Title: Stop, Pause & Rewind: Butterfly Effects
Featuring confident Yuuri, and a love-sick Viktor… Original Characters involved.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to YOI characters. However, I do own the rights to the Original Characters featured
Chapter 36
Yuuri's practical exams comprises of a dance segment where he was test on pole-dancing and break-dancing skills and techniques, the music would be chosen by the examiner at random and he have to react spontaneously when the music came on. For his flute playing practical exams, it is a more straight-forward approach. There would be a list of repertoire given to the students weeks before the scheduled exam session but the examiner would randomly pick a piece out from the list and expected the student taking the exam to play it by memory.
Thankfully, Yuuri's memory is top-notch good. Seeing as he never stayed away from music at all even after graduation in his last lifetime, his knowledge of music pieces never really deteriorate with time. The notes to the song which the examiner had picked out came right to him immediately, and he started to play the tune out with his flute without any hesitation. With that, his solo part of the flute practical was consider done and the next part is where the challenge is.
The next part of Yuuri's exam for flute practical is to play an ensemble piece with several other students taking exam on the same day of a different choice of instrument, and they were given a choice of two ensemble/chamber pieces with only one hour to prepare themselves for an ensemble performances in front of the examiners.
Yuuri's worries fled him the moment he landed his eyes on the members whom he was to work with for the second part of his practical exam, they were hardly strangers to him. Mikado Shinji – oboist; and two other members (one clarinetist, one bassoonist) of the UNIKII Philharmonic Orchestra that he had work with before but cannot seems to remember their names.
"Yuuri, I was thinking whether our last member would be you since I saw your name on the list of candidates taking exams this afternoon." Mikado Shinji beams at Yuuri when the flutist steps into their practice room.
"Hi, it's been a long time. I'm sorry I hasn't been in contact with you despite claiming to do so the last time we parted." Yuuri flushes crimson as he greeted the man back in response, the truth is his old self didn't think it possible for Mikado Shinji to want to stay in contact and had stash the oboist contact details somewhere else as soon as they parted ways with one another.
"It's fine, I know you are a busy man. Congrats on your gold medal in NHK Trophy last week?" Mikado Shinji smiles as he responded to Yuuri's words.
Upon Mikado's mention of the NHK Trophy, Yuuri could not help it but gaped at the oboist. "You followed figure-skating?"
"Erm… I know enough about figure skating, I supposed? My girlfriend is a fan of figure skating, she follows them earnestly and it is hard for me to not at least grasp some basics about the sport when she keeps on gushing about them to me during the seasons. Speaking of, do you mind signing something for me after the ensemble performances?" Mikado Shinji asks suddenly, causing Yuuri to flush a deeper red in his cheeks.
"Yeah, sure… if my signature is good enough for you to please your girlfriend…" Yuuri responded as he ducked his head lower to fight the urge of crawling elsewhere to hide from embarrassment.
"I'm sure its' fine, she's a fan of the retired Oda Nobunari… and if the JSF thinks you can reach Oda's standard. I think my girlfriend would be pleased to get your signature." Mikado Shinji smiled in response.
Actually, the performances is more of a chamber music performance than a full ensemble since there's only four persons involved including Yuuri. After some discussion, they decided upon the Sonatine by Eugene Bozza, partly because this is a piece which Yuuri is familiar with and need not spend more time on familiarizing himself with it. The rehearsal started soon after they had decided on the piece, and when Mikado Shinji stepped out to tell the examiner of their choice of piece to perform… Yuuri remained behind in the room to get re-familiarize with the other two members of the performance.
"So, how long would you be staying in Kyoto?" Mikado Shinji asks as they were packing up after their performance, and waiting for Yuuri to sign that weekly sports magazine which somehow features a special coverage on figure skating NHK Trophy Cup event this month. In which, there is a page with Yuuri's photo featuring an interview session conducted after the event.
"I'm leaving tomorrow at noon for my hometown in Kyushu. I intend to visit my family before leaving for the next competition in Russia, Sochi." Yuuri responded easily enough as he handed the signed copy of the magazine back to Mikado Shinji.
