Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

28. Unwelcome Visits

Aria's life seemed to be a neverending loop of the same things over and over again.

As easy as the job at the grocery store had slowly become, it also came with the same repetition over and over again, just as her academic life.

Now in her last year of university, she was at a phase where all she could wish for was the end of it all, for a time when she could work in her field and forget all about the current routine she had developed.

There was nothing wrong with her current job besides the low pay and how easily bored she could get. It was just that she wanted more.

And no, in those months she never once looked for another job or tried anything else. It was good enough to deal with while she finished everything at Uni and the schedules were flexible enough as well.

Aria found herself missing a certain skater more than she could have ever predicted.

If she was being honest, when they spoke at the store, the last thing she expected was never to see him again but the disappointment was completely unfounded when he owed nothing to her.
Truthfully, they didn't really speak as much about it as they should have in the end, and she didn't get to admit that she wanted to know him better either but right then, there was not much more she could do and there was no reason to even think about it.

No matter how much she missed him, Aria had stopped believing in ever seeing him again. All the thoughts of not being enough, the whole dilemma of once being just a woman who sells sex still deeply engraved in her brain.

Yuzuru didn't want to see her again and she could easily understand that.

Still, it didn't mean that she could so easily accept those thoughts without a struggle.

It was only months later that she finally started accepting the fate deep down in her brain and yet, it didn't seem to work either.

Just when she was fully convinced that it was all over and that she could finally focus on her own life, the man just seemed to find the perfect time to show up in front of her eyes.

It was on a late night almost at closing hours that he entered the store in complete disarray, looking around as if he was desperately searching for something...or someone.

Aria noticed him right away. There were very few clients in the store and his attitude paired with the obvious fact that he was noticeably Japanese made her see him with ease.

Looking at him from a distance, it was almost impossible to ignore the feeling that she should go to him. Even so, all at the same time, she couldn't help but try to keep the same philosophy in her brain.

He wasn't there for her.

Against all of her instincts, Aria turned her back on the sight and just went to the warehouse, choosing to take care of the last stocks before closing up.

Even then, none of it would work.

It took about 10 minutes until one of her co-workers was screaming her name and she had no idea what to do.

Did he ask for her?

With all of those thoughts in her mind, Aria took a very deep breath and walked slowly into the store area.

Right by the exit of the storage, she was faced with the closeness of him, looking just as she remembered but somehow even more handsome than before.

His face seemed to brighten up as soon as he saw her but you could notice his worries show through in his uncertain gaze.

"Aria"

His voice was still the same but there was almost a pleading sound to it, one that she could barely handle without crumbling.

"Yuzuru."

She didn't even bother trying to look surprised and he seemed to note that from the way his face turned into an almost invisible frown.

"I... I wasn't sure you would be here."

Well, given that she worked there and had classes in the morning, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she would mostly do the last shift.

"I am."

Her dry answers didn't go completely unnoticed. Yuzuru noticed her tone right away and it made him swallow dry.

"I wanted to see you."

What was she supposed to even answer something like that? Maybe it wasn't a good time but Aria found it to be the perfect circumstance to turn on her indifferent cold sode.

"You already have, anything else I can help you with?"

He turned sad in seconds. Yuzuru was slowly realizing that she wasn't too happy to see him.

Aria, on the other hand, wanted to touch, wanted to kiss but deep down, she knew very well that protecting herself was a priority and the last thing she needed was to have Yuzuru come into her life whenever he remembered she existed and leave right after.

Defeated, Yuzuru didn't give up right away.

"Can we maybe talk once you're done?"

Aria took a deep breath.

She wanted to have him again, wanted the warmth of his touch and the pleasure of his embrace but she couldn't. Aria couldn't be in a situation that left her alone and sad again.

It took a lot of courage to straight-up deny him of this small thing but it was more of a matter of self-protection than anything else.

"I have classes in the early morning and I'm exhausted. So honestly? I don't really feel like it's the best time."

Yuzuru's reaction was heartbreaking, she could see all the hope vanishing from his face.

"I see... Hum... Maybe some other time."

Just as much as it hurt to see him so disappointed, she also seemed to note something else. As fast as he was sad, Yuzuru's face was quickly filled with something that looked a lot like determination.

And to that, she couldn't say anything else.

So when he quickly turned on his back and waved his goodbyes, Aria was completely speechless.

What the hell was he planning?