"Hey, mom, do you know what this says?" Yuuri asked, showing her some weird symbols that had suddenly showed on her arm that morning.
She didn't recognize it at all, but it looked like it was a language.
"Well, that looks like it might be Russian or one of those eastern European languages. Your soul mate must be over there. How lucky you are to get the sign so young." She smiled and patted her head.
Of course, her soul mate just had to be someone that lived far away. Most of her friends had gotten their signs in Japanese, indicating that their soul mate was Japanese too. People often felt sorry for Yuuri, having a soul mate that spoke a language she couldn't understand.
"I actually think it's pretty cool that your soulmate is Russian," Yuuto said as he skated around the rink with her.
"Thanks..I suppose it is cool. I just hope I get a chance to meet them."
"Well, if your start going to skating competitions, those will take you around the world, then you'll have an even greater chance of meeting them."
Yuuri's face lit up at the idea and nodded before executing a perfect triple axel. Maybe skating really could be a way for her to find her soul mate. Who knows, maybe they're a skater too. That little bit of hope brought Yuuri into competitive skating from an early age. By the time she was in the senior rankings, she was one of the top skaters in Japan, certified by the JSF.
Now, she was in the Grand Prix and nearing the final. It was the competition before it to qualify for the final. She didn't know it, but her soul mate was closer than she thought.
Victoria Nikiforova was a living legend in being Russia's top figure skater. She had started skating at a young age, already a prodigy. Back then, she was noted for her flowing silver hair and how she skated with such grace. She was practicing at the rink one day when she noticed weird symbols appearing on her arm. Through some asking around and research online, she found out it was Japanese.
"My soul mate! They're Japanese!" she exclaimed excitedly.
She was thrilled that her soul mate was someone so different from her. Ever since then, she had been adamantly researching Japan. However, lately, she'd been busy with her skating career, much too busy to even think about possibly visiting Japan to meet her soul mate. Now, it was winding down to the Grand Prix final, but she couldn't help but stare at the name next to the Japanese flag on the roster for today's free skate.
"Yuuri Katsuki," she said to herself.
It could just simply be coincidence that this girl is Japanese and also a figure skater, but something in Victoria screamed that it wasn't.
A smile grew across her face as it was announced that Katsuki was up next. She made a point to hurry over to the rink so she could watch the other's performance. Katsuki started out strong and Victoria noted how she looked absolutely beautiful, but her face fell as Katsuki couldn't seem to land any of her jumps. She recalled seeing her in the warm up, and she seemed to be doing just fine. Victoria still clapped as loud as she could and cheered for the other that looked quite dejected afterwards. She wanted, almost needed, to go over there and tell her that she skated beautifully, but she was quickly pulled aside for an interview, and her free skate was coming up. During the interview, she felt the Japanese word on her arm ache. A feeling of embarrassment and sadness ran through her.
It had to be her.
Yuuri tried her best to hold back her tears as she trudged through the halls once she had her skates off. That was absolutely humiliating. There was no way she was going onto the Finals after that performance. Already sniffling, she escaped into the bathroom, sitting in one of the stalls so no one could see her crying. She knew the Russian skater, Victoria Nikiforova was there, a skater she had looked up to for a long time. She hoped to maybe impress her, but that was obviously out the window now.
Once out of the bathroom, she mostly kept her eyes towards the ground, not wanting people to see her red eyes. She was thankful that her glasses could hide most of that. However, she stood completely still as she felt an odd pulsing in her right arm where the Russian word was. As she looked around, her mouth went dry as she found herself locking eyes with Victoria Nikiforova herself. There was no doubt with how the mark was reacting with Victoria only a few feet away: Victoria was her soul mate. Yuuri had to admit, it did make sense with the Russian word and them both being skaters and everything, but this was THE Victoria Nikiforova. She had tons of fans, and Yuuri was just some skater from Japan, nothing special like that. She knew she should say something. They were both staring at each other for crying out loud, but flight or fight was kicking in right now, and her legs decided for her. She promptly turned around and headed for the nearest exit.
Victoria's eyes went wide when she noticed the Japanese skater. What she wasn't prepared for was when the mark on her arm started pulsating as soon as they locked eyes. It was apparent that something similar was happening with the other as she grabbed her arm too. It was all Victoria needed to know. She was sure now that this Yuuri Katsuki was her soul mate through and through. She was about to break the awkward stare when Katsuki suddenly left without even a wave or anything, which left Victoria doing a sort of weird half wave and quickly lowered her arm. She turned back around when she heard her name being called and was being hauled off in front of the cameras again, finding herself gripping her right arm the whole time.
Idiot. Why'd you have to lock eyes with Victoria? Now she's probably going to think I'm some weirdo that sucks at landing her jumps and likes to stare at people.
Yuuri didn't even want to think about the banquet right now. She knew her coach would probably drag her to it even though she knew she wasn't going to qualify for the Finals. She'd probably see Victoria there again, and that was quite dreadful to think about. She just wanted to go back home and stay in her room forever at this point.