Yuuri was still 16 years old the first time he spent Valentine's Day with Viktor, but now as boyfriends.
Previous years, Yuuri had been limited to receiving chocolates by Yuuko and some classmates, since in Japan that day was special for girls to give chocolates to their friends or crush/boyfriends, while boys had to wait for White Day, a month later, to return the gifts also in the form of chocolates, which Yuuri always bought.
But after meeting Viktor, Yuuri had to get used to receiving chocolates from him as well, since apparently, in Russia, Valentine's Day was a relatively new celebration and Viktor didn't really celebrate it. Although Russians had similar celebration but rather for family and friends in general.
Yuuri still remembered with embarrassment the first time he received chocolates from Viktor, when he was 14 years old. The Russian boy had insisted that he wanted to share with him the chocolates he had received from unknown girls, since Viktor wouldn't be able to eat them all. They were too many! Yuuri obviously didn't refuse, because...well, that means free chocolates! … In addition, that's means he could eat them along with his crush!
The following years were practically the same (and luckily, Viktor wasn't date Yuki during the last Valentine).
"And what will you do on White Day?" Yuuri remembered having asked Viktor a few years ago. "Will you buy chocolates for all those girls, or will you make one for someone...?"
"Yuuri. I'm Russian." Viktor said after chuckling. "We don't celebrate White Day. I don't have to return those gifts. I don't even know most of those girls and I'm even sure that several of them weren't even from my school, so I wouldn't know where to find them." He brought another chocolate to his mouth and settled the issue. Yuuri shrugged and also shrugged it off the subject, since the silver-haired boy was right about that.
However, that year was different. Viktor and he agreed to give each other chocolates, but nothing extravagant or expensive, since none of them was a girl. Also, both expected Viktor would receive many chocolates by women who still believed he was single. While they would celebrate White Day with a date.
"Yuuri, promise me that you will share with me all the chocolates you receive." Viktor had said with a playful smile, and the younger one rolled his eyes.
"Viktor, I very much doubt I will receive chocolates other than Yuuko's."
Viktor raised an eyebrow and looked at him incredulously, crossing his arms.
"And what about Sara and your classmates?"
Yuuri couldn't help but laugh a little. Although, surprisingly, after two months of being together, Viktor still insisted on distrusting Sara Crispino. Yuuri was sure that Sara was no longer interested in him, since he had already told the girl that he had a boyfriend.
Even if Viktor and he still didn't make their relationship public, it was obvious that many people suspected of them because of how they interacted on the skating rink, or that they kept holding hands while walking together. Of course, if someone asked, they said they were friends and that they just had the habit of holding hands since kids. They both knew it was a very bad and unbelievable excuse, but it was always funny the confused faces of those who had asked.
"I don't think Sara will gives me chocolates, and if she gives me one, it's more likely that it will be an 'obligatory chocolate." Replied Yuuri and sat on the bed, pushing Makkachin and Vicchan aside, who had stretched comfortably and seized the mattress.
"What do you want to bet someone will gives you a handmade chocolate? It doesn't have to be specifically Sara." Viktor challenged after taking the chair off the desk and sitting in front of his boyfriend. In Japan, handmade chocolates were literally a declaration of love. "If someone does it, I hope you reject them tactfully."
"Viktor..." Yuuri gave a fake sigh of anger. Viktor was the one who always received expensive or handmade chocolates, but Yuuri had never received one. Why would that year will be different? "Okay, if I get a handmade chocolate from whoever... Umm..." He put a hand on his chin, thoughtfully, and Vicchan lay down on his thighs, begging for pets. "... I'll let you eat all the chocolates with cherries. But if I win, you will give me all the chocolates with almonds."
"It's a deal!" Viktor smiled, and kissed Yuuri on the lips. The silver-haired man loved chocolates with cherries and the dark-haored boy loves chocolates with almonds, but they used to share 'the booty' equally.
