Hello everyone!
How ya been?! I hope its better than me T^T
After coming home from LA I ended up getting the airplane cold. In case you don't know what I'm saying, an airplane cold happens because the air in the plane is recycled air and chances are that there's that one passenger who is sick and their germs are spread through the recycled air. the symptoms are like any cold you have but for some its bad. like me for example, I get insanely light headed and I get terrible headaches that result in me not getting out of bed.
But I managed to type this down even though it was typed during my loopy moments hehe.
Enjoy!
After the songs were introduced, the three skaters skated off the ice and watched as Victor moved to the middle of the rink to demonstrate the two programs.
He turned around and smiled, "Alright now this is the program for agape."
"Hey Vitya? If this program is meant for single, where does pair come in?" Katrina asked across the ice.
Victor smiled and placed a hand on his hip and waved the other in an easy-going manner, "No problem! First I'm going to introduce it as a single and then we'll tweak it up for the pair after I introduce Eros."
The two teens looked at him suspiciously.
"Admit it! You don't know how to choreograph a pair routine!" Yurio yelled.
The older man's right eye twitched but he kept his smile. The boy was right, victor only knew how to choreograph singles and the closest thing to making a pair routine was when he and a then eight-year-old Katrina skated to the kite song from Mary Poppins. But knowing the two, Victor knew that they would add something to the program.
"Yuuri!" He called out to the man, "Start the music please."
"R-R right?" Yuuri stuttered and waited for Victor to get into position.
Once he was, the music played.
Victor started by raising his hand up in the air before turning around and swing both hands in the air as if he was reaching for something with deep yearning in his movements and expressions. The movements were fluid like whenever the man swung his legs as he spun while he emphasized his looking up in the sky. He gently ran across the ice as if he was chasing after the object of his undying affection.
Agape he explained before starting the routine. Unconditional love, like the love of God or the love of a parent. Infinite, self-sacrificing and uncalculated.
The three watched as Victor began his step sequence, Yuuri was surprised at the difficulty the dance had and looked at the two younger teens who were watching intently.
'If Victor can pull it off, can Yurio and Katrina do it?' He wondered.
Victor clasped his hands together and raised his arms up while arching his back towards the sky. He then stopped and turned around with a smile. The music stopped by then.
"And that about it, got it?" He asked.
Yurio replied bluntly, "I got it. No problem."
Yuuri was shocked at that and looked at Katrina.
"Understood. No problem." Katrina piped, "Where's pair?"
And that shocked the older man even more, was this Katrina in 'skating mode'?
Just then, they heard clapping beside.
"Mrs. Nishigori?"
The woman was smiling as she made praises in Japanese. She was smiling when she began to speak in English.
"Sorry for interrupting your practice," she then looked at Victor, "But I couldn't resist it was wonderful. Sorry."
The teens just started at her while she smiled back at them sweetly.
"this one is for you Yuuri," They heard nthe older skater call out, "So pay attention."
Yuuri stood up straight, "R-Right!"
And then he pressed the play button on the remote as Victor got into position. After that he watched with anticipation, this was a program made just for him by Victor.
The guitar played and Victor's whole demeanor changed as he moved his body in a suggestive way before turning to the group, he smirked and gave a soft sigh.
Of the four, Yuuko was the one to have a nose bleed.
Eros: sexual love, pleasure upon pleasure until you are drowning in ecstasy.
Katrina and Yurio were not paying attention, they were too busy tending to the fallen woman before them. The boy cradled Yuuko's head in his hands while the girl took out a few tissues she carried with her and tried to wipe the blood.
"Um… We need help over here!"
"Are you dying Mrs. Nishigori?!"
It was only after the song ended did the woman stop bleeding. That was when they noticed that Yuuri was on the ice talking to Victor about what kind of jumps the younger man could do.'
"I can do the toe loop and the salchow in practice," Yuuri explained. "But I can never land one in competition."
And that was when he stumbled for words, "But I should still give it a shot what do you think?"
The silver haired man hummed a bit before concluding, "Stick to practicing your fundamentals for now. I'll work with Yurio and Katya first."
