Chapter 2
It had been about a week and a half since the last competition and Yuri was deeply embroiled in practice. He had done his best to forget about those five minutes alone with his sponsor at the last competition, but this was made far more difficult by the fact that his sponsor had insisted on staying in Russia to watch his progress. That meant that every once in a while Yuri was practicing, he would see the man standing by Yakov, just watching. After being around him so much, Yuri had heard Yakov call him Jim Cassidy.
Cassidy.
Ugh. Somehow knowing his name just made the situation even worse.
If the unwanted presence had affected Yuri's practice, maybe Yakov would have asked him his thoughts on the matter, but he was skating as well as ever, so nothing seemed wrong. Still, Yuri did his best not to be caught alone at any given time. He hardly ever left Yakov's side, and he tried to go to the restroom and walk alone in the hallways as little as possible, walking everywhere as quickly he could without drawing unwanted attention. He ignored Cassidy every time he saw him although the man tried to speak to him several times.
He hated this. He hated that this freak scared him enough to change his daily routine. It made Yuri feel like a coward. Cassidy shouldn't matter that much. He shouldn't get to have any impact on Yuri's life. It infuriated him.
Today, Yuri was practicing his program. Though he already knew it well, he was trying to fit in an extra jump to boost his score in the second half. Yakov disapproved, of course, but his landing from the jump was perfect. He turned to Yakov to gloat only to see a familiar face leaning against the partition: Yuuri Katsuki. Yuuri smiled and waved.
"What do you think you're doing here, Katsudon?" Yuri growled as he stopped his routine and skated to the side.
"Victor had some business to take care of here this week, so he told me I should come along for the trip," Yuuri explained, glancing up nervously at Yakov, who was exuding stern indifference. "I thought I might come by and practice some while he's busy."
"Whatever, do what you want," Yuri sniffed and turned quickly, skating back out on the ice. "Just don't get in my way."
He would never admit it, but some part of him felt nostalgic sharing the ice with Yuuri again. The time he had spent in Hasetsu had been wonderful, and his memories of staying at Yuuri's family inn and eating the food his parents cooked were some of his favorites. That daily routine of meeting at the small town rink and working hard together under Victor's instruction had stuck in his memory. He would never admit this to Yuuri, of course.
He focused on his performance, doing his best to ignore Yuuri on the other half of the rink. It was easy to lose track of time on the ice, focusing so much on what he was doing, everything faded away. As he was attempting a particularly grueling triple salchow, he suddenly realized his body was exhausted, and he botched the landing.
The ice was rough and hard, his bare palms scraping along it before he came to a stop with a small grunt. He rolled over and looked up only to find that that Yuuri was slowly skating towards him, looking a little concerned.
He pushed himself back to his feet before Yuuri could reach him, brushing the quickly melting ice chips from his stinging body.
"Are you alright?" Yuuri asked, stopping a few feet away. His gaze suddenly faltered and brows furrowed as he looked further away.
Yuri followed his gaze, finding his least favorite sponsor standing next to Yakov.
Their eyes locked together for a moment and Cassidy smiled at him. Yuri felt a small shudder through his body.
"Fine," Yuri answered after a long pause, tearing his eyes away and inspecting his palm. No blood, but the skin was torn up on the surface.
"That's enough for today," Yakov called gruffly, and Yuri obediently headed for the exit without looking back, leaving Yuuri alone on the ice.