World Figure Skating Championships

Ladies' Final Results

1 XXXX XXXX

2 Mila Babicheva RUS

3 XXXX Pogorilaya RUS

4 Yuri Katsuki JPN

5 Sara Crispino ITA

...

(Description: Yūri's name and placement are circled in red)

—Can y'all tell me what the hell just happened?

—Hello 911? I'd like to report a robbery

—Someone explain to me why Pogofall is on the podium when her program was clearly lackluster compared to Katsuki's?

—Who is responsible for this crime? I want names!

—If anyone remembered the short program, they'd remember that Yuri was dead last. Anyone after her would have been able to beat her with a lower FS score.

—But she landed a quad toe! She broke Kim Yuna's record! She deserved to be on the podium!

It took numerous tissues for Yūri to dry her tears and blow her nose, which was still stuffy even after Yūri had gone through the whole box. She tried not to breathe through her nose too much, knowing that the resulting sound if she did would tell everyone that she had been crying.

Celestino's sunglasses, which were too big on her, did nothing to hide the evidence. But her own eyes were red and watery and sad even after her tears had dried that the media would be on her if they caught sight of her with her usual glasses. She didn't want to let the world know just how much her placement affected her.

That was how she ended up following after Celestino as they prepared to leave the arena, adjusting the sunglasses on her face whenever they slid down her nose. Whereas Celestino made himself known through his footsteps, Yūri tried not to attract attention by quietly shuffling in his wake. At one point, Celestino looked back at her before turning forward again. "Keep your head up, Yūri. You may not have made the podium, but you're a world record holder and the first woman to land a quad toe loop. That's nothing to look ashamed about."

Did he think that Yūri was ashamed of her accomplishments? That wasn't it all. Yūri had impressed even herself with a quad and a free skate world record. She was ashamed of the fact that she had just told everyone that it didn't take a quad and world record to win the gold. That anyone could win without them.

That she didn't make the podium even though she had them.

What a way to let Japan down.

The lobby was bustling with competitors and spectators with a few reporters sprinkled in to try and catch some skaters off their guard. Yūri was ready to walk past them without a word when somebody called out, "Celestino."

Both Yūri and Celestino turned around to see Yakov Feltsman approach them. "Yakov," Celestino greeted. "Congratulations on your silver medalist."

Yūri expected Yakov to swell up in pride at that. After all, Mila had been the first one to score above her. Instead he shook his head, like he expected Mila to accomplish that feat. "The real praise goes to your quad jumper. Where is she, by the way?"

At 156cm—"A puny five foot one and not even a half" as Venus once put it—Yūri was easily eclipsed by Celestino's large frame. But her coach betrayed her by moving aside to reveal her to Yakov. Under the aged Russian coach's stern gaze, Yūri felt even smaller.

"That was an inspirational free skate, Miss Katsuki," Yakov said, "and its score was well deserved. Your step sequence and those spiral entries into your final jumps were extraordinary to witness."

Yūri had been looking in Yakov's direction to make it seem like she was looking at him, never bringing herself to look him in the eye. But his unexpected compliments had her tentatively looking at his eyes as much as she could with her vision dimmed by Celestino's sunglasses . It was hard to tell exactly with an expression that told of decades of skaters who did something to displease him, but there was something in Yakov's eyes that resembled…pride?

Yūri swallowed. "Thank you, Mr. Feltsman." She was sure that she sounded terrible. Yūri wouldn't be surprised if she had cried herself sick again. Whether Yakov took notice or not, she couldn't tell. She was thankful for the fact that Yakov didn't say a word.

"Yūri!"

"Yūri-san!"

She heard her name being called in two different directions. Yakov looked behind himself while Yūri turned towards the nearest source. Kenjiro ran towards her, the ends of his headband flying until he came to a stop before her. "You were amazing, Yūri-san!" Kenjiro exclaimed, looking close to tears and nearly crushing the gift box in his arms. "That was the best Fox Rain ever!"

"Th-thank you, Kenjiro." Yūri looked at the gift box worriedly. Whoever he meant to give it to, Yūri sincerely hoped there was nothing fragile inside. "Um, Kenjiro? Your gift box—"

"It's for you!" Kenjiro bowed as he held out the box for her. "I wanted to give it to you personally!"

