Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

48.

Arriving at the venue of the Japanese nationals was both interesting and funny for Emma.

Had it been in any other circumstances, it would probably be different but given the general reaction from people when they saw them enter the building, things were just too hilarious for her to be mad.

Even with her mask, Emma was probably the talk of JSF since her not-so-cautious words were thrown at their representative during the past world championships.

No regrets there.

She was there as his bodyguard once again since they didn't allow for assistants.
It obviously had some people making questions, especially some members of the JSF that only believed her abilities when she pinned 2 guys double her size on the ground.

Yuzuru had chuckled at the whole scene and Emma almost hoped they had aired that in some TV news just so she could watch herself being a badass later.

"Any more questions?" She asked in a seemingly perfect Japanese that was still a bit rusty but slowly getting better and better.

"No" was the only answer she received before being handed her pass for the competition.

"Everyone learns not to underestimate my girl at some point" he muttered in her ears as they walked towards his locker room.

Due to the pandemic, skaters had individual locker rooms to avoid any bad situations.

Emma was thankful for this because she could watch him close extra carefully to avoid any situations.

She forced him to wear both his asthma monitor and a heart rate one, constantly checking the data on her phone to be able to act in case something acted up.

"As hot as you look while acting like my personal doctor, I'm fine, my love."

"And I'm the one deciding that..."

"Stubborn woman..."

"You knew exactly what you were signing yourself to when we started dating."

"Oh yes... And it's more than worth it when I get to see you beat the asses of grown men."

"They doubted me..."

"It's sexy. You know it is."

"Hum, hum... How are you feeling?" She asked, immediately deviating from the topic of conversation.

"Ready."

"Good."

Emma helped him taking everything he needed from the cabin bag while he changed into the costume and helped him go through his warm-up routine, massaging his ankles before he placed the skates on his feet.

The small motions brought red to both of their faces as they remembered the previous night.

"Don't even say anything" he said in his lower voice than Emma recognized well.

"Afraid you will be too turned on to skate?" She joked.

"With you... I can never know for sure."

"You're going to be amazing. I know it."

"With you here, I have to be." He said with a smile making her hug him tight.

"Go get them, superstar. Show them the real champion."

He was about to leave the door when he turned around and smirked at her. Emma knew nothing good was about to get out of his mouth.

"Remember our bet? After the Olympics, you're going to land that Axel."

"Hasn't it expired already?"

"You can just say you want to dom, baby."

"I don't need a bet for that, Zuzu."

He smiled with a wink before opening the door and getting outside.
With the mask on his face, it was hard to understand everything he was feeling but at the same time, it was good since he was protected from everyone else around.

And not surprisingly, all the eyes were on him.

Yuzu oozed confidence with his pooh underneath his arm. A badass in a glittery costume.

There was no end to his duality. He could look like an innocent child and a mature, sexy man in mere seconds.

Emma gave him enough space to just go around, her eyes never truly leaving his form, but allowing the skater to focus properly on the task at hand.

And the small crowd present made it known that he was there as soon as he was out of the curtain.

Seeing people clap for him since they weren't allowed to scream was a bit overwhelming. Yuzuru was loved. More than what he probably realized.

Emma had no doubts that his fans would stay no matter what decisions he made.

And there were no doubts that everyone would love his new program either.

When it was finally his time to take the ice, the costume had already been revealed.
The chocker on the costume had been a detail that he asked Satomi to include. It was different and Emma had a feeling he had some type of hidden meaning for the request.

As soon as he started skating, everything was silent, bringing even more drama to the already intense program.

Yuzuru's skating skills were on a whole new level and Rondo showcased it perfectly.

Emma had tried to skate to it in the past and getting speed was far harder than it looked.

There was probably no other man in the field that could replicate what he was doing and that only brought pride in her heart.

Yuzuru had nothing to prove but once again, he showcased a new level of skating despite the attempts to make the competition more and more focused on jumps.

He skated against the current and still succeeded.

Because as much as they tried, underscoring him to the point of not winning this by a good margin was almost impossible.

And that was exactly what the scores showed.

In the midst of trying to find his mask somewhere in the bag, Emma had missed the replays.

Not that she needed them. He had an incredible skate that left her prouder than ever.

This was her man, her Olympic Champion.