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Yuri honestly can't remember the last time he was allowed to live the life of an ordinary boy. Those times are long gone. And gone are the days when his only worries were how to score high at the next ice skating event. Now it's fight and live or surrender and die.
He’s not a person who gives up easily, but the situation is pretty grim.
No, that’s the understatement of the year. It’s a nightmare.
"Beka, watch out!" he screams and quad flips out of the danger zone where the tower high Judge tries to kill him and Otabek with its frosty breath. At least the attention is on him now, not on the other man who confusedly crawls across the street that is frozen solid and whimpers incoherent sentences in Kazakh. Yuri can’t blame him. The whole situation is crazy, complete and utter madness.
He’s alone, without Victor, Yuuri, and Phichit to help him, not even his cat Potya is here, but who could guess that something like this would happen? It’s a warm Saturday night, goddamnit—he deserves to go out alone from time to time without the whole gang attached to him like an old chewing gum to a sneaker sole. But his desire for independence has thrown him into this mess. He can hear Victor’s nagging voice. Why didn’t you go with us, Yurio? Why would you put yourself and civilians in danger?
The other people on the street are already frozen solid and the only individuals still able to move are Otabek and Yuri. But because Otabek is not one of them , he has no idea what’s going on, he can’t help.
The Judge roars and Yuri can see all of his sharp, crooked teeth before he propels himself into the air, only feeling the gust of air from its mighty jaws before they snap on nothing.
“Run, Beka!”
He lands on the rooftop of the house right across the street and tries to analyse the situation while evading ice spears via several spread eagles.
This fiend is dangerous. It’s obvious because it glows white and blue and has the most frightening eyes—red slits full of hate, a mouth to growl horrible insults and ice claws to rip out innocent people's hearts. It’s completely devoid of love, and its coldness takes Yuri’s breath away like a well-directed punch to his stomach.
But he has his costume to keep him warm. The red flames lick his skin and heat it without burning, the sharp blades are a formidable weapon. Otabek has only his barista outfit, which is thin and already ripped because of the hail the monster generates. He’s bleeding out of several cuts on his face and bare arms, the Judge had smashed some windows in the nearby buildings when it showed its true face, splintering glass everywhere.
How did they even end up here? He just wanted to hang out around Otabek, the coolest guy he’s ever met, and maybe even work up the courage to talk to him. And then this girl, this cute, innocent-looking girl, just changed into one of the most dangerous Judges. He can’t explain why it happened though. There was nothing around to hate, right? Just him and a few other customers in the coffeeshop Otabek works at. No couples, just people enjoying their late night cappuccinos and espressos at 11pm, so what triggered the transformation?
Doesn’t matter. It's time to change his strategy, and he has to change it quickly. Allegro appassionato is not the way to win the fight with this one, it won't be bothered by quick movements and hard hits. It needs something different. It needs Agape , pure and innocent lo-
The ice spear hits him right above his left collarbone and pins him down. He lets out a gurgling sound and collapses onto his knees. The pain is like nothing he ever felt, not even when Victor dropped him during the fight with the four Judges that spawned during that event last year.
“Yuri!” Otabek’s voice is full of terror. Yuri doesn’t have the time to look down. His ears are full of the roaring ice storm that dances around the Judge like a cloud of disaster. The monster crawls across the rooftop, closer and closer, until it crouches right in front of Yuri and breathes at him with its stinky breath. He tries to move. The fucking spear won’t let him. He feels blood trickling down his back. He whimpers. This is it. This is the end.
A brick hits the monstrously distorted face and the Judge whips around to face the nuisance that keeps him from murdering Yuri. Yuri can’t see what’s going on, he’s nailed to the roof like a goddamned pin on a cork board.
“Fuckfuckfuck!!!” Desperately he tries to turn his head but it hurts so fucking much he can’t. Hot tears fall down onto the fresh snow.
Then he hears the most glorious sound he’s ever heard, better even than when they finally found out Phichit was one of them. It’s the tune of a newly-awakened Fighter for Love and Justice transforming for the very first time. The melody differs for all of them but for some reason Yuri just knows the booming classical music—is that Beethoven’s Ninth?—is exactly this. The glowing light from down the street is another indicator. It’s so bright Yuri squeezes his eyelids together as hard as he can because otherwise he might go blind.
