Notes: Sorry for the delay, I've been in such a down mood lately.

Though he was supposed to be listening to Viktor, Yuri sat on the floor stretching and paid little attention to the older man. He arched his body and grabbed his left foot with both hands. Behind several loose strands of yellow hair, he scowled at Viktor. Admittedly, he and Yuuri had coached him to several victories, but this trip, they were both getting on his last nerve.

He held himself like that for several seconds, then slid back into a relaxed position before doing the same with his right foot. He released his grip, returned to his original position, closed his eyes, and exhaled slowly. He could feel Yuuri watching him intently, and he was also aware that Viktor had set foot on the ice and was impatiently waiting for him.

"Enough stretching, Yurio," he called.

Yuri muttered to himself, but he knew Viktor was right. He had stretched for several minutes. If he was not ready by then, he never would be.

Yuuri brought over his skates and helped Yuri to lace up. He did not thank him. He only muttered under his breath that he could do it himself.

"I know," Yuuri said, "but Viktor is ready. Are you OK?"

"Hmph."

Once his skates were laced, he pushed past Yuuri and joined Viktor. Viktor scowled at him, but Yuri was unable to tell what he was thinking. After a second or two of being under Viktor's disapproving gaze, Viktor nodded his head and said, "All right, Yurio, we want to work on your short program."

"What's wrong with it?" Yuri demanded, heat rising to his cheeks at the use of the nickname he hated so. "You said it was fine before!"

"Yuuri and I were talking, and we decided we wanted to change some of your jumps. I want to add a stag jump during your second sequence, and change your quadruple Lutz to a triple."

Yuri stared at Viktor from behind his hair. His coach only smiled and reminded him he needed to pull his hair back from his face. "You want to alter my routine like that? Do you not care about my scores?"

"You have been having trouble landing that quad lately," Viktor reminded him. "I'd rather have a lower scored, but perfectly performedt, routine than have you mess up. That would really effect your scores, Yurio."

Yuri was torn between repeatedly kicking Viktor with his skates and just leaving the ice. He managed to stand there, arms folded across his chest, as Viktor skated the routine he could do in his sleep to show him where he wanted the changes made. During one jump, Yuri turned around and glared at Yuuri, who stood by the rink, watching the two of them. He left much of the actual work to Viktor, but Yuri knew he had something to do with the changes Viktor was making as well.

As Viktor finished the routine, Yuri scowled at him and moved to the center of the rink to start himself. He followed Viktor's routine, and added the extra stag jump as requested. But when it came time for the quadruple to become a triple, he went for the original jump. He underestimated the move, missed half a rotation, and went skidding across the ice. Yuri sat up and shook his hair out of his face. "Damn," he swore softly.

Yuuri and Viktor's reactions were near polar opposites. "Are you hurt?" Yuuri asked as he rushed onto the ice.

"This is why I want you to change it!"

Viktor knelt by Yuri and cupped his chin with his hand. He forced Yuri to look at him. "What are you trying to do, Yurio? Your mind is elsewhere, I can see it on your face. What is it that you want?"

Yuri pushed Viktor's hand away roughly. His nail grazed Yuri's cheek, leaving a faint red line. "To win," he muttered. Even to him, the words sounded only half true.

"Do you?" Viktor asked."I think you want something else."

Yuri's cheeks burned red again as he forced himself to his feet. His side ached. He had landed painfully on his hip and he knew he would feel it later. Viktor and Yuuri were again watching him closely, both wearing expressions of mingled concern and annoyance that he had gone against their requests. He brushed himself off and skated away from them. He would do the routine again, aware that Yuuri and Viktor watched him intently while whispering to each other. This time he went with the triple jump, and landed without even the slightest of wiggle.

He felt angry and flustered, but more than anything he felt embarrassed by the slightly lower difficulty of Viktor's revisions. He said nothing else to either of his co-coaches for the rest of the day. The only response he would give them was a glare, but he followed through with the requests that he practice one jump or one sequence. As they were leaving the rink that afternoon, they crossed paths with another skater who was just entering the rink.

"I don't see why you make me practice so, Esteban," he was saying. The young man locked eyes with Yuri and smirked. "Especially seeing the competition."

Yuri lunged at him, but Viktor seized him around the waist. He had, thankfully, been able to keep Yuri from getting in trouble. He did not want to risk any penalization or bans on the young skater.

"Don't provoke the others, Santiago," Esteban scolded. "Just get on the rink."

Yuuri waited until they were outside, past the wall of screaming fans and press, before saying, "I did not realize Santiago Romano was in the competition."

"I noticed his name, but I did not take in exactly who it was," Viktor admitted. He looked to Yuri, silently fuming in the back of the car as he and Yuuri stood outside. "I thought he was banned for six months."

"It must have been longer than I thought," Yuuri sighed. "He doesn't need to provoke Yuri. We've actually kept Yuri out of trouble, something this Esteban apparently cannot, or will not, do."

"Come on."

Viktor and Yuuri both got in the car and were silent on the drive back to the hotel. In the backseat, Yuri pulled down the side of his pants and frowned. He was already starting to bruise from the fall he had taken on the ice. IF Viktor or Yuuri saw that, he would never hear the end of it.