Surreptitiously In Love

This is it.

飛翔 (Hishō) — Flight

My mother woke me up early. It's only 3 am.

"What? What is it?" I spoke in a rather grumpy and sleepy voice as I position myself on the edge of the bed. I'm still sleepy.

"You haven't packed your things yet? Your flight for Sochi is in 3 hours!" My mother's words woke me up real quick. With widened eyes, I bolted towards my wardrobe and tossed a few clothes on the bed before pulling out my luggage bag.

Then I stopped. "Wait," I muttered, looking back to my mom. "My flight? I don't remember booking for a flight.." I looked down on the floor as mom walked to me.

"Coach already bought the tickets for you. You're Yuzuru Hanyu's assistant, aren't you? You can't get left behind, silly." She slapped my forehead gently before exiting my room. I had a confused look plastered on my face. Oh yeah, I'm Yuzuru's assistant, how could I forget? I immediately resumed packing my things with a smile.

I'm going to watch Yuzuru live for the first time!

∽☆★☆∽

I headed to the FSC after an hour and a half. With my luggage in my hand, a burst of air welcomed me inside the establishment like always. I like that feeling. I can see Coach Brian and the others near the rink. Yuzuru just jumped out of the ice; that was probably his last practice.

"I'm sorry, am I late?" I asked and grinned, embarrassment seen in the way I did that. I saw Yuzuru look and wave at me, so I returned the same gestures. Nowadays, things like that are normal, but I honestly still fangirl a bit inside.

"Not really, just in time." Coach Brian answered. The rest of the team are already prepared, but Yuzuru still has to change clothes.

"Hey, Aren-chan? Could you please bring my bag over here?" Yuzuru requested, heading to the locker room. I replied a "Sure!" shortly as I pick up the bag, following him to the said room.

I closed the door once we enter the locker room. I tossed him the bag before turning around; I'm pretty sure I can't look at him while he's changing clothes.

I tried to start a small conversation. "So.. We're leaving for Sochi, huh. Are you excited?"

"Half." He spoke, "I'm both excited and nervous, you know that." I heard him expel a sigh. If I was in his situation, I'd feel the same. But right now, I'm actually feeling the same. I've never watched him perform live so I'm excited, and I'm nervous because I can't manage to see him fall. His falls in his practices are enough.

I opened my mouth but Yuzuru was already done changing. He gave me the bag with a smile and opened the door. I followed him, as usual.

"We're ready!" Surprisingly, both of us exclaimed at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed at our own words. Sometimes we're like friends, but I know we're not.

"Great, let's head to the airport then." Coach smiled at us and led the team. I'm so excited.

This time, we actually have a chaperone. 2 cars, Yuzuru, Coach and I share the same vehicle. I stepped into the car and Yuzu sat beside me. Coach is seated in front.

When the car started to move, I got nauseous. Yep, I have motion sickness. I only experience this in cars and buses though. I bowed my head and rested it on top of Yuzuru's bag. It's filled with his scent. It's nice.

"Are you sleepy?" Yuzu's voice went through my ears.

"Nah," I answered.

"You can use my neck pillow if you want?"

"Nah," I said the same reply. "I have motion sickness, so.. you know, I kinda feel dizzy. I'm okay with this position though."

There was silence for a while. My head is still buried into the bag, and I'm slowly drifting off.

"Can you still straighten your position though?" He asked. I took a peek of him and replied with a muffled voice. "Yes, of course, but straightening my position will make me even di-"

"Please straighten your position." I stared at him for a while. I can't resist his face. He's a spoiled little kid when it comes to me. Even though I do feel dizzy, I straightened my back and sat up. In my surprise, Yuzuru's hand made its way to my cheek, gently pulling my head into his shoulder.

"If you sit like that, you'll get dizzier. This is better." He smiled at me before putting his earphones on. I'm more flushed than nauseous. That's great though, because it means Yuzuru was right. This is definitely better.

∽☆★☆∽

We reached the airport in no time. I didn't realize that I fell asleep on Yuzuru's shoulder. I hope he was okay with it. Well, I apologized to him and he said it was fine, but for me it wasn't. Who knows if I drooled or snored.. that would be so embarrassing.

The team boarded the plane as soon as we got there. We were just in time before the plane departs. My shoulders hurt because of Yuzu's bag. He told me that he'd carry it instead, but I insisted. So apparently, this is all my fault.

"Ahhh," I was relieved when I finally got to sit down. I sat near the window while Yuzuru is supposed to sit beside me. "This is life." I stretched my arms and at the same time Yuzuru entered the seats. I almost hit Yuzu in the face. Luckily, I didn't.

"I'm sorry!" I looked away and brought my hands down fast. He waved his hands in front and said, "It's okay!"

I always almost hurt Yuzuru. It feels like I'm not fit for this job at all.

"How many hours do we have to travel?" He queried upon sitting down right beside. "Almost 9 hours," I responded as I get my phone. "Make sure to get some power sleep. You're gonna train there again, right?" I locked my eyes on my phone for a while. Both my lockscreen and background are Yuzu's face. I'm a fan, remember? Wait, why am I even staring at this? I already have the real life Yuzuru beside me.

"Is that.. me?"

I didn't notice that Yuzuru was actually looking at my screen. I quickly covered my phone with my hand and scooted away. I can feel that my face is burning and it reached up to my ears.

"Y-You? You what? What are you saying? It's not you.." I spoke, and it wasn't convincing at all. A playful smirk curved on the athlete's lips and he was slowly inclining closer, extending his arm as if he's planning to snatch my phone. I couldn't move away and farther. This is the end.

I gave up. I handed my phone over defeatedly. He was about to take it, but he distanced himself instead. I sighed in relief.

"Of course, it wasn't me. Why would you make me as your phone background?" Yuzuru chuckled and plugged his earphones once again. Hearing those words somehow pinched my heart.

If he only knew..

[A/N: Almost 200 reads!! Thank you!! Exams are over = OK!! I get writer's block a lot.. To be honest, the ending is already planned but as you can see we just started haha. So yeah. I'll update when I actually reach 200! (ノ'∀｀*)]