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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Toshiro-sensei still had his eyebrows raised in astonishment. "How did that happen? Did you... I mean... you didn't try anything on her, did you?"
"No, oh no! No way! She's my employee!" Yuzuru exclaimed. The doctor was relieved, that had sounded a little worrying. "Then tell me!"
"It was very strange... Her arrival went well at first, I found it easier than I had feared. Anyway... she had gone to her room early in the evening. She still had to settle in. I stayed up and fell asleep on the couch at some point. I didn't wake up until late at night and went upstairs to take a shower before going to bed. When I went to set the alarm, I realized that I had left my phone in the living room."
Yuzuru took a quick breath. Now came the strange part of the story. Toshiro-sensei's face betrayed a great deal of tension.
"So, with only a towel for my wet hair, I went down to the living room to get the phone. I was quite sure it was on the coffee table. I didn't turn on the light because the moon was shining so brightly into the house and I thought it was so beautiful."
"I see," the doctor interrupted, "but why didn't you put anything on? You knew she was in the house now."
"I just hadn't thought about it!" said Yuzuru honestly. "I'm used to walking around the house naked. I feel comfortable doing it, and free. I have so few opportunities outside my own four walls to feel free in general. I always enjoy that feeling very much..." he said, a little ashamed.
"That sounds wonderful, Yuzu! It's good that you've kept that naturalness!"
"Thank you...", Yuzuru continued, "so I went to the coffee table and bent down for the cell phone. It was really extremely bright on this full moon night. I could see everything clearly. And it was very quiet. But then..."
Toshiro-sensei could hardly stand the tension...
"... then I suddenly had the feeling that someone was in the room. You know how it is, it's just a feeling that you're no longer alone. You can't hear anything, you can't see anything, but there's something there."
"Yuzu, you're making it really exciting!" The doctor could hardly stand it any longer.
Yuzuru went on. "I straightened up and turned towards the kitchen. I somehow sensed that someone or something was there. I just stood still, like a statue."
The doctor imagined Yuzuru as a statue and thought to himself that his patient and friend could make a perfect statue if he wanted to.
"At first I didn't notice anything special, but then... the first thing I saw was a bare foot sticking out besides the fridge. There's a little niche there with a stool... and then a small part of the face, too."
"And your housekeeper was sitting there?" the doctor exclaimed in astonishment.
"Yes, who else would it have been? And she was looking at me, but completely motionless. She probably thought I couldn't see her in that relatively dark corner of the kitchen. I don't think it was anyone else I saw there."
"Quite logical."
"I stood very still and looked in her direction. But I couldn't see her eyes. Anyway, I waited a moment, but she didn't react. So I just went back to my room."
"That really is a bit strange. On the other hand... how would you react if you met your boss completely naked in the living room in the middle of the night on your very first day at your new job? I mean, she might have been totally shocked!"
"Toshiro!" Yuzuru exclaimed indignantly. "I hope I'm not that ugly yet!"
"That's not what I meant, Yuzu. No, just the fact that, for whatever reason, she was in the kitchen at night and suddenly there's a naked man in the room, and a good-looking one at that," the doctor added with a grin. "I don't think it's that strange, rather very discreet, because she probably hasn't approached you about it yet, has she?"
That's right! Yuzuru hadn't thought of it like that before. Actually, it was really very discreet of her not to mention this incident at all. He suddenly saw it with different eyes now.
"No, she didn't mention it at all. But maybe she didn't even see me?" "Well, I don't think that's likely... Well, it was a bit of an oopsala at the beginning of your new shared flat, if you like. Nothing happened, and apparently it wasn't a big deal for her either. So I'd just leave it at that."
Yuzuru thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you're probably right..."
After a little while he asked the surprised doctor: „Now let's talk about when I can get back on the ice!"
***
Yuzuru was very pleased. The conversation with Toshiro-sensei had been good and very intimate. In the end, the doctor had even allowed him to finally go back on the ice! Albeit in limited training mode.
"No quadruple axels, Yuzu! Take it slow, will you?" he had urged him. Yuzuru nodded dutifully - and was suddenly very excited and highly looking forward to being back on the ice soon.
He felt somehow more liberated. He had attached too much importance to this one event with Ayame and overanalyzed the whole thing. This had created a strange tension for him. He had avoided it by only having the most necessary contact with her. And he hadn't been too communicative. He would have liked to know more about Ayame and her life. He was sorry about that now.
She hadn't spoken to him about the night-time episode, but had immediately started to reorganize his life the next day. And now, after two weeks, his life felt so much better already!
Yuzuru felt encouraged and decided to get to know Ayame better from now on.
