Author's notes, TW & CW
↳Somehow, the pressure's lifted.
Ever since Victor left, it's been easier for Yuri to leave his room for more than ten minutes total and he's almost starting to consider going skating... maybe. Almost. He might not be so good at it, per se, considering the weight he's gained and his general lack of practice or any physical activity whatsoever but, well, every time he stops at Ice Castle Hasetsu, the thought of the ice under his feet makes him shiver with anticipation.
The house is a little quieter and his mom seems a bit tense, like she's walking on eggshells around him, but at least he doesn't have Victor breathing down his neck anymore. Now he only has to deal with Minako, who isn't nearly as intimidating. Everything is (almost) back to how it was before. And, since he's all but fully reverted back to his previous life, maybe he could... maybe... well– well perhaps...
Yuri might start putting his posters back up.
No, god no, no of course not. Of course he's not going to put the posters up...
Anyway, he's glad to get back to normal. As much as the last months were a wonderful fever dream, they were still a fever dream. And as much as Yuri's glad it happened, he's glad it's over too. He's not even sure how much he'll miss Victor's company since, after his failure, Victor's presence had started to feel more like a burden than a blessing.
He was a god among humans. But not in the good way.
Yuri heaves a sigh, clearing his busy mind and heading for the door. It's currently nine in the morning, an appropriate time to get out of bed, and he's headed to the kitchen for a cup of black tea. He strolls through the hall, engulfed in the warm aromas of the inn's signature breakfast of miso soup, steamed rice and grilled fish. For the first time in weeks, the smell doesn't bowl him over with anxious nausea.
"Mornin' Yuri!" Mari claps him on the back gently, passing him with an armful of freshly-cleaned bowls.
"Yuri's up?" his mom asks, poking her head out of the kitchen door. "Oh! Good morning sweetie, would you like to test this batch of steamed-buns for me?"
Yuri lets himself grin. "Yeah, sure. Is there a pot of tea?"
"Of course," she replies. "Now come here and give your old mom a good-morning hug."
❆
"...definitely, definitely. Apparently, he got into a bit of a heated disagreement with ex-student Victor Nikiforov. Now, we're not sure what happened, but we can only hope it won't affect his current skaters' performance, because later tonight we'll see eighteen-year old Mila Babicheva for her short program. The piece is..."
"I wonder what that's about..." Minako mumbles, drumming her fingers on the bottle she's holding. She tears her eyes from the TV screen and glances over at Yuri, who's looking down absently at his hands.
It's getting late in the evening, and Minako's been getting progressively less and less coherent. She's not at her worst yet, but since the final has yet to even begin, Yuri knows it'll get worse. She always stays up to watch it live, and Yuri usually does too, but he's not so sure he will this year. He's getting tired, and he can just watch it on YouTube the next day.
"Yu-ri," Minako calls in a singsong voice.
"Hmm? Oh. Sorry. I was– um..."
"Daydreaming about your loverboy?" Minako interrupts with a teasing grin.
Yuri furrows his eyebrows, giving Minako an irritated look. "No, I just... I was just spacing out."
"Well, anyway, did you hear that?" she asks. With no reply, she continues. "Victor and Yakov got in a fight. Do you know anything?"
"What?" Yuri glances up at the screen. "No, I don't... I don't think I know."
Minako laughs. "Nothing? Not a clue? Damn, you really don't know shit about him, huh? I mean I always knew he was secretive, but..."
Yuri's patience runs out about halfway through that sentence. He stands up and stomps off without a word. He didn't want to watch those stupid pre-competition shows anyway.
"You really don't know shit about him, huh?"
It hurts, but it's undeniably true.
Yuri really doesn't know him.

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FanfictionNovember 5th, 2014. On the day that could have been Yuri's first independent victory, he instead watches as his career crumbles before his eyes. With Yuri's depression deepening and Victor dealing with the homophobia that drove him out of Russia, t...