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One Step Closer

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Skate 10:

The Calm before the Storm

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A soft grunt escaped from dark haired male's mouth as sweats began trailing down his face, causing him to narrow his deep green eyes determinedly despite the tiredness he felt at the intense exercise from his physiotherapist in attempt of strengthen his ankle after two weeks of rest. He pulled his legs away from the machine and placed it down onto the floor as he took his towel around his neck to wipe away the sweat accumulating on his forehead. He stood up from the exercise machine and carefully made his way back towards the bench where his backpack was, taking a break while waiting for his doctor to come back. He twisted the cap on his mineral bottle and took a few gulp of the said water, quenching his thirst after an hour of exercising.

Placing the bottle back down beside him on the bench, he rummaged through his backpack for his phone and noticed a message from Viktor. Ryuuji blinked his deep emerald eyes in surprised at the message and couldn't help but let out a snort at the content. It was a picture of Viktor and Christophe posing by the pool. Shaking his head in amused, he placed his phone back into his bag and looked up to see his doctor came back from his short meeting. After giving a few tips and pointers to strengthen his ankle back, Ryuuji bid his doctor a goodbye and slowly walked out from the hospital towards the main entrance, calling a cab for his trip back to the hotel.

Thanking the ever kind driver, he passed him his fee and closed the door as he carefully walked up to the lobby, still feeling the soreness on his ankle. He told the reception his room number and took the key as he went up to the elevator.

"Hey! Sakamoto!"

Hearing someone calling out to him, the owner of the last name shifted his attention away from the LED numbering on the black screen above the elevator and was surprised to see none other than the Canadian skater, Jean-Jacques Leroy or better known as JJ with his girlfriend, "Hey," greeted the Japanese skater back to his fellow competitor as he pushed his hands deeper into the pocket of his deep brown trench coat.

"Fancy seeing you here," JJ grinned as he wrapped his arm around his lady, showing her off to the older male with an arrogant smirk upon his face, "I'm surprised. I never thought I'd see you here. Especially with those injuries," questioned the younger male as he motioned towards his ankle.

"Yeah, well. I've been giving another chance."

"Well, I wish you good luck then," answered JJ smugly as he walked past the older man with his Isabella, "Take care of yourself, old man."

A hint of frown instantly appeared on his face, annoyed for being called old man as Ryuuji shook his head at his behaviour and turned his attention back to the elevator, entering it as it opened the door for him, "I'm not that old, " muttered the man with a sigh as the elevator's door closed behind him.

Pushing the button to his floor, he stood silently inside the small compartment and took out his phone to see his Instagram feeds, reviewing pictures posted by his friends absentmindedly while thinking what kind of food he wanted to order from the reception since he's lazy to go down to the cafe. A ding sound snapped the man's attention back to reality and stepped out from the elevator, walking his way down the hall towards the room he shared with Viktor.

He slid his key card through its slot and slowly turned the doorknob to open the wooden door of his room. Ryuuji closed the door behind him and walked up to his bed near the window. Placing his backpack on top of his bed, he went up towards the large glass window beside his bed and couldn't help but admired the beautiful night scenery here in Barcelona.

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A bright streaming of sunlight hit the male's face, waking him up from his sleep as a pair of deep emerald eyes slowly opened to greet the world. Ryuuji grunted burning light entering his sight and turned his back towards the window, hoping to continue his sleep. He looked up at the bed beside him and couldn't help but noticed Viktor's gone from his bed.

Surprised by his absence, the dark haired man sighed, getting himself up from his bed as he went into the bathroom to get himself ready for the day. After 20 minutes of showering, he walked out from the bathroom with nothing but towel wrapped around his waist and stopped suddenly in the middle of his track to see two familiar looking male sitting on Viktor's bed.

"Ryuuji," greeted the Russian happily to his protégé, "I...oh..."

Noticing the state his protégé on, a moment of awkward silence filled the air between the three men inside the room as they looked at each other, waiting for someone to end the awkwardness of seeing Ryuuji's half naked body. A sound of someone cleared his throat interrupted Viktor's train of thought as he shifted his deep sea blue eyes away from his protégé to his friend sitting beside him, "Er... I think I'm going to wait for you guys outside" Christophe mumbled with a tint of blushes adorned on the apple of his cheek as he shifted his eyes away from Ryuuji wet gorgeous body. The Sweden skater got up from his seat on Viktor's bed and immediately run for the door, leaving the two men behind.

