"YUURI! VIKTOR!" Phichit ignored the pounding in his chest as he pushed his legs to keep moving. Skating for hours on end didn't bother him nearly as much as running barefoot through the dark, barren streets. He wasn't even fully awake but his eyes were wide, searching for his friends, hoping to any deity that he would find them together, Yuuri calmed down and Viktor guarding against the demons that were haunting him. Phichit's heart was pounding both from exertion and anxiety. To his knowledge, Yuuri had only done this once before, and when Phichit had found him it hadn't been pretty.

Phichit jogged up to the door of the rink, glad to finally be done classes and ready to work on his jumps; they'd been lacking at the last couple of practices and if he wanted a chance to compete with Yuuri at the GPF one day, he needed to step it up. Just before he reached the door, however, a gust of wind whipped past him, accompanied by a blur of familiar black hair. "Yuuri?" Phichit turned on his heel, confused as to why Yuuri was sprinting away from the rink, and in the opposite direction of their shared apartment.

"Yuuri!" Celestino suddenly filled the doorway Phichit was next to, a worried look on his face.

"What happened?" Phichit demanded, not liking the expression his coach wore.

"Michael was just rushed to the hospital, he was unconscious and a bone was sticking out of his leg. Yuuri saw him fall. He was the only other person in the arena at the time."

"Oh my god, Michael…" Phichit thoughts momentarily turned to their younger rink mate, an incredible skater of only sixteen, one who could put anyone's jumps to shame. "How did he do it?"

"All I could get out of Yuuri was some mumbling about how he should have noticed the blades were loose. That and his quad loop was nearly perfect."

"Shit." Phichit hissed, dropping his bag at Celestino's feet. "I need to find him."

"Phichit? Hey! Where are you going?!" Celestino called out for his skater to return, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation at hand. Yuuri only rambled like that and acted so rashly when he was having a panic attack. And now he was running blind through the streets of Detroit, which was arguably not a safe decision.

"Yuuri!" Phichit called for his best friend, hoping his voice cut through the horns and other unsettling noises of the streets. "YUURI!"

Phichit's feet pounded nearly as hard as his heart as he gasped for air, refusing to stop moving until he found Yuuri. He tried calling his friend multiple times, to no avail. His phone was probably abandoned in the change room, where it should be during practice. Why did Yuuri have to follow the rules so well? Why couldn't he be like Phichit and keep his phone in his pocket while he was on the ice?

Nearly half an hour of sprinting later, Phichit doubled over, hands on his knees, chest heaving, coughing and shaking, trying to remind his lungs how to breathe. He was used to running long distances, but not at full speed. His ten-kilometer cardio routine consisted of much more jogging and barely any sprints.

"Yuuri…" Phichit choked out between laboured breaths, not really knowing where he was or how he intended to find his friend. However, luck was on Phichit's side. Phichit looked up from the sidewalk, moving to lean on the wall of the alley he was next to so he could catch his breath without being in anyone's way. A few minutes after he stepped into the darkness, Phichit's breathing calmed down and the pounding in his head settled, making it easier to hear the world around him. What he did hear both broke his pounding heart and made him smile.

"Yuuri?" Phichit followed the quiet mumbling, recognizing the voice immediately.

"All my fault. Should have noticed. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. All my fault." Yuuri had his knees hugged to his chest, rocking himself back and forth in the dirty, dingy alley.

"Yuuri can you hear me? It's Phichit." He slowly lowered himself in Yuuri's line of vision, trying not to startle his friend. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"It's all my fault." Yuuri looked straight into Phichit's eyes, not comprehending that it was Phichit he was talking to. "I'm sorry, I'm so SORRY!" Yuuri lunged at Phichit, latching onto him, shaking. Phichit held him just as tightly, telling him it wasn't his fault, that Michael would be okay, that he didn't need to feel bad.

They stayed like that for a while, Yuuri gradually calming down and realising what he was doing.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly let go of Phichit, backing away, hoping Phichit wasn't too angry with him.

"Don't be." Phichit smiled, glad to see Yuuri back to normal. "You okay?"

"Not really…" Phichit was the only person Yuuri would ever admit it to. Anyone else would think he was weak, but not Phichit. Phichit understood. That didn't mean Yuuri could cry into his chest all day though, he probably didn't enjoy that… "Michael fell, I was the only one there. Celestino didn't hear me yelling for a while. I just sat there, useless." Yuuri began to tear up, remembering the snap, the thump, the blood. So much blood. "He took off for a quad loop, the entry was wobbly so he didn't get the height he needed. Landed at the wrong angle and kept rotating. His bone popped right out."

"Yuuri…" Phichit breathed, trying not to picture the scene. "I'm sorry you had to see that…"

"It was my fault…" Yuuri ran a still-trembling hand through his hair, tugging lightly at the back, making himself focus.

"How could you possibly think that?" Phichit was nothing short of flabbergasted. If Michael botched his jump that was on him, no matter how much it sucked.

"I handed him his skates in the change room. I should have noticed the blades were loose."

"That's not on you, Yuuri." Phichit snapped. He wasn't going to let Yuuri get this down on himself for something he had absolutely no control over. "He should have had them tightened more often."

"But-"

"Listen to me. This is not your fault. If I handed you your skates and you fell would it be my fault?"

"No! Of course not. But-"

"Well then it's not your fault. We're done with this blame game. I'm calling Celestino to come pick us up." Phichit pulled out his phone. "He's worried sick about the three of us." He mused as he read the multitude of texts he'd received from the coach.

"Phichit! Did you find him?" Celestino practically yelled before the phone even rang once.

"Yeah, I found him, he's okay. Any chance you could pick us up?" Phichit gave him their approximate location, peering out of the alley to read street signs.

"How on earth did you get all the way out there?!"

"We… ran…"

"That far? I'm coming now, stay there."

"He's on his way." Phichit chuckled at his coach's tone as he shoved his cell phone back in his pocket. "Hey, talk to me."

Yuuri didn't bother looking up from the ground where his eyes were trained. "I'm just worried."

"I know, me too." Phichit agreed. "We'll go to the hospital to see him."

Phichit shuddered at his memory, knowing how far Yuuri could run and how dangerous empty streets could be. His legs kept moving, running only at half speed to conserve energy, learning from his mistake last time. All he wanted was for his best friend to be okay.

"YUURI!"

"Phichit!" he stopped dead in his tracks, glad for the excuse.

"Oh thank god, you don't know how happy I am to see you!" Phichit exclaimed as he turned on his heel and met Viktor's eyes. The silver haired man was breathing hard as he rounded the corner Phichit had passed moments before.

"I take it you don't know where Yuuri is." Viktor doubled over, hands on his knees, body heaving with each breath.

"Considering I'm not too sure where we are…" Phichit shook his head.

"Dammit…"

"Hey." Phichit's heart broke when Viktor looked up and made his tear-streaked cheeks visible. "We'll find him. I promise."