Yuri hated many things in life.
Viktor fucking Nikiforov was one of them.
It wasn't always like that, though. He used to like the guy.
("I was a kid, damn it! Every figure skater in Russia looked up to Viktor at one point!")
That was before he learned how much of an airhead the man was. Seriously, the guy had an insanely long winning streak and thought it gave him a right to be a self-centered ass. Yuri could count the number of times Viktor worried over his receding hairline. (A total lie: Viktor whined constantly about it that he lost count.) Last time he worried over his hair, Yuri made a note to get him a wig for his birthday.
At least Yuri didn't have to put up with Viktor all day, like Georgi and Yakov. As much as he hated the time he spent at school, his grandpa wanted him to have a decent education. Even though Yuri would be plenty famous when he beat Viktor next season, his grandpa insisted that completing his studies would help him in the future.
Well, who was he to argue?
So when he arrived at the skating club after classes, it didn't surprise him that Mila was there before him. Not even the sight of her watching some pair skaters on TV in the break room made him blink. Yuri wondered if she was planning to switch to pairs someday. "Aren't you supposed to be on the ice?"
"What Yakov doesn't know won't hurt him," Mila said.
Seeing as that advice was way better than what Viktor would have offered—like passive-aggressively insulting someone during said advice was a good idea—Yuri sat down next to her as the announcer called up the next skaters in English. "—Jones and Giles Badcock."
Both of them burst into a fit of laughter at the male skater's last name. If Yakov didn't know they were here before, he did now. He could probably hear them from the rink, but Yuri couldn't bring himself to care. This was priceless! "Who the hell calls themselves Badcock?"
"Americans have terrible last names!" Mila cackled as the Americans got into position.
"Americans?" Why the hell was Mila watching a bunch of Americans skate? Oh—he remembered what day it was. "The Four Continents?"
"Da," she replied as the Americans did some kind of overhead twist spin. "I wanted to watch Yūri but the ladies' competition was over when I got here and—that was deliberate!" she screamed as the male skater—Badcock, Yuri chortled to himself—pushed the female black skater until she toppled onto the ice.
"I thought he was setting her down," Yuri said.
"Yes but you don't push her while you're at it!" Mila narrowed her eyes as the Americans continued on. Yuri didn't have to be in pairs to know the program was splintering beyond repair. He thought it couldn't get any worse after the side-by-side spins where the man tried to slice the woman's nose. Now that he watched, the problems were mainly with the male skater. The female skater was more into the choreography than her partner, who made a half-assed effort to keep up. If Yuri looked anything like that on the ice, the old man—the much older one—would skin him alive.
"That jump will be downgraded," Mila muttered as the male skater landed a double Lutz in contrast to his partner's triple.
"The douche should just quit."
"So you are here." Yuri looked away from the eyesore that dared to call itself a program to find Georgi poking his head into the break room. "Yakov was wondering where you two were."
"We'll be right there," the redhead said as the program ended with applause. Why the Hell did anyone want to applaud that crime of a program?
"You need to hurry," Georgi said, looking back into the corridor. "You were supposed to be on the ice half an hour ago and Yakov knows Yuri just got here."
"But I want to see the scores—! Is that Yuri?" Mila finished abruptly.
"Huh?" Yuri looked at the screen again. The camera had panned out to show some members of the audience. Yūri Katsuki was sitting in the stands with some dark-skinned kid. It was strange to see the pretty Japanese woman on TV with a face of utter horror, but even more baffling to see her at a pair skating event. "What's she doing there?"
"Oh, that's right." Yuri was too busy watching the other Yuri take off her glasses and rub her eyes as though she could erase the crime she just witnessed from her memory. The boy next to her clapped in obvious reluctance. "Yūri said that she had some pair skaters for rink mates. This must have been them," the female skater said.
"Really? Their coach sucks." At teaching pair skaters, at least. He didn't have a problem coaching the other Yuri to a winning streak, except her coach took his sweet time to do so.
