Chapter Text
One of his earliest memories was staring up at the blue sky. He had been walking along green grass and pink flowers when it had given way to gray and brown stone. The rock was wet, he had slipped.
He remembered a moment of weightlessness as he careened forward, then he somehow managed to grab the side of the cliff. The sound of the waterfall suddenly filled his ears, and he became aware of its crushing power.
He stared up and up. The sky felt far away.
~*Program 01: Fundraising Drama, Hair Raising Arrivals*~
Yuri jerked awake with a gasp.
The sun was only starting to peek above the horizon outside of his window. There was faint birdsong and little else to hear, except for the low whirring of his air conditioner.
With a groan, Yuri dragged himself out of bed. There wasn’t any point trying to go back to sleep, not with his heart racing and the adrenaline pumping from his nightmare. It had been a long time since he had remembered the cliff, and he had no idea what had triggered the unwanted memory.
The Japanese man showered, groomed, and made a light breakfast. The sun was up, his 5 o’ clock alarm sounded. He flipped on the morning news.
“…in local news, the Spring Festival in Kogezara will feature a fundraiser at the Porcelain House Ice Rink this year.” Yuri had almost forgotten that. As the new caretaker of the small skating rink as of four months ago, it was now his duty to make sure the fundraiser went smoothly. It’s supposed to bring in money for the local children’s hospital that needed new equipment. Normally fundraisers involving their famous mudflats were popular but with the Dorolympics, their highly anticipated sports festival that brought tourists from all over Japan, around the corner that could be overwhelming.
“I better check on some of the details,” he muttered to himself as he finished his miso. This was his chance to prove that he could manage a small event. He had agreed to take over the rink as a favor to a family friend, until they could find someone to manage it permanently. Yuri thought he would have been out in a month, but here he still was.
It wasn’t a bad job. He liked children, and teaching them to love skating was fun and oddly relaxing. He didn’t feel as anxious as he did when competing, worrying over his technical score and disappointing everyone who supported him. When he started only a few people would show up on any given day but word had gotten out that he was there, a former professional competition skater, and now there was always a crowd in the old rink. The scraping of blades on ice filled the building like a wordless lullaby.
Sometimes it made his heart ache to not be in the circuit anymore, but he was beginning to think that he really could be happy retired if he could pass his days like this. The skating world was already moving on without him. He could stay in this little niche and carve out a quiet future away from judging eyes and scores that never quite made the cut. Honestly, he was amazed he was able to advance into Seniors instead of being told to hang up his skates after peaking with straight bronze at the Junior Grand Prix, Japan Nationals, and Worlds Championships.
Yuri hoped if he told himself that often enough, the ache would go away and he could truly believe it.
“Wan wan! Wan wan!” A bundle of brown fur bounded up to the distracted man, pawing at his leg. Yuri smiled and picked up his miniature poodle, scratching behind his ears and petting his soft fur.
“Good morning, Vicchan. I’m almost done, we’ll walk to the Porcelain House in a minute.”
Vicchan squeaked another bark before licking his master’s chin then hopped off of his lap to eat more of his own breakfast while he waited. He wagged his puff of a tail in anticipation and danced around his bowls to shake out the extra energy.
Ten minutes later saw both of them jogging down the sidewalks of Kogezara.
“Good morning, Katsuki-sensei, Vicchan!”
“Good morning,” Yuri greeted back with an accompanying bark from the poodle. Several more townspeople who were up and about gave their salutations. The warmth and friendliness made Yuri think of Hasetsu, and for a moment he was homesick even though he didn’t live that far from his family anymore. Unlike when he was in Detroit, he could visit anytime. Hasetsu was only 30 to 40 minutes away on any given day.
He really should start visiting more often. He was too ashamed to when he was competing because he couldn’t make gold when it counted most, and his family had sacrificed so much for him to go as far as he had.
Maybe if this festival went well he could show his face without shame again.
The Porcelain House was the same size as the Ice Castle in Hasetsu and it looked like it would have been at home as a ceramics shop. That wasn’t much a surprise though, since Kogezara’s claim to fame besides the Dorolympics was ceramics and porcelain. There was even a large backroom that had once housed a pottery studio, but had since been converted into an on-site medical room of sorts filled with first aid supplies, blankets, an examination table, and a bath. Yuri wondered what kind of accident took place that the room was outfitted in such a way. Although it was nice having a deep soaker tub on the property since he could use it after closing. He could live in the backrooms if he wished, but he didn’t want to get too comfortable.
The Porcelain House wasn’t supposed to be his ice rink.
