CHAPTER SIX HUNDRED SIXTEEN
Yuri was as quick to leave rink-side as Viktor was, though he was mindful of the empty, albeit heavy feeling in his legs as he made for the stairs. Jiro went up alongside him; by the time they were nearly there, the pup had overtaken and lead their way to their seats. Yuri practically had to pull himself up the rest of the stairs, and he puffed hard to catch his breath as he sat miserably in his former seat.
"...Yuri...you okay...?" Phichit dared to ask.
"I'm just...super...super winded..." He answered, and gazed up to spot his partner still meandering around the center of the rink. Eyes went up then as the occasional boo could still be heard through the applause, "What the...Hell is wrong with those p-people...?"
"There's been a lot of, well, malcontent on the Russian side of social media," Phichit answered, "I really never thought it would spill-over here, though. I mean, wow, right? There's only one Russian skating here, and he's not even skating for Russia anymore."
"Maybe that's...why they came."
"Oh..." Phichit blanched, slightly embarrassed, "Yeah I guess that would explain a lot."
At center, Viktor finally dug his heels in. The normally warm and charismatic gestures at the audience were subdued, and the silver had a rather serious aura around him. He laced his fingers together, cracked his knuckles, then his neck, and took his starting pose. They came all this way to try and unsettle me, he thought grimly, and narrowed his eyes at the base of the wall far ahead of himself. Joke's on them though. All they did was come pay homage to me. Time to remind them why I was Russia's Hero for so long.
['History Maker' - Dean Fujioka (0:00-1:05)]
The stadium filled with the defiantly-uplifting sound of Viktor's music. Despite his own failure, Yuri could feel himself relax a bit as he listened, and focused on his husband's expert movements; a clear education on what his own show should have been.
Can you hear my heartbeat?
Tired of feeling never enough.
The silver lifted his hand to his ear as he slid forward, only to restlessly spread his arms out to the side before a hard twist sent him in another direction.
I close my eyes and tell myself,
One gold blade tilted on an edge as Viktor rounded the curved end of the ice, and he kicked his right leg out behind himself.
That my dreams will come true.
That toe-pick jammed hard into the frost, and Viktor launched. Right out of the gate, he put his signature move out there for all to see, both arms up above himself as he spun four times and landed with the grace of a master.
There'll be no more darkness when you believe in yourself, you are unstoppable.
Where your destiny lies,
Perfectly fluid, he glided out of the quad Flip and caved his way down the center of the rink. Each carefully choreographed rotation was so perfectly done that it almost looked like he floated. He flipped over himself and cocked his arm back, then descended to one knee...
Dancing on the blades,
...And thrust out his hand, fingers splayed, right towards the end of the rink where the most obvious noise had come from. Do whatever you want...you'll never take this ring - or what it means - from me!
You set my heart on fire!
Yuri pulled Jiro up onto his lap and held a paw out to return Viktor's gesture, even though the man was pointing in the other direction.
Don't stop us now, the moment of truth,
We were, born to make History!
We'll make it happen, we'll turn it around,
Yes, we were born to make History!
Swift and clean, Viktor's step sequence left its mark in the ice. Blades clicked, hips turned, and arms rose and fell.
Born to make History!
His step sequence dove straight into a death drop, and Viktor spun swiftly; his frame quickly contorted for a sit-spin variant, one arm raised up above himself as the other held to his free leg. It soon morphed into a twist variant, then lowered into shoot-the-duck, one leg straight out in front as he bent his core over it.
B-b-born to make History!
Viktor's free leg seemed to hold in place as the rest of him continued the final rotation, and he dug his toe-pick down to give him the bounce he needed to lift up again. Eyes closed, he kicked off to pick up speed.
(At 1:05, skip to 1:25, play to the end)
Can you hear my heartbeat?
Hands came together and rose up in an arc, then went wide to the sides. He spun around on that forward glide, then swung his leg around before he leaned back into a deep Ina Bauer.
I've got a feeling, it's never too late.
I close my eyes and see myself, how my dreams will come true.
He leaned upright again, then pushed through a mohawk into an outside spread-eagle. Yuri hugged Jiro close to his chest; he knew his husband and he knew the man couldn't leave the assault unchallenged. The entire audience seemed ready for it, and when Viktor finally turned around to face forward with his trailing leg raised up, everyone held their breath.
Viktor was a blur in the air, but those four and a half spins were as clear to anyone as could be, and he landed directly into another outside spread-eagle; the audience screamed, many even jumped out of their seats in excitement. The boo's had almost-entirely been forgotten. Viktor could descend into his hydroblade, and curved back towards mid-rink.
