"If only I hadn't been…"

A twenty-three year old man stares at the framed picture of his mom and dad with a mixture of sadness, loneliness and guilt. He lost the both of them at the same time and he was no older than twelve years. They died because he was a coward. They died because he was too afraid to tell them about his secret ability. He was afraid they would reject him because of it.

"If I hadn't…"

"Viktor? Are you all right?" a female voice asked, interrupting the young man's flow of thoughts. He snapped his eyes up from the framed picture and saw Sara Crispino, holding a magazine clutched against her chest as she stared down at him, worriedly. "You seemed…"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" Viktor said, quickly rubbing his teary eyes dry with the sleeve of his jacket then started to stroke his brown poodle, Makkachin, who lied beside him on the floor sleeping. He lied the framed picture on his lap and pointed casually at the magazine in Sara's hands. "What's that?"

Sara eyes her childhood friend for a moment then decides it's best to leave him come to her when he felt like he needed a talk. She slowly sat down beside him on the floor and showed the cover that read; "Skating Magazine 2018." There was a picture of a young Japanese figure skater, crying as he hugged a man who appeared to be his coach. The small headline next to the picture said; "Will Yuuri Katsuki take his chances and return to the ice, or will he go into early retirement due to his last year's horrible skating performances?!"

Viktor couldn't help it but a sudden sadness overwhelmed him again. Looking at the crying boy made him think about himself. He too wanted nothing else than perform on the ice. He loved figure skating and he was good at it. His parents always watched him, proud looks on their faces. Then something horrible happened to them and the people who knew them, found out about his secret ability. They blamed him for not preventing it then chased him out of town. They hated and feared him. He had to leave his 'old' life behind and start a new one with others like him. Viktor learned they also got chased from their hometown, and some were even chased away by their own families.

"I really hope he will come back next season," Sara's voice said, pulling Viktor's mind back to the presence. "He's so cute and he deserves a second chance. I just wish I could be there tonight, at the press conference. There will also be an autograph signing. Aaah, I want nothing else than clutch him in my arms and whisper to him that the can do it!"

Viktor eyes the dark haired girl beside him. Her eyes slightly closed as she hugged the magazine dreamily. Viktor couldn't help but snort; "Mickey would definitely love that!" Sara's eyes snap back open after hearing her twin brother's name. She crunched her nose slightly.

"Ugh! Mickey needs to grow up! I can't stay single for the rest of my life, only to please him!"

Viktor shrugs; "Why not? I mean, I decided to stay single a long time ago, sooo…we can stay single together."

"Wow, that sounds so…depressing…" Sara saw the playful sparkle in Viktor's eyes vanish when she said that, and his eyes drop sadly to the face down framed picture in his lap. Sara placed her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Vitya. I know why you rather stay single but…" Sara swallowed, carefully choosing her next words. "…But falling in love and loving that person forever must be the best feeling EVER…"

"Sounds like you actually want me to fall in love and get hurt." It sounded harsher than he wanted it to sound. Sara dropped her eyes. He felt guilty instantly. "Sorry, Sara. I didn't mean to sound so harsh. I know you're only trying to help me, but…you only know the half of it. I even don't know what will happen. All I see are bits and pieces were I get shot while protecting the person I love."

"Vitya, there is still a chance you'll survive the bullet…"

"And if not…the person I love will be heartbroken and alone." There was a long pause before Viktor spoke again. Only this time he changed the topic back to Sara's cover 'crush'. "But you know, I won't mind accompany you to that press conference. He definitely needs a hug and friendly words from his biggest fan. Besides, I can help you make up an excuse for when Mickey starts to ask questions."

Sara wraps her arms around Viktor's neck and squeezes him into a bear hug as she cries cheerfully; "Thank you, Vitya! You rock!"

