Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

50.

Akito took less than 5 minutes to knock on Nanami's door.

Had Izumi been anywhere else, he would've probably caught her even before she reached that room.
Yuzuru's idea had been her salvation.

The coach took her laptop right after the call ended and played the stream of the practice, making it seem like they were reviewing footage. Whatever Izumi had done to deserve Nanami's help, the skater knew she would never be able to make it up to her.

"Good Morning" the coach greeted Akito as she opened the door, noticing the expression on the man quicker than expected. He looked pissed.

"Can I have a word with you? Alone?" he instantly said to Izumi, ignoring Nanami completely.

"Huh...I guess."

Izumi knew that she couldn't just say no. That would only be suspicious.

Thankfully, she wasn't alone in this.

"I'm sorry but you can't. Izumi needs to get ready for the competition."

"It won't take too long." he said right away, not entertained by the coach's sudden intervention.

"It's still a no. Whatever it is, I can't have it mess with my athlete's mentality."

"You athlete is my future wife."

"And I don't give a shit. She's here to compete, not on vacation."

Izumi wanted to laugh. It was clear that Akito wasn't used to having a woman stand up to him and now that Izumi thought about it, this wasn't the first time he made some sexist remarks.

No matter what he wanted, Nanami didn't budge and the skater could only breathe with relief.

"Who do you think you are?"

"I'm the person responsible for giving Izumi all the resources to get that gold medal. Had Tsuzuki-sensei been here, you wouldn't be allowed to be anywhere near her, so just take what you're given or get the hell out of my sight."

There it was, the side of Nanami that not a lot of people saw on the day-to-day. Izumi knew it well from the occasional session they did together, but it was still funny to see Akito going a bit crazy with a woman standing up to him.

"You are going to let her talk like this to me?" he turned to Izumi with a pissed expression.

Izumi was about to answer when Nanami just placed herself in front of her.

"This conversation is with me, not Izumi. I'm sure you're adult enough to assume responsibilities and speak to me directly."

"I don't like this."

"Then you're welcome to leave."

Izumi enjoyed the whole interaction way too much given that she was supposed to like this man. She couldn't even avoid thinking of how it would be if Yuzuru was the one on the receiving end of that speech. Would she just allow it to happen like now or would she tell Nanami to back down?

That kind of thought was only more distracting but it seemed like her mind just wanted to constantly compare the two men.

Now, however, she needed to focus on the competition happening in just a few hours. 

Nanami didn't allow her to get her skating stuff without her, merely because Akito insisted on going as well, and for some kind of reason, the coach thought it would be unwise to let her be alone with the man before the program.

She never told Izumi why, but it didn't take a genius to realize that the woman didn't trust Akito at all.

The whole journey to the venue of the competition was awkward as hell. You could tell that there was a lingering tension between the three of them and Nanami was being her usual strict self. The difference now was that she wasn't just being strict with Izumi but pretty much stopping any interaction between the skater and Akito.

When they did arrive at their destination, Izumi was immediately in her work mode, preparing everything and starting to warm up.

She still chuckled when she heard the coach order the man to stay put in one of the benches. Nanami looked as if she was lecturing a small child and you could be certain that he wasn't enjoying it.

Yuzuru showed up about an hour into her warm-up. Part of the girls were already skating and Izumi was merely waiting for her group, already dressed and ready for the challenge ahead.

You could be certain that almost as soon as the male skater appeared, the other man wanted to stand and prevent him from reaching Izumi. Well, Nanami didn't allow that either.

"Why can he get close and I can't?"

"Because Yuzuru knows not to mess with her head. He has been in this situation enough times." the coach instantly argued.

Yuzu's brow was raised as he wished good morning to the women. He couldn't quite understand why Nanami was being so strict, but to be quite honest, he didn't mind it a single bit.

What he didn't hide either was how familiar he was with Izumi. He helped her warm up despite the cameras around them. He made her laugh and smile easily just like when he was training with her and Tsuzuki-sensei.

It was easy to fall into a relaxed rhythm with him around and for a while, Izumi was even able to giggle with ease. Yuzuru was a blessing for her competitive form in ways that she never expected.

Maybe the whole idea behind being away from him to focus for the Olympics was wrong, maybe having him by her side made her even better.

This was no time to dwell on those matters. She came to Canada to win and it was time to turn her game-mode on.