Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of YOI, just this story and most of the settings are real world locations and based on real facts.
Hey, it's almost back to school from the holidays for me! :(
Before I return to the hell's nest of work, projects, and end of January exams, I shall present you guys with this chapter.
Which will probably mark the start of a very long hiatus for this story...hopefully not, though! (But no promises)
I really want to continue this story, but I will find it difficult to do so without motivation.
So remember, FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you want this story to stay alive!
Please enjoy.
Ch 3: The skater with no fear
Friday. April 1, 2016. TD Garden.
The day of the free skate arrived. And the skaters all arrived early for extra off-ice practice, nearly all of them were nervous than ever after seeing the results of the short program.
Yuri was jumping up and down on one foot while listening to his free skate music on his phone. It was the only way for him to calm down. He and Yurio had never felt so crushed before.
After the short program, Victor was placed first, followed by Gordon Kang of the USA, and Brian Szmitko of Austria.
He and Yurio placed fourth and fifth respectively. Gordon and Brian were the last two skaters following Victor's performance and were also known as skating veterans.
Gordon recently healed from an injury—which explained his absence in the Grand Prix Series—but his short program showed that his skills never wavered during his recovery period.
Yuri didn't see it before, but he saw it now. He was in the big leagues. And Victor already owned this stage.
Yuri realized that there's a very little chance of winning gold at this Worlds, but if he tried hard enough in the free skate, he could make it onto the podium at least.
Group one, men's free skate.
Otabek Altin was the last skater in group one. Breathing deeply as he took the ice, he waited for his music to come on: Beethoven's Symphony no. 9.
He looked for Yurio among the sea of people at the stands. Finally, he spotted the blonde head of the Russian teen, holding up the flag of Kazakhstan. It was so unlike Yurio…
Yurio jumped up in time as Otabek performed his first jumping pass. Victor smiles at Yurio's being supportive of another competitor. Almost surprised even…
Yuri Katsuki looked at the time from his watch. They had plenty of time between now and their turn. He and Yurio would be skating in the last group of the night, with Victor. Who would've imagined that?
He just hoped that his free skate this time won't be as horrible as it was at the 2014 Grand Prix Finals. Otabek's free skate was reaching its end as Yuri tapped Yurio lightly on the shoulder.
"Eh?! What are you doing, Pork—"
"You wanna continue from where we left off last time?" Yuri whispered, knowing that Yurio would understand what he meant.
Just as expected, Yurio nodded in agreement as Otabek finishes a clean free skate. They all applaud and Yurio throws down a present for him. A giant motorcycle plushie.
Then he and Yuri picked up their bags and walked towards the steps. Trying to keep attention low to themselves. But unfortunately, Victor saw them trying to leave while engaged in conversation with Celestino.
"Huh? Hey! Where are the two of you going again this time?"
The two Yuris stopped dead in their tracks. They hoped that it wouldn't come down to this. They can not let Victor come with them.
"Oh...uh...washroom break?" Yuri tried.
"Mmmhmm, right…" Victor rolled his eyes. "Why can't I come along? Am I a bother?"
"NO!" Both Yuris cried at the same time.
"No…" Yurio comes up with a last minute excuse.
"Fine, you win, Victor. I give up. The truth is, Piggy is helping me on some of my schoolwork since neither you nor Yakov aced at quadratics back in high school…"
Victor blinked, dumbfounded. "Quad-what-ics?"
Yurio let out an annoyed growl as he pulled Yuri's sleeve while Victor began googling what 'quadratics' are.
"C'mon Piggy, let's go while we have the chance!"
With that, the two skaters made a break down the steps and across the rinkside towards the hall at the back of the arena. Victor finally found the definition and turned around.
"I got it! It's that graph with a curve like a bridge! You solve it by factoring! Right? Where'd you guys go?"
In the men's washroom.
"Geez! I thought he wouldn't let up!" Yurio cried as he threw down his warmup jacket and sat down on the same bench as they did on the day of the short program.
