Just a Little Longer

They settled on the couch, the TV playing some random movie that none of them was paying any attention to.

Mia was certain that her mom would love to see them now.

Yuzuru had an arm wrapped around her while her head rested on his shoulder, fingertips lightly grazing the skin on her arm every so often.

"Do you mean it? We can video call?"

"Whenever you want. Tell me an hour and I will answer."

"I won't call you in the middle of the night."

"I would answer."

She felt a need to change topics soon. Mia wasn't sure how long he would stay but what she knew was that avoiding the eminent goodbyes worked better if they spoke of something else.

"Tell me about this show of yours."

"It's just like any summer, I do this show pretty much every year. I used to love it."

"Not anymore?"

"I love skating in front of people, but I miss being innocent enough to believe that everyone on that show wanted the best for me."

"Seems like there's a lot to dig there."

"Just some friends that didn't turn out to be that great."

"And they are still friends?"

"I don't even know. It's not as if I call them every day, you know? I don't call them at all."

"So you speak whenever the show comes."

"Pretty much. And I go along with everything, but there's always that small notion that things aren't like they used to be."

"And here I was trying to change the topic to something happier." She told him with a chuckle, making the skater tickle her belly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"I"m very happy I met you, Mia."

"Likewise, Yuzuru."

Just as soon as it started, the playful moment was gone, soon replaced by the seriousness of what would happen the next day.

"You take free time from work, right?"

"4 weeks every year, why?"

"When are you on break, then?"

"I have 2 weeks at the end of May, the beginning of June."

"You're going anywhere?"

"No, that I know of... Why?"

She was confused by the sudden questioning that he decided to give her without any answers on his side.

"Come to Japan." He said with all seriousness on his face.

"You're not serious."

"I am... Bring Alex and come to Japan for those two weeks."

His hands were distracting her with small caresses, but the seriousness of the conversation still made her well aware of what was being asked of her.

"You want me to book a trip with less than a month of preparation? To the other side of the world?"

"You don't have to prepare anything. Just give me the dates and I will take care of everything."

"What? I can't let you do that."

"You can..."

"But flights and everything... I don't know."

"I'm sponsored by an airline, leave that to me."

It took her a while to understand that Yuzu was dead serious on the topic. He wanted her to go.

"I don't know..."

"Think about it, we still have time."

"When do you need an answer?"

"In a week or so? Just because if you come I want to get you access to the show."

"We could watch?"

"From the first row, if you want."

"Alex would love that."

"I think so... Just consider the idea in the next few days and we can talk about it after, yeah?"

"Sure."

"And where would I be going, if I said yes?"

"First shows are in Makuhari, near Tokyo and the next ones are in my hometown."

"Your hometown, huh?"

"Yeah... Sendai. I could show you both around"

"Aren't you hyper-duper famous in Japan? I doubt you want to be seen with a kid."

"I don't care, Mia. I'm an athlete, not an idol. My personal life is nothing of their concern"

"I appreciate that you don't care, but they still do."

"We can find a way. I'm good at disappearing in plain sight."

She suddenly realized that this was all very real. That she was discussing getting on a plane for more than 10 hours just for one man.

It quickly became clear that all of this attempt of fooling herself into thinking friendship could save her from getting her heart broken was wrong, too wrong.

It was just that she was willing to do anything just to see him again, even if it meant getting on a plane.

Yes, for a man.

Just to think that a whole month ago she wanted nothing to do with elements of the male species and all this specimen had to do was get in her life and in two weeks she was completely gone.

Well, being real it only took a day, but still...

"Earth to Mia." He called out, noticing how the girl seemed miles away. "What's on that beautiful head of yours?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about."

"That is code for: it's about you and I don't want to talk about it"

"If you know, why ask?" She questioned him with a grin.

Mia couldn't help the yawn that came to her mouth, the reality was that it was far past the hour of her usual bedtime and her body felt it.

"You need some rest."

"Getting some rest means you will be gone." She said with a pout, reminding Yuzuru of Alex. The boy really took upon his mom.

"If you come to Japan, it won't be for too long..."

Mia chuckled at his attempt to make the trip even more enticing and pecked his cheek softly.

"How about we don't say Goodbye?"

"It's a see you soon, then?"

"Hopefully. You have everything ready for tomorrow?"

"I haven't packed yet."

"Isn't your flight in the morning?"

"Yes."

"What are you waiting for to pack?"

"It's not just you that wants to delay this..."

Mia understood what he meant. Packing meant closing the chapter.

"Ah"

"But since it's a see you soon... It won't be too hard to pack now."

"I haven't said yes yet..."

"But you will, I know it."

"Very confident of yourself, Mr. Hanyu."

He smiled and grabbed her hand to take her out of the couch.

"Should I take you to bed?"

Mia was sure he planned it to sound far different than it did because as soon as it got out of his mouth and she gasped loudly he panicked slightly.

"No! Not what I meant! To rest, of course! You're clearly tired"

And the woman started laughing far too loudly for the hour, the way Yuzuru reacted was far too funny to ignore.

"You're funny sometimes."

"I was trying to be cute and it sounded so bad" he winced as he thought about it.

"It was hilarious...but I guess you have to go home and finally get everything packed before you forget something important."

"I guess you're right..."

"Come on, I will go to the door with you."

Their steps were slow, delaying the inevitable goodbye. Hand in hand once again, they did the short distance in silence until they reached the destination.

He hugged her tight, completely flushed against his hard form.

Mia didn't know how to react, what was allowed and what wasn't.

There was a fine line between romance and friendship with them, and most of the time things tended to look more and more blurred.

Yuzuru placed his hand on her cheek like so many times before, but his eyes made her feel like it was different.

Even the brush of fingertips was gentler, sweeter.

"I will see you soon, right?" She ended up asking.

"Yes."

The short and curt answer was all she got before he closed the distance between them, placing his soft lips on hers for the very first time.