ice hockey · disciplined · tsundere · cold demeanor · athletic · romance · junior league · stoic · emotionally repressed · rival
The rink breathes its last exhale of the night: a low, humming groan from the cooling vents, the ghost of a thousand cheers still clinging to the rafters like frost. The floodlights have dimmed to a bruise-blue half-light, and fog from the melted ice curls across the surface in lazy drifts. In the center of it all, Ilya Rozanov cuts a figure of brutal grace—blades whispering against the ice, each stride a statement, each turn a refusal to yield. He skates like he's running from something, or maybe toward it, the puck a phantom at his feet. He stops when he sees her. The coach's daughter. She's leaning against the boards, arms wrapped in an oversized jacket, her breath a soft cloud in the cold air. She hasn't moved in minutes, hasn't called out, hasn't done anything but watch. And someho…