Dangerous Lines | Yuzuru Hanyu

31. Hardships

As much as Yaeko's decision was important, it didn't assure his safety right away.

For exactly that reason, she was forced to make a decision that hurt her even more than it did to him. They had to stop talking for a bit, at least while she figured this out and assured he was safe and sound.

The problem was that she wasn't sure how much she could tell him and one thing was certain, they needed to either do it in person or through a call. Yaeko knew she couldn't leave anything written if this was to work.

"We're going to have to cut contact" she texted "I want to talk but it can't be through messages"

His answer came almost instantly.

"Maybe I can call?"

"No, he's in the house, it's too risky. I'll let you know when I can... Just for now... Know that I care, that I'm not doing this out of lack of interest or that anything has changed... I just... I need to make sure it's safe."

"All I want is for you to be ok. I can handle the rest, don't worry about me."

The answer was so obviously his style that it didn't surprise her in the slightest.

"I'll try and update you as soon as possible."

"Just be safe."

Just when she thought that would be the end of their conversation, the man surprised her with a picture of him with a written text.

Reading what he wrote explained the way he did it. Because he didn't want any of it in the chat, even if she would love to go and make sure it was really true and not something from her imagination.

Take care of yourself. I will wait for a lifetime if needed, just don't get in trouble. I'm here if you need anything. I love you.

She lingered on those last words with every bit of strength left. Yaeko couldn't believe that he had written that when they hadn't said it to one another before.

Sure, it was quite obvious how they felt, especially when they were placing themselves in so much danger but she had always expected this confession to be a bit different.

Either way, it was still welcome. Yaeko definitely enjoyed the necessary encouragement to keep going with her plans and his little declaration was certainly a big help.

All she regretted was not having the time to send him a similar picture with the same words but maybe in a distant lifetime, they would have all the chances for all of the declarations to happen.

Because truthfully, telling him became harder than she could have ever expected. Every little sneaky eye she got from her husband was a mere reminder that he was suspicious and even if he didn't know anything too particular, her husband was still smart enough for her to be afraid of the consequences.

From that moment forward, Yaeko had to be careful about all of her steps. One screw-up could be enough to ruin it all and she couldn't risk that now.

It also meant that she needed to be more attentive to everything that happened inside the Yakuza, getting her hands dirty more often than before and assuring that none of her actions were too suspicious.

When her husband suddenly questioned her will to help, Yaeko quickly blamed it on the fact that she felt guilty about their previous fight and it worked like a charm.

One thing was certain, she knew how much he loved to be told he was right and there was no denying that Yae had enough brains to play with his head discretely.

Had she not married this man, maybe her brain could have been used for something better but given the current circumstances, she just had to enjoy what was possible and use her intellect in another way.

Speaking with Yuzu never really came after that, she just didn't have the chance, not when so much was at stake.

Her days got far more busy, not really because she suddenly had a lot more tasks but rather because there was a lot to worry about and make sure that happened.

Slowly but surely, her actions started paying off.

When her husband started realizing that she was really interested in the business and the organization's deals, he only seemed more encouraged to allow her in.

Yaeko eventually realized that he was entrusting her with the future of it all. Kiyoshi was attempting to train her as a Yakuza and allowed her presence in a lot of deals that most of the time went by unnoticed, even by herself.

If anything, the sudden trust only made her job easier and understanding exactly how everything worked made all of the little things clearer.

Saying that all of it was easy would be foolish but the truth was that as long as she was unnoticed and her plans were a secret, Yaeko was in one of the best positions in the organization for what she wanted.

Seeing the torture and the crime even more often didn't come easy on her eyes but it was yet another sacrifice for a different reality in the future, whatever it was.

No matter what, the hopes to one day be able to share a life with a certain famous skater seemed to be enough to give her the motivation.

Because Yuzuru was worth everything she could do.