After the performance, everyone claps for her, even though they aren't sure what they witnessed.

"Arigatou Gozaimasu!" she waves and thanked everyone, still in her final pose, and when she's about to stand, she pushes herself up but can't un-split her legs to stand. "Dios resucitado...Ichika!" she calls for her sidekick out of the habit.

"Louisia-nee!" Ichika calls back in her concern while Kaimen faces palms beside her.

Both children entered the ice to help her stand.

The audience is laughing at her comedic presentation, and the two sensei that are with Ojiro were actually giggling, which made him calm down a bit after.

Audience impact is important in a program, and he's glad that Louise has entertained them.

"Where did you get that costume? That's super cute and sexy," Tanaka-san asks, holding his microphone. Ojiro knew they would definitely think of something to talk about except her skating.

"Oh, I thought you'd not ask. I designed it." Louise turns around to show them the details. She's wearing a red costume that fits perfectly on her body, filled with red spider lily flowers from top to the small skirt.

"Can you share with us how you came up with the idea? The inspiration behind this costume? We all know that in Japanese folk lore, a red spider lily means death, right?" For once, Takeuchi-sensei seems curious.

To Ojiro's surprise, Lousie actually shared a bit of her background. The design of her costume has a touch of her personal life; she's always felt that she's been associated with death.

She told them that she was actually born during the wake of Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, which is celebrated every November 1st of the year, and how she lost her mom at such a young age.

It was just an unexpected turn of events for Ojiro in how the comedy scene turned into drama. So, when they gave out their score number to Louise, the two sensei were sniffing, touched by her story. Both of their cards show a score of 5, not bad for her terrible skating.

Ojiro already knows these facts from Louise herself, but if you're someone who really doesn't know her personally, then she can get you easily fooled by her acting and he's speaking from experience.

"Korishima-san? Your score?" Takeuchi sensei breaks him out of thinking.

"Ah...hai," he shuffles his score cards and reveals the number.

His card reads "0".

Yes. Ojiro Korishima gave Louisia a zero.

Louise hasn't actually pulled off any of her routine's jumps. If she's not under-rotated, she falls off most of it, so she's absolutely getting a zero from him for that.

He was known to be as cold as ice when it came to following the rules, and he perfectly knows what everyone thinks of it. He's a bit harsh. Too serious. That he really needs to chill out sometimes and just have fun.

Fun, huh?

Since when was the last time he really had fun?

It feels like a long time ago.

Like he's trapped in a strange dream.

"Did you see that split?" Louise turned to Ichika and Kaimen while they were helping her get off the ice.

He saw the trio laugh at something that Louise had said, looking like they're having a real fun even though she got a zero, ended up at the bottom rank, and had actually been beaten by kids.

Ojiro wished he could laugh and feel more carefree like that.

He lived like a puppet, not feeling anything. Just living into how everyone wanted him to be, but when he's looking into that smiling face, he's glad that he found something that he can hold on to, something that reminds him how it felt to be alive in this messed up world of his.

A smile curled into Ojiro's mouth while watching them.

This is fun.

He's been holding onto that hope, gripping it tightly like his life depends on it.

Yeah, it feels good to be back and have fun again.

But at that time, when the devastating earthquake hit Osaka and Louise had gone missing, he felt like the life in him had died.

He can't feel, can't think of anything. It's just pure darkness.

It seems like eternity until he notices his cellphone vibrating and then picks up the call like an automated robot.

"Ojiro?" Louise's voice echoes from the other end.

The color came back to his face immediately, and for a moment, he couldn't speak. He just listened to her speaking voice while she spoke curses in Spanish.

According to her, she lost her phone somewhere, and she needs to check on her classmate Ichika and her mom to ensure their safety. Yoshio found her and evacuated them safely, and he actually assisted them on their way back to Minato.

All the signals were cut off for two hours; that's why Yoshio failed to make a report.

"Stay right where you are. I'm coming," he breathes.

The NSF rescheduled the awarding ceremony so he could drive back to Minato. He made Louise stay at his house, where he could ensure her safety.

His trembling fingers opened the door of his apartment, revealing a woman's figure standing with her back facing him, her brown curly hair beautifully hangs below her shoulders in waves. He rushed to her and made her turn to him.

"Ojiro?" she calls to him, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance in the room.

She's still wearing the coat that he gave her, wrapped around her form, which made her look so small and fragile, but when he caged her with a tight embrace and a long, wanting kiss, it reminded him of how strong she had become protecting Ichika and her mom during the rage of disaster.

"I thought I lost you," his voice cracks.

He holds her and smells her. Feeling her solid form, reminding him that she's all real. It's going to be alright. He bends down to kiss her again and feel her warmth.

"If you're gone, then everything in this was just pointless," he murmured.

Louise just looks up to him cluelessly.

Ojiro smiles at the memory while he's watching Louise do a Doraemon voice to entertain the children. Takeuchi-sensei then approached her and told her. "So, you can change your voice like that, Louisia-chan. I bet you can also sing. Why not join our Ice show's cast and earn money for disaster relief so you can do something useful for once?"

"Ehh?" Louise's jaw hangs open just by hearing the word "ice show," because it just means to her that it involves a lot of skating.

I'm almost there.

I am so close.

With that, he skated at full speed, feeling the strength surge through him even if his physical form was on the verge of breaking.

—

Thankyou so much for reading and waiting for my slow updates! 💕 Pleas edon't forget to vote and share some comments 🙈

Love, Ikoma Sensei💋