The Frozen Lake (Japanese: 氷の湖 Kouri no Mizuumi) is the twenty-sixth chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
Story[]
Hikaru is seen training in ballet and watching one of Jun Yodaka's performances as a man watches. He discusses her choreography with her, questioning why she prefers Jun's over his. Hikaru clarifies that it's not about preference; rather, she hates how she's not seeing this world that's so clear to Jun, because she wants to make everything her own, not just what's given to her.
Tsukasa and Inori arrive at a run-down rink in Niigata to meet Coach Uobuchi. Inside, they encounter Kohei Kamogawa, an acquaintance of Tsukasa's, along with his student Miku Ahiru. Inori is surprised to learn that she has the rink all to herself, and Tsukasa notes that ice time here is unusually cheap.
With Kakeru's help, Inori lands a Triple Salchow, and they move on to tackling the Lutz. To their surprise however, Kakeru instead hands Tsukasa the harness, deciding to instruct him on its use since Inori will require continued harness training. Inori lands a Double Lutz, and while observing her, Kakeru concludes the source of her struggle is how she stops tensing up as she rises, hindering her from establishing a pivot. He suspects this hesitation is due to a subconscious fear of injury, something Tsukasa acknowledges as unusual. With Kakeru's help, Inori lands the Triple Lutz with the harness. Though full recovery will take more time, Kakeru is confident they are now equipped for it.
Kakeru then suggests trying a different jumping method: raising her arm before takeoff and ensuring she doesn't lean forward, using the swing of the arm to increase spinning momentum. Inori gives it a shot and immediately notices an increase in spin speed. Though she falls, Kakeru explains that this is the technique for a quadruple jump. He offers a new perspective: rather than perfecting a difficult Lutz, which risks penalties for edge errors, it may be more logical to add an extra revolution to a simpler jump like the Salchow, which also carries a higher base score.
Kakeru presents a choice: he can help Inori regain her Triple Lutz, or she can put it aside and use the time to learn a quad. Recognizing this as another important decision, Inori asks Tsukasa to outline the pros and cons. After weighing them, she decides to pursue the quad.
Thus, Kakeru continues his instruction, emphasizing the timing of tensing up and relaxing. However, Inori struggles with controlling her body, her subconscious movements betraying her. As time runs short, she grows desperate, her mind consumed with the thought of "I need to land it." Noticing her stress, Tsukasa advises her to shift her focus. Instead of aiming solely for success, he suggests she try to feel the sensation of landing a quad, taking note of every small detail and finding words to describe it. Adopting this new mindset, Inori successfully lands a Quadruple Salchow.