"What are you two up too?" a voice suddenly asked and the two instantly jolted away from one and another, acting like they've just had committed a crime and was caught right handed. When they found the source of the voice they also found Chris's grinning face. The grin only grew more and more when he eyed his two embarrassed looking friends. Then he folded his arms and titled his head slightly. "Well? I'm waiting for an explanation."

After a long pause, it was Viktor who broke the silence. "Don't be stupid, Chris. Sara was just hugging me because I volunteered to join her as she goes to a figure skaters' press conference. There is a chance her idol will quit competitive skating and she wants to give him some cheerful words to boost up his self-esteem."

"Really? I love competitive figure skating myself," Chris cried merely, crouching down between the two and wrapping one arm around either one's shoulders. Then he grinned mischievously. "Well, not that I'm actually interested in doing it myself, quite the contrary, I rather watch them skate and get aroused when seeing the skaters' make those flexible…"

"Yuk, Yuk! Iew, Iew!" Sara exclaimed, covering her ears in the process. "You make it seem like it's just a game of foreplay!"

"It is, Sara! It is!" Chris smirked, confirming his words with a firm nod. Both Viktor and Sara could not help but vomit inside their mouths. "Oh, come on! It's not like only my dreams are a bit naughty. I'm a dream seller for crying out loud, which not only allows me to 'sell' dreams but also to invade them without the sleeping person even knowing it. Trust me, Sara, when I tell you this, my dreams are nothing compared with your dreams. Like last night, you and this 'cover' boy skipped happily down the meadows then…"

"AAAH!" Sara screamed, and Viktor wasn't even sure whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, but she then stood up and ran quickly back towards her private bungalow, yelling; "MICKEY, CHRIS INVADED MY DREAMS!"

Shortly after, Mickey came running from his private bungalow, and Chris knew that was his cue to run very, VERY fast. Which is what he did.

Yuuri ran down the streets of Russia. In just a few hours he, Phichit and his coach, Celestino, along with last year's fellow figure skaters, had to attend a press conference. After latest experiences on the ice, Yuuri felt like to go into early retirement, but his parents and his sister, Mari, and best friend, Yuuko, always had been supporting him and giving up felt also like letting them down.

After a thirty minute run, Yuuri decided to take a short break and do some stretches. He was supporting himself nearby a tree as he stretched his right leg, his mind slowly wandering back to his latest skating competition. He ended at the bottom, which was pretty obvious after he failed every jump Celestino had put into his routine. Remembering every flaw he made, Yuuri felt his emotions run high again.

"Maybe it's best to quit after all! It's not like this year's season will be any better. Giving me another chance and coach me this year would be a total waste of Celestino's time. Maybe he should put all his attention on Phichit instead. If someone has potential, it's him and not me."

"Did you say something?!"

"No, I said nothing. Maybe he did…"

The two unknown voices snapped Yuuri from his sombrely thoughts and made his eyes dart around anxiously. He found a couple sitting on a bench nearby, both looking at him with an odd look.

"Crap! Not again!" Yuuri thought. His heart skipped a few beats when realizing he did it again. Not only he had to deal with stupid anxiety attacks, but also his freaking awful ability. Whenever his emotions started to run high, he gets the tendency to 'leak' his thoughts to the people around him.

Yuuko was the first who found out about it when they were just five years old. They were at the beach playing when she suddenly called him over as she stood nearby the water, pointing at something between some rocks. At first he thought she wanted to show him a crab, but when he joined her and saw it was a sea spider, cold sweat started to run down his back. If there was something he feared the most, it was eight legged freaks. Even though his panic started to rise, he tried his best to not show his fear to Yuuko. She was his bestie and he wanted to show her how brave he was. Sadly, she heard every encouraging word he gave himself as they ran through his head.

