Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

34.

Yuzuru wasn't wrong. It was certain that the change didn't happen suddenly or unexpectedly.

Izumi started out by actually getting the courage and confidence to use her leg on the landing and gradually improving from there.

Even so, it took about 1 more week until she was finally successful in landing her first triple after the injury.

Yuzuru was the only one who saw it. They were doing after-hours once again all by themselves when he started teasing her about the most random of things.

By then, Yuzu was pretty much living in her apartment and you could tell that just by how many pieces of clothing he had in her drawers and closet.

There was a hidden agreement between them. There was never a conversation about their relationship status, every little kiss and exchange between them was carefully hidden under other pretenses.

On the day that she landed that first triple, Yuzuru had somehow gotten her so relaxed on that ice that he was sure she had completely forgotten about her injury for a while.

It was easy to mess around when they had the ice all for themselves, it was easy to just allow small kisses, little touches. All of those interactions made her relax because she trusted that man completely.

Yuzu went as far as skating by her side and doing random things that made her want to drop to the ice and laugh her heart out. For someone nearing 30, he often looked more like an adorable child than a fully grown adult.

She didn't hide loving that innocent side of his and Yuzuru didn't hide that he carefully selected those who could see it. Izumi was proud to be on his list of trustworthy friends.

Friends? Well, who even knew? She didn't.

He told her to just try and jump and even in this, she couldn't say no. It was always the same in their interactions. He begged her for anything and Izumi was proudly giving. 

This time was just like that, he was hugging her close and whispering sweet words in her ear just before telling her to try. It took just a few seconds until she was trying once again.

In her head, Izumi just did as he had been telling her for the past few days: "Just let it happen, allow your body to do the familiar movement. Don't think of it as a jump but rather as any other element you would do on the ice."

Maybe it really was just about pretending that jumps weren't this big monster that she had to overcome because as soon as she had landed it, cheered and celebrated like a child, when he told her to do it again, it just seemed easy. Too easy.

Yuzu hugged her so tight after that moment that she felt invincible.

"I'm back!" she cheered, making him chuckle.

"Yes, you are, baby. I told you it was only a matter of time."

And it was.

Their interactions only made her enjoy her time with him more and more. It became a routine, the time on the ice after Tsuzuki-sensei left.

They were getting so used to it that it was easy to forget that all of it was only temporary.

Reality came down when Yuzuru realized that his time there was running out. Sendai Ice Rink had finished the renovations in the previous week and he was scheduled to go back home in just a couple of days.

He had been avoiding the subject as much as he could. He avoided it as much as they had been dodging the relationship topic.

It was only 2 days before he was planning to leave that he finally mentioned the topic. They were in bed, their skin glimmering with the afterglow of their intimate exchange when he turned his body to her, lifted his torso while leaning in his elbow, and looked at the woman with a very serious expression.

"There's something we should talk about."

Izumi was still grasping in her bliss, a smile permanently etched on her face as she looked at him and her expression shifted right away.

"Damn, Yuzu, you look awfully serious."

"This is serious..."

She tried her best to gather what it was about from his expression but all she could see was worry.

"What's this all about?"

Her hand found itself caressing his cheek as if trying to calm him down. Even if he did lean into her touch, none of the concern seemed to go away.

"Sendai Ice Rink reopened this week."

Stupid Izumi didn't think any of it through before she uttered an excited "Oh, That's great"

"Is it?" he asked with wide eyes, seemingly not understanding how she could be excited about it.

Only then did she think things through. The rink opening meant that there was no possible excuse for him to stay there by her side. It meant that all of those moments and traditions that they built in the last few weeks would be gone.

A single look at her expression and you could tell that she had finally realized the problem. Izumi had always been transparent around him and there was no denying that the way her eyes shined was enough to predict the threatening tears.

Yuzuru cleaned them one by one when they eventually fell. A tense silence filled the room as they stared into the face of one another.

Was this it? Would it all be over?

After a few moments of that silence, Izumi was the one who broke it with a single question. One that was filled with emotion, despite its simplicity.

"When are you leaving?"