Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

18.

The next morning, Yuzuru was woken up by the doorbell.

He wondered if it was his mom, but it was highly unlikely given that she told him multiple times to rest.

It was only then that he remembered his gift. Athena had warned him and he was still stupid enough to take too long to answer the door.

"Delivery for Hanyu Yuzuru-san" he heard from the man at the door.

"That's me"

"I need a signature, please."

After all was set and done to receive the package safely, Yuzu held the box with excitement. It wasn't often that people gifted him things.

Even if the outside box was regular, what was inside was anything but.
A few small packages were safely placed inside, each wrapped in beautiful blue packaging with ribbons. Every small package had a small sentence with hints about what it was.

He grabbed the one on top that said 'So I'm always with you.'

He opened it carefully and excitedly, being immediately graced with a beaded bracelet and a keychain with a wing and a few words engraved.

"Fly high, higher than everyone, and further than anything"

Yuzuru couldn't help the huge smile on his face. The bracelet was immediately placed on his wrist and all of his Japanese and Canadian keys had a new keychain to pair with the pooh one he already had.

As he opened the rest of the small packages, he noticed how each and every one of them had a small meaning.

From all of her home country snacks and cakes, all gathered together with the message 'every great athlete needs a cheat day' to books for him to read. 'So English gets a bit easier', he could see just how much thought she had placed in his gift and it brought him a kind of happiness that he couldn't explain. The amount of detail in every single thing she chose being evidence of just how much she observes others.

Yuzuru loved that about her.

👑

On the other side of the world, a few hours later, Athena was the one receiving her gift.

The princess didn't miss the look of her mom and brother when one of the maids brought her the well-packaged box. Even so, her dad was smirking at her while the young girl ran upstairs and into her room in a hurry.

Joanna didn't hide her interest at all, being quick to come to the room and knock.

"What's that package?"

"Curious now?"

"Your Highness... I didn't mean to" Her maid had realized that she was completely out of line with the question and the intrusion, but Athena saw her more as a friend either way and wasn't mad.

"It's okay. You can come in, but close the door. I don't need anyone else commenting on this."

The girl opened the box carefully and found a beautiful wooden box with her name on it and a wing engraved. It was beautiful and intricate how the wood was decorated with all sorts of different details.
It was so intricate that she knew it had to be handmade. What had Yuzu gotten her?

The curiosity in her mind was over the top as she slowly and carefully opened the lid to find one of the most beautiful sets of pencils that she had ever seen. Each had the same engraving as the box and the set ranged from a few graphite and charcoal pencils to a huge range of colored ones.

To anyone else, this would be a meaningless gift but she sensed that this was a very pure form of Japanese craftsmanship and as a result, completely unique.
Not only that, she had no idea how he knew that she liked to draw and the question was immediately lingering in her brain.

"Who gave you this?" Joanna asked, but Athena knew she had a clue from the Japanese writing on the pencils.

"Doesn't matter."

"You have that boy hooked." Was all that her maid said, but it was more than enough to make her blush.

Following his gesture of a few hours ago, she texted her thanks for what he had gifted and before she knew it, a call request was sent.
Athena shushed the other girl out of the room before taking the call with excitement.

"Hey!" She said as his face showed up on the screen, Yuzuru looked happy but tired.

"Hi! You like?" He asked immediately as soon as he had the chance.

"I love it! How did you know?"

"I saw a few drawing supplies when I went to your hotel room."

"So you just assumed?"

Yuzuru shrugged his shoulders and both of them giggled in unison. She was truly gone for him, not the other way around.

"I would love to see a few of your drawings."

Athena flushed at that, she never showed them to anyone, especially not her sketchbook. Anyone who saw it right now would know her most recent obsession and it was more than embarrassing. Yuzuru couldn't see it. Not at all.

"No..."

"Come on, it can't be that bad. Show me the last thing you did."

"Yeah...no."

It wasn't happening and her face only got redder to imagine him seeing it.

"Come on."

"I can't show you the last. I will show you my favorite..."

"As long as you show me something."

Athena went into her files and quickly retrieved one of her favorite drawings. It was her cat Simba done in color pencils, it was her favorite supply to draw with, after all.
She did her best to show it to him through the camera and heard "Wow" in return.

"It's so good, Thea!"

"It's alright..."

"Don't you dare. It's beautiful and so realistic!"

"I tried, but the damn cat wouldn't stop moving."

"Is that your cat?"

"Yeah, it's Simba! Wait, let me get him."

Athena called out for the lazy bun that was her cat and he showed up right away purring happily. He was extremely needy and loved to be touched by her.

The feline meowed as soon as he entered her room and she took him in his arms before going up to her phone again, showing the big white cat to Yuzu.

"He's so cute... Kawaii."
Yuzuru was almost petting him from the other side of the screen. The Japanese word was said in a lower tone, far more masculine than his English and the girl could help but shiver slightly at the deep velvety voice, it was so different.
"He is almost as cute as you."