Shall We Date? Let's Skate!

Summary: "Shall We Date? Let's Skate!" was the hottest dating sim game on the market . . . and it was also the video game one Yuuri Katsuki suddenly wakes up in. Now, Yuuri has to battle floating screens, pesky Quests, and . . . wait, what do you mean he's now the main character?! Featuring poor, poor Gamer!Yuuri.

Disclaimer: Nope, do not own, pfft. I wish.

Chapter I: Game Start!

"Shall We Date? is a fascinating dating sim game brand, one that attracts a great number of players from all over the world. Their newest game, Shall We Date? Let's Skate!, however, caused quite a stir in the LGBTQ+ community. This is because Let's Skate! is the first of their games that offers the reader the option to pick their gender. Featuring a wide cast of potential love interests, Let's Skate! is a must for any dating sim fan."

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"Hmm . . . a new dating sim game, huh?"

Katsuki Yuuri sighed as he flopped onto his bed, glasses in disarray and his phone running on low battery. Everybody at school that day had been gossiping about the new dating sim game that day, and, well, despite his attempts to resist Yuuri became too curious. It was rare for even a teacher to be chatting about a dating sim game, after all.

Grabbing his poor, dying phone, Yuuri stared at the game page. The trailer was playing on the side, and Yuuri was blasted with gorgeous pictures from the game. The artist, whoever it was, was absolutely amazing and it became clear that it would be worth it to buy the game even if the plot was bad. Yuuri studied the characters (wide cast indeed!), before sighing in pure defeat.

He made it a rule to not play games when he was in school, but it couldn't hurt, right? Just this once?

With that in mind, the boy pressed the download button before staring at the download bar in giddiness. Yuuri had always loved good dating sims, and one with his own gender as the main character? Where he had to woo a boyfriend, not a girlfriend? Now that was what he had always been looking for.

Yuuri beamed as the download bar inched to 100%. And then it was downloading, and then―!

And then his phone died.

". . . Pfft."

With a small groan and a depressed chuckle, Yuuri threw his phone onto his cluttered desk before burying his face into his pillow. That was what he got, for not charging his phone when he was supposed to that morning. And for it to die on him when he was downloading his much-awaited game . . . maybe it was a sign to stop?

Huffing, Yuuri got up before grabbing his phone charger and plugging it in. Then, grabbing his textbook and going back to his bed, Yuuri started cramming for the test he had the next day.

Hmm. Maybe it was a good thing Yuuri didn't manage to completely download his game. If it hadn't really downloaded, Yuuri promised himself that he wouldn't try again until after his Finals.

As for him right now, Yuuri needed to get through around one hundred and fifty pages about the ins and outs of photosynthesis. Oh, boy.

[SHALL WE DATE? LET'S SKATE!]

(G-A-M-E . . . S-T-A-R-T?)

You have slept in your bed! HP is now fully restored.

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"Yuuuuuuuri!"

Someone knocked on his door. Ignoring his mumbles of 'just five more minutes!' the person instead opted to yell louder. "Come on Yuuri! Even chill Ciao Ciao will be mad if we're late for the third time this week! And it's only Wednesday!"

Eyes still foggy with sleep, Yuuri rubbed them gently before reaching out to grab the textbook he had probably fell asleep upon. Ugh, the crinkles were going to be awful . . .

Only, the book wasn't there.

. . .

With a frown, Yuuri sat up, more alert as his eyes searched the ground. Where did his textbook go . . . ? Did it fall off of his bed? But he had a queen size bed, so how could it fall off . . . ?

"Yuuri?"

Wait. Yuuri stared at his bed. His . . . small bed. It wasn't a queen sized bed. It was a single.

"Yuuuuuri?"

And . . . that insistent voice who kept calling his name. Yuuri lived alone in his apartment, so . . . who was calling him?

Scrambling to get out of his bed and taking note of the things in 'his' room (why were there so many posters of a slightly familiar guy on the walls? And were those words floating on his bed?!), Yuuri rushed to the door and with slight hesitation, opened it.

"Yuuu― Ah! Finally!"

Yuuri stared. An extremely cute boy with tanned skin, black hair, and the brightest smile stood there, arms crossed.

In case you were wondering, no, Yuuri had absolutely no idea who this guy was.