The sharp sounds of blades scraping over ice bring him back. He opens his eyes and sees a white and blue figure whirling through the sky, evading ice spear after ice spear in a dance of life and death. The Judge has finally turned its attention away from Yuri and onto the new Fighter. It roars angrily because the new ally is too fast to catch, too quick on his feet.
After Yuri blinks a few times and stares in awe he realizes it’s Otabek. Otabek fucking Altin is a Fighter for Love and Justice. His chest suddenly feels incredibly hot. This is unbelievable.
Otabek, in the meantime, doesn’t seem to be confused at all. His face is stern and his posture perfect. He jumps around performing Quad Flips, Ina Bauers and Spread Eagles to avoid the icy attacks as if he’s done nothing all his life than dance on magical skates. He’s a natural, Yuri realizes. But he’s never fought a Judge before and his strikes just vanish into nothingness. This won’t end well if he doesn’t start attacking the only place the monster is vulnerable.
“Otabek, aim for the heart!” Yuri shouts as loud as he can, hoping to be heard.
Slowly, Otabek builds up momentum, skating faster and faster around the giant beast. A low growl emanating from the Judge warns of an attack, a dark blue mass of ice and negative energy forming in the monster’s claws. Otabek attacks the Judge with each crescendo of his music, but the creature remains undeterred still charging up.
Realizing Otabek’s attacks are having no effect on the Judge Yuri musters up all of the strength he can and tugs the ice spear out of his shoulder with a loud scream. Slowly he struggles up to his feet, putting pressure on his hurt shoulder. He skates towards the foray trying to get his head back in the game. With his good arm, he motions toward Otabek to skate towards him so they can convene.
Otabek skates in graceful steps towards Yuri, stopping at Yuri’s side, robes flowing in the icy breeze. His wounds are all healed, a side effect of the transformation. His face is as stoic as ever. “What’s the plan?”
“Look, I can’t defeat the Judge by myself because of my shoulder so you’re going to have to help me.” Yuri doesn’t take his eyes off of the Judge that has taken to calling out insults.
“Love will never win! You will die alone!” it growls with a voice deep and garbled like it had swallowed a bucket of nails. The Judge smiles widely, lips stretched across its face showing an impossible amount of pointed fangs.
“Do you understand?” Yuri asks through gritted teeth.
Otabek just nods his head but remains silent.
“You will never find love with a heart full of ice!” screams the Judge, starting to raise its arms above its head to prepare for the final blow.
“This is our chance to attack!” Yuri motions to the Judge’s exposed center. “If you take the left side and I take the right we can meet in the middle and combine the powers of our magic together!”
Otabek nods again, face ernest. He’s definitely not a man of many words, that much is sure.
“Okay then.” Yuri turns around and skates away from Otabek. “We fight to love whoever we want, fucker!” he yells to get the creature’s attention.
They each place themselves a good distance from the monster and take a breath in tandem. In step, they rush the Judge at top speed both turning around, pushing themselves up with their free foot into a flip jump rotating four times before connecting their feet to the Judges chest. At the same time they both call out the name of the new attack, “ Double Ice Skate Kick of Love! ”
The Judge lets out a long wail, “You’ve cracked my frozen heart!” The mass of negative energy and ice dissipates, the temperature around them returning to normal. Otabek catches the Judge’s body as it transforms back into the girl just at the last second. They make their way back towards the ground, landing with a flourish between two buildings. Yuri sags as the adrenaline from the fight wears off and the pain takes over.
In the meantime Otabek sets the girl on her feet as she regains consciousness. She massages her temple shaking her head back and forth, “I have no idea what came over me, but I feel like I can finally return my boyfriend’s feelings.”
The girl walks off pulling her cellphone out of her pocket and starts calling on it instantly. “Hey baby, know know what? I really think we’re ready to…”
Yuri motions to Otabek to follow him out of the alleyway to survey the damage the Judge has done to the surrounding buildings.
“Fuck, look at the mess that Anti-Judge-Fucker made, it going to be a bitch to clean up.” He swallows heavily as his shoulder starts to throb in time with his heartbeat. “God fucking damn! And what the hell was up with the attack we did. ‘Double Ice Skate Kick of Love’?!”
