This is the story of Ayame, a young artistic gymnast who, due to a stroke of fate, can no longer practise her sport. In search of a new purpose in life, she comes to Sendai from her home town of Sapporo by chance to work in the house of a famous fig...
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Ayame couldn't sleep. Her alarm clock showed just after 2:00 a.m.
Too much had happened that day, the farewell, the journey, her arrival at Yuzuru's house... too many new impressions to process. She had also spoken briefly to Yumi, who had come by later that afternoon to see if the start had gone well for the two of them.
Yuzuru had raved about Ayame's cooking skills and Yumi was very pleased to see her son smiling. The encounter had been friendly and pleasant and Ayame had had a good feeling about the whole situation.
After Yumi had left that evening, Yuzuru had insisted on eating the leftovers from lunch for dinner so that Ayame would finally have time to unpack in peace. She didn't contradict him, just quickly made fresh miso soup in addition, and they ate again in silence. This time sitting next to each other at the counter in the kitchen.
She instinctively sensed that he wanted to be alone and was deep in thought after their meal. So she quickly tidied up the kitchen while Yuzuru sat down on the couch in front of the flatscreen. He didn't turn it on at all, however, but just looked into space, lost in thought, the remote control in his hand.
Ayame wished him a good night, to which he barely reacted, and retired to her room.
And now she was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The iris in a small vase on the bedside table, exuding a delicate, barely perceptible fragrance. It was moonlit in the room. She had deliberately not drawn the curtains on the windows because it always took her a while to adjust to a new sleeping place. It helped her if it wasn't pitch black.
She remembered that well from her competition days, when she had to sleep in so many different hotel rooms. However, she now regretted the open curtains a little, she hadn't thought about the full moon shining so brigth tonight.
A light scent of cedar surrounded her and she realized that it was the sheets. She stroked the fine fabric and felt that it must be of excellent quality. She was in the home of a man who could afford anything. She slowly became more and more aware of this.
Her thoughts were once again with him. She had now seen him in different facets: looking sad, weak and ill, staring at her in front of his house, and she wondered if he had recognized her...
Then he had been very alert, with an attentive look and very confident when Yumi had introduced her to him. And now this first day together, when they hadn't talked too much, but it had been enough to get to know each other a little and call each other by their first names.
He had seemed a little taciturn to her at the station, almost a little forced to communicate with her. And yet he had been very polite and courteous. At lunch, he had suddenly shown her his lonely and needy side through his gratitude, which had surprised her greatly.
And in the evening, he had been so introverted and lost in thought again...
The whole time, Ayame had had the feeling that she didn't have to pretend. She had been open-hearted since she had entered his house, nothing was artificial, and that had apparently paved the way for him to open up to her at least a little. Perhaps a first flash of incipient trust.
She wondered what had happened to him, what had made him so weak and sad that he couldn't pursue his career at the moment? Yumi had told her that he was not working at the moment, that all his commitments had been canceled and that he had taken a break from training on medical advice.
Ayame still didn't know the answers to all these questions. She resolved to proceed very cautiously and treat him with kid gloves so that he could recover.
Her own major crisis came to mind. When she had been desperate after the accident and for a while hadn't known what to do next... she was lucky to have people by her side who had helped her get back on the right track. That was her own experience.
And although she hardly knew him yet, she felt that she wanted to be that kind of person for Yuzuru! Because in the depths of her soul, she could somehow already understand him.
She sighed, all these thoughts didn't make her disappear into the land of dreams. She was more awake than before! So she decided to do the only right thing.
She got up and went to the kitchen to treat herself to a glass of the iced tea she had prepared that evening for the next day. It was her own "secret recipe" for hot summers and just needed to cool overnight. The tea worked wonders when you were restless or stressed, or just couldn't fall asleep.
Ayame stood up, wearing a light cotton shirt that reached just above her knees. She decided not to put anything else on, as it was a very warm night. The shirt would have to do, even if she left her room now. After all, it was the middle of the night. So what could happen...
She walked barefoot on quiet soles towards the living area. Everything was silent. She didn't turn on any lights, it was bright enough in the hallway, the sliding door to the living room was still open, and the moon was shining through all the windows there. She could see enough, even in the house, which was still relatively unknown to her, she found her way without any problems.
Apparently, Yuzuru preferred to leave the sliding doors open at night. She made a mental note of it. At least that was an advantage now, avoiding noise, because she didn't want to wake him up.
Once in the kitchen, which was not quite as bright because of the smaller windows, she found her way around. She purposefully took a glass from one of the wall cupboards and filled it with her iced tea from the carafe that she was now so familiar with. It had already cooled down a little and was only lukewarm.
The scent of lemon balm and lavender wafted into her nose: she took a sip, sat down on the stool in the small alcove between the fridge and the sideboard, closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the moment and the calming aroma of the tea.
Then she suddenly heard a soft shuffling and tapping.
She froze, thinking at first of a burglar who had gained access to the house. But no, Yuzuru had told her that unfortunately he could no longer manage without an alarm system and had already explained the code and how to use it.
So a burglar seemed unlikely. Mice perhaps? No, the house was too clean for pests, maybe not completely tidied up at the moment, but really very clean.
But what was it then? As if rooted to the spot, Ayame sat rigidly on her stool, hardly daring to breathe, the glass of iced tea still in her hand.
And then she suddenly saw the source of the noise...........
