Gold, love and mint tea (Yuzuru Hanyu )

46 - Don't stop believing

"Hey... So what are we doing here?" I ask Yuzuru as I approach him after my appointment, curiously looking around the empty rink which was mostly plunged into darkness except for the remaining sunlight still shining in through the windows.

"Well someone told me that a very special girl has been having trouble with her triple axel..." he smiles at me, instantly pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. And it reminded me of another amazing girl I used to know..." he whispers in my ear, pulling away to gage my reaction.

"Huh...? What about her?" I ask innocently, hooking my arms around his neck.

"She also had some issues with her triple axel. She was injured at the time though..." he shrugs, brushing a strand of hair away from my face "But she was also the most fearless and determined girl I have ever met."

"So wha- Are those my skates?" I frown, looking over his shoulder at the bench where indeed lay my skating boots.

He follows my line of sight before turning back towards me with a sight, the corners of his lips quirk up as he tries to downplay the excitement evident in his voice as he speaks "Yes...? I mean this isn't the open air rink at Sochi but it's just you and me, like back then!"

"Okay? I mean I don't understand, it's not like anything changed from practice earlier-"

"Can you please just put your skates on?!" he whines, shaking me by my shoulders. I quirk a brow at him, still hesitant about this whole endeavor but instead of trying to convince me with words Yuzuru opted to press a tender kiss on my cheek and then the other, my nose and finally my lips, giving me a lopsided grin in between each kiss. My mouth curved into a smile and I shake my head at him in disbelief but despite that, still move to sit on the bench.

He sits down next to me, keeping my skates out of my reach while I take off my shoes, I look at him with amusement holding out a hand expectantly until he relinquishes my boot. Right foot first of course. He takes off his own shoes and puts both of his skates on, handing me my second one when he sees that I'm done lacing the first one. I pull down my leggings to the heel of the boot, making sure that they cover my laces perfectly, realizing it had been a while since I actually put some thought into this carefully curated routine. After some time these things just turn into automatisms and before you know it your daily routines just blur together, taking away your chance to enjoy the mundane little things that make up our personality quirks.

I look up to see Yuzuru already standing in front off me, both booths laced up, holding out a hand which I gladly take, allowing him to pull me up from the bench and into his arms. We make our way towards the rink and I place our guards on the boards, watching him bow to the ice before hoping on while I stand at the edge, closing my eyes enjoying the silence around us except the sound of Yuzuru's blades carving shapes on the ice, just like I did in Sochi. When the sound suddenly stopped I opened my eyes to see him standing in the center of the rink while a huge grin plastered on his face, waiting for me to join him.

I exhale before stepping on the ice, leaning down to touch the ice as I make my way towards Yuzuru, skidding to a halt in front of him with a small smirk tugging at the corners of my lips as I speak in a teasing tone "So what are you gonna do Mr.Hanyu? Coach me?"

"No." he shakes his head, resting his hands on my shoulders "You don't need me to coach you..."

"I beg to differ..."

"You know how to do it already!" he exclaims impatiently, tightening his grip on my shoulders "Do you remember what happened in Sochi, when you landed it?"