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Chapter Text

 Yakov would most definitely kill Yuri when he found out he had went against his instructions and sneaked out for the Senior Men's SP. 

 He knew he would be attracting a lot of attention with his Russian team jacket (because they had been expecting him to win the JGP Finals) but he didn't care much about it. Let Yakov scream at it and burst into flames. 

 Yuri just wanted to observe his future opponents and see what they could do, if he wanted to make a good senior debut. Like, watching them in real life and not trying to squint at a grainy video without an HD option, because that was plain miserable. And no, he didn't really care about the Old Man. He wouldn't even care if he suddenly ratified the first Quintuple Flip. 

 (Scratch that, he would care, because that would mean the Old Man would be unbeatable.) 

 But... His main target was Katsuki Yuuri, the three-time Grand Prix and World silver medalist. 

 Katsuki Yuuri was an enigma, maybe even more so than the Old Man himself. 

 He trained under Celestino Cialdini at the Detroit skate club. Not much was known about the beginning half of his competitive career , because it was, frankly, uneventful. He didn't qualify for the Grand Prix Finals for three seasons in a row after his senior debut and withdrew from the 12-13 season because of a leg injury. Almost no one took note of his disappearance, because they were too busy looking at Victor Nikiforov's second Grand Prix gold medal. 

Katsuki returned for the 13-14 season after removing his crutches and originally, no one really cared. But surprise, surprise, he added Quads into his jump roster and clawed to the Finals after getting silver and gold in his two GP qualifiers, and people began to notice him, because damn, he had come out of nowhere. The Mysterious Dark Horse, they called him. As if it wasn't surprising enough, he very nearly stole the gold medal away from a startled Victor at the Finals, and the fandom exploded. 

 Yuri was 12 at that time, and originally, he was angry that another skater shared his name. However when Mila showed him the replays (bad quality though), it was simply astonishing to see someone come that close to Victor. He would always have a 10-20 mark difference from the silver medallist, but this time, their mark difference was just 1.32. No kidding.

 It would be wrong to say that Yuri admired him, but he had to admit Katsuki was good. 

  His jumps needed more work (pah, Yuri could do a better Salchow than him), but his step sequences were probably his most appealing asset. He skated like his body was making music and Yuri was captivated, even through a glass screen. Victor was good, but this Mysterious Dark Horse was better, in terms of expressing himself. 

 His fan club was formed in just an hour after the Finals, and he was named Japan's Ace. He quickly proceeded to snag gold at the Japanese Nationals and 4CCs, and people really thought he would be able to dethrone Victor Nikiforov. But he got silver under Victor again at the World Championships.

 Again at next year's NHK Trophy, when the both of them were assigned together. And again at the Finals. And again at the World Championships. Repeat. 

 People were quickly disappointed, because Katsuki Yuuri would sweep gold in most competitions but always ended up with silver when Victor was around to compete with him. It was the 'Victor's Curse'. Katsuki would evolve in each event, but at the same time, Victor would evolve as well, and it seemed like they were chasing each other's scores. Of course, Victor was out of reach. 

 The fandom wondered if Katsuki would feel bitter about getting silver all the time. 

 Maybe?

 Fans started to jot down notes about Katsuki's behaviour in each competition diligently and they realised the World silver medalist rarely spoke to Victor in the public. He never appeared within Victor's vicinity. And one time, when he really had to speak to Victor at a press conference, his voice sounded more like a squeak. 

 Was he usually that cold? No. In other occasions, he was sweet, shy and humble. 

 Just like a cinnamon roll. 

 Strange, right? Yuri had to double-check for ten times. 

 At medal ceremonies, when Victor would be standing in the centre (of course, he was the gold medalist), Katsuki would always edge away from him and avert his eyes. 

 And... At the end of last year's World Championships, some of them were certain that Katsuki had glared at Victor on the podium and Victor had smirked back at him. 

 Yuri replayed the video for at least twenty times (in slow motion), and he too was 80% convinced that was the case.

 All evidences pointed to the same conclusion: Katsuki Yuuri and Victor Nikiforov were rivals. And obviously, Katsuki was the most bitter of all.

 Some speculated that they had some kind of a dark history and Katsuki would have a personality split whenever he saw him. 

 Others thought Katsuki was just salty about Victor's accomplishments. 

 They didn't have evidence, of course. Whenever someone brought up Victor Nikiforov in Katsuki's interviews, he would say 'no comment' with the straightest face possible. And the Old Man himself would just shrug. 

 Yuri had been most astonished, that an airhead like Victor would manage to get himself caught up in some kind of a rivalry (no, he wasn't interested in the Old Man's business, he was just researching on future opponents, geddit?) gossip festival. 

 He tried to threaten him to spill the truth at the beginning of this season.

 ' So, what do think about this... Rival?' He spat.

 Victor simply smiled, ' He's just another skater.'

 ' Gee, so do you hate him? The tabloids think you hate him,' Yuri said.

 But the Old Man simply ruffled his hair and grinned, ' Go back to your skating, Kotenok.' 

 Yuri was never able to glean anything from him. 

 Great, while the Victor Nikiforov fans were attempting to wage war towards the Katsuki Yuuri fans on Twitter, none of them had a clear idea of whether those two hated each other, but the figure skating fandom just assumed they were like the figure skating versions of Sherlock and Moriarty or Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, entirely up to you. 

 Yuri thought it was ridiculous.

 Mila thought it was funny and she reckoned that Yuri idolised him (' HELL NO!!! I JUST THINK HIS STEP SEQUENCES ARE DECENT, THAT'S ALL!!!').

 Georgi was too busy wooing his girlfriend to comment on it.

 Yakov was fine with it, because he reckoned it gave the Old Man a motivation to fight.

 Besides, it was the strangest and most mysterious rivalry of all time. It didn't even look like a rivalry at all.

 Yuri had a rival in the Junior division. They would almost attack each other with snide remarks and Yuri thought about his enemy all the time. He vowed to defeat him. This was what a rivalry was supposed to be like. 

 Or go back to the Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi example. Darth Vader was always screaming about how much he hated Obi-Wan and plotting his death all the time, but Victor would almost never bring up his fellow medalist. Well, he was in extremely friendly terms with bronze medalist Chris Giacometti (WHAT'S THIS DUDE'S DEAL WITH BUTTS OH LORD) but he pretended the silver medalist didn't exist. 

  But yeah, the Old Man could be plotting Katsuki's demise and cackling evilly behind his closed bedroom door with his gigantic poodle as his henchman. That was possible, and that would be cool.

 At this thought, Yuri put up the dark hood of his jacket to cover his face before entering the stadium. 

 He wasn't there to look at the Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry (AGAIN IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS OKAY), he was there to look at his future opponents. 

 The Junior Grand Prix finalist managed to sneak past the entrance without a dozen of reporters after his tail, and he settled down at a small spectator's stand near the Kiss and Cry with a decent view. 

 On the gigantic screen at the top, it was noted that Michele Crispino would be skating first. 

 Yuri didn't know much about him. But he knew that he was awfully protective of his sister. For the sake of his health, he shouldn't go anywhere near Sala Crispino.

 He played with his phone while the officials were still prepping the ice and apparently, the Yuri's Angels were out looking for him. Typical. Thank God they hadn't found him, yet.

 Overhead, the announcer told the audience that the Grand Prix Finals would be starting, and everyone cheered and clapped excitedly.

 The fans of the Old Man took up half of the stadium, of course. They hung Russian flags and Victor banners all over their seats and one could see the bags of poodle plushies lying around the area that were to be thrown after his skate.

 At the side, was the Katsuki Yuuri fan zone. They were pretty impressive and dedicated too, and they all had the same Yuri!!! banner and Japanese flags.

 ' Six minute warm-up starts now,' The announcer said monotonously, and at the side, the six skaters were starting to flood into the arena, accompanied by respective coaches. 

 He spotted the Old Man, already handing his red and white jacket to a stoic-faced Yakov and hopped onto the ice excitedly. 

 ' Our finalists are... Victor Nikiforov of Russia, our four-time World Champion!!!' 

 There was a thunderous applause, and the Old Man skated several laps around the ice and bowed politely to his fans. 

 ' Next... Katsuki Yuuri of Japan. He is a two-time Grand Prix and World silver medalist!' 

 Ah, there he was. Hair slicked back, was the famous Katsuki Yuuri. 

 He smiled bashfully at his fans and bowed. Celestino Cialdini could be spotted at the entrance next to Yakov, holding his blade guards and jacket. 

 Okay, Yuri thought disappointedly. So where is the Nikiforov-hating Katsuki Yuuri the fans are talking about? He actually looks like a real cinnamon roll. Yuck.

 He watched as Katsuki skated faraway from Victor, as if he was some kind of a sea slug.

 ' Next up, we have Christophe Giacometti of Switzerland!!! He is a two-time Grand Prix silver medalist and two-time bronze medalist.'

 Chris showed up in his very revealing SP costume, and Yuri really wanted to barf up his dinner. Oh, the girls liked him, of course.

 ' Welcome Jean-Jacques Leroy of Canada!'

 That guy was simply obnoxious. Yuri already had the impression he would hate him the most out of all the other competitors.

 ' Aaaaand... Cao Bin of China! He is a three-time Four Continents gold medalist.'

 The Chinese skater waved to his fans cheerfully.

 ' Finally, our last skater is Michele Crispino of Italy.'

  The six skaters began to skate around the rink, and even though soft music was playing in the background, the atmosphere was tense. People wondered whether Katsuki would finally win. 

 Yuri leaned in closer to watch Katsuki jump around, and he practiced his Triple Flip Triple Toe combination. 

  Yakov, who was supposed to be looking at Victor, seemed to have spotted him from below. He glared daggers at Yuri for disobeying his orders, and Yuri just shrugged at him innocently. 

 The six minutes went past quickly and Crispino was the only one left on the ice. He under rotated a jump due to nerves, and scored 91.15. 

 Jean-Jacques Leroy was annoying, even on the ice. His movements were just irritating, due to reasons unknown. He landed all his jumps and got 97.89. Yuri hoped he would actually fall, but, meh.

 Cao Bin scored 93.57.

 Chris's program made Yuri extremely uncomfortable. His theme was somewhat sexual, and again, the fans enjoyed it. Though Yuri had to give him credit for the excellent Quad Lutz, and he got 100.44. 

 Ah, it was time for Katsuki Yuuri's program. Yuri was excited. He had been waiting for this. 

 He kicked off the program with a perfect Triple Axel (one of his stronger jumps) and landed the rest of his jumps cleanly. He would get decent GOEs for that, and his PCS would also be insanely high. 

 Step sequences had always been a bit of a problem for Yuri. He would get the top TES scores, but his PCS scores were always mediocre. Yakov and Victor always made comments about it, and Yuri would snap back at them. Maybe he should ask this Yuuri how he did it. He wouldn't mind helping a junior, right?

 He scored 104.26. Good. He smiled shyly at his fans and waved his onigiri plushy. 

 Then came the Old Man, answering to Katsuki's challenge by skating his crazy SP and getting a 108.47 for it.

 That concluded the Men's SP, with Victor leading the competition again by around 4 points. 

 Yuri hopped down to the competitor's level with ease, and went up to greet his fuming coach.

 ' YURA!!! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT AT THE HOTEL, YOUNG MAN!!!' Yakov thundered. ' YOU-' 

 ' What? I am just watching the competition,' Yuri snarked, and he glared at Victor for extra measure. ' Good program, by the way. You are so close to beating the world record.'

 ' It's not good enough, I think,' Victor rolled his eyes. ' I am just leading by 4 points. Katsuki Yuuri could easily beat me at the FS.' 

 ' Yeah, your rival,' Yuri grumbled, and Victor pretended not to notice.

 On the cue, the Japanese skater walked past them with his jacket over his shoulder. He glanced over at Victor for a brief second and walked away. 

 ' He looks like he wants to gut you,' Yuri whispered loudly.

 ' Naw,' Victor answered and shrugs on his red and white jacket. ' Come on, Kotenok. Listen to Yakov. You need to rest for your SP tomorrow. And your step sequence needs work. You might get silver if you just do it sloppily.'

 Yuri stepped on his foot as a response. 

Chapter Text

 Yuri had to endure Yakov's 'Symphony of the Screams' throughout the Men's SP press conference, but he just flicked through his phone while his coach screamed himself crazy. Seriously, Yakov should have pursued the career of an opera singer, he would have excelled in it. 

 Mila sent him some messages.

 miladoeslifts: Oiiiii Yakov told me you escaped from the hotel.

 miladoeslifts: You should have taken me with you D: I feel left out! 

 russianpunk: ... I thought you have the Free Skate tomorrow. Go to bed.

 miladoeslifts: So? Your Short Program is also tomorrow. 

 russianpunk: GO AWAY Баба!!! 

 ' ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!' Yakov thundered.

 Yuri continued to tap on his phone and nodded, ' Yeah, yeah. What were you saying again?' 

 The reporters were stepping over each other just to ask the two top skaters a question, and the questions were mostly the same. ' What do you think about your performance today', ' are you nervous about tomorrow's FS' and ' how confident are you in getting gold tomorrow', bla bla bla. Yuri had his fine time of answering those questions in the smaller JGP events, and in case he blurted out rude answers, Yakov actually wrote him a script of textbook answers and made him memorise everything. 

 When asked about being in second place after the SP, Katsuki Yuuri answered in perfect English, his face slightly pink, ' I know I slipped up a little on my Short Program, but I hope I can still get gold after my Free Skate.'

 The rest of the reporters laughed nervously, and even Yuri looked up from his phone for a second to scoff at the statement. His program might not be perfect, but it was still extremely good. 

 Slip up? As in he wasn't able to score higher than the Old Man. Anyone in the room could understand this. 

 Chris laughed softly into his hand, and Victor sat back with an annoying grin. 

 The ISU official in charge of the press conference said, ' That's almost the end of the press conference. Thank you all for attending, and let's wish our skaters the best of luck in their Free Skate. Do tune in for tomorrow's Short Dance and the JGP's Short Program.'

 However, that wasn't the end of the interviews. Victor had barely stood up from his position with his water bottle, when he was yanked off by a rabid horde of local reporters for more 'interrogation'. 

 Katsuki Yuuri actually got lucky, and he disappeared quietly to the back with Celestino. He had always disliked publicity, and somehow his rivalry with the Old Man was probably one of the more high-profile stories in the sports world. 

 You simply couldn't watch figure skating and not know about the Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry that dominated all the social media platforms.

 Yuri stood quietly to the side, and waited for Victor to finish his interviews. Yakov was tapping on the ground with his foot impatiently, ready to wrench the reporters off his star student.

 The local reporters could afford to be a little more savage with their questioning without the ISU officials or other skaters snooping around, because man, who wouldn't enjoy juicy gossip? 

 A frizzy haired woman asked, ' Victor, we understand that Katsuki Yuuri of Japan has been neck to neck with you for some time. Do you expect to defend your title of reigning Grand Prix champion when Skater Katsuki is growing stronger?'  

 ' Why, yes of course,' Victor gave off a dazzling smile and many reporters swooned. ' I wouldn't be giving away my title that easily.'

 Yuri pretended to be retching. Yakov eyed him warningly. 

 ' What do you think about Skater Katsuki's program then? Do you think they are strong enough to compete with your own programs?' 

 Wow. They definitely weren't holding back. And Yuri was almost pissed at them for asking such a question. It was pretty offensive actually and they were literally baiting Victor for a feature article.

 Imagine the headlines: Living Legend Victor Nikiforov trashes long-time rival Katsuki Yuuri's programs. 

 This edition would probably sell out even better than the ' Katsuki Yuuri glares at Victor Nikiforov in World Figure Skating Championships 2015' one. 

 Victor blinked and let out a short, dry laugh, ' Hmm. Maybe? Let me tell you, he's definitely improving. Who knows what will happen in the future? But I won't let him take my title without a good fight, I can promise you that. I'm awfully defensive.' 

 Yuri groaned and resisted the urge to smack Victor in the face. He had a feeling that the Old Man didn't have the foggiest idea of what Katsuki's programs were, seeing that he usually spent the time in between his own turn and medal ceremonies talking to other people and goofing around in the changing room with his phone. 

 The Living Legend of figure skating was impossibly idiotic.

 How he managed to stay at the top of the world without even looking at his opponents was a mystery to Yuri since he was 11. 

 Someday, I will be better than him, because I am not an idiot. 

 But at least the reporters were confused. One of them even dropped a pen because he hadn't expected this noncommittal answer. 

 Yakov, who had been standing by quietly, cleared his throat, ' Right, that's enough. Victor needs his rest. Please clear out!' 

 The reporters grumbled and started to loosen up their tight formation to allow Victor to leave, when one of the reporters spotted Yuri, ' YURI PLISETSKY!!! OUR LITTLE CHAMPION!'

 Yuri stepped backwards, startled. Did he just accidentally sacrifice himself so Victor could leave? 

 ' NO, HE IS OFF-LIMITS AS WELL!' Yakov boomed. ' NO INTERVIEWS! LET'S GO!' 

 He shielded Victor and Yuri from the overly-excited reporters and left the rink. 

  ' What the heck was that just now?' Yuri growled. ' I won't let him take my title without a good fight? Excellent! The reporters are going to cook up a feature-article again.' 

 ' Let them,' Victor snorted. ' What are you even doing out here? Your Short Program is next morning. Do you want to take a silver medal?'

 ' SCREW YOU, OF COURSE NOT!'

 ' YURI PLISETSKY! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!!! THERE ARE REPORTERS OUT HERE. I DON'T WANT TO EXPLAIN TO THE RSF WHY YOU ARE CAUGHT SPEAKING LIKE THIS IN THE PUBLIC.' 

 ' Yeah yeah.' 

 ***

Yuri was extremely focused the next two days.

 He hand't forgotten Victor's deal when he was 12 (he really wanted a Victor Nikiforov program) even though he had quite a lot of things on his mind, and he did his best in his two programs. He stayed off social media. He ignored the others. He screamed at Victor whenever he felt like it because it was his favourite hobby.

 Even the crazy Witch managed to get herself a bronze medal, so he should work hard. 

 He defeated his long-time Junior rival (TAKE THAT HA!) and took his first and probably his last JGP gold medal. It felt so good, standing in the centre with the golden medal shining on his chest, like he was the ruler of this world. Maybe Victor felt like this when he was winning all the gold medals possible. 

 This feeling alone was enough to push Yuri to strive for more.

 He was allowed to have free time in the evening after the medal ceremony and press conference, so he played some games on his phone and played heavy metal music in his hotel room. Surprisingly, the Old Man was nowhere to be found, though Yuri enjoyed his free time immensely.

 It was good to not have Victor hovering around him and nagging him on his PCS scores. 

 Eventually, Yakov broke into his room at around 2am in the morning and yelled at him for staying up late. 

 He chucked away his phone to the bedside table and slipped under the covers. Hmm... He should go to sleep. The excitement and euphoria of winning gold was starting to wear away and he was tired.

 He needed to watch the Men's Free Skate in the morning.

 (Zzzzzz...)

 ***

The good news was: He was allowed to attend the event formally as some kind of a treat, because Yakov was in a good mood and no one cared about him. He did have to dodge his own fan club members and a stream of cat plushies, before he could sit down comfortably next to the rink.

 ' Stay put, Yura!' Yakov warned him. ' And behave. The last time someone caught you swearing during warm-up.' 

 ' Yes coach,' He rolled his eyes. 

 He was caught by one of the managers of the event Instagram account, and he allowed them to take a photo of him with his angry glare and all. That was his 'excited look', according to happy fans.

 Ugh.

 He would never say this out loud, but he was actually looking forward to Katsuki's FS. His step sequences really grabbed his attention. 

 And who knows, maybe he can grab the gold medal and do me a favour by pricking the Old Man's ego for once.

 It could also spice the events up a little bit. 

 Imagine the Old Man winning the GPF for seven times in a row. Eurgh. That would be insanely boring.

 If the results of a competition was that predictable, it would be no fun. 

 And this meant Yuri would be stuck with only the Old Man for the more than half of his career, living under his shadow, like Georgi.

 Poor Georgi.

 ( No, not sorry at all, because he neglected his practice to go after his girlfriend.)

 And the stadium was the most crowded and noisiest this day, because the Men's FS Finals was probably the most anticipated event of the entire GP series. 

 He sat at the edge of the seat when the announcer asked the skaters to get on the rink for the six-minute warm-up.

 And he was 'welcomed' with the most upsetting and astonishing sight ever.

 Katsuki was stumbling around like he couldn't skate for the entire time and he fell on like, 4 out of 7 jumps. Celestino gripped the sides of the rink, and he too was anxious for his student.

 Yakov was in friendly terms with Celestino, and he couldn't help but walk over to question Celestino about Katsuki's strange behaviour today. 

 Yuri watched as Celestino muttered something in Yakov's ear, and the old Russian coach nodded grimly before returning to his original place. 

 ' What the hell is going on? Why is he like this?' Yuri demanded to no one in particular, clutching at a cat plushy he had taken from a fan (the said fan proceeded to scream and cry and faint all at once and he was worried about her sanity). He wondered what Celestino told Yakov. 

 Okay, so what happened to Katsuki Yuuri's determination? He's screwing up his jumps even more, oh my god. What is wrong with him? Anxiety problems acting up at this stage??? What the heck?

 His confidence seemed to be going down the more he screwed his jumps. He looked like he was about to fall down and sob into the ice.

 The Katsuki Yuuri fans were slightly disappointed, but they clapped and urged him to go on. 

 Okay. Yuri had to be very honest. He disliked-no, hated losers that cried, because he had always been strong and nothing bothered him. 

 But here, he was wondering what happened to him. Yeah, yeah, he might be like a cinnamon roll (' Yuck again!'), but he had never been in such a disastrous or disheartened state on the ice. 

 And at the same time, Victor seemed a little distracted and all of the others were too, because they were too busy watching the two-time silver medalist screw up. JJ, who was usually narcissistic, actually paused his warm-up to ask if he was okay.

 Katsuki nodded.

 JJ shrugged, and skated off in the other direction.

 Victor was obviously frowning. Yuri wondered if he was thrown off track by his opponent. 

 But this would mean he would have no problem getting the gold, with his greatest threat acting weird like this.

 It wasn't exactly good sportsmanship to feel happy when someone was doing badly, but the more aggressive part of Yuri's mind suggested that Victor should be happy. His gold medal was secured. 

 The FS began.

 Okay. Michele Crispino scored 167.52. Nerves, nerves, nerves. He was joined at the Kiss and Cry with his sister, who finished the Ladies' events in fourth. Still impressive. Yuri was particularly impressed by her signature Triple Lutz Triple Loop combination. 

 However, he was quickly taken over by Cao Bin and JJ, who scored 168.26 and 195.71 respectively.

 And then Chris, who had outdone himself with a score of 201.02.

 All eyes were on Katsuki Yuuri, and Yuri hoped he was done with being anxious.

 Well... He did recover from his anxiety. Maybe a little.

 Fortunately, his Triple Flip's landing was fine. He nearly touched down on the Triple Lutz Triple Toe combination. The Triple Axel, Single Loop and Triple Salchow could have gone a little better. The Quad Toe Loop... Hmm. 

 Still, his step sequences and Triple Axel were as sublime as ever. Yuri did a little bit of mental math. His PCS might make up for his TES if he was lucky.

 Katsuki was nearly in tears at the Kiss and Cry, and Celestino had to put an arm around him.

 The fans were going nuts.

 Yuri held his breath.

 ' The scores for Katsuki Yuuri please.'

 197.83. 

 Huh. He beat Chris's total score and was currently in first place. 

 Yuri had no idea why he was freaking out like this, but thank god his years of experience on the ice saved his skin.

 His fans were obviously relieved, tossing down plushies of different kinds of food and there were poodles amongst them. Huh.

 It was Victor's turn, and he actually looked in Katsuki's direction for a brief second.

 The reporters were going nuts. They might interpret this as some kind of a challenge and bla bla bla. 

 The rink was filled with the music and Victor began to skate. 

 Yuri wrinkled his nose. He had never enjoyed Italian arias or operas, and he actually did a little background search with this piece Stammi Vicino, and the lyrics were just so sappy that he wanted to barf all over his computer. 

 At the famous green room, where all the skaters that had finished skating were comfortably lounging at, Katsuki had his face in his hands, and Chris did his best to comfort him. The Swiss skater didn't even look annoyed, even though Katsuki had just beat out his total score by a little.

 The Victor Nikiforov fans were roaring, pounding their fists and clapping, because the freaking Old Man was definitely going to get his gold again. 

Aaaand, Victor, being the Living Legend he was, landed all of his jumps perfectly.

 Katsuki was watching the performance through his fingers that his fingernails were digging into his face. His facial expression was a mixture of anxiety, disappointment... and fear? 

 Yuri tore his eyes away from the green room, and focused on the performance.

 The Old Man got 214.78. 

 And the result was also pretty obvious at this point. 

 The rink exploded, as the Old Man made way to get his fifth Grand Prix gold medal. The Victor Nikiforov fan club was rejoicing, while the Katsuki Yuuri fan club was deflating. 

 Yuri stood up from his seat and went to find his coach.

 The officials immediately prepped the ice for the medal ceremony.

 The ceremony was lovely, but Katsuki seemed so sad with his silver medal. If Yuri got silver under Victor 3 years in a row, he would rather jump off a building because that was just horrible and discouraging.

 He was just half-heartedly waving to his fans with the Japanese flag draped over his shoulders. Even Victor seemed a little on edge. 

 Yuri honestly wondered what those two were thinking about. 

 Again, they were the world's greatest enigmas. 

 After the medal ceremony, Yuri figured out Victor and Yakov would be completely surrounded by reporters, so he slipped away from them soundlessly, to the quieter areas behind the rink. 

 He also learnt from some of the reporters that the silver medalist was missing. 

 He was considering to turn back to find the vending machine for a bottle of water, when he spotted Katsuki going into a bathroom with his phone.

 Yuri's grandfather had always told him it wasn't nice to eavesdrop or spy on someone else. 

 But he had always wanted to learn about this guy (NO I AM NOT HIS FAN GEDDIT!!!?) so he followed him into the bathroom.

 He was probably in one of the red cubicles.

 ' Hello? Mom, were you sleeping?' His voice was tired. ' Sorry. Oh, you were watching TV? ... Huh?! A public viewing? Please!!! I AM SO EMBARRASSED!'

 The Japanese skater laughed nervously.

 ' I'm so sorry. I messed up,' His voice was shaky now. 

 Yuri paced around, realising that he was walking into a private conversation, and it felt so wrong. He felt bad instantly.

 There was a small click that indicated the end of the call. 

 Then, it sounded like he was crying.

 REALLY?!!! YEAH HIS PERFORMANCE WASN'T GOOD, BUT HE STILL GOT SILVER!!! WHAT THE HELL WHY IS HE EVEN CRYING?! 

 Again, Yuri hated people that cried. He thought crybabies were losers, but still, he felt a little bad for him. He was so close to getting gold too.

 Without thinking, he took up his angry 'Russian Punk' demeanour (hey, he had a reputation to uphold) and delivered a roundhouse kick to the door with all his might.

 He wasn't even afraid of offending the second best senior skater in the world. 

 ' Eeep!!!' The guy shrieked and the door opened. ' Sorry-' 

 Katsuki probably didn't expect to see Yuri outside, because he almost jumped backwards.

 ' Y-Yuri Plisetsky?' He wiped away at his tear tracks, extremely embarrassed and horrified.

 ' Katsuki Yuuri,' Yuri pointed at him. ' You.'

 ' Y-yeahhhh?' Katsuki was almost dropping his phone. ' That's me?'

 ' Reporters are looking for you, Katsuki,' Yuri snarled. ' So go clean yourself up before you get out. You are the silver Grand Prix medalist for the love of God. You can't just hide in here and cry.'

 Katsuki bowed his head, ' I don't deserve the silver medal. My performance sucked.'

 Yuri almost lost his Russian Punk persona. 

 Really? So that was the real Katsuki Yuuri?

 He had always assumed that Katsuki's sweet and shy personality was just a facade and he was actually extremely aggressive and cool. 

 Where the hell is that secretly aggressive Victor Nikiforov hating skater the tabloids are talking about? He really is a cinnamon roll then, inside and out. 

 ' Your jumps sucked, it's true, no offence,' He growled at last. ' But your step sequences were still intact and well, good. Trust me, you deserved the silver medal. Honestly, I don't know what happened to you and I know I shouldn't ask, but don't you dare give up and sob in here like a wimp. I am going to join the senior division net year. I want to skate against you, and you had better be there. I want to beat you fair and square. Also, if there is going to be two Yuris in the same bracket, then you had better be good. I don't want my name to be associated with incompetents.' 

 He probably sounded rude.

 ' Umm, okay,' Katsuki said softly. ' Err... Congratulations for getting gold at the JGP.'

 Yuri nodded awkwardly, ' Thanks. And... I guess... Congratulations to you too. My coach is looking for me, I think. I should go.'

 He slipped away like an eel and left Katsuki in the bathroom.

 He walked all the way to the changing rooms, and Victor was all done with his interviews and had even changed back into his tracksuit. He had retrieved all of their luggages and backpacks. 

 ' Kotenok, where were you?' He ruffled his hair. 

 Yuri swatted away his hand madly and took his backpack, ' Don't mess up my hair, geezer!' 

 Victor would never get angry, ' Are you ready to go?'  

 ' Yah.'

 They exited the skaters-only area, and suddenly Victor said, ' Yuri. About your performance, the step sequence could use more-'

 AS IF HE DIDN'T KNOW!!!

 Yuri quipped irritatedly, ' I won, so who cares? Quit nagging Victor. You are going to become a nagging old man like Yakov anytime soon.'

 Unfortunately, Yakov heard him. 

 ' HEY YURI!!! YOU CAN'T TALK THAT WAY FOREVER!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!!!' Yakov roared, and Yuri made a face. 

 Victor turned his head to stare at something.

 Yuri distracted himself for a second to follow his line of sight and... Oh. Katsuki Yuuri was looking at them.

 His coach was behind him, looking helpless. And the Japanese reporter (Yuri often saw him) looked like he was fuming.

 Katsuki jumped when he realised that the two Russian skaters were staring at him, and he turned to exit the rink in record speed.

 ' Yuuri!' Celestino called after him.

 Even though the Japanese skater was long gone, the two skaters were still looking at the closed door.

 ' Tsk,' Yuri glared at Victor. ' Why do you even care?'

 ' Care about what?' Victor tore his eyes from the door to look at him quizzically.  ' What do you mean?'

 ' You were staring,' Yuri snarled. ' Leave the guy alone, will you? Don't go oh no I only beat him by how many points I don't feel that good and all that crap. I don't give a damn whether you really hate him secretly like the tabloids speculate, but please. Leave the guy alone.'

 ' I didn't say I hate him,' Victor said quietly.

 Yuri scoffed and crossed his arms, ' As if! You guys were legit glaring at each other at Trophee de France! I am not stupid you know-'

 ' YURI! I WAS TALKING TO YOU!!!' Yakov interrupted him angrily. ' WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?'

 ' NO,' Yuri spat. 

 Needless to say, he was treated to two more hours of 'Symphony of the Screams' because of his bad attitude.  

Chapter Text

 Yuri was stuffed into a boring dark blue coloured suit. 

 He had screamed and kicked at Victor, shamelessly yelled obscenities at Mila and even went as far as to chuck his newly acquired gold medal onto the wall, and still, Yakov's resolve had never been stronger. He had made it crystal clear that he would have to attend the banquet, whether he wanted to or not. 

 The Old Man told him, ' Learning proper social skills and etiquette is also important for figure skaters.' 

 Yuri kicked his back as a response, before disappearing into the bathroom with a grimace.

 After making a deliberate mess out of his tie, he stormed out of the bathroom to find that Mila had joined Victor in his room. She was wearing a pale pink cocktail dress and was carefully fixing her makeup in front of the mirror. 

 ' Wow,' She looked up from her makeup kit. ' Yura, I know that you don't want to go to the banquet, but you do have the fix your tie. It looks like a misshaped fish.'

 ' Well,' He glowered at her. ' I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO THE BANQUET!!! IT CAN LOOK LIKE A FISH AND I DON'T CARE.'

 ' Not my fault. Yakov only allowed you to skate to heavy metal in your exhibition under the condition that you would attend the banquet. He said he will be joining us later,' Victor said. He was all poised in his expensive suit and the very sight infuriated Yuri. 

 ' SCREW YOU NIKIFOROV,' He shouted, his blood boiling.  

 Victor repeated and feigned hurt, ' Screw you Nikiforov? Is that the right way to speak to your elders, especially the champ that you are supposed to look up to?'

 ' Don't be so full of yourself,' Yuri fumed. ' Not all skaters look up to you.' 

 ' Oh?' Victor smiled widely. ' Who do you look up to then? Let me guess. Chris? JJ?'

 ' Screw JJ!!!' 

 ' Oh my. It can't be... Katsuki?' 

 ' None of your business,' Yuri spat, picking up the Russian Team jacket that he so liked from his bed. ' I have nothing to do with you and your freaking rival, okay?!' 

 ' Boys,' Mila said, closing the lid of her eyeshadow palette. ' If you are quite done with this little discussion, let's get down. We are going to be late.'

  ' Hmph,' Yuri wrenched open the door and stormed out.

 ' Yuriiiii you sure you don't want me to fix your tie!!! I am quite good at this,' Victor sang after him, and Yuri ignored him.

  The ISU rented the hall at the hotel the skaters were staying at for the banquet, so the corridors were flooding with lavishly dressed skaters, coaches, ISU officials and sponsors.

 All eyes were on the Russian Team once they made an entrance, and Victor was whisked away by an entire horde of sponsors. Being the huge charmer he was, he laughed and made polite chit chat with them.

 ' Looks like Victor is trapped, so it's just you and me,' Mila nudged at him lightly. 

 ' Eww, don't tell me I have to talk to sponsors in the future,' Yuri wrinkled his nose. 

 ' Yeah. You do have to get yourself some sponsors,' Mila said, grabbing a flute of champagne from a nearby tray. ' Oh, Yakov told me to remind you. You are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages, so, no champagne for you, boy.'

 ' WHAT?! THIS IS CRAZY,' Yuri complained. ' I am a Russian! We drink vodka by the gallon since we are kids!!!'

 ' You are over-exagerrating. It's final. No wine for you,' Mila stuffed a flute of apple juice into Yuri's hand. ' Juice is fine. Enjoy. Ooh, is that Sala? I am going over to talk to her. Enjoy the food and the party, Yura. It isn't as bad as you think.' She hopped over to find Sala Crispino.

 Great. Mila had also ditched him.

 He sipped his juice sulkily, the boring and stuffy atmosphere of the room making him sick. He spotted none of his junior competitors, so, that was great. He wasn't friends with him anyways and he didn't want to see them.

 Victor was still busy talking to his sponsors. Chris was flirting with a dozen of girls in French. JJ and his girlfriend were being extremely mushy and disgusting. 

And... He realised that Yuuri was nowhere to be found. The silver medalist had ditched the gala exhibition much to everyone's disappointment and confusion and Yuri knew whatever that was bothering must be bad. Like, really bad.

 ' So, the two of them had managed to drag you down to here, excellent,' Yakov showed up next to him with a flute of champagne. 

 ' What?' Yuri scowled, irritated.

 ' What are you looking at?' Yakov asked.

 Yuri pointed out, ' The freaking Katsuki Yuuri is missing.'

 ' I know,' Yakov said, and grimaced. ' His performance... I'd say... I thought he would be able to nail it. What a shame, what a shame.'

 ' Do you know what happened to him?' Yuri prompted. ' You are friends with Cialdini, right?' 

 Yakov hesitated, and then sighed, ' It's terrible, really. His family called him the night before the FS... His family dog that had been with him since he was a child had died in an accident.'

 ' Oh, my, god,' Yuri blanched. ' This is extremely terrible.' It all made sense now. 

 His sympathy for Yuuri grew. Well... He might not be a dog person... But he understood and feared the pain of going through this.

 A chill went down his spine as his mind wandered to his beloved cat at home. He would have been shattered and horribly depressed if someone called him to tell him that his cat had died before a competition.

 Same case for the Old Man. He wouldn't be stepping out of his house for days if the same thing happened to him (touch wood), let alone skate in a major competition and getting a medal. 

 But Yuuri did.

 ' You must not tell anyone about this,' Yakov added hastily. ' It's private.' 

 ' Of course not,' Yuri set down his empty glass. 

 ' Coach Feltsman!!!' Chris's coach, Josef Karpisek, waved at Yakov from a table. ' Let's go for a drink! To celebrate our pupils' achievements!'  

 ' Alright,' Yakov said. ' Behave yourself, Yura.'

 Great, he was alone again. Maybe he could do with a little bit of silence before going back to his training regime.

 ' Hello, Kotenok!' Victor was beaming down at him and Yuri groaned internally. So much for a little bit of silence.

 ' Oh, so you are done with the sponsorship stuff. Congratulations,' Yuri said sarcastically. 

 ' Don't sulk. Enjoy the party! Enjoy the food,' Victor gestured around him. ' You are a gold medalist, and act like one! Socialise!'

 ' I am not like you,' Yuri retorted sharply. 

 ' Yuuri!' 

 He turned his head. Oh, not him. It was Katsuki Yuuri and his coach.

 The Japanese skater had finally showed up. And he was literally radiating depression, that other people were actually staying away from him.

 Victor was staring, again.

 ' He has finally showed up,' Yuri commented. ' Oh my god, stop staring! You're being rude.'

 He was probably being a hypocrite, but whatever. 

 While Yuuri looked like he was dragged here, Celestino was bending over backwards to cheer up his student. It wasn't helping at all.

 ' Why so glum? Have you had something to eat? To drink? Cheer up, Yuuri! You have done well.'

 Eventually, Celestino gave up, patted Yuuri on the back and went over to join the other coaches at the far end of the room.

 Yuri watched as Yuuri slowly made his way to the champagne table.

 ' As I was saying... when are you going to tell us what the hell is going on between you two?' Yuri demanded. ' The both of you never talk to each other and pretend each other don't exist!!! What has-'

 There was a sound of glass breaking.

 Everyone's attention was drawn to the champagne table, and Yuri had to rub his eyes to check whether his eyes were making things up.

 Somehow, in less than 30 seconds, Katsuki Yuuri had managed to consume numerous glasses of champagne, as suggested by the champagne flutes lying all over the table and the half-empty bottle of champagne in his grip.

 ' Oh my god,' Victor was whispering. ' Sixteen.'

 Alright.

 He had consumed sixteen freaking glasses of champagne in less than 30 seconds. What the hell? How was he not dead to the world yet?

 He was pretty darn close to that, because he was swaying around dangerously like a half-collapsing tree with the champagne flute in his hand and shouting gibberish in Japanese.

 ' Umm, can someone help Skater Katsuki lie down?' A female official was asking nervously. ' He seems to be unwell-'

 Before the officials could get to him, he downed the rest of the champagne. 

 ' Whaaaaaaat? Is he like this in all the other banquets? He gets crazy when he is drunk,' Yuri gaped. ' You know what, forget about it. You two don't even acknowledge each other's presence anyways.' 

 ' No-' 

 The next thing that happened was so strange and humiliating.

 ' YOU!' Yuuri pointed at Yuri. ' YOU THERE! YOU TALKED TO ME IN THE BATHROOM, DIDN'T YOU?' 

 Okay, all eyes were on him right now and they were muttering.

 Sala and Mila were already taking out their phones, grinning from ear to ear. 

 Just wonderful. 

 Victor stared at Yuri as if he had grown an extra head, ' Yura... You talked to Yuuri in the bathroom?'

 Anger brewed over his humiliation, and he forgot about his admiration and respect for the silver medalist for once, because heck, all the ISU officials were looking at him!!! He would be the laughing stock of the figure skating world after this!!!

 ' YES I DID!!! SO WHAT?' He yelled.

 ' YOU WANT TO SKATE IN THE SENIOR DIVISION NEXT YEAR, RIGHT? SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE UP A CHALLENGE. LET'S HAVE A DANCE-OFF WHAT DO YOU SAY?' He slurred at him, using the champagne bottle to point at him. 

 What. The. Actual. Hell.

 Yuri glanced to the back of the room for help, but somehow, all of the coaches including Yakov had vanished. He suspected that they had gone outside for more drinks and would miss this drunken fiasco.

 And Victor wasn't helping, because he was too busy gaping at Yuuri with a slacken jaw. That was probably the most eye contact they had ever had in the three seasons. 

 ' EW, HELL NO!!!' Yuri screamed, his face burning.

 ' DANCE-OFF!!! YURI, BE A MAN AND ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!' Chris appeared behind him and clapped him soundly on his back. ' YOU DON'T GET THE OPPORTUNITY EVERYDAY TO DANCE WITH OUR THREE-TIME SILVER MEDALIST.'

 ' DANCE-OFF! DANCE-OFF!' Mila and Sala chanted.

 Meanwhile, the ISU officials were close to fainting.

 ' OR ARE YOU A COWARD?' Yuuri prompted.

 ' YOU HAVE POKED THE BEAR!!!' Yuri puffed up furiously, the word 'coward' flipping a switch in him. ' I AM NOT A FREAKING COWARD!!! SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE? BRING IT ON!!!'

 ' YEAAYYYYY!!! YURI PLISETSKY HAS ACCEPTED KATSUKI YUURI'S CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!' Chris clapped. ' THE DUEL OF THE YURIS!!!'

 ' SHUT UP,' Yuri shrieked. 

 Some of the less skeptical skaters actually clapped. 

 Victor's face was as pale as marble, ' Yura, I don't think this a good idea-'

 He was already throwing off his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

' Come on, Mr DJ!!! Put up some music,' Chris called to the poor guy behind the DJ booth. ' Get it rolling! Hurry!'

 ' Ooh!!!' JJ said. ' Looks fun!!! Can I pick the type of dance?'

 ' BRING IT ON,' Yuuri slammed the champagne bottle onto the table, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. 

 ' Breakdancing,' JJ said proudly. ' Do some breakdancing!!!'

  Okay, Yuri knew a little about breakdancing. He had seen some of those pretty cool moves on YouTube, but he had no idea whether he would be able to do it.

 At the same time, Yuuri was demonstrating a series of freakishly hard break dance moves on the floor. What the hell?! 

 ' Come on, Yuri!!! Keep up!!!' Mila shouted from behind her phone. 

 ' URGH!!!' Yuri tried to keep up and he too demonstrated some impressive moves. 

 They were just prancing around the room, trying to mock each other with dance moves. 

 ' Hmm... I'd say... Katsuki Yuuri wins,' JJ looked between the both of them. His girlfriend agreed.  

 Yuri sat down on a chair, fuming.

 ' Katsuki Yuuri! I challenge you to another dance-off,' Chris smiled. 

 The next round of the dance-off was even more bizarre. 

 Somehow, a goddamn pole was involved.

 Yuri wished he could somehow remove this memory from his brain because it was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen.

 Christophe Giacometti and Katsuki Yuuri...

 Were freaking POLE-DANCING. HALF-NAKED. 

 In the middle of an official ISU banquet.

 Next to Yuri, Victor was completely frozen. 

 Cao Bin had somehow passed out on the floor due to shock. Poor dude. 

 Mila and Sala were having so much fun snapping photos, even though Michele tried to shield his sister from the 'half-naked perverts'. 

 This dancing scene would probably haunt Yuri till the day he died.

 He was scarred for life. And he was just 15. 

 ' THIS IS A TIE!!!!!!!!!' JJ boomed. ' SOMEHOW HELP YUURI DRESS UP AGAIN!!!'

 Chris was happy to oblige. He got down from the pole and picked up the clothes lying haphazardly on the floor. 

 Finally, Yuuri was clothed again.

 The last ten minutes was the weirdest moment of Yuri's life-

 Scratch that, please.

 Katsuki Yuuri had flung himself onto a startled Victor Nikiforov that was supposed to be his rival.

 Everyone gasped. ISU officials included, because they had most likely read about the rivalry from magazines.

 ' Oh crap. Is Yuuri going to smite Victor next?' Chris was still half-naked.

 Yuri complained, ' Can you put some clothes on?!! You look disgraceful.'

 ' Naw, I think the ladies are admiring my abs,' Chris winked coquettishly, and Yuri vomited.  

 ' VICTORRRRRR YOU ARE ALWAYS GETTING GOLD, AREN'T YOU? BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU MIGHT BE THE KING OF ICE, BUT I AM THE KING OF DANCE!!! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DANCE-OFF!!!' 

 Silence.

 ' I second that,' Chris shouted. ' A DANCE TO THE DEATH!!!!!!!! A FINAL MATCH BETWEEN THE FATED RIVALS!!!!!!!!!!'

 ' CHRIS!!!' Victor hissed angrily, and he was trying to move but failed, because Yuuri was hugging at him tightly. And his face was also red in embarrassment. 

 Yuri had a feeling that he would hate Yuuri even more for making him a laughing stock after this. 

 Cao Bin, who was half-recovering, had collapsed underneath the pole again. 

 ' WHOOHOO!!!' Mila shouted.

 ' It's just a dance,' Sala said.

 ' FINE!!!' Victor shouted. ' I-I'll do it!!!!!!!!!!'

 Everyone's jaws dropped. Yuri's included. 

 The DJ swallowed, and prepared to jam up another song.

 ' Scared, Nikiforov?' Yuuri smirked.

 ' You wish,' Victor answered, smirking as well and flung away his jacket dramatically.

 They watched with growing trepidation as the dance-off changed into something like a crazy ballroom dance and they were legit DANCING with each other.

  ' Oh, my, it's no longer a dance-off!' Chris said, amused. ' We cannot judge anymore.'

 Over the din, the ISU officials were starting to recover from their stupor, telling the attendees not to release these photos into the public and announced that the banquet was over.

 The DJ packed up his stuff and fled the room.

 The coaches were returning from their happy time at the bar to find that Yuuri had finally collapsed on top of Victor, completely wasted away.

 At this sight, realisation dawned on Yuri. 

 NO. FREAKING. WAY. 

 ' What happened?' Yakov cried. 

  ' Oh my goodness, what happened?' Celestino fretted. 

 ' He drank sixteen glasses of champagne,' Chris said cheerfully. ' And Victor-'

 ' Was helping him up!' Victor shot his friend a death glare (Yuri didn't miss it). ' Yeah, Celestino. You should help him back. He's drunk.'

 ' I apologise for the trouble,' Celestino disentangled Yuuri from Victor with inhuman strength, and started to haul him out of the banquet hall.

 ' Well,' Victor huffed, his cheeks still pink from all the dancing he did. ' Looks like you did enjoy the night, Yura.'

 Yuri said snippily, ' Don't be a hypocrite, you geezer! Don't talk to me like you aren't enjoying the night too.'

 ' What? What do you mean?'

 ' You danced with him!!!' Yuri accused. ' Look at you! You are freaking blushing!!!'

 ' NO, I'm just... Exhausted, that's all,' Victor's eyes widened. ' Yuuri and I are... Not that close. It's only polite to accept the challenge.'

 ' Oho!!!' Yuri said triumphantly and balled his fists. ' SO YOU ACKNOWLEDGE HIS EXISTENCE I KNEW IT!!!' 

 ' Don't assume things, Kotenok,' Victor bent down to pick up his suit jacket. ' And... We must make a pact to not speak of this again.'

 Before Yuri could scream or kick at him, he left the banquet hall.

 What. The. Actual. Hell. Happened.

Chapter Text

 Somehow, the 'we must make a pact to not speak of this again' applied to everyone, and no one actually brought up the topic of the dance-off at the lobby of the hotel. The other skaters chatted to their coaches normally, and didn't even look twice at Yuri when he walked down with his fellow rink mates.

 Yuri had a feeling that they were half-convinced the entire dance-off never happened in the first place, and this would probably happen when one was tipsy with alcohol. 

 Anyways, that was good. 

