Summary:
So, fine, maybe Yuuri's a little bored and lonely when he likes a dating profile claiming to be Viktor Nikiforov. And, maybe, he's a little pathetic when he gets excited when the account messages him almost immediately after. And, he's definitely stupid for falling in love with someone pretending to be his idol, but he can't help it. It's not like it's the real Viktor Nikiforov, anyway. He knows someone is catfishing him, but he still falls ridiculously in love.
the "real" viktor nikiforov - thishasbeencary
It all started a few months before the Grand Prix Series. Yuuri was on FaceTime with his sister, trying to tell her about all of the progress he was making as a skater (and, yes, she was listening, even if she didn't completely understand everything that he was saying, he knew that), when she butted in with: "Don't you do anything but work?"
Yuuri blinked in surprise, the question throwing him off guard at first. "I skate?" Was his complete and total answer, unsure what his sister was even trying to suggest of him.
"Yuuri, that doesn't count. Skating for you is work. Don't you go to parties or something? You're in college! Phichit would probably be able to find you something fun to do!" She insisted, and Yuuri sighed, knowing that she wouldn't leave this conversation until he agreed to have 'more fun'. Skating was fun! It didn't count that it also happened to be what he was doing with his life at the moment.
"I'm not really… Parties don't really sound appealing, Mari." He sighed, laying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, watching Phichit methodically clean the hamster cage (honestly, how did he even get away with having those things? Sure, they were adorable, but they definitely were not within the agreement they signed for this apartment). "I'm an awful drunk, like Dad, anyway. That wouldn't be fun, it would just be humiliating."
"Don't you want to meet people?" Mari continued to push.
"I have Phichit!" His friend looked up at the mention of his name, grinning and giving Yuuri a thumbs up even though Yuuri knew that he could only pick up the basics of his conversation with his sister. Yuuri rolled his eyes, smiling fondly at his friend before motioning at him to pay attention to his hamsters, one of which was trying very hard to escape from its temporary home (a box one of them had received a package in a few weeks ago).
Phichit grabbed the hamster as Mari answered, "Phichit doesn't count. He was a forced friendship, because you skate with him and you live with him. And don't give me shit about having other friends there, you know what I mean, Yuuri. You've been there for nearly five years and unless you've been hiding it from me, you haven't dated anyone!"
"Maybe I'm not interested in dating anyone!" Yuuri shot back, but he knew Mari's response before she even had to say it.
"Bullshit, Yuuri. You'd be great with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and we all know you're hung up on that Russian skater you've never met." And Yuuri sighed, because it was really no use trying to tell his sister that he was not hung up on Viktor Nikiforov. Just because Yuuri had a… few posters of him, and a body pillow, and… y'know, other merch didn't mean that he wanted to date Viktor Nikiforov.
"I don't have time to go on dates and stuff, Mari. The Grand Prix Series is coming soon, and I'm probably qualifying, and Celestino thinks I might have a chance of actually making it into the Finals, so I need to pay attention to my skating or else – "
"Listen to me and don't say a word until I'm done." Mari cut in, and Yuuri obediently silenced, letting her say whatever it was that she was going to say. "You're an awesome skater, Yuuri, and Celestino is probably right, but working yourself to death isn't going to do you any good. Maybe don't even go on any dates until after the Final! You can wait until the Final to ever say that you're going to date, just… talk to someone."
"Mari, how would I just talk to someone who wants me to be interested in dating them?"
"Online dating!" Mari exclaimed, and Yuuri blinked, a sense of dread filling his stomach, because something gave him the feeling that this was already a done deal, and not something that he could simply get out of. "I already sent Phichit your username and password, and he is going to help you set the rest of it up." His sister and roommate were familiar enough with each other that this didn't really surprise Yuuri, even if he did feel a little betrayed by Phichit still 'innocently' cleaning the hamster cage. "I'm not saying this has to turn into anything, Yuuri, just… try talking to someone. Even just one person. It could be good for you."
"I'm only saying yes because I know that you and Phichit won't let me out of this." Yuuri groaned, looking over to his friend, while his sister went on about the site she'd picked (something about it being international, because he would probably eventually come back to Hasetsu, that she already filled in a lot of his profile, and that he'd be fine).
"Good! Okay, then work with Phichit and finish setting it up! This could be good for you, Yuuri. Plus, it's not like you ever have to meet up with anyone you talk to, you could probably even go into it just saying you'd probably just like friends if you're more comfortable with that." She soothed him, and Yuuri smiled, because he knew that if he'd acted even slightly more uncomfortable with the idea, his sister would have dropped it and made sure that Phichit never mentioned it.
"Whatever you say. Goodbye, Mari. I'll talk to you next week." Yuuri kept the app open long enough to hear his sister say goodbye as well before clicking it off and turning toward Phichit, narrowing his eyes at his friend's increasingly innocent act.
"Mari told me what you two plotted." He switched to English again to talk to his roommate, and apparently just bringing it up was enough to make Phichit light up.
"So you agreed?" He grinned, saying nothing more until he finished cleaning and setting the hamsters back into their cage. "Yuuri, it'll be awesome! And if you meet any creeps on there, I'll fight them for you, don't worry." Phichit grinned at him, and Yuuri rolled his eyes at him.
"I only agreed because I knew you and Mari would try to push me to do something else if I didn't." Phichit ignored him, already unlocking Yuuri's phone (because it was no use having a code Phichit didn't know, he'd figure it out somehow, or else he'd take selfies with Yuuri's phone locked until he nearly filled the phone's entire memory).
"I downloaded it on your phone last night, because I was hoping you'd say yes, or at least not notice it until I deleted it. So Mari and I already got a lot of it up. We need a more recent picture, but we listed some of your interests as figure skating, dogs, and food, and said that you were from Japan but in America, but we didn't say where, because we didn't know how comfortable you'd be. And we need to put down your career, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it saying figure skating, and we clicked the box for men and women, so you don't need to worry about that, and – The rest should be done. Smile!" Phichit took the phone and aimed it at Yuuri's face, which was shocked in the first few pictures, and then he forced a smile. Phichit kept taking pictures until he nodded at one, doing something (probably uploading it) and glancing to Yuuri.
