Yuri 'Yurio" Plisetsky was feeling pissed off. He had scored a gold medal at his first senior division Grand Prix, but only by the narrowest of margins. Yurio had wanted to crush Yuri Katsuki completely. But the damn pig had gone and beaten Viktor's old free skate score and forced him to skate like his life depended on it. He was extremely agitated and was having a hard time focusing on the questions he was being asked by the various reporters. Most skaters and media were rinkside trying to interview the medalists. Amid the camera flashes, he caught a glimpse of Viktor and his pet pig Yuri about 20 meters to his left. He scowled angrily at them and then turned his attention back to the reporters.
About a minute later, he snuck a side glance at the pair once more and saw the pig stretching his arm out as Viktor walked away. What the hell is going on with those two? Yurio felt a sudden jab to his ribs and looked up to see Lilia Baranovskaya glaring daggers of death at him.
"Yuri, you should focus on the reporters' questions. They are here for you, after all." said Lilia in a tone he had come to know all too well.
Yurio gulped audibly. He glanced over at the pig one last time and saw him stumbling out. HUH? He can't possibly be drunk already?!
"YU-RI!!" Baranovskaya called out. Shit. I better pay attention or I am going to get myself killed.
Phichit Chulanont was having the time of his life. He was running around trying to amass as many selfies as possible. He had missed the podium this time around, but had been too busy and too excited to feel sad. He was feeling very proud at what he had accomplished this skating season. Mostly, he was elated to see his good friend Yuri back in the game. Yuri had grown so much since the last time they had seen each other. He had become a much more improved and polished performer.
Phichit heard some strange sounds and looked up to see Yuri hobbling towards the men's bathroom. He couldn't see Yuri's face, but could tell by his body language that something wasn't right. Yuri often fell prey to pressure and anxiety and the bathroom had always been the first place he'd go to try and compose himself. But why would Yuri be feeling like that right now? Today he had beaten Viktor's free skate score and won a silver medal. If anything, he should be overjoyed! Phichit made a mental note to send Yuri a message later, just too see if he was ok.
Otabek Altin was aimlessly wandering the arena hallways trying to kill time. He had made plans with Plisetsky and was trying to stay busy until his interviews were finally over. He wasn't an overly social person and did not want to be out where the main crowds had gathered.
As he turned the corner, he saw the door to the men's bathroom open and Yuri Katsuki walk out. He's barefoot? Has he lost his damn mind? Hmm, it seems he's injured, also. Otabek stepped forward to say something, but froze in his tracks when he looked up at Katsuki's face. He stood there, speechless, as Katsuki walked right past him like he wasn't even there. Otabek turned and ran. He had to go find Plisetsky.
Yurio had grown tired and bored of the incessant interviews. He was anxious to get out of there and meet up with Otabek to celebrate.
He was in the middle of answering a question when he felt a hand grip his arm. He turned his head and saw Otabek standing there.
"Oy! You trying to crash my..." Yurio's eyes met Otabek's. He knew instantly that something was wrong. There was an urgency in those eyes that could not be ignored. Yurio politely thanked the reporters and excused himself from any further questions. He took Otabek aside for some privacy.
"Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"No, not a ghost. A terribly broken man." replied Otabek.
"Broken man? What are you talking about? You're not making any sense."
Otabek told Yurio what he had seen out in the hallway.
"Shit. What did that pig manage to get himself into this time?"
Yurio knew they had to find Viktor. Maybe this has something to do with what I saw earlier.
Yurio and Otabek split up to look for Viktor. Yurio had also asked Yakov and Baranovskaya to message him immediately if they saw him. After a second thought, he decided to contact the other skaters on social media and ask them to keep an eye out for Viktor, too.
As Yurio ran into the main arena foyer, he spotted Viktor chatting with some reporters. He ran right over, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away.
Once they finally stopped, Viktor spoke. "Hey, Yurio! Nice to see you! Congratulations!"
Yurio grabbed Viktor by the jacket and brought him in close. Viktor had not been expecting that and the surprise clearly showed on his face.