"Well, at least we got rid of him. And...are really struggling with quadratics?" Yuri asked as he took his seat.
Yurio's eyes darted around as his he bit his lip. "Uhh...it's not that bad, I just got to work a little harder."
"If you're really struggling, I'd be more than happy to help—"
"I said I just got to work a little harder!" Yurio snapped but quickly apologized.
He took out his tablet and opened the web browser app. It was showing the results of the 2013 Russian Championships for the ladies' singles event. Yuri felt chills run through his body. He rubbed his arms, shivering.
"Is it just me, or am I more scared of this free skate than the one at the Grand Prix Final? This is the Worlds after all..."
"Stop thinking about it so much! You'll only make it worse for yourself! You dragged us here to focus on this, not the free skate. Have you been doing any research at all?" Yurio demanded.
Yuri shook his head. "Not really...Victor wouldn't leave me alone since the short program. What have you got?"
"The results of the 2013 Russian Championships. Gold medalist is Annie Vasin. The silver and bronze medalists are Olivia Nguyen and Adelie Shenko. Annie still seems like the most likely contender. She trains at my rink so maybe there was something…"
Yuri suddenly pointed at the silver medalist's name.
"Hey, that's one of the girls I mentioned last time before Victor interrupted us! The Asian girl? Her way of presenting herself is really aesthetically pleasing."
"Hmm? I guess, but I don't think she ever trained in the St. Petersburg rink before. Adelie did...but then again, she has a boyfriend and the relationship is still going on currently."
The doors of the washroom opened and Phichit entered, surprised upon seeing the two skaters sitting on the bench. He was dressed in his warm-up outfit.
"Hey, guys! Watcha doing?" Phichit asked.
"Solving the mystery of the game of twenty questions," Yurio said very matter-of-factly.
"Oh! From the Barcelona Grand Prix Final banquet? You guys still haven't let that go yet? Oh, never mind, this seems interesting, let me see!" Phichit pranced over.
Several minutes later…
"I think that it's Annie Vasin. I dunno—I mean Yurio did say that she practices at the same rink as Victor, right?" Phichit asked.
Yurio nodded. "I know right? But Piggy here thinks it's someone else...who!?"
"Well...but, yeah! I think Phichit's only saying it's Annie because he likes Sonia Ivanov, and doesn't want to consider her as a possibility! He blushes whenever he sees her photos!" Yuri pointed out in his defense.
Phichit jumped up from the bench as if someone lit a fire under his seat. "That's not true! You're just seeing things! And—oh my god!" Phichit looked at the time on his phone.
"I gotta go now. It's almost my turn to skate. Wish me luck!" Phichit waved away.
"Good luck!" Yuri cried.
As soon as Phichit left, Yuri turned back to Yurio. "Do you wanna leave too?"
"Let's finish watching the 2010 European Championships. And then we'll leave. But hey, Yuri. Looks like Annie is our best contender so far…" Yurio said smugly.
Out in the ice arena.
Victor sighed as he looked at his watch, waiting for Yuri and Yurio to return from the 'math help session' in the washroom.
He was pretty sure that they weren't working on quadratics, but he's also sure that they didn't want his presence there. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Chris walking up to him.
"Hey, Chris? Do you think that I'm becoming uncool?" Victor asked.
"What? Why are you saying that?" Chris asked, surprised.
"It's just that I think Yuri and Yurio are avoiding me because...maybe it's a thing between young people. I dunno! Am I a third wheel now?" Victor threw his hands up.
Chris laughed. "Calm down, Vic. You're just overreacting because of your engagement to Yuri. Love can be...blinding most of the time."
"Love can be what?" Yuri asked suddenly.
Chris and Victor turned around to see Yuri and Yurio come up from the steps. Victor smiled in relief to see the two skaters return.
Just then, Phichit's free skate began. Skating to Terra Incognita.
"Ah. You're back. And just in time too, Victor was about to have a heart attack over wondering what you two were doing," Chris joked.
