Chapter 11 What Dream?
The sun shone on his face, and Yuzuru Hanyu frowned before opening his eyes. Leaning against the car window, he saw a picturesque azure sky, tangible white clouds, and vibrant green grass dotted with flowers. The bright scenery and the occasional road signs receded. It was exactly like his memory of a Finnish summer.
Finland?! Where is this?!
He sat up suddenly and hit his head on the window frame.
"It hurts—" Yuzuru Hanyu cried out in pain, and heard laughter from the side. Turning around, he saw Le sitting next to him, covering his mouth and laughing at his recklessness.
"Le! Why are you here?"
"Where else would I be? Did you get confused from sleep?" Le smiled and reached out to flick his forehead. "We'll be arriving in Hämeenlinna soon. You'd better not sleep anymore, or you'll get bumped again."
Hämeenlinna? Isn't that where I went on summer vacation with Suginohara Raku's family in the summer of 2016?
Was this a dream, or was something magical happening?
Before I could figure it out and came to my senses, the scene in front of me had changed.
The temperature around him suddenly rose, and Yuzuru Hanyu found that he was no longer sitting in a car, but in a sauna filled with the smell of logs.
He sat on the top of the three steps, a towel wrapped around his waist. Beside him, Marrku-san, gripped the handle of a long ladle and poured another spoonful of water onto the already blazing black stones in the corner. With a hiss, a surge of hot air and steam rose. Yuzuru Hanyu frowned and held his breath to withstand the oncoming heat wave.
After heating up the sauna, Marrku sat back in his original position, resting his hands on the backrest with satisfaction, looking relaxed. However, Yuzuru Hanyu awkwardly tightened the towel around his waist and moved to the corner inconspicuously.
Saunas are a favorite activity of Tsuzuki, and he always enthusiastically recommends them to Yuzuru Hanyu and his family. However, being with a foreigner was a bit awkward, especially since he was so relaxed he didn't even bring a towel! Aren't Finns known for being socially anxious and shy? Why do they act differently in a sauna? This question once again surfaced in Hanyu's mind.
again?
Have I thought about this before?
Yuzuru Hanyu's little head was confused when Marrku-san beside him suddenly spoke.
"Yuzuru, is this your first time experiencing a genuine Finnish sauna?" The English with a strong Finnish flavor and the distinctive pronunciation made it easy for Yuzuru Hanyu to understand.
"Yeah," he replied obediently. But aside from the slightly higher temperature, there seemed to be no significant difference, except for the stronger woody aroma inside the sauna. Yuzuru Hanyu was a sweaty man, sweating profusely, his hair sticking to his head with damp hair. He didn't understand why he needed a sauna in the summer.
"So, can you swim?"
"Yes, I will." He was being well-behaved again. Yuzuru Hanyu usually looks especially well-behaved when he speaks English.
"Then I'll let you experience a real Finnish sauna." Marrku winked at him with a mysterious look on his face.
Yuzuru Hanyu's mind was flooded with negative memories, but it was too late to refuse. Marrku grabbed his arm, pushed open the wooden door of the sauna, and ran into the dim night. He ran barefoot along the lakeside pier, the wind whipping past his ears, his body still steaming from the heat. In his panic, he didn't have time to grab the towel, and was pulled into the lake with a plop.
He wasn't a good swimmer, and for a moment he panicked. Luckily, Marrku-san quickly grabbed his arm and calmed him down. He landed on the lake's bottom, where the water wasn't deep enough for him to get out to his neck. The feeling of surviving a catastrophe... Yuzuru Hanyu shook his head like a puppy, shaking the water from his ears. He heard unbridled laughter coming from the nearby open-air bonfire area.
Taking advantage of the darkness and the absence of others, Yuzuru Hanyu quietly climbed out of the lake and wrapped himself in a towel from the pier. He squinted at Le, who was preparing to barbecue in the bonfire area. The dancing flames cast a shadow on her figure. She lowered her head, and the shadow revealed her slender neck.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to see more clearly. When I opened them, I was greeted by a new scene.
The empty room was surrounded by thick, smooth stone walls. Although there was nothing in the room, an area was enclosed by thick red welcome ropes.
"I told you there's nothing interesting in Haimen Castle." Le's voice echoed beside him. "Look at this empty room. What's there to see? The room next to it only has some ugly, plain spoons and other things. So if you want to visit a museum, you should go to Greece or China."
"You really like China~" Yuzuru Hanyu sighed. He always heard her mention that she liked Chinese culture, and he always saw her studying Chinese seriously.
"Yes, I've told you many times that the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics really opened my eyes. Although I haven't had the chance to go, my teacher showed me the artifacts she took photos of at the museum. Each one was so exquisite."
Le said, grabbing Hanyu's wrist and pulling him to the window.
"The best thing about our place is still the natural scenery, look~"
Following her direction, I peered through the thick stone wall. The shimmering azure lake and the pale blue sky intertwined in the distance, with clouds of all shapes and sizes floating in the sky and on the lake. The thick window frame seemed like a picture frame, freezing the scene into a beautiful painting.
Snap——
It's the sound of the camera.
"Look, this photo is great! It has the distant scenery, your profile, and the light and dark. How wonderful!" She proudly showed him her latest candid shot. It was indeed beautiful, and Yuzuru Hanyu nodded in agreement.
"Well, now that I've taken such beautiful photos of you, let's not go on a picnic, okay?"
Le looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes. Hanyu Yuzuru looked down at the lunch box in his hand. It was the sandwiches Aunt Feng had packed for them. He seemed to remember something.
On the empty lawn, a flock of pigeons were attracted by the sandwiches, and Le was scared and screamed and ran away.
