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Yuuri Katsuki was an ice skating hopeful. His parents ran a bath house in Japan, which brought in a well enough income for Yuuri to focus on his goals and aspirations. He didn’t find enjoyment in activities he thought were typically masculine or expected of a man to do. His father had always described him as being a “soft and gentle” soul and took great pride in his son not hiding the fact he enjoyed things such as sewing, knitting, skating, and cooking. His son was not the typical boy, but he had pride and that pride alone made Yuuri’s father happier than anything else could. When Yuuri was about ten years old, he asked if he could take ballet lessons to go along with his skating hobby. His parents were more than happy to get him an instructor. She was a woman named Minako, a world renowned ballet dancer and close friend of the Katsuki family. Yuuri was a ballet prodigy, so his instructor suggested to him that he combine the two talents and become a figure skater. Yuuri didn’t quite understand what being a figure skater was, so his instructor showed him a recording of a teenager named Victor Nikiforov. Yuuri was fascinated by what he saw and knew it was something he wanted to do.
All throughout his schooling, he trained day in and day out to bring his ballet and skating routine together. After homework, during exams, even after work when he started helping his parents in the bathhouse, Yuuri thought of perfecting his figure skating and someday taking on other skaters from around the globe. The one skater he couldn’t get out of his mind was Victor Nikiforov. He vowed to someday meet and surpass him. So when Yuuri was given an opportunity to study abroad in the United States after high school, he immediately took the offer. Yuuri was given the scholarship to study in Detroit, Michigan under Celestino Cialdini. Celestino was a well-known coach around the globe and initially started his career in Italy. He decided to move to the US and start coaching after he’d seen he could go no further with figure skating and wanted to pass his knowledge on to the next generation. The US was a hub of sorts for all cultures, so he settled in the capital city of Detroit and had seen many successful skaters pass through his halls. His parents did the best they could to prepare him for the trip by going over conversational English with him right before the flight and discussing all the exciting things he would experience studying abroad.
When he arrived in the foreign land, Yuuri was greeted by the man that would coach him for the foreseeable future and throughout tournaments. Along with meeting Celestino, a young man with tan skin and charcoal black short hair. The young man reached his hand out to Yuuri with enthusiasm and said, “It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Phichit Chulanont! I’m from Bangkok, Thailand. We’re going to be roommates and I wanted to meet you as soon as possible, so I came with our coach to pick you up from the airport!” Yuuri, although shy, returned the man’s handshake and gave a bow.
The two of them lived together, ate together, trained together, even went shopping together when they needed new blades for their skates or threads to repair clothing. Yuuri often visited bookstores nearby and would spend hours browsing the shelves, often being accompanied by Phichit who couldn’t stop himself from taking pictures of everything. The two discussed their dreams, goals, families, so on. Phichit adopted three hamsters he kept in their dorm room, often letting them run free in the room. Yuuri allowed him to do so on the condition Phichit cleaned up after them, which he happily did. Over time the two of them grew extremely close and called each other best friends.
One day when Yuuri was browsing the nonfiction section of a bookstore not too far from the rink, he found something that piqued his interest. He noticed the author’s name to be “Nikiforov”. He snatched the book off the shelf as quickly as he could and stared at it in amazement. It was none other than his idol, Victor Nikiforov himself. Victor had written a book about his skating techniques and how he practiced, as well as a little about his time as a child in Russia. Yuuri didn’t care how much it cost, even if it meant spending every penny he had on hand. Phichit was standing with him and took a picture of his best friend. Phichit couldn’t pass up the chance to capture a moment like that. Yuuri bolted off to the checkout and ran straight to the dorm, leaving Phichit far behind him.
Yuuri stayed up all night long, devouring everything the book had to offer. He made notes, notes about his notes, and had Phichit read the notes to him the next morning. Words couldn’t express how excited Yuuri was to have his idols teachings right there in his own heads to indulge in anytime he pleased. He showed the notes to Celestino, who encouraged Yuuri that much harder and worked with him to aid in perfecting Victor’s routines while maintaining his individual style.
