Beyond the Sound | Yuzuru Hanyu

65.

Maya tried to hide her surprise as best as possible when Tracy told her she was a figure skating coach.

What are the odds? 

The sheer chance that this woman possibly knew Yuzuru was deeply engraved in Maya's mind. She had to be careful.

Why was it always like this with them? Why were there always coincidences making their world collide, even if she was miles away from him?

"Where do you work?" she managed to ask.

"Uh, The Cricket Club, it's close to the supermarket you work in."

"Yeah, I've passed through a few times. It makes sense that Ryan said that you were close."

"I'm glad I was. And you're always welcome at the rink, have you ever skated?"

That made Maya smile in thought. The light teasing that Yuzuru always did with her, even with a gymnastics Olympic champion in front of them.

"Ah... no."

"Why were you smiling so much?"

"You just reminded me of the last time someone begged me to skate. It was a good day."

The older woman eyes her carefully but didn't say anything else.

"I'm going home now, can I have your number, by any chance?"

"This is a burner phone, but these days, it's the one I use the most." Maya said as she gave the coach her number with a small smile.

"Alright. I will be stopping by tomorrow to check on you girls. Make sure you take care of yourself and rest. the nurses can help you with your little one for now, okay?"

"Okay, Tracy. Thank you so much... I will forever be indebted to you and your son."

"Nonsense. Just make sure you can go back to the man you love. It seems like he's a good one."

"Yeah."

🎚️

Maya and her daughter, now named Kaiya, stayed in the hospital for a few weeks due to the little girl being born so soon. Even so, every indication was that she was going to be a very healthy girl, despite all the complications of her birth.

Tracy came to visit quite often and even insisted on helping out when it was time to finally go home.

Just like before, the skating coach was one of Maya's biggest blessings, helping her with even the most random of things. It was hard to believe that a stranger had become such a valuable asset to her in just a couple of months.

Truth be told, the woman became like a second mother, just as she said she usually was for her skaters.

Maya believed that now more than ever and accepted all the help with gratefulness.

Becoming a mother certainly changed her. The priority was no longer her work or career, the little Kaiya now occupied her every thought and dictated every decision.

But it had been like that ever since she found out about the pregnancy, after all.

It was still hard to deal with everything, but it helped that she had a motivation whenever she saw the little baby's face.

After a few months, as the little one grew, Maya started to become more aware that the money wouldn't last forever and that she would need to get back to work soon.

Telling this to Tracy, the woman found a solution.

"You know we are always looking for help at the rink? I'm sure I can find a spot for you, maybe even at the front desk... I have to speak with Brian, but I'm sure that if I share part of your story, that he would gladly accept that you take Kaiya with you too."

"You think so? There aren't many jobs that would let me stay with her and I really don't know if I can afford a nanny right now."

"Give me a few days to look into it. Do you need money?"

"No. I'm okay for a few more months but I don't want to spend all my savings before getting a solution."

"Of course not. But if you need anything..."

"I know Tracy, you've always been amazing to me. Still, I can't ask you for something like that."

"You Japanese people are all the same..."

Maya laughed at that, knowing that even if the coach didn't know it, most of her experience with Japanese skaters had come from Kaiya's father.

"Proud and stubborn."

"Exactly."

🎚️

Just another month later, Maya was finally settling herself at the Cricket Club.

She had to admit that the first time she did a tour of the building, her eyes had been instantly drawn to anything Yuzuru-related. There were pictures of him across the halls, smiling, skating, hugging the coaches.

Maya had found a long time ago that Tracy had been one of Yuzuru's coaches. It wasn't too hard when she was binge-watching his old performances and saw the face of the familiar woman who had been helping her for so long.

The one thing that brought tears to her eyes were the winner's plaques.

Knowing that she would see his name every day was a mix of emotions. On one hand, it made her miss him more than ever and regret how things turned out to be but on another, she was constantly reminded of how much she was hiding from him and the danger he could still be experiencing without knowing.

Her job at Cricket was almost too vague. The pay was nice in comparison to the supermarket and restaurants and even the job wasn't hard. She was just there most of the day, ready to help with anything needed.

Sometimes she spent the entire day at the front desk, with Kaiya right by her side while other days, she was just randomly helping the younger skaters with anything they might need.

Maya didn't know what the future held, but what this assured was that she could raise her daughter without going completely broke.

For that and a lot more, she owed everything to Tracy.