Viktor's heart was beating fast as he slipped into the Nagahama Ramen shop nearest to his hotel room, his face flushed and clad in his nicest informal outfit. The heat in the room seemed to go up a few degrees when he spotted Yuuri across the room, but then the air instantly froze.

"Yuuri..." Viktor breathed, rushing through the restaurant entrance and rushing for Yuuri's booth across the room. He could feel his heart beat at an even more breakneck pace as he slipped into the booth beside Yuuri and wrapped his arms around the younger man. His shoulders wracked with sobs, and he had his head laying on his arms, which were crossed in front of him.

"Yuuri, are you okay?" He seemed to curl in on himself even more when he heard Viktor's soft voice, but lifted his head when Viktor reached in and entwined his fingers with Yuuri's.

Yuuri's sobs were one sign of his obvious sadness, but the state of his face was what made Viktor's eyes tear up. He frowned in confusion, watching the man struggle with speech.

"Phichit... he... he..." Yuuri collapsed into tears again, but he didn't let go of Viktor's hand. It was clutched tightly in Yuuri's iron grip, and Viktor was starting to lose feeling in it. He didn't care though; he was much more worried about the broken man crying beside him.

"What happened?" Viktor asked gently, trying to make Yuuri feel better. He laid his head on Yuuri's shoulder, rubbing circles into his back with the hand that wasn't pinned to Yuuri's leg underneath the table.

"Phichit..." Yuuri breathed in deeply.

"He... I told him. About us, I mean. And... and..." Viktor squeezed Yuuri's hand reassuringly, and Yuuri was finally able to control his breathing enough to speak.

"He said... he said you were playing me." Viktor's body spasmed out, and he pulled himself out of Yuuri's grip. The man fell into tears again, but Viktor didn't move.

"Is that what you think?" he asked, his tone a lot harsher than he'd meant it to be. Did Yuuri honestly think that he was playing him? That he didn't truly have feelings for him?

"N-n-no!" He stuttered, looking up at Viktor with wide eyes.

"I—I don't think so! I think he—he has the wrong impression of you... and that's why it hurt so much!" He looked desperate, but Viktor's body was numb. He could barely hear anything; it was as though the entire world had gone silent.

"Viktor..." Yuuri started, but Viktor turned away.

"NO. You honestly think I'm playing you. I can see it written all over your face." Viktor's voice was venom, and it slithered out of his lips as such. Yuuri was surprised, as much as he was hurt at Viktor's tone.

"Well..." he started, and Viktor could feel his heart begin to break. He could feel the hairline fracture begin to grow as Yuuri looked up at him, hesitation barring his speech.

"You have... have had a reputation, and..." He gulped.

"I just need to know..." Pause.

"Are you?"

Viktor could feel the hot, forbidden tears stream down his cheeks as his heart shattered into a million pieces.

..oo00oo..

"I... I..." Viktor wrapped his arms around himself, his hidden vulnerability on display for everyone to see. He was in shock.

"You would think... you would th-think that of m-me?" Viktor sobbed, looking Yuuri dead in the eyes. The man looked sad, but he reached up and placed his hand on Viktor's cheek, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Yuuri, what are you doing?"

"I'm... I'm surprised to see you cry." He wiped away a stray tear with his thumb.

"You just broke my heart, and you're SURPRISED TO SEE ME CRY? I'm mad, okay?! You just asked me if I was playing you, and... and..." Yuuri's eyes went wide.

"You asked me if I'm playing you, when it's just the opposite. Yuuri, " he laughed humorlessly.

"I WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU." Viktor slapped Yuuri's hand away, turning and stumbling, hunched over, out of the restaurant.

Yuuri stood, his hand still reaching out to him. He debated going after Viktor, but soon discovered he couldn't move. He was stuck, watching Viktor cry as he walked out the doors.

"Viktor..." Yuuri mumbled out loud, ignoring the stares and glares he was getting from most of the people in the Ramen shop. Finally able to move, Yuuri collapsed back down into his chair, laying his head on his arms and crying even harder than before.

He'd only known this man for a day, and yet it took him less than that to break his own heart.

..oo00oo..

"Yuuri!" called Phichit when Yuuri walked through the doors. He was back to his usual overexcited self, but Yuuri was not in the mood to deal with his 'friend' right now. He just stumbled over to his room, annoyed when Phichit barged in and started word-vomiting all over Yuuri's sour mood. He didn't seem to even notice Yuuri until he finally saw the man glaring at him with tears running down his cheeks.

The flow of words stopped instantly, absolute silence filling the room as Phichit sat down beside him.

"Are you okay?" His voice was solemn, but reassuring at the same time. He placed his hand on Yuuri's back, rubbing small circles, but Yuuri pulled away. He glared at Phichit still, facing him, and Phichit seemed to soundlessly understand what was going on.

"You asked him, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

"He was?" Tears kept flowing. Yuuri debated just telling the man that he was; he hated to reveal that he was the one who had completely ruined everything. He eventually decided against it, deciding that Phichit ought to know the truth.

"No."

"Then why are you crying?" Yuuri stood up, fed up with his friend.

"BECAUSE AS SOON AS YOU PUT THAT IN MY BRAIN I COULDN'T BE SURE OF MYSELF! I decided I was going to ask him, and HE COMPLETELY SHUT ME DOWN. He started sobbing and asking me how I could even think that, and then before he walked out the door he told me that he was FALLING IN LOVE WITH ME!" Yuuri screamed, spreading his arms wide, and Phichit gasped, his eyes the size of saucers.