"Oh… well, looks like we have to catch up another time then. Just try not to misplace my contact details again, will you?" Mikado Shinji was telling Yuuri as he retrieved the sign copy of the magazine back from Yuuri.
"Don't worry, this time I have your number stored in my mobile. So, unless I were to misplace my phone I highly doubt I'm going to misplace your number." Yuuri responded as he waved his mobile gadget in front of Mikado Shinji, and after biding the oboist farewell did he finally turned his attention back to the flood of message from Viktor.
To Yuuri: Saw your performance video on Klassik_Seri channel! You're so smart-looking in there and I noticed you choose to use a bow-tie instead of that hideous blue tie of yours that you'd worn in Sochi for the banquet. Good decision, I calls it. That blue tie of yours is hideous and you really ought to burn it… you should wear your bow-tie to Sochi GPF Banquet though :D
To Viktor: *sweat-drop* I would stand out wearing bow-tie to the GPF Banquet, most of you wear the usual ties over. Yes, you no need to emphasize on how you think my blue tie is hideous… you'd mentioned it enough times over the past month already. For your information, I didn't bring that blue tie on this trip so you can rest assured that I would not be wearing it for GPF Sochi Banquet this time around.
The following day, 4th December 2015 – Yuuri checked out from the Kyoto Eco and Tec hotel after finishing his last free breakfast supplied by the hotel. He had once again, booked his Shinkansen ticket to Kyushu Region on-line the night before. This time around, the Shinkansen journey would take 2 hours and 43 minutes costing him 16,200 Yen in total just for the train ticket itself.
Although, the Nozomi Train is expensive but it is faster than Hikari or Kodama Train that will take nearly five hours to arrive at the destination. Yuuri would prefer shorter traveling time instead of longer traveling time, hence his decision to go for Nozomi Train Service. Seeing as the Shinkansen that runs from Kyoto to Kyushu would not bring him directly to Hasetsu, he would have to alight and transit in Fukuoka City for the local train services to head back to his home town.
Deciding to save some money on his lunch, he decided to buy the bento lunch set available at the Shinkansen station of Kyoto instead of taking his lunch in the restaurants of the malls. The journey from Kyoto to Fukuoka, Hakata – Yuuri spend them on planning his itinerary for his Sochi Trip. The Grand Prix Finals in Sochi would be taking place over the period of 10th December to 13th December 2015, and knowing that he needs time to sleep off his jet-lag he probably need to book his flight to Sochi earlier.
"Looks like I only have 3 Days 4 Nights at home, oh well – I'll just make the best of it then." Yuuri mumbled to himself as he closed his notebook with his itinerary plan with a snap and turned towards the window of the moving train admiring the scenery that passes him by as the train moves along the railway tracks heading for Kyushu.
He took his bento lunch set around noon hours, since there isn't anywhere for him to discard the bento box and used chopsticks – he put them back into his self-prepared trash bag and tied them tightly in place before stuffing it into his backpack. He will discard the trash bag when he arrived at his destination, the Hakata station at Fukuoka which is also the capital city of Kyushu region of Japan.
From Hakata to Hasetsu, it is another one hour plus journey so Yuuri took the time to visit a public bathroom and discard his trash accumulated along the journey from Kyoto to Fukuoka, Hakata. While in the bathroom, he pulled out his mobile phone and dropped his elder sister – Mari a text message that says the following:
From Yuuri: Mari-nee, just reached Fukuoka – Hakata station. See you in another hour or so.
After sending the message off to Mari, Yuuri tugged his luggage behind him as he headed for the platform where the local train services operates on. Yuuri is in luck, he supposed. He managed to catch the Express Train Service Kuko Line that would only takes him an hour eight minute or so to Hasetsu. Still despite the shorten train journey from Fukuoka to Hasetsu, by the time he arrived at the Hasetsu Station with all his luggage tugged behind him, he was still very much weary from all the train rides. Thankfully, his elder sister Mari had come by the station to pick him up in the family's van so he need not walk home with all his luggage from the station.
"Thanks for the ride, Mari-nee." Yuuri said as he slide into the passenger seat next to the driver's seat.
