Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

43.

Maya went back to Tokyo with sadness.

All of those days in his arms, no matter how busy he was, made her get used to having that man around.

When Maya arrived at the apartment, Chiara hugged her right away.

"Did you miss me that much?" she joked right away with her friend.

"Two weeks is too long, Maya! Next time just tell him to come here instead."

She laughed, always fascinated by the words that her friend could pull off so casually.

"I will make sure to let him know your opinion."

"shut up... How was it?"

"Well, Yuzu was very busy most of the time but just being around him made it enough."

Chiara was in silence for a little while, analyzing her friend's expression to the most minuscule of details.

"Oh boy... When's the wedding?"

Maya was so immune to that topic by now that she started laughing.

"from how much he talks about it... Maybe sooner rather than later."

"Wait? Are you serious? He has talked about it?"

"Yeah."

"Holy shit. I'm going to be a maid of honor!"

"Calm down, Chi. I'm not engaged."

"Yet"

"And weddings in Japan are different."

"Either way, I can do your Bachelorette party."

"Oh no."

"Yes..."

"No. But let's save this debate for the time it is actually real. I think he just likes to joke about it to get me flustered."

"With how weird your relationship is, I'm half expecting you to arrive on a random day and tell me you married the guy."

"It's not that random..."

"Would you mind though?"

"What? marrying him?"

"yeah."

"No."

"I knew it! You could try to get some distance all you wanted, but you were already in too deep. Both of you."

"It is just weird to me that things are happening so fast." Maya admitted to her friend.

It was nice to finally have someone to talk about these things that had been making her so uncertain in the past few days.
She loved that man with all of her heart but it seemed like everyone would probably see her as a madwoman if they did, indeed, get married any time soon.

All of this was an obvious extrapolation of Yuzuru's words and would probably turn out to be nothing.

Again, the thing with him was that you never knew if he was 100% serious until he made it clear.

"I think that's just how he does things and it just shows you that even if you haven't been with him long enough to logically be confident that marriage is the right choice, that he is very sure of your relationship."

"When did you turn this serious?" Maya eventually asked.

"I just think you deserve all of this. No matter how crazy it is. From what I can tell, Yuzuru is a great guy, even if he's a Japanese heartthrob that a lot of girls will want to steal from you."

"Don't remind me that."

"What I mean is that if he stayed through the mess that you two had if he didn't have anyone else while you were apart, then I don't think he's the type to go to other women when he has you. That man screams faithful through and through."

"I think so too."

"Now, what you have to do is to stop overthinking and just allow things to happen naturally. There's no point in panicking over what hasn't happened yet."

"You're too philosophical today, Chiara."

"I'm just happy for you."

"I know."

"And maybe it's the right time to warn you that your mom will probably enjoy being warned before you marry the guy."

"Oh shit!"

Through all of the conversations that Maya had with her mother, she didn't mention the Japanese man in a single one. By now, the older woman barely asked about her work and wasn't even aware of what happened at the Tokyo Dome.

If Yuzuru was serious, maybe it was about time to give her mother a warning.

"Yeah."

Maya wondered what she would think.

Logically, her mother couldn't blame her for falling in love with a Japanese man, not when she had done the same. But this was still a very touchy subject.

Anything Japanese was, really.

And it was already enough that Maya hadn't gone back to Italy in 4 years.

What Maya knew she wanted was to invite her mother back to Japan and hopefully find the time to introduce Yuzuru to her in a way that made her understand how much the Japanese meant to her.

When she called Yuzu on that night, she couldn't help but express that concern.

"We should talk about something" she said halfway through the call.

"you look only serious, Maya."

"I just... Chiara reminded me of something and I have been thinking about it ever since."

"Don't tell me she already turned you against me. You've been there for less than a day"

She knew it was a joke and smiled right away.

"She likes you, but you know that."

"I do. So what's this all about?"

"My mother."

Yuzuru gulped visibly, seemingly nervous.

"What did she say?"

"My mother? She doesn't know. That is just the thing."

"oh... Nothing?"

He seemed a bit worried about that, maybe already overthinking as to why Maya hadn't even mentioned him to her when she already knew all of his close family, even his grandparents.

"Don't overthink. I barely tell her anything, this isn't about you."

"But you're worried now."

"Because I know how serious you are about us... I just don't want to catch her by surprise with a huge bomb."

"You can just say that you don't want to catch her by surprise with a wedding" Yuzuru joked.

"If you're serious about it."

"I am... I already told you that."

"Yeah."

"Then just tell her"

"just like that?"

"Why not?"

"You underestimate my mother and her trauma with Japan."

"You've been here for 4 years, I'm sure she had mellowed."

"I was thinking of inviting her here and introducing you."

"That's a good idea, love."

"Yes, of course."

"you don't mind?"

"Maya... I thought I was very clear about my intentions. Of course I want to meet your mom..."

"ok."

"Just let me know how it goes."

"Alright."

"Now stop overthinking and get some rest. I love you."

"I love you too, Zu."