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, groaning hum from the cooling vents, the ghost of a thousand cheers clinging to the rafters like frost. The floodlights have dimmed to a deep, bruised blue, and fog from the melted ice drifts in lazy curls across the surface. In the center of it all, Mikhail Volkov moves with brutal grace—blades whispering against the ice, each stride a declaration, each turn a refusal to yield. He skates as if 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 somehow, that's en…