It happened during the lunch break at his practice session.
With the Grand Prix Final coming up in about a week, Yakov had the whole rink under strict limitations of when and what they could eat, so an 18-nearing-19 year old Victor was eager to get to his food.
And then he saw it. Black writing, just barely showing from under his long-sleeved practice shirt.
Victor was well acquainted with the tales of soulmates and how a true soulmate could see the thoughts of the one destined for them appear like a tattoo on their skin. Not everyone had a soulmate, one that was made for them, to love them and help them and be with them, but people had found that they could find love anyway. At age 16, Victor had figured he was someone without a soulmate. It wasn’t an illogical conclusion.
But now, freezing on his way to put his skate guards on, he knew he was wrong.
He finished putting on the guards and ran. He ran as fast as he could to somewhere, anywhere private, ignoring the confused shouts from his coach. He turned down a corridor off of the main hall and went to the far end before slumping down against the wall and finally, finally, lifting his sleeve, prepared for what was the most prominent thought his soulmate was having, wherever in the world they may be.
Well, Victor had tried to prepare. He wasn’t ready to see the words written across his arm.
“How could I ever think I could do this? I’m no where near their level…”
Victor was floored. The first thing he ever hears of his soulmate that he didn’t know he had and they are putting themselves down!
The words keep coming. Writing out, fading, being replaced with something else. A never ending circle of self-hate.
“I’m gonna lose” “Every one is going to be so disappointed in me” “Minako-sensei wasted her money coming here” “I wasted my parents money coming here”
A few things stood out. One, Minako-sensei. Obviously someone his soulmate cared for. Sensei, Victor knew that was a Japanese honorific, he had been called that by his fans when he competed in Japan. “Here.” His soulmate referenced here twice, meaning wherever he was, wasn’t where he lived. And that people had spent money to get him there.
And then Victor was floored again as another line appeared on his arm, lingering a few seconds longer than the others had.
“How could I have ever thought I’d be able to skate against him someday…”
Skate. His soulmate is a skater? Being able to skate against someone else. Against, so yes. His soulmate is a skater. Victor could laugh at the irony. Him. A male figure skater, then.
Damn, Victor was good at this whole deducting thing.
But back to the matter at hand. The words were being replaced again.
“I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t fail them again. I’m so weak. But… I can’t quit. Quitting means giving up on my dream. It means disappointing them anyway. It means wasting all the time and money and effort that my family has put into me, all the faith and love.”
Victor gaped. If there was one thing about the personality of the person with the other half of his soul that Victor knew, right then, it was that whoever they-whoever HE was, he was incredibly strong. He was fighting his way through the thoughts plaguing him.
To him, however, it was two sides to the same coin. Disappoint his family by losing, or disappoint them by quitting.
Victor took a deep breath. He knew from experience what that felt like, though he hadn’t felt it in years. When he was just starting out in the novices levels he would always worry about losing and upsetting his parents. But even though he lost often in the beginning, they had always cheered him on, encouraging him and saying he’d do better next time.
Maybe… Maybe Victor could do this for his soulmate. He had never heard of anyone who intentionally thought so that their soulmate could see, but perhaps he’d be the first.
It was worth a shot, right?
So Victor thought. He blanked everything else from his mind as he thought of the only words he could to help console the one who’s thoughts were still lingering on his arm.
“Please, please let this work.”
“Hey. Stop being so hard on yourself. You are so strong, it hurts seeing you call yourself weak. Whatever it is that you are about to do, as long as you put your heart into it, your family will see that and they will love it, regardless of how you do. I believe in you. You’ve got this.”
It was silent in the hall aside from the ticking of his watch. Victor glanced down to read the time, laughing when he saw that he was 10 minutes late to return to practice and he hadn’t eaten a thing. Yakov was going to be pissed at him.
Victor found that he didn’t care.
Even less so when he saw the words on his arm fading and new ones appearing.
“I… I can’t. Everyone out there, they’re all so talented. I’m a nobody to them.”
He blinked. And then again. His message… It must of gotten through. Fantastic!
But the words themselves weren’t anything to cheer over.
“You aren’t a nobody to me. You aren’t a nobody to your family. You aren’t a nobody to Minako-sensei, even if I’m not sure who that is. You aren’t a nobody to the people that matter. Those guys out there? They don’t know you. Granted, I don’t either, but I have the feeling I’ll get there.”
“I don’t want to do bad.”
“Then go out there and skate to the music in the way that makes you proud.”
“I can’t… I can. Try. I can try. I will try.”
“Good. Make yourself proud, and I’ll be proud.”
“Alright. I’ve got this.”
“You do. I believe in you.”
No more thoughts appeared immediately following that, the last words his soulmate had thought to him still lingering there. “I’ve got this.” Victor was happy that he could encourage the other skater.
It wasn’t until Yakov forced them to watch the Junior Grand Prix Finals that Victor learned the name of his dear.
A young Japanese skater stepped onto the ice, eyes downcast as the camera zoomed in on his face. He was nodding along to what his coach was saying, finally looking up right before he had to go.
His dark brown eyes were absolutely captivating. His black hair left to hang in front of his face, his right hand holding a pair of bright blue glasses.
On his left arm, just barely visible, only noticeable to those looking, Victor could see through the sheer of his skating costume a few words.
“You do. I believe in you.”
Later, during the medal ceremony, the announcer said his name.
Katsuki Yuuri. Junior Grand Prix gold medalist, promising up-and-coming skater from Japan.
Left unsaid; Victor Nikiforov’s soulmate.
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