Viktor would have liked to kiss his boyfriend longer, but they parted when they heard Hiroko knocking on the door to let them know that dinner was ready.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
On Valentine's Day, Viktor, without fail, accompanied Yuuri to his school, as he did every morning since they were boyfriends (previously he only accompanied him from school to his home), and gave him his gift, which was a bag with smalls handmade heart-shaped chocolates covered with pieces of almonds.
"My mother helped me to make them." Viktor confessed after receiving a kiss and a present from Yuuri, which was a bag of cherries covered with chocolate.
"Your gift wasn't that hard to make, so I did it myself," Yuuri said with some shame, but Viktor didn't mind and loved his gift. "Enjoy them. They are the only cherries you will eat today." Yuuri said jokingly, reminding him of the bet, and his boyfriend rolled his eyes and gave a snort before hugging him.
"Yuuri. You are a handsome guy. Remember my words: today you will receive at least one confession, even three if the girls in your school aren't so blind as not to see how wonderful you are." When he finished saying that, he kissed Yuuri on the cheek in a noisy way. The dark-haired boy blushed, flattered by his words, although he didn't really believe the part of the confessions.
"I also expect you to be nice to the girls you reject today." Yuuri replied, and the peliplateado giggled while nodding his head.
Whenever they arrived at Yuuri's high school, the couple couldn't say goodbye with a kiss, since there were many students around. They said goodbye waving a hand and an apology gaze. Viktor then went to his university, even though his first class was an hour later than Yuuri's, so he used that extra time to study or play with his smartphone.
After some class, Yuuri had received 'obligatory gifts' from her classmates, and two 'friendship' chocolates from Yuuko and Sara, so he soon forgot about the bet. In addition, Phichit made his attention to focus on another topic...
"So, Yuuri ..." The Thai boy said during recess, his voice low enough that they could hear each other; with cheeks on his hands and elbows on the desk, and a suggestive look on his gray eyes. "Do you and Viktor have plans for Valentine's Day?"
"Uh? Yes." He smiled blushing. "Mom will make katsudon for us, and then we'll see School Days. I managed to convince him to watch it with me."
"Yuuri... Are you sure that Viktor will like School Days? I mean, he's a hopeless romantic." Phichit inquired his eyes ajar.
"Oh... You're right." He murmured mortified. "I forgot that he gets sad with bad endings, and surely seeing a severed head is not exactly a romantic vision for this day! I'll have to think about another anime..."
"Yes, I recommend you that. But... Is that all?" Phichit said with disappointment, and Yuuri looked at him with confusion. "Yuuri... You have a boyfriend who loves you very much and who is practically an adult, and today is Valentine's Day. Doesn't that tell you something? "
"...What?!" Yuuri exclaimed in shook after understanding what Phichit was suggesting. "No-no... Vi-Viktor and I haven't ... we haven't ..." He put his hands to his face, dying in shame, and continued speaking almost in a whisper. "We-we've talked about that, but..."
"But...?" Phichit tried to incite him to speak, but seeing that the Japanese boy was stuttering, he had pity. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I know it's something private."
"Yes, I'm sorry, Phichit. But there are things that I just can't share with you." Yuuri said, but Phichit smiled and patted him on the shoulder to let him know that he understood. "Besides, you're much younger than me. You shouldn't be thinking about those kind of things." He admonished him with a frown, but the Thai boy laughed.
"Blame Yuuko and her yaoi mangas. Those opened my mind to a new world of possibilities!" He said jokingly.
"Just let's hope they don't make you open your ass too." Yuuri retorted sarcastically, and Phichit almost spat the juice he had started drinking while laughing.
"Um, Yuuri-kun." Startled, Yuuri turned to the voice that had called him, and saw it was Maiko, one of her classmates since freshman year, but who had recently moved to the photography club, and since then they had talked more often. Maiko was a shy girl with light brown hair, almost blonde, and had a pretty face with little makeup. "Can we... talk in private?"
