Oneshots | Yuzuru Hanyu

The Interview

Receiving an invitation to interview one of Japan's biggest Skating stars didn't happen every day.

Asami had been working for NTV for a while, but it was rare that she was invited to go outside the studios for any kind of fieldwork.

This was one interview that deep down she didn't want to do, no matter how incredible of an opportunity it was.

It was for a documentary they were doing on the skater after he turned Professional and Asami had a feeling her name hadn't just been randomly chosen.

Why?

Because she knew this skater very well.

Yuzuru was a very old acquaintance from her elementary school years.

He had been coached by her father so it was only inevitable that they built a bond at the time.

Still, she hadn't seen him in years.

From the moment Asami and her family moved to Tokyo, they had completely lost contact.

Even so, Asami had a feeling this was no random coincidence.

She certainly wasn't about to say no to a chance of doing some field work and deep down, Asami kinda wanted to get back to Ice Rink Sendai and see it after the years of renovation work.

Truthfully, it wasn't that common to do interviews in the middle of the night but from the research she had done on him, it seemed like that was his practice schedule lately.

That was exactly how she found herself standing in front of the familiar rink after so many years. Outside was completely dark and she was all alone given that the image recording would be done on another day.

Asami knew the halls well enough to go around the building after she arrived. Most of the building was dark but the front door was open when she tried the handle.

She used her phone flashlight to guide the way and eventually, the sight of the big, cold, ice rink filled her sight.

The sound system played some music and the sound of the blades on the ice filled the venue.

Yuzuru was exactly where she remembered seeing him so many times, the one key difference was that he was no longer the tiny mushroom that she once knew.

"Tsuzuki-san." she heard her name being called as he noticed her. "Welcome."

"Hanyu-san. It's nice to see you."

"You look good." He muttered and that only made her realize that he did remember her after all, only raising her suspicions that this was no coincidence.

"You too..."

"Do you mind if I finish my training before we start? About half an hour, no longer."

He was slightly breathless and it made her mind travel to the time he was a kid and had multiple asthma attacks during his practice sessions.

"It's fine. I can wait."

"Well, you know the corners of this house, don't just stand there. Please sit."

Asami did as he said and sat down watching the intense session in front of her eyes.

She had seen him conquer the world at the Olympics, of course. Even if Asami didn't feel like following the sport, it was inevitable that figure skating would be playing on the TV at her home.

Her father followed his pupil dutifully through the years.

Still, seeing the intensity of his practice sessions now was certainly shocking.