Semester's End - College AU Yuri!!! On Ice

Introduction

The semester had been coming along well, grades were on track, the dorms were pretty tidy and the professors hadn't been hassling Yuuri all month. He was glad for it, trying to keep his grades up was hard enough! He couldn't deal with his professors on his back constantly. He'd held back enough as it was in college to allow himself the necessary practice time, meaning that his grades were not on par with someone like his roommate Phichit, who collectively had the best grades in the school and the best culmination of practice time. Sometimes Yuuri had to wonder exactly what he did that allowed him to be so good at it all.

"Hey, Phichit, did you ever finish that solo routine you were working on last year?"

Phichit looked up from his phone and shook his head. "Nah, I changed my mind last minute, it was all right, but it wasn't really me."

Yuuri could understand that. The school's skating club was well known around the world and as some of the best skaters with a high reputation, they all had to maintain a certain quality. Phichit was a very specific kind of skater, he didn't like to change up his move pool too much. As it was, his jumps weren't high calibre, but his moves were amazing.

The students that graduated from here, those who were deemed talented enough, always went into the world of professional skating. There was a certain prestige awarded to alumni, one that was hard to find elsewhere. But you had to have the brains to go along with it. It didn't matter how good you were on the ice, unless you could back it all up with your grades, you were history.

"Do you think you'll do well in the exhibition this year?"

A cheeky grin formed itself on Phichit's face as he turned to Yuuri. It was a question Yuuri asked every time, and one that Phichit loved to answer. "You know it, my next routine is going to be amazing. I've been watching videos of Viktor Nikiforov and some of his moves are inspiring!"

There it was. Viktor Nikiforov. The dream of every student was to one day meet the Russian skater. Everyone who was anyone knew he had attended this school and everyone wanted to meet him. Yuuri was no exception. His dream was to one day skate on the same ice as the skating god, but he doubted it would ever happen. Yuuri didn't have the same charisma and enthusiasm as his roommate and it meant he wasn't very confident when he was skating for anyone other than himself.

After his last class of the day ended, Yuuri headed into the skating hall. There were multiple ones across the campus, but this was the smallest. Not as many of the skaters came this far down, most of the bigger rinks were closer. Yuuri preferred his solitude and knew that he wouldn't be disturbed here. Most of the students had evening classes; Yuuri had used all of his up in his first year. It left him time like this to work on what he was going to do for the exhibition at the end of the semester.

If he wanted a chance at heading to the college tournaments in three months time, he was going to have to work fast and hard to get his routine up to scratch. Phichit wasn't the only one who'd been taking inspiration from Viktor Nikiforov. Yuuri had been shadowing the man his entire career, all his jumps, all his moves, every song he used. They all spoke to Yuuri, like he was supposed to understand some hidden message within them.

When they were still in high school, Phichit and Yuuri had often skated together, mimicking Viktor and using his moves as a springboard for their own talents. He moved with such grace and purpose that Yuuri sometimes wondered if he was even really skating. Perhaps he simply flew across the ice, his skates never touching the ground.

Whatever his secret, Yuuri knew he could probably use that right about now. He'd never been good at creating his own routines, it wasn't that he couldn't, he just wasn't confident that they were any good. His old principal had often been the one to do all of that for him, but neither he, nor Yuuri's old ballet teacher were available anymore. He certainly hoped that he would be able to find some sort of inspiration before the days end, he only had three months until this all had to be shown in exhibition. If he wanted even a chance to go professional, this was his only shot. He would be graduating after this year, after graduation his dreams would all be over.

There was a time not too long ago that he and Phichit had considered forming a pair, but the thought lasted barely a week before they both realised that they had their own way of doing things and without a third opinion, like you would get if you had a coach, they knew they would never come to an agreement with their programs. It was so rare for college students to even get near a coach these days, let alone actually have one with them day in and day out, it wasn't like they just grew on trees. This was a very serious sport and having a coach meant you were afforded extras that most never dreamed of. It was Yuuri's dream to one day have a coach, but he knew, at least for now, it was a dream that was out of his hands.

Stepping out onto the ice, his bag and books safely tucked away in the corner of the room, Yuuri thought hard about what the theme of his exhibition would be. Last year his theme had been loss, after the death of his beloved dog, Vic, he hadn't really been able to think of anything else. As a result his skating had severely suffered and his entire program had been compromised because of it. He'd splashed out early on and been beaten by a young highschooler, which was ridiculous in the first place, highschoolers weren't even supposed to be in the competition, but apparently, this one kid, he was the exception. A genius they'd said, getting ready to start as a freshman the next year, this year. Yuuri hadn't seen nor heard anything about him since, but it was only really early in the year.