"Who are those two?" Georgi asked as the camera switched to the pair skaters waiting with Cialdini at the kiss and cry. Yuri found it funny that the two were glaring daggers at each other without a care as to who was watching.
"The scores for Venus Jones and Giles Badcock," the announcer called out.
None of them ever heard the numerical value the judges somehow awarded. Right after the last syllable sounded, the Russian skaters erupted in another round of laughter, now joined by Georgi. When Yakov found them and screamed at them to hit the ice, they did so cackling the whole way.
Seriously, what self-respecting douche called himself Badcock?
[4CC Yuri Katsuki SP]
{I was confused when I found a figure skating video in related videos to Hayao Miyazaki, but wow am I glad I found this!}
{She fits the music so well! She really does look like she fell from the sky!}
{I heard that her coach chose this piece because she was homesick during the summer}
{My poor baby!}
{This isn't the first time she skated to joe hisaishi's music. At the gpf gala, she skated Nausicaa}
{Nausicaa led me to this girl and now I'm in love with her}
{Get in line. She has a boyfriend}
As soon as he was given a break—more like when Yakov finally forgave Mila and Yuri for not getting on the ice in time—Yuri got on his phone and looked up any recent videos from the Four Continents that he could find. It was mostly ice dancing, pairs, and a handful of ladies. When he found the one he wanted, he tapped on the video and waited for it to load.
Now Yuri had met a number of people who shared the same name as him. When he was little, it didn't bother him so much. Now he was annoyed. Yuri planned on being Russia's next star on the ice and he had to share his name with a bunch of losers? It wasn't fair! If he had to share his name, the other person had to be as good as him!
So when Yuri learned that there was another Yuri on ice that was picking up steam, he was glad that someone was making the effort to live up to their shared name. That relief turned to annoyance then anger with the realization that he would be overshadowed by the other Yuri when he made his senior debut. His anger didn't last for long when Yakov told Mila, not Viktor or Georgi, to watch out for her: the other Yuri was a girl.
Much like he was doing now, Yuri had looked all over YouTube for any Yuris in figure skating. There were more videos of himself in Junior events and then some of an Asian girl named Yuri Katsuki. Figuring that that was the Yuri that had Yakov focusing on Mila so much, he pressed the video to see if the other Yuri did their name any justice.
At first he didn't see why Yakov was so paranoid. Sure she was good, but some of her jumps were shaky. Yakov would scream at them if they landed half as bad as her. At least when she fell, she did it properly, not like a particular Russian skater. Pogorilaya's programs were practically educational videos on how not to fall.
That didn't mean all of her jumps were bad. The one that impressed Yuri the most was her triple Axel, something even Mila couldn't do. And she wasn't bad to watch, either. Most skaters focused on the technical aspects and skipped being artistic altogether. The other Yūri's coach took the opposite direction and made sure she looked creative at the risk of ignoring her jumps.
But her coach didn't abandon everything else for artistic points. Because holy crap, she was fast with her feet. Her free program from last year's Four Continents included an intricate step sequence that had Yuri wondering how the other Yuri didn't twist an ankle from the speed of her turns. Maybe that was what made Yakov so scared. It could've been for fear that Yūri would eventually leave Mila in the dust or a rare fear for the safety of a skater that wasn't his own. Yuri himself was on edge when he watched that program on his phone a year ago, thinking that Yūri would snap her ankles halfway through.
But she didn't. Even on a tiny phone screen, anyone could see the concentration on her face if they looked close enough. Most people probably didn't notice anything beyond the joy on her face as she skated. And it was contagious. Seeing her smile had made Yuri smile as his cat curled up to him.
And the photo of her that popped up the next day, showcasing her first gold in her senior career? Yuri had some mixed emotions about that. He was annoyed that that was her only gold since her debut. But he was proud of the Japanese Yuri, too. She deserved that gold medal. Anything to see her smile like that was worth it.
