Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

52. Purple

After their adventures of that morning, they did call for room service to get their breakfast, even if Yuzu's pretty much consisted of his protein shake and some kind of wrapped thing he had in his skating bag. Quite essentially, the only person eating from the hotel's breakfast was Aria.

She didn't fight him on this, knowing very well that the man was so fit for a reason and had to be in his absolute best shape for the competition and there was no way she was going to go against him on this particular thing.

The one thing that bothered her slightly was not being able to go down to the venue with him by his side. She understood why and didn't feel hurt by it, but at the same time, it did make her feel like some dirty secret that he wanted to hide.

Well, she was a secret and they were often dirty in bed, but she knew well how he felt since it was a mirror image of her own feelings.

It was inevitable to wonder just how he had been able to deal with all of this since he was a junior skater. For a young man to feel like he has to hide every single good thing in his private life, it couldn't have been easy to grow up wondering if every action was right.

No wonder Yuzu was so mature in her eyes in comparison to other men of his age.

When Saya arrived at the room, she raised her brow at Aria.

"Feeling better today?"

Maybe she knew very well what Yuzu's sister meant, but Aria chose to play dumb.

"What are you talking about?"

"We both know you were a bit off. I take it he has convinced you that everything will be fine?" Saya had this knowing look on her face that was almost disturbing

"I was just a bit overwhelmed. But everything has always been fine."

"Good. You better not get too overwhelmed again. I like you Aria, but I prefer when you're a bit more talkative."

She laughed in unison with the other woman and tickled her in a teasing manner. There was no denying that they had bonded easily and Aria felt a bit guilty for not treating her as she deserved on the previous day.

"I'm sorry about yesterday... All of this is still very new to me. The media, his fame, the need for hiding..."

"Don't worry about it. I know how it is. We might be used to it but once upon a time, I felt the exact same thing you are feeling right now."

Aria could argue that the situation was a bit different and that Saya probably wouldn't be thinking of how hot Yuzu was while skating but she understood what the other girl meant.

"Thank you for being by my side during this week. I would probably be lost."

"I would be around either way. I always try to be at his big competitions and it's only better that I have company. Being by my mom's side means that everyone would be looking at me."

The fact that Saya managed to keep herself pretty much anonymous was impressive and it made Aria want to be like that as well. It just seemed like the best possible scenario given Yuzu's fame.

Going to the venue on that day felt like every other occasion. They were immediately surrounded by other people and the arena was filling out very fast. Unlike in the practice session, it was now obvious that it would be a full house.

It was also very surprising to see so many Japanese people surrounding them, most of them holding Pooh's in their hands.

Aria almost felt dumb when she finally understood the reason.

The realization came when Yuzuru's group was getting ready to enter the ice for the warm-up and her eyes fixed on him and the coaches. Right in the hands of the male coach was a Winnie the Pooh tissue case.

"Are the Poohs because of Yuzu?" She asked, probably sounding too dumb once again.

"Wait... You haven't met Pooh-san?"

"Pooh-san?"

Somehow, the question made Saya brighten up.

"Oh, I'm going to love teasing him about this."

Aria was confused and unsure of what the hell was going on. Still, the other woman only seemed entertained by the current situation.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Pooh-san is Yuzu's tissue box. He doesn't go anywhere without it. Ever since he was a kid, it was always his favorite character and once fans realized this, the whole thing about throwing the plushies of it on the ice started. It's now somewhat of a tradition. They will all bring their Poohs and give them to him once he's done."

It was impossible to hide her surprise when this information was so completely new to her. Aria couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it before.

"What does he do with so many of them?

"He might keep one or two, but the rest is usually donated."

Aria was so completely overwhelmed by yet another thing that she had no idea about that she almost ignored the obviously tight, purple pants that her boyfriend was wearing. She recognized the color from his closet in Canada and. it made her wonder how the whole thing looked on him.
For once, she cursed the existence of that Team Japan jacket which was obstructing her view.

Not for long though.

Now that she knew that Yuzu was skating to Prince, the Purple made sense, really, but did it have to be so revealing?

She would only realize how much when he removed the jacket to the delight of everyone in that venue, screams erupting from around them as everyone greeted the presence of what was possibly the tightest pants Yuzu could have found and manage to place on his body.

"Holy..."

Saya, by her side, was having the time of her life, laughing while entertained by everyone's reaction, especially Aria's.

"You know, they call them the Purple Pants of sin, I bet you can guess why."