"Come on, Yuuri!" Cute Boy whined. "We're going to be late again! I'll make breakfast today, so just hurry and clean up!"

And with that Cute Boy rushed off, leaving Yuuri to gape at the dust he had left in his wake.

What the heck was going on?

Things just got weirder and weirder. Though Yuuri still had the same name wherever he was, his life now could not be any more different. In his own world, Yuuri had been a medical student who was in his third year of specialized studies. This Yuuri, however, was apparently a figure skater and a top one if the JSF website had anything to say about it. His head-shot photo was all over the front page of the website!

But Yuuri . . . Yuuri didn't even know how to skate!

Cute Boy was apparently his skating rink partner, his roommate, and his training partner who studied under the same skating coach as he did. His name was Phichit Chulanont, and he was twenty years old compared to Yuuri's twenty-three.

He also had the same name as one of the potential love interests in Shall We Date? Let's Skate! which, um. Yuuri wished he could be mistaken, but he knew that he was right about this because his maths teacher had been just gushing about the character in their last lesson.

And if that hadn't been weird enough, the thing that cinched all the craziness was . . . the floating screens.

No, you did not hear Yuuri wrong. There were floating screens everywhere, and it seemed like Yuuri was the only one who could see them. Yuuri wondered if he had finally snapped from the pressure and gone crazy, but he didn't really feel that crazy.

The floating screens reminded him of video games. There was one on top of his head, for example, one that said:

{Katsuki Yuuri: LV 1]

Which. Um. Wow.

So. Yuuri wasn't sure how his roommate hadn't noticed yet but understandably, he was kind of freaked out.

Was he . . . in a dating sim game? Was Yuuri somehow in the video game he had been hoping to download onto his phone? How was that even possible?!

Ah, perhaps it wasn't possible. That would be the most sensible explanation, yes. Maybe he was only dreaming . . . ?

With newfound hope, Yuuri pinched his thigh.

"OW!"

"Yuuri?" Phichit looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

. . . Yeah, it wasn't a dream all right.

Despite his busy schedule, Yuuri was a proud gamer. So he knew the basics of what he should do, yes. With that in mind . . .

"Stats? Pause? Menu? Profile―"

!

"Aajkfhdasjkfhkas―" Yuuri started hysterically in gibberish, watching with wide eyes as his surroundings faded away. In its place, however, was a giant floating menu.

Let us say that again. A giant floating menu. What was Yuuri's life?

[Profile]

Status

Quests

Inventory

Skills

Relationships

(CLOSE)

Wow. Well, Yuuri's life was certainly not normal anymore.

". . . I can't believe it worked," Yuuri shrieked, staring in disbelief. Reaching up to touch the Skills button, he watched with shocked eyes as a new screen appeared.

[Skills]

Serpentine Step Sequence

Triple Axel

Double Axel

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(CLOSE)

The list was long, Yuuri noted in a daze. Closing the screen and watching with relief as everything went back to normal, Yuuri cocked his head. How was he even supposed to use skills?

"Serpentine Step Sequence . . . ?"

!

"Wow!" Phichit cried in surprise as he stopped to stare at Yuuri. "Your step sequences are as beautiful as always, Yuuri!"

+10 REP with Phichit Chulalont!

Yuuri resisted the urge to sob. Oh, look, more floating windows. Just what he needed.

And ha ha, wow. Apparently Yuuri knew how to skate now, despite never being within a one hundred meter radius to an ice rink. What a surprise.

(No, seriously, what a surprise. Where did his taut stomach and muscles come from?!)

Yuuri was trying out another one of his Skills, the Triple Axel skill, when it appeared.

And by 'it', Yuuri meant the huge blob of translucent colour that almost smacked into his face.

Main Quest Alert!

【Episode 1】What a Piroshki! The Grand-Prix Final of Tears

After much hard work, it's time for you to show the skating world your prowess at the Grand Prix Final! Go do your best!

Completion Awarded: +1500 EXP

Completion Failure: NONE

[Yes/No]

Oh look, it was another floating window, and a big one at that―

. . .

Wait.

"What do you mean my Grand Prix Final competition is next week, Phichit?! Oh my god!?"

Continue . . . ?

[Yes/No]

AN: The YOI thirst is real, oh no. Have another Gamer!fic, but for YOI this time.