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[ April 6, 2016 – April 20, 2016 ]
"Can you just take me to Hasetsu?"
The cabbie agrees and drops Yuri off in front of what looks like a market alley. He pays the cabbie and strolls through the market. He knows where Victor is, but he still keeps a wary eye out, just in case – and then he spots a beautiful shirt.
"Now that's fashion," he breathes, grinning. It's probably overpriced, but he buys it anyway. Souvenirs, right?
Then he sets off for Ice Castle, where he finds the same crowd from before, and the same triplets manning the crowd. He pushes right past them, dragging his suitcase behind him. The triplets recognize him and let him in. Katsuki crashes into the glass door and mumbles something about his weight. He kicks Katsuki through the door and into the counter. Yuuko stares at them in horror. He grinds his heel into Katsuki's forehead and demands that he be taken to Victor.
In the locker room, he remembers Katsuki's dejected face after Hot Springs on Ice and decides that he won't throw in the teasing about his weight this time. He's such a nice person.
Katsuki leads him to the ice rink. Victor's practicing his routine. He explains to Katsuki that Victor had been preparing a short program for this season. He still wonders if Katsuki actually thought Victor hadn't had plans, but drops it in order to yell at Victor.
Because that's always more fun.
Victor sees them and comes over. Yuri demands that he come back to Russia. He proposes that they have a face-off, to which the triplets are absolutely ecstatic.
He greets Hiroko at the door and asks for a room. He bathes in the hot spring with minimal complaint this time before gobbling down a huge bowl of katsudon. He goes on walks in the morning, along the beach, enjoying the weather and the serenity. He likes Japan a lot more this time, because he's taken the time to enjoy it.
Victor assigns them their programs. Yuri still hopes that maybe this time around, Victor will give him "Eros," but no such luck. He gets assigned to "Agape" again and is determined to actually skate it, rather than just beating Katsuki in technicals.
He gets sent to the temple.
He gets sent to the waterfall, and Katsuki's forced to come along. They stand there for half an hour. "Isn't there anyone you love unconditionally?" Katsuki asks, sort of helpfully. Not really. Definitely not at all. "Or anyone who loves you unconditionally?"
Grandpa, Yuri thinks, his eyes widening. Yes, of course. Grandpa.
He has a bit of a cold when they finally step away from the waterfall (well, Katsuki pulls him out because he notices his dazed look), but it's nothing a good night's sleep can't fix. He eats katsudon as Katsuki decides that he'll be skating for katsudon itself. Well, Yuri thinks, that hasn't changed. And it's still hilarious as hell.
The next day, when Katsuki asks him to help with his quad Salchow, Yuri remembers the waterfall and agrees to show him a couple of times. Victor walks in. They play it cool and separate immediately, heading for opposite sides of the rink.
"Remember," Yuri says to Katsuki that evening, "if you don't find your eros before this weekend, Victor's coming back with me to Russia."
He hopes that'll spur something, and it does. Because Katsuki works harder than ever, and if you really ask him for it, then maybe Yuri might admit that yes, he did admire Katsuki's hard work. Katsuki's no genius. He just works hard.
Katsuki lands the quad Salchow in practice, but it's inconsistent. Yuri focuses on imagining his grandpa when he skates to "Agape," and is immediately praised by Victor. He shoots a look at Katsuki, hoping it'll motivate him to do something before it's too late again.
He vows to himself that night that if Katsuki loses again, despite his best efforts, then it's just meant to be that way.
He eats more katsudon. He trains. He jumps. He runs. He thinks of his grandpa and of his childhood.
He changes Katsuki's name in his contacts from "Drunk Idiot" to "Katsudon."
He thinks of Katsuki's dejected look.
"You're obviously not the playboy," he says to Katsuki the next day, rolling his eyes and trying to sound disinterested. Katsuki looks away. "Why don't you stop trying to be the playboy? Who said you had to be?"
Katsuki doesn't seem to really get it until they pick out their uniforms later that afternoon. Katsuki holds up a black one and a pink one and he's about to pick the pink one – like last time – when Yuri snarls, "Hey, don't pick anything flashier than me!"
The black one's a lot more flashy – and a lot more symbolic, if you think about Victor's skating history – and so Katsuki smiles innocently as he goes for the black one. Yuri rolls his eyes but silently congratulates himself for his triumph. He picks the white one.
