Allodoxaphobia ♅ Viktuuri

15) ''A Power Couple In The School''

Russian went by slowly but after the given hour, Yuuri was finally let out. Despite having another lesson to get to, he was rather slow on his feet, trudging along as if the floor were mud towards Art. He had a new teacher today, a cover teacher replacing his previous one (who was now on maternity leave). Written down on the board, when he finally reached the classroom, was Miss Morley and, despite walking so slowly, he was one of the first people there. His teacher must have left and the few other students milling around, well, he wasn't even sure if they did art.

What he did spot, though, was Yurio, filing away at his nails in the corner of the room. 'Hey! Yuri!' Yuuri called out, as quietly as possible as to not draw attention to himself- despite being more talkative, that was still difficult for him.

'Ugh, pig.' Was Yurio's reply, who continued to file his nails aggressively whilst his eye stayed transfixed eerily on one of their classmates, well, two of them, really. Although, he was definitely more concentrated on killing one over the other. The one he seemed intent on was a girl, red curls blurring more of her from view but cut still cut short as if to look 'cute'. The one next to her, clearly her boyfriend or something of the sort from their proximity, was a stern looking guy. His black hair was styled back carefully and his eyes were thinned as if he was continuously annoyed. His fists were clenched at the table, despite the other girl's hand being on top of one of them.

'Who are they?' Yuuri asked carefully, glancing back at Yurio, who was now drawing blood with his nail file.

'Otabek and Mila, a power couple in the school.' Yurio gritted his teeth and continued to file until Yuuri yanked it away, tucking it into his pocket- unsure of what else to do. Yurio growled, clearly wanting his file back but Yuuri wouldn't give it to him until this was explained.

'And why are you giving them that look?' Yuuri asked gently, finally drawing out a seat and sitting down next to the other boy.

'None of your business, pig.' He growled, reaching into Yuuri's pocket to take out his nail file again. Although, luckily, he simply placed it into his own pocket and left his now, still slightly bleeding, nails.

'I think it is if you're like this.' Yuuri stated calmly, his nerves dissipating with the familiarity of talking to the boy.

'Stop mothering me. Seriously, it's nothing.' Yuri finally drew his eyes to his lap and let himself relax. He sounded so hopeless in that moment that Yuuri almost recoiled but, as his friend (hopefully), he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'Just try not to dwell on it.' Yuuri said and stood up. Hypocrite his mind called to him, he ignored it. He found a seat on the other side of the room, a spot where he could see out of the slightly open door and down into the emptying corridors.

What he saw when the bell rang was not what he expected. Viktor was in the corridor (whilst he normally stayed in his classroom over break) staring at a friendly looking woman. His eyes were not filled with friendship, nor was that hatred. It was such a foreign look to Yuuri that he almost didn't see it- that was the kindling of a relationship. He could see it. He hated it.

'Bye, Lily.' Viktor whispered, smiling gently, before kissing her hand (a Russian thing, Yuuri hoped) before practically prancing back to his classroom. The teacher, whose name was apparently Lily, seemed in utter shock but she shook her head and entered the classroom- his classroom. Viktor had been flirting with his bloody Art teacher. Typical.

'Hi, everyone!' The teacher seemed cheerful, square glasses framing her face well and blonde curls hanging loosely from her face but Yuuri didn't care, there was already a boiling rage under his skin- one that he couldn't understand.

Jealousy. Although, he didn't realise that. That emotion was called jealousy. Or maybe, denial, denial that it was jealousy at all. All Yuuri knew was that it took deep breaths to not punch the teacher there and then- along with the fear of attention that came along with it.

Yuuri, lately, had been feeling more irritated than scared and the thought alone confused him. He had always relied on his melancholy mood to function, the anger broke his routine. It was foreign, uncontrollable.

Yuuri groaned as a sudden burning flash ran through his body- it felt like a lightning strike hitting his mind and reverberating around his body. He collapsed from his seat and trembled on the floor as he shut his eyes tightly. A needle. He saw a needle. A needle with a subtly orange (almost clear) liquid inside. Then, his eyes were open again, and he was surrounded.

His new teacher was amongst the crowd, clearly calling the school nurse whilst it was Yurio who was directly by his side, taking his temperature, an almost fearful tremble in his hands. That was the real Yurio. Otabek and Mila were almost amongst the crowd but it seemed that Otabek was the only one concerned with Yuuri's well-being as he scanned him with his eyes whilst Mila jabbered on next to him.

What was that? What had he just seen? What was that pain? Which of the three had caused the other? Too many questions, too little time and too little sense. Soon enough, Yuuri was being carted off to the school nurse's office and having a real checkup. His parents were informed but it was told they would not need to come in. Viktor, after lessons, almost made a visit (their lunchtime talk interrupted by the impromptu visit to the infirmary) but they didn't speak much. It seemed Viktor was in one of his 'moods' again. His eyebrows furrowed together as if deep in thought and his hair hung across his face as if it wasn't blocking his sight.

So, when Viktor left, Yuuri felt more relief than pain. Sure, Viktor helped but not in that mood. It would only bring him down too, he wasn't delirious enough to forget that. So, until his parents came to pick him up after school, he watched the lights dance on the ceiling, trying to answer the impossible. What had just happened?

word count: 1065

published: 05.05.17