"Um…" This was sort of a lot of overwhelming information in a few seconds, but he'd be fine. "I… I mean, I am a figure skater, so I guess we have to list that. We can say Michigan, but probably not Detroit." He was already planning how to avoid using this app at all costs.
"Perfect!" Phichit typed for a few more seconds before passing Yuuri's phone back off to him. "I put it in your folder with Instagram and other social media apps so you'd be able to find it easily." He grinned at Yuuri, obviously trying to be helpful, and Yuuri smiled kindly in return. Really, Phichit was awesome, if overwhelming. And he knew they'd both drop it if he really didn't want it (a point he had to keep reiterating to himself).
Yuuri didn't touch the app for three days. Maybe it was embarrassment, or maybe just because he was nervous about it, but he didn't want to even look at it. He went and trained with Celestino, and did his work, and ignored that it even existed. He was fine.
And then on Friday, Phichit got invited to a party and Yuuri didn't want to go with him, but encouraged him to still go. So Phichit was gone, and Yuuri was alone in their apartment with the squeaking of his hamsters and the methodical clicking and screeching of the wheel that Phichit really needed to fix in their cage.
And that was what finally drove him to pick up his phone, and look for the app, opening it up to see an influx of matches that they had selected for him (as well as a few messages of people already having liked his profile, or sent him a message). The majority of the messages were either creepy or too awkward to respond to, so he deleted them and blocked the creepier.
After he'd gone through all of the notifications the app had been dinging him with for days, Yuuri started scrolling through the matches, sighing. Why had he agreed to letting Mari and Phichit do this to him? He was about to close the app when a profile caught his eye, and he blushed red.
v-nikiforov was the username, matched with a picture of Viktor Nikiforov that Yuuri (was shocked to admit that he) had never seen before. While, of course, it was ridiculous to imagine his idol using this app, Yuuri stared at the profile for a moment before clicking through it, smiling at the answers they'd given to all of the ridiculous questions the app asked. A few would have been obvious answers from Viktor's various answers in interviews, but some they had to make up, and they were just… so Viktor that Yuuri felt himself being charmed by someone who was pretending to be his idol on an online dating site.
It was probably the picture of Viktor kissing Makkachin's cheek that finally got Yuuri (who, at this point, was incredibly embarrassed) to like the profile, turning the app off and setting his phone down to go to sleep.
In the morning, he woke up to see that more people had liked his profile on the app, and he scrolled down, smiling softly when he saw that v-nikiforov had. It wasn't like he'd ever talk to the profile or anything, but it was still touching that someone pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov liked his online dating profile (and a little embarrassing. He hoped whoever it was didn't know who he was, and didn't mention this online or anything).
He kept the notification, going into his messages, where he froze when he saw one from v-nikiforov.
v-nikiforov: hi! :) i'm viktor nikiforov, which you could probably guess from my profile, haha!
v-nikiforov: i saw you liked dogs? what's your opinion on poodles?
Make that two from Viktor Nikiforov (no, Yuuri reminded himself, the person pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov), one sent right after the other. He stared at them for a long moment, looking around the room before breathing out. What was the harm in responding?
k-yuuri: i'm yuuri. it's nice to meet you, viktor.
k-yuuri: i love poodles :) i have one back in japan that my sister takes care of while i'm gone
He just hoped that v-nikiforov wouldn't ask for his poodle's name, because even admitting to a fake Viktor that he named his poodle after the other skater felt a little bit ridiculous. He set his phone to the side to open up his homework, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his phone ring beside him – signaling a new message.
v-nikiforov: send me pictures! this is my makkachin :) such a good dog 333
Attached to the message were three different pictures of Makkachin, none of which Yuuri had ever seen before. Where were they getting these pictures? He was following Viktor's Instagram and Twitter, and it was unmistakably Viktor's gigantic poodle in the pictures. Was there some new social media that Viktor had that Yuuri wasn't aware of? Surely, Phichit would've told him that.
k-yuuri: makkachin's cute, haha!
k-yuuri: this is my most recent picture of my poodle my sister has sent me
He attached the picture of Vicchan Mari had sent them last time they talked, curled up underneath a table fast asleep while business clearly hustled around him, not caring in the slightest. Yuuri smiled softly at the poodle, wishing he could have brought Vicchan with him here. But it was too far, and the apartment didn't allow pets (which was why the hamsters were still an enigma to Yuuri).
v-nikiforov: :o he's so SMALL!
v-nikiforov: i can't ever remember makka being that small i've had her for so long 333
And Yuuri texted this fake Viktor about poodles for four hours, smiling at all of the pictures and stories they provided, all sounding amazingly in character for Viktor, but feeling a little sad as the conversation progressed. This wasn't Viktor Nikiforov, Yuuri had no idea who he was talking to right now, and it… frankly, it wasn't fair. He was actually enjoying this conversation, and he was knowingly being catfished.
What made it worse was that they probably knew that he was aware, too, since he'd listed that he was interested in figure skating and was a figure skater. Why did they bother messaging him?
That didn't stop him from five hours of nonstop communication with v-nikiforov, trading stories and fun facts about their dogs, their favorite foods, where they came from and where they'd been. Neither of them mentioned figure skating, which was obviously a hard topic, because… well, that's where they'd both know that this was over. Was it even possible that v-nikiforov was enjoying their conversation as much as Yuuri?
It was nearly four o'clock when the conversation finally had to end.
v-nikiforov: i've got practice early tomorrow so i have to go x(
v-nikiforov: i hope i'll talk to you soon? 333
v-nikiforov: but it may be a few days :( yakov is awful with the grand prix coming soon
v-nikiforov: спокойной ночи 3
Yuuri looked up the Russian phrase, and saw that it simply meant goodnight, so he smiled, messaging back his own similar goodbye before setting his phone down, blinking.