Yuuri looked at Phichit, who looked back at him with the same confusion, but beckoned him to go with the girl. Yuuri then nodded and got up from his desk. It worried him a little that Maiko wanted to talk to him in private. Was it something wrong? Had he done something that bothered her? They were not exactly friends, so he couldn't think of a reason why she wanted to talk to him alone.
He followed the brunette through the hallways until they reached a remote point in the garden, and Yuuri was so distracted that he didn't realize that the girl had been trying to hide something from him, but that she presented it when they were finally alone.
Oh... Ok. Apparently, Yuuri had lost the bet.
Maiko, with her hands stretched out towards him, and her head bowed in shyness, showed him a pink bag with chocolates inside, which were definitely handmade.
"Oh... Thank you." It was all that the dark-haired boy thought to say while taking the bag.
At that time, Yuuri really wished he didn't have to accept the gift, but he knew that it would be very impolite and also could hurt the girl's feelings. Maiko still said nothing, but Yuuri saw that the bag had a card stuck in it, which he opened and read.
Maiko had asked him if he wanted to be her boyfriend.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Yuuri bowed while apologizing. "I-I'm already in a relationship with someone else."
The brunette looked up quickly and looked at him in shock, as if she didn't believe what she was listening to.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" She inquired with obvious disbelief, and Yuuri couldn't help but blush.
"Boyfriend, actually..." Yuuri knew that he was exposing himself telling her that he was gay (although Yuuri really didn't felt attracted to other men, only to Viktor), but he didn't have the heart to deny his boyfriend.
"And who is it?" Demanded the girl raising her voice. It wasn't loud enough to be considered as a shouting, but Yuuri stepped back because he had never heard her upset. "Is it Phichit?"
"What?! N-no, it's not Phichit!" Yuuri was so confused by the girl's reaction as to think how ridiculous that question had sounded. "He's not someone from this school!"
"Yuuri-kun, if you're going to reject me, at least tell me the truth. Don't lie to me. You don't look or act like a gay boy. Why don't you want to be my boyfriend?" Maiko asked as her eyes got wet and it looked like she was going to start crying at any moment.
Years ago, the dark-haired boy would have felt bad for her, but... After all the experiences that Viktor had told him about what he had suffered with Yuki; Yuuri was sure that, perhaps unconsciously, Maiko was trying to dissuade him with tears (many years later he would find out that this was called 'emotional manipulation').
"I'm not lying." Yuuri said, surprisingly calmer and straightening his back; with his brown eyes looking at the girl harshly. "I have a boyfriend that I love and that's why I wouldn't leave him for someone else. So I'm so sorry I can't correspond to you as you wish." Yuuri turned around and walked away.
Yes, Yuuri loved Viktor as much as he loved Yuuko, Takeshi, Phichit and his sister. Viktor was one of his best friends. But now, as his boyfriend, the more time they spent together, the more looks of affection they addressed to each other; between each caress and kiss they shared; that made his feelings towards Viktor grow more and more as he started to feeling another kind of love towards him. And he hoped that for Viktor it would be the same.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Viktor was still 20 years old the day he really celebrated Valentine's Day for the first time.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 90's, Russia began to adopt customs from American and other countries, and gave free passage to clothing and fast food companies, also to celebrating days such as Christmas and Valentine's Day. Viktor had never taken seriously any of those two days (although he liked Christmas for being on his birthday, and his cousins for the gifts); and in his family they celebrated 'The Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness' in July.
It wasn't until Viktor came to Japan that he realized that maybe the Japanese people took Valentine's Day... too seriously, to the point that each type of gift had a different meaning. A regular chocolate meant a 'compulsory gift', but a more expensive chocolate meant Friendship, whereas a handmade chocolate (or very, very expensive chocolate) was a direct declaration of Love.
Each year Viktor had to deal with many of these gifts, although by 'luck' he had only rejected 12 girls in 3 years, and Viktor honestly hoped that fourth year wouldn't be added more girls to the list, much less because he didn't wanted his adorable boyfriend to felt uncomfortable watching how other people would try to push them away. At least they would eat together all the gifts they would receive. And he really loved the chocolate cherries that Yuuri had given him.
