Arrangements and Questions

For a few seconds, Mia didn't know what to answer to that very open suggestion that he had so casually dropped on her.

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"It's a big house, too big for me either way. You can stay with my parents if you prefer"

"No!" She answered too quickly making him laugh.

"They don't bite."

"I barely feel comfortable invading your personal space, let alone the one of your parents."

"They would probably be fine with it."

"I rather stay with you, if I can't find somewhere else to stay."

"Let me know if you need any help in Chiba, I'm sure I can find a way too."

"Next thing you're offering your own hotel room."

"You know I wouldn't mind sharing it with you." He said with a smirk. "I just don't think either of us is ready for the questions that Alex would make."

"Oh god" Mia said widening her eyes and sinking her face into her hands in desperation.

"I'm messing with you, beautiful. Please do tell me, ok? I have your tickets for all shows, you don't have to come every night but you can if you want to."

Something told Mia that she would definitely want to. Even if she didn't, Alex was certain to.

"Thank you, Yuzu. It means a lot that you're doing all of this for us."

"You deserve that someone takes good care of you, even if you don't often believe it."

Mia could hear Yuzuru being called out on his head of the line but it felt wrong to leave the conversation like this.

"Yuzu..."

"I have to go, we can talk later, yes?"

"Sure. Good luck with the rest of the costume fittings."

"Thank you! Good night Mia."

The night turned out to be good and her dreams even better given that she now had a pretty decent image of how he looked underneath his clothes. That sheer costume turned out to be the fuel for her already quite decent imagination.

Waking up, she felt refreshed, more than she remembered in the past few days. Surprisingly, that little exchange with the skater on the previous night ended up having the opposite effect of what she initially expected.

She was feeling so good that she even cooked pancakes for Alex that morning, something that was quite unusual on weekdays. So unusual that she could feel her son's eyes on her, enquiring as to why this was happening.

She ignored his looks and took him to school before going to work.

Even there, it was clear that people noticed the shift.

"Aren't you happy today? What's going on?" One of her best friends and fellow lawyer, Katherine, asked.

"Nothing, I guess I just woke up in a good mood."

"No, no. You're not fooling me. I know your good moods and this is not like those."

"Fine... I just booked an impromptu trip and I'm excited." That's all Kat needed to know in Mia's eyes, after all, the other woman had no knowledge of Yuzuru and it was supposed to be kept that way.

"All of a sudden? Why?"

"I haven't traveled in a while and Alex is old enough already, I figured that it was a good idea."

"And where is this trip?"

"Japan. Are you done with the interrogation?"

"Japan? That's far!"

"It's a cool country."

"That I have never heard you speak about before. What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing! Why would I?"

"Why Japan?"

"Alex likes the country. Something about his favorite skater or something."

"Or something? You're going to Japan just because your son's idol is from there?"

"And I'm taking him to see an ice show, yes."

"And here I was thinking you were doing something for yourself for once."

Katherine sighed, she felt disappointed that her friend always sacrificed her happiness for her son and this seemed just like another opportunity to do this.

"Don't worry, there's plenty I want to see there. Alex being so interested only made me more curious and sent me into research mode. The nature is beautiful and they have cool theme parks. I think it will be an incredible opportunity to see new things."

"Well, at least you're going somewhere instead of just staying at home like you usually do."

"Yes! It will be fun."

"At least do me a favor and find a nice man to have some fun with. It will do you well."

"Kat!"

"What? I'm almost certain that you haven't been with anyone since the jerk and you deserve more."

Katherine went to University with Mia and knew the full story of how she ended up becoming a single mother.

"How would I do that with Alex around?" Mia teased her friend. "Not that I want to."

Ok, so maybe it was something on Mia's mind. It had been ever since the Japanese man kissed her, but even if she was going to him, it was unlikely that they found an opportunity to do anything with her son around.

Even if Mia had been growing fond of the idea as time went by.

His little show with the costume and the pictures that followed didn't help the situation any further.

Mia might have been confused about most things about Yuzu, but the one thing she was still very sure of was that she wanted him. Badly.

"I'm sure you could find a way. It certainly seems like you're interested, even when you deny it. I'm sure you can find a hot man in Japan to have some fun with and never look back."

What Katherine didn't know was that Mia had already found that hot man and was looking forward to seeing him again.

Maybe not just seeing him.