And this was how it went on for about a week. Every day, Yuuri would message v-nikiforov in his free time, and when Viktor was answering. He didn't pick up at all for two days, the next day coming back with an apology for being in practice – just proving how much they were taking this game. They were so interesting, though! Not just in pretending to be Viktor, but they told such good stories, and they were riveting, and…
It was the second day of silence, just over a week after he'd started messaging v-nikiforov that he knew that he had to admit to Phichit what he was doing. They were sitting in the apartment, watching re-runs of some awful American show, and Yuuri glanced at Phichit, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic.
"So, um… I've been using the app you and Mari downloaded for me." He blushed red, looking up at Phichit, who'd dropped his interest in the show in immediate excitement.
"Yuuri, you've met someone!"
"No, I haven't! I haven't! But I have been talking to someone, and, uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward for even thinking about admitting it, but Phichit wouldn't drop it now, so he swallowed and let go of it all at once. "I've been talking to an account that's pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov. Not, like, to date them or anything, I just – they're… really interesting."
Trying to qualify what he was doing did nothing, and he expected Phichit to start laughing at him, but his friend just grinned, extending his hand in an unspoken request for his phone. Yuuri handed it off and let Phichit scan through their messages from the week. "They're good!" Phichit grinned. "Have you seen some of these pictures? Where do you think they get them all?"
And Phichit wasn't laughing, so Yuuri grinned, leaning over. "I don't know," He admitted. "I haven't seen a lot of them, which is weird, because…" He trailed off, blushing again, knowing that Phichit knew exactly how that sentence ended. Because Yuuri had an unreasonable obsession with Viktor Nikiforov.
"That's so weird, Yuuri. You've got competition for Viktor Nikiforov's number one fan," He teased, shoving Yuuri's side with a laugh, and Yuuri shoved him back, and what probably should have been a serious conversation dissolved into a wrestling match pretty quickly when Phichit started taking selfies.
(One did end up on Instagram of them laughing, Yuuri grinning victoriously above him, having gotten his phone back.)
Yuuri kept texting v-nikiforov throughout the next few weeks, opening up more and more as 'Viktor' did. He sent a few pictures of himself, but mostly the things that he was doing, scenery, weird signs or buildings. v-nikiforov would respond with more pictures of Makkachin, and every so often a picture of Viktor that Yuuri had never seen.
It was their month anniversary (of texting) that Yuuri finally admitted to being a skater, his anxiety ramping up.
k-yuuri: so the gp series starts soon
k-yuuri: how do you feel about your assignments?
v-nikiforov: they should be fine :)
v-nikiforov: giacometti and altin are rising forces but it's a lot of new names this year :)
k-yuuri: ahh, yeah. like. um. mine.
v-nikiforov: :o
v-nikiforov: yours!?
'Viktor' was silent for a few minutes, and Yuuri sat there in anxiety, waiting for what he might say.
v-nikiforov: katsuki yuuri? is that you?
v-nikiforov: you're amazing!
Yuuri was frustrated again now, because why weren't they admitting to not being Viktor? Why weren't they apologizing and letting him move on with his life!?
k-yuuri: aha, i guess so.
k-yuuri: i'm nervous i guess i've never been in such a big competition
v-nikiforov: you'll be amazing!
k-yuuri: you've never seen me skate
v-nikiforov: but i know you. i know how good you'll be
k-yuuri: this is different, viktor.
k-yuuri: i've got really bad anxiety and i can't handle the crowds half the times, and i get worried about every little thing and i can barely land my jumps in competition. honestly, i'm a mess and i don't even know how i made it this far. i'm just lucky that i got to train back in hasetsu whenever i wanted because my friends worked at the rink and i got to go whenever i wanted which is the only reason i made it this far and i know that celestino has faith in me but i don't think i can do it, viktor.
Yuuri was having a breakdown to someone pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov. Yuuri was telling someone on an online dating site catfishing him as his figure skating idol that he didn't think that he could actually figure skate, like he thought that he might get some advice. He just… trusted v-nikiforov, as weird as it sounded. He was incredibly frustrated that he didn't know the person behind the act, because he felt like he did. Through all of the anecdotes, and pictures, and everything else…
And Yuuri froze, looking at his messages, before burying his face into his hands. He'd fallen in love with an online dating profile pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov.
Before he had time to even process what he'd realized, 'Viktor''s response came through.
v-nikiforov: yuuri, take a deep breath. 3 i don't know how hard your anxiety is but i think everyone has at least a little, especially in their first major competition. mine was so long ago that that sort of thing really doesn't faze me any more, but i remember when it did. it's hard, i know it is, but you wouldn't be here if you didn't deserve it. there are so many aspiring figure skaters throughout the world trying to get into this and other competitions, and so clearly you've got something that they don't have, and even if you come in last, you're still one of few who even made it into the qualifiers.
v-nikiforov: plus, i just watched through a little of a recent performance of yours, and you do deserve this, yuuri. you're unbelievable! maybe your jumps aren't perfect, but your step sequences are maybe better than mine, and the emotion you put into your skating is something i wish i could do
v-nikiforov: and, if it makes you feel better?
v-nikiforov: just skate like you're skating for me :)
v-nikiforov: (and i'll also send you more pictures of makkachin, because who wouldn't feel better with more pictures of makkachin)
k-yuuri: thank you, viktor.
k-yuuri: and i'll never say no to more makkachin pictures :)
Yuuri felt pathetic for smiling, for breathing out, for relaxing, but he did. v-nikiforov somehow knew exactly what to say, and said it exactly as he needed to say it. Before, he had skated with Viktor in mind, but this was different. This wasn't Viktor. This was v-nikiforov, pretending to be Viktor, and somehow making Yuuri fall in love with him.
Maybe he'd ask who they really were if he qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
It had been nearly a week since Yuuri had talked about Viktor Nikiforov.
Wait, no. Scratch that.
It had been nearly a week since Yuuri had talked about the real Viktor Nikiforov. v-nikiforov from the dating app? Phichit didn't know if his roommate had ever talked more about someone than he did about v-nikiforov (and that nearly included Viktor himself). Yuuri was enamored, and it was a red alert for Phichit.
For example, three days ago, Viktor Nikiforov had released a new interview, about his dog, no less. Usually, within three days, Yuuri would have read it at least twice, looked for alternate translations, Googled specific Russian phrases he didn't like the translation of, ordered a copy of it from Russia, given Phichit at least three summaries of the article, and stared at the pictures for a few hours.
