Author's Note: You are all fucking awesome. Reviews are my weed so please give me some heh. Let's go!
Miwaku: I don't own Yuri! On Ice. (Can I say you're being an annoying stubborn prick, FF? Well, I did say it anyway)
WARNING (more like surprise): There will be animals talking (like legit talking) to each other and they could understand one another. Humans can only hear them as animal sounds. And I know all of us love the animals in YOI.
Chapter 3
The next day, Viktor and Yuuri stopped their training and coaching by lunch time so that they will have time to visit Aprichin at the veterinary clinic. They invited Yurio to come with them but the blonde teen refused since he wanted to train more. However, Yurio told (or more like shouted at) them that he can visit any time he wants, typical of him.
Makkachin was so excited that he could not stop jumping up and down, pushing his owners towards their car. They started using it in Yuuri's insistence that they could not always borrow Yakov's, no matter how much the old coach's reactions to the thankful hugs amused Viktor.
"He's so excited, Viktor." Yuuri laughed as he unlocked the doors and let Makkachin in.
"I guess it's because he always wanted another dog companion." Viktor smiled sadly. "I couldn't afford another poodle. Well, I could, but I feel like I couldn't take care of him or her. I always left Makkachin alone in my assigned room whenever I have a competition and I don't want that to happen to another poodle." He chuckled wryly. "Now that I think about it, it's quite a screwed up thing, huh? I was so selfish and not to mention, I didn't care much about Makkachin's feelings."
"You couldn't have done anything anyway." Yuuri placed his palms on Viktor's cheeks, the latter nuzzling into them. "You were so busy. You were at your prime. Surely, Makkachin understands that and doesn't hold it against you."
As if for confirmation, Makkachin stuck his head out of the still-open door of the car and licked Viktor's hands. Viktor smiled at that and rubbed the brown poodle's head. "Makkachin is too good to me. And you too, lyubov moya." He took hold of the hands and kissed the knuckles, making Yuuri blush. "And did I just hear a past tense at the prime sentence? You're so mean to me, Yuuri."
"A-Ah..." Yuuri laughed nervously at the teasing. "You're not old, love. Stop saying that."
"Oh really?" Viktor smirked and loomed over the black-haired man. "Even though I swear I saw my scalp at the mirror this morning?"
"Even though." Yuuri said simply and stole a quick kiss on the lips. "Now, let's go because Makkachin is whining."
Sure enough, Makkachin was whining loudly and scratching the car door.
"Alright, alright, you little tease." Viktor also stole a kiss on the lips. "Let's go and stop scratching the door, Makkachin."
'Then stop flirting with Yuuri and let's get a move on.' Makkachin sometimes wished that his owners understood his barks.
"Right, let's visit Aprichin!" Yuuri clapped his hands and grinned.
They got in the car and started the drive to the veterinary clinic.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The apricot-colored female poodle woke up and slowly looked at her surroundings. She saw white walls with charts and infographics on them that she did not bother to read. She felt the somewhat soft doggie bed under her and the needle pierced on her that has a tube attached to a fluid bag above her. Luckily enough, she did not panic. Well, not at once but she did when an old man came in.
'Oh no, where am I? Who is he?' She whimpered and dipped her head low. She knew that this position always caused the least injuries.
"Oh dear, it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." The veterinarian slowly knelt and held out his hand, letting the poodle sniff it. "I'm a veterinarian, an animal doctor. Two kind men brought you here and saved you. Actually, it was Makkachin who saved you."
'Makkachin? Who's that?' The apricot-colored poodle laid down her head on the doggie bed after sniffing and assuming that the old man was true enough with his words.
"Doctor, Mr. Katsuki and Mr. Nikiforov are here to see you." A nurse suddenly said from the doorway. "They want to visit Aprichin."
"Lovely. Just in time." The old man stood up and groaned as he felt his joints ache. "I'm getting too old. Nonetheless, I will not stop caring and helping animals until my last breath." He smiled at the poodle who only stared at him weirdly. "They're here to visit you, dear. Just wait, okay? I'll check on you after they come in here." And then, he and the nurse were gone.