 His reputation was safe. He would really consider suicide if the first line of his Wikipedia page was changed to ' Yuri Plisetsky is a Russian figure skater and lost to Katsuki Yuuri (3-time Grand Prix and World silver medalist) in a dance-off at GPF 2015)'. 

 Victor and Yuuri wouldn't be humiliated and the Internet was quiet for now.

 Win-win.

 Praise the ISU for their mightiness. 

 They were stuffed into a cab and were loaded to the Sochi International Airport for a short flight back to St.Petersburg, where they would be resuming their trainings for the upcoming Russian Nationals. And European Championships, for the older skaters. 

 Yuri took his mind off the entire embarrassing dance-off and focused on his Junior Russian Nationals. Getting gold would be easy as cake for him, but he didn't want to take any risks, especially when he wanted to get the best Senior Debut in his next season. No one would be able to stop him.

 Thank God their home rink wasn't in smoking ruins when they returned, because Georgi was unpredictable and dramatic like that. Though he did annoy them endlessly by telling them about how he serenaded his girlfriend with a guitar (when did he learn to play a freaking guitar) and the many romantic dates he went on while they were away. 

 Yakov dismissed them after shouting at Georgi for neglecting his training, and Yuri went home with his luggage.

 His landlady had been voluntarily taking care of his beloved cat, bless the woman. 

 Petya was sleeping contentedly on his bed when he entered, but once she was awake, she would be nuzzling at him for crunchy treats. He should take the time to shower and unload his stuff, because he bought more souvenirs than he needed in Sochi.

 Once he was all cleaned up and clad in his home wear (consisting of T-shirt and sweatpants), he climbed onto his bed with his phone. His cat simply yawned, and continued to sleep.

 He spent some time on Twitter, scrolling through the many celebrity posts and the messages from his doting fans. They were sometimes creepy and stalkerish, but extremely dedicated. Using his main account, he posted:

Ice Tiger of Russia @yuri_plisetsky

 Thank you all for your support. Will do my best at the Nationals.

 Let the Yuri's Angels explode and squeal. 

 Then, he logged into his private account and stalked the Katsuki Yuuri and Victor Nikiforov fan clubs (no, he's NOT interested, he's just SCOUTING). 

 He was greeted by a clump of posts. A Twitter War again? Seriously, he couldn't count all the times the two fan clubs tried to sit together and piece the Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry, because they were as confused as Yuri was. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 *♡* Vitya has taken his fifth gold!!!! Congratzzzzz!!!! Luv him so much. <333 Keep up the good work at the Nationals!!! #goldgoldgold

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

To honour this occasion, our president has agreed to a Q&A section for newcomers! 

Axel Man @3-axel

How can Victor be so consistent??? (ahaha jkjk)

Kid with Golden Skates @golden-skates

 I really like Victor and your account! The information is always accurate. But seriously tho, what's up with him and the silver medalist (I'm new)?

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Someone called?

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Whaaat. You guys are here again? It's our Q&A. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

*shrugs* We were summoned. Carry on. 

Strawberry pancakes @dessertholic

 Yeah. Can someone explain? I don't think many people have done that before. The online articles are unreliable.

 Johnlock is my life @i-am-johnlocked

 I second that.

Agent Fulcrum @Ahsoka.lives

Yeah. It kinda feels like you can't be a Katsuki Yuuri fan if you like Victor Nikiforov. *loud whisper* I LIKE THEM BOTH.

TwizzlesandLifts @ice-danseur 

 I would appreciate an explanation too. Are Katsuki Yuuri fans and Victor Nikiforov enemies? If so, that would suck, because I do like them both. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Fine. You there?

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Still here. I told you we were summoned.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

So a history of our age-long 'rivalry'. 

Janice Morgenstern @daughterOfNephilim

'Rivalry' ??? 

Agent Fulcrum @Ahsoka.lives

It's kinda funny that you two fan clubs are here like that. Shouldn't you be hacking at each other with hammers if you hate each other so much?

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

No no no we don't think of each other like that.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Nah we're actually quite cool.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

We tend to ahem... Disagree with each other sometimes. But yeah, we're cool. All skating fans are family. <3 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

...Really... Yes, we are quite passionate with our views. 

Axel Man @3-axel

This is so confusing. Like my calculus homework.

Janice Morgenstern @daughterOfNephilim

So... Are the two of them really enemies...? 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

The truth is... We don't know.

Volunteered as Tribute @Winner-of-THG

Whaaaaaat. O.o

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

The shocking truth is we don't even know whether they are rivals or not, actually.

The Girl Who Lived @_youknow-who

This is anticlimactic. O.o

Johnlock is my life @i-am-johnlocked 

Waittttt... So you mean to tell us that the whole world thinks they are rivals when they are not???? Confused. Help.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

No. We can tell from their behaviours... Psychology and yada yada yada

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

No confirmation though. But it's kinda obvious, isn't it? 

Strawberry pancakes @dessertholic

Soooooooo....?

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Sooooooo their rivalry began 2013. When Victor got his third gold. Close call, actually. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Yuuri got his first silver. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

And Yuuri started getting silver under Victor for three freaking seasons!!!

Ocean and Wisdom @Son.Of.Poseidon

But that doesn't mean anything lmao. They can be friends. Like Victor and Chris. Or Yuuri and Chris. Chris gets bronze under them all the time. 

 Vanilla Pie @mathemtically-piee

Yeah. Chris said in an interview that he thinks Yuuri is talented. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Oh, no. Victor and Chris talk all the time and they take selfies together.

Chris is Sexy @bemyboyfriend-chris

 OMG CHRIS IS SO SEXY AND HOTTTT

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Erm... Wrong conversation? The Christophe Giacometti Appreciation Post is here so you might want to go there instead...?

 Chris is Sexy @bemyboyfriend-chris

 OMG THANKS LOVE YOU 

Ocean and Wisdom @Son.Of.Poseidon

 Lmao what just happened  

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Anyways, Chris and Victor go swimming together bla bla bla. But no, Victor never talks to Yuuri.

Fan of Skating @skates-n-rollerblades

Yeah. At GPF 2013, Victor legit said, ' So he's the silver medalist? I thought he was a fan.' when asked by interviewers.

Kid with Golden Skates @golden-skates

What...... This is insulting. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Yep. No kidding. And at World 2014, Yuuri was doing warm-up in front of the television.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

But WHEN Victor walked to the television, he immediately walked away.

Janice Morgenstern @daughterOfNephilim

Coincidence???

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Probably not. Same freaking thing happened at the NHK Trophy. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 At the exhibition gala, Victor took selfies with all his competitors, EXCEPT for Yuuri.

Volunteered as Tribute @Winner-of-THG

 Ohhhhhhhh.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Do we also need to mention that they didn't even LOOK at each other for once in the press conference and the medal ceremony???

 Athletic Cat @cartwheeler

 Wow. Really?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ALSO, we've never ever caught them talking to each other. They just ignore each other's existence in the green room.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Ah. The green room.

 Korosensei @bluish-assassin

 Saw the NHK Trophy live. They were sitting faraway from each other. Jean-Jacques Leroy was sitting in the centre, looking quite awkward.

 Volunteered as Tribute @Winner-of-THG

 Wow. Even King JJ gets awkward? That's new. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Do we even have to mention the medal ceremony?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 I think the intense rivalry theories started to pop up since that time. They're all over Buzzfeed. 

 Mad Scientist @bunsenflamed

 wow I didn't know Buzzfeed does articles on figure skating. Gotta check.

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

  Don't forget about World 2015. Yuuri glared at Vitya on the podium. (photo) Vitya actually smirked back. (He's so hot ahhhh)

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 :/// 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Fine fine fine. 

 Haters gonna hate @andImgonnaskate

 wow I totally missed that. That glare tho

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Due to these reasons:

 1. They don't talk to each other at all

 2. They don't even look at each other

 3. The Glare™ at World 2015 

 4. They rarely mention each other in interviews unless necessary 

 5. They never denied the rivalry

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 It's safe to assume they are rivals...?

 Kid with Golden Skates @golden-skates

 I see I see. Thanks for clarifying.

 Axel Man @3-axel

 Seriously tho. Does anyone know what they really think about each other? Can someone do the fandom a huge favour and ask them?

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 We tried. No replies. 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 They wouldn't touch each other's names with a ten foot pole. And Yuuri's just elusive. 

 TwizzlesandLifts @ice-danseur 

 This is still really confusing. Do they hate each other or nay?

 Janice Morgenstern @daughterOfNephilim

 Now that I look at it, I have a feeling Victor doesn't really care...? Maybe Yuuri is the only one that feels strongly about it. Since he's been getting silver.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 But our dear Yuuri is a sweet cinnamon roll D:

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Look, we respect you guys and all, but The Glare™ suggests otherwise.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Who knows? Maybe Victor ticked Yuuri off in the first place.

 See you Later Bro @hopsonvan

 Do I sense a Twitter war coming up?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Who says we are fighting a war? We are friends, aren't we?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

... No comment. 

TheForce @maythe4th

 Okay. Assume Yuuri hates Victor. Why?

Vanilla Pie @mathemtically-piee

 ... Because he gets gold all the time? I thought that was obvious, no offence.

 Lord Voldemorttt @hehehehehe

 Or maybe because he's jealous of Victor's skills? Like, Victor can do 5 types of Quads and Yuuri can only do 2? 

  Haters gonna hate @andImgonnaskate

 Voldie, is that an insult or what. I'm gonna Avada Kedavra you. 

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 RAWR! 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Could be right. Is he jealous of our Vitya for getting gold? 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Our dear sweet Yuuri will never be jealous!!! D: He won't even hurt a fly! 

 Poodle Lady @barkbarkbark 

 Is he a cat person? Cat people and dog people don't get together well. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 :/// Do your research. Yuuri owns a poodle.

TwizzlesandLifts @ice-danseur 

 Maybe Victor has offended him in some way. Sorry, Victor Nikiforov fans, but we all agree he sometimes act like an airhead.    

Kid with Golden Skates @golden-skates

 Yeahhh. Like the 'I thought he was a fan' thing. Most people would take offence for this. Maybe Yuuri did. 

Athletic Cat @cartwheeler

 I would have been offended.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Ummmm.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Awkward. 

 The Girl Who Lived @_youknow-who

 I really want to know how the rest of the season will play out. Yuuri looks really stressed after the FS. Did you look at him in the green room?

 Sith Lord @darth-sprinkles

 This means we still don't have a definite answer.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 We should wait for the end of the season, and... We may get a surprise. Who knows? 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 What a wonderful idea.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 One question though. Is Victor going to retire?

 Fan of Skating @skates-n-rollerblades

 Oh yeah. He's already 27.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 So?

 Fan of Skating @skates-n-rollerblades

 That's WAY past the prime age of most skaters. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 That's not a problem. The only thing we are worried about is that he might lose inspiration.

 Mad Scientist @bunsenflamed

 In the 12-13 season, we were actually worrying that Victor would lose his inspiration. His programs were just...

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 So thank god he came back strong in the 13-14 season.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 That was the year Yuuri returned KYAAAA!!! <333 

 Poodle Lady @barkbarkbark

 This may or may not be related... Does anyone realise that we aren't getting a lot of banquet photos? 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Ohhhhhhh you are right!!! Victor, Chris and JJ usually post a lot of banquet selfies. Not this time tho. 

 Strawberry pancakes @dessertholic

 I think only Chris posted a picture of a flute of champagne on his Instagram. 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 We only found a picture of Sala Crispino and Mila Babicheva on Michele's Snapchat. 

 Obsessed with Skating @skatinggggforever

 WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS? I NEED MORE PHOTOS OF MY SKATING BABIES!!!!! *cries*

 Yuri really wanted to reply ' That's because the Old Man's pact magic is at work', but he didn't want to blow his cover. The last thing he needed would be articles on how he was actually following the entire Katsuki/Nikiforov feud. Worse, the Old Man would never let him leave in peace. Or in a piece.

 He stowed away his phone and started to pet his cat. 

 He wondered what would happen in the next season and in his senior debut, with the two of them as his fellow competitors. 

 Well, considering that the Old Man would not retire. Rumours of him retiring after this season was circulating the figure skating world, and Yakov was trying to talk him out of it. 

 It would either be the most exciting or the toughest season he would ever face. 

 And Yuri was looking forward to it. 

Chapter Text

 Yuri skated, skated and skated, until his feet were numb and he was relying on his muscle memory to finish his programs, because he had been doing the same freaking thing for trillions of times already.

 The only thing he wanted to do right now, would be to ditch his two programs and get started on a new one, because he was starting to get tired of them.

 He was rewarded for his hard work - a shiny gold medal from the Junior Russian Nationals to be added to his collection. Victor came home with his seventh Russian Nationals gold medal, Georgi with a nice shiny silver medal and Mila with her third gold medal.  

 Next up, he would need to train for the JWC, and that was like two months later. He had plenty of time, so no worries! But Victor, Georgi and Mila were the busiest, as they would have to leave for the Europeans anytime soon.

 On one morning, the four of them were just fooling around because Yakov hadn't arrived yet. Mila had suggested an ice race, so they were sprawled at the entrance of the rink that served as the 'starting line', and tried to race each other while crawling on their bellies like penguins. It was a dangerous sport, and Yuri's training shirt was almost sticking to the ice. Georgi had given up, and was just lying on the ice. 

 There were sounds of hurried footsteps, to be followed by, ' GET UP!!! GOSH, WHY ARE ALL FOUR OF YOU ACTING LIKE CHILDREN? NOT EVEN CHILDREN DO THAT. AND VITYA. YOU ARE 27 YEARS OLD ALREADY. GROW UP PLEASE.'

 Yakov was standing at the entrance, in all his raging glory and brandishing a phone like a weapon. Hah. 

 Victor smiled charmingly, unfazed by Yakov's anger, and simply brushed the ice chips off his black shirt. He always liked to wing his way out of trouble by smiling innocently.

 Yuri hated it whenever he did that.

 ' It was my idea, Coach Yakov,' Mila said, straightening her tank top. ' Please don't blame Victor.'

 ' I DON'T CARE,' Yakov said, waving his phone at them again, his expression urgent. ' I HAVE SHOCKING NEWS-'

 ' Mickey has killed a guy because he tried to hit on Sala?' Mila asked.

 ' NO, NOT THAT ITALIAN SKATER, IT'S-'

 ' Chris has dumped his ice dancer boyfriend?' Georgi suggested.

 ' FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO, NOT HIM, I DON'T-'

 ' Soooo Lilia and you are getting back together again? Congratulations, man, I knew you could do it,' Victor whistled. 

 Yuri said, ' Who's Lilia?' 

 ' STOPPPPP!!!' Yakov panicked. 

 Victor frowned, ' Really? I'm disappointed. I thought you actually won over Lilia's heart again-'

 ' WHO'S LILIA????' Yuri was almost howling. ' COME ON SOMEONE ANSWER ME!!!' 

 ' FORGET ABOUT LILIA!!!!!!!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT LILIA!!!!!!! THAT'S PRIVATE,' Yakov roared loudly, and the skaters actually paused to listen to him at last.

 ' What now?' Yuri asked warily.

 Yakov tapped sharply at his phone, ' I just received news from Celestino.'

 ' Celestino?' Yuri reeled back. ' Why him?'

 Victor's expression was unreadable, ' Pardon?'

 The Russian coach took a deep breath and started, ' Katsuki Yuuri is withdrawing from the rest of the figure skating season. This means he will not be competing at the Japanese Nationals tomorrow, 4CCs or the World Championships. He may or may not be retiring after this season. This will be confirmed after the World Championships.' 

 The four of them blinked. The world seemed to slow down in front of them.

 Victor's expression changed from surprise to shock to horror in just a matter of seconds. Interesting. Yuri really was going to punch him senseless if he pulled the 'who's Katsuki Yuuri again' move. 

 Mila was the first to break out of her stupor, ' Wait, what? Are you serious? He is throwing away the rest of the season? For what?'

 ' He's telling the JSF that he wants a break from competing because he's too stressed after Sochi,' Yakov read from his phone and frowned. ' I don't think they are quite happy with that because they will have to find a replacement skater in such short notice. Celestino thought he should be telling us in advance, in case reporters show up all over the place for Vitya...'

 Georgi asked, ' Erm... Why are you all looking sour? Isn't this a piece of good news? I mean, Victor's so going to get gold right now.'

 Mila gave him an evil look and stepped on his foot. 

 ' Give me your phone!' Yuri tried to seize at Yakov's phone, and the device just danced out of his reach.  

 ' WHAT,' Victor said at last, and all of them stared at him confusingly. They hadn't expected him to participate in this conversation at all, since he usually pretended his rival didn't exist. Yuri's knees were bent, ready to spring upwards to get Yakov's phone. 

 ' Great,' Yuri rolled his eyes sarcastically. ' The hermit has finally decided to join our conversation. And in case you are wondering, Old Man, Katsuki Yuuri is your competitor and he's the three-time Grand Prix silver medalist.'

 ' I know who he is,' Victor said crossly. 

 Mila gasped, ' Wow, really?'

 Yuri snarked, ' Oh wow, you actually care? I thought you were going to say, " Who's Katsuki Yuuri? Is he one of the ISU officials or is he one of my fans?" Way to go, Nikiforov. You finally know who your competitors are. It only took you three freaking years. I'm amazed.'

 Victor ignored him, ' Wait. So he's quitting World Championships?'

 ' YES, SINCE WHEN DO YOU EVEN GIVE A DAMN TOWARDS YOUR COMPETITORS,' Yuri thundered. ' This also means you are getting your fifth World gold. Simple logic. Congratulations. Go back to your skating!'

 ' Look!' Mila showed them a Japanese article. ' I found an article about Yuuri. But it's all in Japanese. Can't understand a thing, but people are giving "cry" emojis in the comment section. So... We can safely assume that he's withdrawing?'

 ' WHAT,' Victor grabbed her phone.  

 Yuri's mental gears were putting two and two together, because this entire thing wasn't making any sense. This was probably the most time Victor had spent on a conversation about Katsuki Yuuri, probably longer than three years put together. 

 Yeah! Since when did the Old Man learn to care about Katsuki Yuuri all of a sudden when he had been trying to pretend that he didn't exist for 3 years... Unless... Unless...

 Scenes of the pole dance and ballroom dance at the fateful Sochi banquet flashed in Yuri's mind. 

 No. Effing. Way.

 Somehow, due to mysterious and strange reasons, it looked like the freaking Old Man was charmed by Yuuri at the banquet, like some kind of enemies to lovers movie trope. 

 It was both amazing and disgusting.

 Victor was falling in love with his rival. Ew. This might be the worst thing to happen to Yuri, yet. He knew how extra and sappy the Old Man could be. The world was going to light up in sparks thanks to him. And they were going to have a splendid time explaining to the world how he had fallen in love with Yuuri. 

 Especially when Yuuri probably disliked him.

 Imagine all the endless, one-sided pining. 

 But... Imagine... Opportunities for teasing. Blackmail material.

 Yuri's face heated up, and he pointed at Victor triumphantly, ' OHO!!! OHO!!! OHO!!!!!!!!!!!'

 ' What's with the "Oho"s,' Victor asked irritatedly, still busy trying to decipher what the Japanese meant, as if the words would magically translate into Russian if he squinted long enough.

 ' ADMIT IT!!! YOU ARE INTERESTED IN KATSUKI!!!' He accused. 

 His words rang like a gong, startling against the silence of the rink. 

 Yakov's jaw dropped. 

 Mila gasped. 

 Georgi looked up from cooing at his throbbing foot to gape at Victor. 

 ' W-what,' Victor spluttered, looking very much like a reindeer with headlights. ' Y-Yelch! What a terrible accusation!'  

 Yuri argued fiercely, ' If you are not interested in him, why would you even care if he is withdrawing? Face it!!! The dancer boy has somehow captured our Old Man's heart at the dance. Applause applause.'

 Mila's mouth was like an 'O', and she whispered, ' Yuri. The Pact.'

 ' I don't give a damn about The Pact!' Yuri seized back his phone. ' Spill, Old Man. And I shall spare your life.'

 ' I don't know what you are talking about,' Victor said. ' It's just... The rest of the season would be boring with him. I do love surprises and challenges, you know. And he does give me a challenge, you know.'

 Yuri blinked, ' Should I take this as a compliment for Yuuri?'

 ' Oh, so it's Yuuri now? Not Katsuki?' Victor fired back hotly. ' Well, I almost forgot! What happened in the bathroom at Sochi? Are you becoming friends with him? Tut tut, you should know better than to fraternise with the enemy!'

 ' None of your business,' Yuri hissed. ' I AM NOT FRATERNISING WITH THE ENEMY!!!! THE HECK, HE'S NOT EVEN MY ENEMY! YOU, HOWEVER, IS FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOUR ENEMY.' 

 Victor blinked, ' What enemy?'

 ' YOUR ENEMY!!! WHO ELSE?! YOU BROUGHT IT UP FIRST, NOT ME, SO DON'T ACT STUPID,' Yuri bellowed. ' ARE YOU GETTING THAT OLD?'

 ' Oh, that one,' Victor blinked again. ' What?' 

 ' Seriously though, is this even reliable?' Mila asked, retrieving her phone with much difficulty from Victor's grip. ' I've learnt the lesson of not trusting the media the hard way. Once they said that Yakov is getting married.'

 ' So what was the truth?' Georgi asked curiously.

  Mila snorted, ' He was getting divorced instead.' 

 Georgi paled. 

 ' ENOUGH,' Yakov exploded. He wasn't impressed. 

 ' World Championships is going to be boringgg,' Georgi commented. ' Victor's so going to get gold right now without Yuuri in the picture.. Not like he won't be with Yuuri around, since- AHH!!'

 Mila had stepped on his foot again.  

 ' Vitya, you must stay focused,' Yakov went back to lecture mode. ' You must not be thrown off track.'

  ' I am focused,' Victor stood up straight.

 ' Doesn't look like it to me,' Yakov snarled. ' Get out there and do the second half of your FS again. That part after the Triple Flip is sloppy and WATCH YOUR FREE LEG PLEASE.'

 Victor pouted and returned to the ice. 

 ' Yura, you can practice if you want,' Yakov pointed to the small area next to the windows. 

 He unclipped his blade guards and skated over to his allotted area. While he did his signature sit spin, he was thinking about the withdrawal. Man, he was conflicted.

 If he looked at the matter from the perspective of a fellow rink mate of the Old Man, he should be happy. The gold medal was secured, no problem. It would be a great honour for Russia.  

 On the other hand, as a fellow competitor at the Grand Prix, he should also be happy. He would have one less competitor to worry about, which meant he would medal easily.  

 But if he looked at the matter from the perspective of erm... Yuuri's acquaintance, he should feel sorry for him. The death of his family dog and his failure at the Grand Prix Finals struck him hard. 

 He grimaced, and glanced at the Old Man's direction. His brow was furrowed, as he tried to do the last part of his step sequences again. 

 The Old Man was acting weird. 

 Yuri should get to the bottom of this after the JWC.

 ***

 The news of Katsuki Yuuri's withdrawal shook the figure skating fandom, and millions of fans were just screaming about the news. 

 Their rink was 'attacked' by reporters for eight times in a week, especially after the Japanese Nationals. Reporters were literally squashing each other to get to Victor, asking about his opinions on the 'untimely withdrawal of his rival' and 'securing his fifth World gold medal'. To prevent them from flooding into the rink like zombies, Georgi went as far as to bolt the doors with extra-strong security locks.

 The Katsuki Yuuri fan club went into mourning, and disappeared off Twitter.

 Yuri watched the standings of the Japanese Nationals. Somehow, the bronze medalist, Kenjirou Minami, was sobbing uncontrollably on the podium. He wasn't even paying attention to the medal on his chest.

 Some of the Japanese netizens did a translation of his interview, it was revealed that the bronze medalist was a HUGE fan of Yuuri's and he had been crying for days because his idol wasn't going to compete with him.

 Yuri had no idea he had a fan like this.

 The flames died down a little as Victor took gold at the Europeans for the eighth time, and they celebrated.

 Meanwhile, the Four Continents continued without Katsuki Yuuri. JJ took gold this time (JUST GREAT!!!), a new Kazakhstan skater named Otabek Altin took silver and Phichit Chulanont took bronze. It turned out that Phichit was Yuuri's best friend, and he told the reporters that Yuuri was currently finishing up his studies at Detroit.

 Finally, Yuri took part in his last Junior competition and won the gold by shattering the Junior world record for the SP, FS and combined score.  

 He was ready for more challenges.

 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Skate Family was 99.999% sure that Victor was in love, no matter how he tried to deny it in front of them. 

 It was like the company settings of Victor's brain had switched from ' Who on earth is Katsuki Yuuri? Is he my fan? Oh wait, he's a competitor? I didn't know! ' to ' ' Wow Katsuki Yuuri is my soulmate, I have fallen in love with him, he's awesome, he's beautiful and he's a great dancer.' 

 How could they tell? Simple. 

  The smitten Old Man was always on his phone. 

 Even without knowing how to read minds, Yuri could guess he was pining.

  NO WAY!!! The more logic side of him argued. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.

 Yuuri dislikes him, he told himself. So Victor shouldn't be going after him, right? Besides, he's retiring. 

 BUT then the other day, he walked up to them during break and was like, ' I've improved the step sequences of my FS. Please give me comments.' 

 So they put down their breakfast granola bars and walked out to the rink, only to see Victor pouring out his heart and soul while skating. It was like he was suffering from eternal heart sickness. Ew.

 Stammi Vicino didn't have much meaning in the past. Victor commissioned it on Yakov's instructions and approached it just like any other program. Skate it, land the jumps, try to melt into the song because he might not understand the emotions anyways and get the gold medal. 

 But his emotions here REALLY seemed genuine and exaggerated. 

 Yuri nearly barfed up his chocolate granola bar in his mouth. Georgi choked. Mila was laughing. 

 Maybe Yuuri DID charm Victor by accident with that ballroom dancing and all that excessive HUGGING, and Victor was suffering from a one-sided crush. 

  OF COURSE VICTOR EFFING NIKIFOROV WOULD HAVE A CRUSH ON HIS RIVAL WITHOUT REALISING THEY WERE ACTUALLY RIVALS. 

 Even Yakov commented, ' Vitya's FS program is improving drastically. He's finally able to find out the deep meaning behind this song.'

 As if his performance wasn't gold-medal-worthy already.

 Victor was making it EVEN better.

 At this rate, he might be able to break his long-held FS world record.

 On the same day, Yuri copied the lyrics of Stammi Vicino off one of Victor's fan sites, and ran it through a translation engine. The translation sucked, but from the broken Russian, he could tell that the song was about someone pining and begging a loved one to not leave. 

 Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. 

 Yuri tried to confront him again after practice, pointing at him, ' YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON YUURI!'

 ' WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BATHROOM?' Victor would shout back.

 Yuri would give up and walk away, fuming. 

 However, another bomb was dropped a week before the World Championships in Japan, when Katsuki Yuuri announced via a JSF interview that he had decided to split with his current coach Celestino Cialdini, and he would be returning to his hometown after graduating from university. 

 That meant his retirement was inevitable. 

 His fan club was crying and wailing, of course.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Yuuri: I will be splitting up with Coach Celestino at the end of this season to return to Hasetsu. It's been five years.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Yuuri: Thanks so much for your support. 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 NOOOOOOO DOES THIS MEAN HE'S RETIRING?????????????????????

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Ummm yes? He doesn't have a coach anymore. How's he going to compete?

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 GO AWAY. CAN'T YOU SEE WE ARE CRYING? GO BACK TO CHEERING FOR VICTOR.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 He needs a coach. Just saying.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 WAHHHH!!! THIS IS THE END OF EVERYTHING!!!!! I REPEAT, THIS IS THE END!!!!! HE WILL NEVER BEAT VICTOR AGAIN!!! WAHHH

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

... 

 Rumours of Katsuki Yuuri retiring was thrown around, and people were starting to mourn the loss of a great skater.

 And Victor could be seen walking around with his phone, deep in thought and his eyebrows creased in concentration, while Yakov yelled after him to concentrate on his programs.

 The problem of retirement seemed to be bothering Victor for a while, because everyone was literally bombing his inbox, asking whether he was going to retire after the World Championships.

 ' Yura,' He asked Yuri one day after training. ' I've been thinking a lot about retiring lately. What do you think?' 

 Yuri simply glared at him, ' You ask me, I ask who? Dude, I'm just starting my career, and you are talking to me about retirement?'

 The matter was dropped, but it seemed like Victor kept thinking about this, and the fandom panicked more and more.  

 The time came for the three Senior skaters to travel to Japan for the World Championships. Because Yuri was still a Junior, he was left in St.Petersburg and he planned to watch the live stream on television. 

 Without Yuuri, the championships was going to be boring and predictable as hell. 

 It was so obvious that Victor would be getting gold. Hmmm... Maybe Chris would step up to get silver? He wouldn't want JJ to get bronze though. Victor's ego was the size of planet Earth, whereas JJ's ego was the size of planet Jupiter.

 So Victor kicked off the World Championships with his clean and perfect SP, earning him 116.47. He was in first place at the end of it. His Quad Flip had a GOE of 3.00.

 At the same time, Mila was in second place after her SP, with a score of 74.18. 

 It was only at the Men's FS, when Yuri was 99.9% sure that Victor was pining (YUCK). He was so anguished while skating (Fans were SCREAMING TOO), and he delivered the emotions of the song perfectly. 

 Well, if Yuri was a little more sentimental, he would be crying through the TV screen, but no, he wasn't. So, sorry, no.

  His perfect interpretation of the music earned him 216.97 for his FS, so close to beating his World Record. 

 Fans were just crying about how perfect his Stammi Vicino program was, and Yuri knew better. He knew who he was skating this for, even if Victor tried to evade his questioning (read: interrogation). 

 He got gold, of course. Chris took silver after him, and surprisingly, the Four Continents silver medalist, Otabek Altin, took bronze. 

 Maybe Yuri should study him up too. That guy could be a real threat.

 He looked like an asshole too from the interview videos. Ugh.

 ***

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Congratz to Vitya for winning his fifth gold!!!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 ...

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh come on.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Can you hear us crying? WAHHHHH YUURI IS GOING TO RETIRE!!!

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Shhhhhh let's celebrate Vitya's fifth gold medal.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 HOW?!!!!!! OUR SWEET LITTLE ANGEL IS RETIRING!!!!!!!! HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO CELEBRATE?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 But you know what, maybe Victor is going to retire too.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 WOAH WOAH WOAH I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE DEPRESSED BUT DON'T YOU DARE JINX VITYA! >:[

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Didn't you hear the rumours?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 WE DID.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 They say he's going to announce his retirement at the press conference after the medal ceremony.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 LET'S CRY TOGETHER

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 WAHHHHHHHHHHHH 

(Oh, they had no idea.) 

 ***

 Of course Yuri had to check out the press conference, when people were speculating the Old Man's retirement. 

 Victor was constantly talking to him about retirement, and Yakov was trying to talk him out of it. Like bla bla bla you are 27, you still have around 2-3 years to go and you can't give up on your career that easily. 

 Yuri had no idea what to think of this.

 The competition would be boring with him, and Yuri wanted challenges. Real challenges. 

 On the other hand, he would prefer the Old Man to retreat to somewhere else, because his pining was disturbing and disgusting and annoying. He should probably go to Japan and try to woo Yuuri.

 Scratch that. Bad idea. He needed him to choreograph his programs as part of their deal.

 The press conference began, and the three medalists took a photo together. Victor stood in the middle and placed his arm around the two other medalists. Otabek Altin was just glaring at the camera.

 Seriously, that dude looked pissed 24/7, even while skating. 

 The host congratulated the three medalists, and made a small opening speech. Then, they started to ask the floor for questions.

 A female reporter asked eagerly, ' This question is for Victor. What are your plans for the next season?'

 Okay. Okay. Okay. Everyone was waiting for that with baited breaths. One could spot Yakov at the back, looking troubled as to what the freaking Old Man would say.

 Yuri took a swig from his water bottle.

 He smiled charmingly, ' I have decided to take a break from competing next season.'

 It was like a bomb had gone off in the room, because the reporters were shouting frantically over each other, trying to shout out their own version of follow-up questions. And Yuri could hear the  collective heart breaking of the Victor Nikiforov fan club. The host was almost trampled over, and he too couldn't contain his shock. Yakov looked like he was going to faint. Surely Victor hadn't discussed this with him before that.

  Great day for the figure skating fandom, Yuri thought drily, taking another drink from his water bottle. The two best skaters are retiring at the same time. 

 Chris whistled. Otabek still looked pretty pissed. 

 Over the noise, Victor coughed loudly, ' Ahem. Ahem. Excuse me.' 

 Everyone went quiet, as their gold medalist was trying to speak again.

 ' Before all of you are starting to worry, I would like to clarify that, no, I will not be staying away from the ice,' Victor looked around the room. ' Well, I won't be skating on it, but I will be quite close to it.'

 The same female reporter asked nervously, ' S-so... Could you please explain?' 

 ' I am going to co-coach my Junior, Yuri Plisetsky instead,' He announced happily. ' Thank you very much for your support. Hope to see you all soon at his first GP qualifier! We're going to have a wonderful time together.'

  Yuri made an undignified noise and spat out the water. 

 The reporters gasped.

 Chris stared at his friend in disbelief. Otabek... Was still pissed.

 At the back, Yakov collapsed on top of Chris's coach.

 The self-proclaimed Russian Punk's eyes rolled back, his head was woozy and he too hit the floor in three seconds.

 Hours later, he would be found out cold on the floor by some pair skaters, and the world would be burning at the same time. 

Chapter Text

 Yuri kicked open the door with all his might, that it swung onto the wall in an ear-splitting crash. 

 To say he was angry was an understatement. He was furious, shocked, murderous and humiliated, because he had fainted at the rink's break room like some kind of terrified damsel-in-distress and the Ice Tiger of Russia shouldn't be behaving in this way. This embarrassing incident would haunt him till the day he died. It would remain a dark history of his past forever. 

 He had been rendered 'immobile' for days with an ice pack on top of his head thanks to Victor's little 'coaching' stunt at the World Championships, and now he was brimming and burning with rage-induced energy. 

 (Though, he did have to wake up between intervals for meals and to assure his landlady, who thought he was a juvenile delinquent, that he wasn't dead or threatening suicide.)

 The Old Man was already on the ice, talking to Mila. Yakov was just standing next to them, arms crossed. Georgi was nowhere to be found. 

 ' VICTOR!!!' Yuri roared, scaring several children to tears at the same time, but he was too mad to care. 

 The said man had the nerve to grin at him (that infuriating grin), ' Ah, Yura! I was wondering where you are at. Did you have a restful holiday? I hope you did, because I have prepared your new training regime! Did you see the Quad Loop I did in my exhibition? I can teach you if you want. Oh? You don't look too happy! Have you forgotten about our deal? Seriously, I can't be the only one that remembers! Yakov has forgotten-'

 ' I HAVEN'T!!!' Yuri thundered, clenching his fists. ' WHAT THE HELL, NIKIFOROV! I ASKED FOR A GODDAMN PROGRAM, NOT YOU BECOMING MY FREAKING COACH!!! DON'T ADD TO THE DEAL! BESIDES, I AM NOT LETTING AN AMATEUR LIKE YOU HANDLE THE MOST IMPORTANT SEASON OF MY LIFE!'

 Victor seemed a little offended, ' Amateur? I'm a professional, you see!'

 Yuri screamed in his face, ' PROFESSIONAL? AS IF!!! WHY THE HECK DO YOU WANT TO BE A COACH ANYWAYS? I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO BE A COACH!'

 Mila said thoughtfully, ' True, Victor. You don't have much training. You are not even a certified coach of the RSF.'

 ' I just need to apply for one,' Victor said. ' And learn to be a coach! I have to become a coach, you see, because I need to learn to be a coach and I do have to be a coach.'

 ' You just repeated your point two times,' Mila snorted. ' Yeah, yeah, we get it.'

 ' I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL OR NOT! THERE'S NO WAY I AM LETTING A LOVESICK IDIOT LIKE YOU CHOREOGRAPH MY PROGRAMS! I AM NOT SKATING TO LOVEY DOVEY STUFF,' Yuri said. True. He would really consider suicide if Victor made him skate to mushy stuff like Romeo and Juliet or another one of his sappy arias, because he was a teenager, heaven's sake! Teenagers should be dark and angsty. Besides, the purest and least angsty song he had skated to would be Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. 

 ' What do you mean?' Victor blinked.

 ' Don't act stupid! I know you are disgustingly in love,' Yuri accused. 

 ' Ooooooooooooooh,' Mila said.

 ' I told you I am not in love,' Victor said, annoyed.

 ' HA!!! A LIKELY STORY,' Yuri boomed. 

 Yakov wasn't impressed. He began, ' Vitya, you can't be serious. You have no experience in coaching, and you can't just take a break like that. You won't be able to come back next year.'

 ' What's the point in returning? It's going to be a boring season anyways without my rightful rival,' He shrugged. ' It's better to train our next generation of skaters. Besides, I really have to do it, so leave me be, Yakov. You can still take care of Yura's technical stuff, while I try to work out his PCS.'

 The mental cogs were working in Yakov's head. 

 Please say no, Yakov, please!!! Yuri begged. Tell that Old Man he's an idiot and force him back into competition! I don't care if he's going to be a hard opponent or what, just don't let him handle my senior debut!!! Please!!!

 After what seemed like forever, Yakov sighed, ' Do whatever you want. I don't care. Don't say I didn't warn you, your comeback will be difficult. Also, you are only allowed to handle his SP. I have plans for his FS.' Yuri nearly fainted on the spot. 

 T-TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!

 ' Cool! You're the best,' Victor beamed. ' I have the music and choreography all ready for you, you just need to take a look.'

 Mila questioned, ' Wow. How on earth do you have time to compete and choreograph at the same time?'

 ' I am the Master of Multitasking,' Victor bragged, and Yuri rolled his eyes.

 ' UGH! FINE! BUT IF THE PROGRAM SUCKS, I WILL PERSONALLY KILL YOU,' Yuri glared daggers at him. ' IT HAS TO BE GOLD MEDAL WORTHY.'

 Victor pulled out the remote from his pocket, ' Of course it's gold medal worthy! I will definitely win if I skate to this myself. I have a feeling you will like this.'

 ' Tell this to Katsuki Yuuri,' Mila muttered, and Victor ignored him. He pressed the button.

 The song... Was... Ugh. It sounded like Latin and the singing voice was angelic. But Yuri loathed pure and innocent crap like this.

 ' WHAT THE HELL IS THIS INNOCENT GARBAGE?!  IT MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT! SO NO, I AM NOT SKATING TO THIS!!! I HATE IT!' Yuri shrieked, tearing out his hair. ' IT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE ME.' 

 ' True,' Mila snapped her fingers. ' It's nothing like Yura.'

 Victor said, unfazed, ' This song is called On My Love: Agape. Agape is the 'unconditional and selfless love' amongst all other types of love. Well, it's part of a series, anyways, and I like this one the most, so I picked it for you.'

 ' UNCONDITIONAL LOVE? YOU KIDDING ME?! I... I KNOW NOTHING OF THIS!'

 ' Exactly!' Victor's eyes snapped open. ' This is the point of the entire thing! You have to skate to something that you are unfamiliar with, and only by familiarising yourself with this, you can learn and grow stronger. And... You can get bonus points for the element of surprise!' He wiggled his eyebrows, and Yuri really wanted to punch him in the face.

 ' FINE. I WILL SKATE TO THIS CRAP,' Yuri raged.

 ' Excellent. I can show you the choreography,' Victor said, satisfied.

 Unconditional love sounded overly ridiculous, but at least he wasn't making him skate to overly affectionate stuff.

 Still, that didn't mean he wasn't mad about the coaching arrangement.

*** 

 Many skaters had announced that they were going to compete in the next season and their newest programs. Well, all except for Cao Bin, who was retiring, Victor, who had spontaneously switched to coaching, and Yuuri, who had literally disappeared from the face of the Earth. 

 The Katsuki Yuuri fan club was in despair, and they were hugging at the Victor Nikiforov fan club at the same time, because both fan clubs were mourning the loss of the two best skaters in the world.

 Speaking of Victor... 

 Yuri was so mad at him. 

 He was probably the worst coach to ever walk on planet Earth, and heck! He didn't even know the basics to coaching!

 The choreography was alright, it was tough, but Yuri was sure he could manage it. 

But Victor would always nitpick at his step sequences, making impossible requirements and talking about Agape garbage.

 When Yuri thought he had done okay for the day, Victor would say, ' No, no, no, Yuri. I don't feel Agape in your performance at all. Remember, Agape is unconditional love. Your greed is too obvious in this one. It's good to be confident in what you do, but don't go overboard with it.'

 Yuri gripped at the side of the rink, ' WHAT?! You were the one skating in absolute confidence in the first place!'

 Victor blinked.

 ' Also, what is Agape to you, Mr. Oh-so-Romantic?' Yuri sneered. 

 ' What? It's a feeling of course! You're so funny, Yura!' Victor laughed.

 Victor made him balance on the benches on one foot, and think long and deep what was Agape to him, while he disappeared into the break room with his phone and skates. 

 Cue the screams. Cue the swearing. Cue the kicks.

***  

 ' I'LL KILL HIM!' Yuri crushed his plastic spoon. 

 ' Don't worry, I think you did okay,' Mila comforted him, getting him another spoon from the counter. ' Victor is just...'

 ' Unreasonable? Stupid? Crazy?' Yuri snarled.

 ' Maybe,' Mila said. ' Come on. It isn't that bad. Coach Yakov will be taking care of your FS, so...'

 He complained, ' That lovesick fool is useless! Ever since the banquet, he has been going nuts!!! He used to not care about his competitors, and now, he is getting moony-eyed over his freaking rival!' 

 Mila moved her chair closer to him, ' Ohhh? You think so too?'

 ' Think what?' Yuri grumbled, dipping the spoon into his stew. 

 ' Victor is in love with Yuuri?' Mila said in a hushed whisper.

 ' Hah?' Yuri said. ' I thought it was obvious. Don't you think it's disgusting?'

 ' No! It's so romantic and sweet!' Mila beamed. ' Imagine them getting together??? This would be amazing! Podium husbands! Oh my god, their ship name... Let's see... Victor... Yuuri... Victuuri! Victory!!! They're made for each other!'

 ' Uhhh like,' Yuri pointed his spoon at her. ' Even if Victor is head over heels in love, I think Yuuri is quite done with him. He hates him, can't you see? They aren't rivals for nothing. Forget about it, Mila. They won't be getting together. Are you thirsty for love stories because you dumped that ice hockey guy?'

 ' I don't think they are actually rivals,' She said. ' I've never believed the articles, you see. The reporters always make a huge fuss out of everything they see.'

 ' He glared at him.'

 ' Trick of light! Trick of light!'

 ' They give each other a cold shoulder, in like, all of the competitions.'

 ' Yuuri is shy. He has always been shy.'

 ' They never mention each other in interviews.'

 ' Well, I never deliberately talk about Sala in my interviews either.'

 ' Victor keeps saying he doesn't know who the silver medalist when he KNOWS who he is.'

 ' We all know Victor never researches on his competitors.' 

 ' Well, yeah,' Yuri chortled. ' Because he doesn't even know who he is until the banquet. When Yuuri drunkenly danced with him. Okay. Assuming that Victor doesn't look at him as a rival, I am dead set Yuuri dislikes him.' 

 ' This is the beginning! Victor only needs to win over his favour, and we can have the Podium husbands! This is beautiful! Imagine: Rivals to lovers!!! Now that's what I call an epic love story,' She said, already plotting. ' We just need to make Yuuri fall in love with him.'

 Yuri groaned. He hated it when Mila had ideas like this.

 ' Really, forget about it,' Yuri said. ' Yuuri's going to retire anyways. Those two won't be seeing each other anymore.'

 Mila deflated, ' Oh, right. Sad.'

 They continued to finish their meals in silence. Yuri needed all the energy he could get to withstand the Old Man's crazy demands.

 ***

 Merely a week later, a hole was blasted through the figure skating fandom again. 

 JSF confirms that Katsuki Yuuri will be returning to competition 

  Katsuki Yuuri, aged 23, is a three-time Grand Prix silver medalist, two-time World silver medalist, two-time National champion and two-time Four Continents Champion. He was originally set to get his third National gold medal this year, but he withdrew from the rest of the competitive season in the last minute and later, split up from his original coach Celestino Cialdini.

 There has been much speculation that he will be retiring after this season, and Katsuki did not answer to the questions from reporters worldwide. But just yesterday, the JSF spokesperson has confirmed that Katsuki will indeed be returning for the next season. He is currently training in Hasetsu with his new coach Minako Okukawa (former professional ballerina, prize recipient of Benois de la danse), his programs will be announced at a later stage. 

 Before the Grand Prix series, Skater Katsuki will be competing in the regional championships to determine whether he is fit to compete in the GP series. 

 But hopefully, we should be able to see Katsuki on the ice again by October. 

 Meanwhile, Katsuki's greatest rival, Victor Nikiforov, has withdrawn from the next season to coach fellow rink mate and Junior champion, Yuri Plisetsky. 

 Some fans speculate that this is why Katsuki has decided to return, while s ome hope that without Victor Nikiforov in the bracket, Katsuki will be able to win gold easily. 

 The entirety of the Katsuki Yuuri fan club was crying, relieved that their ace was back on the ice again. 

 Yuri, however, wasn't sure how he felt about this. 

 Yeah. He should be happy. He deemed Yuuri as a worthy opponent (not *cough* JJ *cough*), and he would love to skate against him. 

 When Victor got wind that his rival/crush (???) would be competing in the next season without him, he actually seemed really happy (Mila and Yuri's doubts were confirmed). He beamed at them, ' Great! Yura, you love challenges, don't you? He's going to give you a tough time on the ice! His PCS are crazy high!'

 ' Woah. Time out. You actually researched his performances?' Yuri said in disbelief.

 ' As your coach, I am responsible for scouting the enemy.'

 Mila was ecstatic, and she began the Operation: Get Victuuri together. She was trying to get Yuri to join her.

 ' EW HELL NO!' Yuri screamed. ' I AM NOT PARTICIPATING IN THIS!!!'

 ' But we need to help Victor woo Yuuri!!! The more Victor tries to deny his love, the more he likes him!!! This is the romantic equation,' Mila said, nudging at him. ' Please!!! Yura!!!'

 ' I said, I AM NOT GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS DRAMA! VICTOR CAN CRUSH ON HIM, AND I DON'T CARE!!!' He bellowed. ' I JUST WANT A GOLD MEDAL!' 

 Mila ignored him, ' Now, let's just pray that you will be assigned into the same events as Yuuri, because Victor will have to accompany you as a coach. They can meet and we can push them together!'

 ' Given that Yuuri doesn't glare at him or beat him to a pulp,' Yuri scowled. ' Well, Баба, don't you have to practice instead of nosing someone else's love life?'

 She simply smiled at him innocently. 

 Great.

 All he wanted was a good senior debut. 

 Now, he was caught up in between some kind of an unrequited love story. 

 Just great. 

 He wondered how Victor or Yuuri would think about this. 

Chapter Text

 Yuri had long decided that Victor was an enigma. He would sometimes act cool and aloof, and sometimes, he would be overly affectionate and romantic.

 That was the problem right now. He wasn't able to figure out what on earth was going on between him and Katsuki Yuuri.

 The more he looked into it, the less he believed in the talk about the rivalry. 

 Those two weren't even rivals. They weren't friends either. What were they?

 Acquaintances? Competitors? He had no idea. 

 He didn't really put that much thought into this problem until the Sochi banquet, where he felt like everything he ever knew about Victor was completely wrong.

  Especially when he was so happy about Yuuri's return. 

 This had to be the worst one-sided crush Yuri had ever seen. And he kept bringing this up to the point that Victor no longer corrected him. 

 ( Because yeah, he knew this had to be true.) 