"No, I wasn't! Geez, now I do feel old…thanks a lot, Chris..." Victor buried his head in his arms.
Phichit performs a stunning triple axel, and the skaters standing at the boards cheered for him.
"What were you and Chris talking about? Something about 'love can be blinding?'" Yuri returned to his first question.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, I said that love can be blinding, at most times."
He continued, "The more you care, the more your judgment will be hindered. You'd trust your lover with a lot of things and you'd do anything for them. Which leads to unwise decisions..."
"I know," Victor said quietly.
His hair partially covering his face as his eyes stayed glued on Phichit's step sequence. The three skaters looked at him, curious about his sudden change in tone.
"I know that all too well..."
Yuri sensed that something was wrong. "Hey, Victor? If there's something bothering you, I'm here to listen."
"There's nothing to talk about, Yuri. Let's just watch Phichit's free skate, ok?" Victor said in a gentle voice.
Yuri didn't give up. "But I just wanna hel—"
"Yuri." Victor's tone was not as warm as it was before. "There's nothing to talk about."
Phichit finishes his free skate program and the audience all jump to their feet in a standing ovation. Yuri was too shocked from the way Victor spoke to him to notice Phichit's free program score, which was a 146.31.
His total combined score was 237.05, landing him in fourth place. Behind Jean-Jaques, Otabek, and Georgi. Yuri was still in shock and remained quiet for the rest of the event until the final group rolled up.
Final group. Men's Free Skate.
The final six skaters left the ice as soon as the warm-up session was over. Yuri focused on the elements of the second half of his program but had trouble concentrating the whole time.
The first skater, Chris, exchanged a nod and supportive smile with his coach at the side of the boards before skating off onto the ice.
Yuri nervously put his skate guards on and went over to the stands, looking behind his shoulders to see Victor talking to Yakov. Thoughts about Victor's remark to what Chris said about 'love being blinding,' rushed back into his mind.
There were only a few times when Yuri saw Victor display any negative emotions. But what he saw back during Phichit's free skate, was pain. Victor was in pain.
That he knew, one hundred percent. He just didn't know why.
Yuri bit his lip as Chris' music came on, Spanish Rhapsody. The Swiss skater's opening jump, the quadruple salchow, was massive.
Victor was to go on after Chris. He looked out towards the ice as Chris went into his final combination spin, ending it all with one knee on the ice and one arm raised in the air.
Applause rained down from the audience as his score was being announced. 174.26 points for the free skate. A combined total of 279.75 points. Chris is currently in first place.
Yuri felt his body shake upon seeing the score. He's gonna need to skate cleanly in order to beat this. Victor goes on the ice and Yuri stands by the bottom of the stands, unable to go any further. The Phantom of the Opera plays over the speakers.
The whole arena gave off intense vibes as Victor skated into his first combination, quadruple salchow/triple toe. Yuri felt goosebumps form on his arm when Victor's landing on the triple toe was a little scratchy.
"Victor Nikiforov is making a comeback in the middle of the season!?"
"So he isn't retiring yet? Joyous news for all of the figure skating world!"
"Is he still with Katsuki Yuri? What is their current relationship?"
"What will we expect of them?"
All of those thoughts floated through Yuri's mind as Victor went through his free skate. Victor's comeback in the middle of this season is amazing. His relationship to Victor is still coach and student. But there's definitely more than just that.
"Really, Yuri Katsuki? You think you know everything about Victor Nikiforov?"
A memory from what Yurio said that night at the Grand Prix Final banquet in Barcelona came back. Victor enters the second half of his program and goes into a triple axel.
Yuri knew that there's no way he'd be placing first at this Worlds. But at least a spot a podium...
I won't disappoint tonight. This is where I'll prove to everyone I wasn't having just one good night at the Grand Prix Final!
Victor's program finishes with a score of 216.12, and a combined total of 326.80. He is in first place currently. Yurio goes over the boards as soon as Victor hops off the ice. Yakov gives him one last drink from his bottle before sending him off.