He hadn't mentioned it once.
Not only that, but Phichit didn't even think he'd read the article yet. An article about Makkachin with Viktor Nikiforov! Yeah, it was small and for some random pet store in Russia, but that didn't matter. Yuuri was the kind of person who knew every little thing that Viktor Nikiforov did by heart, and made sure that Phichit was aware of it as well.
Not only that, but the assignments for the Grand Prix Series came out. Yuuri, of course, had immediately woken him up to show him where he was going, but he didn't even seem disappointed that he was in none of the same places as Viktor Nikiforov, instead just going on and on about his own and his anxiety (which Phichit talked him down from). But not a single second was spent on Viktor Nikiforov.
That's right, Phichit hadn't heard a word about the article or the fact that he might finally skate on the same ice as Viktor Nikiforov (which was, like, Yuuri's figure skating dream), and it was worrying him. Because, what he did hear a word (or two, or three, or a million) about was v-nikiforov. How v-nikiforov made up the cutest stories about Makkachin; how v-nikiforov stayed up late with him when he 'had practice the next day'; how v-nikiforov talked him down from his anxiety about the Grand Prix, too. It was like every other word was about v-nikiforov. The catfish on that stupid dating app that he and Mari had set up for him, that Yuuri was talking to nearly nonstop at this point.
Actually, that's probably what his roommate was doing on his phone right now while he got ready for class.
And this was all that Phichit knew about v-nikiforov: They were pretending to be Russian figure skating legend Viktor Nikiforov on an online dating app and his best friend, who happened to be a figure skater as well, was obsessed with them. He also was pretty sure that v-nikiforov had to know that Yuuri, the man he'd been talking to for weeks at this point, was Katsuki Yuuri. You can't pretend to be a figure skater without knowing Yuuri, especially now that he'd gotten a place in qualifiers for the Grand Prix Series, well on his way to becoming a finalist.
Like, Phichit was about 97% sure that his best friend and roommate was going to be a finalist at the Grand Prix Final, and that was so incredibly exciting. The leftover 3% was room for error – Yuuri's anxiety was a mess, and if anything was going to stop him, it would be that. And Yuuri had so much anxiety that it warranted a 3% chance that he wouldn't make it to the Grand Prix Final.
Which basically meant that Yuuri was going to the Grand Prix Final.
Now, that was another problem. The real problem here was v-nikiforov.
"Phichit?" Shit, how long had Yuuri been talking to him? Phichit glanced up to meet his friend's eyes, who smiled kindly at him, setting his phone down into his pocket (so, yeah, he'd been talking to v-nikiforov). "I'm headed to class, and I'm going to try to see if Celestino is free afterwards to work on that quad salchow I keep falling during. I'll be back for dinner?" He was tugging on the strap of his backpack, clearly still worried about the Grand Prix even after Phichit (and v-nikiforov) had told him he'd be fine.
"Sounds good! Don't let Ciao-Ciao work you too hard. Oh!" Phichit stood up as Yuuri headed to the door. "Don't forget your phone charger!" Because Yuuri's phone died insanely fast the past few weeks, since he was on it more often. Because of v-nikiforov.
Yuuri flushed red, knowing what Phichit was bringing up, surely, and grabbed his charger before disappearing out the door.
Now, look, Phichit absolutely did not disapprove of Yuuri talking to someone, or he wouldn't have suggested to Mari that they get him to join that app in the first place. He also was not jealous of v-nikiforov, even though he realized that sometimes he sort of thought about it. Yuuri was allowed to have other friends, he did have other friends. Some catfish on an online dating app had no threat to his role as best friend.
No, what worried Phichit so much about v-nikiforov was the fact that Yuuri was absolutely in love with him. He hadn't said it out loud to Phichit, not yet, but it was obvious. He'd sit on his phone, smiling away like Phichit had never seen before, and what else was he supposed to think?
Phichit waited until his friend was completely out of the room to check for a reasonable time in Japan. Look, being thirteen hours behind was a large time difference, and Phichit thought it was better to Google it than to forget it every time and mess up. Yes, Yuuri's sister stayed up to weird hours in the night and got up at weird hours in the morning for her brother, but Yuuri would do the same, and their calls were at planned times. They knew what days they'd have to get up early or stay up late.
What he was trying to say was that Phichit wasn't going to wake Yuuri's sister up. They usually communicated over text or email, but this was something that Phichit had to tell her out loud. Had Yuuri even mentioned the catfish to his sister? If he hadn't, he really should, but it was too late if he hadn't, because Phichit was going to.
to mari: when are you free in the next like two days you need to tell me asap this is a code red mari
from mari: A code red? About what, Yuuri?
Why was she awake? Maybe he'd accidentally woken her up after all. Wait, no – Phichit looked down at the clock on his phone and shrugged. It was one in Japan. He probably hadn't woken her up. Okay. Good.
to mari: yuuri's been using the app we told him to
from mari Good.
from mari: Why is that a code red, we told him to use it, Phichit?
to mari: it's not life or death but i have to tell you out loud
to mari: when are you free!?
from mari: Right now I guess if it's serious enough for you to be asking me when to call me?
to mari: okay, then, good, i'll skype you !
Phichit immediately opened up the other app on his computer and clicked on Yuuri's sister's name to start the call, sitting so he was facing the door, even though he knew that it would probably be hours before Yuuri got back. He just didn't want his friend walking in on this conversation, because Phichit was worried about Yuuri.
When Mari picked up, she hadn't bothered to turn the lights on, which was fine, because Skype was just more convenient than long distance phone calls, and that's why they defaulted to it. He was just grateful that a) Yuuri had let him meet his sister, b) Yuuri's sister had liked him, and c) Yuuri's sister spoke at least a little English, if not as well as his roommate.
"So what's this problem so bad you had to call me to tell me?"
"Yuuri met someone on the app." Phichit started with that, even though he'd already texted it, because he had to get Mari caught up on the whole story.
"So you mentioned."