"Oh, that one," he hears Victor say, glancing at the black outfit Katsuki's picked out (with the help of Yuri, of course, because last time Katsuki picked the fucking pink one and he didn't get this talk). "Yeah, back then, I had really long hair, so I decided to go for an outfit that suggested both male and female genders."
The lightbulb goes off. Katsuki disappears that night to somewhere. Yuri's about ninety-nine percent sure it's Minako Okukawa's place, where he'll probably be dancing well into the night.
The day of the competition arrives, and Yuri insists that Katsuki go first. So he does. He skates well, flubbing only one jump, and Yuri is taken aback by the pure eros in his presentation. He's not the playboy – no, he's the seductress who catches the playboy's attention.
Yuri's kind of proud of his accomplishments.
It's his turn, and he skates flawlessly and beautifully, adding up the points in his head. Technically, his program is just a few points more difficult than Katsuki's. He's sure that their presentation scores won't be all that off, judging from what happened last time. They've both improved. But Katsuki flubbed a jump...
Yuri grits his teeth as the quad Salchow comes up. He doesn't have to do this. He doesn't. He really doesn't.
He purposefully under-rotates, and it becomes a triple. There. He tastes blood. If Katsuki doesn't win now, then he'll be really lost for words and he'll tell Victor what a waste of time it is to coach that pig.
Victor's giving him a strange look that he ignores. The whole stadium is murmuring. Yuri leaves and grabs the suitcase he packed earlier that morning and tucked away in the locker room. As he exits Ice Castle, Yuuko comes running after him.
"You're leaving before the results come out?"
"I don't need the results to come out," says Yuri purposefully, before scowling. "But tell them that I'll squash that pig with my senior debut! You got that?"
"I got it," says Yuuko, smiling a little, and Yuri gives her a nod before continuing on his way. "But, Yuri – what was with the video?"
He ignores her. It's time to head home to Russia. He bought the plane ticket last night.
[ November 20, 2016 – November 25, 2016 ]
He loses to JJ of all people in Skate Canada.
He'd like to say that he's disappointed or even frustrated, but it's more than that.
He's ready to spit fire.
And to make things worse, JJ is an absolute asshole.
But it's all more or less fine – Yuri vows to beat the hell out of him in Moscow – and they board the plane for the long, long journey back home. Yuri's used to these flights by now. After all, he flew to Hasetsu and back twice this year. It was terrible.
Yakov orders him to rest up before the Rostelecom Cup, and they part ways at the airport. To his utter glee, his grandpa is waiting for him outside the terminal and, unable to control himself for once, Yuri launches himself at the old man for a hug.
He forgot about his bad back.
His grandpa tosses him a bag of pirozhki that Yuri eagerly opens. He munches on one before suddenly thinking about the fact that he'll face Katsuki in two days. "Hey, Grandpa," he says, "have you ever had katsudon?"
"Huh? I had them back in Japan." There's a pause. "Is the pirozhki not good?"
Yuri blanches. "N-No! That's not what I meant!"
His grandpa just smiles at him. "You seem like you've been busy, Yuratchka."
He murmurs in vague agreement, munching on the savory pirozhki. All he can think about is that he has to make his grandpa proud. With Victor gone, he has to represent Russia. He's the Ice Tiger of Russia, for Heaven's sake! He has thousands of fans! Everyone's watching his senior debut!
They retire to Yuri's flat in Moscow, where Yuri respectfully offers his grandpa his own bed and opts to crash on the couch. After all, sleeping on the couch couldn't be good for a bad back.
He has two days before the Cup, so he spends the first one furiously training and the second one on toned-down training. After all, if he's too worn out, he can't perform well, can he?
Lilia criticizes his free leg and his posture one too many times. He tries not to snap at her. He checks Instagram that night to find that Victor and Katsuki arrived in Moscow a few hours ago. Victor even sent him a text saying that he'd love to meet up for dinner. Yuri glances at the clock. It's too late now. He sends back a half-apology.
He goes to sleep with thoughts of winning gold and beating JJ Leroy's arrogant ass into the ground.
He wakes up the next day in a nervous sort of fervor and goes about his usual routine, sneaking out of the flat as to not wake up his grandpa. He heads for the stadium via taxi and is almost finished with his warm-ups when Yakov gestures to him.
"Your grandpa's waiting outside," he says, and Yuri just about sprints in the direction Yakov points. He finds his grandpa waiting in his old little car and opens the door eagerly.
