Chapter Sixteen: Yuuri vs. The Unstoppable and Immovable Force that Is Otabek Altin
As Yuuri predicted, Komainu absolutely decimated Kirin, knocking them permanently out of the running out of the cup. This meant that in two weeks, House Tanuki would face Komainu in a tiebreaker match to determine who would face Suzaku in the finals.
Yuuri felt like the tiebreaker was almost more of a test than the final match because scouts from the Toyohashi Tengu always attended the final match, so even if he made it to the final and they lost, as long as he was good he stood a chance. But losing the tiebreaker meant he was completely out—the recruiters wouldn't even see him play.
Victor seemed to feel that since they'd already beaten Komainu, Yuuri had nothing to worry about. They practiced, but Victor was obviously more interested in trying to keep Yuuri happy than focused—which was confusing but not unpleasant.
The night before the match, he headed off Yuuri's nervous breakdown with a surprise.
"What are we doing?" Yuuri asked. Victor shut the sliding door behind them and began rummaging through his suitcases.
"I thought I put it in this one but—nope, more robes," he murmured, unzipping a second one. Yuuri waited patiently, sitting on his futon. "Okay, I can't find it. Accio gramophone!"
A very, very small but intricate gramophone sailed out of one of Victor's other suitcases and landed in the palm of his hand. Victor set it on the floor on the other side of Yuuri's bed, tapped it with his wand and it instantly grew to full size, knocking into Yuuri's futon and wobbling dangerously on its spindly legs. The needle was poised at the ready on a record. Victor tapped it again, apparently oblivious to the fact that it appeared ready to tip over at any moment.
Can you hear my heartbeat...?
Victor came over to the other side of the bed and held out his hands to Yuuri, who took them. Victor pulled him close, standing together in the space between their beds.
...I close my eyes and tell myself that my dreams will come true...
Victor placed one of his hands on Yuuri's back and held Yuuri's other hand up. There was no finesse to it—Yuuri wasn't exactly an experienced dancer—but there was the natural grace expected of two Seekers, swaying and twirling together to the music.
...Don't stop us now, the moment of truth...
Victor smiled and his face radiated with warmth and joy. He pulled Yuuri closer, and Yuuri rested his chin on Victor's shoulder.
...We were born to make history...
"I like this song," Yuuri murmured in Victor's ear.
"I know," Victor replied. Yuuri could hear the smile in his voice.
Yuuri had no idea how Victor could know that Yuuri liked a song he'd never heard before, but it was impossible to keep thinking about things that didn't make sense, because this did. The way they held each other, the way they danced together. He pulled back and looked Victor in the eyes, and that was the moment that Yuuri realized he was in love—the deep, hopeless kind. He was drowning in it, and Victor was no longer some kind of unreachable dream. Victor, the real Victor, was the warm hand against Yuuri's palm. He was the heartbeat pulsing softly in his neck, the blue eyes under pale lashes with their gaze fixed on Yuuri's mouth. So Yuuri kissed him, because he couldn't not—and then Victor was the lips touching his, the tongue in his mouth, the hand firm on his lower back...
The sliding door opened and Yuuri pulled away from Victor with a gasp. He stumbled backwards and fell sprawling onto his futon—balling up his blanket and slamming it down onto his lap.
"Could you turn the music down?" Seung-gil demanded, poking his head into the room. "Some of us are trying to strategize for the game tomorrow. By all means, keep making out—just be quiet about it."
"Sorry!" Victor told him cheerfully. He waved his wand at the gramophone, which shrunk back to pocket-sized as the music ground to a halt. The appearance of Seung-gil was like a bucket of ice water poured over Yuuri's body, he took a deep breath and glanced nervously up at Victor. He knew he must've looked like a deer in the headlights, but Victor just laughed.
"So much for that!" he said, shrugging off the awkwardness. "You should probably get some sleep. We'll get up early tomorrow and stretch in the onsen before the game. That should help loosen you up."
"Right," Yuuri murmured, cheeks burning. He got into his futon and turned the light out, but he couldn't help wondering what might've happened if Seung-gil hadn't walked in. They'd been pressed so tightly together, it would've taken just a couple of steps to fall back onto one of the beds… He stayed up much later than he would've admitted to watching Victor's sleeping face by the moonlight streaming through the window.
The next morning after breakfast and on their way down to the pitch, Victor got roped into a conversation with Yakov about "next season", which was probably Yuuri's least-favorite topic to think about. Every chance he got, Yakov brought up Victor's plans for post-graduation, whether he'd be returning to Russia, re-signing with the Skrzak, playing for the national team again—and every time he did it Victor waved him off with expertly diplomatic avoidant answers.
