Once upon a time…there was a girl, a beautiful maiden or royal blood that desired only freedom…
In a pitch-black room, suddenly a spotlight flashed, yellow and strong, throwing light on a single figure. The figure was petite and slim, thin like a twig. It was so delicate that it could almost belong to a woman. However it didn't. It belonged to a young boy with pale skin and chin-length blonde hair. The boy was dressed in a white, shiny outfit, which sparkled at the light of the spotlight, like a star inside the abyss.
However one day she was driven into an ambush…and an evil warlock transformed her into a beautiful, White Swan…
The blonde boy raised his elegant arm above his head gracefully, his head following the move, as if he wished to look at the invisible sun above him, at the spotlight that was throwing its light upon him at the moment. He moved his white-clothed legs airily as he stood in his tiptoes and span around himself. His arms now moved like wings to either side of him, as if he truly wished to fly… Inside the spotlight anything could be visible and crystal-clear…outside it though, anything could be lurking in the absolute blackness…anything could be aiming for him, however the boy was drawn within his dance, within this perfection created only by his own arms and legs…
Ever since that day, she had freedom only half of the day. She could have her real form but only from dusk to breaking dawn. During the day…she would turn into a swan again…
A pair of delicate feet started moving on the tiptoes in a circle, slowly and gracefully, and the white shoes were making a contrast with the black floor below. There was as if some distant music was playing from somewhere… The boy seemed concentrated to every of his moves. Every single flick of his foot or a small wave of his arms were in perfect coordination with his heart; calm and yet frenetic.
And only true love…could set her fee…
As the boy kept on dancing alone, looking around, he seemed all the more unsettled by something and still his face was kept calm, as if the more agitated his body became, his heart and his moves were becoming more and more quiescent like a lake.
And then…a Prince appeared and the two of them fell in love at first sight…
Suddenly another clothed figure appeared. It was a tall man, with well-toned body, dressed in colorful clothes. His hair was silver and short cut while golden details were shimmering onto his clothes and fingers… The blonde boy made a move as if ready to run away, as if really shocked at the appearance of the unknown, to him, man who approached him, almost enchanted, with a graceful move of his long legs. The boy seemed to try to resist, but the man was gentle, too gentle. He approached the boy with his arms open, in a pleading yet admiring way. The boy finally gave in and approached him as well. The man wrapped his two hands around the boy's petite waist and slightly lifted him in the air. The boy had his arms stretched to either side, elegantly, and he seemed surrendered to this charming man who came for him and seemed to love him deeply. Neither of them had facial characteristics. It was as if they were wearing masks to conceal their faces from everyone and everything…
The Prince was so happy that he fell in love with this beautiful and pure White Swan. He could tell there was no other person in the world he would love most. The two lovers promised each other that they would never love another, that they would be like this; two bodies with one soul forever…
Their moves were smooth like running water, as they embraced each other in their graceful dance. The tapping of their soft shoes was only heard in this dark emptiness, the spotlight was following them around and their arms and legs were moving in harmony; their bodies leaning like reeds in the evening breeze… The boy made a move as if inviting the man and he was about to follow him…when…he froze. Something drew his attention. The boy was already gone, stopped waiting for him but he was now away from the spotlight, deep into the darkness, while the man was now staring at a new presence, which had stepped into the spotlight…
However…the Prince…fell into the foul trap, set by the Black Swan…
There was another figure standing there, delicate as well but not as much as the previous white-dressed figure. It had a more sturdy body; wider chest and his legs were also well trained. The boy seemed older and he was dressed in black, while his short, black hair was pulled back, revealing his also shadowed face… He had a pose of confidence and seduction; "Look at me!" his body language said, "Here I am, look at me! Admire me!" His piercing gaze was staring deep into the man's eyes…
…And ended up betraying his beloved White Swan…