He's holding another brown bag, which he holds out to Yuri. Yuri opens the bag wordlessly, peeks inside, and pulls out a pirozhki. When he bites into it, though, his eyes widen. This is no normal pirozhki. It's...
"A katsudon pirozhki," says his grandpa, smiling at him. "Eat them and do well, Yuratchka."
Yuri's all smiles, for once. God, everyone would go crazy over this if they saw him now, bright eyes and wide smile, but he puts it out of his mind and thanks his grandpa. He returns to the rink with the brown bag, stuffs it into his locker, and starts stretching as the Cup begins.
He's on fourth, having lost to that damn JJ in Skate Canada. He stretches and stretches, and then he thinks over his routine. He's determined not to lose this time. He's really determined not to lose.
He finally sees Katsuki as he exits the locker room. Victor's by his side, as always. Yuri puts on a scowl as he approaches them. "I'm going to beat your ass into dust," he promises, and Katsuki just gazes at him warily. "Just you watch!"
"I'm looking forward to it, Yurio," says Katsuki, and Yuri bristles.
"Don't call me that!"
The competition starts, and Yuri waits with bated breath as his competitors go on, one after another. He's not trembling. He's not scared. He's just anxious with anticipation.
Katsuki delivers a good performance. It's not perfect, but it's good, Yuri has to admit. So he claps along with everyone else, albeit a little bit hesitantly.
When it's finally his turn, Yakov and Lilia both give him reassuring nods, and he glides onto the ice smoothly. He sees red. Truthfully, all he can see is JJ's smirk in his mind, arrogant and fucking irritating, and he's not sure if he's screwing up agape or if it's enhancing his performance.
In any case, he finishes just behind Katsuki (damn that pig!), who finishes behind JJ. He's really angry now. JJ is an asshole. At the very least, he thinks, Katsuki's not like him.
The free skate is a weird thing, because Victor has to leave the day before to go check on Makkachin, who may or may not be dying. Yuri feels a strange sense of guilt in his gut, again, as he remembers Vicchan.
Well, it's all for the better, he reassures himself. Katsuki's here and vibrating with joy, isn't he? And Victor's become slightly less of an asshole, hasn't he?
Yakov agrees to be Katsuki's temporary coach. The day comes. Yuri skates well, putting everything he can into the performance even though it takes a serious toll on his body. He's kind of envious of Katsuki's stamina – not that he would ever admit that to anybody.
Katsuki, on the other hand, doesn't quite deliver. He doesn't do badly, but it's obvious that Victor's absence is bothering him. Yuri watches in a bit of an anxious silence before wondering why. Wouldn't it be better if Katsuki crashed and burned? The pig doesn't deserve it –
Oh, who was he kidding?
"Come on, you idiot!" he screams, his hands cupped around his mouth. He has no idea if Katsuki hears him or not, but JJ certainly does. The asshole has the audacity to smirk at Yuri.
"All supportive now that you've clinched your spot in the Final, huh?"
Yuri forgot about that.
"I hope you'll cheer for me, too."
"Like hell I will, asshole!" Yuri spits, letting him know exactly what he thinks of him. He's on edge throughout Katsuki's performance, because even though he can see – feel – hear the love, those missed technical points are still going to cost him.
It comes to an end. Yuri's just relieved that Katsuki didn't actually make any huge mistakes. And he'll get a good score in presentation.
[ 16:08 ] Fucking Victor: How'd Yuuri do?
[ 16:10 ] Yuri Plisetsky: Fine. Fourth place, so he goes to the Final
[ 16:10 ] Yuri Plisetsky: Just hurry back, he's fucking terrible without you and I can't watch this crap
[ 16:11 ] Fucking Victor: Good to know :)
After the awards ceremony, Yuri finds Katsuki outside in the snow, wrapped up in a huge coat that looks hideous on him. He doesn't hesitate to deliver another swift kick, and Katsuki lands on the ground, eyes wide.
It reminds him of the first time they'd really met, so many months ago, at Ice Castle.
It was hard to forget when Yuri lived that moment twice.
"You don't get to feel sorry for yourself," he begins, and Katsuki looks confused. "I poured blood and sweat and tears into that, only to lose to JJ again! So you don't get to feel more sorry about yourself than I do!"
Katsuki blinks. "Right."
Yuri tosses the brown paper bag at Katsuki carelessly, looking away. "Eat. It's almost your birthday, right?"
"Huh? How'd you know that?" There's the sound of rustling paper. "Eh? Pirozhki?"
