Landing was always the worst part of any flight for Yuri, even worse than take off or any turbulence he had ever experienced. This time, though, Yuri felt a different anxiety bubbling in his gut. He was skating in the Cup of Spain for his spot at the Grand Prix finals. This time landing meant that he was going to fulfill his life time dream of skating against Victor Nikiforov, his idol from as early as he could remember. They would be landing in Barcelona, Spain, for the first competition. If he advanced he would be going to China, and then finally to Russia for the Finals.
Beside Yuri sat Eren Yeager, his best friend. They had met four years ago when Yuri traveled to Detroit to train under Celestino and they almost immediately became attached at the hip. They became known as a pair of trouble makers, though Yuri tended to be a bystander to Eren's mischief. They were not roommates and tried to travel to every competition together, never apart for more than a few days at a time.
As the plane circled the runway Eren grabbed Yuri's hand and squeezed reassuringly, smiling brightly at his friend. Yuri clasped Eren's hand back firmly, holding his breath until he felt like he was about to pass out. The landing was smooth, much to both of their relief, and soon they were gathering their belongings and heading out towards the terminal. Both boys could hardly hold back their excitement as they practically ran to get their bags.
"Here's mine," Yuri yelled, grabbing his official 'Skate Japan' bag and tossing towards Eren. "Got yours too," the raven exclaimed, grabbing Eren's German flag colored bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Eren picked up Yuri's bag and took his own from his friend. Eren always did the heavy loading like carrying stuff and while Yuri did anything that involved talking like getting cabs and checking into hotels.
"Let's do this!" Eren smirked, walking towards the exit of the airport. Yuri giggled, following his friend like he always did. They waited patiently for Yuri to pull up the E-mail with the address to the hotel before raven flagged down a cab for them to take. Yuri asked the driver to pop the trunk in Spanish so Eren could put their bags away. Eren was fluent in several languages including English, Japanese, and German, but he knew the basics to so many more.
"Ready?" Yuri asked when the brunette hoped in the cab and Eren nodded, closing the door behind it. As they pulled into traffic Eren wanted to roll down his window and enjoy the breeze but decided to wait until tomorrow and hit the beach to get his fill of the warm environment. Detroit was cold and miserable and he missed the sun. On the driver's side, Yuri was staring out the window longingly. The Ocean was fully visible, its vast expanse was light blue and it reminded Yuri of Victor's beautiful sparkling eyes.
He blushed at the thought of finally meeting Victor after admiring him for so many years. Eren nudged his friend in the ribs, snickering mischievously. It was no secret that Yuri had a crush on the older man. It had started in Yuri's teen years and had only grown in intensity as he aged. But for as mean as Eren was about his Japanese friends crush, Yuri knew Eren was just as big a fan boy for Levi Ackerman. Levi would be skating this year as well, and despite Levi's reputation for being an arrogant asshole, he knew Eren was about to jump out his skin to meet him.
The ride was relatively quiet, both men in their own worlds as anxiety creeped in. They were both older, Eren was 23, Yuri 22, and they were just starting to make it to the Grand Prix. They were nobodies, but at least they had each other. Yuri sighed heavily, being more prone to nerves than his best friend.
"We must almost be there." Eren said, smiling softly at Yuri. Eren was a stubborn, hardheaded man but he had always been gently with Yuri.
"I'm nervous," Yuri replied, feeling bile burning his throat, "we need to practice tonight."
"We will. Let's get settled first, okay?" Eren asked, but Yuri knew it wasn't a suggestion. Yuri just nodded, looking back out the window. In the distance a large hotel was shining. It looked like it was mostly made of glass. All Yuri knew was that all the men would be sharing the pent house for a week until the next competition. That meant that he would be staying in the same area as Victor and that made his stomach swirl uncomfortably.
