Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

8.

Flying at first class made a seemingly long flight pass by way quicker.

There was something about having a huge screen and pretty much anything you could possibly want within your reach that made the flight easier.

So this is why rich people travel all the time.

The flight attendants would even make your bed for you to sleep in. It was ridiculous.

Her thoughts of this being way too much money were still there, but knowing that he didn't pay for it made it slightly better and allowed her to enjoy it for a while.

After her heart-to-heart, she could tell he looked at her differently but it didn't mean that she wanted to question it.
Questions only made more questions after all.

They landed in Japan after a while and his mom was already waiting to pick them up.

Emma recognized a woman whom she saw multiple times during her research on him. She looked like a nice lady, but she guessed that the woman would go to any means to protect her youngest son.

"You must be Emma"

"Yes, Mrs. Hanyu, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too. Call me Yumi. Thank you for taking care of my son."

"I haven't done much..."

"You've done the necessary."

"I guess"

"Here in Japan is different. Yuzuru is more known."

"I'm aware."

"There's a virus taking over the world and closing everything, I doubt we have to worry too much." Yuzuru said breaking the conversation immediately.

The airport was a bit of a chaos but no one was expecting Yuzuru and the hat, glasses, and mask seemed to be enough for him not to be recognized.

It didn't mean that Emma worried less.

Her whole body was completely on alert, trying to gather as much information about her surroundings as possible.

In her line of work, information was one of the most crucial things.

Recognizing weird behaviors was one of the best ways to spot aggressiveness before it happens and because of her previous line of work, Emma was highly trained in human behavior.

It was hard for her to turn it off in casual situations, like when she was at Yuzuru's condo in Toronto and he asked her to cover her body. But once in a while, her brain couldn't turn off.

With Yuzuru and his mom by her side, Emma walked all of the distance until they reached the car looking everywhere and trying to gather as much information as humanly possible.

Once they reached the car she couldn't help but notice his stare at her. Yuzuru was confusing as usual.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

His mom had her trained eyes on their interaction, carefully looking at the exchange of words and every reaction.

"You just seem tense."

"There were a lot of people around... I have to make sure you're safe. So yes, I am tense."

"Oh"

"Yes, Yuzuru. Just doing my job."

He noticed the tone in her voice and dropped the matter altogether. It was better than making her pissed.

Yuzu knew her well enough by now, even if she had only lived with him for a month.

"Okasan, did you talk with anyone at the rink?"

"It's really hard to book right now."

"Please tell me I have ice..."

Emma wanted to laugh at his desperation. She knew how dependent he was on his training, but never thought it was that bad.

"Depends on what you're willing to take."

"Anything!" He told his mom and Emma couldn't hold her chuckle back now.

"I had a feeling you would say that. We have 2 options."

"Okay..."

"First is public ice in the morning."

Yuzuru's contorted face was hilarious, he didn't like that option.

"What's the other option?"

"Late, very late night sessions."

"I take that."

"At night."

"Yes. I get it. But I'm training alone either way and can easily change my schedule to adapt to that."

"It's settled then."

"Emma, you don't mind, right?"

It was ridiculous that he cares about her opinion, but strangely, she still appreciated the concern. Either way, was he going to change the whole plan if she didn't agree?

"Me? I'm a night owl."

"Ok. We're settled. Can we go today?"

Yumi could have looked surprised, but she knew her son better than anyone else. She took some keys from her pocket and gave them to him.

"They will leave the ice ready and in the morning take care of it. Just make sure you close everything and turn off the lights when you're done."

"Yes! You're the best, mama." He answered in Japanese, making his mom look at Emma.

"Sure, sure." She answered in the same language.
"She is pretty" the older woman said and Yuzuru flushed almost immediately.

"Yes, she is"

Emma's Japanese was limited after a few months' mission with Japanese soldiers a few years back, but she still remembered a lot of it. Just enough to make out the conversation those two were having.

"You're hopeless"

"Huh?"

"You like her"

The bodyguard had to keep her poker face on, which wasn't easy at all given the topic of the conversation. What did Yuzu's mom want with this conversation?

"What? No."

"You don't fool me, you care."

"She is hardheaded and direct, brutally honest. She keeps messing with my head and I don't know how to act around her."

Well, thank you, Sherlock.

"Exactly what you need then."

"Stop..."

"I'm just saying that she's pretty."

"And my bodyguard. She works for me."

"She works for the private security company that you're hiring. It's a bit different."

"Doesn't matter, it's still wrong."

"You still like her, even if just as a friend. I can tell that you care."