An Unexpected Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Arrival

Walking out of the arrivals area at Pulkovo International Airport, Ayumi has definitely had better days.

The past fourteen hours have been nothing more than a blur. She spent most of the flight on a seemingly endless video chat with her friends Jessica and Ryoji, both of whom were busy spending the spring break at a boarding school in London. She's also had to read yet another information packet that her father's emissary, Nathan, sent her just before takeoff. It was full of financial figures. God knows how many first-class cups of coffee she had to drink just to stay awake.

She didn't mind, though. No matter how busy she was, she's always made time for the only friends she has. They were a group of nine children all from the same social class. Their parents were all good friends, and they were introduced to each other in hopes of forming strong alliances (perhaps even marriage-related company mergers) in the future. While the intentions were purely corporate to begin with, the nine of them found comfort in each other, bearing the same weight of being heirs. They learned to accept each other's unique personalities and spent most of the time making sure their "extra-curriculars" coincided to spend time with each other. They all lead different lives now, some taking on more "extra-curriculars" than others. However, they always managed to contact each other and keep in touch.

Ayumi struggled to keep her eyes open as Kamoshita walked past her, pushing their luggage carts towards a black Audi waiting at the terminal bay. She walked slowly to the car, opening the door and sitting down in relief.

"Привет, Roman," she greeted her regular Russian driver. The 32-year-old smiled. "Привет, Miss Ayumi." The girl could only nod drowsily before she fell asleep entirely.

As soon as she woke up, she found herself in the apartment building she knew all too well. Her constant summers spent in Saint Petersburg have forced her to rent an apartment to live in during the rigorous months of training. The apartment was smaller than what she was used to, but it was cozy and has an incredible view of Fontanka River. It was home.

Kamoshita and Roman worked to get the bags up as Ayumi trudged along. She wanted to help in moving the things, but she was just way too drowsy to do so. She stepped in to the one-bedroom suite, making a beeline straight to the bedroom. Her bed, untouched for a couple of months, needed to be broken in. She didn't care though.

Kamoshita peeked into the room. "Miss Ayumi, I have already informed Mister Feltsman about your arrival. He told me that you are free to go to the rink whenever you're ready. Your usual practice time has been booked for you for the next few months."

Ayumi moaned in response. She was way too tired to make a coherent reply and passed out once again.

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She woke up again at 7 p.m. MSK. That was the longest sleep she has gotten for a long time. The sun was yet to set as she walked towards the kitchen. It was empty except for a covered container with steamed chicken left at the counter. She assumed Kamoshita must have left it for her and quickly served herself to eat on her work table near the window.

Ayumi knew she's been out of touch from the real world for more than 8 hours now, and all hell would have probably broken loose. Her suspicions proved true when she opened her laptop, her corporate e-mail flooding with messages from Nathan.

More information packets, she thought to herself. She opened the first one and began to read while slowly taking bites of chicken. It wasn't long until a call came through her Russian phone, which has been sitting on her desk ever since she left. The contact read 'Coach Yakov', and she immediately picked up.

"Ayumi," the coach's voice boomed though the call. "I heard you arrived today. Are you going to start practice tomorrow?"

"Yes, Coach Yakov." Ayumi replied in Russian. "I will be there. It's great to hear your voice again, though. Coach Li was never as boisterous as you are."

Yakov grunted in response. "You know you need to catch up on training. You've already missed out on a lot. Please tell me you've finally chosen the song for your free program, at least."

Ayumi sighed. She knew Yakov meant well, but she was really hoping there wouldn't be any talk of figure skating until tomorrow. "I have. I wanna go with Hometown Glory by Adele. It's been on my mind for quite a while."

"You do know I have no idea who Adele is, right?" Yakov complained. "Oh well, I will look it up. I've already had your short program choreography finalized, by the way. We can work on that routine tomorrow."

Ayumi smiled. "Thanks for pulling through for me again, Coach Yakov. But for the free program, is it alright if I work closely with the choreographer?" Yakov responded, "What for?"

"I just want to learn how to choreograph routines. I was hoping I can get to do that for my senior debut, so there's no better time to start than now."

"Alright, if that's what you want," Yakov said. "But come to practice on time tomorrow. Is that clear?"

Ayumi responded, "Yes sir." With that, the call ended.

The girl went back to reading the company information packet in front of her. It was about the upcoming collaboration with a Philippine telecom company this time. Nathan sending this to her probably meant that she was expected to come to the Philippines to serve as a liaison for her father again, and the need to master the information was evident.

Honestly, who in their right mind would listen to a 13-year-old girl? She thought. Then again, she was well-known in the industry for being a well-versed child with an intimidating presence that only showed when she was in "work mode".

She was tired, but there was no time to be. She needed to be in top form. Her training begins the next day, for another gruesome season is yet to come.