Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

49.

Maya felt weird when she arrived at the show in Yokohama.

It wasn't that the arena wasn't familiar or anything of sorts, it was just that she felt observed.

If there was one thing that Maya hated was the feeling of being watched and a few of the skaters doing the show didn't seem to understand that there were limits.

Of course, everyone was allowed to look, but she wasn't a fascinating thing in a museum.

Maya even wondered if maybe it was because Yuzuru never brought anyone to these shows that wasn't his close family but even then, she hadn't entered the venue with him or had even spoken to the skater.

She was literally just living her life, entering this venue as if it was her regular place of work, and went directly to the sound team with a smile.

After Yuzuru's show in Yokohama a few months prior, she was easily recognized by a few of them and mixed right in.

Maya always preferred when it was like this, when she could just mingle easily with the staff and find distractions while Yuzu did his thing.

She might have not been working, but Maya found that helping was far more interesting than to just sit and watch the skaters, especially when Yuzuru wasn't on the ice himself.

The skater that had been staring at her simply didn't seem to stop. The worst of it all was that she was certain he was too young for her to even interpret the looks in another way.

What the hell did he want?

Not too long after, she would have all the answers.

"Hello... You speak English, right?" the skater asked. As she saw him closer, he looked even younger.

"Hello. I do, yes."

"I just wanted to say that you're beautiful."

This wasn't happening... Was this kid even an adult yet? He couldn't possibly be flirting with her.

"huh... Ok."

Maya was awkward receiving compliments, especially when they didn't come from Yuzuru.

She just had no idea what to think.

"What's your name?"

"Maya."

"Beautiful name as well, seems like I'm lucky."

Maya stared at the kid in front of her and raised a brow.

"Can I help you with anything?" she eventually asked as she looked around, half begging for her handsome skater to show up and save her from whatever this was, even if she knew she could take of the situation by herself.

"I'm sure you can... Starting with a dinner maybe? Do you happen to know any good restaurants around?"

Maya almost wanted to throw up. She was flattered, sure, but this boy just seemed far too young for her, and on top of that, she merely wasn't interested.

"I'm not one to go out a lot, so I have no idea. I'm sure you will find a nice place to have dinner.

"Oh, you won't join me?"

His confidence was kind of remarkable, she had to admit that just the reminder that she was probably about 10 years older than him would've made her answer no right away.

Thankfully, a soft and velvety voice saved her.

"Maya-chan"

She knew he had noticed her discomfort just because of what he had called her. Maya barely remembered the last time he used -chan on her.

"Yuzu-kun... I was thinking I wouldn't see you today"

"I wouldn't leave my favorite engineer all by herself."

Maya squealed when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and switched his words to his rusty English.

"Thank you for keeping her company." he said in his most innocent look that made her stare.

"huh...sure."

The boy was confused, of course, he was. It isn't as if this was how Yuzuru acted normally. Even Maya was a bit stunned.

But she knew why her boyfriend was being so obvious. He had noticed her discomfort for sure, she just wondered if there wasn't a little bit of jealousy in the mix.

"Yuzu... I have to go to work." she muttered in English.

If her boyfriend wanted to keep that going, she would gladly help.

"No, you don't"

He moved to whisper something in her ear with a smirk and she was almost afraid of what she was about to hear.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, maintaining that cocky expression on his face as if he was suggesting the dirtiest thing ever.

"Yeah" was all she answered, making the younger skater stare at them violently, with his eyes focused on Yuzuru.

"Maya... Have you ever seen a quad axel?" he tried making her interaction with Yuzu stop and shift the attention back to him.

"Huh?"

"A quad axel... I'm the first man to land it successfully in competition."

Oh, so this was the kid...

She felt the man behind her stiffen and hoped Yuzu could keep himself in check while she took care of the boy in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not that interested in skating. I'm sure it is a great achievement..."

"you're...huh... Not interested in skating? But you work in skating?"

"No, I work in all types of shows."

"Not this one." Yuzuru interrupted.

"I can still help..."

Yuzu smiled and kissed her cheek, not even bothering to be discrete as he pulled her away from the other skater.

"Alright. I'm gonna go. If you need me to teach the kid a lesson, just call me."

"You have a reputation to keep."

"I also have a future wife to keep."

She chuckled and gave him a warm expression.

"I'm sure that a woman who knows she's so lucky wouldn't just throw that all away"

"It's not you that worries me, it's the 18-year-old who thinks he can flirt with you."

"18? Damn...I had a feeling he was that young but his confidence..."

"Overconfidence is never good"

"I find it very irritating that he thinks he can use that jump as an argument to everything."

"It's his merit to have landed it."

"You never used your quad loop to flirt with me."

"Honey, you wouldn't even know what a Quad loop was."

"True." she answered with a laugh "But let me tell you, it's a very sexy jump."

"Oh, is it?"

"Nah... It's only sexy when it is you... But so are all other jumps."