Truthfully, Yuri's just surprised he even knows what they are. "Just eat!"
"Okay, okay!" He bites into it before chewing thoughtfully. "There's rice in this, and eggs, and pork cutlet – it's katsudon!"
Yuri can't help the proud grin that spreads across his face whenever he talks about his grandpa. "Isn't it good? My grandpa made them himself!"
"They're vkusno," Katsuki declares, and for a moment, Yuri considers telling him that his accent is hilarious. But then he remembers that he can't speak a word of Japanese, so maybe that's not the smartest idea.
But for a moment there, Yuri doesn't have any regrets about wasting two of his precious chances. Even if, in the future, he needs one of those chances, he has a feeling that he won't regret using them so early on.
[ November 29, 2016 ]
It's Katsuki's birthday.
Yuri, who's miles and miles away in Moscow with Yakov and Lilia, considers shooting Katsuki a text as "Mila."
He doesn't, because Lilia yells at him to hurry up.
He spends most of the day in her ballet studio, refining his technique, feeling the familiar burn of his muscles. He's spent by four in the afternoon, so Lilia and Yakov let him go home to his flat. After having trained with Lilia for a month, he was no longer required to stay at her house. He was glad, because his flat allowed him privacy.
To his surprise (and perhaps annoyance), he gets a FaceTime request from Victor just a few minutes after reaching his flat. He lets it ring for a moment before growling and picking up.
Victor's face comes into focus. He's smiling as he says, "Yurio! How are you?"
"Don't call me that," Yuri drawls, having pretty much given up by now. He peers at the screen curiously. In the background, he faintly recognizes the living room of Yu-topia Katsuki, and then he sees a bottle in Victor's hand. "Are you drinking?"
"Yep!" Victor says cheerfully, proceeding to take a big gulp for the camera. Yuri rolls his eyes. He's not old enough to drink yet, but when he is, he's not going to be like that. "Hey, Yuuri! Say hi!"
The camera turns and Katsuki's face comes into view. He's not drinking, thankfully. Yuri wants to shudder when he recalls last year's... episode. "Hello, Yurio!" Kastuki greets him, smiling and giving a little wave. Yuri just grunts in acknowledgement. "What time is it for you over there?"
Yuri glances at his watch. "Five."
"Oh, okay," says Katsuki, still smiling. "I hope we didn't interrupt you or anything."
We? Yuri grimaces. "Well, my beauty rest, but at least you didn't call while I was at Lilia's."
Katsuki laughs. "Sorry."
"Sorry!" echoes Victor in agreement, sounding anything but sorry. Yuri rolls his eyes again. "If you keep rolling your eyes, they'll get stuck like that."
"If you keep giving me shit, I'm hanging up."
There's a wide-eyed pause. "I'm sorry, Yurio! Don't hang up!"
Yuri sighs, having had no real intention to hang up just yet.
"But aren't you going to wish Yuuri a happy birthday?"
Yuri glares at Victor. After everything he's done, and they want him to say happy birthday? But he remembers Vicchan and mumbles, "Happy birthday, you old man."
Katsuki laughs, unaffected by the insult. "Thanks, Yurio."
The phone gets passed around to a few other people. Yuri says hello to Mari, Minako, and Katsuki's parents before exchanging an actually pleasant hello with Yuuko and tentatively waving to her triplets and husband.
He's lying on his couch lazily when Katsuki decides that it's time for Victor to go to bed. Yuri silently agrees, because Victor's practically drunk and he's already taken off his shirt and he's starting to hang all over Katsuki. Yuri does not want to see that. Gross.
But for some reason, maybe Barcelona will be fun with these idiots.
[ December 6, 2016 ]
He arrives in Barcelona with Yakov and Lilia and proceeds to check in at the hotel. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots JJ, and he immediately scowls.
"At least check in, Yuri," says Yakov patronizingly.
"I'm tired!" Yuri snaps. "Do it for me."
He blames JJ for his foul mood. JJ is an asshole, he thinks, stabbing at the ground with his foot. And there's JJ and his fiancé, and he's pretty sure they've spotted him already. He's about to ask them what they're looking at when –
"Yuri Plisetsky!" He hears his name everywhere.
"Sign this, please!"
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Where did you get this jacket?"
"You're so beautiful!"
"Yuri's Angels are famous," says JJ, smirking, and Yuri wants nothing more than to kick his ugly ass.
