Chapter Fifteen: Yuuri vs. Lightning: Sometimes Survival is Victory!

Yuuri wasn't sure if anyone else had seen what had happened on the cliff side, but he was prepared to have to talk about it with every person at Mahoutokoro if they had. Emiko came up to him at dinner blushing furiously and leaving behind a gaggle of eight or nine other girls watching intently, and Yuuri steeled himself.

"Um, hi," he told her cautiously.

"You're Yuuri Katsuki, right?" she asked, biting her lower lip. Had she or had she not been commentating his matches for the last three years?

"Yes..."

"I was just wondering. You know the boy who commentated the match today?"

"Yurio?" Victor replied for him.

"Is that his name?!" Emiko squealed.

"Yuri Plisetsky," Yuuri corrected, because he had the strong impression that this information was going to get out and Yurio was not going to be pleased if the entire student body caught on to his nickname.

"Yurio, got it," she said. "Could you maybe introduce me the next time he comes here?"

And without even waiting for an answer, she buried her face in her hands and escaped back into her throng of friends, all of them giggling like hyenas.

Yuuri found himself bombarded at the most bizarre times with requests for information about Yurio—from a girl during study hall asking about Yurio's birthday (Yuuri didn't know that one) to one popping up in the onsen inquiring after Yurio's favorite animal (he had to assume it was some kind of cat) and, strangest of all, a girl flying up during Quidditch practice to ask if Yurio had a girlfriend (Yuuri felt reasonably certain by this point that Yurio was not interested in girls, but he was keeping that information to himself.)

"You'll have to ask him yourself next time he's here," Yuuri told her flatly, and she flew back to the ground looking slump-shouldered. Yuuri hoped she had the sense not to actually do that because Yurio would probably take a swing at her if she did.

Yuuri's good mood over winning the match against Komainu lasted well over two weeks, which was a lot longer than usual and probably prolonged by the fact that Victor kissed him oh my God. Yuuri got butterflies in his stomach every time he so much as thought about it, and he found himself gazing dreamily out the window during classes and smiling into his pillow after saying goodnight to Victor, replaying the moment over and over in his head the way he had after the time Victor had winked at him during the World Cup. That times a thousand because by Yuuri's estimation, being kissed by your idol was at least a thousand time better than being winked at by him.

Victor behaved exactly the same toward him as he had before it happened—flirty, affectionate, kind—so Yuuri decided the kiss had been a reward—an excellent one, but he didn't expect it to happen again, and honestly he figured he could die happy based on that one kiss alone.

Eventually though, the looming match against Suzaku overshadowed Yuuri's happiness, like drops of anxiety falling into a dry well until he realized he was drowning in worry.

"Anything I might be able to do to help take your mind off things, hm?" Victor asked one morning, two days before the match, when the bags under Yuuri's eyes gave away the fact that he was panicking.

"Uh, not that I can think of," Yuuri told him.

"I'm sure I could come up with something," Victor suggested, eyebrows raised.

"Actually, yes," Yuuri said. Victor's entire face lit up and he wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"Really? Then let's go back up to the dormitory, we can skip Defensive— "

"Wait, what?" Yuuri asked, confused. "I was going to suggest a soak in the onsen after Herbology."

Victor sucked in a breath like he was going to say something.

"You really shouldn't be skipping classes," Yuuri told him.

"Okay, if that's what you think will help," Victor sighed, smiling patiently once again.

The next morning, Yuuri and Victor were running drills on the pitch as usual, waiting for the Durmstrang ship to rise up out of the waves. Oddly, the shore was dotted with people—usually it would be empty at this time of day. Yuuri swooped down to get a closer look and—oh no.

The entirety of the Yuri Plisetsky Fan Club (who, Yuuri was horrified to learn, had begun referring to themselves as Yuri's Angels), led by Emiko, stood nervously awaiting Yurio's arrival.

"Victor!" Yuuri called nervously.

"What is it?" Victor flew down closer.

"Look." Yuuri pointed at the girls. Victor squinted.

"Are they wearing cat ears?" he asked.

Before Yuuri could answer, the mast of the Durmstrang ship crashed through the waves.

"It's him!" the girls squealed, jumping up and down like they were on springs. Oh no.

Yuuri and Victor could only watch helplessly as the ship docked on the shore and Yurio descended the ramp, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, hair pulled back into a bun.

