Unforgettable | Yuzuru Hanyu

12. Pull

In all of the years that followed the accident, Kana had never found herself so willing to follow someone's advice as she did his.

Truly, the effect this man seemed to have on her was unexplainable beyond reason. 

If she had thought the visual effect of seeing him on a screen was strong, nothing could even come close to compare to how it was to see him in the flesh.

His voice had an intense pull that made her want to approach and touch, his whole personality was a mystery that she wanted to solve and his looks seemed to be even more appealing after seeing him in front of her eyes.

If his English tone had been weirdly awkward for her to listen to, it was the short Japanese dialogue that probably manage to unexplainably convince her that doing this was the right choice.

He had barely left the rink after his shocking approach to her and Kana was already nodding and accepting the coaches' proposal.

"I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

Of course, the whole thing surprised her best friend who was still somewhat shocked by the presence of the skater in the room even after he had left. Adding Kana's acceptance to actually explore her skating into the mix was only fuel for her delusions.

It took some time but from the moment she finally processed the information, Stella was screaming in joy.

"Yes! I'm so glad! Finally"

In reality, Stella wasn't the only one ecstatic about the news. For some kind of reason, both coaches in the room were very happy about it and dutifully started speaking of scheduling and actual training needs.

Suddenly, Kana felt herself being loaded with information, from eating habits to hours of practice needed. It was easy for it all to become overwhelming but it was nothing that taking a deep breath couldn't fix.

After all of the intense emotions of the day, leaving the ice felt weird. She couldn't even explain why but the more she skated and experienced the feeling of being on the ice, the harder it was to leave it.

Kana was convinced that she would probably stay there for hours if she was allowed.

Still, she hadn't exactly been the most active of people and it showed from the moment she stepped off the slippery surface.

It seemed like every single muscle in her body was sore and finally sitting down on the nearest bench only made it even more obvious. Merely taking the skates off made her back hurt. She felt like she was discovering new muscles that had never been used before.

If anything, the feeling was actually nice and she couldn't wait to see where the whole experience took her.

Being excited by something other than science was a whole new concept to her since the accident and it showed in the way she couldn't shut up about skating as she and Stella went home.

"You sound happy" her best friend eventually said with a big smile on her face.

"I admit that I never expected this to be as cool as it was. Everything hurts but I'm excited."

"You didn't seem as excited until Hanyu spoke. What the hell did he tell you?"

Of course her friend was curious. In fact, probably everyone was. Kana's whole attitude changed from the moment he spoke Japanese and there was nod denying that it had to be confusing to those watching. Curiosity was only natural.

Yet, as Kana truly considered what had happened, it seemed almost impossible to point out the reasoning behind the change. It just seemed like her brain knew that it was the right call from the moment he encouraged her to do the whole thing.

"He just told me to do it..."

"Just like that?"

Kana knew it was ridiculous but she didn't have any better of an excuse to give her friend.  For once, she would have to be ridiculous.

"This is a 2-time Olympic champion. If he thinks I should do it, I don't think I have any other choice."

Sure enough, Stella's eyebrows rose from the moment she uttered those words. Kana was certain that she was about to call her bullshit but for some kind of reason, her friend chose against it.

"If it convinced you, I'm not one to fight it."

Even if there was a lot left unsaid with that, neither of them touched the subject again when they finally arrived home. 

All of it was as any other day, cooking dinner together and settling on the couch exhausted once the day was finished. 

Being there, TV on as a background noise, it was impossible for Kana to ignore the thoughts that she had discarded previously. Hanyu's reaction had been incredibly weird to her but more than that, her body's had been even stranger.

For someone who had once claimed to be independent and without the use of a man, Kana was feeling different now. It seemed like the prospect of having someone to hold her at night wasn't as creepy as before. She wanted the warmth, the sweet kisses, and everything that came with it.

Her brain was merely trying to logically point out what had changed without success. The truth was that the only possible answer was on the man whom she met for the first time on that day, a man who had seemingly caught her attention without an ounce of effort and who made her wish for things that had once been unthinkable.

What was it about him? What was so special about this Figure skater?