An Unwavering Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 29: We Don't Talk Anymore

[Nagoya Sports Center Rink, Nagoya]

"Welcome to the ISU Junior and Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. This practice session is for the Senior Ladies' category. The competitors may now take the ice."

Yakov Feltsman has been a professional figure skating coach for many years, and over that time he has handled an interesting bunch of students. Viktor and Yuri were both talented prodigies that constantly disobey him. Mila was humorous yet aggressive when provoked... which was often. Georgi was obedient but was too emotionally attached to his girlfriend. All of them were a constant pain in the ass in one way or another, but none of them were quite like the girl he was currently watching over.

Ayumi Matsumoto was his only non-Russian student, and he knew from the get-go that handling her required a different level of understanding. She was a fast learner, but unlike his other prodigies she was very respectful. She was not the type to follow his instructions blindly either, always persistent in what she wants to showcase in her programs. Her skills and creativity have earned her the merit of being the youngest female Grand Prix champion. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

However, she was also the only one that had a schedule so hectic it put other skaters to shame. She was the only one under his tutelage that attended regular school—the others either took online classes or were not studying at all. She was also the only one who had an illustrious corporate career outside the sport. Balancing all that with figure skating was part of her everyday life. He used to marvel at how she managed to do it all at such a youthful age, but seeing her at that moment was seriously making him question things.

The girl circled the ice performing lazy jumps, fine-tuning both her short and free programs. The bags under her eyes and her languid movements did not escape his detection. She seriously looked like she was close to collapsing. He was reluctant in allowing her to compete in that state, but she insisted she was going to be alright.

What a stubborn child.

After the 30-minute practice time was up, Ayumi left the ice. She came up to him and asked, "How was I, Coach Yakov?"

He did not hesitate to tell her the truth. "Your jumps lacked height and your control of the speed was horrible! If you really want to go through with this then you need sleep! How do you propose to complete your program when you're moving around like a zombie?!"

She gave him a feeble smile. "Don't worry about it coach. I can manage," she said, bowing once before heading backstage. Mila, who was listening to the conversation, shot him a worried glance. "I think we need to keep an eye on her, Coach Yakov. If she goes on like this, she's in big trouble."

That was probably the only thing Mila said that he ever agreed to.

"I don't need you telling me that. It's obvious enough."

------

"Try to focus on your triple Axel. You were struggling with it last week for some reason."

Viktor wrapped an arm around Yuuri's shoulders as they entered the arena. It was time for their practice session, and he was giving his fiancé instructions as both his coach and competitor.

"I know..." Yuuri groaned. "It's so frustrating. How will I even win this if I'm flubbing one of my triples? Ugh..."

"You WILL win Yuuri. After all," he brought his hand to his lips and kissed their matching gold ring. "We can't get married if you don't."

Yuuri squealed and covered his mouth with his hands. Viktor smiled, then he heard Yuri scoff behind them. He knew the boy has never been a fan of their romance, but he would appreciate it if he kept his spitefulness to himself. He sighed.

I suppose it can't be helped. His own relationship went down the drain so spectacularly it almost seemed like a Bollywood film.

Yakov and their fellow competitors were on standby at the entrance of the rink. The ice was being resurfaced, so they needed to wait. The stadium was relatively empty, save for a few fans that were eager to watch them practice. He then saw something that made his breath hitch. "Yuuri, look."

They both turned to the bleachers. Ayumi was sitting on one of the seats, curled up in a ball wearing layers of clothes underneath her Taiwan jacket. She had a thick book in her hands, and her eyes were heavy as she flipped through the pages.

"What do we do now?" he asked his Japanese lover. "After what happened yesterday, do we even try to—"

The spot beside him was empty. Yuuri, who was normally quiet and easily embarrassed, unexpectedly made the first move to approach her. "Yumi?"

Viktor watched in anticipation, expecting Ayumi to ignore him and walk away. She didn't. She glanced up from Fundamentals of Physics and gave Yuuri a weak smile. "Oh... Hi, Yuuri onii-san."

"Are you alright? You don't look so good. Maybe you should get back to the hotel. Your practice time is finished already, isn't it?"

She nodded woodenly. "Yeah, and I am planning to go back. I'm just studying a bit while waiting for Kamoshita to pick me up."

"Hey..." Yuuri said, sitting beside her. "We're really worried about you. You've been ignoring us for the past few months, and when we saw you yesterday you were... anyway, are you sure you're alright?"

"I am," she replied. "What happened yesterday was nothing, really. And I'm sorry if I haven't been contacting you guys. I've just been... really busy, I guess."

Ayumi was obviously lying. "Yeah, I can see that. Don't you think you should take a break, though? We've been watching you compete this entire season, and honestly you look like haven't slept at all for months."

"You're not a hundred percent wrong about that..."

"Yumi..."

Viktor narrowed his eyes when she tried to fight off a yawn. "You guys worry too much. I'm fine. It's just me and my usual workload. It's not like you haven't seen that before, right?"

He turned away not wanting to hear another excuse come from her mouth. She was notorious for having the tendency to overwork, but her looking like she had gone to hell and back was a new low. He walked until he reached the fence that the other skaters were leaning onto, still waiting for the Zamboni to finish its job.

"So, you're not planning to go talk to her?" he suddenly said. He turned to narrow his eyes at his blonde Russian rink mate, who was just standing there like a statue.

Yuri snarled. "Do you really think I don't want to?! I miss her so much, and she's just right there! But how the hell am I going to talk to her after everything that happened?! She's only going to ignore me!"

"She didn't ignore Yuuri," he argued. "Seriously Yurio. You've been staring at her like a lost kitten this entire time. Stop being so nervous and just go already. You won't lose anything by trying."

He was about to go do it, but then...

"This practice session is for the Senior Men's category. The competitors may now take the ice."

Yakov went over already dragging Yuuri with him. He grabbed them both as well and shoved them onto the ice. They only had thirty minutes to practice, and those minutes cannot be wasted. Kamoshita arrived not long after that, and all they could do was watch as Ayumi got up and wordlessly followed him out the arena.