The music Yūri skates to for her exhibition is called "Bird Person" from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The video I used as my reference is by bluewavesgold. Start from 0:00 and cut off at 2:09, that's how long her exhibition is.
Ah, gala exhibitions: the good times when restrictions were nonexistent and the only competition that existed at all was how much more outlandish the next skater could be than the last, either in costume or in routine. As it stood, Chris was the current champion of the unspoken contest. Viktor swore that Chris just about put Evgeni Plushenko's "Sex Bomb" to shame.
His chin still from Yuri's outburst last night. The blond teen also refused to apologize, even when Yakov screamed his head off at him. Viktor never expected him to do so anyway: he'd never seen the Russian Fairy genuinely apologize to anyone.
Still, he did confirm why Yuri seemed so fixated with the other Yuri from Japan. Hardly anyone from the men's competition ever payed attention to the women's, unless they were cheering on a rinkmate or a sibling like Michele Crispino. Viktor could only guess that the girl's name had caught Yuri's attention first, thus making him want to stay for the event.
It seemed that Yūri Katsuki could turn heads when she decided to make the effort. Last night, she looked so tired—understandable, since yesterday was the final day of competition. Now, dressed in a floaty blue costume that made her look ethereal, she looked stunning. She would certainly make a good match for the Russian Fairy.
Cao Bin finished his exhibition piece to the crowd's applause. "Yura, your favorite skater is up next," Viktor teased as the announcer called out Katsuki's name.
"Shut up, old man," was all that Yuri said, never taking his eyes off the screen.
"Yurochka's just mad that she's out of his league," Mila supplied, resting her chin on top of the blond boy's head much to his annoyance.
Meanwhile, Yūri waited by the rink boards and breathed in, like she was trying to calm herself. The soft notes of a clarinet played and Yūri made her way towards the center of the ice. As the music—the clarinets now replaced by strings—sped up, so did Yūri, who was now preparing to enter a jump.
She landed a triple Axel in time with the music, and Viktor couldn't help but clap with the audience. An Axel was the most difficult jump to pull off, and the triple was one that not many women in the skating world performed.
The music was beautiful and there were perfect places for jumps and some spin sequences that Viktor could imagine it being used for a competitive program. Whoever choreographed the routine made use of the cues as well. As the strings played softly to accompany the choir, Yūri was already in a spin sequence. When she rose, she caught her right foot and raised her leg in a perfect Biellmann spin.
It wasn't a rare event when a skater decided to turn an exhibition program into a competitive one or even turn an old program into an exhibition. Still, the choreographer for the young woman would have to up their game if Yūri ever wanted to use this in a competition. The choreography wasn't bad, but Viktor felt that it could use more theatrics in some areas.
Yūri moved into an intricate step sequence as the strings sped up, likely signalling the tail end of the music and the program. A flying sit spin, landing as the strings cut off sharply and returned in a tremolo as she spun, the fabric of her costume flowing with her. Now she was rising, her rotations picking up speed until she stopped with her arms outstretched. The arena erupted in applause as Yūri waved and bowed.
Viktor was starting to understand why Yuri was so enamored with her. The Japanese Yuri was a beautiful skater, moving like the song was inside her and desperate to be freed. As she traded places with the Canadian skater who placed third in Viktor's bracket, she relaxed and held her flushed cheeks.
A hard kick to his side told him that the Russian Fairy was displeased. "You're starting to drool," Yuri growled as "Uptown Funk" began to play.
The banquet: the lifeless part of every event Viktor competed in. Every year, he had to greet his sponsors with a smile before he could chat with the other competitors. Yuri was practically glued to his hip, never wanting to chat with other Junior skaters his own age. He probably thought he was above the others in his division. Well, he was right.
But that kind of thinking would definitely cause problems when Yuri moved into the Senior division next year.
Yuri caught sight of something that made him quickly turn away. The last time he was like this—albeit more red—was when he saw the other Yuri. Viktor looked around the banquet hall for the object of Yuri's fascination. He figured she wouldn't be too far from Celestino—he was right. Celestino Cialdini just entered the banquet hall, looking every bit like a proud father. The Japanese Yuri was at his side, wearing a dark blue dress and glasses with her hair in a bun that reminded him of Lilia Baranovskaya.
"Is that really her?" During the exhibition skate, she looked pretty and serene. Here she looked like a timid little rabbit, ready to flee at a moment's notice. She was nothing like the poised beauty he had seen on the ice.
Yūri Katsuki, it seemed, was an ever-changing enigma.
"Don't even think about going after her," Yuri said, aiming a sideways glare at Viktor.
Viktor held back a chuckle as he looked away from Yūri, who gingerly picked up a champagne flute. "Don't worry. I won't steal your girlfriend."
The Russian Fairy glowered up at him, burning red with rage—or maybe it was embarrassment. "I told you, she's NOT my—!"
"Wait, wait! Mila, that's where—!"
"Relax, Yūri! I'm just going to introduce you to an admirer of yours!" Mila's voice drew closer. "Hey, Yuri!"
Whatever Yuri was going to say to Viktor died on his tongue as he redirected his frustration towards Mila, only to jolt in shock as their rink mate dragged the other Yuri towards them. Mila stood between the two, a playful smile on her face. She was clearly enjoying Yura's awkwardness. "Yūri, this is my rink mate, Y—wait!" she exclaimed, looking back and forth from their Yuri and the other Yuri. "I'm standing between two Yuris! I can make a wish!"
"Um..." Yūri looked at Yuri and then Mila, her cheeks flushed but not nearly as red as Yuri's. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"
"It's a Russian thing," Viktor explained. Yūri had looked at him when he said this, only to avert her gaze while her face burned redder. Viktor was starting to wonder if she had a shade of red named after her.
