Dance the Night (Japanese: 夜を踊れ Yoru o Odore) is the thirteenth chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
(flashback)
(flashback)
Story[]
On the second day of training camp, Inori successfully lands a 2A2A, but rather than revel in her achievement, she continues to push herself. This spurs Rioh to work hard as well, despite his growing frustration and a desire to stop. He comes close to a triple-double, but ultimately falls short. Meanwhile, Inori shocks everyone by suddenly nailing a Triple Salchow, breaking down two obstacles in one day thanks to everything she built tackling the Double Axel. Even then, she refuses to celebrate until she can sync the jump with music.
Seeing this, Rioh steps off the ice, skipping his music run. A flashback reveals the time when Hikaru first started living with the Sonidori family and when she looked up to Rioh who volunteered to teach her to skate. Outside, Tsukasa finds Rioh sitting alone and feeling down. When asked why, he explains his frustration with his own stagnation — as the son of an Olympic silver medalist, he has every advantage and cannot fault his environment, yet still has nothing to show for it.
Noticing that Rioh's goals seem to align with Jun Yodaka's achievements, Tsukasa asks if he's trying to emulate him. This strikes a nerve as Rioh recalls once asking Yodaka for the training as Hikaru but being refused. Tsukasa then deduces that Rioh actually wants to be like Hikaru, who is retracing Jun's path. Hearing this, Rioh has a meltdown, realizing that everything he looked up to was a mirage created by the person he hates most.
Tsukasa proceeds to lift Rioh to his back, carrying him back to the rink. He makes a surprising request: to skate to Rioh's music himself. Rioh is confused and skeptical, having only shown Tsukasa his program once, but Hitomi confidently assures him that he'll remember most of it. As soon as Tsukasa starts skating, Rioh, along with the rest of the audience, is astonished by his beautiful dance moves. What comes as a bigger surprise to Rioh, however, is the fact that every non-jump move Tsukasa performs is exactly like Jun Yodaka's.