nevertheless || yuzuru hanyu

nineteen - freedom by design

:: Gabriella

"Yuzuru?" I questioned once more. I needed to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating because anything could just be a play of the mind. After all, my head was throbbing. I could barely even see well.

"Hi." He smiled. He studied my confused expression, preparing to explain how and why he was standing in front of me right now.

"Ah. I'm here because I heard what happened and I wanted to check on you. I tried calling you yesterday, but it was your friend that answered. She told me to just come to see you." He explained to the best of his capabilities. As he stood in front of me, he was holding a paper bag in one of his hands and a small sling bag in the other.

I hope it didn't sound rude that, "Don't you have practice today?" Was the first thing I asked him. It's just that I remember him not eating much yesterday because he had practice today.

"Ah, that. It w-was canceled. Coach couldn't make it so he told me that... we could just do it tomorrow." He explained with a distraught expression. He was rubbing the back of his neck and I could see his grip on both of his bags strengthen. I could tell that he was lying, and he certainly wasn't comfortable with it.

It was quite a view to see. I tried to keep the chuckling to myself, but it wasn't easy to suppress. Karma really does bite back fast because my head rang once more upon laughing slightly at Yuzuru.

"Okay. Okay. Come in." I told him as I tried to disregard the pain I was feeling. Hopefully, this won't upset Joanna, but if she really was the one who told Yuzuru to come then it should be fine. It's all fine by me. I'm even thankful.

When he was inside, I gestured towards the couch in the living room. "You should sit down for a second. I'll make some food." I managed to utter despite the constant ringing.

Yuzuru, however, did not sit on the couch as I asked. He put the paper bag he had on the table and faced me. "No, you should sit down. I bought us some food to eat." He replied, now being the one who gestured towards the couch in the living room. "But, I should at least help with the setting," I argued, and he just shook his head. His eyebrows were raised almost as if he was judging me immensely. Was he going to get mad at me? Because he certainly looks like he would be.

"Just. Sit. Down." He slowly said. Even my headache did not give me mixed signals on what he was trying to imply. The emotions were completely there. If my parents had given me those types of eyes with those words, I would have ran away. Yuzuru certainly seemed as if he was going to get seriously upset, so much so that even my body fell inferior to whatever that was and just sat down as a reflex.

"Okay. Very good." He grinned. Suddenly, his seriousness went out the window and he started to prepare food while singing some bits and pieces of different songs. Jeez, this man went from storms and thunders to rays of sunshine and rainbows. It made me burst into laughter which resulted in my head hurting even more.

As my face turned sour due to the immense drilling I was feeling, Yuzuru looked at me with concern as he was taking food boxes out of the paper bag. "Are you okay?" He questioned as he was immensely observing my face. "Yeah. I just wasn't able to sleep well yesterday." I said to him. "Is it because of the news?" His face softened in concern, not happy but not gloomy either. "It... is." I hesitantly replied. He just nodded at me and then he continued setting the table. His face was with disappointment, it wasn't anything new, but it truly was something to be disappointed about. Despite that, he pushed a smile out. I don't know what was running inside his head, but every time his expression morphs into a new one, I can't help but be curious.