I am soooooo sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I hit a wall half way through this chapter and have been trying to get past it for months now. I know I said I'd have the story finished by the end of 2017, but that obviously turned out not to be true! I should say that there are only 3 more chapters left of this, and I hope to have this story finished before the new YoI stuff comes out ?
(To check out some of my drawings of Osha, check out my DeviantArt account, Missus-Llama98, I'm also publishing this and other stories on A03 under the same name :) )
Previously in, "The Charms of a Nikiforov":
She smiled brightly as she stopped in front of him, spotting Victor and Yuri out of the corner of her eye.
"You ready?"
Phichit nodded.
"Yeah."
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, nor the universe of Yuri! On Ice – they all belong to Kubo, nor do I own any of the famous skaters, jumps, music etc. I only own my OC's and this story.
Chapter 19
Gotta Super-Supercharge it! Grand Prix Final Short Programme
(Eleventh Skate)
"Oshi, stop biting your nails!"
"I would if I could, Vitya," the girl said, proceeding to hiss at her brother when he tried to pull her thumb away from her mouth, "I'm nervous!"
The taller of the two Nikiforov's laughed and squeezed her shoulder, "It's only the warm-up, sliznyak, save your panicking for when the real competition starts."
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes wavered as the skaters began stepping off the ice – all, but Yuri – leaving the Japanese man alone. Victor's hand flew to his mouth and he began gnawing on his thumb, much like his sister moments before. Osha smirked and hugged his waist as her eyes found Phichit's. Osha stepped away from Victor as Yuri skated over to the rink-side. She smiled and held her arms open to give him a tight hug.
She whispered, "Good luck" in his ear and kissed his cheek, before pushing his shoulder in Victor's direction. A smile played across her face as she watched the pair interact; Victor locking their hands and kissing Yuri's ring. Arms looped around her middle and a cheek pressed against her own, as Phichit came in for a hug – causing her smile to widen. She kept her voice quiet as she turned her head and whispered to the Thai boy, "You ok?"
For once, Phichit was quiet, but smiled and nodded all the same. He squeezed his arms around Osha, revealing the nerves he was failing to hide, as they watched Yuri perform his short programme. I feel sick to my stomach watching him perform…he's improved so much, and I desperately want him to win, but I also want Phichit to win… "Does your brother always do that?"
"Huh?"
Phichit gestured to where Victor was mimicking the steps of Yuri's routine. The couple made eye contact and giggled, eyes widened as Victor and Yuri jumped into the air, spinning around and landing. The Thai skater bit back a loud laugh as Osha tugged herself out of his arms to run to the side, speaking her thoughts aloud, "Did he have enough rotations? I mean he had the speed, but I don't know if he completed the final turn of the flip!" Her heart sank when the music cut, and Yuri collapsed onto the ice, his shoulders shaking as he vented out his emotions. They both knew his hand had touched the ice, but the knowledge had crushed Yuri's hope. He took a risk… She looked over to her brother, whose eyes were fixed on the figure alone on the ice.
It was easy enough to surprise everyone when I approached each programme like a new beginning, but constantly starting over means never building anything solid - I don't need anyone, I'm strongest on my own…
Victor looked down when Osha's small hand clasped his own. His blue eyes watered a little…
…At least, that's what I thought.
"Get that boy to the kiss-and-cry, Vitya." He nodded as she pushed him along. She turned when Phichit tugged on her sleeve, "I have to get on the ice." The Russian girl nodded as he handed her his skate-guards. She gave one last glance towards Victor and Yuri, before stepping up next to Celestino. Yuri didn't break the hundred mark, but it's still a good score. Shaking her thoughts clear, she felt Phichit take her hand.
"They'll be ok." He said, lowering his head so he could smile at her. Osha puffed out a breath and squeezed his hand, "I'm meant to say that to you. Good luck." She pulled him into a hug, before kissing him softly, "You'll be brilliant." His face was beet red, but he stuttered out a "thanks", kissing her cheek before skating to the centre of the rink. Victor watched as his sister looked out at the ice, love shining in her eyes for the skater and the sport.
