➯𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩!

⬎⬐

i look at myself in the bathroom mirror.

today is the day.

i splash water on my face trying to calm my nerves.

so many people, so many cameras. victor is watching. yuuri is watching. minako is watching. and above all... yurio is watching.

that damn russian punk.

i still feel bad about lashing out at him last night... but i can't focus on that right now. just focus on your routine. on the ice, and on the music.

before leaving the bathroom, i dust off my "JAPAN" jacket and matching pants, give myself one last look in the mirror, and exit to the locker room.

there are 20 minutes before i go on to skate my program. people have started entering the ice castle about 10 minutes ago, i haven't left the locker room since. there's no way i can stand out there with the crowd for longer than i have to.

skating last night made me feel somewhat better... until yuri came along. although then again letting out all of my pent up frustration at him also helped...

hopefully he isn't mad at me though, even if he is still a rude pain in the ass i don't want to always be at war with him.

i've barely seen him since last night though. when i woke up this morning he was already gone, victor said he went on a run and then to the ice castle. i only glanced at him when i myself entered the ice castle today, and then he disappeared.

granted i have also been hiding in the bathroom so i have no real idea of where anyone is.

i take a deep breath, and reach for the door handle out of the locker room. i open it when BAM-

i run into someone's chest. i look up.

"watch where you're going, ice princess."

shit, the absolute LAST person i wanted to see right now.

"heyy yurio..." i scratch the back of my head out of nervousness.

"what are you doing hiding in here? you're skating in 15 minutes now."

"15?? shit time goes by too fast... um- i've just been thinking, y'know warming up haha..." i give him a light punch on the shoulder.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT Y/N?!?!?!

i know you're nervous but PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER.

yurio looks down where i punched him, "right... well get yourself together dumbass. you better do your best because i'm only going to win against the best."

is this really his way of encouraging me..? oy vey.

"of course i'll do my best, i am the best female skater in japan after all. this will just be your reminder of that." i walk past him with my head up, where the FAWK did this confidence suddenly come from-

at least he doesn't seem mad about yesterday... one less thing to worry about.

i walk out to the sort of waiting room we have, where victor, yuuri, yuuko, and nishigori are all sitting talking as yuuri warms up. yurio must have just come from here.

victor turns to me, "y/n, there you are." he stands up and walks over to me, "i can see it in your eyes, you've changed. you're ready y/n, trust me. now don't disappoint me like last season's grand prix, kay?" he says with a smile.

he finishes off his pep talk with THAT? gee thanks, no pressure.

i look up at him, "thank you for all your help victor, i promise you'll be impressed."

I PROMISE HE'LL BE IMPRESSED?!? WHAT AM I SAYING-

HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO IMPRESS V I C T O R N I K I F O R O V ? !

you just keep digging a deeper grave for yourself don't you y/n...

victor nods at me with a small smile, and turns back to yuuri to talk to him.

i look up at the clock on the wall, 10 minutes.

with the little time left, i try and jog a bit in place, the last thing i need is to be even more unprepared when i go on the ice.

why the hell did victor put me first!? can't i be in the middle? no one will remember the middle... that way i can hide if i mess up again!

but noOoOOOo, instead i'm first up. after me is yurio and then yuuri. of course his favorite is last...

yuuri doesn't know how lucky he is.

i drown out all other background noises, focusing solely on the light taps of my feet, and the ticking of the clock. before i know it someone taps my shoulder.

i turn to see yuuko, "y/n, you've got 5 minutes."

"alright, thanks." i guess it's time...

while i was warming up everyone else came into the waiting area, which is minako, the triplets, and yurio.

i unzip my jacket and pants, left only in the rather short dress victor chose for me...

(here it is again for reference)

yuuko gasps as i unveil my costume, "OH WOW Y/N!! you look absolutely stunning in that! victor you have great taste!"

"uhh... yuuko you've got a bit of blood on your nose..."

"AHH!" she puts her hand over her face.

i turn to look around at everyone in the room, yuuri walks up to me, "you're gonna do great y/n, just ignore everyone, it's you and the ice. so dance like no one is watching."

i freeze at his words, they were the best thing anyone could have said to me at this point. "thank you yuuri, that was perfect."

i turn around and see yurio behind me, only he has his hand over his face as well...

"uh, yurio are you okay? don't tell me the russian punk is crying~" but i see red liquid come from his nose.

