AXIS | Yuzuru Hanyu

29.

It was the morning of the newest SharePractice, it was the third time Yuzuru was doing it and the fans seemed to always love it.

He dragged her out of bed for a shower and lunch, they were both lazy when it came to waking up early, and that made them a perfect match to cuddle in the morning until late.

Brianna reluctantly washed her teeth after showering as she watched Yuzuru take his underwear and enter the shower. She was all clean, but if there was something she learned the past year it was that his naked body was too irresistible so she did what anyone would do. The girl unraped the towel from her body and joined the already grinning skater.

"Hey you" he said excitedly.

"No sex" she said taking the body wash and starting to wash his body.

"You're sure?" he smirked "Shower is fun"

"Not now. You need your energy for practice"

"It's not like we haven't done it right before I went on the ice"

"But it wasn't streamed for thousands of people"

"Okay, okay. No sex."

They did make out under the water, but not for too long since they would be late. After getting dressed and eating lunch, Brianna started packing her laptop and work stuff on her backpack, ready to be productive while the cameras were on him.

Yuzuru, on the other hand, was packing his skating stuff in the cabin-size bag he dragged to the rink every time. He checked his skates and clothes carefully, making sure nothing was missing.

They drove together to the rink, Brianna singing some rock songs that played on the radio. He parked the car and the silence that filled the tiny space started being a bit too awkward as they looked outside and into the entrance.

"We can do this two ways, I will let you choose" he watched as she nodded. "I can see some reporters and photographers already waiting, we can go in together but they will photograph you for sure. My Hanyu power is good to erase a few photos but not invincible". They both laughed at that.
"You can also stay here for a bit and go later, after I take the attention away"

"Will you be sad if I choose the second option?"

"No baby, I want you to be comfortable." He said kissing her lips. "I know they can be scary. All I want is to tell the world subtly that there is someone I care about enough to wear a ring, I don't need anyone to know who it is"

"Thank you. I just feel like I would probably kick one of the cameras if I go out there by your side. They are scary."

"Stay as long as you feel like it. I will do about an hour of off-ice before starting, in case you want to work in the car for a while."

"Okay"

"I love you" he said before kissing her lips and placing the car keys in her hand.

"I love you too"

She watched him close the door softly, get his stuff out of the trunk and drag out his stroller bag into the entrance where we were quickly surrounded by the reporters and photographers that were already there.

Staying in the car had been the right option after watching the scene.

Brianna took her laptop from the backpack and worked for about half an hour when she got bored and unlocked her phone. Opening up Twitter, she didn't even realize it would be on fire until she started looking at the timeline.

Fans had spotted Yuzuru's ring as soon as the stream started and there were already far too many theories for her to catch up and she was sure the theme would come up in the interviews later.
Only when she thought of the interviews came the realization that they didn't tell anyone about the engagement before he showed up in public with a ring. If their families didn't kill them for being engaged, they certainly would kill them for telling the media before them.

With a deep breath, she gathered her stuff and entered the rink, trying to look as normal as possible.

She settled on her usual bench and watched her fiance doing his usual warm-up routines with a small smile. When he spotted her she didn't miss the wink and the grin he gave her, followed by a discrete silent "I love you".

Turning the stream on her laptop to check the comments. Brianna was surprised to find encouraging comments from most of the fans, that seemed happy for Yuzuru. She expected them to attack whoever was stealing their boy, but it looked like he was right after all. They wanted his happiness. The comments that said he was glowing with contentment brought a huge pride in her, she was responsible for his happiness and they accepted it warmly. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad after all if their relationship became public knowledge.

He finished the streamed practice waving at the camera with pooh-san and taking off his skates. All the photographers were laser-focused on him and every move he made. She saw him pick up his phone and write something very fast. A few seconds later, a text showed up on her phone.

'Can we meet in the locker room?' was all he asked. Brianna wasn't sure why he wanted to meet before the interviews but quickly put her stuff away and headed there.

After a whole year, she had never entered the locker room. Every time she skated she would dress from home and have a shower afterward. She found the room very cozy, given its purpose, and quickly spotted his stuff on one of the benches where she sat and waited while still reading some tweets.

A few minutes later, Yuzuru opened the door and entered the room silently. He reached her and brought her body into his lap, hugging her closely.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a bit worried now.

"Yes... It's just a lot"

"You knew it would be"

"They took so many pictures of my hand... It was starting to bother me." he said frustrated "Don't say I told you so"

"Okay..."

"They will give me hell in the interviews now"

"You can always say you bought it yourself, that it's just a piece of jewelry"

"No... I could never call it that"

"Your fans seem to be taking it well" was said as she showed him a few tweets

"That is good."

He was still sighing every now and then. Bri gave his back gentle strokes trying to make him relax but without success.

"Do you want me to go with you?"