 On the other hand, his SP was finally coming together, because he had decided to think about his grandfather. His grandfather was the best person in the world. He loved him so, so much.

 Then, Yakov shocked him senseless by bringing in his ex-wife to choreograph his FS.

 Lilia Baranovskaya was a terrifying and intimidating woman, who glared around the room with an air of superiority. Victor was mortally terrified of her.

 She went to the rink in early mornings to show him the program, and was a worse nitpicker than Victor.

 Like, she compared his free leg to a king crab's leg and criticised him for being physically abysmal.

 It was a disgrace for Yuri, because he prided himself in his flexibility. 

 But he preferred his FS music to his SP music. Allegro Appassionato in B minor was like him. Feisty and intense. He enjoyed the speed and the pounding rhythm of the music.

 Meanwhile, he had to bear with Georgi's bawling. His girlfriend had cheated on him and dumped him via Instagram.

 He came back, crying his eyes out and changed his season's theme to Heartbreak on a whim, and not even Yakov was able to convince him not to do that, because that meant he would have to be switching out his programs. 

 His pining was even worse than Victor's. 

 Mila, being the gossip devil she was, had a good laugh over it.

 And it was good to distract her from the Operation: Get Victuuri together, because Yuri thought it wasn't feasible.

 The announcement of the assignments came. 

 ' Yura!' Yakov walked into the rink. ' Assignments are out!'

 ' Where is the other Yuuri assigned to?' Victor chirped, completely ditching Yuri.

 He fumed, ' OI! YOU ARE MY COACH!!! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING AT WHERE I AM ASSIGNED TO?'

 Yakov said, annoyed, ' Yura, you are assigned to Skate Canada and Rostelecom Cup. And to answer Vitya, the other Yuuri is assigned to Cup of China and Rostelecom Cup, which means...'

 ' I have to skate against him,' Yuri finished the sentence. ' Great-'

 ' YAAAY,' Victor hugged him. ' WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN IN MOSCOW!!! YAY!!!'

 Yuri spluttered in disgust, completely smothered in the hug.

  ' Vitya,' Yakov said sternly. ' Pay more attention to Yura's own assignments, and not the other Yuuri's.'

 ' What? I like him,' Victor said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

 Silence.

 Silence.

 Silence.

 Silence.

 What.

 Yakov's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

 Yuri shouted, ' HAHHHHHHHHHH?!'

 Mila screamed, ' Awwwwwwwwww!!!'

 Georgi, who was supposed to be mourning his dead love, let out a pitiful wail and proceeded to cry rivers again. 

 Victor brushed his bangs away from his eyes, and he coughed.

 ' EW!!! THIS IS DISGUSTING!!!' Yuri shrieked, while his mind repeated ' what the hell what the hell' like a mantra to keep himself sane.

 ' Yura. I want to look at your SP again.'

 ' BUT-'

 ' No "but"s. Do it.'

 *** 

Yuri sat in the break room, with his face in his hands.

 What just happened?!

 He had no idea that things would become like this. 

 The bloody Old Man had declared his love for Yuuri.

 Ew. 

 And what the actual heck. If he sold this tale to the media for revenge, he would probably earn a lot of money from it, because the world would be turning upside-down and inside-out at this piece of news. 

 Hah, maybe they wouldn't even believe him.

 A rivalry story might sell better than a scandalous love affair, especially when there wasn't any proof to the scandalous love affair.  

 He opened his Twitter app to get his mind off things when:

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Yuuri has announced the music for his new programs! :D 

 SP: On My Love: Eros

 FS: Yuri On Ice (original composition)

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 WOW we found his SP song on YouTube... >///< WOW CAN'T BELIEVE THIS 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 It has this FLAMENCO feel to it. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Wait a sec. I thought Yuri Plisetsky's SP is On My Love too.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Checked. It's Agape.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Hah. What? O.O

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 It seems like they are skating to songs from the same series, but different arrangements.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Wow.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Sooooooooo. Victor picked Agape for Yuri. And technically, Yuuri picked Eros himself.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Is this a coincidence or nay? O.O 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 O.O  

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Telepathy.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Impossible.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Unless...

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Omg

 ' WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!' Yuri ran out of the break room to find Victor. ' WHAT THE HELL, OLD MAN?'

 ' What's wrong?' Victor was on his phone in the locker room.

 ' THIS!!!' Yuri shoved the phone in his face. ' WHAT THE HELL? WHY DID YOU PICK THAT SONG? KATSUKI IS USING THE SAME SONG!'

 Victor scrolled through the post, ' Hm. Eros? Interesting. No, it's not the same. It has a different arrangement and theme.'

 ' HELL NO I'M NOT SKATING TO THE SAME SONG AS SOMEONE! ESPECIALLY HIM!!! WE HAVE THE SAME NAMES ALREADY!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE HIM. THEY'LL SAY I'M A COPY CAT.' 

 ' It's okay as long as it has a different arrangement. In my 2009-2010 season, I skated to Vivaldi's Winter while Chris skated to Summer.'

 ' OHO!!! YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS, DON'T YOU, LOVER BOY?' Yuri spat. 

 ' Why would you think of such a thing? Sure, Yuuri is lovely. But I have nothing to do with this. You should really practice harder, Yura. The Skate Canada is coming soon.'

 Yuri screamed out every curse word in the book, stepped on his foot and stalked away.

***

 Almost everyone seemed to have noticed the clashing song arrangements between the two Yuris and the startling contrast between the two themes.

 Most people were questioning their choices, saying that Eros suited Yuri Plisetsky, who was well known for being dark, more than Katsuki Yuuri, who was the skating world's cinnamon roll. 

 Still, Victor's resolve wasn't swayed, and Yuri stuck to Agape till the end.

 The Japanese regional championships came and went. Yuuri won it with insanely high scores, no biggie. Yuri went on YouTube to look up his performance, just to check how he was doing after his small break at the beginning of the year, only to be shocked by the Eros performance.

 It wasn't like Yuuri at all. Dark costume, slicked back hair, sultry smirk at the beginning of the program and... WHAT. 

 Yuri had to pause it, because this was too much. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc 

 W-w-w-what was that?!!! O///O 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 I thought only Victor is capable of being so... Eros! >///< Ah!!! 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc 

 I am SHOOK. SOMEONE SAVE ME.  

 Same here, Katsuki Yuuri fan club. Same here. 

 Yuri's face burnt at the sight of the very, very Eros performance. He didn't know Yuuri was capable of being like this on the ice, with all of his past programs about innocence, happiness and whatnot. 

 His FS was alright, the music was good and the step sequences were excellent as usual. It would be extremely tough to beat him at the Rostelecom Cup, so naturally, he would have to work harder on his own SP, and to raise his PCS. 

 Of course, Victor had to make a comment about Yuuri's SP.

 ' Now, Yura!' He kept telling him. ' This is what I am talking about. You can feel the Eros in his performance, even through the screen. If you can channel your Agape like Yuuri, your performance will be successful.'

 Yeah, yeah, yeah. If he got a Russian Ruble every time Victor compared his PCS to Yuuri's PCS, he would be rolling with money.

 Right. Back to his PCS. 

Chapter Text

 All eyes were on the Russian team when they arrived in Canada for Skate Canada, and the airport was in mayhem. 

 Yuri's Angels and the Canadian division of the Victor Nikiforov fan club (mixed with some of the members of the International division) were fighting each other at the airport terminal, standing on top of each other just to have a small glimpse of their respective idols. 

 It took them an entire hour to get out of the airport, and after dodging a stream of roses, they managed to get into a cab.

 ' Good lord!' Yuri complained, removing a sparkly blue rose petal that was somehow embedded into his hair. ' Can't they just leave us alone for a second?'

 ' I think they're sweet,' Victor beamed, holding up a bouquet of blue roses he had caught. ' Yura, you have to learn to appreciate and be nice to your fans. Especially when they are dedicated and supportive. They'll be with you throughout your career.'

 ' Pffttt,' Yuri scoffed. ' I don't need any fans.'

 ' Liar. I caught you taking photos with Yuri's Angels last year.'

 ' Shut. Up.'

 The hotel lobby was even more disastrous. Besides the Yuri's Angels and Victor Nikiforov fan club, JJ Girls were also there to support their King JJ. 

 Victor stayed behind to take commemorative photos and chat with his fans, who were completely smitten with him. 

 Yuri didn't stick by to chat, and he just disappeared into his room. At least the Old Man wouldn't be around to annoy him.

 He would need some rest before facing the SP tomorrow.

***

 Yuri was so wrong.

 He thought Victor was the most annoying person on the planet, but no. Jean-Jacques Leroy was even more annoying and cocky.

 He spoke to everyone condescendingly, acted like he was the best skater in the entire world and always did the infuriating 'IT'S JJ STYLE' thing. 

 ' Hiya, Victor!' He waved at Victor when they were just walking out of the locker room. ' How have you been? The season just isn't the same without you.'

 ' Who are you again? I don't think I've seen you before,' Victor blinked at him confusingly, and Yuri almost slapped himself in the face.

  It was JJ's turn to be confused. ' Hah?' He stared at the Living Legend of Russia. ' I've competed with you for many times. I got fourth place in the last GPF and World Championships. Second place at NHK Trophy last year? Sound familiar to you? I stood next to you in the exhibition.'

 ' Um, no?' Victor shook his head. 

 Yuri said sarcastically, hoping to tick the both of them off, ' Well, Victor never researches on his competitors, you see. He doesn't even know who Katsuki Yuuri is, so why would he even know you?'

 Victor frowned. JJ gased. It seemed like he had been following the Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry too.

 ' That's surprising,' JJ said at last. ' Well then... It doesn't matter! I am going to beat your student this year!'

 Yuri was taken back by how rude and open he was. Before he could fire back a mean insult, JJ yelled in his face, ' IT'S JJ STYLE!' and walked away with his head held high, his chest puffing out. 

 ' That guy is insufferable!' Yuri complained. 

 ' Yeah, if you think he's insufferable, you had better beat him,' Victor said cheerfully. ' Oh! Reporters.'

 They were swarmed by an entire coven of reporters, and Yuri was squashed against Victor. Yakov seemed to have escaped into the back of the locker room. Dammit! 

  ' Victor! Why have you switched to coaching?'

 ' Do you have confidence in your little student?'

 ' What did you see in Yuri Plisetsky? Do you think he will be able to become the next figure skating legend?'

 Well, all of the questions were variations of the above three questions. 

 Victor answered charmingly, ' Yes, I have taken a break from competing to coach Yuri Plisetsky. I believe he's talented and needs more training.'

 ' Victor! You didn't answer our question!'

 ' What do you mean?'

 ' How do you feel when your five-time winning streak is going to broken? Will you be upset if your rival is taking gold after your withdrawal?'

 Victor was about to reply, when Yuri snapped, ' Why would he be upset, this is bull-'

 Victor covered his mouth ( 'mhhrrhhmmmttm!!!!') in a flash and answered cheerfully, ' Well, I withdrew in the first place. I can't be upset at anyone!'

 ' What do you think about Katsuki's comeback?'

 ' What do you think about his programs? Will you come back next year to defeat him?' 

 ' We're asking about your views towards Skater Katsuki-'

 ' Can we please focus on my Yura for a second?' Victor smiled at them, his hand still over Yuri's mouth in case he decided to blabber out all his secrets (which he was about to do), and Yuri shot him his Level 10 Glare Supreme. If looks could kill, Victor would be dead in a second.

 A Japanese reporter (probably the one talking to Yuuri after Sochi... Morka? Morika? Morooka?) hesitated for a moment and he asked, ' Who do you think will win the Grand Prix Finals this year? Speculations, please?'

 Victor smiled widely, ' Ah, my Yuri, of course.' 

 It was almost a stupid question since he was HIS coach, but... Yuri thought he would try to set the world on fire by saying, ' Katsuki Yuuri, of course! Who else? He's the one I'm in love with.'

 ' Okay, best of luck to all of you,' Morooka nodded politely and retreated with the rest of his team that were sulking about not being able to write up a good rivalry story about them. If Victor started to criticise Yuuri, they would probably earn a lot out of these stories.

 Yuri stomped on his foot rudely, and Victor finally released his hold over him.

 ' What the hell was that?' Yuri spat. ' Screw you Nikiforov!' There were gasps of scandalisation from passers-by, reminding that he probably shouldn't be behaving like this towards his freaking 'coach', aka the Living Legend of figure skating. Victor Nikiforov deserved more respect.  

 But the same Victor Nikiforov was testing his patience, so he stomped off in the other direction for warm-up, cursing to the ceiling. 

 He hid near the rink when the competition began, all the way through JJ's obnoxious Short Program. The song was so annoying and everyone was singing to it. Ugh!!! He had the nerve to call himself the King of figure skating when The Victor Nikiforov was right in front of him.

 And Yuri would become the next skating king. 

 Much to his annoyance, JJ scored 99.54 in his first event. 

 ' Yura,' Yakov had found him. ' It's almost your turn... Where's Vitya?'

 ' Ugh, I don't know. I dumped him,' Yuri said, removing his jacket and handing it to Yakov.

 Somewhere in the spectator stands, the Yuri's Angels had fainted at the sight of him wearing Victor's old costume. It fit him perfectly, though Yuri still didn't like all the innocent angel-like crap.

 He took a deep breath, and started to think about his grandfather to channel his Agape. He hoped he could have his grandfather's piroshki too. It was his favourite food since he was very young.

 ' Yuraaa! I've been looking for you!'

 Ugh, the Old Man. 

 ' As your coach-'

 ' Excuse me, Vitya,' Yakov harrumphed. ' I believe I am is main coach. You're just an assistant, okay? Listen, I hate it when you are playing pretend-coach.'

 Victor shrugged, and allowed Yakov and Lilia to do the actual pep-talk.

 ' Next, we have Yuri Plisetsky, skating to On My Love: Agape. His program is choreographed by Victor Nikiforov.'

 Right. 

 The program went better than he had expected. He was able to imagine his grandfather easily, and he landed all of his jumps. He could add in the Tano or Rippon variations later, but seeing that it was his first major competition in the season, he had done okay.

 At the end, he picked up a cat plushy from the rainstorm of gifts and skated over to the entrance to meet up with his coaches.

 Yakov nodded, ' You did well, Yura.'

 Right, Old Man? Bet you don't have anything to nitpick at anymore?

 ' The Agape was alright, Yura. But let's talk about the more technical stuff. What happened to the entrance of the Triple Axel just now? It was the sloppiest Triple Axel you have ever done. The Quad Salchow could have been a little better, I think. And your free leg near the end is rather sloppy, did you notice it? Man, tut tut, JJ may have a higher TES than you this time, so you had better improve by the Rostelecom Cup-'

 ' SHUT UP!!!' Yuri hit him with the cat plushy. ' YOU TES NAZI!'

 In the end, he got 97.56, which was quite good. 

 Victor was able to shut up for a minute.

 ***

 At the end of Skate Canada, Yuri was ready to strangle JJ and toss his dead body into the ocean.

 JJ won gold (JUST GREAT!!!) and he won silver. And on the podium, he was being obnoxiously rude and even smiled at him, ' Let's climb the podium again at the Rostelecom Cup, Yuri!'

 If it weren't for the fact that international TV channels were live streaming the entire medal ceremony, Yuri would have raised his middle finger at him before punching him in the face. 

 The media was already talking about how Victor had done a good job in coaching (AS IF) and how talented Yuri was. 

 He just skated to a random program in the exhibition to show how displeased he was, and packed his stuff to return to Russia as soon as possible, before he decided to murder JJ.

 He continued to practice hard. The Rostelecom Cup would be tough if he wanted to get gold and squeeze into the GPF, because he would face off JJ and Yuuri at the same time. On the bright side, since he got silver at Skate Canada, he would only need to get fourth place or above to qualify for the Finals.

 The third GP qualifier, the Cup of China came too soon, and the Russian Team ditched morning practice to have a viewing party at the break room.

 Yuri lounged at the back with Victor, while Mila and Sofia sat close to the television. They said they were going to support Georgi, but heck, Yuri knew that they were actually looking for Yuuri's programs instead.

 Victor... Hm. He might be pining for Yuuri. 

 ' Welcome to the Cup of China. Skaters in Group 1 are entering the rink for the 6-minute warm up.'

  Yuri only knew three of the skaters from Group 1. Phichit Chulanont, Guang-hong Ji and Katsuki Yuuri. 

 Phichit Chulanont of Thailand was dressed in a glimmering red and gold costume that reminded Yuri of traditional royal garments. Wait... His coach was Celestino Cialdini right? And he was Yuuri's former coach... Wow. Things would be awkward. He wondered if Celestino held a grudge towards Yuuri for splitting up with him and returning to Hasetsu.

 Guang-hong seemed nervous. Yuri followed a bit of his skating, because he was the JGP silver medalist two years ago. 

 And Yuuri... Wearing a Team Japan jacket over his costume. He was smiling sheepishly at his fans, like the cinnamon roll he was. Still the cinnamon roll. Victor sighed and Yuri wanted to barf.

 They practiced some jumps in the 6-minute warm-up, testing the ice. Yuuri went for a Triple Axel and he landed it.

 ' Ah, Skater Katsuki is doing quite well.'

 ' Indeed. We were thinking that he wouldn't be the same after that untimely break near the end of the season. Many fans speculate he had a nervous breakdown after the GPF 2015.'

 ' Yeahhhh. He didn't exactly end his last season on a high note.'

 ' 6-minutes warm up has ended. The first person to skate is Phichit Chulanont of Thailand. He finished fourth in his first GP qualifier, Skate America.'

 ' Right, he'll need to place second or above to enter the Finals. He's skating to "Shall We Skate" from the movie The King and the Skater.'

 Mila said, ' Wow! Haven't heard this piece in years. Maybe we should marathon the movies some day! I bet Yura will like it!'

 ' Shut up, Баба!'

  Mila and Sofia were nodding along to the music, and Yuri huffed in annoyance at their antics.

 ' He has improved. The scores please... 86.75, a personal best!'

 Phichit drew a heart shape in thin air for his fans.

  ' Next... Guang-hong Ji of China. His performance at Skate America was absolutely delightful and he finished third.'

  ' He's skating to Le Parfum des Fleurs.'

 He landed two of his jumps and nearly touched down on his Triple Axel. It was a good performance. He scored 79.87.

 The rest of the skaters in Group 1 went by, and none of them were impressive enough as they didn't have Quads in their program at all. Yuri didn't even bother to look them up. To pass off time, he munched at a bag of barbecue flavoured potato chips, Victor poked at his phone (answering fan-mail, perhaps), Mila and Sofia gossiped away happily.

 ' Last skater of Group 1, we have Katsuki Yuuri of Japan. He split up with his former coach Celestino Cialdini in late March and trained under Minako Okukawa instead.'

 Yuuri was talking to a pretty woman (his coach) at the side of the rink. 

 ' She was a renowned ballerina right? I think she actually danced with Lilia Baranovskaya before she retired.'

 ' Hah?' Yuri asked. ' She's a ballerina! Does she even skate? How... can she coach a skater?'

 ' Last I checked, Lilia is also your coach,' Victor peered at him. 

 ' Yeah! But I have Yakov, and...' It almost pained Yuri to say it, ' You. Fine. Maybe she can choreograph his programs. But who the hell is in charge of the technical stuff?' 

 ' Well, Yuuri is talented enough to take care of himself!' 

 ' Ugh. Forget about it,' Yuri made a face. 

 Mila whistled, ' Hang on a sec. His costume looks pretty familiar...'

 True. Yuuri's Eros costume consisted of a dark shirt dotted with silver rhinestones and dark pants, and the way the rhinestones were arranged... 

 ' It looks like Victor's costume from his Junior days,' Sofia turned back to stare at Victor. ' Yeah!' 

 ' Wow!' Victor grinned. ' I'm flattered!'

 ' Seriously?' Yuri focused on the TV screen again. ' Oh boy, can you please shut up? I can't hear them at all.'

 ' He's skating to On My Love: Eros. Oh, by the way, our very own Yuri Plisetsky is skating to On My Love: Agape and that's a different thing. They have different themes.'

 Right, the music began, and the two girls screamed when Yuuri licked his lips.

 ' AHHHHHH!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!' Mila screamed, clutching at her face.

 Yuri's eyes bulged.

 Next to him, Victor whistled,' Eros!'

 He had somehow evolved from the Japanese regionals at the beginning of the season, because the step sequences were more polished and refined, and well, more sexy. The audience was fired up. 

 ' Wow. That's a huge change from the previous seasons. I don't think Katsuki has skated to songs quite like this one.'

 ' I was quite shocked when he announced his theme is "Love" and his programs. Never imagined he would pick a song like this. Ah, he has skated a clean program. Perfect!' 

 ' Now this is the three-time silver medalist we know.'

 Of course Victor had something to say, ' Yura, I wish you can channel your Agape like how Yuuri channels his Eros! You have to feeeeeeeeel it. Deep inside.'

 ' SHUT IT.'

 ' I wonder who he is dedicating his theme towards. He never specified at that JSF press conference.'

 ' His family, perhaps?'  

 Yuuri seemed to be breathless after his routine, and his coach, Minako Okukawa had her arm around him at the Kiss and Cry.

 Surprisingly, Victor said, ' Tsk.'

 ' Let's see his scores. Ooh. 106.84!!! Now THAT'S a personal best.'

 ' Whoohoo!' Mila and Sofia cheered.

 The next group was ready to take the ice. The first skater in Group 2 was Georgi.

 His look was... Erm. His sparkly costume made him look like an emo witch and the dark blue eyeshadow was kind of creepy.

 ' Wow. Georgi Popovich of Russia.'

 ' Who inspired his look? Haha! "Heartbreak" indeed!' 

 The Russian commentators were probably having a good time in their box, because they were laughing so hard. 

 ' Georgi is about to start!' Mila said cheerfully.

 ' Whatever,' Yuri said, creeped out by his choice of costume.

 ' ... anyways... He's skating to Carabosse from The Sleeping Beauty. Interesting choice of music, I'd say. First jump, Triple Axel.'

 At this, Mila and Sofia bursted into laughter, pounding the table.

 ' Bwahahahaha!!!' Mila laughed. ' This still cracks me up every time!' 

 Yuri had no idea what Georgi was thinking about, but he was acting like a Drama Queen on the ice.  

 ' Oh have you heard?' Mila said between giggles. ' He has broken up with that ice dancer he always used to post kissy photos with. Apparently she hooked up with another guy lately. Did you know that, Yura?'

 ' Shut up, Баба! Can we just enjoy the performance in silence?' Yuri snapped.

 After landing his Quad Salchow, Georgi actually started crying. 

 ' How emotional. Is he... Crying?'

 ' Yikes... He's actually crying?' Victor sighed. ' I told him to get over Anya!'

 ' Seriously?' Yuri groaned. 

 ' You don't get over a 9-year crush that easily,' Sofia said. 

 Towards the end of the program, Georgi got more and more aggressive, and he was literally raging like the evil witch he was supposed to be.

 ' I can almost hear her terrified voice,' Mila said.

 ' He's waaaaaay too into his performance,' Yuri groaned again. 

 ' It's good. His PCS will be high,' Victor commented. 

 Right. He got 98.17, and he was overjoyed at the Kiss and Cry.

 Next... Leo de la Iglesia? He was quite impressive, seeing that he choreographed his own program. 87.98.

  Chris, Victor's good old buddy, was last.

 ' Go! Chris!!!' Victor pumped his fists.

 ' Are you supporting Yuuri or Chris?' Mila teased.

 ' Why not both?' He pouted.

 ' Last skater on ice, Christophe Giacometti from Switzerland. He's skating to Intoxicated.'

 The program was the most disturbing thing Yuri had ever seen. He was tempted to grab an eye wash bottle. And he really didn't want to know what passed Chris's mind as he did his final combination spin, because that was downright terrifying. 

 He got 85.60.

 This meant...

 ' Oh!' Mila clapped. ' Yuuri is in first place!'

 ' He isn't used to being in first place though,' Victor said. ' Sometimes, he leads the SP but he always ends up with silver after the FS. I hope he will do okay at the FS!!!'

 ' Yeah, yeah, yeah,' Yuri mumbled, going for his second bag of chips. 

Chapter Text

 The Russian Team settled down in the break room the other day for the Men's Free Skate, while having their lunch.

 Yuri was enjoying his borscht, and Victor tweeted his thoughts on the Men's SP. 

Victor Nikiforov @v_nikiforov

 Wow!!! Amazing!!! #cupofchina

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Waitttt Vitya... Who are you referring to? ._.

 ' IT'S STARTING YAYYYY!!!!!!!!' Mila cried, throwing candies into the air as the ISU logo flashed on the screen. 

 ' Welcome back to the Men's Singles Free Skate. Let's do a recap for the previous events... Nikita Cote and Joel Lajoie from France has won the Ice Dance event, while the pairs Anya Dobrovolskaya and Pyotr Nikolsky from Russia and Yuet-yee Lee and Hui Zhang from China have won silver and bronze respectively.'

 ' For the Ladies' Singles, Victoria Ivanovna from Russia, Nakamura Hara from Japan and Seraphina Fischer of Denmark took the podium. So we still have the Men's FS, which is happening now, and Pairs Free Skate event, which is happening tomorrow morning.'

 ' Erm... Let's also do a recap for the Men's Short Program. Katsuki Yuuri leads the game, to be followed by Georgi Popovich, Leo de la Iglesia, Phichit Chulanont, Chris Giacometti and Guang-hong Ji.'

 They were given a view of the backstage, where all the skaters were currently jumping up and down as warm-up. Yuuri was spotted talking to Phichit and Celestino. They seemed to be laughing about a joke Phichit had just told them, so... They were still in good terms.

 And Minako Okukawa was seen taking selfies with Chris and blushing to the roots of her hair...

 ' What the heck? Yuuri's coach has a celebrity crush on Chris?' Yuri gagged. ' This is horrible.'

 ' Chris is a wonderful person,' Victor argued.

 Yuri glared at him, ' He was about to... You know what, forget about it. I am not going to say that.'

 The 6-minute warm-up began, and Yuri tried to see whether Yuuri was going to break down in anxiety.

 The answer was... No. He was doing just fine. He ran through the jumps of his program one by one, and tried out some of his moves. 

 ' So we are going to start in reverse. Please welcome Guang-hong Ji from China.'

 Alas, he made some silly mistakes due to nerves, and looked so disappointed when the score of 168.82 popped up at the Kiss and Cry.

 ' I am going to quit all social media to practice!!!' He vowed loudly, while hugging his plushy close.

  ' Next, in fifth after the Short Program, Christophe Giacometti of Switzerland, skating to "Rapsodie Espagnole." ' 

 Thank God, his Free Skate program was a lot less disturbing compared to his SP, even though his costume was a little... er... Revealing on the side. At least he wasn't purposely flashing his butt in the direction of the audience. And his ending pose was rather... Questionable. He got 198.21 for his FS.

 ' Excellent. Then... We have Phichit Chulanont representing Thailand, skating to "Terra Incognita" from The King and the Skater II. He really likes the movie series, doesn't he?'

 ' I agree.'

 ' We really need to marathon this,' Mila said. ' The sequel is one of the best sequels ever made!!!'

 ' I second that,' Victor agreed. ' Yura, you need to watch it. It's good.'

 ' Leave me alone!!!' Yuri growled.

 Phichit landed a Quad Toe in his program, making him the first Thai skater to land a Quad jump in a Grand Prix event.

 ' Nice!!!' Victor cheered. ' But man, that's a lot of pressure for the other skaters!!!' 

 Like, your beloved Yuuri, Yuri sneered. 

 ' Leo is coming up next... Wow, he's flubbing his jumps,' Mila said, squinting at the screen. ' Too bad.'

 Leo de la Iglesia was probably too stressed, so he ended up with a score of 159.23. The score sucked, in Yuri's opinion, but oh well.

 ' AHAHAHAHAHAHA THERE GOES GEORGI AGAIN!!!!' Sofia bursted into laughter again, shaking Mila. ' OH MY GOD HE REALLY LOOKS LIKE ELSA!!! ALL THERE'S LEFT IS THE BLONDE WIG AND SNOWFLAKES.'

 ' At least he isn't wearing eyeshadow this time,' Yuri pointed out drily.

 ' Georgi Popovich from Russia is skating to "Tale of the Sleeping Prince". He has an interesting theme this year.'

 ' You mean Heartbreak? Yeah. All of his previous themes are about Romance and Passion. Isn't he dating Anya Dobrovolskaya?'

 ' BWAHAHAHAHA THEY BROKE UP!!!!' Mila yelled, bending over from all the laughing.

 In the middle of his step sequence, Georgi was panicking (due to reasons unknown?) and he even flubbed a jump. It looked like he was screaming ' NOOOOOOOOO'.  

 ' Oh, wow whoops,' Victor flinched. ' I hope they won't deduct marks for that because that definitely isn't part of the program.' 

 Yuri face-palmed himself.

 Mila and Sofia stopped laughing for a second, before throwing their heads backwards with mirth. 

 ' What was that?'

 ' Did he just... Scream in the middle of his program?'

 In the end, he got 154.27 for his dramatic performance.

 ' Ugh, he had better refine his program by the Nationals. At this rate, he'll end up in seventh place or below,' Yuri snarled. 

 ' Given that his heartbreak is healed,' Mila patted her chest dramatically and Sofia pretended to faint. ' Ooh. It's Yuuri's turn at last. I hope he does okay.'

 ' Last but not least... We have Katsuki Yuuri of Japan, skating to an original composition, Yuri On Ice. He has three Quads of two different types in his program.'

 Fortunately, Yuuri wasn't having a mental breakdown as most people had predicted, and his coach shook hands with him for good luck. He smiled warmly at her, and skated to the centre of the rink.

 Victor sighed. 

 Yuri kicked his shins to silence him.

 ' Ah, he seems to be unusually relaxed today. Usually, Skater Katsuki tends to get nervous after the Short Program.' 

 ' Yeah, you're right! First jump, it's a Quad combination. Quad Toe, Double Toe. Success.'

 ' He had bit of trouble with his Quad Salchow during practice yesterday. Let's see... He nailed it.'

 ' Oh oh oh!!! He nailed the Salchow!!!' Victor said happily. ' He used to fail on the Salchow a lot.'

 ' Really? You noticed?!' Yuri fake-gasped. ' Or have you been stalking him?'

 ' Researching,' Victor corrected him sternly. ' For your sake.'

 ' Yeah, yeah. As if,' Yuri snorted and spooned more of the borscht into his mouth. 

 ' Triple Loop. Beautiful jump there.'

 ' We are approaching the second half of the program. Wow, the Ina Bauer is almost effortless.'

 ' Well, Katsuki Yuuri's flexibility is second to none, I think, thanks to his ballet background. Triple Axel, his favourite jump! Success.'

 ' Triple Axel, Single Loop, Triple Salchow. Whoops!!! Slight over-rotation on the Salchow, what a shame.'

 ' He isn't thrown off track. Triple Lutz, Triple Toe.... Step sequence!'

 ' It's beautifully choreographed. Really.'

 ' For his final jump, he has a Quad Toe Loop planned.'

 ' Wait a minute,' Victor said.

 He was right. The setup for the Quad Toe Loop didn't seem quite right... Oh. Oh!

 It wasn't a Toe Loop. It was a FREAKING Flip!!! A QUAD FLIP!!!

 Mila and Sofia screamed like banshees. Victor's chair was tipped backwards and he was on the floor. Yuri almost broke his spoon. 

 ' NO. WAY. IT'S A QUAD FLIP!!! HE TOUCHED DOWN BUT I TELL YOU, HE HAS ALL THE ROTATIONS.'

 ' THE QUAD FLIP IS THE SIGNATURE MOVE OF VICTOR NIKIFOROV. What a moment! Is that a direct challenge to his rival Victor Nikiforov? ' 

 Yuri wanted to shout, ENOUGH WITH THE RIVALRY THEORIES!!!

 Unfazed by the thunderous reaction around him, Yuuri bowed to the audience, picked up several plushies and skated calmly to the entrance to find his coach. It seemed like Minako hadn't expected the change of plan at the end, because she too was gaping at her student.

 ' My, my. None of us expected that.'

 ' Let's see his scores... 199.56. Aw man! He was so close to hitting the 200 mark. Never mind! Katsuki Yuuri has taken gold at the Cup of China.'

 ' Yaaaaaay!!!' Mila seemed to have recovered from her initial shock, and the two girls were hugging at each other.

 ' Um,' Yuri said, feeling a little bit bad for Georgi even though he was stalkerish and creepy at times. ' Aren't we supposed to be cheering for our own rink mate?'

 ' Who cares?' Sofia shouted, hugging Mila again.

 And the freaking Old Man's eyes were shining in tears, like ew. 

 ' He has a gold medal, yay!' He said, taking a leaf out of Mila's book and actually hugged Yuri.

 ' Ew, gerrof me!!!' Yuri smacked his hand. ' And it isn't like it's Yuuri's first gold medal. He has plenty of gold medals, excuse you. The Japanese Nationals, the Four Continents, last year's Trophee de France and-'

 ' You seem to care a lot about his career,' Victor teased, retracting his hand.

 ' SCREW YOU. DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA!!!' Yuri fumed.

 ' Well, it's going to be easy for him at Rostelecom Cup. He'll only need fourth place or above to qualify for the Finals,' Mila pointed out. 

 ' The Rostelecom Cup is going to be fun!!!' Victor exclaimed.

 And Yuri realised with a jolt that Victor was going to be with him at his next GP qualifier.

 Yuuri would be there too.

 Oh.

 Crap.

***

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 WAHHHHH CONGRATS TO YUURI-CHAN FOR GETTING GOLD AT THE CUP OF CHINA!!!

 Katsuki Yuuri is Life @katsukiyuuri_fc_jp

 \^o^/

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 IS NO ONE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT 4F AT THE END?!!!!!!!!! WE ARE FREAKING OUT OVER HERE.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 What are you doing here? D:< It's Yuuri's moment right now. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 We know we know but THAT QUAD FLIP THO. IT'S VITYA'S SIGNATURE MOVE.

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Okaaaaaay? So?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 DON'T YOU GET IT? YUURI HAS USED VICTOR'S SIGNATURE MOVE. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 oh. oh. WAIT. WAIT WHAT?!!!

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 DON'T TELL ME YOU JUST NOTICED!!!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :OOOO WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 YOU ASK ME I ASK WHO

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 The commentators of the Russian TV thinks it's a non-verbal challenge to Victor.  

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Kinda like 'I'm learning your signature move, deal with it bro'

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 No way. Yuuri doesn't talk like that.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 We know he doesn't. But you get my point. What if he actually nails it in the Finals?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 OMG IT WILL BECOME THEIR SIGNATURE MOVE

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 VICTOR AND YUURI WILL HAVE THE SAME SIGNATURE MOVE.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 omgggggggggggg I'M SHOOK Did Victor say anything about it tho 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Dk. He didn't even Tweet about the results.

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 Wow. C'est magnifique!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Erm... Who is this?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh, it's just the French division of our fan club. Salut! 

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 Salut!!!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Okaaaaay.

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 C'est un signe d'amour

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Umm. Translations please? We can't French.

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ' It's a sign of love.' O_O 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME.

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 Non.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 NO WAY THEY CAN'T BE IN LOVE PLEASE DON'T GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK PLEASE

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 IT'S NOT LIKE WE HATE EACH OTHER BUT... NO WAAAAAAAAY. THEY ARE RIVALS. R-I-V-A-L-S. 

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 Je sais, mais... C'est possible, non?

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 *DIES*

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 *joins you* CANNOT COMPUTE REPEAT, CANNOT COMPUTE!!! 

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

  Si c'est vrai, c'est romantique ´♡`

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 PLEASE NO MORE

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 I BEG YOU  

 Katsuki Yuuri Fanbase @katsukiyuuri_fc_uk

 But... Gotta admit it's cute.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ...I AM LEAVING. ABORT MISSION! ABORT! 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 ME TOO.

 Vitya Nikiforov @vnikiforov_fc_fr

 G énial.

***

 The Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry conspiracy forum had never been busier. Some of the angrier fans accused Yuuri of ripping off Victor's signature move, while some of the others argued against it by saying that Victor didn't exactly impose copyright on the Quad Flip.

 Meanwhile, another forum was opened, because many people had seen the Tweets from the Katsuki Yuuri fan club, the Victor Nikiforov fan club and the Victor Nikiforov fan club French division. Some thought it was ludicrous. Some thought it was amusing. While some... Agreed with @vnikiforov_fc_fr.

 Yuri had to stop himself from tweeting ' HECK YEAH YOU ARE RIGHT, BUT IT'S A ONE SIDED CRUSH BRO HAR HAR HAR'.

 Yakov came back with Georgi, and he was so dejected and sad. Victor bought heaps of chocolate to cheer his rink mate up, but it failed epically. Instead, Georgi bawled even more because apparently, Anya liked chocolates.

 He sobbed at the sight of chocolates, and in case he threatened suicide, Mila threw away all the chocolates in the break room and the disaster was prevented.

 The rest of the GP qualifiers went by. The permanently pissed off Kazakhstan dude won the NHK Trophy and Chris won the Trophee de France. 

 The Russian team geared up for the final event, Rostelecom Cup. Yakov decided to have Georgi tag along to get his mind off Anya.

 In several weeks' time, they flew to Moscow for the event.

 As soon as Yuri stepped out of the gates, he heard the screams from Yuri's Angels and Victor Nikiforov fan club. GREAT.

 ' Mila, watch my luggage,' He whispered to Mila, ducked behind the trolleys and slipped out of the lobby as quietly as possible.  

  It was good to flee from Victor and the rest of the Russian Team, because he did need some fresh air.

 He spotted his beloved grandfather.

 ' Yuratchka!'

 ' GRANDFATHER!!!' He jumped onto him without thinking, and then he panicked, ' Oh goodness, I forgot about your back. SORRY!' 

 While his grandfather was driving, Yuri attacked the piroshki his grandfather had made for him.

 He arrived at the hotel in one piece, safe from the crazy reporters and fans, and safe from the crazy ramblings of the Old Man, because he was SMITTEN.

 He dropped by the convenience store to buy some snacks and returned to the hotel only to find that Victor was surrounded by many of his fans.

 ' Victor, will you be returning to skating after this season?'

 ' Haha,' Victor was holding a cup of coffee. ' Until the Grand Prix Final is over, I won't comment on future plans. Oh Yura! Over here!' 

 ' Tsk,' Yuri said, tightening his hold on the bag of sweets, and ignored him.

 However, the Old Man ditched his fans to catch up with him, ' Yura! Why are you ignoring me? I'm hurt.'

 ' GO AWAY,' Yuri glowered at him.

 There was a bit of drama near the elevators, because Sala and Michele Crispino were yelling at Seung-gil Lee, who seemed rather indifferent. Emil Nekola was just watching the show interestedly. 

 Ugh. He didn't want to ride the elevator with them.

 On the side, the other elevator was just closing. Without thinking, he stopped the doors from closing by sticking his foot in.

 ' Whoops sorry!' The other occupant of the elevator squeaked.

 The door opened.

 The person was Katsuki Yuuri.

 Double Crap. 

 No, Quad Crap. 

Chapter Text

 As a young child, Yuri had been fascinated with wildlife and read tons of stories about predators like tigers. He used to sit on his grandfather's lap next to a crackling fireplace in winter, flipping through pages of the books.

 Some of the more morbid ones he read ended with people getting trapped in a forest or a cave with vicious tigers and eventually meeting a gruesome end.

 Pessimistic for a child, yes.

 But Yuri didn't mind.

 Some of the books even taught him how to swear.

 But that was exactly how he felt right now, trapped in an elevator with a love-sick guy and another potentially dangerous figure skater who was staring at the love-sick guy as if he was a beast and analysing how best to take him down. Yuri hoped roundhouse kicking him in the face wasn't one of the options. Even though he would love a good laugh over it, he wouldn't want Victor to get a concussion the day before the SP.

 Technically, he shouldn't be afraid, because he would put up a good fight if Yuuri suddenly decided to hit him as well. But he had no idea what Victor would do. His cerulean blue eyes had this odd glint to it, and it usually suggested he had something crazy in mind. Not a good sign.

 Meanwhile, Yuuri had decided to scoot to the far end of the elevator to put as much distance between himself and the two Russians, and then became interested in looking down at his sneakers. His expression remained indifferent and cool.

 Victor's mouth was tightly shut.

 Good.

 Normally, Yuri would give a noncommittal grunt as a greeting towards his fellow competitors (his kindest public greetings) or glare at the more annoying ones (aka JJ), but since he actually had mad respect for the guy, he nodded at him, ' Hi.'

 Startled by his exceptionally kind greeting (he only saved it for his grandfather), Victor jumped backwards and hit the back of the elevator with a clank. 

 Yuuri was as startled as Victor, but he hesitated before answering softly, ' Hi.'

 Another clank indicated that Victor had tried to jump backwards again. 

 The elevator zoomed several floors upwards and arrived at Yuuri's floor.

 ' See you at morning practice,' Yuuri muttered without looking at the pair, and dashed out of the elevator as quickly as possible, as if the two of them were bombs about to explode in his face.

 Okay, good thing Victor didn't use any of his corny or horrible pick-up lines ( ' Wow, babe, you're making my heart do a Quad Flip' or ' You totally deserve a GOE of 3.00' ) because he would either lower the IQ of the entire street or cause Yuuri to go ballistic, in case he thought Victor was trying to mock him.

 If there was one thing Yuri and Mila agreed, it would be: A good impression is essential to the beginning of every friendship.

 Yuri was trying to make a good impression.

 And Victor... he never bothered to remember this.

 ' Well, he's quite friendly,' Yuri grunted. ' At least he's not the raging evil fighting machine that hates your guts.' 

 ' Whaat?' Victor broke out of his little reverie. ' Who says he's a raging evil fighting machine that hates my guts?'

 ' The more aggressive part of your fan club, duh,' Yuri said, and in case Victor figured out he was stalking his fan page, he added, ' It's a famous Tweet from the Twitter Wars.'

 ' Ohhh. Yeah, he's friendly,' Victor shrugged.

 ' He isn't voted as the cutest skater from Asia for nothing... But I think he isn't that friendly to you,' Yuri rolled his eyes.

 Victor deflated. The elevator doors popped open again. 

 ' So,' Yuri was prodding him again for clues. ' Spill the beans. Who's imposing the "cold shoulder" policy?' He wasn't expecting a real answer, because Victor would most likely smile at him in a very condescending way.

 Instead, he pouted childishly, ' Not me.'

 ' Woah, wait what?' Yuri shouted. ' What... Was that a confession? Oi! Nikiforov!'

 Victor had wrenched open the door to his room and closed it behind him, leaving Yuri standing outside, raging.

 What. The. Actual. Heck.

 He wasn't expecting this at all, and he was getting more and more confused by the game Victor was playing.

 At least, now he knew the entire Katsuki/Nikiforov thing was overly exaggerated by the media, and it might not have existed at all.

 The truth was Victor was completely smitten with Yuuri, and Yuuri was just trying to escape him. Maybe Victor made a move towards him in the past and Yuuri had dissed him hard. 

 But Yuri still had questions about this:

 1. If the rivalry thing isn't real, why didn't Yuuri or Victor step out to clarify it? Why did they let the media and fan clubs blow up all over the place?

 2. Why did Victor only tell him now? Why was he being so secretive about it?

 3. Explain the Glare. Please. 

 He couldn't explain these questions, so he rushed back to his room and texted Mila.

 russianpunk: YO ANSWER ME Баба

 miladoeslifts: Yo 'sup. Just returned to my room. Bumped into Sala and Mickey... They were yelling at Seung-gil...?

 russianpunk: Eeeesh, they're still yelling? What the hell is wrong with them?

 miladoeslifts; Dunno. So, what's the deal?

 russianpunk: So we bumped into Yuuri in the elevator. Victor was with me.

 miladoeslifts: OMGGGGGG TELL ME ABOUT IT NOW *PUTS ON MY VICTUURI HAT*

 russianpunk: I said 'hi', and Yuuri said 'hi'.

 miladoeslifts: Dude you got me all excited for nothing. Did Victor say anything?

 russianpunk:  Нет

 miladoeslifts: WHAAAAAAAAT WHY NOT WHY CAN'T HE MAN UP FOR A SECOND AND WOO HIS BELOVED D:

 russianpunk: Well Yuuri didn't acknowledge his presence either. It was really awkward.

 russianpunk: And you are starting to sound like Georgi, you know.

 miladoeslifts: Dang! Our mission is failing.

 russianpunk: So I asked Victor who is actually imposing the cold shoulder thing on each other. And guess what? The Old Man said 'not me'.

 miladoeslifts: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT WHY DOES HE SAY THAT NOW?!!!?!!!?!!! WE HAVE BEEN ASKING HIM THIS SINCE THE FIRST GOSSIP ARTICLE CAME OUT GODDAMIT!!! WHY NOW WHEN HE HAS FOOLED THE WORLD FOR THREE YEARS?!!!! WHAT THE HECK I KNEW IT I KNEW IT HA VICTOR HAS BEEN CRUSHING ON YUURI SINCE DAY ONE

 russianpunk: Ikr imagine what his fan club will say when this gets out.

 miladoeslifts: IT WILL BE THE GREATEST SCANDAL OF THE CENTURY.

 russianpunk: And given that Yuuri hates publicity, he will go ballistic.

 miladoeslifts: That, can be solved.

 russianpunk: Like... How...?

 miladoeslifts: We just need to get Yuuri to fall in love with Victor and have them announce it! Easy.

 russianpunk: Wtf I told you it won't work

 miladoeslifts: IT WILL WE CAN HELP VICTOR AND WE'RE GOING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS 

 russianpunk: I AM NOT WASTING MY FREAKING TIME ON LOVE STORIES!!! AND IT'S DISGUSTING. I DON'T WANT THE OLD MAN TO GET DISGUSTING-ER.

 miladoeslifts: That's not even a word.

 miladoeslifts: Besides, if you think it's disgusting, why do even care?

 miladoeslifts: HA you're ignoring me, which means I'm right!!!

 russianpunk: I'm going to bed.

 miladoeslifts: WAAAAAIT

 russianpunk:  Дo  свидания

 He placed his phone aside. 

 The Rostelecom Cup was going to be terrifying, with a love-sick man and crazy shipper on the loose.

***

 Mila was serious when she said she was going to do some matchmaking.

 The next morning, she followed them to the official rink for practice, flanked by Lilia and Yakov at her side.

 Ntaurally, they would bump into Yuuri and his coach, because they were competing in the same group.

 ' Akwwwarddddd,' Yuri cringed, and Mila's ocean blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

 Yuuri spotted the Russian Team first, averted his eyes and was about to turn the other way to avoid walking into them.

 But before he could do so, his coach, Minako Okukawa grinned broadly, ' Lilia-senpai!!!'

 For one second, Yuri was like whaaaaaaat. 

 Yuuri was frozen in the middle of a step, seemingly horrified when Minako ditched him to run towards Lilia, ' It's been a long time!!! How are you?'

 As if the entire thing wasn't shocking enough, Lilia gave the Japanese woman one of her rare smiles, ' Ah, yes. It's been quite a while. Haven't seen you since that awful gathering at the gala. How are you? Switched to coaching, I see.'

 Yakov seemed very uncomfortable, and he coughed into his hand. Lilia shot him an evil look, and he retreated behind Mila.

 Victor smiled dazzingly at Yuuri.

 Mila giggled behind Yuri.

 Yuuri fidgeted with the zipper of his Team Japan jacket.

 ' Yes,' Minako smiled softly, placing an arm around Yuuri and winked at them. ' I see you have choreographed Yuri's FS! As impressive as always, Lilia-senpai. You have always been so artistic.'

 They proceeded to a discussion in rapid Ballerina (an unofficial but legitimate language like Girlish or Victor-ish) until Yakov cleared his throat, ' Ummmm you two ladies can catch up with each other all you want, but we do have to get to the rink for practice.'

 ' Hmmm, you're right,' Lilia said thoughtfully. ' Maybe we can catch up... at lunch?'

