It was freezing when she woke up. Not that it was anything new, her room was practically temperature confused. The heater became the AC unit and the AC unit became the heater. But it was only in her room, so Mai wouldn't bother with trying to change it, or complain about it to her aunt. Aiya would probably get upset with her for it anyway.

Mai wrapped her fluffy lilac comforter tightly around herself, shivering as she scooted herself into a sitting position against the wall. A low yawn escaped her and she leaned closer to the window. Light, bright and white, peeked through the folds of dark curtains. She shifted and opened it just a little, blinking at the intensity. Once she had gotten used to it then she leaned in closer to peer outside.

Her breath fogged the glass, but not before she could glimpse the change that had occurred to the outside world overnight.

Even though it was April there was snow. The weather hadn't been letting go of the winter season and she had wondered when it would snow again because of it. It certainly explained the intensity of the chill in her room.

The second the fog cleared from the window she was back on it again, enchanted by the scenery. Frost heavily coated the sill of her window, trailing down to reveal tiny, crystalline icicles. The ground below was covered by a fine layer of downy soft snow, undisturbed by everything but the wind. Mai was certain that it went deeper than it appeared, but she had no intention of going out to see for herself anytime soon. Standing tall above the ground was the old cherry blossom tree, the aged wooden swing looking sadder than ever as a gentle breeze pushed it. Snow clung to individual branches like snug caps. It was peaceful, and Mai wished she had some hot tea in her hands while Tchaikovsky played quietly in the background.

Perhaps that was a little too dramatic. After all, that'd be like pretending to be in some sort of music video. But she wouldn't just be expected to sit around the entire time, much like she would prefer. No, with music came action. And with action usually came effort, skill, and grace―none of which she possessed. Add the lack of courage and wit to the list and she was just your average small fry, a runt. And people only took pity on runts.

A loud gurgle echoed around her silent room. Her stomach coiled and growled and in response she softly groaned. It was bad enough to be cold, worse to be hungry, but entirely unbearable to be around her aunt at anytime of the morning. Especially after last night's round of pressure.

After returning home later than usual due to spending time with Yuri since his return, which she most certainly didn't regret, her aunt had thrown a fit. Well, perhaps fit wasn't the proper way to describe it. The way Aiya showed her disapproval of anything felt more like an ominous dark cloud that could suffocate any atmosphere. Even if she wasn't such a scaredy-cat Mai couldn't imagine standing up to her aunt because of it. From her thinned lips, to her brickwall posture, right down to such cold black eyes―Aiya didn't need words to induce a sense of failure in someone. But she would use them anyways just to rub salt in the wound.

It was bad enough that she had gotten third place, but to come home late because she was loitering about at the ice rink with the returned failure was downright unacceptable.

Her aunt had said many things about her performance, most of which she took quietly, since she agreed with her aunt completely, but insulting Yuri was what had hurt the most. In Mai's eyes Yuri had never once been a failure. In almost every way possible he was her idol, nearly just as much as the legendary Viktor Nikiforov was. Since they were kids he had worked hard to put his heart and soul into skating, and it had taken him places. His career had led him to the other side of the world! Even if he had placed last in the Grand Prix, even if his score had been low, how did that make him a failure? The fact that he still skated because he loved it so much spoke volumes to her of what a success Yuri was. She could never amount to something like that.

Mai was not a natural.

Mai was not gifted.

Mai was not special, beautiful, graceful, or anything really.

Mai could never hope to even come close to standing on the same level as her best friend. And she had known as such since she was a young child.

But her dreams were such a tricky thing to kill, despite her own shortcomings.

Her stomach growled again, reminding her that she still needed to eat, even if it meant facing her aunt again so soon. Slowly Mai got out of bed, taking the blanket with her. The cold floor made her want to jump right back on the bed the moment she set her foot down. She never liked wearing socks to bed, so the shock was instant and alarming enough that she almost tripped herself in surprise. Quickly she retrieved a pair of socks from the nearby dresser and scuttled out of her room.

The house was silent. No matter how much she strained her ears Mai couldn't detect any indication that her aunt was downstairs, or even upstairs for that matter. She prayed fervently that the hush was an indication Aiya had left the house for something. Whether it was rainy, windy, or snowy, if Aiya had something to do then she would go out and do it. If she truly did leave the house to run an errand then the snow outside wouldn't stop her one bit. Even though her aunt wasn't the nicest person, Mai admired her strength and perseverance greatly.

