Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Yuuri," Phichit turned over on the bed to reach for a box of crackers, "your F major is fine." 

In actuality, Yuuri thought his F major was far from fine. He was going to perfect this, and it didn't matter if his reed busted. Well, yes it did; they were thirty dollars a box.  However, since auditions had happened back in April, Yuuri wasn’t happy with his placement. Last year, he was a freshman and hated the Concert band with a passion. One bad audition wound him up in sixth chair of the school's lowest band. This year was same chair number, only up into Advanced band. There were about forty clarinets in the entirety of the band program, and spot eighteen didn't sit well with him.  

During the past week, Yuuri learned four more scales and sped up the ones he already knew. He learned two notes above his instrument's standard range for his chromatic. Yuuri was determined to move up into Mastery at the second semester auditions. If he did well enough, he could get moved up, and Yuuri lived for that chance. He was just sick of kids who didn't care, and even though he didn't think he was very good, he knew he could do better. 

"At least take a break, yeah?" Phichit said through a mouth full of food.  

"Three decent times in a row, and I'll stop," Yuuri replied while moving his jaw around. His teeth were starting to hurt from biting down so much, but the scale could always be better. That's something that he both loved and hated in music, everything could always get better. 

While he was exasperated with Yuuri at times, it wasn't like Phichit could stop him. In his opinion, he thought Yuuri had gotten underscored vastly for his audition, but he could never predict what Yuuri's anxiety allowed him to play. It wouldn't be the first time he choked on a tuning note or slipped up on an easy scale. 

'Three decent times in a row' turned into another twenty minutes of playing a three-octave scale until Yuuri was satisfied.  

"Are you gonna do marching band this year?" Phichit asked when Yuuri finally took off his reed. 

"I don’t know," Yuuri kept his concentration to swabbing his clarinet, "Isn't it like 750?" 

"1050 if you're on the trip, but they've got the financial thing. I thought it'd be good for you outside of other practices," Phichit watched him take apart and case the instrument. 

"I quit skating," Yuuri kept his chin tucked down. 

"Excuse me?" Phichit sat up properly. 

"Minako retired, and I can't keep doing this. If I'm not anywhere now, what's the point?" Yuuri faced Phichit. They silently looked at each other. 

"I understand your decision, and I'm obviously supporting you no matter what, but wow. Wow, Yuuri." Phichit left them in silence again for a couple moments. 

"Maybe marching would be good for me," Yuuri said with an air of finality. 

Flash forward a week and a half, and Phichit was parked by the front of the lobby at promptly 7:45 in the morning. Yuuri rushed out after the morning's 'thank you's and 'love you too's with a lunch and his instrument. His parents ran a watered-down version of an onsen for the city they lived in, and Yuuri helped every morning with linen laundry and breakfast for guests during the summer. Even though it wasn't what they owned in Japan, Yuuri didn't mind tourists and locals.  

Phichit rolled down the window and turned up the pop song playing until Yuuri got to his car. Yuuri opened the back door hastily to put his things in the seat and moved into the passenger's seat, "Sorry, some man wanted pancakes this morning. Pancakes!"  

"Don't worry about it. Also, I made coffee," Phichit rolled the window up and turned down the radio as Yuuri got buckled in. 

"And today is a blessed day," Yuuri eagerly grabbed the cup in the center console. "There is absolutely no reason to be up at this time on a Saturday during summer break." 

"The earlier we get there," Phichit put his arm behind Yuuri's seat as he backed out of the parking space, "the more people you'll meet. You're a sophomore, and you don't know anyone." 

"Not my fault I didn't give my time to this cult last year," Yuuri said before taking a drink. 

"Actually, from what I remember, it was Mr. Stubborn that wouldn't give up flexibility training and post-hockey ice three days a week last year," Phichit gave Yuuri a pointed look.  

"Three days without practice would've made me worse than I already was," Yuuri grumbled.  

"Anyway, word on the street," Yuuri let out a snort as Phichit continued, "that Canadian senior kid is drum major this year, and I haven’t heard anything about the second one." 

 "JJ's a senior? I thought he was our year," Yuuri finished the coffee. 

"Yeah, he's a senior, plays trombone," Phichit said as they came to a stop at a light. 

Yuuri's eyes flickered to the street signs. Two more lights and they'd be at the school. Two more lights and he'd be around a hundred and fifty other kids. Two more lights and he'd be a fish out of water compared to anyone that wasn’t an unfortunate freshman. One more light and he'd have to write his name on some sticker and have to play awkward ice breakers and forget half of everyone's names and suddenly they're at the school.  

Phichit walked around to open Yuuri's door, "Daydreaming, your majesty?" 

"Sorry!" Yuuri gathered his things and walked through the parking lot with Phichit. 

"You're going to die in those pants today," Phichit gave him a once over, raising his eyebrow again. 

"My athletic wear isn't shorts," Yuuri said.  

"It's also June. You could've asked to borrow something, Yuuri," Phichit purposefully bumped their shoulders together as they turned to go up the stairs. 

Yuuri was still waking up, and he wasn't all that talkative when he was tired, but Phichit knew he'd wake right up in the noise of the band room. Plan of action was to get nametags, check out uniforms, get Yuuri a locker, and introduce him to as many people as physically possible. No big deal for forty-five minutes. 

"Morning, Mrs. B!" Phichit gave a cheery greeting as they checked in at a table outside the band room. 

"Good morning, Mr. Chulanont," the woman spoke stiffly, "Your friend?" 

"Yuuri Katsuki," Yuuri spoke very fast and very accented. 

"Mr. Katsuki, new face then; good morning. I am Mrs. Baranovskaya, but please refer to me as Mrs. B if you begin to butcher it," she checked their names off from a clipboard and handed a marker to Phichit wordlessly. 

Phichit scribbled down both their names onto blank, white stickers and gave a quick thank you before walking past the table. He handed Yuuri's to him while sticking his over his chest.  

"She's strict, but the guard makes higher marks than anyone else in the state, so who can complain?" Phichit made way to the band room and set his bag down against the wall. 

"Can mine go there or is it only mellophones?" Yuuri asked. 

"Doesn't matter, but sit tight. I'm going to ask Feltsman something real quick." 

Yuuri tucked his belongings next to Phichit's and went back out into the hallway to get a drink of water. A blur came from his right and hugged him from the side. Yuuri coughed up water before he moved away. 

"Yuuko, it's barely eight in the morning," Yuuri said. 

"Exactly! How'd you and Phichit make it here before me? I'm section leader for crying out loud!" Yuuko said. 

"Phichit was saying that I needed to meet people? I'm not sure how many that's going to be but-" Yuuri got cut off as Phichit zoomed to Yuuri's side. 

"Feltsman said I could show you uniforms!" Phichit said with a smile far too radiant for this time of day. 