At first, Yuuko had looked around her to see if there was anyone else who was hiding and tried to prank her along with Yuuri, pretending to 'voice' Yuuri's thoughts. When she saw his frightful and pale look as he followed the spider's movements, she knew that was not the case. She then laid her hand onto his arm and asked him if he wanted to tell her something. That moment he couldn't lie to her and he admitted that he could read his parents and his sister's thoughts every now and then, though, he couldn't tell her when it all started. Yuuko told him she wouldn't tell anyone, and that she always had the feeling there was something special about him.

Sometimes it's not just words he 'leaks' out. When he was around ten years old, he was still bad with using words to convey his feelings. Even though he didn't tell anyone about how he felt, people still seemed to notice it which caused a lot of trouble for his family sometimes. By then they already knew about their child's ability and tried to come up with all kinds of excuses to protect him.

Yuuri quickly send a polite smile at the couple on the bench then sprinted away. He really needed to talk with Celestino first, before they went to the conference. It was hard, but he had no other choice. His parents, sister and Yuuko would understand…eventually.

When Yuuri broke the news to Celestino, the coach didn't want to hear any of it. According to him it wasn't fair Yuuri gave up on something he loved the most. He just needed to take another chance and try fight his anxiety. If he didn't, he would regret it one day.

Yuuri sighed and gave in, as always. Celestino and Phichit dragged him to the press and autograph signing. The hand-full of fans he had cheered happily when Celestino announced both Yuuri and Phichit would enter the next season's competition.

A young boy with blond hair with a bit of red at the front cheered the loudest. Maybe because his squeaky voice drowned out all the others. Celestino eyed Yuuri momentarily before giving him a friendly nudge with his elbow. It was his usual cue to smile at his fans. Yuuri obeyed reluctantly and forced himself to smile. It drove the blond hair kid almost to insanity, but he fainted before it actually would happen.

"Isn't he GORGEOUS?!" Sara squealed as she stood on her toes to glance over the tall heads in front of her.

"Yeah! That man definitely has the most gorgeous head, if you're into that. I'll prefer the butts, though…" Chris smirked.

"Oh, haha!" Sara retorted back with an stink eye, then grabbed Viktor's arm and dragged him with her as she forced herself to the crowd. "Come on, Vitya! We'll definitely have a better angle here!" Chris quickly pursued.

Yuuri eyed the crowd and paparazzi with concern. Telepathy isn't easy. Too many overly-excited thoughts swarmed around him like bees around honey. It was so hard to focus on what was someone's thoughts and what were real questions. Yuuri slowly reached for his head and took in a deep breath.

"YUURI! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Yuuri looked up when he heard his name and he saw a young woman with straight dark hair waving at him to draw his attention. She was accompanied by two others, friends, maybe? One of them was tall with two-toned blond and brown hair styled into an undercut. The other one was pretty tall as well with very long silver hair tied with a white ribbon into a ponytail. One lonely bang was covering the left eye. By the looks of the sharp jawline, Yuuri guessed the person was a man. Also, he suddenly was overwhelmed with the feeling he had seen him somewhere before.

"He's looking! He's looking straight at us!" the dark haired girl screamed, squeezing the silver haired man into a tight hug as she screamed the words in his ear. He didn't seem to appreciate the temporarily deafness and tried to squirm the girl away. When he finally succeeded, his eye met Yuuri's, who was momentarily awe-stricken about how beautiful blue they were. Then he looked away with a slight blush.

"I saw what you did there, Viktor," Chris said with an accusing look on his face. "I had to promise Sara to not flirt with the skaters', and you just flirt with the most handsome one. Not fair!"

"I was not…" Viktor started but was stopped when Sara acted all giddy again. It seemed the paparazzi just finished their questions and it was now the fans turn to receive an autograph of their favorite skater. Sara grabbed Viktor's arm, again, and dragged him along with her.

When everything was over, Yuuri decided to take some privacy in the changing rooms to call his parents. To let them know he would take the next flight home. They were so happy to hear his voice and couldn't wait to see him again. Yuuri told them he couldn't wait to see them either then hung up.