His fiancé, whoever the hell she is, smirks and clings to JJ like some damn parasite. Yuri feels his eyebrow twitching. "But JJ's Girls are better about following the rules, and we're cuter."
Yuri bristles. "Don't talk about my fans like that, you bitch!"
"Oh, scary. Help, JJ!"
Disgusting. God, he can't stand it. He's about to march up to them, raging and spitting, when JJ's attention is diverted by someone else. It's Otabek Altin, from Kazakhstan, about to leave the hotel. Yuri silently thanks the divine powers for intervening before he could actually kill JJ.
"Otabek! Want to grab dinner with us?"
Yuri is pleased when Otabek pulls down his sunglasses, look sat JJ, and then says, "No, thank you."
"Always a little cold, huh?" JJ laughs and turns back to his fiancé. "Shall we go?"
Yakov comes up behind Yuri just as JJ and his damn fiancé turn to leave. He shoves a room key into Yuri's hands and beckons him to come along. They get on the elevator and fall into a more-or-less comfortable silence.
Yuri goes to his room to put his luggage away and sits on the bed for a while, deep in thought. He's jerked out of his reverie when his phone buzzes.
[ 17:42 ] Fucking Victor: Yurio! We're going to have dinner together, wanna join us?
[ 17:43 ] Yuri Plisetsky: Not particularly
[ 17:43 ] Yuri Plisetsky: Where?
[ 17:44 ] Fucking Victor: Yay! We're just grabbing dinner on the bottom floor of the hotel
Yuri pockets his phone and heads downstairs. He spots Victor's silver hair immediately. Beside him is Katsuki, and Yuri wants to gag at the looks they're giving each other.
Katsuki spots him first. "Hi, Yurio!"
Victor turns to see him, and his turquoise eyes light up. "Yurio!"
"I told you not to call me that!" Yuri snaps, pulling out the chair beside Victor and plopping into it. He sees the two exchange small smiles and rolls his eyes. Why is he here, anyway, if they're just going to flirt the whole time?
They look over the menu and order Americanized Spanish food. There are omelets and soups and a variety of meat dishes. Yuri orders a Spanish omelet out of curiosity (and because it looks safe) and snaps at Victor when the older man points out that it's kind of like a sandwich for the little boy!
To make things worse, the two men won't stop touching each other. Yuri asks blatantly if they're dating, to which Katsuki splutters and turns red and Victor just sort of smiles. Gross.
Katsuki excuses himself to go to the restroom. Yuri takes out his phone and scrolls down Instagram disinterestedly. Without looking at Victor, he says, "Just propose to the damn boy already."
"W-What?" Victor seems taken aback. As if Yuri was that dense. He rolls his eyes.
"God, it's not even 'History Maker' anymore," Yuri grumbles, kicking at the ground with one shoe. He sings lifelessly, "We were born to gay history."
Victor blanches. "W-What?"
"'Yuri on Ice'?" Yuri scoffs. "More like Yaoi on Fire."
Yuri returns, smiling, but he frowns when he sees the shocked look on Victor's face. Yuri acts innocent, double-tapping a few of Phichit's pictures and really appreciating the fact that Phichit hasn't come up to them sobbing about Katsuki's death this year.
"Is something wrong?" asks Katsuki. Yuri ignores him, as usual. Victor kind of jerks back into reality.
"What? No, no, nothing's wrong!"
"Um... that's good?"
Yuri stands up and announces, "I'm going to puke if I stay here any longer," and then sort of waves good-bye and heads back to his room.
He's secretly glad, because Victor's happy and because Katsuki isn't a pile of shit.
And also because he's not dead. That's really fucking important.
[ December 7, 2016 ]
Yuri spends the day practicing on the rink with Yakov and Lilia. By the end of it, he knows two things: He has a love-hate relationship with Lilia Baranovskaya, and his free leg is really fucking sloppy.
"Strength is nothing without beauty!" Lilia repeats over and over like a mantra.
I really fucking hate you sometimes! Yuri repeats over and over in his head.
Victor looks delighted when Yuri skates over to him and Katsuki and says, "I hope you're ready to lose in two days."
Katsuki looks a little uncertain. Victor just says, big smile and all, "I'm looking forward to your performance, little Yurio!"
God, that man knows exactly how to rile him up. Yuri spends the next hour cursing Victor Nikiforov's existence under his breath, temporarily putting aside his resentment toward Lilia.