 ' Good idea!' Minako squealed excitedly. ' Let's all go out for lunch.'

 ' HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!' The two Yu(u)ris screamed together, while Victor was glowing.

 ' Yessssssssssssss we have a chance for matchmaking,' Mila whispered excitedly.

 ( Yuri Plisetsky stared off into the other direction like The Office.) 

 ***

  This might be the most awkward lunch of Yuri's life, even more so than the RSF banquet or something, where he had to sit amongst other Junior Russian Nationals medalists and they were just prowling at him.

 For the entire time, Yuuri starred at his plate of food.

 Lilia and Minako continued to reminisce their old days in the ballet companies, talking about previous hot prima danseurs and their best shows.

 Georgi, who got out of the bathroom, continued to bawl about Anya like nobody's business.  

 Yakov wasn't eating, he just crossed is arms and sat there scowling.

 Mila was grinning like an idiot.

 Yuri concentrated on his stew and prayed to all the figure skating gods that would listen to him that none of their fans would get wind of this.

 Imagine the headlines: Victor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri eat out together with coaches. Yuri Plisetsky, Mila Babicheva and Georgi Popovich in sight.

 The Katsuki Yuuri fan club would freak.

 The Victor Nikiforov fan club would also freak.

 The Mila Babicheva fan club probably didn't care much about this.

 But the Yuri's Angels would definitely freak.

 And Victor would freak in triumph.

 Fortunately, the owners of the restaurant didn't seem to recognise them as internationally famous figure skaters, so they just gaped at them as if they were a theatrical troupe.

 ' That guy was like a chicken, no kidding. I didn't even know why they casted him as the Prince, because Mikhailov was definitely better than him ,' Minako giggled, finishing her tale. She turned to Yuuri, ' Ara? Yuuri? Why are you so quiet?'

 Yuuri's spoon clattered against his plate when all eyes fell on him, ' Mmh?'

 ' I saw your FS,' Lilia said, her green eyes focusing on him intently. ' I liked it.'

 Yuri almost choked on his food, because LILIA NEVER COMPLIMENTED ANYONE and she was always quick to criticise.

 ' Thank you,' Yuuri said shyly.

 Victor smiled shamelessly at him and Yuri almost tossed a piece of beef at him. 

 He was almost amazed how the world managed to perceive them as rivals. He was almost stupid for jumping on the bandwagon too. For what he could he see, Victor was just a stupid mindless idiot that happened to have a talent in skating, and Yuuri was the world's purest cinnamon roll.

 Well, no idea whether he had a secret murderous intent or something. Maybe not.

 After Lilia paid the bill, Yuuri jumped out of his seat and fled back to the hotel in record speed. 

 ' Dang,' Mila groaned. ' Why did he leave so quickly? I was trying to set him up for a date with Victor.'

 ' You sure that's a good idea?' Yuri scowled, recovering from the most awkward lunch of his entire life. ' And don't you have practice later? The Ladies' SP is coming up soon.'

 Mila folded up her napkin neatly, ' I always have time for an epic love story worthy of the stars.'

 ' Eurgh. Are you going around doing matchmaking like some kind of a fairy godmother after that ice hockey player dumped you?' Yuri grimaced. ' You are a witch. Not a fairy godmother. Cut it out, please.'

 ' Nope, he didn't dump me,' She said coolly. ' I dumped him, because he is an unromantic idiot that doesn't appreciate a good love story.'

 ' Ugh. Don't know, and I don't care. It's not like I am interested in your love life. Georgi and Victor are bad enough already.' 

 Georgi started to bemoan about his lost love again.

 ' I think it's our cue to leave,' Mila eyed Georgi, and Lilia was scandalised by his outrageous behaviour in the public. 

 ' Yah.' 

***

 And the Witch somehow managed to end up in first place after the SP, despite spending half of her practice time plotting how to make let SS.Victuuri set sail. He reckoned she might be plotting throughout her time at the Kiss and Cry. 

 Meanwhile, Yuri was getting more and more confused. The more time he spent with Yuuri, the more convinced that he wasn't avoiding Victor out of spite. 

 He was willing to speak to him before the SP and wished all of his competitors good luck with a kind smile, even the egotistical JJ who returned the favour with a loud 'IT'S JJ STYLE'. Seriously, Victor couldn't be worse than JJ, so if Yuuri was kind and patient enough to tolerate JJ, he could definitely tolerate Victor. 

 But how could one explain The Glare though...

 That was the contradictory point.

 He had decided to put the matter aside before the SP.

 He warmed-up in the backstage, doing simple stretches and trying to do a Tano Toe Loop on ground. Yuuri was also stretching, and he was wearing his earbuds as usual to blot out any of the noises or distractions from JJ (or Victor). 

 With his hair slicked back for performance, he was a different person. Cold and aloof.

 At the same time,  Seung-gil Lee was summoned to the ice, and his rainbow costume was just... Wrong. Yuri reckoned he looked like a rainbow feather duster. Mila didn't agree.

 He landed his signature Quad Loop cleanly, and even Yuri had to give him credit for that. He would like to try and add this jump to his Quad repertoire next.

 He stood watching the rest of the performance in front of the television, and tried hard not to pay attention to the sound of excited chattering behind him, because the reporters were already secretly snapping photos. It had been too long since the 5-time gold medalist Victor Nikiforov had stood next to his rival, 3-time silver medalist Katsuki Yuuri. They were probably thinking of ideas for all the click baiting articles they could write. 

 Alright, Seung-gil had a decent score of 91.83. Yuri had no idea what his PCS would be like, since he couldn't feel the actual Almavivo at all. 

 Next to skate was Emil Nekola, and he too landed a Quad Loop, to everyone's surprise. This was exactly why Yuri needed to master the Quad Loop if everyone was starting to do it. 

 JJ had something to say about this, of course. 

 ' Did you all hear that?' He shouted, loud enough for Yuuri to hear him even though he was wearing earbuds. ' Emil landed a Quad Loop too! Applause applause!'

 Victor rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

 ' Tsk,' Yuri said, and focused on his stretching.

 Yuuri, who wasn't wearing his glasses, pulled out his earbuds to squint at JJ.

 JJ walked over to Victor and Yuuri pompously, ' Victor did the same jump at last year's exhibition! I want to see that again!'

 ' I don't recall,' Victor said coldly.

 ' Awwww!' JJ grinned shamelessly. ' Come on! You two are the best technical jumpers out there, aren't you? Of course you will be adding a new Quad to your Quad repertoire!' Yuri really wanted to shake his head. JJ had the nerve to speak to the power symbols of figure skating about jumping.

 Also,  jumping was Victor's thing. What made Yuuri special was his ability to interpret music and dance to it. His PCS scores were insanely high to make up for TES scores, which would sometimes go down by a landslide whenever he got nervous.

 Of course JJ was mocking him. The nerve of him.  

 Victor simply glared at him, and Yuuri followed suit. Their expressions were so shockingly similar to each other that reporters were eagerly snapping pictures of the two again.

 Yuri could see the headlines floating in front of him: Figure skating rivals corner King JJ.

 On the television, Michele Crispino was skating, and he did a surprise Triple Lutz Triple Loop as a nod to his twin sister. Sala could be spotted sobbing near the side of the rink.

 It was about time for Group 2 to skate. He had been looking forward to seeing this famous Eros program (the Katsuki Yuuri fan club was in ruins for weeks when the program first came out) in person. He did fairly well in the 6-minute warm-up, and he really wanted to shut JJ up with his skating.

 The announcer called for Yuuri. The music began.

 Thank God he didn't do the sexy lip lick thing again, or else the fan club or Victor would explode all over again. He nailed all of his jumps and received a score of 109.97, very close to his personal best. 

 While Lilia and Yakov blabbered on and on about him being the new pride of Russia, Victor kept rattling, ' Yura, remember to channel your Agape like how Yuuri channeled his Eros! You need to channel your Agape-'

 ' OKAY I KNOW!!!!!!!!' Yuri yelled peevishly.

 He knew it, but he stilled failed epically, because the Old Man was really driving him mad. Worst of all, his grandfather wasn't able to come and support him in person. He wasn't able to feel Agape at all, so he predicted that his PCS scores would not be good.   

 He was so mad he actually fell on his Triple Axel (that was so humiliating), and worst of all, one of the Yuri Angels tossed a cat headband down after his skate and it actually landed right on top of his head.

 ' Oho, ladies first,' JJ gestured to the Kiss and Cry with a wide, fake grin.

 ' ARGHHHHH,' Yuri growled at the bottom of his throat. Because all of the cameras were gleefully trained on him, he couldn't do anything outrageous.

 He got 98.09. Bah.

 And he didn't even bother to stay behind to watch JJ's program, because he didn't want the infuriating song to get stuck in his head again. The last time he heard that song, the freaking ear worm was stuck in his head for days, and he was so disgusted and mortified when he found himself humming to it while waiting for his flight.

 Victor handed him his things in the backstage,' Yura, your PCS is a mess! You could have done better-'  

 ' GO. AWAY. OR I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY SKATES!!!' Yuri glowered at him. 

 Victor held up his hands as a placating gesture, and allowed Yuri to storm past him, cursing to the ceiling. 

Chapter Text

ROSTELECOM CUP SP BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE [ENG SUBS] 

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 Quad Axel is Possible: :333 Yuuri-chan is so sweet. 

  Kastufan: WE NEED TO PROTECT HIM :DDD 

 Victor Skates: OOOOOOOOOOH GUYS IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE VICTOR AND YUURI STOOD NEXT TO EACH OTHER SPARKS ARE FLYING WHOOHOO

  Katsudon-chan: Errrrrrr, who's side are you on anyways?

   Victor Skates: Well... I'm... Kinda neutral. Just stating.

     CHASE YOUR DREAMS: Lol if Yuuri suddenly punches Victor in the face that would be funny

 winterberries: I was actually fearing the Rostelecom Cup... Because Yuuri and Victor are going to see each other again. And we all know what's going to happen.

  hot chocolate and ear muffs: The good thing is: nothing happened. :333

 Skater Fandom: OMGGGGGGGGGG LOOK AT 5:49 THEIR EXPRESSIONS ARE IDENTICAL

  senpai notice me: OMGGGG I DIDN'T NOTICE WOWWWWWWWWWWW THEY LOOKED SO ANNOYED. 

   Natural Works: Obviously, JJ was being rude to them (he's not my favourite skater for a reason) 

    Yuratchka: And Yuri is just like whaaaaaaaaaaat

 Pointe Shoes: 5:35-5:57 ermmmm.... is it wrong of me to ship them?

  snowflake dream: omgggggg I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   StayCloseToMe: Err... You guys know that they are rivals, right?

    Nikiforova Hailey: I knowwwwwwww but 5:48-5:50 is kinda shippable 

     Sandy_waves: IKR but that's exactly what lovers are supposed to do!!! They imitate each other!!!!!!!

      Ayla Ice Dances: OMGGGG I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS WATCHING THIS VIDEO ON MY COMPUTER AND MY SISTER WAS WALKING PAST

  Sister: Wow that's a cute couple

 Me: But they're not a couple

  Sister: What. Looks like it to me.

        Haters gonna hate Yuuri's gonna skate: NO EFFING WAAAAAAAAAY. :OOOOO *mindblown*

 Fresh Lemonade Mint: Ahahahahahahahaha Mickey is so over-protective lmao

  Purple Lightsaber: Feel bad for Emil actually haha 

    MathWizard: IKR Sala is just trying to make friends :333 

Lady of Ice: BLESS THE PERSON THAT FILMED ALL OF THIS 

 Yuri took a quick shower in the changing rooms and changed back to his comfortable tracksuit. He felt a lot better and he thought he might be able to stop himself from punching Victor in the face.

 ' Ah, Yura, here you are,' Yakov found him. ' You should go back to the hotel and have some sleep. You have done well.'

 ' Tsk, not good enough to beat JJ,' He scowled, taking his jacket from Yakov. 

 ' I'm sure you'll be able to do better in your FS,' Yakov reassured him. ' Lilia is quite sure of that. By the way, have you seen Vitya?'

 ' Eh, no?' Yuri said, thinking I ditched him earlier because I was too mad at him.

 Yakov growled, ' Argh!!! I thought that a 27 year old like him would learn to be more responsible! I told him to wait for you outside the changing rooms! I can't believe he has run off like that AGAIN. Will he ever grow up? To think I'm going to hand over my coaching job to him later! This is terrible! Can you do me a favour and drag him back to the hotel when you find him? I need to talk to one of the officials.'

 ' My pleasure,' Yuri muttered sarcastically, slung his skate bag over his shoulder. 

 Great. He had no idea where the Old Man had wandered to. He might be lying in a ditch right now, and Yuri wouldn't care because he wouldn't be able to find him anyways. 

 Victor always had a knack for finding out hidden places. He was the one to find that there was a secret storeroom at the base of their home rink and Mila used it to hide their secret stash of snacks from Yakov. 

 ( They were careful to hide the wrappers of candies as well.) 

 He looked at the official warm-up area, the rink, the changing rooms, the vending machines and still he had no idea where he was. Most of the skaters had already returned to the hotel with their coaches and the officials were already running around to look over the preparations for the Short Dance event. 

 Ugh. And Yakov would yell at him too if he couldn't find the Old Man, so maybe he should look around a bit more...

 There was a darkish corridor that he constantly stayed away from, but he thought he should just take a peek.

 Even if it meant the possibility of getting killed by a Phantom of the Rink (just kidding).

 He slipped into the corridor, and got to the end. There was a door, that probably led to the car park of the rink or something. Huh.

 He was about to turn back when he heard some noises behind the door.

 ' Oh my god, you're going to be the death of me some day! I swear! Every time you pull a stunt like this, I swear I'm losing another year of my life! And you never told me you were going to quit!'

 Someone was talking in English.

 And he recognised the voice as Katsuki Yuuri's. Who was he talking to? It didn't sound like he was talking to his coach.

 ' Nawwwww you love me too much! Besides, it's fun. We are having lots of fun, aren't we?'

 The accented English. That goofy voice. It was Victor. 

 Yuri froze. Wait. What? Victor?! Talking to Yuuri?! 

 His mind screamed CANNOT COMPUTE CANNOT COMPUTE CANNOT COMPUTE and he was just rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend what he was hearing because this had to be wrong.

 Victor, the dork, couldn't be talking to Yuuri.

 And Yuuri wasn't supposed to be responding to him.

 ' Victor!' Yuuri sounded exasperated, but it was unmistakable that there was a certain FONDNESS in his voice. 

 Yuri was ready to die on the spot, his brain going crazy because all of this couldn't be happening.

 ' Yuuuuuri Yuuuuuuuri!!! We haven't seen each other for so long!!!' Victor was whining. ' And you broke my heart! You hid away from me!'

 ' I don't want my parents and friends to die of a heart attack! Besides, I don't think your rink mates, coach and fans will appreciate it.' 

 ' They'll have to learn to deal with it! I am hurt!!! How are you going to make it up? Come onnnn Yuuuuri! I want to kiss your gold medal!!! You promised I could kiss your gold medal!!!'

 ' No, I never said that! Besides, I've got plenty of gold medals, you are welcome.' 

 ' You did! It's not exactly a GPF medal, but... I'll take anything!!! Pwease??? 

 The situation was so ridiculous, and Yuri was almost wondering whether he was in a dream. He pinched his cheek, and there he was.

 ' I-I...'

 ' Maybe I'm going to kiss you instead?'

 ' Wait, what?! Victor!!!' 

 That was the last straw. Yuri let out a girlish shriek of fear and surprise, and he whacked open the door without thinking.

 And the scene in front of him was something to behold.

 Victor was erm, hugging Yuuri and being completely lovey-dovey while Yuuri's face was flushed. He, however, wasn't pushing Victor away and actually seemed fine with it.

 Yuri.exe crashed.  

 ' HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

Chapter Text

2013 

 ' Yuuuuuuuuuuuri! The therapist said you are going to be allowed to skate a month later since you are recovering quickly! That's good news!!!' Phichit shouted happily, and hamsters were flying everywhere. ' The JSF is tweeting about it, and everyone is waiting for your return!' 

 ' Erm, okay?' Yuuri said, his leg propped up against a stack of pillows on his bed. ' So?' 

 Phichit boomed, ' SO??? THIS MEANS YOU ARE COMPETING AGAIN!!! AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS OF SKATING ON THE SAME ICE AS YOUR IDOL!!! LIKE, THIS ONE!!!' He gestured to the walls above him.

 Every single inch of Yuuri's space was plastered with limited edition Victor Nikiforov posters, and that was only a small snippet of his real Victor shrine back in Hasetsu. He wouldn't let anyone see it, because it felt stalkerish.

 And it kind of reminded of his foolish dream. There was no way he would ever be as good as Victor. 

 ' Assuming I can get into any of the GP Qualifiers,' He said drily. 

 ' Oh gosh! At least act you are excited!' Phichit said crossly. ' You are being ridiculous, Yuuri! Of course you can get into the GP Qualifiers, heck, you are the only male skater representing Japan, of course the JSF will be sending you! And the other one... Your fan boy... He's just 14!' 

 Yuuri moaned, ' I am a disgrace to figure skating. Who even injures himself in a Salchow jump?'

 ' Anyone, duh!' Phichit exclaimed. ' Oh, someone should inject some confidence into you, bro. You're going to come back strong, I'm sure of that. Well, you can continue on your coursework. I'm going to go skating.'

 He slung his skate bag over his shoulder and walked out of the dorms.

 Yuuri continued to work for an hour after he was gone, and afterwards, he decided he should slack off a little and check the JSF Twitter account to see what the fuss was about.

 Sure enough:

 Japan Skating Federation @figureskating_jp 

 Good news! We just got word from Celestino Cialdini that Katsuki Yuuri is recovering quickly and he may be able to return to the ice soon!!! 

 And some of the people actually liked and retweeted it.

 He didn't see why anyone would care about him, a dime-a-dozen skater that wasn't able to make it to the Grand Prix Finals.

 Maybe he should go on a social media checking spree. Phichit, the Supreme Lord of Social Media (also the Lord of Hamsters), often chastised him for not updating his social media accounts ( ' You need to keep up with your fans!!!' ) .

 He saw some photos of Phichit's hamsters and selfies on his Instagram. The top right icon notified him that he had a direct message. Hah?

 Who would give him a message? 

 He cautiously poked the icon to check and he swore his heart stopped when he saw the message.

 v_nikiforov: Heeeeey Yuuri! Just saw the JSF Tweet, and I'm really glad you are going to return soon!!! I hope to see you back on the ice. <333

 What. The. Hell.

 No waaaaay, this must be a prank, he thought desperately. There is no way The Victor Nikiforov direct messaged me.

 Maybe someone got wind of his creepy celebrity crush on Victor and decided to prank him. 

 Or maybe it was just a Victor Nikiforov fan page. 

 He poked the username, expecting to see it leading to some kind of a fan page, but instead, the official Victor Nikiforov Instagram account greeted him.

 Verified. 800k followers. The bio said, ' Victor Nikiforov, 24, 2-time Grand Prix champion, 3-time World Champion, 5-time Russian National champion, 4-time European champion.'

 What.

 What.

 WHAT?!!!!!!!!!

 Before he could toss away his phone, it buzzed again.

 v_nikiforov: Yuuuuuuuri answer meeee

 He panicked. 

 He must be hallucinating.

 There was NO WAY the Living Legend of Figure Skating would take time to write to him. 

 _katsukiyuuri: Are you sure you're writing to the correct person? 

 v_nikiforov: Um, yeah? This is Katsuki Yuuri, right? Not Yuri Plisetsky, the smol angry tiger kid that kicks people's backs? I don't think he has an Instagram account. 

 It must be a dream. He must be thinking about Victor too much. 

 A very nice dream, actually. Younger Katsuki Yuuri would appreciate that, but he was really freaking out.

_katsukiyuuri: Erm. Have we even talked before? 

v_nikiforov: Nope. But I saw you at Skate Canada! You were absolutely beautiful and amazing. I was in love. 

 Dream. Dream. Dream.

 _katsukiyuuri: Ummmmm I thought you were assigned to Rostelecom Cup and Skate America last year.

v_nikiforov: Yeah! But it was my rink mate Mila Babicheva's first Senior GP qualifier! So I went to support her. Thought I would stop by to watch the Men's events.

 Okay. Great. Victor Nikiforov was at Skate Canada, and he didn't know. Worst of all, he had watched his horrible performance. 

 _katsukiyuuri: Oh crap. My performance sucked that time. 

 v_nikiforov: No!!! It was amazinggggg why would you say that Yuuri D: It was the best version!!!! Do you even know that you body makes music while you are skating? You are absolutely beautiful on the ice!!! Like a prima danseur!!! 

 v_nikiforov: I fell in love with your skating immediately. So I went home and binge-watched all of your previous performances and bawled like Georgi! 

 v_nikiforov: Oh in case you are wondering, Georgi Popovich is my rink mate. He bawls a lot. 

 RIP, Yuuri.

 _katsukiyuuri: ... I messed up my jumps.

 v_nikiforov: Well, I have to admit the Quad Toe Loop was a little wobbly, but it's okay! It's not that serious. I can tell you how to fix it. :DDD 

 _katsukiyuuri: Umm. Thanks.

 v_nikiforov: What are your plans for the next season? You're coming back right? Have you decided on your programs? When will you be skating again? Who's choreographing for you?

 v_nikiforov: I can choreograph for you, if you want. I can make some programs that will fully display your assets. 

 ...

_katsukiyuuri: Okaaaaaaay?

v_nikiforov: Can I have your Skype? We should talk face to face. ;)

 Yuuri screamed at the top of his lungs. Everything was happening too quickly and HE WASN'T READY TO TALK TO VICTOR FACE TO FACE YET!!!!!!! HE WOULD JUST COMBUST AND DIE ON THE SPOT! 

 But it would be rude to decline, his fanboying mind sang gleefully. 

 Dammit. 

_katsukiyuuri: Can I give it to you later? I actually have an essay to finish.

 v_nikiforov: Sureeeeeee. :)))  

***

 When Phichit returned, Yuuri tried hard not to say anything about it. He'd hate to keep secrets from his best friend, but once Phichit got wind of the news, it would be posted all over Instagram or Twitter before one could finish the word 'figure skating'.

 And Phichit had a pretty dominating social media presence because of his cute pet hamsters and figure skating career. 

 Eventually, he forgot about this little 'conversation' with Victor when he was pulling an all-nighter to finish his essay. In fact, both students had become deadline fighters and even when Yuuri was usually diligent and rarely procrastinated.

 ' Arghhhhhhhh!' Phichit screamed in frustration. ' It's never done!!! Why do they have to give us so much work? Seriously, if I were you, Yuuri, I would ask the professor to extend the deadline!' 

 ' I can't do that. It's unfair to the other students,' Yuuri said, adding another website reference to his document. 

 ' Eurgh. I need more coffee,' Phichit yawned, and stood up to get Yuuri's mug as well. 

 Yuuri continued on his work. And at that very moment, his laptop dinged and notified him that he was receiving a Skype call from Victor himself.

 Crap crap crap crap.

 He turned desperately, and luckily, Phichit was still busying himself with the milk and sugar in the kitchen. 

 He should just ignore the call, or else, Phichit would be screaming and they could hear him all the way at Los Angeles.

 ' And the coffee master is baaack,' Phichit came back with the two steaming mugs. He wrinkled his nose and handed the mug to Yuuri, ' I still don't know how you can drink black coffee without any sugar. It's so bitter!'

 ' Because... It's black like my soul?' Yuuri joked, accepting his mug gratefully. He would need all the caffeine he could get, even though Ciao Ciao thought it was unhealthy for them.

 ' Not funny, Yuuri,' Phichit took a sip from his own mug of coffee, with a lot of milk and sugar in it. ' You and I know that your soul is not black. You are a cinnamon roll. Anyways... The mission of deadline fighting continues!!!' He made a huge show of groaning and grunting, before settling down in front of his desk again.

 Yuuri laughed softly and focused on his work again.

 Unfortunately, Victor must have been pretty persistent, because he was Skyping him again.

 ' What was that?' Phichit whirled from his desk, excited to discover any sources of distraction from his boring work. ' Do mine ears deceive me or is that SKYPE?'

 ' Eh, no, I accidentally poked YouTube when I was researching,' Yuuri lied quickly, his mind screaming at him.

 Phichit shrugged, ' Oh well. To be honest, no one will be Skyping you at this time.'

 And Yuuri was just praying the entire time that Victor wouldn't try to contact him anymore.

 He didn't. 

 At least until morning.

 ' Ughhhhhhh,' Yuuri groaned, lifting his head. He must have fallen asleep on his keyboard after finishing his essay (must have left some marks on his face) and every single one of his muscles protested his bad sleeping posture.

 Sunlight was streaming into the room through the windows, and it was morning. 

 Phichit was missing, which meant he had probably ditched work for skating. 

 He should probably get some sleep before the afternoon lecture. He awkwardly heaved himself out of his seat, keeping a hand on one of his crutches and was about to sit on his bed when someone Skype-called him again.

 He accepted the call before he could change his mind, and there was Victor, in his silver-haired and blue-eyed glory, smiling beautifully at him, ' Yuuuuuuuri!'

 It took every willpower in Yuuri's body not to explode or scream or run in circles on the spot, because this was the proof that the entire messaging was real. It wasn't a prank.

 He was actually talking to his idol.

 He squeaked.

 ' I am so hurt! You've been ignoring my calls,' The freaking Living Legend of figure skating was pouting at him.

 Yuuri found himself answering, ' Erm. I was finishing my university essay.'

 ' Oh, university!!!' Victor exclaimed. ' I forgot! You are skating and attending university at the same time, right? Wow. I don't even bother myself with those stuff nowadays. And Yakov thinks I am going crazy.' 

 The smartest thing Yuuri could say was 'whaaat'.

 Victor wasn't done yet, ' Yuuri! You are looking wonderful.'

 That only made Yuuri more self-conscious. His hair was like a rat's nest. His clothes (hoodie and sweatpants) were rumpled. 

 Not a very good impression. 

 ' Ummm, so why are you Skyping me all of a sudden?' 

 ' To tell you that I have come up with your programs, of course!' Victor said enthusiastically. ' I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to help you win the Grand Prix Final, okay?'

 ' EHHHHHHHHH?!' Yuuri shrieked, nearly falling off his chair. Phichit's pet hamsters had woken up and were scurrying around the cage excitedly.

 ' Yeah! I'm going to choreograph two programs that can fully display your assets, and help you defeat me,' He pointed at himself grandly. ' You are going to be come back with a bang, I assure you, Yuuri.'

 They could really hear Yuuri screaming all the way at Los Angeles. 

Chapter Text

 Yuuri had been having trouble telling between reality and dreams lately. He had been having this wonderful dream of Victor Nikiforov telling him that he was going to choreograph his programs.

 But soon enough, he knew that he wasn't dreaming, because Victor kept finding excuses to Skype him, showing him his very cute poodle and all sorts of random stuff. 

 And of course, Phichit didn't know all of this, and Yuuri made sure he was keeping it that way.

 One evening, Phichit had extra practice at the rink (promising to buy take-away food for dinner on his way back), and Yuuri was just chilling on his bed with his laptop, watching figure skating videos of the previous season, when Victor called again.

 What the heck. 

 From his understanding, Detroit and St.Petersburg had a 7 hour time difference. It should be... 2 am at St.Petersburg right now.

 What the heck?! What was Victor doing?

 ' Hello Yuuri!' Victor sang. ' Glad you picked up immediately! I have something to show you.' 

 And Yuuri realised that Victor wasn't at home. The background behind him suggested that he was at the rink. Past midnight. 

 ' Are you on the ice?!' Yuuri asked, shocked. ' What are you doing at the rink at 2 am?! Isn't it supposed to be locked?'

 ' Oh yeahhhhhh... But I may or may not have taken Yakov's keys,' Victor shrugged innocently, supporting his laptop with one hand which wasn't an easy feat. ' He won't know a thing! I just need to show you something. I have the choreography of your two programs down already, and I can only show it to you in secret at 2 am.'

 ' Okaaaay,' Yuuri gulped. He really is serious, oh god. 

 ' Not sure if the laptop can record the entire thing, but let's just hope it works,' Victor said, setting his laptop onto the side of the rink so that Yuuri could see the entire rink. ' I think you should record your screen while I am skating?'

 Yuuri pressed the right buttons, ' Done.'

 ' Great! Let's take everything slowly so I'm going to show you the SP first. Once you have learnt it, I can show you your FS, ' Victor waved a little remote control in front of the screen. ' Let's go. I'm doing it without the jumps.'

 He skated far away from his laptop, and he began his program. 

 Yuuri recognised the music at once. It was Vivaldi's Winter. 

 Every single one of Victor's programs were breathtakingly flawless and this one was no exception. It might be one of the most beautiful programs Yuuri had ever seen in his entire life. 

 It was difficult, yes, and Yuuri wondered whether he could manage it.

 Victor choreographed this for me, he told himself. Can I even pull this off? 

 But Victor pulled it off spectacularly, like the King of ice he was supposed to be, his moves blending in with the music perfectly.

 Yuuri was in awe. He didn't even notice when it ended.

 ' So here's your SP,' Victor said, like it was no biggie. ' Do you like it?'

 ' Are you kidding me?' Yuuri blurted out before he could stop himself. ' I love it!'

 Victor actually blushed, as if Yuuri's praise was music to his ears, ' Awww, thanks so much, Yuuri! I'm glad you loved it.'

 ' I'm not sure whether I can pull it off though,' Yuuri said worriedly. ' This is a beautiful program, Victor, and you can't simply let me butcher it-'

 ' No you won't! Don't doubt yourself, I know you can do it! And I'm going to make sure you're getting the BEST comeback ever in the history of comebacks,' Victor's blue eyes were blazing. ' I made sure I created a program worthy of you.'

 ' Me?' Yuuri laughed softly, feeling ridiculous. 

 ' Yeah, someone as beautiful and talented as you.' 

 It probably sounded as cheesy as hell, but Yuuri nearly fainted.

 IS HE FREAKING FLIRTING WITH ME?!!!

 ' I almost forgot to ask, when will you start skating again? Your leg is alright?' Victor asked.

 ' I will be visiting the therapist again next week. Hopefully I can skate again by the week after the next.' 

 ' Ask someone to film you skating to it, and send it to me. I can give feedback. Also, do you want to train up your Quad Toe Loop?'

 Yuuri nodded. 

 ' I've seen your previous skating videos, and I think I know what's wrong with it, but I need more info to be sure. Film it as well. That's all, I guess. I need to return the keys,' Victor said, holding up the jingling keys.

 A thought came to Yuuri, and he panicked, ' Wait. I need to credit you for my program, right? In case Ciao Ciao asks.' 

 ' Ciao Ciao?' Victor repeated, scrunching up his nose adorably. ' Who?'

 ' Uh, I mean, my coach Celestino,' Yuuri said, mentally slapping himself. ' I'm sorry, but I think he's going to freak when I tell him who choreographed my program.'

 ' No worries. You don't need to credit me,' Victor smiled.

 ' What?! I can't do that! It's your work!' Yuuri gasped.  

 ' You can just say you choreographed it,' Victor said. 

 ' What?!!! I can't claim your work!!!' Yuuri insisted.

 ' Technically, you helped with the choreography. Didn't you realise? That part before the flying camel spin was taken from your previous program. I just took it apart and put it together again with some extra elements. It's still your program,' He explained. ' Just tell him you choreographed it in your free time. He won't suspect a single thing.'

 Okay. That part WAS familiar. 

 Yuuri asked weakly, ' But why are you helping me?'

 ' Because I'm going to help you win, remember?' Victor winked.

 ***

  Two weeks later, Yuuri was finally lacing up his skates in the changing room.

 Ciao Ciao made sure he could walk without his crutches for a week before he could allow him into the rink and Phichit was still pretty worried even though he was bouncing with excitement.

 It felt SO good to be on the ice again. He felt like he could suddenly bust out a 3-3-3-3 jump. 

 ' Easy, Yuuri, don't get over-excited and injure yourself again!' Ciao Ciao laughed. ' You can skate around for a while if you want, and I'll be talking to the JSF about your return. They've been asking me. I'm not so sure whether they need you to participate in the regional competitions, so you have to get your programs ready. Any ideas on what choreographer you want?'

 ' Actually... I've been working on some of my old programs,' Yuuri had been rehearsing these lines for days (Victor wrote it), so it was like he was reading from a teleprompter. ' And I know what I want to do for my SP. Maybe I don't need a choreographer.'

 ' Ehhhhhh?!!!' Phichit shouted. 

 ' Good!' Ciao Ciao said. ' That's the spirit! But I do need to check to see if your program is okay.'

 ' Yes, Coach,' Yuuri said. ' I want to try out some of the jumps.'

 ' You can. But don't force yourself if you can't do it. Take it easy for day 1,' Ciao Ciao instructed.

 Yuuri tested out Double jumps, because he didn't want to injure himself again. Those came out easily, so he pressed his luck and tried Triple jumps. But before he could move on to the Triple Axel, Phichit stoppe him, ' Whoa whoa whoa dude, that's enough for day 1! You've been jumping all day long! It's time to take a break.'

 ' I'm fine, bro,' Yuuri smiled at him. ' I really want to try the Quad Toe Loop though.'

 ' You and your impossible stamina,' Phichit sighed. ' Cool. Be careful.'

 Yuuri handed him his phone, ' Can you take a video of the jump, please?'

 Phichit took it, astonished, ' What's gotten into you? I thought taking videos of jumps is MY thing.'

 ' Well, then I'm taking a leaf out of my best friend's book,' Yuuri said. 

 ' Right... You can start whenever ready,' Phichit snorted.

 Of course, he wobbled a little on the landing of the jump. Victor should be able to tell him what went wrong.

 ' That's good for a first attempt after ONE WHOLE year off the ice!' Phichit exclaimed. ' I can't even do a decent Quad Toe. I'm so jealous, Yuuri!'

 ' Thanks,' Yuuri said, not bothering to check whether the video was okay.

 He trusted Phichit's video taking abilities.

 ***

 ' Yuuri!!!' Phichit gasped, clapping. ' This is beautiful!!! How did you manage?'

 Yuuri was panting loudly at the end of his SP, exhausted but pleased. He had been sneaking into the rink at strange times so he could record himself skating and practicing to the program without anyone realising. It was difficult to lie to Phichit, but he was too busy working on his essay to care about him.

 ' Thank you, bro,' Yuuri said, grabbing his water bottle.   

 ' With a program like this, you're so going to advance to the Finals!' Phichit gushed. ' It's like Victor Nikiforov worthy, dude!!! You're so going to get a Level 4 for the spins and step sequences! And are you insane? Putting a Quad Toe Triple Toe combination at the end of your program after the Triple Lutz? Seriously, your Quad Toe is getting better and better these days!!!'

 All thanks to Victor, Yuuri thought. 

 Victor pointed out his mistakes and gave detailed explanations on how to do it correctly. He even sent in a slow-mo video of himself doing it, for reference and Yuuri had been watching it religiously every time before practice.

 ' Wow, Yuuri, you learn fast!!! Amazing!' Victor had said. ' Maybe we can go for the Quad Salchow next, how about that? Let's put the Quad Salchow into your FS!!!'

 Yuuri was too tired to argue. 

 Next, Victor showed him his FS (he sneaked into the rink at 2 am again). He chose Les Miserables's Stars for his FS music, and Yuuri was fine with the choice.

 The step sequences near the end was crazy passionate, and Yuuri had to jot down a lot of notes to get everything right. He was so sure he wouldn't be able to pull this one off.

 Again, Victor said, ' YOU CAN DO IT!!!'

 So Yuuri tried. 

 He had to do it. For Victor.

Chapter Text

 ' Grand Prix assignments are out!!!' Ciao Ciao shouted, catching the attention of many skaters in the skate club.

 Six of Celestino's students were allowed by their respective skating federations to compete at the Grand Prix series, and four of them were girls. 

 The JSF was very happy to send Yuuri back to the Grand Prix series, but they still requested him to compete at the regionals just to check how well he performed after his one year break, and he was working hard on the two of his programs.

 It was a wonder how Victor managed to multitask. He did interviews with many sports magazines and the RSF, claiming that he was practicing hard for the newest season. Yuuri knew that he was practicing his own routines AND giving opinions in Yuuri's routines plus jumps.

 And the more time Yuuri spent with Victor on Skype (he was getting a lot less jumpy these days), the more human Victor seemed. He wasn't exactly the untouchable ice god that was calm and collected. In fact, he was more like a puppy, and flirted often, causing Yuuri to be extremely flustered. 

 But under Victor's tutelage, Yuuri managed to land the Quad Salchow jump in practice, and all of his rink mates were amazed by his newest accomplishment.

 ' You'll be advancing to the GPF this year!' Ciao Ciao had said. Still, Yuuri felt a little guilty for training with Victor behind his back.

 Back to the assignments.

 ' Oh oh!!!' Phichit grabbed Ciao Ciao's phone before Yuuri could even skate over to him. ' Let's see!!! Yuuri, you're assigned to Cup of China and Skate America!!! Aw man, you won't be seeing your idol. He's skating at Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy.'

 The logical side of Yuuri was actually relieved. He wasn't sure whether he was ready to talk to Victor in person, especially when Victor seemed to be pretty chummy. The last thing he needed would be the media talking about their relationship, because it was downright embarrassing. A dime-a-dozen skater speaking to the Living Legend of figure skating.

 And he wouldn't want Victor to get embarrassed by the public if he really butchered his programs. 

 Though the fan boy part of Yuuri was kind of disappointed.

 ' We're working towards the regionals first, and I think Yuuri will definitely win it. No kidding, two Quads in the SP? Really?' Ciao Ciao laughed. ' Are you really going for the go big or go home thing?'

 ' Erm, maybe?' Yuuri smiled sheepishly, and he went back to going through his FS.

 Of course Victor had something to say back at the dormitory.

 ' NOOO,' He pouted. ' The ISU didn't assign us together!!! This is so sad!!! I want to see you so we can talk in person!!!'

 Yuuri wanted to say errr no thanks.

 Not that he wouldn't appreciate the presence of Victor.

 But he really cared about what the media thought about him. He wasn't worthy to become friends with Victor. 

 ' But you are going to qualify for the Finals,' Victor said. ' And we are going to have loads of fun at Fukuoka!!! You'll be showing me around Fukuoka, right?' 

 Yuuri imagined the reporters and fans catching the both of them on the street and he felt faint. 

 ' Assuming I can even get past the regionals,' He muttered darkly.

 ' Are you kidding me? Of course you can!!!' Victor almost flipped over his entire desk. ' I won't be able to watch it live, since I don't think the Russian TV will be covering it, but I'll be checking the live results from time to time!'

 Oh bother.

 ***

 Yuuri was stuffed into the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship. It was supposed to be easy, because only a couple of male skaters were competing in this event, and he didn't know any of them, so... Less stress...? 

 He kept his costumes simple for his comeback. His SP costume was light blue, imitating a mini snowstorm. And his FS was the simplest yet, only consisting of a silky dark shirt.

 ( Victor suggested something more flashy, but Yuuri vetoed all of his designs. ) 

 Heck, no one was going to judge his costumes. 

 Somehow his very small Japanese fan club flocked over to the rink to watch the events, and he was really flattered.

 ' Yuuri, are you ready for you first competition of the season?' Ciao Ciao asked. He had drawn third out of seven competitors. 

 ' Yeah,' Yuuri said, taking a quick swig from his water bottle to hide his anxiety. 

 ' Don't worry. Just enjoy your time on the ice. Oh, they're calling the skaters for the 6-minute warm up. Good luck!'

 Yuuri followed the rest of the Japanese skaters onto the ice.

 Victor says I can do it. So I can do it, he tried to tell himself. Do it for Victor. 

 It worked.

 He felt a lot better.  

 ( Extremely questionable 'advice' from Victor Nikiforov himself: Only try jumps in the 6-minute warm-up when you are REALLY confident! Because you'll lose all your confidence once you pop one of them... So if you are not feeling safe, do not do jumps in the 6-minute warm-up, okay? You won't make mistakes if you don't jump.)

 Yuuri decided to take a risk. He was really lucky. He nailed all three of his jumps in practice (keeping Victor's tips in mind) and by the end of it, he was in a pretty good mood. 

 The first two skaters performances had a decent performance, even though they didn't have Quads in their program. Scratch that, Yuuri was probably the only one that had Quads in his jump repertoire. 

 ' Next to skate is Katsuki Yuuri. He will be skating to Winter from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. His program is self-choreographed.'

 Yuuri tried hard not to cringe at that when he skated onto the ice, because Victor convinced him to say his program was self-choreographed

  The 6-minute warm-up just now really boosted his confidence, but he took Victor's advice and focused on refining his presentation scores instead. He landed all three of his jumps, and even though it was far from Victor Nikiforov level perfect, he was sure he had a positive GOE for all of it. 

 The reaction was thunderous, because people were just screaming at how well he did. Hopefully, Victor liked his interpretation. 

 He scored 98.56. It might not be counted as an official ISU record, it was more than 10 marks higher than his previous personal best so the JSF should be satisfied with it. Ciao Ciao hugged him delightedly, and he tried to stay out of sight from the reporters, who were marvelling at his great performance.

 He was whisked off for an interview with the local reporters, and newscaster Morooka was extremely pleased. 

 ' Katsuki-san!' He shook hands with him. ' I'm glad to know that you are back on the ice again! We were extremely worried about your injuries.'

 ' Thank you,' Yuuri said shyly. 

 The other reporters asked him questions about his recovery, training regime and goals, and sometimes Ciao Ciao helped him to answer.

 Suddenly, a very young boy appeared next to Yuuri.

 ' Yuuri-senpai!!!'

 Oh, it was Minami Kenjirou, the Junior national silver medalist. He won silver at the last JGP Mexico, but wasn't able to score high enough in his second JGP qualifier to advance to the  finals. Still, Yuuri thought his skating was pretty good.

 Strangely, Minami idolised him and always appeared in the senior apanese Nationals to support him. 

 ' Hello,' Yuuri greeted him with a smile. ' How are you?'

 ' ERMIGOD YUURI-SENPAI ACKNOWLEDGED MY PRESENCE,' Minami was teary-eyed. ' Your performance was PHENOMENAL!!! I cried!!!'

 ' Erm... Thank you...?'

 ' YOUR TRIPLE AXEL IS THE BEST OUT OF ALL SKATERS,' The little fanboy showed no sign of stopping. ' YUURI-SENPAI, YOUR TRIPLE AXEL IS WORTH A GOE OF 3,000,000,000,000 POINTS TO ME!!! YOU INSPIRE ME TO WORK HARDER ON MY AXEL JUMP.'

 It was pretty... Flattering.

 ' I HOPE THAT I CAN SKATE AGAINST YOU IN THE GRAND PRIX SERIES SOMEDAY!!!' Minami's eyes were sparkling.

 Yuuri said, ' Me too.'

 And Minami ran away, bawling to a young woman that was probably his coach. 

***

 katsudonyuuri: Hi Victor, sorry we'll have to stick to texting... Ciao Ciao is in the same room as I am right now, don't want to alarm him.

 vicnikiforov: Daww too bad! I wish I can see your face :((( But oh well!  

vicnikiforov: Your skate was amazinggg!!! <333 I'm so glad you have taken my advice to focus more on your PCS. Look at how high it is! 

 vicnikiforov: Spins and step sequences are excellent, as for the jumps... Hm... I think the Quad Salchow jump needs a little more work, though. I can tell you don't seem that confident once you have taken off. Just let it come out smoothly when you do it for your FS, and it will be fine. Again, I think you should focus more on the PCS tomorrow. We can work on the TES at a later stage. Stick to 2 Quads for the time being. 

 katsudonyuuri: Okay, I will take note of that.

 katsudonyuuri: Erm... How did you watch the competition? They are only streamed in Japan. 

 vicnikiforov: YouTube!!! There's this very nice account that uploads all skating competitions and ice shows. The video quality is pretty decent.

 katsudonyuuri: Ohhh I see.

 vicnikiforov: Whoops gotta go! Yakov is screaming again. 

 vicnikiforov: Good luck tomorrow!!! You can do it. ´♡`

 ***

 Yuuri actually stuck to Victor's plan and only put 2 Quads in his program. His PCS score soared while his TES score was pretty decent, so he ended up with a score of 185.23. 

 He had won the regionals. 

 Immediately, he received a mail from the JSF, and they said they were happy to see him participate in the GP series since he was in a top competition form. 

 He was really looking forward to the GP series now.  

Chapter Text

 Skate America 2013, October 20th 

' What a start to the GP series! Here we are at the end of the first event, Skate America. All events were held successfully.'

 ' Indeed. Let's do a recap. For the pair skate event, Tatiana Sokolova and Anatoly Volkov representing Russia have placed first, to be followed by Oda Hotaru and Sugai Hiroya of Japan and Amandine Clair and Nathan Stuart of France. For the ice dance event, Yuet-yee Lee and Hui Zhang of China have placed first, to be followed by Bianca Bellavia and Luca Capaldo of Italy and Meghan Arnolds and Frank Chan of Canada. As for the Ladies' singles event, Veronique Loup of France has placed first, to be followed by Victoriya Ivanovna of Russia and Evgenia Levitskaya, also from Russia. Finally, for the Men's singles event, Cao Bin of China has placed first, to be followed by Katsuki Yuuri of Japan and Sergei Pavlov of Russia. What do you think about the placings?'

 ' Hmm... it was wonderful to see Bellavia and Capaldo skating after their one-year hiatus. They are coming back strong for the Olympic season.'

 ' Speaking of hiatuses, the silver medalist of the Men's singles event, Katsuki Yuuri has surprised us all with a stunning performance.'

 ' Oh yes. He took a one-year break too because of an injury. But he came back to this season in full force, added two Quads to his jump roster and beat his personal best total score by nearly 20 points! This is unbelievable!' 

 ' Yes, we hope to see what he has in store for us in the future events. Katsuki Yuuri has never advanced to the Finals. Hmm judging from his scores, he will only need to take fourth place or above to qualify.'

 ***

  ' Yuuri!!!' Victor said excitedly over Skype. ' I was so touched by your performance!!! And I am extremely proud of your TES scores!!! Congratulations!!!'

 ' Thanks,' Yuuri was trying to keep his voice down, because Ciao Ciao might be able to hear him. ' Erm... It's all thanks to your coaching.'

 ' No, no, no, Yuuri! You did it yourself!' Victor seemed a little bit teary-eyed. ' You got the silver medal yourself, and it is amazing! If you place fourth place and above, you will advance to the Finals, and we are aiming for gold in the next event, of course! So I can finally get to see you at the Finals. How exciting!' He winked.

 ' Oh... Oookay,' Yuuri swallowed.

 ' Great! I rewatched your performance for ten times, and have jotted down notes for improvement!!! They're not that serious, of course, but you can do better. Don't get too stressed though... Your two competition dates are quite close to each other, but don't push yourself too hard.'

 ' Sure,' Yuuri leaned forward and listened to what Victor had to say about his performance. 

***

 Cup of China 2013, November 3rd   

 ' This concludes the third event of the GP series, the Cup of China, here in Beijing!'

 ' Here's a recap of the placements. For the pair skate event, Naomi Chen and Henry Taylor of Canada has placed first, to be followed by Rosario Sáez and Jairo Águila of Spain and Michelle Jackson and Johnny Bailey of America. For the ice dance event, Anya Dobrovolskaya and Pyotr Nikolsky of Russia have placed first, to be followed by Nikita Cote and Joel Lajoie of France and Heidi Beck and Brian Frandsen of Denmark. For the Ladies' singles event, Rene Lopez of Spain has placed first, to be followed by Sala Crispino of Italy and Ara Maiya of Japan. And... For the Men's singles event... Katsuki Yuuri of Japan has placed first, to be followed by Michele Crispino of Italy and Jason Dupont of France.'

