Missing Keys (Victor x Yuuri)

Chapter 6: The Quadruple Flip

Yuuri couldn't focus. He couldn't open a water bottle, for fuck's sake. As he fumbled with the cap, Victor appeared in front of him and pinned him to the wall.

"You didn't sleep, did you?"

"Huh? I did! I did! I slept!" 

"I forbid you from doing jumps in the six-minute warm-up."

"Huh?!"

"That's an order from your coach, Yuuri."

How the hell was he supposed to be good enough for this man? 

Victor walked away, and just as he was calming down enough to try his water bottle again, Anastasia popped up from out of nowhere. 

"Yaaah!" he yelped dramatically. She slammed him against the wall like her brother had.

"What is it with you Russians and your unnecessary aggression, huh?"

"Listen, punk ass. You're gonna go out there and make me proud, okay? You're gonna make yourself proud, and, most of all, you're gonna make Victor proud. If you fall, I'm gonna be beyond pissed off. Fix your life," she paused to twist off the cap of his watter bottle for him, "and fix it fast." Then, she squeezed the bottle, blasting his face with water. He gasped, and when he opened his eyes after wiping the water out of them, she was gone. 

-.-.-.-

A few minutes later, the announcement was made for the warm-up. Victor and Anastasia watched Yuuri take the ice, and against his coach's orders, attempt a jump. He fell, of course.

What a dumbass. 

He skated off the ice, locking eyes with an angry looking Anastasia. He flushed. 

-.-.-.-

As he continued to stretch, he listened to the announcers talk about the other skaters' programs. They were doing well, as they should be, but it felt like they were fifty times better than Yuuri in that moment, and he was scared shitless.

Victor grabbed his arm and led him downstairs to the parking garage. 

"If you won't focus upstairs, you'll warm up down here."

Yuuri rubbed his forehead and continued stretching. But, a few minutes later, when he unplugged his earplugs, he was overcome by the roar of the applause from above. Victor ran to him and covered his ears.

"Don't listen!"

Shit, dawg, I know I'm fucked already, he thought. 

"We have to get back. It's almost time." He walked away, feeling defeated already. 

"Yuuri," Victor called after him. He didn't look back, but he paused to listen. 

"If you mess up this free skate and miss the podium, I'll take responsibility by resigning as your coach."

What the fuck?!

Before he could stop it, he was crying. Victor's eyes widened.

"Why would you say something like that, like you're trying to test me?"

"Uh, oh, I, I'm sorry, Yuuri. I didn't mean--"

"I'm used to being blamed for my own failures! But, this time, I'm anxious because my mistakes would reflect on you, too! I've been wondering if you secretly want to quit!"

"Of course I don't--"

"I know!"

Yuuri panted, his heart pounding in his ears. He couldn't do it. Not after this.

"I'm not good with people crying in front of me. I don't know what I should do. Should I just kiss you or something?"

Kiss me?!

"No! No! Just have more faith in me than I do that I'll win! You don't have to say anything; just stand by me!"

Victor palmed his forehead. 

"Okay. Let's go."

-.-.-.-

It was finally his turn to skate. Yuuri had found new peace within himself in about thirty seconds. He skated to the center of the ice with his eyes still puffy.

I feel a lot better after crying. Victor's reaction when I started crying was priceless. Okay, first combination--a quadruple toe loop, double toe loop combination. 

He completed the quad and was met with applause from the entire stadium. 

Yes. Better than I expected. 

Victor's too inexperienced as a coach, he thought. It's not like my mental weakness started just now. He should be prepared for this much. Stupid Victor. 

And, with that thought, he perfected his quadruple Salchow.

"Perfect, Yuuri!" Victor yelped. Yuuri smiled to himself. 

I can do this. 

He stumbled on his triple axel, but then, he had an idea. 

I wonder how Victor would react if I made the last quad a flip instead of a toe loop. 

The music crescendoed, and Yuuri felt a warmth spreading through his body he'd never felt before. 

I'm not as tired as I should be, given that I haven't slept. He nailed his next combination, and as the music began to climax, so did the resounding applause. 

I want to become stronger. I can become stronger! I can surpass Victor's wildest imagination!

"A quadruple flip?!" The audience roared as Yuuri picked himself back up from his fall. "The quadruple flip was the signature move of his coach, Victor Nikiforov! Not even he did a jump like this at the end of a program, when fatigue should be at its peak! Here's a man who will go above and beyond our expectations, Katsuki Yuuri!"

Yuuri stood in the midst of deafening applause, holding his pose to point to Victor. 

Is he crying? Is he mad? Which is it? 

And, was my flip enough to convince him that I love him?

Victor was sprinting around the rink to meet Yuuri as he skated towards him. 

"Victor! I did great, right?"

The next thing he knew, Victor was on top of him, and they were falling back onto the ice. As the cold stung his skin, he was met with a completely new sensation as Victor's lips crashed into his. 

The two of them lay there on the ice, and when Victor pulled away, he was glowing. 

"This was the only thing I could think of that would surprise you more than you've surprised me," he breathed. Yuuri stared at him, breathless. 

"You haven't seen anything," he muttered before yanking Victor back down by his shirt collar to kiss him again. The screams from the audience were drowned out, and all he could see, all he could hear, and he could feel was Victor. 

When he broke this second kiss, he held Victor close to him and pressed his forehead to his. 

"Victor," he whispered to him. 

"Yuuri," he sighed back. 

"I love you."

****

Yo, double update. Be blessed.

Peace, love, and beans.

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