Chapter 3

Life Burning Upon the Ice (氷上で燃やす命, Hyoudou de Moyasu Inochi) is the third chapter of the Kiss and Cry manga.

Summary
Kyoubashi fumes in his car, vowing revenge on Tatsuki Tachibana for humiliating him on the phone. He muses that it has been a long time since he tasted this humiliation, ever since he competed against a certain man.

Two days after the incident with the chairman, Tatsuki receives a call from Kasuga to have a meeting. Kasuga arrives late, much to Tatsuki's annoyance, as it took a lot of trouble for him to sneak out of his house. Kasuga apologizes and says that he was fixing his bed hair, which Tatsuki finds hard to believe. They head into a cafe, where Kasuga shows Tatsuki a video on his laptop of Kyoubashi speaking in front of a group of reporters, stating that at this time, the Figure Skating Association had decided not to designate Tatsuki as a special reinforcement athlete. Kasuga explains that a special reinforcement athlete is an athlete that is eligible to receive backing from the association. The old Tatsuki was one, since he had a lot of achievements. As a special reinforcement athlete, he could receive support in funding, practice venues, and other things, which is very helpful as figure skating is an expensive sport. In other words, Kasuga says, the association is telling him to go die.

Back in the video, a reporter asks Kyoubashi the reason behind this decision, and Kyoubashi, smiling, replies that this was a shout of support for Tatsuki, to encourage him to ascend from a harsh environment and grow. Enraged, Tatsuki kicks Kasuga's laptop, forcing Kasuga to hold him back. Tatsuki moans that he shouldn't have stuck up for Kasuga back then, and Kasuga admits that when he heard what he said back then he was a bit moved and also incredibly humiliated. Tatsuki asks about his coach from back then, and Kasuga tells him that his old coach quit as soon as their contract with him was over, and it is rumored that they are out of the country. He points out that he wouldn't be able to pay them anyways, since his sponsors all left after his scandal a year ago. Tatsuki despondently asks him what to do, and Kasuga decides to pay back the favor by introducing him to his acquaintance's skating club that has its own coach and rink, so his expenses will be covered. Tatsuki is overjoyed. He shows Tatsuki a photo of their representative/coach, a gentle-looking man. Kasuga advises him to go there now since it's better to get started early, and that he will be contacting the club for him. Tatsuki is suspicious of his sudden kindness, but Kasuga says that it will be entertaining to see a commoner like him trying to aim for the top. He tells him that he will be waiting for him in the judge's seat, and to crawl up before he quits. Tatsuki responds that he will.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Masaru Kyoubashi
 * Tatsuki Tachibana
 * Kiichi Kasuga
 * Karis (first appearance)
 * Drogba (first appearance)
 * Jimyeong (first appearance)
 * Ariana (first appearance)
 * Linfeng (first appearance)
 * Taketora Toudou (first appearance)