If there was one thing that legendary figure skater Victor Nikiforov neglected to do, it's to wish for something he really wants. He never really knew what he wanted in life. After all, figure skating has been his whole life. He became a living legend through figure skating. What more could he ask for? But as time went on, he slowly realized that he has been leading an empty and lonely life. He's not even sure what he wants in life anymore.
That is, until he met Yuuri Katsuki during the Grand Prix banquet last year. After the guy asked him to become his coach, Victor immediately knew what he wanted. He wanted to be with this guy, a fellow skater who danced with him at the banquet. A fellow skater who bulldozed a boring event and transformed it into something more fun. That fellow skater was the life of the party. He never could have imagine that Yuuri Katsuki, the guy who finished dead last in the Grand Prix Final, could dance so well. It's as if his body is creating the music rather than swaying to it. And he never could have imagine that Yuri would go so far to ask him to be his coach. No one has ever asked him to become their coach before. After all, that means leaving the only life he has known. But that would open up a new future for Victor. A future full of life and love. And he knew that Yuuri would be the one to give life and love to Victor. He knows now that the one thing he wanted the most was to get closer to Yuuri Katsuki and establish a relationship with him. He wants to stay close to Yuuri and never let him go. Seeing Yuuri reenacting his "Stay Close to Me" program was the ultimate sign to accept the guy's offer and take action. And here he is now, in Hasetsu training Yuuri for the Grand Prix series and hoping their relationship would develop into something beautiful.
It was a pleasant summer afternoon when he and Yuuri were walking along Hasetsu's shopping district that he noticed that there were festive decorations. As he's only been to Japan for a few months, it piqued his interest. He wants to know more about Japanese culture as part of his desire to get close to Yuuri.
"Is there an occasion today? What's with the decorations?" Victor asked curiously as he looked around.
"Oh, I forgot!" Yuuri said while mentally slapping himself. "Today is the Tanabata Festival."
"Tanabata Festival?" Victor asked.
"Tanabata is a festival we celebrate in Japan to commemorate the reunion between Orihime and Hikoboshi. They are symbolized by the stars Altair and Vega. Their love story is filled with desire and longing since they are only allowed to meet one day every year during good weather." Yuuri said.
"Can you tell me more about their story? I would love to hear them" Victor said as he feels quite intrigued about the tale of the two lovers.
"Sure. Their story goes like this." Yuuri told the story as they continued walking. "Orihime is the daughter of the King of the Heavens. She is a talented seamstress so she has been assigned to weave fabrics and make clothes, for which her father loves so much. Day in and day out, she works very hard in making clothes for her father. As a result, she became incredibly lonely and longed of finding love. Her father, sick with worry for his beloved daughter, decided to find her a husband. He found a cow herder named Hikoboshi who is from the other side of the heavens. He arranged for the two to meet and they fell in love instantly. Soon after, they were wed. However, they were so deeply in love with each other that they neglected to do their duties. To them, nothing else mattered anymore since they got each other. Orihime stopped making clothes and Hikoboshi let his cows wander around the heavens. The King of the Heavens got so angry that he had them separated. He created a great river known as the Milky Way to separate the two lovers. As a result of their separation, they went on and did their duties but they could never really forget each other. Eventually, Orihime became even lonelier than before she met Hikoboshi. Her father couldn't stand to see her in such a state that he allowed them to reunite but only for one day. They can only be reunited on the seventh day of the seventh month" Yuuri said.
"That seems kind of sad for the both of them, don't you think?" Victor said sadly. He felt a connection to Orihime since he knows too well what it feels like to be so talented in a task that doing it for long periods of time eventually became a chore to do. He knows too well what it feels like to have never experienced love since they were chained to do the very activity that earned them a lot of praise.
"I agree. To wait for a year just to see your beloved for just one day must be incredibly painful." Yuuri said sadly. He might have imagined how the longing must have been incredibly agonizing for the two lovers.
Victor then asked, "By the way, you said earlier that they could only meet if the weather was good. What do you mean by that?" He didn't like the idea that Orihime and Hikoboshi could only meet under certain circumstances given that they could only meet for one day a year.
"Oh, I was getting to that part." Yuuri said while continuing to where he left off. "Since the river was so vast and deep, they needed a bridge to get to the other side. Orihime wanted to see Hikoboshi so much that she cried from the pain of not being able to see him. A flock of magpies felt sad for her so they agreed to become a bridge for her to get to Hikoboshi. They won't be able to help her if it rains so Orihime and Hikoboshi would have to wait another year for them to meet again." Yuuri said.
