It had been a long while since any of the competitors had enjoyed themselves as thoroughly as they had the night before the Grand Prix final. They danced and laughed and goofed off as best they could, cheering on complete strangers as they tried to show off their moves, unbeknownst to them that there were globally recognised professional ice skaters in their midsts. However, they had to call it an early night, every one of them wanting to be in top form for tomorrow.
The first day of the competitions had proven intense but relatively uneventful when compared to past competitions. The audience clapped and cheered at the appropriate moments. Thalia, this time, had found seats besides Mari Kasuki and Minako Okuwawa, both of which had flown from Japan to support Yuuri and the others in person. Nadia had chosen to bail, preferring to work with her online friends on her project then to come see the competitions they'd come all the way to Budapest for. Back at the Hot Springs Resort, a watch party had been set up with Yuuri's parents, the Nishigori family and Minami leading the cheer. In Russia, Nikolai Plisetskyi sat before his small television, Potya purring on his lap and a cup of warm coffee in his hands as he waited for his grandson to perform.
The competitors were pulling out all the stops, Yurio had flown free with his 'Defying Gravity', raising his arms during the jumps to increase difficulty. Yuuri had impressed the audience with his emotional step sequences and the landing of all his jumps while Victor performed, successfully, all the quads allowed in the short programme. By the end of the day, the standing was as follows, with Yuuri in third, Yurio in second and Victor in first place. It seemed, so far, the predictions were coming true.
But it wasn't over yet, the competition had seen great upheavals in the past, with competitors close to last claiming the podium by the skin of their teeth. In the two days until the free skate the participants would barely rest, each one fine tuning the skills they believed they needed to win them the competition.
Unfortunately, one of these competitors would not be making it to the free skate that year.
Yurio had heard the knock on his hotel door in the early morning. He'd been long asleep and he was not responsible for his actions before the sun rose. You can imagine his surprise when he found Yakov there with unbelievable news. He'd almost rushed out of the hotel in his pyjamas but Lilia had ordered him to at least grab a jacket while Yakov continued to wake Yuuri and Victor.
In less than 10 minutes the small group were in a taxi on the way to a nearby hospital.
"Denis!" The small group marched into the startling white waiting area of the hospital's emergency wing. It was bare except from a few lines of empty chairs and a vending machine. The only man in the waiting room stood up the instant they walked in. A tall asian man with a soft face but slightly creased features.
"I'm so sorry to have called you at this time." Denis immediately apologised.
"What happened?" Blurted out Yurio, patience wasn't a virtue he possessed.
"You must know Yakov," began the coach apologetically, "I wouldn't have called you here in this hour if it weren't urgent but he insisted the moment he woke up…"
"He's up?" Obvious relief in Yuuri's voice.
"What did the Doctors say?" Victor enquired gently.
"Concussion and a dislocated shoulder." The man tried to explain. "It's a miracle that's all he got."
"But that means he won't be able to participate in the free skate." Yakov sighed, shaking his head solemnly.
"Can someone just tell me what happened?!" yelled Yurio, tired of being ignored and talked over.
"I don't know the details, " Denis seemed almost on the verge of tears, "The accident happened last night while on his way back to the hotel. He's only just come too, he's stable but he hasn't said much. He just made me call you as soon as he came back to his senses."
"Why he'd call us though…" Muttered Yakov as Denis, as quietly as he could, led them to the room his student was being hospitalised in.
"Otabek!" Gasped Yurio, stunned at the sight before him- Otabek in an ugly hospital gown, on an uncomfortable metal bed a thick white blanket covering his banged up body. A drip was attached to his arm and he was leaning back into his pillow, his other arm strapped to his chest.
Otabek tired to nod his head in greeting but even the slightest motion caused his body to hurt and his head to spin.
"Be careful," Denis begged, "The doctors told you not to move. "
"But I have to tell them." Otabek croaked, his voice hoarse and quiet.
"What happened to you, Otabek?" Victor gently asked, walking to stand beside his bed.
"I was riding my motorcycle…" Otabak slowly began to explain, saying each word carefully. "S-someone, a-a girl walked off the pavement as I was about to p-pass. I-I tried to dodge her…"
"And you ended up falling instead." Yuuri finished, understanding the gist of what happened.
"That's horrible." Agreed Victor, "But why did you call us here? You need to rest…"
"T-the g-girl." He coughed, his mouth felt so dry. "She walked out in fr-front of me on p-purpose."
"On purpose?" Victor questioned, confused.
"She wanted me to have the accident." The Otabek mind still felt fuzzy but the more he spoke the clearer it felt.
"That's quite the accusation!" Declared Denis, frantically. "Why would you say that?"
"Because after the crash she told me something…" Otabek took a deep breath, remembering her words before he had lost consciousness. "Tell Yurio, N.E.K.O says hello..."
"What?" The whole room gasped, Yurio was speechless, unable to comprehend what his friend was saying.
"This was N.E.K.O's doing?" Began Yuuri but Victor interrupted with another question.
"Do you remember what she looked like?"
Otabek wanted to nod his head but couldn't. "She looked like... Thalia…" He stammered out.
"What!" Yurio gasped again, even louder than before.
"That can't be." Yuuri was looking between Otabek and Victor.
"Are you sure?" Victor carefully asked, this didn't sound like something Thalia would do.
"Yes," Otabek whispered. "H-her eyes, I saw her eyes… one green, one b-blue."
You could hear a pin fall in the silence that followed but there could be no doubt it was here with eyes like that.