And he really did miss the Ice Castle. It wouldn’t be bad being an instructor there, with Yuuko and Takeshi to see to the everyday managing.
Vicchan went on patrol inside the Porcelain House while Yuri got the place ready for customers. The small poodle had taken it upon himself to make sure that their new territory was safe from who-knew-what in this strange land of mud and funny-smelling people.
Once things were prepared, Yuri sat in the office to go over e-mails and other necessary documents for the festival fundraiser. At the moment the main attractions, other than himself, were some of the more popular competitive skaters who participated on the local level. Yuri had wanted to sit this one out, but the mayor had insisted that he be the big draw. It felt self-serving and he was certain that most of the audience would be there for their resident favorites, not a failed has-been like himself.
“Wan!” Vicchan trotted up to him, tail wagging a mile per minute.
“All done, Vicchan? Good boy.” Yuri patted his dog on the head and scratched behind his ears. His pooch hopped up to sit on his lap, snuggling his head against Yuri’s soft belly.
“What do you think, Vicchan, too much weight to perform? I guess I better lose some of it before I have to embarrass myself at the festival.” Most of it was water weight anyway. He could get rid of that easily if he could make himself care enough. Running everyday with Vicchan did a pretty good job of keeping him in okay shape.
“Wan wan!”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”
An alarm sounded, which Yuri was prompt to turn off. “Time to warm up.”
“Wan!” Vicchan jumped down and trotted out towards the rink.
It was the end of his first class session when he heard a clamor from the front area followed by Vicchan barking to him. “Someone’s here?” Yuri murmured to himself, putting on his blade guards and making his way towards reception.
“Yuri!” cried a familiar, perky voice just before he was tackled to the ground in a bear hug.
“Phichit?!” The Japanese male found his arms were indeed filled with the Thai skater, he wasn’t dreaming. “What are you doing here?!” The darker man sat upright on his friend’s belly.
“Yuri, I’m hurt! As your best friend did you think you could tell me about doing such a good deed and that I wouldn’t help?”
“You’re supposed to be training right now,” Yuri argued. Phichit stuck out his tongue and grinned.
“And I’ll keep training, Ciao Ciao will be here soon.” Then the younger man scooped one arm under Yuri’s head and was holding his camera in his freehand. “Smile for the camera!”
The resulting picture went viral in minutes.
After some wrangling with Phichit and the crowd of excited fans, Yuri had his friend alone with him in the office. “What were you thinking?” he demanded. He removed his glasses to rub his eyes, he felt a headache coming on.
“I was thinking ‘Surprise!’ duh.” The Thai skater stretched his lean body. “Mm, anyway I needed a change of pace and I missed you. It’s not the same without you in the circuit.”
Yuri’s gaze softened. “I missed you, too.” He couldn’t stay mad at his friend. Phichit was genuine in his motives and his heart was the purest Yuri ever had the fortune to know. “I assume you’re staying at the Tradewinds Inn?”
“Yup, it’s going to be busy now that I’ve got this party started,” Phichit boasted. “I’ll skate my heart out for your fundraiser!”
“We’ll definitely draw a bigger crowd with you here, you’re popular,” Yuri agreed.
“I also told everyone about it.”
It took a moment for Yuri to process the implication of that sentence. “What do you mean by everyone?”
“I tagged Otabek, Leo, Guang Hong, Michele and Sara, Minami, and a few others. Then they tagged some other skaters, too. Everyone.”
“EH?!”
Over the course of the day Yuri found himself swimming in messages from skaters and coaches who declared they would participate. It wasn’t a surprise that at least some of said coaches and even sponsors had contacted the mayor, and now their little fundraiser was suddenly a big deal.
Yuri’s head swam with all of the new details for preparations. A completely new program had to be arranged to showcase the new talent. Then there were the posters, event books, and other ads that had to be redesigned. Reporters wanted passes to do interviews when the Swiss skater Christophe Giacometti announced over a public broadcast he would happily join in the fun.
His head thunked against his kitchen table. He didn’t feel like he could do this anymore. Yuri would have cried if he still had the energy, but he needed his strength to eat the ramen he was cooking. His stomach growled in agreement.
Vicchan licked his hair, hoping a grooming would help his master feel better.
He huffed a puff of lukewarm breath and sat up. Being depressed wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He needed to keep calm and keep trying, shake himself out of his rut even though it felt impossible. A questioning bark brought his attention to his beloved dog. “Sorry, Vicchan, I’m okay.” He hugged the small poodle, the creature’s warmth soothing his frayed nerves.
The timer sounded. Yuri pulled himself together enough to eat, Vicchan staying faithfully on his lap to watch over him.