"SHUT UP IM NOT CRYING! YOU- you- you just... 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨..." he barely whispers.

"huh? speak up pussycat."

"I DIDNT SAY ANYTHING! now go out! get on the ice or you'll be late! dumbass." he starts shoving me out.

"WOAH WAIT- OKAY OKAY! i'm going!"

before i know it i'm shoved out of the waiting room into the sidelines of the rink. i freeze as the lights blind me for a bit, and then my eyes adjust and i see so. many. people.

i gulp. can i really do this?

yurio seems to notice me pause.

"look, y/n, you have what it takes. you can do this. dance like last night, like the fairy you are." he whispers down into my ear, his breath tickling my neck.

"thank you, yuri." 

what is it with yuri's giving great advice today? focus y/n, jesus...

i get onto the ice, the crowd starts cheering, and i hear the commentator introduce me, but it all drowns out as i take my position in the center.

i close my eyes, focusing on my breath. however one voice manages to reach me.

"Y/N! DAVAI!"

i smile to myself as i know who it is, and then the music begins. 

(here is the music againnnn, also please- i don't figure skate and i know like nothing about it, so i'm gonna do my best to kind of lightly describe the routine... if you skate and it doesn't make any sense please don't come at me-)

it starts strong, i take off around the rink.

i speed up, trying to exude as much power and ferocity as i can. and trying to keep up with the song's tempo.

before i know it, the first jump is up. a triple lutz combo into a double toe loop. i hold my breath, i land the lutz, i land the toe loop. without realizing i had put my arms up for the lutz.

the muffled crowd cheers, and i let out a breath. it seems like all of my tension is gone now... i lose myself in the song.

closing my eyes, i only hear my skates on the ice as i fly around the rink.

another jump, and another, and another. the triple flip i put both arms up, exuding all my power.

i land them all, the music playing loudly, matching my breath and my heart beat.

i fly through the air, and glide across the ice. i stop thinking about everything that clouded my mind, so this is what victor meant.

now, i want everyone watching. i want all eyes on me. i understand the power and ferocity now, and i want everyone to see it.

i move onto the step sequence.

i feel my heart rate pick up as the song is reaching its climatic end.

thanks to my stamina, victor put the triple axel at the end, even after the step sequence. but this time, i'm ready.

any fears like last season are gone. victor, yuuri, minako, the world... and yurio. i hope you're all watching.

 suddenly i'm spinning through the air. once, twice, three times. i nail it.

everything around me is a blur as i skate back to the center, ending in a scratch spin to a sit spin and finally rising up to my final pose, i have my arms outstretched behind my like wings, and my back arched as my right foot is extended in a point behind me and my left leg is straight.

(basically this)

i breathe out, and flutter my eyes open, staring at the bright lights above me.

suddenly all the sound hits me at once. the crowds cheers like never before, i look around me and flowers are being thrown.

i hear the commentators and news reporters, "y/n just gave us a perfect performance! coming out strong like nothing we've ever seen from her! she shined like a star tonight! this is not the dove we knew, this is the power of black swan!"

i look up and see yurio in front of me. i notice a light pink dust his cheeks... until victor and yuuri shove him out of the way.

"Y/N! THAT WAS AMAZING! consider me impressed." i skate over to their open arms, they pull me into a hug.

"thank you so much victor, this was all thanks to you. and yuuri thank you for your support."

"maybe i put together the routine and costume, but you executed it perfectly. although you did get a bit sloppy in the step sequence, you rushed some parts and you almost fell out of one of the jumps-" he immediately starts rambling.

yuuri and i sweat drop.

suddenly they're both pulled away by someone, and i'm pulled into the arms of someone else.

"that was amazing piglet, you didn't disappoint."

before i can respond he pulls away and skates onto the rink, now it's his turn to skate.

i stare at him as he takes his place. he is absolutely breathtaking in the costume he chose.

as he begins his routine, it's beautiful and graceful. something completely different from the yurio i usually know...

his routine is going well, until suddenly he looks up and locks eyes with me as he skates by. something changes.

his face looks angry, and he starts to rush the routine. he lands every jump, and skates the routine perfectly, but it's not right anymore. any graceful and peaceful feeling before is gone now.

he finishes, the crowd goes wild, but he couldn't look more unhappy. 

as he skates out of the rink i try and stop him to talk, but he only shrugs me off, avoiding eye contact. 

he stalks off to another part of the rink. part of me wants to follow him and comfort him, but another tells me he needs to be alone right now.

i turn to victor who also watched him walk away with a worried look, until i notice yuuri as he gets ready to start his routine.

