Gold, love and mint tea (Yuzuru Hanyu )

Prologue II: Chai and Mint

I'm sitting on a chair in a random hallway during the ice dance free program checking in with my parents, trying to reassure them that I don't need them to go with me to my appointment. I put my hair in a messy bun and sip on my mint tea when I once again sense a presence above me.

"Do you always creep up on people and stare at them without saying anything?"

"Sometimes..."

"Well is there something you wanna say?" I ask looking up at the boy in front of me. This time he's not wearing his skates, instead he's wearing black sweatpants and a hoodie.

"You never say me your name..." he says, sitting down in the chair next to me.

"Neither did you" I raise my eyebrow at him with a cheeky smile.

"I'm Yuzuru Hanyu."

"Yeah I know" I smile at him before redirecting my attention back to my phone to check the time and taking another sip of my tea.

"So what is your name" he asks again, flashing his puppy dog eyes at me.

I stand up and throw away my empty cup I turn to him again and decide to just say "Call me Daria."

He bows his head "Nice to meet you!"

I hesitate before asking him if he wants to go get some more tea with me and he accepts. Not happily or enthusiastically, he just accepts. As we walk to one of the cafes in the main arena in silence I look at him, really look at him for the first time. His black hair isn't styled like it was yesterday, and his face isn't as focused and intense as it was on the ice. He doesn't look peaceful or happy though, he looks like he's already preparing himself for what comes next instead of enjoying his victory here. I also notice how different the energy he emits is.

On the ice he's a charmer, or he's sentimental. His posture is beautiful and he understands the music in his own way and is able to express it in his skating like no one I've ever seen. But off the ice you can tell that he's just a boy with big dreams and a lot of ambition. I would say that he already achieved any figure skater's goal: an Olympic Gold medal. But if you really look at the determination in his eyes you'll know that he's far from being done. I just don't know how people like him manage to stay motivated when life throws curveballs at you if you don't take time to enjoy the present.

When we open the door to the cafe reserved for athletes (it's sometimes nice to have some piece and quiet without being mobbed by fans wanting pictures and autographs) the smell of coffee saturates the air, but it's not the smell of nice roasted coffee beans more like cheap instant coffee. We settle down at one of the tables as I order a mint tea with honey and lemon and he orders (much to my disgust) a chai tea. He notices my change in expression as he orders and frowns at me.

I chuckle before saying "I can't believe that you ordered a chai tea"

"What's wrong with chai tea?" he asks confused as to why I'm making fun of him.

"Well first of all don't even get me started on the idea of chai tea, because putting milk in tea is basically a sin."  He huffs at me in disdain as I speak "But I'm not quite sure what you'll get when you order chai tea in Russia" He waits for me to continue "In Russian tea is pronounced 'chai' so they might just bring you a regular black tea, which is not the worst way it could turn out because if they actually try to make you a chai tea here you'll probably get black tea with powdered milk".

"I didn't know" he says, a bit embarrassed.

"You don't talk much huh?"

He looks at me blankly, and if I was worried about offending people I would be worried, but I'm not. He smiles lightly before saying "Yes, my English is not very good and I don't like mistakes"

"Well you can try Russian or French?" I tease "Maybe German?"

"How you speak so many language?" he asks genuinely surprised, as the waitress brings our tea. I squeeze a slice of lemon into my cup and stir in my honey before answering.

"Well to explain all that I'd have to tell you my life story" he looks as if he wants me to go on "Annnnnd I dooooon't know you well enough to do that"

He laughs taking a sip but coughs a bit wrinkling his nose in disgust. I cackle at his expression and pull his cup of black tea towards me.

"Russians like their tea strong, but be glad they didn't put powdered milk into it" I explain as I squeeze some lemon into his tea and stir some honey the same way I did with mine pushing the cup back towards him as he bows his head in thanks. "So I would ask how it feels to win the Olympics, but I know there's nothing better than standing at the top of the podium!" I gush before seeing his puzzled expression and quickly adding "at least that's what people say".

"You know I won" he states with a shy smirk on his face.

"Hey wipe that smirk of your face! But yeah I know, I watched you skate... I specifically liked that triple flip in your free skate" I laugh teasingly before taking another sip of my tea inhaling the smell of fresh mint tea.

"That's not nice " he scowls "Daria, where are you from?"

"Ah! nice job changing the subject"

We talk for half an hour, I mostly talk about myself explaining that I was born in Ukraine but that my dad is German, that we moved to the south of France when I was six and then to Moscow when I was twelve being careful not to mention why. That explained why I spoke so many languages and he told me about the town he was from in Japan also careful not to mention any big events that happened there and how hard it was to move to Canada and learn English. I make fun of him for his accent, correcting his mistakes once in a while. We then finish our already cold drinks sitting in a comfortable silence I then get up and pay. Yuzuru of course tries to protest but I don't let him.

"Will you watch ladie's short program tomorrow?" he asks as we're walking back towards the exit of the rink "Do you want to watch with me?" he says after I nod.

"Sure..." I turn back towards him as we stand next to the exit "I'll find you tomorrow then"

"Where will we meet?"

"Oh I'll find you" I shoot him a smirk before opening the door "after all I have to do is follow the sound of your fan girls screaming your name" I turn around looking at him one last time while going down the stairs and after turning around the next thing I know I'm lying at the bottom of the stairs paralyzed in shock, struggling to catch my breath, the only thing I feel is a sharp pain in my lower back.

~

AN: okay another slow chapter i know i know! But stick with it, even though I can't promise that there will be any romance anytime soon there will be more action...

There will be a few parts of their time at the Sochi Olympics before a time skip. Even though there will be no Yuzu for a bit, we will see what darianka is up to during her recovery from her back injury!

Please comment and vote or whatever it is people do <3