Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been awhile since I updated… I'm rewatching Yuri on Ice again and it's like taking a time machine back to last December *dreamy sigh*

I noticed something neat when I paused the screen on Yuuri's email inbox a certain episode… Using that info and the stuff I know about Universities in Detroit (I live only about 45 minutes away lol), I've drawn some conclusions…

Chapter Name: To Be Pushed Away

Normal POV

Yuri Katsuki had an air of timidity about him that was obvious to all that let their eyes fall on him by chance. He was sort of gloomy, overall.

Wayne State University in Detroit is known for its International Student Admissions policies. The Canadians that lived in Windsor, just across the Detroit River, came to the Uni without having to pay international tuition. It was no surprise that if Yuuri Katsuki was moving to a training facility in Detroit that he would end up attending Wayne State.

That was where she ran into him. Through Phichit of course. Phichit was a guy that made connections with everyone in his own cunningly kind way. She came to know him through a certain class and was eventually invited to "come and watch us practice!"

She stepped into the frigid rink, bundled up warmly and tightly grasping the strap of her messenger's bag. Even after all these years, she still could barely understand how ice skaters never bundled up in this climate.

"Cold-blooded…" She muttered under her breath, eyes skimming over the faces of the skaters as she searched for the two familiar ones she would see.

"Kathy!" A gleeful voice cried abruptly. She turned her head to the stands, eyes finally landing on the sight of an energetic Phichit waving frantically at her.

"Phichit!" Kathy smiled and made her away around the rink to the stands where he sat next to Yuuri. "And Yuuri, too! Hi!" She grinned.

Their coach questioned her for a moment, almost stopping her, but Phichit waved him off with a laugh. "This is that conservatory student I was talking about! I invited her to come and watch us just for today. Her name is Kathy Abelashuli."

Ciao Ciao welcomed her but asked her not to make this a frequent thing since these were private practices. Kathy nodded in understanding. She sat next to Phichit and Yuuri, who nodded at her in greeting, and set her eyes on the skaters in the rink again.

"Are the younger skaters practicing right now?" She asked, noticing that most of the older students were lounging around the rink.

"Yeah, but their practice ends in a couple of minutes. After them, it's our turn! Make sure you watch closely! Yuuri and I are actually really awesome!" He laughed, slinging an arm around the embarrassed Yuuri.

"Phichit!" He scolded, beet-red. He glanced up at Kathy but quickly averted his gaze.

Kathy smiled at the two. "I thought this before, but you guys are really great friends, even though you're polar opposites!"

Yuuri's mood seemed to drop discreetly, but Phichit only laughed. "Oh, really? Well I guess today you'll learn just how alike we really are!"

"How do you mean?"

"It's there." Phichit said seriously, a smile on his face. "It's all there – on the ice."

Kathy didn't understand until she saw it. Yuuri Katsuki was a completely different person on the ice. He was a flower, fighting against a storm, dancing elegantly on the ice. It made him strong. He wasn't gloomy – he was thoughtful. He wasn't really timid, just shy around strangers and raised in a society that didn't bare all to others that easily.

Understanding him and Phichit and their relationship… she really did have to see it on the ice.

That was when Kathy thought maybe they could be friends.

It was only a little time later that one of the skaters flubbed a jump pretty badly and ended up slamming into a wall. They came out of it with a head injury. Yuuri's pale and shocked face when he saw rink mate unconscious like that… Kathy wasn't sure she would be able to forget it.

They sat in the hospital together, unsure of his condition. Phichit and Ciao Ciao were talking to the doctors, dark looks clouding their usually happy-go-lucky expressions.

Yuuri was holding his head in his hands, leaning over his knees. He was thinking up a storm, and Kathy could tell.

"Yuuri…" She put a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he sat up straight, eyes locking into hers directly. "Let's try our best not to worry, ok? I'm sure your rink mate will be fine." She went in for a comforting hug…

Only to be pushed away.

She gasped slightly, unsure of what had just happened. She was sure she had made all the right moves. Why had he rejected her?

"K-Kathy… I…" Yuuri shot up, a look of pain on his face. He ignored her hurt expression, and walked away.

"Yuuri…"

This had happened after Yuuri told her that her music got shelved. This was the second blow. She had gotten pushed away again.

"I got it…" She sighed.

Kathy didn't approach him again. She noticed the biting look of guilt on his face whenever they faced each other, but eventually those times became fewer and fewer too. They stopped meeting.

And that was fine.

Ping!

Kathy checked the notification on her phone's lock-screen. "Oh, an email? Jeez, why haven't I turned off notifications for that yet?" She groaned, rolling over in bed. She's been woken up like this far too many times now.

Katsuki Yuuri. Skate FS….

The train of Kathy's thoughts flew off its tracks and tumbled into the distance.

"Haaaaaa?!" She shot up out of bed and eagerly opened the mail. "How did he even find me after all these years?"

Wait a second, didn't Phichit's friend request to follow me on social media the other day…? She deadpanned. That boy really does have too many connections.

Inside the mail was a long apology and an explanation. Kathy could tell that Yuuri had matured a little over the years. She wondered briefly where he was now. Detroit? Bangkok? Hasetsu?

Her eyes widened as she read his request, and then filled with tears.

Another chance…!

The smaller competitions weren't aired in her hometown unless she had special channels. She had to order them from her TV provider, and then she had to start figuring out how to fix the quality because they didn't seem to understand that she was trying to watch something real, not pixels.

Kathy had everything up and running for that memorable Cup of China. It took her a little research and a whole session of Skate Canada before she understood that each skater only participated in two events. But it was worth it.

Because when she saw Yuuri skating so passionately to the music she had created, truly being that flower in a storm… a hole in her heart that she hadn't known was there was suddenly filled beyond its capacity.

She had never cried so hard in her life.

Kathy Abelashuli, everyone. I might not have the spelling right, because I had to squint when I looked at the screen, but I'm sure her name is Kathy. Also, there's one other major uni in Detroit that Yuuri might have gone to but I think that Wayne State is the most likely.

I've wanted to write this for a long time. I always wondered what that girl felt when Yuuri contacted her again, and if she watched him skate.

I also thought that she might have gotten some phone calls after that to kick off her music career because that music is AWESOME.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought!

~Crescent T.