"Well, it seems that they'll be able to meet today since the weather has been nothing but pleasant." Victor said while observing the weather. He's right. The weather has been pleasant all day so far.
As they were walking, they noticed that a bamboo tree decorated with colorful paper was nearby. Suddenly, Yuuri pulled Victor by the arm and led him to the tree.
"Victor, why don't we make a wish?" Yuuri suggested. "Part of the festival is writing a wish on a piece of paper and tying the paper to a bamboo tree"
"Sure. Why not?" Victor agreed as he finds the idea to be interesting. He never partook in such activities before. Besides, there was one wish that Victor sorely wants to come true.
They both got a strip of paper each and wrote their wishes. Since they want to keep their wishes a secret from each other in the fear that it won't come true, they wrote it in their respective languages.
"I wish to become Yuuri Katsuki's lover – Victor Nikiforov"
"I wish to skate with Victor Nikiforov someday – Yuuri Katsuki"
They tied the papers to the tree. Afterwards, they left and went back to Yu-topia Akatsuki. Neither realized that their wishes would concern each other until a year later.
One year later
It was a pleasant summer afternoon when Victor and Yuri were walking along Hasetsu's shopping district during the Tanabata festival. They were in Hasetsu to take a much needed break from their figure skating careers. After all, they are competing in this year's Grand Prix series so they could certainly use one right now. They were walking hands held together, their rings shining brightly.
"Orihime and Hikoboshi will certainly meet today. I wonder what they'll do this year." Victor asked as they were walking.
"Not making clothes or watching cows, that's for sure." Yuuri said as he let out a laugh. Victor laughed as well.
They spotted a bamboo tree decorated with colorful paper while they were walking. This time, it was Victor who led Yuuri to the bamboo tree.
"Yuuri, let's make a wish this year." Victor said as he tried to convince Yuuri. "Who knows? It might come true someday."
"Eh? But my wish has already come true and I'm happy for it. What's the point of making another one?" Yuuri said with a tint of confusion.
"Wait, what wish did you make last year? I've always been curious about it." Victor inquired. If he knew what Yuuri wished for last year, he would have done everything to make it come true.
"To be able to skate with you someday." Yuuri said with a tinge of embarrassment.
Victor smiled at the memory of their pair skating at the Grand Prix gala last year. It was the best program Victor ever skated to and he would love to do it again with Yuuri.
"Well, I wished to become your lover. I got more than what I wished for and I'm incredibly happy for that." Victor said while flashing his right hand. His ring is sparkling as brightly as its owner's smile at the moment.
Yuuri blushed as red as a tomato in response to Victor's comment.
"Sure. We could make another wish." Yuuri said as he was entirely convinced of Victor's suggestion. "But, let's write it in English so that we could know what wishes we made. I want us to be the ones to make our wishes come true." Yuri added with a determined expression.
"Okay. I want to do the same thing too." Victor said happily.
After they wrote their wishes, they tied it to a branch. They smiled upon seeing each other's wishes. And this time, they'll make it come true together.
"I wish to live in happiness with Yuuri Katsuki forever – Victor Nikiforov"
"I wish to be happy with Victor Nikiforov forever – Yuuri Katsuki"
Author's note:
I was struck with inspiration from listening to Mafumafu's song "Kyoka Suigetsu" hence this fanfic. I got the idea of having them participate in a festival. I related it to the Tanabata story since Orihime's life prior to meeting Hikoboshi is a lot like Victor's life prior to meeting Yuri. I was listening to the "Fools among the stars" series by ManboP while writing this fanfic. You should really listening to these songs since they're quite interesting.
By the way, Happy Birthday Victor Nikiforov (December 25). This fanfic is my birthday gift to you.
Since I'm not fluent in Russian and Japanese, I just put a translation of what they wrote on the tanzaku since it would land me in hot water if I were to write their wishes in their languages. Oh yeah. Victor probably knows Japanese when they came back to Hasetsu in the epilogue so you're probably asking why they wrote their wishes in English. It's probably because Victor's still learning more about the language since it's highly likely he got the basic and intermediate Japanese down pat. He loves Yuri that much, okay?
Like my other works, I will do edits to this when I have the time. Again, adult life sucks since free time is but a luxury.