I'm finally back! Originally I planned to write this chapter from Yūri's perspective, but when I ran into roadblocks, I found it was easier to write from the Russian Ice Tiger's point of view.
Happy New Year to you all!
What the hell?
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
No matter how many times he hit refresh, nothing changed. The results still showed the Japanese Yuri stuck in fourth place.
What the hell?
To say that Yuri Plisetsky was shocked by the results of the ladies' competition was an understatement.
He wasn't shocked—he was fucking furious.
It wasn't because Yūri Katsuki had bombed her short program. (Then he was shocked. Before he could decide then whether to be mad or not, she came back in the free skate with a quad toe and a world record.)
It wasn't because Mila had gotten second at Worlds. (No matter how annoying the hag was, Yuri really was proud of her.)
It certainly wasn't because for the first time in history, Russia led a sweep of the ladies' world podium.
Or maybe that was it, because Yuri knew that there was no way in hell that Pogorilaya—Queen of Outrageous Falls and the most inconsistent skater Russia ever produced—could ever in a thousand years place high enough to even touch the podium. Especially not high enough to beat Yūri Katsuki for bronze.
What had happened?
"What the hell happened there, Mila?!" Yuri yelled into his phone when Mila finally answered.
"I don't know what the judges were thinking, Yura, but their decision is final," Mila trailed off, like even she couldn't agree with the final standings.
"Their decision is crap. Pogofall never should have made the podium!"
"She scored higher than Yūri did in the short program," Mila's voice reminded. "Her free skate would have at least helped her match Yūri's final score. Mine did, don't you remember?"
"Don't give me that!" The Russian Ice Tiger barked. "You know that she was robbed tonight!"
There was a brief pause filled with muffled sounds, like Mila had covered her phone's speakers. "Of course I do, Yuri," she hissed this time. "Yakov practically said as much before we left the arena!"
"Is there somebody else with you?"
"A few reporters," Mila confirmed. "Viktor is near too, but he's still sulking that I stopped him from getting a photo with Yūri." The Russian teen punched the air in glee with this information. His wallet may have been lighter, but at least Mila followed through. "Crap, the reporters see me."
"Before you hang up…can you tell me if she was upset afterwards?" Yuri asked.
"…She was, Yura," Mila confirmed. "She wasn't angry…but she was definitely upset."
When the call ended, Yuri fell backwards onto his bed with a thud. Potya leaped onto his chest and sat down, staring into his face.
"It's not fair, Potya," Yuri grumbled, petting his beloved cat. "She was supposed to win."
All Potya offered was a meow and Yuri was left to think about Yūri Katsuki and her quad toe and how she practically erased Yuna Kim from history with a new world record. But all of that still wasn't enough to guarantee her a medal at the end.
It wasn't fair!
minami-kenji
[Photo: Yūri standing on her toes to kiss Kenjiro's forehead, Viktor in the background]
YURI-SAMA KISSED MY HEADBAND! #worlds #yurikatsuki
mila-babicheva yuri-plisetsky Junior worlds silver medalist just got something better than your gold
yuri-plisetsky mila-babicheva Who the hell wants a stupid kiss from a girl?
v-nikiforov yuri-plisetsky You're not fooling anyone, Yurochka~
yuri_plisetsky v-nikiforov At least I wasn't caught glaring at a kid, stupid geezer
One look at one of the most popular pictures taken at the World Championships and Yuri was torn between cackling like a madman and chucking his phone straight at the lockers.
The gross part: Yūri Katsuki giving her fan a kiss.
The hilarious part: Viktor fucking Nikiforov looking like he wanted to sic the mafia on said fan.
The infuriating part: recognizing that said fan was the Japanese skater who won silver at Junior Worlds.
She was all the way at the other side of the world and Yuri could already hear Mila teasing him for missing out on a kiss from the other Yuri. Did he care?
Hell. No.
Yuri missed out on nothing. The Junior Worlds silver medalist was a loser whose only reason for getting that kiss in the first place was as a consolation prize.
"I am not jealous that I didn't get a stupid kiss!" Yuri screamed before he stomped out of the locker room.