Otabek still seems to be in a daze, barely sparing him a glance, instead he keeps looking up and down the street like he can’t believe what just happened. Just when he thinks it can get any worse, Yuri sees the rest of the merry gang skating toward him. Victor and Yuuri look worried while Potya, being disloyal as fuck, immediately starts to cast a magical scan on Otabek. He glows in white light but doesn’t really seem to process what’s going on, his vacant expression is proof of it.
Makkachin turns to Yuri who leans onto a wall because his shoulder hurts like hell by now. Makka is a dog, yes, but he looks as if he’s raising a fucking eyebrow and drinking in the situation a bit too much for Yuri’s taste.
“Looks nasty,” the dog yelps. It sounds sarcastic. Yuri and the mutt are not on the best terms. “And as if you fought without thinking. Why didn’t you contact-”
“Don’t get up on your soapbox, do your fucking thing!” Yuri is not in the mood for a lecture. He hisses when the wound closes a bit too fast and the magic only leaves a faint throb behind. With the left arm he rubs the spot where the ice spear just was a few minutes ago. It seems like a faint dream.
“You’re welcome,” Makkachin mumbles when he’s finished and runs over to Phichit who takes pictures of the scene with his phone with a mesmerized “Amazing.” Yuri silently agrees. The street is still covered in snow. There’s broken glass and debris everywhere. It’s truly a battlefield.
Victor skates over and gives him a concerned look, Yuuri on his heels. “So fill me in. What happened?”
“I was out for a… cappuccino and this fucking Judge came out of nowhere, we had it completely under control so you don’t even have worry about anything,” Yuri starts in strong to stave off the inevitable questioning but it doesn’t seem to work.
“So… you defeated the Judge without our help?” Victor looks so puzzled that Yuri can't help the cheek splitting grin that forms on his face. Stupid leader with his sparkly hair and his perfect costume and his heart-shaped grin. Seeing him so confused for once is simply perfect.
Yuri tilts his head and cockily raises an eyebrow. “So what? I don’t need your help.” With a flick of his wrist he changes back into his civilian clothes, black jeans, a purple hoodie and dark blue sneakers. Without any further ado he turns around and starts walking towards Otabek who stands apart and seems to still be having problems understanding what just happened. “We can fix things ourselves.”
“It’s ‘we’ already?” Phichit snorts. “Have you looked around? By the looks of it, you almost got yourself and all these people killed.”
It stings. Because it’s true. Had Yuri been alone the whole situation would’ve turned out much worse. “But we made it, and nobody died. Right, Otabek?”
Otabek raises his head. He stares absentmindedly at Yuri as if just seeing him for the very first time. Then his gaze wanders to Yuuri, Victor, Phichit stopping at Makkachin and Potya who seem be having a silent discussion about the situation. His eyes grow wide. “Why are those animals talking to each other?” he whispers, rubbing his forehead. “And why are you all dressed so weirdly?”
“You’re one to talk,” Phichit says and raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. It’s true, Otabek’s costume wouldn’t win a fashion award. It’s all baby blue and white and kinda frilly. Yuuri, who’s all diplomatic and nice to everyone, would most likely call it ‘interesting.’ Yuri thinks it’s just plain ugly.
“Jesus Christ, what AM I WEARING?” Otabek is clearly freaking out now. He’s all shivery and jittery and his teeth clatter although it’s warm again now that the Judge is gone.
Yuuri pushes his glasses back up. “Oh my, he transformed without any prior warning, didn’t he? I remember how I felt when this happened. It was horrible.” He hides in Victor’s embrace and sighs compassionately. “We should take him to a safe place. And then explain everything to him. Would you like that, Otabek?”
They end up in a cozy family restaurant just a few blocks down the street. Yuuri hurries them into a booth in the corner farthest away from the entrance and together with Victor he gets them drinks from the counter. As always he seems to perfectly know what everyone likes best. Victor gets black tea with jam, Phichit some sweet milk tea he accepts with a happy grin, Yuri a hot chocolate and for himself he brings green tea in an elegant clay pot.
For Otabek he has some camomile tea. “Drink,” he orders with a sweet voice that leaves no room for discussion. He’s playing team mum again today.
Yuri rolls his eyes—but not too obvious, he doesn’t want to get scolded again. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he tells Otabek. “He has no power here.”