"Yurio!" the girls screeched once he'd reached the shore and the ramp had pulled itself back up into the ship. Yurio's head snapped up and he stared at them in confused horror.

Yuuri watched it happen as if in slow-motion, the girls flocking toward Yurio, giggling and shrieking, Yurio backing up and glancing behind him as if he'd realized that the only way out was to dive into the ocean and start swimming.

And then something even weirder happened—Otabek Altin flew up on his broom out of absolutely nowhere, stopping beside Yurio. Yuuri really couldn't remember seeing that much of him on weekends, but he was wearing a leather jacket, his hair was whipping in the wind, and he looked like the most badass No-Maj motorcycle punk Yuuri could imagine. They exchanged a few words, Yurio flushed and glanced in terror at his fan club, then he swung a leg over the back of Otabek's broomstick and wrapped his arms around Otabek's waist. Otabek wasted no time in taking off, bulleting in the direction of the other side of the island.

"Aw man," Yuuri heard one of the girls say.

"Well that was interesting," Victor commented, elbow propped up on his broomstick and his chin resting in his hand. "Let's get back to that dive."

They didn't see Yurio again for the rest of the morning.

"Okay guys," Yuuko was saying at lunch, "I know we've talked strategy before, but—"

"What does it matter?" Seung-gil interrupted. "This is a waste of time. Our chances of winning are negligible at best. I see no purpose in going over tactics we can't execute."

"Always the ray of sunshine," Takeshi said, clapping Seung-gil so forcefully on the back that he spat out his gulp of tea. Yuuri privately thought it was probably a good thing that Takeshi was graduating this year because one more season of having to team up with Seung-gil might have ended in some unforgivable curses.

Just then, Yuuri noticed that Yurio hadn't shown up for lunch. It wasn't katsudon, but still.

"Where's Yurio?" he asked Victor. Victor shrugged. Where could he have even gone? Yuuri craned his neck to look at the shokudou. Everyone seemed to be there except Yurio and...oh.

"I don't see the Otabek either," Yuuri whispered to Victor. Victor's eyes widened and his hand flew up to clap over his mouth.

"Oh! Do you think—"

They didn't have time to dwell on this development before Yuuko had roped them back into a discussion about tactics over Seung-gil's protests.

"So then Guang Hong will come around—is that a crow?"

Indeed, a crow had landed in one of the doorways outside the shokudou and began honking so loudly Yuuri's ears were ringing. He was closest to the doorway, so he got up and reached out for the letter it was carrying. It was addressed to Victor, but in Mari's handwriting.

"It's for you," he said, handing Victor the letter. "But it looks like it's from my sister."

Yuuri read the letter over Victor's shoulder.

Victor,

Makkachin got into the steamed buns and one got lodged in his throat. We've taken him to the vet and they're doing everything they can for him, but they're not sure if he's going to make it. I'm really sorry. I'm including the address for the vet if the school will let you out. If not, we'll send updates if anything changes.

—Mari

Yuuri glanced up at Victor's face, which had drained noticeably of color. Yuuri understood—Victor was an only child. He didn't fit in with his parents. Makkachin was his family.

"Go," Yuuri told him.

"But your match—"

"I can do it alone," Yuuri said, nodding firmly. "You need to get back to Hasetsu."

"I can't just leave—"

"You can, and you have to. Makkachin is your family. Go."

Victor squeezed his hand.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." And then he disappeared out of the shokudou.

Phichit came up behind Yuuri and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay competing without Victor?"

"I guess I'll have to be," Yuuri sighed.

That night was awful. Yuuri hadn't realized how accustomed he'd grown to having Victor in the next bed, listening to Victor's deep, even breathing to anchor himself and drifting off to the sound. It was just too quiet, too still, too lonely. He got up. He paced. He tried to do homework. He laid back down. He watched the shadows of animals from outside on the shoji of his sliding door as they passed the window.

But the most important thing he did was accept the fact that he was almost certainly going to lose. Even at the top of his game—with a full night's rest and Victor by his side, victory was unlikely at best.

