*… something smells good….something smells real good…*
The raven-haired skater pushed his arms out from under his head where they had been a makeshift pillow. His toes pointed out as he stretched the length of his body.
Yuuri glanced around, happy that the intense illumination that was so crippling before had finally subdued. He could tolerate the fact that Celestino had opened the curtains.
Those chocolate hues continued to search around before he spied the greasy, brown paper bag of food awaiting him on the desk. Beside it sat a small pack of painkillers, a bottle of something pastel pink, a to-go cup of tea, and some sort of juice drink.
A gentle smile crossed his lips before he slid off the bed, grabbing his phone from the floor where he unintentionally left it.
Surprised, he had a couple of texts.
The first two were from Celestino.
:What flavour of juice do you like?:
:Nvm:
Yuuri chuckled at his poor coach. He tapped the back button.
Phichit was next.
:There is always next season! Keep your head up Yuu-chan!:
An emotionless smile crossed his lips. He took in a breath before replying with a simple smiley face. The weight fell again on his shoulders of his last place crushing defeat in the Prix.
The last message was from Mari.
:Fate will fix itself:
Everything started going blurry again as the tears welled up, brimming his eyes.
Yuuri set his phone down and picked up the packet of painkillers. It was a strange powdered product. After reading the directions of use, he opened the lid of his tea. The aroma of peppermint filled the air as he removed the bags, tossing then into the waste bin under the table.
He downed the power then sipped the tea. He winced. It burned down his throat. Not exactly an intention that was well thought out.
His stomach growled in an angry manner.
The paper bag of food was the next thing opened. Yuuri removed three wrapped items. He opened the first and laughed.
Tacos.
Leave it to Celestino to find tacos in Russia. Yuuri was enjoying his meal when his phone chimed a notification.
Celestino.
:Yuuri, you have time but get packed and at the Expo Centre with your suitcase at 1800. There are some things we need to take care of before we fly out. We'll be leaving for the airport straight from the Centre:
:Okay. And thanks for the things.:
He replied back and set his phone back down. He didn't care to look at anything else, a choice he should have made last night. He should never have looked at the news after his loss.
Yuuri groaned in an audible displeasure before he sipped on his tea again.
Yuuri spent the afternoon showering, packing, and napping. His alarm startled him awake at 1700. The raven-haired skater sighed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Grabbing his phone, he shoved the charger into his suitcase. He gave the room a once over before his stare fell to the window.
Yuuri found himself in front of the pane before he knew what he was doing. He allowed his thoughts to wander as he touched the cool glass.
Someone out there was looking at the same breathtaking oranges, pinks and purples of the Russian sunset with new eyes.
Just as he was.
Yuuri pulled his phone from his pocket and opened up Instagram. He found it silly now how people could take these photos in a gray scale. Even with that thought, he snapped a selfie with the sunset as the background.
He wrote the caption as :Who knows what the future holds: and posted it with a Geo-tag and a couple hashtags, #sochi #Russia #beautiful.
With a regretful sigh, he gathered his things and headed for the lobby to checkout of the hotel.
Yuuri found himself an isolated spot in the Expo Centre, headphones in, as he waited for Celestino. He settled on people watching to pass the time. It was an entertaining activity, especially with everything in technicolour.
That was when a gentle hand on his shoulder about startled the soul out of him. As he plucked the headphones from his ears, he heard a deep laugh.
"Coach..."
Yuuri mumbled, hand over his heart as the Italian man patted his back.
"Sorry, Yuuri. Come on, let's go."
Celestino was still chuckling as Yuuri grabbed his suitcase and followed in line behind him. The room that they entered was crowded with coaches, skaters, and journalist.
Yuuri stood close to his coach as they approached one of the tables. Celestino made easy small talk with the lady sitting there. Yuuri's gaze drifted around the room, person to person until he caught the sight of the most stunning pair of eyes.
Turquoise.
Aquamarine.
Cerulean.
Yuuri couldn't decide what colour they were but they reminded him of the warm ocean in the early summertime back in Hasetsu.
A smile crossed their lips. Then it dawned on him, just as the smile did in a golden epiphany.
He was staring at Viktor Nikiforov.
Viktor Nikiforov was staring back at him.
And smiling.
The raven-haired skater yanked himself from his thoughts and in a failed attempt to hide his embarrassment, he bumped into the table beside him. He could hear Celestino scolding him in the back of his mind, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
It wasn't Viktor's usual smile.
That one he flashes when he sees a fan or a news reporter.
There was something different about it.
"Yuuri!"
He knew that tone.
Celestino was upset now because he knew that Yuuri wasn't listening.
"Sumimasen..."
Yuuri said quietly and tried to focus, he tried to focus on where he needed to sign as his coach pointed it out to him.
When he turned back around, Yuuri released a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding, finally done with paperwork. He was feeling oddly disappointed when he found the Russians had left.
Disappointed wasn't right.
He felt...melancholy.
Yuuri again fell in behind Celestino as they walked through the bustling Expo Centre.
"Um… Celestino, I'll be just a moment."
The Italian glanced back to see Yuuri disappearing into the bathroom. He sighed and removed his phone from his pocket, making a quick phone call. He moved to a quieter area, but still, somewhere he could keep an eye on Yuuri's suitcase, which he didn't bring with him.
A pair of turquoise hues searched the area desperately. Madly. Hopelessly. He could hear the old man, yelling, always yelling. Viktor knew he had just seen the Japanese skater, here, in this area. He then spied the skater's coach. His eyes beamed, but he was not only out of time, but luck. There was no sight of the raven-haired boy.
Just as Viktor was about to turn away, defeated, he spotted what he knew was Yuuri's suitcase. Without a hesitation, he crossed the space and knelt down by the case. His pale fingers fumbled with one of the zips before he was able to slip a small, folded piece of paper into the pocket. His fingers lingered a little longer than he wanted, but Yakov was getting really, truly angry now. The silver-haired Russian broke into a soft jog back towards the others.
Still drying his hands, Yuuri exited the bathroom. His attention couldn't help but be drawn to the bright white and red jumpsuit, moving towards the other end of the Expo Centre. His breath caught again, his mind still trying to keep up with the aggressive enhancement of color in his life again.
Yuuri bit his lip, hand rested on the handle of his suitcase.
Black and white.
Colour.
It didn't matter either way. He was nothing compared to his idol. And it was foolish of him to think that he could meet him on the same playing field. Yuuri breathed in deep as Celestino returned to his side, ushering him towards the door.
He wiped his eyes as they hit the frigid Russian air.
"Everything okay, Yuuri?"
Celestino sounded concerned. The ravenet skater plastered the best smile he could on his face.
"Hai. The cold air made my eyes water is all."
He turned the smiled and nodded, leading Yuuri to the taxi that he phoned. He felt heavy as he lifted the suitcase into the trunk. Opening the taxi door took him a moment because he couldn't focus on the door handle. Yuuri sunk into the leathery seat beneath him, his body felt broken as he looked out of the window, the driver pulling off towards the airport as soon as Celestino was within the cab.
