Dangerous Lines | Yuzuru Hanyu

13. Impossible

For all it was worth, Yaeko did try her absolute best to avoid the skater after that day. She didn't go to the rink again and soon enough, her sweet routine of spending the nice mornings with the company of Nakayama-san at the coffee shop became her refuge once again.

As her husband slowly got more and more bored, her time out of the hotel got more limited. For one, he didn't want her out of his sight and two, he wanted more and more of her company.

So the peaceful hours she had gotten used to, ended up slowly decreasing over time.

Make no mistake, he still allowed her to go out. Through the years he had mostly convinced himself that she would never try to challenge or go against him in any way and maybe for that reason, he chose to concede to a few of her requests.

Sitting in her usual place, this time with a nice mocha cappucino, Yae just seemed to be in a complete world of her own on that day. Staring out the window, she was feeling a bit down and unmotivated.

Every once in a while, she was reminded that her reality was far different than the one for most women and because of that, it was easy to feel sad when she couldn't do anything more with her time. Maybe being a housewife wouldn't be so bad in these circumstances, at least she would have something more to do.

As if on cue, the little bell at the door rang, signaling the entrance of another costumer.

Surely enough, she didn't pay that much attention to it. Even if it wasn't a crowded place, it was only normal to have people entering every now and then.

It was only when the excited squeal of the owner filled the room that she looked in the direction of the sound.

"Yuzu-kun! I haven't seen you in forever!"

There he was, looking as attractive as she remembered him to be, even in what was certainly an old tracksuit. Yaeko instantly thought that she had to be cursed in some kind of way to be constantly subjected to this man, whether it was in her dreams or in person.

"Nakayama-san, it's always good to see you." he said in a sweet voice to the older lady, who seemed to instantly coo in reaction.

"Have a seat, I will bring you your favorite!"

In a way, it wasn't that hard to tell that he had been there before, especially more often than she could have predicted, but she hadn't seen him around lately so his presence was certainly curious.

Before she knew it, the man of the hour was right in front of her eyes, smiling kindly as she had gotten used to and looking at her with an expression that was hard to decipher, even for her.

"Can I join you?"

The whole thing was ridiculous. She had no idea why he was suddenly there and she certainly couldn't explain how her body seemed to be nodding before her head could decide what she wanted.

"I... I didn't think I would see you around town again."

"Miko said I could probably find you here."

Oh no...

Had he actually gone and asked about her? Yaeko had gotten the impression that he wanted some distance as well but that didn't seem like the case now, not when he had gotten to the trouble of asking others about her.

Panic started to settle once again. She knew very well that he was a weakness, Yuzuru could make her say yes to anything with a mere smile and that was certainly concerning.

Going back to the usual argument with her own head, Yaeko ran through all of the reasons she had thought about before, from how dangerous being around her was to the trouble she could unwillingly cause him but still, none of that seemed to matter when he struck conversation with her.

All of it was so easy, so simple.

In a way, she could have never known if this was the norm or not, but Yae honestly felt safer than ever before when he was around.

Ignoring the looks from the owner, who seemed very interested in them and the details of his presence, listening to him babble away quickly became one of her favorite things in the world.

Yuzuru had the charisma you would expect of someone so famous but all at the same time, she could have sworn that no one in her life had ever exuded so much humility. You would never be able to tell how much he had or even how well-known he was and maybe it was all part of the appeal.

With just a few hours of conversation, he had made her open up and admit the things she enjoyed the most, from books to music, all of those things she hid from her husband and enjoyed when he was away.

Not once did he make her feel judged and all at the same time, Yae could easily feel comfortable sharing her deepest thoughts with him.

Still, not once did she expect this effect to last or anything more to build but all at the same time, nothing could prepare her for the routine they ended up building.

Because not only was he incredibly interesteded in their every conversation but this man soon decided that he deserved to be a part of her morning routine, joining her every day at that very same table, drinks in front of either of them.

And no one could blame her for being unable to stop it.