Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

40. Revelations

Spending the night with Yuzuru while his mother was in the house didn't turn out to be as cringy as Aria had expected.

Even in the morning, when they had both left his room with sleepy faces, his mother was just there, cooking breakfast as if the situation was completely normal and not weird at all.

As great as it all was, now that Yumi was back and able to take care of Yuzuru herself, it was time for Aria to go back to her life and work.

She had briefly mentioned it to the skater and he had pouted in reaction. It was adorable but he also told her that it was understandable and that he understood, as long as she wouldn't disappear from his life.

As funny as it was, his reaction wasn't necessarily unfounded given their history.

Parting ways was more painful than either of them would admit but at the same time, it wasn't as if it was a permanent thing. They would hopefully see each other soon.

Truth be told, Aria was probably willing to come to him if he asked.

The last steps of her degree were only being reached. Yuna was very aware of it all and more than anything, it brought happiness into her core.

She couldn't wait for it all to be over.

After years of listening to how great college years were, she had to greatly disagree.

Maybe it was the fact that she had never been one to go to many college outings or encouraged a lot of friendships there but she hadn't found any people she truly connected with. It seemed like her class was just a gathering of people with their own opinions and interests who didn't care at all about others.

It was almost painful to acknowledge just how alone she felt most of the time.

Still, just a few more months and it would all be over.

Aria spent New Year's alone once again. 

Yuzuru had gone to Japan to be with his parents and truthfully, she should've done the same given how much they had been begging her to go back. It had been a couple of years since Aria visited her parents in Japan but the timing was always terrible.

New Year was too close to her exam season, there were too many worries about her grades to even consider going there and be all worried about how much she still had to study. Between that and her obligations with work, it was hard to just take the time off and travel to such a distant place.

So it all felt a bit lonely.

Video calling their parents felt natural at such a time. While they were already into 2017, she was still hours away from the year change. That's what happens when you're in such different time zones.

The call took place about an hour before the year change and Aria was immediately faced with the image of all of her family sitting and waiting for the fireworks to start. They were watching Kohaku oh Gassen on TV as they spoke to her and it was hilarious to see the shift of focus whenever a good performance came along. By now, most of them had moved to Japan permanently after her parents so it wasn't that crazy difficult to get them all in the same place on dates like these.

It was easy to dismiss how much she missed her family when she barely spoke to them but on moments like these, Aria was reminded that they were all together while she was all alone in Canada. She didn't even have her best friend anymore.

Still, it was always nice to see them happy and she also knew that they took happiness in seeing her, even if tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

While talking to them, a text showed up on her phone that made her smile.

It was a silly selfie of Yuzu, his family clearly in the background as they too, celebrated back at home. He made sure to also write an accompanying message.

I know you still have a lot of hours until the new year, but I hope 2017 brings great joy and happiness to you, hopefully with someone by your side.

She didn't miss his witty remark and absolutely loved it too. He was too adorable for her to handle and yet, all she wanted was to have him by her side.

The answer to his message came naturally and with great joy.

Hey handsome, I wish you an amazing year as well, full of amazing things and people you love. I hope you get all of those gold medals that you love so much and that you're always healthy and well.

It was inevitable to avoid the grin on her face as she replied to him, almost forgetting that her whole family had a view into her every expression.

"Who are you texting?" her father broke her reverie by saying.

Oh, she needed an escape plan, and fast.

"Who says I'm texting anyone?"

"Don't lie to me, young lady."

"Oh... it's a boy..." her mother had to the fire.

If anything had been learned in her short span of lifetime, it was that her father wasn't the best to introduce boyfriends.

Then again, calling Yuzuru her boyfriend was still a bit weird in her head. They hadn't spoken much about it after his passionate admission.

"Mom, please stop."

"Oh, it really is!" Now it wasn't any of her immediate family but rather her cousin, Stella, being all excited about the whole situation.

"Guys... stop."

"Just tell us his name."

Now that is surely a bad idea, they would just understand right away that he was Japanese and things were going to get intense way too fast.

"Bad idea."

"You know, not telling us is only going to make your dad think there's a hidden reason and you will probably find some kind of federal agent stalking you to get answers."

Aria couldn't help but laugh a her mother and the side eye that her father quickly threw in her direction. As crazy as it all sounded, there weren't many doubts that her father would attempt something as crazy as that.

"Fine... but you won't say anything about it."

"Just tell us."

"His name is Yuzuru."