Chapter 27: Frankness
Sendai had already seen several snowfalls in December, leaving a light accumulation of snow along the roadsides. In the early morning hours, a small white sedan cruised through the quiet streets. Driving cautiously, even though there were few pedestrians or other vehicles, the car slowed down and stopped at the zebra crossing, then activated its turn signal before slowly turning left.
The radio in the car was playing a morning music program. The host's energetic voice and the music could not soothe Ayuki Matsumoto's increasingly rapid heartbeat.
The day before yesterday, a message suddenly came out from the high school class group which had not been heard from for a long time.
Class monitor: Classmates, Mr. Takada has passed away. The all-night ceremony will be tomorrow night, and the farewell ceremony will be the day after tomorrow. Does anyone want to go with me to see him off?
The group chat erupted in excitement at the news. Some asked about the teacher's death, some lamented the impermanence of life, some raised their hands to sign up for the funeral, and some, like they'd just emerged from a cave, started asking who the person who was talking was. The group chat, which had only become lively because of the teacher's death, was filled with a certain sadness.
Matsumoto Ayuki no longer lives in Sendai. It would take four to five hours to drive to attend the funeral, which wasn't worth it. She might as well just pretend she didn't see it. Just as she was thinking this, a message popped up from the bottom of the group chat, quickly being pushed to the center by everyone else.
Yuzuru Hanyu: I'm going. Could you please give me a specific time and address, please? @Team Leader.
The car turned a few more corners and arrived at a temple. Matsumoto parked the car following the sign, flipped down the small mirror on the sun visor, adjusted her hair and makeup, and then lowered her head to check her black dress. Only after confirming that she was satisfied did she get out of the car with peace of mind.
The temple was already cold and solemn in the early morning, and the people entering were all dressed in black, with their heads down and not much conversation, making the atmosphere even more depressing. Following a few familiar-looking people, I soon arrived at the Takata family's farewell ceremony. Among the gathered young people, I saw that thin, tall figure.
Yuzuru Hanyu wore a tailored black suit, unlike some of his classmates who tucked their necks into coats and down jackets. He clutched his down jacket in his hand, standing tall and straight, seemingly unfazed by the sub-zero temperatures. The black wool scarf around his neck was perhaps a final gesture of respect for the Sendai winter.
He was talking to the students around him, and that made Ayuki feel like she was back in high school, seeing the boy standing in the hallway, laughing and talking with his classmates. He was her high school sweetheart, but because of a momentary blurt out of her youthful ignorance, all possibilities were completely destroyed.
In the autumn of 2015, Ayuki, dumped by her boyfriend, went to a yakitori restaurant with her bestie to drink and cry. The TV hanging in the restaurant was dimly lit, and NHK was replaying Yuzuru Hanyu's match. Watching the high-spirited young man on screen, seemingly unchanged from high school, Ayuki suddenly went on a drunken rampage.
"You said I used to have such high standards, how could I have fallen for that bastard in Hanoi?!" She pointed at the TV and said loudly,
"I, Ayuki, used to have my eye on Yuzuru Hanyu! If he hadn't gone abroad for training, we would have been together! And what about that bastard Hanoi?"
She had no recollection of her drunken outburst that day, but the story grew increasingly outrageous. She had initially assumed it was just a joke with friends, but soon the gossip spread like wildfire. She became the infamous "A-zi."
Feeling someone was looking at him, Hanyu turned around and saw Matsumoto Ayuki who was staring at him in a daze. After nodding politely, he quickly turned around and continued talking to the people around him. Ayuki didn't even have the chance to step forward and say hello.
Following the temple chief's instructions, everyone paid their respects and said their goodbyes before heading to the Takata family's rest area for a light meal. Hanyu Yuzuru had already begun saying goodbye to his classmates, fearing he might not get another chance if he didn't.
"Hanyu-kun, is it convenient for you? Can I have a word with you?" Ayuki ignored the jeers of her classmates and stepped forward to speak awkwardly. She didn't dare to look him in the eye and lowered her head slightly. She didn't see the flash of wariness in his eyes and the slightly furrowed brows.
Yuzuru Hanyu's good upbringing allowed him to control his expression before anyone noticed anything unusual.
