Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

73.

Standing in front of that ice as her competitor got her ovation felt like hours.

Izumi couldn't wait to step on the slippery surface and bring it home.

Smiling at the other girl as she left the ice, she rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms before removing the guards from her blades.

Yuzuru took them in his hands, placing each hand on her arms and making her look into his eyes.

"Just us, okay?"

With a smile, Izumi nodded.

"Absolutely."

He surprised her with a kiss on her forehead and Izumi just hoped Akito wasn't watching.

Well, who cared if he did? In just a few moments she hoped to break it all off either way.

"Go get them, my ice queen."

Just like that, she entered the ice with a small greeting to her coach, who smiled at her and gave a few words of encouragement as well.

A single lap around the ice, a few crossovers and hops, and eventually, she was in the middle of the ice, waiting for the music to start.

Just like it was now usual, her eyes fixed on Yuzu, who had a reassuring grin on his face that gave her that last push to feel ready for this.

Suddenly and as he told her, they were the only two people in that venue.

The music started and she focused on her every movement as she would in any other practice session. The only thought in her brain was just how much she wanted to make him proud of what she was showing.

Izumi didn't hear the screams when she landed all her jumps, she didn't hear the claps on her step sequence and she didn't notice how everyone cheered when she finished.

What she did know was that when her eyes locked into his face again, he was smiling from ear to ear.

When he noticed her eyes on him, Yuzuru's hand was quick to gesture with the number one.

He thought she had it. He thought she won.

And if there's one thing Izumi had learned with him was that he was rarely wrong.

Taking her bows to the crowd, she grabbed a few flowers and a single plushie that had been thrown to the ice by the public before leaving.

The first person who greeted her was Nanami, whom Izumi hugged tightly and thanked over and over again.

"Congratulations" the woman said even without the scores.

As much as she had to rush to the Kiss and Cry, Izumi made sure to hug him tightly as well.

"Proud of you." He muttered.

"Couldn't do it without you."

"You could. You can do anything you want."

Parting ways with the man was something that she wasn't particularly looking forward to but at the same time, she desperately wanted to see that score.

Sitting down, all of her nerves were back once again.

What if it wasn't enough? She didn't have a single quad, her tech score had been higher in the past.

Her legs were moving like crazy and even with Nanami's mumbles for her to relax, it seemed impossible.

The replays told her she had done anything possible. Everything was clean and she had done her very best on that program. Realistically, Izumi did all that was within her reach to get the medal.

Those moments of anticipation seemed to take ages. She was almost biting her nails when the dreaded numbers finally showed up in the venue.

"Izumi Aoki is now in first place"
Cheers erupted in the crowd as she heard the next words. "The Olympic Champion."

She jumped into Nanami's embrace who seemed to be happy as well. It wasn't often that the coach showed emotion but when she did, you knew it was a good day.

Her first instinct was to kiss Yuzuru but that was a moment to save for later, when they were alone and preferably in the privacy of the hotel room.
For now, they settled with another hug.

"My favorite super slam skater" he joked right away.

"So are you."

"Hum?"

"My favorite super slam skater."

Yuzuru chuckled right away and hugged her tighter.

"Congratulations, my love. You deserve this more than anyone I know."

This was one of the happiest days of her life and he was right by her side, as he always should be.

That podium was unlike any other. There was something about the Olympic medal that felt magical, something about standing on that top step and knowing that you just grabbed the most important title of the sport.

She cried as the Japanese anthem played, it was the moment she knew it was all real. Her dream had just happened.

This was one of those moments that you anticipated your whole life, one of those days that you plan all over again and the reality is that even when you do, once it all happens, nothing is like you expected.

It wasn't better or worse, just different.

The one thing she couldn't help but think was that the young Izumi never expected to receive this medal with her idol's eyes on her and you could be sure that she didn't anticipate him to be there as her lover, best friend and so much more.

There wasn't a single thought about the other man, the one who stayed in Japan and the one she had accepted to marry.

He had nothing on Yuzu, even if he had been the amazing man she once thought he was.

But then again, Yuzuru was hard to top in anything.

And now? Now they had the whole night to celebrate in the warmth of each other's embrace.