Yuri had never heard of some of the music Yūri used for her programs until now. And he liked that. It was like five seconds into the music, she decided to hell with the hand-me-down classical pieces that every figure skater went through and chose a different song. Yuri lost count of all the Scheherazades and Carmens that he had ever seen. Didn't the judges ever get bored of hearing the same music every year?
That wasn't to say that she was perfect. It would have been boring if she was. But what annoyed Yuri the most was that she had no Internet presence at all. Yūri Katsuki, it seemed, was a private person.
Yuri would never say that he liked her. He just wanted to learn more about the female skater who shared his name. There was nothing wrong with that.
Even if she was older than him by eight years.
Thankfully, Yuri had no classes on Saturday. This gave Yakov the whole day to prepare Yuri for the Junior World Championships next month. Not that they had much to prepare for. Yuri was way better than the other junior skaters. He could get GOEs of 2 and 3 while the others still stumbled on their landings like beginners.
When Yakov let them all off for break at half past one, Yuri was right behind Mila when they reached the lunchroom. The redhead turned on the TV and Yuri was about to order lunch when Georgi came in after Viktor toting a large lunch bag, making the youngest skater stop midstep. It wasn't very often, but Georgi could bring in that lunch bag everyday and Yuri would still be amazed by it.
"Did your neighbor make a lot of food again?" Yuri asked. Mila stopped changing channels to look at Georgi's larger than normal lunch.
"They always make something for me," Georgi said, setting the bag on a table before he dug through it to get the contents out. "And I always return the favor."
As far as he knew, Georgi played an odd game of hot potato with his neighbor that involved them giving him food and Georgi returning the other's food containers with his own homemade food. Either his neighbor had no idea of portion control or they thought Georgi wasn't eating enough. Was Yuri complaining? Hell no. It meant that occasionally, Georgi had more food than he could finish alone and Yuri got a free lunch.
Yuri was pretty sure Georgi's neighbors were some kind of Asian. There was always a high vegetable to meat ratio, something that Yuri hated but his neighbors knew that Georgi was an athlete who needed healthy food. And it was good food, not the tasteless stuff.
"Is that the Four Continents?" Viktor asked as Mila finally reached the channel she—and Yuri—wanted.
"Da," Mila said, ditching the remote to join them at their table. "And we still have time before Yūri has to skate."
"The Japanese Yuri?" No, the American, Yuri wanted to snap at Georgi. "How did she place?"
"She's somewhere in fifth right now."
As the four of them dug in, Mila and Viktor made some commentary on the programs. Under-rotated and no finesse were the most frequent as well as groans when someone fell.
"Hey, when did Wannabe move up to senior?" Mila asked abruptly.
Yuri looked up with a mouth full of carrot salad. "Huh?"
"Wannabe," the redhead repeated as a South Korean skater skated a small ring before getting into position. "She was in Juniors with me."
The info box that appeared told Yuri that the girl's name was Nabi Jang. "You must have hated her if you call her Wannabe."
"She's mostly just talk," Mila continued as the music played. "Plus she's not really committed to her choreography."
Even without the heads up, Yuri could have seen that for himself. Wannabe was good for jumps but not much else. He could have put Potya on the ice and gotten better results.
"Is there a reason you call her Wannabe instead of butterfly?" Georgi asked.
"Everyone called her that because her name made it too good to pass up."
Nabi—Wannabe. Yuri could add that to the list of names doomed from the start. Seriously, Nabi and Badcock? Some countries just set up certain names for failure!
Finally it was time for the last group to warm up. The Japanese Yuri was among the women who had yet to skate and would be the first one to do so. The camera man made sure to focus on each of the skaters equally, but Yuri wanted them to focus more on his female counterpart. When they finally aimed the camera at her, Yūri was in the middle of the takeoff for an Axel. The shock on her face when she made a half rotation told Yuri that the woman had meant for more than that.