Rolling over onto his stomach, he started tallying up totals in his head, which was something he'd successfully avoided thinking about all year. Losing one more match would not disqualify them. It would solidify Suzaku's position in the final match, but if Komainu beat Kirin next month—let's face it, Yuuri thought to himself, that's what's going to happen—then there would have to be a tiebreaker match between Tanuki and Komainu to determine who would face Suzaku in the final round. Beating Komainu again would be...difficult, not impossible. And mostly up to Yuuri. No one had scored a goal against Otabek Altin yet and Yuuri doubted that was going to change, so it would be once again down to him catching the Snitch before Komainu's Chasers could get too many goals past Mitsumi...

Yuuri didn't notice himself drifting off to sleep until Takeshi opened his screen door.

"Aren't you up yet?!" he asked. "I couldn't get past Victor's suitcases but I thought you'd be up by now; you're going to miss breakfast!"

Yuuri jolted upright, taking in the sunlight streaming into his room. He was so used to Victor waking him up on game days that he'd completely forgotten to set an alarm. Victor, with his sweet voice and soft hands, stroking Yuuri's hair out of his face and handing him his glasses...Yuuri missed him so much already that he ached.

There was a letter waiting for him when he finally dressed and entered the shoin.

Dear Yuuri,

Makkachin is going to be alright, thank God. I'm staying with him until tonight, but I'll be back in time for classes tomorrow morning.

Love,

Victor

Yuuri breathed a sigh of relief—it felt silly to admit but after just a couple weeks around Makkachin, Yuuri felt as if he was their dog. He never would've admitted that to Victor though.

"How's everything?" Phichit asked nervously.

"Fine," Yuuri told him, which was at least partially true. "Victor will be back tomorrow morning."

"Great!" Phichit said. "Now let's go win this match!"

Oh, Phichit.

Yuuri wasn't sure whether he was relieved or annoyed that Yurio didn't have breakfast with him. It might've been a nice distraction to have Yurio yammering in his ear or even doing his sulking thing which always seemed noisy even if he wasn't speaking. Either way, he was apparently eating breakfast with Otabek Altin over at the Komainu table. They were sitting across from each other and talking and—Yuuri craned his neck—Yurio looked...happy. Happier than Yuuri had ever seen him, in fact. He was listening to Otabek talk (Yuuri had been certain up until this point that Otabek never spoke) with an exceptionally becoming flush spread across his cheeks and even the faintest hint of a smile. I know that look, Yuuri thought.

It was lightly drizzling that morning, and Yuuri had the absolutely ridiculously sappy thought that Mahoutokoro was pining for Victor the same way he was. Oh well, he thought, pulling off his glasses and casting a water-repelling charm on them, here goes nothing.

"Welcome back, Mahoutokoro, to another Quidditch match! I'm glad to be back alongside Emiko after my little Potions mishap—"

"—which turned out to be all for the best! Last match, as most of you probably now know, was commentated by none other than Yuri Plisetsky, our special guest from Durmstrang and an amazing Beater!"

Yuuri glanced over at Yurio, who was sitting in the Komainu section of the stands. He had an elbow resting on Otabek's shoulder. It was a casual enough position, but he reminded Yuuri strikingly of a possessive cat curled around its owner, ready to bite anyone who got too close. At present though, his expression was of mingled disgust and confusion, glaring daggers at Emiko over in the commentator's box.

"The players take to the pitch! House Suzaku, fan-favorite and first place team, will be facing House Tanuki, who had a bit of a rocky start but have performed admirably due to star Seeker Yuuri Katsuki!"

Yuuri took his place high above the pitch opposite Minjae Park and the rest of Suzaku.

"The Snitch and Bludgers are released. The whistle is blown, and there's the Quaffle. The game—!"

The end of Ruika's sentence was drowned by a sudden and torrential downpour. The light drizzle had instantaneously morphed into what felt like a bath faucet from the sky. Thunder boomed ominously as lightning flashed a few miles away. Yuuri was glad for the waterproof charm on his glasses, but even with it, the thick curtain of rain was difficult to see through.

Yuuri descended rapidly—he didn't want to be too high when the thunderhead reached the pitch. Park seemed to have thought the same. The difficulty of finding the Snitch, though, increased as Yuuri now had to dodge the Chasers in their war for the Quaffle. Yuuko, Guang Hong, and Phichit seemed especially determined to score after their fruitless struggle against Komainu in the last match.