He soon finds himself cursing another group of people, though, as he furiously runs away from them: his fan club. They're probably nice people, he supposes as he sprints like a madman down the street and ducks into an alleyway, but they are much too obsessive. And a little bit frightening.
"I can smell him! He's close!"
"This is his hair!"
Yuri winces. That's creepy.
And they're coming for him.
Out of nowhere, a motorcycle pulls up to him and stops right next to him, motor purring dangerously. The rider pulls off his glasses and tosses him a helmet, and Yuri gapes – it's Otabek Altin, who said no to JJ.
He'll trust anyone who says no to JJ.
"Are you coming or not?" says Otabek, and Yuri glances once to his left, where his fan club is, before making his decision. He hops onto the back of the bike. The bike shoots forward, flying past the fan club, and he knows they're taking pictures but he could not care less.
They don't talk until they reach the edge of a hill. Otabek parks the bike by the curb and they climb off of it and go up a set of stairs to reach a landing. They kind of just stare out at the horizon. Yuri wonders if this is what Victor and Katsuki do, and then realizes that he's not supposed to compare himself and Otabek to a practically married couple.
"Why did you rescue me?" Yuri decides to ask, getting straight to the point. Otabek's expression is thoughtful.
"I always thought we were alike," he says in response. Yuri frowns. "You probably don't remember me, but about five years ago, I was once in a training camp with Yakov."
"Huh?" Yuri blinks in surprise and tries to remember. Nope. Nada.
Otabek kind of smiles. "I was desperate."
"Desperately bad?"
Otabek stares at him for a moment, and Yuri wonders – like he often does – if he should've not said that. But then the older man just smiles and shrugs. "Yeah, basically. I couldn't keep up with the other Russian skaters, so they moved me down a level – where you were. I thought you were amazing – you always seemed to have a mind of your own."
"Despite the what, five year difference?" Yuri drawls rudely. But Otabek doesn't seem to mind.
"Only three, I think," he says, maybe a little bit ruefully. "I'm not that old."
So he was eighteen. He looked older. Yuri wasn't sure what to say, because he probably should not be rude to the man who rescued him. But Yuri's conversations thrived – or perhaps, never thrived, and that was how he kept them – off his rude and snarky comments.
"Anyway," says Otabek, interrupting Yuri's thoughts, "I later decided that there's no 'right' way to skate. I quit ballet. I was never any good at it, anyway."
"Good for you," says Yuri, remembering the hundreds of hours he's poured into ballet with Lilia. It's like a never-ending nightmare. "Yakov, the old geezer, invited Lilia Baranovskaya to teach me this year. Do you know how fucking terrible that is? She's the former prima ballerina of the fucking Bolshoi Ballet and she works me to the ground like I'm a fucking dog."
For a moment, Yuri wonders how Otabek will react to his rant. But the older man just smiles and holds out a hand. "Will you be friends with me?"
Yuri's shocked. Actually shocked. He's never, ever been asked to be friends with anyone before – but he figures that maybe Otabek's an okay place to start. He takes it. They shake on it.
He's been dragged to dinner again.
He's sulking at the table as Victor and Phichit and Chris chatter on and on and on. Minako Okukawa and Katsuki's sister Mari look delighted to be here, and Yuri supposes that, well, these are famous skaters that they've probably only ever seen on television.
"Yurio, you should really try some of this," says Minako, pushing a plate of nachos toward him. They look like expensive nachos – garnished with everything possible – not like the shitty store-bought ones that you eat as a last resort. Or when you really feel like torturing yourself.
Yuri wordlessly takes a chip and pops it in his mouth. It's actually surprisingly good.
He looks up, and Victor and Katsuki are mid-sidelong glance. They're smiling. Yuri scowls and drawls, "There are children present, you know."
"That's alright," Mila coos, brushing Yuri's hair. He jerks away from her and glares. "It's all part of the process of growing up and learning, little Yuri!"
"Shut up, you hag!"
He huffs and crosses his arms. Phichit's attention is quickly dragged away by something else – "What? Congratulations on your marriage, you two!"
Yuri has just taken a sip of water and promptly spits it everywhere. "W-What?"
To his horror, Victor and Katsuki are wearing matching golden rings. He wrinkles his nose. Gross. There's a certain amount of disgust he feels, but there's something more than that, too. Because he knows that if Victor stays as Katsuki's coach, he'll never return to competitive skating.
Never.
He blinks, coming out of his reverie. Katsuki's trying to furiously deny it, but Yuri just rolls his eyes at him. Idiot.
