AXIS | Yuzuru Hanyu

16.

They woke up with the door opening. Yuzuru and Brianna only fell asleep after a few hours of conversation. They didn't have too many hours of sleep but still felt refreshed.

Mary entered the room to find them asleep and wrapped around each other. It was a sight she honestly loved, the girl had always liked Yuzuru as a friend and knew her sister couldn't be in better hands. She saw them stirring awake because of her presence and part of her felt guilty to interrupt their morning.

"Good morning, you two. I have breakfast" she finally said.

Brianna knew her sister, this was not something she usually did, and felt weird to see it.

"Breakfast in bed? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just want to make sure you are okay before leaving for work."

"We could manage, but thank you"

"Koshiro is going to be out the whole day with Kao. The house will be empty but if you need anything you can call either of us. I will be home by 8.
Brianna nodded, sitting on the bed. Yuzuru was still lying, looking almost asleep, and didn't say a word.
"How are you feeling? Your face doesn't look as bad as I thought it would."

"Stomach and chest hurt a bit, but not as bad as I thought"

"Yuzuru?"

"Hum?" he mumbled half asleep.

"If anything worsens, take her to the hospital, ignore her when she tells you not to. You can ask for me there."

"Okay" was all he said before Mary left the room.

Brianna laughed at the man at her side, he was awake but his eyes remained closed, laying on his side and hugging the pillow.

"Sleepy? she asked softly.

"Yes, tired. Need more sleep."

"Not hungry?"

"No, later..."

She put the food her sister brought on the desk and joined Yuzuru on the bed, quickly nuzzling him like they did the previous night, and placing a kiss on his cheek.

With strong arms wrapped around her, Brianna drifted to sleep again.

A couple of hours later, she woke up with Yuzuru's front pressed on her back. Despite him being asleep, there was a noticeable hard bulge poking her from behind, making her laugh.

He stirred and woke up to her giggles, confused.

"What is it?" the man asked, still half asleep.

"Someone is excited... Good dream?" she asked teasingly.

Yuzuru's face was full of confusion until he realized what exactly she meant.

"Shit, shit! I'm so sorry Bri... I..."

"Yuzu, it's alright."

"Still..."

"Do you need anything... I mean...?"

"Nooo, no. It will be fine in a while, maybe just move a little bit?"

Brianna coughed awkwardly and distanced herself, moving to get the breakfast they had discarded earlier.

They ate in silence, trying to get over the awkwardness of the morning when Yuzuru's phone started ringing.

He apologized to Brianna before accepting the call.

"Hey, mama... No everything is okay. I just figured I could take the day off... I will take care of it. Sure, dinner is fine...Not the ankle, this is not the time for this... No, I'm not alone...Maybe, still early...Okay, bye"

She looked at him in question.

"Just my mom asking why I canceled my meeting today"

"was it important?" she asked in a nervous tone.

"Not more important than you" he said, bringing red to her face.

"Yuzu..."

"It was for my show, my assistant can handle it, don't worry too much about it. But I have something I need to ask you"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Can I borrow your laptop? I have to reply to sponsors and the venues... It's something I have to do on time otherwise..."

"Of course, it's the least I can do after what you've done for me"

They found themselves still in bed, Yuzuru had the laptop on his lap typing away while Brianna rested her head on his shoulder, looking into the screen every once in a while.

"That looks like a lot of work" she said after almost two hours of email replies.

"It is, but it's worth it"

"I would have guessed most people hired others to do what you're doing."

"I could, but I'm paranoid. I like to know everything and control all the tiny details. On my first show, I insisted so much on having the biggest rink possible they called me crazy. I think my team was sick of me after the first week. But it turned out quite alright."

"Is there any footage of that? I only ever saw your competition stuff."

"I'll show it to you soon, I have it on my drive. Let me just reply to a few more people, it will be quick, I promise"

"Take all the time you need, I don't mind"

She didn't, not really. Brianna spent the last two hours taking in the image of the man at her side, enjoying the small details on his facial expressions whenever he was thinking, or when he didn't agree with something. It had been entertaining.

The girl was now absently drawing circles in his chest, enjoying his proximity and the way they were so familiar despite not labeling whatever they were doing.

A small noise left his lips when she moved her hand to his stomach, dragging the hem of the shirt, gently exposing his abs, and caressing the skin without a word.

"Bri" he said in a raspy voice "I'm done"

"Hum, show me your show" she said, not stopping her touches.

He typed without a word, his eyes looking at her and the hands driving him crazy every once in a while, analyzing her expressions.

Soon enough, a video was playing. He explained the concept behind the show, and how he had been very nervous to face an audience all by himself. Brianna was amazed at this man, the one she saw getting breathless after one program on that day was the same doing a show all by himself for 1 hour and a half. He was absolutely crazy. The clips of the earthquake and tsunami scared her, he mentioned it to her before, she knew how much of a core memory and experience it was for him to become the person in front of her. Brianna read somewhere that Yuzuru's career at the end was tragic, with scores not being fair and even stories of the federation trying to get him to retire. The videos on the show really made her wonder. It was crazy, and she wanted to know how much was true, but today... Today she wanted him to be happy, not dwell on the past.

She closed the laptop, placing it safely on the side table before hugging him.

"You are incredible" was all she said before bringing her hand to his face and closing the distance between them. She captured his lips gently without thinking, for once allowing herself to do what felt right.