An Unwavering Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: This Is How a Heart Breaks

"This isn't what I signed up for."

On a colorful plaza overlooking the bay, two male figure skaters stood next to the railings. It was Yuri Plisetsky and Otabek Altin, engrossed in a deep conversation.

"What do you mean?" Otabek said, face contorted in confusion. "Are you saying you regret getting into a relationship with Yumi?"

Yuri growled. "Yes! No! I don't know! Everything is so fucked up! The people here... they make me feel so pathetic, useless and stupid!"

"Calm down..."

"No! Do you have any idea what it's like dealing with a world you're never going to be a part of? It sucks! I'm constantly reminded that I don't belong, that nothing will ever change the fact that I don't have the same amount of money as them! Do you even see how those snotty vedmas look at me whenever I pass by? They treat me like I'm a piece of trash!!!"

Otabek was silent for a while, taking everything in. Despite knowing Yuri for quite a while, he has never seen him that agitated, not even in competition. He had to approach the situation cautiously to avoid having to clean up the wake of his self-destruction. "You're a gold-medalist figure skater, the Ice Tiger of Russia. You aren't trash, and you know that. Why would you let all that get into your head?"

Yuri did not say anything at first. He looked out on the water, and his anger was replaced with disappointment. "What do you expect? It came from the people in Ayu's world. If I can't fit in, then how can I even be with her?"

"What? You know fully well that Yumi doesn't care about that. She likes you, and didn't you tell me her parents like you, too? Shouldn't that be enough? I don't see why you have to prove anything to people you don't even know."

"I get that," Yuri answered, his voice defeated. "But the thing is... they're right. At the end of the day, I'm just a figure skater. Ayu's on a different league. She's going to inherit an empire worth billions of dollars. What do I have to give her? NOTHING."

He sighed again before he continued. "It already crossed my mind... before I confessed to her, but I thought that everything would be okay as long as we're together. But now? Reality is slapping me in the face, Beka. I can't keep pretending they don't affect me, because they do. I'll never be someone worthy of her... and now even she sees that, too."

"Yuri..."

"Her life is so much bigger than I thought it would be. She's always been so simple and down-to-earth, and she still is. But the other side of her life is something she'll never escape from. Where do I even fit into all of that? That rich asshole she's seeing now is everything I'm not. She deserves someone like him. I'm not good enough for her, and I hate it. I fucking hate it."

Otabek did not say anything else. He simply placed a firm hand on his shoulder and consoled him. In their reverie, they did not notice the presence of a young heiress behind them, nor did they notice the tears that fell from her eyes as she backed away.

------

Despite her foggy vision, Ayumi somehow managed to get to Gardens by the Bay. Her phone was ringing off the hook. It was Kamoshita, who was probably waiting for her back at the hotel with more documents to read. She texted him back saying she was busy. She didn't think she could handle working when all she wanted to do was go far, far away.

Her eyes focused on her phone, and sure enough, there were comments and tweets that lashed at Yuri. She felt so stupid. All this time, she was oblivious to the fact that he was under pressure from people just like her. He was made into a laughingstock by the upper class, and she didn't notice it even when it was right under her nose.

She found a bench and sat down, her head buried in her hands. She thought she was hurting Yuri because of her deal with Ethan, but she was already hurting him ever since they arrived at Singapore. Because of her, he was put under the spotlight—a place he never wanted to be in, even when they first met. Because of her, he had to deal with criticism and pretend like it was not a big deal.

Because of her, he was tearing himself apart... and she did not even see it.

When she told Yuri she loved him, she knew it was unconditional. To her, his status, name or image never mattered. The Yuri she saw was confident, passionate and loving despite his angst, and she couldn't be any prouder to have him. She thought that others will also see the Yuri she saw, but it turns out many were just as shallow as they stereotypically were. They judged him based on what they saw on the surface, and those judgements stabbed him like a knife.

This is all my fault.

Her mind took her back to the memory of her breakdown when Miwako died a year before. She decided to leave Yuri behind back then in fear of hurting him, but he convinced her that was impossible because she had no capability to do that. Seeing where their relationship was, the wounds she inflicted on herself reopened. Ayumi can finally say what has always been at the back of her mind:

He was dead wrong.

She was hurting him, not by her words or actions, but by simply being who she was.

Ayumi has been stuck in a bubble of happiness for months. Being with Yuri made her forget everything weighing her down. With him, she felt like a normal teenage girl. But she became oblivious to everything outside that bubble. Now that it popped, she can see things clearly:

You're wrong, Yura. I don't deserve someone better. YOU DO.

Her phone rang again, and this time it was Ethan. He called to talk about the event they had to attend in a few days. It was the big one, when he formally introduces her to Madame Khoo as his 'girlfriend'.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Ethan asked. "This is going to be messier for you than it will be for me."

Oh, she knew it was going to be messy. After all, the media will be there. They were announcing their fake relationship not only to Madame Khoo, but to all of Singapore. It will be a hot scandal within minutes, and people will be watching their every move.

Every move.

She found herself staring at her phone again, where the tweets of Yuri's Angels continued to slam her down. She was reminded of the image Yuri had to maintain. An unexplained break-up would undoubtedly shed him in a bad light. The sponsors he had that were associated with the Matsumoto Corporation would pull out, and he would be dealt a severe blow that could potentially ruin his career.

Unless, of course, if it was clear to everyone it was her fault and hers alone.

"Yumi? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I'm sure. We got ourselves into this, right? We might as well stand by it."

Her friend sighed deeply. "I know. Let's just try to act convincingly, I guess."

"Okay."

She knew what she needed to do. After all, if everything was about to go down... it might as well go down with a bang.