Why do these images come to mind?
not understand……
But he still raised his hand, patted Le's head, and said, "Are you afraid of birds? It's okay, I will help you drive them away!" After he said that, he patted his chest.
"How do you know I'm afraid of birds?" Le looked at him in surprise.
"Lord Qingming predicted it!" He solemnly made a seal with his right hand in front of his chest, "You don't have to feel inferior. After all, everyone has weaknesses~" He patted Le's shoulder earnestly.
"Yeah, just like some people can't even ride a children's bike properly," she retorted with a pout.
"So you can skate?" Yuzuru Hanyu was unconvinced.
"Then my skating is better than your cycling. At least I know how to stop! And I can stop very handsomely~" Le said proudly and ran out of the room.
Yuzuru Hanyu followed him out, but outside the room was not the museum exhibition area as the sign said, but an empty dance studio.
The classroom was lit only by a single overhead light, shining directly into the mirror covering the entire wall. Standing in the doorway, Yuzuru Hanyu was completely obscured by darkness, and Le, who was diligently practicing, didn't notice him at all. There wasn't even any music playing in the classroom, only the occasional breathless count of beats. Over and over, "Five, six, seven," the clacking of his pointe shoes on the floor echoed throughout the empty room.
Suddenly, the upper of her pointe shoe slipped, and Le Jie fell hard to the ground. Hanyu Yuzuru wanted to rush over to help her up, but found himself unable to move. He could only watch her sit on the ground for a long time. Then he rubbed the pain from the fall, stood up, walked to the corner of the classroom, dragged over a paper cover the size of a shoebox lid, and rolled the upper of his pointe shoe against it with the instep of his foot.
The smell of pine fragrance spread throughout the classroom.
She returned to the mirror and practiced again, again and again. Spinning techniques, jumping techniques. If she fell, she'd repeat the process, sitting alone in the dimly lit dance studio for a moment, then checking her shoes and standing up again.
After an unknown amount of time, she finally relaxed and took off her pointe shoes, revealing her feet covered in blisters and redness. She took a deep breath, put on a few Band-Aids, packed up her things, and left the classroom.
Yuzuru Hanyu stood in the dark, tears streaming down his face onto the floor mat, plop, plop...
The moment he was unable to move, he realized that he was in a dream.
But even in his dreams, he still vividly observed Le's entire solo practice. It was as if he saw himself practicing alone on the ice rink, stubbornly practicing, constantly falling and getting up again. Despite sharing the same stubbornness and similar experiences, he didn't understand her and said those words.
Watching Le leave, Yuzuru Hanyu suddenly decided that he would apologize to Le, even if it was in a dream. He desperately struggled to break free from the invisible force that bound him and ran out the door.
Outside the door it was no longer the bright Finnish summer day, but a white winter night.
Unlike the summer night sky, the winter sky is truly pitch black, without a hint of blue. Only the shining stars and the moon can point you to the sky. The thick snow everywhere is exactly the same as the Canadian winter. The warm orange street lights cast on the snow add a touch of warmth to the world.
He panted and looked around for Le.
This should still be Finland, and there should still be joy in his dreams.
Soon, he found her under an LED outdoor light.
Le was dressed warmly, in a thick dark purple down jacket, a furry beige hat, scarf, and gloves, and was moving cautiously on a pair of white ice skates on the outdoor ice rink.
With her arms slightly outstretched, she tried to maintain her balance on the ice like a little penguin, carefully using the blades of her skates to push herself forward. But she still couldn't seem to get the hang of it, and she wouldn't stop. Finally reaching the pillar at the edge of the rink, she quickly hugged it and turned her head to check the distance she had made.
This turn of her head caused her to lose her balance, and even holding onto the pillar couldn't stop her feet from slipping, and she sat down on the ice. But she didn't get angry, instead she looked up at the sky and laughed.
Yuzuru Hanyu looked at himself. He didn't have his skates, but he thought he could still teach Le. Thinking this, he stepped onto the ice and headed towards Le. Suddenly, a tall figure glided past, getting there first and stopping precisely in front of Le to help her up. The figure was wearing thick tracksuits, but the round ice skates on their feet were instantly recognizable to Yuzuru Hanyu as ice hockey skates.
The man was clearly speaking Finnish, but Yuzuru Hanyu actually understood it.
"You'll get hurt if you do this. Doesn't your school teach ice skating in its winter sports class?" the man said.
"I didn't take physical education classes at school because the teacher told me to avoid getting injured. I just sneaked out to play~" Le replied with a smile.
"Then it's even more dangerous for you. How about I teach you?" The man put the club in his hand aside, took off his thick gloves, held Le's hands with both hands, and while telling her how to control her center of gravity, he led her to slide forward slowly.
"Hey, hey, hey! Let her go!" Yuzuru Hanyu rushed over angrily and broke the hands of the two people holding each other, "I'll teach you the music!"
"Do you know him?" the tall blond and blue-eyed man asked Le.
Le glanced at Yuzuru Hanyu, and the smile on her face gradually faded, and the brightness in her eyes was gradually replaced by disappointment and indifference. She looked at Yuzuru Hanyu, turned around and took the blond man's hand.
"I don't know him."
Boom——
Yuzuru Hanyu reached out to grab Le who was slipping away in front of him, but he rolled over and fell under the bed.
"It hurts—" He rubbed his head and sat up, looking around. It was definitely his room in Sendai. This shouldn't be a dream anymore.
Yuzuru Hanyu sat on the floor, lost in thought, and began to recall his dream. Scene after scene, it intertwined with past memories, yet also contained some scenes he had never seen before. Which of these were real?
Wait...is this some kind of prophetic dream?
Who is that guy playing ice hockey? ! ! ! !
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