After the new Yuri Nikiforov gets home from his wedding, he finds out that he is expecting! But unfortunately, things aren't going so well on Yurio's side of the story. If the science part is messing you up, just come up with whatever explanation wo...
Yurio and Viktor left Yu-topia inn at 5:45 the next morning and silently walked to Ice Castle. About half way there, Viktor asked Yurio: "I never asked, but how did you and Yuuko get so close so quickly?"
"The first few days I was in Hasetsu, for whatever reason she wouldn't leave me alone. She always asked if I needed help or wanted to chat and shit mile that. So one day I let her time me going up and down the stairs, just so she would stop asking. Afterward, she invited back to her place for lunch, and I went, not because I was desperate for her company, but because I wasn't in the mood to deal with getting food at the inn." Yurio divulged, as they crossed the bridge, where Takumi seemed to constantly be fishing.
When Yurio had first started skating in Moscow, Yakov had pressured Yurio into learning English, even though Yurio said it was completely pointless. And while he remembered learning English being just had hard as learning Japanese, for whatever reason, English just seemed to stick in a way Japanese did not. Maybe it was the fact the Japanese had 2 MORE ALPHABETS THAN ANY NATURAL HUMAN BEING WOULD EVER USE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND. Yuri's parents didn't speak a word of English or Russian, which made communication rather tedious.(Viktor called it good practice) However In college, Yuuko had double-majored in child psychology English, so communication had never been an issue with her.
"Then she kept texting me while I was in Russia, and I thought she was just bored. I only texted back because I had nothing better to do. But right before Skate Canada, when I was looking at the time zone, I realized that she was texting me at 2:00 am Japan time, and she posted that picture on her Instagram." Yurio continued, as Ice Castle began to grow in the landscape.
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"That was when I realized that she wasn't texting me just to pass the time, she was texting me because she genuinely wanted to, and cared about me. Once I figured it out, I started to open up more and more, until we got to where we now. The moment that finally leads to us calling each other Okaasan and Yurochka was the night after 'The glorious whack-a-mole game of 2017' when I told her about my biological mother."
"Good for you, I know those kinds of things are hard for you." Viktor happily chanted, as Yurio pulled open the door.
"Hey, Okaasan!" Yurio called as they walked in, getting her attention from behind the counter.
"Hey Yurochka, how are you? Did you write down the program on a piece of paper, for Viktor?" She greeted. Because Yuri's baby was going to be born in late November, Viktor wasn't going to be available as much for practice, especially later in the season. Viktor was also definitely going to miss the Grand Prix Final, and depending on where Yurio was assigned, some of the later qualifying events. To combat this, Yuuko had come on Yurio's secondary coach. During practice, She was still her sweet self, yet strict, which was something that Viktor just was not. It's not she was trying to say that Viktor's loose coaching style was bad, it definitely worked for Yurio, but Yurochka needed a strict 'Yes, that was good', or a 'No, do it again', instead of 'Well do you think it was good?". She also knew how to get Yurio to do things that would help him out in the long run, that he didn't see the need for in the short run, like writing the program down on paper instead of digitally. Hand-writing the program down would help Yurochka remember it better, and saying that it was for Viktor's sake would silence any compelling.
"Right here" Yurio replied, holding up a perfectly folded piece of white-lined paper.
"Great. I hope Viktor likes it." Okaasan smiled.
"He's just happy we have something solid to work off of." Yurio scoffed.
"And astounded you finally have a full program decided upon!" Viktor added
"Ha ha. Very funny Viktor" Yurio sarcastically shot, rolling his eyes.
"Let's see the program!" Viktor exclaimed as the two of them walked into the rink. Once Yurio had his skates on, he handed the piece of paper with his routine on it to Viktor, who instantly looked over every bit of it. "Why do you have certain song lyrics written next to the jumps?"
"Okaasan thought it would be a good idea to try and tie my routine into the music."
"Alright, if that what you think will work. Which part do you want to show me first?" Viktor inquired
"All of it." Yurio nonchalantly stated, as he handed Viktor the remote to the stereo and walked on to the ice. He skated to the center of the rink, and closed his eyes, thinking of what he was about to do.
Viktor pressed play, and like a flash, Yurio was in full performance mode.
4 minutes and 10 seconds later (with the help of Okaasan, Yurio had been able to slightly slow down the song, stretching it to meet the time limit), Yurio was an angry ball of sweat and frustration. To say that the performance has been shit was the understatement of the year, in his mind, it was the worst he had ever skated. To the untrained eye, however, it looks like a Grand Prix worthy performance, but Yurio knew he could do so much better.
"Play it again!" Yurio barked.
"Are you sure, that wasn't that b-" Viktor started before Yurio cut him off.
"JUST PLAY IT!"
Viktor complied, not wanting to derail Yurio's motivation. After he performed the piece again, Yurio felt that he had improved a little, but not enough for feedback, so he demanded that Viktor plays the song again. This went on for nearly two hours until Viktor threatened to literally drag Yurio of the ice, to take a nice, long break, not the quick 10-second water breaks he had taken in between routines.
"Are you ready to hear my feedback now?" Viktor asked.
"Дa." Yurio panted.
"From when you first showed me this morning until now, you have improved more than I thought possible in 2 hours. I think the reason that you are struggling so much is that you are trying to integrate the song into your routine, something you have never been good at. I also want to apologize." Viktor noted.
"Apologize?" Yurio inquired
"A more loose coaching style doesn't work for you. One day of a more strict practice with Yuuko has carved the way for you to make more progress in the last 24 hours than you have in the past 4 months. So for that, I would formally like to apologize. I still want you to produce your own short program, but I will help you more this time around." Viktor apologized.
"Took you long enough to figure out," Yurio grunted.
"I'll take that as an apology accepted. Now, for actual feedback. The choreography itself isn't bad, but you're trying too hard to connect to the music. With the Ice DAnce style you're going for, you need to blend effortlessly into the song, otherwise, you're never going to win anything. But fortunately for us, Minako's letting us go to her ballet studio tomorrow to show us the perfect game to combat that!" Viktor cheered, flashing a heart-shaped smile.
Yurio groaned. Seriously, more ballet?! That was the last thing he wanted to do! But as Okaasan pointed out as they texted that evening, Viktor was finally making actual decisions as a coach.
