Part 3

Two months later...

Since their date, true to his word, Sero always made sure to pick Yumi up after her shift. Sometimes he would take her straight to her apartment, and other times they would stop to have a bite to eat.

That night Sero waited in his car, like he had been for the last two months. Watching the girls leave Hooters, he noticed that Yumi hadn't come out yet. Waiting another fifteen minutes, he took out his phone.

"Hey, are you okay? Waiting outside Hooters for you," he texted her, wondering if she had gotten caught up inside.

"Oh man. I am soooo sorry, I forgot to let you know. Had to leave work early today."

This concerned him. "Something happened?"

He hadn't expected to receive a picture of Yumi's ankle bandaged up with ice on it.

"What the hell happened?!"

"Just an old injury."

"Do you need anything?"

"Can you bring me food? I haven't eaten yet ?."

Sero laughed, shaking his head.

"Sure, what would you like?"

"Korean BBQ."

"Maybe when you're back on your feet. Anything else?"

"Surprise me."

Driving off, Sero decided to stop by Cheesecake Factory. Ordering the chicken and broccoli pasta and a slice of strawberry cheesecake to go, he pulled to Yumi's apartment complex.

"Your DoorDash has arrived!"

"Very funny. I'm in apartment 14."

Getting out of the car Sero walked into the building. There was a floor model plaque on the wall, showing what apartments were on the floor.

Hoping into the elevator he went up to the 3rd floor. Once out he walked down the hall, looking at the apartment numbers. Spotting apartment 14, he knocked on the door.

"DoorDash," he announced, a small smirk on his face.

"It's unlocked," the voice on the other side said.

Turning the doorknob Sero walked in. Instantly he saw Yumi laying on the sofa with her left ankle propped up.

"Damn you look awful," he teased as she sat up.

Yumi laughed a bit. "I'm glad you're here, I've been waiting for so long."

"I can't tell if you're happier to see me or the food," he said, handing her the bag from the Cheesecake Factory.

"Definitely the food," she teased, patting the seat next to her on the couch. Sero took a seat.

As Yumi opened the food container, his eyes wandered around her apartment. He took note that there were no photos- not of her family or friends. Nothing hinting that she was a ballet prodigy. In fact, her aesthetic looked vastly different than he expected- light colors, small plants, plushies, a Nintendo Switch with custom pink and purple joycons, several Kirby figures.

"So you going to tell me what happened to your ankle?" he asked, looking at her as she happily ate her pasta.

"Just an injury."

Sero pursed his lips. He debated on being upfront with her. For the last few months he'd thought about how to bring up the topic with her. Maybe now wasn't a good time. "Is it because of ballet?"

Yumi stopped eating immediately. It was then that Sero realized he'd asked that out loud.

Swallowing the food in her mouth, she set the fork down. It didn't surprise her that Sero knew. She stared down at the food in her lap. "How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you known about that?"

Sero scratched the back of his head. He recognized this was a touchy subject for her, but there was no taking it back.

"Before our first date."

Yumi said nothing. Sero realized he'd fucked up.

"Are you okay?" With caution, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Have you ever worked your entire life for something, just to have it all disappear overnight?" she asked, her voice heavy with sadness. She scoffed a bit, shaking her head. "My mom always wanted a ballerina for a daughter. My sisters couldn't do it, so my mother had me in ballet the moment I could stand. My parents shipped me off to Russia to train under some of the best instructors. The teachers fawned over me, telling me I was such a perfect dancer. I trained hard to meet everyone's expectations. When it came time for my debut, the public loved my performance. I got all the big roles without trying. I was a machine, doing what people said." She let out a sigh, laying her head back against the sofa.

She was silent for a moment, as if she replayed the events in her mind.

"Then during one performance, I was doing the same moves I knew by heart. I did a temps levé. Jump from one foot and land on the same foot. I jumped and landed it like I always did, but this time was different. I remember collapsing to the ground, my foot in pain. They rushed me to the hospital and doctors told me I'd torn my achilles tendon. I needed surgery. So I flew back home to Virgina to get the surgery and rest. The doctors told me that 80 out of 100 people who have the surgery are able to return to the same activities they did before the accidents."

Sero could see a tear forming in her eye. Yumi chuckled as she wiped her eyes. "Just my luck I would be part of the other 20. I could still dance, but not as long as before. When I told my managers and instructors, they told me I was done. 'Who wants a ballerina that can't dance?' they said to me. Everything I'd worked my entire life for was gone."

Sero looked at her, amazed by the story she'd just told him. He couldn't imagine what it was like to work hard for something like that.

"Is that why - " Sero started to say, but Yumi shook her head.

" - No. This injury is because I keep thinking that, if I practice and push myself past the pain, I'll be able to extend my dance time. Doesn't work, yet I keep trying."

"Do you miss dancing?"

Yumi shook her head. "Honestly, no. I think….what I miss most is just the applause and admiration I got," she said, turning her head to look at him.

Sero could see the hurt that was buried in her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I admire you."

Yumi laughed a bit. "Thanks." She laid her head on his shoulder.

Although he could see she appreciated the gesture, he knew that it wasn't the same thing. He could see that her self-esteem had been tied to the praise she'd received. Thinking about it, he thought about ways he could make her feel better.

~.~

A month went by and Sero sat in his car as he waited for Yumi to come down for their date. It was raining so he was keeping the car warm for when she came down. He had a big surprise planned that he hoped she liked. Coming out of the building Yumi hurried over to the car, trying not to get wet.

"Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting," she said, getting into the car.

"No worries," he said, offering her a hot chocolate he'd bought before arriving.

Yumi smiled and happily took the cup. "I'm excited for Korean BBQ. I've been thinking about it all day."

Sero chuckled as he drove away from the apartment. "Don't worry we'll get Korean BBQ, but first I wanna show you something."

Yumi looked at him, confused. He hadn't mentioned anything to her earlier. Sero noticed that she was staring and just laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll enjoy it," he reassured her. Yumi looked at him before sitting back in her seat.

"If you say so," she sing-songed, sipping her hot chocolate.

Sero looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You don't have any faith in me?"

"I do….I just know if I don't like this surprise you gotta take me to get boba as well."

~.~

Pulling up to a skate rink Sero turned off the car. "We're here."

Yumi looked out the window. "Skating?" she asked, looking down at her outfit. She wore a black hoodie with a white skirt, and black knee high boots. Definitely wasn't an outfit meant for roller skating.

He went around the car, holding the umbrella, as he helped her out. "Trust me, it's fine."

They hurried inside the building. Sero went over to the attendant as Yumi closed the umbrella. Watching the two talk, the attendant walked over and Sero gestured her over.

"What's going on?" she asked as the attendant brought out two pairs of ice skates.

"They just opened the ice rink today. I rented out some time for us," he explained, grabbing the ice skates.

Yumi was confused as Sero took her hand and led her away. Leading down the hall to the ice rink. The room was empty, and the ice looked like it had freshly been cleaned.

"Did you rent out the whole rink?" she asked, surprised that the rink was empty. Ice rinks usually had a lot of people.

"Would you be mad if I said yes?" he asked sheepishly.

She was impressed that he'd managed to pull it off. "Not at all."

"It's only for an hour, so we should probably get on the ice."

They put their skates on. As he predicted, Yumi was a natural on the ice. She skated so gracefully.

"Wow." She looked beautiful.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked, stopping by him.

Sero was struggling. He didn't skate so he clung to the wall, trying not to fall over. Perhaps he hadn't thought this through?

Yumi giggled a bit as she carefully took his hand. "Come on," she said, leading him off the wall.

Sero struggled as he looked down at his feet, trying to keep his balance. His legs felt like jello on the ice.

"Hey," Yumi said, getting his attention. "Just focus on me."

Taking his other hand, she carefully led him around the ice. Slowly Sero got used to the motions, the jello feeling in his legs disappearing. This took up most of their hour on the ice.

She was impressed how quickly he'd progressed. "You're doing good."

He chuckled. "Not how I imagined this day going," he admitted as they stopped.

"Oh? How did you imagine it going?" Yumi asked, wondering what motive he could have had to bring her ice skating.

He flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...I was hoping to see you do some of your ballet moves. You might not be able to dance regularly, but maybe on the ice with some skates on it won't be so bad."

Yumi bit her bottle lip. She was touched by his gesture. "You really want to see me try?"

"Yeah. I want to see the ballerina princess in person," he said, a big smile on his face.

Giggling a bit, Yumi let go of his hands and skated away.

"Alright then," she said before doing a spin.

She did a series of Pirouettes while Sero clapped in amazement. Feeling motivated, Yumi attempted a leap. The execution was perfect, but she landed on her left foot. Instantly pain shot through her as she realized her mistake. She swerved, trying to keep her balance.

"Watch out!"

Sero rushed over, getting right in front of her. Yumi crashed into him, but he wrapped his arms around her so she didn't fall over.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned about what had happened.

"I landed on the wrong foot," she muttered, wincing at the pain.

Noticing that she was balancing on her right foot, Sero understood why she'd almost fallen. Scooping her up into his arms, he moved them off the ice.

Yumi blushed, completely surprised by this. "Thank you," she said, looking away.

Sero didn't seem to notice her blushing as he took her over to the bench. Carefully sitting her down, he helped her take off the left skate. Through her sock he could tell her foot was starting to swell up.

"Yeah it's swollen. We should get you home and get some ice on it," he said, feeling guilty. He'd been the one to bring her ice skating and insisted she try dancing on the ice.

Yumi ran her hand through his hair. "Hey, it's not your fault. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but did it anyway."

Sero took a seat next to her. "Yeah, but I'm the one that suggested it."

"I didn't have to do it. So don't be so hard on yourself."

Sero didn't look convinced. Yumi laid her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you."

He was surprised. "For what?"

"For a good time."

He shook his head as he moved his arm around her shoulder. Yumi shrugged them, making his arm drop around her waist. Sero, completely taken aback, looked down at her as she stared up at him.

This was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time. He'd respect her wishes to take things slow and was constantly doing what he could to make her happy. Yumi could easily open up to him and knew that he wasn't going to break her like so many guys had before.

She leaned up and kissed him, soft and sweet. He'd been so unprepared he hadn't even closed his eyes. When she pulled away, Sero's eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed pink.

But then the look in his eyes changed. After months of dating, he'd stopped waiting for the moment he'd get to make a move. But after that one kiss, his desire returned tenfold. He gazed down at her, aching to do it again. She looked between his eyes and his mouth, and nodded.

Before Yumi, Sero had been clueless when it came to women. But he was one hell of a kisser.