Now it's different, I can feel a flood of new emotions flowing into me through Yuri…and Osha…what do they need from me, what can I give them now…how can I help them?
"Next is Thailand's Phichit Chulanont…"
As the music started, Osha grabbed Celestino's arm, focusing her gaze on her boyfriend. Her fellow coach smirked and patted her hand as she squeezed his arm. Phichit couldn't tear the grin from his face as he landed his jump. My only quad is the toe-loop, it'll be hard to earn higher scores than the others. I have no past accomplishments to defend – this is my new beginning…how could I be anything, but excited?
His eyes drifted over to the rink-side where he saw Ciao Ciao and Osha jumping up-and-down and shouting as he nailed his quad. His programme finished strong, Celestino punching the air as he whooped with pride. His grey eyes found Osha's…her hands were cupped over her mouth, and her eyes were full of tears. He skated as fast as he could off the rink and hugged her tightly, picking her up off the ground before he'd even put his skate-guards on. She hugged his neck and squealed, "That was udivitel'no, Peachy!", repeatedly kissing his forehead.
She felt him crying into her shoulder as he walked them to the kiss-and-cry – Osha having now looped her legs around his waist – Ciao Ciao laughed and followed behind them. The roles were reversed as Phichit comforted Osha as they received his score. She bent over and wiped her eyes as her boyfriend hugged her shoulders. A personal best…he got a personal best!
"Alright, Miss Coach, get in this picture!" Phichict chuckled as he pulled her into his side and kissed her cheek as he took a selfie with his coaches.
The silver-haired girl eventually composed herself as she saw Yakov and Lilia walk to the rink-side as Yurio stepped onto the ice. She watched as the teenager breathed in, ready to start his routine, then looked back to where Celestino and Phichit were beginning to head for the skater's stand. Grey eyes caught blue and the Thai skater sent her a bright smile. Her heart fluttered as she caught his meaning and she gave a small wave before turning to approach her former coach. The balding man turned as she came up to his side – her eyes trained on Yurio as he skated beautifully.
"Oshka."
"Hi Yakov."
They stood in companionable silence, watching the other skater, before the Russian coach spoke up. "He is so like Vitya."
"Da."
"I am proud of you all, Oshka." He didn't look round, but he still caught her gawping expression. "I know I don't say it enough, and I know I probably should…considering everything that's happened. I don't have any children, so you, your brother, Yura, Mila, and even Georgi are family to me…and while I hope that you and Vitya both return to skating, you're both fantastic coaches."
Osha noted how Lilia looked over at her ex-husband, her expression soft against her hardened features. She smiled, her mouth becoming heart-shaped, at her "unofficial" father-figure, and opened up her arms, " Yakoooov."
"Don't hug me, Oshka. We're Russian."
She ignored his remark, hugging him tightly all the same. The balding Russian made no move to tell her off, but merely let out a puffy chuckle and leaned into her touch. Osha released Yakov as the stadium went wild with Yurio finishing his routine – Osha feeling nothing, but pride swell in her due to its flawlessness. He's come so far. She knew her brother would be watching with conflicted emotions – proud because of the performance, but sad because they both knew it was a record-breaking routine. If anything, this may motivate him to start competing again.
Following a tearful hug with Yurio – most of which involved her crying in the boy's face while he yelled at her to get off – she'd found Phichit, Yuri and her brother in the stands, and they all watched as both Chris and Otabek performed their routines. Phichit had an arm around Osha's shoulders, while she leant her arms atop Sara's (who'd come for the Woman's Final) head. Yurio had joined them, following the end of the Swiss skater's programme, Osha and Phichit smirking at each other as he shouted "Davai!" to his new friend. There was silence among the skaters as it came to the final skater of the day – JJ. There was an unspoken groan amongst the other skaters as the Canadian sent his usual prayer to the sky and prepared himself to skate. The music started for his routine, and Osha watched with a smile…until he popped his first combination.
What…maybe he's changing up his routine?
Next was his triple axel…never happened.
