Chapter Text
“Come on, it’s going to be so much fun!”
Usually something like that would have come from Zoey, but today it was Mira pulling her girlfriends along.
“I don’t know,” Zoey said, “you know I’m a skateboard gal. I don’t think I’d do well on ice.”
“Then there’s no better way to learn than to have your gorgeous girlfriend teach you,” Mira argued.
“We’re going,” Rumi said. “We’re just not as comfortable ice skating as you are. Don’t expect us to be pulling any crazy tricks or anything.”
“Of course,” Mira said with an eager nod. “God, it’s been too long since I last went ice skating!”
When they arrived at the rink they saw that there were already a number of people here, including cameras watching the skaters and getting interviews from those who weren’t skating at the moment. This was a celebrity ice skating event sponsored by a sporting goods company that had managed to get a surprising number of celebrities together for a casual time having fun on the ice. The ice rink itself was newly opened and owned by the same company. The celebrities included the entire main cast of a K-drama that was also heavily sponsored by the sporting goods company, as well as some other actors, a few comedians, some fellow musicians, a number of celebrity athletes, and some popular influencers.
It had taken some convincing from Mira to get Huntrix to attend. Bobby mentioned that it would be good publicity, but it was hardly a must attend event. But the attendance of Huntrix did mean that a number of their songs were able to be added to the music playing over the speakers. Whoever was running the music must have seen their arrival, as another track ended mid-verse to be replaced with the familiar opening to “Golden”. That brought a smile to the girls’ faces.
“Ooh, Huntrix, can we get some-” an interviewer was interrupted as Bobby appeared seemingly out of nowhere to cut her off.
“Excuse me, please allow them a moment to change into their skating outfits and settle in.”
“But-”
“Won’t your questions edit together better if they’re in the outfits they’ll be wearing out on the ice?” Bobby asked. That seemed to settle the interviewer, and Huntrix was ushered towards the dressing area.
It was clear that this would normally be a more communal dressing area serving a great many more people, but it had been partitioned into different private areas for the various celebrities attending, so Huntrix had their own aisle with curtains keeping everything private. The security around the dressing rooms was also much tighter, making sure that no paparazzi was going to get any scandalous shots. It wasn’t as private or fancy as the venues they performed at, but they had known to expect this.
The romantic relationship between Rumi, Mira, and Zoey was still fairly new, and none of them could hide looking at each other as they changed, faces clearly showing undisguised lust. Still, they kept their hands to themselves. At least for now. If they took too long getting changed it could spark rumors.
Their outfits had been custom made for the occasion. They were reminiscent of the white outfits they had accidentally created at Namsan Tower when they faced Gwi-Ma, but with some sparkly details added that gave a sense that they outfits were somehow “frosty”. Also added were short skirts worn over their shorts to add that classic skirt twirl when they spun on the ice.
Mira was almost giddy to get out onto the ice, but waited patiently for her girlfriends to finish getting ready.
“I just know we’re going to look ridiculous out there,” Zoey moaned. “I’m going to face plant the moment I step onto the ice and everyone is gonna laugh at me.”
“No one is going to laugh at you,” Mira assured. “And given our reflexes and athletics, once you two figure out how the basics you’re going to put everyone else out there to shame.”
“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” Zoey pouted, though she did allow herself a small smile.
“No, I’m serious. Did you actually look at the other skaters when we came in?” Mira asked. “There’s maybe three ice skaters who look good on the ice, and everyone else looks like newborn deer learning how to walk.”
“Really?” Rumi asked. She might not be as vocal about her nerves as Zoey was, but she was still clearly concerned.
“Really,” Mira said. “I counted maybe five that okay out there, but certainly not impressive. Even most of the athletes they’ve got clearly aren’t used to the rink. Trust me, let me show you the basics and you’ll out skate everyone except the professional skaters. And me, of course,” Mira said with haughty flip of her hair.
The three made it out of the dressing room, and this time Bobby let the interviewers approach ‘for a few questions’. They knew that a lengthier interview would happen closer to the end of the event when they could ask how they enjoyed their time skating. That would be the time to offer the expected praise of the facility and the company behind it.
“So, Huntrix is known for your graceful and powerful choreography on stage,” the woman who had tried to question them before changing said. “Do you think that will translate to the ice rink?”
“I don’t know,” Zoey said honestly. “I’ve always been sporty, but I prefer a skateboard to roller blades, and I haven’t ever gone ice skating before. I just hope I don’t make a fool of myself out there,” she said with a self-effacing laugh.