Yuuko was refereeing a disagreement between Takeshi and Seung-gil, and Mitsumi was talking to Guang Hong, who was staring into the sky and didn't appear to be taking in a word she was saying.
This left Yuuri free to talk with Phichit undisturbed for a few minutes, which was an opportunity he'd been seeking for weeks.
"I'm sorry I haven't spent as much time with you as usual this year," he started. "I just realized a couple weeks ago that I'll be leaving and you'll be staying, so..."
"Hey, no harm done!" Phichit said, smiling. This was what he loved so much about Phichit in the first place—he was never angry, always forgiving. Yuuri vowed right then and there to himself that he'd make their friendship a priority even when they weren't on the same team anymore. Even if they were across the world from one another.
"I totally get it," Phichit continued. "I mean...I guess this is as good a time as any to ask..." he lowered his voice and leaned into Yuuri as they walked. "Is Victor your boyfriend?"
Yuuri hesitated.
"Sorry!" Phichit cried. "I didn't mean to overstep! I just— "
"Honestly," Yuuri told him, "I'm afraid that if I say it out loud, he's going to disappear into thin air."
Phichit's eyes widened. "Oh! So...so when Seung-gil said yesterday that he saw you making out in your dormitory, you— "
"Ah..."
"You were!?" Phichit gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Yeah," Yuuri admitted.
"So how—"
"Well team, let's look on the bright side," Yuuko said, coming up behind Yuuri and Phichit and putting an arm around each of them. "If we lose today, this will be the last match Seung-gil and Takeshi ever play with each other."
"Ooh," said Phichit. "That's almost worth throwing the match for!"
"Kidding, Yuuri! Just kidding!" Phichit smiled at the look on Yuuri's face. "Not like it matters what we Chasers do anyway. No one's gotten a goal past Otabek all year. How long do you think before the Tengu snatch him up?"
"If we lose today?" Yuuri said. "I give it two weeks. The recruiters at the final will have him signed before the end of the match."
"Where is he from?" Yuuko asked. "The teams in his home country will probably want him to sign with them too."
"Kazakhstan," came Yurio's voice from behind them.
"Really?" Phichit asked, turning around to face Yurio and walking backward. "That's so far away! Why doesn't he go to Koldovstoretz? Or even Durmstrang would be closer."
"Koldovstoretz is a shitty school," Yurio said. Not quite how Victor had put it, but then again this was Yurio. Victor was excessively accommodating, Yurio was excessively negative—the truth probably hovered somewhere between their opinions.
"What about Durmstrang then?" Yuuko asked.
"His parents are No-Majs," Yurio told them, glowering. "Durmstrang has a stupid rule about that—they only take the pure-bloods."
"Still?" Phichit gaped.
"Assholes," Yurio added. He sounded a lot angrier about this rule than he had a few months ago, now that he had realized it was the thing that prevented him from having unfettered access to Otabek Altin. Phichit murmured in agreement and whirled around to face front just as they reached the edge of the cliff.
"Break a leg!" Yurio called to them as he broke off to head down to the stands.
"Thanks?" Yuuri called back, confused. Where had Yurio picked up that No-Maj saying?
Yurio stopped. "Why are you thanking me? I just told you to break your leg."
'It's a No-Maj saying," Yuuko explained. "Means 'good luck'!"
"No," Yurio insisted. "No I mean I hope you break your leg and lose. I'm rooting for Komainu." Yuuri just laughed as Yurio disappeared down the steps toward the shore.
"Ohayo Mahoutokoro!" came Emiko's voice from the commentator's box. "And ohayo Yurio!"
Yurio groaned so loudly that Yuuri could hear it from the cliff.
"Today we've got our exciting tiebreaker match," Ruika said. "Tanuki versus Komainu! The winner will face Suzaku in two weeks for the final match of the year, and I think we're all looking forward to—"
"Hopefully Yurio will come either way," Emiko added.
"—seeing if Suzaku will remain undefeated!" Ruika was clearly trying (and failing) to keep the bias out of her voice while talking about Suzaku. Yuuri wasn't offended—they certainly had a lot to be proud of. "Players, take the pitch!"
Yuuri kicked off, swooping down past the stands.
"Otabek!" Yurio bellowed from the sidelines. Otabek did not turn his head, but he watched Yurio out of the corner of his eye.
Yurio gave him a thumbs up. "Davai!"
Otabek returned the thumbs up.
"...and the Quaffle is released!"
Yuuri dodged as Fen Chiu immediately aimed a Bludger his way the moment the Quaffle was in the air. The Komainu team had obviously shifted their strategy since last game—they were going to keep him off balance and on the defensive for as long as possible. Guang Hong got to the Quaffle first, streaking past Legaspi, and passing up to Yuuko, who was several feet above and to the left. She shot at the left goalpost, but Otabek deftly intercepted the shot and kicked it to Fujiwara.