"What?"

"Yeah! So, THANKS A LOT PHICHIT! You just completely RUINED my chances with the MAN OF MY FUCKING DREAMS!" Yuuri ran out of the bedroom, slamming the door in Phichit's face and bolting to the bathroom. He could hear Phichit call out through the door, but he paid little attention. He just sat on the edge of the tub, trying to control his bubbling up anxiety.

"Yuuri." He didn't answer.

"Yuuri, please talk to me."

"Why should I? All you've done for me so far this week is totally ruin my chances with someone whom I have loved for almost ten years. Now you expect me to just... listen to you like none of this happened?" Yuuri called through the fabric of his hoodie. He sobbed quietly, shaking from head to toe.

"No. I get where you're coming from. But just understand; I may have mentioned it, but if you were insecure enough about the relationship to question his antics, wouldn't that have come up again in the future? I guess you could say I just... sped up the process." Yuuri's heart was hurting, but this only made it worse. As soon of the words came out of Phichit's mouth, he gasped.

"Oh my god, that sounded horrible. I'm really sorry. Just... do you understand?"

"Phichit, the whole point of apologizing is to say that you didn't mean what you said. To say sorry and then continue like you are actually okay with what you said is not apologizing. Please, just... stop. Your excuses are only making it worse." Yuuri gulped, but stopped crying a little. He dragged his sleeve over his eyes, sniffling.

"Yuuri, please come out," Phichit begged, and Yuuri could see him wringing his hands in his mind's eye. He reached out to the doorknob, ready to forgive Phichit, but then he stopped.

"Phichit, why did you say it?'

"Hunh?"

"Why did you say that he was probably playing me? You don't even know him." Yuuri's voice was deadly.

"Well... I-"

"Phichit?"

"Yuuri, have you ever heard of Christophe Giacometti?" Yuuri remembered hearing the name at some point, and said as much.

"Well... He and I were good friends, and we were both big fans of Viktor in Middle School. You remember when I told you about that exchange program I did in Middle School? When I went to Switzerland?"

"Yeah."

"Well, before he became a world renown Saxophone player, he and I went to the same middle school. We talked a lot, and when I moved back we kept in touch."

"He ended up having a... fling, with Viktor Nikiforov, and the man just... dumped him one day. One day he acted like he was in love with him, the next... he dumped Chris and went out with another woman THAT SAME NIGHT." Phichit's voice got hard.

"When was this?" Yuuri asked, doubt filling his voice.

"…" Phichit hesitated.

"About eight years ago, but people can't change that much that fast," Phichit said, anticipating Yuuri's reply. Yuuri groaned, knowing that the man would never understand him.

"But... Chris said that he'd always figured that Viktor was only doing it because he didn't want to fall in love with anyone, but he never wanted to be single. Because then he'd get overrun with fans. You know?"

"What are you saying?"

"Well, Chris says that Viktor has never slept with anyone... and I mean just sleeping in the same bed." Yuuri's heart cracked, and he struggled to maintain his composure.

"He... he has..." Yuuri forced out.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" The shock filtering through Phichit's voice surprised Yuuri.

"When... when we were stuck in the hotel last night... he slept in the same bed as me. But there was only one bed, so..."

"And you probably begged him," Phichit stated.

"No... actually..."

"He did." Yuuri heard Phichit bang his head against the wall outside.

"Oh my god. What the hell have I done?"

"That's what I'm asking you," Yuuri muttered to himself before walking over to the door and opening it.

"I... I just-" Phichit was crying. He almost seemed in a worse state than Yuuri.

"I wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt you," Phichit muttered as a still-sobbing Yuuri enveloped him in a large hug.

"It's okay. I'm sure... I don't think I was the right person for him anyways," Yuuri sniffled, pulling away from Phichit.

"He'll find someone who's truly worth his time. Who will knock him off his feet in a way that I couldn't."

..oo00oo..

Viktor stood at the edge of the balcony, glaring down at the cars below. He sat on the railing, trying to stop the tears from flowing down his face.

Viktor's heart had nearly died the moment that Yuuri asked him if he was a player. The word filtered out of his mouth like sour milk, and Viktor hadn't known what to do.

The only thing he could think about was Yuuri. The silken strands of his raven hair that had tickled his nose as he slept the night before. The warmth of his body as he slept beside him, curled into him. He had a strange feeling deep in his gut when he had woken up next to the man that morning.

He had felt... content.

Viktor felt a new wave of emotions rock his body as his shoulders wracked with sobs once again.

"How could he do this?"

Viktor thought about the year before; about the man's strange need to impress, and his confidence. Viktor had known the man was drunk, but as he began to speak to Yuuri, he had the feeling that Yuuri didn't remember the most memorable thing that happened that night.

Sure, Yuuri had played for him, and spending twenty minutes with Yuuri was all the time he needed to become convinced the man could remember that much.

But Viktor was almost positive the man hadn't remembered what he'd done that night. It was the one thing that Viktor had had done to him many times before, but he'd never felt anything whenever it happened.

Yuuri had kissed him.

When he'd been kissed by other people, Viktor had felt happy. Sure, he'd never had that chill, or felt anything rush up his spine in that exciting way that people always mentioned in the stories. He'd almost assumed it was a joke.

But when Yuuri kissed him, he realized that it wasn't a joke.

Because when Yuuri's lips met his, it felt like the stars had exploded.