"So your name is Yuri?" she asked the blond teen standing across from her.
Yuri nodded before he finally found the courage to speak again. "...that thing in your hair is pretty," he muttered. Immediately afterwards, Yuri looked mortified with himself.
"Now that you mention it..." Viktor watched as Mila touched what looked like a colorful bead charm dangling from the other Yuri's bun. "This is pretty cool. What is it?"
"This?" Yūri reached back for the charm with one hand before she pulled a long pin out of her bun, which she held in place with her other hand. The bead charm hung from the end of the pin as she held it out for display. "It's my hairpin. I use this because bobby pins never really worked for me."
"It looks well-made," Viktor noted.
"That's because I made it." All heads turned to the speaker: a sharply dressed young Asian man with reddish brown hair standing not too far away from the group.
Yūri Katsuki let go of her bun in surprise, her dark hair tumbling just before her shoulder blades. Apparently she recognized the young man. "Long!" she exclaimed as the man walked—Viktor noticed he had a slight limp, too—over to them. Once he was close enough, the two embraced. "What are you doing here?"
"I sprained my ankle, remember?" The man called Long said, letting go of Yūri. "I took my exams early but I couldn't go to Shanghai. So I decided to come see you."
"But how did you get in here? The banquet?"
"All I had to do was walk in like I owned the place and no one batted an eye." Viktor actually believed the man's alibi: the way he carried himself, Viktor thought that Long was a fellow competitor until he mentioned his sprained ankle and Shanghai. Yūri didn't seem to believe Long if her skeptical expression was anything to go by. "Well, Celestino snuck me in first and I've been talking to a figure skater named Cao Bin while I waited for him to come back with you," he admitted.
"Yūri!" Mila brought her fellow competitor's attention back to the Russian team. "Want to introduce your friend to us?"
"No need," Yuri grumbled, crossing his arms. "I already know the lucky bastard."
"Yuri," Viktor scolded before looking at Long apologetically. Strangely, the young man didn't look the least bit angry. In fact, Long even looked amused by how Yuri addressed him.
"Everyone, this is He Long," Yūri explained, turning back to the group. He Long took advantage of having Yūri's back to him by taking out a small comb to smooth her hair out. "We go to the same college...and he's my boyfriend." No wonder Yuri was fuming—his crush was already with someone else. Then again, Viktor would have been surprised if Yūri wasn't taken.
"I'm also her stylist," He Long piped up, never looking up as he gathered Yūri's hair. "All of her costumes this season and last are my designs and I'm half the reason she looks so good."
Mila whistled, clearly impressed. "Your boyfriend's a costume designer?"
"Fashion designer," Yūri corrected. "At least, he's studying to be one. But you could try to go easy on the flair once in a while," she added to the man behind her.
He Long let out a weak laugh. "After all the effort I put in to make you look stunning? How mean, Yūri. The pin?"
"I swear, one of your designs was enough to guarantee a costume violation," she said, handing her hairpin to her boyfriend.
"You wore it during an exhibition, no harm done," He Long replied smoothly, holding Yūri's hair in a bun while he pushed in the hairpin. "Besides, when you skate, I want all eyes—" He let go of the pin and the bun, satisfied when his girlfriend's hair remained in place. "—on you."
Yūri briefly touched her bun before looking at He Long. "I'm going to go find Celestino for a bit, all right?"
"And while we're doing that, you'll be telling me all about your boyfriend," Mila chimed in, winking mischievously at Yūri as they left together. "So tell me how you met—"
As soon as they were out of earshot, Yuri let out a breath Viktor didn't know he'd been holding. "Lucky bastard," he spat. Viktor wanted to laugh at Yuri's almost pathetic display of jealousy, but doing that now, with said lucky bastard standing beside him, would make it look like he was agreeing with Yuri.
"Sorry about Yurochka," Viktor said to the young man.
"It's fine," He Long dismissed with a smile. "Half of my rink mates and Yūri's call me that, anyway."
"So you are a skater."
"Of sorts."
"An ice dancer? A pair skater?" Viktor doubted he was in the same bracket as him—throughout the Grand Prix series, he never heard of a skater named He Long.
"If I was, Yūri probably wouldn't be in ladies' singles." A server passed by with a tray and He Long plucked a champagne flute with ease. "But we would have a problem deciding whether to skate for China or Japan."
"Either one of those would work well for you both," Viktor assured as He Long sipped his drink. "You and Yūri seem to place a lot of trust in each other." He meant those words. He really did. When she first entered the banquet hall and when Mila brought her over to them, Yūri looked like a sheep thrown into the lion's pit. As soon as she saw He Long, her entire body relaxed, like she knew the young man would protect her.
He Long, however, lowered his glass and gave Viktor a questioning look, like the Russian had said something out of turn. "You say that like we're not supposed to trust each other so much."
"I'm just pointing out the obvious," the Russian explained, trying to remove himself and the young man before him from the uncomfortably tense situation they abruptly entered. "I mean, it's a good thing that you're both like that. Most relationships usually have some degree of jealousy involved."
"Jealousy?" He Long barked out a laugh, like the idea was ridiculous to him. "That's what happens when there's no trust and you let fear control you. And when either side of a relationship lacks trust—" The Chinese man leaned closer, like he was about to share a secret. "—what right does anyone have to call that 'love'?"
In case you're wondering why an unfamiliar title showed up in your inbox, I decided to change it because parts of what I have planned for this story has some Cinderella elements to it.
And those of you who read my other Yuri! on Ice fanfic, you have an advantage of sorts. For those who haven't, He Long is the character I made to be Yūri and Phichit's costume designer. He made his first appearance in Yuri! on Stage?.