"Weeks ago. He started talking to him weeks ago and he talks to him nonstop. But, Mari, it's not a good thing, because this guy is absolutely not who he says he is," Phichit said, his eyes flicking toward the door again (even though he knew that Yuuri knew that v-nikiforov was not Viktor).
"How do you know?" Mari had flicked a light on, and was peering at the camera in worry. Probably for her brother's safety, because they both knew it wasn't like Yuuri to do something like this.
"Because they're pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov."
"Oh, shit." Mari breathed out the words and was silent for a few moments, as if trying to figure out what to do. "You have the app, right? Can you look the account up, do you know who they are?"
"v-nikiforov. It's Viktor's Twitter and Instagram handle, which is impressive they'd be able to get that account name, but… Still." He paused, before blinking. "Why would I look him up?"
"You literally just made that app so you could try to convince Yuuri if just asking him didn't work, didn't you?" Mari laughed, grabbing her own phone. "Some accounts put a phone number down, for calling each other. In case they prefer that more than texting. You could always try calling up the account and say you know what's up. Give them a shovel talk. I mean, if they're pretending to be Nikiforov, would they know who Yuuri is?"
"Probably. Especially now that he and Viktor are probably going to be in competition together, since Yuuri'll probably make it to the Grand Prix Final, and Viktor absolutely will."
"Then see if the profile has a phone number listed and call them up and demand to know why they'd do this to Yuuri." Mari suggested, and it was a good suggestion, but…
"What if that hurts Yuuri? What if they stop talking to him? Mari, the red alert also extends to another matter, Yuuri hasn't brought up the real Viktor Nikiforov for nearly a week."
"But v-nikiforov?"
"Every day."
"Shit." Mari repeated, and Phichit sat in silence while she made the decision of what to do. "Well, I mean, it'll hurt him more if we let him fall in love with this guy, and get his heart broken knowingly. Yuuri does know he's a fake, right?"
"Of course Yuuri knows. Do you really think he'd be talking to him if it was Viktor?" Phichit sighed, because he wished that wasn't the proof, but Yuuri would probably die if he was faced with a conversation with Viktor Nikiforov. Especially one as intimate (and so incredibly flirty at times. Yes, Phichit had read some of their messages) as his ones with v-nikiforov.
"I guess that's true. Then you should still call him. And if not threaten him, then… at least have some idea of who this guy is."
"I guess so…"
"Do it while we're on Skype, then! I assume you're on your computer?"
Phichit nodded, and that was a better idea, so he grabbed his phone and opened the app, typing in v-nikiforov's username. "What's bad about this plan is I don't know why the hell someone pretending to be someone else would list a phone number," He muttered while the app loaded (screw campus WiFi).
"Because they probably expect no one would call it. Or, if someone did, they'd just ignore it, or something. Or maybe it's a fake phone number. I don't know. If there's no phone number, there might be an email. You've got a name in the figure skating community, right? I mean, they might know who you are, too?"
"I guess so. I haven't made any major competitions yet, but… I'm getting there. Celestino says next year, I'll probably get into the Grand Prix Series!" Phichit grinned, giving Mari a thumbs up, which she laughed at.
"Good. I'm sure that's just what the whole world needs, you and Yuuri causing havoc together god knows where." Phichit pretended to be insulted but instead just started laughing. "What I'm saying is, though, an email is much easier to ignore, so if they listed a phone number, maybe it'll go to some pre-recorded phrase from one of Viktor's interviews, or something. But if they list an email and you explain the situation, then… well, it's also an option."
Phichit nodded, and at last the app loaded, and he grinned. "He's got a phone number listed, Mari! And it looks Russian, too. They're trying really hard to be legit, wow."
Mari nodded in thought. "Then call it, see if he picks up!"
Phichit nodded, and dialed the number, sitting back while it rang. No one picked up, and it went to voicemail, where –
Oh, shit, that was Viktor's voice. Was it from an interview?
Phichit wasn't as versed in Viktor Nikiforov interviews as Yuuri, and he certainly didn't know Russian well enough to know what they were saying, but… Well, the phrases didn't sound pieced together, at all. They sounded fluent and like this was made on the spot. It also didn't sound like someone had recorded a recording.
He hung up before he had to leave a message, and sat in silence for a moment.
"Mari, do you think there's a possibility that this is Viktor Nikiforov?"
Mari looked at him with only confusion in her eyes, and Phichit sighed, continuing, "I got the voice mail, and it was Viktor's voice, which may just be a pre-recording, but… it didn't sound like it."
"What do you mean?" Mari leaned forward.
"Well, if it was from an interview, there'd be more background noise, but it was silent. And he was talking more quickly, in Russian. I mean, a lot of his interviews are in Russian, since he is Russian, but… usually he slows down, for the fans who don't know Russian. And his words weren't pieced together or fuzzy or anything. It sounded like someone sat down to record a voice mail. And no fan would go so far as to ask Viktor Nikiforov to record a voicemail for them as himself." Phichit explained, hoping it made sense, and Mari just stared at him.
"You have to send him an email."
So Phichit drafted one.
'Viktor',
This is Phichit Chulanont. I'm a figure skater from Thailand, but you probably don't know my name yet. You will! My best friend and roommate is Katsuki Yuuri from Japan, and you've been talking to him online for the past few weeks.
Don't you dare hurt him.
And stop pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov.
(Unless you are Viktor Nikiforov in which case a) Holy shit and b) Why are you on this app? and c) I need proof).
- Phichit Chulanont
"I just sent it," He finished reading it aloud to Mari and she nodded.
"I have to go to bed; work starts early tomorrow. Tell me what happens. And keep Yuuri safe."
Phichit nodded and said goodbye to Mari, working on his homework before heading to his own first class.
Halfway through his second, he got a notification of an email. From v-nikiforov.
Phichit,
I haven't heard your name yet, but the idea that I will soon is good confidence! I am excited to see you in competition! You know Yuuri? Talking to him has been amazing, I'm so glad that I met him! Does he talk about me much?
I would never hurt him
This, though, is a curious point. Why would you say I'm pretending to be myself? I don't know what kind of proof I could provide, unless you were to call me and I were to pick up. If you'd like that, my phone number is ***. Otherwise, I suppose my word will have to be the proof you go with?