 ' Also... We can basically say that Kastuki Yuuri can advance to the Finals.' 

 ' Mm-hm.'

 ' This is insane. Again, Katsuki Yuuri went on a one-year hiatus, came back and took silver and gold in his two Grand Prix qualifiers. Many people are simply amazed by his talent.' 

 ' Indeed. The Japan's Ace has never failed to surprise us.' 

 ' Do you think he will give Victor Nikiforov a run for money?'

 ' Well, Nikiforov is basically unbeatable at this point, but who knows?'

 ***

FIGURE SKATING FORUM 

Admin Salchow: Heeey guys!!! We opened a forum so we can all discuss about the Cup of China or upcoming GP qualifiers! But remember to stay polite and no badmouthing other skaters! Your comments will be removed if we think it's inappropriate AND your account will be temporarily suspended. Anyways... Have fun! :) 

Vanilla cheesecake: HOLY CRAP. WHO'S THAT JAPANESE GUY HIS STEP SEQUENCES AND SPINS LIKE... WTF?! THEY'RE SO GOOD. 

My Golden Blades: IKR WHO IS HE?! HE'S GOOD. LIKE, REALLY GOOD.

Nikiforofan: EXACTLY. HOW COME WE DIDN'T NOTICE A TALENTED GUY LIKE THAT BEFORE?! WHERE WAS HE? 　ﾟДﾟ

Beatrice Glider: He has a name you know. He's Katsuki Yuuri.

Waltz Jumping: OKAY OKAY OKAY SO WHO IS HE??????? I'M IN LOVE. HERE'S ANOTHER SKATER I CAN GET OBSESSED WITH BESIDES VICTOR AND CHRIS >///< 

 Snowflake Fairy: Ikr he's so hot on the ice, and off the ice, he's so cute!!!!!! <3333333333 

 Lady of the Ice: SOMEONE DO SOME RESEARCH NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM BEFORE LIKE HOW HOW HOW HOW :OOOO

 Queen Sala: PLEASE ANYONE PLEASE

 Quad-Squad: OKAY, I'VE DONE SOME RESEARCH IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS WIN HERE GOES :DDDDDDDDD

 My Golden Blades: FIRE AWAY 

 Ice cream addict: YES YES GO AHEAD PLEASE ( I NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY NEWEST CRUSH)

 Quad-Squad: Katsuki Yuuri is a Japanese figure skater, and he is currently training under Celestino Cialdini of the Detroit Skate Club.

 Clear edge: AAAAND...?

 Twizzlesss: HURRY UP I NEED TO KNOW MOREEEEEEEE

 Quad-Squad:  Actually, not much is known about his Junior career. Well, he's the Junior Japanese national champion for two years in a row, but he isn't that well-known internationally. He was so close to getting into the 2007-08 JGP. 

 Quad-Squad: He debuted internationally during the 2009-2010 season, and he got fifth place and fourth place for his two GP qualifiers respectively, so he couldn't get into the Finals. Similar thing happened to the two seasons afterwards... Apparently he got injured before the last season, so he had to withdraw from the entire season. He only came back this season, and bam, a silver and a gold under his belt. That's all I can find.

 Jennagem: WHAT THAT'S ALL?! NO THAT CAN'T BE!!!!!!!!!!!!! D: 

 Lavender Rose: I LOOKED UP HIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE AND THERE'S NOTHING WTF?! NO ONE UPDATES HIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE??? SOMEONE DO THAT NOW. PLEASE.

 Death Drop: DOES HE EVEN HAVE INSTAGRAM?! PLEASE TELL ME HE HAS INSTAGRAM. I NEED TO STALK MY NEW CRUSH.

 Pointe shoes: YEAH YEAH DOES HE HAVE INSTAGRAM?!

 Girl On Ice: YES I found it!!! It's @_katsukiyuuri But he rarely posts stuff. The last picture is like... 2 years ago? ；ω；

 Raindrops: And he never posts any selfies ; _ ; Unlike Victor and Chris. 

 Dancing Skater: DAMMIT!!! YOU'RE HANDSOME YUURI WHY CAN'T YOU SHOW YOUR FACE??? ; _ ;

 Queen Sala: DAMN

 Katya figure skates: PRAISE THIS GUY HE UPLOADED ALL OF YUURI'S OLD JAPANESE NATIONAL ROUTINES HERE YOU GO link

RUBYROSA: You saved my life!!!!! <333

Dreamers dream: THANK YOU I'M GONNA BINGE WATCH ALL OF THIS

 katsukiyuuri's fan: There I changed my username!!! I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS NEW SKATER. WE MUST LET THE WORLD KNOW ABOUT HIM. 

 Sparkles and Dreams: YES HE NEEDS A FAN CLUB.

 Lutz-Loop: Guys!!! Someone has opened a Katsuki Yuuri fan club on Instagram!!! @katsukiyuuri_fc go follow them now!!!! ヽ(´▽`)/

 Layback Spin: All hail the President of the Katsuki Yuuri fan club!!! 

 Paintingartist_: Artists!!! They're asking for artists to design the merch!!! ( I just signed up ahaha)

 Quad Flipped: Yessssssss (holy cow 34k followers and they're making merchandise already?!!! HOW?) 

 Berry Pies: No kidding, Yuuri can overtake Victor some day.

 Vitya Bunny: NO WAY VITYA IS THE BEST HE CAN'T BE OVERTAKEN

 Babicheva-fanatic: Well, Victor's been in the game for a long, long time...

 Iceice: I don't think it's possible at the moment. Don't get me wrong, guys, I love Yuuri. He's one of my favourite skaters now. But Victor has four types of Quads under his belt (Toe Loop, Salchow, Lutz, Flip) and he may or may not be going for the Loop next, and his TES scores are insanely high. Yuuri's PCS may overtake Victor's PCS eventually, but I don't think it can compensate for his TES, especially when he only has two Quads. Not that it's entirely impossible, but... Yeah.

 Heart of Ice: He'll have to overtake Chris and Cao Bin first. 

 Nikki Nikki Nikki: I think Yuuri will be able to take fourth place the Finals, at best. 

 DoubleAxel: HELL NO, Yuuri for the win!!! >:[

 Vicky vic: HELL NO, Victor's going to get his third gold!!! D:< 

 Admin Lutz: Guys guys guys calm down!!! Don't argue! 

 ***

 katsukiyuuri_fc: Hello! We are the Katsuki Yuuri fan club. Let's support our beloved skater Katsuki Yuuri, hand in hand!!! <333 @_katsukiyuuri WE ARE ALL HERE FOR YOU GANBATTE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 31k likes

 View all 23k comments

 watcher_of_the_ice: He's like a Dark Horse. We didn't expect him. And man, he was GOOD. 

 spread-eagle: YASSSS HE'S MY FAVOURITE SKATER NOW

 triple-axel_sandwich: HIS TRIPLE AXELS ARE SO GOOD. LIKE HOW?!!!!!!!!!! (MY NEWEST OBSESSION) 

***

Men's Singles Finalists of Grand Prix Final 2013 

1. Victor NIKIFOROV [RU]

2. Yuuri KATSUKI [JP]

3. Chris GIACOMETTI [CH]

4. Bin CAO [CN]

5. Georgi POPOVICH [RU]

6. Dean LEVESQUE [CA]

***

Yuuri was so happy that he could just run around and scream.

 He did it. He would be going to the Grand Prix Finals anytime soon. 

 ( Erm, he was a little bit alarmed by the sudden increase in his fan base and the fact that they were diligently digging up all of his old skating videos, but he appreciated the support wholeheartedly. ) 

 But at the same time, he was kind of apprehensive as to what would happen when he saw Victor face to face.

 The Living Legend of figure skating wouldn't shut up about how excited he was. 

 So he arrived at Fukuoka with Ciao Ciao, slightly nervous about the competition, and immediately, was surrounded by an entire SWARM of fans bearing official merchandise from his official fan club. 

 His face felt extremely hot when he saw his giant face gazing down from gigantic banners and towels.

 He had no idea his fan club sold merchandise. Or he didn't even realise his own face was merchandise-worthy, unlike Victor, who had the looks and body figure of a super model.

 ' Kyaa Yuuri-san, can we have an autograph?'

 ' Crap I don't have a pen... Oh well... Use my lipstick!!! PLEASE!!!'

 ' CAN I HAVE A PHOTO?'

 He was absolutely stunned that he would be completely surrounded by fans at the airport, especially when he didn't even tell people when exactly he would be arriving, so Ciao Ciao was probably as clueless as he was.

 To his fans' delight, he stayed around for half an hour, awkwardly giving out photographs and taking selfies with fans, and he wondered while signing a girl's backpack with lipstick, how Victor managed to survive for so many years with fans constantly breathing down his neck.

 Being famous must be tiring.

 Though it was comforting to know that he had some support in Japan.

  ' Erm...' Ciao Ciao coughed. ' I hate to interrupt... But we really need to go to the hotel. We are behind schedule.'

 The fans moaned and wailed, but vowed to see him again at the day of the competition.

 Yuuri waved, ' Bye...'

 And they cried.

 ' He's so sweet!'

 ' Kyaaaa!!! I have a photo!!! My friends will be SOOOO-O-O jealous. I'm gonna print it out and stick it over my bed.'

 ' We really need Team Yuuri shirts. Any artist up for the job?' 

 Victor, tell me what to do...

***

   This time, Yuuri was allowed to have his own hotel room, and Ciao Ciao would be staying in a room across the corridors. He told him to settle down and go out for dinner.

 So Yuuri started to unpack his luggage and stuffed his skates into his skate bag.

 He was halfway through digging out his sports tape from the bottom of his stuff, when someone knocked on his door.

 What the heck, he swallowed nervously. No way... The fans can't be following me all the way here.

 ' Umm, hello?' He opened the door, and he swore he nearly fell backwards when he saw who was outside.

 Victor Freaking Nikiforov.

 Outside his room.

 ' Hello Yuuri!' THE Victor Nikiforov said. ' Man, I swear you're getting cuter and cuter every time I see you.'

 WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT

 Yuuri flushed, ' Um. Thanks...? H-how did you find my room?'

 ' I just so happened to spot you and your coach just now. I'm staying on the same floor, you see,' He pointed down the corridor. ' So I decided to pop over, and you know, talk to you for a bit!' 

 ' Oh, okay,' Yuuri was trying not to faint.

 ' So, Yuuri, you free this evening?'

 ' HAH,' Yuuri blurted out without thinking and blushed again. ' Sorry. Errr... Yes I am.'

 Victor smiled, ' Great! Let's go out together! I want to try traditional Japanese cuisine. Sushi, Teppanyaki, whatever!'

 ' Ehhhhh?!!!!!' Yuuri squeaked, his legs becoming jelly. ' But... But... We can't be seen together!!! The reporters...'

 ' So?' 

 ' Eeeeep!!! They will write all kinds of stories!!!' Yuuri waved his hands around to indicate how horrified he was. ' Like... like... How you are hanging around a random Japanese skater!!!'

 Victor tiled his head confusingly, ' Whaat? A random Japanese skater? You got into the Grand Prix Finals, which means you are one of the best skaters in the entire world. And your fan club has 56k followers on Instagram. Your abandoned Instagram account has 85k followers, and I am one of them. Well, my secret account, that is.'

 ' What,' Yuuri said weakly, and shook his head. ' No, but... Still. They'll make up stories about us... And it'll make you look bad. I don't think your fans will like it much if they find you hanging out with someone else. We just can't be seen together.'

 Victor muttered thoughtfully, ' Hmm... My fans... I haven't thought about them... You are right, I can't be recognised...' 

  Oh, thank god. 

 Victor snapped his fingers, ' Great! I can just wear a disguise! That will do.' 

 Scratch that.

 ' WHAT?! B-but... You said you don't want to be recognised!'

 ' Yeah, I can't be recognised because we don't want fans chasing us, do we? I can just grab a beanie and my shades... That disguise works most of the time. Or we can go to a place that isn't frequented by a lot of tourists so we won't get recognised together...'

 ' Y-you...' Yuuri stammered. ' Do you really want to go out with m-me that badly?'

 ' Yeah! Consider it as... Erm... Some kind of a payment for the choreography?' Victor suggested, his eyes twinkling. ' Pleaseeee Yuuri!' 

 Oh great, my idol is just begging me like a puppy.

 ' Fine,' Yuuri sighed ( I'm so going to regret this). ' Can we meet up at the convenience store just round the corner? I know the right place. I don't think anyone will recognise us there.'

 ' Excellent! See you at 6pm sharp?'

 Yuuri nodded.

 Victor seemed satisfied, ' Good! We are going to have the best date ever!' And he just walked off.

 Yuuri had just closed the door behind when Victor's words began to sink in. 

 Wait.

 Date.

 DATE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Chapter Text

 Yuuri thanked god that he never wore glasses and slicked back his hair in competitions. Without his trademark JSF jacket, gelled hair and sparkly costumes, he was barely recognisable as Katsuki Yuuri, Japan's figure skater. The dorky blue glasses added on to his 'unknown' persona.

 To make himself more unrecognisable, he added in a face mask to his nerdy ensemble and prayed that none of the people on the streets would actually notice him. He had absolutely no idea how Victor was going to disguise himself. His silvery hair was literally a shining beacon that said ' EXTREMELY HOT FIGURE SKATING LIVING LEGEND HERE, COME GET HERE FOR AN AUTOGRAPH AND A COMMEMORATIVE PHOTO '. 

 Okay. Maybe Yuuri exaggerated the 'extremely hot' part. But seriously, anyone could recognise him on the streets.

 Too late. He had already agreed to the deal. He spent half an hour screaming into his pillow, almost suffocating himself in the process. And after meditation, breathing exercises and calming techniques, he thought he was ready to get dressed and meet up with Victor.

 At least he hoped he would be fine.

 He shuffled to the convenience store and found Victor standing there. Okay, his hair wasn't that visible under a beanie, and the trench coat might be able to cover him up. He had also added a mask.

 ' Oh, um,' Yuuri stammered.

 ' Great! You came,' Victor sighed in relief. ' I thought you are going to change your mind in the last minute.'

 ' E-erm.'

 ' In that case, let's go! Show the way!' He gestured to the road. 

 Yuuri nodded jerkily, and he said, ' E-eh, please follow me.'

 It was a miracle how they managed to walk on the busy streets for 10 whole minutes without being mugged by any of their fans. The area near the hotel should be crawling with die-hard figure skating fans but he guessed the local people weren't that interested in this sport.

 They stayed quiet, until Yuuri found the restaurant he was looking for. A kind-faced lady that reminded Yuuri of his mother welcomed them into the restaurant.

 ' Wow! Traditional Japanese food! I can't read the menu!' Victor waved his menu enthusiastically. ' So I'm relying on you, Yuuri. I'll order whatever you order! I trust your opinions.'

 ' W-what,' Yuuri spluttered, almost slamming his menu onto the table. ' You sure?'

 ' Yeah!' Victor smiled heartily.

 ' Okay... I hope you like katsudon then,' He said, calling the lady over. ' We'll have... Two katsudons.' 

 ' Ooh! What's that?' Victor's eyes glittered in anticipation.

 ' You'll know.'

 ' Okay! So... Yuuri... You should tell me more about yourself!' Victor leaned forward.

 Yuuri gulped, ' Hah? I thought... I told you a lot already!'

 ' We only talked about your skating life. I want to know more about your other life! What do you do in your spare time? What is it like studying in Detroit? Is the food good? Oh!' He snapped his fingers. ' Oh!!! There's one important question I gotta ask!'

 ' What?' Yuuri asked nervously, picking at the napkin on the table. 

 ' Are you a cat or a dog person?' Victor said, his eyes glinting suspiciously. 

 ' Oh, that?' Yuuri said, relieved that it wasn't an outrageous question. ' Dog person. I have a dog, you see.'

 ' YOU HAVE A DOG?!!!' Victor was close to flipping the table over in excitement. ' YOU NEVER TOLD ME! THIS IS AMAZING! I'M A DOG PERSON TOO!'

 Of course, I know, Yuuri thought. You have a dog named Makkachin. I've known since I was a kid because I was reading your biography and sports star feature magazines all the time. 

 ' I own a poodle,' Yuuri confessed.

 Victor almost hit the ceiling, because he was literally bouncing, ' REALLY?!!!!! OH MY GOD! THIS IS AWESOME! OUR POODLES SHOULD TOTALLY PLAY WITH EACH OTHER SOMEDAY! YOU KNOW WHAT, I SHOULD PROBABLY VISIT HASETSU SOMEDAY!'

 Yuuri winced. Victor couldn't go anywhere without sparking the world's largest man hunt.

 Okay. He might be over exaggerating again, but... 

 The last thing he needed would be Hasetsu swarming with the other Victor fan club members, and all kinds of gossips would be created.

 ' So, Yuuri. Do you have any lovers?' Victor asked carefully.

 IS HE SERIOUS?! 

  ' WHAT?!' Yuuri yelped. ' NO!'

 ' Any ex-lovers?'

 STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP LET'S NOT GO INTO THAT-

 ' There you are, katsudon bowls,' The woman came back with a tray laden with two bowls and cutlery, saving Yuuri from his embarrassment. ' Enjoy the food!'

 ' WOW!' Victor marvelled at the food in front of him. ' This looks great! What is it?'

 ' It's katsudon,' Yuuri explained, inhaling in the scent of his favourite dish. ' Pork cutlet bowl. It's my favourite dish.'

 Victor quickly tried a pork cutlet (wow he knew how to use chopsticks? Impressive), ' VKSUNO ! Amazing!!! This is so good!'

 ' Glad you like it,' Yuuri said. He was both relieved and delighted that his idol liked his favourite dish. ' My mum makes katsudon for me all the time. Of course I like hers the best, but... this restaurant makes pretty good katsudon bowls. I've been to here for a couple of times.'

 ' Mmmm!' Victor said. ' So back to more technical stuff. Are you ready to get that gold medal?'

 Yuuri nearly dropped his spoon, ' Gold medal? Why would I even want the gold medal?'

 Victor tilted his head, ' Hah? Isn't the gold medal the goal of every skater?'

 ' It's yours. Why would I want it?' Yuuri seemed puzzled by his question. 

 Victor threw back his head and laughed, ' Gold medals don't belong to anyone. You have every right to take it, Yuuri. And I believe you can.'

 ' I'm just a dime-a-dozen skater. There's absolutely no way I can get the gold,' Yuuri blushed.

 ' Oh?' Victor was confused. ' Dime-a-dozen skater? Said dime-a-dozen skater has been a 3-time Japanese National champion.'

 ' It's a fluke.'

 ' Well, it's not a fluke if you can get into the Final Six at the Grand Prix Finals. This means you are one of the top skaters in the world. Admit it, Yuuri. You are extremely talented. Maybe even more talented than most others.'

 Yuuri's face turned a very flattering shade of red at his praise.

 ' You know you're cute when you blush,' Victor said, and Yuuri really wanted to die at that point. 

 They made small chit chats throughout the meal, occasionally talking about their poodles, training at their home rinks and so on. 

 At the end of their 'date', Yuuri took Victor back to the hotel, careful to stay away from the 'tourist' streets, because right now, the fans should be prowling about for their favourite skaters.

 Before they went their separate ways back into the hotel, Victor kissed a startled Yuuri on the cheek, ' You know what, Yuuri, I like you a lot.'

 Yuuri.exe crashed.

 He threw him a roguish wink, and set off into the hotel, while Yuuri still stood there, still processing what had just happened to him, but his cheek was buzzing with warmth. 

 *** 

 ' Yuuri? What's the matter? You are a little... Erm, off today,' Ciao Ciao noted worriedly, handing Yuuri his towel.  

 Right.

 Yuuri was standing in the backstage before the SP, his mouth wide and he still wasn't able to process Victor's words properly after 12 whole hours. He jumped at small noises and tried to avoid people. And he hoped he wouldn't run into Victor, because he would literally combust at the sight of him. 

 You know what, Yuuri, I like you a lot.

 This was too good to be true. 

 What did Victor mean?

 Did he like him as a friend? Or something... More...

 His past 14 year old self that scribbled Yuuri Nikiforov in his notebooks would have fainted on the spot. Wishful thinking on his part, but he had no idea it would come true. 

  He buried his face in his hands. 

 Though on the other hand, his chest was buzzing with warmth. It was a pleasant feeling. He felt unusually relaxed. 

 How confusing. 

  You are in love, his mind suggested helpfully.

 WAIT WHAT NO

 ' You don't look like you're okay,' Ciao Ciao fretted, breaking Yuuri out of his mental monologue. ' Is it the nerves? Yuuri, you are very well-prepared, and you shouldn't get nervous. Calm down. Take deep breaths-'

 ' I'm not nervous,' Yuuri said. 

 ' Maybe you shouldn't do the interviews before the competition if you are not comfortable with it,' Ciao Ciao said. ' TV Asahi actually requested for an interview. I can turn them down-'

 ' N-no! I'm fine!' Yuuri flapped his arms frantically. ' I'm really fine! See!'

 Ciao Ciao didn't seem very convinced, but he invited newscaster Morooka over for the interview.

 The Japanese newscaster looked happy, ' Ah, Katsuki-san! I've been wanting to talk to you in person since your first GP qualifier but alas, the schedules were a bit wonky! So... Your first Grand Prix Finals. How do you feel? I can imagine you must be so happy about it.' 

 ' Yes. I've been working so hard this season, and I'm glad my work has paid off,' Yuuri said earnestly.

 ' All of your supporters in Japan are thrilled. Your fan club is just growing bigger and bigger every single day! And... What do you think about your competition?' Morooka pointed his microphone at Yuuri.

 ' I guess... I'll do my best?'

 Morooka laughed, ' Good, good! What is your goal in this competition?'

 Uhhhhhhhh....

 ' We'll see!' Yuuri threw in a Victor-like wink, and Morooka laughed again.

 ' Here's another question. There's no need to get nervous about it... How do you feel about your competitors? Say... Cao Bin. You faced him at Skate America.'

 Yuuri answered carefully, ' Skater Cao is an excellent skater. I admire him for his resilience and dedication towards the sport. I can't wait to skate against him again.'

 ' Of course, of course. Oh! I almost forgot! Of course we have to talk about Victor Nikiforov. What do you feel about him?'

  At that, Yuuri's mind wandered to Victor's kiss on his cheek. He willed the thought to go away but it was too late. 

 His face turned beet red at the very thought. And he actually choked violently in front of the newscaster.

 ' Cough, I'm sorry!' Yuuri coughed and spluttered. 

 Morooka was surprised, ' Um, it's okay if you don't want to answer. Well, I shouldn't bother you any further. You are scheduled to skate third, right? Good luck, Katsuki-san!' The newscaster scuttled away to interview another skater with the camera crew following him. 

 Great. Now everyone would think that he disliked Victor. 

***

 Fortunately, the 6-minute warm-up was uneventful. He saw Victor, yes, but the silver-head was too busy talking to his very angry looking coach to walk over to speak to him.

 Though Yuuri swore he could see him discreetly winking at him while he was at the side.

 Okay.

 He could do this. His first GPF. 

 Since he was feeling rather confident, he tried out all three of his jumps in SP and landed them. He went over his favourite jump, the Triple Axel again.

 ' Skaters, time is up. Please leave the ice.'

 Georgi Popovich was the first to skate. Yuuri never really paid full attention to the other skaters' performances before his own performance ( no offence to Georgi ), so he stayed backstage to chill and have some water while the TV was blaring.

 Okay. Georgi scored 97.10 for his SP, and he didn't look very pleased. Yuuri almost pitied the man. He must have been skating under Victor's shadow for so many years.

 Then, it was the Canadian skater's turn (Dean Levesque?). Yuuri didn't know him very well.

 ' Yuuri, it's almost time. You should get ready at the rink side,' Ciao Ciao said softly, and led him out.

 He waited nervously, as the skater finished his very last combination spin, and prepped himself to go onto the ice.

 ' I'll take your skate guards,' Ciao Ciao said. ' Well, good luck, Yuuri.'

 While the Canadian skater shuffled to the Kiss and Cry, Yuuri shot off onto the ice to skate several laps before going to the centre again.

 He swore he saw Victor moving near the band of coaches near the side.

 The previous day's conversation resurfaced in his head, and he smiled to himself.

 Victor, I'm going to try to get that gold.

 And he began to skate.

 *** 

Men's Singles (SP) SCORE

1. Victor NIKIFOROV [RU]  - 108.93

2. Yuuri KATSUKI [JP] - 105.47

3. Bin CAO [CN] - 98.55

4. Christophe GIACOMETTI [CH] - 97.15

5. Georgi POPOVICH [RU] - 93.26

6. Dean LEVESQUE [CA] - 89.35

***

katsukiyuuri_fc: WOW YUURI!!!!!!!!! A 100+ SCORE AND PERSONAL BEST!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! <33333333333 #yuuri4gold 

41k likes

 View all 27k comments

 katsudont: Proud to be a Yuuri fan! Go and get that gold!!! 

 megajumper: If he skates a clean free tomorrow, he might be able to get the gold from Victor!!!!!!!!!!!

 yuu-chan: GO ON YUURI!!! DETHRONE VICTOR!!!! WE ARE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!

 ***

Men's Singles (FS) Score

1. Yuuri KATSUKI [JP] - 207.36

2. Victor NIKIFOROV [RU] - 205.22

3. Christophe GIACOMETTI [CH] - 198.79

4. Bin CAO [CN] - 190.41

5. Dean LEVESQUE [CA] - 186.32

6. Georgi POPOVICH [RU] - 178.05

Men's Singles Combined Total Score

1. Victor NIKIFOROV [RU] - 314.15

2. Yuuri KATSUKI [JP] - 312.83

3. Christophe GIACOMETTI [CH] - 295.94

4. Bin CAO [CN] - 288.96

5. Dean LEVESQUE [CA] - 275.67

6. Georgi POPOVICH [RU] - 271.31

***

 Yuuri stood on the podium, feeling both dizzy and elated.

 He did it. He got a silver medal at his first GPF. It was better than he had expected, because he was almost sure he would have an anxiety attack in the middle of his FS.

 Turned out he did LOTS better. 

 Victor was beaming with his 3rd Grand Prix gold medal and smiled sweetly at him.

 Yuuri shot him a mildly irritated look that said, duh, I told you so. Obviously you are getting the gold. Not me.

  At the other side, Chris whistled softly, his bronze medal dangling around his neck. 

  The medal ceremony was lovely, and they were ushered off the ice so the technicians could prepare for the final event (Free Dance) as soon as possible.

 ' I'm meeting up with my coach for dinner, so... Leaving you two here,' Chris said awkwardly, slinging his skate bag over his shoulder after getting changed.

 ' Sure,' Victor said, putting on the Team Russia jacket. 

 Chris eyed him curiously, and left the room.

 ' So, silver medal,' Victor said. ' Congratulations.'

 Yuuri blushed, ' All thanks to you. I really need to thank you properly.'

 ' Thank me properly?' Victor winked. ' What do you suggest?'

 ' Erm... What? Uhhhhh. I can clean your house if you want. I used to clean Phichit's stuff-'

 ' Who's Phichit?'

 ' My roommate in Detroit? He's a Thai skater. I told you about him, I think.'

 ' Huh. I don't recall,' Victor said nonchalantly. ' Well.... There's one thing you can do for me if you are really grateful.'

 ' Hah? What?'

 Victor stretched out his arm to him and announced dramatically, ' Katsuki Yuuri, will you go out with me?' 

***

MEANWHILE...

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Congratz to our beloved Victor for his 3rd gold medal!!! #3timeGPgold

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 ARGH!!! YUURI MISSED THE GOLD BY 1.32 POINTS!!!! 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Dude this is not a Katsuki Yuuri thread. Go back to where you belong.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Don't care. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 GO AWAY YOU ARE RUINING THE VIEW >:[

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Sorry to say this, but Yuuri's going to get gold at the Olympics.

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ARGH. GO AWAY!!!!!!!

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Heeeeeeello.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh great!!! What are YOU doing here?!

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Joining the party? Seems fun. Don't be like that. Victor and Chris are friends. 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Grrr. Go away. We are not talking about Chris's butt.

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Interesting topic, but no. Not here for that. Can we all talk about the medal ceremony?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 What. Why?

  Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 (link) Pause at 3:15 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 OMG did Victor just smile at him?!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 OMG DID YUURI GLARE AT HIM?!!!!!!!!!!

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Uh-huh. It's all over the news. Shouldn't you two fan clubs have noticed?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 OMG IT'S REALLY OVER THE NEWS!!!

  Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 *sighs* and you call yourself his greatest fans.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 ' Conspiracy theory of how Katsuki Yuuri hates Victor Nikiforov?'

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ' Newest Figure Skating Rivals' ?! What's that supposed to mean?! 

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Don't even miss out TV Asahi's interview (link)

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc 

 I am dead.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 SO IT'S TRUE.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 If Yuuri and Victor are rivals...

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 We are supposed to be rivals? You know... Fan clubs don't mix together well.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 SO GET OFF MY THREAD!

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 NO!!! NEVER!!!

 Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

 Jeez, just pointing out facts. Can you two act civilised?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

  GO AWAY

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 YOU TWO GET OUT OF HERE!!! THIS IS A VICTOR-ONLY THREAD!!! 

Chapter Text

2016

 The two of them jumped apart as if shocked by lightning. 

' ARGHHHH!!! MY EYES!!! MY EYES!!!' Yuri's hands flew to his eyes immediately and he started wailing at the top of his lungs. 

 Victor shouted, ' Ahhh! What are you doing here Yura?!' 

 Yuri ignored him and continued to yell, ' YOU BLOODY IDIOT! YOU RUINED MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY DOES PDA EVEN EXIST?! WHO EVEN CREATED IT?! I NEED AN EYE WASH BOTTLE IMMEDIATELY!!! WHY DO I KEEP RUNNING INTO THESE UNPLEASANT SITUATIONS?! JUST FREAKING LAST WEEK I CAUGHT GEORGI MAKING OUT WITH ANYA IN THE LOCKER ROOM AND IT WAS NOT OKAY!!!!!!!!!! NO ONE DESERVES TO SEE THINGS LIKE THIS!!! I HAVE THE WORST LUCK!!!'

 ' Get lost, Yura!' Victor hissed. ' We are busy!!!' 

 Yuri shrieked, still covering his eyes, ' NO I'M NOT!!! I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET A PROPER EXPLANATION FROM THE BOTH OF YOU!!!! ARE YOU TWO DECENT?! I'M GOING TO SKIN YOU TWO ALIVE IF YOU TWO ARE NOT DECENT!!! I SWEAR TO GOD! I DON'T CARE WHAT YAKOV THINKS!!!'  

 ' YES!!!!!' Yuuri screeched. ' Of course we are decent! You saw us just now!'

 ' GOOD! I need to make sure!!! Sometimes my eyes deceive me,' Yuri shouted back, and he opened his eyes. He was literally shaking with anger. 

 Yuuri was biting his lip nervously and Victor had an infuriatingly smug look on his face. 

 How dare the two of them...

 ' I'M WIPING THAT SILLY GRIN OF YOUR FACE, NIKIFOROV!' Yuri lunged forward and grabbed the collar of Victor's jacket (with much difficulty, he was short). ' YOU HAD BETTER EXPLAIN, NOW!!! OR ELSE I AM SHOUTING OUT YOUR STORY TO THE MEDIA AND SEE HOW EVERYONE WILL REACT!!!'

 ' No, don't do that!' Yuuri pleaded.

 Yuri spat, ' SO START EXPLAINING RIGHT AWAY OR ELSE I AM TAKING MY KNIFE SHOES OUT!!!' 

 ***

 ' So,' Yuri snarled, pacing around like an angry tiger. ' You are telling me that the two of you have been dating secretly since the 1314 season-'

 ' Technically, we started dating when the Winter Olympics came around,' Victor corrected him, still looking pretty unapologetic.

 ' DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?!' His eyes blazed. ' SCREW YOU!'

 ' Hahaha, so you're angry. What's new?' Victor seemed unfazed by his reaction. 

 ' ANGRY?! I AM NOT ANGRY!!! I'M FURIOUS!!!' Yuri roared in his face. ' AFTER ALL THESE TIMES!!! THE ENTIRE WORLD IS CONVINCED YOU TWO ARE TRYING TO STRANGLE EACH OTHER!!! AND HA, I ACTUALLY BELIEVED IT! AND NOW YOU ARE TELLING ME YOU TWO ARE DISGUSTINGLY IN LOVE?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! HOW DID YOU EVEN KEEP THIS A SECRET?! IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HIGH-PROFILE RELATIONSHIP GODDAMMIT!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO DO A PUBLICITY STUNT OR SOMETHING?!'

 Yuuri flinched.

 Victor had the nerve to sigh, ' You're right, Kotenok, if I had my way, it would have been a high-profile relationship. We're going to be the best ice couple in the world, not Georgi and Anya.'

 Yuri's eye twitched at the nickname, and he shouted, ' WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!'

 Victor grinned, ' I didn't know you cared so much about us, Yura-'

 ' ANSWER THE FREAKING QUESTION IDIOT!!!!' Yuri threatened him.

 ' Well, technically, I asked to keep our relationship a secret,' Yuuri squirmed slightly. 

 ' What,' Yuri blinked.

 ' Imagine what the headlines will say. Victor Nikiforov, the Living Legend of figure skating, dating an unknown, talentless skater from Japan!' He laughed nervously at his own joke. 

 ' I told you to drop that,' Victor said sternly. ' You are not an unknown, talentless skater from Japan.'

 ' YEAH RIGHT, THAT'S RUBBISH!' Yuri yelled, surprising the both of them. ' You don't become the Grand Prix silver medalist for three times in a row if you are an unknown, talentless skater!' 

 ' But when we first began dating, I was still an unknown skater-'

 ' Excuse me. You won silver at the Grand Prix Finals,' Yuri seemed scandalised. 

 ' Most people said it was a fluke,' Yuuri shrugged. ' I was still half-convinced it was a fluke at that time...'

 ' I told you it wasn't a fluke,' Victor rolled his eyes. ' A silver medal at the Winter Olympics. Come on. You are the most beautiful, amazing, wonderful-'

 ' CAN YOU CUT OUT ALL THE ADJECTIVES?!' Yuri said irritatedly. ' I'm getting sick.' 

 ' Our fan clubs were having a war!!!' Yuuri argued. ' It would be suicide to step in at that moment and say we were dating.'

 Twitter crashed for several hours and a total of 5000 Twitter accounts were suspended because they were literally hurling threats and curses at each other just minutes after the end of the men's figure skating event. Some of the Victor Nikiforov fans jeered at Katsuki Yuuri fans. Feeling insulted, the Katsuki Yuuri fans called Victor a 'talentless tramp' out of anger. It wasn't pretty at all. Even though the presidents of the fan clubs tried to calm their members down, the damage was done. Literally everyone in the world knew about the feud between the fan clubs and the hashtags #yuuriisrobbed and #victorisking trended for two whole days.

 ' GODDAMMIT!!! JUST SHOUT "SCREW YOU ALL WE'RE DATING" AT THEM AND YOU'RE DONE!!! YOU TWO!!!' Yuri thundered. ' I was tricked!!! I can't believe it!!!!!!!!'

 ' Oooooooooooooh. You followed our fan clubs? I didn't know you are part of our fan base, Yura!' Victor grinned, and Yuri kicked him sharply in his shins. ' And no, we can't talk to our fans like that! We aren't going for the rude or bad boy image.' 

 Sure. Yuri could raise his middle finger and swear at his fangirls and they would just coo and call him adorable.

 ' So we came up with a system!' Victor said enthusiastically. ' I told Yuuri, " If you want to prove yourself to the world, let's announce our relationship once you get a gold medal in any major international competition! GP series, Nationals and Four Continents don't count." And so that was what we did.'

 Yuri gagged, ' This... This is ridiculous!'  

 ' We are serious!' Victor nodded. ' We've been doing it for three years!'

 Yuuri murmured, ' And I still don't have the gold medal.'

 ' Woah,' Yuri stared at him. ' You must love that stupid Old Man a lot to agree to this.' 

 ' Umm. I do want to prove myself,' Yuuri said. ' So we made this pact and stuck to it. I must say... It's rather motivational.'

 ' You can do it, baby!!! Get that gold and let's get married!!!' Victor cheered.

 ' EWWWWWWWW!!!' Yuri screamed. ' GROSS! That's impossible, man!!! How on earth did you two keep it a secret?! The Victor Nikiforov I know is a hopeless romantic!!! There's no way he can keep a relationship a secret for so many years when he basically acts like a Drama Queen all the time.'

 ' Easy. I threatened to break up with him immediately if he stuck a toe out of line before I could get the gold medal,' Yuuri said irritatedly. ' He almost lost it for many times.'

 ' Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuri!!! I know you love me too much to break up with me!' Victor pouted. 

 ' HOW?!'

 ' More times than I can count... Remember the World Championships 2015? I think the reporters had a field day because I wouldn't even look at him in the eye,' Yuuri snapped his fingers.  

 Yuri remembered that. Victor was acting like the bubbly big idiot he was the entire time, but Yuuri just stayed away from him and acted unusually tense before the competition started. And at the Green Room after he was done skating, he sat faraway from Victor. It was hard, because Victor was sitting directly next to the rink, so he couldn't possibly look at the other skaters without meeting Victor's eyes. He resorted to purposely staring at the wall instead and the entire thing was so awkward.

 Michele Crispino sat between them and he was cowering in fear the entire time. When his coach came in to fish him out, he looked so relieved. 

 ' I was hurt!!!' Victor whined. ' I just told him " I can't wait any longer!!! Let's just come clean and ditch that gold medal plan! How about I kiss you after you skate?" and Yuuri went ballistic! Yuuuuuuuuuuuri!'

 Oh. The truth was less exciting and it didn't involve knife shoes at all. Turned out Katsuki Yuuri was avoiding Victor in case he really went with the kissing plan. He had to stay out of the reachable range.

 Or most of the times, it was due to Yuuri's awful eyesight. 

 ' Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww, GROSS! Can you cut out the PDA?!' Yuri clutched at his face, horrified that he was exposed to the truth at last (well he did ask for it in the first place). ' YOU TWO ARE REALLY DISGUSTINGLY IN LOVE! I'M NOT SURE WHETHER I SHOULD BE ANGRY OR NOT!'

 ' Awwww, I know you love us,' Victor said.

 ' CUT THE CRAP I HATE YOU!' Yuri bellowed. ' I HATE ALL OF YOU. ESPECIALLY YOU, NIKIFOROV! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!!!'

 ' Really, you should have,' Victor rolled his eyes sarcastically. ' Who else would steal Yakov's keys to the rink?'

 Yuri's eyes bulged, ' Georgi got blamed for that!'

 ' Because I "tipped" him off to Yakov,' Victor said.

 Yuuri gasped, ' Oh no, you didn't! That's so mean, Victor!'

 ' Whaaat? I want to pay him back for that horrendous slimy worm prank,' Victor argued.

 ' That was like, 4 years ago!' Yuri shouted.

 ' He dunked a can of worms on my head and ruined my hair! Before a major competition!' 

 ' What the hell! Mila did worse! She stuck beetles into my skates and I didn't bother to take revenge!!!' 

 ' I'm petty. I told you.' 

  ' Yah, right. So when are you going to come clean and dish the truth out?'

 ' I told you. When Yuuri gets the gold medal, we'll come clean,' Victor said. ' You can purposely lose to Yuuri, Yura, so we can get married as soon as possible.' 

 Yuri's eyes twitched again. Oh, it sucked. That would mean he had to lose to Yuuri if those two were to come clean (aka, start a war and Yuri loved chaos).

  ' SCREW YOU, I DON'T CARE!!! I'M GOING TO WIN THIS! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THIS,' Yuri growled, and he glanced at Yuuri, ' Uh, no offence.'

 ( Oh, he did care about them.)

 ' Yuri can't purposely lose to me,' Yuuri said, horrified. ' If we are doing this, I want to win it fair and square. I want to skate against Yuri in the right way.'

 ' Yeah right!' Yuri snarled at Victor. ' I've been wanting to skate against you since the Winter Olympics, and don't you dare disappoint me!' 

  ' I won't,' Yuuri smiled at him. 

 Victor deflated at the budding friendship between his angry younger rink mate and boyfriend. 

 ' Fine,' Victor said, and brightened up. ' No problem! I'll just train with Yuuri extra hard so he can break both of my world records!'

 ' Seriously?!' Yuri shook his head in disgust. ' Katsuki, I really don't know how you managed to put up with this world-class idiot for nearly three whole years. How on earth did you decide to date him in the first place?'

 ' Ummmmm, that leads back to the Winter Olympics, I think,' Yuuri said thoughtfully. ' Victor was being super clingy.' 

 ' It's the best love story ever!' Victor declared with pride. 

 ' Okay, let's not go into then,' Yuri said, feeling queasy. ' I don't want to hear about your lovey dovey mushy love story.' 

 ' Tell him, Yuuri.'

 ' SCREW YOU NIKIFOROV I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!! AND I DON'T CARE!!!'

Chapter Text

 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi

 Ciao Ciao might have told him a thousand times not to fidget, but Yuuri couldn't stop picking at the hem of his jacket. It was a nervous trait that he might have inherited from Phichit, seeing him do that many times before a competition or at the Kiss and Cry.

 He was sitting amongst many international skaters, waiting for other skaters to arrive so  that the Men's Singles SP Draw could begin while dozens of flashing cameras were directed towards them. There was only one other skater from Japan, and a stoic faced boy that reminded Yuuri of Otabek Altin. He placed second in the Japanese Nationals, so he should be pretty good. 

 He was fitted into the stiff white and red Team Japan jacket (for the Olympic occasion) instead of his comfortable JSF jacket, and it only made him extremely self-conscious.

 That was it. It was real. He was really representing Japan in the Winter Olympics, one of the greatest honours in the entire world. 

 And the very thought terrified him. If he made a mistake on the ice, he would be an international laughing stock. Worst of all, he might disappoint Victor, who put so much thought into the choreography. 

 But honestly, the actual competition didn't worry him as much. He was only feeling anxious because Victor, the defending gold medalist, would be there.

 He hadn't seen him since the Grand Prix Finals, after his 'date proposal'. The only thing he remembered was that he fled the scene immediately without giving him an answer (his face a burning shade of engine red) and he skived off the gala exhibition and banquet. Because he was certain he couldn't skate properly with his face and neck burning like this and he would combust in front of Victor.

 Also, Victor must have meant this as a joke. There was no freaking way the hottest eligible bachelor in the history of hottest eligible bachelors would be interested in him. 

 He had often pictured Victor's partner as someone equally glamorous, sexy and hot. 

 What about him? Uhhhhh.... Dorky glasses? Chubby face in the off-season? An abysmal sense of fashion? 

 ( ' Yuuri!!! No one wears sweaters and jeans to prom! Take that off! And no, you are not allowed to wear that tie!!! Who says so? I, Phichit, the Master of Fashion and Social Media says so!' )

 He almost forgot about this through the Japanese Nationals and Four Continents, where he won two gold medals. To prevent himself from worrying excessively, he didn't watch the Russian Nationals and Europeans at all. But when Ciao Ciao reminded him of the Winter Olympics, he panicked. 

 He knew it was very rude of him to just run off like that, and he wondered whether Victor got angry and hated him for it.

 On the bright side, he told himself sarcastically, you two can play out the rival story without a problem now.

 There was a hush and many skaters turned to look at the entrance.

 Yuuri followed their line of thought and crap crap crap crap!

 Victor was there, glowing at all them with Yakov at his side and looking exceptionally dashing in his new Olympics jacket. Female reporters swooned. Cameramen jostled at each other to get the best picture of him.  

 His cerulean blue eyes met Yuuri's brown ones.

 His neck and ears felt warm again, and he quickly turned to avoid his gaze. 

 This movement, however, was not missed by other skaters or reporters in the room.

 Great. There goes the crazy rival theories again, Yuuri stifled a groan, as his fellow skater shot him a curious look.

 He could hear Victor saying something loudly to Yakov in Russian, and then, he settled at the row behind Yuuri.

 Crap crap crap crap.

 Victor's gaze seemed to bore holes into Yuuri's back, and he dared not to look back.

 Yuuri's companion muttered in Japanese, ' Victor Nikiforov is sitting behind us. And he's looking at you.' 

 ' Please don't look at him,' Yuuri begged quietly.

 ' Kay, fine,' The other Japanese skater sighed. ' So the rumours are true.'

 ' Rumours of what?' 

 The female representative was putting the numbers into the bag on the stage. 

 ' That you two hate each other?' He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world. ' Jeez, your Twitter fan clubs are trying to maul each other apart. Don't worry though, my rink mates and I are all on Team Yuuri.'

 ' Ummmm...'

 ' The draw for the Men's Singles will begin now,' The representative announced in a thick accent.

 She read out a bunch of names, and each skater went forward to draw their skating number. 

 ' Katsuki Yuuri.'

 He stood up abruptly, and he went to draw a number from the bag. He concentrated on the bag with all his might. 

  ' 27.'

 Huh. Not that bad. Seeing there were 30 skaters in total...

 ' Victor Nikiforov.'

 ' 28.'

 Oh, just great. They would be skating in the same group.

 Yuuri pulled himself together. 

 He had to look good for the cameras.

***

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 THIS IS IT, GUYS!!! THE WINTER OLYMPICS!!!! THEY'VE DRAWN LOTS AND EVERYTHING...

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 OUR PRECIOUS BABY IS IN THE LAST GROUP TO SKATE!!!

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 OUR VITYA IS ALSO IN THE LAST GROUP TO SKATE.

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Oh, go away, please. You are not invited to the party.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 What, the last time you invaded our Victor thread. So it only seems right for us to invade your thread.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Tsk. GO AWAY.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 NEVER!!! :D

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 ANYWAYS. Yuuri will definitely win gold this time.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Are you serious? Of course Vitya will win this time!!!

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 He has been in a winning streak since the GPF! He won the Russian Nationals and Europeans! 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 So he will win the Olympics as well!!!  

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Har dee har!!! Yuuri has won the Japanese Nationals and Four Continents!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Believe it or not, he will win this!!!

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Wow, it seems you guys are dead set that either of them will win the Olympics.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Not to imply anything, but there are other skaters too, you know :P

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Ummm who are you again?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh, that's the new fan club. They're annoying.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 No we're not >:[ 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Of who?!!!

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Our Yuratchka!!!! <3333333 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Um. Okay. Who?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Yuri Plisetsky. He's Vitya's rinkmate and he is the JGP silver medalist.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Pretty talented kid. It's his first year in the international field.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 I AGREEE <3333333 

  Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 But he's nowhere as good as Vitya.

  Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Oh, he will be taking Victor's place in several years just you wait!!! 

  Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Ooookay. Should we be alarmed that he's called Yuri as well?

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Ohhhhh. Riiiight. Didn't notice. O.o

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 This is going to be so confusing when Yuratchka moves up to the senior division.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Guess what, we'll refer to Yuuri as Yuuri, and Yuri as Yuratchka. Deal? :D 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Deal!!! :D  

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Do I sense a budding bromance?

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Go away, this is a Yuuri-only thread.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Wtf, you're not even part of the Yuuri fan club. 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 It's a Yu(u)ri-thread. Anyone else, please go away. Yuri's Angels can stay. 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Niceeee!!!

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh my god, I can't believe you two are ganging up against me! Your Yuratchka is our Victor's rink mate!

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 So what? 

 (Note: Yuri Plisetsky had no idea that this was his fan club's debut. Or he didn't even know that he had a fan club at that time.)

 ( Extra note: Most people assumed the Yuri's Angels first appeared when they mobbed him after the JWC.) 

 ***

 ' The scores please. Skater Wen Gao's score is... 87.58. He is currently in fourth place. Christophe Giacometti remains in first place.'

 Yuuri clapped along with the others. 

 He was standing next to the television, his earbuds abandoned because they were useless anyways, with the crowd and officials screaming loudly.

 ' We are preparing the ice for the final group. Calling for the final group to the rink for warm-up.'

