Episode 7

***Skate 7 - China's On! The Grand Prix Series Opening Event!! The Cup of China Free Program** (第7滑走: グランプリシリーズ開幕！やっチャイナ中国大会！フリープログラム, Dai na Kassō: Guranpurishirīzu kaimaku! Yatchaina Chūgoku taikai! Furī puroguramu)* is the seventh episode of Yuri!!! on Ice. It was written by Mitsurou Kubo and directed by Sayo Yamamoto.

## Synopsis

The day of the free skate in the Cup of China arrives with Yuuri Katsuki nervous and tired, having been unable to sleep the night before. Victor advises Yuuri to nap until just before the competition, but Yuuri is too worried to get proper rest; though Victor forces him to try. With each ongoing performance, Yuuri is increasingly worked up, which leads Victor to bring Yuuri to the parking lot where the sound of the performances would hopefully not be able to reach them. With Yuuri's turn fast coming up, Victor is at a loss of how to motivate him, and decides to pretend to step down as his coach. This draws out tears from a distraught Yuuri who begs Victor to have more faith in him. Feeling much better after crying, Yuuri executes his free program and shocks the audience by changing his last jump to Victor's signature quadruple flip. Yuuri rushes over to the kiss and cry to celebrate, and is overcome with surprise at being greeted with a kiss from Victor.

## Plot

    Yuuri Katsuki listens to his family back in Hasetsu congratulate and encourage him on the phone, making him even more nervous about his skate. When he goes to the rink, Victor asks him if he has slept at all, and forces him to take a nap, saying that he always slept in until the last moment before competitions, before collapsing on top of him.

Yuuri comes back to the rink later. Before the warm-up, Victor advises Yuuri to not do any jumps as he does not want him to lose confidence if he misses the jumps. However, Yuuri does one anyways and falls, lowering his morale.

The free skate starts with the lowest scoring figure skater going first. Guang Hong had placed last, so he goes first. Before he skates, his coach tells him to become China's hero. His skate is about him as an assassin. He pictures himself infiltrating an enemy organization, before running into an unexpected ally, Leo, and eventually saving Leo from a bullet and defeating the enemy.

During his skate, Yuuri is unable to continue watching and turns off all of the televisions in the room.

Victor takes him to the basement to continue warming up away from all the noise and applause. However, he is inexperienced as a coach, so in an attempt to motivate Yuuri, he tells him that he will resign as his coach if he does not make the platform. Yuuri starts crying, which is not the expected reaction (though it is unknown what Victor thought would happen). Victor says he is not good with people crying in front of him and asks Yuuri if he should kiss him to make him feel better. Yuuri tells Victor that all he wants is him to believe that he can win more than he believes in himself.

    Afterward, Yuuri and Victor go out to the ice rink. Yuuri had calmed down, and begins his skate, feeling a lot better after crying. At the end of the skate, Yuuri changes the last jump from a quadruple toe loop to a quadruple flip, surprising Victor and the audience. After his skate, Victor runs to the entrance of the ice rink while Yuuri skates towards him. Victor tackles Yuuri back on the ice and kisses him, telling him that it was the only thing he could think of that would surprise Yuuri more than Yuuri surprises him all the time. Yuuri replies with a smile and replies breathlessly that it worked.

In the end, Phichit wins first place, Yuuri places second, and Christophe places third, followed by Georgi, Guang Hong, and Leo.

Victor announces that Yuuri will go on to win the Rostelecom Cup in Russia now that he can complete a quadruple flip. In Russia, Yuri Plisetski becomes agitated while watching the interview, stabbing his food with a spoon and causing it to splatter. He declares that he will be the one to win.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

Yuuri Katsuki

Victor Nikiforov

Mari Katsuki

Makkachin

Yuuko Nishigori

Takeshi Nishigori

Hiroko Katsuki

Toshiya Katsuki

Axel, Lutz, and Loop Nishigori

Celestino

Christophe Giacometti

Phichit Chulanont

Guang Hong Ji

Leo de la Iglesia

Minako

Georgi Popovich

Anya

Yakov Feltsman

Yuri Plisetsky

Mila Babicheva