"Can't you play anything that doesn't make me want to vomit?"
Yuuri stiffened visibly on the piano bench and hung his head hiding his face from the teen. He didn't want to look intimidated by Yurio, even though he clearly was. Viktor seemed to ignore the annoyed-looking blond sitting in a chair next to him and clapped rather obnoxiously at the end of Yuuri's playing.
"That was perfect, Yuuri!"
Yuuri mumbled something like a 'thanks' and nervously fidgeted his hands together. There was something about the piercing green stare of the smaller Russian that made him want to crawl into a corner. Deciding not to let it get the best of him, he rose his head from the ivory keys they had been staring at and found eyes the color of the sky gazing at him. Slowly his nerves floated away, and he let go of Viktor's gaze to hold the attention of bright green eyes instead.
"Ah, sorry. If I had known sooner you would be coming, I would've prepared something else to play for you. I'm really sorry."
Yurio was going to say something but was cut off by the wave of a hand next to him.
"Nonsense! That was brilliant, and I'm sure Yurio agrees."
Suspiciously, Yuuri rose an eyebrow at the blond, who in turn glared daggers at him.
"More like crap, but whatever." Yurio's eyes darted away from the brown orbs and around the room, taking every inch of the space in with a criticizing eye.
Viktor laughed and leaned in to Yuuri with a hand raised to the side of his mouth, acting as though it could actually shield his words. "He's a bit rough around the edges, but don't worry he doesn't have anything against you." He winked knowingly and slid back into his seat.
Yuuri smiled in return and looked back at Yurio with a small smile. Yurio caught him smiling and scowled.
"I guess you have some talent. Somewhat."
Viktor smiled proudly at Yurio.
"Don't look at me like that. It's creepy and disgusting."
Yuuri wore a grin of his own again as he watched the duo's interaction with each other. Hoping to give them breathing room to catch up for a few moments, he slid from his place on the piano bench and quietly slipped from the room. The Russian's were too involved with their conversation, if you even counted it as that with all the yelling Yurio did, to notice he had disappeared.
Mari was walking towards the kitchen with a tray when she noticed her younger brother exhaling in relief.
"Who's the blond kid?"
"Yuri Plisetsky, but Viktor calls him Yurio because of my name. He's one of Viktor's rinkmates back in Russia. He'll be staying here for a bit, although I'm not sure how long."
"Got it." When a pretty loud shout was heard followed by laughter, Mari turned to the closed door and then back to Yuuri. "Is that Yurio?" As Yuuri nodded in confirmation, Mari shrugged and continued to the destination she was aiming for to begin with.
Yuuri didn't walk very far when the door slammed open. A pissed off Yurio followed by an all-too-happy Viktor emerged from the room seconds after. Viktor grabbed his wrist as they continued to walk away from the room.
"Um... where are we going?" Yuuri asked, trying to pry his attention away from the firm grip on his wrist.
"To the ice rink of course. Yurio asked where to skate around here, so I decided we should show him."
Without another protest, Yuuri let himself get pulled along by Viktor as they made their way to the rink. About halfway through the walk, he had gone from following Viktor to standing by his side with his hand wrapped around the Russian's own. He was uneasy at first about every touch Viktor made, but he gradually began to get used to it. Now they had become relaxing and comforting. The only thought tugging back on him was how one day Viktor would go back to Russia. It was something he pushed to the back of his mind, but with Yurio's presence, he was reminded of that fact. Yurio was here to take Viktor back. There was no one he could keep getting comfortable around the older Russian. It would only bring him more pain.
With a gentle tug of his hand, Yuuri was brought back to reality as Viktor worriedly gazed over his shoulder to find that he had fallen behind. Hurriedly, he plastered a smile onto his face and jogged to meet up with Viktor as they entered the rink. Yurio made a noise of irritation as he looked at them quickly.
Soon enough, Yurio and Viktor was dancing around on the ice while Yuuri sat quietly with his thoughts on a bench behind the boards. I can't keep him here... Besides, I can easily email Viktor the new compositions. He doesn't need to stay here, so I can write them. I need to make sure he knows that.
.
. . .
.
Viktor was painfully aware of how dazed off Yuuri seemed to be. It had started when Yurio had first shown up. He didn't think the blond was being particularly rude to Yuuri, unless he was and Viktor just wasn't aware of it.
"Can you at least pretend to listen to me, dumbass?" The words were practically a whisper as Yurio glided over to him.
"What?"
"You know what I said. Don't pretend you didn't. Stop looking at him like an idiot for two seconds and pay attention."
He blinked as he processed what Yurio had said. He guessed he was unconsciously looking at Yuuri.
"He seems... more anxious than usual." Viktor glanced away from the blond, his eyes finding Yuuri's hunched over form. He noted that the Japanese man was looking off into the distance with a lost expression on his face.