There was a loud insistent knocking on the hotel door, accompanied by garbled voices.
"GAH, must be people you know." Complained Nadia, stuffing her head under her pillow as Thalia switched on the lampshade between them.
Thalia tried to blink away the sleep as she looked for her phone. It wasn't where she'd usually leave it but, still drowsy from sleep, she didn't really care as she checked the time. It was barely five in the morning. Her screen was also covered by a number of notifications from Victor and Yuuri. She tried to blink away the sleep, no use reading them now if they were the people at the door. She yawned to herself as she peeked through the peephole to see who was in the corridor.
There was another agitated series of knocks and, having confirmed her visitors, Thalia opened the door, peeking her head around the door, she was in a fuzzy pink pyjama with the words "snooze you later" on her chest and she didn't want anyone seeing her in those.
"Yurio, is everything ok?" Was her greeting, it felt pointless asking if he knew what time it was, one look told her that he'd been up even earlier than her.
"How could you do this!?" He yelled shoving the door open and causing her to stagger back in surprise. Nadia sat up in her bad, looking curiously at the confrontation unfolding before her.
"Yurio!" Victor yelled, grabbing his shoulder to try to calm the raging teenager as Yuuri entered the small hotel room, closing the door behind them, people were already peeking out of the neighbouring rooms trying to see what the commotion was about. "Calm down!"
"I'll calm down when she answers me!" He growled, turning towards Thalia once again. She looked at him wide eyed, more out of surprise then fear. It was bizarre how much Yurio reminded her of a frightened, wounded cat, hissing to defend himself but unable to do much else.
"What's going on?" She tried to ask calmly, looking between the three men.
"There's been an accident." Yuuri began, "Otabek's in the hospital."
"Oh my god. " She whispered, both hands rising to cover her face. "Is he going to be ok?"
"He is now." Victor carefully explained, trying to read the girl's expression. "But he won't be able to take part in the free skate."
"That's horrible!" Mumbled Thalia, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Bad luck for him." Nadia piped in behind her sister, "But what does this have to do with Nathalia?"
"Nadia…" Thalia warned, not liking her sister's tone.
"Otabek claims that this wasn't an accident, that it was N.E.K.O's doing," Carefully explained Victor, still trying to read the girl's expression. "And that you caused the accident."
In that moment, it felt like all the blood in Thalia's body had been replaced with ice.
"He recognised you because of your eyes." Yuuri added as the girls face lost all colour, the weight of their accusation reflected in her widening eyes.
"That can't be." She whispered. "You can ask Nadia, I had a headache after dinner yesterday, took some painkillers and just slept until you guys woke me up now."
"Actually Thalia, you left the room once, remember?" Nadia piped in surprisingly cooly for being someone whose sister had just been accused of causing an accident.
"What? I never left this room." Thalia insisted.
"Yeah you did." Slowly said Nadia, as if explaining to a toddler. " You said you were heading outside for some fresh air, I was up working on my project, my teammates can vouch for me." Nadia quickly added, pulling out her phone and searching for the chat history.
"Thalia, where did you go when you went out for air?" Victor prodded.
"I never left this room!" Thalia begged, looking between the three men and her sister, why would Nadia lie like that?
"If you don't believe me you can ask the front desk receptionist." Suggested Nadia, "He probably saw you if you left. Or just check that jogging app of yours, that keeps track of your location pretty well ..."
"What jogging app…" But Thalia's voice trailed off as she saw said app on her home screen. Thalia didn't jog, never did and she was certain she had never downloaded that app but her gut told her that if she clicked on the app it would confirm their suspicions, that she was at the site of the accident at the time it had happened.
"I've got no explanation for this…" She whispered, handing her phone to Victor as solemnly the app confirmed all their fears.
"Thalia why would you do this?" Whispered Yuuri, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I didn't do this!" Thalia begged, but the evidence was overwhelming. "You guys know I wouldn't do something like this? Right Yurio?"
"Nathalia Kane Osment." He whispered her name like a curse. "I wouldn't be surprised if your middle name was something like Elisabeth, your name fits N.E.K.O's initials too well…"
"I'm not with N.E.K.O!" Thalia pleaded.
"But the timing fits!" Yurio yelled, gone was the anger from his voice, replaced with a strained pain none had ever heard before. "N.E.K.O showed up right before your visit to Japan! What was the point? To get close to us? Find out our weak spots? To get your face back in the public's eye?"
Yurio wanted for someone to tell him he was wrong but ever since they'd met Thalia too many things had happened to the people he cared about, it was too much to be just a coincidence.
"I would never do anything like that!" She pleaded, they knew her, Yurio knew her, she would never do anything like this!
"And I want to believe you!" He finally yelled, he wanted to believe her beyond words. "But everything, everything points to you!
"Yurio…" She whispered reaching out towards him but her hand stopped midway as he turned his back to her and walked past Yuuri and Victor towards the door.
"I wish I'd never met you." He whispered, the hotel room amplifying the youth's stinging words. "Never come near any of us, ever again."
And he walked out not even sparing any of them a look back.
"Police will be here any moment." Victor calmly explained, he had always prided himself that he was a good judge of character, how had he been so wrong about Thalia?. "They'll want to question you."
"Hopefully this all resorts itself." Yuuri tried to say before leaving, but there wasn't much hope in his voice as he closed the door behind them, they could barely look at her as they left.
"Well there goes my day trip to Vienna." Sighed Nadia, falling back onto her bed as her sister crumpled onto the soft carpet in a mess of tears.