Outta Here - Papa Ya

"Yuuri~~" Whined a voice beside his ear. "Yuuuuuurrrrrrriiii! Why are you falling asleep." She poked him. "Wake up Yuuri," another poke. "Wake up."

"Hah, w-what?" Shaking himself to clear the fog from his brain, Yuuri blearily looked over at Yuuko, his classmate and gave her a pathetic tilt of his head. The bubbly woman bopped up and down in her chair until he touched her shoulder with his pencil and she finally stilled. "What's going on?"

"You're in the middle of your English 1011," Yuuko reminded him, still vibrating slightly. "Yuuri, come on, you've worked the late shift for forever. Why are you falling asleep now?"

Yuuko had been Yuuri's best friend throughout college, in all of his attempts at taking it. He'd met her during his first attempt and every time he'd tried to go back, she'd been there to help him through only to inevitably drop out when he did. "With the triplets, I just hardly have the time," was her constant excuse, but Yuuri knew the only reason she wasn't just getting through it all in one go was because she wanted to be there for him.

It meant more than he could ever really say.

He'd grown very close to the perky brunette over the years, becoming a great friend of her's and her family's, even babysitting her three little girls, Axel, Loop, and Lutz on a number of occasions. Despite this, there were still things he wasn't going to tell her.

And the reason why he was falling asleep in his English class was definitely one of them. Besides, there really wasn't a good, normal way to say Oh yeah, I just met this super hot guy at 1:00 am while I was working and I can't get him out of my head and I think it's driving me crazy but who cares because I'll never see him again. Yeah, that wasn't a very good conversation starter.

"Just didn't sleep well last night," he told her, which was true, just not completely so. I should have asked for his name. I should have told him my name! With an audible groan that came out louder than he had meant it to, Yuuri sank down and put his head on his desk.

"Mr. Katsuki, is there something you'd like to share?" asked the sweet, round English teacher, looking mildly worried. That was one of the problems with going to a community college, the classes were just too small and the teachers were always too friendly.

"No, I'm fine ma'am, I just..." seizing on an idea, he waved vaguely towards the door. "Can I-" The moment she nodded, Yuuri jumped to his feet and grabbed Yuuko, pulling her along with him. Screw it, it's not like I'm going to be able to tell anyone else about it. My sister would never let me hear the end of it and it's not as if I have any other friends to talk to... Not strictly true, but true enough.

"Where are we going?" she asked, skipping till she was level with him. "Come on Yuuri, you've been acting so mysterious, what's going on?" Yuuri ignored her as he jabbed at the elevator button and waited. "Oh no, is it something bad?" Crushing him in a hug that almost made them both miss the elevator, the slender girl wailed, "It's okay, I'm here for you!"

"It's nothing bad," he insisted, patting her on the head awkwardly until she released him. Pulling her into the elevator, he was silent until they'd reached the library floor. After Yuuko insisted persistently on getting him coffee and then actually carried through on her threat, they finally settled down in two comfortable chairs in the back of the stacks to talk.

"Okay, so it's like this," Yuuri started, taking a sip of his coffee gratefully before taking a deep breath and saying, all at once, "I met this guy who I'll probably never see again but I'm hopelessly attracted to him and ergo, I couldn't sleep at all last night which is bad because I have no way to catch up on that sleep and it's not like I'm going to see him again so I think this is just another example of how I have terrible taste in men." Stopping, he took another draught of coffee before drawing his legs into his chest and leaning on his knees tiredly.

Of course, terrible taste in men was a bit of a misnomer. Yuuri had accepted that he was gay years ago, but had only ever had one previous relationship. It had been with a foreign exchange student who had been staying in the apartments right next to his family's motel. His name had been Phichit and like the man who Yuuri had met the night before, he had been far too attractive for someone like him.

Needless to say, it had ended with them deciding that 'just being friends' was a better option.

"I liked Phichit!" Yuuko pouted, before her eyes widened and she exclaimed, "OH MY GOD! Did you get his name? How old was he? Are you sure you're never going to see him again? Details Yuuri, DETAILS!" A passing librarian motioned for them to be quiet. Mortified, Yuuri glanced at Yuuko plaintively.

"Sorry," she hissed, hardly looking embarrassed at all. "Come on Yuuri, it's been a year since you even looked at another guy. Excuse me for being excited." It was depressing because a: she had a point and b: it didn't matter anyways.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Yuuri muttered, drinking his coffee while staring straight ahead with a downtrodden expression that seemed to becoming typical of him. "I mean, he was so strange. I swear, he spent the first few minutes just flirting with me, then he told me that there was nothing he actually wanted to buy, then he left."

"FLIRTED!?" Yuuko stage whispered/screamed. "Oh my god, Yuuri, come on, tell me you're at least a little excited about this. What did he look like?"

"Rich," Yuuri admitted, sinking further into the funk he'd found himself in. "Way too good for where he was. Way out of my league..." Yuuko smacked him. "What, he was, and it doesn't even make a difference. I just wanted to tell someone about it."

Deflating, Yuuko gave in. "Fine. But really," she bumped him with her shoulder and gave him a companionable smile. "You should lighten up Yuuri. With a schedule like yours, you are so going to crash and burn. You've got to live a little."

"I'll think about it," Yuuri said, before managing a chuckle at his own words.

"Hey, I'm going to need someone to watch the kids in a couple of days," Yuuko suggested brightly, grinning when Yuuri perked up. "Think you're up to the task?"

"As long as it's in the evening, I don't think I work that day," Yuuri said, smiling. "Thanks Yuuko. You're amazing."

"Don't mention it." Bopping to her feet, the woman announced, "NOW! Get your mind off of the hottie from Speedway and get back to English with you!" With a laugh, Yuuri followed her out of the library, feeling significantly better.

A/N: Smile and wave Guiltyfree, smile and wave...

Also, bonus points to those who get the reference.