"Oh, okay," Yuuri started to follow Phichit before turning around to speak to Yuuko, "Catch up with you later!" 

'Catch up' was a loose term, since the two video-chatted at least every other day, but chances are there was something Yuuri zoned out on or forgot to tell Yuuko. Like the fact he quit skating or something. That one was no big deal. Yuuri turned back around but ended up running into someone with more force than necessary. 

"Oops, sorry there!" Someone fairly taller than Yuuri said, "Ooh, cute thing, I'm Christophe, guard captain, and you must be," the boy, Christophe apparently, took a moment to decipher Phichit's quick handwriting, "Yuuri? We've got another one of those!" 

"Yes, that's my name, Yuuri. Sorry for bumping into you and everything and now we're in front of the door blocking people," Yuuri said rushed as he moved to the other side to keep the door open. 

"Nice to meet you, cute thing. See you on the field!" Christophe winked and kept going down the hallway to the main doors. 

Yuuri stared warily after the boy until he saw Phichit out of the corner of his eye. He made a gesture at Yuuri to get in the band room, and Yuuri bounded up alongside him. 

"So that was Chris. He's a cello, so you probably don't really know him, but he wasn’t wrong about guard captain. He can throw a nine I think," Phichit said. 

"He seems...flamboyant?" Yuuri questioned his own words. 

"Totally, but I think it's just the fact he's foreign," Phichit said with a shrug. 

"Phichit, I'm pretty sure we're more foreign than him," Yuuri said. 

"Yeah, but he's got that accent," Phichit said as he tugged Yuuri into one of the side rooms. 

The room they stepped into seemed really messy, but what else could it be with hundreds of uniforms and costumes from innumerable seasons back? There were big buckets labeled with years on the sides accompanied by, what Yuuri assumed to be, the concept art for each taped underneath. All the band's uniforms were sectioned off by what was currently checked out to someone and what was not. Everything seemed to be organized by section, too, with brightly colored name tags peeking out from garment bags. 

"I think clarinets are blue, and all the leftovers are to the side. The seamstress person should have fittings sometime during full day camp. Also, make sure you get bibs that don't fall of your shoulders or you'll have to clip them together every Friday, and that's just a pain," Phichit went to the yellow rack and began flipping through bags to find his name.  

Yuuri didn't know quite what to expect. He never went to the football games or went to the competitions simply because he didn't have the time or confidence to go to them alone. As Phichit unzipped the bag, Yuuri realized they weren't all too bad. The uniforms were a tasteful royal blue with three golden cords across the front. The black accented around the collar and a tasteful swoop over the front. If anything, the shoulders were the only thing Yuuri minded. 

"Why do they have to be so padded?" Yuuri asked as he thumbed the fabric. Cotton. Polyester. 

"I think it's just to make your waist look slimmer, like a triangle or something. The epaulettes are more concerning," Phichit poked at one to show the poor stitching that made them flop around.    

"What are the drum majors' like?" Yuuri asked as Phichit zipped the bag back up. 

"They're the same except purple," Phichit said. 

"Purple? Gross, what shade?" Yuuri said. What blue and purple would work together? 

"It's darker, but it still matches with the blue," Phichit started for the door, "I'd show you them but they're in one of the buckets on the shelf and I'm not playing with that shitty ladder this morning. 

"Fair enough," Yuuri got the light and Phichit shut the door after them.  

More people were milling around the band room, and Yuuri recognized maybe three. He knew Otabek, since he always had to stop by the band room during Yuuri's class to borrow a xylophone. Leo was a tenor saxophone who told everyone good morning and snuck donuts in every Friday. Truly a miracle that Cialdini hadn't caught him yet with how much Leo advertised them. Lastly, there was the second chair oboe, Minami, and Yuuri gave a questioning look to Phichit. Even he knew you don't march double reeds. 

"Clarinet," Phichit said, "avid baker for all of you guys, too, so section parties shouldn't be bad." 

Yuuri nodded and kept looking around. A tall, redhead girl and Sara From Math were both filling up water bottles with the band's logo stickered onto them.  

"Sara's guard, and that's her girlfriend, Mila. She's the mellophone section leader and principal french horn in Mastery," Phichit said easily.  

Yuuri knew better than to think Phichit was going to introduce him individually to people, but this 'hands-off' type of way knowing people was working pretty well. He probably wouldn't remember all the names, but the nametags helped with that.  

He looked around to see what else was going on. Some of the seniors were taking pictures, and Mr. Cialdini was writing instructions on one of the whiteboards. Yuuri had to guess there were around two hundred kids in the marching band total and about forty were here so far. Nobody seemed to like to get their early, though.  

Phichit grabbed Yuuri's wrist as they headed to the drum room. It was next to the guard room opposite of the band room's door. 

"I left my mello in here from the end of last season," Phichit explained as he opened the door. 

Inside were what seemed to be most of drumline. Two guys were sitting with their girlfriends, and a small circle was passing something around. Yuuri didn't particularly enjoy the smell of apple, sweat, and distasteful cologne either. He looked over to Phichit with his face scrunched up, but Phichit shook his head like a disappointed parent at the other kids and grabbed his case from the side of the room. 

"Why does everyone I love vape?" Phichit asked exasperatedly as he quickly shut the door behind him.  

"Who were they?" Yuuri questioned. 

"The guys sucking face were Toby and Justin. The heathens," Phichit paused for effect, "were Owen, DJ, Tyler and a few people from Concert. I swear, if you ever touch a cigarette, electronic or otherwise, I'll feed you to my hamsters." 

Yuuri heard that threat multiple times, sometimes more serious than others. Phichit's mother is a hardcore smoker, and Phichit always had a distaste for the smell.  

The two boys went into the locker room afterwards to put up Phichit's instrument and get Yuuri a marching locker. Phichit went to the lockers right by the doors and started spinning his combination. 

"Trust me, you'll want one," Phichit promised, "I'll go find someone to get a locker." 

Yuuri waited while Phichit went to ask Mr. Cialdini for the locker sheets. While he was waiting, the door opened with a bang and two voices. 

"You're going to kill a freshman if you keep acting like that," Christophe from earlier said. 

"Probably," another voice replied flatly. 

Yuuri immediately recognized the voice as the band's golden child, Viktor, and his hands impulsively went to his phone. He "scrolled through" his lock screen while trying to not get noticed. The last thing he needed this morning was to make a fool of himself. Viktor was, simply put, Yuuri's musical idol. He played in the Advanced band as the principal flute and as the principal clarinet in Mastery since he was a freshman. Not to mention the trumpet and bassoon lessons after school or the multiple times Yuuri caught bits of saxophone from a practice room during lunch. Yuuri had also seen compositions Viktor had left out on a stand or on the conductor's podium, and they were more complex than some of the audition materials Yuuri looked over before losing motivation. His fake scrolling paused when Christophe spoke again. 

