Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

14.

Yuzuru was just preparing for the last competition of the season when Athena's conversation about wanting to send him a gift came on.

He had been planning to get her something already, but it wasn't exactly easy to do so when the woman in question could have everything she wanted with a snap of her fingers.

Of course, he knew she was far from what the public thought. The girl had been a recent target of the media and they often portrayed her as spoiled and ungrateful, which was a stark contrast to everything he knew of her.

The girl he met on that night, observing people on the benches, was someone who clearly wasn't satisfied with everything she had done so far, and it wasn't hard to tell that when they finally got to talk.

He had to admit that all of the texting had made his English improve drastically, something that hadn't happened with anyone before. He wanted to be better and be able to tell her everything he wanted without losing his words.

It wasn't a coincidence that he had an English book in his backpack either, Yuzuru was taking every possible chance to practice and wasn't slacking off in the slightest.

The skater had been thinking hard about his gift at every possible second that he wasn't training. It was a good distraction from the recent pain he had been feeling in his foot and from the pressure of the recent competition.

He liked Athena and felt comfortable speaking to her. Maybe it was because she understood the pressure of having to look good to the outside world while merely wanting to live your life in the best way possible. This was something that Yuzuru hadn't been able to talk about with anyone else, but at the same time, he knew it wasn't just that.

The girl was as much of a mystery as she was interesting. He could see the complete change of personality when she was in public and when she spoke to him. Yuzuru had noticed that when he saw her at the podium ceremony. Up until then, they had been casually observing each other, but it was still enough to notice the change of posture and the forced smile.

He had noticed early on that this royal life of hers didn't suit her one bit, but she had an obligation to her country, just like he had his own. The Athena he knew was a free spirit, who loved music and arts. Yuzuru even suspected that she tried to hide that from him, but he noticed the drawing supplies in her hotel room on his last visit before she went back.

That memory made him smile and gave him an idea. It was risky, he had no idea if she truly liked to paint or draw, but he was willing to take the plunge, and knew just where to go.

Explaining to his mom why he was suddenly leaving the house when he was a true house hermit wasn't easy, but when he said that he wanted to buy a gift for someone, her eyes widened and she just nodded.

Yumi didn't say a thing, even if she had her suspicions. She had never seen Yuzuru on his phone as much as now, he was constantly typing and smiling like a silly person at the device and his mom had a strong feeling that this was about a girl. That and she had seen his recent efforts on the English language, even if he kept it a secret.

The skater went to a store he wasn't at all familiar with, but an old friend from high school who went into arts used to speak about it all the time as the coolest place ever and there was a big chance Yuzu could find what he was looking for there.

Being in Sendai meant that everyone knew him and it didn't come as a surprise when the owner of the shop was very shocked upon his entrance.

Two wide eyes greeted Yuzuru with a big bow, too deep to be considered casual, but the skater merely bowed politely, holding the laughter inside of his body to avoid being rude to the owner.

Upon inspection, he found some very nice handmade pencils that could be engraved with the person's name and he couldn't help but smile, it was perfect.

"Hanyu-san...I mean.."

"Yes?" Yuzuru turned towards the voice of the owner who was clearly still uncertain of how he should address him.

"If there is anything I can help with..."

"Ah, yes! How soon can one of these personalized sets be made?"

"We usually ask for 5 days." The owner said nervously.

"Ah... That's a shame. It was perfect." Yuzu said, clearly sad that his gift idea wouldn't do if he wanted it to arrive on time.

"But... Hanyu-san...for you, I can try to get it ready sooner."

"I wouldn't want to impose... It's for a foreign friend and I wanted it to be ready on time for Christmas. Silly me forgot to get it earlier."

"What would you want to be engraved?"

Yuzuru stared at the owner with a very serious face. It wasn't often that he used the fact of being recognized to his own advantage. It was something he didn't enjoy at all, but given that he didn't even ask for it...maybe it was ok to accept.

"Just a name... Athena. Maybe a wing in the end."

"Ah, the Greek goddess of Arts. Must be a beautiful and talented woman" The owner couldn't stop himself from saying and Yuzuru laughed upon realization, he hadn't noticed that detail about her name before.

"Yes, she is." Was all he answered, his face a bit flushed at the words from the other man.

"Would you like the box too?"

"Yes. If possible...I don't want to ask too much."

"Nonsense. It will be ready tomorrow afternoon! I will make sure it's as perfect as you imagined it."