She tiptoed down the stairs, peeking cautiously over the railing for any indication of movement. No shadows were cast along bare walls that weren't from inanimate objects, no radio softly played the news, not even the sound of something being cooked on the stove was present. Mai quietly hopped down the remaining steps. Everything would have been fine if she hadn't tripped on her blanket and sent herself face first into the wall with a loud crash.

The front door opened.

Panic flooded her, overriding the pain that swelled through her face―the worst coming from her poor squashed nose. Mai scrambled away from the wall, her feet twisting around ankles and blanket alike as she went careening back in the direction she came from. The base of her skull connected with the wooden stair and the ceiling became littered with stars.

Through the harsh ringing of her ears and the intense smarting she caught her aunt's sigh. She gripped the back of her head, whimpering, and sat up. The room swam. The air sang. Everything hurt and she was short on breath.

"If you have to be taken to the hospital then it'll affect your schedule. There won't be much time to practice for your next competition." She heard Aiya shuffle away, leaving her to nurse her wounds on her own.

Mai bit down on her response. Her next "competition" wasn't even a competition, it was just a talent show at the university. And it wasn't like going to the hospital would mess up her schedule so bad that she couldn't practice. The performance date was set for a week and a half later, plenty of time to divide between recuperation and practice. Besides, she wasn't even going to perform a new piece―not that she wanted to be performing at all so soon after her last concert―she knew what her aunt had picked by heart.

She tucked the blanket under her arms and shakily got up, bracing against the wall for support, and turned to go back upstairs. There was no way she was going to get anything to eat right now. Her appetite was shoved into a corner and forgotten about at this point. Gradually Mai managed to drag herself up the stairs and into her room where she landed on her nest-like bed and burrowed beneath the covers.

After a while, when her head had stopped pounding, Mai peeked out of her cozy shelter. Tiredly, her eyes roamed over the countless items in her room. Mostly, though, she found comfort in the only things that seemed to actually reflect who she was as a person. Unlike the rest of the house, everything could be found on the walls of her room. Posters of famous concerts and composers, a couple of tv shows and books, a few of Viktor through the years (hers weren't nearly as numerous as Yuri's though), and deeply cherished photographs that her parents had taken―every single one of them. Her favorite was a double portrait that had been taken in a meadow nearby; it was of both of her parents, who had taken pictures of each other when they both thought the other was capturing images of something else. It was almost like the perfect accident.

The photo, while beautiful and sentimental, was also a painful reminder. Five and a half years later and it was still one of the biggest thorns in her heart. She'd never see those wonderful smiling faces ever again.

Mai closed her eyes and rolled to her other side, reaching for her phone. The device vibrated in her hand as it turned on and she waited with rising boredom for it to finish waking up. It was such a slow and old thing, but she had been lucky enough to get it in the first place, so it kept her from complaining too much. A little green light blinked at the top. She slid the menu bar down to see that she'd missed two calls from Yuri, and had received several texts from him as well. All of them read "urgent" and "backup assistance required" in all caps and included several exclamation points.

In an instant Mai had thrown the multitude of covers off herself and was pulling clothes out of her dresser and putting them onto her body without so much as even a second thought. Her head swam, but she paid it no heed as she shrugged on her thick coat, pulled a beanie over her head, and shoved her feet into snow treading boots. Mai was out of her room seconds after and frantically texting Yuri to find out what was going on. Before she knew it she was down the stairs and out the door, not even checking to see if her aunt was on the lookout.

{ ++ }

Viktor liked to think he was a genius. On the ice he knew just how to capture the audience's attention. With a simple piece of footwork or with a perfectly executed jump―he was a master at getting people to be absorbed in what he did. As a result he had many, many dedicated fans who willingly gave him attention and affection wrapped in a pretty bow. He, of course, was always nice and polite to these people, but that didn't really mean he understood them. It wasn't like he was a mind reader, not that it stopped him from pretending he was knowledgeable of things like that.