Yuuko stole the Quaffle from Yoshida, ducking under her and punching it out from her grasp. She managed to dodge a Bludger from Otgonbayar, but was blocked by Wang. She and Guang Hong had practiced for this, however. She dropped the Quaffle, seemingly to avoid crashing into Wang, but Phichit was right below her.

He caught it, and swerving to the right, threw it hard at the nearest goalpost. The Keeper, Matsumoto, had less than a second to react, and her fingers barely grazed the Quaffle as it soared past her, scoring the first goal for Tanuki.

A few minutes past, and for the first time that season, Suzaku was actually losing. The score was 30-20 in Tanuki's favor. Even the wind was in Tanuki's favor, blowing in the direction of the Suzaku goalposts. Both Yuuri and Park were sticking close to the Tanuki side of the field, the better to see more of the pitch without staring into the oncoming storm. Lightning flashed every couple of minutes, getting closer all the while. Yuuri had never played in weather so bad.

He noticed it a fraction of a second before Park. The Snitch was a good fifty feet above them, fighting the wind and rain as it flew. He and Park ascended as one, spiraling to keep abreast of the wind and out of each other's wake. Yuuri had seen Park's ascent from afar, how she practically dived upward, but he was happy to see that this time, the rain was slowing her down at least as much as him. The Snitch disappeared into a heavy cloud as lightning struck inches from where Yuuri and Park had just been. The storm was upon them, and there was no choice but to meet it, head on.

The darkness around him tingled with energy as he looked around frantically for the Snitch. His sense of self-preservation was slowly overcoming his drive to win, until he caught sight of Park, also searching in the cloud. No one would know if he simply let her catch it. They were effectively invisible up here.

But it wasn't about the other students now. It wasn't even about Victor, miles away in Hasetsu. This was about himself, Yuuri, finding the Snitch and winning the match for his team.

As if in answer, the Snitch appeared less than ten feet away from him. He sped up, but felt a sudden buzz of electricity all around him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, threatening to jump ship altogether. With a sudden instinct he didn't totally understand, he dived. There was a deafening explosion as a bolt of lightning shot overhead. He had moved just in time.

As he looked back, he saw Park, who had turned with shock at the lightning blast, speeding to the Snitch. She grabbed at it, and spiraled down as a second bolt blasted its way towards her. She and Yuuri both dived once more, out of the cloud, and down to the pitch. Once out of the cloud, the House Suzaku fans roared with delight.

It was the first time Yuuri could remember not even being upset about losing—truthfully, he was just glad to be alive. He tumbled off of his broom onto the muddy cliff side and was immediately enveloped into a crushing hug by Yuuko.

"Are you hurt?" she shouted in his ear, trying to make her voice heard over the rain. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Oh my God," Phichit said, wrapping his arms around Yuuri as soon as Yuuko let go. "We thought you were done for. We saw you go into the cloud but it was too hard to tell if you'd come out— "

"Don't scare us like that again, man!" Takeshi told him. "You're too stubborn for your own good—I wouldn't've gone anywhere near that cloud."

Yuuri was at least as glad to see them. He looked down and noticed that the hem of his Quidditch robes had been singed black by lightning.

He didn't fully understand it himself, but his need to affirm that he'd made it back to the ground and was alive and surrounded by the people he cared about was overwhelming. He saw Guang Hong first, pulled him forward and hugged him tight.

"Wha— "

Seung-gil was next—he looked as though he was about to vomit. Yuuri didn't have time to think about it too hard before he was hugging Phichit again, then Yuuko, then Takeshi and Mitsumi.

"What's going on up here? Do you losers just like standing around in the rain or— "

He had to physically chase him down, but in the end Yuuri got a hug from Yurio too.

The rest of the day was spent firmly indoors, drinking hot tea in his pajamas and reading quietly in the shoin with Phichit.

Everyone else went to bed early, but Yuuri knew that sleep wouldn't come until he'd seen Victor so he remained curled up in the pillows in the shoin with his History of Magic textbook until he heard footsteps outside the dormitory.

Not caring how it would look, Yuuri sprang up and waited just inside the doorway for the approaching footsteps, staring at the doorknob as it turned.

He was in Victor's arms before he could even take a full breath. Victor had brought with him a faint whiff of Hasetsu and Yuuri clung to his shoulders so tight his hands felt numb.

"You're back," he whispered.

"Mm," Victor agreed, brushing his lips against Yuuri's so softly it was like being kissed by the wind. "I'm home."