Deep Edges | Yuzuru Hanyu

78.

She never knew what he did or how he did it but the truth was that the dreaded article was never released.

Yuzuru had ignored her every attempt to know exactly what him and his team had done but the thing was that he never admitted what had truly happened.

All she knew was that at one point Yuzu was pacing in his parents' house and the other, he was leaving and coming back with a grin on his face.

As far as she knew, not even his mother knew the full story but the truth was that they had eacaped from a very dark possibility of Yuzu's values to be analyzed and scrutinized by the media.

She tried and tried to get it out of him, both when they were alone and when his parents where right there in the room.

Every time, his mother gave him a knowing look and shrugged her shoulders as if knowing that there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise.

Something told Izumi that the older woman knew exactly what her son had done.

The truth would only come out months later, in a conversation in bed after Izumi's mother kept insisting on meeting the male skater and he kept saying he didn't mind.

"You're only saying that because you don't know my mother."

"I know that she tried very hard to make sure your relationship with Akito lasted and she wasn't able to, so I think I can handle her too."

"She's still adamant that you don't love me, by the way."

"And what's the theory?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Something that involves you liking sexual services of younger women."

Yuzuru started laughing like a madman, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lips passionately.

"And you, Aoki-san you like sexual services of older men?"

"Just this one" she joked right away.

"What phases me is that Akito is older than you too. That just doesn't sound like a valid argument in his favor to me."

"I never said my mom was smart."

"She could join forces with him too, they would make a good pair."

"If she even dreamed of the cheating, my mom would shut up and accept how things turned out."

"His parents barely believed it too."

Izumi stopped the gentle caresses on his skin and stared into his eyes as realization started settling in.

"So that's how you did it."

It took him a few seconds to understand what she meant but eventually he nodded.

"Akito's influence comes from his parents. When they knew just how much more there was to the story, they quickly dropped the article."

"Just like that?"

"I may have implied the possible existence of proof of his numerous affairs."

"And do you have it? Proof, I mean?"

"No, but a family like that will do anything to avoid a scandal of their own."

She was now the one laughing.

"You're such a genius sometimes that it bothers me."

"Such a genius that you will finally do what I asked?"

There it was, the most dreaded topic that Yuzuru seemed to always focus on. It had been months of him trying to convince her to do it and Izumi was still reluctant.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm out of practice and I doubt anyone but you would care"

"Zumi, you're the Olympic Champion. Of course people want to see you skate."

Yuzuru was adamant that Izumi skated in one of his shows. He got so desperate that he told her to choose when and where but she was too nervous to skate in public again.

After the Olympics were done she signed up for University almost right away, choosing Physiotherapy as her future career.
It had been going well so far and she was enjoying the degree a lot.

The fact that it came with Yuzuru helping her study was also something she enjoyed, especially when it came to Anatomy.

Their nights were still mostly spent in the rink, with Izumi stealing his ice time with pride and loving every second of their lives in Sendai.

"What if I suck?" She ended up asking, making him sigh.

"You could literally just skate around and people would like it."

"You can't know that for sure!"

"Alright, I would love to just watch you skate around in front of a big crowd, my big crowd."

"They pay to watch you, not me."

"I'm not aksing you to skate the whole thing, just a little bit, one program, I will even work on it with you."

"I really don't think it's a good idea "

"What do I have to do to convince you?"

"You really can't..."

Yuzuru turned them around and pinned her to the matress.

"I care to disagree."

"You can't get everything you want through sex."

"No, but I can try..."

Just like that, she knew that he would win this round. Yuzuru would make her skate in front of his fans and the worst was that she would probably enjoy it.

The only fear in her mind was not being enough, never being enough but she chose to believe in her boyfriend, even if he could be silly and an overachiever at times.

Even if no one else wanted to watch her, Izumi would do it for him, she would skate for his eyes only, just as she had before.

Because it seemed like his support was enough to make her move mountains. His encouragement and support enough to help her achieve the unthinkable.

Maybe Izumi could still be a Skater and a Physiotherapist, one thing didn't have to sacrifice the other.

Because truly, by his side, everything seemed possible.

The End