The man seemed stupefied as he approached the new person and approached with small, hesitant steps. The black-dressed boy responded with a wild move of his arms, graceful and yet powerful like the thunderstorm. His long, black-dressed legs opened as he balanced himself to his tiptoe, leaning his face closer to the white-haired man and he responded in return, completely seduced by this mesmerizing yet dangerous beauty. He grabbed the boy's waist, almost in desperation, aiming to keep him there, as if he was afraid this enchanter would be gone like the morning mist; evaporated like a dream, if he dared to let go. The he-enchanter smirked softly and raised his leg behind again, his arms aiming gracefully upstairs, towards the blackness of the ceiling or the spotlight that was now all for him… As if he wanted to set the man even more astray, making him completely forget the presence of that boy that was in his arms, not even a minute ago…
The Prince swore his love to the Black Swan…
The man raised the black-dressed boy in the air, slowly and softly like he had done to the white-dressed one a few seconds ago. The male-siren had now this triumphant smirk to his lips all the time as he gracefully, seductively, danced around his victim-man, his hands barely touching the other's cheeks and shoulders as the hands flicked through the dance. The man seemed completely hypnotized now, as his gaze could not leave the black figure anymore. Whenever he did a turn, the man's head would turn towards him, as though not to lose the slightest detail of it… And then the boy stopped, extending his delicate hand towards the stupefied man. He, in return, fell on his knee and grabbed that hand, the hand that had enchanted him, and kissed it eagerly, swearing his eternal love, his devotion and also his submission to this dark yet charming and unbelievably dangerous and absolutely beautiful being. The boy raised his clothed hand in the air in absolute, wild triumph. He seemed like growing stronger, as if he was stranding above the man taller now. His plan was a success…
Devastated, the White Swan could no longer see her beloved betraying her. Her heart was shattered. There was only one solution for her…And so she killed herself…
The man was now grasping desperately onto the black-dressed boy's waist, burying his face in his stomach, while the boy was looking towards the sky, the spotlight, in a victorious kind of way, waving and flicking his arms like a pair of wings. And then, at the peak of his triumph, his arms started growing feathers, changing gradually to a pair of large wings; pitch-black like the rest of him. He flapped his new wings once or twice and then bent down…and wrapped them around the head of the man that was still on his knees before him…as if "protecting" him…concealing him…capturing him… They remained there motionless as the spotlight gradually faded, till the room sunk in darkness once more…
…And so…in death… The White Swan finally found freedom…
The boy's eyes snapped open. Soon, some rasping breaths followed, as the owner of them both was gradually returning to the sphere of reality. A pair of honey-brown eyes immediately kept on scanning the place around, as if making sure that there were indeed four walls around them, safely concealing them from all danger. The room seemed bright; sunlight freely overflowing inside it. The walls were decorated with a few posters here and there, mainly about great ballet premieres and dance studios. One specific poster was winning against them all; it was depicting a white-haired man with beautiful green eyes and dressed in a full-body ballet outfit, posing gracefully.
"Yuuri!"
There was a distant, female voice. It almost reached his ears like a distant echo, as if coming from another world, while, in reality it was coming from the next room. Yuuri blinked a few times, to lift sleep and sweat away from his eyes and looked at the ceiling of his room. Everything seemed so blurry… His arm stretched to the right and his hand reached for something on the nightstand. His fingers enclosed a pair of large, square glasses, which immediately he wore and everything cleared before him. Yuuri sighed again and he left his arms drop once more, over the blanket that was covering his body up to his chest. There was nothing on his plain ceiling apart from a lamp, hanging right above him, like a spotlight over the star of the day. He remained staring at it pensively; his expression almost indicating that he was seeing it for the first time.
"Yuuri! Breakfast!" the voice repeated, "Are you up? You'll be late!"
The young man raised himself to his elbows, making the cover slip from his chest, revealing his blue t-shirt he wore for the night.
"Coming mom!" he called in response.
