Chapter 18: Hurricane

(Yurio is about to come down like a firestrike on Victor's plans…)

Yuuri woke to the oddest feeling of mingled arousal and concern, and he wasn't sure, but he thought he might have heard a whimper. He looked around, but found that Maccachin had left his usual spot on the bed.

He probably went back to Victor.

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, only to think a few moments later, that he heard the little distressed whimpering again. Frowning, he climbed out of his bed and left his room, trying to keep his bare feet silent as he crept along to Victor's bedroom door. The sliders had been left a little open for Maccachin to pass through, so Yuuri was able to peek in. As he did, he heard Victor's voice sound in a soft, weary sob.

"Y-yume?"

Yume?

That word again…like the name of that practice program he was doing. Is it more than just a word to him? Could it be a person? Is this someone he knows from Japan? Maybe an old girlfriend? I know he dated girls before.

He stood, silently watching as Victor shifted and a shaft of light coming in through the window illuminated a tear as it rolled down the sleeping Russian's cheek.

If it was a girlfriend, maybe it ended badly. It seems like he's in pain over it. But…it's private unless Victor decides to tell me about it.

"Yuuri?"

Yuuri startled at the sound of his sister's voice, then he saw that Victor was awake and sitting up in the bed.

Naked!

Don't think about what's under the blanket right now.

"Yuuri!"

"Sorry, what?" Yuuri yelped, turning away and trying with all of his might not to look as though he'd been spying on his handsome and naked coach.

"Since you're up, I need some help with the stove. It's acting up again and you're better than me at fixing it."

"Oh…yeah, sure."

He felt Victor's eyes following as he continued past the Russian skater's guest room.

Inside the guest room, Victor pulled Maccachin up against him and smirked, shaking his head.

"What was with that?" he mused, "Yuuri was watching me sleep? That's so cute, isn't it? Isn't Yuuri the cutest?"

Victor giggled and stretched, then he reached over and picked up his cell phone. He studied the notifications and clicked on one.

"It looks like Chris is in great shape for this season," he commented, "ah, but he said he'll be bored to death without me to compete against. Hmm, I think he's too quick to think that Yuuri won't be able to challenge him. I wonder if we'll be assigned to any of the same events Chris is. I sure hope so."

He spotted a voicemail notification and grinned.

"Lilia! She's probably going to scold me for not calling her sooner," he snickered.

He pressed the button to call into his voicemail and played back the message.

"Vitya, why haven't you called yet?"

Victor laughed softly and winked at Maccachin.

"Told you."

"Yakov is still not speaking to you, but he asked me to pass on a message we received about the ashes that were being sent to you from the hospital in Japan. They have arrived, and we need to know what you would like us to do. Is there something you want besides the ashes in the urn? Call me back and let me know what to tell the old fool."

Victor held his breath for a moment and closed his eyes, thinking.

I do have an idea.

He conducted a quick search through his contacts and touched one of the numbers to dial it. After a few rings a man's sleepy voice answered in Russian.

"Grigory."

"Hey, Grigory, this is Vitya."

"Vitya!" the man on the other end of the phone exclaimed, "Why are you calling me so late? Is something wrong?"

Victor laughed.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized, "I keep forgetting about the time difference, "I can call back another time."

"It's okay. It's no problem," his friend reassured him, "How are you doing? I heard you ran away to Japan to coach someone?"

"Yes, I'm coaching Yuuri Katsuki, here. But I have something I want to have made. I was wondering if you could do it."

"What is it you want? Something glittery to add to next season's costume? Something shiny for the Japanese boy?"

Victor smiled sadly.

"Well, I have a sentimental piece I want. You see, someone quite important to my student and I recently passed away."

"Not Maccachin!" Grigory said in an alarmed tone.

"No, no, no," Victor reassured the man, "Maccachin is fine. He's here with me right now. It's…someone else, but the piece I want is sentimental."

"All right, what metal?"

"Gold, but I am having a small amount of ashes sent to you and I would like you to put them inside the piece…in the core. Can you make two small golden skates that separate? You know, like those friendship pendants?"

"Of course, of course. That's no problem. Do you want anything inscribed on the pieces?"

"Yes," Victor answered, "On the bottom or the back of the pendant, inscribe in English the name Yume, capital Y-u-m-e."