Taken back by the fact that Kenjiro still wanted to give her a present even after her overall performance, Yūri took the box and opened it out of curiosity. Even Yūri couldn't stay sad for long when she saw what was inside. "Trimmien?" she asked, looking up.

Kenjiro nodded rapidly. "It's a tissue box cover! So you can take Trimmien everywhere you go!"

"Thank—" It was then that Yūri noticed the white patch taped to Kenjiro's left cheek and a bandage around one of his fingers. "Kenjiro?"

"Yes?"

"Were you injured?"

"Oh, this?" Kenjiro grinned widely as he touched his patch. "I got into a fight with one of my rinkmates—"

"What?!"

She hadn't meant to be so loud. She really didn't mean to yell it out, either. But as soon as Yūri's mind processed the word "fight", Yūri shoved her gift into Celestino's hands and threw off his sunglasses as well. If they landed on the ground, she didn't care. Yūri was too busy examining Kenjiro's face for any other injuries to worry about a pair of sunglasses.

"Y-Yūri-san, I'm fine," Kenjiro stammered, slowly raising his hands to touch Yūri's, which held his flushed face. "It wasn't anything serious. We were just having a judo contest."

That did very little to ease her worries. "You shouldn't get into fights so easily. You could get suspended."

"We weren't injured badly, Yūri-san." The patch on his face and the wrapping around his finger told Yūri otherwise. It was enough to make Yūri stand on her toes to press her lips to Kenjiro's headband, much like how her mother used to kiss her bandages after she accidentally hurt herself.

"...Please don't fight anymore." Kenjiro was still young. He had the chance to go so far in skating. She didn't know if she could stand to see his career beyond repair because of one suspension.

Venus was already enough.

Kenjiro nodded slowly, his expression caught somewhere between guilt and disbelief. "I won't," he promised in a hushed voice.

Yūri reached to take Kenjiro's gift from Celestino, frowning when she touched cold hands. Celestino's hands were never cold. They were warm and calloused but these hands were smooth. Why did it feel like Celestino had gotten younger? She looked up at Celestino, only to jolt with the terrifying realization that she hadn't given Kenjiro's present to her coach like she believed. "V-Viktor!"

Yūri had no idea when Viktor had arrived, nor did she want to know how long he had stood behind her. Yakov Feltsman's perpetually stern gaze made her feel small but the amused smile from Viktor Nikiforov made her feel insignificant.

And she practically shoved Kenjiro's present into his hands, too!

"Hello, Yūri," Viktor said pleasantly, as though he hadn't been forced to hold Yūri's gift.

And that just made her feel even worse because Viktor took it like a gentleman when he had every right to be annoyed with her. "I didn't mean to make you hold my things! I thought you were Celestino—!" It finally sunk in that Viktor Nikiforov—five-time World Champion—was standing in front of her, smiling at her...and he knew her name. "Viktor? Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Yūri had to fight back the urge to run away when Viktor leaned down to eye level with her. "I want to get a photo with you!"

"What?" By now, Yūri was convinced she was dreaming. There was no way Viktor was asking her for a photo with her, right? "Oh, no, no, no—I don't think you want a photo with me—" Yūri knew that she still looked terrible. She didn't need a photo of her with teary red eyes next to Viktor—who was unfairly impeccable in every single photo he took—plastered all over the Internet.

Something that resembled a grimace crossed Viktor's face, like he just realized what a horrible idea that was as well. He let go of Kenjiro's gift and straightened up as Mila came into view from behind Viktor. "Viktor, Yūri just landed a quad toe and set a world record," she informed with a cheerful smile. "She needs to get her rest!"

Thankful for Mila's intervention, Yūri took the gift box and her carry-on case and walked away unnoticed.

It wasn't until she was tucked away in the backseat of the taxi with Celestino—separate from the bus that competitors usually rode—that Yūri sat up in realization.

"Ciao Ciao…did I really just kiss someone in public?"

Katsuki Upgrades Women's Figure Skating

Yuri Katsuki had finished the short program two days ago at the bottom of the roster, just barely missing the chopping block that would have eliminated her from her first World Championships.

