Due to popular demand, I have decided to write this companion story to Fated. As requested, this is written from Yuuri's perspective. However, this is its own stand-alone story and will not cover the exact same events in Fated.
Soulmate AU
Same guidelines apply to this fic.
1 People have the first name of their soulmate written on their wrist
2 The soulmate mark appears on the person when they turn 15-18 years old
3 Their soulmate's name is written in the first language the two use when they hold their first conversation. For example, if soulmates first speak to each other in English, their names will be written in English-form (like for 이슬[Korean] would be Iseul, 彩音 [Japanese] would be Ayane, etc.) on each others' wrist. If soulmates speak to each other in Japanese when they first meet each other, their names will be written in Kana/Kanji on each others' wrist, and so on.
4 The names are written in the same language - so if soulmates spent their first conversation speaking in different languages (one speaking in German and the other in Dutch, for example) their names will not be written in the respective language. This makes it easier (not by much) for soulmates to find one another.
5 When a person forms a connection with their soulmate, the other person's full name is written on their wrist. This does not have to be mutual. One soulmate can have the full name of their soulmate on their wrist while the other does not.
Plus one more guideline
6 It is possible for someone to lose their soulmate mark. This is the case for when a soulmate(s) reject/s the other. This can occur during the initial meeting between soulmates and the name fades in time and may be replaced by another name. It can also occur when the bond has been already made (when both individuals have the full name on their wrists), but requires the severing of the name written on an individual which is dangerous considering that the wrist must also be cut. Extreme care must be taken when performing this action and should only be considered in extreme cases.
Enjoy~.
His mother and father were the result of a wonderful meeting between soulmates, their wrists having their respected beloved's name on it. His father told him that he and his mother were actually childhood friends in their small Kyushu community and as they grew up, were hoping to be each other soulmate. To their great relief and joy, they were and had begun dating soon after their marks appeared. And now they were happily married for many years.
His older sister was another matter entirely.
His older sister was excited when she found the name of her soulmate written on her wrist, hopeful that the man with the Kanji written name would appear soon in her life. Everyone was happy for her and encouraged her to try to seek her soulmate out. Yuuri, while happy for his sister, was a bit saddened because he was the closest to his sister and he didn't want her to leave him. But Mari would always smile at him and fluff his hair.
"Don't worry Yuuri, I promise I'll visit and I'll even call every day!"
As it was, Mari did eventually find her soulmate. He was a businessman from Tokyo, who was there to visit his parents. This man thought that he deserved a soulmate who was just as successful as he was, not the daughter to two parents who owned a struggling hot spring business. So he had denied their bond.
Mari had shut herself up in her room and cried for days. Her agonizing cries were heard by everyone, due to the paper thin walls. Soon after, Mari had begun to cover up her wrist with a band that she would never take off. She kept doing so until the mark had faded off one day. His normally ambitious and smiling sister had changed. She no longer wanted to go to college, instead deciding to stay in Hasetsu and start working to help their parents as best as she could. When they mentioned her loss of interest, she shrugged and said that the money could be used for the hot springs or for his own college education. Mari had also taken up the habit of smoking to their family's displeasure, but no one said anything because they knew that this was her way of coping with her ordeal.
"There is a reason why some people don't want to meet their soulmates, Yuuri," his sister told him one day. She paused to take another drag from her cigarette. "Meeting your soulmate is great sure, but nothing hurts more than being rejected by your soulmate."
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Yuuri took his sister's words to heart and began to drift apart from people. He was scared that one of those people would turn out to be his soulmate and would wind up rejecting him when they found out he was their soulmate. If his sister (his once vibrant and wonderful sister) had been rejected, then what were his chances? He had only allowed the closest of his friends and family remain.
Very quickly, he found out that now he was left with too much time on his hands and most of it was spent idly on the ice. His parents worried for him. That was when his mom introduced him to Minako-san, who had retired from becoming a professional ballerina and just opened her own ballet studio in Hasetsu. Minako-sensei was a great teacher and she never got irritated at him for all the time he spent at her studio. Instead, she had encouraged it. She even showed him other types of dances he could learn and Yuuri loved to dance regardless of how often the other kids teased him for it. They meant nothing to him anyway.
Dancing was his way of liberating himself from all the bad things occurring in his life and just let his limbs move. And his favorite form of dance was ice skating. At first, he ice skated because his parents wanted him to experience the little entertainment that Hasetsu could offer him and maybe he could make a few friends. As he grew older, he ice skated mainly to impress Yuko, who was his first crush (and also happened to be his rink mate). She would always stand in awe or clap in delight after seeing him perform a routine.
Life quickly proved itself cruel once more when on Yuko's 15th birthday, she had Nishigori's name written on her wrist.
Still, he continued to skate. His family and friends had even encouraged him to participate in the regional ice skating tournament. His sister had payed for his participation fee (since he was not being sponsored by his school) and traveled with him to the arena. He was the youngest one there with all the seventeen and eighteen year old ice skaters who were eager to qualify for the nationals. Being only fifteen, no one really expected him to rank, much less win. But surprisingly, Yuuri had actually come in second and was invited to participate the following year.
