Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

31.

It's safe to say that the woman from the JSF was absolutely shocked.

But she wasn't the only one.

Yuzuru had his eyes wide and his eyes could probably burn holes in her skull.
Strangely enough, he also had a smirk on his face.

Emma didn't plan on letting this be the way he found out, but she couldn't watch the woman insult and bully Yuzuru as if it was something normal.

"You said she didn't understand Japanese!"

"Don't worry, it's news for me too." He said with one of those smiles that always made others more affected. Like a child that was proud of being naughty.

Emma expected him to be mad that she didn't tell him about her Japanese knowledge, but it seemed like he didn't find it that offensive.

"You will pay for this. Remember my words Yuzuru. Don't forget who pays for your ice time."

"I won't, it's still me..."

The woman just left the room, clearly not anywhere near happy about what had just happened and Yuzuru started laughing uncontrollably.

"Yuzu?"

He lowered both of their masks and kissed her right away with a renewed hunger, one that she didn't remember seeing since their first time together.
It wasn't enough to be inappropriate, but it was certainly on the border of it.

"That was so cool..." He finally said when they distanced themselves.

"I thought you would be mad."

"You do have some things to explain, but I could never be mad because you defended me."

"Is it always like that? With the federation?"

"Sometimes... It depends on who's the delegate too."

It felt a bit weird to speak to him in English now, but he took the initiative by changing into the foreign language as soon as the woman was out of the room and Emma merely obliged.

"This is crazy! I don't understand why they speak to you like that."

"Why should we even think about it? If I remember well, you and I were discussing our evening plans."

"No, you were trying to get me on your bed "

"Same thing... Let's get out of here"

They placed their masks on their faces again and left hand in hand.

Well, at least until they reached the door.

Yuzuru looked at her with an apologetic look before letting go.

Emma understood, from the moment they left their private place, Yuzuru was no longer 'Her man' as she liked to call him in her head. He was the Japanese heartthrob and World Medalist and his face showed exactly that. The woman quickly understood that she wasn't a big fan of his PR look.

They had to be careful outside and she understood that better than anyone, especially because she didn't want her face all over social media either.

"Just stay close, ok?"

If things were already like this on a COVID bubble, with photographers around his every move, Emma could only imagine how it was during a normal situation.

How did he even put up with all of this?

Yuzuru was no athlete for these people, he was a celebrity.

Emma followed around behind him and with the shadow of each of his coaches by her side, almost as if they were trying to protect her.

Not that she cared, they didn't have to protect her. Emma had put up her strong face and was ready to tackle a fight. She had to act the part of his bodyguard after all.

But who are you even fooling, Em?

You're no bodyguard. Bodyguards don't kiss their clients and make plans to be in their hotel bed later.

When they finally managed to get in the car, she could only let out the breath that she had been holding. It was probably audible given his chuckle.

"Are you ok, Em?"

"Yes."

"You don't have to act strong, we know it's a lot." Ghislain, who was by their side said.

"It's fine, I just didn't expect so many cameras. It's my first rodeo after all."

Yuzuru was clearly in a lighter mood once they got out of the camera's sight and his next words were just another indication of that.

"Yeah, we didn't have those in Juniors did we?"

"No definitely not."

They probably confused the coaches even further with that conversation, but none of them seemed to care that much. Emma had been recently looking into her past competitions and found an interesting detail that he probably didn't know about. They had competed on the same ice once, in one of the few international competitions that she did.

It was very funny for her to think of this coincidence. They never met back then, but they had been sharing the same ice on that weekend. Who would've guessed that they would meet after so many years had passed?

Their eyes met in the silence of the car, it seemed as if everyone was slightly afraid to speak out loud after their small exchanges. His coaches were staring at one another as if speaking silently and debating whether or not to approach the very obvious elephant in the room.

"Brian, thank you for the pass, I never got to thank you." Emma finally said, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm glad I did. It seems like Yuzuru liked the surprise."

" So that's how..." he muttered and Em smiled. It seemed like they couldn't get to the hotel fast enough.

"I have my ways"

"I can see that. Very smart, Miss Anderson."

Emma couldn't help but snort at him using her last name. 

"That's cringy, don't use it again."

"I missed you too..."

"You know I missed you, silly."

Yuzuru looked at both his coaches but it seemed like he didn't care about their opinion on what he was about to say.

"Is the mission done?"

"Yes" 

"So you're going back with me?"

"I don't know."

Yuzuru looked almost offended that she said that, and Emma desperately wanted to explain everything.

"What do you mean you don't know? You don't want to?"

"Of course I do, but in case you're not aware, your country doesn't allow foreigners in right now."

"Oh..."

"Yes..."

"I will find a way."