Author's Note: Thank you for the favs and follows! And special thanks to Guest and Helen Teng for reviewing! And thank you for reminding me to put character tags on, Guest! Nearly forgot!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yuri On Ice or any recognizable characters.
14 year-old Irina Lebedeva entered her house and closed the door behind her. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled into a bun, and her baby blue eyes sparkled with relief now that she could relax, if only slightly. Her petite frame was illuminated by the faint light provided by the only uncovered window. She was wearing a cherry red long-sleeved shirt, a pink winter vest and black pants. "Hello? Mother? Father? Is anybody home?"
Flicking the lights on, Irina was greeted by a hearty, "SURPRISE!"
Irina let out a squeak of terror before recognizing the people before her and letting out a sigh of relief. "You guys scared me!"
"With our dazzling performance?" Anastasia Orlova smiled jokingly, stepping out from the bundle of people. Anastasia was a rink-mate and a close friend of Irina. She was short with pale skin and long, thick black hair.
Irina giggled. "Yes, maybe a bit of that too." She dropped her duffel bag near the door and made her way through the cluster of people, greeting friends and family alike, before stopping at the dining table and gasping. "You guys bought a cake? For me?"
"Duh," Anastasia said, dropping into a chair. "I mean, we're celebrating a pretty big event."
"Don't tell me you've forgotten," Irina's cousin, Marta, grumbled. Marta crossed her arms and blew a lock of dirty blonde hair out of her thick glasses, looking down disapprovingly.
"No?" Irina chuckled guiltily, before backtracking. "I mean, things have been pretty hectic at the rink since now both senior's and junior's assignments for the Grand Prix have been announced."
"Yeah! Tuesday, somebody threw up on the ice after their routine!" Anastasia announced.
"That was gross," Irina noted as Marta made a "gag-me" gesture.
"I'll bet," Irina's mother chuckled nervously. "And as such, please don't mention it at the dinner table."
"Oh, sorry, Mrs. Lebedeva," Anastasia apologized.
"It's alright, dear."
"If you've forgotten, Irina," A quiet voice spoke up. "It's been exactly five years from your first skating competition."
"Oh!" Irina exclaimed before groaning. "I can't believe I forgot! Thank you, Alina."
Alina Mironova gave a small smile. Alina used to attend ballet lessons with her, but soon found herself more at home in the backstage than the forefront. She had a bob of brown hair and wide eyes with arched eyebrows, making her look slightly surprised all the time, though her eyes were usually covered by turquoise glasses.
"We are all so proud of you." Her mother smiled while her father flashed her a thumbs up. "You've really gone a long way. And we thought we'd throw this party to help calm your nerves before the St. Gervais competition."
"Only two days before you have to leave!" Her father mused, before his eyes swelled up with tears. "My baby!"
While the rest of the party laughed, Irina nodded and her face went solemn. The St. Gervais competition. It was a bit strange to think, that while the autumn leaves started to fall and the breeze would pick up in Russia, she would be in France, competing in the first skating competition of the Junior Grand Prix.
"Yes, two days." With sudden inspiration, she dashed her finger across the top of the cake, gathering a glop of frosting, and turned to the party, smiling. "Well, who's up for cake?"
"You've just ruined the cake for everyone!" Marta complained over the sudden chatter about getting cake.
Irina shrugged and sucked the frosting off her finger.
"C'mon, chin up!" Miss Krupina advised Irina as she practiced her routine. "Last day before we leave for France!"
The skating rink had its usual medley of people practicing on and off the ice. Most skated around the edges, but if they had to practice a routine, like Irina, they occupied middle.
Irina glided across the ice, executing a layback spin. It was maddening; the wait. The wait before she went home, the wait before she boarded the plane, the wait before she competed. The wait was easily the worst part of the competition for her. And Miss Krupina knew it.
