✍🏻 Little Matchmaker

27 - Mr. Right

"Well," he said with a soft smile, "I think that if I decline to let them have the interview they would start digging into it more and come up with their own twisted stories. Also, there is still a chance they won't figure it out just yet since Watanabe is such a common last name. And last but not least, I assume Aki would freak out with happiness to give an interview, no?"

She smiled and nodded, "you are right in all of your points."

Yuzuru grinned from ear to ear and until his next session they stayed in the meeting room, discussing all the details and plans on how the interview would go, already setting a date for next week when the media would interview his pre-Olympic skaters as well.
And when the practice was over, they met up in the room again, this time with Akira as well.

"Well, Aki," Sophie started, "we have something to tell you. Something that will make you very happy, but-" she made a pause and looked him deep in the eyes, "once you calm down, please sit back down and I will need to discuss with you some less exciting things about it."

He eagerly nodded and she noticed that his eyes for a split second glanced at her ring finger.

"I will get straight to the point," Yuzuru took over, "I have some interviews planned for next week with Japanese media and they expressed their desire to make an interview with you as well since you are my only novice and---"

"WHAT??!!" he exclaimed and looked at Sophie who nodded in confirmation, "OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!!"

Akira shot up and started pace across the room, back and forth, waving with his hands, "That is AMAZING!! That will help me so much in my acting career!! To start being on TV so early!! And it will help me so much in scho----, it's awesome!!" he ran up to Yuzuru who was gleefully grinning, wrapping him in a hug and then to Sophie who sported rather a weary expression and gave her a hug as well.

Once he let go of her and went to do victory laps around the table and Yuzuru leaned to her with a questioning look.

"An acting career?" he whispered and she sighed with a smile.

"Yeah, well, he plans to be an actor after winning the next three or four Olympics," she said, watching Akira jumping on the spot now, "he believes that you should have used your fame at the time of your third winning to get some movie deals but that he won't do the same mistake."

Yuzuru laughed out loud and Akira made several more jumps on the spot before Sophie asked him to sit down again and he did calm down to listen to the other half.

"Aki," she said softly and leaned forward in the chair, "you know that the Japanese media are not usually on our side---"

"But they never heard from me! I will---"

"You will not," she interrupted, "you will be there in the room with Yuzu, but I will not show my face in there just in the off chance they would recognize me. Also, do not mention me at all, not my first name, or that your mum is from Spain, okay?"

"But---"

"No, but," she said sternly, "it's either 'yes mum' or no interview."

"Yes, mum," he muttered and she saw he does take it seriously.

"You will talk strictly only about figure skating and training at TCC. No mention about where you live, where you go to school, just nothing personal."

"Yes, mum."

"We will go through the details on the weekend, okay?"

"Yes, mum."

He then excused himself to call to Yuki while it was still an acceptable hour in Japan and once they were alone, Sophie turned back to Yuzuru.