Like this very moment, for instance. He pretended that sharing quarters would be the perfect solution to get to know Yuri better. He pretended to not pick up on the other man's flustered confusion. He pretended that acting innocent would get him somewhere. But on the other side of that thick, pretentious wall, Viktor Nikiforov was utterly confused. The person on the other side of this door was not any of the three people he had met at the Banquet, the Grand Prix Finals, or even downstairs not all that long ago. No, when it came to people's motives behind actions Viktor was completely clueless.

"Yuri!" He rapped on the wooden door again, growing more and more disheartened by the second. Things weren't going like he'd planned. Their encounter had been full of mixed signals, and Yuri's reception to the news of him staying here to be his coach had been one of absolute disbelief mixed with a star crossed daydream. Viktor had no idea how he was going to get the other man to come to his senses, if it were even possible at this point.

Footsteps thudded up the stairs, causing Viktor to look over his shoulder.

"Yu-ur-i!" A mildly high pitched voice called from the stairwell; a girl, it seemed. Whoever it was sounded winded. "I ran– all the way– here– in the snow. What's so urgent– that–"

She rounded the corner and came to a dead halt. Her chest heaved erratically as she breathed through her already open mouth, which dropped a little more at the sight of him. Viktor turned around and raised his hand in greeting, smiling pleasantly.

"Hello!" Beside him Makkachin gave a happy bark as well.

The girl had disappeared around the corner before he could even blink. He knew that she hadn't gone far though, he could still hear her panting. Curiosity begged him to go over and talk to her. Logic told him that she might be able to help get Yuri out of his room.

In a few quick strides Viktor made it to the staircase, Makkachin hot on his heels. He peeked around the corner, seeing the girl pressed against the wall with both hands clasped over each other and pressed tightly against her chest. She was a plain looking girl, with short dark hair that was mostly covered by a rosy beanie, an even shorter height, and rather worn out looking clothes. Her cheeks were flushed; whether it was from the cold or something else he couldn't really say. When she opened her eyes he caught a hint of brown.

Makkachin squeezed past his legs and began sniffing eagerly at the girl's feet. She squeaked, looking down, and tried to pull herself closer towards the wall. Viktor couldn't help but grin a little. Despite her overall averageness she was rather adorable.

Viktor gave a sharp whistle and both the girl's and Makkachin's head snapped up towards him. "Makkachin, leave her alone," he chided goodnaturedly.

The poodle yipped and heeled. The girl's eyes were intensely trained on him when he returned his attention to her. He locked his gaze with her and took the moment to see what he could find. She was absolutely frozen in place. Viktor was certain that she wouldn't run away if he tried to talk to her again.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I'm Viktor Nikiforov," he began, feeling almost a little arrogant for assuming that she'd recognize him. Though judging by her actions then she clearly did know who he was. "What's your name?"

"M-my name?" She stuttered, sounding half out of it. "M-M-Mai."

His brows cinched together and he cocked his head to the side. Was she too nervous to say her name? He understood that sometimes his presence could have a scary effect on some people, simply because he was famous, but he didn't want her to feel frightened.

"I-It's Mai! My name is Mai!" She all but shouted it, ducking her head and growing redder by the second. Mai fidgeted with her hands, practically wringing the life out of her poor thumb. Viktor took a step back to give her a little space. An easy smile slid across his face.

"Nice to meet you, Mai." Viktor held out his hand and she stared at it, dumbfounded. Over the course of his career he'd met many fans that reacted similar to how Mai was behaving now. He had learned that the best course of action when dealing with these kinds of fans was to be patient. Slowly she released her own death grip on her hands and reached out to take his hand. Her small grip was too tight, but he remained calm and relaxed.

Viktor glanced down the hall to Yuri's door, which remained firmly shut, and then back at Mai. The two were definitely familiar with each other somehow. It was possible that she could have been his little sister, or maybe even a neighborhood friend, but he wasn't certain. A small part of him wondered if she could possibly be his girlfriend. He quickly shut that thought down. Best not to get ahead of himself. Jumping to conclusions wouldn't get him anywhere.

His hand slipped out of hers and he pointed to Yuri's room. "You were wanting to see Yuri, right? He's in there, but he won't come out."

Mai softly mumbled an apology that he quickly waved off.