Oh! Or a picture of Makkachin? Yuuri always likes those. I've attached three. :)
Please call me between the hours of 10 and 3 (in your time. I assume it's the same as Yuuri's since you said you live with him?) if you do want that as your proof. Oh! But probably not on Tuesdays or Thursdays, because Yakov tends to keep me at the rink late x(
Once again, I would never dream of hurting Yuuri, and I hope that you believe me.
I also hope you believe that I am who I say I am.
Tell Yuuri I say hello! 3 And that I hope he does well in his qualifiers: he will, of course, but he seems to enjoy the reassurance. I'll be in contact with him, I mean, but I still want him to know. :)
- Viktor Nikiforov
Phichit stared at the (much longer than his own) email, and blinked a few times, because… well…
to mari: v-nikiforov just emailed me back
to mari: and i'm like 95% sure that this is really viktor nikiforov
to mari: he told me call him, but that he wouldn't pick up much on tuesdays and thursdays which explains the voicemail today
to mari: i'm calling tomorrow.
And he did. Yuuri didn't have class until noon the next day, so Phichit waited impatiently, staring at the email that was almost certainly from Viktor Nikiforov. It was the same phone number listed on the profile, but… Could it really be Viktor?
Yuuri left for class, and Phichit finally opened up his phone, dialing the number immediately. He only had an hour before his own next class, and he needed to get this conversation over as quickly as possible, because Yuuri's class at noon almost always ended early.
"Здравствуйте." And, yeah, shit, that was Viktor's voice that picked up. He said something else in Russian that Phichit didn't understand at all (he knew the first thing he said was just a greeting), and Phichit scrambled to remember how to speak (any language. Preferably English).
"Um, hi. Can you speak English? This is Phichit Chulanont, I emailed you yesterday – "
"Phichit! It's so good to hear from you, I'm glad you decided to call, even if I still don't know how you could possibly imagine that I'm not really myself. I send Yuuri pictures all the time, and tell him all kinds of stories! Why wouldn't I be me?"
And, holy fucking shit, his best friend was in love with Viktor Nikiforov. Like, the real life actual Viktor Nikiforov. The one featured on the poster that Yuuri had hung on their bedroom wall, and that he used to talk about nonstop (that, Phichit realized, he still talked about nonstop).
"Ah, it was just a small worry, I guess, um. Wow. Yuuri talks about you all the time." Phichit was speechless, an unusual situation, because he was on the phone with Viktor Nikiforov. Holy shit.
"Yuuri talks about me? What does he say? Tell me everything!" It was like there was barely a second of breath before Viktor's voice died a little bit into regret. "Well, I don't actually have long tonight because Yakov is taking me to an event for my sponsors, but I'm glad that I've made sure your worry is gone now! You'll have to call again and tell me later, okay?" Viktor laughed, like he was excited about this, and something way more terrifying dawned on Phichit.
Viktor fucking Nikiforov was in love with his best friend.
He couldn't speak, and he barely stuttered out, "Yeah, it was good to speak to you, Viktor! I've gotta go, I've got – class." It was the truth, but it still sounded like a lie as he slammed his finger against the end call button.
Shit, maybe he should have mentioned that Yuuri also didn't know that v-nikiforov was really Viktor.
to mari: what's worse than a red alert? is there something?
to mari: V-NIKIFOROV IS VIKTOR I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH HIM
from mari: Wait what
to mari: I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH VIKTOR NIKIFOROV
to mari: I JUST SPOKE TO VIKTOR NIKIFOROV
to mari: WHO REALLY IS V-NIKIFOROV
to mari: WHO IS IN LOVE WITH YUURI
to mari: HOLY SHIT MY BEST FRIEND IS GOING TO MARRY VIKTOR NIKIFOROV
from mari: Phichit, you should… probably calm down.
from mari: Especially because Yuuri doesn't know.
to mari: oh shit.
And it dawned on Phichit that he really couldn't tell Yuuri before the Grand Prix Series, because his friend would panic about how long he'd been talking to Viktor, and how much he'd told his idol, so Phichit did the only thing he could. He acted like normal (while trying to give Yuuri hints). After all, well, he sort of wanted Viktor to tell him.
Wait – maybe Yuuri already knew.
When he was getting ready to leave for his first event, Phichit tested this theory.
"So, you're gonna skate for Viktor, as always, right?" Phichit joked, hugging his friend as soon as Yuuri was done packing for his first qualifier. The apartment was always so empty without Yuuri. But he was hosting a viewing party for the other skaters at the rink (and some of his and Yuuri's other friends) for the competition in a few days, so at least it wouldn't be empty the whole time. Maybe he'd invite a few of them to spend the night, as well, so he'd have people there the whole time. He'd gotten very used to being around Yuuri.
"Ah, well…" Phichit's head snapped up at Yuuri's embarrassed tone, because it was different than usual, and he knew that couldn't possibly be good. "This might sound dumb – " He started, but Phichit wouldn't stand for it.
"Yuuri," He scolded, "I doubt it's that dumb."
"I'm not skating these programs thinking about Viktor, exactly, I, uh…" And, oh, god, Phichit knew exactly where this was heading, and he wished that he could tell Yuuri the truth, he wished that he could scream it at his friend, but… well, telling your best friend that he was actually in love with the real Viktor Nikiforov right before his competition? Probably a bad idea.
"What, you skating for v-nikiforov or something?" Phichit teased, and the way Yuuri's face lit up, he knew that he was right.
"See! I told you it was dumb! It's just…"
"It's not dumb! He's your friend, it's good to have someone to skate for. You skated for me a few times last year, remember?" And, yeah, Phichit was pushing it a little, but –
"Phichit," Yuuri said in misery, falling back onto his bed in a melodramatic way his friend very often saved for Phichit alone. "I think I fell in love with v-nikiforov."
And, really, Phichit already knew. Of course he already knew. But Phichit also knew that v-nikiforov was Viktor Nikiforov.
"What are you going to do about it?" Was the best he could say, though, because he couldn't ruin Yuuri's chances at reaching the Grand Prix Final.
