Disclaimer: I don't own YOI, I own this fic. Enjoy! :D

First of all, sorry for the long wait guys! But there's some good news! I got accepted into the university I want to go to! *Squeal! So that means I can take my foot off the gas pedal just a little bit for the rest of this semester! And maybe more time for more chapters! I think this chapter would be very satisfying for most of you guys! :D

Plus, have you guys seen any figure skating from the Olympics right now? Who's your favourite skater and why? Tell me in the reviews! :D

I cried during the GODLY PERFORMANCES OF YUZURU HANYU and the AMAZING TRIPLE AXEL BY MIRAI NAGASU and not to mention the BEAUTIFUL (BUT FUCKING UNDERSCORED) SHORT PROGRAM OF SATOKO MIYAHARA!

The only thing I don't like about it is the inconsistent and biased PCS scores and GOEs given by the judges mainly in ladies figure skating. Sorry if you're a Medvedeva fan, but I don't think that her PCS should have been as high as 38.23. But I TOTALLY AGREE that she deserved that TES score (with those tanos and backloading, it makes sense). But NOT A WORLD RECORD SCORE!

I mean, WTF!?

Ok, I'm done ranting here. Sorry if I'm ruining your Olympics experience. It should be a time to enjoy watching sports you love and cheering for the athletes you admire. :)

On with the chapter!

And please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW for more! :D

Ch. 28: Complications

Picking up from the last chapter…

The woman sighed before extending a hand out in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Yuri. I'm Olivia Marusic. I hope we will work together soon in the future."

Yuri drops his gloves on the ground and his eyes opened wide. He feels as if the air was suddenly forced out of his lungs. After a few seconds of no response, Yuri quickly takes her hand and shakes it.

It's her…her last name's different, but it's her…

"Yes. I hope so too."

His hand was becoming number every second he spent shaking hers. But it was the polite thing to do. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally let go and Yuri could feel his hand again.

He looked around the place, not wanting to make eye contact with her again. The tension was just way too high. He tapped his fingers on the bench where he was sitting to tone down his nervousness, but that got Olivia to sense the tension in the air too.

"Well, Yuri," she hitched her bag up her shoulder a little more. "What's next in the application process?"

"MAMA!"

A little girl in a puffy winter outfit came running in from the door, a trail of melted snow was made with every step she took. Liv bent down to scoop the girl up into his arms.

Yuri felt the tension in the air cease as soon as he saw the adorable little girl make her appearance. He almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Liv looked at the little girl, her daughter, with some concern. "Crystal, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to wait in the car with daddy?"

The next second, a man entered the room, breathless and panting. He was tall and broad, almost intimidating. He stumbled up to the three people in front of him.

"Whew! Sorry, hon! Crystal, don't run across the parking lot like that again!" The man said in the gentlest voice Yuri ever heard. "She needs to use the washroom, Liv."

"I have to go!" Crystal cried, squirming up and down in Liv's arms.

Liv nodded in understanding, she looked at Yuri, who was gazing in awe. "Umm, where's the…?"

"The washroom should be down the hall to your left, there's a large sign that tells you so, you shouldn't miss it," Yuri explained.

"Thank you!" Liv began walking towards the destination. "Sorry about this delay!"

"No problem!" Yuri assured. "I can wait!"

With that, Liv and her daughter disappeared around the corner in search of the washroom. Yuri was left with a huge weight lifted off his chest and he stood up to do a few hops out of pure happiness.

There's nothing to worry about.

The man let out a huge sigh and sat down on the bench next to Yuri. "Yuri Katsuki, am I right?"

"Yeah," Yuri nodded before sitting back down next to Liv's husband who stretched his hand out for a handshake as well.

"I'm Theodore Marusic, but please, Theo is just fine. So, my wife wants to be your co-coach and all, but…I'm just a little afraid," Theo explained.

Yuri's smile disappeared from his face and a look of curiosity replaced it. "How come?"

