An Unexpected Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 27: Return

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is the pre-boarding announcement for Japan Airlines Flight 3052 bound for Tokyo. Please have your boarding pass ready. First-class passengers may now proceed to..."

Ayumi Matsumoto was sitting on a chair at gate 59, Fukuoka Airport. Her hands rested flat on her lap as she stared out the large glass panels overlooking the runway. Her mind was hazy and she couldn't hear the hustle and bustle of passengers scattered throughout the terminal. She took a deep breath.

She was finally going back to Russia.

A hand suddenly grasped hers. "Hey, it's time for us to board the flight. Come on."

The girl was still in a distracted trance as Yuri Plisetsky pulled her past the gate. Kamoshita was behind them not saying a word. It was the beginning of a long series of flights that will take the three to Saint Petersburg.

As Ayumi stepped onto the gangway, she couldn't help but look back at the days leading to her decision:

"I'm glad nothing else happened last night. You really had us worried."

Viktor, Yuuri, Yuri and Kamoshita (who arrived at Hasetsu that morning) were seated at the communal area of the inn. Ayumi kneeled in front of them, head down in shame as she explained what she recalled about the night before.

While the teenage heirs were unusually covert when it came to their social life, it was no secret that they had a lot of privilege growing up. One of which was the ability to enter clubs and order alcohol despite being underage.

The night was fragmented in her memory. She remembered spending the rest of the night at the bar drinking several glasses of vodka. She also remembered feeling nauseated, and remembered stumbling out of the club. What she was clear to her, however, was hailing a cab because she couldn't find her way back to her own car. It took a while for her to get past her grogginess, but she managed to get back to the inn somehow. Everything was black after that.

The others sighed in relief. They were simply grateful that she wasn't in any further danger.

After her drinking episode was left behind them, she spent the next few days considering her next move. She missed being on the ice, and knew she couldn't waste her life away any longer. With that, she decided:

I'm going to debut in the senior division. I will dedicate the season to Miwako's memory... and I'm going to win.

When she finally snapped out of her train of thought, she found herself on a first-class seat next to the window. Yuri sat beside her, looking at her with concern.

"You alright?"

Ayumi turned to look at him. "Yeah... I'm fine."

Yuri huffed. "Geez. Can't you at least try to stay awake? I swear, you would have smacked right into that woman in front of us if it weren't for me."

"Sorry," she replied, then Yuri squeezed her hand.

"Ayu," the boy beside her said, his voice suddenly turning soft. "I know you're worried about coming back. Trust me, it'll all be okay."

Yuri knew her way too well.

She gave a curt nod and prepared herself for the long flight. She was about to put her phone on airplane mode when she saw that there were several unread messages. She opened the last one:

Vitya: Have a safe flight, Yumi! You'd better get some rest when you arrive in Russia. Send me a message when you get there, okay? (05/02, 7:00 a.m.)

Ayumi took one last glance at Fukuoka through the window. She was about to return to the world she left behind, and there was so much uncertainty up ahead. The support of everyone around her was more than she could ever wished for. At that point, whether she can bounce back or not is entirely up to her.

------

They were now in the middle of the ten-hour flight from Japan to Russia, and Yuri was feeling incredibly restless.

The sky was bathed in an orange glow. Ayumi was beside him with earphones on, typing away on her laptop. Kamoshita had to bring her back to earth after four months of absence. There was not enough time for her to come back to Taiwan and finish the academic term she missed, but the school allowed her to make up for the credits online over the summer.

Yuri groaned. A Korean film was playing on the screen in front of him. He played it hoping that his lack of understanding of the language will lull him to exhaustion, but there he was: groggy and uncomfortable.

"Can't sleep?" Ayumi asked in a whisper.

"Yeah."

She looked at him calmly, pulled out one of the earphones from her ear and plugged it into his. There was a soft Chinese song playing, but after a few taps, the music changed.

Yuri looked at the screen: Learning to Breathe, by Switchfoot. From the movie 'A Walk to Remember'. He leaned his body closer to hers, listening to the song playing in a low volume as she continued typing.

It was just like it used to be. Them beside each other, listening, not saying a word.

After all the times they've done that before, Yuri realized that Ayumi always played a song that expresses what she could not find the words to say. Just like she did the first time—she comforted him and told him that she was staying by his side. There was always a message hidden in the lyrics, and that was a language only they understood.

He focused on the lyrics of the song she chose.

I'm learning to breathe, I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Yuri turned to look at her, but her eyes did not leave the laptop screen. Did that mean she was slowly letting him in?

He was not able to ask as sleep finally overcame him, his head falling to her shoulders.