Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

53.

Yuzuru couldn't wait to see Maya's reaction.

As he drove to his condo where she was with Chiara, he couldn't help but imagine what would happen in a few minutes.

He certainly couldn't imagine being away from his mother for 4 whole years. 

Sure enough, the internet made things easier, but there was nothing like seeing the person in front of you and having the chance for contact and touch.

The trip from the Sendai airport wasn't long, the Italian woman had done the trip to Narita and taken a connecting flight to Sendai just to avoid the waiting time of Shinkansens.

When they arrived, he parked the car in the garage and made sure to take his gift from the boot. Maybe the excuse was terrible, but in theory, he had the bag in the car so it wasn't necessarily a lie.

Yuzu couldn't help but grin as they entered the building. 

Key in hand, he just hoped that Maya would love this surprise as much as he expected her to.

He saw Giulia hiding in the corner as he opened the door.

Maya and Chiara were in the kitchen, cooking some sort of dessert.

"Tadaima" he muttered.

Maya, at the sight of him, dropped whatever she was doing to greet him with a kiss.

"Welcome home, handsome."

"I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?? My gift?"

"Well, you can open it as well, but I think you will probably be busy for a little bit."

"You're not making any sense..."

Just at that moment, Giulia sneaked from her hiding corner and showed up in front of the door, making her daughter squeal."

"Oh my god! How?"

"Hello, Tesoro."

"Mom!!!"

Maya ran to her mother and hugged her tight, making up for all the time lost and all those years they hadn't seen each other.

"Happy birthday."

"You two..."

"Don't look at me, I didn't do a thing... All our mother's ideas."

"Yumi?"

"She's downstairs."

"Doing what? Call her up! Maybe we should have dinner! Invite your dad and sister..."

"I thought you didn't want a party." he joked right away, knowing very well what her reasoning was behind that choice.

"My mom is here, Yuzu! Of course I want a party!"

"Good thing I ordered the food and cake already then"

His grin only made her run to his arms and hug him tight, far too emotional with everything going on. All of the people she cared about in life were all in that room and it was fair to say that it didn't happen that often.

"Thank you. This means so much to me."

"I know, beautiful. I just want you to be happy."

"Today? Today I'm the happiest girl ever."

Maya had the chance to catch up with her mom. They talked about everything that came to mind as Yuzuru prepared things for dinner as planned. He ended up calling his father and sister to invite them over since Maya asked for it and quickly set the table as well.

Eventually, he went to pick up the food and the cake.

Everything was ready and Maya looked happier than he had ever seen her.

Funny enough, the gift he had gotten for her was long discarded on a table, completely unopened. Yuzuru didn't mind, the gift was nothing out of the ordinary and he just made sure to hide the bouquet of flowers out of her sight.

They would have time alone later. 

Now he just wanted his girl to enjoy the time with family and friends, have a nice dinner, sing her happy birthday and eventually, when all of that was done, they could have their awaited moment.

Saya and Hidetoshi arrived just a few minutes after he did, congratulating the birthday girl.

Yuzuru loved that she hadn't just conquered his heart but also everyone in the family seemed to love her. It was hard not to when she was an incredible force of nature.

When they finally sat down to eat, Maya was instantly by his side, kissing his cheek and thanking him for everything once again. 

The dinner was lovely. Seeing Yumi and Giulia interact was such a crazy feeling. 

It wasn't just the fact that Maya and Yuzu had found one another through chance. They had, in the process, managed to reconnect these two friends who were now very different people but still liked each other as much as the first day.

It was funny, to listen to all of these stories of different times that showed a side of these women that their children didn't know.

Saya was having a blast as the new information about Yumi came up.

It is crazy when you know a side of your parents and are suddenly exposed to their younger selves.

Yuzuru had to be honest, he was barely paying any attention.

All of his focus, as was now usual, was completely kept to the woman by his side. He took note of her every reaction, every expression, every smile.

She was beautiful.

He couldn't wait to make her his wife, as crazy and rushed as it seemed.

It was just that with her, there had been no doubts. The trust that he so deeply guarded was given to her without a blink and the woman hadn't disappointed.

He was starting to think that maybe that was just how life worked. Some things are so obvious that you don't need years to figure out. 

2 months.

They had been dating for 2 months and he had never been so certain of anything in his life.

This was the woman he wanted by his side to grow old with, the woman he wanted to build a family and have by his side through every success.

The real question was if she wanted it as well.