He peeled the covers off him and dragged both of his legs to the side of the bed, making them touch the carpet that was there. He stretched his toes and feet up and down, hearing the cracking sounds; sign they were motionless for too long. He winced a little and repeated the action before standing up. His feet were full of old and new blisters and hardened skin. His toenails were also badly shaped and cut short. The boy stretched himself here and there before half-stumbling to the bathroom where he threw cold water on his face, to lift the last traces of sleep away. He raised his head and looked himself in a mirror. His reflection was the same as always…as it should be. However for some reason this face that was staring back at him through glass had something unfamiliar to him…something he couldn't put his finger on…
A short, somehow plump lady with light brown hair, wearing an apron, was over the pan, in which she was frying a pair of eggs. The yolks had already started gaining a golden color, contrasting the white of the glair. She was humming some song when she heard footsteps behind her, and her son approached the table.
"Ah, good morning Yuuri! You overslept again. Better eat and leave or you'll be late again!"
Yuuri smiled softly.
"Yeah…I know…" he said in a small voice
He took a seat pensively.
"I had the craziest dream ever, last nigh" he confessed to his mother
This drew his mother's attention that looked at him over her shoulder for a second.
"Eh? Really? What did you dream about?"
Yuuri leaned his chin onto his hand, supporting his head on the table.
"I was dancing the 'Swan Lake'…with Victor Nikiforov…"
He felt his cheeks flare up as his mother exclaimed teasingly;
"Aww, Victor again! My poor Yuuri must be really in love!"
"M-Mom! Please stop!" said he awkwardly, "He is the best dancer of all times! I admire him for that! I wish I could be more like him!"
His mother pouted playfully but also seriously (for some reason she always managed to combine those two together in her expressions).
"But, Yuuri, you are a wonderful dancer and you have great talent"
"Mom… No matter what you say, it won't change that Victor is a legend. He is the most famous ballet dancer and chorographer in the entire world for years now. He has danced and choreographed the best productions to the best theaters…"
Miss Katsuki sighed at the sudden depressed expression of her son. She had great faith to her son's abilities. At his 24, Yuuri had shown great potential both in his practice and when he appeared on stage. But his problem was his low self-esteem. Yuuri was always shy and sweet boy, with a sensitive heart. His technique was unquestionable but he never really believed much in himself that he could make it. His mother did, and that's why when her son won a scholarship here in New York City, she followed him from Japan, along with his personal dance instructor and her little siblings, leaving her husband behind in Japan taking care of their family business at a hot-springs resort. Yuuri was indeed a hard-working student and his instructors had nothing bad to say about him. What Mss Katsuki knew for sure about her son was this thing; he practically adored Victor Nikiforov.
As far as the caring mother knew, Yuuri had been collecting stuff about him since forever. He would watch his performances on TV, he had gathered all the posters he could get and he had almost all his performances either downloaded to his computer or bought on DVD. Her son was almost obsessed with that man, whom he worshiped and tried to mimic in his entire life.
"In any case…" said she, placing a plate with two fried eggs before Yuuri, who grabbed his fork to eat, "What about the dream?"
Yuuri swallowed rather soundly.
"What about it?"
"What were you dancing about? Some part of Rothbart and the Prince or something?"
Yes, Miss Katsuki had learnt a few things about ballet the years her son was studying. 'Swan Lake' was one of his favorites as well.
"Hmm…no…" Yuuri replied, chewing on his breakfast absentmindedly, "It was…some scene between the White Swan and the Black Swan…"
He looked at his plate and his half-eaten eggs.
"Come to think about it…" he thought, "In the dream I wasn't dancing the White Swan…I was…"
His mother looked at him over her shoulder, drying her hands on a towel.
"Huh? That is a part for females, is it not?"
She narrowed her eyes softly and leaned towards her son, with her hands on her hips.
"You weren't wearing a…dress or something in the dream, right?"
Yuuri's face became scarlet.
"Mom!" he protested, "No, it wasn't like that!"
However the housewife chuckled.
"Just kidding!" She checked the clock on the wall before clapping her palms, "Alright! Chitchat ends now. You better finish your breakfast and leave or you'll be late!"
Yuuri smiled softly.
"Alright, mom, I know…"
He looked down for a second.
