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YUKIMIYA WAS BEHIND a desk where normally Dr. Martin did his paperwork. The med student was doing his practices there and Dr. Martin was nowhere to be seen — perhaps in the bathroom or at a more urgent matter with other skaters.
Yukki smiled charmingly when he looked up from his papers but that smile dropped as soon as he saw them. "Reo, are you okay? What happened?"
Seishiro helped him sit on the examination table, and Reo began taking off his ice skate roughly to downplay what happened. It still didn't make sense to him at all. "I fell, and it hurts a bit. Nothing serious, I think," he explained. In the silence that followed, he sighed and bit his tongue to avoid blurting out that it hadn't been a big deal and it was Nagi who exaggerated.
"Hi, Yukki," he whispered as an afterthought, once their eyes met across the room.
"Hey," Yukimiya gave him a lopsided smile, considering they hadn't greeted one another after that dramatic entrance. "It's always nice to see you, but I'd prefer it happened under different circumstances."
The thing about Yukimiya was that he had a natural ability to make people at ease. One never felt self-conscious while talking to him because he had the kind of smile that made it seem like he was always listening intently — as if he cared for what one had to say. Reo was similar in that sense; he's been told he made people feel comfortable.
This was probably why they hooked up months ago, before Reo's big comeback and hurricane Seishiro. Reo wished he could have felt something deeper for the guy, or that Yukimiya would have wanted a real connection with him. But back then, Reo was scared and no one was worth the risk. Besides, no one made him feel excited or hopeful for the future. It mostly felt like passing the time.
Asuka was right about his trust issues and being afraid of himself; what he was capable of when in love. He was glad he was able to figure it out with Seishiro thanks to her. Because, unlike Yukki, Seishiro was a force, and he set a fire in Reo that the skater couldn't ignore.
Speaking of Seishiro, he was staring at Yukki like an ambush predator. With his big, round, grey eyes inspecting Yukimiya and waiting for his next move, waiting to strike. Reo cleared his throat to catch his attention. He hadn't even said hello.
Yukimiya ignored him in return, but not impolitely. "Alright, let me see. Can you roll your ankle for me, please?"
He first watched how the movement went – smoothly, without difficulties or hisses of pain – and then he grabbed Reo's ankle, asking how it felt when he pressed his thumb in different places.
There were no mobility issues, and just as Reo had assumed, the pain was only temporary, similar to when one hit their elbow on a corner.
"You're right, it doesn't look like anything is wrong. Can you walk?"