Yuuri drags in a long, deep sigh then tosses his phone along with other stuff into his sports bag, ready to leave to meet up with Celestino and Phichit who he would drive with to the airport. Suddenly a hand squeezed his butt from behind. Yuuri jumped up in shock and a high pitched yelp escaped his lips. When he turned around he met two hazel colored eyes. Long eyelashes fluttered at him.

"Hey there, handsome!"

Yuuri's heart skipped a few beats then tried to make himself shrink to a very tiny person as cold sweat started to break out. Was he seriously sexual assaulted by a man? Who was he anyway? It was like the stranger could read his mind. Or did he accidentally leak out his thoughts again?

"My name is Chris Giacometti. Me and my friends were watching you and your fellow skaters from the crowd as you were interviewed. I'm quite pleased to hear you join the competition next season. I'm a big fan of figure skating."

"Y-you are?" Yuuri stammered, trying to take a step back and away from the very overly friendly stranger. "G-good to hear…"

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't until I saw you…" Chris winked at Yuuri, flirtatiously. "I can't wait to see your performance on the ice. I bet you will make it melt!"

"Melt the ice? Seriously? Does he really need to say it that creepy?"

"Wait, you can ventriloquize?" Yuuri snapped from his thoughts and saw Chris look at him with an odd look. Then he pointed at his lips. "I heard you talk, but your lips weren't moving. I know because I can't stop staring at them…so…the only logical conclusion would be that you actually can ventriloquize. Am I right?"

"Yes-Yes!" Yuuri quickly nodded then tried to step around Chris to leave the changing room. Chris was slightly faster and pushed him back against the wall, then blocked him.

"Can you teach me?"

"N-not right now…" Yuuri darted his eyes around anxiously. Was there really no way for him to escape the weirdo guy? "Actually, I need to catch my flight back to Japan."

"Aw, so you're not from around here?" Chris pouted his lips disappointed. "In that case, maybe I should find a way to persuade you to stay in Russia. Would a kiss work?" Chris started to stroke Yuuri's lips with his thumb. "You're not saying anything. Does that mean a yes?"

"NO!" Yuuri exclaimed, his eyes widened in fear. Suddenly the door of the changing room opened and another person entered.

"Christophe, really?!"

Chris turned his head but kept blocking Yuuri from escaping. His eyes found Viktor, looking at him with disapproval. Chris sighed annoyed. "Viktor…why do you always have to make things so difficult for me. I was just about to get his first kiss."

"NO, you weren't!" Yuuri exclaimed.

"So this was going to be your first kiss? I knew it…" Chris grinned cocky. "Me like it…"

"Christophe, that's enough!"

Turning around with a sour look on his face, Chris sighed; "Viktor…do you really think I didn't notice the way you looked at him during the interview? Admit it. You want to have him for yourself."

"You know that's not true, Christophe!"

"Oh, come on! I saw y…"

"Look, I want nothing to do with either of you, so please leave me alone!" Yuuri quickly stepped away from Chris then grabbed his bag and rushed out the door, hoping the two, or at least the most creepy one, wouldn't follow him.

They didn't, but when Yuuri exited the building and walked into an alley that was part of his route back to the hotel, something hard hit his head and he fell to the cold concrete. He tried to force his eyes to stay open and focus his eyes onto the two, tall silhouettes that came walking toward him then casted over him.

"Yep! This is the telepath…that's for sure," a cold, rough voice said.

"What are we going to do with him, Yakov?" For a moment, Yuuri was able to see the second person's face. It was emotionless and his brown eyes pierced coldly into his. His hair was short black and styled into an undercut. He didn't look much older than 15 years.

"For now, Otabek…we just toss him in the back of the van!"

"NO!" Yuuri chocked out and tried to scoot away, but a second blow to his head made his world turn black.

Yes, Otabek is a bad-guy in this story xD

Anyway, feel free to let me know what you think so far, or fav/follow if you're curious for the next chapter xD