"The Chius are certainly relentless in their pursuit of Katsuki today," Ruika remarked.
"Oh!" Emiko groaned. "We never came up for a cool duo name for those two! And now it might be the last match they're in this year and we missed our chance."
Once again, Yuuri swerved as a Bludger narrowly missed him, this time from Xing Chiu. If they were going to keep this up all game, it would be nearly impossible for him to look for the Snitch. And if Otabek continued his flawless defense of the goals, as everyone expected he would, both of Tanuki's scoring opportunities would be gone. The Komainu team could have erected a brick wall in front of their goalposts and it wouldn't have been as effective as Otabek.
The eyes of the whole crowd were on the Tanuki Chasers, who bobbed and weaved through every obstacle, only to be stopped every time at the goalposts. Even as the Chasers fought for goals at one end of the field, however, the Beaters were fighting a furious battle of their own. The Chiu siblings sent Bludger after Bludger at Yuuri. Takeshi and Seung-gil, meanwhile, continued a war of words as the hit badly aimed Bludgers at various people. Evidently, Yuuko's stern warning for them to keep it off the field had gone unheeded. Disappointing, but not really surprising.
After fifteen minutes, there was no sign of the Snitch, and the Chiu siblings kept up a relentless assault on Yuuri, while taking occasional shots at Tanuki Chasers. It was at this point when the argument between the Tanuki Beaters reached a breaking point. Seung-gil spat something at Takeshi that nobody heard. Ohashi spotted the Snitch, and zoomed between them at the exact wrong moment—just as Takeshi aimed a Bludger straight at Seung-gil's face. It hit Ohashi right square in the chest, and he spiraled in an uncontrolled descent.
Both Beaters stared, dumbfounded. Takeshi turned to Seung-gil.
"You hit that at me!" Seung-gil shouted at him.
"No, I didn't you jerk!" Takeshi yelled back, though it was pretty obvious that he had.
Time-out was called, and a winded Ohashi was escorted off the field to the nurse. And that was the last productive action the Tanuki Beaters took during the match.
Yuuri spun and sharply ascended as the two Bludgers hurtled towards him—the Chiu siblings were closing in. Without a threat from the Beaters, the Tanuki Chasers attempted more and more daring shots, giving Otabek a chance to make some truly spectacular saves.
Yuuko made as if to shoot at the right goal post, while Phichit swooped in and punched the Quaffle to the center. Otabek, who had made for the right, grabbed the goal hoop and swung horizontally off his broom. With one hand, he grabbed the broom handle—with the other, he pulled himself around and through the hoop. Like some cross between a pole dancer and trapeze artist, he let go of his broom, kicked the Quaffle hard the way it had come, and swung off of the goal post and onto his broom again.
There was an explosion of cheers and screams from the entire crowd. Phichit, completely stunned by this display, ducked as the Quaffle came zooming at his head. The Komainu Chaser Fujiwara grabbed it, and soon had Tanuki back on the defensive. Otabek exhaled deeply, and then resumed his post as if nothing had happened.
The crowd was so immersed in raving about Otabek's save, no one noticed for a good thirty seconds that Yuuri had caught the Snitch. It had been hovering close to the Tanuki goal posts, almost as if it too had been stunned by Otabek's prowess. Yuuri plucked it easily from the air without fanfare.
"Otabek Altin is ready to—wait," Ruika shouted. "Yuuri Katsuki has caught the Snitch! House Tanuki has won the tiebreaker and will advance to the final match against Suzaku!"
Yuuko was so mad at Takeshi and Seung-gil that she didn't even stop to congratulate Yuuri on saving all their asses before stomping toward her feuding Beaters.
"What was that out there?" she roared at them. Yuuko was normally a very sweet girl and Yuuri had only once or twice witnessed her like this—as though she had been briefly possessed by a lion. Takeshi visibly cringed. Seung-gil had the audacity to remain with his arms crossed, though Yuuri saw fear flash through his eyes. That's right, he thought. You're in for it.
"You guys are unbelievable!" she raged. "You can't hold it together for one— "
Yuuri tuned out the lecture in favor of a hug from Victor, who came running up from the shore and into Yuuri's arms.
"Very clever to use a distraction like that in your favor," Victor said once he'd let go. "I'm impressed."
Yuuri accepted the compliment, though he privately still felt as though he'd just gotten very lucky and that their success could be attributed more to that than anything else, and there was no guarantee he'd get another break during the final match. The one that would decide his future and, quite possibly, Victor's too.
Yuuri groaned internally and wiped sweat from his forehead, preparing for a very long two weeks.