Even if she hadn't gotten a medal, Yuri knew that the other Yuri would be part of the gala. The live-stream of the gala opening proved that much as she skated out with the rest of the single female skaters who had been invited.
But if Yūri Katsuki had been upset before, no one could tell now. Not when she skated out onto the ice, greeted by her home crowd. Especially not as she began to skate the exhibition that had served as her short program during the year that she made her return.
Yuri was curious back when Yakov warned Mila about the Japanese Yuri. He'd sworn he would watch one video of her just to see what the big deal was. The video in question had been her comeback year's short program, and Yūri knew how to get the audience's attention. She didn't choose a classically frilly piece that bored people to death like all the other girls. No, the other Yuri made her entrance to the call of war and Yuri loved it.
As she ended her program, Yuri could just barely see members of the audience rising to their feet as they rejoiced at the return of their hero…
A hero comes home, huh?
None of the programs after Yūri's made any lasting impact on Yuri, especially not Viktor's. At least the balding idiot didn't do Hellfire again, but the Russian Ice Tiger knew that a sob story like Romeo and Juliet was hardly any better.
Could the old man be any more obvious about his obsession with the Japanese Yuri?
When the gala ended and the skaters gathered for the traditional group photo, Viktor was about to join the front when he suddenly headed to the back and ducked out of sight.
It would take more than a spot in the back to hide Viktor's receding hairline from the cameras. But Yuri's jaw dropped as Viktor reappeared, lifting a previously unseen Yūri high enough to be visible for the photo.
The answer to his earlier question, as Yuri held his phone in a tight grip, was—unfortunately—yes.
Who cared if Viktor was a five-time World Champion? When he came back to Saint Petersburg, he was going to die!
sukeota3sisters
[Photo: Group selfie of the World Figure Skating Championship gala skaters. Viktor is seen in the back holding up Yūri, who's oblivious to the man lifting her.]
sukeota3sisters v-nikiforov yuri-katsuki The history makers together #worlds #viktornikiforov #yurikatsuki
katsumama Thank you for lifting Yuri, v-nikiforov #worlds #viktornikiforov #yurikatsuki #gala #yurilift
minami-kenji This is the greatest week of my life!
yuri_plisetsky mila-babicheva How the hell did this happen, baba?
mila-babicheva yuri_plisetsky I didn't think he'd go this far, yura
foxrainyuri WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS! IS THIS A NEW SHIP? #victuri #yurilift
queen-vjones Get a grip. Yuri's still in a relationship with shanghai-long and a pair of big blue eyes aren't gonna sway her.
phichit+chu Yuri! What are you doing in Viktor's arms?
queen-vjones phichit+chu What's Viktor doing holding Yuri in the first place?
yuri_plisetsky queen-vjones He's got a death wish, that's what
christophe-gc Can confirm: Viktor's next target #yurilift #vikturi
yuri_plisetsky v-nikiforov christophe-gc Just sharpened my knife shoes
queen-vjones christophe-gc Nikiforov's nose
christophe-gc yuri_plisetsky What an adorable murder kitten you are
christophe-gc …I did not see you there queen-vjones
The opportunity presented itself a few days later when Yuri entered the locker room to see Georgi and Viktor back from Japan.
Much like a tiger, Yuri gave no warning at all. The second he laid eyes on Viktor's balding head, Yuri marched up to the idiot—turning his back to an attacker clearly made him one—and kicked him in the seat of his pants.
"Yuri!" Georgi shouted while Viktor turned to meet his attacker.
"Yuri," Viktor greeted as if Yuri hadn't just kicked him.
That just annoyed him even more as he glared up at the current world champion. "That was for the stunt you pulled at the gala," the teenager spat.
"You don't mean my exhibition, do you?" Viktor cocked his head innocently. (As if he had any innocence left. Hellfire had sealed the deal.) Then his eyes lit up and his mouth curled into that snide smile Yuri always hated. "Or~do you mean when I lifted Yūri at the end?"
"You know exactly what I mean, Viktor!" Yuri snapped.
"If it bothers you that much, you'll have a chance to lift her yourself next season, Yura," Viktor teased.
Later when Mila asked why Yakov ran off to investigate the yelling in the men's locker room during her coaching session, Georgi would sigh dramatically and tell her, "Viktor opened his mouth."