"Nah, its' fine – I'm out running an errand either way. So, shall we go then? Don't say I didn't warn you…but Vic-chan might jump you the moment you entered through the door though. It is as though he knew you are coming back and could hardly sit still for the morning." Mari Katsuki was telling Yuuri as she started the van's engine to get a move on for their journey back to the inn.
"Really?" Yuuri's eyes widen and brighten at the name of his toy poodle, oh gosh how he had missed having Vic-chan around.
True to Mari's words of caution, Yuuri had barely managed to step foot into Yu-topia Hot Spring Inn when a blur of brown came tackling him down that causes him to fall back on his back.
"Wow~ easy there, Vic-chan!" Yuuri commented as he was given a full face-licking greeting from his poodle friend.
"Woof!" Vic-chan barked in response upon hearing his name from his owner.
"I warned you, didn't I?" Beside him, Mari smirked as she help unloaded his luggage and hands them over to his awaiting parents' standing at the front of the inn to welcome him home.
"Yes, you did warn me about Vic-chan's enthusiasm." Yuuri replied dryly as he pulled himself back up on his feet and allow his beloved poodle to tail him from behind as he entered the home that he had been away for nearly five years.
"It's been a long time, Dad and Mom." Yuuri greeted with tearful eyes as he embraces them with a loose hug.
"It's good to see you back, Yuuri… and congratulations on your gold medal in NHK Trophy. I'll cook you plenty of Katsudon later for dinner, alright?" Katsuki Hiroko, Yuuri's middle-age mother smiles warmly at Yuuri as she welcome her son whom has been absent for a long time home.
"Thank you, Mom. I would like to soak in the onsen first, if that's alright?" Yuuri questions, unsure if the onsen is full of local patrons or not at this timing of the day.
"Sure, go on ahead. Business is slow these days, so the onsen were never fully packed like the old days. Go on and soak in the onsen, I'll make sure Vic-chan stay out here." Hiroko told Yuuri as she herded the toy poodle off to the backyard where Vic-chan is given free rein to explore and play around.
"Thanks Mom." Yuuri smiled in gratitude, before leaving his luggage where it was for his parents' to help bring it back to his room while he headed for the onsen.
Slipping himself into the hot spring water is truly a blissful feeling for Yuuri whom had been away for too long. Before he knew it, he nearly dozes off in the midst of his hot spring soak. Thank god his sister pop in to check on him by yelling out to him from the changing room about having leave him a change of clothing behind, else he might have really fell asleep in the onsen and that might causes him to fall sick. Hot water or not, falling asleep in the onsen during early winter despite it being the indoor tub is not advisable.
Dinner for Yuuri is of course the Katsudon, his favorite dish of all times and he spend the evening playing around with Vic-chan and conversing with his family members on his plan to stay in Hasetsu for of three days.
"Well, if you are going to fly to Sochi from Fukuoka… what are you going to do with your training? You do need to train to keep up with your routines right?" Mari frowned as she questions Yuuri on his training plans.
"I have arranged with Yuuko to book the Ice Castle Hasetsu for private training sessions from 5th December to 7th December, the three days I'm around. As for the person to oversee my training while I'm here in Hasetsu, Asami-san has agreed to come over during that period of days to supervise my training." Yuuri responded matter-of-factly.
"Ah… speaking of Asami-san, I did receive a phone booking from her requesting a room for three days earlier on in the day. She is schedule to arrive at Yu-topia tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. and would be placed in room number 35 on third floor of the guests wing." Hiroko Katsuki spoke up then, as she placed the bowl of Katsudon freshly prepared for Yuuri in front of her son.
Yu-topia Hot Spring Inn is a traditional looking inn that comes with a guests wing, family wing and a common area space. The common area space consists of the indoor public bath-house for local patrons and guests alike separated by genders, and an outdoor onsen pool that is not open for usage in the season of winter. The outdoor onsen pool was initially built as a mix-gender pool but typically only men uses it, since women generally keep to the indoor bath house facility instead.
The guests wing as the name suggested is mostly caters to the guests staying at the inn, and local patrons do not stay the night. They mostly came in to pay and use the bath-house facility or to hang out with other local patron at the common dining area which functions as a restaurant to both locals and tourists alike.