"We'll get married once Yuuri wins the gold," Victor announces, and Yuri grabs the nearest fork and is about to launch it at Victor's head when he's forced back into his seat by Mila. He struggles, but to no avail; Mila is a head taller than him and a lot heavier, too.
"You're going down tomorrow!" Yuri shrieks, flailing in Mila's grasp. Victor beams at him.
"Is that so? I look forward to it!"
Yuri grumbles under his breath and finally manages to escape Mila – what does she have, tentacles?
"I hope this year's banquet will be as entertaining as last year's," Christophe announces happily, and Yuri nearly chokes on water again. All around the table, grins are starting to appear on people's faces – except for a very, very oblivious Yuuri Katsuki.
"I have pictures from last year!" announces Victor happily. Katsuki looks at him curiously. Yuri remembers their conversation from last year. Katsuki doesn't remember.
"So do I!" says Chris, eagerly opening up his phone and showing the screen to Phichit, whose eyes go wide.
"I heard about this, but – wow, amazing! Yurio, I didn't know you could dance like that!"
Yuri scowls. "I didn't have a fucking choice, did I?"
"What's going on?" he hears Katsuki mumble, and he rolls his eyes.
"You got drunk on champagne last year and started dancing everywhere," he says, taking a safe sip of water this time. He relishes in Katsuki's horrified look.
"You challenged Yurio to a dance-off," Christophe adds, and Katsuki's eyes grow even wider.
"What? I did? Yurio?"
"I won, for the record!" shouts Yuri. Mila laughs from beside him, and Yuri wants to strangle her.
"Sure you did, little Yuri."
"I did, you old hag!"
"You danced with Chris for a long time, too," Mila adds, amused. Katsuki's starting to turn red as the photos are passed around, and even Minako and Mari are smirking now as the flip through the shots.
Yuri glances at Victor as the others go on and on about Katsuki's post-Final "performance." The silver-haired man is watching the whole thing with amusement, his blue eyes twinkling, and although Yuri feels a serious need to puke, he does remember the same look in Victor's eyes last year, at the banquet, as he watched Katsuki dance with a bottle of champagne.
Why did he use two of his three precious time-turning chances on those two? He convinced himself that it was for his own pride and honor, and for Victor, who – despite all his annoying quirks and arrogant flaws – is a little bit like an older brother.
Yuri acts tough and spits out curse words. He gets angry easily. He's competitive. He's always ready to beat someone up.
But he's really, really soft-hearted sometimes.
He groans into his pillow, sighing. He's an idiot.
[ December 8, 2016 ]
It's the morning of the short program.
Yuri wakes up early – way too early – and ventures out of the hotel. He's instantly drawn to the sight of the blue, sparkling ocean – and there's Victor, with his back turned to him, staring out across the water. He crosses the street.
He's been thinking since last night that he needs to know Victor's plans for the future, because Victor's wasting his life away right now. And maybe that damn Katsuki has changed him for the better – he's less arrogant now, at least – and made him happier, but what about Victor Nikiforov, five-time world champion?
"What are you doing?" Yuri demands, coming up to him. Victor turns around, surprised to see him.
"What do you mean?"
"That ring you got from the pig is trash," Yuri snarls, and he sees a dangerous glint appear in Victor's eyes, even though the smile doesn't disappear. "If you keep coaching him, you can't come back."
Before he can react, Victor's hand is on his chin, and then he's squeezing Yuri's cheeks. Yuri just stares up at him defiantly. "We'll see," he says, and his smile is definitely not friendly. Yuri fights to keep his composure.
Okay, so maybe he went a little far, insulting the rings. He doesn't dare admit his mistake to himself until he's safely back in the hotel, grabbing his things and heading for the stadium. He's determined. It's time to do this.
He warms up on the ice with everyone else, purposely ignoring Victor's gaze and focusing on his damn free leg. He goes back to the locker room and does stretches while he waits for his turn. His heart's pounding.
He ignores Katsuki and he definitely ignores JJ. He's going on second-to-last because of his scores in both Skate Canada and the Rostelecom Cup. At the very least, he thinks, he's not going to let JJ beat him again – the damn arrogant asshole.
The minutes count down, and then the seconds, and Yuri peeks his head out to watch Katsuki's performance. It's actually quite good, he thinks, before catching himself. No. It sucks. He sucks.
He definitely sucks.