“No, it’s okay. Thanks.” Otabek, who’s in his destroyed barista clothes again, obeys and grabs the mug. At least Victor lent him his brown coat to cover up the damage but it’s so late by now that nobody really cares about the strange gang. Heck, they have a cat and a dog with them in a café that doesn’t even allow pets.
Otabek’s better than before but still slightly shocked. At least he put on his default face again—a stern look, lips slightly pressed together. He looks hot. Maybe it’s the ripped clothes. Maybe it’s the tousled hair. Yuri isn’t entirely sure. “Soooo…Am I like maybe a magical girl now or what?”
Phichit bursts out in giggles.
It takes a while until Otabek understands, no, he’s not a magical girl, but a member of the Fighters for Love and Justice now. “We’re more a group of magical boys, really,” explains Victor with a serious voice and immediately Yuuri starts lecturing him that at 27 you are not a magical boy but a magical man. Phichit has still got the giggles. He can’t seem to calm down.
“Magical men? So you—I mean, we—are we magicians?”
Phichit is roaring and cries real tears of laughter. The other customers shoot the group weird looks by now, and Yuuri tries his best to calm his friend. “Shhhh, Phichit, we don’t want to attract any more attention than we already do!”
“We have a goddamn cat and a giant talking poodle with us and are talking about being magical boys! What do you expect me to do?”
Makkachin, who hasn’t said a single word since entering the café and is lying under the table like a completely normal dog, growls. Potya, who’s in Yuri’s lap, hisses.
“To the washroom with you,” orders Yuuri. “Clean up, calm down.” Victor backs up his lover with a strict face. It works. Still giggling Phichit slips out of the booth and walks towards the toilets. Before he enters he salutes.
Yuri is so embarrassed he wants the ground to swallow him up. The whole situation is absurd. This was supposed to be a night where he gets to know Otabek and become friends with him, but instead they have a crazy fight and now these idiots are here to fuck everything up.
In the meantime, Yuuri and Victor continue to explain the situation to Otabek in calm words. No, they are not magicians. And no, being a member of the team is not optional and he can’t opt out.
Otabek sighs. “This means I’m in, right? So then I’m in.” He takes a sip of his tea. Yuri stares at him in amazement. He remembers his own first day as a Fighter—he was not nearly as chill, more a screeching mess Yuuri later described as ‘frightening.’ “So do I get any cool items now? Or a talking pet?”
“Apart from Yuri? No.” Potya purrs happily when Yuri shoots her an angry look. “But you can have a transformation item.”
He’ll never get used to all the sparkling and the weird music, honestly. It’s always so confusing when the pets do any of their magic. This time Potya starts glowing light blue. Yuri whips his head around. Nobody is looking. It is as if the other customers have gone blind and just ignore the glowing ball of light that’s materializing in front of the cat. Suddenly it’s gone—and a set of sparkling headphones falls onto the table with a thud. They are baby blue and white, just like Otabek’s costume, and are covered in rhinestones. It looks kinda cool, better than Phichit’s lame selfie stick and Yuri and Victor’s matching rings, but not as great as Yuri’s magical smartphone with its moving flame pattern.
“These are for you.” Potya shoves the headphones over the table with her paw. “They’ll vanish if you don’t need them and it’s more convenient to transform that way.”
Otabek grabs them with a completely straight face. He doesn’t seem to be confused at all any more but eyes the item with honest interest before he takes it and turns it over to look at it from all angles. “Crazy.”
Yuri can only silently agree. The transformation chant is fucking Ice Crystal Power of Free Love Activat e but he won’t tell Otabek any of it until he asks. Enough craziness for one day.
When they leave the café later the group breaks up in two parts. Yuuri, Victor, Makkachin and Phichit say goodbye and wander off in the direction of the metro station. “I’ll go back to headquarters to do some research on Otabek’s powers,” Potya announces. “See ya later, Yuri. Be home by 10, you know your grandfather will freak out if you aren’t.”
“Bye, mom .”
Potya hisses and runs off. Suddenly Otabek and Yuri are the only ones left standing around awkwardly in front of the family restaurant. Yuri stares at the tip of his shoes. He hasn’t thought this through. It must be about three in the morning and he looks like shit, he’s sure of that, but he needs some alone time with Otabek.
Before the silence can get too uncomfortable Otabek clears his voice. “Well… Shall I walk you home?”
“Gawd, I thought you’d never ask,” Yuri presses out.
