It only takes one click /Yuri on Ice ff/

Chapter Five

N/A Sorry, I've been quite busy lately, it seems I forgot about making an update. But here it is, enjoy!

5th January 2006

Dear Viktor,

I always thought that new year is sort of a blank page, a new beginning. And I get through this one as well as possible, even though my skills might not be perfect and I may be lacking experience. After all, I only just started. So your words of advice surely make a difference.

I didn't know you hadn't qualified of your first Juniors! I seriously ask myself how come I've never heard of that! That's surprising, and I guess this fact calms me down just a little bit. You asked about my my birthday and yes, mine are too, in the second part of the year, 29th November, briefly speaking. In my opinion, it's probably the worst-best date in the year. Best, because all family gathers together (I don't know how it is in Russia, but here, we don't celebrate much. Work in Japan is quite important), worst, because when you realise it's been another year with you stuck in the south of an island (my parents tell me not to say it like that, because I'm still a child but I'm not) it gives you this strange feeling in the stomach.

Speaking of celebration, I've been curious, do you celebrate that much in your country? I've met some Russian skaters on a skater camp in Tokyo last year, but as you may know by now, I'm not the best person to talk with so I didn't ask them about anything other than practise. It would be nice if we knew each others cultures and habits, I think

I, too hope, you are going to have a great year, with loads of golden medals ahead of you

Waiting for an answer,

Katsuki Yuri

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Yuri could proudly say- he got used to the mailing system they had with Viktor. He was sure that, in a spare of few days he was about to get an answer straight from Russia. In the breaks between the new mail, he was going to school and to the ice rink, as usual. Well, almost. His teachers could swear, he started receiving better grades and his coach as well as his ballet instructor Minako both agreed that the boy became more enthusiastic about skating.

Although his jumps were still messy and he sometimes missed the rythm and danced clearly not as the music was going, Yuri felt more confident than he ever was before; the thought of his idol hearing about what he'd been up to, his dreams and hopes was relaxing.

'Katsuki kun, Katsukiii' the boy had been riped out from his deep thoughts. He looked around to see that his Japanese classes already ended. With most of the classmates already gone and the desks and chairs empty, the place so full of life was becoming dull again. He looked up to see the smiling faces of Yuki and Takeshi 'You heard what I asked you?' said the boy

'Oh, sorry, can you repeat it? I must have blinded away for a moment' Yuri admitted. He hadn't had the slightest idea of what was going on.

'I asked, if you were coming with us to the rink after cleaning the classroom. You remember it's our turn today right?' Takeshi glimpsed at his friend with no surprise. He forgot about it too 'Well, now you know. Come on, get yourself together, we have a lot of stuff to do' And so the afternoon started.

Yuri always dreamt of going to an American school. Or generally school without cleaning afterwards. He was glad that he wasn't alone and the work was going quite fast. They washed the floor, looked around for some left trash and threw the rubbish. Sometimes there are more difficult things than that.

On their way to the ice rink, they stopped by Yuri's to get some tea. The weather wasn't that caring and the temperature was low at the beginning of the year, but then again, the three of them were trained in winter sports...

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'Vitya, do you even remember what this ballet is about? It's Sleeping Beauty, dear God, not some sort of Shakespeare. Focus, focus, is it that hard?' Yakov was slowly becoming overwhelmed with Viktors behaviour. The practise wasn't going that bad, and the jumps were alright, but due to the skater's scattered mind his stamina was not very high.

'Sorry, Coach Yakov, I guess it's not my day today' he smiled with a face that just couldn't have been left aside. Well, at least if you weren't Yakov. The coach knew the young man since he was a kid, and the little tricks he used to make wasn't that appealing to him as they were to people around them.

'And how is it going to be in March? Are you going to tell them you don't feel up to it? That maybe they can wait for you? I tell you, it is not gonna happen. It's the GPF, after all, the real one, not the fake one you teens think that matters. You're good, very good, but for a teenager. The adults out there are impressed by your abilities but if you wanna show them you are better than good, then get to work. I advice you to go through the plot of this ballet again. Or the children's story, if you prefer' the coach could be really strict if he wanted his students to achieve something. With that in mind, he always did his best to work with the pupils as much as they needed it. 

Viktor was a strange one. One day he was doing all his work by himself, the next day Yakov needed to drag him to the rink to start the lesson. He knew about the emails with the Japanese youngster. The coach was happy for his student who finally got in touch with somebody else- although young Nikiforov was seen as an open guy with loads of people around him, the truth, the sad truth, was that he was desperate to have someone close to him. Every single time, a person dumped him, every single time something went wrong with his relationships with family, the boy came to Yakov, looking for advice, a hug, a cup of chocolate. 

'I'll, i'll, no worries, I would never give up on Tchaikovsky that easily. But for now, can we continue with jumps and end it quickly? I was really looking forward to that chocolate of yours in the kitchen's cupboard, it you don't mind.' The man laughed. 

'That guy can't fool me. Under that angry man mask, there is actually the most compassionate man I had pleasure to know' Viktor smiled to himself. The music started to play