All About Us [Yuri Katsuki x Reader]

154 - Where the heart is

To most first time flyers, the concept of traveling by plane must be pretty terrifying. Soaring the skies at incredible speeds and being thousands of feet off solid ground would make any normal person uneasy at first. But when you're well traveled, the novelty of flying on an aircraft dissipates and is soon replaced with just the anxiety and restlessness of wanting to get off and get your feet on the ground again.

His spirits may have been lifted somewhat but his heart sat heavy within his chest. If he were to describe what he was feeling at this very moment, he would say without a moment's hesitation that he was exhausted. The past few hours felt like centuries, stretching a moment longer just to spite him.

He was just anxious to get away from here, anxious to get back to you. He had noticed that there was this sort of cycle when it came to the two of you as of late. Being away from you made him antsy. He just wanted to get home and forget any of this has ever happened.

Yuri walked forward with a disheartened look on his face. His eyes downcast and shadowed, watching listlessly as one foot went forward followed by the other. He had probably probably bumped into someone, but he couldn't really say, he was there  physically but his thoughts were elsewhere. Like the fifteen year old blonde told him not so long ago, he had barely managed to get himself a place in the Grand Prix Finals. He had managed to get in by the skin of his teeth and he really had no one else to blame but himself.

His heart really wasn't into his performance.

Thinking back, during the Free Skate in Russia, he doubted he even gave that much of a damn whether he nailed all of his jumps or properly executed his spins. Yes, he still exerted the effort to actually complete the program but just didn't really see the point as to why. There was just so much going on, he could barely keep up with it all.

And although it was painfully obvious that Victor was disappointed - and he had every right to be because if he were in his shoes, he'd be disappointed in himself too - the older skater-turned-coach has been nothing but understanding during the whole trip back to Japan much to his surprise and great relief. He doesn't think he could handle the thought of having failed Victor. Had it not been for his reassuring glances and comforting pats on the back, he could have just broken down crying in the middle of the journey. Victor didn't need words because honestly, the twenty-seven year-old  didn't know what else there was to say.

But it didn't matter to Yuri, him being there was enough. 

Victor understood that the only one who could ease the mind of his protege now was you. Although he wanted to help as much as he could, he would most likely do more harm than good as he was never really comfortable in consoling others. He would leave all the heavy lifting in your more than capable hands.

Because at the moment, from where he's standing, it looked as if though the dark haired man was tearing at the seams.

Perhaps one last attempt at trying to comfort his student wouldn't hurt. Catching up to the shorter skater was easy with his long strides. He gently placed a hand on his shoulder and offered a small smile, "We'll make it back sooner than you think, Yuri."

With a dispassionate shrug, he sighed, "I really don't want to sound childish but...how soon is 'soon'?"

Well...how on earth was he supposed to respond to that? In the back of his mind, there were red lights flashing violently, telling him to abort as to not further worsen the situation. He fished for his phone in his coat's pocket and looked at the time. It was currently ten o'clock in the evening and if the traffic wasn't so bad, they'd most likely make it back home somewhere around midnight. However, it seems that even without having to vocalize what he was thinking, his student seemed to catch up on the fact that it would still take a bit of time before they actually got home.