Unforgettable | Yuzuru Hanyu

28. Family

It wasn't even hard to realize exactly how off guard she caught him but it was still beautiful to see.

"Really?" He asked with clear surprise.

"Yeah, Yuzu. I would love to go out with you someday."

He took just a few seconds to think before finally suggesting something that she could have never expected.

"Then... How about we go out for coffee or something after we're done?"

"Sounds good, if you don't mind waiting for me to shower."

A quick gesture of his head and she knew that he was more than willing.

Everything just seemed to happen so quickly that she wasn't fully sure why she was so willing to let him into her life but the truth was that it felt right.

Ignoring all the looks from other skaters and people at the TCC, Kana left the locker room and found him leaning on one of the walls, looking as attractive as ever, skate bag prepared right by his side.

She saw his eyes brighten once he saw her and it was so easy to smile in reaction that she couldn't avoid it.

"Ready?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Absolutely. Guide the way."

They walked side by side, bags rolling on the floor in each of their hands, looking almost like travellers other than athletes.
She had fully dismissed his every offer to carry her bag and he eventually accepted it once he deemed it impossible to change her mind.

The silence during the way was comfortable and the coffee shop in question was as comfy and accomodating as she expected from a place he personally chose.

It was only after a couple of moments that she realized the owners were Japanese.

Something about his insistence to always keep his roots, no matter how far away from home he was, managed to bring butterflies to her stomach. Kana couldn't remember anything about their home country but it had to be great if this man wanted so much to keep the memories of it alive in his own mind.

An employee approached them with a big smile and instantly greeted the male skater with a smile and a few Japanese words.

It wouldn't surprise her if he was a regular there.

They took the orders in just a few moments and as soon as the woman was far from the table, Kana couldn't avoid asking something of him.

"Tell me about Japan."

She seemed to have caught him by surprise but Yuzuru was quick enough to react.

"What do you want to know?"

"Just your favourite things... I don't remember anything about the country despite being able to speak Japanese easily."

Yuzuru quickly reacted with the brightest smile and started talking about his hometown and his favourite things about it, from the nature to the food. It was with no surprise that she found him to be incredible as an ambassador for their home country and it wouldn't be that surprising if he was invited for it eventually.

Every single interaction they exchanged was hard to explain. In a way, Kana had long realized that despite the fact of how famous this dude supposedly was, he looked as normal as you would expect from any other person.

Yuzuru was so easy to hang out with that she almost felt like they had known each other since forever.

The connection was so easy to establish and so nice to maintain that she just wanted to keep talking to him for as long as humanly possible.

Laughter came easily, smiles persisted on their expressions and conversation was flowy and interesting. 

"You really love Japan, don't you?"

"Yes... In case it wasn't obvious already."

They both laughed in unison, smiling from ear to ear easily.

"I wish I could remember more."

"Maybe you should just travel there."

The suggestion sounded ridiculous at first but the more she thought about it, the more enticing it sounded. In a way, Kana hadn't left Canada at all since the accident so she had no clue about how travelling worked or if she would enjoy it but at the same time, just thinking of visiting all of these amazing places he had spoken about seemed to spike her interest.

"Maybe someday..."

"How is it... Not remembering?"

The question caught her by surprise. Kana never expected him to ask so directly but all at the same time she wanted to explain as best as she could.

"Frustrating." She started, emphasizing the one word that defined her whole journey. "In the beginning, I had a lot of hopes that this would only be temporary but when years went by and nothing came as I figured my own identity through every life event and experience, I started losing hope."

"Your family..."

"They don't care..."

Yuzuru seemed surprised by how direct she was.

"Really?"

"It may sound surprising but I never felt close to them. Honestly, every time I even try to have some emotional tie to them, it fails miserably"

"You don't find that weird?"

"I could and probably would but the truth is that I've long figured that they are hiding things from me..."

"And you're okay with that?"

"No. That's exactly why we barely talk these days. I had my suspicions in the past but when I figured out about my skating past, it was just impossible to ignore that these people were easily keeping things from me."

"I have no idea how I would act if I were in your place"

"I just ignore them as much as I can and pretend like they don't exist."

"Just like that?"

"In a way, I try to think of it as if I don't know anything about my family. That maybe somewhere in Japan there are people who care and worry about me."

Kana didn't miss the way he seemed to be silent all of a sudden, frozen by her statement in ways that she couldn't describe.

It was only after a few moments, once he realized how weird his behaviour was, that Yuzuru finally spoke.

"If there are, I want to be there by your side to help you find them."