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Language:
English
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Published:
2026-01-04
Words:
738
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
12
Kudos:
32
Bookmarks:
3
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884

Lost in Japan

Summary:

A perfectly normal game in Ottawa against the Metros.

Notes:

Work Text:

“Is that Hollander?” Hayes looked over Ilya’s shoulder, who was texting with a smile plastered on his face.
“What?” Ilya quickly shut off his phone, fear rising in his chest.
“Your girls profile picture. It looked like Hollander,” Hayes said, raising an eyebrow at his teammates blush. Ilya exhaled a laugh of relief.
“Ah, yes. Is joke between Jane and I.”
“You text her a lot. You two serious?”
“Yes. Very. Is hard to play hockey and never see each other. Me and Jane.”
“Good for you two, Roz, but don’t fuck up the game tonight when you’re thinking about her.” Wyatt slapped Ilya on the back affectionately, leaving the changing area.
“Oh, I won’t,” Ilya muttered to himself. Tonight, Ottawa was playing Montreal, and Ilya was ready to win.
•••
“Hello, Jane,” Ilya said, skating toward Shane for the face off.
Shane scoffed and ignores him, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile. “My parents are here.”
“David will like this game. Boring, because we will beat you.”
“Fuck you.”
Ilya won the face off.
•••
During the break after the second period, the score is 2-2. Tension swam in the air, even more so for this game. Sitting on the bench, Ilya watched as the lights in the stadium dim. The NHL had announced they wanted to do something special for Canadas youngest player in the Winter Olympics team, Macklin Celebrini, but didn’t disclose specifics. On the Jumbotron, Ilya noted Mitch Marner was in attendance, next to his old teammate, Auston Matthews. They were both mid conversation, giggling about something mischievously. The camera flicked through some fans in the crowd, and suddenly landed on Quinn Hughes. The crowd whooped, yet he stared out at the rink with his Vietnam veteran stare unresponsively. It amused Ilya, and he turned his neck down to the Metros bench to see if Shane saw. But he wasn’t looking at the Jumbotron; Ilya followed his boyfriend’s gaze down to the ice, where a man with a guitar stood, his back to the players bench.
“Who is that?” Ilya whispered to Haas, who sat on his left.
“No idea,” Haas returned.
Ilya was about to ask Troy the same question before the man spoke into the microphone that was suddenly in front of him.
“I’d like to sing a few songs for you guys tonight.”

All it'd take is one flight, we'd be in the same time zone
Looking through your timeline
Seeing all the rainbows, I, I got an idea
And I know that it sounds crazy
I just wanna see ya, oh, I gotta ask

He still didn’t recognize who the singer was, but the lyrics reminded Ilya of when Shane and him were miles apart at their games. The crowd was clearly enjoying it, as were the Centaurs.

Do you got plans tonight?
I'm a couple hundred miles from Japan, and I
I was thinkin' I could fly to your hotel tonight
'Cause I-I-I can't get you off my mind
Can't get you off my mind
Can't get you off my mind

Ilya’s eyes pricked with tears and he let his gaze stray over to Shane. He wasn’t displaying any clear emotion, but it was like he could sense Ilyas gaze, because he turned his head in his direction. The singers voice danced in the air; Ilya felt as though they were embracing through their eye contact, all sappy and sentimental.

I could feel the tension, we could cut it with a knife
I know it's more than just a friendship
I can hear you think I'm right, yeah
Do I gotta convince you that you shouldn't fall asleep?
It'll only be a couple hours, and I'm about to leave

Then Dan and Phil came out on the ice holding a pride flag. Following behind them was Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, whose eyes reminded Ilya of Shane’s when he topped him. The crowd was going feral, cheering and whooping so loudly Ilya couldn’t hear the singer anymore. He was enjoying the gaudy show, and peered over to the Metros bench to find Shane missing. Ilya’s smile dropped immediately, and he was about to stand to search for his boyfriend when Haas grabbed his jersey sleeve, turning his attention to the ice. In front of the microphone no longer stood the singer, now it was none other than Shane Hollander.

“I’m gay, Byler bones, and I still think about Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.”