Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

37. I Care

Yuzuru woke up the next morning looking a lot better than before.

Unlike, Aria, who had barely gotten any sleep after the realization of the true nature of her feelings for this man, he looked well rested and onto a hopefully speedy recovery.

One thing was certain, his morning voice still affected her as much as it had in the past.

You see, when you look at this man, it was very easy to just fall for his sweet and innocent look but the roughness of his morning voice reminded Aria of the other side of his, the one that she hadn't seen since the dreadful morning of leaving their contract.

"Aria? Are you alright?"

She was a bit stunned by his question, not expecting it in the slightest. 

Yuzuru stared at her as if he could see everything inside of her and know her every thought. It was scary to think that he could be able to do it, especially when she was still processing how he looked on that morning.

The man is sick, focus Aria!

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

His eyes only focused on her more.

"You look a bit tired? Was it uncomfortable for you?"

Even when he should be worrying about himself he wanted to know what was wrong with her and saw right through her BS.

It was probably for the best to just tell him the truth straight away.

"You just ran a very high fever at night and I had some trouble lowering it. You seemed to be feeling better so I'm glad it helped."

His expression instantly turned sad.

"I'm so sorry. You shouldn't even be wasting time taking care of me. You have no responsibility."

"Shut up." she told him right away, hating the way he spoke.

"I mean it, Aria."

"So do I. I may not have a responsibility but I care about you and I want you to be ok. Staying at home while knowing that you were alone and sick was impossible to me."

The way she said it made him analyze her again with a wondering expression and only then did she realize what she had just admitted to.

I care about you.

Yuzuru was silent for a few seconds, gathering all the information in his brain before he finally replied.

"I care about you too, beautiful girl."

A red tinge appeared on her cheeks as quickly as he had finished the sentence. He had called her that when he texted but it was different to hear it directly from his lips.

Seemingly noticing her reaction, Yuzuru tickled her belly teasingly, making her laugh like a madwoman. He certainly looked to be better just from the way he interacted with her. The meds were finally taking some effect.

"Yuzu! Stop!"

"You're beautiful, you know that, right?"

She blushed even more.

How could she be so affected by the way he said it?

Aria knew why.

All of the compliments she received before had always been that she was sexy or hot. Men never stopped to say that she was gorgeous or beautiful. That's the type of compliment that a boyfriend does, not a client.

Just as fast as he had been tickling her, he had somehow managed to get on top of her, looking intently into her every expression and trying to gather if any of his actions were too much.

Seemingly realizing that she didn't oppose anything he was doing, Yuzuru just seemed to gather the courage to keep going.

Aria had barely been able to organize all the thoughts in her head when he started getting closer and closer. All she wanted was to close the distance and yet, it felt somewhat wrong to rush or take the initiative. She was still very reluctant with this thing that they seemed to have going on.

"I don't hear it often." she ended up finding a way to reply to his previous question, gulping when she saw a smirk settle on his face.

"I'll make sure we change that."

Before she knew it and his words finally started getting some meaning inside of her brain, Yuzuru was taking the initiative and closing the distance between them.

The touch of his lips seemed reluctant but just as sweet as she remembered.

Aria didn't even remember the last time she had kissed someone outside of the job and somehow, knowing that made it even more meaningful.

Yuzuru was gentle, brushing his lips against her more teasingly than anything. It made her desperately want more contact and it showed in the way that she eagerly replied.

She kissed him back in such a way that was far from gentle. Aria wanted this and wasn't at all hiding just how much. By now, the woman was sick of pretending she didn't want it.

Her hands grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him close. 

Yuzuru could only groan against her lips as his hands tightened around her torso and grabbed her. 

They both wanted the closeness and the warmth that their bodies provided. They wanted each other.

It was easy to forget just how out of it he had been a few hours before but even if Yuzuru deemed himself better, there were some things that your body made impossible to hide.

So when he was clearly out of breath when they parted, Aria knew she had to stop wherever this was going.

Safe to say he immediately complained with a groan that made her giggle against his lips.

"You're out of breath, Yuzuru. I don't think it's right to just keep going. You do want to get better right?"

Getting better was clearly his weak spot. Yuzuru wanted to compete at all costs and would do anything to make it happen. The sheer fact that Aria had been able to use it against him just told him how much trouble she could be.

And yet, in the midst of the whole situation, he was happier than he had been in months.