Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri On Ice, and have no rights whatsoever on the story and its characters.
Episode Two, Part Two : Two Yuras ?! Drama at Yu-topia !
I was training in the park when Viktoria questioned me about him. "So, do you have feelings for Miko?" she asks. I fumble with my words in a very suspicious manner, and deny it. Although at some point it might have been true, I mostly always thought about Miko as a mentor.
"So do you have a lover now?" presses the Russian, and I keep saying no. "What about ex-lovers?"
"I'd rather not talk about it..."
"Then let's talk about me!" she says. "Let's see, my first lover was-" But I interrupt her. It's too weird.
She sighs, and we sit without a word on each side of the bench. Makkachin interrupts the heavy silence with his barks, and we turn to him. "Hey Yuura. What's that building up there?"
"People call it Hasetsu Castle, but inside it's really a ninja house." I add for dramatic effect. Viktoria gasps.
"Really? No way!" She grabs her phone and asks me to take a picture of her and Makkachin in front of the Castle. When I'm done, she posts it on her Instagram account with the enthusiastic tags "#NINJA" and "#AMAZINGDAY"
Unfortunately, Viktoria's enthusiasm on social medias helped rabid fans and journalists find her, and within a week they flooded our Hot Springs to try and take a peek at her. The Castle Show Center isn't spared by the flood, and the Nishigori family tries its best to keep them away.
Trying to ignore the attention my hometown is getting at the moment, I concentrate on shedding my excess weight so I can begin training with Viktoria. It takes me a good week of endless beach joggings, dancing and countless sit-ups to finally reach my goal, knowing that I had started a bit earlier.
On the morning of my victorious weight-in, I run to the Show Center to announce the great news to Viktoria. Passing by the journalists being held back by the Nishigori triplets, I catch my breath at the doors.
"Yuura..." whisper the boys in unison.
"Hey boys, guess what! My weight's back to what it was before the Grand Prix final!" Joining hands, I prepare to enter. "Now Viktoria will finally give me permission to dance." Just as I push the glass doors, I feel a great kick in my back and I'm projected inside, landing flat on my back after some bizarre flip. "Uh?" A shoe lands on my face, and I protest.
"All of this is your stupid fault, now SAY YOU'RE SORRY!" Yura Plisetsky?! What's she doing here?! And why is she standing on my face?! She insults me some more, then steps off and leans against the counter. "A long time ago, Viktoria promised she would choreograph a variation for me. She promised you too?"
I get up, rubbing my forehead. "Uh, we haven't exactly gotten around talking about variations..."
"Uh?! If you're not working on a new variation, then what have you been doing?! Why is she wasting time on you?" She comes closer to me, and looks at me smugly. "If she knew about your little session in the bathroom at the Grand Prix final, she'd realize there's no point in training a big crybaby like you!"
The Russian Princess… she'd humiliated me once, I wouldn't let her do it again. I smile, which irritates her. She's really underestimating me.
"I don't know what history you and Viktoria have. You should talk to her yourself!" I tell her, smiling. "It's not like I made Viktoria come to Hasetsu. She came because she wanted to be my coach." Yura follows me to the entrance of the representation room, and when we open the doors she notices Viktoria training on stage. We sit to watch.
"I recognize those moves," she mumbles. "They're for the variation Viktoria was choreographing for next season."
"What?"
"Before she decided to come here she was putting together routines for next season. But she was really torn. Surprising the audience has always been what she cared about most: for years the dancing world has worshiped her, now no matter what she does no one's surprised anymore. She knows that, and it really gets to her. She doesn't feel inspired, and without inspiration you're as good as dead." Yura's tone changes back to the smug. "I wonder if she'll let me use her program. She doesn't need it if she's going to take off this season. If she gives me a chance I know I can surprise the audience; I'm going to make my debut as a senior and win the Grand Prix final. But I need Viktoria's help to do it."
"Wow, you're confident..." I can't help but say. She's actually a monster of ego and self-confidence, compared to me. Who isn't, actually?
"Hey Viktoria, you got time for a little chat?!" she screams across the room. Viktoria stops what she was doing and waves at us.
"Hey, I didn't even know you were here! I'm surprised Yakira let you come! You need something?" Yura lets out an inhuman scream, but Viktoria won't stop smiling. To anyone else it would be really unnerving, but I find it really comic. "Uh-oh, that's not a happy face. Let me guess, I forgot to do something I said I would do?"