 Slowly, the rest of the skaters began to file out of the room in stony silence. Yuuri was aware that Victor was behind him, but he dared not look behind him. Once the  skater in front of Yuuri had left the room, Victor grabbed his arm.

 Shocked, Yuuri whirled back to face him, only to be surprised by a light peck on his lips. 

 ' For good luck,' Victor winked at him.

 Yuuri's face was steaming again for the umpteenth time in the same day. 

 Victor winked at him roguishly, and he walked past him.

 Yuuri kept his face down as he walked out into the open and his mind was just screaming at him. 

 ' Yuuri, are you alright?' Ciao Ciao put a hand on his shoulder worriedly. 

 ' Y-yeah! I'm fine!' Yuuri said, panicking internally. 

 ' You don't look fine,' Ciao Ciao said. ' Your face is red!!!'

 ' Oh crap, is it?' Yuuri covered his face with a gloved hand.

 ' Try to relax, Yuuri. There's no need to freak out.'

 Relax?!!!! I just had my first kiss!!! Yuuri wanted to shout at Ciao Ciao, but he couldn't do that without the entire world accidentally eavesdropping on him.

 If someone had accidentally walked into that moment, the two of them would be toast.

 Ciao Ciao clapped his back and said gruffly, ' There you go, Yuuri. It's time for warm-up. Only do jumps when you feel like it, don't push yourself too hard.'

 The skaters lined up in order, and Yuuri caught a glimpse of Victor's very formidable looking coach with his hazy eyesight. Yakov Feltsman. Yuuri used to think he looked scary and intimidating.

 Yakov seemed pretty pissed off (as usual), and was in the middle of giving Victor a lecture. The Russian skater simply shrugged him off and went off to join the others at the side of the rink.

 ' Skaters are allowed on the ice.'

 The announcer did a brief introduction of each of the skaters, and Yuuri filtered off the noises because they were far too distracting. And he tried not to skate into Victor as well.

 He did a Triple Axel at first. The audience cheered and clapped. 

 Huh, the landing was better than he had expected. His confidence was coming back.

 He ran through the last part of his SP along with the final combination spin, and the announcer said it was time for the first skater of the last group to skate.

 Yuuri sat at one of the unused benches near the rink, so he could meditate on the earlier scene in quiet. 

 What the hell. Victor just kissed him.

 It wasn't exactly a kiss... But still...

 Victor was legit serious. 

 He wasn't joking at all when he asked him to go on a date with him, was he? 

 Yuuri screamed into his hands and hoped no one could spot him. At least when everyone was fixated on Georgi Popovich's skating.

 You are hopeless at romance and stuff, Yuuri, Phichit once told him with a light shake of his head after Yuuri accidentally broke a heart of a girl again. A girl in his class that had a crush on him since the first semester poured out of her feelings to him in front of everyone. And without thinking about it properly, Yuuri turned her down immediately. Things got so awkward ever since, and Phichit teased him endlessly.

 Whenever you have love problems, imagine me, sitting next to you, Phichit patted his chest. I call it the mini wingman Phichit, and I'm going to give you the best advice ever!!! I will urge you on!!! That's what BFFs do! 

 Yuuri had no idea whether it would work. But he could almost imagine the mini wingman Phichit shouting at him, oh lord, Yuuri! Just go and answer him already!!! He likes you. Don't leave him hanging off!

 I'm not sure, Yuuri thought desperately. 

 Geee! He has been pining after you like a conifer since the last GPF! And you tell me he's joking? That's stupid, Imaginary Phichit said. 

 But...

 Seriously. Do you like him, Yuuri? Imaginary Phichit demanded. 

 Yuuri blushed at the thought of it, Yes.

 YEAH ABOUT TIME YOU REALISED IT!!! THEN WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!!! GO AHEAD!!! MAKE A MOVE!!! Imaginary Phichit screamed at him. 

  Okay, I'll talk to him after the SP, Yuuri decided. Umm, thank you, I guess...?

 There's no need to thank me. I'm not even real.

 Okaaaay, Yuuri said and shuddered. I am going nuts. Talking to an imaginary person like that, even though it was technically Phichit's idea in the first place.

 He had no idea it would work. He must be spending too much time with Phichit to be able to create an imaginary Phichit in his head.  

 ' There you are, Yuuri. Nekola is starting now, so I think you should get ready,' Ciao Ciao found him and led him back to the side of the rink.

  Somehow, the little exchange with Imaginary Phichit lightened his mood and he felt refreshed. Energetic, even.

 ' You know what, I think I can do it,' Yuuri told Ciao Ciao, as Emil Nekola launched himself into a Quad Toe Loop.

 ' Good!' Ciao Ciao beamed and ruffled his hair fondly. ' That's the spirit, Yuuri! Your rink mates will be proud of you.'

 Emil's music ended in a tremendous crescendo, and as he wobbled around to fit on his skate guards, Yuuri slipped onto the ice to get ready.

 ' Next to skate, Katsuki Yuuri from Japan.'

 ' Good luck, and enjoy yourself,' Ciao Ciao said, and Yuuri shot off to the centre of the rink.

  The music began.

 Victor, if you are watching, this is for you.

 He launched himself into a flawless Triple Axel after coming out of a spread eagle position. 

 The sit spin from a death drop also went okay. 

  He nailed the Triple Lutz Triple Toe combination in the second half of the program, and the step sequence was easy for him.

 At the end, he did exceptionally well for his Quad Toe Loop and it was so much better than his usual practice. Good.

 He was barely holding himself together at the ending pose, and he was just breathing heavily as flowers, plushies and all kinds of gifts rained down. 

 Mustering the last of his energy, he bowed to the audience.

 He met Victor at the side, and he was just slipping off his skate guards. 

 He doubted if the world champion needed encouragement, but he winked at Victor. 

 Unless his eyes deceived him, Victor's eyes widened and he actually blushed. 

 ' Vitya, hurry up!' Yakov growled at him. 

 ' Yuuri!!! You did so well!!! It was a clean skate, good job!!!' Ciao Ciao handed him his skate guards and jacket. ' Let's go to the Kiss and Cry.' 

  He settled himself at the Kiss and Cry with an adorable poodle plushy he had picked up from the ice, and waved at the camera crew. 

 ' The scores please. Katsuki Yuuri of Japan has scored... 103.58! He is currently in first place.'

  Ciao Ciao was shaking him with all his might, and he just waved at the camera crew again dazedly. It wasn't as good at his GPF or Four Continents score, but whatever, everyone had Olympics nerves. 

 When Ciao Ciao was done, he got up and moved to the Green Room so he could observe Victor's skating in peace.

 With a gorgeous Quad Lutz Triple Toe right off the bat, Victor might just outscore him... Oh well.

 In the end, Victor got 106.27, kicking Yuuri off the first place.

 This stayed that way until the end of the SP, with Victor sitting at the top of the competition, Yuuri coming close and Chris behind him.

 Hmm... Maybe he had a shot with gold after all...

 The Olympic officials asked the three of them to get changed into their tracksuits, and follow them to the official press conference for the SP. 

 Chris got dressed in his red tracksuit in record speed, sang to them, ' Masumi is waiting for me! Gotta go! See you at the press conference...' And he dashed out of the room with his skate bag.

 ' Masumi?' Yuuri repeated, puzzled.

 ' Oh, he's Chris's boyfriend,' Victor answered. ' He's a retired Swiss ice dancer. His father is a Japanese.'

 ' Ohhh,' Yuuri said, zipping up his jacket.

 This is it I have to talk to him. 

 Before Victor could leave the room, Yuuri spoke up, ' Victor, can I have a word?' 

 ' Yes, Yuuri?' Victor said, a bit too excitedly. 

  Yuuri gulped, ' Were you serious?'

 ' Serious about what?' Victor raised an eyebrow. 

 ' This entire thing,' Yuuri gestured around him. ' You know... That thing... You asked me about.'

 ' Oh, that?' Victor laughed. ' Of course. Yeah.'

 ' Really?!'

 ' Dead serious. And you never answered me, I'm hurt!' He pretended to be hurt. ' I'll never recover!'

 ' Oh my god, I didn't mean it!' Yuuri panicked. ' I was too... Erm. Shocked.'

 ' You thought I was kidding,' Victor realised. ' Well, I can tell you I'm not. I love you, Yuuri.'

 Yuuri's face grew red again, ' Me too.'

 ' Good!!!' Victor smiled (Yuuri almost fainted at how cute Victor's smile was). ' I take it as a yes!'

 I'm dating Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri chanted in his head, trying not to faint right there. I'm actually dating Victor Freaking Nikiforov and no this is not a dream.

  Though he cleared his mind and said, ' I have a condition though. No one else can know.'

 ' Huh?' Victor scrunched up his nose. ' Why?'

 ' This relationship has to be kept secret. We cannot make it public...'

 ' WHAT?!!!' Victor, the Instagram Lord, wailed. ' But we have to take a lot of cute selfies and post them on Instagram!!! Chris and Masumi have been doing it for so long!!!!!!'

 ' Hear me out. Once I get a gold medal,' Yuuri winked. ' We can make it public.'

 ' What.'

 ' I want to prove to everyone that I'm the right person for you,' Yuuri explained. ' I don't think your fans like me that much.'

 ' You want to prove yourself to the world?' Victor mused, and he brightened, ' That's the spirit!!! Okay... To be honest, I'm not so enthusiastic about it, but I can see your reason behind it. Never mind! We can take all the selfies we want after you get the gold medal... I'll make sure you can win!'

 ' I have to win fair and square,' Yuuri added. ' No funny business.' 

 ' Fine. Fair enough. Oh! I'm looking forward to it already!!!' Victor jumped onto Yuuri to hug him. ' Let's do it!' 

Chapter Text

 In the end, Victor secured his third Olympic gold medal win by around 5 points, while Yuuri and Chris got silver and bronze respectively. 

 It was good enough, Yuuri thought. He had other chances to get his gold medal. 

 After the medal ceremony, the skaters were ushered to the press conference immediately by a bunch of important looking officials. Fortunately, he was allowed to sit down to have a sip of water before the rest of the reporters or journalists swarmed in.  

 Ciao Ciao found him a nice hidden spot in the room where he would not be noticed so he could sip his water in peace. But Victor was not so lucky. Once he stepped into the room with Yakov, dozens of reporters surrounded him like piranha fish. He smiled as dazzlingly as usual and answered their questions.

 ' Yuuri, it's about time,' His coach nudged him and he nodded.

 He had an act to keep up with.

 So without looking at Victor, he took his place at the long table at Victor's side. They offered him a translator so he would be able to answer to questions from Russian reporters too, and he went with it. The translator was a young man who looked even more nervous than he was, and Yuuri hoped he was okay. 

 Chris leaned his arm on the table, looking pretty bored even though many young girls were trying to catch his attention. Yuuri guessed he had no eyes for anyone else except for his beloved Masumi. 

 An ISU official announced the skaters would be receiving questions from the floor.

 As expected, the first few questions were for Victor and they were in Russian. For the benefit of other reporters, Victor answered in English. It was more about his feelings on winning his third Olympic gold, his training routines, thoughts on his FS and bla bla bla. Default answers.

 A reporter with a thick Russian accent raised a hand, ' This question is for Mr. Katsuki Yuuri.'

 ' Eh... Hai!' Yuuri jolted. 

 The man asked, ' Mr. Katsuki, we all know that this is your comeback season after your injury, and we can see that it is an exceptionally successful one. How do you feel about this? Is there any secret to your success? A new training regime, perhaps?'

 Wow, Yuuri thought. What am I going to say about this? I certainly cannot give Victor away, can I? How can I cancel the Victor bits in the story? 

 ' Umm,' He said carefully. ' I spent a lot of time thinking about my programs while I was recovering from my injury, and I guess... That clicked something in my head? I think it was a well-needed rest too, so when I start to train again, I feel more refreshed. And it's all thanks to the support from my family, coach and rink mates.'

 It sounded fake as hell, but since the guy was scribbling down in his notepad, Yuuri thought it might be considered as a satisfactory answer.

 To his right, Victor snorted loudly at his declaration (he realised his mistake two seconds later), and Yuuri groaned inwardly. 

 The entire room stared at Victor and Coach Yakov looked like he was going to die. 

 Oh, crap.

 To Yuuri, he might be snorting at his very stupid explanation.

 But to everyone else in the room, it sounded more like a disdainful snort to his opponent, which was supposed to be very rude. Another reason for the people to believe in the Katsuki-Nikiforov rivalry conspiracy theory. 

 The meltdown would probably be really serious when they finally announced the truth. 

 Luckily, an auburn-haired reporter saved the awkward situation by directing a question towards Chris, and for the rest of the time, Yuuri's mind was just screaming CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP non-stop.

  The rest of the conference grew even more awkward because the gold and silver medalist had basically gone mute, so the ISU official abruptly announced that it was the end of the press conference.

 Chris was picked up by his coach, and he just stared at the two of them with an unreadable expression before leaving the room. 

  More reporters approached Victor for more 'interrogation', and Yuuri jumped up from his chair in case they started to question him as well. That would be disastrous because Victor could possibly talk too much and reveal everything.

 ' Victor! Victor! Can you tell us what is your relationship with fellow skater Katsuki Yuuri?' a brash reporter asked loudly, and Yuuri mentally cringed.

 UNFORTUNATELY, Victor panicked, and it usually wasn't a good sign. ' WHO?' He answered loudly.

 Everyone who hadn't left the room yet heard his answer.

 Yuuri was shocked, and he stopped walking.

 ' Ummmmmm,' The very same reporter said uncomfortably. ' Katsuki Yuuri? The silver medalist?'

 Victor, being the very good actor he was, beamed, ' Oh! So that's his name! I've been wondering. Katsuki Yuuri, is it?'

 Stunned silence.

 Yakov face-palmed. 

 Ciao Ciao's jaw dropped.

 The rest of the room gaped on.

 Everyone knew that Victor Nikiforov rarely researched on his competitors but this was too much.

 At the side, Yuuri started to panic. This was too ridiculous and far-stretched. 

 What if someone realised that Victor was lying? What if they figured out it was just a hoax? What if what if what if...

 ' Mr. Nikiforov... This is not your first time competing with Skater Katsuki. How...' The reporter demanded, his manners forgotten, ' how on earth can you forget his name??!' 

 One could almost see his efforts of picking up his jaw from the ground.

 Victor seemed unfazed by this question, ' Ah, good question. I... never checked?'

 A second reporter cried, ' B-but... In ISU announcements! Social media! Rankings! And heck, on the name card over here!'

 ' Mr. Nikiforov, do you mean to say you don't know who the silver medalist is?!'  

 ' Why do you not bother to check his name?!'

 Ciao Ciao tugged Yuuri's arm, ' This is our cue to leave the scene.' Yakov was already lying on the ground.

 ' Yeah, I very much agree,' Yuuri paled. He hoped Victor would be able to fix this mess.

 Well, he started it first! 

 ***

 Victor is my bae @figure-skates-fangirl

 WTF did y'all see the press conference?! 

 When life gives you Flips, make Quads @quadflippp

 OH FINALLY SOMEONE IS BRINGING THIS UP THANK GOD I AM ABOUT TO DIE HERE

 Rainbow Icepops @sweet_toother

 @vnikiforov_fc I'm tagging the main fan club so they can join the thread

 White Gold Blades @iceisonfire

 IKR WTF HE DOESN'T KNOW HIS NAME HOW?!

 Ice is my life @kristoff-ice

 Do you think he's just playing around?

 When life gives you Flips, make Quads @quadflippp

 Victor looks very serious to me. 

 Victor is my bae @figure-skates-fangirl

 BUT HOW SOMEONE GIVE ME A LOGICAL EXPLANATION 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 Okay.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 What the hell.

 Katsudone with my life @katsudone

 Should we feel insulted or what!? HOW DARE HE NOT NOTICE YUURI'S NAME?!

 Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 THIS IS JUST RIDICULOUS

 Victor is my bae @figure-skates-fangirl

 Oh great, Katsuki Yuuri fan club people are flooding the place 

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 Shut up

 Victor is the victor @victor-wins

 Wtf is wrong with Katsuki Yuuri fans? Do their usernames have to begin with Katsu-?

 Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 Shut up.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 That is not the point. That is just very rude of Victor.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 How dare you? Victor is not rude! He's a cute fluff ball!

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 Well, how will YOU feel if Yuuri says, ' Oh, I didn't know the gold medalist is called Victor Nikiforov ha ha'

 When life gives you Flips, make Quads @quadflippp

 ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I WILL BE REALLY MAD!!!!

  Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 GOOD! You're not that hopeless. 

 When life gives you Flips, make Quads @quadflippp

 EXCUSE ME?! 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 Okay guys this is not the right place to argue and stuff.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 YOUR Victor has made OUR Yuuri an international joke!!! How can this be?!

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 Technically, both of them have become an international joke, but whatever. 

  Katsudone with my life @katsudone

  This must be a joke, guys!!! How can he not know Yuuri's name?! 

 Rainbow Icepops @sweet_toother

 YEAH. He must have heard it from announcements right? They announce medalists' names in ceremonies, right?

 Skating expert @protocolsareimportant

 Yeah, they do.

 Ice is my life @kristoff-ice

 CONCLUSION: Victor is playing a huge joke on all of us. 

 Blue roses @rosequeen

 But he looks really serious.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 But Victor has a good poker face.

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 But Victor looks REALLY REALLY SERIOUS. And there's no reason for him to lie.

 Zamboni King @zamboni_on_ice

 We all know Victor never researches his opponents. That's his only flaw.

 Victor is the victor @victor-wins

 This is even worse than the time he accidentally said that Georgi was the bronze medalist at the Russian Nationals when he wasn't :///

 Ice Lord @starsonice

 He missed the podium by 0.38 points.

 Team Russia Skaters @russian-skaters

 Georgi cried. :(

 Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 Sorry for being blunt, but we all know Victor is a bit insensitive sometimes. 

 White Gold Blades @iceisonfire

 I'm a Victor fan but I have to agree with @katsudont

 Team Nikiforov @teamnikiforov

 Aye. @iceisonfire 

 Katsudon Girl @runtheworldkatsu

 Poor Yuuri. He looks so shocked. :( 

 When life gives you Flips, make Quads @quadflippp

 So we are basically stuck with this rivalry thing.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 I'm afraid so.

 ***

 vicnikiforov: YUURI

 vicnikiforov: YUURI DON'T IGNORE ME D: 

 vicnikiforov: I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY AND I JUST AUTOMATICALLY SAID IT WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY 

 vicnikiforov: ARE YOU MAD AT ME??? 

 vicnikiforov: ARE YOU MAD BECAUSE I SAID I DIDN'T KNOW YOUR NAME

 vicnikiforov: I KNOW YOUR NAME OF COURSE I HANG YOUR NAME IN MY ROOM AND I WRITE YOUR NAME A HUNDRED TIMES IN MY NOTEBOOK EVERY SINGLE DAY 

 vicnikiforov: I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS YUURI ANSWER ME D: 

 vicnikiforov: WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M CRYING YUURI

 vicnikiforov: HOW CAN I MAKE UP TO YOU

 vicnikiforov: DO I NEED TO ORGANISE A FLASH MOB TO SHOW HOW I SORRY I AM (I REALLY AM)

 vicnikiforov: DO I NEED TO SHOWER YOUR HOTEL ROOM WITH CUTE LITTLE POODLE PUPPIES? 

 vicnikiforov: I CAN BUY TWENTY BOUQUETS OF ROSES RIGHT NOW JUST SAY THE WORD AND I'LL DO IT 

 vicnikiforov: JUST DON'T IGNORE ME 

 katsudonyuuri: Oh God, Victor!!! I was just gone for ten minutes! You don't need to spam me like that!      

 vicnikiforov: OH THANK GOD YUURI

 vicnikiforov: I'M BUYING THE ROSES DO YOU WANT THE BLUE ONES 

 vicnikiforov: I THOUGHT YOU ARE DIVORCING ME FOR SURE

 katsudonyuuri: What the heck?! We aren't even married?! 

 katsudonyuuri: ...And there's no need to buy the roses...? It's just... You've accidentally started another Word War. 

 vicnikiforov: I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T MEAN IT

 katsudonyuuri: Okay, I'm not mad. What's done is done after all  

vicnikiforov: I LOVE YOU YUURI <3333333333333 

 katsudonyuuri: *sighs* This is going to be harder than I thought.   

Chapter Text

 Most skaters usually liked to take a break after the Winter Olympics and skip out the World Championships. But since Victor wasn't going to let his winning streak down (at least that was the official cover story, he didn't want to miss the chance of seeing Yuuri), so he had decided to carry on with his game.

 He arrived to the rink early and ran through his two programs twice, before going to the break room for some water and breakfast. It wasn't exactly a very healthy routine, but yeah, he had no other choice.

 Sitting at the far end of the room, were his two younger rink mates, Mila Babicheva and Yuri Plisetsky. They seemed to be watching something from Mila's phone. 

 At 15 years old, Mila was already the most talented female figure skater at the rink, because it was extremely rare for Yakov to take a female figure skater under his wing. Yakov declared it was a good change (he was pretty much done with his other skaters). 

 It was her final year in the Junior division, sweeping the JGP gold and Junior Russian Nationals gold with many points to spare. Victor treated her like the little sister he never had and she was totally fine with having the Living Legend of Figure Skating as her brother. Yakov had high hopes for her, and they expected she would be able to land Triple Axels and Quads by the time she was 20. 

 Don't let her cute and sweet appearance fool you. She had built up quite a reputation for herself at the rink. The bullies (or mean kids) were mortally afraid of her and the very sight of her was enough to make them go running in all four directions, screaming for their moms. No kidding. Mila was intent on making the rink 'bullies-free', and would practice her kungfu on whoever that was being mean to the younger kids. 

 Yuri Plisetsky, however, was a sizzling ball of fire. On his first day at the rink, he came in and made it clear that he was going to become the best figure skater ever in the future.

 Victor said he was cute. Yuri stomped on his foot. Georgi laughed. Yuri angrily stomped on his foot as well. 

 That was only the beginning. Yuri enraged Yakov everyday by practicing Quads in secret and insulting his rink mates. He was hungry for success. He never gave a damn to his seniors. He didn't idolise anyone, definitely not Victor, whom he called an ' annoying, balding old man'.

 Sweet Mila and angry Yuri rarely got along in a 'civilised' way. Leave the both of them in a room for three minutes, and there was a 99% chance you would come back to find them wrestling each other on the ground. 

 So Victor did a double take when he realised the two of them were actually doing something together peacefully. 

 He grabbed a muesli bar from the table, and tried to see what they were watching.

 ' Aww, isn't that cute,' Victor cooed. ' You two are finally bonding! Yakov will be pleased.'

 ' Shut up! We are not,' Yuri grumbled. For a 12 year old, his extended vocabulary bank of rude or mean expressions could terrify his seniors and coach. 

 ' Let's say we have agreed on a truce,' Mila answered cheekily. ' For one hour and a half.'

 ' That's oddly specific,' Victor raised an eyebrow. ' Why?'

 Yuri hissed, ' Will you please shut up? You're disturbing the performance. Go and cry with Georgi or something, just don't talk to us.' 

 ' What the heck are you even watching?' Victor sidled up to them and peered into the screen. 

 They were watching the replays of the Winter Olympics. He recognised Yuuri on the screen.

 ' I know what you're going to say,' Yuri sniped.

 ' Hah, what?' Victor said, hiding his shock (why the heck were they even watching Yuuri's performance). ' I thought you said "don't talk to us". Are you changing your mind to talk to your amazing senior at last?' 

 ' Screw you, you're not amazing. Besides, I'm the one that made up the rules, so I can change it whenever I want to. But that doesn't mean I think you're cool, dumbass.'

 He's 12, people, he's 12, Victor thought, closing his eyes for a moment. Kids nowadays... Have tongues sharper than blades. 

 Mila snorted, her eyes still fixed on the screen. 

 Yuri continued, ' You're going to go oh wow who is that? Just reminding you, mister goldfish memory, in case you forget again, he's the guy that's shared the podium with you for several times.'

 ' I know that,' Victor said irritatedly. He didn't need anymore reminders of that embarrassing event.

 ' Oh you do???' Yuri feigned astonishment. ' I didn't know that. Isn't it surprising? Your brain is actually working at last. Should we celebrate with a nice big bottle of merlot?'

 ' You're not allowed to drink yet, silly,' Mila said patronisingly. ' But yeah, I agree with our kitten boy. You do have a goldfish memory.'  

 ' Et tu, Mila?!' Victor put a hand over his heart. ' I'm hurt!!! I've raised you to be better!'

 ' You suck!' Yuri said in delight. ' Now go away!'

 Victor pouted.

 The two kids went back to watching the video.

 ' Isn't he amazing,' Mila said dreamily. ' His PCS components are just wow. Us younger ones can only dream to be as good as him.'

 Yuri agreed, ' I wanna be just like him.'

 It took Victor two whole minutes (yep he just stood there like a marble statue) to figure out that Yuri Plisetsky, the angsty, fiery kid who liked being rude to everyone, was in fact complimenting his boyfriend. 

 Boyfriend, Victor thought giddily. Yuuri is actually my boyfriend. 

 He was probably acting like a love-sick school girl (minus the "Victor Katsuki" in notebook thing and all that).

 ' What the hell,' Yuri's angry voice broke him out of his school girl dream. ' What's with that half-assed expression? Cut it out!!!' 

 ' You are actually complimenting someone?!' Victor gaped. 

 ' What's wrong with that?' Yuri demanded. ' As far as I'm concerned, his jumps are absolute crap, but his spins and step sequences are top notch.' He switched to a louder voice, ' HE SHOULD HAVE WON GOLD, GODDAMIT.'

 ' Yuri,' Mila said warningly. ' You can't talk to Victor this way.' 

  Victor thought, You know what, I agree with Yura. Yuuri should have won. He is too perfect. And gold will look good on him. 

 ' EURGH!!! THAT EXPRESSION IS BACK AGAIN. STOP IT!' Yuri ordered. ' And no thanks to you and your crazy fans, Twitter crashed yesterday!!! Can you people lay off the insults for a second?! Golden Skate exists for a reason!!! Why can't the people discuss on Golden Skate instead of Twitter?!'

 ' Hah?' Victor said, confused. ' What?'

 Yuri wasn't done yet, ' Twitter crashed, you idiot! Do I need to say this again?!'

 ' How am I supposed to know?' Victor defended. ' I didn't even use Twitter yesterday.' 

 ' REALLY?!' Mila said, bewildered. ' I thought you check your phone twice a minute.'

 ' I told you I was busy! So what's with the Twitter crashing thing?'

 Mila and Yuri looked at each other with a sigh. 

 ***

 OMG Victor is Life @vityaU

 Victor is the rightful winner!!! Unlike someone else...

 Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

 Yeah!!! Of course Victor will win, instead of somebody else...

 Golden Skates for a Reason @gold-gold-gold

 Are you freaking kidding me? He doesn't even deserve silver. He can't freaking skate. 

 Toe Pick Vic @vic-skater

 Well, if you count wobbling on the ice 'skating', then I guess he can skate. 

 Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 IS THAT AN INSULT BUDDY?! 

 Katsudone with my life @katsudone

 MY PROTECT-YUURI-RADAR HAS DETECTED AN INSULT. WHAT'S YOUR DEAL BUDDY

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 WELL I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY AND DO A QUAD. GO AHEAD, BRO GO AHEAD! 

 Victor is the victor @victorvictorvictor

 Who the f are you

 Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

 Yuuri CAN skate, he's a JSF certified skater for a goddamn reason.

 Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

 AAAND FYI, they're the Katsu-D Triplets. 

 Victorious @v4victorious

 This is just lame. 

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 YOU KNOW WHAT'S LAME? YOUR FREAKING FACE.

 Kawaii Yuuri-senpai @yuuriequalskawaii

 Ahem. Are YOU the Japanese National Champion, Grand Prix silver medalist and Olympic silver medalist? Who are you to judge? 

 Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 Go ahead and win the Japanese Nationals, then you can come back to critique on Yuuri's skills.

 Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

 Well, it's universal knowledge that he sucks

 Toe Pick Vic @vic-skater

 Ho ho ho ho look at who's being rude.

 Sakura Blossom @blossom_skater

 excuse me?! You people started it.

 Victorious @v4victorious

 Let's get this over with, okay? Katsuki Yuuri is a stupid fat idiot who looks like a goddamn dancing pig!  

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 SO WHAT?! AND VICTOR IS JUST A STUPID TALENTLESS TRAMP WHO LOOKS LIKE HE'S HAVING A SEIZURE WHILE HE'S SKATING OKAY?! 

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 GEDDIT?!   

 Victor is the victor @victorvictorvictor

  ( Offensive comment deleted )   

 Golden Skates for a Reason @gold-gold-gold

 ( Offensive comment deleted ) 

 Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

 Excuse me?! 

  Just Katsudon't @katsudont

( Offensive comment deleted  )

 Victor's Bae @nikiforova-joyce

 OH WOW SCARY HAHA 

 OMG Victor is Life @vityaU

 ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 Yuuri For Gold @goldandYuuri

 EXCUSE ME?! 

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

  ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 God of Victory @skatingvicnik

 ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Ummmm guys...? Please keep conversations civil...?

 Protect Yuuri @yuurimustbeprotected

 ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Ermmmmm guys chill

  Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

  ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 I heart Victor @lovingtheice

 ( Offensive comment deleted  )

 Ice Glow @victorbrilliant

  ( Offensive comment deleted  )

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 They're ignoring us.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Yeah.   

 Victor Forever @victor-foreva

 ( Offensive comment deleted  ) 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 What... The Hell? 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 HELP US!!! 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Help!!!

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 For the sake of my health and wellbeing, I must depart from this area.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE   

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 ... I'm leaving. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 GUYS PLEASE CHILL!!! 

Victor Forever @victor-foreva

( Offensive comment deleted  )  

Yuuri For Gold @goldandYuuri

 ( Offensive comment deleted  ) 

 Skating Prince Victor @ice-crown

( Offensive comment deleted  ) 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 @katsukiyuuri_fc   You know what, we're screwed.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 @vnikiforov_fc Yeah.

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Read all 10k Tweets

***

Suspended accounts:

@victorvictorvictor,  @gold-gold-gold, @katsudont, @vityaU, @katsukatsukatsu,  @skatingvicnik, @yuurimustbeprotected, @lovingtheice, @victorbrilliant, @victor-foreva, @goldandYuuri, @ice-crown, @QuadFlipPancakes, @VictorFlips, @insultYuurianddie, @YuuriakaPerfect, @Yu-reka, @VictorNiki, @Nikiforever, @VictorPoodle, @Katsudon-onice, @dawnofice, @ultimateYuuri, @victorKing, @kingVik, @binktop, @katsu-tanaka and 5k accounts 

Chapter Text

Yuuri and Ciao Ciao rode the plane from Sochi back to Detroit. It was late afternoon when they touched down at the airport, but Yuuri was severely jet-lagged so he was pretty much ready to curl up on the floor and go to sleep.

 That didn't happen, of course, because he was graciously welcomed by the Katsuki Yuuri fan club - Detroit division at the terminal, all of them bearing gigantic 'WELCOME HOME YUURI' and ' YUURI FOR DA WIN' signs and eagerly screaming his name.

 He so wanted to hop onto the nearest cab and go back to his dormitory, but he had a public reputation to uphold. He stuck around to take photos with his fans (a lot of them), while an equally sleepy Ciao Ciao leant against their luggage, staring groggily into the blank space ahead. 

 One of the girls handed him a poster (of his dark past) to sign, she beamed, ' My Twitter account was suspended! It was great!'  

 Oh, no. The Twitter War. 

 He had woken up after the gala exhibition to find the tattered remnants of the Twitter War from the previous evening, and a grand total of 5816 accounts got suspended. 

 He wondered what Victor would say about this. 

 He panicked, ' I'm so sorry!!! I didn't mean to bring all of you into this-'

 ' Nah we're cool about it!' A freckled boy, probably her friend, grinned. ' We have to show those annoying Victor-bots who's the boss here.'  

 A nearby girl scrunched up her nose, ' Victor is alright, I don't think we should be hating on him... But some of his his fans are just TOO much.'

 ' Ditto,' The guy said. ' Some of his fans are so annoying and disrespectful.' 

 Yuuri smiled weakly, and did a signature for the girl. 

 Ciao Ciao approached the vast chattering crowd, ' Hey, sorry guys, but Yuuri needs some rest. We'll be going now.'

 The fans looked very disappointed, but they accompanied the two of them to the exit, shouting out well-wishes and 'good luck' for his next competition.  

  Good. He could get some rest at last. 

 Before he went up the dormitory building, Ciao Ciao said sympathetically, ' Try to have some sleep.'

 Right. He was on the verge of collapsing by the time he reached the door of his shared dorm room, but before he could fish out the keys from his pocket, the door swung open in his face.

 Phichit was shrieking at the top of his lungs, his favourite hamster (lovingly named Salchow the First) sitting on top of his head, and seized him in. 

 ' Yelch-what on earth are you doing, Phichit?!' Yuuri yelped. 

 His luggage was flung out of the way, and Phichit seated him on his bed by pressing him down sharply on the head. He pulled over a chair and sat on it, looking pretty mad, which wasn't like him.

 Signs of an interrogation, Yuuri gulped.

 ' Spill,' Phichit commanded. 

 ' Hah?' Yuuri blinked. 

 ' EVERYTHING!!!' Phichit waved his hands around, and Salchow the First plopped onto the nearby desk with the grace of an Olympic diver, scurrying off to sit on top of Phichit's laptop computer.

 ' You have to be more specific,' Yuuri stifled a yawn. 

 ' Don't play stupid,' Phichit said. ' You know what's happening, don't you?'

 ' Um, I don't?' Yuuri yawned again. ' Look, Phichit, can we continue this later, because I'm jet-lagged and-'

 ' Explain this, now!!!' Phichit shoved his phone at Yuuri's face, the crazy long string of Tweets glaring back at him like an ugly accusation. 

 ' Oh,' Yuuri said weakly. 

 ' Oh?! That's all?!' Phichit fumed. ' What the hell is going on, Yuuri? I knew something was wrong when the two fan clubs started to insult each other after the GPF, but this is the last straw!!! More than 5000 accounts got suspended because they were swearing and stuff!!! How on earth did you and Victor become freaking enemies in the first place?! Why do the tabloids say you hate him?! How?! Why?!'

 ' Phichit, chill,' Yuuri groaned. 

 ' CHILL?! How can I chill when my best friend is involved in a gigantic scandal like this? Is it even real? How did this even happen? I thought you worshipped the ground Victor Nikiforov walked on!!!' Phichit gestured briefly to the walls above them. Every inch of it was covered with Victor posters and the choice of decor clashed horribly with Phichit's hamster-themed ornaments. A professor once walked into their room and commented that their mish-mash decor gave her a really bad headache. 

 ' Has something happened between you?! This is a joke, right?'

 Leave it to Phichit to find out the truth about the newest internet sensation, Yuuri thought. 

  Well, there was no use in hiding the truth anymore. Yuuri should have known. Phichit would never miss anything on the internet. 

 ' It is supposed to be a joke,' Yuuri said at last.

 ' Excuse me?' Phichit raised an eyebrow incredulously. 

 So Yuuri told him everything. Back from the time when Victor first contacted him to the 'name-forgetting' fiasco at the Olympics press conference. Fortunately, Phichit stayed silent till the end, which wasn't like him, because he had tendency of interrupting people's stories and adding stuff to them.

 ' And then the Twitter War broke out. Couldn't even stop them.'

 Phichit was still silent. 

 Yuuri was so worried he had actually broken his friend with the shocking truth. 

 His best friend spoke at last, and he looked very, very serious, ' Yuuri...'

 ' Yesss?' Yuuri prompted nervously, waiting for the meltdown to ensue. 

 ' I get to be the best man at your wedding, right?'

 ' W-what?' 

 Then, Phichit broke into evil, maniacal cackles, rocking back and forth on his chair to the point that the entire room was almost shaking. Salchow the First hid himself behind his mug. 

 ' THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!' He howled with laughter, pounding the desk. ' THIS IS GOLD, YUURI!!! YOU'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO THIS GIGANTIC MESS OH MY GOD HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!'

 ' Phichit!' Yuuri said reproachfully. 

 ' SORRY SORRY, BUT THIS IS QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS!!!' Phichit wiped tears from his eyes. ' Oh my god, I can't breathe. Save me! This is one big mess! And you've got yourself a man at last! Good job, Yuuri! I knew you could do it!'

 ' You don't sound very mad,' Yuuri said. He had expected Phichit to go all Emperor Palpatine on him for hiding this from him.

 ' Mad? Why the hell would I be mad?' Phichit fanned his face and gasped for air. ' I AM HAPPY FOR YOU. All those years of worshipping Victor... You're actually dating him??? You two will be the figure skating world's power couple and win all the gold medals in the world! You'll be decorating Christmas trees with medals! This is so cool!'

 ' The fans won't be happy.'

 ' Oh, to hell with the fans! Who cares what they think about you?' Phichit exclaimed. ' Not all of them, actually. Some of them on Twitter are shipping you two together. There are at least twenty Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov works on AO3.' He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

 ' WHAT?' Yuuri shouted. 

 ' Mm-hm,' Phichit ignored him. ' Most people think they're loons, of course, but... everyone loves rival-turned-lover romance. These are just so in right now.'

 ' You've been reading too much fanfiction,' Yuuri shook his head.

 ' There's nothing called too much fanfiction,' Phichit said seriously. ' Fanfiction is life, fanfiction is love. I'd like to write fanfiction someday.'

 ' Ooookay. Fair enough,' Yuuri said. The conversation was taking a weird turn.

 ' Also, does this mean I can start writing my best man speech?' Phichit asked hopefully.

 ' PHICHIT.'

 ' Just kidding, just kidding! But when the time comes, I promise it will be the BEST SPEECH EVER,' Phichit seemed a little bit too hyped.

 ' We aren't getting married!' Yuuri gasped exasperatedly.

 ' EVENTUALLY! It's always good to be prepared! Don't you worry, Yuuri! For I, Phichit Chulanont, know best!!!'  

 ' Whatever,' Yuuri grunted. ' And I expect you to keep it a secret.' It would be near-impossible, as Phichit loved sharing everything on his personal blog.

 His best friend promised, ' OF COURSE! My friend's love life depends on my trustworthiness, and I will keep the secret sealed in a jar. On one condition. I get to be the best man.'

 ' Oh fine! You get to be the best man!!!' Yuuri exclaimed, giving up. ' Why are you so obsessed with being the best man anyways?'

 ' You don't get to be best man all the time! It's an honour! When I get married, you will be my best man,' Phichit said.

 ' Who are you getting married to?' He snorted. 

 ' Dunno, my beloved hamsters?' Phichit suggested, fishing Salchow the First from behind the mug and put him back into his cage, because he was nearly falling into the water. ' And I'll be expecting that gold medal from you.'

 Yuuri winced, ' You don't need to remind me that.'

 Phichit sounded offended, ' I am wishing you well, my friend. Seriously, I don't know how long this will last, because surely I can't be the only one who is suspicious. Almost everyone at the rink knows you like Victor, it's just they haven't voiced it out yet. What about Ciao Ciao? What did he say?'

 ' He didn't really say anything. He has been trying to pretend nothing has happened between us for so long, but I think he won't be able to ignore the Twitter War now.'

 ' Well then you have to get ready. People will be asking questions,' Phichit said grimly. ' I think it would be better for you to just... um... Skate through it and pretend nothing has happened?'

 ' Was that meant to be a pun?'

 ' I love puns.'

 ' Whatever.'

 ' You look like you're ready to drop.'

 True. His headache was slowly killing him.

 ' Glad you noticed.'

 ' You should go to bed. And before that... Can I have a look at your medal? They say the medals this time are very pretty.'

Chapter Text

2016

 It was difficult to pretend that nothing had happened at all when almost everything Yuri knew up to this point of his life was a lie.

 Victor and Yuuri didn't leave out any details of their disgustingly lovey-dovey relationship and Yuri was sentenced to so much PDA in the last hour that he wondered whether it was a punishment for something he had done in his past life. It was a wonder how they managed to keep this a secret for so long, because Victor looked like he was ready to kiss Yuuri in front of the audience. 

 Yuuri went off in the other direction to find his coach while Victor and Yuri rendezvoused with the rest of their gang at the hotel lobby, and he had to muster the best poker face ever, in case Mila got wind of what had happened. Then that would be the end of the world.

 Georgi was calm for once. ' What took you two so long? I'm hungry!' 

 ' Traffic was murder,' Victor said flippantly. 

 ' The rink is next to the hotel,' Mila raised an eyebrow. 

 ' Whatever,' Yuri rolled his eyes. 

 Unfortunately, Yakov was ever so perceptive. ' What's with the both of you?' He snarled at them. 

 The left side of Yuri's face was twitching. Victor was sporting the biggest, stupidest grin.

 ' Nothing good,' Mila decided. 

 ' Right, nothing good,' Victor answered ominously, still grinning.

 ' You had better not be plotting something!' Yakov snapped. ' It is the Free Skate tomorrow, and I need Yura in his best condition if he wants to beat Katsuki!' 

 At Yuuri's name, the earlier PDA scenes floated back into Yuri's head and he choked. Victor's grin was so wide, the nerve of him.

 ' What's wrong with you?' Mila slapped him on his back to stop the choking. 

 ' Alright, alright!' Victor said, to divert the attention away from Yuri. ' Aren't we going out for dinner? I think Yura is just hungry.' He winked knowingly.  

  Yuri glared daggers at him.

 ***

 Somehow, the two of them had decided to take their 'messing with the fans and the world' to the next level. 

 Yuri loitered aimlessly around the competitor's area, trying out his jumps on ground just to get his legs warmed up and occasionally doing some jumping jacks just to piss Yakov off. When he was done with his pre-competition routine, he settled at the far end of the hall just to get away from the reporters and JJ because he didn't want to use up all of his energy before his skate.

 He ran through the playlist on his phone and ripped out his earbuds because none of the songs appealed to him. He preferred heavy metal music, but Yakov said he shouldn't listen to this type of music before a skate because he needed a peaceful mind bla bla bla.  

 A hush fell over the place, and he tore his eyes away from his Instagram feed.

 Yuuri had showed up with his coach behind him, and he actually stopped at where Victor was sitting (he was playing and taking selfies with his Makkachin tissue box, what a child). 

 Yuri swore he almost had a heart attack. Those two.... They wouldn't dare to drop the bomb at this freaking moment, would they?! He prayed to whatever deity that would listen to him to stop whatever they were trying to accomplish. 

 ' Oh my god oh my god oh my god,' A nearby female skater mumbled to her friend. ' Are they going to fight each other now?'

 ' Don't be ridiculous,' Her friend said, even though she didn't look very sure. 

 Reporters held their breaths, pens at the ready to write about the coming confrontation. Some of them held up phones to record the moment. 

 Instead, Yuuri held out a hand... Wait... What?! 

 THEY WERE GODDAMN SHAKING HANDS?! WITH NO REASONS AT ALL?!

 Yuri's jaw dropped. 

 Victor took his hand with a smirk, and said, ' We'll win, of course.'

 ' Challenge accepted,' Yuuri said lightly, and stalked away, leaving a 'path of destruction' in his wake. Some of the reporters dropped their pens. The female skater and her friend let out a shriek, as if someone had just stepped on them. 

 Immediately, a reporter turned to his camera crew and jabbered away in rapid Russian. He said excitedly to his viewers, ' Did you just hear that? Victor Nikiforov has issued Katsuki Yuuri an official challenge! This has never been heard of before... Technically it's not a real challenge because Victor is coaching our rising star, Yuri Plisetsky, but oh, how exciting this is!' 

 Of course. People would be excited there was finally some drama and action going on between them. Another perfect opportunity for conspiracy theories to spiral out of control.

 Before the reporters could swarm over to Victor to demand for an explanation for what had just happened between him and his fated rival, Yuri seized Victor away from the expanding crowd and hissed, ' What the hell?! What was that for?! We'll win? This is bull!'

 ' Dunno, we're preparing just in case we need to reveal the truth,' Victor said nonchalantly, picking at the cuffs of his expensive trench coat. ' To prepare the people psychologically when Yuuri wins.'

 ' Oh!' Yuri scowled. ' So what are you going to do, you idiot? Sure sure, you want Yuuri to get the gold medal so you two can go off to be disgustingly in love. But what about me?! Reminders, you are coaching me. You can't just let me off like that!!! That was your choice when you first asked to coach me!'

 ' I said in case,' Victor said, patting Yuri on his head and earning himself an angry squawk. ' Yeah, you are correct. I am conflicted. As much as I want Yuuri to win, I want you to do well in your competition, my dear little kitten.'

 ' Ew, cut it off. Don't call me that!' Yuri gagged. ' Whatever. I don't care. I'm going to give it my all. Your beloved Yuuri will have to earn his gold medal from me, fair and square.'

 ' Sure. I wouldn't have it any other way,' Victor smiled. ' Yuuri likes a good challenge.'

 ' Screw you, Nikiforov.' 

 ***

 In the end, Yuri took his second silver medal and Yuuri won his second gold medal in the season, which meant they were immediately qualified for the Finals to be held in Barcelona. To his chagrin, JJ also qualified for the Finals, but it satisfied Yuri greatly to see that he only got bronze in the final qualifier. 

 Congratulatory messages started to shower down on them and everyone was looking forward to the Finals. 

 Yuri wasn't too happy about it, but he had to admit that Yuuri's FS was really good. It was definitely a gold medal worthy program. Figure skating fanatics predicted that he was slated to take the gold medal at last, if he skated anywhere near his top form. 

 This also meant Yuri would have to train extra hard to have a chance in nicking the gold medal away from him at the Finals. He didn't exactly trust the lovesick idiot to help him much with his programs, but he needed all the help he could get to perfect his programs. He would have to be better than that JJ, just so he could laugh back in his face. 

 After the medal ceremony, Yuri returned to the locker room with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and his silver medal around his neck, whistling the tune of one of his favourite songs. He longed for a nice meal and a good night's sleep, because he didn't really sleep that well the night before the Free Skate, with all the PDA nightmares haunting him and whatnot. The nightmare involved him being the priest of Victor and Yuuri's wedding, like he would ever agree to hosting their wedding.

 He grimaced, and pulled out his Team Russia jacket. He stuck his medal into his skate bag, deciding that he should probably keep his bouquet of flowers as decoration. 

 When he stepped out of the locker room, he was welcomed (read: cornered) by an entire legion of reporters and journalists alike, holding out microphones and video recorders to him eagerly. 

 What the actual hell.

 One thing he was sure of: They definitely weren't here to congratulate him on his performance.

 Oh, crap.

 ' YURI PLISETSKY, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR COACH AND SKATER KATSUKI'S RELATIONSHIP?'

 ' IS IT AN OFFICIAL CHALLENGE ISSUED TO SKATER KATSUKI ON YOUR BEHALF?'

 ' DID VICTOR TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT? OR DID YOU CHALLENGE SKATER KATSUKI?'

 ' DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN FOLLOW VICTOR'S FOOTSTEPS AND DEFEAT SKATER KATSUKI?' 

 ' WILL WE SEE A PLISETSKY-KATSUKI RIVALRY IN THE FUTURE??? WILL IT BE LIKE THE NIKIFOROV-KATSUKI RIVALRY?'

 ' CAN YOU COMMENT ON VICTOR AND YUURI'S RELATIONSHIP? WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?'

  It took every willpower in Yuri's body not to scream in rage on the spot and summon all the demons in the world to take Victor's soul. 

 ***

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 @katsukiyuuri_fc  @vnikiforov_fc It's your fault

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 What now

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 What

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Our precious Yuratchka was cornered by an entire bunch of reporters after his skate D:

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Can't they see how tired he is?!

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Our precious baby needs rest!!!

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Ooooookay?

