nevertheless || yuzuru hanyu

six - reaching the sunshine (2)

:: Gabriella

"What are you looking at?" Joanna asked.

I swiftly turned my head towards Joanna to see a smile sitting on her face.

"You're back." I uttered with a small chuckle. "I was just looking at that guy up there." I pointed to him. "I bumped into him when I was jogging near your house this morning, I'm just amazed that he's here too. But then again, he did mention he was a figure skater so this really shouldn't bother me as much." I explained.

"Ah, Hanyu. He stays here a lot actually. Most of the time, me and uncle see him whenever we come here. You can say he's an acquaintance." Joanna explained, to which I nodded.

Just then, our food arrived.

"Come on, let's eat. Then maybe you can talk to him later." Joanna expressed.

"No, it's fine." I said with a joint chuckle. "He seems like he's in his own world."

Before reaching for my food, I looked back at Yuzuru once more. It just makes me smile how the aura he gives off is serene and innocent.

By this time, Joanna was already tapping her fork in my plate. "You should eat first, lady." She said, suspiciously smiling at me.

I just laughed at her and picked up my spoon to finally eat dinner.

Sometime along our eating, Yuzuru went someplace else. I was having a conversation with Joanna so I couldn't really have my eyes follow him around. Nevertheless, it was a missed opportunity. I really thought it would be the perfect chance to talk to him again.

When I finished dinner, I already initiated to pay. As I was standing up, Joanna grabbed my hand in confusion. "Where are you going?" She asked. "I'm going to pay for our food." I answered.

She then chuckled as if she was questioning my decision. "You do realize you can just call over for the bill, right?" She replied.

"Ah, that. It's a habit I recently acquired. I found that I was more comfortable just going up to the counter and paying. Nothing big really, just makes me feel a little safer." I comfortably explained.

I was in a short moment of wonder as I saw Joanna seem as though she was giving me a look of concern. I don't know what was in her mind, but I decided to ignore it and proceed to the counter.

As I took out my wallet, "It's you again," someone said.

I knew that voice, not completely, but enough to determine who it was.

I looked behind me to know who spoke to me, and just like I thought it was in fact Yuzuru.

I was unexplainably happy at the sight of him. It just felt like talking to him would be the most engaging and interesting thing to do in the world.

"Yuzuru. I thought you already left." I said to him.

"I can't exactly leave because this is where I'm staying for the whole training period." He explained.

"Ah, I see. Why were you jogging so far from here though? I'm certain where I'm staying at is quite far from this place."

"Oh, uh. I actually went there with a friend, but he said he'll take at least a few hours so I decided I'll jog around while waiting for him." He collectively explained. "How about you, what brings you here?" He asked me.