For five years Yuuri trained intensely, giving in his all in everything he done. He performed in local shows and seen great success. Phichit didn’t advance with his skill as fast as Yuuri did but nevertheless stayed positive and hopeful in his own career. The two of them were selected to take on a Grand Prix. Both of them made it to the semifinals, but Phichit was unable to advance. Only Yuuri was left standing for their training rink in Detroit and was more ready than ever to prove his worth.
Only. He would never be able to do that. Yuuri had forgotten to check the blades on his skates before going onto the ice and right after Yuuri landed from his big jump finale he heard a crack. He fell onto the rink floor and screamed in agony. He looked down to see his foot was completely twisted around and broken. The blade was loose, which caused him to have an uneven landing and because of the pressure from his jump, the blade couldn’t hold and snapped. His ankle wasn’t the only thing to be damaged. His entire leg had fractures all throughout and he was unable to stand. EMT staff rushed to Yuuri, along with Phichit and Celestino. He was taken to a hospital and into surgery as fast as possible. Phichit stayed with Yuri through all of it, sitting in the waiting room while he was in surgery and later back in recovery with him. He refused to sleep until he knew Yuuri would be okay.
Yuuri’s hopes and dreams shattered when he was informed he’d never be able to skate again. His leg would recover and he would be able to walk, but his bones would never be strong enough again for a doctor to clear him for performance. Phichit helped Yuuri through his physical therapy and did anything he could to keep his friend’s spirits high, but no matter what he done he just couldn’t revive the fire that once burned so brightly in Yuuri’s eyes. Yuuri had to give up his studies and move back to Japan and live with his parents. Phichit, who although he still had a passion for figure skating, decided to go with him back to Hasetsu. Yuuri’s parents were very accepting of allowing Phichit to move in. They believed it would be good Yuuri and help keep his spirits up having his best friend at his side, not to mention he would be a great help around the bathhouse.
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Five months after moving back to Japan, Yuuri decided he would open up a bookstore like the ones he spent so much time in when he was training in the US. Every day he kept the book written by Victor on top of the desk in his room, studying it and analyzing it different ways every time he read it. Naturally, that was one of the first books he ordered for his store, followed by a variety of different things. He wanted his store to be family friendly, centered around children and hobbies. He even added a small play area for the younger children unable to read and would occasionally host a storytime session with them. Day after day he’d open his shop early in the morning and close around six every evening. Not a single day went by he didn’t enjoy. He loved seeing the smiling faces of children and was happy to hear the parents talk of how much they loved the store.
Just like his parents, Yuuri made a name for himself in his small town with his bookshop. He was somewhat of a hometown hero, by bringing of all things a bookshop about for kids. What he took the most pride in was giving a place for the kids that didn’t have anywhere else to go a safe environment to learn and flourish in. Some he even got interested in figure skating. Every single one of them bought Victor’s book and couldn’t resist excitedly telling Yuuri about something that happened in Tokyo.
Victor Nikiforov himself came to a bookstore for an autograph session. The world renowned legendary Victor Nikiforov came to Japan and met with fans. How did he miss that? How did Yuuri miss hearing about that? He would have been the first one in line to meet his idol! No way, no way he could stand for that. He just couldn’t have missed Victor and thought of a plan. His plan, however, he couldn’t go through with. He was too shy on his own to reach out to the Russian legend.
Phichit took notice of Yuuri’s strange behavior after hearing that he missed out on meeting Victor and asked him, “What’s wrong, Yuuri? You always seem so happy and cheerful before heading to work. This morning, you’re dragging.”
Yuuri sighed and took a sip from his tea, “Oh it’s nothing… I just… I missed getting an autograph from Victor Nikiforov… that’s all. He was in Tokyo…” he drank a little more of his tea and sat the cup down. He looked outside of the kitchen window and felt like he should smile. The sun was shining, birds were singing, children were running around enjoying the freedom of a break from school. All these things should make him happy because he knew those children playing would wander into his shop at one point or another during the day, but he couldn’t smile. He just couldn’t. Not after being crushed by reality.
Phichit refused to stand for seeing his best friend in such a depressive slump. He knew when Yuuri fell into a depression it could be weeks or even months before he came out of it. “Hey Yuuri, didn’t you talk about trying to get Victor to come to your store? I think you’d be successful you know. Your store is doing very well, and many of the children look up to him. You should try it.” Regardless of what Yuuri’s answer was, he intended on putting that plan into action himself.
