Chapter 41 - Overturning this bowl of dog food
A light blanket of snow had covered Sendai overnight, and in the morning, while the sun was still shining, Le and Grandpa carried snow brooms and swept the path in the yard and at the entrance where Grandma often walked. Unexpectedly, it started snowing again at noon, and the flakes were larger than at night.
"I'll go clean up later," Grandpa Zongsuke said, picking up the bowl of miso soup and sipping it. "Xiao Le, you don't have to go. Are you going out again later?"
"Yeah." Le Xiaokou nodded while eating rice.
"You've been here for more than a week. Every day you run away after lunch and come back at night. What are you so busy about? Aren't you supposed to come back to accompany us two old people?" Huizi's grandmother pretended to be angry and listed Le's crimes of not being seen often recently.
Before her grandmother finished her nagging, Le quickly finished her bowl of rice. She imitated Yuzuru Hanyu's usual pleading behavior, lowering her head, clapping her hands together in front of her forehead, squinting her eyes and smiling like a spoiled kitten. She returned her empty bowl and chopsticks to the sink, then immediately grabbed her bag and left, fearing that her grandmother would actually ask her to stay home after her nagging.
"I don't know what kind of drug that kid from the Hanyu family gave you to make you follow him like this."
Le heard what his grandmother said when he was putting on his shoes at the entrance. He knew that his grandmother was just joking, so he shrank his neck, stuck out his tongue, turned around and shouted "I'm going out" and ran away.
The snow was still falling outside, but there was plenty of heating in Grandpa Kikuchi's chiropractic clinic.
"Yuta, your mother is here to pick you up." Morimoto Kosuke said to the little kid who was sitting on the bed in the clinic reading a comic book, "Hey, don't jump down, your ankle is just out of place!" As he said that, he quickly went over and grabbed Yuta's armpit and put him steadily on the ground.
"Thank you, Uncle Morimoto. I'm leaving now." Yuta waved to him.
"Why call me uncle? I've told you so many times to call me brother!" Morimoto Kosuke waved his fist as if he was going to hit him.
After placing the appointment-required sign prominently at the entrance, Xiaojie glanced up at the wall clock. It was 2 p.m., and practice at the rink hadn't started yet. No more injured kids would be arriving for the time being. Yuta was the last patient scheduled for the day, aside from the one who was due in later. He went to the pantry to pour himself a cup of coffee and brought it back to the clinic.
The aroma of coffee was particularly noticeable in the medical-filled clinic, but Xiaojie clearly didn't mind. He sat at his desk, flipping through a medical record book, comparing the records back to front while sipping his coffee.
The door was pushed open, and Morimoto Kosuke looked out, but the patient who came was not the one he was waiting for.
"Good afternoon, teacher." Morimoto Kosuke put down the coffee in his hand, stood up and greeted seriously.
"Good afternoon, is Yuzuru here?" Grandpa Kikuchi asked as he brushed off the snowflakes on his body and took off his coat and hung it on the coat hook.
"Not yet, teacher." He sat down again and continued to look at the notebook in his hand. "His ankle condition has been obviously getting better recently. There's actually no need for you to come all the way here on such a snowy day. I can handle it myself."
Grandpa Kikuchi didn't answer, but walked in and patted Morimoto Kosuke on the shoulder with a smile. The strength from his shoulder was full of reliance and trust. Morimoto Kosuke knew very well that his respected teacher didn't distrust his skills, but was simply worried about the boy.
"But it's true. Yuzuru would be more cooperative if the teacher was here."
"Hahaha, that doesn't require me. Yuzuru will definitely cooperate with the treatment now."
Xiaojie shrugged. He was just trying to find an excuse for the teacher, but the teacher didn't need it.
"Indeed, I was very surprised that he has been so cooperative with the treatment recently. I thought he would try his best to increase the intensity of rehabilitation in order to compete in the World Championships, and even asked to go on the ice early." He was ready to go to the ice rink to catch Hanyu training secretly, but he didn't expect that there was no need at all.
The master and the disciple were chatting when the door was pushed open again.
"Excuse me."
"Excuse me."
Two voices, one male and one female, sounded one after another.
