An Unexpected Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 22: Convincing

"Good morning!"

Viktor greeted a fisherman by the bridge while he was riding on a bike. Behind him trailed 'Yurio' and Yuuri, jogging as they headed to Ice Castle Hasetsu.

That day was the day Viktor was going to show them the programs he choreographed.

The place has been reserved for their practice, and they walked inside to get ready. The two skaters were shocked to see Ayumi standing in the locker room, arms wrapped around herself. She looked up and turned to Viktor, who smirked and waved at her.

Ayumi avoided the burning gaze of her former best friend and looked at the tall Russian with weary eyes. "What am I doing here, Vitya? I am not participating in this competition, and I already told you I was not going to—"

"I need you to see this Yumi," Viktor rebutted. "I swore that I was going to get you back on a podium. There's no better way to convince you than to make you watch and remember how much you loved competing."

Yuri turned to Viktor in shock. What have you two talked about without me? Ayumi, knowing there was no way to argue with Viktor, sighed loudly and entered the glass doors leading to the rink.

After the two skaters laced their skates up, they proceeded to the ice where Viktor was already waiting. Ayumi was standing on the sidelines, eyes downcast.

"First, let's have you two listen to the music." Viktor said and pressed the remote he was holding. A gentle song started playing from the speakers. Ayumi recognized the words that came out as Latin: a language she wanted to learn but had no time to master.

Sic mea vita est temporaria
cupit ardenter caritatem aeternam

"The piece comes in two arrangements: each with a different theme," he explained. "On Love: Eros and Agape. Have you ever thought about love?"

Yuuri shook his head, while Yuri scowled. "No." Viktor can tell he was lying, but decided not to say anything.

"All right. Then what do you feel when you listen to the music?"

Yuuri spoke up. "It's very clear and innocent, like someone who doesn't know what love is yet."

"I don't like this piece," Yuri complained beside him. "This innocence crap makes me wanna barf."

Ayumi spared Yuri a quick glance. He's so bitter, she thought. Her eyes looked down once again, saddened at the attitude displayed by the boy she was once close to.

"Okay," Viktor said, then changed the tune to a song that resembled Spanish flamenco music.

"It's like a completely different song..." Yuuri commented. Yuri was quick to respond. "Viktor! I want to skate to this one!"

"The first piece is On Love: Agape. The theme is unconditional love." Yuuri nodded his head at this. "And this piece is On Love: Eros. The theme is sexual love."

Yuri obviously preferred the latter.

"I'll have you two skate to these opposing themes. This is how I'm assigning them," Viktor said. "Yuuri, you'll skate to 'Eros'! Yurio, you'll skate to 'Agape'!"

The two skaters in front of him started to freak out and demanded him to switch the assignments. Viktor simply ignored them and said, "You have to do the opposite of what people expect. How else will you surprise them? That's my motto."

Those words seemed to strike a cord within Ayumi, who suddenly looked up at him.

"Actually, you're far more ordinary and mediocre than you think. You need to be more self-aware," Viktor continued. "I'm surprised to think you can choose your own image. From the audience's perspective, you're just a piglet and a kitten." He then explained how the two needed to perform the routines by his standards, else he would cease working with both.

"Fine!" Yuri stated, eyes angry and determined. "I'll skate to 'Agape'! My senior division debut depends on it! You'd better give me a program that'll let me win!"

Viktor challenged him in response, but Yuri simply stood his ground. He was determined to win the Hot Springs on Ice event to bring Viktor back to Russia as his coach.

"Yuuri, how about you?" Viktor asked the Japanese skater. "What would you like to do if you win?"

"I want to eat pork cutlet bowls with you, Viktor." he said. "I want to keep winning, and keep on eating pork cutlet bowls! So, I'll skate to 'Eros'! I'll give it all the Eros I've got!"

"Great! That's exactly what I like!"

------

The two competing skaters were now standing outside the rink, while Viktor remained at the center. Ayumi took steps away from the two and leaned on the fence a few meters away. Viktor looked at the girl expectantly, urging her to continue watching, then turned to the two boys.

"First, Yurio's 'On Love: Agape.'"

The music played, and Viktor skated with a gentle and innocent vibe running through. Agape... unconditional love. God's infinite love is self-sacrificing and uncalculating. Ayumi couldn't help but stare in awe. That has been her skating style for most of her career. It was pure, the only feeling that she can express at the time. She has not had the freedom in life to explore other emotions, after all. The difficulty of his execution, however, still felt miles ahead of her league.

Viktor's demonstration ended. "Kind of like that. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I pretty much got it." Yuri replied. The girl was sceptical. He was so confident in himself even though the piece did not represent him at all. She knew he was rough on the edges, and while she's seen a gentle side to him that no one has, she knew that he never displayed anything other than arrogance and confidence while skating.

"Wow, that was amazing..." a woman suddenly interrupted. Yuuri introduced her to them as Yuko, one of the staff in the rink. She was a big skating fan, it seemed, and she wanted to watch them practice.

Viktor shouted out from the ice. "Okay, Yuuri. You're next." The song changed, and suddenly Viktor was skating with so much bravado and sexiness that it caught the two girls outside the rink off guard. Yuko had blood coming out of her nose, while Ayumi held her face feeling it redden like a tomato.

On Love: Eros. Eros... sexual love. Pleasure followed by pleasure. One just drowns in it.

Ayumi wondered how the Japanese skater was going to pull that off. The past week, she's gotten to know a Yuuri who was so timid and unsure of himself. The routine required such confidence and portrayed an emotion he didn't seem to have experience with. 'Eros' was going to be a challenge for him.

"Yuuri! How was that?"

While Viktor and Yuuri discussed the program, Ayumi was deep in thought. Viktor spared her a glance after every routine, so she knew he was trying to tell her something. The two programs were so different, yet so similar at the same time. They both represented the many sides of love. But no, there was something else.

The first routine was something she was all-too familiar with. If she were to choose between the two programs, she would choose that in a heartbeat. It was within her comfort zone. But the second one was energetic, overflowing with passion. She realized: that was the feeling she's been trying so hard to interpret with Minako these past few days. How did he even know that?

It struck her: Viktor was showing her two sides of the same coin. He was showing her who she was, and who she can be. If only she gave herself another chance.

She turned abruptly and rushed towards the door.

"Where are you going, Yumi?" Viktor called.

Ayumi did not look back. "T-Thank you, Vitya..." she said as she walked out.

The Russian simply smiled.