Unforgettable | Yuzuru Hanyu

16. Convincing

You could be certain that Kana did try to stay away, going as far as spending several weeks without stepping a single foot at the club.

You could also bet that her best friend kept insisting that she should change her mind and just resume her training.

It was difficult for her to allow herself to accept that it wasn't such a bad idea to take challenges. In a way, all she was doing was allowing this Japanese skater to control what she did and didn't with her life.

Whatever Hanyu wanted, the mere thought that she was allowing him to win and get what he wanted was making her mad after some consideration.

In a way, she took some weeks to understand that not being there was merely falling into a trap of allowing him to dictate what she did and didn't, no matter what the final objective was.

Still, it was with surprise that Kana got a call from the coaches after some time. Tracy had been the sacrificed one to find out what the hell was actually going on.

From the moment she received that call, she knew that there wasn't much she could do or even give as an excuse.

"Hello?"

"Kana?"

"Yes..."

"This is Tracy, from Cricket?"

"Oh! Hi!"

"Is everything okay with you?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out the true reason behind the call but Kana just answered politely.

"Everything is ok, what about you?"

"All fine... We were just wondering if something is going on since you haven't been at the rink for a while now."

Kana took some time to consider the whole thing and whether or not she wanted to explain her reasoning.

"Nothing is wrong... I just... I felt like I would be a burden now that the season is starting... We did agree on training in the off-season but I don't expect this to extend any further."

"What kind of nonsense is that? We didn't say anything about you leaving, did we?"

"No, but I'm not planning on going any further with my skating career so I don't want to waste your time when it's just something I enjoy doing."

"If you enjoy it, don't let it go."

It was hard to say anything else when Tracy spoke so completely convinced of the simplicity of the whole thing. It was easy to find it alright when the coach was so nice.

"I just..."

"Everyone misses you... Yuzuru made sure to bully us until someone made the call. He even wanted your number but we wouldn't..."

When Kana heard those words, it was as if everything stopped. She couldn't even begin to understand why he would even be interested in having her there.

If anything, the impression that she had gotten on those days was that he didn't really want her there at all.

Had Kana read it all wrong?

Maybe he could just be assuring that she wouldn't be back...

Whatever it all was, she somehow felt a need to show the strong side of hers that was usually well-safe kept.

"Yuzuru? Why would he care?" She ended up asking Tracy before even realizing how obvious the whole thing was.

"Don't ask me to explain what's going on in that boy's head. He's been around for a while and he's still the same mystery he once was to me. I know him quite well but it's still hard to predict when it's a different situation."

"Different?"

"At least that's what it feels like... But again, I shouldn't even be telling you this."

It was very obvious that the skater had asked Tracy to keep quiet about his involvement in all of this but even still, the coach couldn't keep it under wraps.

It was suspicious to Kana, who didn't think he wanted her there in the slightest, even if he was never rude to her.

"I don't think Yuzuru wants me there, though."

"Why not?"

"The way he was looking at me... I think he might consider me a distraction."

"Distraction or not, I can assure you that not only does he want you here but he's also worried... Oh... don't tell him I said it."

Kana couldn't avoid the laughter that left her in reaction. She couldn't even pretend to be able to imagine the conversation that the other skater had with the coach but even so, even he wasn't as disturbed by her presence as she once thought, maybe Kana had been wrong from the very start.

Was she willing to risk it? Going back and face him as if nothing had been on her mind? What could she even say?

"I... I will go, not sure when because of work but I'll figure it out"

"The doors are always open for you, dear. Please be aware that you're not a burden in any shape or form. We enjoy having you around and love to see every moment of your progression."

It did feel nice to hear it from the coach, who seemed to be very keen on having Kana around. Who was she to say no to it when it was so clear that her whole initial idea had been wrong?

Maybe she really wasn't a burden to these people, maybe they liked seeing her around.

So even if she felt a bit weird about it and still couldn't understand the other Japanese Skater, Kana was willing to try and see where things went.

Who knew what it would all mean later on?
The one thing she didn't want to risk was having regrets.