On top of the world

Sympathy for the Devil

"Twenty questions?" I asked, since I couldn't think of anything else.

"Ok, twenty questions," Yuzuru agreed.

"1) Favorite color?"

Yuzuru thought for a second. "Hmm...red. I think it is lucky. And you?"

"Pink!" I answered. "I just love it."

"2) Favorite food...or cuisine, if you're a foodie like me?" Yuzuru giggled.

"My favorite cuisine...I have a bunch actually. In my opinion, the best food in America comes from the South. I've never lived there, but whenever I visit, they have such flavorful food like ribs and chicken...I like my meats," I said, laughing. "I also like Italian, specifically pasta and pizza. And Chinese; I've had dim sum before, and it's amazing!" My mouth watered just thinking about it. "I've had sushi and bento boxes before, and I liked them, so I guess I like Japanese as well," I continued. "And, of course, my parents' cooking. Ukrainian food!"

"I like my mother's cooking as well. Japanese food for me, always," Yuzuru insisted.

"3) Favorite school subject?"

"Easy," the boyish man (or manly boy?) answered. "Science!"

"Mine too! I love science," I said. "Especially anatomy. I want to do something in the medical field when I grow up."

"I'm interested in the brain," Yuzuru said.

"Nerd," I joked. We laughed out loud.

"Hmm, how about...4) least favorite time of day?"

"Morning," I blurted out. "I don't like getting up for school, and I really don't like getting up for morning practice before school. But that only happens sometimes on days with limited ice time."

"I say...night, because that's when we have to sleep. But oftentimes, I feel that there's something that still needs to be done and that I can't sleep when it hasn't been done yet. So I lose sleep over it."

"Somehow, I feel like I might have that problem when I reach your age as well," I thought out loud. "Well, speaking of sleep, 5) what or who helps you sleep at night?"

"My Pooh, of course!" Yuzuru took another one of his Pooh bears and stroked him like how I was doing.

"I'm quite a baby, so I need three things: my body pillow, my stuffed toy lion Simba, and my stuffed toy cat Tina."

"You are a baby," Yuzuru agreed, bopping me on the nose with his Pooh. I bopped him back with the Pooh I was holding. We went back and forth for a bit. I think he put a spell on me. How am I this comfortable with him after only a few days?!

"Ok ok ok!" I brought the chaos level back down. "Next question?"

"6) What place that you have visited was your favorite to experience?"

"It has to be between Paris and Rome. I visited both during a summer vacation, and they were both quite different. But I loved their food and the places to see."

"I've been to several places around the world for competition and I did get to experience some things there, but there's never enough time," Yuzuru said. "But to me, no place beats home. I love Sendai because that is where I am from; that is where my people are." He had a distant, faraway look as he said those words. I imagined that he was looking off into the general direction of Sendai, but I couldn't be sure.

"7) What place in the world would you like to visit?" I asked him, breaking the momentary silence.

Yuzuru started a bit, being jerked out of his reverie by my soft voice in the silent room; then, he said, "Maybe I want to explore the US, especially California. I heard about the food there and I want to see if their Japanese food meets my standard."