A Second Chance (to do it better) is an Yuri!!! on Ice fanfic by RarepairKai22 where Yuuri is sent back in time following a traffic accident. While he loses all of his achievements in the process, Yuuri takes this second chance at life to do everything over again. Much better in fact.
It can be read on Archive of Our Own here
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This fanfic contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Chris had been expecting huge things from Yuuri as soon as he saw the Japanese skater’s name in the Vienna Cup line-up. But the moment where Yuuri shattered Viktor’s long-standing junior short skate world record is so unexpected and expected at the same time that Chris devolves into manic laughter as the entire arena goes apeshit around him.
- Chris once again loses his shit via uncontrollable laughter at the sheer disbelief from Yuuri when he reveals to the Japanese skater that he suffers from an anxiety disorder, which given his sexual prowess on the ice, understandably sounds completely unfathomable.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Not only did he lose everything after being sent back in time, when Yuuri is reunited with his husband in the current timeline during the 2007 GPF in Poland, Yuuri knows that he cannot pursue a romantic relationship with Viktor right away. Despite being an adult mentally, he is biologically 14 at the time, and in the eyes of the law (in Russia especially), it would be seen as statutory rape, which would criminally implicate Viktor. Therefore, Yuuri is forced to maintain his distance for the time being. Of course, that doesn't mean it hurts any less, as we see Yuuri breaking down in a quiet corner afterwards.
- It is one thing to come back in time from the future, but it is another thing entirely to have to live through a catastrophic natural disaster that one lived through before. For Yuuri, this is the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami which devastated eastern Japan. While Hasetsu is virtually spared from the disaster, for Yuuri, knowing full well that across the country, entire towns have been destroyed and thousands killed by the unstoppable forces of nature, and there is nothing he can do about it, it is simply too much. He breaks down on the beach where he made his declaration to the universe before, and is found by his sister and the Nishigoris in a state of near-catatonic numbness.
- Adaptational Badass: Because he is sent back into the past and wakes up in his 7-year-old body, Yuuri grows into his strengths much earlier than in the canon anime. So far, he has won the 2007 Vienna Cup, the Pokal der Blauen Schwerter in Germany, as well as the junior GPF in Poland. Additionally, upon moving into the senior division, he has consistently ranked among the top 3 figure skaters in the world.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: So far, Chris, Yurio, Phichit, Seung-gil, Sara and Minami have made early appearances compared to their canon counterparts. Sara’s brother Michele has been mentioned off-screen, as is Seung-gil’s coach.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Yuuri and Chris are implied to be friends in the canon anime, though their relationship is obviously not as close compared to the friendship Yuuri shares with Phichit. Here, though, Yuuri and Chris hit off a fast friendship that rapidly becomes extremely close due to their shared commonality of having anxiety disorders. Additionally, Chris views Yuuri as a much-needed breath of fresh air for a competitive figure skating landscape that has stagnated after Viktor achieved his Living Legend status and very quickly outpaced virtually any possible rival or contender for his crown.
- Always Second Best: What can be best described of other figure skaters in Japan when compared to Yuuri. As a junior skater, Yuuri first dominates the regional competitive circuit, before elevating to becoming Japan's best figure skater. Yuuri continues to do so even when he transitions into the senior division.
- Broken Ace: Viktor is the Living Legend in the eyes of the world, but in reality, he sees being the best figure skater in the world as nothing more than an empty chore for the glory of his home country. As the saying goes, it is lonely at the top, and Viktor himself admits that he was on the verge of slipping into a dangerous slump had it not been for Yuuri breaking his junior short skate record in the Vienna Cup.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Yuuri is very much oblivious to the many crushes for him held by his peers in middle school, simply because he is too focused on his goal of getting his husband back and because he keeps to himself out of fear that he doesn't know how to interact with his peers.
- Death by Adaptation: Subverted with both Yuuri and Viktor. While they both presumably died in the traffic accident in St. Petersburg, Yuuri is sent back in time to his 7-year-old body. Additionally, Viktor is still alive in this timeline.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Viktor was the undisputed champion of men’s figure skating, with perhaps Chris posing as the only credible rival for his crown as the Living Legend. Then, Yuuri comes along and smashes Viktor’s previously unbroken junior short skate world record, setting Yuuri up as a very real contender who could potentially dethrone Viktor.
- Dramatic Irony: As he begins his short skate in the final in Poland, Yuuri mentally asks Viktor to never take his eyes off of him. Unbeknownst to Yuuri, Viktor is actually in the stands, incognito, watching him perform, and never once looks away throughout Yuuri’s performance.
- Entertainingly Wrong: The students of Hasetsu Municipal High School see Yuuri has some godlike being whom they admire and awe over, but only from afar. None of them actually dare to approach Yuuri, as they assume he hates it when someone invades his personal space, with one girl telling her friend the story about how another student supposedly incurred Yuuri's "wrath" when she accidentally bumped into him at the shoe lockers. In truth, Yuuri was concerned for his peer, but through some Contrived Coincidence, his look of concern was misinterpreted as one of contemptuous disgust, which traumatised the poor girl so badly that she had to call in sick for the next three days.
- Establishing Character Moment: Waking up in the past after presumably dying in a traffic accident and realising that everything he has worked for has been ripped away from him motivates Yuuri to do everything over better than before with the goal of taking back everything that was stolen from him.
- Even the Guys Want Him: In a rather hilarious scene, one of Yuuri's male classmates loathes how Yuuri seems so perfect and uses his fame to make the school administration bend over backwards to cater to his every whim, and yet, despite it all, his traitorous heart couldn't help but make him feel attracted to Yuuri, almost drowning out the resentment and disgust churning in his stomach. This trope is further lampshaded by one of Yuuri's female peers who reveals that even guys who claim to be as "straight as a ruler" all have crushes on Yuuri.
