An Unwavering Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: Officially Missing You

[Perekrestok Grocery, Saint Petersburg—Summer, 3 months before]

"AAAHH! Yuratchka!!! Please come and take a photo with us!"

"Meow! We love you, Yuratchka!!!"

The screams of fangirls resonated in Yuri Plisetsky's ears as he reached the store. He needed to buy himself a sports drink before heading to practice, but all he was getting was a massive headache.

His popularity grew to a whole new level after the last season. Before he was crowned the youngest male Grand Prix champion, he did not draw so much attention when he walked along the streets of Saint Petersburg. Nowadays he was followed around a lot. He became a household name as figure skating is considered a national sport in the country. The fact that he defended Russia's prestige at age fifteen only made people more excited for what he else has in store, and his appearance attracted more female fans into his ever-growing fan base.

Of course, it wasn't just 'Yuri's Angels' that followed him, but also the press. After all, he was not just the Ice Tiger of Russia. He was also the boyfriend of a young corporate magnate—the girl who called the shots at fifteen, as Otabek described her not too long ago.

Yuri quickly made his purchase and left, stopping to give the fans one photo. His girlfriend had quite the influence on him as he was never that nice by choice. She has always been very considerate to his fangirls, allowing them to take photos and providing them space to ogle him when they needed it. In turn, she was integrated into the club and was given her own set of cat ears. Yuri Plisetsky's girlfriend should be an angel too, they said.

By the time he got to the rink, Yuuri and Viktor were already there practicing. The Japanese piggy moved to train in Russia when Viktor decided to make a full comeback. He continued to be annoyed by their lovey-dovey gestures, but he was getting used to having them around.

"Good morning, Yurio! You're early!" Viktor said as he walked to one of the benches, setting his bag down and preparing for warm-ups.

"Shut up, Viktor."

"Why so glum?" Yuuri piped, stopping for a quick drink. "You're not as irritable as this on a regular day."

"Dammit! Just focus on your practice, Katsudon! Your quad flip is still pathetic as hell!"

"Hey, I just started doing it at last year's final! I'm still new at it!"

Viktor was still as cheerful as ever. "Don't be such a downer, Yurio. I'm sure my Yuuri's going to perfect that jump soon."

Yuuri was blushing at his words while Yuri scoffed.

"YES!!! I got it!" a voice boomed as it entered the facility. It was Mila, who came in with a skating bag on one hand and a handful of magazines on the other.

"What did you get?" Viktor asked as he left the ice.

"See for yourself! It's last month's issue of Taiwan Tatler with Yumi on the cover!"

That got everyone's attention, especially Yuri's. They approached Mila who showed them a magazine with three girls on the cover. It was Ayumi, Jessica Wang and Emiri Masahiro, the girls in the group of eight teenage heirs. Her and her friends. They were glammed up in haute couture clothing. The headline read:

Welcome to the New Age: Asia hails its next generation of female leaders

He stared at Ayumi's photo with admiration. She was always the most hardworking and intelligent girl he has ever met, but now everyone else was keen on seeing it for themselves. After turning sixteen, she started to appear in more social functions as well as international conferences. Gone were the days that she was (sort of) under the radar. Society deemed her a "woman" now, and she was becoming more recognized as the brilliant heiress of the Matsumoto Corporation.

"I've been waiting for these to come for so long!" Mila said as she flipped the pages. "It's so hard waiting for pre-ordered magazines to arrive. Look at these! She's everywhere!"

They each picked up a magazine. There were the different versions of Tatler, as well as Prestige and Vogue. They all had one thing in common: Ayumi Matsumoto gracing the covers.

"Wow! Our Yumi's really famous in Asia, isn't she?" Viktor praised, scanning a copy of Vogue China. "She looks great in these photos!"

Yuri slowly ran his thumb across her picture on Prestige Hong Kong. It was the first week of June, and Ayumi has yet to arrive for her usual summer practices because of some Industry Strategy Meeting in San Francisco. He missed her, and it did not help that it was the day of their sixth 'monthsary'.

Not that they both bothered with occasions like that, but thinking about it did make him miss her more.

Damn, if Viktor and the Katsudon knew why I'm so irritable today, they'd have more ammo to use against me.

"What are you all doing?! Get back to practice!"

They quickly gave the magazines back to Mila as Yakov shouted at them. He was right—it was time for practice.

------

"Yuri! Your step sequence is sloppy! Fix it!"

He stood at the center of the ice, gasping for air. He's always had a harder time perfecting his step sequences than his jumps, and that day was no exception.

There was much pressure on him to finalize his routines as soon as possible. It was the last season before the Olympic Games at Pyeongchang, and they will be using the same programs they'll use for the Grand Prix. Because of this, Yakov made sure his students (plus Yuuri, who was indirectly his student due to Viktor) conceptualized their performances a month or two in advance. Even Ayumi, who was stuck in Taiwan, was made to choose her music for the short and free programs already and have them choreographed before coming to Russia. The preparation months that year were more intense than ever, and it showed.

"Come on, Yakov! It's been more than three times already!"

"Just do it! You're lucky Lilia isn't here today, otherwise you would be getting a worse treatment! If I were you, I'd stop complaining!"

Yuri huffed in defeat. He WAS lucky his strict-as-hell ballet teacher was not there due to a fever. The woman yelled at him worse than Yakov did even on a good day.

"And work on your quad loop! If you insist on adding it to your programs, then at least get it right!!!"

Stupid quad loop, he thought. He decided to add it to his repertoire because JJ did it during the Grand Prix Final. Out of everyone he competed against, only JJ, Seung-Gil Lee from Korea and Emil Nekola from the Czech Republic have managed to land it in competition. He needed to land it too, or else he'll lose his mind.

Yakov's seemingly endless rant was interrupted by a soft giggle coming from the door.

"Don't you think you're being a little bit too harsh on him, Coach Yakov? I didn't think it was that bad."

Yuri's eyes widened in surprise when he turned to the source of the voice. There, standing near the entrance to the ice while wearing a tailored business suit, was the girl who constantly filled his thoughts. His girlfriend. She was smiling sheepishly as she gave them a small wave.

"Ayu..."