A/N Another chapter! I thank everyone for the very kind feedback. I have another YOI fic that has a lot of notes... so sometimes I get discouraged with this fic. But thanks to everyone's kind words I am able to keep writing without worry. again, thank you and enjoy!
"Losing... me?" Victor repeated, surprised.
Yuri looked at Victor and nodded slowly. The thought of Victor dying like the other solider was unbearable to Yuri.
"I know it's only been a few days since we met..." Yuri said and looked down shyly. He played with his hands out of nervousness. "But I really like you Victor!" He confessed. "The past few days with you have been the best of my life." He admitted and sighed. He slowly looked up again at Victor, waiting for an answer. He didn't even know if Victor felt the same.
"Yuri..." Victor said softly to him. He then reached in and hugged Yuri tightly. Yuri looked at Victor and blinked a little.
"V-Victor?" He questioned softly.
"I've felt the same..." Victor told him. "When I first saw you once I arrived... I knew I'd fallen for you!" He said passionately. "But I have to leave. It's what I have to do for my country. I was never meant to stay here."
Yuri looked at Victor sadly, but he understood. Every solider said the same thing. "I know you can't stay here forever..." he mumbled softly. "But I want you to come back to me." He told Victor. "I don't want any letters in the mail with your name on it."
Victor looked at Yuri and nodded with a small smile. "I will fight for you, Yuri." He told him. "I will come back to see you."
Yuri looked back at Victor and nodded with a small smile. "Good," he said and held the side of Victor's face gently. "Don't think of anyone but me." He told him.
Victor laughed a little and nodded. "I could never." He said and leaned in closer to Yuri. They were inches apart and Victor could see the blush form on Yuri's cheek. He laughed more and moved away, standing up. "Let's not sit around then. We have seven more days together... let's make the more of it." He told him and reached his hand out. Yuri calmed himself down and nodded. He took Victor's hand and stood up with him.
The rest of the week that Yuri and Victor had together was spent with them doing everything they could. Yuri wanted to enjoy his time with Victor before he left. He brought Victor to all the popular spots in the town as a date. He smiled as he saw Victor taking many pictures of the places. He could tell Victor was enjoying it.
As they went to different spots, Victor kept nudging Yuri to take his picture, but Yuri was still unsure about what he wanted the picture to be of. When he thought of good memories, the only thing that came to mind was Victor.
After a few days, it soon became the day before Victor had to leave. Victor and Yuri both knew what tomorrow meant, but neither of them had the courage to bring it up. They sat together eating breakfast as they always did since Victor arrived, but this time Yuri was very quiet. Victor tried to start conversation, but Yuri brushed it off. Mari noticed this as she watched them and furrowed her brow. She could tell that her brother was anxious about tomorrow. She knew that he was not happy.
Mari sighed and went into the kitchen, trying to think of something. She looked around for inspiration and then saw a basket. She smiled brightly and went back to Yuri and Victor.
"You know... we have some extra lunch food to make bentos." Mari said casually to both of them. She felt this would be a good way to have Yuri and Victor alone together, making it easier for Yuri to express what he was feeling. "Why don't you both make some lunch and go out for a picnic?" She suggested.
Yuri looked at Victor and slowly nodded. "Sure... that sounds nice." He said softly and smiled a little at Mari.
They both followed what Mari suggested and made each other lunchs. Victor made Yuri's bento, while Yuri made Victor's bento. They still stayed quiet, only speaking a little about their lunch.
Once they finished, Yuri held the food in the basket. He walked with Victor to local park. Victor took a blanket and set it out for them under a tree. Yuri looked down and placed the basket on the blanket.
"This seems really nice..." Yuri said softly and sat onto the blanket. He fixed his kimono and looked at Victor to join him. Victor nodded in agreement and sat close against Yuri.
"Mari had a pretty good idea..." Victor said as he looked around the park. The trees were all beautiful shades of orange, yellow, and red. They were slowly losing their colorful leaves, indicating that winter was approaching soon. Yuri sighed heavily and rested his head on Victor's shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Victor asked softly. He could tell Yuri wasn't pleased. "Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asked, worried that it might be that.
Yuri kept looking out at the park, but shook his head. "No... it's nice here." He told Victor softly. "It's just... nothing."
"Yuri, you know you can tell me anything." Victor said softly. He kept looking at Yuri, but got no response. He shrugged and soon went to take the lunch out of the basket. Yuri sat up and took the one Victor made for him. It was mostly rice with some overcooked vegetables. Victor wasn't the best cook, but it made Yuri smile to see that he tried. "Thank you, Victor." He said to him, finally happy.
Victor smiled back and nodded. He then opened Yuri's bento. It was a perfectly made sesame chicken bento with vegetables. Victor smiled happily as he looked at it. He always liked Yuri's cooking. It was something he would miss a lot once he left. "Thank you." He said and soon started eating eagerly. Yuri followed and ate the vegetables.
Yuri continued eating, but soon stopped. He couldn't stay quiet any more and finally felt confident to speak to Victor. "Victor... when are you leaving tomorrow?" He asked softly.
Victor stopped eating and put his bento down. "Early tomorrow morning." he told Yuri.
"Oh... okay." Yuri responded and tried to go back to eating. "That means you have to pack all your things tonight." He said to Victor.
"Well... most of my things are packed away." Victor told Yuri. "I can do the rest in the morning." He explained. "We still... have time tonight."
