Femininity ~ Viktuuri (Yuri!!! on Ice)

Girl's Hair

"Are you sure you've got everything, Vitya?"

"Da, Mama."

"You're positive?"

"Mama, it's almost eight o'clock. I'm going to be late."

Anastasia Nikiforov nodded confidently, contradicting the worried look on her face.

"You'll be fine, syn. After all, you're famous now!"

"Papa! I'm not really. You know that."

"The gold medals hanging in your room say otherwise, Viktor. There's a reason we named you that."

Young Viktor beamed proudly at his father.

"I have to go now," he said, adjusting his backpack and running towards the school. He called out to them, "Ya lyublyu tebya! I love you!"

Both his parents waved as they watched their only son walk into school with his head held high.

"Oh, Aleksandr," Anastasia leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "What are we going to do with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"They're going to eat him alive."

Aleksandr laughed airily. "He'll be fine. He's fourteen now."

"Barely! His birthday was less than a month ago."

"You can't protect him forever, milaya. Besides, he's stronger than you give him credit for."

~

"Look at his hair! It's so long..."

"Why is it old and grey?"

"What is he wearing? It's so fancy and... girly."

"Look at his hands! His nails are blue!"

"Where has he been?"

"I heard he skipped school for something."

"Isn't he an athlete? What happened?"

"Four-eyes!"

"Why is he limping? Is he okay?"

"Where have you been?"

"What's up with your hair?"

"Guys shouldn't paint their nails."

Viktor tuned them out. He would tell a select few people where he had been and word would travel fast. By the end of the day, the entire student body would he was a gold medalist at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

When everyone was released for lunch, people avoided Viktor like he had the plague. He sat at one of the few tables that were still vacant. He was alone for maybe half the lunch hour before someone dropped their stuff down and fell forward across, draping their body over the table.

"I am an awful human being."

"Huh?" It took Viktor a moment to recognize just who this was.

"I haven't talked to you all day! I haven't seen you since you left!"

"To be fair, I didn't tell you I was back today."

"Yeah... Yeah! You didn't! What's up with that, Mr. Gold Medalist?"

"Varina..." Viktor rubbed the back of his neck and blushed deeply, something he hoped he would outgrow (he would). "It's not that big of a deal. I've got other things to worry about than parading around the school with a hunk of metal on my chest."

Normally, Viktor was a bit more boastful with his accomplishments, but now he seemed very timid to admit that he was one of the best skaters in the world. He had been close friends with Varina for a little over two years when he moved here, so she knew him well enough to pick up on his odd behavior.