"Oh, dear," Mila murmured as Yūri tried to build up more speed after the popped Axel. "I hope it's not a bad day for her."
"She'll be fine."
Great, he just had to open his mouth. Now he was being scrutinized by Georgi and Viktor. The former looked confused while the latter had a smile that Yuri longed to punch off. At least Mila wasn't judging him. "What makes you so sure, Yura?" Georgi asked.
Viktor looked too happy to indulge. "That's because Yuri—"
"—is going for another Axel," Yuri snapped at Viktor, jabbing his thumb at the monitor in time for them to see Yūri jump and complete a triple Axel. "What did I say?"
Mila sighed in relief just as four skaters left the ice, leaving Yūri alone to skate one lap to psych herself. As much as he hated to say it, the designer of her costume knew what he was doing. So far for this season, he made her look like she came from another world. But that didn't mean Yuri would forgive the Lucky Bastard for his crime.
"Oh!" Georgi sat up as the music played. "She's skating to a Korean song?"
"Huh?" Yuri didn't look away from the program when Georgi said that. He wanted to watch every detail, but he was also curious to know how Georgi knew the music's origin before the words even started. "How do you know it's Korean?"
"My neighbor recommended a Korean drama to me years ago. This song played a lot during the episodes." As the first words rang out, Georgi added, "It's really beautiful, too." Whether he meant the show or the music, Yuri had no idea. At least this solved the mystery of Georgi's neighbor.
For a song in a language he didn't understand, it sounded nice. The thing that bothered him was that it sounded like a mopey love song, perfect for the likes of Viktor or even Georgi. Hell, he swore that Georgi was humming along to it right now!
Still, even though Yuri didn't like it, the other Yuri made it work. Even with an expression of melancholic longing that shouldn't have existed on her face. Did she miss the fucking bastard she called her boyfriend that much?
Having watched the program in person in Sochi, Yuri knew that the spread eagle was the other Yuri's typical entry into a triple Axel. What surprised him were the loop and the triple Lutz that followed after. "Whoa!"
"Axel-Loop-Lutz? That wasn't in her program before," Mila said.
"She'll get good points for the combo," Georgi added.
Of course she would. The Axel and Lutz were the highest scoring triples and she landed them in a combination. Add the fact that they were now in the second half of the program, Yuri was sure that the Four Continents champion was now accounted for. If only she didn't step out of the landing for her triple flip.
"That looked over-rotated," Mila said as Yūri continued as though nothing had happened.
"Really?" Georgi asked. "It looked under-rotated."
When the program ended with applause after her combination spin, Yuri spared a glance towards Viktor while Mila and Georgi argued about the triple/attempted quad flip. The old man hadn't said a word since the start of the program. He just sat there, a finger pressed to his lips and a thoughtful expression on his face. There was a gleam to his eyes that hadn't been there before.
And Yuri hated it.
The Russian Fairy ("It's Ice Tiger, god damn you!") landed a hard kick to a shin under the table. He didn't care who he hit but he must have hit his intended target because Viktor snapped out of his daze and blue eyes landed on him. "Hello, Yura," he said pleasantly, acting as if Yuri hadn't just kicked him.
"You know she's taken," Yuri snarled. "Quit chasing after her."
Viktor rested his head on his hands with a condescending smile that Yuri wanted to punch off. He was that close, so unguarded. Yuri could reach him in no time. "And why isn't that stopping you, Yura?"
Yuri glowered at him. "Fuck off, old man." He was still pissed off at the older skater for his jab at the European Championships. Eight years divided him from the other Yuri and only four for Viktor. But did that give the man the right to be an pompous ass who believed he had a shot?
Hell. No.
Viktor might think that he had a chance but Yuri knew that he was really setting himself up for failure. Skating Hellfire for the object of his desire? That was a sure fire way of keeping her away. Because who in their right mind skated to a song sung by a psycho to woo someone? What was he trying to do, terrorize her into being his?