"Y-u-m-e." Grigory repeated, "I've got it. Where would you like it sent when it's done?"

Victor gave the jeweler the address, then he ended the call and sat down on the bed holding his phone in his lap and reaching over to pet Maccachin with his other hand, his eyes sad.

Maybe this will make me feel more ready to tell Yuuri about her. I can give the pendant to him before we start the Grand Prix Series competitions…as a sign of our mutual commitment to his hopes to win the Grand Prix Finals.

Yes.

That would be a perfect gift.

I just…wonder how he'll take it. Will he be angry with me for not saying anything from the start? But, I don't see how he would be angry when he left without ever speaking to me after we were together the night we made her. I still don't know why he left without speaking to me. I haven't had the courage to ask him, or to get into all of this mess regarding what I am. Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it. He hasn't confronted me about being an omega. Maybe he wants to let it go. But…given Yume's death…he really should be told.

God, this is tearing me apart inside.

He took a long, shaky breath and let it go slowly. Sudden tears burned in the corners of his eyes.

I keep putting it off, maybe because it all feels too real when I start to think about telling him.

"Victor, are you…okay?"

I really need to shut that door.

He turned his head away as Yuuri lingered in the doorway, shifting nervously.

"S-sorry, I was just going back to my room, and I…"

"It's okay," Victor lied, "I was just…"

"Was it about the bad dream you were having earlier?" Yuuri asked, startling Victor all over again, "Sorry if it seems like I'm butting in, but I heard you talking and looked in, and you seemed like you were having a bad dream."

Oh no!

He forced a wavering smile.

"Oh that," he said, brushing it off, "It was nothing. And don't worry about anything else. I was just on the phone with my old ballet instructor and she got me thinking of how Yakov stopped talking to me, so…I was a little depressed about that."

Yuuri gave him a look of alarm.

"Your coach was that mad at you? He stopped talking to you?"

"Yes."

"But Yakov has been your coach for a really long time! I know he's like a father to you."

Yuuri paused, then a look of guilt overtook his face.

"Of course he'd be angry, though. I dragged you away from your own training."

"Yuuri, I told you not to worry about that. I know what I need to be doing right now, and I can't do that if I'm training."

Yuuri's look of guilt turned into agony.

"But…you're…"

"Nyet!" Victor snapped sharply, making Yuuri blink in surprise and take a step back, "I told you that I wanted to come here. I want to train you this season. That was my choice and not you nor Yakov has anything to say about it. Leave it alone, Yuuri. All I want is for you to concentrate on losing those extra pounds so that we can start skating. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes!" Yuuri stammered, "Of course."

"Good," Victor said, standing, "Then, let's go and start your exercise."

"I'm ready," Yuuri answered gamely.

"Good."

Yuuri started to say more, only to be interrupted as Mari's voice called out from the hallway.

"Hey, Yuuri! Mom needs help bringing in the morning shipment and there are a few things I can't lift. Can you get them before you and Victor leave?"

Victor smiled.

"I'll tell you what. You go help out, weigh in and if you are down to your last pre-Grand Prix Final weight, then meet me at the ice rink. If not, call me and we can go work out some more, okay?"

"Okay," Yuuri sighed, heading off to the kitchen.

Victor smiled down at Maccachin.

"Come on, let's jog today. I'm feeling pretty good."

They left the inn and started out at an easy pace, heading down the street and over the nearby bridge. He felt no pain at first, but felt flickers as he reached the far side of the bridge. He slowed then to walk the rest of the way.

I know it's supposed to take six weeks to be ready to ease back in, but I've been feeling so good. Maybe today is just an off day. I'm feeling depressed and hurting physically a little. I'll just take it easy.

Maccachin followed him up the steps and into the ice rink, slowing as they encountered a crowd of people in the entry area.

"Look at him! He's so beautiful!" a woman squealed, making the Russian legend color slightly and smile.

"Good morning!" he called out cheerfully, passing by the crowd and into the ice rink.

He greeted Yuko and the triplets, then sat down on a bench to put on his skates.

Yuuri was pretty close to that weight goal already. Maybe he'll reach it today and we can really start working on his programs. For the short program, I should probably just have him perform my Eros or Agape program.

He finished with his skates and walked slowly to the rink entrance, heading onto the ice, wearing a thoughtful expression.

Damn it.