"Good morning again, Yuuri! Viktor, this was 'cute thing'," Christophe said as he walked down one of the locker room aisles. Viktor followed him and leaned against the wall opposite Christophe. 

"Oh, hi, Christophe," Yuuri looked up then back down to his phone. 

"Chris, if you don't mind," Chris shot back with a wink that Yuuri didn't even see. 

Yuuri pocketed his phone as the door opened again with Phichit. 

"Morning Chris! Viktor," Phichit gave a nod to both of the other boys and showed Yuuri the sheet. "You should be in 463 and the combination is 5-12-22." 

Yuuri got out his phone for real this time and took a photo of the paper before looking around the room to find the number. 

"You're in that corner," Viktor pointed by the door. 

"Thank you," Yuuri spoke quietly and went over by it to make sure the combination was right, "Phichit, what am I even keeping in here? It's bigger than my normal locker." 

"You'll get a water jug sometime today, so that, and your marching clarinet, whatever clothes you're bringing for a game or practice, and the shoes once they come in," Phichit explained. 

"Most of that makes sense," Yuuri said. 

"But?" Phichit prodded. 

"But why do I need another clarinet? Mine isn't that bad? I think?" Yuuri looked worried. 

Yuuri could hear the metallic clang when Chris shut his locker and he and Viktor were walking out the door. 

"If yours is wooden, it will warp with the weather," Viktor said before getting the door. 

"Oh, thank you. Again," Yuuri said softly as the door closed after Viktor. 

"I'm sure there's some cheaper ones. You could ask Yuuko for recommendations," Phichit said. 

Yuuri nodded, and the two went back into the band hall where many more people than before now were. Mr. Feltsman was now out of his office, Mr. Cialdini was sitting at the desk beside the podium, and Mrs. Baranovskaya was standing outside of the guard room. Yuuri was only taught by Mr. Feltsman for the first semester of his freshman year before the assistant band director, Mr. Cialdini, got hired. Cialdini taught Concert and Advanced, while Feltsman only bothered with Mastery.  

Mr. Feltsman whistled sharply and nearly everyone who was in the band room snapped to a position with stark posture and their arms straight down. 

"At ease," he spoke as booming as Yuuri remembered and everyone dropped the position. 

"I am the band director, Mr. Feltsman. The new members do not know what that was. My apologies for calling it," he continued, "It is what we call the attention stance, and whenever any director calls it, such as myself, Mr. Cialdini, or Mrs. Baranovskaya, you are expected to stand up as straight as possible while your heels are together and your toes are pointed out. Your hands should be in loose fists at your sides. With instruments, your hands will be in front of your face in playing position. Attention!" 

Everyone, Yuuri included, stood up rigidly, and he could tell who was wildly uncomfortable.  

"To the field at 9 sharp. Go to your section leader from the directory if you do not know what to do. Dismissed!" Feltsman called. 

Phichit turned to Yuuri who looked very, very confused, "If anything, it's basics block today, so it can't be too bad. Grab your water, and we'll walk with Leo, sound good?" 

"Perfect, meet you at the stairs in five?" Yuuri was already heading to the corner where his bag was. 

Phichit gave him a thumbs-up and went to find Leo in the chaos. People were moving every which way with rushed apologies and older-sounding 'fuckin' freshmen's. Yuuri grabbed his water bottle and went to fill it up in the water fountains, but the lines were much too long for the five minutes he gave Phichit. Yuuri shrugged to himself and went into the bathroom to fill it up in the sink. One odd look later and Yuuri went outside to find Phichit who was waving his hand so Yuuri could see him.  

"I am going to die in these pants," Yuuri said as he took a swig of water. 

"Well, some of us offered to bring you shorts," Leo chimed in. 

"I did too!" Phichit said as they started down the stairs, "He said he'd be fine. Wait 'til a band mom has to pick up a passed-out Yuuri." 

Yuuri gave him a mortified look. 

Leo grinned, "Happened to me last season. Ask Phichit for the pictures. No phones on the field, my ass," he looked behind them up the stairs, "Ooh, we should find Guang Hong." 

Yuuri cocked his head at Phichit. He really was a fish out of water with all these people, but he was determined to try his best. 

"Tiny tuba boy. He's in Concert I think?" Phichit looked to Leo for confirmation and got a nod.  

The stairs ended, and they started walking the sidewalk. The practice 'field' was just the second student lot where yard lines and numbers were painted over the parking lines.  

"Yeah, little freshman. Really nice and loves the instrument which is more than what most of that section can say," Leo added. 

"How do you know him then?" Yuuri had never heard of Guang Hong, and he's at least heard of most people. 

"The last eighth grade band night," Phichit said as he bumped Leo's shoulder before putting a hand up to stage whisper, "I think he's had a thing for him since then." 

"You douche!" Leo punched Phichit's arm and he stumbled for a second before regaining his balance. "Besides," Leo shrugged his jacket off, "He's a freshman." 

"And? I dated that senior last year," Phichit said, "Granted, it was a mistake, but I did it." 

"Exactly. I'm not going to be the mistake," Leo shot back. 

"Oh, come on," Yuuri added in for the first time in this conversation as he turned around to walk backwards, "You guys probably aren't even a year apart."  

"Excuse me, Mr. I've-Liked-One," Leo put up a singular finger, "Person-Ever, you don't have a say in this conversation." 

"Hey!" Yuuri exclaimed.  

Phichit suddenly pulled Yuuri's shirt forward as a car went past them at a speed too high for a school. Yuuri stared at it for a second before Phichit pulled him along. Who the hell drove a pink Cadillac? Yuuri knew exactly who drove a pink Cadillac. He bounced his leg for a second before catching up to the two boys.  

By the time they got to the field, most of the band was already there. Phichit, Leo, and Yuuri cut the time close with two minutes to spare, and Phichit pointed out some kids who were running on the sidewalk to get there before 9.  

"Been there, done that," Phichit said. 

"We're leaving half an hour early every day," Yuuri picked at his nails.  

Phichit laughed, and Leo waved a smaller boy over.  

"Hey, Guang Hong, this is Yuuri," Phichit introduced them.  

"Nice to meet you," Yuuri gave a quick smile and rubbed his palms against his pants. It seemed warmer than it normally is today. He took a drink of water. 

Guang Hong smiled widely before looking up to Phichit, "We should get dinner after this. What do you think?"  

Phichit clapped his hands together excitedly, "Sounds perfect! Yuuri, I'll drive you?" 

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine," Yuuri took a second drink of water.  

"Attention!" Feltsman shouted from the fifty-yard line. 

Even from there, most of the band went into Attention until Feltsman yelled again. 

"Sit on the fifty for introductions! Dismissed!" 

Leo pulled all of them together, so they could sit near each other. Yuuri got stopped on the way, though. His shoulder got tapped, and he spun so fast that his vision went a bit black around the edges. He make an 'okay' sign to Phichit before focusing on the person behind him. 