"She had some bad experiences with figure skating...she should be the one to tell you, but they're pretty bad. It mainly involved some biased and unfair scoring," Theo looked up at the ceiling. "It amazes me that she's still clinging onto the sport after everything she's been through. Because I care for her, I let her pursue what makes her happy, but that won't stop me from still being scared that she may get hurt again. You know what I'm saying?"

Yuri nodded. He knew exactly what Theo was saying. There's also no need for Liv to tell him what happened since Victor already did. Now, he can open up to her without any awkwardness or fear.

"I used to be an ISU judge for five years. So seeing how it's falling apart right now really pains me," Theo mentioned.

Yuri was surprised upon realizing that Liv's husband was a former skating judge. "You were on the judging panel before?"

"Yeah. It wasn't the best job, but it wasn't the worst either. The worst you can get back then was harassed by angry fans for not scoring their favourite skater higher. But at least we were more honest about it back then. At least I think so. Ah, let's stop dwindling on skating, shall we?"

Yuri agreed and decided to focus on things other than skating. "Cute daughter, how old is she?"

"Two, and we got another one at home with a sitter. Name's Miguel and he's about three months old," Theo explained proudly. "Oh, the joys of parenthood…you planning to have kids one day yourself, Yuri?"

Before Yuri could answer, Liv returned with Crystal, who looked much calmer than she was before. She hands her over to Theo who stood up to walk back out to the parking lot.

"How long are you going to take?" Theo asked Liv as he adjusted Crystal in his arms.

"I'll try and finish quickly," Liv answered giving him a squeeze on his arm. "It won't take too long, right, Yuri?"

Yuri nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Not too long at all! Come on, the office is this way!"

Liv waved bye to her husband and daughter as she followed Yuri towards Celestino's office.

Minutes later…

After signing a couple of forms and answering several interview questions with Yuri and Celestino, they scheduled Liv's improvisation date to next week Monday afternoon.

All this time, Yuri couldn't stop smiling. So much, that Celestino asked him if he was super excited for the evening planned with Phichit.

"Yep! You bet!" Yuri nodded.

Liv smiled. "I have to say, I'm shocked to see you as someone so bright. I mean back then, I thought you were more soft spoken."

"Apparently, not today," Celestino put a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Actually, he's been breaking out of his shell ever since Vic—"

"Victor Nikiforov became his coach," Liv finished. "He's going to be my colleague, am I right?"

Yuri stared intently at Liv, who was staring down at the desk they were sitting at. He tried to see what emotions she was feeling right now. The tension returned.

"Yeah, yes he will be," Yuri answered in a slightly quieter tone. "I mean, I'm pretty sure you already knew, you read the papers before applying, and all. Is there any problems?"

Liv shook her head and smiled like nothing was wrong at all. Yuri didn't sense any lingering doubts or regrets coming from her. It was like she got over it as soon as she said it!

"Nope, no problem. So is that it?"

Yuri and Celestino stood up, along with Liv. They all shook hands one more time. Yuri felt relief come back to him, but it wasn't the same as before. Anxiety and relief was battling violently in his stomach.

"It was very nice meeting you, Yuri, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again next week," Liv said. "You too, Celestino. Thank you for the letter of recommendation. Have a happy long weekends!"

Celestino turned to Yuri as soon as Liv was out the door. A huge smile on his face. "So, Olivia Marusic. Only two years older than you and already started a , sorry, back on topic. What do you think?"

"Seems like a nice person, and gentle too, a great balance to Victor's craziness every now and then," Yuri listed. "But it'll come down to her improvisation of my free skate song. That's when I'll know for sure, if she can truly help me and my skating career."

"I'm pretty confident that she won't fail in that," Celestino said as he stretched his arms out.

Yuri checked the time on his phone and saw a text from Phichit telling him that he's waiting for him at the park. He quickly said his goodbyes to Celestino and rushed out the rink to his car in the parking lot.

