Chapter 9 – Romance in Barcelona

Author's Note:

This chapter will be a retelling of Episode 10 in Katsuki Yuri's POV! Seriously, there's nothing much for me to add to that episode for now XD

I'll leave the birthday chapter as a separate oneshot that I will work on later. Given my limited time to work on this fanfic series, my priority will be to cover the main YOI storyline for now.

Please help to support my stories by leaving a like, follow and review!

Thank you for the continued support!~

I'll keep on trying my best!~ (:

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Hola! My name is Katsuki Yuri, and I'm a figure skater from Japan who narrowly managed to squeeze into the last qualification spot in the Grand Prix Final this year! It was a tough journey but Victor and I managed to survive to the end. However, we are still halfway done – because our true aim is to attain victory in the Grand Prix Final and win the gold medal! We're currently at Barcelona, Spain for the Grand Prix Final stage and this is a story of the two of us having a well-deserved R&R in Barcelona before the real battle starts!~

A day before the finals, we were all warming up and doing our final rehearsals to prepare for the big day. We had the rest of the day off, and Victor started being coach-like and started to give me advice. "Yuri. What do you want to do now? I suggest a good night's rest to prepare for tomorrow's short program".

I was happy to know that he was worrying about me, but I wanted to loosen the tension a little before the competition. I was thinking that a date would be good and I immediately suggested that to Victor.

"Oh, Victor. Don't act like such a model coach now. It's my first time in Barcelona, so will you take me sightseeing…?"

A smile of delight lit up his face, as he enthusiastically took charge. "Leave it to me!"

Victor was no stranger to Barcelona. He had attended numerous figure skating competitions around the globe, ever since his teenage days. He brought me to some famous tourist spots for food and photos, before we gradually settled down to do some shopping in the area. I'll have to say that I completely underestimated Victor's spending ability – he bought the expensive things that caught his fancy without battling an eyelid! He was happily shopping, and I was helping to carry the bags. It got pretty much exhausting until I found a bench to rest and took a short breather. Although shopping with him was tiring, watching Victor enjoying himself was satisfying enough for me. He bent down to my eye level, and shot me a curious look. "Yuri…you aren't buying anything?"

"No. I'm fine."

He smiled cheekily at me as he dragged me off somewhere again. "I'll buy a suit for you! You should really burn that suit that you wore during the press conference in Japan…I'll pick something cooler~"

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A few hours later, the mood had turned sour. Among Victor's numerous shopping bags, I had accidentally misplaced a bag of nuts somewhere. The both of us were searching around the shopping street for our missing item. "It's not here either…"

I gradually grew anxious and Victor was trying his best to calm me down.

"Yuri…calm down and remember...it's the bag of nuts that we just bought."

I felt so guilty and apologetic for losing that bag, that I wanted to go back to the shop and buy the same thing to replace. However, Victor tried to persuade me to forget all about that and return to the hotel to rest, and I insisted otherwise. I did not like that and unconsciously vented my frustrations on him.

"You don't have to say it like that!"

I could sense the brief moment of tension in the air, as Victor had a serious look on his face. He was looking rather peeved and started to retort back. "Well…if you're not tired. Then I am."

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, I did not question about that bag of nuts anymore.

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After that little tiff that we had, we ended up looking around at a nearby Christmas market - Fira de Santa Llúcia. The both of us walked side by side in silence. I took the initiative to strike a conversation with Victor.

"Victor…your birthday is Christmas, right? What would you like as your birthday present?"

"In Russia, we don't celebrate it before the actual birthday though…we don't really celebrate Christmas either" replied Victor.

"I see…"

Victor's answer was a little disappointing as he seemed to reject my idea of giving him a present. He had been the one that has been doing all the giving to me, and I wanted to give him something nice in return. I wished that he could have just obediently answered my question so I wouldn't have to rack my head so much.

The mood turned a little awkward between the both of us – we tried our best to converse, only to end up with one-sentence replies.

Meanwhile, I was looking around carefully to find a suitable gift for Victor. There must be something that Victor would like to get…what is it…!?

