An Unexpected Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 15: Competition

With the pressure of the finals gone, Junior gold medalists Ayumi Matsumoto and Yuri Plisetsky were sitting together at the spectators' booth waiting for the Senior Men's free skate event to begin.

Both were busy fiddling with their phones, posting photos they took together after the Junior Men's medals were given. Ayumi's phone pinged as a notification from Instagram came in. She checked the post and smiled. It was a photo of the two of them, sitting cross-legged on the first-place podium with both their medals in their hands. She was giving a playful wink to the camera, while Yuri had a proud smirk on his face.

@yuri-plisetsky Champions. @a.matsumoto @isufigureskating #GPFSochi #Junior

The post was already gaining a bunch of likes. Ayumi looked at Yuri with a mocking face. "You really aren't that creative when it comes to Instagram captions, are you?"

"Shut up," Yuri said in response. "I don't do the whole Instagram aesthetic thing you do."

It was true. While Yuri's account was as simple as most other people's, Ayumi's account received a lot of praise from fans because of her creativity and consistency in theme. He just did not roll like that.

They continued to tease each other and engage in pointless conversation. The joy the two felt at the wake of their victory was evident in their smiles. Soon, their attention was diverted when the Men's event finally began. Yuri and Ayumi watched each skater with observant looks. They both analyzed their routines with the eyes of a professional skater, looking out for strengths and weaknesses and discussing it among themselves in hushed tones.

The skater who placed fourth after the short program made his way into the rink. Ayumi looked at the screen to catch the man's name. Yuuri Katsuki, age 23, from Japan.

Both have not encountered the name in the last two years of participating in the Junior GPF. They figured it was probably the first time he qualified for the final. Ayumi teased Yuri for having the same name as the skater who was just starting to skate his free program. He responded by adjusting his position to raise his leg up lazily, glaring at her with a frown marring his features.

What he did not expect, however, was seeing her stare at the skater in pure fascination.

Yuuri Katsuki, Yuri thought as he analyzed the skater. He screws up his jumps, but his step sequence grabs your attention.

He watched as the Japanese skater stepped out of his quad Salchow. The performance has been marred with mistakes so far. Despite that, Yuri was slowly getting pissed off. The man was quite good, and he was a force to be reckoned with. He can turn out to be a dark horse Yuri had to watch out for when he enters the senior division next year...

... and the fact that Ayumi was beside him immensely enjoying the routine was not helping, either.

The man on the ice has just finished his program, greeting the audience. The frustrated look on his face made his regret over his failed jumps evident as he left the ice.

I want to see him skate with no mistakes, Yuri thought. What kind of guy is he?

------

The Senior Men's free skate event has officially ended, and Yuri Plisetsky walked out of the maze backstage with his Russian rink mate beside him.

As expected, Viktor Nikiforov once again placed first after an impressive free program. His win, as well as Mila Babicheva's third-place finish in Senior Ladies' division, solidified the reputation of their coach Yakov. It was hard to doubt the skills of the Russian coach when all his qualifying students won medals.

Yuri simply ran into Viktor on his way after coming out of the men's restrooms. The confrontation that occurred between him and Yuri Katsuki in there will remain a secret.

"Yuri," Viktor suddenly said as they made their way to a large crowd of people near the venue's entrance. "About your free performance, the step sequence could use more—"

"I won, so who cares? Quit nagging, Viktor." Yuri interrupted. Both walked towards Yakov who was looking at the blond in frustration.

He screamed. "Hey, Yuri! You can't talk that way forever!" Yuri simply ignored the old man, looking around for any sign of the girl he was with not too long ago.

Viktor noticed the Japanese skater staring at them from a distance. "A commemorative photo? Sure," he said with a smile. Yuuri Katsuki simply sighed and turned to walk away, ignoring the calls of his own coach.

Suddenly Viktor was tackled in a bear hug. He looked down and saw Ayumi Matsumoto with a smile on her face.

"Congrats, Vitya!" she said as Viktor quickly returned the hug. Yuri noticed the girl's presence and turned to face her, Yakov's reprimand fading into the background.

"Thanks, little Yumi." Viktor smiled at the girl who he treated like a sister. She let go of her hold and smiled proudly at the two skaters before her. "I am so happy for both of you. I'm going to treat you guys to some of Kamoshita's cooking when we get back, for sure!"

Yuri hid the smile that threatened to form on his face.

"Where have you been?" he said with a pretentious scowl. "I've been looking for you backstage, but I didn't see you."

"I was just hanging out with some of the Junior girls in the waiting room. They made me listen to some new Justin Bieber song and we played a couple of rounds of Just Dance because someone brought a laptop. Apparently, you can play that game through an app now."

Viktor chuckled at this. "Really, Yumi? Justin Bieber?"

"Trust me, I don't get it either. But the song was catchy. I kinda liked it."

"Yumi!!!"

They all turned to the source of the voice. Not too far away from them stood JJ, who won bronze in the Senior Men's division. He waved his hand at Ayumi, his other hand wrapped around his girlfriend's waist. "Come for here for a sec! Isabella's dying to catch up with you!"

Ayumi waved back and turned towards the two Russian skaters. "Give me a second, I'll be right back." She then walked towards the two Canadians, changing pleasantries and taking a bunch of selfies.

Viktor turned his attention to Yuri. "I'll never understand how Yumi can manage being so sweet and happy towards really irritating people."

Yuri couldn't agree more.

After she engaged JJ and Isabella in small talk, Ayumi went back to where Viktor and Yuri stood. She took out her phone from the pocket of her jacket and pulled the two closer to her.

"Let's take a photo, guys! It's been such a wonderful day, and I want to have something to remember this!" she said with a wide smile. The two Russians couldn't refuse the girl and posed for quite a lot of selfies.

As they were in the car heading back to the hotel, Ayumi made herself busy by selecting photos on her phone to post on Facebook, which was popular in Taiwan. Yuri sat beside her with one of her earbuds plugged into his ear. They were listening to the Justin Bieber song Ayumi was talking about earlier, and Yuri simply decided that American pop music was the most confusing thing he has ever encountered.

His gaze turned to her phone, where she has already uploaded the photos online. The song changed to another upbeat track. Ayumi turned to him, Viktor and Mila who was seated at the other end of the car. "Have you guys selected the music for the exhibition tomorrow?"

Viktor smiled, saying how he's been preparing for the exhibition even before the Grand Prix series began. Ayumi smiled at his confidence. Yuri only had the time to select one after the last qualifying event, but he did have a song ready. Mila had one as well.

"What do you guys feel about me skating to a Justin Bieber song?" Ayumi teased them.

The three looked at her incredulously. Mila laughed. "Yumi, I love you, but I really don't think skating to Bieber will suit you."

Ayumi laughed, and the two boys chuckled at her antics. The next day was their last in Sochi, and the last event for the Grand Prix Final loomed over the horizon.