Just Like You

Mia jumped into action as soon as she noticed what was going on, quickly searching in Alex's bag for the valuable inhaler that was the key to helping him.

"Does he have Asthma?" Yuzuru asked loudly at her, looking agitated but far calmer than her.

"Yes. I'm searching for his inhaler."

Yuzuru started acting before she even noticed, kneeling next to Alex and bringing him pretty much to his lap and speaking to her boy almost silently before taking him in his arms and out of the ice.

The image would have made her chest tighten once again if she wasn't otherwise preoccupied.

Mia could have sworn that whenever she needed the damn thing it always disappeared.

Fumbling into the pockets of Alex's skating bag, it took a while for her to find it, but after a few seconds, she finally did.

Those seconds, of course, felt like an eternity when her son was barely breathing.

As she approached them quickly, she heard Yuzuru instruct the boy with some breathing exercises, massaging his back gently as if trying to ease the pain.

The slow breathing seemed to be helping Alex a lot and he didn't look as breathless.

"Baby, here." She told him while handing the inhaler, too worried to be able to see anything else. Yuzuru took it from her hands before Alex reacted and immediately placed it in his mouth.

"You know what to do, Alex. Breathe." The older skater said in a calm, soothing voice.

Unfortunately, his asthma had always been problematic and this was just one of many attacks that he had experienced through the years.

It took a few more minutes for his breathing to go back to normal. Mia was still stunned at how well the man in front of her dealt with the situation.

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Alex said when he saw tears in her eyes.

"Shut up, silly. It's not your fault."

"Stupid lungs" he ended up saying making Yuzuru chuckle while his hand kept massaging Alex's back soothingly

"Lungs are overrated, huh?" He joked.

"I didn't even do that much..." The boy said slowly with a pout.

"You were excited and pushing your body a lot, sometimes it happens."

"To you too?"

That made Mia's attention shift to Yuzuru once again. Did he have Asthma too? He knew what to do immediately and it would make sense.

"Not in a long time, but when I was younger it did, too many times. My mom worried just as much as yours."

"You don't have attacks anymore?"

"Sometimes I do, but it's better than it used to be. Do you have a peak flow meter?"

Alex nodded and Yuzuru took a phone from his pocket and opened an app filled with characters that Mia didn't understand.

"I do..."

"This is in Japanese, but see the numbers? I register my values every day to be prepared in case I see them getting worse. This way I know when to take it slower. It's not easy being an athlete with Asthma, everyone else takes breathing for granted and we have to fight just a little bit harder, but it's not impossible, right?"

"But what if it happens in competition?"

"You do your best. Sometimes it's not always about winning."

"But..."

"No one wins all the time, not even the best. There will be times when you can't win, but you just have to be nice to your heart and be happy with doing your best."

"Okay!"

His excitement was back and he was probably ready to get back on the ice before Yuzuru grabbed him.

"That's enough for today."

"I want to skate! Please?"

It made Yuzuru chuckle and he looked at Mia as if waiting for her to take the lead.

"Not today, baby. You have to rest and give your body time to recover."

"But mom..."

"It's a no, and you know what that means."

The boy looked at the ground with a pout and started taking his skates off, clearly not satisfied with the decision.

"Yuzuru?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"Can you sign my skates?"

Mia had allowed her son to make ridiculous requests before, but she was certain that this Olympic champion probably had better things to do than listen to Alex.

"Alex, I'm sure Mr. Hanyu has a lot of things to do. He has already lost plenty of time with us."

"No, not at all." Yuzuru interrupted far too quickly, not too amused by what she had just called him. "I will gladly sign them."

"You're sure? Alex understands if you have to go..."

"It's fine. I'm all alone in Toronto and don't have any plans for tonight either way. A few more minutes is nothing."

"Do you have a pen, mommy? It can't be black..."

Well, at least Mia's obsession with stationary wasn't completely useless for once as she fished a gold Posca pen out of her purse that Yuzuru gladly took.

"Thank you" the Japanese said politely before focusing on his task.

"Eating alone isn't fun!" Alex quickly said and Mia widened her eyes. " you could have dinner with us!"

This time, it was Yuzuru who coughed awkwardly. He couldn't imagine invading their personal space like that, no matter how nice the afternoon had been after she showed up.

"I don't want to intrude..."

"Mommy, please..."

"Sweetheart, Mr. Hanyu is being polite and not saying no right away. I'm sure he has better ways to spend his evening."

"But you cook so well! I'm sure he would love it!"

"Alex..."

"Come on! You always say we have to be nice to others... "

"This is not about being nice."

The last thing Mia wanted was to scold her kid in front of his idol, but this idea was far too ridiculous. It was clear that the Japanese man was very polite and didn't want to say no while being uncomfortable about the situation.

Her words didn't stop the puppy eyes from appearing in Alex's face, directed straight a Yuzuru.

"Please?"

"I don't think your mom wants me there, buddy."

"I..."

"It's okay, Mia. I understand."

She was absolutely dumbfounded. Now Yuzuru looked like he wanted this... what was she even supposed to do? And Alex was obviously looking at her with that face that always worked on her. That kid was a brat...

"I guess if you truly don't have anything to do... You could come."