Japan

Sakura decided to visit Japan after being away for 5 years.

It was a sudden decision when her parents started complaining every single time she called them. She hadn't gone back in all of that time, her degree was just a couple of years away from being finished and usually, she had her friends company during the summer months.

Nothing but her family tied her to the Japanese country and when she finally decided to go there for a couple of weeks, it felt crazy and overwhelming.

Sakura had changed in the past years. She wasn't the same girl that left in the past.One look at the way she dressed and anyone could tell you that it was different now. She was a woman now.

Everything felt foreign as she finally landed from the long trip. The Narita airport felt almost foreign despite being one of the very few airports that she had ever been to.

The girl hadn't bothered with bringing too much luggage, a mere cabin bag was more than enough for the short period she would be in the country and it had the perks of skipping luggage claim.

On arrivals, she saw both of her parents waiting for her with worried faces. It was weird to see them both out of their jobs just to come and get her from the airport.

When they finally spotted her, their gazes shifted completely into big bright smiles. It was hard to believe that she was seeing them in person and not through a screen.

All of her efforts to stay indifferent to the longing that she felt were thrown out of the window right there and she walked in her heels as quickly as she could to wrap her arms around these two very important people.

"My girl" she heard her mother whisper "you're so grown up."

Hearing Japanese after neglecting it for so long felt almost weird, but she eventually managed to gather her thoughts to remember the language properly.

"Hey, I missed you both."

"You could have visited more often!" Her dad lectured her immediately making her look at the ground.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be... As long as you talk to us, we can forgive all of that. Should we go home?"

"Sure."

Things were weird as she saw the familiar places while they drove the long distance into Sendai. Sakura made a note to take the shinkansen when she returned to Tokyo. The car ride was just too long.

"How's school?"

"Besides what I've already told you?" She joked. If anything, she was always very straightforward with her parents about her academics.

"I'm starting an internship when I get back."

"Isn't it early?"

"Yes, but this company is very interested in me and they almost begged me to intern there. It's paid so I get to make some money too."

"We're proud of you, kiddo."

"Thanks, Dad."

"And what's the company?"

"Oh, you must know it... Kosé?"

Her mother turned on her seat almost immediately when she heard it out loud. Kosé was a huge Japanese brand after all.

"Really? You're not joking?"

"No... They said something about wanting to expand their market. It seems clear to me that they want to keep the Japanese roots but have a different, more Western approach to the European and American markets."

"And they chose you for that? That sounds huge"

"I'm just an intern, Mom. I'm sure there's a whole team, with far more qualifications than me, handling all of it."

"Still, if they are interested in you, it's always good news."

"I hope so. I like the company too so it could be a good fit to start."

"Enough talk about work and school." Her father said quickly. It was all they had been hearing about in the past years after all.

And of course, her mother took the opportunity to ask what Sakura hoped she never remembered.

"Yes yes... How about boys?"

"Mom!"

Her father chuckled at the situation, knowing he was the one who inherently caused it with a somewhat honest request.

"There's no one, you know that."

"Why not? Are you going to tell me there was no one interested?"

Sakura knew exactly why and it wasn't because of a lack of interest from men, it was more because of her own lack of interest in anyone besides the skater who lived halfway across the world, too busy achieving world championships and records to even remember about her existence.

"I was the one who wasn't interested."

Her mother didn't say anything for a few seconds before asking the hard questions that Sakura knew were coming.

"Have you kept in touch?"

There was no need to explain the question, Sakura understood it very clearly.

"No."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't have a phone."

"He must have one by now?"

"I don't know, The last time we spoke was when he went to Canada."

Somehow, this seemed to shock her mother.

"No letters? Nothing at all?"

It was all pretend, because her parents were more than aware of the lack of contact since they had spoken with Yuzuru.

"I wouldn't even know where to address them. Besides, I'm sure that man receives too much fan mail to even have time to look into my letters."

"Sakura..."

"It's fine, mom. I just need time to move on."

"But maybe we could..."

"Please don't. I'm fine with how things are."

Her mother dropped the subject because the last thing her parents wanted was to make her mad while she was there. Their time was already limited, the least they could do was enjoy it fully and without any fights.