"I can't believe it," she gasps, breaking the silence. "I'm finally talking to the king's girl."

Louise lets out a laugh, not knowing what she wants to feel about that.

King's girl... what the hell was that?

I'm the queen...

...and he's just a slave.

Slave to my godly beauty and intellect!

HAHAHAAH!

Kaede can sense Louise's uneasiness, so she added. "Don't worry, okay? Your secret is safe with me," she winks.

She remembered Ojiro talking about them in good hands, so she let herself loosen up a bit.

Everything that happened between me and Kaede is now in the past.

We only respect each other as a fellow skater and a friend, nothing more.

All I can see is you.

She calms herself by thinking about Ojiro's words, which she has decided to trust.

"Thank you for helping us out back there. Everything just happened really fast. That's so...reckless of us."

"Oh, no, that's nothing. Come on, we still hadn't introduced ourselves formally, right? I'm Kaede Ishioka, yoroshiku." She extends her hand to Louise for a shake.

"Maria Louisia Diaz. Everyone calls me Louise."

She's not that bad after all...

"Oh, he's still doing that?" she said, nodding to the jacket she's wearing.

Louise looks at her clothing cluelessly. "Do, what?"

"That jacket thing,"

"Oh...yeah," she smiles shyly. Aware of the blush that was heating up her cheeks. She embraces herself with the jacket, like it would hide her blushing.

"I don't know...it was a famous ritual between athletes—the exchanging of jackets with other teams as remembrance," Kaede hums. "When we go to the Olympics together, I can't count the times Ojiro got scolded by Minoru-sensei. He just keeps on giving his jackets to me." Kaede covers her mouth, letting out laughter. "Those things are freaking expensive, you know. It's not that it's easy to get him the same jacket all over again."

Louise couldn't help but laugh as Kaede went back to the memory.

I take it back.

She's a bitch.

"Yeah, I...didn't expect that sweet side of him at all. He's so full of surprises. Even going to lengths of inviting my favorite J-pop singers to his ice shows,"

She can definitely read what this girl is playing, but her Latina ass is not the type to back down easily.

"Oh, just as expected of him, and...you mean, he brought you to one of his ice shows? That's so cute. Is that during the Melody on Ice in Yokohama? I heard he got offered by eight ice show producers that time."

"Oh, no. That's the Nagoya stop. It's so beautiful. The city, the show. He surprised me with these fireworks...it's so beautiful,"

Hmmm, how's that for you, querida?

Kaede put her hand to her mouth as she let out a fit of laughter. Just by laughing makes her even more pretty and modest, like most Japanese women she meets.

"He's so old-fashioned. He never changed a bit. Really...It was a thing for every Japanese guy. Watching a firework with someone they like. We used to watch a lot of it back in the balcony of Olympic Village."

Louise's smile slowly fades.

That night in Nagoya, it is one of her life's most treasured moments with Ojiro....only to find out that all of those things that she and Ojiro did , turned out to be not a first time for him anymore.

"G-gomen! I overshared! Please don't think about it that much. It's just one of those nostalgic memories. Nothing special, really, " she apologizes.

Louise can't believe how she was able to look very polite even though she single-handedly destroyed her.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it." She smiles like the expert that she is in plasticity.

She unconsciously throws Ojiro a look at the counter, silently screaming for help.

"He's always been so crazy about raw eggs on rice. It's his all-time favorite."

"Really?" Louise muttered.

"Don't tell me you didn't know?" she covers her mouth, making a kawaii, surprise face.

Louise didn't really know that, and she had told Ojiro she wasn't a fan of that dish. She can bear to eat sashimi except for raw eggs on rice and natto. And every time they're together, they are more likely to eat Mexican la comida than Japanese food.

In short, Louise didn't know it was Ojiro's all-time favorite food.

Actually, she didn't know anything about his other favorites either, other than, well, skating.

She can't believe how she's only thinking about these things now after all this time.

"Nooo..." she moaned. "You should know that one of all the things. How long have you been together?"

"It's not that long to know all his favorites," she shrugs. Smiling bitterly.

"Ugh. I know he can be so secretive sometimes, even in small things, but especially when it comes to his family. It's even a miracle he allowed Kai-kun to skate and train here."

"Kai-kun? What do you mean?"

Kaede looks at her cluelessly.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry! So he didn't tell you about that either? Moh...Jikkun can be this heartless."

Louise looked at her, oblivious to everything that she said.

"Don't tell him I told you about this, okay? Kai-kun is actually his nephew, his oldest sister's son. But that remains a secret from the public until now, so the media won't bother the kid and he can live a normal lifestyle."

Louise doesn't know how she can be able to process that, but she goes on listening.

"He didn't even approve of Kai-kun figure skating at first, and he literally begged his sister not to allow him because of the hell that he had gone through in this sport."

Louise thinks about it, considering how Kaimen trains so hard and is always desperate to seek Ojiro's approval.

She's been talking and bantering with his sister's son all this time...and he didn't even bother telling her, which got her thinking...

...she didn't really know anything about Ojiro's family at all.

Who are his parents are, how many siblings do he have, and what do they look like? He doesn't even hang photos of them in his apartment.

Just a photo of them three. Ojiro, Nissho, and Kaede...

Ojiro comes back with the kids, placing a steaming hot bowl of rice in front of Kaede. She smiled at him and thanked him.

Louise can quickly take note of how Ojiro's language is always changing when he's talking to Kaede. Among the people at the table, they're the only two who speak into each other in straight Nihongo.

Both looked so giddy, cracking the egg on top of their rice. They add some soy sauce, and then mix everything inside the bowl.

"Oishiso!" he exclaimed.

"Darou?" Kaede agreed.

She hasn't heard him talk to anyone like that, not even his coach or Atsushi-san, except those times he's either on his phone or in online meetings, giving Louise a new realization...

Ojiro and Kaede actually kept in touch all this time.

Everyone is enjoying the meal, especially Kaede's bento. While her burned dumplings were left untouched beside it.

The table is full of lively conversations, but the only thing that she felt was the loneliness of not really being a part of it.

When she looks back at Ojiro's laughing face, she feels like it's all foreign all over again, just like when they first met in the vending machine.

Along with the fact that she utterly and unbelievably felt so fucking stupid realizing something just now...

Louise doesn't know anything about the man that she loves.

---Your votes and comments are so much appreciated! <3