"I… Well, I was thinking, that, maybe, if I, uh…" Yuuri sighed before spitting out his full answers. "If I reach the Final – "
"When you reach the Final." Look, okay, it was habit. Phichit couldn't let Yuuri doubt himself so much. 97% chance, remember? And Phichit wanted it to be a 100% fact.
"Right, well, then… I might… let this game end? I mean – I… I want to know who v-nikiforov really is." Yuuri glanced down at his feet. "It's probably a bad idea. Oh, god, it sounds even worse out loud."
"No! It's not!" Phichit breathed out, because that meant that hopefully he wouldn't have to keep this secret for much longer.
"Are you sure?" Yuuri looked nervous, and Phichit understood, because his friend fell in love with a catfish on an online dating app that he and Mari had basically forced him to join, and it was probably a good thing he was nervous about who he might be v-nikiforov, because, well… it was Viktor Nikiforov.
"Yeah! You should definitely do it!" Phichit gave him a thumbs up and Yuuri laughed, nodding before he had to leave.
So. His best friend was in love with Viktor Nikiforov, who was in love with his best friend, but his best friend didn't know that the man he was in love with was Viktor Nikiforov, and was going to find out when he qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
What could go wrong?
"Yakov," Viktor spoke with a sigh, leaning across the bleachers as practice ended, most of the other skaters already having gone home and escaped the rink.
"Why are you still here, Vitya?" Yakov probably wanted to go home as well, but Viktor had a very important question to ask him.
"Am I not allowed to stay late? You're always saying that I need to take training more seriously, so isn't it good I'm here later?"
"You're not even on the ice." Yakov rolled his eyes, and Viktor waved a hand as if dismissing his coach. This was much more important than the ice, Yakov (Something that Viktor wouldn't dare say out loud, because Yakov would definitely yell at him for claiming there was anything more important than the ice, especially at this moment so close to a competition).
"Why would Katsuki Yuuri's roommate need to call to have confirmation that I'm actually me?" The question had been weighing on him since Phichit had called.
"The Japanese skater? Why does his roommate even have your phone number?" And Viktor sighed, realizing he was asking the wrong person. Maybe he should have asked Georgi. Georgi had a girlfriend, and seemed pretty devoted to his girlfriend, so Georgi would probably not just roll his eyes at Viktor for being in love. Not that Yakov had done that yet, but…
"Well, I've been talking to him online," Viktor started, and there was Yakov's eye roll, "And his roommate called me because apparently he thought that I was someone pretending to be me."
"Vitya, you're a famous figure skater who some people find attractive." Yakov looked at him, scrutinizing him, while Viktor tried to decide whether or not to be insulted by the 'some people'. "And you should know by now that everyone on the Internet is fake."
"I sent him pictures of Makkachin! And myself!" Viktor whined, like that proof should be proof enough that he was really Viktor Nikiforov. And it was, wasn't it?
"Anyone could get those, probably. You post enough on your Instagram and whatever else you have." Viktor knew that Yakov wasn't unaware of social media, he just chose to ignore it because it made life easier (Viktor disagreed, but he also really didn't want Yakov to have Twitter).
"So you think he thought that someone was pretending to be me to date Yuuri?"
"Date him!?" Yakov closed his eyes with a sigh but eventually chose to ignore it. "Yes, Vitya. And his friend is apparently the only smart one in this situation that thought of checking." Yakov paused for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Viktor. "Go home."
And… actually, that sort of made sense. He was surprised he hadn't thought of that before, but at least it was cleared up now. Since Phichit knew, if Yuuri had doubted it, Phichit would tell Yuuri. And Yuuri hadn't been treating him any different since Phichit had called, so it seemed that it was Yuuri's roommate being over protective of him. Either way, Yuuri hadn't questioned him, and had referred to him by name since the beginning, so if he thought that Viktor wasn't Viktor, he'd surely have acted differently, right?
That would make sense.
Viktor smiled as he walked home, sending Yuuri a picture of his dinner, and smiling when he was sent back a picture of Yuuri's… breakfast.
v-nikiforov: isn't it a little late for breakfast?
k-yuuri: i woke up later than i meant to and phichit had already gotten me food so i might as well eat it
v-nikiforov: that makes sense! eat well! 3
And so their conversation went for an hour before Yuuri had to leave for class, and Viktor straightened up his apartment and washed his plate before he had to go to bed.
v-nikiforov: have a good day, yuuri! 33 :)
k-yuuri: sleep well, viktor! 3
Which had become their normal exchange at night, but it still made Viktor smile (especially, since, for about a week, Yuuri had also been adding a heart to the end of his messages). Viktor turned off his phone, setting it to the side before falling asleep
Maybe telling Yakov he'd been online dating another skater was a bad idea, because now every time that Viktor pulled out his phone, it was immediately ordered to be put away or taken away.
It got so bad that there had to be a no phones at the rink rule implemented in Russia in the last few days before the qualifiers began. Sure, when they got close to major competitions, Yakov tended to limit their phone use anyway, but now Yakov would confiscate them if they even got brought to the rink (with the exception of the younger skaters, who needed their phones to be able to get their rides home – but if they were out during rink time, Yakov got to make the calls home. That usually was a good incentive to keep the phones far, far from the rink).
Viktor tried very hard to push this rule. With Yuuri in Detroit (which Viktor had found out upon Googling him, since his profile just listed Michigan), they had such a large time gap that their only waking time together had to be used well (It should concern Viktor that Yuuri was up at such strange hours of night, but after speaking with Phichit, it was somehow less worrying. Phichit seemed to care a lot about Yuuri, and would definitely make sure that he got the sleep that he needed).