Yuri would maintain that Viktor ran into his foot. Accidentally.
Half a month into the off-season, Yakov kept his word and let Yuri start practicing quads. ("About time, old man!") Yuri had been ready since his junior days. If it hadn't been for the American junior girl, he could have started earlier.
Not that the American ever would have gotten good points for it. Her jump could be seen from a kilometer away and she'd been totally off axis. Yuri wanted to laugh then if it hadn't been for the crash that came after. Obviously, Celestino Cialdini couldn't teach quads to girls.
Except for the Japanese Yuri. But Yuri reminded himself that there was a difference. The junior was still growing while Yūri had already gone through puberty. The Japanese Yuri had time to adjust her new body to the ice whereas the American junior's had been in the middle of change.
Yuri had no idea when his body would do the same, but he knew he didn't have much time left.
The teenager had just landed a quad salchow when Mila let out a loud gasp. "Yuri! Yuri, come over!"
"What is it?" Yuri asked as soon as he reached the rink boards, ignoring Yakov barking at Viktor to listen for once in his old life.
Mila looked up from her phone and Yuri knew immediately that shit went down. Whatever she had found, she looked horrified. Yuri really hoped she wasn't about to rope him into her boyfriend drama. "What happened?"
"Have you seen this?" She turned her phone towards him. Yuri hadn't read a full sentence before his lower eyelid twitched in annoyance.
The Russian Ice Tiger looked up slowly, hacked off that Mila had distracted him from practicing quads for something so fucking stupid. "Why the hell am I looking at a scam?"
Mila turned her phone back to herself to see that yes, she'd been offered a chance to spin the wheel and win a new phone. (Like hell that ever worked.) "Not this!" she grumbled as she furiously tapped away at her screen before she finally found what she was looking at before. "Here!"
Cialdini and Katsuki Split, New Coach Unconfirmed
Yuri tried to skim through the article so that he could go back to practicing quads. But his eyes widened in shock when he finally processed the headline. "What the hell is this?!" Yuri screamed, reaching for Mila's phone at the same time Yakov started yelling at them to get back to work. "'Amicable split', my ass," he added as he read on. "'Learning so quickly that there's nothing left to teach her'—clearly if you're stupid enough to let her go!"
"It could have been Yūri's decision," Mila pointed out. But Yuri barely heard her. Not while he was reading the final line of the article.
The Japanese Skating Federation states that Katsuki has yet to find another coach. "We are waiting for Katsuki's response. Rumors that say she has found a new coach have no basis."
What kind of idiot would give up on a skater like her?
Yūri Katsuki: Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, two-time Four Continents champion, world record holder, and second woman to land a quad in competition. Any coach would be proud to have her.
It hadn't even been a month since Worlds and Celestino Cialdini already decided to get rid of her.
Mila's phone was snatched out of his hands by an old leathery pair that were clearly not Mila's. "I told you both to get back on the ice," Yakov growled as he locked Mila's phone and set it down on the barrier.
"I'm still on the ice!"
[So basically Cialdini fired her.]
[It was a friendly split, get your eyes checked!]
[Comment has been removed for violating community guidelines.]
[Comment has been removed for violating community guidelines.]
[It takes a special brand of idiot to lose a quad jumper and world record holder]
[I bet Celestino was ashamed of her results at worlds.]
[I hope she switches to Brian Orser, he'd be the perfect coach for her!]
[After what Yuri did at the World Championships? Every coach in the world will try to get her, Orser won't even stand a chance!]
Yuri's wise jab and Mila's "procrastination"—as Yakov put it—resulted in the two of them being let off for break later than Viktor and Georgi. Mila's phone had been detained until ten minutes into their lunch, when Yakov handed it to her before he went into his office.
The second she unlocked the screen, Mila immediately started typing away to somebody in her messages. Yuri figured she was texting her boyfriend until she whooped. "Thank you, Chris!"
Yuri didn't know why she had been texting Viktor's pervert friend. (After seeing his exhibition? Yuri was well within his rights to call Christophe Giacometti an incubus.) But Mila fired off a message again before she made a call. "Why does Chris have her number in the first place?" she wondered out loud as she put her call on speaker.