The common area comes with a TV where Yuuri used to watch the Figure Skating Championship Tournament Live with Yuuko, and it also includes a corner where tourists could pick up local sight-seeing brochures and pamphlets as well as keep up with local news with the newspaper and magazines made available for public use. While there are no computer stations available for patrons usage, the inn provides free WIFI services so patrons are welcome to bring along their own laptop to use in the common areas.
Yuuri's room is over at the family wing instead of the guests' wing, the last time around when Viktor dropped everything and appear in front of Yuuri. A rare snowstorm in the middle of May had happened the night before, causing a lot of local patrons trapped in town and since Yutopia Hot Spring Inn is the only accommodation place in the town of Hasetsu – it ends up with the inn completely booked up within the span of the day. Hence, Viktor's sudden arrival and with that much luggage causes a slight panic in Yutopia as they found that they do not have rooms big enough to fit Viktor's belongings and thus ending up having to put Viktor up in the un-used banquet room that is along the corridor way that separate the family wing and the guests wing.
When Yurio swings by for his impromptu visit to Hasetsu, due to the lack of booking – Yutopia is unable to allow Yurio to use their rooms in the proper guests wing. However, they are not that terrible to chase Yurio out either so the Katsuki family decided to allow Yurio to stay in their storage room over at the family wing instead. So, really – neither Viktor nor Yurio actually stay in the proper guests' wing of Yutopia Hot Spring Inn the last time around. Moreover, with Viktor's declaration of him coming to coach Yuuri – the Katsuki family of course would not treat him like a typical guest staying in their inn. Thus, Viktor found himself welcome into the Katsuki family as though he is a part of it since his first day stay at the Yutopia Hot Spring Inn.
Subsequently, with Yuuri and Viktor's relationship development – Viktor was officially integrated into the Katsuki family and hence was given a proper room in the family wing of the inn when the duo pops in for a visit during the off-seasons of their competitive days. Yurio, as the duo's unofficial 'son' in the equation was of course treated like a fellow member of the family too so he never stayed in the guests quarters as well.
Yuuri was draw out from his thoughts and observations when he heard his poodle barks repeatedly at him. Glancing back down at Vic-chan, Yuuri falters for a split second before he shook his head firmly at the poodle and said.
"No, Vic-chan. I am not giving you any Katsudon, you need to stick to your diet."
Vic-chan whine and nosed its nose at Yuuri's lap pleading his case, but Yuuri remain firm in not caving in to the poodle's pitiful whine. When Vic-chan did not stop its' puppy eyes gaze and pitiful whine at Yuuri, the man stood and headed to the kitchen before pouring out a bowl of the dry pet food from the bag of Royal Cannin into Vic-chan's bowl and placed it in front of the poodle.
"Well, you're hungry – aren't you? So, go on and have your dinner. I am not feeding you any Katsudon, you can eat your own food instead." Yuuri chided at his poodle, he was not going to cave on this. He wants to see Vic-chan lives through his Sochi GPF this time around, and he will be firm with the dog if situation deems it necessary.
~ to be continued~
Date completed: 31/3/17.
A/N: I removed it from main chapter itself, but doesn't feel right not to include the information so here's it.
From Kyoto to Kyushu – the Shinkansen line is the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen. It will stop at Fukuoka City, Hakata station since Fukuoka is the Capital City of Kyushu Region. For further Shinkansen Travel within Kyushu Region etc. please switch over to the Kyushu Shinkansen services.
The 1 hour 8 mins journey from Hakata to Hasetsu is based on the time needed to travel from Hakata to Karatsu. From Hakata you have several ways of heading for Karatsu, includes the following:
Kuko Line from Hakata Station – Express service that head towards Nishi Karatsu (1h7m)
Kuko Line from Hakata Station – Local Service that stops at every station towards Nishi Karatsu (1h 23m)
Hakata JR Station – Limited Express Train Service Kamome to Saga Station – transit to Local Train Service heading for Nishi Karatsu to Karatsu Station. (1h 43m)
FYI – Shinkansen Kyushu operates Mizuho, Sakura & Tsubame.