“You wouldn’t be the only one,” the interviewer said with a chuckle. “What about you two?”
Rumi looked over to Mira for a moment, but Mira seemed to want to answer last. “I remember going ice skating once, but I was probably around six years old at the time,” Rumi said. “I don’t think I was any good back then, so we’ll see if the years have made me more or less graceful,” she answered, earning a laugh from the interviewer.
“Well, I look forward to teaching you two how it’s done,” Mira said confidently.
“Does that mean you have experience ice skating?” the microphone turned to Mira.
She smiled. “Oh yeah. I learned to ice skate before I learned to dance,” she said, earning surprised looks from the other two. She had never told them that. “It was my love of ice skating that got me interested in other physical pursuits, like dancing. I haven’t had the chance to skate in a while, but I’m certain I’ve still got it.”
“In that case,” Rumi spoke up before the interviewer could. “Would you mind showing Zoey and me what you look like on the ice going at your own pace before you have to slow down to teach us?”
Mira smirked as she looked at Rumi’s flushed cheeks, embarrassed by how much she wanted to see Mira gracefully gliding across the ice.
“Absolutely,” Mira said. “But you two have to watch. That means no interviewing them when their eyes are supposed to be on me,” Mira spoke with an almost husky tone. Now Zoey was blushing too.
Mira stepped out onto the ice and right away began sliding across the ice as if she belonged there. She picked up speed before jumping into the air with a spin, landing with a leg outstretched behind her as she skated backwards. Others quickly got out of her way as she glided, spun, and jumped, movements perfectly controlled and a look of pure elation on her face. Finally she ended near Rumi and Zoey, forward momentum turned into a quick spin in place. The spin continued until Rumi thought she might get dizzy just watching her. But when the spin ended Mira was facing them, striking a dramatic pose with one hand on her hip and the other reaching out towards them theatrically.
Rumi and Zoey started clapping, and Mira realized that they weren’t the only ones. But as far as she was concerned they were the only ones that mattered.
“Everyone give it up for Mira from Huntrix!” a voice said over the speakers. “Wasn’t that magnificent!”
Mira now held out both her hands, nodding at Zoey and Rumi. “C’mon, I won’t let either of you fall,” she declared.
Rumi and Zoey felt like they were looking at a knight in shining armor promising to slay a dragon for them. But they trusted that if she said they wouldn’t fall, then they wouldn’t fall.
They each took a hand, allowing Mira to lead them slowly out onto the ice, despite interviewers trying to call them back for a few more words before they got started.
Mira kept her promise, holding them up no matter how off balance they found themselves. A few times this led to pulling a falling Rumi or Zoey flush against her body rather than letting them fall, allowing her own form, balance, and experience to take over entirely. A few almost falls may have happened on purpose after they realized this was the result.
It wasn’t long though before they were skating around at greater speeds, even letting go of Mira’s hands for a few moments here and there to allow her to skate ahead to watch their form, or do a little jump to show off for them. Mira was right that after learning the basics their own natural reflexes from years of demon hunting and parkour led them to skate better than the majority of the people here. Even when they were quite sure they didn’t need to hold Mira’s hands any longer, it was still never too long before they were all holding each other’s hands once more.
After a while Mira started teaching them more advanced techniques. Rumi and Zoey followed her lead, jumping from the ice and doing a single spin before landing again. Their landings were a little shaky, but neither of them fell. They almost did fall when they looked up to see how proud Mira looked after their landing. She was just so beautiful and care-free in that moment it stole their breath away.
As they started to tire out (well, Zoey and Rumi started to tire out - Mira looked like she could do this all day) they made their way off the ice. Sure enough, the moment they stepped off the ice they were bombarded with questions. Some of which were regarding how they felt about the new facility, for which they graciously praised the space and thanked the sponsor company for their invitation. When asked if they would come back Mira was quick to say how much she’d love to, and the other two couldn’t help but agree that they might have to make this a regular thing for the group.
Most of the questions, however, were directed at Mira. How long had she been ice skating? What had drawn her to it? What was her favorite part of ice skating? Had she ever considered a career as a professional ice skater? Mira happily answered all their questions, positively glowing from the experience.
“And you say it was through ice skating that you got into dancing?”
“That’s right,” Mira answered. “The physicality of it, the rhythm, it all just spoke to me, and I had to have more. Something I could do away from the ice that gave me a similar feeling. So that’s when I got into dance.”