Yuri sits down in the stands and tried to focus his eyes on Yurio's free skate. At the same time when the music came on, Allegro Appassionato in B Minor, Yuri was tackled from behind by Victor.
"Boo! Did I give you a stroke?" Victor asked right next to Yuri's ear.
"Umm...I don't think that's how strokes work...and well, you seem to be awfully cheery," Yuri remarked.
"Of course I'd be! You seem to be awfully down, which is a problem. You're going right after Gordon Kang, who's going after Yurio. Cheer up! This is the Worlds!" Victor exclaimed.
Yuri watched as Yurio performs a magnificent quadruple salchow. The youngster's stamina really improved since the Grand Prix Final.
"Yeah, and I won't be getting gold this time for sure. Five World titles...this is gonna take me until I'm 40!" Yuri slumped back.
Victor gazed on top of him, "So what? Then you'd be the first skater in history to retire at age 46!"
"What!? But Victor...you know that sooner or later, our bodies will give way. And besides, I don't want to stop you from having a life outside of skating...just because I didn't uphold my end of our promise..."
"Where you go, I go," Victor said taking Yuri's hand in his as the climax of Yurio's free skate came up.
Yurio revised this program to prevent himself from losing any endurance during the second half, and therefore more able to focus on the GOE instead of fall deductions.
Playing it safe at his first World Championships.
He finishes a clean free skate and goes over to the kiss-and-cry, where Yakov and Lilia handed him his water again. Yurio drinks it like it's his life energy as his score was being announced.
180.99 points and a combined total of 286.51. Yuri Plisetsky is currently in second place. Victor stood up and cheered as Yurio came over to the stands.
"Woohoo! Amazing!" He clapped.
Yurio shrugged and sat next to Victor and Otabek, who gave him a curt nod and smile.
"It really was amazing, Yuri."
Yurio softened up upon hearing the compliment from his stoic friend.
"I guess so. But let's see how the rest of the skaters will do, I don't want to celebrate just yet."
Gordon Kang of the USA was breathing heavily as he held his final pose. He fell on two of his jumps and stumbled on several others. This was clearly not his night. But he did just heal from an injury, so that could be the explanation why.
Didn't matter. His score from the short program should be enough to boost this less-than-ok free skate. Free skate score was 180.18, resulting in a combined score of 295.01 points. Landing Gordon in second place.
Yuri felt his own breaths just as heavy as Gordon's when he left the ice and walked right past the Japanese skater. Victor had quickly put on his tan coat and name tag in order to look professional while sending Yuri off with confidence.
"Yuri, listen to me. Forget about gold. Forget about becoming five-time World Champion, go out there and skate! Skate like the skater you dreamed of being since you were little! Do this for yourself!" Victor whispered.
"Ok," Yuri whispered back before skating to the center of the ice.
His music, Yuri on Ice.
He opens his program with the quadruple toe/double toe. His landing was a bit scratchy, but he held on. His next jumps, the quadruple salchow, and the triple flip were perfectly clean.
Sometime in the middle of his program, Yuri forgot about the pressure of the competition. He was skating because he loved to skate. Because his long time idol was watching him, and loved to watch him.
He was delivering a performance for everyone, but he was doing this for himself. Yuri completes all but one of his jumping passes, though not all were clean, he felt more motivated here than at the Grand Prix Final.
The end of the program would be finished with a quadruple salchow. It's time to deliver! Finishing his last combination spin, Yuri goes into a quick choreographic sequence right at the very peak of his four-minute range.
Ending his sequence, Yuri goes into his quad salchow...and touches down on the landing with one hand.
Damnit! He was rushing too much to get this jump in before the music ended!
He quickly pushed himself back up and skates into his end pose. The crowd went wild. Yuri was brought back to reality. Sweat dripping down his forehead as he knelt on the ice and looked up at the bright lights shining down on him.
From the boards, Victor was amazed by Yuri's free skate. He had no words when Yuri returned to him and they sat down on the kiss-and-cry.