Jean…
She stood as his quad lutz also became a single – the crowd singing along with the music. It is just like his first time competing as a singles skater…the nerves almost destroyed him. I thought he was over them…
As he progressively began to struggle through his routine, the girl excused herself and charged down the stairs, just in time to see JJ's score appear. It was the lowest he'd received in this competition, but it didn't stop the crowd from cheering – their voices, led by Isabella, chanting "JJ" over and over until it drowned out the noise from the commentary stands. It made Osha smile as she saw a cracked JJ approach her, and she opened her arms for him. He crouched and began sobbing onto her shoulder while she gave him a tight squeeze and stroked his hair. It was hard for her to see her friend, and former partner, struggling like this, but he had still done well and deserved all the applause he was receiving. She kissed the top of his head before whispering in his ear.
"It's ok, Jean. You were brilliant, I'm so proud."
"I- I don't know what happened."
"Shh, hey…it's over now."
He eventually built up the courage to hug her back – feeling pitiful inside that his best friend, who'd suffered worse than him, was still strong enough to support him as well as she did. Mr and Mrs Leroy eventually escorted their son out of the rink, thanking the small Russian girl as they left. Osha settled herself, alone, at the rink-side and watched as the highlights of the competition were recapped and discussed. Her blue eyes followed the spectators as they filed out of the arena, press reluctantly following suit, before she got up to find her company.
...
"Oshi, over here!"
Victor walked over to his little sister as she approached Yuri, Phichit, and himself at the doors to the rink. He engulfed her in a tight hug and stroked her hair, feeling her sigh into his chest as the weight and exhaustion from the day settled on both their shoulders. She offered the group a smile as she took Phichit's hand, and they began the short walk back to the hotel.
"Is JJ alright?", enquired Yuri, his brown eyes looking concerned. His response was another sigh from Osha and a nod. "Da, he just needs some rest. This isn't the first time he's struggled with nerves…he'll be ok."
In her heart, she knew that JJ's free skate would probably be affected, but the reassuring smiles that both Yuri and Phichit offered her, not to mention Victor saying, "I hope that he is.", helped soothe some of her worry.
Once they were back at the hotel, the two couples went their separate ways; Yuri and Victor, to their room, and Osha accompanying Phichit to his. When they were inside, the Thai skater pressed a light kiss to the Russian skater's forehead, whispering, "I think we both did well today, considering this was our first GP?"
The girl let out a laugh and wrapped her arms around his middle, snuggling further into him as he leant against the door. "Da, we should probably meet up with Celestino and discuss tomorrow's free skate," Osha bit back another laugh and she saw her boyfriend's grey eyes fall, "However, right now I just want to cuddle and veg out with a movie. You've earned a few hours of social media time."
Phichit grinned widely, and gave her a quick peck, "You're the best," before he swept up her legs and carried her to his bed where they proceeded to make a duvet-fort and order room service. The pair changed into comfier clothes, picked out a movie as Phichit tucked Osha in his arms. They stayed like that for several hours, flicking their attention between the screen of the television and the screens of their phones. It had turned out that Ciao Ciao had gone out with Mari and Minako, so he hadn't been up for meeting up either. Osha was texting Sara and Mila, with the occasional message to JJ, whilst Phichit updating all his profiles on social media – posting the day's pictures and conferring with his new Instagram-BFF, Chris.
I want to spend every evening like this, the silver-haired girl thought as she inhaled the scent of Phichit's top, while the tanned boy stroked her hair – both of their eyes trained on the third movie they'd selected. However, the peace was broken by Osha's phone ringing.
Vitya?
She frowned as she answered it but sat straight up when she heard the sobs of a broken man. "O-osha…"
"Victor, are you ok? What happened? Where are you?"
"…" There was some more sobbing and sniffling, before Victor managed to choke out a response, "The pool. I…I need to talk to you."
Her eyes connected with Phichit's, who looked concerned, and she answered her brother, "I'll be there in two minutes, Vitya." She then ended the call and turned back to Phichit, "I'm sorry."
"Hey," he cupped her cheek and kissed her gently, "Get your cute butt on up to see your brother, ok?"
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