Embarrassed, Viktor coughed lightly in attempt of hiding the redness on his face and slowly stood up from his bed, saying, "I'll wait outside with Christophe," as he leaved Ryuuji alone for him to get dress. Ryuuji blinked his deep emerald green eyes and slowly shook his head with a hint of blushes on his face, dismissing the awkward thoughts circling inside his head at the incident as he went to the wardrobe for some clothes.

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After finished their training for the day, the organizer gave the skaters a day of leisure and told them to enjoy the day before the official competition tomorrow. Seeing this, Ryuuji took the opportunity to go sightseeing since it was his first time being here in Barcelona. Ever since he arrived here, his time was split between going rehabilitation and training, causing him to have no time to enjoy himself.

Taking his skates off from his feet, the black haired placed his shoes into his backpack and looked up to see his Russian coach walking towards him after having a chat with Christophe. Viktor stopped before his student and gave him a bottle of cold mineral water with a huge grin upon his beautiful face, "So," he smiled, "What are you going to do with your free time?"

He took the bottle off from his hand and thanked the older man as he twisted the cap off, "I don't know," he mumbled, taking a deep swig of the cold water, "Probably sightseeing or something," answered the man as he closed the bottle and placed it inside his backpack.

"Mind if I tag along?" Viktor asked as he took a step back, giving him some space to stand up from the bench while handing him his trench coat and scarf. A large slightly tan hand run its course through his dark hairs as a snort of amuses softly escaped from Ryuuji's mouth, "Of course you're going with me," he said, rolling his deep green eyes at the words as he took his trench coat and scarf from Viktor, "I'll probably be lost or something."

Buttoned up his trench coat, the dark haired male wrapped his scarf around his neck and went towards the entrance of the Ice Arena with Viktor beside him, discussing the places they're going to visit as they made their way to the car park for their rental car.

After 20 minutes of driving, they parked their rental car somewhere beside a street and made their way by foot into a shopping district. There were tons of people flooding the street, buying and visiting the stores around them, looking for some kind of souvenir to buy to remind them of the places they'd visit in Barcelona.

The sound of people chattering and the smell of street food greeted the two men as a pair of deep green eyes glancing around him, looking for something interesting to look at as he watched people passing by him and Viktor on the street.

Suddenly, a slightly cold sensation touched his bare hand, snapping his gaze away from the store towards his companion beside him. Ryuuji raised his eyebrows questionably at the Russian and looked down at their connected hands, wondering the reason for the sudden action as he tried to suppress the urge to blush at the unexpected touch. Viktor shrugged nonchalantly at the look he received from his fellow skater and gave him an innocent look as he tugged the dark haired male along him into a store.

With that, the two of them spent their day together, shopping and taking pictures as they enjoyed the beauty sceneries around Barcelona. After three hours of shopping none stop, they finally decided to have their lunch somewhere in a beautiful antic looking coffee shop located not far from Carmel Hill where the famous Park Güell is. Ryuuji took a big sip of his black coffee and sighed blissfully at the warm travelling inside him body, unaware of a certain male taking picture of him drinking his coffee.

A soft hum softly emitted from the grey haired man's lips as he nodded, satisfied by the candid shot and secretly post it in his Instagram account as his story while tagging their location so people knew where they were. Placing his phone back into the pocket of his jacket, he took a sip of his hot chocolate and glanced at the large window beside them to see the people walking passed by. A familiar looking blonde haired young man caught Viktor's eyes as he watched him walking along with another male.

"Viktor."

Shifting his deep blue eyes away from the two men, the owner of the name looked up at his companion and couldn't help but noticed the curious look given by Ryuuji at him for his lack of attention. Viktor shook his head to dismiss the curiosity swirling inside his mind at the two men walking passed them and plastered a smile as he took another sip of his hot chocolate, "What is it?" he questioned, placing his mug back onto the wooden table between them.

"I heard there's a Christmas market not far from here," informed the black haired male as he shifted eyes briefly at the direction Viktor had been looking, missing the passing couple walked past them at the shop as he shifted his eyes back at the person sitting before him, "And I was wondering if we could check it out."

"Sure."

Paying for their lunch, the two men walked out from the little coffee shop and travelled down the street along with the crowd as they made their way towards the said Christmas market. Along the way, the constant sound of people talking and the smell of street food accompanied them as they looked around at the beautiful architecture surrounded the town. As the sun began to set in the horizon, they arrived at the market and couldn't help but admired the beautiful lights lightened the way along the Christmas market.

"It's beautiful," mumbled Ryuuji wistfully with a hint of smile plastered upon his lips at the warm atmosphere surrounded the market.