"Hello?" The second he heard the feminine voice on the other end, Yuri choked on his lunch. It wasn't just because he recognized the voice, but also because of one very good question.
Why the hell did the incubus have Yūri Katsuki's number?!
"Yūri!" Mila greeted, placing her phone on the table between herself and the teenager. Yuri didn't know if he wanted to run away or wring Mila's skinny neck for this. "I saw the article. Did you really split from your coach?
"Well…Celestino originally recommended—I mean, we both decided that I needed a new coach to take me to the next level," Yūri quickly added. Her earlier admission only confirmed Yuri's suspicion that Cialdini was the one who gave up on her.
"Do you have any coach in mind? Or is your skating federation trying to pick someone for you?" Mila asked.
"Celestino actually gave me another coach's info so I could contact him, in case I wanted to skate under him."
"Who is he?"
"…Brian Orser," came Yūri's answer, as though she'd been trying to decipher a handwriting.
"Oh, he's good," Mila noted. "He coached Yuna Kim and that cutie from Japan—what's his name, Yutsuki?"
Obviously not! Yuri silently hissed/screamed at Mila. Why did she have to bring the name of that stupid relationship into this?
"His name's Yuzuru," Yūri corrected.
"So I guess Orser will be your new coach."
"…Maybe…but—"
"What happened?" Mila asked slowly. "Did he say no?"
"No!" Yūri exclaimed. "I haven't even contacted him yet but…the JSF told me that another coach wanted to contact me."
"Who?"
"…Knee…Nikolai?" Yuri started praying to whatever higher powers existed—but clearly not the one that robbed the Japanese Yūri of the podium—that the biggest playboy in Russia—Viktor came in second—hadn't tried to scout her. "The last name's Morozov—"
"NO!" Mila and Yuri screamed at the phone on the table. "Do NOT go for Morozov, Yūri! He's a total sleaze, he's dated and divorced half of his students—" The female half, at least as far as Yuri knew. "—and no matter what anybody says, he is the father of Miki Ando's baby!" Mila finished.
"I wasn't even considering him! I was just wondering how to turn him down!" Yūri explained.
"Easy, you ignore him," Yuri said before he could stop himself.
"Is someone else there with you?" The Japanese Yuri asked while the Russian Yuri cursed for giving himself away.
"My rink mate Yuri, and he's right," Mila said, grinning evilly at Yuri. The Russian Ice Tiger wondered how much trouble he would get into if he stabbed a fork into Mila's hand. "Morozov's probably expecting you to chase after him. All you need to do to scare him off is pick Orser to be your coach." Then her eyes widened, and the grin on her face grew wider. "Or~you could ask Yakov to coach you!"
"What?!" The two Yuris screamed. "Mila, you're not serious, are you?" Oddly enough, the two Yuris—even though they were separated by a continent and a sea—were in sync in their speech.
"Sure, I am!" Mila said cheerily as she swiped her phone off the table when Yuri tried to steal it. "You could train here, keep Yakov sane when Viktor drives him crazy, and I know Yuri would enjoy seeing you around everyday!"
"I would not, you lying Baba!" It wasn't exactly a lie, but having her around meant Yuri would have to constantly chase off Viktor before he could get a chance to woo/corrupt/ruin the Japanese Yuri.
On second thought, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. If she was around, Yuri would have an excuse to shove his foot into Viktor's smarmy face every hour of the day. All he had to do was tell Yakov that Viktor was getting in the way of the Japanese Yuri's skating and the Russian Yuri would get off scot-free.
No, no—just having her anywhere near Viktor would be a disaster. Viktor might be young—"He's ancient! Get it right, moron!"—but Yuri wouldn't put it past him to pull a Morozov on the Japanese Yuri.
"But I don't even know Ru—" Was that the sound of an alarm bell on the Japanese Yuri's end or the sound of a dying battery? "—ssian and my phone is on low," Yūri added with an alarmed tone.
"How low is it?"
Yuri heard a sharp intake of breath. "…Ten percent."
"What else were you doing on your phone?" Mila asked, sounding both impressed and in disbelief.
"It's not my fault! The plane always gets cold when it's flying!" Yūri defended.