Although, it would be a shame that Yuuri couldn't eat his favorite chocolates, since the silver-haired man was sure that at least one person would confess their love to Yuuri. In other words, why wouldn't someone want to have Yuuri as their boyfriend?!
As soon as Viktor arrived at his university, some girls were already waiting for him..., which terrified him a bit, because that meant that those girls had already realized that he used to arrive half an hour early to school. But he breathed a little easier to see that the chocolates were rather common, some adorned with ribbons or fake precious stones, but no girl tried to confess to him.
But when the hours passed he wasn't so lucky, because two girls, a blonde and a brunette, who Viktor was sure he didn't know them, but that at the same time they seemed familiar (he possibly would have some classes with them), tried to confess their love. One did it during the first break, and the second one at the end of the classes. The silver-haired man wanted to feel sorry for them... but he just couldn't. He was happily in a relationship, and he wouldn't trade Yuuri for anyone, so he had no qualms about answering that he already had a boyfriend, emphasizing Yuuri's sex.
The girls looked at him with a surprised and incredulous expression, as if they thought the Russian man was trying to deceive them. One of them even demanded to know who his boyfriend was, but Viktor looked at her coldly.
"I don't have to answer that." He replied with a look so scathing that the brunette backed away, but Viktor immediately smiled again. "I don't feel sorry for not being able to correspond to you, but thank you for the chocolates!"
Viktor then returned to his classroom to look for his things, chuckling a little under his breath because Yuuri had sent him a text message to let him know that he had won the bet. More cherries for him!
Yuurikatsudon: now I'm afraid that Maiko will tell everyone that I have a boyfriend. I should have told her that she wasn't my type or something! D:
Vicchan02: oops, I think I said 'unintentionally' that I have a boyfriend too (' ≦)
Yuurikatsudon: ... our parents will kill us when they find out
Vicchan02: I won't say a thing if you don't say anything, solnyshko ( 3 )
Yuurikatsudon: deal!
When Viktor entered his classroom, almost empty, he ran into the Swiss boy who was the new 'friend' (translation: boyfriend in secret) of one of his classmates. What was his name? Chris?
Chris must have been at least 18 years old, since he was a freshman. Viktor had talked to him on some occasions, and he was a fun person, but Viktor only considered him as 'an acquaintance'. And he had no more intentions than greet Chris in a cordial way and pass by him to took his backpack and then go with Yuuri. But the blond man smiled at him and raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"What did you tell that girl to make her cry?"
"Uh? Who?" Viktor started before grabbing his backpack and putting it on his shoulder.
"'Who'?" Chris' honey eyes looked at him with confusion. "The girl who gave you those chocolates a moment ago. Didn't you reject her tactfully? "
"Ah. Did you see that?" Now Viktor did feel a little bad. It wasn't his intention to make her cry, but neither he was going to apologize to her, because she didn't even have the right to demand anything from him. "I only told her the truth that I have a boyfriend whom I love very much and I won't leave him for her." He answered without shame, because he knew that the Swiss man was in a similar situation.
Viktor knew that he loved Yuuri from the moment he decided to give him a poodle, although by then it was a rather a fraternal love, which gradually evolved into something more. But now, as boyfriends, it was hard for him not to be able to show his feelings with actions beyond hugs and innocent kisses. However, he feared to pressure Yuuri and make him feel uncomfortable. So, when their kissing sessions threatened to get out of control, the silver-haired man was be the responsible adult and stop it... Viktor felt especially bad with himself because he had masturbated a couple of times, in the privacy of the night, thinking about Yuuri (many years later Yuuri would confess that he did the same thing thinking of Viktor).
