Ryuugazaki: I'm telling my friend about Christophe's fat ass (like, his fat ass) and I think I have a problem. That problem being Christophe's fine ass.


Chapter Four
(Thursday, 10 September 2015 – 7:00pm, Detroit, Michigan)

"Yuri!" Phichit yelled from outside the building. Yuri was several feet away from the entrance. "How was your day? How was French? ¿Era buena?"

"I don't think that was French." Phichit laughed. "Is Ciao Ciao inside?" Phichit nodded. "You wouldn't believe the day I had today." Yuri shifted the weight of his gym bag.

"Did you meet someone new today?"

"No, but I saw the person from my art history class." Phichit nodded. They didn't enter the building yet. "He started a conversation with me." Phichit grinned. "He asked about my art. Then he gave me another paper. Then he suggested that we work together on our assignments." Phichit was chuckling. "What?"

"You made a friend."

"No I didn't. We should get inside. Ciao Ciao is probably getting worried." Phichit agreed and patted Yuri's back. Yuri opened the door for his friend and himself and went inside.

#

(Thursday, 10 September 2015 – 9:00pm, Detroit, Michigan)

Practice was over for the night. The other skaters were in the changing rooms while Yuri and Phichit were at the rink, talking to Coach Cialdini. Coach Cialdini had finished chastising Yuri for attempting Salchows. After the chastising, Phichit was shooting the breeze with Coach.

"Yuri has something to tell you, by the way," Phichit casually mentioned.

"I do?" Phichit looked at Yuri. He pursed his lips. "Apparently I do," Yuri muttered.

"About last night when you were skating, mon chou." Phichit said.

"Oh yeah," Yuri started, "yesterday I was trying to skate but I kept seeing this ghoulish shadow." Coach Cialdini remained taciturn. "Should I explain what it looks like?" Coach nodded. "It was this very big shadow that reached towards the ceiling. It was by the door." Yuri pointed towards the door. "It was just observing me. It really wasn't threatening."

"You should tell your therapist about this next time you see her. When do you see Luzia next?" Maria Luzia Ledo e Sá (usually just called Luzia Sá) is Yuri's therapist. She's bubbly, kind, and she always believes in her patients. Yuri has been seeing Luzia since his freshman year and he's forever grateful for her existence.

"The week after next."

"Try and see Luzia sooner. This is important." Yuri nodded. "You two get home now. It's getting late." Yuri and Phichit left the rink and started walking to their apartment.

"How is Luzia, by the way?" Phichit asked. "I haven't asked about her recently."

"Luzia is fine. Her wife is fine, too." Yuri smiled. He remembered when Luzia showed him her honeymoon photos. They went to Porto Alegre. Luzia looked so happy in Brazil.

"I'm glad she's fine." Phichit smiled.

#

(Thursday, 10 September 2015 – 9:56pm, Detroit, Michigan)

Yuri kicked his bookbag to the corner of the room. Phichit was playing with and observing his hamsters. Yuri laid in bed, scrolling his Instagram feed. Yuri wasn't the biggest fan of social media, but he did occasionally open the apps and scroll through his feed. Phichit had taken a photo of Yuri as he was putting on his skates; it was captioned: "mon chou getting ready to blow everyone away during practice!" Yuri laughed.

"On Instagram?"

"Yeah."

"Saw my post?"

"I did." Yuri smiled. "Mon petit chou."

"Ma poupée," Phichit said back. "Are you going to sleep now?"

"I'll try."

"I'll try not to make any noise then."

"Thank you, mon canard," Yuri muttered as he laid on his stomach and tried to sleep.


Ryuugazaki: Hello darkness, my old friend…