"I swear to God, I love you so fucking much right now," Yuri said.
That statement was meant for Otabek, but Yuri only said it loud enough for himself to hear. Otabek was too busy dismounting his motorcycle and removing his sunglasses to listen closely.
Not that it mattered. For the moment, and possibly for eternity, Yuri's undivided attention was given to the kittens roaming around on the large, fluffy blanket Otabek had laid out on the floor for the little pets. Yuri sat down and picked one up in his hands. He immediately felt the urge to tear up.
"Yuri," Otabek said as he walked over to him and the pile of kittens, "may I please have the helmet back?"
Of course, Yuri still had Otabek's helmet on. He had leapt off the motorcycle the second his eyes landed on the kittens. Who had time to remove helmets when there was a bunch of kittens with huge, adorable eyes waiting for you, practically calling out to you?
Despite Otabek asking kindly and politely, and despite the fact that Yuri usually gave in to Otabek's good manners, Yuri had yet to make a move to remove his helmet. Instead, he gathered up about five more kittens in his arms and turned to face Otabek.
"They're so adorable, I love them," he meant to say, but found himself speechless with all the floofy beings so close to him, crawling along his arms, clawing at the sleeves of his leopard print jacket with their tiny paws.
"I found them abandoned in the streets," Otabek said as he knelt down and reached under Yuri's chin to release the strap that kept the helmet snugly on his head. The kittens were momentarily forgotten when Otabek leaned in closer to Yuri's face and all he could do was stare at his perfect face. Someone from above crafted Otabek's face, Yuri was sure of that. Sometime while Yuri was getting lost studying those facial features, Otabek said something about not wanting to leave the kittens in the cold and Yuri's lips curled up into a smile because not only was his best friend Otabek Altin, figure skating champion with several shiny medals, and the Hero of Kazakhstan, he was also now the savior of abandoned kittens. Yuri wasn't complaining, not at all.
Yuri repositioned his arms and snuggled up closer to the kittens. Precious little things.
Otabek squinted all of the sudden and moved even closer to Yuri's face. A second of silence passed as Otabek stared, and literally a nanosecond before Yuri's about to snap at him and ask what the fuck he was doing, he said something, sounding serious as usual but Yuri knew he was teasing him. He asked: "Are you crying?"
"Oh fuck off," Yuri replied as shoved the chuckling Otabek away from him and at the same time blinked his tears away.
His stay in Kazakhstan was cut short, and the week they had planned together became four days. Soon Yuri was back on a plane, flying across the globe. On the car ride home from the airport, he took a photo of him and a kitten.
An hour later he received a notification from Otabek: "My kitten."
No one knew the hidden meaning, how literal Otabek was being.
Otabek was not calling Yuri his kitten. It was literally his kitten. Without telling Otabek, Yuri had scooped up the kitten that was meowing the loudest before he left. Otabek was realizing now that he was missing a kitten and sending Yuri several private texts about said kitten and demanding an immediate response.
Years later, Yuri scrolls through his Instagram, inspecting every post he's made since the beginning. He sees the photo and Otabek's comment and remembers the time his friend took in some kittens that he later played around with and ended up falling in love with. (No, not Otabek, he fell in love with Otabek a long time ago.) He remembers being so upset after getting a call from Yakov telling him to return that he convinced himself he needed a kitten in his life at all times, which led to him kidnapping one. He wanted something to remember Otabek by, which worked out. The kitten's smell reminded him of Otabek for some time.
But, as everyone does, Yuri forgot and moved on.
He couldn't have Otabek the way he wanted him. Otabek treasured their friendship too much to let their relationship become romantic. Months ago, Yuri laid it all out for Otabek. Told him that he wanted him. Badly. But Otabek wanted to remain friends, despite the fact that Yuri loved him, despite the fact that he loved Yuri. The fucking universe wanted them to be together but Otabek still could not risk destroying their friendship.
Like any other normal human being, Yuri spent the following weekend wound up in his emotions and his broken heart. He did things to get his mind off Otabek. He ran, he practiced routines, did ballet, skated some more. He did a lot of screaming too. At Yakov, at Mila, he even screamed at Viktor and Katsudon over the phone. He screamed to the walls at home. It was awful, made him feel more alone.
In the months after, he plunged himself deep into his skating. He thought if he focused on his routines, Otabek would fade from his mind eventually. All of his effort went into practice.
And yet here he is, staring at his phone.
Yuri scrolls down further and sees a photo of him with Otabek in Japan. Again, he is reminded of their relationship, his misery, and his broken heart.
Yuri hates him. No, he doesn't.
He tosses his phone aside and snuggles closer to Potya, who is all grown up now. He never gave the kitten back to Otabek. Potya doesn't quite smell like Otabek anymore, which is a good thing or a bad thing, Yuri can't decide.
Later, he goes on a run to clear his mind, because he really, really, hates thinking about Otabek. It's like poison in his brain.
His heart beats faster as he runs. His heart. Otabek stole his heart and claimed a part of his mind, made it so that Yuri thinks about Otabek all the time. A virus in his system that he just can't get rid of. No matter how fast he runs, no matter how hard he trains, or how much Yuri pushes himself, Otabek is always up there in his mind.
Yuri wishes that Otabek could leave him be. It's not that Otabek is actually actively doing all this to him, but the memory of him is doing a fucking fantastic job destroying Yuri. It's just like that, Yuri guesses. Otabek has that sort of control over him. He has his heart after all, and all Yuri wants is for him to give it back, give it back, give it back.
Maybe Yuri hasn't moved on completely.
ugh idk how to write
i have mixed feelings about this anime and its fandom, but decided to write for yura and otabae after all. hope you liked it.