He felt like he would finally achieve his dream of skating on the same ice as his idol.
And when Yuuri turned 18, his soulmate mark appeared on his wrist with the name of Viktor. His heart skipped a beat at the name on his wrist, but he shook his head. There was no way that the Viktor Nikiforov was his soulmate. It was much more likely that his obsession with Viktor had caused him to have a soulmate that bears the same name.
Now that made a lot more sense.
'Perhaps it's some foreigner I'll meet when I visit another country?' The name was not written in Kanji...
That was when he heard a bark next to him from his pet poodle, Vicchan. Wait...Vicchan's name was registered as Viktor! Could it be that his pet was his soulmate? It wasn't unheard of especially in Japan for people to have soulmates with those that were not human. (This usually happened to the lonely otakus who had found out that their soulmate was an anime character...how does that even work?) There were also many people that had a pet be their soulmate, so it must be true for him as well!
And honestly, he wouldn't want it any other way. Vicchan was always there for him. He never had any other event or circumstance in which he wouldn't be able to be at his side. He never judged him. Whenever Yuuri would come home, scruffed up from another bully, he never told him to talk to the bully or threaten to march to the school only to make the bullying worse later on. He would just crawl onto his lap and sigh and let Yuuri cry all over him. And when he was done crying, Vicchan was always there to lick his tears away. That never changed, even when the bully changed from a gangly twelve-year-old into the cutthroat realm that was competitive ice skating.
Vicchan meant the world to Yuuri.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Finally, he had become Japan's number one ice skater in the country and was to participate in the Sochi Grand Prix. He was a ball of nerves since this was his first major international competition, but it did help to see Mari and Minako-sensei in the stadium yelling out his name for the whole audience to know. Yuuri took a big gulp of air as he stepped into the ice and slid into the center. He shut down all of his emotions and just began to skate to the song, like he had been doing for several weeks. And then, the music stopped and he opened his mind to hear the applause from the audience and the praise of the commentators.
"Yuuri Katsuki just showed us a solid performance! A great introduction to his first Grand Prix!"
"And his score is...an 86.23! Placing him 2nd so far. Fantastic!"
Yuuri was not delusional. He knew that his skill was no match for Viktor Nikiforov's performance. Still, he hoped to place in the event, perhaps even come in second place. And Viktor would finally know who he was. He had the perfect routine to do for his free skating event. A piece that he and Minako-sensei had worked long and hard to create. It also had 4 quads in it, making it the hardest routine he had ever done.
He shook his head and patted his cheeks. He could do this!
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
"Mom?"
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Only 146.36...Yuuri Katsuki's final score is 232.59..." the reporter said with a twinge of sympathy.
"That was perhaps the most devastating performance we will see in a long time, folks. What could have possibly occurred to make Yuuri Katsuki lose his focus like that? Still, the crowd continues to show their support for the Japanese skater..."
His ears didn't even register the voices of the commentators, tears pooling in his eyes. He just sprinted out of the building as fast as he could. He didn't care how many people he shoved out of his way. He didn't care if he still had his performance costume on as he ran through the streets. He kept running until he collapsed along the banks of the Black Sea. He looked out into the waves, so similar to Hasetsu's.
And yet not the same.
He collapsed unto the floor and ground his hands into the sand, crying his eyes out.
No...No...No.
He couldn't be gone, he was his soulmate. He needed him. Yuuri needed him!
No. No. No. No. No. No.
He should have been there. Nothing would have happened if he was just by his side!
No. No. NO. NO. NO!
He screamed until his throat was sore and then screamed some more.
"VICCHAN!"
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Yuuri sighed, it was an empty sigh, full of grief. "You know me, Phichit. I just shut down and locked myself up in the bathroom until it we were able to leave. I sobbed my eyes out in there, and-"
"Yuuri..."
"I saw Viktor. And you know what the best part was?" his voice grew very quiet. "He didn't even recognize me. He thought I was a fan." he sobbed.
Phichit pulled his best friend into his arms and Yuuri didn't protest as he was held. He just cried big tears into Phichit's shirt as his friend tried his best to soothe him.
"Yuuri...I know this is horrible timing, but..."
"No, don't worry about it Phichit. You can tell me anything." Yuuri said as he wiped his tears. "Especially after crying all over you like that." he laughed wetly.
"Listen. We're going to graduate pretty soon. Why don't you go back home to Hasetsu? It's been five years hasn't it? I'm sure your parents are worried about you." Phichit suggested softly, rubbing Yuuri's back to comfort him. "And you could use this time to relax before training again."
"Maybe..."
"And when the season starts, you can win all your competitions again, and I'll win all of mine and we can finally be on stage together! I'll be the cute Thai skater and you can be the gorgeous Japanese one, Yuuri. We're going to tie for the Grand Prix Finals because we're amazing like that. And then they'll have to let both of us win gold because they can't choose between us~. How about that Yuuri?" he spoke excitedly.
Yuuri giggled. Phichit's happiness was very contagious.
"Okay."
