Wings of Change | Yuzuru Hanyu

7.

Time went by quickly, futile conversations made by text, they never called again and never got to video call either.

The dreaded subject wasn't ever mentioned again, none of them had the guts to bring it up again.

Yuzuru was packing his bags, he would be returning to Toronto tomorrow. Part of him was sad to be leaving his country again, but he wanted to see her and finally finish the awaited conversation.

His mom would often ask him why he was in such a rush to get to Toronto, he booked tickets 2 days after his last show. Yuzuru would always answer he wanted to get back to training. Yumi had a feeling there was something else, something he was hiding from her, but she didn't question him.

There was one thing that stayed in his mother's head, the request he had made her a few days ago. "Can you make a new bracelet?"... Her son was very fond of the bracelets she made him, but she wondered if this particular request had a reason, is it for him, or someone else?

Yuzuru took the carefully crafted multicolored bracelet and placed it in a pink gift bag when his mother entered the room.

"Who are you giving the bracelet to?"

Yuzuru widened his eyes, realizing he had been caught.

"No one..."

"Don't lie to me"

And he caved, he knew there was no way he was fooling her.

"It's for a friend okay?"

"A friend in Toronto, I'm guessing"

"Yes..."

"A girlfriend or a boyfriend?"

"Okaasan..."

"Yuzuru Hanyu, you will tell me"

"It's for a girl"

"Who is just a friend?"

"Yes"

"But..." She kept insisting, hoping he would tell her something more.

"I like her, okay? But she's just a friend"

"Can I meet her? What's her name?"

"Not yet, please... Her name is Joan"

"I would love to meet her when you're ready. Make sure you don't forget anything, we don't want to leave her waiting". Yumi said with a smile as she left the room, her son seemed to have his very first crush.

🪶

Yuzuru arrived in Toronto with his mom at 10 pm, he was exhausted and jetlagged, but when the taxi pulled up in front of his house he couldn't help but notice the TCC lights on.

"Okaasan, I have something I have to do, can you just leave my bag in my room? I'll unpack later" he told his mom as his eyes were fixed on the TCC building.

"Yuzu, have you seen the time? Aren't you tired?"

"No, I'm fine, I won't take too long, promise" he took his skating bag and said bye to his mom "Don't wait for me"

"Wait, are you going to skate at this hour?"

"I don't know, depends on her"

"Her?" But she couldn't ask anything else, the boy was already rushing to the other side of the road.

Yuzuru entered the building and the sound of Ballade No. 1 by Chopin filled his ears, he had seen her skate this program before, it was his favorite so far. He made sure not to make too much noise, he didn't want her to stop skating in the middle of the program because of him.

She was focused, on her own world, looking as beautiful as ever in his eyes.

He touches the pocket of his track pants, the bracelet was being kept there carefully wrapped and ready to be given to its rightful owner.

Joan jumps and lands a beautiful triple axel from complicated steps as if it is the easiest thing in the world and a 4T3T combination soon after. Incredible as always. The step sequence was next and somehow it looked even more fluent than the last time he had seen this exact same routine. She has been practicing it, he thought.

The music ended as she struck the ending pose and Yuzu couldn't help but clap, memories of the first time they met in this exact place just a few months ago resurfacing.

She almost jumped from the scare, he had managed to surprise her again in the same circumstance, but this time her reaction was different.

Joan skated as quickly as she could and almost jumped into his arms, not caring a bit about the skates on her feet. Yuzuru almost dropped her since the boy wasn't expecting such a reaction, but as soon as she was in his embrace, a big smile hit both their faces.

They remained like that for what seemed ages, not uttering a single word but enjoying each other's company.

"Hey, Hime"

"Hey, Zuzu" she replied to him, still in the same position. "What did you just call me?"

"Hime"

"You do know I don't speak Japanese?"

"Well, I learned English for you" That earned the Japanese a strong pat on the chest.

"You learned English because you had to, it had nothing to do with me"

"Details" he replied with a laugh

"I missed you, baka"

"So you do know Japanese"

"Only that one word, figured it would be helpful with you"

"Missed you too" he said holding her tight. "It's late but I wanted to see you"

"Tired?" she asked looking into his observing eyes.

"Very. Hate the timezone thing"

"Relatable. Do you want to skate for a bit? Since you brought your skates..."

"Was planning to, but I'm too tired to be honest"

"Okay. I should probably let you get some rest then" she said but made no effort to move from his embrace.

"Just a little bit more"

That made her laugh and she reluctantly made the decision to let him go.

"Alright, if I don't move we'll stay like this the whole night"

Yuzuru laughed at the girl " It wouldn't be so bad" he told her with tired eyes.

"No, but you need to rest"

"I want to catch up with you, so many things to talk about"

"I'm free tomorrow, maybe we can do something" she casually dropped, her classes had started the week before but she was free on Fridays.

"I have practice in the morning, can we meet here? Go for lunch maybe?"

"Already? You're crazy... But it works for me"

Yuzu then decided that the day after would be the best time to give her the bracelet.

"I would stay until you're finished..."

"Just go, get some sleep, rest properly. We have time tomorrow" she told him and quickly pecked his cheek, bringing a blush to both their faces. Not wanting to face the reality of her own doing, she rushed onto the ice again and pretended to act casually.

"At least I have something to dream about" he said already at the door "Bye, Jo"

She got even redder at his risky comment "Bye Yuzu"