First Wednesday without new episode of YOI to look forward to... What exactly have I been doing with my life before? What even is life?
Thank you for all (re)wievs! I'm glad that you liked my Christmas Special. That's why I'm writing one for New Year too? Are we going to see some domestic Viktuuri and disturbed by their mushy PDA Yuri? Yes, we are!
Oh! Since Yuri is now officially part of this story, I'm changing rating from M to T. We all know that our precious Russian Punk doesn't use filter when it comes to his vocabulary. Sophia is natural at adapting to new environment so you can expect her to use some profanities from now on too.
Disclaimer: If only. But that's okay, 'cuz Next Level.
I stared at a plain looking key, resting in a middle of my open palm. It glistened in the radiant afternoon sun invitingly but cautious and skeptical thoughts swirled in my head, holding me back from darting towards Minako's studio. Despite all the desire burning in my chest and demanding to give in, I couldn't help but feel wary. It's been a long time since I could let my feet move across dancefloor without a tint of fear. Still, I could hear Minako's words, echoing through the coridors of my mind on repeat, slowly driving me over the edge, tearing down my defence walls.
"You're a dancer; I can tell from your posture and body fitness. But I can also tell that you hadn't done that for some time. Now I don't know the reason behind it and I won't nag you if you don't want to talk about it. But you're a true dancer, I can see it in your eyes, and there's nothing worse for a true dancer than to stay away from our element."
The moment she pulled me aside from the others, I knew something bad will happen. Giving me a spare key of her studio... Minako had only best intentions when doing that but she was unaware of a challenge this simple little object meant for me. It was a test of will and I was afraid to fail it.
I mulled things over as my feet carried me towards Hasetsu Ice Castle. I figured that cool and chilly air that circulated in the ice rink would help me to clear my mind and make the best choice. Not to mention that it was far away from Minako's studio and different enough for me to avoid any temptations. Thank God for my inability to ice skate...
A loud and all too familiar commotion reached my ears and a heavy sigh escaped my lips. These people honestly have no life! You'd think Viktor's polite but not exactly warm attitude towards his followers would have cooled them off but no! Even their idol was getting fed up with his privacy being constantly intruded, so you can only imagine how much all this hustle got on my nerves.
Good thing is that Yuuko, pure, sweet, and understanding Yuuko showed me how to get inside through back doors. Of course, I never mentioned about knowing of this secret passage already and picking lock to get inside when I needed to get away from the world and organize my thoughts. But still, her sharpness and kindness were greatly appreciated.
Yuuri was still out there, in the town, jogging to lose his last extra kilos and taking in the crowd outside the front door could only mean that Viktor was inside of building. Now that little detail earned a raised eyebrow from me because Russian skater rarely left his student's side. To be honest, if I wouldn't know better, I'd say they're sleeping together.
I plopped myself on a plastic chair by the wall and took out a paperback novel from my bag. Though in general Viktor and I got along just fine, I wasn't sure how should I treat him. Viktor was older than me by almost ten years and though he didn't exactly act the part, I'm still trying to be respectful. My polite but somewhat detached way of treating a silver haired male ends up creating awkward and even tense atmosphere between us that is always defused by Yuuri. A good part of Viktor's actions and his easy-go-lucky personality puts me in the adult's place which makes things even more awkward, atleast on my behalf. That's probably why I preferred being around him only when Yuuri's with us.
About two chapters later I heard one of Nishigori triplets, shouting louder than before, her words, though completely unsurprising, for some reason immediately peaked my attention.
"Hey! You can't go in there!"
The rest of conversation, if there was one, was probably much more quiet because the noise of crowd made it impossible for me to hear any further. However, the fact that someone managed to get through, made me put away the book, rise on my feet and move towards commotion. Triplets are tough, yes, but they are also just six year old girls and dealing with crazy and thirsty fans might lead them to becoming victims of a wild stampede.
"Viktor's inside, isn't he?" A voice that could only belong to a young teen reached my ears as I drew closer.
"Come in, come in." Three identical voices piped up in response but I frowned at how scared and intimidated they sounded.
I ran hastily towards them, ready to interfere if needed then a black clad figure jogged by the crowd casually before hitting the door, completely out of breath and panting heavily. Seeing as no one noticed my failed attempt at being a hero, I retreated back silently and hid behind the corner. If needed, I'm pretty sure Yuuri will be able to deal with any problem that might arise. Me, on the other hand? I'm a kitten that got killed by curiousity and I'd be damned if I'd stop satisfaction of spying and eavesdropping on other people conversations bring me back.
"Finally here... I'm exhausted..." Yuuri said as he tried to even his breathing and I thanked Loki for glass door and just enough volume for me to catch his words. Unfortunately, even as a jack of all trades, I suck at lip reading.
But what got my attention in that situation was a figure with dark clothes, leopard print jacket, leather studded backpack and matching animal print luggage. The stranger was clearly a male, but he had his back turned at me so I couldn't get a glimpse at his face. A black hood didn't exactly help either. And I could also see triplets, trying desperately get Yuuri's attention but to no avail. Their attempts fell on deaf ears because Yuuri kept talking, an oblivious smile on his face.
"Hey, get this. My weight's back to what it was before the Grand Prix Final! Now I'll finally get Viktor's permission to skate."
I wanted to congratulate dark haired skater but, you know, it was at this point that I noticed mysterious teen shaking with what seemed to be barely controlled anger. My interest shot up significantly and I was about to step out of my hideout and make my presence known. But then something happened, and so fast, it took my mind a few moments to process.