He felt very giddy as he drove down the road towards the park. He couldn't sit still and was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in a happy rhythm. He thought that this day was going to do down the drain the minute he saw Olivia, but it didn't.

Before long, Yuri reached his destination. He quickly called Phichit to find out where exactly in the park he was waiting for him. They met at the large open concrete area in the centre of the park.

"What took you so long?" Phichit asked. "I got tired of waiting back home."

"The co-coach candidate Celestino wrote to came by to see me today," Yuri explained. "And guess what? It was her." Yuri winked at Phichit, trying to get him to understand.

Phichit didn't understand though. "Her?"

"Her," Yuri repeated, enounciating the word as if Phichit was an ESL.

Phichit scanned through a list of females he's familiar with through his brain, trying to pinpoint which one he had in common with Yuri. It took a few seconds of thinking, but he managed to find the answer in the end.

"Oh! Her!"

A light bulb appeared above his head but quickly flickered out as soon as he came to a full understanding of who it was Yuri just met. Phichit's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Eeeehhhh? Then why are you grinning and smiling for? Shouldn't you be crying and upset and begging me to comfort you?" Phichit tapped Yuri's forehead to see if anything's defective. "Who are you? And what you have done with my best friend?"

Yuri smiled confidently and held up his hands to get Phichit to stop poking him. "Just listen to me, ok?"

"Ok," Phichit continued to look at Yuri sceptically.

"She. Is. Already. Married."

The wind stopped blowing in the background. Phichit blinked a couple of times and shook his head to the side to get rid of any clog-ups in his ears. Yuri stood there, still smiling confidently.

"Married?" Phichit repeated.

"Yep! And a mother of two children! One of which I met today!" Yuri added.

"Oh my god, Yuri!" Phichit jumped up and down. "You see how everything turned out ok in the end!?"

"I know!" Yuri joined Phichit in jumping up and down. They literally look like two childish schoolgirls. "I'm sshhoo happy right now! She didn't even seem to be bothered by the fact she'll be working with Victor again!"

"So it's like she totally moved on!?" Phichit asked ecstatically.

"I'm pretty sure! She looks really happy with her husband and little daughter! I'm actually happy for her! Can you believe it, Phichit? Just months ago, I was fretting her very existence!"

"Time to throw away those fears and worries and move on to the future!" Phichit pointed to the sky.

"To the awesome future!" Yuri cried. "Hopefully!"

"And to naming your new male dog after your co-coach!" Phichit added.

That caught Yuri off-guard. "What? Oh, right! And to naming my new dog after her…wait, but she isn't my co-coach yet. I still have to see her improvisation to my free skate song. And then she'll be my co-coach."

"And then you'll name your dog…?" Phichit trailed off.

"Ahh, worry about that later. Priorities, man. Priorities."

Next Monday. Detroit Skating Club Rink. Main Arena.

Yuri sat on the sidelines as he watched Liv tie up her skates next to him. Celestino was over by the sound booth, preparing to get the song ready after she finished warming up. Yuri has been waiting all weekend for this day to come.

It's like the more he thinks about Liv, the more he relishes in the fact that she's no longer a threat. And he has all the freedom in the world to get to know about her as a person who's not Victor's previous significant other.

They've been talking since she arrived this morning, and Yuri realized that she's rather easy to talk to. She's very patient and sympathetic. There's no tension between the two of them. So far so good.

Liv finished tying up her skates and stood up to feel if they were tight enough. Yuri saw the look on her face. It was a look of anxiety and excitement.

"How long has it been since you skated competitively?" Yuri asked even though he knew that answer to the question. He was just curious to see how she'll respond to it.

"My last competition was the 2014 Olympics and I placed 5th there. I had a little accident after that and came back here. I didn't have the greatest experience in the last few years of my competitive career, so I decided to stop," Liv removed her skate guards and began walking towards the opened door to the ice. "But I never stopped practicing. And thanks to Celestino, I was able to coach several junior skaters. Plus, I performed in some ice shows every now and then, but I didn't feel ready to return to face the ISU yet. I'll tell you more after I become your co-coach, Yuri."

