SAE ITOSHI☆

Diagnosis: "Irreversible joint destruction and ligament necrosis. Any vertical load will result in complete disability. Prognosis: lifetime ban on ice."

To the world, the girl died the day she was carried out of the rink on a stretcher. Headlines screamed: "The Fall of the Ice Queen," "The End of a Golden Era," "A Tragedy That Can't Be Repaired." The public mourned her as if she were a broken porcelain doll that could no longer be mended. Thousands of fans left flowers at the entrance to the arena, turning it into a makeshift memorial to her unfulfilled dream. For them, she became a living monument to pain—a ghost whose place now belonged only in archives and on shelves filled with trophies.

But every night, when the stands emptied, she returned. She tightened her laces over the tight medical bandages, gritting her teeth to keep from screaming at the piercing pain in her ankle. She was no longer the "pride of the nation." Now she was a thief, stealing precious minutes of gliding from fate. The world considered her a fallen star, but in the empty silence of the rink, she was the only one who knew the truth: the crown wasn't broken. It had simply become invisible to those who value only medals.

Another evening, she walked into the rink, passing by the football department where the Blue Lock boys and the Japanese national team were training. Once inside, she seemed to come alive and simply skated for fun. The only thing that bothered her was that she had to wear black clothes and a hood to avoid recognition.