A pair of deep blue eyes pulled its gaze away from the light and placed it onto the tall handsome man standing beside him. Viktor smiled at the genuine happiness adorned on the man's face and took the large hand into his as he pulled Ryuuji along down the street to see what their selling for Christmas, "Come on," he said, looking around for something interesting to look while thinking of something to buy for Ryuuji.

Chuckled at Viktor's impatient, the Japanese skater gave the said hand a light squeeze and followed along his coach, enjoying the night together as they shopping for some souvenir for their family back in Japan. After spending for about two hours looking around the market, they took a rest on an empty bench near an old church located on the edge of the market and sighed as they took their breather.

Ryuuji looked up at the old church building in front of them and shifted his gaze away towards a jewellery shop not far from their resting place. Remembering something, he placed the shopping bags down beside him and turned his attention to his partner, excusing himself for awhile as he made his way towards the shop.

Viktor blinked at the retreating black haired male and took the shopping bags into his for safe keeping while pulling his phone out from his pocket to see the comments on the pictures he posted about his day-out with Ryuuji. There were many pictures they took together and mostly were candid pictures of Ryuuji. The one he liked the most was a picture of them standing in front of a larger fountain in Ciutadella Park.

In the said picture, Ryuuji was smiling, standing casually in front of fountain with his right hand in his pocket and his left hand around Viktor's shoulder, hugging him sideway and in returned Viktor hugged Ryuuji around his waist. Both of them were smiling in the picture. Well, mostly. Ryuuji was the one who was smiling while Viktor was supporting a huge grin upon his beautiful face. The Russian even made the picture as his profile picture for his Instagram account.

Smiling at the comments he received from his fans, he scrolled over the feeds, watching the others posted about their free day and couldn't help but noticed the upcoming footsteps of a person coming his way. He pulled his deep blue gaze away from the screen of his iPhone and looked up to see Ryuuji came back from wherever the way he went to.

Ryuuji took a seat back beside the older man and released a deep breath of exhaustion as he rest for a moment or two, letting his heartbeat down for something he about to do. The two sat there in silence, enjoying each other company as they watched people walking passed by them. Swallowing his fear, the protégé turned his head at his mentor and called out to him to get his attention. Viktor blinked his deep blue eyes and turned his head at his partner, confused.

"It's you birthday right? On Christmas," he asked, eyes gazing deeply into his as he pushed his hand deeper into the pocket of his trench coat.

"Yeah," Viktor nodded, "But I usually don't celebrate. Even back then in Russia."

"Well, we're celebrating it now," said Ryuuji firmly as he pulled out a small jewellery box from his pocket.

Viktor froze; eyes widened in surprised as he watched him opened the said box, showing him a pair of silver rings with engraved words on it. Pulling out one of the rings, the dark haired male looked down at the ring and turned it to him to see the engraved words written on it, "Viktor," he murmured, raising his deep green eyes into his blue one as he took Viktor's hand, "I know it's not much. And I know it probably sound silly but I bought this promise rings as a reminder for me... for us of the promise we've made back then. The promise of us creates history together. I don't know if I could fulfil that dream anymore. I don't know if I could accomplish it but I hope that with this ring, I could find the strength to give you my very best in attempt to achieve it. So, thank you. Thank you for being here with me, for standing here by my side even when I'm down, for being the pillar, the support I need to continue moving forward in life. I might not able to give you the gold I'd promised you, but I could give you my heart, my effort in obtaining it. So, until then, pray for me would you"

With those spoken words, Ryuuji took Viktor's right hand and asked him to remove the glove. The Russian shakily took off his glove and placed it once again into Ryuuji's as he looked up at his partner, watching him closely as he slid the ring onto his ring finger. Feeling bold, he lifted his hand up to his lips and kissed the piece of jewellery, "Promise being kept," he murmured, breathing out the words against his bare skin as he raised his gaze up to Viktor, sending shiver down his spine at the intense look inside his pair of deep green orbs.

Viktor gently pulled his hand out from his hold and couldn't help but looked down at the ring on his finger. Seeing the spoken words engraved on the surface of the silver ring, a pair of deep blue eye instantly softened as he raised his head up to the person sitting beside him. Feeling nothing but warmth flooding inside his chest, Viktor smiled, taking the matching silver ring out from its box as he read the engraved words on it, "Then I hope you can create the miracle you needed to win," he said as he slid the other ring onto Ryuuji's right ring finger, letting the words 'History being create' showed on its surface.

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"Oi! Viktor! Ryuuji! Over here!"