"Ah, I see." Chris laughed. "Your boyfriend won't be by chance Katsuki Yuuri?" Viktor was sure that the Swiss boy must have noticed the panic on his face because he immediately added. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. I know Yuuri from my ballet class, and I've seen how you two look at each other. It's adorable. I know Yuuri is a shy kid and he's younger than me, so I understand why you keep it a secret." He winked, and Viktor breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wait. So you are 'that Chris'? Minako-sensei says you're her favorite student, after Yuuri, of course." He said jokingly, and the blond boy laughed.
"Yes, I guess I'm 'that Chris'." He stretched out a hand towards Viktor, and Viktor shook it. "Christophe Giacometti at your services. If you and your boyfriend ever need love advice, any kind of love advice," He emphasized with a smirk. "You two can ask me anytime."
.
.
.
Viktor was 20 years old when he met Christophe Giacometti, already imagining that he would be his best friend for life (after Yuuri, of course).
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Luckily for Yuuri, Maiko didn't divulge his secret, and even the girl continued talking with him as if nothing had happened on Valentine's day. Unfortunately for Viktor, the older girls did tell their friends about what happened. And almost for a week, the silver-haired man was harassed by questions about his boyfriend, both at school and on his social networks. Some people even managed to discover that it was Yuuri, but Viktor never confirmed it.
Yuuri felt bad about that and wanted to help, but Viktor assured him that everything was fine. The only thing they could do was wait for people to get bored with the gossip, which happened two weeks later. Although that didn't prevent someone to trying to confront Viktor...
"No, Yuuri, I don't want to keep seeing Hellsing. That thing is terrifying!" Viktor complained while pouting, and kept licking his chocolate ice cream. Both were at the outdoor tables of the soda fountain where they used to have their dates (so that no one would suspect them and confuse them with 'simple friends' having an ice cream).
"But if there is hardly any blood ..." The younger one said before sipping from his strawberry ice cream shake and rolling his eyes. "Come on, there's three chapters left before the last chapter."
"If you want me to finish watching that anime with you, then you'll have to see Ouran Highschool Host Club with me." Viktor conditioned, pretending to be annoying, and Yuuri stared at him for a while before answering.
"Okay. I'll finish seeing Hellsing by myself." He said and Viktor laughed.
Yuuri couldn't stand watching comedy or romance anime, they seemed silly to him, just as Viktor couldn't watch science fiction anime because it made him sleepy, or gore anime because it gave him chills. Coincidentally, they were the favorite genres of each one.
The boys were about to change the subject when they heard a fake cough, then turned to face Yuki and a group of girls.
"Ah, Yuki. Can I help you?" Viktor inquired with that smile that his boyfriend understood was forced. The silver-haired man and the brunette used to ignored each other during classes. She hadn't even tried to cross words with him since that last one suggestion...
"Vitya. I see that the rumors about your new boyfriend are true." Yuki said in an apparently cheerful voice, but her smile was even more false than Viktor's. "Tell me, how does it feel to have sex with a child?"
Yuuri felt somewhat uncomfortable with that accusation, especially because the girls who accompanied her were covered their mouths so that their laughter couldn't be heard. And one of them held her smartphone suspiciously up to her chest, but pretended to be writing something. Yuuri tried to warn Viktor with his eyes, but older boy continued to stare coldly at the girl.
"Ah. I forgot that you're the kind of girl who believes all the rumors she hears." Viktor commented before laughing without humor, although it was a laugh that could deceive anyone who didn't know him. "If you believe those rumors, its means that the rumors I heard about you must be true."
Oh. Yuuri knew what rumors Viktor was referring to, one that Chris had told them recently, which came to light because it could be a 'possible explanation of why Viktor and Yuki broke up, and why Viktor hated women and because of that become gay'.
But for the Russian man, far from making him felt bad or angry, rather it took a great weight off his shoulders, since that meant he hadn't been the only 'cheating one' in that relationship.
"I don't know what you mean..." Said Yuki, trying to stay calm. And she looked at her friends to ask for support, but they were as confused as she was.