"No need to apologize, it's my fault anyways. He's probably in shock right now since I told him I'd take over being his coach."

No response.

Stepping aside, Viktor gestured for her to pass. Her eyes darted between him and the door so fast he worried that she'd give herself a headache. Hesitantly Mai edged past him before attempting (and failing) to walk with a hint of composure over to Yuri's door. He quickly followed after her. She glanced back at him once before raising her hand to knock. Her knuckles had barely touched the wood when the door slid open wide enough for a hand to fly out and snatch Mai's wrist, dragging her into the bedroom and once again leaving Viktor on the wrong side of the door.

{ ++ }

Ever since that one day in her childhood when Yuko had turned the tv on to watch the Grand Prix Mai had been a fan of the prodigy Viktor Nikiforov. When she was a child, before middle school, she had had a small crush on the young skater. It was just a silly and fleeting emotion for a man she'd never meet beyond the screen of a television, though. When she'd grown up some then she recognized the feelings as more admiration than romantic, and had since moved past it. She adored his looks like most women and men alike, and was fascinated as well as utterly spellbound by his figure on the ice. But what Mai had come to love most about Viktor was his ability to become one with the music.

Her head had been in the clouds when she had watched that performance, weaving up a magnificently impossible dream. As a young child learning to create and play music she'd dreamed of meeting Viktor and asking him to skate to a song she had created just for him in the Grand Prix. Of course that dream relied heavily on the fact that she would actually one day meet the legendary ice skater, but it had been her pillar all these years in facing hardships unlike any other. Whenever she wanted to give up, whenever someone told her to quit, she remembered her wish and kept working to reach it.

But it was always something meant to be an impossibility.

Until now that was.

Mai fell on top of Yuri, who groaned at the sudden weight. She scrambled up and away, allowing him to sit up before launching into a hushed assault.

"Why didn't you tell me that Viktor Nikiforov was here?!"

Yuri rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks turning pink. He matched her quick speech with a hushed whisper of his own. "You wouldn't have showed up if you knew he was here!"

She opened her mouth to combat him before shutting it. He was absolutely right. If she had known that Viktor were here, the most revered idol of the century, she wouldn't have come to Yuri's aid. Seeing him just barely had already been so overwhelming. Mai could have sworn her heart had stopped beating from the sudden anxiety of meeting someone she respected so deeply. She couldn't even tell if it was beating right now.

"W-why is he here?" Of all the places Mai had imagined meeting her idol, this place didn't even make it onto the list.

"Viktor says he's going to be my coach. Can you believe it? Because I'm still trying to figure out if I heard correctly."

Viktor had said the same thing about being his coach, but it was still so hard to believe.

"What? Where did he come up with an idea like that?"

"I have no clue! But he's already shipped so much stuff here and he's taking over the spare bedroom that suggests he's actually here to stay. Mai what do I do?!"

Mai cupped her hands to her face and pressed down hard, stretching her cheeks back as she went. Never in a million years would she have dreamed up a scenario quite like this. Never in another million years would she have expected it to actually happen. Things were so far out of her league that she didn't even know where to begin.

"Maybe… Maybe you should go out there and be a good host?" Mai said slowly, unsurely. Yuri blinked and cocked his head to the side in confusion. "I-I mean, since he's staying here and everything out of consideration for you th-then you should be out there making sure everything's okay. And… I don't know… Talk to him?"

It was the best that she could come up with while helplessly shrugging her shoulders over and over again. Yuri seemed to take it into consideration. He swallowed hard before standing up, offering a hand to help her. She took it, comforted by the warm strength the single action presented her with. With a determined nod they both turned to the door and braced themselves for something they were both unprepared for.

{ ++ }

After observing the duo closely upon emergence from Yuri's room Viktor could safely deduce that their relationship was purely platonic. He found it highly amusing when Yuri introduced Mai as his childhood friend with an air of fluster surrounding him―though it was far more obvious on the young girl, her face a bright red beacon as she fidgeted with the hem of her pink shirt. From there he'd been escorted back downstairs to enjoy a meal and conversation.

So now, sitting across from two, Viktor enjoyed his first taste of Katsudon while showering praises on both the cook and Yuri, who had suggested it to him as his favorite food. Mai remained quiet but observant, back to throttling her thumb. He figured that maybe talking about something would get her mind off strangling her own finger.

