Unforgettable | Yuzuru Hanyu

27. Proximity

It was almost too easy to believe that all of these dreams were real but Kana was sure that it was just her brain speaking of its deepest desires.

Who wouldn't want a man like Yuzuru in their lives?

Well, arguably, he had some flaws that would make him a bit hard to deal with but so did everyone else in the world. It's when you accept those flaws that you learn to love the other person.

So maybe that's what's going on, she accepted them wholeheartedly and wished to have him in her life.

It was all so easy to imagine when her mind filled with gentle images of him and what it could be. The whole feeling was overwhelming and beyond her control. Kana couldn't explain how her headaches started or how the image of that man seemed to make it all easier to handle.

Just like most things in her life, it was a complete mystery.

As a few days went by, the dreams slowly disappeared and so did her headaches. She started feeling better and more energized soon enough, making her return to the ice possible.

Her best friend kept telling her to be careful, worried that Kana would only make matters worse with her crazy ideas but the girl really wanted to go there.

She could only imagine what he had been thinking when she was away after that kiss. It was only natural that he interpreted it in ways that he shouldn't have.

Why she even cared about what he was thinking of the whole thing wasn't necessarily a mystery. Kana had long accepted that she wanted him in her life.

So with that in mind, she headed to the rink with plans to just skate a bit around without anything too risky at that time.

Arriving there, she saw him on the ice almost instantly. His figure was so recognizable that she could only smile in reaction. It was so natural that she could no longer ignore it.

He didn't see her at first, not surprisingly with how focused he was on his training and Kana fully took advantage of that to watch him skate for a bit before even considering going on that ice. It was always amazing to watch him in action, completely clueless of so many eyes staring at his form with amazement in their expressions. Everyone at the TCC admired this man, whether they admitted it or not.

Sure enough, Kana did notice the stares of a certain girl, but she tried her very best to ignore them for the sake of her mental health.

Once Yuzu was all done with the run-through of his latest program, Kana took that time to finally get on the ice, trying to act as normal as she could and pretending like her mind wasn't running at double speed at that time. 

To be fair, it was quite easy once she could completely forget about what was around her but who was she kidding? Once his eyes met hers, everything changed once again.

The awkwardness of the memories of their previous exchange was quite noticeable in his expression as he spotted her but right at the same time, Kana could see his face turn into a bright smile as he fully understood her presence.

It took him just a few seconds to ask their coach for a 5-minute break and skate towards her, quickly hugging her from behind without a single bit of hesitation. Yuzuru couldn't care less about all the eyes on them and it was clear that his focus was completely on her.

"Hey, beautiful." he said with all the confidence in the world, making her fluster almost immediately.

"Hey, Yuzu. It's nice to see you" she answered right away in an attempt to show him that she wasn't at all phased by how they left things. Well, she was, but Kana didn't want him to be nervous about it.

"How are you feeling?"

"My head still hurts a bit, but I wanted to come today."

"Did you get it checked?" The amount of time she took to answer was more than enough of an answer, making the male skater quickly worry. "Kana!"

"I admit I didn't but let me explain why... this isn't the first time I have these headaches and the last attempt I had of getting it checked didn't work out in nothing so I didn't even try now."

One single look at him and she could tell that he didn't approve of it. Still, she found it admirable that he kept his mouth shut and didn't at all give her an opinion about the matter. Yuzuru knew well that he didn't have a say in this, even if he wanted to.

"As long as you're feeling better..."

"Yeah. I still don't know what causes this pain but with my body, it seems like weirdness is always to be expected."

Kana heard him chuckle and quickly mirrored his reaction, fully enjoying his embrace now. It obviously felt weird to see other skaters judging and staring but she had way more things in mind just then. Like how good it always felt to be close to the Japanese man.

"I just want you to be ok."

"I am, don't worry."

"And everything is ok with us?" he asked in an uncertain tone, making her smile right away as she could see through his insecurities.

"I certainly hope so."

The look of relief in his eyes was completely impossible to ignore and had they been a bit more isolated, Kana would have probably kissed his lips without a single ounce of shame.

"So if I were to ask you out sometime..."

The way he implied it was so obvious that she wanted to squeeze his cheeks. Yuzuru could be really cute when trying to have his way.

Answering it wasn't even that hard.

"You would just have to tell me where and when"