- Foreshadowing: Chapter 20 ends on a bit of a Cliffhanger, with Yuuri feeling that he is forgetting something important. In the ending notes, the author gives a clue, referencing a major event that takes place in Japan almost five months later. It is subsequently revealed in the next chapter to be the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, with the event serving as a Wham Episode for Yuuri (refer to Adaptational Angst Upgrade above for the resulting effects).
- Heroic BSoD: Yuuri gets a really tragic dose of this trope when he wakes up in the past. The realisation that everything he has worked for has been lost, along with remembering the final moments of his previous life culminates in him screaming his pain and frustration out into the dark ocean. In another painful twist, this happens on the exact same spot where Yuuri and Viktor establish their initial working relationship in the canon plotline.
- Inconsistent Spelling: The fic uses the more culturally-accurate spelling of Viktor with a ‘k’ instead of the canon Victor with a ‘c’.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: While Chris knows very well that Viktor is no paedophile creeping on Yuuri, that doesn't stop the Swiss skater from making jokes at his friend's expense, just to rile Viktor up. That said, it has been lampshaded that Viktor's choice of clothing would leave the casual observer hard-pressed to not assume that he is some perverted creep who spies on underaged minors.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Viktor suffers from this as he progressively loses his love and passion for the ice as his legendary status took off and nobody came even close to challenging him. It was not until Yuuri broke his long-standing junior short skate world record that Viktor was able to reignite his motivation and his love for figure skating.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The revelation that Chris, of all people and sexual prowess personified on the ice, has an anxiety disorder is so outrageous that Yuuri simply couldn’t wrap his head around it, his brain very aptly performing an emergency shutdown and reboot. Note, this is merely a headcanon of the author and is in no way canon information.
- Omniglot: It can be stated that Yuuri, at present, is fluent in three languages: his native Japanese, English from his time in Detroit, and, of course, Russian because of Viktor and Yurio. Even when he is sent back in time, Yuuri retains his fluency in these languages, and has considered the possibility of learning even more, like German and Thai.
- Point of Divergence:
- The premise of this story is the epitome of this trope. After being sent back in time, Yuuri vows to take back everything that was ripped from him by doing things over, and doing them better.
- While Yuuri has been ice skating since he was very young, it was only after seeing Viktor perform on television that motivated Yuuri to take up competitive figure skating. While exact information is unclear, some have stated that Yuuri was 12 years old at this moment. Given that Yuuri in this fic starts training for competitive figure skating at age 7, the timeline has been pushed forward.
- According to canon information and fan analysis, Yuuri never medalled at a global competition until the 2016 Barcelona GPF, in which he won silver. Here though, he not only wins gold at the 2007 Vienna Cup and Pokal der Blauen Schwerter, Yuuri smashed Viktor’s previously unbroken junior short skate world record in the former.
- Yuuri’s Vienna Cup win has massive repercussions that span across the globe. Chapter 16 documents the butterfly effect on specific individuals:
- Phichit not only becomes a huge fan of Yuuri after watching a livestream of the latter’s free skate in Vienna, his sister instantly develops a crush on the Japanese skater.
- Seung-gil was well on his way to becoming his canon counterpart in terms of how his performances are overly-technical and lacks emotion, until watching the same livestream that Phichit watched inspired Seung-gil to rebel against his emotionally-stunted coach and take back control of his life from his overbearing parents. All of this is courtesy of watching Yuuri pull off an emotional performance that seamlessly combines technical prowess and emotive artistry.
- Young Yurio is so inspired by Yuuri knocking Viktor down from his untouchable pedestal that he expresses his desire to his grandfather to move to St. Petersburg in order to train under Yakov. And while Yurio’s grandfather would have stayed in Moscow while his grandson moved to St. Petersburg to train under Yakov in the canon anime, Nikolai surprises Yurio immensely here by agreeing to move to St. Petersburg with him so that they won’t be separated by distance.
- Yuuri convinces Viktor to keep his long hair, and to not cut it off as he did in the canon anime.
- The Not-Love Interest: Despite their closeness, Chris and Yuuri are merely friends. Even
Word of God confirms that their relationship in this fic will remain entirely platonic, although the author does reveal that he appreciates the romantic pairing between Chris and Yuuri that is enjoyed by a much-smaller portion of the fandom. - Technician vs. Performer: Seung-gil sees his current predicament as this. Because of his coach’s stubborn fixation on technical components, Seung-gil’s skating has an overwhelming emphasis on technical execution and hardly any emotional layers. This is in stark contrast to the emotion flowing off of Yuuri in waves during his performances, something which Seung-gil notes right away and becomes a source of motivation and rebellion against his coach.
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Chris doesn’t tell anyone outside of his close family and friends that he has an anxiety disorder, takes medication and goes for therapy to manage said disorder because he values his privacy and doesn’t want unsolicited attention from everyone and their grandmother about his mental health.
- Victory Is Boring: After he started winning gold medals and becoming the Living Legend, Viktor progressively loses his love and passion for the ice. He even lampshades this by comparing himself to a robot who churns out gold medals for the glory of Mother Russia and smiles prettily for the camera, only to return to a lonely existence where said gold medals are simply tossed into a box in a storage room to collect dust.
- Who's Laughing Now?: In a metaphorical sense. The universe might have thought it to be a huge joke to rip Yuuri away from his husband and achievements by sending him back into the past, but with Yuuri picking himself up and rewriting the timeline by smashing word records and winning gold much earlier than in his previous life, the universe is getting a huge middle finger and F-you from the one whom it screwed over.