"What the hell did you say to your pig earlier?!" Yurio growled out at Viktor
Before Viktor could answer, it seemed that all the others had spotted him around the same time and had converged on their location.
"What's going on, you two? Is everything all right here?" asked Chris as he joined them. His arrival was followed closely by Otabek's.
Next came Phichit. "Has anyone seen Yuri? I can't get a hold of him and I'm worried."
"You should be worried" came Jean-Jacques' voice. The others turned to face him. "I caught a glimpse of him earlier. He didn't look good at all. I don't how how else to say this, but he looked..." JJ paused.
"...broken." said JJ and Otabek in unison. It was Otabek's turn to have everyone look at him. He just stood there and stared silently back at them.
"Oh! This is probably my fault." said Viktor sheepishly. Everyone's attention was now on him. Yurio released his grip on Viktor's jacket and took a step back from him."
"Talk." commanded Yurio.
"Ahh, you see...after he received his medal, Yuri asked me to be his coach for one more year." Viktor began.
The range of reactions to this bit of news varied greatly within the group.
"Continue." demanded Yurio.
Viktor cleared his throat. "Well, I'm making a comeback next season. So I said no and that it was over."
Just about everyone's jaw hit the floor at the same time. Yurio had Viktor by the jacket again.
"Is that what you really intend to do?" asked Phichit.
"Of course not!" said Viktor indignantly. "I fully intend on making a comeback and coaching Yuri."
Everyone's jaw hit the ground again.
"Are you fucking insane?!" Yurio was livid. "Why the hell would you say that to him then?" shouted Yurio as he shook Viktor.
Viktor scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.
"Well, you see...the night before the Grand Prix started, Yuri told me he was going to retire after it was all over."
Shocked murmurs made their way around the group.
"He made a selfish decision without even taking my feelings into consideration! Yuri was so mean! Especially since he'd put this ring on my finger." Viktor explained as he held up his hand.
Chris spoke next. "So, like some petty and scorned woman...you decided to get back at him."
The others looked back and forth between Chris and Viktor.
"I just wanted to make him sweat a little!" said Viktor. "I was going to tell him later tonight that I was just joking and that I couldn't wait to coach him again."
Everyone was floored. They couldn't believe what Viktor had just told them.
"You idiot!" roared Yuri. "You selfish Сукин Сын!"
Viktor was taken aback by Yurio's fury.
"All this time, I've thought that pig didn't deserve you. I see now that it is YOU who doesn't deserve HIM! The way you've toyed with him disgusts me." Yurio practically spat as he spoke.
Otabek stepped in and pulled Yurio off Viktor. He tried to calm the young boy down.
Phichit began to speak. "Yuri is a deeply sensitive soul. It is why he is so harshly affected by his anxieties and insecurities. He is quick to doubt himself and will overthink...everything." The others nodded in agreement. "I saw this on a daily basis as his rinkmate in Detroit." Phichit then turned to Viktor. "He changed for the better after you became his coach, but he's still the same susceptible Yuri inside."
"What did you say to him exactly?" asked Chris.
"I said we needed to end this and that this was goodbye." said Viktor matter-of-factly.
JJ stepped forward. "This is bad, guys. Yuri's in danger."
"What makes you say that? He's probably just a bit upset right now." said Viktor.
"Are you really that stupid?" said JJ incredulously. "You just told your fiancée that you need to end this and that this is goodbye."
The others gasped as the implication of JJ's statement hit them.
It was now JJ's turn to show his rage towards Viktor.
"How the fuck do you think he interpreted that?!"
"But he still has his ring and so do I!" Viktor shouted. "Why would..." he began.
JJ cut him off "Because of who he is, dumbass! Anxiety and insecurity are the WORST. I used to have it so bad as a kid that I couldn't even be around more than one person at a time!"
The group stood in stunned silence. No one could imagine such a polarizing version of JJ.
JJ continued. "I pretty much had to create an alter ego for myself just to be able to function in society. You got a little taste this competition of just how much that anxiety still haunts me."
Everyone still clearly remembered how JJ had almost fully self-destructed at the Grand Prix.