I couldn't decide before whether I should use the Eros program or the Agape program for myself, when I was planning to compete. It was almost a relief not to have to answer that question. But now, the question is…which program should I give Yuuri to perform? As an Alpha, I would normally suggest he should do the Agape program, because such a thing would be surprising...but Yuuri doesn't act like an alpha, so it might actually be the opposite for him. Maybe he should perform the Eros program.

Or…

…maybe I should make an entirely new program? Ugh! But I am so lacking in motivation, I don't know what to do. I wouldn't know where to begin, and I really need to get Yuuri started learning a short program immediately. He needs a high difficulty program to help him maximize the potential that I saw him display in that viral video.

I can give him that.

Either program, Eros or Agape could be the answer. I just have to decide which would surprise the audience more. I'm thinking maybe Eros? Because although Yuuri is an alpha, he doesn't have the obvious confidence of one. You don't feel the advance of his pheromones the way that you do with most alphas. His radiance is more of a quiet one…one that you don't get hit in the face with, but it still grabs you.

Gods, how do I even decide this?

What have I gotten myself into?

He began to skate slowly, warming his body up carefully. It bolstered him to find that the nagging pain he'd felt earlier had disappeared, and he took advantage of the short respite to start skating the Eros program. His lips frowning as he visualized Yuuri in different costumes, performing the powerful alpha moves of the program, he worked through the opening and a choreographed sequence, then having forgotten that it was still not advisable for him to be doing it, he added the triple axel.

Immediately, the nagging pain in his abdomen reared up and his breath caught as he landed.

Ugh.

He bit his lip gently and moved more cautiously through the step sequence.

Hmm, yes, that's it. I can see Yuuri picking up a lot of performance points with the more difficult steps. And Yuuri is known for his powerful step sequences and spins. This will work nicely with his current strong points. We can worry about the jumps later. I know he can do the quad toe loop with decent consistency and his triple axel seems well controlled too. I'll incorporate those two jumps, then maybe a triple toe loop to go with the quad toe loop? Yuuri has stamina, so he could save the jumps for the second half of the program.

Hmm, but that other jump…

Maybe a triple flip? A triple lutz? It needs to get him some points, because other skaters in the competitions will have two quads in the short program. I'm not completely sure that the increased PCS from the more difficult step sequence will bridge the gap.

Victor sighed thoughtfully as he finished the run-through and he took the opening position again. He went through the program more quickly this time, and he was pleased that the pain he'd felt earlier didn't return, even as he landed the Eros program's triple axel.

Maybe I just needed to warm up more.

He had moved into the choreographed sequence and was deep in thought when the door to the rink slammed open and Yuri Plisetsky's rough, angry voice lashed out at him.

"HEY VICTOR! You have time for a little chat?"

In the split second Victor's head turned and his blue-green eyes landed on the angry young man and the more flustered looking one beside him, the Russian legend felt a hard throbbing in his head and saw a flash vision of the two of them transformed.

He saw Yuri Plisetsky in pure colors, perhaps white and glittery silver, his usually angry features transformed into the wide-eyed, innocent vision of Agape. Yuuri Katsuki appeared in his mind, dressed in darker colors and looking back at him with seductive narrowed brown eyes. The feeling was so overwhelming it took him a moment to recover enough to answer.

"Yuri!" he exclaimed, breaking into a wide, friendly smile, "I didn't know you were here. I'm surprised Yakov let you come. You want something?"

He was a little stymied by the hard, furious growl he received in reply.

"Well, that's not a happy face. Let me guess. You're here because I forgot to do something I said I would do?" he inquired.

Did I forget a promise I made or something?

"Of course you did, stupid!" Yuri snapped, "You fucking promised that if I won the junior worlds without using any quad jumps, that you would design a goddamned program just for me!"

Victor blinked in surprise, then he thought more deeply and loosed a sheepish laugh as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Oh right! That. I'm sorry, I forgot about that, but you know how forgetful I am."

"Yeah," Yuri snarled, grimacing, "I'm painfully aware."

He stomped an angry foot and bore down on Victor, making him take a step back.

"But I'm holding you to your promise! You're going to give me that program!"

Victor felt as though the floor dropped out from underneath him as Yuri Plisetsky's next words reached him.

"WE'RE GOING BACK TO RUSSIA!"

No.

There is no way in hell.

If I go back there, I really will die.