His score was an 181.07, giving him a total of 287.02. Yuri Katsuki is currently in third place. Yuri felt tears of joy rushing to his eyes. Victor embraced him gently, burying his head in his shoulder.
"You were in another world...Yuri. Out there in that moment, you were creating your own universe and were dragging the rest of us into it. That is the magic of skating," Victor said.
"I found it…" Yuri cried, letting his tears go.
Brian Szmitko of Austria falls on his last jump, the quadruple toe loop. He goes into his final combination spin with zero enthusiasm. He had either fell or popped nearly all of his jump elements in this free skate.
He knew that he was known as the 'skater with the strong short programs but breaks down in the free skate,' but this was an absolute disappointment.
Brian barely held onto his finishing pose without breaking down and immediately went over to the boards, where his coach comforted him. His score was 159.06, giving him a total of 266.97 points. Brian is currently in 6th place.
And that was it. The end of the 2016 Men's World Figure Skating Championships. The results: Victor taking the gold, Gordon wins silver, and Yuri Katsuki earned the bronze.
"Wait, I landed a spot on the podium?" Yuri exclaimed in disbelief.
Victor wrapped his arms around him from behind, lovingly.
"You did, my Katsudon. You did it."
The Medal Ceremony
Yuri almost fell off his podium when he leaned forward to let the bronze medal be put on him. He stared at the shiny round symbol of achievement in disbelief.
Yuri almost fell again when he saw Gordon offer him his hand in congratulations. The silver medal glistening around the American's neck.
"Good job, today. That was an amazing free skate. Especially that end!"
Victor thrusts his gold medal out for the photographers as a fan threw the flag of Russia for him to catch. A flag of Japan and the USA was also given to Yuri and Gordon. They stepped off the podium and let the sea of the media envelope them.
Though Yuri was overwhelmed a little and attempted to skate away, Victor pulled right back in. Clinging onto his arm like they were superglued together.
Questions flew here and there, asking about Victor's comeback, Gordon's injury, and Yuri's risky move at the end of his free skate.
How on earth did skaters like Victor handle this kind of attention nearly all their competitive life? Thought Yuri.
As if he was mind reading Yuri, Victor answered, "Welcome to my world."
After the medal ceremony.
"Hey! There's the bronze medalist! Congratulations, Yuri!" Phichit cried as he threw his arms around him and took a selfie.
"Phichit, please don't be so loud…" Yuri complained, blushing.
"Hey, Yuri," Yurio said coolly, appearing behind him. "Good job today. You're good competition material. It was a close call this time, but next time, I'll be the one kicking you off the podium."
He was right. Yurio placed fourth behind Yuri and their difference wasn't too great. Should he have included more difficult elements, he would've taken third place.
Chris and Otabek clapped when Yuri entered the outside hall after the medal ceremony. Otabek congratulated him politely while Chris congratulated him on achieving his dream of sharing a podium with Victor.
"I know right?! Yuri! I'm proud of you! Even though it's a downgrade from the Grand Prix Final, it's still amazing! You showed us a new strong 'Yuri' tonight!" Victor cheered.
"Mmmhmm. Ending it all with the quadruple salchow? Well, no skater would've risked it. But you did," Georgi said.
Phichit jumped up to get everyone's attention.
"Cheers to Yuri! The skater who takes the highest risks! The 'skater with no fear!'" He cried.
"The 'skater with no fear!'"
"The 'skater with no fear!'"
"The 'skater with no fear!'"
Several people who were members of the audience, skaters, coaches, and reporters heard the skaters chanting and began to join in too. Cameras were going off like crazy and journalists were scribbling as if this information was the very essence of the universe.
Yuri stopped feeling overwhelmed and just let the whole situation slowly sink into him. He swelled with amazement from all these cheers and his new title: 'the skater with no fear.'
Victor pulled him in close. "See, Yuri? You don't need gold to win."
July 2, 2016. Hasetsu Inn
Yuri was helping his family clean out the inn, they were glad he finally came home after the end of the 2015-16 season, and he wanted to be of help to them.
