Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

57. Time to know them

Returning to Toronto and back to her life felt almost saddening.

The small vacation to Helsinki had turned out better than she could have ever expected and Aria had to admit that she wanted to stay there for longer.

It wasn't necessarily for the city, which was beautiful in its own right but rather because the experience allowed for some time to get to know how life with Yuzu would truly be. Even with all the cameras and the glam.

Getting back to Toronto meant being a responsible adult again and facing what life truly was.

Truthfully, it was only a matter of getting used to all of it again and in a way, building her life by his side.

It wasn't that bad once they got their routines in check. Yuzu would often stay in her condo at night and leave in the early morning for his practice.

Even his mom stayed more time in Japan than usual, given that she wasn't as needed anymore.

When it came the time of her graduation, he had been there despite the fears of being recognized. Armed with a bouquet of flowers, Yuzuru was by her side as she celebrated the end of this journey.

His support during those last few weeks of delivering her thesis and presentation had been completely crucial to her success.

That was just how they were, supporting one another in each other's endeavors.

With that in mind, it took him exactly 2 weeks until he convinced her to go to Japan with him for the summer shows that he always did, enjoying the fact that she had just graduated and accepted a job in a lab in Toronto as an excuse to have a little last vacation before starting her full-time work life.

It wasn't that hard when it allowed her to see her parents for the first time in a very long time.

And no, they still had no idea about her relationship with Yuzuru and she was truly wondering how it would all go if she really planned on surprising them.

Telling her fears to the man she loved was nerve-wracking and admitting that her father would probably give him a hard time was yet another thing that wasn't particularly easy to admit.

"We will be fine. I have to meet your parents eventually. Might as well enjoy the opportunity of being in Japan to get it all done."

Sure, Yuzuru's confidence was nice but she was still very afraid of the possible reaction.

This was a big year for her boyfriend, with preparations for the Olympics of the next year starting very soon. Thinking that this could mess with his head in any way was completely out of the question for her but Yuzu was having none of it. He was keen on meeting her parents and making this a reality.

So that's exactly how they found themselves traveling to Japan 2 weeks before he had the shows.

Aria's plan to just surprise her parents with both her presence and Yuzuru was probably not the best idea but it was way too late to back down now that they were on route.

The trip would also be an opportunity to meet the famous Hidetoshi Hanyu, aka, Yuzuru's father, who was rumored to be very strict and serious. When it came to that particular thing, Aria wasn't at all nervous after exchanging a few texts with Saya, who dutifully told her that those rumors were oddly exaggerated and that there was a reason why both Hanyu siblings were so nice.

Yuzuru hired a driver to take them to Aria's parents' house and even with her strong opinions about the fact, he didn't budge a single bit on this. 

It was with no surprise that as soon as the driver parked on the driveway, she saw her father sneak a peek at the window.

You could never take the man off the military.

Leaving the fancy car, she waved to the figure behind the curtain and saw each reaction unfolding. From shock to complete joy, it took just a few seconds until the front door opened and two strong arms held her tightly.

"Aria!!"

"Hey papa!"

The embrace he gave her was as tight as she expected given just how long they hadn't seen one another in person. It was very clear that he missed his little girl and wasn't planning on hiding it.

"You could have told us! Your mom will freak out!"

"I wanted to surprise you. It's been a while. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Grocery shopping. She will probably be back very soon. I need to get everything ready, change your bedsheets and everything! God! I can't believe you're here."

It was inevitable to have a smile reaching from ear to ear. Looking at that dad in that moment, you could barely realize that he was the biggest military dude you could meet.

Well, she figured all of that would change when he saw that she wasn't alone.

Yuzuru gave them a few minutes to catch up before even risking getting out of the car. Her dad, even if extremely excited about her presence, couldn't help but eye the vehicle still parked in his driveway.

"That's a fancy car, doesn't look like a taxi or Uber." he muttered, trying to dig out some information out of his daughter.

"Well, that's because it isn't." she started, not really sure how to say those next words. "So maybe this is a good time to tell you that I didn't come alone?"

As soon as those words left her, his gaze never left the vehicle ever again.

Her boyfriend, as smart as he was, took that as a cue to finally leave the car with an expression that she could only compare to his pre-competition look.

"Who's that?"

With that, she just chose to utter those crazily dangerous words.

"Huh... That's my boyfriend."