Yuuri, who was drinking the last bit of his tea, had a coughing fit in response. He was choking and started hitting his chest to try and catch his breath. Phichit panicked and started hitting Yuuri in the back, apologizing profusely while doing so. After finally breathing, Yuuri said, “No way! I can’t do that, I would cry! You know I would cry! I would find out what his number is, call him, and cry because I don’t know what to say!”
Phichit couldn’t deny that would happen, but he reasoned Yuuri would have a negative response. He’d spoke to Yuuri’s parents about it beforehand and already had people asking around for information. Phichit was taking the day off from work at the bathhouse and instead was going to spend it using all the information gathered on Victor to contact him. He was determined to bring the legend to Yuuri’s humble little store. He knew it would be just the thing to reignite that passionate fire he’d seen during Yuuri’s skating years. He smiled at Yuuri and said, “See you when you get home this evening.”
Yuuri questioned him, “Wait, you’re not coming by for story time later?”
Phichit just covered his mouth and laughed. He left the house without saying another word, much to Yuuri’s confusion. Yuuri shrugged his shoulders and went on about his day like any other.
He found him, he finally got in contact with him. If Phichit’s math was right, he would be calling Victor during his lunch but he didn’t care. Victor wasn’t the type to ever show anger, especially towards his fans. The phone rang once, it rang again. Click, he got an answer.
“Yes this is Victor Nikiforov, how may I help you?” His voice was calm, although Phichit could hear the sounds of chewing in the background. No doubt about it, Victor was having lunch.
WIth excitement and enthusiasm he said, “Wow it’s an honor to talk to you sir! My name is Phichit Chulanont and I’m calling about your recent book signing you had in Tokyo!”
“Ah yes, I remember. It was extremely fun and I met a ton of wonderful people. Were you one of my fans that attended the signing?”
“No, but I am a big fan! Not as big a fan as my best friend Yuuri Katsuki though. We met training in Detroit and he bought your book while we were there. He has tons of notebooks full of stuff about your techniques and performances.”
“Well, I’m absolutely flattered someone would be that big a fan of mine. Did he make it to the signing?” Victor chewed some more and swallowed the food that was in his mouth, “I think I would remember someone like that though…”
“No sir, he didn’t make it. He didn’t even know about it. See he has the bookstore he opened for the children in the neighborhood and-”
Phichit was cut off before he could finish explaining the situation, “He didn’t make it? But he runs a bookstore, right? Well, I’ll just have another signing there, and since it’s for kids I might as well read them a story while I’m there.”
Phichit couldn’t have been happier. He literally felt like he was going to explode from it all. He’d lined up a meeting between his best friend and the person Yuuri admired most. There’s no way any of it could go wrong. He gave Victor the address and the hours of the store so he could arrive shortly after Yuuri opened the doors. The date was set.
Yuuri dragged on for the days following up to his surprise. He forced himself to eat, showed little happiness at the store, and ended up gaining weight from stress eating. All of that was going to change, very very soon. Like any other day, he walked to the store and unlocked the door. He looked around inside to make sure everything was in line, then went back to flip the sign around that showed he was open for business. He took his place at the front counter and sat there, groaning and moping. He heard a knock at the door, something very unusual. No one ever knocked, it was a store. Why would they need to knock? Nevertheless, he went to open the door. He grabbed the handle and said, “Welcome to-” He couldn’t believe it. Yuuri smiled from ear to ear and felt like a child in a candy store. He took his glasses off and cleaned them, not believing what he saw standing before him. “I can’t believe it! You’re… You’re…”
A tall handsome man with silver hair, blue-green eyes, and pale skin stood outside. He was dressed in heavy winter-style clothing. “Yes, I’m Victor Nikiforov. I hear you’re a big fan of mine.”
Yuuri’s legs began to shake, the hurt one more than the other. Anytime he got excited he could feel where the fractures had once been, but he didn’t care how much his leg hurt. His idol and hero were standing right in front of him. “I… I… Can I have your autograph?!”