They walk next to each other without having to say much. It’s strange that they don’t have to talk constantly, Yuri thinks. With his other friends Mila and Georgi it’s always strange when nobody speaks so one or the other is always trying to fill the void. It’s also a problem that he can’t tell them about his secret identity. With the other Fighters it’s okay, he guesses, but he’s not big friends with them anyway. But with Otabek it’s different. He’s different.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
Yuri flinches embarrassingly when the other man breaks the silence to address him directly. “Yeah. Sure. Of course.”
“What was that crazy attack naming all about?” Otabek stares ahead while asking the question.
“Oh. That.” Well, what was it about? Yuuri and Victor have a joint attack, he thinks. It’s called Don’t you leave me Lutz of Eternal Eros and it’s both super cheesy and super extra. They even sparkle in pink and blue when they do it and it makes Yuri wanna vomit rainbows when they perform it in battle. But it sure kicks ass. “I guess it is as it is. It’s like the costumes. You can’t pick and choose what the Grand Ice Goddess gives you.” He shoots Otabek a side glance. “But I have to admit that usually the attack names are not quite as…”
“Dramatic?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t mind, really,” Otabek mumbles and curse Yuri if his ears don’t turn a tiny bit red in the twilight.
Yuri can’t hide a grin creeping onto his face. “Well, it fucking worked so I won’t complain. But if you want we can try out another attack name next time. What about Double Knife Shoe Roundhouse Kick of Darkness ?”
“Or Joined Ice Claw Tiger Punch ?”
“Wait, what about Four Fists For A Go Fuck Yourself ?”
They are both giggling by now. Yuri honestly doubts any of their cool attack names will actually work but that doesn’t make them less hilarious. Otabek is so much fun, much more than he has ever anticipated from watching him pour coffee and create stunning latte art behind the counter. And he’s fucking hot when he laughs. And grins. And basically whenever he just moves a single muscle of his gorgeous face.
And then Otabek’s hand is suddenly in his. It happens so naturally that Yuri can only blink and walk on and pretend nothing’s happened. But his heart is suddenly beating one hundred times faster and he has the feeling his palms are horribly sweaty. Still, Otabek holds on until they’re through the park and right in front of Yuri’s flat.
“Why do you even know where I live?” Yuri manages to press out.
“You're not the only fledgling stalker.” Otabek looks at him now and he has the most gorgeous half smile on his lips. Yuri fights back the urge to flee into the darkness. “I’ve watched you. You’re in my coffee shop all the time.”
“Fuck, I thought you wouldn’t notice.” Yuri feels a blush creep onto his cheeks. “I was so discreet.”
Otabek chuckles. “You were not. And I thank the Gods for that.” Then he fixates Yuri with his almost black eyes and he feels his knees go all wobbly. “I have two last questions before I let you go.”
“Yeah?” What’s wrong with his voice today? He sounds like a mouse.
“Why did the monster attack in the first place? You and the others never told me.”
Oh, this is hard. It’s the most difficult thing Yuri has ever done in his life—explaining everything in more or less scientific terms while being stared at by his crush. “Well… The Judges, they are lured out by strong emotional power. This one went after the girl we saved but I guess maybe it was you. Because you were an unawakened fighter, I guess.” He sounds pretty convincing. “Yeah, that sounds like it.”
“Strong emotional power,” Otabek mumbles. He looks as if he’s just solved a very difficult equation.
“What?”
“Nothing. Second and last question.” His right hand moves up in slow motion and rests on Yuri’s cheek like a delicate butterfly. He’s so gentle it takes all of Yuri’s self control not to melt into him. His knees are basically custard by now. “Can I kiss you?”
As an answer, Yuri just leaps forward. Their teeth clash very awkwardly but Otabek guides him through. It’s heaven, his silky lips are so smooth and his tongue does all these weird things that turn his stomach into a boiling mess and his brain into goo. It’s better than words can describe, and definitely more than a feeling. This is real. It’s as if he’s dancing on the ceiling. Most likely he’s crazy in love with this mysterious barista slash newly awakened Fighter.
Yes, Yuri can’t remember the last time when he was just an ordinary boy. When he wasn’t a Fighter for Love and Justice, when he wasn’t fighting Judges with the help of his friends. But he doesn’t regret anything. And he doesn’t want it to be any different.