Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

61. Admissions

It was very easy to tell that the conversation that was about to follow wouldn't be nice by any means.

Just as soon as they reached her room, Yuzuru closed the door behind him and didn't allow a single word from her before hugging her tight.

"I'm worried about you." he said right away.

"About me? she's threatening you, your career, your family's connections..."

"Stop right there, Aria."

He was now even more serious than she had ever seen him, seemingly considering his words very carefully before saying anything he could possibly regret. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her even further.

"I know this is bad, you don't have to measure your words."

"She won't do anything."

"You can't be sure."

"What if she goes to my mom? I don't care."

"Don't lie."

"It may sound a bit crazy, but I know my parents. They won't just disown me because I fell in love. It doesn't matter who you used to be."

"What about the media?"

"Let me be the one worrying about that."

Aria was quick to gesture no with her head. She couldn't just let him pretend like this wasn't a problem for her too.

"Don't dare and do that too. You said it before, we're in this together."

Maybe this was the first time that Yuzuru realized that even if this was a burden, she wanted to have a say in things, Aria wanted to be a part of his life, both in the good and bad things.

Something in her made him kiss her at that moment, smiling from ear to ear, almost ignoring the tension that was still hanging in the atmosphere.

"Okay, you're right."

"So what about the media? Is there a plan?"

"Honestly? No. But I don't think she will go that far when it can backfire for her too. She did date me..."

"Crazy woman allowed you to go and is now trying to ruin your happiness."

"It's just how life is, huh? People will always try and break the good things."

Given those words, Aria could only smile. Way too happy about this when so much was still on her head and so many things to solve.

"Now seriously..." she eventually said, ignoring how good his arms felt around her and how much she just wished to kiss him senseless instead of talking about the pending serious topics. "I think you know what I'm thinking about."

"You want to tell your parents."

"I do... but I'm so afraid."

"You know what your dad said... I think he's genuinely worried and sometimes it's best to tell the truth instead of waiting for things to crash."

"I agree. Doesn't make it any easier. I don't know how to tell them."

"That's why I wanted to drag you out of there and consider the best approach before anything. More than that, I could see how nervous you were."

Aria soon found herself in his arms again, being squeezed tight against his embrace. It would be so easy to just ignore every single problem and just stay there forever.

"How mad do you think they'll be?"

"I don't even know if they'll be mad. Shocked is probably the better word."

"Well, once the shock wears off, something will have to happen."

"Whatever it is, I will be by your side."

Somehow, the mere reassurance that he would be there for her seemed to give her just a bit more courage to go through it all. So just a few moments later, after enjoying his embrace for longer than it should be allowed, she finally took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright."

"Ready?"

"No," she said with a chuckle. "But it isn't as if I will get any less nervous with time so it's probably best to just go for it."

One last kiss on her forehead and they were leaving the room without a single gameplan in their mind.
Whatever was about to happen, the truth was that no amount of planning could make it any easier.

As soon as they reached the living room again, Aria saw her parents talking with each other in a concerned way. There was no denying that like she and Yuzuru, they had been talking about what was about to happen.

The big difference was that Aria and Yuzuru knew what this was about while her parents were completely in the dark.

"Aria... We're very worried. Is anything wrong? Are you in trouble?"

Yuzuru cleared his throat and whispered in her ear. "If you want to, I can leave you alone with them... I don't want this to be uncomfortable."

"I... I want you to stay..."

Aria sat on the couch in fear of losing her footing as she told her parents about her previous career. This was one thing she never expected to do in her life. A part of her that she wasn't embarrassed about but it wasn't as if she was proud of herself either.

"I'm right here for you." He whispered again and watched her in silence as her ever-changing features told the story of her overthinking thoughts.

When she finally started, her parents' attention was completely on her.

"What I am about to tell you isn't something that I'm proud of but it allowed me to live the life I have now and become the woman I am today."

They could only listen with intent as she slowly explained why she was afraid and how this could make them hate her forever.

Her mother seemed to understand her need for reassurance.

"You're our daughter, Aria. Whatever you might have done is something easily fixed.

So that's exactly when she decided to say it out loud for them to listen.

"In Canada... I was an escort."