An Unexpected Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Tension

There was nothing left after that revelation except for the remains of shattered glass. Or at least, that was what it felt like.

Yuri's mood shifted entirely, and on his face was a deep-set scowl that Ayumi has not seen on him for a long time. A heart complication, Yakov said, caused his grandfather to be rushed into the hospital that morning after onlookers witnessed him faint while on a walk. As more details were disclosed, Yuri's face fell deeper into despair until he finally snapped and left the rink in a mix of sadness and rage.

Ayumi's heart broke for her friend. She wanted to follow him, but a hand stopped her before she can walk out the door.

"Not now Yumi," Viktor told her. "Knowing Yuri, he wouldn't want to have anyone near him while he vents out. Let him cool off for a while. We all know what happened when you tried doing the same thing a few months ago."

The girl sighed. Viktor was wrong—Yuri has always wanted someone to be there for him. No one, not even him, wanted to be alone in the darkest of times. But as much as she wanted to just run out there and find him, the memory of their previous struggle continued to plague her. She was afraid, not knowing what side of him she will see.

She accepted defeat and went on to practice.

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It did not get any better in the next few days. Yuri often came in to practice at least an hour late. At one point, he was scolded by Yakov for being so irresponsible even when they were in the middle of the arduous task of learning the free skate routine. The boy snapped and told the "old geezer" to "stay the fuck away from his life". He flashed his signature scowl and left to change in the locker rooms.

Skating didn't appear to calm him down, either. Going through the program step by step, Yuri performed the choreography with so much aggression that it left the other skaters cowering as he breezed past. Every jump he made echoed loudly throughout the rink, and there was so much anger in his performance that it made him seem so out of touch with the music he chose.

His rink mates were both shocked and disappointed to see this Yuri back in the rink. It seemed as though they have been spending time with a nicer Yuri the past few weeks. They should have known having his grandfather go through pain can make the monster in him come back like that. Of course, they knew better than to aggravate him further and made sure to steer clear of his path of destruction.

As for Ayumi? Well, she was once again ignored by the boy. Whenever she tried to greet him or invite him to sit down with her, Yuri would regard her as if she was a fly that kept buzzing around him. He would often shoo her away, either saying he was busy or not saying anything at all. She even tried her usual method of getting him to calm down by listening to music, but he immediately walked away from her the second he saw her walk up with earphones in hand.

It was hard to admit, but the return of such stinging tension between them was really eating at Ayumi. She thought that Yuri has learned to trust her even just for a little bit over the past few weeks. Seeing him enter the rink with such a pained face made her heart clench. Knowing he was shutting her out once again made it a lot worse. She wanted to comfort him so much, but it seems like Yuri was not even giving her a chance to try.

Those thoughts plagued her mind even more as she was rehearsing the entirety of her free skate routine, four days after Yuri found out about his grandfather.

"Focus, Ayumi!" Yakov shouted as the girl fell in completing a mere triple Axel. "You're missing a lot of the jumps! Get it together!"

Ayumi picked herself up from the ice and huffed out in sheer frustration. She was definitely not in her element that day.

Yakov was exasperated. "Why don't you take a little break so that you can get yourself sorted out? I doubt you'll even be able to skate a clean program today if you don't snap out of it." Ayumi agreed to that and skated towards the entrance of the rink.

"You suck today," Viktor said as she stepped off the ice. He had been watching the girl from the sidelines with Mila standing not far beside him.

"I know," Ayumi responded with a sad look. "It's just that I've been thinking a lot about Yuri lately. It's getting frustrating."

Mila turned to the girl with a smug smile on her face. "Wow. I didn't know you were so worried, Yumi. Do you like him that much already?"

She looked back at Mila with wide eyes. "No! It's not like that at all, Mila!" The older Russian just snickered.

"But yes, I am worried about him," Ayumi continued. "I don't know what to do. He seems so intent on shutting me out, I just don't understand. Did I do something wrong?"

Viktor felt sorry for her. "I'm sure you did nothing wrong. It's just that Yuri's been left to deal with problems on his own for most of his life. I think it's hard for him to adjust to the fact that he has a real friend he can confide in now."

"Do you really think that's all there is to it, though?" she asked. "I feel like it might be because he still secretly thinks of me as the snotty rich girl he hates."

"Okay. Now you're just being ridiculous," Mila chimed in. "No one here thinks of you like that."

Ayumi was not convinced. Viktor suddenly stepped in and threw his arm around her playfully. "Ya gotta lighten up, little one. After all, how can you sulk when you've got this charismatic, sexy prince by your side?" he proclaimed, pointing to himself in pride.

"You're such a narcissist, Vitya! Get off me!" she laughed, prying Viktor's arm off her shoulder. She was not successful though. Soon it turned into an all-out tickle war with Mila joining in on the fun. Both had Ayumi trapped between their bodies, the girl curling in an attempt to evade their playful tickles.

The childish act did not last long. Yuri entered through the doors, looking at them with narrowed eyes. As soon as they noticed the blond boy, their laughter died out and they slowly let go of each other. Ayumi, seeing her best friend, smoothed out her clothes and approached him.

"Yuri, are you okay now, even a little bit?" she asked while eyeing him in concern. "You haven't talked to me much the past few days, and I just want to—"

"Save it, Ayumi! I don't have the time or patience to deal with you today!" Yuri snaps back. Ayumi looked at him sadly but did not say a word in reply. With that the boy walked towards the benches, stretching his legs as he prepared for his time on the ice.

A part of Ayumi knew that was coming, but she did not expect his words to hurt as much as it did. The fact that he called her with her first name again after such a long time told her she was back at square one with him.

The three of them looked at each other wearily as Yuri continued to stretch. Something was definitely bothering him. The distant yet pained look in his eyes made it obvious he was lost in thought. Ayumi was only left to wonder what he was thinking about.

Suddenly, Yuri shook his head in frustration and screamed in agony. "Dammit! I can't do this anymore!" He got up and ran out the door.

It took a while before Ayumi got to her senses. When she did, she looked at Viktor and Mila once more before quickly going out of the facility. She looked around, but Yuri was nowhere within sight. A sense of dread rushed into her. Yuri can't be thinking of doing THAT... can he?

Ayumi looked at the ground, eyes swimming in confusion and worry. She can not just sit around and watch anymore. She can not let her fear of rejection stop her from doing what she needed... no. Wanted, to do.

Her eyes were set with determination. She refused to give up on Yuri. Not now, not ever. She quickly fumbled and got her phone out of her pocket. After a few taps, the phone rang.

"Привет, Roman. Sorry to bother you, but I need you to pick me up at the ice rink. Right now."