Moment of Truth

Chapter 42: Cold

"Yuzuru, my man," A guy approaches Yuzuru as I am chatting with him at the skating arena. It's time for the exhibition gala. Where Yuzuru gets to be a swan.

"Misha!" Yuzuru exclaims happily. 'Misha' and Yuzuru share a hug. I smile at him as it is too precious to see Yuzuru excited about his friends. "It's so good to see you."

"It's been awhile since we've seen one another. I barely got to talk to you during the competition. But now we have some time. And I'm choreographing the whole exhibition."

"That is very good of you. Misha, this is my girlfriend, Mai."

"It's nice to meet you," I say offering my hand to shake. "My name is Marie, but it's just easier for Yuzu to call me Mai."

"It's nice to meet you as well," Misha replies back shaking my hand. "I am Misha Ge. I've seen you around. I did not realize you were Yuzuru's girlfriend."

"Well, I started off as Yuzuru's translator/mini-manager, but we ended up dating at the Grand Prix Finals. I'm still his translator/mini-manger though."

"Well it's good to see Yuzuru with someone as lovely as you by his side. I was worried he would never get a girlfriend."

"Hey, I could've gotten a girlfriend earlier if I wanted to," Yuzuru interjects, feeling offended.

"I am just kidding. But you know, now that you're here, Marie. I could use you for my exhibition skate," Misha says turning to me.

I give him a weird look. "But I'm not a skater."

"You don't have to skate, silly. I just need a girl to looks all cute while I pretend to be Justin Bieber."

"Oh. Well I'm fine with that. As long as I don't have to skate. I leave all of that to Yuzu."

"Perfect. I hope my friend here won't get jealous."

Yuzuru already looks like he's going to be jealous just at the thought of me being a part of Misha's exhibition skate. I nudge Yuzuru so he can get his head out of those jealous thoughts.

"Yuzuru will be fine because I am not his daughter and he can't tell me what I can and cannot do," I say looking Yuzuru in the eyes so he can get what I'm say. "Right, Yuzuru?"

"Right. I won't be jearous," Yuzuru say hesitantly. I roll my eyes at him before turning back to Misha.

"So what do I have to do?"

Here I am sitting in a very cute, but not warm outfit while I'm waiting for Misha's turn for his exhibition skate. He asked me to be his 'love interest' as he acts like Justin Bieber. All I have to do is sit on the barriers on the inside of the rink. Misha is going to give me a lollipop, which I'm kind of excited for. What can I say? I love candy. But I'm waiting on the side feeling very cold. Yuzuru came from the back to watch me in Misha's exhibition skate; even thought I won't be doing much.

"Are you ready?" Misha asks me as I'm by my spot for his exhibition skate.

"The real question is if you are ready," I retort back. "I'm not the one skating here."

"That is true. But I thank you for doing this for me. Especially since you look so cold right now."

I rub my arms to gain some kind of warmth. "I'm usually not wearing so little when I'm in a skating arena. I usually like to be bundled up. I don't get how girls can go out like this."

"Well, I promise after the first part, you can come down and wear some warmer clothes."

"That sounds good."

Yuzuru comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. He's in his exhibition skate costume. The feathers tickle my skin.

"You look very cute," he murmurs into my ear as we watch Patrick do his exhibition skate. We said 'hi' to each other during one of the practice days. I was able to say 'hi' to a lot of people I've met through Yuzuru while here at 4 Continents.

"Thank you," I murmur back. I turn my body around so that we're hugging face to face. "I'm cold."

"I can tell. You aren't wearing a jacket."

"I would've worn your's but someone took it back after we got to the hotel."

"I told you I was going to get it back."

"Okay. But I'm going to personally steal it from you one of these days. It's a really comfy jacket."

"Mhmm."

Soon Patrick is done and a zamboni comes out to repave the ice. Once that's done, Yuzuru helps me get into position so I can be sitting on the inside of the rink. Misha takes the ice and then the music starts. I try my best to be a shy girl waiting for Misha to take notice of me. When he comes up to me with the lollipop, I start giggling. The spotlight remains on me for a little longer before it returns to Misha who starts gesturing to me. It's all so cute 'cause he's skating to Baby. Then it changes to Let Me Love You. I am able to get off the the barrier and return to the side. Yuzuru helps me down and we watch the rest of Misha's exhibition skate together. I can tell Misha puts a lot of passion into his choreography. When he's done, Yuzuru and I greet him and tell him how great his skate was. He thanks me for helping him and we head to the back so we can wait for Yuzuru's turn and so I can get warm.