Le took off his hat, brushed off the snow, and took the hat off Yuzuru Hanyu's head. He shook his head vigorously, trying to get his hair back into place, but it seemed to have little effect. Le hung up his hat and turned back, casually helping him to smooth out his bangs that were blocking his eyes.
"Please, he twisted his foot, not his hand. Can't he fix it himself?" Xiaojie threw down the medical record book in his hand, got up and went to tidy up the rehabilitation room while complaining.
"I'm still on crutches."
Yuzuru Hanyu followed Kosuke into the rehabilitation room on crutches. As soon as they entered, Morimoto Kosuke snatched away both crutches. Hanyu remained unfazed by the sudden attack and stood firmly.
Morimoto Kosuke tilted his head and said nothing, but the words "Find another excuse" were clearly written on his face.
The mocking expression on his face made Yuzuru Hanyu feel a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and decided to put the matter behind him by entering rehabilitation mode. So he neatly took off his coat, draped it on a nearby chair, and expertly began his rehabilitation process.
This rehabilitation routine was taught to Morimoto Kosuke by Kikuchi-sensei when he joined the orthopedic clinic over three years ago. From the rehabilitation sequence to the movements, the combination was completely new to him, yet it had a remarkable effect on the maintenance of injured tissue and the activation of muscle capacity. News reports had mentioned that Yuzuru Hanyu's rehabilitation and warm-up routines were entirely his own creation, a fact that impressed Kosuke immensely. This was the essence of the Olympic double champion! That's what he thought at the time.
"This rehabilitation program wouldn't have been as complete without Xiaole's help." The teacher's words made him curious about who this Xiaole was.
Until a few months ago, he saw a girl on the screen of Yuzuru Hanyu's new phone.
It was already late that night, and he was wearing headphones while talking to the girl in the video. His tone was soft and gentle, perhaps because he didn't want to disturb the girl's sleepiness. Even though Xiaojie pressed hard on the bruise on his leg, he tried his best to maintain his tone of voice.
"Ouch, it hurts so much!" He suddenly shouted, scaring Xiaojie.
I leaned over to look at his screen only to find it was black.
"You were so strong in the video call just now? Bear with it." As he said this, he increased the strength of his hands, causing Yuzuru Hanyu, who was lying on the bed, to scream.
After the treatment, he handed Hanyu Yuzuru a glass of water.
"Was that your girlfriend just now?"
"Um."
"Wow~ Can I know this?"
"Xiaojie, this isn't a secret anymore. Anyway, if any news leaks out in the future, it will definitely come from you." Yuzuru Hanyu held the cup, the rim against his lips, and smiled innocently. But that smile clearly said, "If you dare to tell anyone, I will kill you."
"Has your girlfriend ever seen you acting like a sadist?" Xiao Jie was obviously not threatened by him, but instead teased him.
"She... probably has seen everything." He bit the edge of the paper cup, looked up at the ceiling and thought for an answer.
"Then why were you pretending to be calm just now?"
"How can she sleep if I scream? It's no wonder you can't find a girlfriend since you are so inconsiderate." Yuzuru Hanyu rolled his eyes at him.
Since then, Hanyu Yuzuru has been bragging about his girlfriend here even more without any scruples. Every time, he would have a round of arguments with Xiaojie, and then walk out with a triumphant laugh.
"Look, this opening ceremony is amazing! My girlfriend is in the director team!" When Yuzuru Hanyu came to make the last adjustment before departure, he held up his mobile phone to show Morimoto Kosuke the video of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"Yes, yes, your girlfriend is the best. If you have a chance, can you bring her back so I can meet her in person?"
"I don't know when she can return to Japan." That was the only time that Yuzuru Hanyu's arrogance faded after he showed off his girlfriend.
But isn't his girlfriend back now? She even accompanies him to rehab every day. As Morimoto Kosuke assisted Hanyu with his rehab, he somehow recalled his past remarks about consideration and suddenly felt unconvinced.
"Didn't you say you were considerate?"
"Huh?" Yuzuru Hanyu turned his head in surprise at this inexplicable question. "What are you talking about?"
"I say, didn't you say before that you were very considerate of your girlfriend? This time, she has to accompany you to rehabilitation every day. It's snowing so heavily, if it were me, I wouldn't be willing to let my girlfriend come." Morimoto Kosuke raised his eyebrows, as if to provoke.