She gets off the stage, and kisses Yura on the cheeks, although the blonde one is fuming. The teenager explains the reason she came, and Viktoria just keeps smiling and laughing:
"I remember now!" she admits, "It totally slipped my mind! I'm sorry, but you know how I forget stuff sometimes."
"Yeah, painfully aware of that…" grumbles the other. "But I'm holding you to your promise! You'll choreograph my new program like you said! We're going back to Russia!"
I gasp: what will Viktoria say to that? She just got there, but what if she follows her morals and stays true to her word? I turn to her, my eyes probably betraying my fear of her leaving. She loses her smile, and thinks for a second, her fingers tapping on her chin. I hold my breath in anticipation as she does so.
"Okay I got it!" she finally says. "I'm going to choreograph a program for both of you to the same role!"
Both the Russian teenager's and my faces drop at the same time, and we point to each other, protesting loudly against this idea. There's no way we could play in the same field, we're totally not on the same level!
"Don't worry, girls, this role has two different arrangements," arguments Viktoria. "I've been trying to decide which one to use. I'll design two choreographs using different portions of the same ballet. The programs will be revealed in one week! The two of you will compete to see which one can surprise the audience more."
My stomach drops to my feet, and I try to protest against it. "A competition? Is that really necessary?!" But Yura silences me by approving with her mentor.
"Okay Viktoria, and you'll have to do whatever the winner wants. What do you say?"
"Perfect, I love this sort of things!" beams the champion, grinning from one ear to the other.
"Wait a minute!" familiar voices call from behind her, where the triplets are standing smugly and maliciously like their usual selves. "If you wanna use our stage, you better let us into the action." Oh jeez, here we go… "We'll have ourselves an epic face-off between Russia and Japan!"
Of course, Viktoria joins them in their frenzy, cheering audibly for the idea. "It's gonna be big! Let's get things going!" I feel like all this isn't going to do any good to my anxiety. But when the triplets have an idea, what is there to do to stop them? Before I knew it, they had gotten their show on the road, and everyone would get excited for the Hot Springs Gala, presented by Viktoria Nikiforov in one week's time! There was really no way I could escape this...
Yura does not stop pouting all the way to my place, and when we do arrive she looks around in a disgusted manner. "This place is a real hovel," she spits. "Where's my room anyway?"
I gasp: "What? You're staying here!?"
Yura turns around and frowns at me, before smugly declaring: "No way I'm letting you have Viktoria to yourself all the time, fattie! So I'm staying here, okay?!"
Does she ever stop screaming? "If I say no, any chance you'll actually leave?" She just frowns even more, and is about to sass me back when Viktoria chimes in.
"The hot springs here are divine..."
"I'm not taking a bath with other people, now goodnight!" the blonde teen slams the door to the storage room behind her, but comes out less than three seconds after. "I want food! And a bath!" she demands.
We let her bathe for a while in the hot springs, and don't mention how she looked like she actually enjoyed herself when she comes for dinner. We'd probably have died if we had done so. Mom brings in dinner for all of us, and Yura downs her pork cutlet bowl in the blink of an eye. I don't mention the fork she used to eat it, I'm actually glad there's something here that she enjoys.
"So good!" she says, gulping the last bite. Miro appears at the door, and spots her sitting at the table.
"Jeez Yuura, you have another visitor?" he asks dully. Yura turns around in surprise, and Miro's eyes open wide. "No way! She looks just like my idol, Takia!"
Takia is from a very popular band here in Japan, and Miro has always been a real fanboy of hers. Now that he says it, it's true that Yura resembles the girl on his posters quite a lot.
"Her name is Yura too, isn't that funny?" comments Mom.
"Uh?" says my brother. "That's just gonna be confusing. We'll call you Yuria!" Yura protests loudly against that idea, but it's too late. "So where will Yuria be sleeping?"
"Upstairs?" I suggest.
"What, in the storage room?" asks Miro indignantly. "It's gonna need a major cleaning first!" he leaves in a rush, but comes back to ask for my help. I get up and follow him, but just as I leave the room I hear Viktoria teasing Yura about the new nickname and the teenager yelling at her. Viktoria laughs, and I feel pain in my heart. Oh man. I'm an idiot.
Forgetting all about Miro, his box-moving and his protests for me to come back, I grab my gear and start running to the Castle Center, although it's night time already. I need to be alone, and I need to practice. The other Yura is the one with all the potential. She's so confident. For her first year with the seniors, she's sure she'll win the Grand Prix. And she doesn't turn into a blubbering mess whenever Viktoria talks to her. She belongs with Viktoria, and not me.
