Dangerous Lines | Yuzuru Hanyu

23. Dream Material

You could be certain that Yuzuru was glad to be alone when he first opened that picture.

He had noted how conservatively she usually dressed but never once did he pose the possibility that she could be hiding something. Definitely never considered that she could be hiding so many tattoos.

Weirdly enough, the effect he expected to happen never did. He was raised traditionally enough to look down on tattoos, especially when they were so related to the Yakuza but instead of repel, he found them incredibly hot.

Well, one could argue that he would find anything in her body to be sexy but the way his body reacted to that picture was certainly a cue that he didn't feel those tattoos to be wrong in the slightest.

They were a work of art in a body that deserved all the worship in the world.

But maybe the way he thought about it was wrong. Yae was married.

Sure, she wasn't really married because she wanted to but she still was nonetheless.

Up until then, this had been the one thing keeping him from doing anything too overboard but the truth was that with each day that went by, his perspective and self-control seemed to be changing.

Now that he saw the beautiful picture she sent him, Yuzuru wasn't sure what to think at all. One thing was certain, this woman seemed to want him as much as he wanted her and he couldn't ignore that. He hadn't sent his picture with intention to tease but maybe he was also underestimating how she felt as well.

So maybe that was when he decided that he would allow this to happen and not hide how much she affected him either. It was still unsure how much she would allow but he would patiently wait for more.

"You're beautiful" he ended up texting back. All of him seemed to scream in desperation with the uncertainty that filled their every exchange.

"You don't mind the tattoos?" She texted back. He could note the uncertainty in the text even without seeing her expressions.

"Why would I?"

"You know... Yakuza and all..."

"They look like works of art on you"

There was more that he wanted to say, mostly related to how much he wanted to trace every design caressing her skin but the truth was that they hadn't really crossed that boundary just yet.

"I'm always reticent to show them to other people, but I'm proud of them."

"They're part of you, being proud is worthy."

He felt the need to reassure her about this. The small glimpses of uncertainty seemed to be fueling her thoughts. Yuzu never wanted her to feel nervous around him, especially when it came to showing him her body.

"Thank you, I needed that."

Wanting to make her day as incredible as possible, Yuzuru made sure to give her an equally tantalizing photo. After all, Yae couldn't be the only one seducing him, it seemed fair to return the gesture.

He had never done any of this before, texting a girl suggestively. It was hard to know where to take it without it being too much.

All Yuzu wanted was to have a similar effect on her as she did to him after sending that photo so even if he wasn't the type to send these things, he wanted to have that effect on her.

Seemingly forgetting all of his doubts from before, the figure skater stared at himself in the gym, mirrors surrounding him, making sure he was aware of what he was about to do.

Yuzu embarrassingly practised in front of the mirror for a few minutes, attempting poses and even wondering if he should google what kind of pictures would be deemed sexy by the opposite sex. In the end, he decided to just go with his instinct, lifting his shirt just slightly to show a bit of his visible abs. With his phone in hand, he went closer to the mirror, pointing the camera at his reflection, doing his very best to keep the whole thing as natural as possible.

No one would judge him for taking 30 pictures until he was satisfied that the whole thing wasn't too cringe. One thing was sending a photo of his face, another entirely different was to send a teasing one.

But hadn't she done just the same a few moments prior?

Doing his very best to deal with all of the conflicting emotions in his head, the skater finally chose a single picture to send to her, quickly erasing all of the others to make sure he would survive all of the future possible embarrassment.

One deep breath and a single once over at the picture he just took and Yuzu finally hit that send button, only finding the energy to write "As a thank you" under his picture a few moments later.

From the moment he sent the pic, his hesitation finally culminated. He truly didn't know if he had crossed any boundaries but it wasn't as if there was any way to back down now.

all of the seconds that took her to reply made him cringe even further. Why did he even submit himself to this? Why didn't he think stuff through properly?

All of that would be easily erased once her answer finally came. It took her a while, probably just enough time to process what he had just sent her, but when she did, Yaeko didn't disappoint.

"You're giving me good dream material."

"Likewise, kitten. But should we even dream about one another?"

"I don't know about you, but there isn't anything better to dream on my part."

He never once expected her to be so blunt, never once expected to be able to read those words but they still weren't unwelcome. Maybe the distance was making it easier to express themselves and one thing was certain, he wasn't about to complain.