"I guess." Yuri said and shrugged. "And I never took my picture... so it's not developed for you to take. I'm sorry." He told Victor, stoically.
"There is still time." Victor told Yuri more seriously. "It's your picture. It can be developed when you want."
"But I have no time left to take the picture. You're going to leave early tomorrow." Yuri mumbled as he looked down. He played with his kimono between his fingers, trying to ignore the sick feeling he had in his stomach. He hated how he felt. He knew there was nothing he could do about Victor leaving, but just accepting it made him feel sick.
"Yuri." Victor said seriously. "I'm not gone yet. There is still a lot of time for us. Don't think about tomorrow. Just think about today." He told him.
Yuri looked up at Victor. He didn't know what to say, but he felt overwhelmingly upset. He just wanted tomorrow to never come.
He loved Victor.
"But, you're going to leave me. I can't ignore that!" Yuri said and started tearing up. "You're leaving and I can't stop you!" He cried out.
Victor looked at Yuri, shocked. He didn't like seeing Yuri so upset. It broke his heart. "Yuri... please." Victor said and went to hold him. "Don't cry... I'm right here. Look, I'm here, holding you."
"But you won't be tomorrow." Yuri said as he cried against Victor's chest.
"I know, but I'll be back." Victor told Yuri, trying to cheer him up. "And then once I'm back, we can always be together. I won't leave again." He said and Yuri slowly calmed down. He wanted to listen to Victor.
"But you're going to go back to America." Yuri pointed out to Victor.
"Then why don't you come with me?" Victor suggested to Yuri. "We can live together in America."
Yuri looked at Victor, processing what he said. It wasn't a bad idea to Yuri. He would follow Victor anywhere as long as he was with him. "O-Okay.." he said softly to Victor. "You promise?" He asked.
"Yes, I promise." Victor said reassuringly. He then leaned in to kiss Yuri's cheek, making the other blush.
"Victor... I know what I want to take my picture of now." Yuri told him and giggled a little. "My favorite memory." He said and reached to pick up Victor's camera. "And my best thing in the future." He said and soon took a picture of Victor.
"Me?" Victor asked, laughing after it was taken. Yuri nodded in response.
"You are the best part of these past ten days. And you will be the best part of my life in the future." Yuri said softly. He held the side of Victor's face gently and leaned in to kiss him on the lips.
It was their first real kiss. Yuri kissed him gently as Victor wrapped his arms around Yuri's waist. He smiled and pulled away to look at Yuri. "I'm guessing you're done with lunch?" He asked.
"You're the only one I want right now." Yuri said and leaned in to kiss Victor again more deeply.
The next day came and Victor woke up early. He awakened in Yuri's bed, after they had spent the night together. Neither of them wanted to be apart in their last hours together.
Yuri was still asleep, which made Victor smile. "Yuri... I'm leaving." Victor whispered lightly as he got up from the bed. He collected his clothes from the floor and put them back on. Yuri stirred a little and soon sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Wait Victor... I want to see you off." Yuri said and quickly stood up from the bed. He put back on his kimono from the day before and look at Victor. "I can't let you leave with me still in bed." He told him and smiled softly.
Victor nodded in agreement. "Of course not." He told him. "I actually have a surprise for you. I can only show you before I leave town." He explained to Yuri.
Yuri nodded and went to hold Victor's hand gently. "Then let's get going." He said and giggled. "I can't have you get in trouble for being late."
"Yes, that would be bad." Victor said and grabbed his bag. He put it over his shoulder, then walked with Yuri out of the hot springs.
They arrived at the spot in town where all the soldiers were meeting. Yuri kept holding Victor's hand shyly as they walked through the crowd of soliders.
"You can let go if you want..." Yuri whispered softly to Victor, but Victor shook his head.
"Nonsense. I won't be able to hold your hand for a while. I have to do it now." Victor said and soon found his spot in the crowd. He had more bags there with his things. They were all to be brought over to Korea.
"I only had one bag of things for this week, but I brought a lot more with me." Victor explained to Yuri. "But, one of the bags also has my military uniform." He said as he looked threw the bags. He then found the one he wanted and smiled, taking out his helmet. "This is my surprise for you." He said and went into his bag from the week. "A lot of soldiers keep photos in their helmets of family, kids, and girlfriends." He said and smiled. He took out one picture and put it into his helmet. "Mine is of the love of my life." He said and showed Yuri.
Yuri looked in the helmet and smiled. It was a picture of him. "Oh, Victor..." he said and hugged him tightly. "I love you."
Victor smiled and hugged Yuri back. "I love you too." He said and pecked his lips gently.
Yuri looked up at Victor and furrowed his brow. "You're leaving and that's the kiss I get?" He said, trying to act angry. His act was ruined by a small smile. "Give me a real one." He said and pulled Victor down into a deep kiss. He didn't care if other soldiers were watching. He loved Victor. He wanted a nice long moment with him.
Soon, everyone started moving and Victor had to pull away. "I have to go now." He said and collected his things.
"I'll be waiting for you." Yuri said as he helped Victor pick up his bags.
"I'll be fighting for you." Victor said back and smiled. Yuri smiled back softly and nodded.
He waved goodbye as he watched Victor walk away. A few tears rolled down his cheeks, but he was still smiling. He wasn't scared any more. He was confident that Victor would come back to him.
A/n This fic is not over! There is so much more to come! This is only the beginning of this fic. A lot of good things are coming so please continue to support this! Thank you!