Dangerous Lines | Yuzuru Hanyu

63. Encouragment

Yuzu saw his parents stare at him in complete awe, unsure of what to answer to the news he just delivered. Maybe his mom could have imagined everything to be about a girl but certainly not in such a serious way.

"A son?"

"He was born a few days ago."

He saw his mother gulp dry, clearly doing her best to react in a positive way towards the news.

"Please tell me that you're at least dating this woman."

"It's complicated."

Yuzuru knew well how he felt about Yaeko and also that everything was mutual but it felt weird to call it a relationship when she was still married to another man.

"Yuzuru! I raised you better than that!"

He knew right away that his choice of words had probably been terrible but the truth was that finding a way to explain all of it in just a few simple sentences just seemed impossible from the start.

"Calm down, I love her, more than anything in the world."

"Then why not marry her before getting into having a child?"

He couldn't help but laugh. Had this situation been any different he would have probably considered his mom's suggestion to be more than fair.

The one problem was that they weren't necessarily a normal couple.

"I would, but she's married to someone else."

Yup, still not the best choice of words.

If his mother looked a bit pissed before, nothing could compare to how she looked then. Just as she was about to snap and probably hit him hard, his dad intervened.

"I'm sure there's a good explanation for everything. I trust that we raised Yuzu properly enough for him to know what's acceptable and what isn't."

"I'm waiting for that explanation."

Taking a deep breath, he knew he had to take everything back to the beginning and explain it all properly.

"Do you happen to remember that Yakuza case of a few months ago?"

Yuzuru carefully explained it all, from how he met the beautiful woman to how they simply couldn't take each other off their minds. He shared as much as he could without placing Yaeko at risk and he was very honest about how he felt about her despite everything that they had endured.

"So let me get this straight... you have a child with the wife of the now leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi?"

Out of everything his mom could have gotten from the conversation, she had chosen to focus on that particular detail.

"Yeah."

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Mom..."

"Do you love this girl that much?"

"Yeah."

His mom took a deep breath and looked at Hidetoshi, who just quietly watched the whole thing unfold.

They knew him well.

This was a boy who loved with everything he had. Yuzuru was always very certain of his emotions in everything.

"Well, if you love her, all we can do is accept her and the child in the family, whatever the consequences."

He was grateful for it, even if his mom sounded a bit mad with the whole thing. He knew very well that it would take time for her to warm up to the idea but it was better now than hearing about it later.

"Thank you."

He bowed deeply in respect to his parents, slightly embarrassed of the situation he was placing his family in.

"So... when can we meet them?"

Hearing his mom's question, Yuzuru's eyes filled with tears. He hadn't been able to cry it out, hadn't been able to fully manage his emotions, or even consider the true impact of how much he was losing by not being with her.

"Not now, maybe not even soon... Yaeko is in witness protection after the trial."

"Under a new identity?"

"Yeah, somewhere in Europe is all I know... and I shouldn't even be aware of that."

Hana had shared the little bits and pieces of what she knew and that's exactly how he found out about the continent Yaeko was in. As much as he wanted to know more, not even Hana knew anything further.

"No pictures? Anything?"

"no... this is all so difficult...I just wish I could go to them and forget all about the risks"

"Maybe you can... Maybe you should"

His mom shouldn't be doing what she was. Encouraging him to even try to find out where Yaeko was could quickly become a dangerous territory that he wasn't sure he wanted to enter.

If anything, he couldn't handle the thought of placing them in danger.

"What if they find her through me? I'm a public figure in Japan."

"I don't know any specifics, Yuzu, but I don't think it's right for you to be here sulking while that woman handles both a baby and all the safety concerns. Being alone makes everything way harder. All I mean to say is that if there's any way, you should take it."

Looking at his father, Yuzuru found him nodding in agreement.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Unless you find me a way to get rid of her husband, I don't think there's much anyone can do."

"Well, I know you. Something tells me that you will find a way."

Hugging his parents, Yuzuru found determination where his sorrows had been.

They were right, he had never been one to give up and this was no different.
All he had to do was plan this in a way that didn't place them in danger.
For that to happen, there weren't any doubts that he had to become invisible, no one could recognize him.

As he planned everything in his head, Yuzuru knew that there was something he had to do first.

With a plan of action in his brain, Yuzuru dialed the same number that had called him a few days before.

As the manly voice first greeted him, Yuzu gathered all the courage he could muster and finally said "I want to go there, Agent Miura, I need to know where she is. I can be discrete and I have a plan to make sure no one knows about it"

Seemed crazy to think that anyone would give him the data but yet, as his number was confirmed and the specifics of the conversion all seemed to connect seamlessly, Agent Miura seemed genuinely impressed as he spoke of his plans and how he thought this to be possible.

"I need to speak with everyone, but this seems like a possibility if I can convince them. This is still very risky, you know that, right?"

"I don't have any upcoming work scheduled. I'm willing to go through anything you may need me to. I just want to see them."

"Give me a few days. I'll see what I can do."