“Well, I guess despite being a ‘problem child’ even you owe a lot to your parents,” the interviewer said casually.
Mira’s smile froze. “What do you mean?”
“The age you said you started learning, that must have been your parents who got you lessons, right?”
Mira’s smile faltered. “Yes,” she admitted. “My mother was the one who signed me up for ice skating lessons originally.” She smiled once more, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “But I wouldn’t give her credit for anything. Not anything good, anyway.”
“But if your mother-”
“I’m sorry,” Bobby interrupted, “but I’m afraid Huntrix needs to hurry and get changed as we do actually have a full schedule this evening. But thank you so much for your interest.” Bobby shot them a thumbs up as they took the opportunity the head towards the dressing area. Mira gave him a small, thankful nod.
As Mira sat down in the dressing area she suddenly found herself embraced on both sides by a warm hug. She leaned into it, letting her girls hold her.
“My mom did sign me up for ice skating,” Mira said quietly.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Rumi said.
Mira shook her head. “I... I want to. It’s something I’ve never really... processed,” she admitted.
The others nodded. “Then go on,” Rumi encouraged, Zoey nodding her agreement.
“I was already labeled a problem child,” Mira said. “I was getting into fights. Often came home hurt. Parents got lots of calls that I had hurt some other kid. And maybe I provoked some of those fights,” she admitted. “I was just... angry. And I had no outlet. And no one took my feelings seriously. I was just a kid throwing a temper tantrum as far as they were concerned.”
Mira sighed, looking far more tired from talking than she had from skating. “Someone suggested that I just had too much energy. That I needed an outlet for that. So my parents started talking about it. They talked about enrolling me in something. Getting me some lessons for something physical, in the hope that it would help me become a proper little princess,” she said with disgust. “Of course my suggestions were completely disregarded. No, how could I suggest martial arts? Didn’t I know that was for boys,” she rolled her eyes. “They decided that ice skating was properly feminine and signed me up. And let me tell you, I was livid. Hated the very idea of it.”
Mira let out a breath and they felt her relax in their arms. “Then, I got to know my tutor. And she was... she was incredible.” Mira laughed. “I think she was probably the first crush I ever had,” she said fondly. “One day, my parents had dropped me off, and I was prepared to sit there stubbornly and refuse to cooperate again. That’s what I had done for three or four ‘lessons’. And even though my tutor, Hyun-Ae, hadn’t pushed me, I still thought of her as just another one of mom and dad’s lackeys.”
Mira continued. “But this time as soon as my parents left she leans in and whispers to me ‘you wanna see something cool?’ I thought this was going to be some lame thing I was supposed to find cool as a proper little girl, and I was ready to dismiss it. But then she said ‘but you can’t tell your folks. They’d never let us meet together again.’”
“I’m sure that got your interest,” Zoey said, happy to see that these memories were better ones.
“You bet your ass it did,” Mira said happily. “The idea that just showing me whatever it was would make my parents hate her if they knew? How could I say no? So I agreed, and she starts to lift her shirt.”
“Wait, this woman flashed you? How old were you?” Rumi asked, suddenly concerned.
“No, silly,” Mira said with a laugh. “She didn’t lift it that far. Just showed me the bottom of her ribs. And there, in bold colors, was a tattoo. Barbed wire with shreds of blue cloth caught in it, and some red shape above. It was clearly just the bottom of a larger tattoo. She didn’t show me the rest, but I remember after puberty hit spending nights fantasizing about what the rest of that tattoo could’ve looked like. But she was absolutely right. If my parents knew she had a tattoo like that they would have fired her on the spot, even if they didn’t know I had seen it.”
“She sounds cool,” Zoey said, looking a bit starry eyed herself.
“I thought she was the coolest person on earth in that moment. I started taking the lessons seriously. And she also listened to me. When she saw I was in a bad mood she’d let me just talk to her about it. And she listened. I was five when I started getting lessons with Hyun-Ae. And I know the things that made me angry back then must have been silly. But they were important to me, and so they were important to her. She would put on music that I liked during our lessons. She would help me find ways to match my movements and rhythm to whatever I enjoyed, whether it was fast or slow. I had never felt so heard.”
Mira sighed. “It felt way too good to last. And, it didn’t last.”
“What happened?” Rumi asked.