With that, Liv stepped onto the ice and began stroking around at a slow and gentle pace to get a good feel of the new smoothed-out surface. Yuri leaned his forearms on the boards and watched carefully.

There's no need for you to explain more. I already know.

Liv took her time moving around the ice and didn't attempt anything intricate as she stroked and turned. Despite her saying that she's been out of competitions since 2014, Yuri personally thought that her edges and turns were very clean.

There were just simple crossovers and Mohawk turns but they were done with beautiful precision. Every skater had their style of skating even though they all aimed to be perfect.

With Liv's, Yuri saw a light feathery style. He compares it to a water strider on a river's surface. It made him gain more respect for her as a skater. To end her warm up, she performed a quick double axel jump. It was simple and high to Yuri's surprise.

Didn't she have under-rotation problems? He thought. Liv skated to the centre of the ice to prepare for the improvisation. She gave Yuri a thumbs up and nodded at Celestino to start to the music.

The song came on and Liv took her sweet time before finally moving from her starting position and beginning the routine that she's making up as the seconds fly by. Yuri saw how contrasting her interpretation of his free skate song was to his own.

Liv moved at a much calmer pace in the beginning of the song before switching gears and suddenly going into a fast sequence of steps that lead to her first jump, an easy triple salchow. Just like the double axel, it was nice and high, leaving little room for under rotation.

She moved onto a lovely back camel spin with a catch-foot variation. It was fast and centred. Yuri could see that she specialized in spins. Good, they have something in common. It was right after that spin that Liv finally opened up herself.

Every step, every note, every thought, was connected. The sequences and turns weren't complicated but were correct. There was a lack of jumps but only because they would disrupt the flow. This is her interpretation of Yuri's song.

The intensity, the sadness, the lingering joy hidden behind every move she made. Liv was skating to show her desire to be free. Free to skate however she wants to and to express whatever she's passionate about.

Free from the corrupt world of competitive figure skating made by the ISU, Yuri thought. The song was coming to an end and Liv puts all of her energy into the last few elements she thought up of.

The climax of the song is reached and she enters a beautiful layback spin, ending it with a bielman. Liv makes her finishing pose simple and serious. She reached out with one hand with a determined look on her face while standing with both feet planted on the ice.

She quickly broke out of character as soon as the song ended. Light applause came from Yuri and Celestino, who were very surprised, to say the least, over her technical elements in her improvisation.

"Good job," Yuri said to her as she skated towards his side of the boards.

Liv smiled and sat down to remove her skates. "Thanks, was that enough?"

Celestino walked over to their side, standing next to Yuri. He gestured for Yuri to speak.

"That was exceptional," Yuri states in his honest opinion. "You knew what you were doing inside and out, even though it's an improvisation."

"Well, that'd be easy for a skater who was skating to a song they helped make." Liv puts away her skates in her bag and stood up to face her potential future student.

That sentence immediately connected the puzzle in Yuri's head. Back then when Victor mentioned that Liv had a best friend who was a composer and musician, named Holly Abelashvili (real name: Ketty). And Yuri remembered that Holly was the composer of Yuri on Ice. Apparently, Liv had a role in making the song that completely turned his skating career around.

After the free skate improvisation.

"So, Olivia's a really emotional skater, you can relate to that easily, Yuri," Celestino points out.

Yuri nods. "Yeah."

"You know, I was thinking of recommending her to you long ago, but I also wanted you to have more say in who should be your co-coach as well," Celestino admitted. "But, now—phew! I'm relieved!"

"Well…why did you recommend her?" Yuri asked. "It's not like she's renowned or anything, and this is her first time coaching too—coaching a senior-level student I mean!"