"Umm... Maybe you need a clue." Viktor said with a finger on his chin and a thoughtfully face, and then he smiled again. "Tell me, how does it feel to have sex with a 40-year-old married man? Was the pay that good? "
As if it were a movie, Yuuri saw in sequence how the girl's friends opened their mouths in surprise, and the one holding the cellphone immediately covered the lens and stopped recording. Yuki's face had turned into a grimace of shame and anger. Then the girl took Yuuri's strawberry milkshake and threw it to Viktor's face, and if it weren't for the fact that the glass was made of plastic it would have been broken by the force exerted at the time of returning it to the table. Then Yuki turned around and left, with her friends running after her.
"Vi-Viktor, are you okay?!" The dark-haired boy got up from his seat and went to make sure that his boyfriend was fine while one of the waitress gave them a couple of towels before going back inside to look for more.
"I'm fine. But the milkshake is cold." Viktor replied with a genuine but embarrassed smile after thanking the waitress. Yuuri took one of the towels and tried to remove the strawberry from his long silver hair while Viktor wiped his face and clothes with the other towel. "Yuuri! I need a hug." He reached for his boyfriend, but Yuuri backed away.
"Change your clothes first and I'll consider it."
"Yuuri!" He begged like a rejected puppy, but Yuuri laughed. "How about you? You're fine?"
"Yes. I'm fine. I'm more worried about what those girls would do to you later."
"Don't worry about that, solnyshko. I'm sure Yuki won't risk me saying that we broke up because she cheated on me... Ugh. I just hope that nobody thinks I threw up on me." He said and they both laughed.
Although at first Yuuri wasn't very convinced of Viktor's words, the days passed, weeks passed, they had their date on White Day; the months passed again, but Yuki never bother them again.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Yuuri and Viktor were still 16 and 20 when they first attended a wedding... that wasn't theirs.
Yuuko had managed to hide from her parents that she was two months pregnant. Only his close friends and the father, Takeshi, knew about it. What the chestnut girl didn't know, and that she found out later when her parents noticed her weight and had her go to the doctor, is that she would have triplets.
When Takeshi and his parents found out about it, they didn't take too long to state the wedding date. They wanted the babies to be born in marriage to keep up appearances. Something that Yuuko thought it was silly. But she loved Takeshi and he loved her, so obviously they weren't going to refuse to marry. They decided to follow a trend and had an American style wedding, but simple, without a quirky dress, and with just few guests.
To no one's surprise, Yuuri and Viktor were chosen to be the wedding godparents, while Phichit was the one who delivered the rings and the one who took the photos, while Chris was the one who suggested the drinks.
"Yuuri, you look very handsome in a suit!" Viktor said in his ear during the banquet after the wedding. The dark-haired boy blushed but smiled.
"You too. Actually, you look like a magazine model."
"Well, my mother is a model. So it was obvious that I was going to inherit her beauty."
"Ugh, remind me not to keep drinking wine." Yuuri said suddenly when his head began to ache, and he hugged his boyfriend to lay his head against Viktor's shoulder when he felt dizzy. His parents had allowed him to drink alcohol because it was a special occasion.
"Yuuri, hurry up and grow fast so I can teach you how to drink." Said jokingly and Yuuri growled as Viktor took him off the dance floor so they wouldn't disturb those who kept dancing. "I don't want there to be another accident like the last time."
"Oh? You say our first kiss was an accident?" Yuuri asked mockingly, trying not to laugh.
"You know perfectly well that it was an accident. But it was an accident with a happy consequence and I'm glad it happened." He put a hand to Yuuri's cheek, and rested his forehead against his as they looked into each other's eyes.
At that time, the couple had their lips so close that they wished they could kiss. However, the problem was that they were still embarrassed to do it in front of their family and friends. The silver-haired man normally wouldn't have cared about that years ago, but since he had been long living in Japan, that made he gained a little more modesty and prudence.
But Yuuri, thanks to the wine, felt a little bolder and began the kiss, to which Viktor gladly correspond it in the same way. Phichit took many pictures of them that night, of course.
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