The coach stood just beyond the glass blocks of the rink, judging her performance and calling out notes and encouragement. Miss Krupina's brown hair was cut short, and despite being in her early 30s, she still looked as agile as many of the skaters on the rink.
As Irina started to prepare for a jump, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Usually, she would try her best to ignore everything beside her own movements while she was skating (except Miss Krupina, if it was practice) but this figure demanded attention. The tall frame and harsh face. The slightly graying hair pulled into a bun. The familiarity of all of it. She stumbled and flubbed her ballet jump, landing square on the ice. The irony.
"Ms. Baranovskaya." Irina sat, stunned as Miss Krupina yelled out her concerns.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"It's really her." She felt like she was in a day dream.
"Hey, are you alright?" Anastasia skated over from where she had been talking with her coach and peeled Irina off the ice. "C'mon, shake it off. You've got a competition soon, you know."
"Look," Irina directed Anastasia's gaze towards the many windows of the rink. "It's her, Ms. Baranovskaya."
"Your old ballet teacher?" They both glided towards the edge, where Miss Krupina stood, waiting. "But this is an ice rink, not some dance floor."
"She's with Yuri." The blond teen was standing across from the forma Prima Ballerina, glaring at her. "And Yakov."
"Does he want to become a ballerina too? Should I tell him the job's already taken?" Anastasia's usual cheery and joking personality allowed Irina to shake off some of her shock and say more than a couple of words.
"No, I don't think so." Irina carefully tucked a few strands of hair that had been knocked loose from her fall back into her bun. "For some reason, I just can't imagine it."
"I can. It's pretty hilarious."
"Irina, are you okay?" Miss Krupina's voice broke into the chatter.
Irina nodded. "Yes. I doubt it'll even bruise."
"Good." Miss Krupina checked her watch. "Your session is almost over. Why don't we just end now?"
Irina nodded again.
"Okay. Remember, get plenty of rest, don't focus on the wait and don't get distracted while you're in the rink. Got it?"
"Mhmm."
She and Anastasia skated off the rink as Miss Krupina started to chat with another one of the coaches.
"So, if Yuri isn't trying to achieve ballet stardom, then what else can he be doing with Ms. Grouchy?" Anastasia said.
"Maybe she's choreographing one of his routines? Whenever we put on recitals, she always choreographed all of them, and they were all big hits with everybody who attended." They both stumbled out of the rink door and went over to one of the black benches lined against the walls.
"Okay, problem solved!" Anastasia exclaimed. "She's choreographing. For Yuri Plisetsky. Not strange at all." Anastasia rolled her eyes.
Irina shrugged and started to untie her skates. "It's the best I can come up with." She then glanced over to where the group stood and winced. "But she is giving him the ballerina treatment. I hated the monthly teeth check."
Anastasia glanced over as well. "Geez. How many times do you think she got bitten?"
Irina swatted at Anastasia's arm, but snickered. "I don't know, but if she heard you, she'd kill you."
"Probably." Anastasia leaned over and grabbed her phone out of her bag. "Do you think I should text Alina and ask her about it? The tooth thing, I mean?"
"No!" Irina was horrified. "Don't do that!"
"Why not? I mean, she'll never find out." Anastasia gestured her phone to where Ms. Baranovskaya still stood, now stretching Yuri's leg over his head. Anastasia then started to unlock her phone, before stopping. "Hey, shouldn't you be catching a bus right about now?"
"What?" Irina grabbed Anastasia's phone out of her hand. "Oh no. I have to go!"
Irina grabbed her bag and started to jog out of the rink.
"Good luck!" Irina heard Anastasia yell behind her and she was reminded of the St. Gervais competition. She had nearly forgotten, with seeing Ms. Baranovskaya. As she pushed out of the doors to the rink and ran into the streets, she could only think of the competition and what it would bring. That is, until she had to chase after a bus for nearly a block.
Author's Note: Yay! First real chapter! Well, remember to fav, follow and review! Thank you for reading!