They pulled up in front of the hotel and Yuri thanked and paid the driver while Eren grabbed their bags. The bulk of their belongings would be shipped to them. They walked inside and Yuri pulled out his badge to get him into their room. After a few minutes of typing away, she grabbed his badge and scanned it in. She handed them four room cards, two each, and led them to an elevator. Yuri scanned his new room card and the elevator jolted to life, sending them up all 17 stories.
When the door dinged open, Eren hesitantly stepped onto the marble floor first. Down a small hallway was a door, large and ominous. Behind it was the unknown. Were they there first? Last? Was Victor there, or Levi? Both boys looked at the other, hoping to find encouragement in eachother.
"You first," Eren said timidly, shoving Yuri forward gently. The Japanese boy squeaked at the contact but walked forward slowly, scanning his card on the door. It clicked open gently and they walked in cautiously.
It was silent. They looked at eachother and knew exactly what to do. Yuri laughed, taking off through the house, leaving Eren behind.
"YURI!" Eren shrieked, carrying the heavy load made him fall behind, "CHEATER!" he yelled after his friend, but Yuri was long gone. He followed the giggles until he found Yuri sprawled out on a bed right off the living room. "Bastard." Eren puffed, throwing the luggage down. They always raced to see who could get to the room first and whoever lost had to unpack.
"Let's look around and then we can unpack," Yuri suggested, face flush from the sprint he made. Eren beamed, hearing 'we' and not 'you'. They checked out the bathroom across the hall, it was dark and modern with a large tile shower and a deep jet tub. The rest of the rooms all had bathrooms looking the same. They all had king sized beds, all decorated similarly. Next they checked out the living room. It was gorgeous with dark blue walls and a giant white couch and matching seats. The walls were glass and showed the ocean Yuri had already fell in love with. There was a huge TV on the wall and a bar that showed the open kitchen. Yuri went to the kitchen, admiring the dark cabinets. It was like a dream being in such an expensive home.
He opened the fridge to find it fully stocked and the raven grabbed a bottle of water for himself and one for Eren. He stalked back into the living room to give Eren his water only to find it empty. He panicked, looking desperately for his friend.
"Yuri," Eren called, his muffled voice still audible from outside. Yuri looked to find him on the balcony. Yuri stepped over the threshold to the outside and immediately felt at peace.
"This is," Yuri started, leaning against the railing beside Eren.
"Amazing." The other man finished, leaning against other affectionately. Yuri let out a breath he had been holding since he found out they were coming to Barcelona months ago. It felt right being here, being with his best friend through this. They stood outside in the breeze admiring the ocean for a while before it was apparent they were neglecting their duties. They had to unpack, and they definitely had to get on the ice and practice.
Eren hanged the clothes in the closet while Yuri unpacked their toiletries in the bathroom. It took thirty minutes to get things to where Yuri felt comfortable and organized. Eren laid on the bed and sighed contently. He switched on their TV and flipped through the channels until he found something for the pair to watch. It was still early and everyone would be arriving before long so Yuri decided to take a nap. He grabbed his stuffed poodle toy and snuggled up to Eren's side, falling into sleep quickly. Eren was used to his friend's quirks and didn't mind. He gently stroked Yuri's ebony locks and changed the channel to cartoons while the other slept soundly.
Jet lag caused Eren to crash not long after Yuri and they woke up around 11pm. They had been asleep for several hours, much to Yuri's distress, and hadn't made it to the rink. Celestino would be there tomorrow and would expect perfection.
"Yuri," Eren sighed sleepily, pulling out of his friend's cuddly grasp and standing up to stretch his long, languid body, "We have 24 access to the rink, remember? We can go now." Yuri nodded in agreement, they wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.
"Okay, let's do it." Yuri agreed, suddenly excited again. They dressed in simple sweat pants and T-shirts before quietly making their way out of the dark penthouse. Everyone was either still not their or passed out. They went down the elevator and walked out to the street, flagging down a cab.