'What just happened?' The apricot-colored poodle wrinkled her nose. 'And who's Aprichin? That's as lame as Makkachin.' She raised her head up when the door opened once more, revealing a black-haired man, a silver-haired man, and a very familiar brown poodle. 'Oh my god...'
"Yuuri, look! Aprichin is awake!" The silver-haired man was chattering to the black-haired man.
"Yes, we can see that, Viktor." The black-haired man smiled.
"And she seemed much healthier than yesterday!"
"She's still quite malnourished but with the medications, proper diet, and exercise, she'll be up and about in no time." The veterinarian said when he knelt down again and felt the poodle's body. "Good thing that she doesn't have broken bones. However, she has bruises and bald spots which are bad signs."
"Will she be alright?" Yuuri asked in worry.
"Yes, she will be alright under my care. And hopefully, she will be happy under the both of you."
'Wait, say what?' The female poodle was dumbfounded. 'What the hell is happening?'
"You're gonna be part of our family!" The brown poodle barked happily, his tail wagging as he ran towards her. It made her panic a bit. "My name is Makkachin!"
"Calm down, Makkachin." Viktor chuckled. "Aprichin is still recovering."
"That's your name by the way." Makkachin smiled at the other poodle who could only stare in disbelief.
"What do you mean, that's my name?" The apricot-colored poodle narrowed her eyes at the brown poodle.
"My owners, Yuuri and Viktor, decided to adopt you so that you won't be taken to the dog pound. I heard it's scary there and I don't want you to go there." Makkachin laid down so that he was face-to-face with the other poodle. "Are you alright by the way?"
"Wait, hold up a second. My name is Aprichin and those two are your owners and they want to adopt me to be part of your family?" At Makkachin's enthusiastic nod, she deadpanned. "Did you plan this when you decided to carry me as if I was a damsel in distress?"
"Not really." Makkachin barked out a short laugh. "But it's a really good one, right?"
"I'm not that happy. Why did you have to go be a hero or something?"
"You sound like Diana." The brown poodle whined and seemed to be pouting. "Why can't you be just grateful that I saved you?"
That made her pause and sigh tiredly. "Of course I'm grateful. I mean, I never thought I would live another day. I felt like my two front paws were already on the grave when you suddenly show up being nosy and persistent then gone on carrying me."
"I'm glad that I did save you though, Aprichin." Makkachin smiled widely and licked her paw. "Nobody deserves to be starved to death."
If poodles could blush, she probably would have. But for now, she just dug her face onto the doggie bed and whined a bit. 'This Makkachin! And he licked my paw!' She had to bite her tongue to not let out a louder whine. 'Well, I guess Aprichin is better than my former name.' It was a whole lot better than that.
Makkachin stared at the embarrassed poodle and only rubbed his snout on the paws. 'We will never hurt you, Aprichin. We are now family.'
In the meantime, Viktor was squealing excitedly and taking pictures of the two dogs with his phone. "Yuuri, they're so kawaii!"
"Viktor, aren't you a bit exaggerated with this?" Yuuri asked as he showed his own phone with the Instagram application open. Consecutive pictures of Makkachin and Aprichin kept popping out in his feed.
"You can never have too much fluff!" Viktor then hugged Yuuri. "Let's take our first selfie with Aprichin!"
"Alright, alright."
They both knelt down beside the doggie bed and called out the apricot-colored poodle's name. When Aprichin raised her head up to the phone's camera lens, Viktor shouted, "Say 'Aprichin'!"
"Aprichin!" Yuuri and Viktor grinned widely while Makkachin barked loudly. The veterinarian only laughed at their antics.
Aprichin was still dumbfounded at what was happening but she was not complaining. For the first time in a long time, she was feeling happy. 'Hopefully, this happiness will not last only for a short while.'
When the clock striked 5:00 PM, Aprichin frowned when the nurse announced that her new owners and Makkachin have to leave. Yuuri and Viktor told her that they will come back tomorrow with Yurio with them, whoever that was. Makkachin assured her that they will come back and visit her and that he hoped that she could meet Diana tomorrow, whoever that was, too. But she did not mind. She was actually anticipating for tomorrow.