JJ looked down at the ground as he spoke. "Isabelle is my whole world. She's the reason I get up every morning. She's the reason I fight. I worry every damn day that I will lose her." JJ clenched both fists at his side.
"I have nightmares and irrational thoughts of her leaving me. I wake up in cold sweats whenever my sick, twisted mind manages to conjure some new way to terrify me." JJ ran his hand roughly through his hair. "They're absolutely the most demented and absurd fears...but there's not a single damn thing I can do to stop them. They flood my mind at will." JJ took a deep breath. "All I can do is put my faith and trust in her and her love for me."
Yurio looked at JJ as if he had sprouted a second head. Holy shit. This is...overwhelming.
JJ looked up at Viktor again. The anger was back in his eyes.
JJ stepped right up to Viktor, got in his face and poked a finger at Viktor's chest. "And do you know what I'd do if Isabelle ever said to me those same words you said to Yuri?"
Viktor's eyes suddenly went wide and the color drained from his face.
"I would rather kill myself than live a single day without her."
Things got really frantic after what JJ had said. Everyone agreed that they had to find Yuri and find him NOW. They pieced together all the information and created a timeline of Yuri's movements based on everyone's sightings. He had last been spotted by a stairwell near the Northern gate. They came up with a plan and split up into three teams of two. Otabek went with Yurio to check the Western gate, Chris went with Phichit to check the Eastern gate, and JJ went with Viktor to check the Northern gate.
When JJ and Viktor arrived at the Northern gate, they realized that they had a problem. There were two separate stairwells, each leading to a different place.
"Shit! Which one do we take?" JJ was extremely agitated. "We don't have time to search both!"
Viktor looked around desperately for any clues indicating that Yuri had been there. It was then that he spotted it; a brownish-red smear on the ground. Viktor called out.
"JJ! Over here!" JJ ran over and looked down at the stain.
"That looks like blood!" he exclaimed. Viktor nodded. "Otabek said Yuri was barefoot and bleeding, right?" JJ nodded. Viktor continued. "This has to be the right stairwell, then. Where does it lead to?"
JJ's blood ran cold. He realized that he knew exactly where the stairwell led to.
"We've gotta hurry! Go, go, go! MOVE!"
JJ ran up those stairs like a man possessed. Please let me make it on time. Please let me save this one.
JJ pushed open the door to the observation deck and immediately spotted Yuri on the ledge with an outstretched hand. Thank goodness! He's still with us!
Viktor made it up the stairs just behind him. When he saw Yuri, he gasped. JJ brought his finger up to his lips. Shh, quiet. Viktor nodded.
JJ was still trying to figure out the best way to approach Yuri when he noticed that Yuri had started falling. Shit! He was out of time. It was now or never! JJ pushed off with all his might and ran full speed at Yuri.
Time seemed to stand still. He felt as if he were running in molasses. Yuri looked like he was falling in slow motion and the snowflakes seemed to pause before his eyes as they spilled from the sky. Yuri looked miles away instead of right in front of him. He WOULD make it this time. He refused to let another life slip through his fingers.
With one last stride, JJ leapt into the air with his right arm straight out in front of him. Please, reach! Reeeeeaaach!!!
Viktor had never felt more terrified than he did in that very moment. When he saw Yuri falling, his heart stopped. Great fat tears of regret welled up in his eyes and spilled over onto his face. He covered his mouth and fought to stay quiet. He knew why JJ had asked for silence. They didn't want to startle Yuri. Viktor wasn't a religious person, but at that moment...he was praying with everything he had that JJ would make it in time. Please make it, JJ!. Please save Yuri!
JJ's hand managed to make contact with Yuri. He grabbed a fistful of hem at the back of Yuri's jacket and pulled back HARD as he did his best impression of a rugby tackle. He crashed heavily into Yuri's right side and the two of them fell awkwardly to ground. Viktor and JJ then both heard the sickening crunching sound of bone.
Viktor got there just as JJ was pushing himself off the ground and onto his knees. As they both looked down at Yuri they stared in horror at the pool of blood spreading out from under his head, painting the surrounding snow with crimson.
Сукин Сын (sukin syn): son of a bitch (Russian)