"I know…"
Yuuri wore his coat and his scarf, tightly around his neck as he walked out and deep into the downtown of New York City. His walking pace was fast in the beginning, so he would warm up a little. The morning was chilly and his breath was coming out in small, white clouds. He covered his nose and mouth with his scarf for extra protection and stowed his hands into his pockets as he walked onto the pavement with countless more people that wished to get to work. The sky was gray and cloudy that morning, Yuuri noticed. He quickened his pace as he headed down the stairs towards the metro station. He managed to get just in time to squeeze himself into, through the doors before them closing. He found a seat close to the window and sat softly, letting the subway sounds lull him a little along with the barely noticeable shake of the cabin. The strong light from the inside, contrasting the darkness of the outside, was making it impossible for someone to see clearly outside, apart from the passing lamps on the tunnel's walls, which seemed to pass by them in a fast pace. The windows of the train looked like dark mirrors that would reflect only shadows…
Yuuri leaned his head against the cold, glass surface and half-closed his eyes. He felt the vibration the train was making, running through his body. He always liked this feeling. He let out a breath of relief that he didn't miss this train and let his body completely relax. He drew his I-phone out of his pocket and plugged the earphones into his ears. He switched the device on, revealing a photo of his hometown, slightly touched in Photoshop, so it had incorporated a ballet dancer somewhere there. He pressed the screen to the "data" button and browsed through the Internet before finding what he was looking for. He chose a music video and allowed the notes overflow through the small earphones into his eardrums. He had chosen the 'Swan Lake Suit' most famous theme. For some reason he had felt the insuppressible need to hear that song. The smoothing and dramatic music overflowed him. He closed his eyes and recalled his dream again. It wasn't the first time he had dreamt himself dancing, of course. However this specific dance that was particularly a female dance, now seemed awfully fitting for the situation. The music reached yet another crescendo. Yuuri stopped thinking and closed his eyes…
When the train reached his station and the wagon came to halt, Yuuri unplug his earphones from his ears and stepped out. After climbing the stairs, he found himself once more at the cold, winter air and under the gray sky of New York. The sounds of the cars; the horns and the wheels greeted him anew. Yuuri kept on walking, panting only so slightly. He had natural stamina after all. He was not a tall man, petite but also muscular, even if the roundness of his face proved that he was a boy who easily gained weight if not careful. His large glasses and his innocent eyes were making him look younger than his actual 24 years. Everyone though could remember the Japanese dancer with the messy, short, black hair and the bright, brown eyes. Always shy and collected, Yuuri would only impress with his gentleness and his understanding for others. Everyone could see his talent at ballet but Yuuri never really claimed many things for himself and wasn't always competitive. His lack of self-confidence often held him back.
Yuuri though, knew only one thing about himself so clearly. That he loved Victor Nikiforov. His feelings were going way ahead of simple admiration for a great dancer. He simply felt a chill down his spine every time he saw him dancing and his heart would flatter every time he learnt something new about him. He had bought many of his performances on video or DVD and he had downloaded countless photos of his from every performance he knew about. The young man did not simply love him as an artist; he was infatuated with him. One of the reasons he was getting embarrassed at his mother's teasing was because…he knew her words were true.
In his late teens, Yuuri had probably started developing this kind of preference, and he wasn't sure whether his mother would approve of them or not, so he was keeping his crush secret, closing himself in his shell more than before. He would wake up every morning and look at Victor's pictures or look at them a little before he slept. Somehow Yuuri himself was feeling strangely obsessive with this man, especially since Victor Nikiforov was a man who lived so many miles away, in Russia. One thing was for certain, though. Yuuri's most wishful dream would be meeting Victor Nikiforov up-close at least once…
Soon a large building came to view. It was a neo-classical building, so easily distinctive from the other modern skyscrapers around. Even if it was so much shorter than them, it still seemed to be tearing the cloudy, gray skies with strange and almost unworldly power. Yuuri smiled softly at it as he quickly rushed up the stairs getting inside. The carpet-clothed floor was drowning the sound of his footsteps, till Yuuri took a sharp turn to walk into a dimly lit hall towards the backstage and the changing rooms. The changing rooms were empty, just like he had predicted, but filled with stuff such as bags, tracksuits, coats and many other personal objects. Judging from the amount of them, most of the dancers had already reached the practice by now. Yuuri quickly went to his personal drawer and started peeling the multiple layers of clothing off him bit by bit. He then opened his backpack and took out his tights and his pointe shoes. As he dressed himself, he placed his now unneeded stuff in his drawer, locked it and exited the changing rooms. After a small half-run into yet another half-dark hallway, Yuuri opened yet another door to see a large room, expanding below him at the end of a small stairway. Wooden bars were placed here and there in the room and the walls around were mirrors. A large, black piano in the corner was completing the dance studio. The room was packed with dancers of both genders that were doing their stretches and warm-up. Yuuri smiled softly as he walked down the stairs to reach the level of the room. His feet touched the lustrous, gray floor.
