Chapter One: Ballet

Yuri: 6 Karina: 5

"Alright, Yuri. Remember, I'll be here for you right after class ends," Yuri's grandfather ruffled Yuri's ear-length blond hair, before patting him on the back to gently lead him towards the entrance to the ballet studio.

"Thanks, Grandpa," Yuri looked up at his grandfather adoringly before hesitantly entering into the ballet studio.

"Hi there, you must be Yuri!" an overenthusiastic ballet teacher rushed to Yuri's side. "My name is Vera, and I'm your ballet teacher!" Yuri almost rolled his eyes at how bubbly she was.

He allowed himself to be dragged to the barre, where he was surrounded by all girls, no surprise. Sighing in resignation, he pulled his ballet slippers on, and attempted to mimic what the girls in front of him were doing with their arms and legs. It was much more intricate than his usual ice skating warmup, and he struggled with keeping his balance.

"Now class, we have a new student," Vera clapped her hands and jumped up and down. "Would you mind telling us a little about yourself sweetie?" She looked directly at Yuri.

"Uh, well, I'm a figure skater, and I'm going to go to the Olympics some day!" Yuri thrust his chest out proudly, though he heard a couple of the girls snicker. He always hated this part of introducing himself, because he never knew what to say other than that he was a figure skater. "And, uh...I'm taking ballet to help me with my technique."

"Thank you Yuri! Class, I hope that you'll be very kind to him. You're learning as much as he is!" Vera moved back to the middle of the room to begin instruction.

After a grueling hour of warmups and moves that Yuri couldn't even pronounce, he was finally done. Covered in sweat, he ripped his ballet slippers off, stuffing them into his bag as he guzzled some water. He paid no heed to the girls sitting in a group as they daintily removed their slippers and took small sips of water, all the while gossiping about the new student.

Yuri gathered up his duffel bag and exited the room, ignoring the girls that trailed after him, laughing and pointing. He dropped his bag to the floor at the entrance to the studio, and sank to the ground as he waited for his grandfather to pick him up, oblivious to the young girl from his class elegantly perched on a chair, attentively waiting for her mother.

The girls that had followed him now grouped around him, blocking his view of the glass door. "You think you're so high and mighty, wanting to go to the Olympics, huh?" one of the girls questioned.

"Yeah, as if some scrawny Russian like you would ever amount to anything," another girl scoffed.

"Ballerinas are so much more than 'technique'. We're just as good as you haughty ice skaters!" one girl, Klara, Yuri remembered, insisted.

Suddenly, the young girl that Yuri had not noticed spoke up from her chair. "He never said anything about disliking ballerinas. Stop being rude, Zoya," she spoke to the instigator.

"Hey! I don't need you to fight my battles you prima!" Yuri spat at the girl, but she only rolled her eyes. "You're all scum anyways," he directed his attention to the other girls. "Say all those nasty comments to my gold medal." With that, he stomped out of the door, willing to wait in the cold if he was away from them.

The one defender bursted out of the door. "What was that stunt?" she questioned. "All I was trying to do was help. You could've been nicer about it."

"I don't need your help..." Yuri retorted.

"Karina," the girl supplied, rolling her eyes again. "And sure you don't need my help, because you were handling that really well."

Yuri broke a little. "Fine. You have a point."

Karina grinned. "Ha! I gotcha!" she jumped up and down in glee. "Now you have a friend in the class!"

"What? You're not my friend!" Yuri sputtered in indignation.

"Would you be my friend if I got you ice cream? My mom always lets me get ice cream afterwards, and she wants me to bring a friend."

Yuri had to reconsider. He did like free ice cream, but at what cost would it be for? Karina had stood up for him, however, and he finally broke down. "Fine," he grumbled.

"Yay!" Karina clapped her hands in excitement, and Yuri groaned in frustration. This was going to be a long night.

Licking her chocolate flavored ice cream, Karina joined her mother, along with Yuri and his grandfather. She had overheard her mother and Yuri's grandfather talking about how Karina's father had left a year after she was born, and how Yuri's parents had abandoned Yuri to his grandfather. They seemed to be getting along well enough.

Sitting next to Yuri at the table, she noticed that he had already finished his mint chocolate chip cone, and she frowned. "How did you eat your ice cream so fast?" she asked, trying to take a bite of her ice cream, and recoiling when her front teeth gave her a brain freeze.

"I practiced," Yuri responded dryly.

"You know who you remind me of?" Karina jumped up and down in her seat. "The band called 'The O's'! Their names each end with O, and one of them is called Yurio! That's a great name!"

"Never heard of them," Yuri mumbled, putting his arms on the small table.

"In fact, I'll call you Yurio!" Karina decided, and Yuri grumbled even more, complete with eye rolling.

"That's not my name," he insisted.

"Okay, Yurio," Karina responded, beaming with pride.

"Ugh, primas," Yuri placed his head in his arms on the table.

"Looks like you'll be stuck with me for longer than you thought!" Karina smiled, seeing her mother and Yuri's grandfather exchange slips of paper with their phone numbers scribbled on in pencil.

Yuri threw his hands up in the air. "Are you kidding me?"

Karina nudged him. "Admit it, you actually like me being your friend," she teased.

Yuri shook his head. "In your dreams."

Yuri had to admit, however, that having a friend in the ballet class was nice. Maybe being friends with a stuck-up prima wasn't so bad after all. He even asked Karina to help him with some of the more complicated moves he couldn't quite perfect. Besides, being friends with her meant ice cream every week. Who could turn that offer down?

At least, that was Yuri's excuse for looking forward to ballet each week.

A/N: I decided to upload this story this week in honor of the last episode of Yuri! on ice since I love that show to death. Yurio was always my favorite character, and I really wanted to write this story of friendship and all that good stuff. Anyways, I hope that you really like the story, and please make sure to comment/ask questions if you did!

Hugs and kisses,

bibliophilebasics