Unforgettable | Yuzuru Hanyu

38. Tension

The truth is that now being aware of the real connection she shared with this man made it really difficult to ignore anything when it came to their relationship.

Days of training at the TCC were far from usual and you could be certain that they would be sharing glances.

As obvious as they seemed, no one even dared to say a single thing about the matter. Well, Kana was more than sure that everyone was a bit afraid of challenging anything when it came to Yuzu.

He didn't sleep in her apartment again and you could be certain that she was getting more and more frustrated with that.

So many years of not considering her sexuality and suddenly, this man made it all change easily.

Even if she wasn't remotely close to fully knowing their past connection, Kana couldn't help but feel immensely attracted to this man. Sure enough, he was hot and handsome, but it genuinely seemed like there were other things at play.

Weeks went by in her desperation. She tried to completely forget about it as she focused on her work and research at the University, writing papers for the next publication but never really forgetting her time at the rink.

Her schedule was uncertain enough for it to be impossible to predict when Kana would actually see him. Even still, every time she did, the feelings never changed.

A shiver ran through her whole body when her eyes set on him. The feeling was still pretty much unexplainable but it was too consistent to ignore. Sure enough, the smile on his face as he saw her was also pretty much assured.

Kana loved those seconds when they both realized each other's presence in that building and all of the consequent change of moods.

The truth was that seeing him made her happy, that was all it was.

Even when it was painfully obvious that her presence distracted his training, it didn't seem to matter much to him when he was graced by her presence. Yuzuru didn't seem to mind the interruption of his regular practice habits and she didn't even have the courage to fight it either.

It was painfully obvious that even when she wanted to lay low and allow him to focus, it didn't seem even remotely possible.

Kana still loved the attention and basked in it every single time.  He would stop to check on her, skate beside her as she warmed up and even provide tips whenever her jumps weren't behaving.

It wasn't as if his attitude was that strange but when it came to Yuzuru, it was weird and caring enough to make others notice.

She realized eventually that he didn't care at all.

On a particular day at the rink, she felt his presence before even seeing his face. Just his smell was intoxicating to her body and soon enough, two arms wrapped around her.

The squeal that left her would have been embarrassing if she wasn't so consumed by his touch. 

Kana's first instinct as her body fully accepted the current situation was to look around. There was nothing wrong with what they were doing and she wasn't even sure if whatever their relationship was should've been kept a secret but if he wasn't hiding, she wasn't either.

Well, there weren't many skaters there in the first place. With competitions happening, it was more than normal to see the club in a quieter mood and she couldn't really complain when it made Yuzuru like this, pliant and willing to give her the affection she craved during all of those weeks without much contact.

"I feel like I haven't spoken with you in ages." he eventually muttered for her ears only.

"Because you haven't." she said with a giggle. 

Yuzuru seemed to act completely on instinct as he kissed her cheek. Kana wondered right away if he wasn't afraid of what his coaches could think of when he was right in the middle of his session but surprisingly, when looking at Tracy and Brian, Kana found smiles on their faces as they looked at them.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Yuzu. I know you're busy and have a lot of medals to win."

"Even so, I should've made the time to be with you."

"You're here now... I'm not really sure if you should be, but I enjoy this too much to push you away."

He seemed more than satisfied with her answer, choosing to stay in silence as he thought of it.

"Your skating is getting better and better. It reminds me just how good you used to be."

"I just wish I remembered more... not just of skating... you know... I wish I could remember us and my family."

"You haven't remembered anything else?"

"Just small moments, nothing that relevant."

Seemingly noting how she seemed to be a bit down while thinking of the true circumstances of her situation, Yuzuru was very quick to find the encouraging words that she needed.

"I'm sure we can make a lot of new memories for you."

Just realizing how incredible the man by her side truly was made her emotional. Past Kana had chosen her man very well and that only showed now.

"You promise you'll be there?"

"I will be by your side whenever you allow me to be."

Staring into his eyes, it wasn't that hard to see just how serious he was about this one particular thing. Yuzuru didn't even come close to hiding anything from her.

That knowledge alone was enough to convince her. Hell, she had known what she wanted for weeks but he never really allowed her for more with how busy he was.

Well, not until now.

This time, she didn't want to fail to get it.

"Are you training for long?" she asked with a smile.

"Today?"

"Yeah."

"I'm already done... just wanted to catch up with you."

Knowing that was all she needed.

"Do you want to... maybe... come over to my place?"