She did not say anything though since she knew it would only rile Makkachin up to an excitement that can rival a kid in a sugar rush.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I'm sure you'll like her, Diana."
"I'll be the judge of that, Makkachin."
Aprichin woke up to two voices and she blinked blearily at the black and white cat in front of her face. She then fully woke up. "Oh my god, cat!" And she could not stop her instincts of bopping the cat with her snout.
"Jeez, do all dogs do that to every cat they meet? Damn it!" The cat growled and licked her paw to rub it against the nose that was hit by the poodle's snout. "Stupid mutts."
"Aprichin, you're finally awake." Makkachin wagged his tail in happiness. "We didn't have the heart to wake you up. We know you're tired and all. This is Diana, by the way. She's Yurio's cat."
"So you're the famous Diana." Aprichin did not expect it to be a cat. "Sorry about earlier."
"It's alright. I'm pretty sure you're a hell lot smarter than this beast here." Diana cocked her head towards Makkachin's direction. "When we first met, he immediately licked me, covering me with fucking slobber, head to paw to tail! It was so annoying!"
Aprichin had to laugh quietly at that. "Is that true?" She was still wary of strangers (her instincts were actually hissing at the attitude of the cat) but she was not that paranoid.
"Yeah." Diana rolled her eyes and sat down on her four paws. "How are you feeling? You looked like death incarnated on the photos."
"Wait, photos?"
"Yup. The good citizens a.k.a Viktor's rabid fans took pictures of you and Makkachin while he was carrying you on the streets. It got uploaded and it went viral in the next minutes."
"Are you serious?" Her head was reeling at the information.
"Don't worry, Aprichin." Makkachin let out a small bark. "We don't have many bashers. People love dogs."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" At the sight of Makkachin smiling, Aprichin just groaned and stretched her legs. "And why would we have bashers anyway?"
"Oh, you don't know yet." Diana laughed at that.
"Don't know what?"
"Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov, your new owners," The cat pointed at the two who were talking to Yurio, who was scowling. "Are professional figure skaters who are famous for winning gold consecutive times in the Worlds and Grand Prix."
"Say what now?" Aprichin gawked. She was not much of a figure skating fan (she knew it because it was one of the shows that she genuinely liked watching on her old home) but she knew that winning gold a lot of times is a huge feat.
"And my owner is Yuri Plistesky. He's also a professional figure skater." Diana flicked her tail at the direction of the blonde teen who was shouting once again at Viktor. "Makkachin's owners call him Yurio though."
"This is insane." Aprichin groaned. "Completely insane."
"Well, I hope you don't mind that Viktor takes a hell lot of photos and uploads them on Instagram. You're becoming famous, Aprichin."
"Really?" Aprichin's eyes widened at that. 'What if... no, that's impossible. It won't go that viral enough, right?'
Sensing something wrong, Makkachin placed his paw on one of Aprichin's. "Alright there?"
"F-Fine." The apricot-colored poodle hid her face again in embarrassment but there was a small smile on her face.
Diana watched the scene in front of her and made a gagging sound. It was supposed to be a joke (her owner does that whenever Yuuri and Viktor becomes too lovey-dovey) but it seemed to concern the blonde teen.
"Diana, are you alright?!" Yurio went straight towards her and dropped to his knees. "Did you eat something bad? Or is it a hairball?"
The black and white siberian forest cat could only huff and assure her owner that she was fine by purring and rubbing herself on his lap. Makkachin was laughing at what was happening while Aprichin tried to quiet him down.
"Viktor! Shut your dog, will you?! I bet he's laughing at Diana!"
"Oh Yurio..." Viktor's eyes were sparkling and his mouth already formed the heart shape. "You look so cute with the animals! We have got to take a picture, Yuuri!"
"You're really excited, love." Yuuri laughed when Viktor only stuck his tongue out and took a picture of a scowling Yurio with the three animals. "You're not seriously gonna post that, right?"