Celestino leans back in his chair and takes a big swig from his water bottle. "'Cause you two basically lived the same skating lives! You both travelled overseas during your post-secondary years with high hopes of making it big in competitive skating. But things didn't turn out too great for either of you guys. And you both ended up going back home, with no idea of what you want to do with the college degree you two held."

Yuri's eyes widen as he realized what Celestino just said was very true. This fact has never crossed his mind once when Victor was telling his backstory.

They both studied and trained abroad after graduating from high school. He went to Detroit, she went to St. Petersburg. They both wanted to be successful in competitions but failed in that. He only qualified once for major competitions, which was the Sochi GPF, and placed dead last in it! She qualified for a few handful of major competitions but was brutally and scored in all those events.

After those horrible experiences, they ultimately decided to go back to their home countries, seemingly given up on their dreams as a professional athlete.

And to top it all off. They probably got a GPA of around 2.5 or lower during their four years of college! Well, that's partly due to language barriers…

"Well…" Celestino adds. "In your case, you met the person who changed your life forever when you went back home, Victor."

Victor…the most significant link that ties him and Liv. Yuri swivels in his chair to face Celestino.

"Yeah. Liv knows Victor too," Yuri answers.

"Well of course she does, duh. Anyone who's a skater knows him. It's like universal."

"No, I mean, she knows him knows him," Yuri clarifies.

He was completely ok with hiring Liv as his co-coach, but he can't promise nothing complicated will happen. So to prevent complications. He might as well be honest with everyone involved.

So another fallout between coach and student won't happen again.

Celestino looks at his former student in the eyes. "What do you mean, 'know him know him'?"

Yuri felt his face grow hot as thousands of possibilities for what could happen down the road entered his mind. To speak or not to speak...this is no time for William Shakespeare, Yuri!

"I'm going to tell you something, and please don't think of it as just a petty problem. Liv's his ex."

"His what?" Celestino blinks.

"His previous one."

Yuri feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest, Celestino looks very calm even after being told all that. He nods understandingly and leans back in his chair again.

"Ohhhh," Celestino looked calm. But then those words finally penetrated his brain. "What? For real? Was this the whole reason for that fallout between you and Victor in the first place?"

Yuri rests his forehead against his fists and nods. Celestino gives off the presence of someone he could lean on for support. Yuri believes that he's got his back if he ever needs him.

"Don't get wrong, I hold no grudges against her currently. I'm more confident now and I'll handle things professionally," Yuri said. "I need—I want a co-coach so that I can become the skater Victor wishes to see. I need to fulfil my end of the promise. Actually, the new promise."

"What's the new promise?" Celestino asked curiously. "You never mentioned it."

Yuri's eyes and smile shone with determination. He put his hands down on the desk in front of Celestino. "To win gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics."

Excitement and shock filled Celestino as he jumped up and hugged his past student. "You've really changed, Yuri! I—I don't know what to say, except that I'm so proud of you!"

Yuri laughed. He too was filled with excitement. The thought of winning gold at the 2018 Olympics would have seemed like something impossible back when he was in the washroom at the Sochi GPF. But now seemed like a 100m sprint across the schoolyard.

As long as he didn't trip or lag behind. He'll get it. He has to. He has to be the skater that could!

Celestino scribbles some notes on a sticky pad before handing Yuri a package of documents. "Ok, as long as you're ok with this, she's hired. Just get her to sign her signatures in the package. Then it's official! You guys can schedule how you want to train, but I suggest getting to know each other better on a personal level before getting all professional. And of course, you're going to have to…tell Victor his new colleague is his…"

"Yep." Yuri pursed his lips at the thought of it. "That's going to be one awkward meeting to say the least."

St. Petersburg.

Victor was having a fun evening out with a bunch of his rinkmates. They were giving Constantine an early unofficial bachelor's party at a bowling alley. And so far, none of them has gotten any strikes.

Yurio goes in for another strike, but only managed to get half of the pins down. Norah laughed exaggeratively at his failure and attempts a strike herself. But knocks only half of the pins as well.