The Nishigoris thankfully let me in, and quietly sit at the back to watch me. At some point, I know Viktoria joined them, I can hear then talking at the back of the room. Nevertheless, I focus the best I can on my work and try to forget all about them. I don't even hear Viktoria leaving the Center, Makkachin on her heels.
The next day, I spring out of my bed, excited to have my first real coaching session with Viktoria. I am the one to rush everyone out to the Center, and don't even struggle to run behind the Russians as we head for training. Her usual joyful self, Viktoria salutes every person we meet with a ring from her bell and a happy phrase, and most of them reply using her first name. It's as if she's always lived there, most of the people knowing and liking her. She tries to make Yura say hi, but the teenager is still mad about the stupid nickname she has been given, and refuses to answer it.
After warming up for an hour or so at the center, we are allowed to put on our pointe shoes for our real training. I frantically attempt to tie my ribbons, but I am excited beyond measure. This will decide whether or not it's my last season; if I lose now, I'm done. I get up from the bench and decidedly roll my shoulders. First, I'm going to be the Hot Springs Gala champion, and then I'll set my sights on the Grand Prix final!
We return to the stage, where Viktoria is waiting for us, a small remote in her hand. "We will start by listening to the music. This character has two variations, each with a different theme. It's the White Swan variation and the Black Swan variation, from Swan Lake. Now tell me, have you ever spent much time thinking about love?"
A light blush creeps to my cheeks, but I shake my head. Yura denies it, as well.
"Alright then, how does this song make you feel?" the senior asks, turning on the first variation music. It's very slow, has a lot of violin in it. The music itself is very light and pure. It sounds like something I could use for one of my variations.
"It has a very pure innocent sound, like someone who hasn't experienced love yet," I comment. Yura rolls her eyes and huffs at my opinion.
"Yeah whatever I think it sucks," she spits, crossing her arms. "This innocence crap makes me want to puke, bleurgh."
Viktoria skips on to the next variation, which is way faster and enthusiastic. I would probably not be able to follow the rhythm if I tried.
"This sounds like a completely different character."
"I call dibs!" Announces Yura, looking at me defiantly. "This is the one I want to dance to!"
Viktoria turns the music off. "The first variation is about unconditional love, the character longs for someone who will break the spell and love her forever. The second one is more dominating, the theme is sexual love and the character emanates of seduction. I'm going to have the two of you dance to these opposing themes. Here are the assignments: you get the White Swan!" She points at Yura, "And you get the Black Swan!" she points at me.
There's a stunned silence as we process what just happened, then I start screaming in panic while Yura demands we switch roles.
Viktoria holds her hands up, demanding silence so she can justify her choice: "You should always try to do the exact opposite of what people are expecting from you; how else can you surprise them? That's my motto." She smiles in her adorable fashion, which contrasts with the words that follow. "The truth is, you're both actually far more mediocre than you think. You need to be more self-aware. I'm surprised you don't realize how much work you both need to do on your images: right now to the audience, you're just a piglet and a kitten." Both my Russian counterpart and I are choking at the harshness of her words. The way she says it with a large smile is very weird. "You have better be up to my standards by next week or I won't continue to work with either of you. But don't worry, as fans of mine I'm sure you will manage." I'm still voiceless, but Yura has regained her composure and is pouting like her usual self.
"Okay fine, I'll dance to the White Swan… my senior debut depends on it. But you had better give me a choreography that I can win with!"
Viktoria just crosses her own arms, still smiling. "Whether you win or not is up to you. It would be a winning choreography if I danced it."
"If I win you are coming back to Russia with me, okay?! And you'll be my coach! Well do you accept those terms?"
The elder Russian nods. "I do." Yura smirks at this answer, and I sigh silently.
"Well? What do you want from me?" The silver-haired woman turns to me. "If you win, what is your reward?"
I think about it for a second, and something automatically pops into my mind. It's a bit weird, but I know it's what I truly want.
"To… eat with you… pork cutlet bowls." Both Russians stare at me with surprise painted over their faces. "I wanna keep on winning, and keep on eating pork cutlet bowls, so I'll dance to the Black Swan, Viktoria, and I'll give it all the seduction I've got in me!" When did I start yelling?
"Good." She smiles again, and I feel like I'm melting from the inside. " That's what I like to hear!"
We are seven days away from the Gala now...