He picked some fallen newspapers and caught sight of the headlines on its cover.
JAPANESE SKATER, YURI KATSUKI NAMED 'THE SKATER WITH NO FEAR' AFTER PHENOMENAL FREE SKATE AT THE 2016 BOSTON WORLDS
Yuri smiled sweetly upon seeing his new title. He is finally making his mark in the skating world. And he's going to work hard to uphold that title in the 2016-17 season.
Hopefully... Finishing up with the vacuuming of the guest rooms, Yuri went out for a run. His destination: Hasetsu Ice Castle.
"Hey, Yuri!" Takeshi, Yuko's husband greeted him upon arrival.
"Hey, Takeshi. Is um, Victor's bag still here?" He asked.
He was referring to Victor's personal gym bag that was accidentally left behind when he departed for Russia. Victor spent the last week of June, working with Yuri on his quadruple lutz, but had to go back to Russia for the rest of July and half of August for his own training.
And now he's complaining because he left behind his gym bag back in the Ice Castle in Hasetsu, Japan. Since Yakov refused to let him miss any day of vigorous training, Victor asked Yuri if he could bring it to him in Russia.
Takeshi took a key and gestured Yuri to follow him. He led him to the manager's office of the rink.
"Yuko kept in it here because we both knew the girls would be tearing away at this item if we brought it home," Takeshi chuckled as he unlocked the door.
"Good point," Yuri agreed.
Turning on the light of the room, Takeshi left Yuri as soon as he heard the front entrance of the rink open again, and he ran off to greet the newcomer. Yuri found the partially opened blue gym bag on top of a large filing cabinet.
Reaching up to grab it, he accidentally let his fingers slip and the bag came crashing down. Some of its contents scattered across the floor.
"Oh great!" Yuri wailed in panic as he began to frantically pick up all the fallen items.
He picked several bottles of hand sanitizer, an old phone case, a little journal with a lock on it, a Makkachin keychain, and photos that had fallen out of a disorganized photo album.
Yuri couldn't help but look at a few of the photos Victor kept in his collection. Several of them were from the night when Yuri had a little too much to drink…
But there was also a photo of Victor celebrating Christmas with Yakov dressed as a Santa. A photo of him and Makkachin posing in front of a large garden. A photo of him and several skaters at his rink attempting to perform the cheerleading pyramid pose.
And a photo of him smiling with a girl with dark wavy hair…
Yuri felt his breath stop. He examined the photo closely, trying to take in the whole story behind it. They were standing together, wearing winter apparel. The background was brightly lit up with festivities.
He closed in on the girl's face. No recognition.
"Yuri! Did you find the bag?" Takeshi's voice rang out through the halls.
He quickly put the photos back into the album and tightened the string around the bag.
"Yeah! Thanks!" He called out.
I need to share this with Yurio...
Aug. 10, 2016. Ice Castle Hasetsu
Victor demonstrated his quadruple lutz to Yuri, who watched in awe but also with focus.
He focused on the way Victor's upper body was positioned right before the take-off, the way his body leaned in the air, and the unwrapping of the leg in the landing position.
Skating over to Yuri, Victor gave some words of advice.
"Don't hold your edge for too long before the take-off. It's good to take your time, but if you overdo it, you're only rushing yourself to finish the jump before you hit the boards. And that's why you're falling on your landings."
Yuri nodded, "I'll try again."
He circled the rink in backward crossovers before going onto his back left outside edge. This time, he didn't wait as long before he planted his toepick into the ice.
Pulling his body in tight, Yuri rotated around four times and landed—on his rear end once again. Victor skated over to help him back to his feet.
"It's ok. That was better than the last one. You were leaning back too much and didn't get enough height, we'll work more on this later, ok?"
Yuri felt a little deflated.
"I need to have this jump for the Grand Prix Series...what am I going to do?"
"Hey, the first event doesn't start until around the end of October! You've got plenty of time!" Victor encouraged.
