Mermaid and Blade (Japanese: 人魚と刃 Ningyo to Yaiba) is the fifty-third chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
Story[]
Tsukasa finds Inori at the rink early on a school day, having faked an illness to come to practice, despite their prior promise that she would never skip school. Since the All-Japan Junior, Inori has gradually been breaking that promise through such sneaky tactics, seeking to imitate Hikaru's rigorous training routine. Tsukasa struggles to find a thoughtful way to address the issue of skipping school and overtraining, while Inori remains fixated on winning the JGP Final to make up for her loss.
Moments later, Inori finds that one of her blades has cracked, and there is no replacement in stock. This frustrates Inori, who feels as though everything is working against her at such a critical time.
The next day, Inori comes down with a fever for real and ends up bedridden. Tsukasa meets up with Seiji Gori, entrusted by Inori to deliver a get-well gift for Iruka. Relieved to find Seiji in better spirits than he expected, Tsukasa inquires about Iruka's condition. However, the reality is grim: She has suffered a compound fracture requiring surgery, forcing her to withdraw from the JGP Final due to a 3-month recovery. The shock also triggered a relapse of aphonia, impairing her speech. A psychiatrist has suggested medication, but it raises anti-doping concerns. Furthermore, the situation with their sponsors has become a mess.
In shock, Tsukasa apologizes, but Seiji remains cheery. Tsukasa wonders how he can still smile, knowing he himself would be incapable in such a situation, and still feeling guilty for failing Inori at the All-Japans twice. This prompts Seiji to reiterate how attuned children are to adults' expressions, explaining that if adults stop smiling, they'll feel like they "stole their coach's smile" by failing, which becomes yet another "punishment" they have to bear. He manages his expression around students to communicate that they haven't "taken" anything from him by failing or being hurt, something he also advises Tsukasa to do.
Realizing his own failure in this regard, Tsukasa recalls that Koichi also continued to smile after the loss of Meiko, for the sake of their child Yoh. Before leaving, Seiji summarizes that while it is hard to fight misfortune, despair can be avoided, and tells Tsukasa to think on the word "resilience." Tsukasa then receives a call from Mika, informing him that they'll pick up new blades at another rink tomorrow. Seeing a chance to address the ongoing issue, Tsukasa asks to join them.
The next day, Mika, Inori, and Tsukasa pick up the new blades as well as a new pair of boots. On their way back, Tsukasa realizes that their small talk has kept him from arriving at his main point, and finally brings up the issue of Inori's recent school-skipping. Hearing this, Inori's expression immediately turns sulky. Though shaken, Tsukasa presses on. He reiterates the importance of controlling training volume during growth spurts, as once her height maxes out, her weight will increase and put more strain on her bones.
When asked why she suddenly wants to increase training, Inori is reluctant to answer. Tsukasa insists that "there's something they have to do before practice," and asks her how she feels, admitting that he's worried about the pressure she seems to be under. He promises that he's not upset with her All-Japan results, promising to work together to solve anything bothering her.
However, Inori suddenly breaks down, protesting that practice is the only thing she can do, and that having to practice less is the thing she hates the most. Tsukasa realizes that Inori has been dwelling on the first thing he said, that "there's something they have to do before practice." The phrase kept echoing in her head, amplifying her frustration, and everything he said afterwards failed to reach her.
As he's about to repeat himself, Tsukasa suddenly recalls Seiji's advice to always listen to a child without interrupting. Inori, in tears of anger, continues voicing her frustration: now that she's no longer an underdog yet still failed despite everyone's expectations, all she wants is to train, with no room left in her thoughts for protecting her body. As the train is about to depart, Mika suggests that they board first, but only when the doors close do Mika and Tsukasa realize that Inori is still on the platform.
Inori ends up at an amusement park with complex feelings, recalling Mika and Iruka's injuries and Tsukasa giving up his ice dance career to become a coach. Tsukasa eventually finds her, and while they wait for Mika, Tsukasa shares a bit of his past: back when he pursued singles skating, he joined a club of hobbyists, where he trained seriously, believing he could become a real competitor if he kept improving in that circle. But once he started practicing jumps, the people once happy with his progress completely changed their attitude, becoming critical and claiming he was too tall to jump. To preserve relationships, Tsukasa avoided practicing jumps in their presence, hoping that this would eventually open up a path to becoming a real skater. Instead, those relationships continued to deteriorate, and he eventually quit the group.
