Worlds

Chapter 2

The rink was cold, it made sense though. Even though the World championships were over, they still let the skaters use the rink before they left Helsinki.
As soon as Yuuri entered the rink, it brought back nerves of the competition. He kept having to remind himself that he won bronze, it was over. Yuuri blamed the fact that the arena was just so large and it was odd. It was the same size as the one in the Grand Prix, but it still gave him shivers.

By the time the two skaters had gotten to the rink there were already skaters on the ice practicing. It wasn't surprising considering it was already one in the afternoon.
Viktor and Yuuri walked into the locker rooms to put on their skates. It was quiet until the door opened.
"Yuzu, I told you, your program was perfect. You did make a new world record. You really don't need to practice today," said Spain's top skater, Javier Fernandez.
"Javi, I didn't go skating earlier today even though you know I wanted to, I'd call that enough relaxation until I get back to Japan," Yuzuru stopped his conversation as he saw Yuuri and Viktor lacing their skates. "カツキさん(Katsuki-San)" Yuzuru exclaimed.
"こんにちは、ハニュさん(Hello, Hanyu-san)" Yuuri responded in Japanese. Yuuri was glad that Viktor could understand Japanese, but he wasn't sure if Javier could understand or not. Yuuri shuffled his feet unsure what to do
"Congratulations, Yuuri! You really helped us win the Team Trophy!" Yuuri tried his best to smile, but he still wasn't used to interacting with other skaters, even if they were from the same country. Yuuri continued looking down to avoid eye contact with anyone.
"You did great too, Yuzuru. I can't believe you set a new world record too," Viktor chimed in, rescuing Yuuri from his anxiety. It wasn't that Yuuri didn't like Yuzuru, he was always nice to him. Yuuri was just really awkward all the time.
"Thank you, Viktor. You almost beat me too! I'll need to be careful next time," Yuzuru joked.
"We need to go now, but it was nice taking to you! Good luck to you too, Javier," Viktor gave a charming smile then grasped Yuuri's hand to pull him out of the locker room.

     There were already five skaters on the ice. Evgenia Medvedeva was lining up to do a triple Lutz, she landed and her toe pick tapped the ice behind her into a double toe. American skater, Nathan Chen was working on a footwork sequence for his free skate program. Karen Chen and Ashley Wagner were warming up by doing edges around the rink. And lastly, another Japanese skater, Uno Shoma was practicing some triples as well.

     Viktor removed his guards from his skates then stepped onto the ice waiting for Yuuri to follow in suit. He eventually did remove his own guards and got on the ice.
     "Yuuri, go do a warm up lap or two, but when you get to the corners, I want you to do a Mohawk into backwards crossovers then an outside three-turn," Viktor instructed. Yuuri nodded his head.
     Yuuri was just doing a simple stroking pattern until he came to the edge of the rink. Yuuri lifted his left leg slightly, then switched feet into the Mohawk continuing around the corner by doing backward crossovers. After reaching the end of the second corner, Yuuri stabilized himself on his right leg, turning his arms so his left arm was behind him and his right arm in front. Yuuri turned his head while shifting his hips into the three-turn.
     He followed this pattern for three laps before finding Viktor again. Yuuri expected Viktor to be warming up too, but Yuuri found him by the edge of the rink like earlier.