Yuuri was dumbfounded
"Huh?"
"Why should I waste a day teaching you something you can't do. Count the times you've choked in the competitions?"
Yurio smirked until he felt Katrina's pointer finger and thumb on his left cheek before giving it a gentle pull.
"Don't be a pot Yurio. You have your fair share of choking."
"Name three times I've choked," Yurio muttered.
The girl rolled her eyes and let go of his face.
"One," She held on finger up, "We were supposed to do the death spiral when we were in Finland. You goofed and spun too fast, letting me go in the process."
Yurio blushed.
Katrina held up a second finger, "Two: Junior debut practice and you tripped over your own feet after making too many jumps."
"And three, dropped me on my head during the rookie competition."
Yurio was silent and turned his head to see Victor face to face with Yuuri, it almost looked like they were about to kiss. Yuuko and Katrina were in shock and in awe, silently begging for a kiss scene to unfold
But Yurio got irritated at the scene and yelled, "You're supposed to be teaching us not chatting with the piggy!"
And Katrina pulled on his cheek in retaliation.
"Owowowowowow!"
"Okay you two, I'm coming."
But before he left Yuuri, he asked him about Eros.
"What does Eros mean to you?"
And with that he went to the teens and told Katrina to let go of her pair mate.
It was only after Yuuri and Yuuko left did Victor explain about the program becoming a pair program. They were standing in the middle of the ice as the older man spoke.
"I'm going to have you two skate the beginning of the program in synchronization before you do the lifts. Katya, you do it on the left."
The teens tilted their heads, they understood but knew that it might take some of their energy because using lift took a lot of work.
"Yurio, did you continue practicing your lifts aft becoming a single skater?"
Yurio nodded, Victor turned to Katrina.
"Do you think you trust him enough with the lifts?"
The girl looked at her pair mate before looking at her friend.
"I do."
That surprised the males, Yurio especially.
"You do?"
Katrina blushed and looked away with her arms crossed, "So what? The last time you dropped me was when we were twelve."
Victor smiled softly before giving Yurio the remote to the stereo.
"Alright, I'll show you the program before it turns into a pair."
He skated further from them and gave the signal for Yurio to start the agape music.
And just like before, Victor demonstrated the program before doing a triple axel. He landed the jump perfectly and he gave the signal to stop the music.
"And that's where the pair comes in. Today we will practice the first part I just showed you while we figure out the lifts and jumps tomorrow."
The teens nodded and went into position.
Victor skated back and played the music again.
It was…. A disaster. Yurio accidently slapped Katrina's bottom when they waved their arms to the ceiling, Katrina accidently caused Yurio to step out of the single loop spin with a swing of her leg and they both crashed into each other just as they jumped for the triple and landed on top of each other.
"Ow….!"
"That hurt."
Victor face palmed after seeing the first attempt. Choreographing a pair was harder than he thought, he should have known. He remembered the first time they skated together, it was the same results he just saw.
"Don't tell you forgot how to pair skate you two."
They helped each other up and glared at him.
"It was only our first attempt Vitya!" Katrina exclaimed.
"And you know it's been awhile since we skated together!" Yurio added.
But Victor wouldn't hear it instead he smiled and closed his eyes.
"I expected more from you two, maybe I should do what Yakov did whenever you would slack off during training."
"You wouldn't dare…." The young boy growled. His arms trembled at the thought of Yakov's old punishment.
The girl gulped and could already feel her aching feet.
"You had to open you big mouth Yurio!" Katrina yelled out to the boy outside of the rink as she skated her laps around the ice. Her punishment: Skating without socks and that was painful already because of the injuries she already had on her feet. But Victor was merciful because Katrina was temporarily returning to the skating world for the first time in months. Unlike Yakov's punishment of thirty laps, he only gave her five.
"Shut up! At least you get it easy!" Yurio's punishment was holding two backpacks full of skates with raised arms and stand in the lunging position for thirty minutes. Victor was not merciful to him since Yurio continued skating. But he wanted to let the boy know that he was sharing the ice again. The lunging was Victor's idea. Said man was watching the boy just in case if decided to cheat.