It was late but the streets were very much still alive with an eclectic mix of people. Yuri loved the atmosphere, rolling down his window and letting the still warm sea breeze cascade across his features. Beside him Eren let out a content sigh, filling his longs with the salty air. The ride to the rink was filled with laughs and sightseeing as they rode through the center of town. They just enjoyed each other's company, both thankful for the other.
"Wow," was all Yuri could say as they say as they pulled into the parking lot of the rink. It was HUGE! The building was several stories high and modernly designed. They had never skated anyway so large before and they were itching to get inside. As usual Eren grabbed their bag with their skating supplies and Yuri paid the driver before they walked up to the door, scanning their badges to get access to the inside. The lights automatically turned on, revealing how large the venue really was. It was like nothing they had ever experienced.
As usual Eren led the way, trying to find his way towards the locker room so they could change. After a few wrong turns they it, making quick work of putting on their skates, carefully placing their guards on the precious blades, before making their way to the ice. After a 14 hour flight, both Yuri and Eren were excited to stretch their legs. They performed their typical warm up stretches for an hour. Eren, as usual, needed Yuri's help. He was much taller than and not nearly as limber as his smaller friend.
They did their secret lucky high-five before stepping on the ice, as per custom, before they took off to race for a couple laps. Yuri was always faster than Eren, and tonight was no different. They laughed through the final lap, Yuri cheering as he crossed the imaginary finish line first. The other slid to a halt, covering his friend with finely shaved cold ice. The shock on Yuri's face made Eren fall to the ice in a fit of laughter and the Japanese man couldn't help but join him.
"Y-you're," He said between giggles, "an ass, you know that?"
"That's why you love me." Eren retorted, helping his best friend up. Yuri shoved him playfully.
"Yeah, I suppose. Wanna run through our programs?" The raven asked. Eren nodded, moving off the ice to give Yuri the room he needed. They had the same coach, he knew Yuri's skate as well as he knew his own.
The Japanese man skated to the middle of the ice, taking a deep breath before imagining his music playing in his head. He moved so gracefully through his free skate and Eren couldn't help but feel envious of Yuri's pure talent. He always opened himself up like Eren had never been able to do, leaving his heart and soul on the ice with every performance. His theme was 'Happiness is' and Eren knew that Yuri's happiness had always been skating.
Yuri would be skating to an original work created by one of his college friends and they both knew the program enough to imagine the whole effect of his skate with the music and costume added. It would surely be beautiful. His footwork and clean jumps would get him high scores hopefully, he had been working with Yuri on his jumps all season.
When he was done, Eren hugged him and told him to take a rest while he ran through his program. Eren's theme was desire. It was not what he wanted to choose but Celestino wanted him to challenge himself and everyone knew Eren was way too goofy to be considered sexual on any level. He usually had tons of jumps and spins in his programs but like Eren had to work with Yuri on his Jumps, Yuri had been working with him of his technical footwork.
He skated to the middle of the rink and closed his eyes, imagining the chairs being full of people. He heard his music playing in mind, his favorite band Panic! At the Disco's 'Its Better If You Do'. He smiled at the adrenaline rush he felt when he skated to the chorus in the past, though the lyrics had to be changed to be appropriate for his skate. He took a deep breath before he started. He skate was full of energy and was supposed to have major sex appeal considering his theme, but he struggled feeling sexy. He landed all his jumps perfectly, but he lacked the desire it would take it win the Gold.
When he was done, he was a panting mess in the middle of the ice. Yuri skated up and romped him, knocking them down.
"You did great," Yuri encouraged, lying beside his friend.
"I don't feel sexy." Eren snorted, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"I know you don't. You know, you could just think about Levi." Yuri snickered, turning on his side to look at the German.
"Tch, as if." He retorted, standing up and helping Yuri to his feet.
They worked on Eren's footwork for a little while before a door opened. Yuri looked up curiously to see who could be coming in at such an hour. For a few seconds there was silence before two men stepped into view. Eren was skating backwards into a jump, blissfully unaware they were now in the presence of Victor Nikiforov and Levi Ackerman.