Everyone in the Katsuki family has a magical talent. Mari's origami comes to life, their mother's cooking brings up good memories of home, and Yuuri… When he moves, flowers grow. Viktor hasn't believed in magic in a long time, despite his late mother's claims that the Nikiforov family is cursed…

Petal Steps

Part 1: The Katsuki Family

Hasetsu has always been a small town united under one agreement—never tell outsiders about the Katsuki family.

"The Katsukis are blessed by spirits and gods," her uncle says, "that's why we shouldn't let travellers know what they can do. We must protect them."

Yuuko, of course, doesn't get why everyone's so protective of the Katsuki family. It seems strange, all these different families gathering up to protect the nice people who run the hot springs. On the news, reporters call people like the Katsukis 'gifted' or 'spirited.' Yuuko often sees these Gifted performing tricks on TV like making metal fly or turning their hair different colours. Shouldn't the Katsukis do the same thing? It seems surreal to have such magical people living nearby, living so normally.

But then she meets Yuuri.

"Yuuko, can you go check to see if the lights are off for Ms. Nishigori? Just peek in the ice rink," her uncle says, before turning back to talk with the other adults.

"Got it!" She rushes back through the change rooms towards the rink. If she hurries, she might be back home in time to catch another episode of that magical girl anime after homework.

"Hello?" Yuuko pokes her head through the rink, marveling at how big it is. She can't even imagine how big the rinks in cities like Tokyo must be. The one in Ice Castle already feels like a huge stadium for a star.

Her voice carries over a little, but not too far. Yuuko decides to shout louder, just in case, when she sees a lone spotlight still focused on the ice.

"Oh!" Yuuko rushes out. She knows where the switches are. But just as she reaches them, she sees a little figure moving smoothly through the light.

He's a chubby little thing, awfully cute with those cheeks, but when he skates, Yuuko feels like she's watching an ice spirit give form to music as something to touch. He dances like he's part of the air, like he'll take off and glide to the stars. With every tilt of his hands, the expression on his face, Yuuko feels like she can hear the arpeggios of a soft piano, singing every lilt of the boy's emotions.

"Wow," Yuuko breathes, unable to take her eyes off him.

That's when she sees the flowers, blooming in the ice trails of the boy's skates. Crystal-like, sparkling in the spotlight, they cast pretty hues of colour all over the rink. Each petal shines bright, glistening for a few precious moments, before melting back into the ice. Soft amaryllises and white anemones for the shy and sincere in the Japanese language of flowers, all glinting at the boy, expressing his heart.

Three jumps later, the boy finishes with a pose, one hand reaching for the sky while the other rests in his heart. He stares up at the spotlight as if searching for a sign, another voice. Ice cherry blossoms trail around him, all of them as gentle and kind as their language suggests.

"That was AMAZING!" Yuuko has to cheer, because the boy has to know that someone was listening. He's not alone. He's not. "I've never seen anyone my age dance like that! Do you skate in competitions? Do you want to? I have no idea how you made those flowers appear but WOW!"

Immediately the boy falls on his back.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Yuuko rushes over, no skates be damned.

"I, I," the boy fumbles around with his hands, "Y-you s-saw that?!"

"Well—"

"P-please don't tell a-anyone s-strange about m-me! I was just m-messing around! Th-there w-weren't flowers!" he flails, though the melting ice blossoms around them beg to differ.

Awww, she wants to squish his cheeks.

"I won't say anything! I promise! Besides, why would you hide that? Flowers are so pretty!"

The boy blushes, sliding back, and more soft white petals slip out of his steps.

"You…. you really mean it?"

"Of course I do!"

Slowly, the boy smiles at her, and it's like watching a small bud open up for the first time.

"T-thank you!" he bows his head. "E-everyone but my family always s-says that it's w-weird for a boy to have th-this kind of power but you… just… thank you so much!"

That's the moment that Yuuko feels Yuuri-struck (as Phichit will affectionately dub the sensation) for life. I must protect this boy, she thinks, taking his hands and declaring them best friends right then and there. I won't let anyone make him ashamed of his gift.

The Katsukis, Yuuko learns, have been able to create 'little blessings' all their life.

"Everyone on my mum's side can do something," Yuuri quietly explains to her during their weekly skate sessions.

Granny Sayako could make the clouds dance as she sang, Yuuri says, and when she died, the sky wept. Hiroko, his mum, cooks food that reminds you of your happiest memories when you eat it. Katsudon is her speciality but Yuuri tells Yuuko that Hiroko's desserts always make him feel fluffy inside. Mari, his older sister, folds paper cranes that come to life and hop on people's shoulders. Yuuko squeals when Yuuri shows her his little origami dog Vicchan that Mari made, apparently the little guy always hides in Yuuri's sleeve for comfort.

Their family seems to be made of kindness, as if joy naturally rushes through their veins. Their magic makes Yuuko want to treasure it for herself and keep it hidden and unblemished.

That's the thing about magic. It can make people so unselfishly selfish and selfishly unselfish all the time.

"Yuuri?" Yuuko asks when they're tired from running down the beach, watching sunflowers blossom in the hungry sand.

"Hm?" he turns to her, busy teasing Vicchan with a stalk of grass. The little paper dog barks and runs up Yuuri's arm, trying to catch the grass with its paws.

"Why don't you want more people to know about your gift?"

Yuuri goes quiet and Vicchan whines, nuzzling his human's ear and glaring at Yuuko with little blotty ink eyes.

"I'm sorry!" she forgets sometimes that Yuuri can be so fragile, one sentence can tear his happy day apart and Yuuko is left trying to figure out how to coax it back together again. "I know you don't like talking about it…"

"I, um, I love skating."

Yuuko tries not to laugh. "I know that, silly."

Yuuri scowls.

"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt. Go on!"

Eyes darting to Yuuko and then Vicchan, as if to make sure she keeps her promise, Yuuri says, "Well. I want to skate for real. Like Viktor Nikiforov does! Without magic, without flowers. They won't let me skate in the world championships if I do magic while I perform. That's the rule. So I want to control it. I want to be better."

"Oh," Yuuko thinks about the scandals with athletes losing their careers because they had been playing with a blessed gift. People blessed with quick speed by wind spirits, for example, can't compete in marathons or swimming. Most sports just ban magic users altogether, since blessed humans are relatively rare compared to everyone else. Someone like Yuuri though, whose magic is just happy to grow when he dances, whose magic just happens, shouldn't be banned from skating. It's not fair.

"I'll help you!" she decides.

Yuuri blinks slowly at her.

"I'll help you be the best figure skater ever! And you'll learn how to hide your gift, I promise!"

Slowly, Yuuri smiles back.