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Don't you dare drag our Yuratchka into this mess too!!!!!! D:< 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Ooookay.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 I think he yelled at the reporters and blundered his way out.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Well, Yuratchka is cool B)

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 Okay. Okay. *slides away*    

Chapter Text

Yuri was so angry at Victor for causing the entire Cornered-Outside-Locker-Room disaster that he refused to speak to him for days. He was pretty much ready to drop to the floor on his knees and let the reporters devour him when Mila walked past with Sala and bravely rescued him by lifting him over her shoulders (the only time Yuri appreciated her lifts). They fled the place while everyone was still in awe of her incredible arm strength. 

 On the domestic flight back to St.Petersburg, Yuri nearly splashed his orange juice at Victor twice and even Yakov was turning a blind eye against Yuri's full out rudeness because he TOO was ambushed by reporters asking him to make a comment on the Katsuki/Nikiforov rivalry continuation - once when he was walking to the hotel and once when he was on his way back to the hotel - naturally, he was also mad at Victor (murderously so). 

 Eventually, he did have to talk to Victor again because the GPF was coming up soon, and as much as he hated to admit it, Victor was an experienced competitor with loads of advice. But he was so fed up with all the suggestive winks Victor sent towards him whenever he was using his phone (Skyping his boyfriend) and when Yakov wasn't looking, he blatantly made kissy faces at the screen (knowing that Yuri was looking in the same direction). 

 Yuri resorted to Googling 'how to calm down in 10 seconds' on his phone. When the breathing exercise and meditation music failed, he started praying to whatever deity that would listen to him. He wished he had never known about their relationship in the first place.

( ' When something is known, it cannot be unknown,' Georgi would say dramatically.) 

 ***

 Yuri's journey to Barcelona started off badly because he was ambushed by the Yuri's Angels (Universal division, since they were basically everywhere) and was forced to take selfies with them. Then JJ and his fiancee had to show up to diss his fans. He also got a brief taste of Otabek Altin's permanent asshole scowl, but he did respect the guy for turning JJ down.

 ' Where is Victor?' Yakov turned around to look, after he was done with checking in. 

 Obviously he has run off to find his boyfriend, Yuri rolled his eyes. His phone buzzed.

vicnikiforov: No need to wait for me :DDD I'm up at the pool with Chris :333

russianpunk: Shockers, I thought you will be with your man. >:/ 

vicnikiforov: I would have wanted to :( But my sleeping beauty is jet-lagged. 

russianpunk: Ugh. Whatever. 

 ' He's with Chris,' Yuri announced to the rest of the Russians.

 ' What?! Giacometti?' Yakov growled. ' If those two get into any trouble again... I swear to god...'

 Mila giggled hysterically. Everyone remembered the glorious incident all too well. Chris and Victor downed four bottles of champagne in a hotel room and when they were starting to feel light-headed and tipsy, they started to dance in the corridors wearing nothing but a white towel around their waists. Apology letters, some cash, lots of bowing and hair on Yakov's part were needed to sweep the entire incident under the carpet before the local reporters got wind of what had happened. Still, several hotel guests spotted them, including Mila, who was with them for her JGP. She was only 14 at the time. 

 ( ' When something is seen, it cannot be unseen.' ' Shut up, Georgi.' ) 

 ' They're at the pool,' Yuri said.

 ' Fine. I don't think any of the other guests will be going to the pool in such a cold weather like this. They can run around naked and singing, for all I care,' Yakov said grimly. ' Well, let's go up before anymore of the Angels arrive.'

 Yuri couldn't agree more.

 ***

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels 

 Hi hi hi! We have uploaded all the selfies with Yuratchka! Go and tag yourself on it! 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 Omg you guys are in Barcelona? That's a lot of people! 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels  

 Oh that's our Universal division. We go everywhere Yuratchka goes.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 That's um, dedicated. Did you see the rest of Team Yakov??? 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels   

 Well, there's Yakov, Mila Babicheva and Madam Lilia. Your Victor is nowhere to be found.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Noooooo :((((( Where is he?

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc   

 Oh, Victor's not here? 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 What is that supposed to mean?! 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc    

 Nothing, nothing.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels  

 Oi, before you two start fighting on our perfectly innocent Yuratchka thread...

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels  

 GET OUT! 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels  

 Yuratchka is such an adorable sweetheart awww what a gentleman

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

 Ummm not sure if you noticed... But Yuri looks kinda mad in all the photos

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels  

 Nonsense. He defended us from JJ :333333333 kyaaaa he's such a gentleman 

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc  

 Okay. Fair enough.   

***

  Yuri had no idea why his life was like this.

 He was trying to Google Map his way to Sagrada Familia, enjoying a perfectly Victor-less afternoon when all of a sudden thirty of his Angels (all sporting cat-ear headbands) popped out of nowhere to pursue him down the streets. The pedestrians probably thought he was in the middle of a gang fight or something.

 He hid into an alley and was fearing for his life as the Angels started to sniff the ground like bloodhounds. 

 ' Yuri, get on,' A voice said. 

 What the hell. Otabek Altin?! On a motorbike?! 

 ' Huh?! You're...'

 ' YURATCHKA!!! YURATCHKA!!!'

 ' HERE YOU ARE!!!!!' 

 ' EH?!!! THAT'S OTABEK ALTIN!!!! OH MY GOD!' 

 Otabek tossed him a helmet, ' Are you coming or not?'

 And that was how Yuri fled from his fangirls on Otabek's motorbike.

 He did enjoy a Victor-less afternoon in the end. It was good to catch up with Otabek in the glorious sunset, and he had no idea he met the Kazakhstan skater in the past. 

 It was the first real friend he made, not counting his annoying rink mates and Yuuri. 

 ***

 Yuri was sitting in a nice restaurant with Otabek, and he was in the middle of telling him about Puma Tiger Scorpion when a sultry voice next to him said, ' Oya? What is our little Yuri doing with Otabek Altin?'

 Curses, Yuri thought moodily. 

 Freaking Chris Giacometti and Victor Nikiforov had found them, and Yuri's precious Victor-less time had come to an end. 

 Otabek didn't seem fazed by their appearances, and asked, ' Are you here for dinner?' 

 ' Certainly,' Victor said, wiggling his eyebrows. ' The food here is simply superb. Pull up a chair.' 

 ' Go away, don't sit here!' Yuri hissed furiously. 

 ' Are we interrupting something?' Chris put his hand over his mouth in mock concern. 

  ' Otabek doesn't mind, does he?' Victor asked. 

 Say you mind, come on, Yuri begged desperately but Otabek said stoically, ' No, I don't mind.'

 Victor grinned triumphantly, and Yuri had a sudden urge to punch him in his face.

 The two men ordered some beer. 

 ' Consider this as a friendly pre GPF dinner,' Chris said, smiling.

 Otabek pointed out dispassionately, ' Not everyone is here.' 

 Chris shrugged, ' Well, I don't see Yuuri or Phichit or JJ anywhere... That's that.'

 Yuri discreetly mouthed at Victor, so... does Chris know about you and Yuuri? 

 No, Victor mouthed back. It's better to keep it a secret from... um, Chris. 

  What a surprise. Yuri had thought Victor would talk to his annoying Swiss best friend about everything. 

 ' Ah! Speak of the devil! Isn't that Phichit and Yuuri?' Chris perked up.  

Chapter Text

 No one spoke for the first half hour of the meal, save for the occasional clinking of silverware and plates. Chris almost looked terrified to sit at the same table as Yuuri and Victor, while Phichit could hardly conceal his wicked grin. 

 As Yuri spooned seafood paella into his mouth in complete silence, he wondered how the self-proclaimed Love Expert Extraordinaire (Chris) didn't know that something dubious was obviously going on between the Japanese and Russian skater. He prided himself on his matchmaking skills, because at least 10 ice-dancing couples were dating, thanks to his intervention. He himself was dating an ex Swiss ice dancer too. 

 Well yeah, Chris had always been low-key terrified of sitting at the same table as Yuuri and Victor to notice anything. No, no, no, he was in excellent terms with the both of them. But whenever the both of them sat down at the same table, let it be a press conference or a formal ISU dinner, something had to happen. The pole-dancing was one of those instances, and Chris actually enjoyed that one. However, not all of them were enjoyable. It was unpredictable like that. 

 Once, Chris had to skip dessert because he swore the tension was killing him.

 Phichit Chulanont was grinning from ear to ear. Yuri guessed he also knew about the secret (the Thai skater must be very astute thanks to his constant exposure to the public media), but was sworn not to tell in front of anyone. At least he looked like he was trying to keep it a secret. 

 Otabek had reverted to his stony facial expression. 

 At last, it seemed that Chris was too tired of the silence. He spoke up uncertainly, which wasn't like him, ' Uhhhhhhh. So what's up, fam?'

 ' What's up?' Phichit repeated, excited that someone had started a conversation. ' Why, I'm excited! It's my first GPF! It's going to be great! I'm going to take so many selfies... And do you think the ISU will let me overtake their Instagram story for one day? It's gonna be epic! My followers will love it!'

 Even Otabek was bewildered by Phichit's excited onslaught of words, he frowned, ' They rarely let skaters overtake their Instagram story. Besides that... you have to compete. How are you going to take pictures for them?'

 ' Ohhh, right,' Phichit said, sounding disappointed. ' Hmm... Then maybe I can take over at the banquet! They'll let me do a livestream of the banquet, right? It'll definitely earn them more followers. I mean... Skaters in formal dress! That's something. It's going to be so cool!'

 ' Oh, yes!' Chris's eyes lit up. ' The banquet is going to be epic.'

 ' Chris!!!' Victor growled. ' The Pact!' 

 Oh, god, no, Yuri thought, the memories of last year's GPF banquet flooding into his brain all over again. No, no, no, don't you even dare remind me of that...

  ' What Pact?' Phichit perked up. 

  ' Nothing!' Victor yelped, looking like a deer in headlights. ' Nothing happened!' 

 ' It doesn't look like nothing has happened,' Phichit stared at him suspiciously. 

 Even Yuuri seemed so confused, ' What do you mean?' 

 At that, Yuri realised one thing. YUURI HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE SOCHI BANQUET?! HOW?! 

 Perhaps he was too drunk... He downed sixteen glasses of champagne, his mind provided helpfully. He can't even remember what he had done... The breakdancing... The Pole-dancing... And... The... Oh, that's so awkward... They were probably having a lover's spat before it too. 

  ' Ohhh, it was fun,' Chris said, ignoring Victor (The Love Expert Extraordinaire is back!!!). ' The best banquet of my life.' He took a sip of beer. 

 Yuuri blinked at him owlishly, ' What? It was pretty uneventful. Well, banquets have always been boring. Especially last year. I was all by myself at the banquet, I didn't even talk to anyone.'

 Chris spat out his mouthful of beer, wiped his mouth and turned to Victor immediately, ' WHAT?! Yuuri, you don't remember what had happened last year?! The champagne? The dance?'

 ' WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?!' Phichit demanded eagerly. ' WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE DANCE?!' 

 Otabek continued to eat. 

 Victor face-palmed himself. 

 Yuri groaned. 

 Even Yuuri was having trouble keeping his charade up. ' What?! What do you mean?'

 ' Forgive me, Victor, mon amie, but this story is too good to be forgotten. Yuuri, you got drunk on champagne and started dancing,' Chris smiled. ' Everyone saw it.' 

 ' HUH?!' Yuuri shouted.

 Oh well... The truth is out anyways... 

 ' It was ummmm,' Yuri struggled to find the correct English word for the strange experience. ' Anyways... I was dragged into a dance-off.'

 ' Yuri!!! The Pact!!!' Victor gasped, horrified. ' We must not speak of this again! We agreed on that!'

 Yuri shrugged, ' Chris broke it anyways.'

 Yuuri was too distraught to care about the whatever Pact that had taken place behind his back, ' WHAT?! DANCE-OFF!? WITH YURI?!'

 ' I did mine with a pole-dance,' Chris reminisced dreamily. ' Half-naked.' 

 Yuuri's face at this point resembled The Scream by Edvard Munch, and he was also staring at Victor with betrayal and terror. 

 ' Victor, you have all the videos, show them,' Chris said.

 ' What the hell!?' Victor shrieked. 

 ' YOU HAVE VIDEOS?!!! WHAT?!! WHY AM I NOT INFORMED OF THIS? HUH?!' Yuuri yelled at Victor in abject horror. 

 Chris backed away, assuming Yuuri was going to smite Victor. 

 ' OOO OOO OOH!!!' Phichit was grinning so much. ' I wanna see! I wanna see!!!!!!!!!' 

 ' Here you go,' Chris said, handing Phichit his phone while keeping an eye on Yuuri, in case he wanted to hit him as well.

 ' Wowwww wait what?!' Phichit goggled at the photos. ' Yuuri, that's so dirty! Send them to me, Chris! I want 'em all!' 

 ' OH MY GOD!!! DON'T SEND IT TO PHICHIT! DON'T LOOK!!!!!' Yuuri tried to seize Chris's phone, but Phichit was holding him off with the skill of a basketball player while scrolling through Chris's photo gallery with one hand. 

 Victor had wilted away on the table. Yuri guessed he must have been trying hard to keep the shocking truth away from Yuuri, who had a heart made of glass. 

 ' HOLY!!! IS THAT YUURI BALLROOM DANCING WITH VICTOR?!!' Phichit screamed. ' OH. MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!'

 At this, Otabek stopped eating and started slow-clapping. 

 ' Ummm, yeah,' Chris said sheepishly. ' That was a little unexpected... Ummmm.... Because... Er.......' He must have mistaken Yuuri's expression for disgust. 

 ' YOU TWO SHOULD GET MARRIED!' Phichit said, his eyes shining. ' GO AND GET YOURSELVES WEDDING RINGS BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED!! AWW!' 

 ' WHAT?!!!!!!!' Yuuri gasped at his best friend. 

 Chris became anxious, ' Er, Phichit... That's not a good idea...' 

  Poor Chris, he's confused, Yuri held up a plate to shield his face as Yuuri began to shriek in Japanese.

***

 Victor lifted his head, appearing to process Phichit's words.

 The others were probably to flustered to care, but he started to grin thoughtfully... 

Chapter Text

 Yuri woke up to find that he had somehow fallen onto the floor in the middle of the night. 

 He grunted, sat up and rubbed at his throbbing back. He was quite used to waking up on the floor in the morning (with Potya sitting proudly on his chest like a conquering hero), but still, the floor was stone cold. 

 It was 7 in the morning, which meant he was up waaaaay too early. The first warm-up session wasn't until 11 and Yakov only asked his team to go down for breakfast at 9. 

 And Victor was probably outside or being disgusting with Yuuri. He wouldn't even be surprised if they actually went to a church and got married. 

 (He hoped not, because everyone would probably die from the shock and the last thing he needed would be the cancellation of the competition.) 

 He decided to stretch his legs and go down for a walk, just to calm himself down before his first GPF in his senior career. It wasn't exactly wise to stroll down to the streets with half of the Yuri's Angels crawling about to sniff for his hair like bloodhounds, so he chose to go down to the bridge that Victor told him about. It wasn't exactly a tourist hotspot, so he shouldn't bump into anyone. 

 He picked out the largest and baggiest hoodie he could find at the bottom of his suitcase, made sure the hood covered his entire head before marching out of his hotel room. 

 No one was at the lobby, save for a few tourists in thick padded jackets, excited for a day of shopping. Safe. 

 The bridge wasn't that far away, and it was located next to the ocean. The place was pretty, not that he was ever going to tell Victor about this (he called him an idiot for liking oceans). 

 There were not much cars passing by at this hour, so he could just enjoy the morning, bathe in the comforting wind and close his eyes... 

 ' WHASSUP FOLLOWERS THIS IS PHICHIT CHULANONT AND HERE I AM NEXT TO, ER, I DON'T KNOW WHERE, DOING A TOUR!!! I KNOW I KNOW, I DID PROMISE TO DO A VLOG SO HERE I AM! IT FEELS KINDA NICE OUT HERE. MAN I WISH I BROUGHT MY HAMSTERS, THEY WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS AWESOME PLACE. WHAT? OH, ANSWERING FOLLOWER @butterfly-blue's QUESTION, MY COUSIN IS TAKING CARE OF MY HAMSTERS SO NO WORRIES! THEY'RE ALRIGHT. YES, HAMSTERS ARE AMAZING CREATURES.' 

 Yuri had a mad urge to throttle whoever that dared to disturb the precious silence. It turned out it was Phichit Chulanont, filming everything in his sight using a selfie stick, striking ungainly poses and basically acting crazy.

 Good god, Yuri suppressed a groan, as the hyperactive Thai ranted loudly about hamsters to his followers (?). There goes my quiet morning. DON'T HE DARE FILM ME AS WELL-

 ' AS I WAS SAYING TO MY PAL- OH WOW!!! THAT'S YURI PLISETSKY!!! COME ON GUYS!!! WHAT A WONDROUS OCCASION!' Phichit ran towards him, and Yuri barely had time to utter a quiet curse when he was nearly poked in the eye by Phichit's selfie stick. 

 ' HELLO YURI!!!' Phichit shouted into Yuri's face. ' SAY HI TO MY FOLLOWERS.' 

 ' YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOUT,' Yuri roared back, as if they were on the opposite ends of a football court instead of being next to each other. 

 ' YOU JUST DID,' Phichit grinned and shouted back with equal volume.

 Yuri seethed, ' Can you not poke this thing in my face? Can you just go vlog somewhere else?'

 ' No, it's a followers' request, see?' Phichit said, pointing at his phone. It was the Instagram live function and at the bottom of the screen, hearts kept popping out like mad and the comment box was exploding.

 phichitfanatic: OMG IT'S YURI PLISETSKY <33333333333 CUTEEEE

skating-queen: OMG WHAT IS YURI PLISETSKY DOING HERE IS HE FRIENDS WITH PHICHIT WHY DIDN'T I KNOWWW

 toep1cker: LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!

 hamsterrainbow: YOU SHOULD DO A COLLAB WITH YURI! HE NEVER DOES VLOGS 

 lutzlooper: IKR PHICHIT SHOULD INTRODUCE HIS HAMSTERS TO POTYA THEY CAN BE ANIMAL BUDDIES

 yuri-plisetsky-fan: omg omg omg omg omg omggggggggggggggg

 plisetskaya: I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE YURI IN PHICHIT'S INSTAGRAM STORY AND HERE HE IS OMGGGGGGGGG WHAT A SURPRISE

 pop_.tartskate: DAWWW YURI LOOKS GRUMPY :DDD

 vityaforlyfe: WHERE IS VITYAAAA

 Angel-of-Yuri: SOMEONE INFORM THE MAIN UNIT YURATCHKA IS SPOTTED!!!

 Proud.angel: OMG YES SOMEONE INFORM THE MAIN UNIT! 

 The final two comments were slightly... Worrying.

 ' Screw this, stop this blasted thing!!!' Yuri tried to wrestle for Phichit's phone. 

 ' Okay, followers, you've heard this. See you later! I'll be around at, um, around 11! Remember to tune in!' The Thai skater pouted and gingerly plucked his phone off the selfie stick. ' Sheesh, why do you have to be so angry all the time? It's 7 in the morning. Cheer up.'

 ' Goddammit!!! You gave away my location!' Yuri shouted furiously. He imagined that the Yuri's Angels would be over to this direction any minute.

 He could almost hear the clomping and shrieking sounds. 

 ' Whooooops, really? Sorry about that. Fans can be... um, troublesome sometimes. Don't tell them I said that,' Phichit didn't sound apologetic. ' I guess it's our cue to leave?'

 Still fuming, Yuri stormed away, and Phichit tagged behind him closely. 

 ' Oi, where are you going?' Phichit sang cheerfully. 

 ' Back to the hotel, duh,' Yuri grouched, hoping that he would take the hint and just leave him alone. 

 ' Cool, I'm headed back to the hotel too for breakfast,' Phichit said, not noticing/ignoring Yuri's anger. 

 ' Whatever,' Yuri rolled his eyes. ' I don't care.'

  He tried to walk faster, but Phichit was fast too. 

 ' Probably shouldn't be discussing this out here,' Phichit said lightly. ' But congratulations for joining the Victuuri fan club! Yuuri has told me all about it. It's quite lonely since I'm the only member so I'll be glad to show you around.'

 Yuri stopped walking abruptly and spluttered, ' What?! Fan club?! Hell no I'm not in it!!!'

 Phichit gaped, ' WHAT. How can you not be a Victuuri shipper after hearing about it?! This is outrageous! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!'

 ' Honestly, I don't really care,' Yuri scowled. ' And can you calm down before you wake up the entire street?!'  

 ' You cannot not care about Victuuri!' Phichit insisted. ' It's the most shippable ship in the entire universe!!! Star-crossed lovers that are mistaken as rivals, so that their romance can only be happen in the dark and they can never show their affection to the public!!! FORBIDDEN LOVE, MAN! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO HATE EACH OTHER TOO...  DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW PRIVILEGED WE ARE TO BE PART OF THIS ENTIRE THING?! WE KNOW SOMETHING OTHERS DON'T... I FEEL SO HONOURED. IT'S LIKE THEY'RE THE ROMEO AND JULIET OF FIGURE SKATING!!! Imagine!!! How beautiful this is! All the trials and tribulations... All the misunderstandings... They were so close to breaking up too last year...'

 ' What. Why?' 

 That caught Yuri's attention. 

 Phichit beamed triumphantly, ' SEE? YOU DO CARE!!!' 

 ' I SAID I DON'T,' Yuri bellowed, and a couple pedestrians on the street stared at him weirdly. ' IT'S JUST... JUST...' 

 Phichit grinned broadly, ' Naw naw naw, it's pointless to resist. Come with me, my Padawan.'

 ' Like hell I am your Padawan,' Yuri said vehemently.

 ' Whatever! I'm sure you want to know about it,' Phichit said excitedly. ' Did you ever wonder why Yuuri wanted to retire and all of a sudden he is back? Or why he disappeared?' 

 ' And... I guess... It won't hurt,' Yuri muttered grudgingly. 

 ( He did want to know.)

Chapter Text

 2015 Sochi Grand Prix Finals 

Yuuri stuffed his skates and costume into his sports bag and slammed his locker shut. 

 ' Yuuri! Where were you?' Victor demanded, walking into the locker room. ' Why did you miss the medalist press conference? We were all looking for you.'

 ' Didn't feel like it,' Yuuri said blandly, and prepared to walk past Victor.

 Victor grabbed his arm, ' Yuuri! Can you look at me? We need to talk about you. What happened today? You were fine yesterday.' There was a accusatory tone to his words. 

 Yuuri tugged away from him, ' Can we not talk about this? I'm tired.'

 ' Really, Yuuri, I thought you were going to get a gold medal this time-' 

 Irritated, Yuuri shouted, ' And I'll never get a gold medal! I'll never be good enough.'

 Victor's eyes widened, ' That's not what I meant-' 

 ' You know what, Victor, there are certain dreams that will not come true, no matter how hard you work,' Yuuri said forlornly. ' And unfortunately, that's the case for my dreams because I'm nowhere good enough. So let's end this.'

 Victor was nearly panicking, ' What??! End what, Yuuri?!'

 ' I... I need to calm down,' Yuuri said, and pushed past him. ' Just leave me alone.' 

 Victor was rooted to the spot, not sure whether he was more hurt or shocked. It felt like every bone in his body was broken and his breath was knocked out of him.

 Great, he must have acted like an 'stupid, insensitive jerk' again, as Yura would put it.

 Speaking of the devil, Yuri poked his head into the locker room with a scowl on his face.

 He couldn't let anyone know what had happened. So he smiled forcefully at his young rink mate and ruffled his hair, ' Kotenok, where were you?'

 Yuri snarled at him and swatted away his hand, ' Don't mess up my hair, geezer!'

 Ah, Yura, ever a lovely ray of sunshine.

 He sometimes wondered what Yuri would say when he found out about their relationship. He would most likely scream, swear and kick at him. Nah. It wasn't like they would kiss in front of him, right?

 His internal musing stopped when he realised that Yuuri might have just broken up with him. 

 ' Are you ready to go?' He said calmly, to hide how upset he was. 

 ' Yah.'

 They were walking in awkward silence along the corridors. In order to pretend like everything was fine, Victor said cheerfully, ' Yuri. About your performance, the step sequence could use more-'

 Yuri glared at him, ' I won, so who cares? Quit nagging Victor. You are going to become a nagging old man like Yakov anytime soon.'

 And cue Yakov! He was right in front!

 Yakov puffed up and started to yell at Yuri,' HEY YURI!!! YOU CAN'T TALK THAT WAY FOREVER!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!!!' And Victor took that as an opportunity to cool down and think about what he should do.

 In his line of sight, was Yuuri, with his Italian coach Celestino (Ciao Ciao). He appeared to be talking to a Japanese newscaster. For a few seconds, Yuuri caught him looking and stared back.  

 Then, he jumped, and made a beeline for the exit.

 ' Yuuri!' His coach was calling after him.

 He was probably staring at the exit with such a sad expression, so Yuri snapped behind him, ' Tsk. Why do you even care?'

  ' Care about what? What do you mean?' He tried for an innocent expression.

 Yuri growled at him, '  You were staring. Leave the guy alone, will you? Don't go oh no I only beat him by how many points I don't feel that good and all that crap. I don't give a damn whether you really hate him secretly like the tabloids speculate, but please. Leave the guy alone.'

 Am I really being that annoying and insensitive? Whether Yuri knew the truth about them or not, he was right. 

 ' I didn't say I hate him,' He reassured his rink mate. 

 Yuri wasn't quite done yet, ' As if! You guys were legit glaring at each other at Trophee de France! I am not stupid you know-'

 ' YURI! I WAS TALKING TO YOU!!! WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?'

 ' NO.'

 Victor did a mental face-palm, and all the screaming took his mind off Yuuri for a little while.

***

  When Yuuri didn't contact him again after the banquet, Victor was getting increasingly upset. 

 Yakov told them that he had withdrawn from the rest of the skating season, which meant he had given up, lost his interest in skating or lost hope in getting a gold medal completely. 

 Apart from Yuri's constant accusation of him being interested in Yuuri (he was oh so close to the actual truth), he was having a tough time figuring out what to do, as it wouldn't help even if he tried to bombard Yuuri's mail. Their relationship was hanging in limbo. 

 A small part of him hoped that if he skated a perfect Stammi Vicino program at Europeans, maybe Yuuri would see that he should continue to skate. And so he did, skating a clean program with a lot more emotions, earning him a near record breaking score and causing Yura to retch and squawk in disgust. 

 Still, another bomb had dropped upon him the week before World Championships, when Yuuri announced that he would split from Celestino and return to Hasetsu, hinting strongly that he was going to retire.

 That was the last straw. Victor would have none of that. 

 He needed to do something... Quick... To change Yuuri's mind. 

 Of course, he could persuade (read: force) him to participate in one more skating season, and he could purposely screw up his jumps and pretend to slip on the ice while going into a camel spin so Yuuri could win instead. But no, Yuuri would never accept that. He wouldn't win the competition fair and square. And it contradicted with Victor's moral rights as a sportsman. 

 After skating yet another perfect program at World (Yuri said he looked like a lovesick idiot) and careful consideration, he had come up with the best solution ever in the history of best solutions. 

 A solution, where Victor could pave a perfect path to the gold medal for Yuuri, without him screwing up on purpose, breaking the code of sportsmanship and yada yada. 

 Upon being asked about his future plans at the press conference, he took a deep breath and smiled, ' I have decided to take a break from competing next season.' 

 ' I am going to co-coach my Junior, Yuri Plisetsky instead,' He continued. ' Thank you very much for your support. Hope to see you all soon at his first GP qualifier! We're going to have a wonderful time together.'

 And he watched the world crumble into pieces. 

 It took him nearly an hour to get out of the rink, with all the reporters crowding around him, frantically demanding for explanations. ' No comment,' He said cheerfully. A few steps behind him, Mila was expertly hefting an unconscious Yakov on the shoulder with her new bronze medal glinting merrily on her chest, unfazed by the raging all around her. She was also the one to help Chris's coach out (Yakov collapsed on top of him), praise the world for strong, fearless female skaters. 

 ' Do you need help?' Victor asked, feeling like he should be the one to lug Yakov.

 ' Nope, it's fine,' She said nonchalantly. ' It's like a weight lifting exercise.' 

 ' That's good to know, and- LOOK OUT!' 

 She nearly knocked Yakov against a magazine stand. 

 ' You know what, Victor, grab his legs.'

 ' ...Got that.' 

***

 Victor had just arrived at the safety of his hotel room, when his phone jingled. 

 He had 3 messages from Yuuri.

 His heart leaped to his throat, as he unlocked his phone with shaking hands.

katsudonyuuri: Is that a joke or something?

katsudonyuuri: Victor Nikiforov answer me immediately

katsudonyuuri: Victor!!!

vicnikiforov: Yuuri!!!! <3 You finally texted me!!! Sorry, I had to get your attention

katsudonyuuri: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! 

katsudonyuuri: YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! YOU ARE GOING TO RETIRE?!

vicnikiforov: No, I'm not retiring. I'm just taking a break, and training for my future career as a coach. 

katsudonyuuri: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! 

vicnikiforov: Look, Yuuri, you have to get back to competition next year.

katsudonyuuri: I TOLD YOU IT DOESN'T COUNT IF YOU'RE PURPOSELY SCREWING UP UP!

vicnikiforov: What? I'm not purposely screwing up! How can I screw up when I'm not even in the competition? ;) 

katsudonyuuri: ...

vicnikiforov: Yup I know, that's genius XD 

katsudonyuuri: I don't know what to say.

vicnikiforov: Well, it's not cheating so who cares?

katsudonyuuri: Are you seriously telling me that you are purposely withdrawing from the competition so I don't have a rival? 

vicnikiforov: One minor setback, Yura is moving to seniors next year, so you still have a rival! But isn't this refreshing? :DDD

katsudonyuuri: ...

 vicnikiforov: Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuri please compete! If you don't, I'm coaching Yura for nothing! D: 

 katsudonyuuri: I thought you said you are training for your future career as a coach. 

 vicnikiforov: Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuri D: 

 katsudonyuuri: I'll think about it. 

 Victor huffed, setting his phone aside. That was better than nothing.  

Chapter Text

2016 Grand Prix Finals 

Yuri showed up for breakfast at the hotel lobby at 9am on the dot, and realised that the entire team was already there.

 After listening to Phichit's very dramatic tale of what actually happened between the Old Man and Yuuri (aka the Old Man's very bold attempt to make Yuuri stay in competition), he was fuming. 

So that was why the Old Man wanted to coach him! Just to make him a decent opponent for Yuuri in the field, like some kind of a pawn on the chessboard. 

Yuri wasn't sure whether he was supposed to feel betrayed or what. But as annoying as the Old Man was, he wasn't quite the type to wish him ill, so maybe he wanted to push him to win as well...?

 It was just confusing. 

 And what even was their deal with gold medals? 

 Well yes, everyone competed in hopes of winning the competition and getting the gold medal, but Yuri just couldn't see why the two of them fussed that much about a piece of metal. 

 He had an urge to grab the jug of orange juice and splash its contents (including that infuriating maraschino cherry with a smiley face carved on it) in his smug face right there, but no, that would mean public humiliation for both of them. The last thing he needed would be the ISU suspending him from competition for misconduct, even though technically, Victor wasn't a competitor. He was still the ISU's golden boy. 

 ' Good morning, Yura,' Victor had the nerve to smile sweetly at him and offered him a plate.

 Yakov was digging into his mountain of toast with the most depressed expression yet. Lilia was delicately sipping on a cup of coffee. And Mila was gingerly dipping chunks of jam-spread muffin into her sweetened tea, which was probably another one of her weird food quirks.

 Mila might be a decent cook, but her so-called 'sports foods' were suspicious. 

 She once claimed that her special diet plan equipped her with stamina and the ability to lift people. Yuri knew better than to taste her dubious looking spinach, coconut milk and strawberry smoothie that was somehow pale blue.

 Yuri shot him an angry look, and took a bite of a churro more aggressively than he had intended. 

 ' Wow,' Mila said with a generous mouthful of her muffin. ' What's with the temper early in the morning? If you get too angry, you can't skate Agape properly. You're going to look like an angry goose flailing around.'

 ' Ugh,' Yuri grumbled, unable to think of a witty response to that. 

 ' So!' Victor was rubbing his hands together gleefully and leaned towards him. ' I've heard you made a new friend this morning! Good job! This has to be the first time you've willingly spoken to someone.' 

 ' What friend?' Yuri glared murderously at him. 

 Excuse him. He spoke to Otabek before. 

 Victor exclaimed, ' Good old Phichit! Weren't you on a morning run near the bridge with him? Your Angels were quite disappointed when they arrived at the scene several minutes later. I think you should make it up to them by giving out your autographs.' 

 ' His goddamn live stream...' Yuri muttered to himself, immensely grateful that he had fled the place on time and unscathed. 

  Yakov pushed away his food, ' You all had better hurry with eating. We need to get to the rink as soon as possible.'

 ' But the official practice starts at 11,' Victor protested. ' It's still 9.'

 Lilia harrumphed, ' Yuri can practice his off-ice jumps and stretch for a bit at the warm-up zone before the other skaters arrive.'

 ' Fine.'

***

 Yuri stretched for a bit at the warm-up zone on a yoga mat, enjoying the loud rock music blaring from his headphones. He deserved a bit of, um, peace. 

 He had the warm-up zone to himself for half an hour, until some obnoxious screaming (that managed to get past the acoustics of his favourite rock band) signified the much dreaded arrival of King JJ and his family. 

 Ugh.

 He scooted off to the furthest corner with the rest of his sporting gear, hoping JJ would not speak to him directly. 

 Fortunately, the Canadian skater was busy talking to a bunch of starstruck female reporters, who were too busy swooning and flirting to jot down what he had just said. 

 Ugh, Yuri rolled his eyes.

 ' Yuri Plisetsky, focus on your movement,' Lilia said. ' You look disgraceful now.' 

 Shortly afterwards, Phichit Chulanont rushed into the warm-up zone noisily, his coach chasing desperately after him and apologising profusely to some of the officials. He was holding his infuriating selfie stick again, and was doing some kind of a Q&A thing with his live viewers. Something along the lines of ' Aww, @bbEight, of course there will be someone who looks at you like how I look at my hamsters! Yes, I'm sure!' and ' @raspberry_pi No, I've never thought dressing up as hamtaro in my exhibition!!! Wow! What a wonderful idea! I might do this at the Thai Nationals... Maybe I can ask Yuuri to get me a hamtaro onesie from Japan.' 

 Phichit looked away from his phone for a brief second and spotted Yuri. He tilted his phone towards him, so that his followers could see him as well.

 ' WOW, spotted my new friend Yuri Plisetsky again! Should I get a selfie with him someday? Or should I do a vlog with him?'  

 Yuri resisted the urge to bonk his head on the floor. 

 ' Yuri Plisetsky, focus!' 

***

  He thought that practicing on the ice would calm him a little, but sorry, no.

 He ran through the step sequence of his SP once and skated back towards Victor, eagerly expecting his critiques and advice. Instead, the stupid, besotted Old Man was gazing at the other side of the rink, where the other Yuuri was standing, and sighing to himself.

 ' DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT MY PROGRAM?!' Yuri fumed. ' ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME I SKATED JUST NOW FOR NOTHING?!' 

 ' Vitya,' Yakov said warningly, resting a hand on the sideboards. 

 Victor turned his head towards them slightly, his expression glazed, ' Huh, what?'

 That was the last straw. Yuri let out an angry, wounded roar and bonked his head on the side boards repeatedly, for real this time.

 ' Yuri Plisetsky what are you doing?!' Lilia, who was sitting somewhere near the boards, rushed over to them. 

 ' Oi!' Yakov shouted. 

 A young journalist asked nervously, ' Is he okay?' Several of them were quick to snap photos of Yuri Plisetsky's latest meltdown. 

 Yuri kept bonking his head. 

 ' And Victor Nikiforov what are you looking at?' She demanded, yanking Yuri upwards to prevent him from doing actual damage. 

 Victor said dreamily, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear, ' He's so beautiful. Just look at him.' 

 Lilia raised an eyebrow, ' What?! ' 

 ' Hah?!' Yakov said in disbelief. ' Who are you talking about?!' 

 Everything happened in slow motion, giving Yuri sufficient time to picture how terrible it would be and how screwed the competition was if the secret was let out of the bag at this very moment. 

 Firstly, Yakov would faint. No doubt about this. His coach had a knack for fainting like a damsel in distress every time Victor did something idiotic. One more season like this, Yakov would be retiring early. 

 Secondly, reporters and fans would start to swarm the practice, like hungry ants after honey, possibly trampling him in the process.

 Thirdly, the Internet would crash. The haters, the shippers, the conspiracy theorists would cry, in despair, shock and glee respectively. 

 For the coup de grâce, there would be no more Grand Prix Finals or figure skating or anything like that, because the world would literally end. Who else would have the time to watch a competition when the world was crumbling to ashes around them? 

 Yuri couldn't envision what position he would be in all of this. Maybe he should pull a Luke Skywalker and live as a hermit with Potya on an inhabited island for the rest of his life. Only if he could get his hands on an X-wing fighter... 

 And no, he wouldn't leave any clues or maps behind. He didn't want to be found. 

 Everything went back to normal again. 

 Yuri blinked. 

 No. He couldn't let this happen!!! His senior debut!!! It couldn't be ruined by the Old Man!!! He didn't know if GPFs had been cancelled in the past... 

 For god's sake the GPF could NOT be cancelled in his first year as a senior! 

 ' Don't listen to him he's drunk!!!' Yuri snarled. ' I saw him chugging on some vodka!' 

 ' I'm not drunk,' Victor said dazedly, not noticing at how screwed they were. ' He's so gorgeous.'

 Yakov's eyes bulged. 

 Yuri wanted to slap himself in his head. Victor wasn't helping. At all. 

 As a last ditch attempt to salvage this situation, Yuri prayed to the gods of figure skating above for help (or an X-wing so he could fly off to that island), while grabbing his phone to see if anything could help.

 And the gods of figure skating smiled down at him.

 He desperately brandished a photo of Makkachin (Victor spammed him with pictures of Makkachin from time to time even though Yuri had made it clear he was a cat person) in Stammi Vicino costume from Mila's costume birthday party and yelled, ' Seriously? I know you miss the giant poodle! But who on earth calls a poodle beautiful and gorgeous? Stop being stupid!'

 The mood around the area relaxed. 

 Yakov grumbled, ' He does this all the time. We all thought he was going to get married to his poodle someday.'

 Lilia blinked, ' Well... I guess... The poodle is cute.'

 Yuri almost shouted in relief. He couldn't believe this stupid plan actually worked. 

 ' Get back to your skating,' Yakov said sternly. ' I'll watch.' 

 Victor continued to stare off into space, as Yuuri did a flawless Triple Axel. 

 Yuri wished he could hop onto an X-wing and never come back. 

***

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

link

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Awwww!!! Someone posted a video of Victor cooing over Makkachin!!!

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Poodles are the best thing in the world.... 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

I rarely agree with anything you say... But poodles ARE cute.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 What are you doing here again?! I don't remember inviting you. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

Poodles! We love poodles! Poodles are the best! #poodlesrule

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

Of course not! Cats are better #catsrule

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Oh come on.

Chris is Sexy @bemyboyfriend-chris

I KNOW WHAT'S THE BEST

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

What's best?

 Chris is Sexy @bemyboyfriend-chris

CHRIS OF COURSE.

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 ...

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

 ...

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Get. Out.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

Are you lost again? Do I need to direct you to the Chris Appreciation Post again? link

Chris is Sexy @bemyboyfriend-chris

THANKS.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Good, they're gone.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 OMG why was Yuratchka bonking his head on the side!!!!? D:

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Yeah what was he so angry about? He looks like he's gonna pull a Kylo Ren on Victor.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 No waaay.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 What the heck is Victor looking at anyway it doesn't make any sense

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 3:15 OMG THAT 3A IS SOMETHING TO DIE FOR.

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

4:20 PERFECT 3Lz+3T

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Huh what was Victor looking at? 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Looking at Yuuri's perfect 3A?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Of course not. Why would he look at Yuuri?

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

But really, look closely! 

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Because... Yuuri is beautiful and gorgeous?

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 ...

 Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

 Okay I gotta go and do my work so I can catch up with the live showing later.

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 I really have a bad feeling about this

Chapter Text

 The euphoria of breaking Victor's long-held SP record was starting to wear off by the time Yuri got out of his interviews, with a tabby cat plushy tucked under his left arm. He still had no idea how he did it, but Lilia and Yakov agreed he deserved it.

 Meanwhile, JJ had the biggest flop in his entire career, ending up sixth. Yuri was not ashamed to say he actually laughed in vindictive pleasure when he heard the results (something along the lines of TAKE THAT HAHA YOU LOSER LOOK WHO'S THE BETTER ONE NOW ), but he admitted that no one deserved to have such a disastrous skate. Not even a jerk like JJ, whom Yuri disliked with a passion.

 And of all people, Yuuri didn't deserve to be in fourth. Yes, it wasn't his best skate and he touched down on the Quad Flip. But the rotations were there and his final score just didn't make any sense (the PCS was also a joke). Yuri wanted to complain about how he was underscored. And Yakov would probably tell him to mind his own business.

 It wasn't unheard of for someone to rebound from the bottom back to the top . A pair skating duo flopped in their SP at the Worlds last year, but nailed a breathtaking Throw Quad Salchow and a Quad Twist at their FS, bouncing from seventh place to first and earning a new world record at the same time. Yuri wasn't sure whether Yuuri could do it. 

( Yuri wasn't going to let go of his first place finish without a proper fight either.) 

 Oh great, he thought. What is the Old Man going to say now? 

 His question was answered when he turned round the corner to get back to the locker room, and he spotted the very agitated looking Old Man in question.

 ' S'up,' Yuri said, trying hard not to sound concerned and failing. ' How's Yuuri?'

 ' Yuraaaaaaa!!!' Victor wailed in agony, and Yuri had to step aside to avoid being trampled by a fully grown man holding a poodle plushy. ' What am I going to do?' 

 ' Calm down, you crazy Old Man!' Yuri snapped, expertly dodging Victor's hug. ' You're not helping at all. In fact, you're making things worse for him, so stop freaking out.' 

 ' But what if...' His voice dropped to a frantic whisper. ' What if Yuuri doesn't win? What if he doesn't get the gold medal?'

 ' Oi, as much as I love and respect my competitors,' Yuri wrinkled his nose (except for JJ), ' please remember that I also want to win, so please, refrain from talking about the gold medal right now. I'm already confused about the entire situation and therefore don't even want to think about it.' 

 ' B-but!!! We won't be getting married without the gold medal!!! And we're never going to get married! You'll never be the flower boy and Phichit will never be the best man!' Victor was gesticulating and crying with much more theatrics than all of his and Chris's past programs put together, and in short, this meant a real lot. ' Do you know how much it means to us? We've made this promise years and years and years ago! It's Yuuri's dream!'

 ' WHO SAID I WANT TO BE THE FLOWER BOY!!!?' Yuri's mouth twitched and he held up a hand to stop Victor's rambling, ' And, hold on a minute. I have to digest this. So, you are telling me that if he never gets a gold medal, you two are never going to publicly confess your love and get married etc etc etc? And we are talking about the guy you are hopelessly and disgustingly in love with.' 

 Victor blinked, obviously not expecting this, but he said tentatively, ' Um, we did say that we will only get married if Yuuri wins a gold, so I guess... Maybe?'

 ' Oh, oh my god. You, big idiot,' Yuri took a deep breath, anger building up in his chest. He was too outraged to say anything.

 Just a day ago, he wondered why the two of them fussed that much about a gold medal. Now, he thought it was the stupidest idea ever. 

 He was about to shout at Victor about his impossibly low IQ, when he realised that he was far shorter than Victor and it was never going to work effectively. Screw height differences!

 He snarled at him, ' Stay here.'

 And Yuri ran out, in search for something he could stand on. 

 Most people had gone home after the men's SP, which was 'mentally taxing' as put by the NBC commentators, but somehow, he spotted the famous seventh-place-to-first-place duo next to the refreshment table. They were each nursing a cup of gatorade and talking in low voices. 

 Aha!!! He spotted the perfect thing he was looking for - a small, unopened cardboard box of gatorade. 

 The pair skaters looked up from their drinks in shock as the Russian Punk strode towards them. 

 ' Can I have this?' Yuri lifted the box, which was not as heavy as he thought. It seemed sturdy enough, though. 

 ' Uhhh, go ahead...?' The female skater swallowed. 

 The male skater was visibly sweating under Yuri's glare of animosity (which wasn't quite directed towards him), but Yuri didn't want to have any misunderstandings. The last thing he needed would be a long post about how he had somehow become enemies with some pair skaters, so he forced a genuine smile, ' That Throw Quad Salchow was gorgeous. Congratulations.'

 ' Oh, um,' The male skater blinked, mollified. ' Thanks? Congratulations on your world record too.'

 Praise the god of figure skating for nice pair skaters, but Yuri didn't stick around to chat. He was far too angry to make friends or talk about Throw Quad Salchows.

 He returned to the locker room, hefting his box of gatorade and surprisingly, the Old Man actually stayed at the same spot, looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

 Yuri set down the box in front of Victor and stepped on it. 

 Perfect. He was taller than Victor. 

 He proceeded to shout at Victor, ' ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! DO YOU LEGIT LOVE THE GOLD MEDAL MORE THAN YUURI? OR MAYBE YOU DON'T REALLY LIKE HIM THAT MUCH, DO YOU? GODDAMMIT!'

 Victor shook his head frantically, ' No I love him!' 

 ' REALLY? It doesn't feel like it,' Yuri gave him the evil eye. If he had a thesaurus right now, he would be shouting every synonym of 'idiot' he could find in Victor's face. ' You can't seriously be letting a gold medal decide on your entire love life, you idiot! You won't die or anything without a gold medal!'

 ' But...' Victor said, now backing away from Yuri. ' It's our promise! Yuuri said so!' 

 ' Pah! That's entirely your fault!' Yuri scowled. ' I get it. You want to prove that he's strong. But what's wrong with a silver medal? Does it make a skater less capable?' He paused, questioned his own life goals, and frowned, ' Well, maybe it makes a skater seem less capable in my book, so let me rephrase that. Does a silver medal make a skater not capable? And secondly, yeah, we skate because we want to win. But also, we skate because we like skating. I don't say that enough but I do like skating, thank you very much. If I didn't like skating I would have gone for snowboarding instead because those moves are wicked. And the same goes for Yuuri, he skates because he likes skating, and ugh, he's inspired by you yada yada yada. Are you trying to take away the meaning from this? Is this more important than some kind of a stupid promise?'

 Victor's eyes became as wide as saucers, so Yuri assumed that everything was FINALLY dawning on him.

 ' Oh my god. I was such an idiot,' He said at last. 

 ' Good! The idiot is finally not quite idiotic at last and realises he's an idiot, congratulations,' Yuri rolled his eyes sarcastically. ' Great, why the heck did I say all of that? It's so not me.' 

 ' You were going to try snowboarding?'

 ' THAT'S NOT THE POINT, OLD MAN!' 

 ***

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

Whatever happens tomorrow, we all love Yuuri!!! 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

We know he'll do his best!!! <3 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

So let's just sit back and enjoy the show. 

***

 ' What?! You want to sit out and watch?' Yakov said in disbelief. 

 Usually, Yuri preferred to stay backstage after his warmup to get focused, especially when he was skating last. But he really wanted to see Yuuri's FS this time.

 ' Yeah?' Yuri stood straighter.

 Yakov goggled at him as if he had grown an extra head. Victor's expression was unreadable. Mila told him that he grabbed some food with her at the nearest fast food store and went back to the hotel to sleep. Probably nothing had happened yesterday evening. 

 Lilia shrugged, ' I think it's fine. But you must get back in for some warmup before Altin starts.'