"Where are you?"
"I just touched down in Japan. Mila, I'm sorry but I really need to find an outlet—"
"Go ahead, I'll handle Yakov on my end," Mila assured. "Bye, Yūri!"
"Thanks, Mila."
When the call ended, Mila got out of her seat and prepared to leave. "Our break isn't over yet," Yuri pointed out.
"No, but I'm going to go find Yakov," Mila said with a mischievous/evil wink.
Realizing what she was going to do—and that she'd been completely serious about asking Yakov to take on a new skater—Yuri inhaled the rest of his lunch to chase after her. "No, no—don't you dare, Baba!"
Yuri barely had time to grab Mila's hand as she pushed the door to Yakov's office open a little when they heard Yakov say, "Really, Celestino, what were you thinking giving her up like that? I thought I'd seen the worst when you decided to keep Jones after the mess she created."
The teenagers looked at each other. Yakov didn't seem to notice his office door open and Yuri very much wanted to see where his conversation with Yūri's ex-coach was going. Nodding in agreement, Mila and Yuri let go of whatever they were holding and crouched near either side of the doorway.
Still, who was Jones? The name nagged him so much that Yuri knew he was supposed to know who Jones was.
"Yūri doesn't need me anymore," Celestino's voice rang, and Yuri was thankful for the fact that Yakov's old ears made him put the call on speaker. "She needs a new coach to take her in a new direction. That's something she wasn't going to get if she stayed with me."
"Then give me Katsuki's contact. I'll coach her." Yuri stared at the crack in the door in disbelief, Mila in awe.
But Celestino's reply quickly replaced that with fear. "I would rather give her to Morozov before I even consider you!" The Italian bellowed from Yakov's phone.
"You're a complete fool to think that Morozov would be a good coach to her, Celestino!" Yakov roared back.
"At least he cares about his girls, even if he cares a little too much!" That was an understatement. Yuri barely held back a snort that would have given him away.
"You think I haven't dealt with female students before? Have you already forgotten which one of my students placed above Katsuki at the Grand Prix Final?"
"With your temper, Yūri would be training in a minefield! She doesn't deserve that kind of environment, especially after what I did to her!"
Yuri froze as he met Mila's gaze, seeing fear and confusion blended together on her face. He was sure his face was practically the same.
What did Celestino do?
"What did you do?" Yakov asked cautiously as if he heard their thoughts.
There was a pause, as though Celestino Cialdini was debating on whether or not to answer. "I ruined that child's senior debut." His voice came out thick, and even Yuri knew Cialdini was trying to force the words out. "I was supposed to give her the best start to her career and I ruined it. Yūri paid the price, and all I did was hide her away and try to forget what I did to her." A chill ran down Yuri's spine at those words. He wanted to feel angry but…he didn't know what he felt, but it clearly wasn't anger.
"Celestino…what did you do to her?" Yakov asked slowly, but his voice was harsh enough for Yuri to know that he was angry. "Don't think you're off the hook yet," he barked.
Yuri never heard a response. What he did hear were footsteps. The teenager tried to get up, but staying crouched for so long disabled his legs that he couldn't run away in time as Yakov threw open his door. "Get back on the ice, the both of you!" he screamed just as Yuri's legs finally remembered what they were good for. He scrambled down the hallway towards the rink, Mila catching up to him in less than a second. "I'll teach you to eavesdrop again!"
For the first in the longest time, Yuri fell after a jump. Of course Yakov yelled at him to get it right. Normally, Yuri would have grit his teeth in frustration after making such a rookie mistake. He landed a quad Salchow when he was only twelve. He was more than capable of attempting it again three years later.
Yuri tried to ignore what he had overheard as he went into a quad Salchow, which he landed on a shallow edge. But no matter how much he tried, Yuri couldn't let it go.
Celestino Cialdini had let Yūri Katsuki go because he was ashamed. Not of her but of himself, and he'd hidden away that shame like a disowned child.
He did something to her back then. Yuri didn't know what had happened all those years ago, but he was sure of one thing.
Celestino Cialdini did something to hurt her.
To break her.
To ruin her.
And Yuri didn't want to know what it was.