I saw Yuuri, opening up the front door and about to enter inside when an animal print and leather clad teen turned sharply, roundkicking poor boy in the back and making him fly a good three meters (AN: about ten feet.) forward until he hit the reception desk and fell back. I ran towards them to interfere when a teen, who had chin-lenth blond hair, walked briskly towards still laying Yuuri before stomping on his face.
"It's all your fault. Apologize." Growled out punk and I pushed him back forcefully.
"What is your problem, kid?!" I glared at stranger angrily and saw his light green eyes land on me.
"Mind your own business, hag."
"Like hell I will!" I shot back and turned around to help Yuuri stand up but he was already on his feet, fixing his glasses. "Are you okay?" Hearing my voice, laced with concern, made Yuuri look up at me and nod reassuringly before focusing his full attention on the offender.
"U-Uh, sorry, sorry." He smiled calmly and I stepped back in surprise. Then I looked at the newcomer and noticed how based on his voice, it was this teen who got allowed to enter and also asked about Viktor in a very casual and familiar manner - two things that are completely foreign to any obsessed fan. How fearful triplets acted around him... As if they recognize him...
"Say, Yuuri. Is this guy another celebrity I'm supposed to know but don't and because of that I'm not going to hear the end of it?" I asked carefully, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah. That's Yuri Plisetsky." Yuuri said it as if his response explained everything and I rolled my eyes.
"If you could be more specific, that would be perfect."
"I'm a three times junior world champion." Butted in a guy in question and I turned to look at him, only to see him staring at me disbelievingly. His comment had that bragging tone in it and my eyes narrowed slightly.
"Congrats, but I never heard of you and am probably going to forget your last name five seconds later. No offence." I shrugged my shoulders indifferently, just to get him off his high horse and watched in satisfaction as Yuri clenched his fists in annoyance, my plan working.
"Don't worry. Sophia had no idea about Viktor either." Jumped in Yuuri, remembering his role as a buffer and a peacemaker. Yuri only tsked, losing all interest in me and focusing his attention to older skater, walking further away from the entrance and leaning against the reception desk.
"He promised me first that he'd choreograph a program for me. What about you?"
"Huh? We haven't gotten to talking about programs or anything." Yuuri shrugged casually and I resisted the urge to facepalm. Not the best move here...
"What?!" Apparently, Yuri agreed with me wholeheartedly, because he took a step closer, stomping his foot. "You make him take a whole year off, and to do what?" Frustration in his voice got more and more prominent with each deliberate step he took and I saw his kinda attractive face turn into a grimace.
"To build trust in their relationship." I giggled under my breath but luckily no one heard me. Instead, Yuri continued his avalanche of questions, his facial expression getting creepier by every passing minute.
"Isn't getting him as a coach enough?" My wicked side of personality ate popcorn and watched as a blond guy took the last step, finally getting uncomfortably close to Yuuri and successfully invading his personal space. "As if a guy who'd sob in toilet stall at the Grand Prix Final can change at all just by getting Viktor as a coach!" Yuri tilted his head to one side, smiling like a madman and I caught myself wondering, how many screws you need to be short on to pull off a face like that.
But Yuuri obviously didn't share my outlook on the matter because he smiled calmly and patiently, as if dealing with a child, creeping me out even more (because who does that so coolly while facing a positively deranged maniac) and successfully getting on Yuri's nerves.
"Stop smirking, fatso!" A lame nickname made me chuckle slightly. Com'on, psycho. You can do much better than that. Especially since Yuuri just announced his returning to previous weight so it kinda lost all meaning.
"I don't really get the whole picture, so you should ask him yourself." Same, Yuuri. Same.
After gifting a teen with another strangely calm and even pleasant smile, Yuuri turned around swiftly and made his way towards ice rink, Yuri following closely behind.
For some unexplained reason I shot his back a smug grin (the hell was that about?) before trailing after and just in time to see as a newcomer caught a glimpse of Viktor and let out a small "Huh?".
Oh, the ice skating legend had the ability to make every move uneathly graceful. This time, the effect was even stronger because instead of a makeshift warm-up routine he skated to what seemed like a parts and snippets from a real program. And apparently I wasn't the only one to notice this, because soon enough I saw Yuri leaning against safety wall, his expression more casual.
"Those moves... They're for the short program Viktor was preparing for next season."
"What?" Yuuri turned to look at the younger boy, surprised, and I marveled at a complete one-eighty blondie's personality made in less than a second.
"Viktor was already putting together routines for next season. But he was really torn. Surprising the audience has always been his top priority. He had the whole world in his hands. But now, no matter what he does, no one's surprised anymore." I saw Yuri following Viktor's movements with a wistfull expression on his face and tried to compare his words to what I learned while dancing.
To us, surprising the audiences was never the most important part simply because there wasn't much in this sphere we could do. Every given dance required a specific emotion to be expressed so as soon as a genre of dance got announced, spectators already knew what they should expect. The most important part was how well you could convey your emotions without messing up technical part.
However, Yuri wasn't finished, because his next words left Yuuri staring at a skating figure with wide eyes and me with sadly downcasted eyes.
"He knows that better than anyone. If you don't have any inspiration left, you're as good as dead."
Not my best decision, but I'm making a stop here.
I'll try to update a new chapter every Wednesday from now on (because of lack of new episodes, goddamnit) and some day in-between (most likely on weekend).
Finally, Yuri's trully here! Maybe now things will get more interesting!
You know the drill. Please leave a review because I'm paranoid and need constant reassurance.
See you in the next chapter!