In a surprise twist, Katsuki delivered a stunning free skate that not only featured the first fully rotated quadruple toe loop in women's figure skating, but earned a score higher than Yuna Kim's world record free skate at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Katsuki was able to come back from her original placement and finish fourth overall.

—Fourth? She had a quad toe and a world record and she finished fourth?

—What a loser.

—Let's see you deliver a 4-minute world class free skate and set a world record, a**hole!

—Between the fourth best female skater in the world and a fata*** who can't make the effort to get off his chair, who's the real loser here?

—She's not the fourth best. She doesn't even have a ranking

—Wait, why?

—World standings are calculated from the results of the current and preceding two seasons. Before last season, Yuri was on break for two years. She'll have to compete next year to finally get a world standing.

—Why did she take a break?

Yūri's phone rang when she entered the elevator. "Hello?"

"I've got my knife shoes ready, Yūri! Just tell me who I need to kill!" Yūri had to keep herself from laughing at Phichit on the other end.

"It's no one's fault, Phichit…it's just me."

"But you were robbed!" Phichit cried. Yūri could hear his hamsters squeaking over something in the background. "You should have been on the podium! Everyone knows how bad Pogorilaya is!"

"I had the lowest score going into the free skate," Yūri reminded as the elevator stopped on her floor. She got out and dragged her feet to her door. "I never would have made the podium. I'm surprised I even got so close."

"First place flutzed and pre-rotated all over the place and the judges didn't even call her out on it!"

"Phichit, that's enough."

"You and Celestino should file a complaint—"

"Enough." Yūri didn't mean to snap at Phichit, but she was tired. So tired. She didn't want people making excuses for her. She just wanted to be alone. "If I complain now, I'll just look like a sore loser. You think I want a medal by throwing a tantrum?"

"It's not throwing a tantrum, it's rightfully complaining—"

"Phichit…please," Yūri interrupted in exasperation.

Phichit must have finally picked up on her mood through her voice because he didn't rant any further. "You were fantastic tonight, you know that, Yūri?"

"Was I?"

"Of course you were!" Phichit insisted as Yūri unlocked her room door and retreated inside. "You landed a quad toe loop! The first quad since Miki Ando and you're older than she was when she did it!"

True, Miki Ando was still a teenager when she landed a quad salchow but unlike Yūri, she had gotten on the podium with her combined scores. Before Yūri could say as much, her phone vibrated. "Someone else is trying to call me," she said to Phichit.

"Who is it?" Yūri pulled her phone away from her ear to read the caller ID.

"He Long."

"I'll hang up," Phichit said. "But if the Shanghai Jerk says something to make you cry, text me and I'll ruin him faster than he can outskate Viktor Ahn."

"Don't do that."

"No promises, Yūri. Bye!"

As soon as Phichit hung up, Yūri picked up He Long's call. "Long?"

"Yūri!" He sounded relieved and almost out of breath. "Are you all right? I know I didn't call yesterday. I'm sorry for that."

Yūri blinked as if a bell had gone off in her head. Now that she thought about it, He Long hadn't called her after her disastrous short program. Venus and Yūri's mother had called just after to check up on her…and Yūri had hung up on them without so much as a warning. She definitely would have ignored He Long's call if he had tried yesterday. "It's all right…I didn't really want to talk to anyone after my short program."

"I know—I-I mean, I wanted to call afterwards but I didn't know what to say without making you feel worse," He Long explained. "But you were amazing during the free skate, empress." Yūri felt something in her shrivel up when she heard his new nickname for her. "A quad and a world record? You really stole the show from the others on the podium—"

"He Long," Yūri began slowly, clenching her teeth to hold herself together. "Could you please not call me empress?"

"Yūri? What's wrong?"

"I'm hardly an empress…and as it is, I don't even deserve to be yours."

"Yūri—" Just like how she ended her calls after the short program, Yūri abruptly hung up on He Long.

There was nobody. There was nobody to see her slide against the door. Nobody to see her cry with a tiny gold medal around her neck offering her very little comfort.

Nobody at all.