Aug. 15, 2016. At the St. Petersburg Ice Arena
Yurio looked at the photo Yuri sent him: the photo of Victor and the girl with dark wavy hair.
He had only recently gotten his phone back from the custody of Yakov, who kept it away from him for the month of July as punishment for texting in the middle of one practice.
He walked towards the change rooms down the hall. Practice was already over and he needed to talk to some of his rink mates before they all left.
The doors opened and the blonde head of Annie Vasin appeared. She was pulling her rolling bag and stopped upon seeing Yurio.
"Oh hey, Yuri! That was a good practice today! I'm sure you'll do fine at the Grand Prix Series!" She smiled.
"Oh um, Annie?" Yurio asked nervously. They were rink mates, but they barely ever conversed casually like this before. They only acknowledged each other as skaters who skate at the same rink complex, albeit in different arenas.
"Yes?"
"When I say 'Victor Nikiforov,' what's the first thing that comes to your mind?" Yurio looked at her face for any signs of clues.
Annie blinked, dumbfounded. "Uhh...a pouty face begging Yakov to let him buy Makkachin a new sweater. I dunno, that's what I usually think of Victor. He was always so carefree, kind of cute for a guy his age."
"You think he's a good guy?" Yurio asked trying to stir some things out of her.
"He's a good guy. What are you trying to—oohhh...I see it now. I'll admit I kind of did, um, like 'like' him back in my junior years, but then again, a lot of other girls did too. And...I...uh...don't think he ever saw me other than just a rinkmate. If that's what you're trying to find out, Yuri," Annie explained.
Yurio's shoulders drooped in disappointment. This wasn't very informative. He's gonna try again later.
"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow, Annie."
October. 10, 2016. Hasetsu Beach.
The weather was cool today, with a gentle breeze and slightly cloudy sky. Victor decided to take Yuri out to enjoy the day instead of off-ice training, despite the Japanese skater's protests.
At the long sandbar, Victor threw a frisbee for Makkachin, who immediately ran off to fetch it.
"Hey, Yuri. If it helps, I can lower your end of our promise," Victor suddenly said.
Yuri's eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Instead of promising me five World titles, how about just five first-place finishes in any ISU competition?" Victor answered as Makkachin returned with the frisbee.
Yuri felt tears come to his eyes. Did Victor not believe he could win any World Championship? Was that why he lowered his end of the promise?
Victor saw the look on Yuri's face and immediately began rephrasing his sentences. Realizing the mistake he's made, and the impact its already done on poor Yuri.
"Wait! I'm—uh—not saying that you can't win a—World title—Yuri! All I'm saying is that...you're right, I can't stay in the competitive figure skating world forever, my body won't allow it. I won't be able to compete with you when you get your fifth World title, but I will be there for your fifth gold medal," Victor clarified.
"I don't care!" Yuri clenched his teeth, trembling.
"Don't lower my end of our promise, Victor. You may not be competing with me forever, but I just need you to stay close to me. I don't want to earn anything less than what you asked of me in the first place…"
Victor was touched by Yuri's commitment. "Yuri…"
"I'm 'the skater with no fear!' I won't hesitate to put anything new or risky in my programs if it means that I can win with it. And I'll surprise all of you at the Grand Prix Final as soon as the season starts! I promise!" Yuri cried.
Makkachin jumped onto Yuri's back, in an attempt to comfort the crying man. Victor felt nothing but joy and love bursting from within. He took both of Yuri's hands and smiled gently down at him.
"And I promise to stay close to you too…"
Sorry, if this chapter seems a little rushed, I really wanted to include as many events possible since I don't think next chapter is gonna come out until a very long time from now.
I did a lot of revisions with my previous chapter and I probably will continue to do so every so often, so please I apologize in advance if some parts of the story don't make sense to what you read the first time.
Anyways, I have yet to introduce any OCs in this story, but they will come pretty soon. This story is actually reeaaallllyyyy long, it's probably gonna take over a year or so before it's complete.
Again, please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you want this story to stay alive!