"Sure, Matsumoto-san." He took two steps forward, a little further away from the crowd, but was obviously unwilling to go any further.
"Um...How's Hanyu-kun doing lately?"
"It's fine," Hanyu Yuzuru couldn't help but frown again. Was he going to say this specifically? "Is there something wrong, Matsumoto-san?"
"Ah, I wanted to apologize to Hanyu-kun...for the misunderstanding before..."
"That was a long time ago," he said, his voice becoming more official and calm as he changed his posture of slightly lowering his head to accommodate her. "Isn't that a problem for you? Let's not talk about it anymore."
"Compared to Hanyu-kun, I can be considered unaffected. I'm really sorry." She bowed deeply to express her belated apology.
This bow embarrassed Yuzuru Hanyu. He pursed his lips in displeasure, hesitating between being polite and rude. Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket to save him. He apologized, took out his phone, and saw the name on it. The solemn expression on his face relaxed a lot, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
"Girlfriend?" Ayuki accidentally asked out loud. She could clearly see the obvious wariness in Hanyu's eyes. This time, she saw that he really disliked her. She bowed slightly and said, "You answer the phone. I won't bother you anymore."
Seeing her walk away, Yuzuru Hanyu turned around and answered the phone, his voice gentle, "Are you up?"
The voice that answered the phone still had a sticky sound of someone who had just woken up, which made him smile. But then he remembered that he had not left the temple yet, so he quickly put away his smile, looked around, and quickened his pace to leave.
Le had recently officially begun rehearsals, so busy he was practically disappearing. Hanyu's reversing training schedule had also inadvertently widened the time difference, leaving them feeling like a couple in a love affair across hemispheres. So, every morning, before bed, they had a video chat, and if one of them needed to, they'd call instead. A few simple words became the greatest comfort.
However, today's call was too short. Looking at the call record of just three minutes that had been hung up, Yuzuru Hanyu sighed silently.
I originally wanted to complain to her about what happened today, but let’s talk about it tonight.
After hanging up the phone, Le quickly got up, washed, and went out without even bothering to put on makeup. She put on her coat, a mask, and a hat.
She's been incredibly busy lately. On the one hand, she's helping with sign-holder training, and on the other hand, she's choreographing a performance for the children. Even with her bee mask on, her throat is so sore she doesn't want to talk. On top of that, she can't postpone her work in the ballet studio, and she needs tutoring for several students about to take art exams. She feels like she needs to be split into two pieces.
Not only am I busy with work, but now I have to coax a boyfriend who whines all the time, and there is also the debuff of being in a different place. It's really too difficult.
Long-distance relationships are a strange thing. Those little things that could be resolved with a hug or a kiss can all turn into endless arguments. Le and Hanyu Yuzuru have known each other for almost 10 years, and in the last few months, they've been arguing more than ever, which is giving Le a real headache.
If this had been in the past, we would have broken up long ago.
But every time I see his innocent face in the video or hear his voice on the phone, I feel like it’s just a small quarrel, no big deal.
"Ah, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!"
The wind in Beijing is frighteningly strong in winter. Le sneezed several times at the subway entrance, pulling off his mask and wiping his nose. Luckily, Yuzuru Hanyu wasn't there, or else he'd be yelling "bo" and sneezing like her. In his haste to leave the house today, he'd forgotten his scarf, so he had to hunch his neck and tighten his collar as he ran to the gym.
--
"Takada-sensei's math classes used to be really interesting. And don't be fooled by his age; he used to throw chalk with incredible accuracy!" Yuzuru Hanyu said into the phone. Le finished work late today, arriving home after eleven. Looking exhausted, Le declined his video chat invitation, saying she needed to wash up. Instead, they chatted briefly on the phone.
The sound of a faucet and Le's vague answer came through the phone. Hanyu continued to recall his high school days and complained about his experience today.
"She apologized to me out of the blue, and I was so... embarrassed! Thank goodness you called."
Le placed his phone next to his pillow and slid under the covers. He leaned closer to his phone as Hanyu Yuzuru's voice drifted steadily from his pillow. Perhaps because he was too tired today, Le felt his head and eyelids feel heavy.