Chris-GC

Congratulations Yuri!
I know you'll be on the
podium next year!

mila-babicheva

You were amazing tonight,
Yuri! yuri-plisetsky Anything
you want to say, yurochka?

sara-crispino

Congratulations, Yuri! Please
don't be sad. Fourth isn't bad
for your first Worlds.

Jjleroy!15

JJ Style here to say congrats
to second ladies' quad jumper,
world record holder, and my fellow 4CC
champion: Yuri Katsuki!

Yūri woke up to her phone ringing. She didn't want to answer it but, purely out of a desire to end the noise, she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Yūri!" Celestino's voice boomed on the other end. "Are you awake?"

"I am now." Yūri had to refrain from adding that Celestino was the reason she was up in the first place.

"Good, good," he said. "You have enough time to wash up and get to the arena."

"The arena? Why?"

"Why?" Celestino repeated incredulously. "Yūri, you were invited to the gala!"

"What?" This had Yūri sitting up in surprise. "They aren't serious, are they?"

"Yūri, you set the free skate world record and landed a quad toe. Just go to the gala. You earned the right to attend it."

Did she? Part of Yūri felt like this was the ISU's cruel idea of a joke: showing off a could-have-been gold medalist. But if she didn't go, she might be fined for turning down the invitation. In the end, she only had one option. "I'll start getting ready."

"And when you're done, call me and I'll meet you in the lobby. Sound good?" Celestino asked.

It wasn't like she had much of a choice to begin with, but Yūri threw herself out of bed to jump into the shower. Once she was done getting ready, she was about to walk out the door when she saw Kenjiro's gift from yesterday. Unlike the plush she received after her free skate—that Trimmien sat on her bed—the Trimmien tissue box cover was based on the creature's natural, untrimmed form. Whoever came up with the Poodle Pokémon was a genius.

As childish as it looked, at least the fictional poodle would be a constant comfort at the stadium.

That was what she initially believed. But before Yūri even took off her blade guards, she felt out of place. Everybody else skating in the gala was already on the ice, practically ready to start the opening and closing rehearsal. There was no way they would ever wait on her.

Even without her glasses, Yūri could see one of the skaters look in her general direction. She ducked out of sight, sitting against the rink boards as she tried to calm her pounding heart. It felt like they were making fun of her behind her back, laughing at how she couldn't even make the podium—

"Unless you're going to do the opening on the fly with us, you're not going to get much done hiding here."

Yūri looked up to see the one of the Canadian skaters in the men's bracket standing next to her. She could see bits of melting ice on his skates, indicating that he only just got off of it. "You're Jean-Jacques, right?"

"Call me JJ," he said, perching himself on top of the rink boards. "No need to ask who you are, Yūri. Everyone's just buzzing about the little lady who jumped twenty places and a quad toe to finish at the top."

"Everyone?" Yūri repeated.

JJ inclined his head towards the ice behind him. "They're all waiting for you—well, me and you," he added, "to start rehearsal. So why are you hiding here?"

Yūri braved a glimpse over the rink boards, sighing in relief to see the other skaters were far away from her hiding spot. It was a wonder how they didn't notice JJ looking like he was sitting by himself. "I feel like a fraud," she mumbled.

"Come again?" JJ asked, leaning down slightly closer.

"I feel like a fraud," Yūri said again, her voice just above a whisper.

"You?" JJ looked appalled at this. "You broke Kim Yuna's free skate record, landed a complete quad toe, and you think you're a fraud? How?"

"That's exactly why. I had a quad toe and a world record, both of which should have guaranteed a victory but I finished fourth. I'm not supposed to be here."

"I finished in fourth, too! You think I'm not supposed to be here?"

Realizing how self-centered she must have sounded, Yūri turned and sat up so she could look at JJ properly. "I didn't mean it like that! Of course you do! You're eighteen and you're already every bit as good as Chris and Viktor and—and—!" Yūri was ashamed to admit that she didn't pay attention to the men's bracket unless Viktor was involved. She could list several of the best female figure skaters but Viktor and Chris were the few names in the men's circuit that she could name off the top of her head. Those two had ruled the podium for a long time.

"…Thanks," JJ said, an odd pink tint to his face. "So if I can skate in the gala even though I finished fourth but I'm every bit as good as the top two men's skaters, why can't the fourth place lady who set a world record and made history with a quad toe skate in the gala?"