"Hey, Yuuri! You made it this time!"
He was greeted by a familiar voice at the base of the stairs, in Japanese. Yuuri turned to look at the man who had spoken and smiled.
"Good morning, Takeshi-san" Yuuri said also in Japanese.
Takeshi Nishigori was a tall, corpulent man, with spiky black hair, thick eyebrows and bright, brown, small eyes. He used to be a football athlete but after he quit, he had joined the theater, helping with the scene and lights. This is how he and Yuuri met. Takeshi had come from Japan years ago and now he lived in New York permanently with his wife and triplet daughters. His wife Yuuko was also a dancer and she had also appeared in some figure-skating rinks before. Right now she was devoted to her three children. Yuuri felt nice to have yet another Japanese person to talk to, apart from his mother and his dance instructor. Even after almost a year in New York, Yuuri still felt uncomfortable. It was a nice thing to have yet another person from his home country being in the same working environment as he did.
Takeshi was a great tease and often teased Yuuri about everything, mostly about his weight (whenever Yuuri appeared to have taken some extra kilo once in a while) and his often delays at work. Of course he always teased with no malice, but for a shy person such as Yuuri, even this kind of teasing was bringing him to the verge of scarlet blush. Faithful to his role as a…"Yuuri-tease", Takeshi smirked softly at the 24-year-old man, leaning casually against the staircase parapet, with his arms crossed over his large chest.
"You made it this time, I see! Barely, though! Did you over-sleep again?"
Yuuri chuckled nervously, already sat down and removing his shoes to put his pointe on.
"No, of course not…at least…not that I know of. I ate breakfast before coming here"
Takeshi chuckled.
"I see. The bed was too soft again huh?"
This time Yuuri couldn't avoid blushing.
"I-I guess…"
Takeshi laughed again.
"Well you do not have a wife to wake you up, or three little devils to make sure you will be out of this soft paradise called 'bed', now, do you?" he chuckled
Yuuri finished wearing his white pointe and he stood up, testing them by lifting himself up and down his tiptoes for a couple of times.
"I bet you were dancing in your dreams again, weren't you?"
"S-Short of…" Yuuri admitted
I was dancing with Victor, he thought, but then blushed and gasped because he realized he had spoken his thought aloud. Takeshi chuckled and slammed Yuuri's back once, so Yuuri gasped surprised.
"Again with this Victor guy? Seriously, Yuuri, you need to find yourself a girl someday, or a boy, or whatever!"
Yuuri blushed again. He knew that Takeshi was teasing him, but he also knew, he could feel, that his friend had realized, more or less, his interest in male gender by now; yet alone his crush on his idol.
