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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Less than ten minutes later, Yumi was standing in front of the door. Yuzuru went to invite her in. In the meantime, Ayame took a seat on the couch. She had put the carafe filled with water and three glasses on the table. And waited.
"Yuzu..." Yumi entered her son's house and didn't know what to do for a moment. So she took off her shoes first, but she didn't hug him as usual.
Yuzuru looked down on her a little, because he was already standing in the hallway and Yumi was still in the genkan. It felt strange to look down at his mother. So he quickly turned away from her and asked her to follow him into the living room.
He offered Yumi the reading chair and took a seat next to Ayame on the couch.
"I'd like to sit on the floor, if that's okay with you?"
"Of course, whichever way you prefer, Okāsan."
Yumi nodded and sat down in a heel seat next to the coffee table. She looked up at Yuzuru and Ayame, who were now sitting on the couch - above her. An awkward silence filled the room.
Yumi looked down at the floor. Yuzuru looked at Ayame and grabbed her hand, she returned his firm squeeze and nodded reassuring to him.
"We need to talk about what happened yesterday!" he finally began.
"Yes, we have to!" Yumi now looked directly at him. He could see now that she must have cried a lot and his heart tightened. Nevertheless, he remained calm and waited to see what she had to say.
Yumi now looked at Ayame, openly and scrutinizingly.
"Ebihara-san," she began, "I hope you accept my sincere apology! I never intended to speak so badly of you! The past has imposed trials on me and my family that still linger, and my concern for my son was greater than my reason! I apologize for my behavior!"
Yumi bowed low to the ground and remained there.
Yuzuru looked at Ayame, she seemed to accept this apology as a first step.
"I accept your apology, Hanyū-san!" she said, addressing Yumi.
Yumi slowly straightened up and nodded. "I thank you... Ebihara-san! Whatever happens in the future, I will always be there to help when help is needed. Please, count on me!"
Yumi now turned to Yuzuru.
"My beloved son, I hope you also accept my sincere apology! I have insinuated bad things against you, which I would like to undo, but I cannot. Rest assured that I will never again doubt your judgment when it comes to Ebihara-san! I realize now that she is the person who should be by your side. Because if this crisis has shown one thing, it's that she's still here, with you! She obviously belongs to you, and you belong to her."
Yumi bowed to the ground again and remained there once more.
Yuzuru stood up slowly, lowered himself to the ground at Yumi's side and lifted her up by her shoulders. Tears welled up in his eyes and Yumi could no longer suppress her tears. They fell into each other's arms, crying.
"Okāsan, I love you so much. It hurt so much, you hurt me so much when you said all that. My world was shaken to the core! From you of all people! And now that I'm slowly recovering from my big crisis, it was like another stab in the heart!"
Yuzuru sobbed and buried his face against Yumi's shoulder, crying.
"I know, Yuzu, I know! I love you so much too, and it's hard to let you go and accept that you're a grown man who knows what he's doing. But your weakness and helplessness over the last few months made me think you were out of control, that you were vulnerable and manipulable. That's why I insinuated all these crazy things and... I hurt you and Ebihara-san so much!" she sobbed and trembled in his embrace.
It took a while for the two of them to calm down again. Ayame had stayed quietly on the couch the whole time and waited. She, too, had tears in her eyes, because it was upsetting and liberating at the same time that Yuzuru and his mother were so honest with each other.
Finally, the two of them released their embrace and the tears slowly dried up. Yuzuru stood up and helped Yumi to get up as well. "Please, sit with us on the couch now," he asked his mother.
Yumi took a seat between the two of them and turned to Ayame.
"Ebihara-san, I want you to know that I basically never believed what I claimed. You know all the details?"
"Yes, Hanyū-san, I know the details. I know that you thought I was trying to take advantage of Yuzu. But I also know what worries and hardships you've had to endure together. You thought every possible danger, however unlikely it may sound, was possible. You, like Yuzu, have been in a stressful situation for months! I hope you see that Yuzu and I have a very special connection that is still a mystery to ourselves. Because in such a short time, it certainly seems suspicious! I can understand that..."
Yumi nodded appreciatively. "You've got it right to the point, and I admire you for that! Because, you're still so young... and you've only been here with Yuzu for a month. Yet you have already understood so much about him. I ask you again to accept my help whenever you need me. I know you have already lost your mother and you may need some motherly advice. Then I will be happy to help you."
Ayame took Yumi's hands in hers. "I'll gladly accept that, Yumi-san!" The two women nodded to each other.
"Thank you, Ayame-san!" Yumi bowed to Ayame again.
Yuzuru resolved the situation. "I think everything has been said and done that was necessary!"
"Yes, I think so too," Yumi nodded.
"Then we can finally concentrate on what's next!" Yuzuru was eager to look ahead now.
"Of course, Yuzu. But first, tell me how you're doing today? I already know most of your... breakdown from Toshiro-sensei... It was a nightmare for me not to have been with you to help..."
Yumi looked crestfallen.
"Don't worry, Okāsan, Toshiro and Ayame were with me - and of course Pooh-san was at the rink too!" Everyone smiled a little now.
"We have a video of the therapy on the ice from yesterday, which I haven't seen myself yet and won't be doing so any time soon. But if you want, you can watch it."
Yumi hesitated briefly. "Yes, I would like to. I want to see what I did to you..."
"Okāsan... it was a lot of things working together, not just your behavior...! The tablet is on top of my desk. The file should still be open in the player."
"Good, I'm sure I can handle it. I'll leave you two alone for a while..." Yumi stood up, paused for a moment, kissed Yuzuru on the forehead and finally went upstairs.
Yuzuru and Ayame stayed behind. They looked at each other.
"Everything all right?" Ayame wanted to know.
"Yes, it will take some time for the wound to heal, but everything is fine so far. And you?" asked Yuzuru.
"I feel similarly, the injury was serious, but it was treated well and I'm sure it will heal completely."
"Good! We'll do everything we can to ensure that the healing is not jeopardized!"
Yuzuru took her in his arms and they held each other for a long time.