When it's finally his turn, Yakov and Lilia smile at him. That's weird, he thinks, and his hands are shaking a little bit. It's his senior debut, after all. It has to be perfect. Perfect.
He positions himself in the middle of the ice. The music starts.
He tries to envision his grandpa in his mind's eye, remembering how he always took care of him and always forgave him, despite the unruly little kid he was – despite the unruly teenager he is now. He remembers standing under the waterfall with Katsuki – "Isn't there anyone you love unconditionally? Or anybody who loves you unconditionally?"
Maybe the pig wasn't a total idiot.
He lands all his jumps flawlessly, and it's just his presentation score at stake now. He won't let Katsuki beat him in presentation.
He's out of breath when he finishes, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. He skated like he always does at practice. The audience is cheering, and Yakov and Lilia look proud. He allows himself a small smile as they head to the kiss and cry.
He receives a higher score than anybody so far, breaking the world record – breaking Victor's record.
Victor sweeps by him without looking at him once. Katsuki tries to smile at Yuri, but is tugged away by the silver-haired man.
Yuri thinks about all the things he's done for them, and he's bitter.
[ December 10, 2016 ]
The day of the free skate, Yuri's hyped up. He and Yakov are walking through the stadium building when Victor, out of breath, runs up to them. "Yakov, I need to talk to you," he says, and Yuri's senses are immediately on full alert.
"Talk to me later. It's almost Yuri's turn."
"It's important," says Victor with increasing urgency. Yuri remembers how Victor ignored him and walks on. Yakov pauses for a moment, before telling Victor that they'll talk later. They continue on to the locker room.
Yuri laces up his skates, does his stretches, and awaits his turn. He's on second to last again. He's secretly very glad that JJ flubbed up, putting him in last place. It's actually not really a secret.
He cheers for Otabek, his new friend.
And his jaw drops when he watches Katsuki skate, because Katsuki pours more emotion into the skate than Yuri ever did. His technicals are beautiful. He lands a quad flip perfectly.
Suddenly, Yuri feels a strange feeling in his gut. Because if Katsuki wins here...
The damn pig! And fucking Victor!
He hears Otabek cheering for him as he goes on the ice. Yuri smiles. He can do this.
The music starts. He sets off, reminding himself to skate like he does in practice, and it'll all be okay. He swears he can hear Lilia's insistent voice in his head, nagging him to watch his damn free leg or warning him about going into the jump too roughly.
He lands all his jumps.
He skates well.
The scores come out. Yuri feels like he's in a daze when he ascends the podium, only to stop on the second level. Yuuri Katsuki, who fell to last in last year's Grand Prix Final (although, admittedly, that had been Yuri's fault), had won gold.
Yuri watches as Katsuki and Victor embrace, and then he walks by them with his head down when he hears that one phrase: "I'm retiring."
Victor doesn't look surprised, but he looks sad. He murmurs something Yuri can't quite make out.
Katsuki smiles gently. "This is as far as I'll go, you know. And you need to get back on the ice. We talked about this last night. Thank you for everything, Victor."
So that must've been what Victor had wanted to tell Yakov. Yuri grits his teeth and his hands form fists. He marches up to them. "You're retiring?"
Katsuki looks up at him and smiles sheepishly. "Yeah. I won gold, right? That's enough – "
Yuri's actually furious. "You're retiring?" he asks again, trying to formulate his thoughts and emotions into actual words. Katsuki frowns this time.
"Yes. That's my decision."
"You dragged Victor all the way to Hasetsu to be your coach, and now you're casting him aside?" Yuri's seeing red. "You can't just do that!"
"Keeping him here as my coach means slowly killing him as a competitive skater," he hears Katsuki say calmly, if not a little sadly. All Yuri can see is red – and Victor's sad expression. "I told myself that if I won gold today, I'd retire for good. And I'm not changing that."
"You're so damn stubborn," Yuri hisses, grabbing Katsuki by the collar. "You can't retire before I beat you!"
"Yurio – "
"And don't call me that – not in that patronizing tone of yours! You're not retiring – I won't fucking let you!"
He lets go of Katsuki abruptly and pushes up the sleeve of his tracksuit jacket. There, on the inside of his elbow, is a tiny black hourglass. There used to be three, side by side, but there's only one left. Yuri doesn't hesitate this time. He's just too mad – and too stubborn.
He puts his right thumb onto the hourglass and says to Victor and Katsuki, "I've done too much for you for you to quit now."
All he sees is their confused looks as the world bends and twists and disappears around him.