubs his temples in annoyance.

"i cant do it... i'm sorry coach but it's just too much.." she shakes her head quickly and turns fully towards him.

"it's not and you know it! i know you want to be perfect and to win, but all that practice is going to tire you out! you won't have anything left to give the competition, i know i should have asked you first but you need this as much as they do." she stands and places a hand on y/n's shoulder.

"you need to take breaks too, you're still in school. this isn't healthy i want you to take it easy or you won't set foot on the ice for the rest of the season. i put you in that competition and i will take you out if i need to." her face is stern, she's like a mother scolding her foolish child.

"do i make myself clear?"

y/n nods glumly.

"yes ma'am."

"good. and be nice to these boys, please..?" she adds, a small smile gracing her face.

"i really like this friend and i want to keep him, i don't know how i'd fix it if you broke his teams spirits." y/n huffs out a laugh.

"i won't break them, i'll just make sure to get their asses in shape." her smile widens.

"you better! i want pro skaters after this!" she laughs and ruffles h/c hair, she makes her exit to stretch a bit more awaiting the rest of her students.

y/n sighs loudly and stares off into the rink, he was going to spend his saturday night brainstorming lesson plans for a volleyball team, how pathetic.

but he loved his coach and trusted her with his life. plus she was totally into this friend and it would be fun to meddle in their relationship.

he stands and huffs another breath, extending his arms above his head in a stretch.

maybe he should get something to eat before everyone floods the rink?
or perhaps a nap? a nap sounds good, he'd tossed and turned the night prior which led to his early start.

y/n sneaks off into one of the locker rooms and sets up a pillow taken from his personal locker and places it against the wall in a corner of said room, then peacefully doses off for a bit.

y/n's awoken by his rink mate who shakes his shoulders to rid him of sleep.

"y/n! time to wake up, coach wants us on the ice in five." y/n mumbles out an affirmative noise and attempts to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"m'awake" he raises his hands in surrender, and begins to stand.

ahane offers a hand to bring the other to his feet.

"i don't know how you can doze off here, I'd be scared of ghosts or something.." y/n shakes his head trying to wake his brain and process what his friend was saying.

"who says i'm not a ghost?" ahane shoves his shoulder lightly with a laugh.

"don't joke about that! ghosts are scary!" y/n laughs in return.

"you find everything scary, even your own shadow." the other huffs a breath and watches as y/n puts his skates back on with a pout.

"that is not true, it happened one time and i was exhausted so it doesn't count.." the h/c haired male stands and begins his walk back to the rink, a yawn wrenching its way out of him. ahane is right on his heels taking his ear off about the previous night and how much fun he'd had while on a date.

"she was so sweet! I tripped when we first met up and she was so worried about me, my face still hurts a bit but it was worth it." y/n nods to show he's listening while reaching the bench he's left his water bottle on.

there were a few other skaters gathered in the rink, they stood in front of coach who was waving over the two boys.

the both of them rid themselves of their hard guards and made their way towards the group.

"okay! now that everyone's here i have an announcement." the group looked to her, half of them still drowsy from sleep.

"i've invited a friend of mine and his volleyball team to practice in the rink! they will be here for wednesdays so i'd like it if you guys either spectated for their time or attempted to aid y/n in teaching them."

"why is a volleyball team coming here to learn that anyways? don't they have special coaches for that or something?" ahane mumbles draining the rest of his water.

"that's probably true.. but i'm good friends with their coach and it'd be good for you all to practice partner work!" everyone stills a moment shivering as she grins wickedly.

"wait so I thought y/n was going to be the one teaching them? why do we still have to show up during their time?" another student amongst the group questions, coach nods quickly, her hands securing a place on her hips.

"he is! and you all will be learning with them, he's your teacher in a sense there's not much i can teach you when it comes to partner work," she sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"besides, it'll bring you out of your comfort zone and you'll learn more that way." the group lets out a groan but mumble out an agreement.

"hey! none of that whiny kid stuff! don't you all want to win gold?!" they all straighten up at that and nod their heads towards her.

"good! so practice hard!" she smiles wide and blinding then turns to slide gracefully off the ice.

the rest of the day was spent practicing the basics and whatever else they wanted to practice in their free skate time.

y/n slides of the ice, his feet ache but it's a good ache the type to tell him he's going to sleep well once he gets home.

"y/n!" the blonde shouts as he follows y/n off the ice. "you walking home again today?"

y/n nods, "you walking with me isa?" ahane nods, smiling at the nickname.

"do you want to get popcicles on the way? i've been craving one so baddd" he drags out the word dramatically.

"my treat!" he adds and this earns a small laugh from the other and a nod to confirm.

they both make their way to the locker rooms and change into their outside clothes. they chat about nothing and everything as they begin to head out.

"y/n!" it's coach this time and he turns his head in response.

"be prepared for the volleyball team i heard their lively!" she grins and waves him goodbye.

they continue out the doors and begin the route home. they walk and talk about routines and ahanes failed dates.

they stop at a mini mart, it's their favorite since it's conveniently on their way home.
ahane selects two popsicles and brings them to the blonde at the counter, he checks them out and bids them a goodnight as they walk the rest of the way home.

the two of them part ways and say their good nights as they disappear into their respective homes.

"mom! i'm home!" y/n announces, switching out his shoes for slippers and making his way to the kitchen to great his mother.

she smiles warmly in return, her attention mostly on the stove as she cooks.
"welcome home, how was practice?" y/n mumbles out a 'good' as he steals something off the counter that's finished cooking.

"wait until it's finished!" she huffs and shoos him away from the food.

"is dad closing the rink again tonight?" she hums a yes and begins plating food for the three of them.

"could you get your sister for me hun?" she asks, and who was y/n to say no to his mother?

he walks over to his sisters room, knocking lightly on the door.

"s/n! mom says dinners ready!" he hears an 'okay' through the door and is greeted by his sister as she trudges out her eyes still trying to open.

"napping before dinner? what would mother say?" he tsk's waggling his finger tauntingly. she shoves him with a laugh and they 'bicker' their way back to the kitchen.

their mother has set the table and their plates await them at their respective spots.

"thanks for the food mom!" she smiles and nods her head, sitting in her spot. they have light conversations and talk about their days as they finish.

"well i'm off to bed, goodnight!" y/n excuses himself and makes his way to his room, slumping into his bed as soon as he gets the chance. hed shower in the morning his body was so tired and sore from the early start and overdoing it at practice.

he laid sprawled out on top of the duvet and shut his eyes, drifting to sleep.