"So Mai," She suddenly sat up straight, acting as guilty as someone caught sleeping during class. "Since you've been friends with Yuri since childhood I was wondering if that also meant you were a skater?"

Mai grabbed the back of her head, wincing slightly, and shook her head. "N-no. I barely manage to s-stay on my own two feet most of the time, s-so I can't do much more than little kids learning how to skate."

A.k.a, she required assistance of some sort to remain upright. He nodded, trying to think of something else that would make the situation seem less awkward than it already was. Thankfully Yuri was on top of it.

"Mai may not be great in sports, but she's a really good musician." He gave his friend a reassuring pat on the back as her face kept getting redder.

Viktor leaned his head on his hand. "Oh really? What instruments do you play?"

"P-piano and violin," she stammered.

He hummed in approval. Both instruments were fine on their own, but he appreciated them together even more. They made such beautiful music for him to skate to.

"I'd love to hear you play sometime, then." By now Mai was so red that he dearly hoped she wouldn't get any redder. If she did then she might end up making herself pass out.

A door slammed open near the front of the building and a woman began shouting in Japanese. He couldn't gather much of what she was saying except that whatever it was sent shivers running through Yuri and Mai―the latter of whom had nearly jumped out of her skin once the atmosphere had suddenly grown loud. A few seconds later the source of all the noise appeared, yelling Yuri's name.

She stopped dead when she caught sight of him.

"So the rumors were true? Yuri, why didn't you call me?!" The surprise only lasted for a moment before she began to bombard the young man.

"M-Minako, p-pleased don't ever do that again." Mai slumped in her seat, clutching at her heart.

The long haired woman, Minako, paused in her ranting to look at Mai. "Oh, sorry Mai. Didn't see you there."

"Didn't see―nevermind. It's fine," she sighed.

Viktor felt bad for her, but there wasn't much of anything he could do. Instead he returned his attention to the woman and smiled at her.

"And who are you?"

It was amusing how she instantly went from hyperactive to a loose professional in the span of a second. She introduced herself as Minako, Yuri's friend and part time ballet instructor also from his childhood. She was also a really big fan of his.

As Minako happily began to settle down at the table, carrying on a mostly one sided conversation, a quiet jingle began to play. His gaze flickered to Mai as she pulled out a cute little purple phone and balked at the screen. She turned away from the group to answer it. The conversation barely lasted even thirty seconds before she was hanging up and turning around again.

"I-I'm sorry, but my aunt just called and told me that I needed to go." Mai bowed before standing up. "Sorry again."

"Huh? So soon? Oh well, you can't help it when family calls you home." Viktor waved the apology away. "But you can make it up by joining me and Yuri on a tour of Hasetsu tomorrow!"

Yuri jumped to his aid, nodding his head eagerly. Viktor completely missed the desperate look that flashed in his eyes. "Yeah! Please join us tomorrow!"

Mai stammered an incoherent string of words before finally managing to spit out her answer. "I'll see if I can get out of practice tomorrow."

"Ura! Then we'll wait for you! Bye-bye~." He waved and Mai bowed again. Before he knew it, once again, she had disappeared. Viktor turned to Yuri, who watched Mai leave, and pointed his chopsticks at him.

"In the meantime you'll be working to bring down your weight, little piggy." Yuri's head whipped back so fast it was practically a miracle he didn't send it flying right off his shoulders. "I won't coach you until then."

He could see the gears working overtime in Yuri's mind, but the man nodded anyways.

"Right!"

Settling down and leaning on his hand again, Viktor smiled to himself. So many new interesting things and people, in a new place―things were certain to remain lively around here for a little while. He was looking forward to experiencing it all.

((Redonix Note: I had totally planned to update earlier in the week but homework has been insane because of the upcoming X-Mas break TT^TT RIP. Anyway, I thought that I should mention this now, before we get any further in the story. BITS is a story that's set in a parallel timeline next to canon, so I'll be following along with/touching on events that happened in canon as best I can while leaving room for individual things to help develop Mai's character. So as a forewarning I'm going to be changing up TIME FRAMES in which all these things occur and either extend or shorten them. Thanks a bunch for your time! See you next chapter!))