Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

76.

The days that followed were of complete bliss.

Izumi only truly left the hotel room for the gala rehearsals or the occasional strolls around Milano with his hand in hers.

They tried Italian gelato and pasta, got a traditional pizza, and even visited a few churches and monuments.

Yuzuru even admitted to her that it was one of the first times that he got to be a tourist. Apparently, back when he competed, he had always chosen against doing anything out of the competition schedule. Now, however, he admitted that this was all very nice and that he wanted to do all the touristy things with her by his side.

It was very easy to get used to the routine of being together. From waking up entangled to the nights of passion, all Izumi wanted was to have this forever.

"When's the wedding?" Nanami had teased them a few days prior and Yuzu had just grinned and answered "Whenever I get the courage to ask properly."

Unlike the first time she had considered an engagement, hearing Yuzuru hint at this was different for her. All of those feelings that other girls described were now very real. Maybe she did want a husband after all, it was more of a matter of finding the right one.

At the end of her Olympic journey, the only big question was whether this fairytale would be real once they were back in their home country and their real lives.

"How much did you have to cancel to be in Italy?" Izumi asked only when they were already sitting on the plane and enduring the long traveling hours back.

"Nothing that can't be rescheduled."

"I'm serious..."

"I know. What if I tell you that I had made plans to go there since Canada?"

"Canada?"

"Yeah. That's when I cleared my schedule for February."

"You never lost hope on me."

"I just knew you would come back into my arms, especially when I saw how much he didn't deserve you."

That's always how it was with them. He was the one who was always certain of things while she blindly followed his lead.

"I'm very glad you did."

"So am I, princess, so am I."

🩵

It would be at their arrival in Japan that the problems would start.

Yuzuru saw it coming from miles away. The way a JSF official came to her and told her to hide her medal... All of it brought way too many memories of his first games, too familiar.

"Why can't she wear the medal?" Yuzuru asked boldly, not giving a single shit about what these people thought they could do.

"Aoki-san is the only gold medal. It isn't wise to brag."

"She earned that gold medal! Why can't she brag about it?"

"Yuzu, it's fine."

"No, it isn't."

A small touch on his arm told him to shut up. 

"It's fine. It's even ugly so I don't mind. I know my achievements, I don't need to show them"

"Izumi..."

"Honey, let it go."

Yuzuru sighed but his brain was so distracted by the fact that she had called him a term of endearment in public that he gave it all up. With the eyes of the official on them, he kissed her cheek and took the medal from her.

"Let me keep it safe?"

Izumi immediately eyed him with suspicion.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing..."

"I know you..."

"Then let me do things my way."

Chuckling, she had a feeling this would put them in trouble but it wasn't as if she could ever deny him.

Every other athlete who managed to get a medal in the Winter Games was allowed to greet the people at the airport while wearing their medal. Izumi was the only one who didn't.

Not that it mattered, not wearing the damned object didn't make her achievement any smaller, especially to those who cared.

Yuzuru grabbed her hand, entangling it with hers, and walked side by side with her, ignoring every single camera flash that greeted them when their position became noticeable.

Izumi could have sworn he waited for the moment that they passed the biggest amount of photographers to make his point come across.

He took the medal from his pocket and placed it around his neck, causing an immediate commotion around them. Even if she expected some kind of stunt from him, her eyes were still wide in surprise.

The official who told her not to wear it seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack. Not only was Yuzuru making her far more popular than she should have been merely by being by her side, but he had also decided to wear her medal and show it to all of Japan.

She would have probably laughed if there weren't so many cameras following their every move.

The idiot by her side went as far as posing for pictures, raising the damned medal as if he had been the one winning. Not that she cared, the whole thing only made her love him more but it was still crazy that this was the same Yuzuru who kept all of his private life completely locked to the media.

Being in Japan by his side showed her a far different view of his life. 

Izumi was the only athlete who didn't leave the airport with the rest of Team Japan. Instead, Yuzuru had a whole team of bodyguards and a driver waiting for them.

Sometimes she really did forget that he was a celebrity but that was very easy to tell whenever others were around.

The driver opened the door of the black van for them and Yuzuru nodded to her, she entered without a single word, ignoring the screams around them.

Once she did, however, Izumi almost screamed when she noticed that they weren't alone in that van.

"Hello, Aoki-san. I think it's time for us to meet."