Later, when Tsukasa switched to ice dance, it came as a huge shock to him when Shinichiro Sonidori, who was the same height as him, won his Olympic silver, disproving the idea that he was too tall for singles. Coming to realize that his clubmates only denied him to protect their pride, Tsukasa was consumed with regret and trained recklessly. To punish himself for not being able to measure up to Hitomi's skill, he skipped and rest, and dedicated everything to training.
Eventually, Hitomi stepped in to caution Tsukasa. She told him that everyone in the club already knew how serious he is, and there was no point pushing himself so hard to make those who hurt him feel guilty. It was then that Tsukasa resolved that, after his career as a skater, he would become a coach he always wished for. He assures Inori that, unlike switching from singles to ice dance or quitting competition for ice shows, becoming her coach isn't any kind of substitute — it is his true dream.
Hearing that she can help Tsukasa realize his dream by being happy with him as her coach, Inori stands and declares, "I'll make you the coach of the world's strongest and happiest skater!" At that moment, the lights on the merry-go-round behind her, which has been broken until now, light back up.
Tsukasa and Inori then discuss the act of self-criticism. Tsukasa likens it to putting up a mental guard to feel like one's staying calm and objective. Inori concurs, saying that when she talks down about herself, it feels like becoming a different person. But lately, she admits, she's just been the version of herself that can't do anything, even if she puts herself down. Tsukasa suggests that for the JGP Final, she aim not just for the gold medal, but also to build her "resilience," the ability to forgive herself and get back on her feet even if she doesn't win the medal. He also proposes a secret goal to see how far they can bounce back from the All-Japans, to which Inori enthusiastically agrees.
With time getting late and Mika also arriving, they sit down for some ramen. Spotting some dolphin plushies on sale, Mika is reminded of Iruka, initiating a flashback. At an aquarium, a young Iruka longs to become a dolphin, so she can swim happily inside a tank and not feel sad when she sees her parents happy. She wishes to be reborn, so she can stop pretending to be a normal child.
In the present, Iruka wakes up in her hospital bed, tended to by Yasuko Gori. She is in pain, but it is not yet time for her medication. When a visitor arrives, Yasuko steps into the hall to meet them. It turns out to be Mika, who introduces herself as an old friend. She has come to deliver some candy to help Iruka ease her pains when the painkiller wears off. Unsure if Iruka would remember her, she asks Yasuko to say it's from a fan. From her bed, Iruka spots Mika but struggles to call out to her due to aphonia. She desperately longs for Mika to see how hurt she is, and for her presence and pity.
Iruka then recalls a memory from when she first met Seiji: He removes a pair of scissors from her hand as she clutches them by the blade. Acknowledging her suffering, he expresses understanding that what must've hurt more than anything else was the fact that no one noticed her pain. He voices his commitment to being more attentive going forward — even if Iruka appears fine on the surface, he promises to keep watching closely so her inner wounds aren't overlooked. He gently pleads with Iruka to try trusting adults once more.
When Yasuko returns, Iruka is watching a video on her phone. Now able to speak better, she calls Mika a "wicked woman" as Yasuko delivers the candy from the "fan." Seiji arrives shortly after, too having brought candy. Iruka shares with them that something like a video game prompt had popped up in front of her again, asking her to choose between living as a strong and talented figure skater, or as a pitiable person ruined by idiot parents. While parts of her wants to reveal the hurt side of herself to the world, she's realized that her talent as a skater was nurtured by those who knew that side of her, which is why she will continue to skate. She vows to hold on to this life and its pains, even if her scars are ugly and she's not loved, to live through this miserable life as the coolest skater out there.
Moved, Seiji and Yasuko immediately embrace her from both sides. Seiji tells Iruka that her courage to move forward makes her truly cool, and that someone like her is sure to be loved by the world. Iruka, too, begins to cry as the three of them remain entwined.
With Iruka officially withdrawing from the JGP, Dahlia Karasuba is named her replacement in the finals. As the anticipated day arrives, Inori, Tsukasa, Kohei, and Miho set off together.
Trivia[]
- The magazine release of this chapter incorrectly stated that Iruka suffered from aphasia (Japanese: 失語症), a loss or impairment of all forms of language abilities due to brain damage. In reality, she experienced aphonia (Japanese: 失声症), a loss of voice which may be triggered by psychological means. Tsurumaikada has since made a Twitter post addressing the error.
- The amusement park depicted in this chapter is Nagoya Port Sea Train Land.
- The last panel of this chapter depicts the entrance hallway at Chubu Centrair International Airport.
