Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

35.

If you were to tell Maya that she was actually considering going to Sendai just to have more time with a man, she wouldn't have believed you.

Well, when that man is Yuzuru Hanyu and he has just admitted to loving you, your perspective tends to change.

"I don't know... I want to but the team will hate me if I leave them alone."

"When was the last time you had vacation time?"

Maya looked at the ground, a bit shocked that he could see through her so easily.

"Not in a long time..."

"Then please take a week off and come with me. Anyone that even dares to question that can come to me"

She laughed in reaction, imagining Yuzuru giving a piece of mind to anyone who said anything about it.

"That's tempting."

"I hope so..."

"Let me check with the team first. I don't want to drop too much on their hands."

"Alright... I will just record a quick video for my YouTube members and see if there's anything else I'm needed for."

"Text me when you're done." Maya said, not wanting to part with Yuzuru but fully aware that they couldn't stay in that stage forever. It was certain that eventually the teams would start taking everything apart and they wouldn't be alone for too long.

When she even mentioned the possibility of taking a week off, everyone stared at her.

"Are you actually serious?" one of the techs asked.

"Yeah... I've been doing a lot of shows lately and I think..."

"Yamamoto-san, you don't have to justify yourself. You've worked here for 4 years and probably took a total of a single week off ever since. We can't argue that you don't deserve this."

"Yes... Maya-san, we don't even have a lot of shows in the next weeks and what we have is very straightforward."

"Thanks, guys. I was a bit worried."

"No. Please go. Don't take a week, take 2. If we need anything, we can call."

"I don't think..."

"Please do."

"Are you that tired of me?" she joked with her team.

Maya wasn't exactly their boss but everyone had treated her as if she was a long time ago, even if her position had never been changed officially. 

"No, we just know you've been tired lately and this show was absolute madness."

"Yeah..."

"Will you be going abroad?"

"On such short notice? No. I might do some light traveling around the country."

"Another reason why it's completely alright for you to go. We can handle this. You trust us, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Enjoy your time off for us. Respectfully, get the hell out of here, Yamamoto-san"

Smiling, Maya thanked them once again and waved her goodbyes just in time for a text to drop on her phone.

'Where are you?'

'Near the ice.'

'Don't go anywhere. I will see you soon.'

She noted that he didn't even ask if Maya was going with him or not, he just assumed that to be the case. Maybe if she didn't like him so much, he would've suffered because of that but now, all she wanted was to be near him.

Yuzuru met her just a few minutes after and Maya ignored the looks from everyone on her team who seemed to be extremely interested in their exchange. Given how Yuzuru was usually so concerned about his privacy, she wondered why and how he could be so obvious with her. Just how he brightened up when he saw her was enough to make her wonder if he had always been that obvious and if she had been completely blind before.

"You're coming, right?" he asked with a bright smile that she mirrored.

"Yeah... they literally told me to get the hell out of here."

"Good, because I already bought your ticket."

"Overconfident, Hanyu-san?"

"Maybe a little bit."

He kissed her cheek in front of everyone at the venue and she turned red right away.

"Yuzu!"

"What?"

"People are watching us!"

"Let them."

"Have you gone completely mad?"

"They all signed NDAs, remember?"

"But they will know."

"I don't care. At least it gives them a warning."

"You can't possibly be jealous."

"Chiara keeps saying that you have people flirting with you during work, so..."

"Fuck...I need to tell her about the trip... And you need to stop listening to what she says. Chiara overreacts a lot."

Laughing, Yuzuru brought her body close, ignoring her pleas to be discrete, and just held her close, whispering in her ear.

"We can stop by at your place. As much as I would enjoy it, I don't expect you to live the next few days naked or in my clothes."

Maya bit her lip. As much as she tried to deny it, the obvious attraction to Yuzu didn't just vanish suddenly. 

She considered It a win when they finally managed to get out of the Dome and go to her place.

Chiara was in the kitchen, cooking dinner when Maya finally arrived at the apartment. She was so distracted with her food that didn't bother to look at her friend when she arrived.

"Hey! How was your boyfriend's show?" Yuzuru immediately coughed awkwardly in reaction, making Chiara look at them and finally realize his presence. "Oh... hi, Yuzuru."

"Hey..." he answered, still a bit dumbfounded about what Chiara had called him. Well, he might have been now, they hadn't talked about it but at the same time, he doubted Maya had spoken to her about it already. Which meant that this was something that she just called him even before that day. "You know what? I'll wait downstairs." he quickly said and ran away from the apartment, knowing that the girls would probably enjoy some time alone for their conversation.

"Holy shit." was all Chiara said as she realized the situation. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine." Maya said. "I'm not happy about it, but it's fine."

"Did I scare him away?"

"Doubt it. He probably liked it"

"Are we that casual now with whatever is going on between you two?"

"I guess... I don't have a lot of time to talk about it now."

"Oh, you two going out for a date?"

Maya didn't miss the intonation of her friend, clearly suggesting something more. Had this been before tonight, she would've been pissed.

"A trip, actually. I have to pack."

The casual way that Maya said that stunned Chiara. Who was this and what had she done with her best friend."

"A trip? Where? Together?"

"Just his hometown and yes, together. I took a few days off work."

Chiara made her stop every single thing she was doing and forced Maya to look at her.

"Tell me everything!"