There'll be no more darkness when you believe in yourself, you are unstoppable.
Fingers traced on the ice, leaving clear lines alongside the shark cut of the blade that glided next to them. Viktor then rose up, and hopped through a butterfly-jump to start into a swift camel spin. His right arm stayed pinned to his back as the left hung down like a pendulum, parallel to his support-leg.
Where your destiny lies, dancing on the blades,
He grabbed his upturned boot-blade and pulled it up behind his head for a donut-spin variation. His quick spins continued as he yanked his blade free, adding the strength of his outward kick to pick up speed again, then finished the element on a layback-camel. Arms came in to cross over his chest as he straightened out and rose to his normal height, head bowed as he slid backward from the circle he'd cut into the ice.
You set my heart on fire!
Hands came away, and Viktor reached for the ceiling, keeping the intense glow of one spotlight in his sights as he twisted into an inside spread-eagle beneath it.
Don't stop us now,
The moment of truth,
We were, born to make History!
Yuri let himself smile and rest easy, He always knows what to do to impress everyone. I bet those naysayers are regretting it now...
We'll make it happen, we'll turn it around,
Yes, we were born to make History!
Viktor's last jump of the Short Program was near as difficult as the quad Axel; he dipped down onto an outside edge, and threw himself hard, both arms above himself for the Lutz. He landed on his outside edge, but shifted to the inside, and straight from there, toe-picked for a triple Flip.
Born to make History!
Though sweat beaded on Viktor's skin, and he could feel the burn in his legs, he could feel that same fire of determination from NHK fueled him; no one would condescend him in his own house and get away with it.
B-b-born to make History!
Don't stop us now, the moment of truth,
We were, born to make History!
Yuri took his eyes off the ice for a moment to look around the arena; the way people were still clapping and cheering despite the program not being finished was surreal. It's like they're going out of their way to show those jerks who's the King out there. I wonder if they'll even bother coming back tomorrow for the Free?
We'll make it happen, we'll turn it around,
Yes, we were born to make History!
Viktor launched into the last required move of his program, and pushed hard into the sit spin.
Don't stop us now, the moment of truth,
We were, born to make History!
Both hands were clasped behind the Russian's back, and he bent forward over his legs. He then rose up, hands sliding up his thin frame to rise above his head for the scratch spin. With both blades on the ice, the foot change was easy, and dipped back down to grab his second boot to pull it up for the half-Biellmann, his free hand up in front of himself...though just as he was about to let go again, he pulled that boot high to make it a full Biellmann and released.
We'll make it happen, we'll turn it around,
Yes, we were born to make History!
Skates moved the man backward in wide but quick curves, and he 'skipped' his boots for dramatic flair.
We were born to make History!
We were born to make History!
The audience's applause was unending; Viktor almost lost track of the music behind their excitement. He could only smile through his exhaustion and kept his feet busy, core twisting and arms put through their paces.
Yes, we were born to make History!
Finally finished, his toe-pick clicked into the ice hard, and he stopped right where he started over the 4CCs logo, arms thrown wide and open. He knew the music had ended right there, but the crowd's volume had only gone up for him. He heaves for air and sucked in the energy of his, and his husband's, vindication. Slate eyes looked up into the stands for that very man, and he spotted Yuri coming back down to rink-side with their Security Pup.
Phichit, Leo, and Minami could only clap politely with nervous looked on their faces, "How are we supposed to skate after that?" They each whined. GuangHong was the only one who looked relieved.
Viktor waved and broke off, lazily skating back to the wall-exit. His water was offered first, then his jacket, then his blade-guards, and Viktor did his best to make his partner smile with a lift-hug to sway him from side to side. He puffed a fatigued breath though and cocked his head back to pull his bangs from his eyes, "What did you think?" He asked, arms still around his partner's lithe frame as he set those blade-covers back onto the ground.
"You're a mad-man out there." Yuri recounted, "But that quad Axel is always a crowd-pleaser."
"Gotta remind people who's boss out here."
.
The rest of the Short Program was rather average by comparison, once Viktor had gotten done resetting the World Record, and secured a new personal best while he was at it. He sat happily at the front of the post-program conference, right in the middle, all cameras and eyes facing towards him from the pit. Yuri stood off to the side with the rest of the attending family, and looked on longingly at the long table; Phichit and Otabek were up there sharing the Russian's lime-light.
"You're doing okay, right? Yuri?" Minako asked, "I know how much it meant to you to prove yourself after what happened at Nationals."