"Hey, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for almost hitting you. Chris was doing donuts in the backlot, and we had to make it back before nine. I don’t know how I'm making excuses about nearly running you over, but I wanted to let you know I'm sorry," Viktor spoke with his accent digging into Yuuri's head. 

"Yeah, that's, it's fine, Viktor," Yuuri said bringing a hand up to his head to wipe away sweat. 

"Are you okay, Yuuri?" Viktor asked, sounding almost like an even smaller child to Yuuri's ears. 

"I'll just put my head down. It's fine. Thanks, though," Yuuri pieced together a smile and turned away to go sit down by the other boys. 

Meanwhile, Viktor turned around to shrug helplessly at Chris. Chris just shook his head and towed Viktor to the fifty. They sat in the back, and even from their spot, they could see Yuuri who had his head in his hands, and Phichit patting his shoulder. By their guesses, the poor thing must've been seriously dehydrated or didn't eat anything beforehand.  

"Good morning everyone! Thank you for coming out in the middle of summer break!" Mr. Cialdini spoke, silencing all the chatter amongst students, "I'm Mr. Cialdini, and I'm working as your assistant band director this year and season. I myself have never marched, but I am happy to help with music! We've got some excellent compositions this year!" 

The woman from earlier with the high cheekbones, Yuuri couldn’t remember her name, maybe started with an E, spoke next, "I'm Lilia Baranovskaya, and I am your visual director this season and the color guard coach for both fall and winter guard. Guard, be prepared to be pushed this season." 

She spoke sharp like Viktor did earlier. Why was everyone Russian? Yuuri dug his head further into his hands. Everything was slowly starting to feel better, but the sun felt searing on his back.  

"I'm the director of bands and have been since the school opened," Mr. Feltsman opened his introduction just like he opened any class for the past fourteen years, "I hope you all are prepared to work even harder this season like Mrs. Baranovskaya said. We are aiming for higher than seventh this year." 

Phichit mentioned that last year, the placement. There was also talk of the band going to Nationals if he can remember correctly, but it would've just cost the program too much. Yuuri zoned out for the next people talking, since it all sounded like student leaders. 

"To start today," Feltsman continued on like a bulldozer in Yuuri's brain, "We will begin marching basics. Attention!"  

Everyone scrambled to their feet as he counted down from five. Yuuri felt much better than before, but the world felt like he was swimming. He was sure it'd clear up shortly.  

"All first-year marchers, please go to the left side of me. Everyone with more than one year's experience, to my right. For every first-year, there will be one or two people assigned to them for the rest of the season. When your group has been formed, report to a director for documentation. Guard, follow Mrs. Baranovskaya. Dismissed!" 

Yuuri wordlessly passed to the left, not even looking at Phichit's facial expression of 'partners?' as he stood up tall and looked down at his feet. Two people were instantly at his side, and Yuuri happened to look up at Viktor first. 

"To make up for earlier," Viktor said, more of a statement than question. 

"And I'm your friend so...?" Phichit rested his hand on Yuuri's upper arm. 

"This is, um, that's fine," Yuuri looked back down to the ground. 

"Amazing! I'll go tell Ya-Feltsman," Viktor walked off with a smile on his face. 

"Yafeltsman?" Yuuri asked. 

"Yakov's his first name," Phichit shrugged, "Didn't know they were on a first name basis, though." 

"I don’t know, makes sense, I guess." 

"You guess, huh? Hey, you doing better?" 

"Yeah, I think it was just from earlier. Everything's starting to feel less floaty," Yuuri accompanied it with a hand gesture that reminded Phichit of stereotypical surfers. 

"That's good. What do you think it was from? Nerves?" 

Yuuri grimaced at the word but replied anyway, "I think it's just dehydration." He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. 

Viktor, who was just coming back to them, sprinted off to the side field to get an unopened bottle of water from a band parent and rushed back. He was panting a bit but held the bottle out to Yuuri. 

"Oh, thank you, Viktor. I could've gotten my own, though," Yuuri took it and swiftly unscrewed the cap and downed half the bottle. 

Both Phichit and Viktor tried to speak at the same time. 

"Drink that much an-" Phichit started. 

"Sorry, should I-, wait, you first," Viktor looked at Phichit. 

"I was just going to say if he drinks too much of it too fast, he's gonna barf up straight water. What about you?" 

"I was saying I could go get you your bottle? If you'd like, Yuuri?" Viktor looked at Yuuri eagerly. 

"Phichit, gross, and Viktor, no, you already brought me water. Everything's fine. Should we march like everyone else?" Yuuri put the cap back on the bottle and set it down gently to the side. 

Viktor's eyes followed Yuuri before he said, "Right, yes, of course," he looked at Phichit, "No, stretching first." 

"Stretching is for nerds," Phichit said. 

"Thanks, but I don’t want to break my thighs," Yuuri started with his arm swings and gave a look until Phichit started too. 

Yuuri worked down to his shoulders and chest before starting to stretch his legs. His stretching routine was precise from years of things being added and subtracted from it. He got into his middle splits and rotated, so he'd sit with one leg in front of the other. He watched Phichit struggle to get any lower than a foot off the ground, and Yuuri began arching back from the splits to grab his foot behind him. 

While Phichit was hyper-aware of the people watching them, Yuuri was very much focused on his breathing and pushing back to get a burn from the stretch. Phichit could also see the shell-shocked Viktor who was pointedly looking away from Yuuri's ass, and Phichit snickered to himself. 

"Extra? Just maybe?" Phichit was doing his best to keep up with Yuuri's stretching, but it was so routine and fluid, he wasn't the best. 

"You go to your limit. Always," Yuuri reasoned.  

Viktor, meanwhile, was half-leaning down to the pavement and barely coherent, "Should we start with eight to five forwards?" 

"Sounds about right," Phichit got back up as Yuuri sat in the split before springing himself up, "Yuuri, we all got taught as a unit, so we've never had to actually teach a person or get taught by someone other than a director shouting at a couple hundred sweaty teens, so I'm sorry in advance," Phichit explained as he steered Yuuri onto a yard line, "The black dot should be under your feet, like in between your ankles. Also, for future reference, all the black dots are four steps apart. That will make more sense once we get drill." 

"We haven't had instruments yet, but you'll pretend like you're in playing position," Viktor said as he held up his arms then adjusted Yuuri's, "Clarinet is just like normal." 

Phichit stood next to Yuuri and held an air trumpet, "You have to think of this like your upper body is separate from your lower. Lower is all athletic, and upper is all playing. Keep yourself nice and elevated like someone put balloons in between your hips and ribs." 

Viktor got on Yuuri's other side while Phichit explained a step, 

"So, your feet have to roll through it to make everything smooth or else your air will get all jacked up and you can hear the feet in your sound and it's just hard to play. Try to make your legs as straight as humanly possible when you're stepping, but make sure your balance is alright. Can't imagine you'll have a problem with that, though." 

