On top of the world

Stairway to Heaven

Drowning...drowning...drowning...

"Hello? Roo? Hello?" Yuzuru passed one of his delicate hands in front of my face and laughed when I finally snapped out of my trance.

I blinked a few times. "We still have 5 questions remaining, right?"

"Now 4" Yuzuru joked. I glared playfully at him and he laughed again, letting out a sound like little tinkling bells.

"16) What is your favorite dessert?"

"Cookies, specifically chocolate chip and sugar!" I answered.

"I like mochi and dango," he said.

"I've never tried any of those," I admitted. I'm much less cultured than I'd like to be.

"I'll have to treat you to those one day. Store-bought doesn't do them any justice whatsoever," Yuzuru said. "Ok, 17) How did you start skating?"

"A friend brought me to a public skating session when I was 4 and a half," I said. "I think I wanted to start competing after watching the movie Ice Princess at least 5 times. Now when I watch that movie, I can't help but think that the sound effects that are used for the blades sound like...swords being unsheathed!" We both tittered.

"My older sister, Saya, used to skate, and I followed her because my mother believed skating could help with my asthma," Yuzuru explained to me.

"It's hard to believe that you have asthma," I said. "Ok, silly question: 18) Breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast?"

"I must explain something first," Yuzuru said. "Much of Japanese food combines both sweet and savory, so I am used to eating foods for breakfast that may seem like dinner food to western folks such as you, but they can also be considered breakfast food in Japan. So...I'll say dinner for breakfast, if I am considering western style breakfast and dinner foods, because most of the breakfast foods you have here are just sweet, and I feel like that is not enough for breakfast."

I gasped, not because I disagreed, but because I couldn't agree more! "I feel the same! I would enjoy eating breakfast so much more if there were more savory options. I know there's sausage and bacon and ham and omelets, but I don't like sausage that much, and I can't have bacon and ham and omelets every day. I definitely prefer savory foods over sweet," I said.

"So...19) fruits or vegetables?" Yuzuru asked me.

"I have to say vegetables," I said. "It probably has to do with the way my parents cook vegetables; they make them taste wonderful. I can even eat Brussels sprouts," I bragged. Yuzuru cocked his head with a wondering look. "Brussels sprouts are mini cabbages. According to my parents, you have to have acquired taste to fully enjoy them!"

"Ok," Yuzuru said. "It's hard for me to choose between fruits and vegetables...but I think I may like fruits slightly more. I prefer sweet over bitter."

"Not all vegetables are bitter," I told him. "Carrots are sweet. Onions are spicy, unless you caramelize them. Garlic is...garlicky."

We laughed for a bit. Then, Yuzuru asked if he could ask the last question.

"You just did," I joked. Yuzuru pouted, and I playfully flicked his hair. "Ok, sure you can. I can't think of any more questions anyway."

"20) What did you first notice about me?"

Whaaa—how—

How does he switch the mood so quickly...and intensely?!

"Do you mean when I first saw you in person or when I first saw you skate?"