"I don't care." With that left hanging in the air, Yurio pushed the blades beneath his feet to get away from the older, and in his eyes dumber, skater.
Viktor was going to say something to stop him but nothing came to mind. Instead, he turned back to where Yuuri was sitting to see that he was gone. Thin silver eyebrows knit together in confusion before he joined Yurio again on the far side of the rink. If Yuuri wanted someone to come with him, he would've said something. He would have to ask later when they met up again.
"I bet I can do a better quad Flip than you can now!"
"I'm going to make you swallow your words, Yurio!"
"Stop calling me that!"
Viktor chuckled, throwing his thoughts into the deeper parts of his mind for the time being.
.
. . .
.
The cool air was nice against his tan skin. Dark brown eyes followed the paths of cherry blossom petals as they made their way across the sky. Yuuri was sitting on the bottom of the steps leading up to Ice Castle Hasetsu. He was grateful Viktor gave him the space he needed if he even noticed that the younger male had left. It was nice watching them skate for a few minutes, but with his lack of ability in the sport that kept him off the ice, his mind wandered to darker places than he would have liked. It was almost frustrating how easy he could get discouraged. For a moment, he let the wind that was gently carrying his dark locks take his thoughts away along with the small pink petals. A sigh escaped past his lips as he took in the dimly lit horizon. Honestly he didn't even realize how late it had become. When Yuuri checked the time on his small silver watch, he was surprised to see that it had become well past six in the evening. He was halted from his thoughts when a voice spoke up from next to him.
"The sunsets are beautiful here. I don't think I'll ever get used to them."
He internally began panicking when he turned to find Viktor next to him.
"V-Viktor... What about Yurio?" Yuuri spun towards the door, trying to find the angry teen but to no avail.
"I told him I was going to the bathroom. He'll be mad later, but he'll be okay. Although who knows how I'll end up afterwards." He laughed heartily at his own joke and settled his eyes back on the horizon. "What's bothering you?"
Yuuri's shocked expression immediately changed to one on the defensive when the harmless question reached him.
"It's nothing." He declared that now wasn't the time to bring this up.
Viktor thought otherwise.
"Is it bad enough that you can't tell me?" His bright blue eyes dropped their gaze from the horizon to a nervous Yuuri. "I'm here for you, Yuuri. You can tell me anything."
"I know you are... That's the problem..." The words were mumbled and seemed to drift along the breeze.
"Hm?" Viktor leaned in just a bit closer, hoping to hear the words once more.
"You should go back. Yurio isn't going to be happy when he realizes you left him for me again."
The word "again" didn't pass by Viktor.
"So that's what this is about. Yuuri, you don't have to be worried about Yurio." He gave the other male a genuine smile, fully believing he had solved the issue. "We made a deal that I would coach him next season or the season after depending on how things go here. He was a bit fired up over it but compliant otherwise. There's no problem anymore."
Yuuri sighed exasperatedly and ran his left hand through his raven hair. "No, Viktor. I..." He brought his hand down and gazed at Viktor, who wore a confused expression. "Thanks for the reassurance." He put a fake smile on for the other, hoping to end the conversation he wasn't ready to face yet.
He understood what the Russian skater was saying, but it didn't quell his worries in the least bit. In fact, they only brought to his attention another issue he had forgotten. Viktor was supposed to coach Yurio, but that was practically impossible considering how Viktor was staying in Hasetsu for the time being and Yurio in Russia. Another thing he was taking away from someone else. He hoped the list would stop there.
Viktor's face lit up with a smile again, and he hummed in approval. "We should get back now."
"Ah... you can go on ahead. I'll head in shortly."
Viktor seemed hesitant at first but settled on nodding and walking back up the steps to the rink.
Later... I'll bring it up later. He assured himself, not entirely believing the words but gave up for now.
.
. . .
.
Yuuri was sitting at his piano playing whatever came to mind, not entirely focused on which notes he was hitting. To his knowledge, Yurio and Viktor were passed out in the other room after yelling about their competition held earlier that Yuuri had missed. Viktor filled him in on how he won, which lit a fuse in Yurio and had him yelling off the walls about how he clearly won.
Obviously exhausted from the skating, Yurio and Viktor ate their weight in food and passed out soon after. Yuuri cleaned up the dishes and silently made his way to the piano. Mari joined him shortly after, complaining for a minute about how her brother's been taken away from her. He simply laughed in response and soon the two were engulfed in silence, save for the gentle music the piano created as keys were hit.
"Have you finished whatever songs Viktor's been asking for? You two have been spending quite a bit of time in here. Unless you two use this room, since your bedroom is encased in posters of him."
"No! It's not...! We haven't...!" In a flurry, Yuuri's hands left the piano keys and were shaking back and forth in the space between them.