Green eyes glared at a snide pair of blue. Yuri might have no chance with the other Yuri, but he wasn't going let Viktor have one either. The second Yūri was within reach, Yuri was going to shove Viktor out of her way.
Somebody had to keep her safe.
[4CC Yuri Katsuki FS]
{Was that a quad flip?}
{YES! MY BABY LANDED A QUAD!}
{Could everyone just calm down? First, that wasn't a quad. It was missing a quarter rotation, so it's an under-rotated quad. What's more, she stepped out of the landing. She has the speed for a quad, she just can't hold the edge}
{I can't wait for her to land it for real at Worlds!}
{DUDE! The quad flip is Viktor Nikiforov's signature move! If she lands this at Worlds, they'll be the only skaters who can pull it off!}
{Everyone's talking about the almost quad, but does anyone notice her looking terrified at 5:04?}
{…Dear god, you're right}
In all the hype leading up to the World Championships, Yakov was working them to the bone. He was especially focused on Yuri, since the Junior Worlds was up first.
If Yakov allowed him to do one quad, he could win gold hands down. Yuri hadn't done a quad in years, not since he swore to the old man that he could win the Junior Worlds without any quads. Since quads were off-limits, that left one option.
Yuri built up speed and took off, landing his triple Axel with ease before kicking off for a loop then a Lutz. He had his arm raised, but he landed sooner than he liked. If he could get that missing rotation in, the gold was his. The Japanese Yuri would see the combo and recognize it. But would she see him?
A few days before Yuri was due to fly out, a photo with Yūri Katsuki tagged in it popped up in his SNS feed. While Yuri was glad for anything about the other Yuri, whoever took it had terrible photography skills. It was out of focus, there were too many people, but Yuri could still pick out Yūri in the background. It took a while though. She seemed to blend right into the crowd.
The caption made him doubt if it really was her.
[캇수키 유리 야?]
Naturally, Yuri couldn't understand the caption. He didn't recognize the language, but seeing Seoul in the Geotag led him to assume that it was Korean. Yuri was about to copy and paste the caption so he could translate it when Georgi walked into the lunchroom.
Yuri walked up to him and shoved his phone towards him. "Can you read this?"
Seemingly unfazed, Georgi took a look at Yuri's phone. "Katsuki Yuli-ya?" he said in confusion. The words sounded strange coming from Georgi, with less of the Russian Yuri was familiar with and something more…foreign.
"So you can read Korean?"
Georgi had the balls to look offended by his question. "You learn a lot from living next to a Korean." Well that settled it. Come the PyeongChang Olympics, Yuri would have to stick close to Georgi to go anywhere in the country.
"Then what does it mean?"
"It says 'is that Yuri Katsuki?'" Georgi rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he swiped up. "But why is she in Korea?"
"Is there anything in the comments?" Yuri asked.
"They're all in Korean."
"Then translate them."
"Most of them are fans who are excited that she's in the country," Georgi mumbled, swiping up again. "Some of them are saying that it's not her, it's just some woman with plastic surgery. Wait…" Yuri looked up. "It says she's there to see—" Georgi squinted at something on his phone. "Yu-an Heu Long?" he read.
"The bastard?!" Yuri snatched his phone from Georgi and looked for the offending reply. When he couldn't find it, it dawned on him that he couldn't read anything in the comments.
"Here." Georgi pointed to one comment with foreign script and a smirking emoji at the end. "It says that she's there to support someone named Yu-an."
Yuri looked up anything important going on in the speed skating world. Much to his frustration, he had to add short track to his search because that clearly made all the difference. Lo and behold, short track speed skating was having its own World Championships. In Seoul.
"'No matter what, Yūri will always return to me.'"
That arrogant asshole just had to be right.
"That fucking bastard!" Yuri chucked his phone. By luck—and to Yuri's satisfaction—Viktor walked in at the same time the flying smartphone hit him in the head.