"I…I don't know." He honestly said while stretching his flexible leg behind his back and onto his head, "Perhaps…someday…"
Takeshi could see the conversation was slowly dying out. Yuuri wasn't really feeling comfortable talking about stuff like those. Takeshi could tell that Yuuri was helplessly in love with a man he had never met up-close and a man that had almost zero possibilities of meeting Yuuri in the first place (for Victor Nikiforov constantly traveled from country to country for his dancing career and his home country was Russia as well), but Takeshi could see the boy –because to him his little friend was still an innocent boy- could not bring himself move forward from this pointless, not to mention one-sided crush of his. Recently there was announced that Victor had a boyfriend. It was finally confirmed that Victor preferred boys to girls as well but when it was announced that Victor was already in relationship was a real shock for his fans. The love interest to the famous dancer was a boy at the age of 15 towards 16, an upcoming talent in ballet named Yuri Plisetsky. He appeared so suddenly, like a thunder in a clear day, that many people got suspicious of the nature of his relationship with the famous dancer, however there was no doubt after a little while that Victor truly loved his new partner and he was also personally coaching him. This announcement, though, had somehow crushed any "hopes" Yuuri might have (if ever were any in the first place). Takeshi could see, however he spoke none. Yuuri had already joined the others for warm-up after all. Yuuri was talented, even if his lack of self-confidence was forcing him to have minor roles, usually, in the theater's productions. Takeshi had high expectations of this boy…
His thoughts were interrupted (as well as the dancers' warm-up) as a lady around her middle fifties, with white-blonde hair tied in a bun, entered the room, clapping her hands together to get attention onto her. A young man with sheets of music beneath his arm was following her. It was the dance tutor of the theater.
"Alright, company" she said cheerfully, "It is about time to start our routine practice! Line up everyone. We'll start with the warm-up!"
Takeshi leaned more comfortably against the parapet as he watched in enjoyment those young people practicing their dance. His eyes were stuck upon the particular, talented, young compatriot, watching him while smiling paternally.
Hello everyone! This is an early birthday gift for Tanuki-desu (DA) because I won't have time wish her tomorrow and because I wanted to be the first one to wish her, so...Happy early birthday!
This is the first chapter of a fanfiction I had started working on but I am not sure when I'll finish it. Work is too much. However I had it to my computer a few months now!
Anyway let me explain a few things here This is an AU story that is supposed to take place at the same time with the anime, just in this AU the story focuses on ballet instead of figure skating (and since I was watching figure skating today, I found it fitting to put it here! ). I was firstly inspired by these two amazing pictures made!
(Visit her DA page to see them! They are amazing!)
For this story was also inspired from "Black Swan" and the actual anime "Yuri on Ice". The main prortagonist is technically Katsuki Yuuri and the other two protagonists are Yuri Plisetsky and Victor Nikiforov and of course I will be adding several characters here and there as supportive characters.
This story is a shonen ai/yaoi story. The main couple is the favorite of Victor x Yuri while there is also a one-sided Victor x Yuuri
(Yes people Yuuri is in love with Victor but Victor is in love with Yuri in this one. Believe me there will be conflicts with that! )
I will be refering to Katsuki as Yuuri and to Plisetsky as Yuri to avoid misunderstandings between the characters, following the japanese accent for Yuuri's name and the russian for Yuri.
Plot: Katsuki Yuuri is a Japanese young ballet dancer, who lives in New York with his mother. He adores above all Victor Nikiforov and is secretly in love with him. However when one day Swan Lake is to be raised under Victor's protection Yuuri is given the role of the Black Swan... Shy Katsuki Yuuri will try to use the role to seduce Victor
The main idea for the plot was the amazing pictures you saw but also the fact that in the actual anime Yuuri gets the part of Eros instead of Agape to dance. Taking this under consideration, Yuuri here doesn't dance the White Swan but the Black one.
During the story I want to picture the confused emotions that go through him. I hope I can make it It won't necessarily be a "spychological thriler" like the "Black Swan" but I want it to be a bit "on the edge" with Yuuri's emotions!
The first scene now was inspired from the second amazing picture made (see upper) and also by this song:
Black Swan - "Le Lac des Cygnes" / "The Swan Lake" by Tchaïkovski (check it out on youtube by that name)
You can imagine it play throughout the introduction (Yuuri's appearance, naturally happens in moment 1:05! )
I hope you like it everyone, especially you Tanuki-desu
Cover image made from:
Tanuki-desu's picture (I had taken permission a while back, but I wanted to make her a surprise)
Render by Keqn (on Deviantart also)
I did a minor editing to the picture and I added letters I might post the cover only sometime so you can see it closer
I hope you like it, everyone!
Please comment me so I will know what you think of my work
Enjoy!
