Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

38.

Izumi would never admit it, but when she started dating a man a few months after Yuzuru left her, it was hard to consider it a coincidence.

His name was Akito, a mechanical engineer whom she met by chance during an event of a sponsor. The last thing she wanted after the drama with Yuzu was finding another man but when the sweet guy had invited her to dinner, it was hard to refuse.

Until she had Yuzu in her life, dating had been rare and scarcely needed. Maybe it was something to do with her clear feelings for the skater, but she found herself needing the comfort of a man's embrace for the first time in her life.

The first time she brought Akito to the rink and introduced the man as her boyfriend to Tsuzuki-sensei, the old man stared at him with so much disdain that Izumi had a hard time explaining it, eventually blaming it on the coach's hard-headed personality.

Later on, the old man would dodge the subject with her, going as far as telling her that it was her life and he wouldn't dictate how she should live it, even when it looked like he had a clearly different opinion on the matter.

Truthfully, Akito was what every woman would want in a boyfriend. He was sweet and caring, never pressuring her too much into anything in the relationship. He valued her time and efforts in her sport, respecting everything that it entailed from the lack of time to the constant need to rest when she was outside of the ice.

Had it been before she knew what being with Yuzuru was like, Izumi might have even allowed her mother to convince her to marry this man but the truth was that the man had changed a lot of things for her.

The worst was that whenever her mother excitedly spoke of marriage and Izumi waved it off, the argument of saying "I like someone else" wasn't exactly ideal. She always blamed her hesitant attitude on the fact that they had barely started dating, which was true. Her mother just argued that it didn't matter when you loved someone.

Eventually, however, her mother succeeded in getting those marriage prospects.

The day that Akito got down on one knee with a ring on his fingers, Izumi hadn't felt the immense joy that women describe when they get engaged. Even so, she knew just how much of a stable choice that man was, and in a society like the Japanese, denying a proposal was considered something to be ashamed of.

When she said yes to her boyfriend, Izumi didn't necessarily feel like marriage was what she wanted but rather what was expected of her. With no possible prospect of ever seeing Yuzuru again, she knew that it was the right choice in the end.

As time passed, Izumi gradually understood that introducing Akito to her mother had been a mistake but it was one that she couldn't quite take back now and if she was marrying the man, it was something that she had to endure. So when her mother neatly suggested for the man to follow her and attend her international competitions, Izumi didn't have a single argument to say no.

God, she tried but not even the excuse of his work was enough to convince her mother to drop the matter. The older woman was very dedicated to making Akito understand her daughter's lifestyle and sport.

The man, dedicated to impressing her mother, had dutifully agreed, going as far as saying that it was a great idea.

That's exactly how Izumi found herself traveling to Canada with her now fiance by her side.

Tsuzuki-sensei had thankfully chosen to stay in Japan just like he did previously, assigning Nanami to be by her side once again. The relationship with the other woman had greatly improved during the previous year, making Izumi excited to have her on the boards and maybe even easing off the tension about having her Akito there.

Nanami was as sweet as ever when she met the man, a stark contrast to what was usually expected of her and in comparison to the experience with Tsuzuki-sensei but nonetheless, still welcome.

It was when they were at the desk of their hotel in Toronto, taking care of their check-in, that Izumi's nightmare started.

They heard the noise outside but just ignored it. There were some popular skaters around and it was inevitable to have fans gathered at the hotel entrance making noise and excitedly cheering every time someone arrived. With this hotel being the closest to the venue, it was inevitable that most skaters and staff stayed there.

The commotion about the entrance of someone surrounded by bodyguards combined with Nanami's sudden excitement was just too hard to ignore.

Izumi found herself gasping when she turned around, facing the figure of a man she thought to be out of her life for a while.

He was wearing a mask, wheeling a bag behind him as if he was the most normal of people but anyone who followed figure skating would be able to tell who it was with a single look at his figure.

Yuzuru.

It's safe to say that she was caught completely by surprise when she noted his presence. Standing in that room, completely frozen and almost unaware of her surroundings.

The man in front of her wasn't as shocked, clearly expecting to see her that week.

The double Olympic Champion didn't hide the familiarity as he approached them right after dismissing the whole security team that had followed him there.

Every step he took in their direction had her heart beating faster. Izumi was completely weak to him and every single thing he did. She was almost afraid of what he would do. Izumi had learned a long time ago that this man could be unpredictable when he wanted to.

Yuzuru, however, acted as normally as anyone would expect.

The first person he greeted was Nanami, who had a smile from ear to ear as she hugged her old student tightly.

"You look good." Izumi heard the coach tell him with love in her eyes.

"Thank you, Nanami-sensei. It's good to see you."

It was only then that his focus shifted towards Izumi, noting every single detail of her body language.

Izumi just didn't know what to do, what to say, or even how to act around him after everything that had happened.

Yuzuru, like he always did, simplified things easily and quickly. One look at her and a smile on his face was all she saw before the words got out of his mouth.

"Hey...Can I hug you?"