Phichit took a step forward and showed Yuuri his swing between steps to see the gap where the feet pass, "Your turn." 

Yuuri took a step forward and ended with his toes pointed at the end. 

"Dancer?" Viktor asked as his eyes flickered up to Yuuri's. 

"Ballet for ice skating," Yuuri replied. 

Viktor's eyes lit up, "No surprise with that flexibility, but you skate? My father used to." 

"Same here, I quit about two weeks ago," Yuuri looked down at his legs and brought his feet back together, "Was he any good?" 

"He went to some Russian nationals, but nothing top ten," Viktor's eyes looked duller when Yuuri caught them again, "Next step, yes? I think your swing in between could be better." 

The half hour was full of Phichit taking photos for future reference, Viktor physically moving Yuuri's legs until they moved correctly, and Yuuri trying to figure out how to make his steps as even as possible. Around them, some people were moving onto backwards marching and slides, but Viktor waved that off saying they weren't ready yet. Yuuri was a fast learner, but everything was getting too overwhelming in certain parts. It also wasn't in his favor that he hadn't had any water since they started.  

Yuuri dropped his playing position at the end of a set and bended over with his hands on his knees and his eyes squeezed shut. His head was starting to hurt again, but there was no point in stopping if it wasn't perfect. He stood up and blinked away the yellow over his vision. Everything felt clammy and pressing against his cheeks all of the sudden. 

He set up on the yard line and turned around to march back, but he felt like he couldn't stand up. It felt like all the tension in his body was drained, but in all the wrong ways. Yuuri put his arms back down defeatedly and shook his head and walked languidly back over to a very concerned Viktor and Phichit. 

"I, um, don't feel okay? Good? I don't know, everything is gross and uncomfortable and I feel like I could collapse and, and," Yuuri's voice trailed off and picked back up several times before he just couldn't get more words out.  

Yuuri sat down calmly, because he couldn't process standing up right now. 

"Band mom?" Viktor asked Phichit. 

"Band mom," Phichit agreed, "You take him? I'll go run inside and grab his bag. He's got some meds that might help." 

"Of course. About the taking Yuuri thing, not the meds thing," Viktor said before kneeling down to Yuuri, "Yuuri, I'm going to take you to the band moms behind the tower, so you can sit down in the shade, okay? Can we start walking?" 

Yuuri's eyes focused a bit and he nodded with the smallest of motions, "Water first?" 

Viktor wordlessly ran to get the bottle as Yuuri got up. As soon as he handed it to Yuuri, his eyes widened as he put his palm to his lips, "Yuuri, I'm so sorry!" 

"What? For what?" Yuuri said in between large gulps of water. 

"I'm an idiot. We didn't give you water breaks. I've nearly killed you twice in a day. Okay," Viktor took a deep breath, "Okay, you're very dehydrated right now, so I'm going to help you walk and you're sitting out for a while." 

"I'll be fine in a bottle of water." 

"No, rest," Viktor countered. 

Yuuri stared at Viktor for a few seconds. Challenging. 

"Please?" 

Yuuri dropped his gaze and kept his head down as Viktor supported his arm when they walked to the folding chairs and coolers that were surrounded by middle-aged women. 

"He's Yuuri," Viktor moved his arm a bit, "and we accidentally didn't give him water breaks, and he's really dehydrated." 

"Why isn’t this the first time you've given us a sick freshman?" a nice older woman, her tag read Jan, said. 

"Sophomore," Viktor corrected. 

"My apologies. Now, you go help out, we'll take care of Yuuri," she said with a shooing motion. 

Viktor looked at Yuuri, and Yuuri nodded at him. Viktor smiled back and almost ran into Phichit as he turned around. 

"Sorry, Viktor! Yuuri, I've got them if you need them," Phichit put the cinch bag by Yuuri's chair, "Chin up, okay? Anything you miss, you know I'll help you later." 

"Thank you, Phichit," Yuuri gave a weak smile. 

"No problem! I'll tell Viktor some stories about you until you're good to go!" Phichit smirked at the glare Yuuri was giving him. 

"Boys, let him breathe for minute," another woman said. She sounded like an Ashley. Yuuri decided she was Ashley now.  

"Yes, ma'am," Viktor said before turning to Phichit, "There's some person who probably can't do a slide, yeah?" 

Phichit gave one last smile to Yuuri before he and Viktor walked away. As soon as they left, Yuuri dropped his head to his knees and started breathing methodically.  

"So, was Viktor right then? Dehydrated?" A mother pulled up a chair and offered him a water bottle that Yuuri took. 

"Yeah, I mean, um, yes. I get dehydrated faster than most people anyway, and I'm not really used to the heat, since I am, was, a figure skater. I don't have experience with exercise outside." 

"It's hotter than it's been most summers when we start, and you're definitely not the first or last to sit out today. Did you eat anything this morning? The heat's not good on an empty stomach." 

"I forgot to. I was helping with laundry and didn't have time." 

"Do you want some crackers? "  

Yuuri did want crackers, but he also knew that lunch would happen in half an hour, "No, thank you." 

"Once ten minutes hit, we have to either get you back or send you home, just so you know," she said, putting away the half-grabbed package of crackers.  

"Alright," Yuuri replied, since he didn't know what else to say. He put his head back down and drank some more water. 

Yuuri could hear people on the field clapping tempos, making corrections, giving congratulations, and the like. Just like he couldn't right now. He felt so stupid for not just hanging in or drinking more water. If he was completely honest, he wasn't taking care of himself when he quit skating. The other week, he flat-out lied to Phichit. 

Minako didn't retire. Technically, she was already retired but not as a coach. His family just didn't have the money for him to keep skating. Even if his mother made costumes and Minako choreographed for him, it was too much in travel and the coaching fees that Minako already left at the bare minimum for her to make a living. With marching band, they had scholarships to help with the payments. There were no skating scholarships available to him, since he didn’t do well enough at competitions to gain sponsors.  

Yuuri did his best to stay positive when his mother and father sat him down after dinner, but it still hurt. He loved artistry. He loved dancing. He loved skating. Yuuri tried to put all of that into band, but it hurt him more and more when his auditions went horrible no matter how well he knew he had an etude under his fingers. It was so frustrating to be second to his anxiety over and over and over. 

He suddenly felt heat behind his eyes that he almost let out. Almost. Yuuri looked at the cinch bag with distaste before pulling it onto his lap. He rooted through the bag before pulling a pill bottle out and opening it. He saw some mothers giving him odd looks, and one or two looked like they had something to say. 

"They're my benzodiazepines," he said quietly, "The school has them on record, and so should the band," Yuuri unscrewed his water and took a pill that he chased down with water.  

