Skate With Me (Victor Nikiforov x Reader)

Chapter 40: Great Fortitude

Yuuri looked down for a while, trying to process the truth he just heard. "Th-that must be difficult," he said. I saw him clench his fists.

I sighed and looked away from him. "It was but it was only the start." Yuuri was right. It was very hard. Looking back, I was very young back then. How old was I? 14? 15? I can't recall.

I heard some shuffling movements from beside me where Yuuri sat. I was about to look at him when a pair of arms embraced me from the side. It was Yuuri.

I smiled and hugged him back. "I promise to do my best and carry out your name."

Tears almost well up in the corner of my eyes. My heart is beating with innocent happiness. "Thank you, Yuuri," I said, with all the effort to not cry out.

We let go after a short while. "No, thank you, (y/n)," Yuuri said. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"I'd use that as an inspiration to move forward," he answered. I chuckled at his response. His cheeks burned a mild pink.

"D-did I say something wrong?" He asked.

I shook my head no. "You just sound like me."

Yuuri chuckled and smiled. "I learn from the best."

Someone behind us cleared their throat. Both Yuuri and I turned around to see who it was. It was Victor standing by the door.

"How long were you there?" I asked. Victor walked towards us and sat beside me. "Long enough to see you two hugging," he answered.

Victor wrapped his arms around me from behind and gave Yuuri a glare. "Mine!" He said as he placed his chin in my shoulder.

Yuuri, being the usual person he is, waved his hands frantically in the air. "N-n-no! I uhh- we-" he tried to speak.

"Hmph!" Victor then kissed the top of my head. I laughed at both of them. "I got this," I told Yuuri.

I turned around to face Victor. It's nice to see the childish side of Victor every once in a while since it's very cute.

"Hey, hun it's okay! I'm only yours!" I say and embraced him. He pouted and looked away. "Hehehe, I love you!" I said.

Victor chuckled and let go of the hug, as well as his childish aura, and he's now back to the mature man everyone knows.

"So Yuuri, how was training?" Victor asked, but before Yuuri could answer, I spoke up. "Hey, Yuuri's friend is going to redo the music."

Victor's eyes sparkled. "That's great! What do you plan to do for the meantime?"

"I asked (y/n) to teach me all the jumps she knows," Yuuri said.

"Well, I won't be the one to teach everything," I said. "You're going to teach the others, while I rest over here," I told Victor.

I leaned back on the chair and pulled my phone out. Victor asked Yuuri about the jumps I taught. I was scrolling down when a notification popped out. It was a message from Sandra.

"Heyy guess what? Yakov is taking Yuri's training to the next level."

To the next level? I typed in my reply.

"What do you mean by that?"

Three dots appeared, meaning Xandra is typing as well.

"Remember that lady who taught you ballet? Yakov asked her to do the same to Yuri."

I raised my brows up in thought. Ballerina? I only knew one ballerina throughout my career: Yakov's ex-wife.

"Lilia Baranovskaya?"

"Yes, that! Yuri is doing good, I may say. He's indeed getting better."

"I see. I wouldn't doubt Yakov getting help from her. She is a good ballet coach and a former prima ballerina."

"How about Yuuri? What're you gonna do about Yakov's move? You're getting him a ballerina as well? Hahaha!"

"Nah, he'll be okay. Besides, he has me, the queen of the rink, as his coach."

"Quite the confidence you got there."

"Of course, what else would you expect from a queen?"

Our conversation went on for quite some time. Once I've regained energy, I quickly said my goodbyes to continue the training. I wore my skates again and got in the rink.

Victor and I took turns in showing Yuuri the jumps we know. Of course, learning about them doesn't just take minutes. Hours passed by and we got stuck on one jump. Victor and I did it again and again in order for Yuuri to be able to do the same. I even broke it down step by step for him to understand it easier.

My strength is getting thinner and thinner, and my stamina is almost drained. I did the jump one last time and sat on the ice.

"Let me pull myself together a bit," I said, catching my breath.

Victor repeated the jump until he got tired as well. "Please let me do that one more time!" Yuuri said as he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand.

Victor stopped in front of me. He held onto the walls of the rink behind me to support himself. "Wow," I said, still running after my breath. "Hasn't it been millions of times already?"

"You have pretty good stamina," Victor said as he stood straight and lifted his foot to wipe the ice that stuck to his skates off.

"Well, I have that, at least," Yuuri replied. He looked at Victor's hair with curious eyes. What is he seeing there?

"You said you get hungry when you're nervous in competition, too," Victor leaned down to wipe his skate. "You haven't suffered any major injuries, and you're younger than I am."

Yuuri tapped Victor's hairline with his pointer finger which made Victor stop what he's doing. Yuuri quickly removed his finger and waved his hands frantically again. "S-sorry! I couldn't help it!"

Victor placed his hand on the spot Yuuri poked. "Is it getting that thin?"

"No, no, no! Everything's okay!" Yuuri shook his head together with his hands.

"I'm hurt... I can't recover from this," Victor said as he slipped down on my legs in front of me. I placed my arms on his back and buried my head on it.

"Me too, you got me exhausted," I said.

Yuuri gasped and knelt in front of us, throwing his arms in the air. "Sorry! Please get up!" He begged, almost crying.

His voice was loud but it sounds like it came from a distance. I am getting sleepy. I might even be able to sleep here. So exhausted.