Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

62.

It wasn't easy for Maya to make her decision.

She had to gather all of her savings, quit her job, and find a destination on the same day.

One could even argue that she was already pushing her pregnant body to a limit, even if it was still the early months.

Maya had gone through so many Google searches on her burner phone that one would deem her crazy.

When a mention of Toronto came up, Maya smiled. Yuzuru had always spoken fondly of his time in Canada and if she didn't tell anyone, going there wouldn't be dangerous.

Even in this choice, she thought of that man.

Maya didn't even tell Chiara.

The only thing her friend knew was that she was leaving Japan.

"At least get me a way to contact you."

That was all that the girl allowed. Maya gave her the contact of the burner phone but begged her friend to be very cautious. Using any current devices was completely out of the question.

And so, just a few days later, Maya was taking a flight to a place that had received Yuzuru for 10 years of his skating career.

More than anyone, she was very aware that the money she had wouldn't be that much for the future.

When she first arrived in the North American country, it was easy to tell that even with her extensive experience in the area of her studies, she wouldn't be able to live off her engineering gigs.

In those first months, Maya did her life by working as a freelancer while working as a cashier in supermarkets, fast food restaurants, or anything else she could find that helped pay the rent.

All of her savings were kept for those months when she wouldn't be able to work at all because of the baby.

The thoughts of going through the whole pregnancy alone were scary but she knew that this was the only way.

Through all of that time, she tried to keep everything a secret from her mom as best as possible, but it was very hard to hide that she had moved to a whole different country.

The truth about part of the situation would be discovered by Yuzuru in the end.

The skater was planning another show at the Dome and even before he started the planning, one of the shareholders told him right away that he wouldn't be able to work with the previous sound engineer.

Originally, Yuzu figured that Maya had refused to work with him, but they eventually explained that she was no longer working at the Dome.

All of it confused him to the point of sharing the information with his mother, who tried to gather information from her best friend, only to find an equally confused Giulia.

Yuzuru didn't bother exploring further. He was keen on his word of not wanting to see her face again, even if it hurt him even more this way.

His mother, on the other hand, seemed more confused each day.

If the whole reason for their break up was Maya's life in Tokyo and her job, why would she even quit it just a few months after?

Obviously, she wasn't the only confused person. Giulia was worried, especially when her daughter dodged the questions when they called, saying that everything was fine.

In the end, it was Chiara who admitted that Maya wasn't in Japan anymore.

As much as the Italian wanted to protect her best friend, Giulia was Maya's daughter and deserved to know.

More than anything, Chiara knew better than most that her friend's life in whatever country she had moved to wasn't easy.

Chiara knew about all of the extra jobs and working time, knew just how much Maya had been overworking herself despite all of the doctors' recommendations, and knew that the pregnancy wasn't easy as well.

No one knew exactly where Maya was or how bad the situation had become but most of all, Chiara was the only one who understood her friend's reasoning for leaving, and as much as she tried to help, it just seemed like the case became harder to solve with each day that passed.

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Maya was about 7 months pregnant when her body started to cave in on her.

Working over 12 hours a day was doing her no favors. As much as Maya tried to be a superhuman, no one is completely immune forever.

Her job at the supermarket implied carrying heavy things around when she was restocking the shelves and when you're the only one working, it's hard to give the excuse of being pregnant to avoid the task.

She ignored the constant strain on her back, the little pains that she would feel when she got home and still had to do her tasks.

As much as this baby was important to her, Maya needed to ensure that she would have the funds to raise her daughter by herself, especially when it looked like the case was nowhere near close to being solved.

On the day she found out that she was carrying a baby girl, Maya smiled at the doctor as she looked at the echo. In every single doctor's appointment, the thought of how it would be if Yuzu was there was constantly present. She never hated the skater.

More than anything, Maya knew that she was the one to blame for all of the craziness that settled upon their lives and her daughter was unfortunately the one who would suffer the most.

There were no doubts in Maya's head that Yuzuru would shower this baby with all the love in the world, and that he would be the best father ever.

Now, however, she couldn't wish for that. All she could wish for was survival.