Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

32.

Yuzuru finished his show with an emotional speech.

You could just tell how much he loved doing all of this, how skating was his life, and how performing for all of those people made him happy.

When it was finally done, he barely had time for anything.

Cameras followed him around, filming every second of his backstage presence as the staff thanked and congratulated the skater.

He made a small speech that Maya watched with a smile, knowing how emotional he was about everything.

Sure enough, he had a lot of interviews and media to attend afterward so she whipped her tears that seemed to show as he spoke.

They would have time for their conversation later.

The team wouldn't be disassembling anything until later on so she had the time to say her goodbyes to that stage too.

This project, no matter how challenging, had brought her into his life. Even if they didn't see each other ever again, Maya had the privilege of knowing Yuzuru as a friend and that was more valuable than she would ever care to admit.

With the stage now empty and lights on, her brain reminisced about the show that just ended.

Standing on the stage where the band played just a little over an hour ago, the memories of her childhood came. The auditions, performances, and competitions that she attended since she was 4 were memories that she chose to keep in her brain.

Just like before the band soundcheck, she was instantly drawn to the piano and sat on that bench again.

Yuzuru's performance had been more inspiring than she expected.

He had also been in pain and ignored it to give this show.

Making sure the microphones were disconnected, Maya opened the piano once again and just allowed her feelings to take over.

She wasn't even sure what song she was playing, her brain had blocked names and memories, but it hadn't blocked the muscle memory of playing those notes and melodies.

Sure, she was nowhere near as good as she had once been, but certain things never leave you.

Playing now seemed almost forbidden.

All of those years of being told that she wouldn't be able to do it again were deeply engraved in her, as well as the pain that quickly showed, but she just kept going like he did on that same day.

When she finished the song, Maya was quickly scared by some light clapping that made her turn.

Yuzuru.

🎚️

Yuzu had just finished his last interviews and his brain was instantly wired to find Maya and finally have that conversation that they had been delaying for months.

Now that they were, in theory, not working together anymore, everything was easier.

He just had to find her.

After searching around for a while on most rooms and asking a few people, he just decided to check on the main venue. Maybe she was already working on taking everything from the stage.

Just as he got near the area surrounding the stage, he heard the sound of piano notes being played. He was instantly stunned by the beauty of the music that was played.

When he finally peeked and saw the woman playing his breath hitched.

Maya.

He hadn't realized that she played the piano.

It made sense that she was a musician, he heard often that a lot of people working in sound played instruments but what shocked him was how good she was.

Every day he just seemed to find some small details that made him love her even more.

His feelings had been there from the start but when she asked for a strictly physical relationship, he just had to take what she could give.

Now, after everything they had been through, he was more than sure of everything that consumed his heart, but at the same time, he just wasn't sure if she felt the same way.

Maya was a box of mixed signals and he wasn't sure if he wanted to open it completely.

After what happened and just how much she helped him on the past day, Yuzuru had started to grow more hopeful that this wasn't as one-sided as he once thought.

All of those thoughts were now on hold though, because all he could focus on was the beautiful music she played.

When she finally finished, his claps echoed in the huge arena.

"I didn't know you played." He said in a soft tone, trying his best not to scare her away.

"I don't... well, not anymore."

Yuzuru didn't miss the way that one of her hands slowly massaged the other wrist.

Was she in pain?

"You sounded too good for me to accept that answer."

"I haven't played in a long time."

"Still sounds beautiful... maybe you should make a career of it."

"I like my job as it is"

"You never dreamed of anything more?"

"I did... for a long time I dreamed of playing in orchestras all around the world, maybe even some shows by myself but I quickly learned that things aren't like we want them to be"

Yuzuru was almost afraid to ask but it felt weird to ignore everything that seemed to be hanging in the air.

With all their feelings mixed up, it was only natural that Maya wanted to keep this side of her a secret but he wanted to know more.

"Why did you never follow your dreams?"

He asked the question that had been bothering him from the very first note and Maya answered by raising her wrist.

"My body betrayed me."