"Ten minutes are up, Yuuri," Jan said, giving him that pitiful look that Yuuri oh so despised. 

"I'm okay," Yuuri said, more to himself than the circle of moms, "Thank you." 

He promptly left and kept his bag close to him. Yuuri searched the field for Viktor and Phichit. Viktor was the easiest to spot, and he was only ten yards away. Yuuri walked up to him and got his attention. 

"Yuuri!" Viktor looked at him, smiling, "Glad you're back! When you'd get here?" 

"Like ten seconds ago. Grey hair is easy to find," Yuuri said. 

"Grey? Excuse me, this is platinum," Viktor said, flipping the part of his hair that went over his eye. 

Yuuri's smile broke and he laughed a bit, "Okay, then my hair is raven." 

"Fair enough. Do you want to march anymore?" 

"Do I have a choice?" 

"No, not really! I'll go get Phichit. He went off by the guard a little bit ago." 

"Can I tag along?" Yuuri asked coolly before ruining the façade, "I mean, not weird, just, tagging along?" 

"Wouldn't have said no either way," Viktor winked before linking arms with Yuuri. 

Yuuri wriggled away as subtly as possible. He didn't mean any disrespect, just not now. The two walked wordlessly to the far end zone where all the color guard was getting acquainted with rifles. Chris was standing by Mrs. Baranovskaya at the front. Yuuri watched as he threw the rifle up in the air, and Yuuri may not be trained to count rifle throwing, but it seemed really impressive from the faces of the rest of the guard watching. 

Viktor leaned down a bit, "He just threw a ten. Nobody else has been able to since Chloe three years ago. Yuri, not you, the little blond boy, is trying to catch up. Apparently, he wants to be guard captain his sophomore year, but he'll have to rip it out of Chris' dead hands." 

"You seem to know all the drama." 

"Not necessarily drama, I just know what my cousin's up to. Phichit's off by the sideline's," Viktor pointed to their left. 

"Well, your cousin seems very ambitious," Yuuri said as he started walking backwards towards Phichit. 

"That he is. Yulia, that's Mrs. Baranovskaya's first name, used to be his ballet teacher, so he's using that to his advantage," Viktor said as he followed Yuuri. 

Yuuri turned back around to walk forwards and waved at Phichit who was off in his own world. As Yuuri got closer, Phichit was just staring at the guard tossing rifle after rifle and picking up failed attempts off the ground. As they got closer, Yuuri spoke, 

"Stop ogling the junior, so we time to practice before lunch." 

Phichit grinned knowingly and met Yuuri and Viktor halfway. Yuuri thought he saw Viktor make an uncomfortable face but kept his attention to Phichit's plan. 

"So," Phichit said as they all started back towards where everyone else was, "There's about fifteen minutes before lunch. What do you want to work on?" 

"Can we try backwards? I think I've got a good grasp on forwards," Yuuri said.  

"Sounds like a good plan, Yuuri," Viktor joined in the conversation. 

As they got closer to where mostly everyone was, Yuuri started to feel guilty. A lot of the underclassmen seemed legitimately tired from working hard, and Yuuri had had to sit out and wasn't properly working for about twenty minutes. On top of that, getting both Phichit and Viktor probably tacked on another five or ten minutes. He felt bad about it but kept himself focused on what was in the past has already passed.  

"Backwards marching is all about touching the ground with your toes first and keeping your heels low. Steps should be straight back and balanced. Anything to add, Phichit?" Viktor explained quickly as he got all three of them on a yard line. 

"Nope, you seem like a really good teacher, though." 

"Thank you. Yuuri, please get into playing position, and we'll all try an eight to five." 

Yuuri heard Phichit mutter an 'oh boy' under his breath. He straightened himself up a little bit more and listened for a count off. Yuuri was good at keeping time; it would be ridiculous if he couldn’t. However, he lacked the part of step size. When they ended, he was about a yard short. 

"Everyone takes tiny steps the first few times. Another thing I noticed is how you take your steps. They're incredibly well-balanced, but the steps go outwards in a C shape most of the time," Viktor explained.  

Yuuri sighed, defeated, but he spoke determinedly, "I think it's the ice skating, but I'll definitely work on it. It's why I walk backwards kind of weird, too. I'll do better next time." 

"Good work ethic," Phichit said, "Let's set up a few more." 

By the next time, Yuuri's sideways sway was mostly dampened and he was closing the gap towards the yard line. They worked on it until it was last year's show's tempo. Phichit had them move onto a twelve to eight that Yuuri absolutely nailed. The sixteen to five was something Yuuri overshot and tried to make the steps too small, but it all got better like everything else. 

They worked up until the next 'Attention!' and Yuuri was definitely working harder than he was before. Everyone headed inside and Yuuri darted through all the kids to get his bag that he left by the sidelines. When he picked it up, he couldn't hear the rattle of the small pill bottle in it. He told himself not to freak out, and he calmly forced himself to think that maybe Phichit had moved it or ran it back inside at some point, so he sprinted in the grass next to the sidewalk to catch up to him on the sidewalk. 

"Phichit, did you move them?" Yuuri shook his bag a bit, "I don't know where they are, but they're not in my bag." 

Phichit's eyebrows knitted together, "No, I didn't. I'll help you look during lunch, okay?" 

"Okay," Yuuri swallowed and walked in step with Phichit. 

"You okay?" 

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" 

Phichit eyed Yuuri warily.  

Once they got inside, they were corralled towards the cafeteria, and Phichit stopped along the way and told Yuuri to keep going and save a seat. Yuuri, left to his own devices, went through the lines, got his chicken sandwich, and found seats in the middle of an empty table to sit at. As more kids came, a large group sat at one of the ends, and it seemed to be a lot of the upperclassmen that were all the popular ones in Mastery. Yuuri's leg bounced as he pointedly didn't think about the fact his medication was gone as he ate his lunch. He started worrying about his dependency upon it even though he knew he only took it in specific, seemingly dire circumstances. His thoughts broke as Phichit sat down. 

"I asked all the directors, but none of them have seen anything. We'll figure it out as soon as possible," Phichit said, "Viktor at four o'clock," he muttered as he took a bite of his salad.  

Viktor plopped down next to Yuuri and unwrapped his sandwich, "Sorry for being late, I had to eat last." 

Phichit nodded, and Yuuri kept to his food. Phichit took out his phone and typed for a few seconds before putting it back in his pocket. He gave Yuuri a pointed look as Viktor started talking about a summer reading assignment for a class. Yuuri hurriedly took his phone out of his bag and tried to answer a text from Phichit as normal as possible. 

Can I ask Viktor if he's seen them? >    

< please do .  

He quickly put his phone away and looked back at Viktor who was still talking. 

"You both need to hope you don't get stuck with Dr. Branson. She's the one with all the analyses apparently, and I am not looking forward to this semester. Why does English language arts have to be in English?" He gestured with his fork before taking a bite of his salad. 