"What on earth did she want to tell me today? Just an apology? What was she doing earlier?"
"Um……"
"Hmm? Le, did you hear what I said?"
"Hmm..." softly with a nasal sound.
"You're not listening to me, are you?"
The only response to Hanyu was Raku's breathing, which was slightly heavier than usual.
This was the fifth time this week she'd fallen asleep mid-call. Even though she knew Le was incredibly busy and overwhelmed with work, the pent-up frustration of being stuck mid-sentence still took hold. So, when she didn't get a call from Le that morning, only a good morning message, Hanyu pursed her lips and fiercely typed "Good morning" on the screen before catching up on some sleep.
The phone's silence throughout the day contrasted more and more with his increasing irritability. His finger hesitated on the call interface, but ultimately he didn't dial.
Today was a day without even a good night. What on earth was she doing on Saturday?
The hospital's IV room wasn't crowded at dinnertime. A child, who had just finished crying after a skin test, burst into tears again when the nurse brought the needle, their shrill cries filling the room. Le, huddled in the corner, shrank even further. His fever was already causing him dizziness, and the cries only exacerbated it.
"Nurse, the drip is finished. Please come and remove the needle." Guan Yue adjusted the airspeed of the drip to the minimum and called the nurse. She reached out and touched Le's forehead. "I'm fine. The fever is gone. Let's go back. I'll ask Fang Li to drive over."
"Sorry to interrupt your date."
"What are you talking about? If I hadn't dragged you to the hospital, were you going to stay at home and wait for your fever to go down naturally?" She and her boyfriend had made an appointment to go out for dinner today. Before she left, she saw that Le had been locked in her room all day. When she knocked on the door and went in, she found out that she was sick and was curled up in the quilt waiting for the victory of the white blood cells.
Following Guan Yue's instructions, Fang Li drove very smoothly. Le leaned back in the back seat, watching the neon lights recede outside the window. Her reflection looked grim. The night outside the window made the small feather pendant on her chest sparkle.
"I'll send your roommate home later and let her have a good rest. Then I'll take you to eat something. You didn't eat tonight, did you?"
"No, no, I'm worried about her being home alone. I can just go home and order takeout."
The whispers of Fang Li and Guan Yue rang out from the front row. Le pulled out her phone, glanced at it, then put it back. She raised her hand and stroked the small feather on her chest, her thumb gently tracing the subtle lines on its back. That day, when she returned to the hotel and took off her necklace, she realized Yuzuru Hanyu's subtle design. His words were engraved on the back of the feather, no cheesy heart connecting their names; just his name, like a declaration.
Le had just finished taking his medicine and was about to lie down when Hanyu's video call came through. Without a second thought, he hung up and tried to call back with his voice, but the other party stubbornly sent another video call. He hung up, and the ringtone rang again.
Yuzu: I know everything about your illness. [Image]
The photo sent to her shows Le in the hospital receiving an IV drip. She looks listless, huddled in a thick black down jacket, wearing a mask, her head tilted to one side against the back of a chair, seemingly dozing with her eyes closed. It's obvious that this photo was taken by Guan Yue; she's completely oblivious to the fact that her best friend had already been bribed by Hanyu.
The video call invitation ringtone rang again, and this time Le chose to answer it.
Before the video was connected, Yuzuru Hanyu thought that the photo of Le was already the most heartbreaking picture, but when her unwell face appeared in the video, his chest was instantly filled with sourness, and he could only try to suppress it by taking a deep breath.
Le, wrapped in a thick nightgown, half-leaned on the headboard, forcing a smile at the camera. Before he could speak, the forced smile faded from her tired face, and she pursed her lips, tears streaming down her face.
"Ah... That's why we shouldn't video chat." Le wiped away a tear. "I really can't see Yuzuru at a time like this. I can't help but want to cry if I see him."
"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Yuzuru Hanyu frowned and asked softly.
Le closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Because I missed you so much."
Those three words hit Yuzuru Hanyu hard in the heart. He put the phone away, looked up, and fought back tears before looking back at the screen with a smile. "Well, I miss you too, so I'll go to Beijing to see you soon."
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