 Yuri grumbled. He had been hoping to see Otabek skate, but it was better than nothing at all.

 The 6-minute warmup went okay. He tried two Quads and the Triple Axel, some of the choreography, and that was it. The cool announcer's voice announced that warmup was over and he returned to the sidelines. 

 To his chagrin, JJ made a comeback even with a rather shoddy Quad Loop (it was still a Quad) at the end. 

 Phichit's performance was enjoyable. Yuri had a sudden funny thought that it would still be technically possible for Phichit to skate holding on to a selfie stick. Maybe he could live stream his entire performance from his own point of view. 

 On to Yuuri. 

 One could really hear a pin drop when it was time for Yuuri to take the ice. 

 The opening jumps were flawless. Not a hair was out of place. The Triple Loop was switched out for Triple Flip, and the original Triple Flip at the second half was switched out for the Quad Toe Loop. 

 He's attempting four Quads in one program, Yuri realised. Like JJ.

 He wasn't even surprised when Yuuri nails that Quad Flip at the end, and the entire rink was thrown into mayhem. Fans hugged each other and wailed like banshees, because the skate was clean. 

 He thought he spotted Victor near the entrance of the rink, almost blinded by tears and looking prouder than Yuri had ever seen him before. 

 For one second, Yuri was wondering whether he could beat that while he was clapping.

 Plushies of various types of food (onigiri, katsudon, potstickers etc) started to rain down the ice, and a tearful Yuuri bowed to all his fans.

 He skated back to the entrance of the rink...

 Victor showed up at the same time...

 And he threw his arms around Yuuri, knocking the both of them onto the ice. ' Yuuri!' 

 At that very moment, Yuri saw his life flashing in front of him and questioned everything he had done in the past. 

 ***

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

What. 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

What.

Chapter Text

SKATE LIVE (LIVE NOW!!!)

Ocean.Blue: Great score for Phichit!!! Yay!

everythingHero: OH OH OH OH YUURI IS UP NEXT I'M NERVOUS

Lutzy-lutz: I'm telling myself to relax but I can't AHHHHH gods of figure skating please let our Yuuri get on the podium pleeeease

twizzlemaster: it's starting omg 

HoneyTOAST: Ok first Quad done!!! Please nail the 4S please

Katsukiifan: YES YES YES 

silverskater: This has got to be the prettiest Salchow Yuuri has ever done. 

lavenderdream: it seems like Yuuri is at his top form! :D This is good news!

Ina_Bauer: 3Lo coming up!

bbEight: Wait was that a 3F 

GoldenMedals: That's a 3F!!! Wait did he switch the 3F jump from the second half to the first half I'm confused

tech lord: Yes he's switched it. This means he can only do the 3F again in a combo

musical-dancer: was that a mistake?!

yestoskating: Shhhh focus on the Ina Bauer entry and the gorgeous height of his 3A 

juniorpadawan: WOW that 4T came out of nowhere! HE LITERALLY FLEW FROM ONE SIDE OF THE RINK TO THE OTHER!!?!!?!! 

QueenSkate: OMG IS HE PLANNING FOUR QUADS WHAAAAAT 

HoneyTOAST: YEAH RIGHT!!! 

LoopLoopLoop: *calculates the GOEs* DEAR JUDGES, GIVE HIM THE +3 FOR EVERY ELEMENT 

twizzlemaster: OK WHO'S READY FOR THE FINAL JUMP

Ocean.Blue: ME 

QuadSquad: DEAR GOD OF FIGURE SKATING LET YUURI NAIL THIS QUAD FLIP 

SnowPrincess: OK 4F IN 3, 2...

choco-cocoa: HE DID IT OMG

skatewithme: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES 

musical-dancer: I'M CRYING

arigato-chan: AAAAAAAH AND GREAT MY SISTER IS TOTALLY JUDGING ME 

live4theapplause: HAHAHA I HAVE A STATISTICS TEST TMR AND I HAVEN'T REVISED BUT I AIN'T REGRETTING STAYING UP UNTIL 4AM BECAUSE KATSUKI YUURI NAILED THE 4F!!! 

laurenipsum: YUURI IS CRYING. I'M ALSO CRYING.

LoopLoopLoop: YES YUURI SKATE TOWARDS THE SCORES YOU DESERVE!!!

everythingHero: wait what

InaBauer: what

bbEight: WHAT JUST HAPPENED 

Queenskate: WHAAAAAAAAAT

Lutzy-lutz: DID VICTOR NIKIFOROV JUST MAKE OUT WITH KATSUKI YUURI ON THE ICE?! THE VICTOR NIKIFOROV AND KATSUKI YUURI?! THE FIERCEST SKATING RIVALS SINCE PLUSHENKO AND YAGUDIN?! WAS I HALLUCINATING 

tech lord: WHAAAAAT?! WHAT OMG DON'T SKIP AWAY FROM THE ICE RINK PLEASE CAMERAS OH OH OH NO THEY'RE DOING THE REPLAYS 

yestoskating: *fails to comprehend what just happened*

StarrySky: Ladies and gentlemen, may I present: Victor Nikiforov, figure skating legend AND the nightmare of every PR team.

 There were plenty of things Yuri regretted. Things he wished he had never done. 

1. Not taking up snowboarding. He kept whining to Victor about how cool snowboarding was after a particular Winter Olympics and how he wasn't able to do cool tricks on ice. He only stopped after Victor showed him videos of Surya Bonaly and told him to be the first man to land a Bonaly. 

2. Introducing Potya to Makkachin. It was part of a bet against Victor (named WHETHER DOGS OR CATS ARE BETTER), so they broke Yakov's rule of 'No Pets Allowed'. Potya and Makkachin got along well, to their shock. They were probably the animal equivalents of bros or BFFs.

3. Telling Georgi about how he named his fish 'Angel of Darkness' and 'Storm Dragon Spiker'. The next thing he did was to blabber it to everyone.  

4. Deciding to find Victor at the backstage of Rostelecom Cup. If he hadn't seen the PDA and known the truth, he would never be in this entire mess in the first place. 

And another item to this glorious list:

5. Giving Victor advice, which led to yet another PR disaster.

HE SHOULDN'T HAVE HIM ANY ADVICE!

What a waste of gatorade! 

 Da-flump. 

 Yakov collapsed onto the floor again. 

 ' Yakov!!!' Lilia shrieked, and despite being extremely flabbergasted herself, she knelt down with her crazy quick ballerina reflexes to catch him.

 Mila, who was at the spectator's stand, stared at Victor with incredulous betrayal, and fell against Sala. Sala also toppled over in shock on Mickey, and Mickey fell on Emil, like a bunch of dominoes. Emil squawked and clutched onto the sides of the bench. 

 The majority of the Katsuki Yuuri fan club had fainted. The rest of them appeared to be processing over what had just happened with dull, blank facial expressions. 

 Then, a guy from the commentator's booth stood up, his headset askew, and shouted something that sounded like a war cry. The next second, an entire battalion of reporters emerged from nowhere and swarmed the rink like moths to light. They even got those gigantic furry microphone things.

 Competitors, who were not even competing in the Singles competitions, had showed up. Yuri spotted the pair skaters from the Gatorade-Incident behind the reporters. The female skater was effortlessly lifted into the air by her partner, a new gold medal jingling on her chest. She caught Yuri's eye and waved cheerfully. 

 At the other side of the rink, Chris was supposed to be getting ready for his turn. But he was squashed against the side boards by more reporters, while trying to glare at the pair on the ice. Poor Chris. 

 Yuri didn't even need to take out his phone to tell that ten thousand new forums were being formed at Golden Skate, dedicated to this revelation of the century. This must be trending at Twitter. He had no idea how @vnikiforov_fc and @katsukiyuuri_fc were going to deal with this. He hoped they would be okay, because they actually seemed pretty nice. 

 Victor was unfazed by all the attention they were getting. He helped Yuuri up, and marched back to the entrance with him gracefully, hand in hand. Yuuri was hiding behind Victor, his face as red as the setting sun.

 ISU officials were starting to show up with tablets and clipboards, which wasn't a good sign.

 Okay, Yuri Plisetsky, he told himself. There are no X-wings for you to fly in, so you had better fix this up. 

 Yuri puffed up in anger and fear, and started to walk towards the sea of reporters.

 ' Yuri Plisetsky where do you think you're going?!' Lilia demanded, setting Yakov on a chair. 

 ' To save this event!' Yuri snarled, and before she could grab him by the back of his costume, he slipped away. 

 Some of the reporters near the back saw him coming and instinctively stepped aside, creating a path for him. The Russian Ice Tiger looked really, really, really angry. 

 The Old Man was now standing on the ice, and flashed everyone an award-winning smile. He didn't seem to be wanting to move away from the spotlight, while Yuuri was desperate to hide himself. 

 ' OI! CUT THE CRAP AND GET AWAY FROM THE ICE! ' Yuri bellowed, purposely choosing to speak in Russian. By the time foreign reporters got to Google Translate or ask a Russian speaker about it, the event would be over. He wouldn't have to worry about being berated on by his poor manners. Let the 'Yuri Plisetsky is PR nightmare 2.0' memes come, he didn't care.

 FORTUNATELY, Victor was astute for once and replied in Russian, ' I'm not standing on the ice.' 

 Yuri glowered at him, ' Then go to the backstage! You're disturbing the competition!'

 On the cue, Yuuri disentangled himself from Victor, snatched his skate guards from the sideboards, literally jumped for the backstage and disappeared behind the dark blue curtains. Yuri had never seen someone move that fast on skates. Victor followed suit and chased after him. 

 Reporters groaned disappointedly. ISU officials started to shoo them away and to clear the ice for Chris. 

 The competition was delayed for 15 minutes because it took them ages to find Yuuri and get him to sit at the Kiss and Cry for his scores. He hid his face with an onigiri plushy, such that no one could see him. 

 To exactly no one's surprise, he broke Victor's long-held world record. 

 Yuri was allowed to roam around freely, especially when no one was around to bother him. Lilia and Yakov were missing, no doubt they were at the first aid room to hide from any reporters. Victor was also nowhere to be found. 

 Finally, Chris was allowed to take the ice. It wasn't his best performance. No one blamed him. 

 Otabek remained stoic and his performance was good as usual. Yuri guessed he had sensed something was going on between Victor and Yuuri at dinner last night so he wasn't quite surprised when the truth was revealed to him. 

 While Otabek waited for his scores, Yuri hopped onto the ice. 

 He wasn't sure whether he could beat Yuuri's scores. Maybe Yuuri was going to win tonight.

 He shook his head.

 If Yuuri really was going to win, then so be it. But he wasn't going to let him get away with it that easily. 

 The thought of not winning didn't bother him as much as it used to, to his surprise. He once threw a fit when he got second at a novice competition, which earned him a 'free ticket' to Yakov's lecture on good sportsmanship. 

 Maybe he only started to like skating from this moment. Or maybe he had mellowed out. 

 The stadium quieted down, as the first few notes of Allegro Appassionato played. 

 And Yuri answered Yuuri's challenge.

***

 In the end, Yuri's SP score gave him the edge to win the GPF gold medal even though he did mess up a jump. 

 He stood on the top of podium with a bouquet of flowers and his newly acquired gold medal, feeling slightly dazed. 

 To his utter indignation, JJ took bronze. If Yakov was with him, he would lecture him on his lack of sportsmanship again, but Yuri truly thought that Otabek deserved to be on the podium.

 Yuuri was examining his fourth GPF silver medal closely. At first, Yuri thought he would be extremely annoyed to be beaten by such a small margin, but Yuuri was smiling back at him fondly and he felt much more relieved. 

 After a small victory lap around the rink with their respective flags, it was time to go back to the much dreaded... Press conference. 

 Several ISU officials accompanied them to the press conference room to make sure that none of the reporters would be able to run up to them and bombard them with questions. They made it to the room and sat behind a long table covered with a red velvet table cloth. To Yuri's amusement, there were a couple bottles of gatorade.

 The three of them opted not to have any translators. Yuri's English wasn't as good before, but Lilia made him study hard between training and hammered the basics into him. He was okay with talking to someone in English now. 

 There were obviously more reporters than usual, and everyone (plus those furry microphones) was shoved uncomfortably into the room. 

 ' The first question is for Mr. Katsuki,' A French reporter stood up, the moment an official announced that they were allowed to voice out any questions. ' Are you in a relationship with Mr. Nikiforov?'

 Yuri groaned, and slumped onto the table such that his bottle of gatorade was half hiding his face. Why didn't the ISU officials ask for skating related questions only? And where the hell is Victor, shouldn't he be here to clear up this mess he made? 

 ' Y-yes,' Yuuri said, and all of them gasped in shock, even though the truth was laid out for everyone to see already. 

 JJ whistled, seemingly impressed. 

 ' The next question is for Mr. Plisetsky. How does it feel to win a gold medal in your first senior GPF?' 

 ' Oh, um,' Yuri sat up immediately, not expecting someone to be asking him a question when the spotlight was obviously not on him. ' I'm pleased with my results, and it was an incredible senior debut for me. I hope I can continue like this for the rest of the season.' He kept his answer short and precise to avoid any embarrassing language mistakes, hoping Lilia would be pleased when she watched the replays later. 

 The next TEN questions or so were directed to Yuuri, more or less demanding for a detailed explanation for his relationship. Yuri was half-praying for those skating forum admins (the ones making sure to keep skating forum discussions strictly about skating) to materialise in front of everyone and bring the questions back onto the right track. 

 When a lady dressed in a ghastly shade of neon pink asked for the umpteenth time about why Yuuri didn't reveal his relationship with Victor sooner, Yuri snapped. He was aware that he had a microphone of his own on a stand in front of him, but to add the dramatic effect, he seized the microphone from the startled Yuuri's hand.

 ' Ugh, that's enough. I'm getting out of here,' He announced to everyone. 

 An ISU official said nervously, ' Skater Plisetsky, it's not the end of the press conference-'

 Yuri stood up, did a mic drop and walked out of the room, leaving the entire room gaping in shock. He wished he had brought his shades too. 

 He hoped he had created a good enough diversion. 

 ***

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

Okay we're totally blaming @katsukiyuuri_fc  and @vnikiforov_fc 

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 And now someone please GIF that mic drop. 

Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 But seriously though... Hello? You there?

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

Um, yes.

 Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Yes. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 We'll come back later to tell us what we think, but just to let everyone know, we're okay. 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Great. Now someone GIF the mic drop.  

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Oh, so you two are friends now?  

Chapter Text

[ Katsuki Yuuri wins fourth silver medal amidst drama ] 

[ Romance at Grand Prix Finals: Victor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri rivalry not real?! ] 

[ BREAKING NEWS: Katsuki Yuuri confirms relationship rumours; Victor Nikiforov nowhere to be found]

[ Swiss top skater Christophe Giacometti claims he had absolutely no idea what was happening] 

[Victor Nikiforov's former coach refuses to give a statement] 

[ Internet dubs Yuri Plisetsky PR Nightmare 2.0]

[ KNOW YOUR MEMES: Yuri Plisetsky's mic-drop becomes new meme]

[Yuri Plisetsky's mic-drop GIF is TRENDING on Tumblr] 

[Want to see more of Yuri Plisetsky GIFs? We've got you covered]

Plisetsky Squad @plisetsky-squad

Okay. WHO ON EARTH CHANGED YURATCHKA'S WIKIPEDIA PAGE PHOTO INTO A SCREENCAP OF DAT MIC DROP?!!! 

Plisetsky Squad @plisetsky-squad 

AND WHICH GENIUS PHOTOSHOPPED THOSE SHADES?!!! 

Plisetsky Squad @plisetsky-squad

OMG HE'S BECOME A MEME KING LOL 

***

Yuri was woken up by someone knocking on his door. He groaned, covering his ears with more pillows to blot out the noise. He was so done with all the drama, and was hoping he could skip the exhibition and just hide in his hotel room for the rest of the week. 

 After escaping from the press conference, he had switched off his phone to avoid any notifications and messages, proceeded to barricade himself in his hotel room and made a pillow fort out of some bobby pins and hair clips. The end product was rather shoddy looking, but as long as he could sleep underneath it, he was fine with it.

 ' Go away,' He mumbled. The knocking persisted.

  For one second he assumed that was Phichit.

 But no, he remembered him saying that he was going to do a food vlog thing at this restaurant that served famous flans. Who could it be? 

 ' Ugh,' He tossed the pillow away and clambered out of his pillow fort with far less grace than he possessed. His team jacket along with his gold medal were dangling from the top like a curtain, and his medal smacked him in the face. 

 Angrily, he wrenched open the door and yelled, ' WHAT.' 

 Standing outside was no other than Mila, still in her dark blue and grey FS costume and her team jacket draped over her shoulders. She was sporting a new silver medal. 

 ' There you are,' Mila pouted, holding up her medal. ' You weren't at the ladies FS!' 

 ' I WAS SLEEPING, can't you see?' Yuri snarled, flinching away. 

 ' It's 2 in the afternoon,' Mila peered over his shoulder. ' Is that a pillow fort? Man, the housekeeping lady is going to be so pissed. And also do you know you missed all the good stuff? You've become an internet meme, look at those GIFs! You're going to overtake those kermit the frog GIFs one day. Yakov is nowhere to be found by the way, so I had to sit at the Kiss and Cry myself. It was so awkward.'

 As a response, Yuri plonked his head against the door, ' Oh, God.' 

 He had no idea what he had done to deserve all of this. First, he was involved in this epic romantic drama. Secondly, he was made into an Internet meme. Who else would care about his gold medals if he was made into the next Kermit the frog?! And finally, he was woken up in the morning-no, afternoon, by his obnoxiously exuberant rink mate who was too busy chattering outside of his room. 

 ' And you knew about Victor and Yuuri, didn't you?' Mila stopped her tirade about memes to glare at him pointedly. 

 Yuri shrunk against the doorway. 

 Mila gasped,' Oh what betrayal! We were friends, Yura!!! I trusted you! You knew Victuuri was real the entire time and you didn't bother to mention it once?! All those times we discussed about Victuuri and you didn't tell me about this?!'

 ' I didn't know they were a thing until the Rostelecom Cup okay!' Yuri growled. ' Also, I was sworn to secrecy, for the sake of my sanity. And if you know about this, you're going to accidentally blabber this to the Internet like the last time you leaked Victor's new exhibition program in a Tweet!' 

 ' True, true,' Mila nodded, not offended at all and brightened up. ' But Victuuri is now real! HA! All those times you said Victuuri isn't real!!! I was correct the entire time! We should find Yuuri and Victor and have cake! We should be making them a cake.' 

 ' Eurgh. I really don't care. Speaking of which, do you know where the Old Man is? I want to punch him in the face.' 

 ' No,' Mila frowned. ' I've been looking for him for ages. He's hiding from all the reporters, I guess.'

 Yuri snorted, ' I wouldn't be surprised if he's sticking with Yuuri.' 

 ' Ohhhh!!!' Mila clapped her hands. ' That's probably it! He's with Yuuri. Now all we need to know, is where Yuuri is. Do you know where he is?' 

 ' Like hell I would know where he is!' 

 ' What about Yuuri's friend? Phichit Chulanont? You showed up on his Instagram live,' She suggested. 

 Yuri reluctantly turned on his phone. He cringed when he saw all the notifications (tagging him to all those meme pages) popping up on his home screen. He was tagged on a whopping sum of 827 photos, mentioned on around 1500 comments and his follower count surged like a rocket. He had a feeling half of those weren't even skating fans in the first place.

 He skipped directly to a private message to Phichit. 

yuri_plisetsky: Oi

phichit+chu: OHHHHH? Yuri Plisetsky the King of GIFs himself is messaging me? 

yuri_plisetsky: I thought you're doing a vlog

phichit+chu: Ooo yes!!! You should have come with me!!!

yuri_plisetsky: Ugh no thanks 

yuri_plisetsky: Do you know where Yuuri is?

phichit+chu: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

yuri_plisetsky: Ugh do you know where Victor is?

phichit+chu: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

yuri_plisetesky: OH STOP THE LENNY FACES 

yuri_plisetsky: Do you know where they are?!!!

phichit+chu: Okay, fine. I know they snuck out for breakfast SUPER early in the morning so no one would recognise them. I provided the disguise.

yuri_plisetsky: SO WHERE ARE THEY NOW

phichit+chu: Tbh I don't know. Maybe go look at Yuuri's hotel room? If I remember correctly it should be 502. 

yuri_plisetsky: Ugh okay, fine. 

yuri_plisetsky: And... Thanks

phichit+chu: Happy to help! 

 ' Let's go and find the stupid Old Man,' Yuri growled, beckoning Mila to follow him.

 Yuri was on the 6th floor, so it was a pretty short elevator trip down to the 5th floor.

 He rapped on the door impatiently, ' HELLO? HELLO?' 

 There was a loud crash and someone swore in Russian.

 ' That's Victor, alright,' Mila sighed. 

 The door began to open, and before Yuri could see who was opening it, he yelled out from the bottom of his lungs, ' SCREW YOU NIKIFOROV!!!' 

 Instead of Victor, Yuuri was standing at the door. He blinked at Yuri owlishly, ' Huh?' 

 Aaaaand as Phichit had predicted, Victor was indeed in Yuuri's room, with a laptop over his knees. He had the nerve to smile that insufferable heart-shaped smile at the two Russians standing outside, ' Yura! Mila!' 

 ***

 It turned out Yuuri and Victor were hiding out in the room and marathoning all the GPF events that they had missed. They were in the middle of watching the Pairs FS. Yuri was pleased to spot his gatorade-comrades skating by in the 6-minute warm up.

 They had to turn down the volume of the video though, because Mila was too busy complaining about how she wasn't informed of their relationship. 

 ' I trusted you, Victor! We knew each other for so many years!' She ranted. ' Heck, I told you when I had my first crush-'

 ' Oh god, don't even get me started on your first crush,' Yuri stopped her. ' I don't want to hear more about that hockey guy.' 

 ' I'm sorry, Mila, it's just...' Victor clapped a hand on his forehead in frustration. ' We can't go around telling everyone. Please don't be mad.'

 ' I'm not mad. I'm just a teensy bit annoyed,' Mila said. ' And now... TELL ME ALL THE DETAILS. I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING.'

 Yuri stood up abruptly, nearly elbowing Yuuri in the face, ' STOP!!! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT AGAIN!!!' 

 ' Maybe, not now,' Victor grinned. ' We still have the exhibition skate. I'll tell you everything afterwards.'

 At the words 'exhibition skate', Mila perked up and asked Yuuri, ' Have you planned anything for the exhibition? Or are you sticking to your old program?'

 Victor put an arm around Yuuri, ' It's going to be... special.'

 Mila squealed like one of Victor's annoying fans. 

 Yuuri said shyly, ' It's going to be a secret, so I won't be attending the rehearsal at all.' 

 ' Oh,' Mila said disappointedly. ' But oh well, we'll be seeing it later anyways.' 

 In the end, the conversation died down, and they started to watch the Pair Skate FS together. 

 ***

Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

 Alright. I'll admit it. Victor and Yuuri make an adorable couple. 

Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

OH SO WE FINALLY AGREE ON SOMETHING. 

Just Katsudon't @katsudont

Agreed. 

Victorious @v4victorious

They're actually really shippable. No kidding.

Katsudone with my life @katsudone

They're really cute.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Oh so you guys made up

Victor Forever @victor-foreva

@vnikiforov_fc YOU'RE BACK!!! 

God of Victory @skatingvicnik

WELCOME BACK 

Protect Yuuri @yuurimustbeprotected

So do we all agree that Victor and Yuuri are a cute couple and must be protected?

Victor is BAE @ice-crown

Aye 

Katsudon is best @Katsudon-onice

Aye aye Captain! 

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

Yeah @vnikiforov_fc and I talked, and we think that we should apologise to each other.

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

We were pretty rude to each other.

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

 Also we'd like to make a point that it's okay to stan a skater. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

But it's not right to insult each other.

Just Katsudon't @katsudont

 Um, sorry for the 'suspending' thing I guess...?

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

Yeah, and we actually really like Victor. 

Victorious @v4victorious

Same. I kinda enjoy Yuuri's skating too. 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

Great, now let's all be friends since our respective idols are dating (???)

Guess who's perfect @YuuriakaPerfect

OKAY GUYS LET'S WORK TOGETHER. WE NEED A SHIP NAME

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

A what now 

God of Victory @skatingvicnik

Yeah, a ship name! Ideas anyone?

Yuuri Fandom @yuuri-fandom

Dunno... VicYuu? YuuVic?

I Heart Victor @LOVEVICTOR

Katsuki-forov????? 

Victor is BAE @ice-crown

Let's just name this ship QUAD FLIP and get it done with.

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

NOOOOOO WAY

Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

NOOOOOOOOO

OMG Victor is Life @vityaU

Katsu-victor...? So we have two 'win's in the ship? 

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

Excuse me, is it okay if I make a suggestion?

Victorious @v4victorious

?!!!?!!!?!!!?!?!!?!?!?!?!! 

Guess who's perfect @YuuriakaPerfect

ASDFGHJKL IS THAT...?!?!!?!?!!?!?!?!!

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

Yesssssss??????

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

What about Victuuri? ;) 

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

Victuuri = Victory 

Just Katsudon't @katsudont

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc  

THIS IS PERFECT 

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc

OH MY GOD DID THE REAL MILA BABICHEVA JUST GIVE US THE SHIP NAME 

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

;) 

Phichit Chulanont @phichit+chu

HEY!!! I CAME UP WITH THAT SHIP NAME FIRST D:< 

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

NO WAY!!! I CREATED THAT NAME AGES AGO!!! 

Phichit Chulanont @phichit+chu

THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Quad Flipped @vnikiforov_fc 

Let's just assume you both invented it together, okay? 

Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

...

Phichit Chulanont @phichit+chu

Fine.

Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

What the heck two famous skaters are shipping this too?!!!!  

Chapter Text

 Yuri zipped up his team jacket, which was the last piece to his usual training outfit. The rehearsal was starting to piss him off. 

 The previous day couldn't have been more perfect. Victor soon shooed Mila and him out of the hotel room and they parted ways at the corridor.

 Yuri ended up having a wonderful tour around Barcelona on Otabek's motorbike and discovered Otabek was actually an excellent DJ. He decided that he had to use one of Otabek's songs as his exhibition skate track, not that Yakov or Lilia could have a say about it - they were still hiding from the press. 

 Today, in comparison, was a complete nightmare. 

 Judging from the fact that Yuri trained with Victor (and was supposedly friends with him), everyone seemed to assume that Yuri knew all the juicy bits about the matter all along and decided to get a fresh batch of gossip from him. 

 If Yuri went on tumblr (which he didn't), he would find thousands of fan theories on how he was probably let into the secret a long, long time ago. The most reblogged one was astonishingly accurate.

skaterman

I'm betting this is how it happened:

(about a few months ago) 

- Yuri Plisetsky doing warm-up or something in the backstage

- Spotted Victuuri 

- Accidentally knew the truth from then on 

- Got pissed at Victor 

-Like, SUPER YURI PLISETSKY STYLE PISSED

10,856 notes

#justatheory #victuuri #plisetsky knows this all along 

 Yuri had barely even stepped into the rink when several skaters, whom he had never ever talked to before, ran up to him. He was too busy seething to hear a single word, and when more and more skaters gathered up around him, he cracked and screamed, ' NO I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!! DON'T ASK ME!!! GO AWAY!!!' Then he ran to the backstage as fast as he could. 

 An ISU official gathered the skaters around, and did an informal roll-call. 

 ' Men's silver medalist, Yuuri Katsuki?' He looked up from his clipboard and glanced around when the call wasn't answered. 

 Mila raised a hand into the air lazily, ' Excuse me, Yuuri will be skipping the rehearsal.'

 The official pursed his lips disapprovingly and made a mark on his clipboard. 

 Some of the younger skaters in the front muttered between themselves, clearly disappointed by his absence. Everyone had wanted to see Yuuri, and hopefully get to know more about his new (not actually) love life from the man himself, since Yuri was so unwilling to disclose anything. 

 Chris sidled up to Yuri, and whispered in his ear, ' So do you know anything about Victor and Yuuri?' 

 ' HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU: I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OKAY?!' Yuri bellowed at the top of his lungs. 

 Instantaneously, everyone turned to look at him. Phichit pretended to cough behind his fist, but Yuri knew he was laughing. 

 Chris held up his hands in a placating gesture, obviously shocked by how badly Yuri reacted. 

 The Gatorade pair skaters almost looked sympathetic.

 ' Skaters, you can get onto the ice,' The official said. 

 The large group of skaters disbanded with small chatter. 

 Phichit patted Yuri's shoulder, with tears of laughter in his eyes, ' Ya know, being a celebrity is hard.' 

 ' I did not ask for this!!!' Yuri grumbled. ' This is unfair!!! You are Yuuri's friend too, why didn't anyone come over to ask you stuff?' 

 The answer was quite obvious. No one had expected Phichit to be able to hold up a secret for so long without accidentally sharing something to his fans. He was notorious for being a blabbermouth on social media, once accidentally revealing all of the skaters' secret group number in an ice show (it was a Pokemon themed one).

 So the only explanation was: Yuuri didn't tell Phichit about this. 

 Phichit grinned knowingly, patted his shoulder once more, and left to join the others. 

 Yuri groaned. 

 He couldn't wait to go home. 

 ***

miladoeslifts: Vitya told me that Yuuri is going to be attending the exhibition but he will be arriving in the last minute

russianpunk: Shockers. It's surprising they let him do the exhibition even though he skipped ALL of the rehearsals???

miladoeslifts: Hm, because the rehearsal is for the final group number only?

miladoeslifts: The choreography isn't really hard to learn so Yuuri should be fine.

russianpunk: Oh so do you know what Yuuri is going to do?

miladoeslifts: ;) 

russianpunk: WHAT?

russianpunk: THEY AREN'T DOING ANYTHING STUPID ARE THEY 

miladoeslifts: You'll see

russianpunk: I hate you

miladoeslifts: I know

 ***

 Yuri totally called it. 

 He knew they were going to do something stupid for their exhibition. 

 This was exactly why he was witnessing on the live TV in the backstage, the very sight of Victor and Yuuri in matching Stammi Vicino costumes and doing a freaking ICE DANCE in front of screaming fans. 

 He had no idea how they managed to nail those difficult looking ice dance lifts without any rehearsal. They could give actual competitive ice dancers a run for money. 

 Maybe those idiots had been practicing the lifts all this time just for this moment. 

 And god, the TV crew couldn't zoom into their faces more - Yuri caught every single bit of their lovey-dovey expressions and the rest of the video wasn't even focused on the actual skating.

 It was as plain as day that they were... so... in love. 

 Phichit was crying on the floor while typing furiously on his phone, no doubt doing a live Tweet (keyboard smash) of the exhibition. 

 Mila kept sighing to herself, ' Look, Yura, this is what I call true love' and ' They look so GOOD in the costumes.' 

 Chris was stroking his chin thoughtfully.

 And the fans were... hysterical. As expected.

 As Yuri was the gold medalist, his performance was scheduled right after Yuuri's, so he got to stand next to the entrance of the rink with Otabek and wait for them to get out. 

 Otabek was... Expressionless, as usual. Yuri was grateful for that. The last thing he needed would be his new best friend shrieking about the situation next to him and asking for information. 

 The stadium was in pandemonium, even from the dark, Yuri could tell most of them had joined the Victuuri fandom and were hugging each other and bawling. 

 Victor and Yuuri bowed to the audience, and skated back to the sides, with arms over each other's shoulders. 

 ' That was... Awesome,' Yuri said grudgingly. ' I mean the lifts, not you two.' 

 ' Oho, that's a compliment from Yura!' Victor said. ' Who did that makeup? Looks like Georgi did it, but that can't be.' 

 ' Shut up,' Yuri glowered at him. ' Now go away and answer those people's questions. It's my turn to skate.' 

 ' Yup,' Victor held hands with a blushing Yuuri. ' We're reading to dazzle those journalists.' They could hear the stomping of the reporters from the spectators' stand, cameras at the ready. 

 Yuri hopped onto the ice, and got ready for his own program.

 ***

 Born to ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 So... Here we are...

 Born to ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 We will be uploading fan cam videos of the exhibition plus the photos 

 lutz-queen @outside.Edge

OWO Who are you?!!! 

 I Heart Victor @LOVEVICTOR

 WHAT

 Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

 There is a victuuri ship account?!!!! 

 Born to ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 We're @vnikiforov_fc and @katsukiyuuri_fc 

 Born to ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 We decided to make an official Victuuri fan club. 

 God of Victory @skatingvicnik

 WTH?!!!! ARE YOU COMBINING THE TWO FAN CLUBS TOGETHER?!!!

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc

 No, the fan club accounts will be separate from this one

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc

 This is for Victuuri

Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc

 And we can cry about yesterday's beautiful Stammi Vicino duet together

Blue Skies @skyyyy

YESSSSSSSSS IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL

Katsudone with my life @katsudone

YUURI LOOKS SO GOOD IN THAT BLUE VERSION OF STAMMI VICINO COSTUME I CAN'T  

 Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

 Oooooooooooooooooo

Yuuri Fandom @yuuri-fandom

What a wonderful idea!!! 

Sexy Chris @chrisgiacometti_fc

Wow. You guys 

 Yuratchka!!! @Yuri_angels

 Nice. 

 Phichit Chulanont @phichit+chu

OHHHH!!!!! <3 CAN I BE AN HONORARY MEMBER 

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

THANK YOUUUUUU @phichit+chu

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 OF COURSE YOU CAN 

 Mila Babicheva Official @mila_b

 AHHHHHHHH <3333333 CAN I BE AN HONORARY MEMBER TOO??? 

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 YES @mila_b

 Victor Nikiforov @v_nikiforov

 What about me? ;)

 Born to Ship Victuuri @victuuri_fc 

 ASDFGHJKL OMG WHAT

 Victuuri Fan @viccc-fan

 DID VICTOR JUST-

 ***

 Yakov and Lilia showed up at the hotel lobby where the team plus Phichit and Yuuri were having lunch at. They were going to depart for the airport in the afternoon. 

 He seemed a little worse for wear, and even Yuri, who usually didn't give a damn towards what his coach said, was starting to get scared from the angry expression he was wearing.

 ' Oh hey, Yakov, you feeling better?' Victor grinned and waved unabashedly. 

 Yakov simply growled. There were no words, but the thunderous volume of his voice was enough to send his message across the table. 

 Yuuri gulped. 

 Lilia was surprisingly cool about the entire situation, and nodded at them calmly, ' We'll be seeing you at the airport at 2pm sharp.'  

 Then they left. 

 ' Oh wow that was... Powerful,' Phichit giggled nervously. 

 ' He doesn't seem to angry actually,' Mila said nonchalantly, going back to her plate of food. ' It isn't like the time when Georgi and I hid chocolate chips in everyone's skates on April Fool's Day. No one noticed until practice.' 

 ' Woah,' Yuuri said, sounding impressed. 

 ' I was wearing my skates,' Yuri glared at her. 

 After lunch, Victor became so sad and dejected because he wasn't going to see Yuuri until the World Championships in April and was clinging onto him. 

 ' You know what,' Mila suggested thoughtfully. ' What if Yuuri moves over to St.Petersburg and train with us? Then you can see him everyday, not just in competitions.' 

 Oh.

 Oh no.

 NO. 

 ' MILA BABICHEVA YOU DID NOT JUST-' Yuri wanted to shriek at her to shut up, but it was too late. 

 Victor understood immediately. 

 ' OHHHHHHH!!!' Victor exclaimed, and gave her a hug. ' WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA, MILA!!! You are the BEST!!!' 

 ' Obviously I'm the best,' Mila said, sounding very pleased with herself. 

 Victor proceeded to shake Yuuri by the shoulders, ' Yuuri!!! I'm going to ask Yakov and see if he can take on you as his student!!! So you can come and train with us at St. Petersburg.'  

 ' Ooookay?' Yuuri blinked, nonplussed by Victor's sudden enthusiasm. 

 In the midst of the noise, Phichit asked, ' Is that a good idea though? Yakov seems pretty angry.'

 For once, Yuri agreed with him. 

Chapter Text

‘ No, this is not happening. I won’t allow it,’ Yakov crossed his arms.

‘ What? Why not?’ Victor chased Yakov around and around the coach’s counter, where all the clipboards of skaters’ information and CDs in a gigantic plastic box were placed on.

It’s as if things aren’t busy enough already, Yuri thought grouchily, as he tried hard to navigate through the large groups of junior skaters while keeping his spirals balanced.

Victor had been dropping hints at Yakov since the Nationals in December, aka his intentions to have Katsuki Yuuri join the St. Petersburg skating rink (so he could be closer to him) and Team Yakov.

He tried writing little notes on the whiteboards where the other coaches usually posted their memos and teaching schedules on.

He tried making Yakov his morning coffee to get on his good side, which didn’t work too well because Yakov preferred his coffee with no sugar and milk.

‘ Black coffee, like my hopes and dreams after coaching you people,’ Yakov had deadpanned after Mila asked about his coffee preferences.

All indicators effectively pointed to the fact that Victor was pining.

Either Yakov wasn’t particularly astute with these types of hints, or he was pretending not to have noticed anything to delay the inevitable fallout when he refused it.

(‘ Or maybe,’ Georgi said. ‘ Victor isn’t that good at dropping hints. You know, he is used to going all drama queen.’)

Either way, it wasn’t like it would make much of a difference because it was definitely happening in front of them right now.

Victor had somehow assumed it was a good time (it really wasn’t) to badger Yakov on the coaching change, when the rink was extremely crowded with instructors and junior skaters on harnesses, learning their triple jumps.

Mila exited out of her Y-spin gracefully, and started to edge towards the sideboards in hopes to eavesdrop on the conversation.

She too had been supportive about the entire Yuuri-switching-coaches thing, and it may or may not be due to her position as the ‘Honorary Member of Victuuri fan club’.

Georgi grabbed a large pack of tissues, just in case.

‘ Do you seriously think I owe you an explanation?’ Yakov glowered at him. ‘ After the stunt you pulled off at Barcelona?’

For a while, Yuri imagined what it would be like if Yuuri trained under Yakov.

Well, obviously Victor would be overjoyed to see his boyfriend everyday…which would then lead to Yuri puking from the excessive PDA.

Mila would fangirl. No doubts about that, she was a dedicated Victuuri fan club member.

Georgi would cry about all the true love stuff again.

Yakov would be bald by the end of the month.

They found that Yakov was ranked first in the ‘most stressed coach of the year’ poll on Twitter (it was nearly unanimous) and everyone had a good laugh about it.

Yakov wasn’t the least amused when they told him that he had replaced Yuri’s infamous mic drop GIF as the next meme legend.

On the bright side though… Victor would be more inspired if Yuuri was by his side.

He had recently done an interview with one of the top skating magazines, and when the smiling lady asked where his inspirations for his beautiful programs came from, he winked, ‘ Yuuri is my muse! He inspires me all the time.’

Before Victor could say something, Yakov shouted, ‘ this is a place where I train my top skaters and this is my skating school, in case you have forgotten. I will not have you playing around with your rival or something.’

‘ He is not my rival. He has never been my rival-’

‘ Whatever, I don’t care. My decision is final: No one is moving here, and I’m not training anyone else. I have enough on my plate.’

With that, he walked off impressively towards the pantry with his coffee mug.

‘ Well, that didn’t go well,’ Mila said, blinking.

‘ I was expecting this,’ Georgi sniffled.

Victor sighed, dejected. He slung his jacket over his shoulder and started to make his way back to the direction of the locker room.

‘ Aw, it makes me feel sad to see Victor like this,’ Georgi bursted into tears again. ‘ I understand how it is like. I remember when Anya - ’ He launched into a tirade about true love again.

‘ Eurgh,’ Yuri wrinkled his nose. ‘ I’ve heard about this same speech for ten thousand times already.’

‘ Don’t worry, we’ll change Yakov’s mind. It’s going to be a team project and I really think we can do it if we work together,’ Mila said.

Georgi blew his nose on a piece of tissue, which probably meant ‘yes’.

The real question was: What does Yakov think about Yuuri?

He rarely made a comment on the entire ‘rivalry’, only commenting once or twice that the rivalry had motivated Victor in a good way.

For the rest of the time, he always took Victor’s things with only a grain of salt and a grumpy scowl.

Mila turned to Yuri expectantly. ‘ You’ll be helping, right?’

‘ What?! Why the heck do you think I’m helping?’ Yuri fumed. ‘ I have better things to do.’

‘ Like?’

‘ Working on my jumps, duh? Thinking of how to get onto the podium at World Championships?’ Yuri said, daring her to disagree. ‘And think about what to do the next season?’

‘ So are saying you support Yakov’s decision?’ Mila raised an eyebrow.

‘ I… N-no comment.’

Mila beamed, ‘ Oh, so you do care about them, I knew it! No worries, I’m not judging. You can talk to us!’

‘ Hell no I don’t!’ Yuri grabbed his water bottle angrily. ‘ I care nothing about Victor or Victuuri -’

‘ I didn’t say anything about Victuuri, and speaking of Victuuri,’ Mila grinned triumphantly, ‘ I spotted you scrolling through one of the fan club’s twitter threads yesterday.’

Oh crap.

‘ My fan club was on it! And they tagged me,’ Yuri said in last-ditch attempt to wave her off. ‘ O-of course I have to check what they are saying!’

‘ Ah, whatever you say, Yura,’ Mila said, ruffled his hair. ‘ We all know you care about your friends.’

Dammit.

Yuri smacked her hand away impatiently, ‘ Well then, Miss Genius, pray tell me how you are going to change Yakov’s mind.’

She shrugged, ‘ Don’t worry, we’ll come up with something eventually - ’

Yakov emerged from his office with another steaming mug of coffee, ‘ OI. Stop slacking off! Georgi! Go back to your step sequence! Mila! Get back to your spins! And Yura! Don’t you think I didn’t see that wonky Triple Axel earlier – the landing was not satisfactory! What happened to the landing we were working on a week ago? Do it again!’

‘ Is that your fifth cup of coffee?’ Mila asked cheekily.

Georgi glared at her.

She shrugged again, and went back to her spins.

‘ Yeah yeah, the Triple Axel,’ Yuri set his water bottle back onto the sideboards, and geared himself up for the afternoon jumping lesson.

***

World Championships, April

The competition was tough.

Or maybe because it was the last competition in the season, and Yuri was exhausted already.

He needed a holiday.

Yuuri came in first in the SP, for finally nailing the 4F at the end which gave him bonus points.

The moment he finished his FS, he knew it wasn’t good enough to beat Yuuri’s FS – the gorgeous 4F he had done at the end.

Overall, Yuuri’s program was almost as good as the one he did at Barcelona, not excellent enough to beat his own world record, but still good.

He skated back to the sides, and before he left the ice, picked up a cute cat plushy someone had tossed down onto the ice.

After surprising Yakov with a hug (Yuri was always rude to him) and thanking Lilia for her help, he sat at the Kiss and Cry with his plushy, feeling less stressed than usual.

It wasn’t like him to not stress about the scores and not be competitive.

The scores came through after a short wait, placing him in overall second and the energetic announcer announced that Katsuki Yuuri was the champion of this year’s World Figure Skating Championships.

The stadium was in pandemonium.

Katsuki Yuuri had gotten his rather disappointing fourth silver medal at the GPF, yes, but he had achieved his first World gold medal.

That was something.

A World gold was as good as a GPF gold, if not better, and Yuri found himself clapping along with the fans, not feeling bitter or defeated at all. He was happy for Yuuri – all his hard work had paid off at last.

Heck, a silver medal at World in his first senior season? Awesome. He couldn’t have asked for a better senior debut.

Mila was wearing her own silver medal she had just earned from her event, screaming at Yuri about how they were going to have matching medals ( ‘ We gotta take selfies!’). Victor was sobbing on her shoulder, because yes, Yuuri had finally done it, he had taken his first World gold medal.

The officials cleared off the rink, and started taking out carpets, colorful flower bouquets and the medals and gifts for the ceremony.

Someone was talking about how JJ took bronze.

Oh well.

The World podium lineup was nearly the same as the GPF podium lineup.

Meanwhile, Yuri and Yuuri sat down at a skaters-only zone to avoid the reporters, behind a huge potted plant.

‘ Congratulations on your silver medal,’ Yuuri said sheepishly, expecting Yuri to be extremely pissed about getting silver. ‘ You skated well too.’

‘ Mmh, you deserved the gold. Your SP was good,’ Yuri said. ‘ I’m going to come back stronger next year and I’m going to win some more. So you had better work harder too.’

‘ Of course I will,’ Yuuri smiled. ‘ Let’s all work harder.’

They enjoyed the small bits of silence for a while, until Yuuri said, ‘ Thank you for talking to Victor.’

Ah, he meant the Gatorade thing.

‘ He told you?’ Yuri coughed. ‘ Yeah I talked to him.’

‘ If it weren’t for you… I don’t know what we will be doing now,’ Yuuri said.

Yuri waved him off, ‘ Don’t talk about it. It’s about time someone knocked some sense into that idiot and if he keeps on rambling about gold medals… Ugh. So. What about the coaching change thing, huh?’

Yuuri’s smile fell, ‘ Oh. Yes. Vitya also talked to me about it.’

‘ I guessed he would,’ Yuri said, remembering how pissed his coach was. ‘ Yakov turned it down immediately.’

‘ I know.’

‘ Do you want to train with Victor?’

‘ I would absolutely love to train with him,’ Yuuri said wistfully. ‘ Victor has told me all about your rink – everything sounds amazing.’

‘ It is amazing,’ Yuri admitted awkwardly. 

‘ It doesn’t matter, I’m contented with how things are now,’ Yuuri smiled.

A lady official showed up with her clipboard, ‘ Mr. Katsuki and Mr. Plisetsky, it’s time for the medal ceremony. Please get ready at the sides.’

‘ Alright, we’ll be coming now,’ Yuuri stood up, and looked back to smile at Yuri, ‘ You’ll be at the exhibition rehearsal tomorrow morning?’

‘ Yeah, of course? What about you, are you and the Old Man going to skip again?’ Yuri smoothed down the ruffles of his costume.

‘ Nah, we’re going. We don’t want to miss the group number. Chris said it sounds pretty cool.’

 ' Obviously Chris is saying that,' Yuri rolled his eyes. ' He helped choreograph it.' 

***

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

KATSUKI YUURI WORLD GOLD MEDALIST <3

Protect Katsuki Yuuri @katsukiyuuri_fc

SO PROUD

lutz-queen @outside.Edge

<3

Kawaii Yuuri-senpai @yuuriequalskawaii

Anyone excited for the next season already???

Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

OF COURSE.

Victorious @v4victorious

Have we received confirmation of whether Victor is going to compete next season?

Victor is the victor @victorvictorvictor

Not yet.

Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

Well he can’t be staying as Yakov’s assistant coach forever?

I heart Victor @lovingtheice

Maybe he’s really retiring.

OMG Victor is Life @vityaU

NO WAY DON’T JINX IT

I heart Victor @lovingtheice

Sorry.

Victuuri Skating @vic-yuu

NO WAY I WANT TO SEE VICTUURI AS COMPETITORS

Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

I really want to see what’s the Victuuri dynamic gonna be like on the ice

Yuuri Protection Squad @yk-squad

Now that they’re no longer ‘rivals’

Sunny Skates @sun_shine-skating

IDEA: VICTUURI AS A SUPPORTIVE, LOVING SKATING COUPLE

Victorious @v4victorious

YES

Katsudamn @katsukatsukatsu

YESSS

Katsudon is best @Katsudon-onice

Has anyone heard the rumours of the Yuuri coaching change?

Winner Winnerson @nikiforovvvv

???

Victuuri Skating @vic-yuu

He is?

Katsudon is best @Katsudon-onice

Oh so that’s probably not true then.

lutz-queen @outside.Edge

I saw this on some forums too.

Kawaii Yuuri-senpai @yuuriequalskawaii

I think I’ve heard of it, but I don’t think that’s true :(