"Our teacher last semester was pretty bad. He couldn't actually teach and he gave the most bs assignments I've ever done. Easy A but so tedious," Phichit played into the banter before asking, "Oh, Viktor, I was meaning to ask. Yuuri and I couldn't find his meds from earlier, have you seen them at all?" 

"I'm sorry, but I can't say that I have. Can't you just get a refill, Yuuri?" Viktor asked, looking at Yuuri as he finished his salad. 

Yuuri's face flushed with embarrassment, "I, um, we can't, buy, well, afford that. I can't get them over the counter either." 

"Is it something the nurses might have? Allergy meds?" Viktor pushed. 

Yuuri wished he would've dropped it, but he was not going to tell Viktor of all people he had general anxiety.  

"Yeah, no, they don't have it," Yuuri spoke short and crisp.  

"I see," Viktor seemed to get it but apparently not, "Is there anyone else we could ask for it?" 

"Please drop it," Yuuri finished the conversation and went back to eating.  

He kept his head low until Phichit started to talk, 

"Can we take a picture? I think it'd be cute to have some progress pictures, and I'll post them at the end of the season." 

Yuuri agreed but he went off into his own world when Phichit took a selfie with all of them. He couldn't even imagine the season finishing right now. 

"You two get close!" Phichit made a squishing gesture that Viktor took wholeheartedly as he wrapped an arm around Yuuri's shoulder and cheerily smiled. 

Phichit showed them the ones he took before setting his phone down back on the table.  

The JJ kid Phichit mentioned earlier called out, "Hey, band!" 

Every person within the cafeteria that vaguely knew what they were doing shouted back a, "Yeah?" 

"Band room in fifteen minutes! Instruments out and ready to play!" JJ looked much too excited for such menial of a task, but Yuuri supposed he shouldn't rain on a parade. 

Viktor excused himself and almost left his tray on the table before he ran back and gave a quick apology to pick it back up. Yuuri absentmindedly watched Viktor walk through people to make his way to a trash bin until Phichit started cleaning up the table. 

"Fifteen minutes might as well be five with putting together instruments, grabbing stands, and warming up," Phichit shrugged.  

Yuuri got up and helped sweep off the table until they tossed all their trash. They're going to be the best college roommates.  

They walked up the stairs amongst a bunch of people telling old stories and laughing about whatever happened at lunch. The fact he still didn't have his meds was like the ocean behind a fish tank in Yuuri's head right now. He did his best to shrug it off as he got his clarinet from by the corner he and Phichit claimed. Yuuri set down his bag and kept it away in the corner. Someone waved a manicured hand in his face as he was undoing the latches on his case. 

"Yuuri?" A familiar woman's voice said, "You left this by the tower earlier today." She handed him his bottle. 

"Thank you so much," Yuuri stared at it in his hands for a moment, "I thought I lost it, and I was worrying for a little bit. Thank you." 

"No worries!" Jan smiled at him and left the band room. 

Yuuri quickly tucked them back into his bag, relieved. He finished putting his instrument together and stood next to Yuuko. 

"Do I have to stand anywhere specific?" He asked with a reed in his mouth.  

"No, here's fine," she moved her stand in between them as she started to breathe through her instrument, "You're gonna hate all the standing, though." 

"Ugh, the entire time?" Yuuri put his reed on and adjusted it before playing long tones. 

"Also, you're going to be so sharp in this room. It's too hot for normal tuning," Yuuko added. 

Yuuri promptly pulled out his barrel a good bit and played his chromatic scale several times over. 

"Attention!" Mr. Cialdini called. 

Students shifted to playing position and watched for instructions. 

"We'll be doing breathing first. Next, we'll do numbers one through four of the standard warmup. Freshman, ask someone for sheets if you need to. After that, the first movement will be passed out, and we'll work the first thirty measures. We'll take a thirty-minute break for sectionals and see what time we have left before dismissal. Let's get started on an in-four out-four please!" He turned the metronome on and held up a hand for silence. 

Breathing lasted for much longer than it normally would with people learning how to properly and the constant 'more on the inhale!', 'are you even alive?', and 'work your ab muscles, people!' Warmups consisted of long tones and everyone forgetting the key signature until someone said something about it and they circled it a billion times in someone else's pen. Yuuri's favorite was an articulation exercise, because clarinets were barely called to do it over again. Most of the low brass had to do it a few times with the slow effort they were giving.  

"Alright, can the music librarians please pass out this year's first movement. It's a Swan Lake arrangement, so I hope you all enjoy!" Mr. Cialdini said as he separated two stacks of papers for two girls who passed out all the papers.  

Yuuri looked over the piece and air played to some parts. There were some technically difficult parts that Yuuri didn't even want to look at right now, but he recognized certain parts. One of his first short programs was to Swan Lake, and that was around when he was eight. 

 Mr. Cialdini clapped a few times to get their attention, "We're going to sight read at about forty clicks under. We'll see if we can make it to forty." 

Yuuri looked at the key signature and rolled his eyes at the number of flats. The time signature skipped around a bit, and Yuuri was not looking forward to counting the several measures of rest at the beginning. As soon as clarinets got to play, Yuuri did his best to play with the right rhythms, but he deteriorated with most of the band, minus the overachievers in Mastery.  

"Okay, can we hear the clarinet and alto sax runs at fifteen, please?" Cialdini asked. 

Yuuri fought to finished at the correct time and play out a bit. Right now, there can't be too much harm in overplaying some people whose best quality wasn't sight reading. The section had to play it a little bit more slowed down until they got it up to tempo, and it didn't end up bad for the first ten minutes.  

Everyone continued getting their parts nit-picked for the next hour. By the end of rehearsal, they got a solid first forty measures close to show tempo, and it was not terrible sounding for it. Yuuri shuffled the music until he found the pencil on the stand and circled notes throughout the piece and wrote in little reminders of what instruments happen when and where to stylistically crescendo.  

Mr. Cialdini cut them off after they made it through a run through of the beginning, "Alright, thanks for your work so far. Find your section leaders, and be back in half an hour, please!" 

Yuuri put his instrument into two pieces and flipped his barrel so neither his reeds or keys would face down before setting it onto the ground next to Yuuko's. 

"Clarinets!" She began, "Follow me! We're going by the main stairs that go outside!" 

All fifteen or so clarinets meandered after one another until they all made it to their sectional location. Yuuko had everyone get into a circle before she stood up. 

"I'm Yuuko if you didn't already know, and I hope we have a great season! Just to start it all off, let's go around the circle for names and what year you're in, and then we'll put our phone numbers down for a group text for reminders and questions and stuff." 

Yuuri retained two names out of the fifteen he counted, Kim and Ahmad, who were the only seniors. When the paper got passed his way, Yuuri scribbled his number down in hopes Yuuko couldn't read it, although he logically knew she already had it. 