Moments later, we stumbled upon a jewelry shop. My eyes instantly caught the sight of the rings that were prominently displayed on the show window. Wedding rings! I could just feel my entire body burning up out of pure embarrassment. A gold ring! That's a great present!

I immediately asked Victor to tag me along in the store.

While selecting a suitable ring, I was attempting to organize the thoughts in my head. I had always wanted a lucky charm – Something material in form that could symbolise my current bond with Victor. I-It's a lucky charm so I can do my best in the Finals. Okay…who am I trying to cheat here…I'm fully aware that I'm buying wedding rings but…what else could be much better than a gold ring to bring luck for a gold medal? It was also a thank you gift to Victor for all his help that he had given me up until now.

Victor was just watching me shop in silence from the back as I purchased a pair of gold rings.

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I continued my walk down in the Christmas market with Victor, while my eyes were quietly searching around for a suitable place to give him the ring. The melodious sound from a choir drew me into a cathedral located nearby.

Yes. That's a perfect place! I took Victor by the hand, and he followed me quietly without any hesitation.

I put down the shopping bags, and took out the rings that I had just bought. Victor was just staring silently at me without speaking a word. I felt so embarrassed, but I managed to pluck out all my courage as this was something that I had wanted to do. I gently removed his right-hand glove, and his eyes were observing me closely.

I could feel his hand trembling a little as I slid the ring on his ring finger.

"Victor…Thank you for everything up till now. I-I-I couldn't think of anything better than this, you see…"

"But…uhm…I'll try my best from tomorrow on, so…this is for good luck okay…?"

I found myself stuttering while I was trying my hardest to convey my heartfelt intentions to him. I wanted him to know that I was very grateful to him and that I treasured our strong bond that we had shared together.

Despite my bad attempt at explaining, Victor smiled sweetly at me as he placed his left hand on my coat pocket to search for the other ring that I bought. It caught me by surprise as the ring was something I wanted to keep for myself.

"That's fine with me. A good luck charm that can help to prevent you from thinking about anything else."

He gently held my right hand, and slides the ring onto my finger. It was an unexpected gesture from Victor, and I found myself blushing hard again. The both of us exchanging wedding rings…It was really happening. Does this mean something like a proposal!?

"Tomorrow, show me the skating that you can honestly say you liked best…okay?"

I was so overwhelmed with emotion, as I nod my head happily in agreement. Victor gradually wrapped his arms around my nape as he gently pulled my face towards his. When our lips met, I could feel the warmth of his mouth sending a current to my body. It was so electrifying that I wanted more. The kiss gradually grew more intense when his tongue slowly entered my mouth and entwined with mine. I could just taste the sweet flavour of that hot wine that he was drinking earlier, and it made the kiss that much intoxicating. When our lips slowly parted, he leaned his forehead on mine as he cupped my cheek with his large hands. I gazed closely at Victor, and I could see the sparkle in his eyes.

His handsome face was wreathed with smiles, as he whispered affectionately in my ears.

"I have absolute faith in what you decide, Yuri. Do your best!"

That was the most memorable moment that would remain with us for the rest of our lives.

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As we walked back to find a restaurant for dinner, we spotted Minako-sensei and Mari-neechan outside a café, with their faces pressed closely against the glass. I casually called them over, and the two of them immediately pounced onto me when they heard my voice. "Yuri! We need a huge favour!"

The two of them wanted to meet the other male skaters competing in the Grand Prix, and Victor suggested that we should call them out for dinner together. We invited Yurio and Otabek who was already in the café, and I contacted Chris and Phichit. Both Victor and I did not have JJ's contact number so we decided to omit him out. It was better not to have him around anyways. All of us gathered at an outdoor restaurant located near our hotel.

The two of them were so awestruck by the presence of the other male skaters, that they were crying with tears of joy. It was such an exaggerated reaction that I could not possibly understand, and I felt I had to retort in this case. "You both are way too happy with this…"

"Hello ladies!" Phichit greeted them cheerfully to welcome them.