"No." Viktor pouted. "Yurio, smile for us!"
"Hell no!"
"Don't you want a new picture to upload in the internet?"
Yurio was still scowling but he relaxed his face. "Fine, fine. But make it good! And use my phone."
"Alright!" Viktor held up Yurio's phone. "One. Two. Three!"
Yurio then huffed after the mini-photo shoot. "You're such a weirdo, Viktor." He could not stop the soft smile that came on his lips when Diana purred under his hands.
Viktor smiled and took a picture. It was perfect with Yurio smiling at Diana with Makkachin and Aprichin looking so cute at the background. He sent it to his own phone and started uploading it.
"I like that one." Yuuri whispered with a smile.
"I like it too." Viktor placed his head on Yuuri's shoulder and they both watched the animals and Yurio.
Aprichin thought, at first, how aggressive Yurio was ('For a kid, he's like a bitter old man') and that he would definitely raise her shackles up but when she felt nothing of the sort, she saw that he was really just a kid who is good to animals (albeit he really favors his cat than them).
"I hope that you get better soon, Aprichin." Makkachin suddenly said in a soft voice. "Then we can all go to the rink and watch them practice. And then, we can cheer them on at the competitions. Then, we'll party and have so much fun until we dropped into sleep, still feeling happy. Isn't that great?"
Aprichin had to smile at that. "Yeah, it's great. I hope that I get better soon, too."
The two poodles stared at each other with smiles on their faces until they fell asleep. They only woke up when visiting hours were over and they had to go. Aprichin slowly wagged her tail in a way of goodbye at those who were now her new family. 'A family, huh?' It was so surreal to her. One day, she was hit by a ruler. The next, she was in an alleyway, panting after a run. And the next, she was in a doggie bed, taken care of by people she did not know. 'It's not so bad, I guess.'
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The days passed by in a calm blur of happiness and excitement. Makkachin, Yuuri, and Viktor visited everyday. Sometimes, Yurio and Diana were with them. Sometimes, they were not. But Aprichin did not mind who visited her as long as someone did.
At the seventh day, the old man checked her vitals and her body. Makkachin was beside her, his tail thumping on the floor anxiously. Yuuri and Viktor were by the wall, waiting for the results.
Aprichin had to admit, the old man was good at his job. He was professional and at the same time, kind enough. The last few days, she was taken out to walk around and to get her blood flowing. It was difficult but the veterinarian did not take it out on her whenever she just laid down on the ground, tired and frustrated. He waited until she was ready to walk again and they did until it was time for the visit. It was a change from what she was used to but it was a good change.
"Alright. I have some good news and some bad news." The veterinarian announced.
"Bad news?!" Viktor shouted in panic.
"Let's start with the bad news then. Bad news is that she's still weak so no strenuous activities for her. And also, her bald spots will have to heal first before fur can grow again."
After a short silence, Yuuri broke it. "And the good news?"
"The good news is that she is now officially discharged. You can take care of her at your home now. With vet's orders and proper medication, of course."
Yuuri and Viktor cheered at that and embraced each other. Makkachin barked happily and jumped up and down around his owners. Aprichin could only blink in surprise until she let out a small yip in so much excitement. The others paused at their actions until laughter filled the room.
"Aprichin, welcome to the family!" Yuuri held out his hand towards the apricot-colored poodle.
Aprichin sniffed the hand and licked it. 'Thank you so much.'
Viktor took care of the paperwork and payments. In just a few minutes, they were now in the car, driving to the apartment.
"Are you excited, Aprichin? Because I am!" Makkachin grinned widely.
"Yeah, I can see that." Aprichin's voice had a light tone in it. "I think it's gonna be fun."
"Yeah!" Makkachin barked happily. "I mean, what could go wrong?"
And a lot of things did go wrong.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: I had too much fun with Aprichin. She just called herself lame (I cracked up at that). And Viktor being weeaboo-ish? Nailed it. Love this!
Expect in the next chapter: Worries, Plans, Reassurement
See you next time!