Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

3.

Despite the worries of Mother Theresa (aka, Yuzuru), traveling was not tiring to Emma and she felt her energy on top while unpacking her bags.

Apparently, they were going to the rink today.

She felt weird about it. Emma hadn't been in a rink for so long that it was hard to expect what this would bring for her brain.

All of her memories on the ice were good, despite the falls and the injuries, the memories were far better than everything else after she quit the sport.

Still, Emma knew she needed to be in control of her reactions, she couldn't possibly let out another one and try to cover it up like before. Pretending to be stupid only worked if you did it in moderation.

Seeing her new client carry a whole cabin-size bag to go skating was an experience she didn't count on, but maybe he was carrying his costumes or something.

Emma was surprised to see that they were walking there.

"It's close."

"You don't have a car?"

"I do... I just don't like driving that much."

"Do you want me to drive?"

"No need, walking is good for you."

Emma raised her brows but just nodded. After checking that she had everything she needed, her guns, bullets, and wallet, they were finally out.

It took less than 10 minutes to arrive at their destination. When they did, no one batted an eye at him entering as if he owned the whole thing, but they did stare at her.

What? Never seen a woman?"

Yuzuru told her where she could stay and watch the practice and her eyes were constantly looking around.

"Do you need anything?" He asked and she just gestured no with her head.

"Don't mind me... Doing recognition."

"Recognition?" Yuzuru seemed very confused and she started explaining.

"Yes... Evaluating the location, counting and knowing every possible exit, places to hide in case of emergency."

"Hum... Why?"

"Because you hired me to protect you?"

"Shh... Don't say that here."

"Are you embarrassed about having a bodyguard?"

"No"

"What's all of this about then?"

"I didn't hire you...my team did. I didn't want a bodyguard. I know how to take care of myself."

"Clearly they don't think so... And I can see why."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Oh, the babyface was mad... Interesting.

"It's not a bad thing, some people just look weaker, more prone to be attacked."

He stared at her in disbelief.

"Are you saying I'm one of those people?"

Oh, he was fuming, this was fun.

"I'm just saying that there was probably a reason why they thought you would need me."

"There were death threats... That's why. But they are empty."

"Holy shit"

Now it was her turn to stare at him, why would this guy even have someone making death threats at him? He looked like he didn't hurt a fly.

"Yeah... Now you know."

"I should've known from the start. I don't understand why I wasn't given this information. That means we have to be more careful."

"Don't worry too much about it. They're empty threats as I said... From fans of other skaters."

"You seem sure of that."

"I am."

It was exactly there that the conversation ended. He had a frown on his face and Emma just shrugged her shoulders and watched him put the boots on his feet and glide on the ice soon after.

He was a natural, clearly good at what he did.

It didn't surprise Emma that he was a good skater, not when he trained at the TCC. She remembered that this was the place where Yuna trained, but it did surprise her that everyone seemed to stop what they were doing to watch his every move as soon as he stepped on the ice.

"Yuzu, no axel training today." She saw a man tell him, she didn't recognize him.

"Why?" He whined and Emma laughed, he was truly like a child.

"Because we have to work on your program."

"But Ghislain!"

"Not buts... You're going to get injured if you don't think this through."

"I need the Axel!"

"Not today, you don't. Let's do a run-through of Otonal, review the Sal and Toe"

Yuzuru frowned, clearly not happy at all but obeyed the man that Emma assumed to be his coach.

When he started skating to the piano keys that echoed in the room, the girl really tried to be indifferent, but it was hard to ignore the sheer quality of skating that was presented before her eyes.
The first jump made her gasp audibly.

Good job hiding your reactions Emma... Really nice job.

She counted the rotations 1,2,3,4. 4? This dude jumped a quad as if it was nothing? Was figure skating like this nowadays?"

The dude was good...  really good...

Emma made a mental note to do her investigative work later, she needed to know just how good he was in terms of medals because even if she had no idea of how the field was nowadays, she liked to think she could still tell when someone was good.

The triple axel surprised her, because of what she had heard the coach mentioning before, but she chose against dwelling on it.

She watched the quad-triple combination that came seconds after getting the same awe as the first jump. It looked so easy when he did it but Emma knew it was anything but easy.

When she quit the sport, her triples, and double axel were in a really good spot, but she had never imagined herself jumping anything higher than that, not even the triple axel that Mao Asada had in her sleeve.

Seeing the easiness that this guy had in landing these jumps was unreal in her head.

Yuzuru seemed pleased in the end, going as far as coming to her to get the opinion.

"What did you think, Emma?"

"Why do you care?"

"Just tell me... Don't be shy."

"Does everyone rotate so much in the air like you?"

It was her stupid way of questioning if everyone else was doing quads for breakfast without her client realizing that she knew more about skating than she admitted.

"You mean the quads? Most of the men do them. It's hard to win if you don't."

So it was common now, damn.

"Ah ok."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What did you think?"

"It was cool, I guess."

Yuzuru seemed dejected but Emma couldn't show just how impressed she was with his skills, there was no need to give him the satisfaction of that.

One other thing that she didn't miss was how everyone, including the coach, was staring at her, it was almost as if she was the first person that Yuzuru brought to the rink.

Wait...was she?