Katrina finished her laps and raced off the ice to get the skates off, they felt like knives stabbing her feet without mercy. She loved Victor but hated Coach Victor she decided as she took off the skates. Luckily for her, there wasn't much damage so she wrapped some bandages around the small cuts and threw on her socks before putting her skates back on.
The timer Victor set on his phone went off and Yurio collapsed on the ground. His arms trembled from the sweet relief and his leg muscles slightly ached but he was lucky that he was used to it.
Victor turned off the timer helped the boy up. Katrina ran back to Yurio's side and they both waited for further instruction.
"Let's try again. Slowly this time and try to modify some of the arm movements so you won't hit each other again. And try to create distance from each when the jumps occur if it doesn't hit the limit."
They both nodded and went back on the ice to try again. They did it without the music and moved slowly as they were told, Katrina controlled her leg as she mad the single loop and Yurio did modify the way he moved his arms and when it came for the triple axel, they gratefully kept their distance and landed cleanly.
Victor nodded and had them do it again before calling it a day for them. He knew they would get the first part of the program easily but he did not like the finished results. They were too stiff in the movement, Yurio's greed for winning was obviously showing and Katrina's disinterest in the competition was also shown.
The three left the building after changing from their skates. Yurio was giving Katrina a piggy back ride as part of their own personal training so he could get used to carrying her around the ice.
"Tomorrow we'll discuss the pair," Victor said as he unchained the bike from the bike rack, "Judging from the skating you did the night before Yurio, you can still do lifts without struggling."
He turned his head to see the boy carrying the girl. At least it was safe to say that Yurio was serious about the pair skating.
"We'll just scratch out the twist throw," He added, "Don't want to have a heart attack if you were to drop little Katya."
Yurio glared at the older man and hoisted Katrina up before walking away.
Tonight's dinner was pork cutlet bowl with miso soup and rice. While Katrina was back to her original weight, she decided to continue the broccoli and bean sprout diet to give Yuuri support since he couldn't eat it. She ignored Yurio's attempts to share his bowl as thanks for the bun she gave him.
"He wanted us to skate to Eros. Can you believe it momma?" Katrina was curled up in a blanket in her room, her laptop was open to skype and she was enjoying a talk with her mother.
It was nine pm in Japan but in Moscow it was only three in the afternoon and that was good time to talk to her mother. Olga was sitting in her hospital bed rubbing her chin in deep thought.
"Well you are fifteen and oozing with innocence, Eros would have been a good choice you."
Katrina blushed scarlet, "Momma! Whose side are you on?! There's no way I could skate to Eros! It's embarrassing!"
Olga laughed before calming herself down, "You're just like your father. He was so embarrassed to skate to erotic music that he would turn red like you."
That made the girl's blush turn into a deeper crimson, she was like her father and that was not a lie. Ivan was known for his exotic and alluring skating that enraptured the audience young and old but they had no idea that he was super embarrassed of it off the ice. He couldn't even find it in himself to see footage of himself skating his routines because he knew he would turn red and steam up.
"Well sorry mom but Eros is not me! I don't see myself acting like a sex symbol on the ice. I'm not Evgeni!"
Her mother smiled softly and held her hands up and motioned her to calm down, "Now, now sweetheart calm down. I was just joking no need to get worked up."
Katrina did as her mother said and relaxed.
"Sorry momma, I'm just feeling the stress of an upcoming competition again."
That was what she hated the most when she was a competitive skater, the stress and anxiety. Everyone in competitive skating got it, no exceptions. Katrina used to get it all the time to the point where she threw up. She got over it when the music would play but she still had issues with the stress.
"Well remember to do your breathing exercises before performing. You know it will help with jittering."
"Yes ma'am. Where's Alek?"
Olga shrugged her shoulders, "That boy went out to practice a while ago."
Aleksander was also an ice skater but it wasn't figure skating. He was a hockey player in training and he was dedicated to it just like his big sister was when it came to ice skating.
"Aww man! I wanted to talk to him. He never comes with you when you visit me in St. Petersburg."
"Well you know he doesn't like Yakov."