Mila coughs for their attention and strode confidently up to the lane. "Watch and learn."

All the skaters gave her their utmost attention, preparing to be entertained. Constantine clapped and cheered. "Let's go, Mila! Woo!"

Taking a few steps back to give herself room to rush forward, Mila holds the heavy ball in her right hand and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes wide as she propelled herself forward and released the ball at the perfect time.

It rolled down the centre of the lane and hits the first pin, which caused a chain reaction which knocked nine out of the ten pins.

All of the skaters gapped in shock. They were expecting an epic fail, but Mila did pretty amazingly surprisingly! She turned around and was met with cheers and applause from her rinkmates and a few other spectators.

That is until another crash of a bowling ball hitting the pins was heard.

Max, who was standing in the lane next to Mila, just rolled his ball and it managed to hit the centre pin and knocked down all of the pins at the end of the lane.

STRIKE! The screen above them read.

The entire alley broke out in cheering, screaming, and clapping as Max shrugged like it was nothing and took a quick bow before sitting down at the table where his rinkmates were at.

"Watch and learn from me, Mila," Max winked.

Mila pointed at him. "I demand a rematch!"

Max's eyes widened in amusement. "Why not?"

For the next few minutes, the two skaters battle it out in how many strikes they could do. And Mila constantly shouting that Max is cheating or that it's because her shoes don't fit her. Victor sat back and laughed at the silly little competition.

Then his cell phone rang. He quickly left the room and into the quiet hallway to answer the call. His face lit up when he saw who it was.

"Yuri!" He cried. "How are you? I'm excited to see you again, soon!"

"Hi, Victor. I am too! Anyways, so um, I think after months of searching to no end, I'm proud to say I found my co-coach at last!" Yuri gave a thumbs on his side of the call.

"Really!? Great! Who is he? Or is it a she? Wait, hold on!" Victor sounded serious. "Will this person you hired be able to tolerate my overeccentricness?"

Yuri laughed a little. "I'm pretty sure, she can handle it. Actually, I'm certain."

"Phew! That's a relief! I mean, I don't want this co-coach thing to last for two weeks because she can't handle my tendency to go over the top!" Victor felt very relieved knowing that Yuri found another person he could trust his skating with. "Who is she by the way?"

"Victor," Yuri said after a few seconds of staying silent. "I think it's best if you two meet in person rather than me telling you over the phone. It'd be more…appropriate."

Victor looked confused and wondered why Yuri would say that. But he didn't question it. "Ok. I'm fine with that. When and where do you want to meet?"

"The Worlds is being held in Finland on the 1st of April this year, right?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok, we'll meet you there. Ok?"

"Ok."

Relief washed over Yuri. He said a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone. He's currently sitting in the living room couch of his co-coach, Liv's, house. She appeared from the kitchen holding a bowl of grapes in one hand and holding her baby boy, Miguel, in the other arm.

Yuri smiled and gave her a thumbs up as she sat down on the chair next to him. "It should go well, the meeting. At least, I hope so."

Liv smiled as well. "Me too. I wouldn't want conflict to arise between us because that would affect you too, Yuri. And as a result, your performance. I'm not about to let another skater fall victim to the ISU's corrupted side."

"You…really hold a grudge against them," Yuri said, then took another grape. "I can only imagine. I was underscored only once I think, and that was during the NHK Trophy last year. Most of my fails are due to my nerves and inconsistency."

"At least you were deducted points because you fell. You don't want to know what it feels like to sit in the kiss-and-cry, hoping that today is the day you finally showed those judges you're more than what they thought, that you're talented. And then to have your hopes crushed when you saw those numbers." Liv scrunched her non-carrying fist tightly. "You will be scored according to what you ask for, Yuri. I won't help much in your technical department, but I'll make sure your presentation will be the best the world has seen."

Alright, and that's it for this chapter, folks! :D Satisfied, not satisifed? Do tell me what you think of either this chapter of the Olympics right now in the REVIEWS! :D