He had a point. Even without a spot on the podium, Yūri was the winner of the free skate and the second quad jumper in ladies' figure skating. Both of those earned her the right to skate in the gala with the best of them.

If Yūri were to be honest…her feelings of inadequacy weren't because of her overall placement. "It's because…well…everyone here…has been skating every year since their senior debut. They were already grown up and ready to be judged seriously. Not like me. I wasn't ready at all." It had hurt so much back then to announce her break and practically admit to the whole world that she wasn't ready for the senior division at all.

Back then it had felt like she was already announcing her retirement.

"Hey, Yūri? Yūri? Come on, Sad Asian Girl, don't go crying on us again," she could hear JJ say.

"I'm not—" Yūri's head shot up in confusion. "Sad Asian Girl? Where'd that come from?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" JJ held up his hands in surrender. "It's just that you looked so miserable whenever I saw you in Detroit that I sort of nicknamed you that!"

"In Detroit?" The Japanese skater scrunched up her face, trying to recall any memory of seeing the Canadian at the Detroit Skating Club. But no matter how hard she tried, nothing came to mind. "When were you ever in Detroit?"

"It was three—maybe four years ago, during the summer," he said, holding down three fingers and hesitating on a fourth. "My parents let me go to the States so I could train with Celestino…It didn't work out so well."

"Really?" Yūri asked in amazement. "But…I don't remember seeing you at the club."

"No, you wouldn't have," JJ agreed. "Let's see…It was definitely half a year after Venus Jones and Tae Yi-Rang were suspended and you announced your break. I had practice with Celestino until late afternoon, and whenever I did see you, you looked so miserable that I knew not to bother you." He turned to look down to her, cocking his head in concern. "What was up with you then? Were you going through a break up?"

No, that wasn't it at all. The time frame JJ was describing was long before she had ever met Yuan He Long and even before that, she'd never been on a date, let alone had a boyfriend. "…I'm sorry," Yūri said in a weak voice. "I just really don't like talking about what was going on back then."

JJ nodded slowly in what Yūri hoped was understanding. "Okay." The two just sat there in silence, with JJ sitting on top on the barrier and Yūri hiding from the ice with it. JJ scratched his head before his head whirled towards her. "Okay, so you took a break after your senior debut, probably longer than normal, but you know what's amazing about that?" JJ paused. Whether he did so for dramatic effect or if he was expecting Yūri to answer, she had no idea. "You came back and you were on fire. You came blazing back into the international stage when everyone thought you were done for!" he exclaimed. "…I thought you were done for," he admitted.

"You're a very nice person, JJ," Yūri said. He really was, and Yūri was thankful for him trying to cheer her up.

"Thank you." JJ puffed up in pride at that. "I do my best. But just so you know, I already have a girlfriend," he warned abruptly.

"And I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, I heard. He's a short track speed skater, right?" Yūri nodded in confirmation. "He better take good care of you or he's gonna be getting a nice long chat from me..." JJ held his hands together as if he were about to crack his knuckles, only to cross his hands and stick out his thumb and index fingers to form his signature hand sign. "JJ Style!"

Yūri didn't know if she wanted to scream or laugh. "Why does everyone keep threatening him?!"

JJ threw his head back and guffawed. "The speed skater should have known what he was getting into when he stole you away from us!"

Behind them, Yūri could hear the choreographer calling for the gala skaters to gather on the ice to start rehearsing for the opening. "Well, Yūri?" JJ extended a hand down to her. "Ready to show the world what a real champion should look like?"

"…No," Yūri admitted. "But I will remind them that I'm still here."

"That's the spirit!" Once Yūri grabbed onto JJ's hand, he pulled her up and Yūri took off her skate guards. "Let me get a selfie before we go!"

Once that was done, JJ led the way over to the gap in the barrier. He stepped aside, bowing slightly as he moved aside. "Ladies first."

Jjleroy!15

[Photo: JJ and Yuri smiling at the camera]

With the queen, Yuri Katsuki.
(Be nice to her, she's shy)
#worlds #figureskating #missedthepodium
#madeafriend #yurikatsuki #itsjjstyle!