Hearing a familiar loud voice calling out their name, the two of them turned their heads at the speaker and noticed their group of friends sitting together not far from the main entrance of the restaurant. Viktor grinned and grabbed Ryuuji's right arm as he pulled him towards his best friend. He took an empty seat beside the Kazakhstan's skater, Otabek Altin, and pulled the black haired male down beside him as he greeted the Sweden male with a huge smile upon his face.

Ryuuji shook his head in amused at the older man eagerness to be with his best friend and turned his attention around the room to find the waiter. He lifted his right hand up to catch the waiter's attention, unaware showing the other of his new piece of jewellery on his finger as he waited patiently for the waiter to come.

Chris, who had been listening to his friend babbling about his day with Ryuuji, caught a glint of the silver ring on his man's finger and looked over to the person sitting next to him. Noticing the same kind ring adorned on Ryuuji's right hand, he placed his drink down onto the table and called out to them, asking "Is that a wedding ring?" as he glanced between the men curiously.

Hearing this, all of the people inside the group instantly pulled their attention away from their talk to the two of them, noticing the ring on their finger. A loud gasp of surprised emitted from Phitchit's mouth at the sight as he pointed his finger out at them, "OMG! You guys married!" he exclaimed with his big dark eyes sparked in excitement and joy as he loudly congratulated his senior for his marriage, "Everyone," he shouted, catching the other people's attention inside the restaurant, "My brother here just got married."

A loud applaud and a shout of congratulation answered the happy news announced by the young skater as Ryuuji looked at his junior in shock, unbelief at what happened moments ago as he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in distress at what's to come from this announcement. Chris laughed at the miserable look plastered on the man's face and shook his head in amused at the gloomy figure sitting beside his friend as Viktor comforted his so-called husband.

Early the next morning, while Viktor's still sleeping, Ryuuji leaved the room and decided to take a walk along the seaside near the hotel to calm his thought before the tournament. He looked out over the horizon and watched as he waited patiently for the sun to rise from its sleep to greet the world with its light. Being on the seaside and feeling the soft sea breeze against his skin, all of it reminded him of Hasetsu. It's been awhile and he couldn't help but feel a little homesick. He took a deep breath of the cold morning air and exhaled it loudly from his mouth as he raised his head up towards the skies.

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"Yuuri! Come on. The Grand Prix Final is about to starts," shouted Yuuko to her childhood friend as she snuggled closer to her husband for warmth, while her triplet bundled up together under their blanket as they waited for the reporter to finish his introduction.

The owner of the name placed his smart phone down on top of his desk inside his bed room and quickly exited the room to see the GPF along with his family and friends, forgetting to turn his screen off after finished looking at the picture posted by Phichit.

It was a picture of him and others skaters having dinner together inside a restaurant but the one that caught his attention were Viktor and Ryuuji. Inside the picture, Viktor was beaming happily in the centre with his right hand raised, showing off the silver ring adorned on his ring finger. Next to the Russian was none other than his former senior, Ryuuji, with his hand covering his flushed face and on his finger where a same pair of silver ring Viktor wore. Underneath the picture, Phichit wrote about them being married without invited him and hashtag it with their so-called couple name, 'VitRyu.'

Yuuri shook his head in amused at the thought and looked up at the TV screen as he waited patiently for the Japanese reporter to announce the skaters who were going to compete for the GPF in Barcelona. After a few minutes of explaining the history behind the GPF, the six finalists made their appearance beside the ice rink, greeting the crowd as they prepared themselves for their first program.

Yuuri's eyes were instantly focused at the two men who had become his mentors for the past months. The two of them were standing together near the entrance of the rink, talking among each other as Ryuuji stretched to get himself ready for his turn in ice. He nodded at something Viktor said and took a step out into the ice.

Before he could begins his short program, Viktor caught his hand and pulled the man back to face him, murmuring something to him as he lifted his right hand to kiss Ryuuji's ring. The camera instantly focused at the two men's' intimate moment for the audiences to witness and couldn't help but noticed the shining silver rings adorned on their ring finger.

"OH MY GOD! IS THAT A WEDDING RING?!" exclaimed Minako-sensei in shock as she pointed towards the screen, noticing the matching pair of rings on the men's finger, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I WASN"T INVITED TO THEIR WEDDING!"

Yuuri sweat dropped at his teacher's behaviour as she raging about going to Barcelona to find Ryuuji and forced him to make her as his wedding planner for his wedding back in Japan. He shook his head and continued watching his mentors achieving his dream in winning the gold in the Grand Prix Final.

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