After hearing what he said, Yuzuru Hanyu immediately stopped what he was doing, sat cross-legged on the yoga mat, crossed his arms in front of his chest with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"What nonsense are you talking about? First of all, we drove here, so we weren't getting wet in the snow the whole time. Besides, this is what we agreed on. I'll come to rehab when you're not busy this afternoon, and then I'll accompany her to the dance studio."
"Dance studio? Your girlfriend is a dancer?" Xiaojie said, suddenly knocking his left palm with a fist. He looked as if he had suddenly realized something. "Ah! No wonder the teacher said she was involved in this rehabilitation process! She also knows about sports rehabilitation, right? Oh~ No wonder when I showed her your medical records, I asked her if there was anything she didn't understand, and she said no."
Xiaojie touched his chin and muttered to himself, but Yuzuru Hanyu still caught the key point.
"Did you show her my medical records?"
"Yes, just a few days ago, she asked me to see your medical records from the past few years, so I gave her all your medical records that I had. Your girlfriend is really amazing. She really knows everything about sports rehabilitation!"
In the past, Yuzuru Hanyu would have raised his chin proudly and looked at Morimoto Kosuke through his nose. But today, he didn't. He lowered his head, as if thinking about something. Suddenly, he smiled and shook his head.
"why are you laughing?"
"What's wrong with laughing at your girlfriend for being so outstanding?" He returned to his rehabilitation posture and turned back to urge, "What are you standing there for? After rehab, I have to considerately accompany my girlfriend to the dance studio! This is a big deal related to her job application, and we can't delay it."
Outside the rehabilitation room, Le held the tea handed to him by Grandpa Kikuchi and chatted with him.
"Yuzuru's calm cooperation with rehabilitation this time is truly a credit to you, Xiaole!" Grandpa Kikuchi sighed, watching Hanyu's diligent rehabilitation through the glass window of the rehabilitation room. While his foot injury was painful, it wasn't his most serious injury in years, but his recovery speed was certainly among the best.
"If I really had this effect, I wouldn't have argued with him so much before Pyeongchang."
What Le said is true.
After his injury at the end of 2017, Yuzuru Hanyu was unusually restless. A childhood dream, so close to fulfillment, had suffered such a setback; it was difficult for anyone to accept it calmly, especially since his rehabilitation hadn't been meeting his expectations. As the deadline his coach had given him to return to the ice and jump again drew closer, Hanyu's impatience and anxiety grew.
"I'm full." Yuzuru Hanyu pushed the plate away from him, sat cross-legged, and began to watch his old jump videos again, replaying the feeling in his mind. However, every time he tried to mobilize and tighten his muscles, the sluggish reaction clearly indicated that his muscles were degenerating, which made him sigh in frustration.
Grandpa Kikuchi sighed silently as he looked at the barely eaten meal in front of him. The next day, however, Le brought some homemade dumplings for lunch. Worried they might get cold, he took them to the nurses' station to microwave before going to see Yuzuru Hanyu.
"Xiao Le, didn't you say that it's the Christmas performance season and you're very busy with rehearsals? Do you still have time to make dumplings?" Grandpa Kikuchi asked in surprise at the nurses' station that day.
"Fortunately, it's not that troublesome. He eats so little now, he will definitely lose muscle. It's easy to regain muscle memory, but it's not easy to grow muscle again. We can't let him be so willful." Le said.
But her patience had reached its limit. Preparing the ingredients and making dumplings for a picky eater wasn't easy. The busy performance season had already left her feeling restless, and getting up early to cook only made her grumpy even more so. Seeing Yuzuru Hanyu picking at the dumplings in the lunch box with the tips of his chopsticks, poking and picking at them, she felt a little irritated.
"Don't you have any grapefruit vinegar? Can we eat dumplings without grapefruit vinegar?"
"If you can't eat it, don't eat it." Le said, turned around, slammed the door, and walked out. The door slammed, leaving Yuzuru Hanyu standing there in a daze, holding his chopsticks.