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
True to his word, Yuuri had gone home to spend the last few days before the beginning of the ice skating competition in Hasetsu. He just about expected everything that had occurred the second he arrived home. But he still couldn't handle all the commotion he had to go through that day, so he ran over to Ice Castle for a bit.
As he walked in through the doors, he saw Yuko, putting the last of the skates back onto their rack.
"Sorry, we're closing!" she called out without looking in his direction. "Please come back tomorrow!"
When he saw her turn in his direction, he began to shuffle his foot.
"It's been a while, Yuko-san."
"Yuuri-kun?"
He nodded.
She leapt forward, her hands placed against the counter. "Oh, come on! Call me Yu-chan!" she smiled.
"Umm, right." he fidgeted in his spot. She looked just as pretty as the last time he saw her.
"I know. You need a little time to yourself, right? Go right ahead. There's no one there anymore."
"Thanks." he replied. "Actually, there's something I want you to see."
"Okay, sure. Just let me lock the front doors first."
As Yuko did that, Yuri went to the back to open his locker (it became a permanent thing ever since his first competition) and put on his skates. Then, he stepped into the ice and began his warm-up. Yuuri had looked for the song on his phone and left it on the perimeter of the rink.
When Yuko appeared in the arena, he waved her over and gestured for her to cup her hands. After doing so, he placed his glasses on them.
"Um, I wanted you to see this, so I've been practicing it since the competitions ended." He paused. "Please watch."
He slid into position as the music began to play.
"This is-!"
He began to skate the routine. All of his negative emotions spilling from his insides and changing into something beautiful as he glided across the ice. He had changed a few of the quads into triples because he wanted so desperately for this performance to be perfect. At least for Yuko. And slipping onto the ice was not something he could stand right now. He moved fluidly and every movement resonating with the longing in his heart. It was an emotional skate to say the least.
As he slid into the finishing pose, he heard Yuko whimper. Did he make her cry? Was that too emotional? He should have known, why-
"That was super cool!" she flailed her hands against the railing. "A perfect copy of Victor! Awesome! I'd thought you'd be depressed or something!"
"I was." Yuuri couldn't help the shy smile on his face. "But I got bored of feeling depressed, so I got to thinking..."
"I wanted to get my love for skating back."
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
'That's it. My life is over.' Yuuri thought as he pulled his sweater over his head.'Why did the twins have to upload that video. Why were they there in the first place? How where they there? How-?' He sighed. No use thinking about it now. 'Just keep your eyes on today. And today, we need to help mom shovel the snow.' He put on his jacket and walked out into the main greeting hall.
He slid open the door and was presented with a sight he'd never thought he'd see again.
"Vicchan?" his heart thumped against his chest. Has his soulmate really come back to him?
The poodle leapt up at him.
"Nope!" he yelled as he fell down with the poodle on top of him.
"He's much bigger than Vicchan."
Vicchan was a miniature poodle. This poodle was clearly a standard. It began licking him and the face and he couldn't help the chuckles that he let out.
Then, he got a better look at the poodle and his eyes widened. "Huh, could he be...? No, it can't be."
"Yuuri," his dad had just walked in with a tray in his hands. "Isn't he just like Vicchan? He came with a really good-looking foreign guest! He's in the hot spring right now."
He gasped as his mouth fell. His glasses slid down his nose. 'No. Way.'
But he needed to confirm it for himself, so he kicked off his shoes and raced towards the back where the hot springs were.
"Yuuri! What's wrong?" he couldn't even answer his father as he crashed into one of their display tables.
He slid into the shower room, and wiped his glasses. (Also, his socks were feeling pretty nasty at this point by soaking up the water). He looked around, but it was occupied by a few of their regular guests.
'Outside!'
He yanked open the clear door to the hot spring.
"Vi-"
And came face-to-face with the last person he's thought he'd ever see at his parent's hot springs.
"Viktor..." he couldn't help but stare. "Why are you here?"
The gorgeous 27-year-old stood up from the water and stretched his arm out to him.
"Yuri," he said with a lilt in his voice (and Yuuri had never heard a more amazing sound ever), "starting today, I'm your coach."
"I'll make you win the Grand Prix Final." he winked.
All Yuuri could feel was the slight breeze moving his locks over his face.
"Huh?"
And then Viktor's words registered in his head.
"WHAAAAAAAAT?!"
Hmmm. I feel like this one took a lot more effort to produce than its companion, but people begged and I can't help myself, so I deliver.
I feel like Yuuri is rather vulnerable when it comes to other people's opinions of him that he tends to shut other people out, which was what I tried to explain in this story (whether I pulled it off or not depends on you all). He's also very naive which is why I had him think that he Vicchan was his soulmate. In a way, Vicchan might have been, but it doesn't really compare to Viktor ;P.
Also Phichit is great. What would we do without Phichit?
IMPORTANT NOTE: I will also say that I am most likely going to make a second part to this, since I only briefly mentioned anything having to do with Yuuri and soulmates, so there you go~ Something to look forward to~ I'll probably have it done in February though, so please don't expect it to be ready this month!
Thank you so much for all your support!