Katrina pouted, she could never understand why her family didn't like Yakov. Sure, he was a grumpy old goat who had only two volumes which was loud and louder. And yes, he was grumpy who seldom smiled but deep down he was a nice man. He never gave her special treatment when he started coaching her, he was more tough on her than he was with the students. And if he wasn't a nice man, Yakov wouldn't have let her stay with him after the falling out she had with Nikolas. He let her stay until she was old enough to live on her own.
"Well that's sad because Uncle Yakov likes him."
Olga shrugged, "I'll let him know when you're about to call so you two can talk."
"Thanks momma."
Katrina smiled and was about to call it a night when her mother began to speak.
"Katrina? What is going to happen after this event?"
"Hm?"
"Do you have plans to stay in Japan after this? What about your skating? Are you planning on returning after the competition? If so, are you going back to Yakov or are you going to have Victor coach you?"
The questioning made the girl gulp, "…. I don't know momma."
Olga nodded and smiled again, "Alright. Whatever happens, I will support you 100%."
"Thanks momma," Katrina smiled, she was glad that her mother was supportive, "I have to go now. It's night time over here."
"Alright. Goodnight мой ангел," Olga waved at the camera and the screen went black.
Katrina closed the laptop and put it away before setting up her futon. As she did, she heard shuffling outside her door. She crawled to the sliding door and opened it to see Yurio sitting on the other side holding his pillow.
He said nothing and crawled inside. When he realized that Victor forgot the handcuffs Yurio took the chance and ran to Katrina's room.
"Vitya took the second futon," Katrina mumbled, "So you'll have to sleep on the-"
"We're sharing!" Yurio whispered so he wouldn't yell.
Katrina blushed and turned off the lights, "Fine. But no funny business."
Yurio rolled his eyes and pulled the blanket back to lay down. Katrina gulped and crawled next to him, Yurio pulled the soft blanket over their bodies. At first, it was hard to get comfortable because the futon was small and Yurio liked to sprawl and take up room. It took a while until Katrina was resting her head on the boy's chest and his arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"I do think about love Katya."
The girl rolled her eyes, "Yea? That would explain the nauseated feeling you would get back home."
Yurio tightened his grip on Katrina's shoulders and he flipped them over to where he was towering over her.
"Eek!" Katrina closed her eyes from the sudden movement. She opened her eyes slowly to meet the blue-green eyes staring down at her.
"I do think about it. I think about the time we had together," he placed a hand on one side of her face and brushed some of her bangs off her face with his other hand, "I even think about our first kiss. Don't you remember?"
Yurio gently rubbed Katrina's cheekbone with his thumb before moving it to trace her lower lip.
The gesture made her heart race and she looked away, "I remember the headache you gave me after you headbutted me."
The hands holding her face trembled before moving her head to face him again. Yurio's face was clear of his usual sarcastic smirk, he looked like a kitten someone kicked and didn't care that it was limping.
"Is that all you can say? It didn't mean anything to you?"
Katrina looked at him with hurt eyes, "It meant everything to me. But I'm not the one who ruined it."
"I know. It was my fault…."
Yurio leaned down, his blonde hair tickled Katrina's face.
"It was all my fault."
Their lips were barely touching but it was enough to make their heartbeats race.
"Yura?"
"I'm sorry Katya."
Yurio pressed his lips against Katrina's gently, a small squeak escaped from the girl's mouth after she broke the kiss. But it only made the boy kiss her again, he was still cradling her face. Just like the last time, the sweet and pleasant feeling took over Katrina and she moved her hands to Yurio's pale blonde hair and pulled him closer.
No sooner did the kiss start, Yurio pulled away and went back to his original position with Katrina resting on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and she knew he feel hers, their heartbeats were just like their pair skating.
In perfect synchronization.
'You're awful Yura…. I still feel this way after all this time.'
Yurio rubbed her back softly as she fell asleep. He gave her a soft kiss on the head, he knew that Victor was going to kill him in the morning but it was worth it.
Well that all for a while!
Time to type down chapter 11! Wish me luck!
SEE YA!