Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

9. Reasoning

It was with a shaky hand that Yuzuru took Aurora's. 

He was still a bit dumbfounded about the whole situation, a bit unsure of how to read it all but most of all, how to read her. This woman seemed to be different from every other he had met and the one thing that seemed to be bothering him slightly was just how light things seemed to be with her, he just felt at ease despite the awkward scenario.

It didn't make him any less nervous.

Yuzuru had never been to this hotel but as someone who had been in a lot of places like this through the years, he knew how to navigate around without much trouble.

With her hand in his, he guided the way through the halls, into the elevator. The silence that settled in the confined space was inevitable but Yuzuru didn't feel uncomfortable in any way. It was just that he had no idea what to say to her.

The silence was kept until they reached the correct floor and they walked side by side in the same state. Reaching the correct room was easier than Yuzuru expected but when he did, the nervousness in his hands was clearly seen as he struggled with the key card.

It fell to the ground, once, twice, three times until the girl behind him giggled and offered to help

"You want me to do it?"

"I'm sorry." he answered with guilt, knowing that she was probably finding him to be a complete idiot who couldn't even open the door of his hotel room.

"Hey! It's alright. Being nervous is fine and well... I find it cute."

He blushed at her words as he tried to remind himself that it was all an act. She had to compliment him and say nice things, it was what he was paying her for, after all.

Her soft hands touched his and gently grabbed the keycard. She moved elegantly as she opened the door of the room in a swift motion.

Aurora looked at him and he merely gestured for her to enter the room first.

The tension was quite obviously there but Yuzuru quickly decided he needed to make things a bit more comfortable. 

She was taking in the room in front of her eyes when he finally spoke.

"Maybe we can have a seat?"

He was pointing at the nearest couch when she looked at him.

"Sure."

Yuzuru was still nervous about fully explaining what the whole reason for the meeting was but the way she looked at him, smiling gently and reassuringly seemed to be enough for him to finally start talking.

He told her the story from the very beginning, from how they started dating to even his reluctance to start a relationship. Yuzuru told her the whole thing while trying to avoid the subject of what he did as a living. Maybe he had given his real name, but that didn't mean he was ready to face the reality of his identity. He still chose to tell her about the injury and his fears of never being able to work on what he loved again.

Throughout the whole thing, Aurora listened patiently, trying her best to understand the full story and how he explained everything.

Yuzuru spoke in slow English, trying his best to hide the obvious accent without much success. He hadn't realized it but through his speech, a few Japanese words would escape every now and then, something that Aurora found to be completely adorable.

Maybe she should've just told him to speak Japanese from the start, it would probably be easier for him. At the same time, she didn't have the heart to interrupt a story that she was finding more ridiculous as the moments passed.

The whole story was so completely crazy that Aurora thought for a second that he had to be joking with her. The thing was, his face was oddly serious and almost pissed as he told her the events. She could immediately tell that he hated being bad at something and it was clear that whatever that woman told him had been engraved on his brain ever since.

"Wait a bit." she couldn't help but interrupt him. "You're telling me that this girl broke up with you because the sex was bad?"

Aurora was incredulous and seemed to need verbal confirmation of the image that was settling in her brain.

"Yeah."

"When you didn't even want to have sex in the first place?"

"I... I didn't really say it out loud but..."

"Yuzuru, she's a bitch."

His eyes widened at her choice of words. Aurora knew why. Japanese people were pretty much raised to never pass the blame and this seemed like a time where he was taking the blame for something he had no control over.

She hated the fact that the woman made him feel worthless when the whole evening that led to it was so messed up, especially when he was supposedly in a healing process at the time.

"I..."

"Really, even if you were bad and I'm not even sure I believe that...If she liked you, that's not a reason for a breakup. It sounds like an excuse. And a very bad one, at that. She could have easily taught you whatever she wanted"

Yuzuru shrugged his shoulders, making her sigh. It didn't seem like he believed her in the slightest.

"Well, she didn't so that's why I'm here."

Aurora looked genuinely confused as she tried to understand what he truly meant without success.

"Here?"

"Yeah, I want you to teach me."