He looked over to acknowledge the question, but then turned his eyes up to Viktor again, "It just kind of feels like déjà vu, actually." He answered, "Not from then, I mean...but from way back. All things considered...even though this season has been really hard on us, I've come away with more medals than I've won in the last several years. In a way, this kind of feels more normal to me...watching him up there, while I'm over here."
"How'd he take the crap from the crowd?" Yurio asked stiffly, "I mean, he belted out a new damn world record, but...you don't just do that cuz you feel like it."
"He was more worried about me." He answered, "I think he's just glad I skated first."
"You'll see more of that kind of thing at the Games." Mikhail explained, back against the wall as he watched from behind the media gaggle, "If they were willing to come all the way here to stick their thumbs in his eyes, they'll do it again there, too, just to try and embarrass him."
"All they'll do is make me upset." Yuri shook his head, "Viktor's always been very consistent with the quality of his shows. If he gets mad or upset, you'd never know. Unlike me, he skates better under pressure. My performance has...always been pretty inconsistent."
Minako gave a wary but understanding smile, "At least that's consistent." She teased, "That's okay though. You'll be in top form again in a few days. No one can give you grief for taking real medicine once you're done skating for points, so after tomorrow's Free Skat-"
"I'm not skating tomorrow." Yuri interrupted, as though it were the easiest thing to say.
"Eh?" Both elders questioned.
"You know what I'm talking about, Minako-sensei." He said, eyes trained on the high table.
"Oh..." She agreed tepidly, and lowered her face a bit. She could feel Mikhail and Nikki's eyes on her, and she turned to face them; Yurio knew what was going to be said, "In these huge competitions, especially Worlds, sometimes not everyone qualifies for the Free Program. You have to rank in the top 25 or top 20 to move forward. I guess I'm so used to Yuri qualifying that it slipped my mind... He...well, didn't this time."
Nikki's brow furrowed, "Is that going to mess your chances up for the Olympics?"
"No," Yuri shook his head, "Viktor has been very up-front with the JSF about my skating right now. They actually recommended I withdraw - for the sake of my health - but Viktor knew what I'd say if he mentioned it, so he just doubled-down on my behalf. Now I don't have a choice. I'll just have to win Gold in PyeongChang to make up for this."
"One day you're going to listen to your own advice," Minako scolded, "After convincing Viktor not to skate on his bad ankle at All Japan...you'd think he'd try harder to make you take it easy when you're not at your best, too."
"It's the one thing I can't do," Yuri answered, and shook his head at his own expense, "I'd rather lose than forfeit. It does feel really weird to run out of steam so easily though... I'm so used to being teased about my great stamina, but out there I just...had nothing to draw from. And yet, I feel perfectly fine now. I didn't even skate hard enough to be sore after."
"I guess that means you can go ahead and get your real cold meds once we're done here then?" Mikhail wondered, "You're not going to get tested."
"Tsh, yeah... No one is will suspect I cheated to score so bad." Yuri sighed and smiled, "Lots of fluids, lots of blankets, lots of sleep... That is my destiny."
The conference was over before they knew it, and the athletes were cut loose to wind-down for the night. Viktor was quick to return to his group, and Phichit waved as he caught up with Celestino; Yuri waved back in turn and called out that they'd see each other again the next day. Otabek was a bit slower to go by, but he, too, waved slightly. Yurio nudged his head up in acknowledgement, but Nikki's wave was a bit more subdued, as though she did so from behind bars.
"I'm so sorry, my love." The silver commented as he picked up his bags, and offered his beloved a long hug, "I know how much you wanted to do well here this weekend."
"I'm still okay with it." He answered.
"He's being surprisingly pragmatic about the whole thing," Minako commented. The group started to head for the exits, "I'm just hoping this isn't the calm before the storm, and he has a melt-down about it later tonight."
"Jeesh, Minako-sensei, I'm literally right here."
Viktor chuffed a laugh, "I hope so too. I'll make sure to bury him under all our dogs. No one can be upset in that situation."
"Let's get to the store then," Mikhail suggested, "We'll get him good and doped-up tonight on the best cold medicine we can find."
"Oh my gosh, I don't need to be drunk on cold medicine. I'll be delirious."
"You don't have to worry about performing though." Yurio retorted, "What do you care?"
Yuri just stared for a moment, then his eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. Viktor loomed in from the side. Even Mikhail gave a weird look at him.
"What?"
Yuri turned away then and continued to walk around the teen, "I'm not explaining that one." He said grimly, though Viktor choked back a laugh as he followed.
"What?" Yurio barked.