"good luck yuuri, i know you're going to do amazing, just think of your pork cutlet bowl! katsudon~"

"thank you y/n."

he skates to the center of the rink, and gives a performance like no other. granted he messed up a jump, he still gives the perfect performance, i can't take my eyes off of him.

so much so, that i don't notice yurio leaving.

yuuri's performance finishes, and for the third time the crowd cheers. i look at victor, he stares at yuuri in awe...

yeah, yuuri definitely won this against yurio. WAIT YURIO!

i frantically look for him, i can't find him anywhere so i check outside. i run to the entrance of the ice castle, and see him with his luggage walking out.

"YURIO! what are you doing?" i breathe heavily after running.

he stops in his tracks. "i'm going back to russia. i know i gave a terrible performance and victor will stay here to coach yuuri. goodbye y/n." i notice tears well up in his eyes.

"wait!" i run up to him and grab his hand, "you didn't give a terrible performance, you were amazing." panting, i pull him into a hug. 

"you just need to find your agape... and stop thinking so hard while you skate, or you'll hurt yourself kitty boy."

he freezes, before slowly and loosely putting his arms around me. it's silent for a while.

"...спасибо, принцесса. до свидания (spasibo, printsessa. dasvidaniya)." 

he lets go and grabs his luggage once again, and walks away, back to the airport, back to russia.

i feel something on my cheek, and notice a tear escaped from my eyes.

until we meet again yurio...

---

it's been a couple days since the competition, victor and yuuri continued practice and training for the grand prix. so did i, however i was more focused on getting a permanent coach now that victor is completely focused on training yuuri.

i'm not gonna lie... things are kinda boring without that russian fairy... kinda missed seeing his blonde head lying on the floor next to me...

and ever since he left i've been all but stalking his instagram. 

i'm not crazy just... curious is all...

BUT ANYWAYS as of right now i'm on my laptop checking my email. 

i notice i got a new email from someone...

LILIA BARANOVSKAYA??

hold on- did i just read that right?

i got an email. from THE lilia baranovskaya!??

i must be dreaming. she has been one of my all time idols. granted she's retired now, i look up to her dancing so much.

hesitantly, i click on the email. i start reading through it.

"HUHHHH!?!?"

"Y/N! SHUT THE FUCK UP WE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" i hear mari shout from her room.

it says she saw my routine in the competition between yuri, yurio and i... she was really impressed with my skating!? i might pass out.

but that's not all...

SHE WANTS ME TO COME TO RUSSIA AND TRAIN UNDER HER IMMEDIATELY!? SHE WANTS TO BE MY C O A C H ! ?

how the hell am i supposed to sleep now!? wait- i have to tell victor about this!

"VICTOR!!" i grab my laptop and run to his room, banging on the door.

he opens up in a robe looking tired and disheveled, he yawns, "what is it y/n?"

"LOOK!" i shove the laptop in his face, he starts reading the email.

"hmm... OH WOW! y/n this is great! you were looking for a coach right? lilia would be perfect for you! well not as perfect as me of course, but she'll do the job!"

"but-...but what if she doesn't like me!? what if she is disappointed? what if she quits on me! WHAT IF SHE SAYS I SHOULD QUIT!?!"

"y/n, if there's one thing i know, lilia doesn't reach out to just anyone. you impressed her, and something tells me she'll like training you."

"you really think so?"

"i know so y/n. with the way you are now you will only become more powerful and exceed all of our expectations. i know it."

"wow... thank you victor... so, i guess i'm going to russia then?"

"looks like it! but before you go i actually had a song i think would work great for your free skate... let me get it."

he rummages around before handing me a CD, "listen to it on the plane, alright? i think it's perfect for you, the choreography is all up to you though. surprise me."

"of course, thank you victor, i can't wait."

well... it looks like i'm going to russia.

⬏⬑

➯𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩!

𝙖/𝙣

okay i promised it would be shorter and it issss, i think i'm getting better at this...

n e wayz, look at you going to russia you lucky dog. would be a crazzyyy coincidence if you bump into yurio there... heehee...

well, i'm gonna pass out now it's almost 3 am- adios