Yurio seemed to be rather pissed off, as we had interrupted his date with Otabek at that café earlier. When was he such good friends with Otabek from Kazakhstan? Even Victor was commenting that it was a rare sight to see him chatting happily with someone. He was still in a grouchy mood as he started complaining. "Why did we all have to get together…"

I took the initiative to speak up, to get the ball rolling for that impromptu dinner party.

"Still…it's kind of weird that all of us are gathering together before the final starts. I was always by myself, even during the banquet last year. I couldn't even talk to Victor!"

It seemed that my words had surprised Victor so much that he spitted out the beer that he was drinking. His eyes were wide open, and he was clearly confused. He banged his glass of beer on the table as he looked at me straight in the eye while asking me, almost in an interrogative tone.

"Yuri…you don't remember!?"

Chris nonchalantly stepped in to make an additional comment. "Yuri…at that time, you got drunk on champagne and started dancing…everyone saw it."

"H-H-Huhhh!?"

I was mortified. When did that happen!? I was so rattled up, that I felt a shiver running up my spine.

Yurio was almost cringing when he started to speak, with a disgusted look on his face.

"That was disgusting as hell…I was dragged into a dance-off and got humiliated too!"

I just could not believe my own two ears as I started questioning myself. "A dance-off!? With Yurio?"

"I did mine with a pole dance, half naked~". The composed Chris was just adding fuel to the fire. Did I strip dance with Chris too!? My bad memories from the banquet last year, started to resurface in my mind like a horrible nightmare. I knew that I had a bad habit of 'going off the rails when I drink'…like my Kyushu born-and-bred father and I was trying to prevent that but…Ahhh! Where's a hole when you need one! I need to dig one and hide!

My eyes were frantically seeking out for Victor as I was trying to signal SOS to him for help. However, he was enjoying himself as he was even trying to show me the evidence from that terror banquet stored on his phone. "I still have videos of what happened~"

Chris started to comment from the sidelines as he showed Phichit his phone. "I do too. I still have plenty of pictures from that time."

"Don't look! Cut it out already!" I was waving my hands out of pure desperation. I wanted to stop them.

All of a sudden, Chris noticed the sparkle from our new gold rings, and inquired casually about them. "What's with the rings, you two?"

Minako-sensei also spotted the ring after Chris had mentioned it, and started to make a remark. "I don't remember you wearing that, Yuri…"

"Uhm...! This is…!"

Victor was all smiles as he answered their question. "These two rings are a matching pair~ "

Phichit took a moment to analyse at both of our rings, and reacted much too enthusiastically that he stood up and had to loudly announce it to everyone present at the restaurant. He had the wrong assumption that we were getting married. We didn't have plans for that though!

"CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!"

"Wait! No! It's not like that!"

"EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! MY GOOD FRIEND GOT MARRIED!~"

The entire restaurant full of people burst into a sudden applause, congratulating us left and right. I was so flustered that I tried to explain myself frantically.

Victor calmly reacted to the situation as he started to speak away. "Yeah. Don't get the wrong idea. This is an engagement ring. We'll get married once he wins a gold medal."

"Right, Yuri…?"

He turned to look at me with a loving stare, albeit with a cheeky smile on his face. It felt so sudden that it made me totally speechless. Since when did we talk about engagement and marriage…? Ahhhh…What was I to do with this irresistible Russian!

"V-Victor!?" I gasped out his name as I started to feel goosebumps on my skin. I wanted to stop him, but it was too late.

I could feel the serious tension lurking in the air as I turned around to look at the reactions of the other skaters. It appears that Victor's words had triggered their competitive spirit for the gold medal.

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Without warning, a certain loud and noisy skater came busting into the scene. He was together with his fiancé who was glued right next to him. "I'll be the one who wins gold and gets married, of course!"

"That's right! It'll definitely be JJ!"

"I'm sorry that we can't congratulate you on that future marriage!"

The entire crew was just staring coldly at him as Victor took the initiative to disperse the party for the day, leaving JJ and his fiancé hanging. I could just hear him shouting for our attention from a distance.

"Hey! Don't leave me! I was just joking!~"