✍🏻 Little Matchmaker

19 - Wrecking Ball

When deciding what to do for the day, Sophie did not even felt she had any say in it. Akira immediately demanded that he of course needs to go and try his new skates to which Yuzuru suggested there is an open-air small rink at the Christmas markets in the city center. Then they both looked at her as if to say 'why are you still in your pajamas?' and she rolled her eyes and turned around to go and get ready.

"Can we make a short stop at my place?" Yuzuru asked as they exited the flat, "I would just pick up few things."

"Yeah, sure," Sophie answered and aimed for the staircase, "take the elevator with Aki, I will meet you downstairs."

"Why are you not taking the elevator, mum?" Akira promptly asked, hurrying up to walk next to her.

"It stopped the last time I used it," she said casually and Akira instantly grabbed her hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Absolutely. All good," she answered with a soft smile, "I will just take the stairs for the next few days."

"Okay," he said simply and kept holding onto her hand, turning to the stairs, "I'll go with you."

Sophie ruffled his hair, giving him a quick peck on top of his head and all three of them went down together.
Once in the car, it seemed there was nothing that could make Akira's day any better. He was shouting from the top of his lungs, something he considered to be singing, together with the radio and Sophie kept humming along while glancing at Yuzuru with amusement.
She was used to Akira's singing but it looked like Yuzuru was torn between laughing out loud or jumping out of the car while still in motion and hoping for a quick death. Eventually, he resolved to a quiet chuckling, and here and there plucking up his ears with his fingers at some particularly intense parts.

"Next one to the right and we are there," he said loudly and Sophie turned off the music, being sure she must have misheard him.

"Alright, that's enough my little screech owl," she said waving with her hand to the backseat where Akira continued his singing and he zipped it up. "What did you say, Yuzu?"

"Turn right now," she did and he continued, "and that apartment building over there is where I live."

"What?!" she said while checking her watch, "you live like five minutes away from us!"

"Seven minutes," he said smiling, "you are not the only one who chose a place near TCC. Brian has a house like another ten minutes from here."

She only nodded, eyeing the building up and down, remembering she had a flat picked out here as well but in the end opted for the larger version that she had now.

"Is it okay if you guys wait here?" Yuzuru asked as he was stepping out of the car, "I will just take few things and water the plants. Will be just two minutes."

"Sure," Sophie said and waved him away, still wondering how strange it is that they are living so close to each other. She could easily get here just by going for a run. And then she recalled how quickly he arrived when she called him about Akira not eating, thinking she could have figured it out already back then.

As they both lived downtown it took them just another few minutes to get to the very city center of Toronto and into the Christmas markets. The decorations were absolutely splendid and in one moment she stopped in her tracks, looking around slightly dazed. But a few seconds later, she snapped out of it, hearing two nervous coughs in unison and seeing both boys eyeing her with the urgency of keeping them away from the ice.

"Alright, alright," she said raising her arms and walking again to the small, temporary rink, "forgive me I paused for like two seconds."

"That's okay mum," Akira said seriously, "just don't do it again, please."