I should have taken the dumplings with me. Le scratched his head, feeling a bit frustrated after closing the door. But going back in seemed like a waste of the momentum he'd just slammed the door. And how could he possibly let go of this anger? He stopped the nurse pushing the food cart with the reserved meal and took the lunch with Yuzuru Hanyu's name on it, canceling his dinner reservation.
"Hahahaha—Xiao Le, you're quite the vindictive person. You still remember this incident so clearly?" Grandpa Kikuchi laughed and slapped his thigh after hearing Le's recollection. "Now that you mention it, it does remind me that Yuzuru wasn't even brought in for dinner that day, and he even went to the nurse's station to ask about it."
The door to the rehabilitation room was open, and the two men's conversation was faintly audible. Hanyu, always proud of his good hearing, naturally listened closely, his ears perked up. The agonizing memories of the past assaulted him, and he curled his lips.
Not only Le didn't forget what happened that day, he certainly didn't forget it either.
Le suddenly slammed the door and walked out, realizing he'd gone too far. After all, Le had looked sleep-deprived when he arrived. Even though Hanyu rarely used public transportation in Tokyo, he'd heard about the hassles involved in getting from the dance troupe's dormitories to the hospital and then to the theater. Guilt-fueled, he diligently finished his dumplings, washed the lunch box, and took a photo to send to Le.
Read but not replied.
That day he not only lost Le's reply, but also lost his dinner.
In hunger, his tossing and turning gradually changed from wondering if Le would come tomorrow to, if she came, would she bring dumplings?
Fortunately, Le came the next day. Under his expectant eyes, he took out two sandwiches from his bag.
"I didn't make this just for you. This is my own lunch and dinner. If you really want to eat it, I can share some with you."
Seeing the distinct red color in the sandwich and recalling yesterday's canceled dinner, Yuzuru Hanyu instinctively felt this was the red pepper's revenge. It was more important to let Le cool down first. He swallowed hard and took the sandwich from Le. The moment he bit into it, the tomato juices dripped onto his chest and stained his clothes. He looked at Le in shock.
"Don't think everyone is as stingy as you."
Immersed in his own memories, Yuzuru Hanyu was no longer paying attention to the conversation outside the door, and was unaware that the two people outside had changed the subject.
"However, although Yuzuru has recovered well this time, I think it's best for him not to go to the World Championships." Grandpa Kikuchi said seriously, "Based on Yuzuru's personality, he will definitely choose to compete after recovering to this extent. Xiaole, do you want to persuade him?"
"Don't worry about this, Grandpa Kikuchi. His withdrawal notice was sent to JSF last night. I think the official announcement will be made today or tomorrow."
This answer really surprised Grandpa Kikuchi. Seeing that he didn't understand, Le smiled and continued to explain.
"We've talked about it. Besides recovering physically, he also needs some time to sort himself out mentally."
That day, they sat face to face on the sofa, having a serious yet calm conversation about their future plans. She shared her decision to return to Japan for career development, and he confessed his exhaustion.
"I really don't want to see him alone in the K&C area, feeling lonely and forbearing. Stopping isn't a bad thing. I'm really happy that he's willing to do so. Coincidentally, I'm back this time and can be with him again, just like before Pyeongchang."
At the entrance to the rehabilitation room, Yuzuru Hanyu, fresh from his workout, wiped his sweat. He heard Le's final words clearly and completely, lowered his head and smiled faintly, then turned back to raise an eyebrow at Kosuke. Morimoto Kosuke gave him a blunt eyeroll, but Hanyu, in high spirits, didn't take it seriously and walked out with a smile.
"Are you guys done talking? I'm done with my rehabilitation."
"Well, let's go?" Le put the paper cup in his hand on the table, said goodbye to Grandpa Kikuchi, and walked towards the door with Yuzuru Hanyu.
"Hmm? You're not using your cane anymore?"
"You've read my medical records. Why am I still using a cane?"
"I wanted you to behave yourself for a few more days, but Xiaojie is a loose-lipped person."
The two put on their shoes and turned around to bow goodbye to Grandpa Kikuchi and Kosuke in the house. They chatted with each other, pushed the door open and walked into the snow outside.
Morimoto Kosuke, who was standing at the door, had a dark face and knocked over the umbrella stand beside him with one hand.
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