Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

77.

"Hey mama" she heard by her side.

The infamous Yumi Hanyu. The rumors were all around newspapers, magazines, and tabloids. She was known for being overprotective of her son and here they were, in a van, after Yuzuru pretty much made their relationship public to everyone in the country.

"Hanyu Yumi-san. I didn't expect you"

Izumi bowed as deep as she could, making Yuzuru chuckle by her side.

"You know she isn't the empress, right?"

She threw a murderous look at Yuzuru, afraid to disappoint the woman in front of her.

"Aoki-san, please, call me Yumi. If you've managed to capture my son's heart you earned at least that right."

"Mama..."

"I'm not talking to you, Yuzu-kun. This conversation is with your girlfriend."

Izumi blushed as she mentioned the term. They hadn't really discussed it but girlfriend was probably the most suited term.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yumi-san. Please call me Izumi."

"This isn't the circumstances I wanted to be meeting you but we have a problem."

That seemed to work in making Yuzuru stand on high alert. The light grip he had on her leg tightened almost right away.

"What is it now?"

"It has come to my knowledge that Izumi was engaged before?"

One look at one another and they knew that Akito had done something. Something that they had been completely clueless about before the whole display at the airport.

"Yes." Izumi answered, ripping the band-aid right away.

"Well, your ex-fiance seems to be quite powerful, huh?"

Izumi didn't need to ask what she meant.

"He has ties with tabloids, yes."

"An article will be going out tomorrow. One that exposes your relationship and says it all started with you cheating on your ex-fiance with Yuzuru in order to get better scores at competitions."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes but eventually, Izumi could see him snap.

"I'll kill that bastard."

"Yuzu!"

"I'm sorry, mama, but you don't know this man. He doesn't deserve to breathe oxygen on this earth."

Yumi looked at him disapprovingly almost right away.

"I've raised you better than that."

"If you had seen what I did, if you heard the things he did and said to her you would probably agree with me."

"This isn't the time to discuss any of that. We need to talk about what we're going to do because your little show today, as cute as it was, only gives the story more solid ground."

"It's a lie either way."

"You do realize this will ruin her reputation? If people think she did what he says for a mere GP medal, what do you think they will say after the Olympics?"

"Izumi earned that medal all by herself. I wasn't even at the tech panel of their Olympics!"

"They seem to think that you have enough influence to make other judges benefit her."

"Influence? In the ISU? The JSF? Are they out of their mind? Those people hate me."

"The general public doesn't know that."

Yuzuru was on edge and both women knew it. Izumi hand grasped his and squeezed it tight in reassurance.

"I'll be ok. I expected this. Whatever you have to do to save your image is okay with me."

"I won't be saving my image from anything, Zumi. All I will do is anticipate the article."

"What do you mean?"

"You're ok with going public?"

She chuckled loudly. It was quite hilarious that he asked it after all of the small displays of affection that he had already shown in front of the cameras.

"It's not that different from what we've been doing."

"Let me call Sirius then."

🩵

It was crazy how they had been so out of the real world when they were in Milano and everything came crashing down as soon as they landed in their home country.

Maybe someone had put a spell on Japan that made it an unlucky land but for now, they would have to deal with it differently.

Yuzuru had been in and out of his phone for hours since their arrival.

They were in his parents' home, Yumi-san serving tea with an understanding expression and looking at Izumi as if she was one big mystery.

Yuzuru had been pacing around the room with a pissed expression and throwing glares at anyone who dared to challenge his current stance. It was almost scary and a very different image from what everyone was used to seeing on him.

"It will be fine." Yumi eventually said, making Izumi's eyes shift from his restless form.

"I just worry about him. I'm fine with anything, my career as a skater was deemed to be over as soon as I left the gala but Yuzu loves it more than I do. It's his life."

"I don't think you realize just how much sacrifice he is willing to make for you."

"I can't let him do anything that ends up with such a sacrifice."

Yumi smiled in reassurance.

"He's used to this. Yuzuru never does something without being sure of its repercussions and I can assure you he's very sure in your relationship if he's parading it around the media."

Izumi felt a bit uncomfortable with the conversation. His mother was pretty much telling her that Yuzu would sacrifice everything necessary to be by her side when that's the last thing she wanted.

Just thinking of the possibility of seeing him bashed and made fun of in the media was already more than she wanted to ever get him to endure.

"Maybe we can stop the article from coming out."

"I doubt that. They have been waiting for a chance to bring him down for years. My son's attitude and pride, as happy as it makes me, is one of the things that will always get him in trouble."

"I just don't want to be the reason for..."

"He's a grown man who's able to make decisions. If they come with consequences, he will take them as he takes any challenge."

That was only when Izumi realized that a big part of who he was derived from the way he was raised.

Yuzuru wouldn't back down, no matter what they threw at him and all Izumi could do was be by his side during that time.