Shinkansen

They did get back to bed for the third time that night, the rest of it going by quickly and smoothly.

Both of them still woke up before Alex and Yuzuru had to go to rehearsals earlier that day.

"I will see you at the venue, stay safe, and don't push yourself too hard." Mia told him as he kissed her goodbye.

The next shows went by too quickly, with Yuzu still sleeping in her bed the other night.

In terms of the performance, the shows were pretty much all the same, even if Mia always found different small details in every performance of his.

Even not being half asleep, Mia still found most of the other skaters a bit boring but she didn't blame them, it was just that as soon as Yuzuru stepped on the ice, everyone forgot about the others.

By the end of the last show, she went to his dressing room and greeted the skater with a kiss, as it has become a habit with them.

"Great show, you were amazing."

"Thank you" he said with a smile and hugged her

"Alex, what did you think?"

"Your combo was insane!" He said making both adults chuckle.

"You two think we can travel today back to Sendai?" Or are you too tired?"

"Hum, how long is it?"

"By train, about an hour and a half, it's fast."

"Hum, we can go today, if you want. I prefer to go with you because I'm sure I will get lost if I do it myself."

"Just because of that?" He joked teasingly.

"Maybe I also want the company... I have to pack and check out of the hotel though."

"I need to check out of mine too and get my bags, so we can meet in an hour or so?"

"I think so, if you think you have the time to get your things."

"My mom will probably come too, ok?"

He asked with uncertainty since he knew how nervous Mia was to meet the older woman.

"Yeah, it's fine."

The casualty of her answer surprised him.

"It is?"

"Yes, Yumi is nice."

"Okay... What happened to that panic about meeting her?"

"That was before knowing your mom. She's a sweetheart and I think she approves of me."

"She does, actually. I think she's proud that someone finally managed to tie me down."

"Shut up..."

He hugged her and tickled her waist for a few seconds before telling her to get going.

"Just go... I will meet you at your hotel."

🌸

Just as planned, about an hour later Yuzuru was ringing the bell of her hotel room.

Mia opened the door and was just finishing panicking when Yuzuru and Yumi were welcomed inside her hotel room.

"I'm sorry, I'm almost ready."

"Take your time" Yumi said "We have time. Yuzuru just likes to go home as soon as he can."

"Hum... Not when he was in Canada."

"I had my reasons" he smirked and she just blushed. It wasn't hard for his mom to figure them both out.

In a few minutes, they were taking a car to the closest train station. Yuzu wore his usual disguise to avoid being recognized and she couldn't help but snicker every once in a while when she looked at him.

It was only when they got to the shinkansen that he removed everything, making Mia laugh once again.

"Stop mocking me."

"I'm not, I just find it funny that you think that makes you more sneaky."

"It has worked until now so..."

"Hum."

Yuzuru sat with his mom and Mia with Alex. The skater wasn't necessarily happy with this, but he wasn't just going to force the poor boy out of his mom's side just because he wanted to be close to her too.

Alex would always be her priority and he had to understand that.

"You're too obvious" his mom said lowly so only he could hear.

"About what?"

"How you feel about her... Anyone can see."

"I don't mind."

"Just make sure she isn't hurt in the process. Her or Alex."

"I will protect them."

"Ok."

His mom answered like that but it didn't seem like she was very confident in his ability to fulfill it.

It wasn't as if people would just know they were together from the way he looked at her.

Even if he wanted to keep his eyes away, his brain was completely aware of her presence and deemed it necessary to look every now and then

It didn't help that every time he did, her beautiful smile greeted him, even if she wasn't completely aware of it.

He saw her play some games with Alex and was completely enamored by it, staring for at least 30 minutes before he deemed it weird.

"Yuzu, you want to play?" He asked and gave him the Switch immediately.

"I... I thought you were playing."

"I was but we can share. Mommy says we're almost there too."

Alex took Yuzuru's staring as being jealous about the games. He was wrong but Yuzu didn't have the heart to tell him that.

Playing games for a little while wasn't too bad. At least it kept his eyes off her for a while.

Eventually, the Shinkansen did arrive at its destination, as quickly as promised by Yuzuru and exactly on time, like Japanese culture dictates.

Mia found it curious that Yuzuru didn't bother getting his disguise out this time and just got out of the train in his usual mask, not looking too worried about being recognized.

He seemed to notice her staring and a smile was quickly on his face.

"Welcome to Sendai"