"How about what our favorite color is, our birthday, and something interesting about ourselves. I'll go first," Yuuko was working with a very quiet section, and Yuuri had to give her props for that, "purple, April 16th, and I have three dogs. They're little huskies and their names are Axel, Lutz, and Loop." 

Yuuri smiled at the mention of her dogs. That was the best part of getting to go to Yuuko's home for study groups and music help. Lutz was his personal favorite. His mental pictures of cute dogs got cut short when it was his turn and he completely blanked on something to say about himself. 

"Blue, November 29th, and, um, I can't really think of anything," he mumbled. 

"Yuuri, you figure skate. That's pretty interesting," Yuuko tried. 

"Oh, yeah," Yuuri internally winced, "I figure skate competitively." 

He didn't hear some of the others besides that a girl was from Jamaica and that someone had a cheap tattoo of a clarinet on their ribs. They showed it to everyone, and Yuuri wasn't all that impressed. He didn't quite get the appeal of tattoos for himself. After that, Yuuko, thankfully, didn't have them say anything else in the circle besides asking if any freshmen had questions, which no one did yet. Yuuri couldn't blame them; he wasn't acclimated to any of these people yet either. They only had five minutes left before they had to be back, so she let everyone loose, and Yuuri walked back to the band room by himself to start warming up before too many people were back. Most of the flutes were already back, so he didn't have any problem starting to play.  

Once rehearsal started back up, everything went by very smoothly. Everyone was getting more and more tired, but they seemed to be able to put themselves back together for a couple minutes of playing. Once everything ended, they had got fifteen measures ahead that Yuuri was grateful for. His part was starting to get too much for one rehearsal. Mr. Cialdini put his baton away in its case before silencing everyone. 

"Thank you again, everyone, for coming this weekend. Payments and registration are due tomorrow before full day band camp starts in July. Before you all leave, we need leadership to meet in here after rehearsal. We mixed up the schedule, so do not go to the field," Mr. Cialdini announced, "Put instruments away, and we'll do dismissal once everyone is ready. Faster you're done, faster you get out of here!" 

"Nice playing today!" Yuuri complimented Yuuko as he flipped the stand. 

"You too! I heard that movement two is another Tchaikovsky," Yuuko said as she moved her folder out of the way. 

Yuuri racked the stand and gathered all his things to get to the corner he and Phichit claimed. He swabbed out his instrument and packed it up. The music got sorted into his folder, and he put it into his bag.  

"Good rehearsal?" Phichit asked as he got his water from his bag.  

"Mostly, that bit at twenty is sounding good or you guys," Yuuri said, "Also, what's dismissal?" 

"Basically, the drum majors just say everyone did a good job today and they call Attention," Phichit answered, "The only time it takes long is when we all get yelled at." 

"That doesn't sound too bad," Yuuri said, "Oh, Jan found them by the way. I left them behind the tower." 

"That's great! I'll have to get her a card or something!" 

Yuuri put his case and bag in order then got up. They walked back to their sections and waited for dismissal until Mr. Feltsman stood on the podium with his face looking like all his veins were going to pop. 

"Drum majors will be unavailable right now, because they are cleaning up the cafeteria for all of you. We are the only group allowed in this school in the summer, and faculty will know it is us. When it is us, it is not "that saxophone is messy" it is "those band kids are ruining the school." Take this in. Be better. They will not cleanup for you again. Besides that, good first day. I am intrigued to see the progress we make with peer-taught marching. Movement one is sounding decent for now, but I expect practice and hard work this season as always," all of Mr. Feltsman's words sounded like a big dog barking, but Yuuri figured this was the only volume he was capable of. 

"Attention!" 

For the first time today, Yuuri got it with everyone else. 

"Thank you for a good day of rehearsal. Dismissed!" 

Yuuri made his way back to the corner to shoulder his bag and pick up his case. He waited in the hallway for Phichit who was probably caught up in talking to people or helping with a quick measure. Phichit ended up walking out talking to Chris of all people. He split off once he saw Yuuri, though. 

"Sorry about the wait! I confirmed dinner with Leo and Guang Hong, and we're going to that Italian place by the gross gas station," Phichit said, readjusting the bag on his shoulder.  

They were almost to the main doors until Viktor called behind them, "Have a nice day, Yuuri! See you tomorrow!" 

Phichit elbowed Yuuri in the side when he didn't say anything, so Yuuri turned around to give a bright smile. Phichit gave a look to Yuuri when his back was turned but didn’t say anything. 

"Okay, first day of band camp and you're already hitting on the guard captain?" Yuuri asked as he held the door. 

"Hey! He's cute! Less judgmental than someone here," Phichit defended, "Besides, you're the one on a drum major." 

"Ew, I don't think I was around JJ at any point longer than three seconds," Yuuri said. 

Phichit stopped in his steps with his mouth cartoonishly agape. 

"What?" Yuuri asked. 

"Are you shitting me?" 

"What?" Yuuri asked again. 

"Viktor!" Phichit's voice went up an octave. 

"Where?" Yuuri seemed to be asking a lot of questions. 

"He's a drum major!" 

"Oh, shit," Yuuri started before it fully sunk in, "Oh, shit! Shiiiiiiiit. Shoot me, shoot me right here." He pointed a finger between his eyes, "Why didn't you say anything?" 

"I thought you knew! They announced it during introductions!" 

"I was already so dehydrated, I don’t remember anything five minutes before and an hour after that." 

"You didn't even get it after the," Phichit attempted a Russian accent, "'I had to eat last' thing?" 

"I thought he just took his time! I'm gonna go crawl in a hole and die." 

"C'mon, why don't we just go out, get some ice cream, and we will discuss one, how stupid this is and two, how fucking hot our guys are." 

"Phichit! No! Aren't they dating each other?" 

"Are you pulling my leg, Katsuki?" 

"Why would I? Are they not dating?" Yuuri was very confused. 

"You are the least observational person I've met." 

"So they're screwing?" 

"No! They're not dating in the first place. That was old news." 

"I'm not going to even ask." 

"Viktor was all over you, anyway," Phichit smiled wickedly at Yuuri who looked away. 

"He's like that to everyone, Phichit." 

"Nope, I speak no lies," he said as he rummaged through his bags for the car keys. 

Yuuri didn't say anything after that until they got into the car. Thank any deity for the cooled seats and functional air conditioning in Phichit's car or else his reddened face would be on full blast. Phichit turned on the radio to the 2000s station, and Phichit sung loudly to try to get Yuuri to join in. Yuuri was too focused on rewinding the day in his head. His mistakes were starting to get to him, and the Viktor thing was seriously starting to bug him. Once they got out of the car, Yuuri stared at Phichit. 

"What?" 

"I don't know what to do." 

"About what?" 

"About everything," Yuuri's leg bounced a bit in worry. 

"Oh, Yuuri."