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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Towards the end of the intermission, Ayame returned to the backstage area as Yuzuru had instructed her. She immediately felt curious glances on her again.
She didn't care.
And she didn't care that, of course, everyone had noticed that Yuzuru had come back from his dressing room in his bathrobe, skates in hand.
Everyone had seen that he had previously taken Ayame into his dressing room instead of the dressers. So it was clear that she must have helped him undress.
When she now confidently handed his sweaty costume to one of the dressers and received a surprised look, she simply smiled.
At the very same moment Yuzuru came out of the changing room, already in his next costume and with his skates back on his feet, Ayame smiled at him openly.
He returned her smile as he sat back down on his chair. Before he even started to check the lacing, he quickly grabbed her hand, squeezed it tightly and kissed her on her knuckles. The loving look he gave her was not only noticed by Ayame...
Shortly afterwards, she went to her place by the curtain to find Kentō-san already there. He smiled mischievously at her. Ayame just shrugged her shoulders and smiled back.
She had now fully realized that Yuzuru was by no means willing to hide his affection for her anymore, at least not here in this sheltered place. So there was no reason for her to pretend that nothing had happened.
When Yuzuru stood between them again shortly afterwards, the stage manager was no longer too surprised when Yuzuru lifted Ayame's chin and kissed her again. This time longer and more passionately than before.
"What comes next is for us..." he said.
They opened the curtain for him and he stepped into the Black. Only moments later, Che'Nelle's "Believe" played...
***
There was no end to the applause and enthusiasm! Cheers, Yuzu-shouts... the audience just went wild! The show was over, but Yuzuru was on the ice again.
He had just changed quickly and was now wearing his T-shirt with the emblem of the show on the front and his name printed on the back. He had immediately run out again to do his rounds of honor with the microphone in his hand.
As always, he gave a short speech and thanked the audience for their loyalty and that they had not forgotten him, even though he had disappeared into obscurity for so long. He made his jokes in a relaxed manner, then became very emotional again and cried a little. And they loved him all the more for it!
A little encore was a matter of course for him, and the audience joined in and cheered him again. It was a celebration of mutual gratitude and endless joy at his successful comeback.
And of course his Arigatou gozaimashita! could not be missing at the end.
Then it was finally over.
Yuzuru returned to the backstage area to receive an ovation and congratulations from the entire team. Everyone was thrilled at how well he had mastered the show and what an impressive and great success he had once again achieved.
He also gave a short speech of thanks, said goodbye to everyone who would not be attending the after show party and told everyone to get a good rest until the next show on Friday evening. He would do it anyway!
"Where's my Aya?" he finally asked, looking around.
Ayame had been sitting quietly in a chair next to the stage manager's desk the whole time, watching Yuzuru being celebrated by everyone. Silent tears of joy had rolled down her cheeks when Kentō-san came up to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Is everything all right, Ayame-san?" he asked softly.
"Yes... thank you Kentō-san... everything's ok... it's just..."
"You love him so much, don't you?" he asked suddenly. Ayame looked at him.
"Yes, I do!" she smiled at him.
"Somehow, we all do!" Kentō-san said with a grin. "I wish you the very best for your love!"
He bowed slightly to Ayame. She returned his greeting.
"See you at the after show party!" he said and left.
Ayame looked after him; he was a calm, composed man who carried out his work meticulously and reliably. She liked him and was glad that he now knew what was going on and that he was also going to the after show party.
"Aya-chan?"
She heard the voice, which had become so familiar to her, and Yuzuru stood in front of her.
He beamed at her. "Come on, let's go!"
She grabbed his outstretched hand again, and this time they walked arm in arm into his dressing room.
"How do you feel?" she asked him there.
"Great!" he blurted out immediately, the adrenaline still coursing through his body.
"A little tired, but great! I've actually managed... to tell my story. And it turned out well, Aya, it turned out really well!"
He took her face in both hands. "You know it's also thanks to you, don't you?" he looked at her with shining eyes.
"I hardly contributed anything to it..." she replied.
"You can't say that! This show wouldn't have happened without you... after all, it's our story too! So, you're more involved than you'd like to admit!"
He laughed and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"All right, yes..." Ayame nodded and laughed too. "Then we put on this big show on the ice together. I agree with you. But your performance on the ice is still all your own doing, and you know that very well!"
Ayame insisted that he finally realized that.
"Yes, yes... I accept!" he laughed and took her in his arms. "Aya, Aya, I don't know how to thank you for your support today. Especially during the intermission..."
"My heart..."
They fell silent for a moment and held each other tightly. Then Yuzuru looked at her again.
"Do you know what the biggest difference is compared to previous shows?"
Ayame saw that his eyes were getting a little puffy.
"For the first time, I don't feel lonely at the end of the show..."
"Oh Yuzu..." Now Ayame took his face in her hands, kissing him tenderly.
"This is exactly what I wanted for you..." she sighed a little, and kissed him gently on the lips once more.
"Then let's celebrate that now too, my flower!" Yuzuru's eyes were clear again now.
"We're going to the party now, it's going to be something really special, I have a feeling!" he laughed at her. "I'm going to take a shower, then we can go."
Ayame nodded, she knew he had certainly left nothing to chance for the after show party either and had planned everything perfectly. His team was so good at implementing everything he wanted that he only had to set the framework and his employees did the rest for him. It was a good feeling to be able to hand over the reins.
Ayame was excited to see what he had come up with!