Mira shook her head. “I have no idea,” she said. “Well, I have suspicions,” she conceded. “I was about thirteen years old, and my folks did a sort of purge. They fired all my tutors and had me transfer schools. When I asked why they just said it was something children didn’t need to concern themselves with. But when I asked about Hyun-Ae in particular their demeanor changed. They got very serious and said that I was never going to see her again," Mira almost growled at the old injustice.
"My mind filled with the worst possibilities. Had she died? Did she hate me? But, I’m pretty sure that whole group was fired because my parents thought I had some bad influence in my life. The fact that I asked about Hyun-Ae specifically and only Hyun-Ae probably confirmed to them that she had been my ‘bad influence’. And as far as their idea of a bad influence goes, they weren’t wrong that she was behind it. She had started teaching me more than just ice skating. She had started teaching me dance. But it wasn’t proper dancing for ladies. Not that it was anything lewd. It was just modern. Fast, stylish, pop stuff. Stuff I saw all my favorite musicians doing. If it had been ballet my parents probably would’ve given her a raise.”
Mira’s eyes sharpened. “So, when I realized that I became more determined than ever to learn dance. I used the concepts she had taught me and moves I saw in performances and I tried to teach myself. Eventually I found other teachers, when I was able to hide what I was doing from my parents. I knew my parents hated it. So, sometimes, when they were keeping an extra close eye on me and I just had to dance I would ask them to take me to an ice rink. They always gave this look. Like they thought that was bad for me. But I think they realized that it was easier for them to let me skate while they watched than to allow my more... destructive tendencies to come out. And sometimes, when I was skating and saw them watching, I allowed myself a brief dream. That maybe, just maybe, they saw me on the ice and felt proud of me.”
Mira’s shoulders sagged. “That wasn’t it, though. They just wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting too ‘wild’ in my skating. It had to be skating that could’ve been done to classical music. I got yelled at a few times for,” she paused. She swallowed. “I would’ve simply called it more contemporary. But, mother,” she spat the word like it tasted bad. “She told me to ‘stop skating like a whore’.” Mira’s eyes filled with unshed tears, and her girls tightened their hug around her.
“Anyway, as soon as I could leave them I did. And between that, and starting hunter training and idol training and everything else, it’s been a long time since I was last on the ice. But, it brings me back to this time, this one bright spot in a past I’d otherwise rather forget. It makes me feel like a kid again. But, like, a happy kid. But none of the credit for that goes to my mother. My mother tried to ruin the one thing that brought me joy at that time.”
“We’ll come ice skating with you as often as you want!” Zoey cried, blubbering into Mira’s shoulder. Mira jumped a bit, startled at her outburst, before smiling fondly. “D-do you want us to kill your mom?” Zoey said between sobs.
Mira chuckled. “Like every other time you’ve offered, no, but I appreciate the thought.”
“You know you deserve good people in your life,” Rumi said, also crying. “And,” she paused. “And it wasn’t your fault she got fired.”
Mira looked down. “Yeah. I tell myself that,” she said. “It wasn’t like she was the only one fired. Plus I knew she had other students. She was well respected enough as a skater that without firm evidence that she had ‘corrupted’ me I don’t think my parents could have gotten her blacklisted and ruined her career or anything. But I’m sure they probably tried to take her reputation down a peg once they knew I cared about her.”
“What about Bobby?” Zoey said suddenly, looking up.
Mira and Rumi both looked confused. “Well, since he works for us I don’t think my parents can fire him,” Mira said.
“No, I mean what if we ask Bobby to find her?”
Rumi looked between Zoey and Mira. Mira’s face suddenly lit up. “Fuck yes! I never got to tell her how much she meant to me! But now I have the means to find her and thank her and let her know how much she meant to that little angry child and who I grew up to become!”
“I’m sure she’s been following your career in Huntrix,” Rumi said. “I bet she’s super proud of you!”
Mira grinned. “Man, way to take me from bummed about my past to excited and giddy in an instant. I can’t wait to see her again!”
“Just remember, you’re taken,” Zoey teased. “Though I guess if she’s hot enough we could always add a fourth.”
Mira slapped her arm playfully. “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” she promised. “Hey, before we leave, I have a statement I want to give those interviewers,” Mira said. “I want in on record that Hyun-Ae deserved the credit they tried to give my mother. I want an interview that anyone can see where I praise what a great mentor she was, and let them know I wouldn’t be who I am today without her.”
Rumi and Zoey both nodded, smiling warmly.
“Let’s tell the world,” Rumi said.