Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

60. Hardships

Yuzuru froze completely as he heard Julia's voice. He couldn't possibly understand why the other girl cared but the most important detail was that he couldn't understand how she had gotten to know Aria's previous job.

Not that it mattered because he had no problems in having his parents know but there was something very weird about the way that the woman had resorted to calling him about it.

"I have nothing to say to you." he said right away and from the corner of his eye, Yuzuru could see how Aria's father was staring at him with intent, trying to gather what was going on.

It wasn't even hard to tell why when his girlfriend was right by his side, completely frozen and in shock. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she was feeling or what was going through her head.

Bringing her body close, he tried to reassure her with small touches on her waist, nothing too obvious for the cautious eyes watching them. Yuzuru was more than sure that her parents didn't know about her career.

"Maybe I should just go straight to Yumi-san, then... I still have her number from when we used to date."

"Go ahead." 

Aria's mouth went slightly agape and he could see how crazy she thought him to be. The thing was, he knew his mom and there wasn't much that the Canadian girl could do to bring distrust into his family.

At the very least, he succeeded in getting the girl on the other side of the line completely speechless.

"You think I won't do it?"

"I just told you to go ahead, how's that tell you that I don't think you'll do it?."

"You don't care?!"

He chuckled into the phone, shocking not only Julia but also his girlfriend, who was holding him with a vicious grip.

"It's not about caring, Julia. It's just that I have more important things to worry about instead of being threatened by you."

"And what does your little toy think about it?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Well, I'm sure she would love to know how her best friend decided that I should know."

Yuzuru looked at the woman by his side, confirming that she had listened to every single bit of the conversation and gave her a small, gentle smile in return. He hated to see her like that, vulnerable and afraid.

"No one's best friend would betray a person like that. It seems to me that some people need to find something to do for a living. You are all too jobless for your own good."

Now when that got a chuckle out of Aria, Yuzuru's worries lessened dramatically. He couldn't care less about these people, who seemed to want to separate them at all costs.

If anything, he just showed him that they had something worth it if others found the need to attempt and break them apart.

"What the hell do you mean with that?"

"Just make sure you don't contact me again, If this is what you need to do to get attention or even try anything, then it's probably for the best that I get some distance."

"Maybe I should go to the media instead."

"Don't overestimate your power, Julia. I've been in the spotlight for long enough. Don't you forget that maybe you can play with fire but you might get burned in the process."

As simple as that, Yuzuru was shutting the call, not even wishing to hear any more of that woman's voice.

Just as he did, the woman by his side placed her head on his shoulder, looking upwards to meet his eyes in silent agreement.

"What just happened?" her dad ended up asking, clearly concerned from the tone of voice alone.

It was easy to tell that Aria knew it well then. She had to tell them.

Just imagining the possibility of them finding out about her previous job through the media or a deranged woman was enough to make her stomach turn. Aria knew that she had to tell them herself but that didn't mean that she wanted to do it.

As he always seemed to be, Yuzuru was his salvation once again, squeezing her hand before replying to her dad with all the calm in the world, as if nothing had happened.

"Nothing we can't solve. I have a feeling that your daughter might want to admit to something to you but if you don't mind, I wanted to speak to her in private first."

Her parents either could see the tension in her body or trusted him enough to know better because just as fast as he was saying that, they looked at one another and nodded in silent agreement.

"Of course..." the man ended up saying. "You can go to Aria's room and speak there."

She was still in complete silence then, still a bit stunned to understand what was going on and her boyfriend's calm through it all. She could imagine how much of a chaos it would be if the media heard about it all. Then again, her boyfriend had told her multiple times before that he didn't care and that they could deal with everything as long as they were together.

"Thank you." he replied to her father with a small smile, trying to reassure the other man as much as he could, something that seemed almost impossible given the concern in his eyes. 

A father always knows.

One look at Aria and they too, reached a silent agreement to have a word in private. A single encouraging touch and they were moving, only for her father to stop them.

"Aria?"

"Yes, dad?"

"Whatever it is, you can tell us. You know that, right? We won't judge."

Yuzuru could see the tears forming in her eyes and the nod she gave her father was almost invisible.

One thing was certain, it was time to make some decisions.