Mari rose her hands in surrender. "Kidding. I trust you. Although you are dating him, right? That makes me wary of him."
"W-Well, I think so... but you don't have to be careful around him! He hasn't... you know... mentioned any of that..." Yuuri's face burned just from thinking about it.
"You think? I'm going to have a problem with Viktor if he's just using you to blow off tension, Yuuri."
"No no no! We are!" Hoping to distract himself, Yuuri brought his hands up to the ivory keys and began playing again. The melody he had written for himself drifting throughout the room.
"Just checking, Little Bro. I'm here if you need anything, though. I don't think the piano will appreciate all the pounding your frustration will make you do."
Both he and Mari grinned at the comment. She was always there for him when he needed someone the most, and for that he would always be thankful for.
"I should get going. I'll leave you alone for a bit."
"Mari?" Yuuri gazed up from the piano to her paused figure in front of the door.
"What's up?"
He hesitated before shaking his head. "Nevermind. Thanks."
She nodded and left the small room. carefully shutting the door behind herself.
I can do this. I can do this. I'll just talk to him about it, and everything will be okay. I can do this.
.
. . .
.
I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this!
Alarms were going off in Yuuri's head as he fidgeted on the tatami mat in front of Viktor's more relaxed form.
"Yuuri? What's wrong? You don't look-"
"I'm fine!" Just say the words already! He had to force himself to not make eye contact with Viktor because every time he did, he went into panic mode again. With a calming breath, he shut his eyes and braced himself for the reaction that was to come.
"Viktor, you should leave for Russia."
Silence.
That's all he was met with.
Carefully, Yuuri opened one eye and trained it upwards at Viktor. The reaction he got was one he wasn't expecting at all.
Viktor sat in front of him with nothing but a wide-eyed gaze and mouth agape.
"What did you say?"
Yuuri opened his other eye and squinted both in confusion. "I said you should go back to Russia."
"Why?"
It was a question, but somehow it felt like a statement, as if there was no need for answer to such a question. It confused him further. Shouldn't it be obvious?
"Well... you promised to coach Yurio, and it's my fault you're here."
An exasperated sigh interrupted Yuuri, but Viktor let him continued.
"You can't coach him from here while he's in Russia. Besides, I can easily send you the songs you want if you think I'm still decent enough to keep requesting from me." And boy did he ever want Viktor to keep asking. Not that he would say that out loud. His anxiety wouldn't permit it.
Viktor brought a hand to his own forehead in what seemed to be thought. Although he looked back up at Yuuri a moment later with his blue eyes smoldering like embers. Anger replaced the look of questioning.
"I don't remember you asking me to come here."
"I... yes, that's true, but-"
"I do remember buying my own plane ticket, showing up here asking for Yuuri Katsuki, and I certainly remember asking you to compose my programs because I was enthralled with all your performances. I do not remember getting a call so much as a text telling me to come down to Hasetsu, Japan, so you can compose music for me in the upcoming skating seasons. Do you? If you say yes, then we've been living two completely different lives." The volume of Viktor's voice had peaked an octave as he leaned in towards Yuuri, practically sending his back to the mats they sat on.
"I-I don't... b-but don't you think y-you should go back with Yurio?" Yuuri nervously turned his attention to the side, hoping to gain some reasonable thoughts back. To say that the Russian's newfound anger had startled him was an understatement. He was terrified. His fear was pretty easy to pick up on considering all the stuttering he did.
"Isn't that for me to decide? I'm twenty-seven, Yuuri. I can make decisions for myself, and my decision right now is to stay in Hasetsu with you, the one I truly care for."
What could he say? Nothing came to mind, instilling them both in silence. Once he realized his point had been made, Viktor sat back down in his position from before and placed his hands on his knees folded underneath himself.
"If there is ever another doubt it your mind again, tell me. I hate to see you so unsure." The anger was replaced with one of love and adoration. A look Yuuri believed he didn't deserve after what he said.
Viktor noticed his saddened gaze and reached a hand forward to caress a tanned cheek. Yuuri didn't move in the least bit, aside from his eyes closing.
"I'm sorry." It was quiet. Pained. But Viktor smiled nonetheless. The frustration and anger from before dissipating entirely.
"Yuuri."
Said male glanced up only to be met with Viktor's lips dancing against his own. As soon as it was initiated, it was over. Yuuri found himself longing for the touch again.
Viktor chuckled lightly and took his hand away.
"I love you, Yuuri."
His face lit up bright red at the abrupt words.
"I-I love you t-too, Viktor." His stammering just had to hinder his words once more.
"And I'm going to puke."
Yuuri threw his head into his hands after he turned to find Yurio standing in the doorway, his ever-present scowl apparent if not deeper than before and solely focused at the couple. Viktor laughed warmly and tackled Yuuri into a hug regardless of the teen watching them.
