Victor had finished training for the day and was now relaxing at home. His afternoon had been uneventful. He sat on the couch, staring off, his mind blank. Makka was softly snoring on his lap, making Victor contemplate joining him.
Victor's phone began to blow up with alerts, text messages, mentions on social media. This peaked his interest. He tried to touch his screen and see what all the fuss was about, but there were too many coming through. Victor let out a loud breath.
At last, silence. He quickly looked over the messages. They were all about the same topic. Some skater had mimicked his routine.
Was that all? Surely skaters did that, often? He wasn't called an 'ice god' for no reason. Victor clicked around until he found the actual footage.
He recognized the Japanese skater right away. It was the guy who had bombed out during the last finals. Victor's heart rate began to quicken as he stared at the screen. This guy was skating his routine, flawlessly.
[Why]?
That was the only thought that ever so briefly crossed his mind before flitting off. It was otherwise too mesmerizing to see someone pattern him with such perfection.
Only when the video had finished did his mind click back on. Why had that skater, Yuri Katsuki, made that video? Victor thought back to the last final's after party. Yuri had gotten so drunk. He had clung to Victor, asked him to come to Hatsetsu, see his family's hot springs and... become his coach.
Victor carefully slid his legs out from under Mackkachin, and then stood, beginning to pace.
Why was this affecting him so deeply?
"Why did he do so poorly at finals? Yet he can skate my entire routine?"
Makka raised his head and answered with a happy tail wag.
"Maybe he is shy? A lot of skaters choke, lack of confidence?" Victor imagined the prospect of actually becoming Yuri's coach.
And that was all it took.
The idea began to root itself, and was already starting to grow. Victor's feet stilled. His body tightened.
"He likes me. That much is clear." Victor's thoughts went again to the after party. They had a lot of fun that night. He would not mind seeing Yuri again. "I could encourage him, maybe more than anyone? He [asked] me to be his coach. He wants me to do it." Victor looked at Makka and smiled. "What would the world say if they saw me help the biggest loser of last years finals, take gold at the next?"
He could do it, he knew he could! They could do it. Yuri had it in him, he just needed the push.
"You want to go to Japan, boy?" Without waiting for an answer, Victor rushed off to pack.
Within 20 minutes he was ready to go. He had never felt more alive! What would his coach say? Yakov was not going to be thrilled, that was for sure!
Victor began to look up plane tickets. He first searched for flights to Tokyo. It wasn't too bad... 12.5 hours. But then it occured to him that he had no idea where Yuri lived.
Upon figuring that tidbit of info out, he realized he was looking at almost another 3 and a half hours, because he had to take yet another flight from Tokyo to where Yuri lived. Actually, strike that, the airport was about an hour away from Yuri's city. Victor groaned. This was going to suck. He made sure to book first class.
His flight left at 8pm. Which meant, if all went well, he would arrive in Hatsetsu tomorrow night around 7. Just in time for dinner!
"Come on Makka." He patted his leg several times. "Let's go." They had a plane to catch.