Nonetheless, they were barely awake at the same hours, and since Yuuri was answering now, Viktor was going to message him now. And not stop messaging him until he was absolutely forced to. He stood with his back turned to the rink, his skates on and stretching as he looked down at his phone, sending a picture of the view out the window.
k-yuuri: at the rink? it looks nice :)
v-nikiforov: it is! the view is always beautiful.
v-nikiforov: are you up earlier than usual?
k-yuuri: i had to call my family today so i was up early for that since i can't talk to them late with so much practice
v-nikiforov: oh, that makes sense! i bet they were happy to hear you're in the qualifiers! :) and your spot is good, you'll make it to the finals no problem 3
k-yuuri: yeah, hopefully, i guess. they don't follow skating that much, but they were still happy to hear i was doing well. my sister was more excited to hear that i was using this app, actually.
v-nikiforov: did you tell them about me? yuuri~! what did you tell them?
But Viktor didn't get time to get an answer from Yuuri, because Yakov had caught him, and Viktor couldn't hide his phone fast enough for his coach to not notice it. "If I see that phone at this rink one more time, you're never going to see it again!" Yakov threatened, and Viktor knew that wasn't true, but he also knew that Yakov was serious about the no phones things, so he sighed and typed out a final message to Yuuri.
v-nikiforov: sorry, yakov is taking my phone away :(
v-nikiforov: we need to 'pay more attention to him while we're training'
k-yuuri: he is your coach and we're getting close to the grand prix
k-yuuri: plus, you're fine if you're worried about answering me, i have to be on less, too
k-yuuri: celestino swears i'm more prepared than i am, but i can't even land these jumps so clearly i need to practice more and phichit also swears i'm ready but if i can't even skate my own programs how the hell am i going to qualify without practicing
v-nikiforov: how many times do i have to tell you that you're amazing? 3
Yuuri didn't answer him, which was becoming more and more frequent each time that Viktor praised him. At first, Yuuri had been very receptive of his praise, but now he just seemed to ignore it and change the topic next time that he picked up his phone. Viktor tried to imagine it was because the nerves were ramping up as they got closer and closer to the competitions, but still it worried him.
True to his word, Yuuri was on his phone less and less in the weeks leading up the qualifiers. When he was, it was only for a few moments to send a picture or a clip of something he'd been doing. If Viktor managed to catch him right when he'd sent the message, he'd stay awake for hours and talk to Viktor, otherwise Yuuri would disappear to sleep.
Not that Viktor was much better at this point. You'd think them having the same careers would make their schedules agreeable, but with the different time zones, having to train to be a good figure skater came at the cost of not at all having the same schedule, since they'd be awake and asleep the same hours – just seven hours apart from each other.
Viktor couldn't wait until they were in the same time zone. It wasn't even a question to him that Yuuri had to make the Grand Prix Final (he had the talent, and if he didn't choke during the competitions, he could do it. Even if he didn't land his jumps perfectly, Viktor was pretty sure he could at least slide through on his step sequences and performance aspects.
Basically, where Viktor was lacking, Yuuri was amazing. It wasn't that his scores were low (he was Viktor Nikiforov), but as the years went by of constantly being on top, he became less and less inspired by the sport. Yuuri still clearly loved it.
Thus, Yuuri was going to make the Grand Prix Final.
And, on that tiny chance that Yuuri didn't make the competition, Viktor would buy him tickets to at least watch it.
Because, at the Grand Prix Final, they'd finally meet up, and Viktor would be able to finally actually talk to Yuuri. Honestly, that would be pretty great, wouldn't it? Maybe he could surprise Yuuri with something! Show up to practice ready for him. It wouldn't be too surprising, hopefully, since Yuuri knew that he'd be there, and that they'd been talking for all this time. But to finally meet Katsuki Yuuri? It was like a dream come true, and it had to happen.
Was he dating Yuuri Katsuki? Did it count yet? They'd definitely been flirting, but he really didn't know how online dating worked. Honestly, Yuri Plisetsky had probably been kidding when he'd told Viktor that he should make an account and try to find someone. Too late for that, though, because Viktor had, and now he had Yuuri. Perfect, perfect Yuuri Katsuki.
It was strange, really, the fact that he found Yuuri, another figure skater. In hindsight, had he looked at Yuuri's profile in more detail, he would have seen that the man was, in fact, a figure skater and had the sport listed underneath his interests, but Viktor had… sort of stopped. Very early on.
Look, Yuuri was absolutely adorable, and he didn't mention the fact that he was Viktor Nikiforov for months of talking to him. It was crazy, actually. Because it turned out that Katsuki Yuuri was also a figure skater, and they were going to very likely be competing in the same competition soon.
He was going to meet Katsuki Yuuri. Wow! He had to make plans. Which he started to do when he was waiting for the plane to his first qualifier. It was himself, Yuri Plisetsky (a junior who was planning on making it to the seniors next year – and probably would do well. Yuri Plisetsky was an impressive skater for his age), and Yakov who had to wait for the plane together, and Viktor did so with his hood pulled over his head, his feet thrown over another chair.
Yuuri was answering his texts (probably because it was only 5 a.m. Viktor's time, and so Yuuri was done with practice, but still awake).
How was it that you could ask your sort of online boyfriend who was going to be competing against you in a few months on a date?
v-nikiforov: YUURI! IMPORTANT QUESTION
k-yuuri: what is it?
v-nikiforov: do you like coffee?
k-yuuri: ? what are you talking about, viktor?
v-nikiforov: i think it's pretty clear, isn't it? do you like coffee? 3333
k-yuuri: um… yes? i guess so.
v-nikiforov: wow! :) what kind?
k-yuuri: um… normal kind?
"Vitya! The damn plane is leaving, get your butt moving and put your goddamn phone down, your boyfriend can wait!" Yuri Plisetsky shouted (which seemed to be his default method of communication toward Viktor), stalking over to him and taking matters into his own hands by snatching Viktor's phone and turning it off.
Viktor rolled his eyes, grabbing his boarding pass and bag, walking after Yakov and Yuri. He had to snatch his phone from the younger skater and sighed, looking down at the half-completed conversation.
v-nikiforov: getting on the plane for my qualifier :(
v-nikiforov: we'll talk later! 333
k-yuuri: phichit and i are cheering for you!
v-nikiforov: thank you 333
k-yuuri: you're going to win, of course !
v-nikiforov: so confident in me, yuuri!
k-yuuri: you're viktor nikiforov
k-yuuri: i don't see any way you wouldn't win.
v-nikiforov: i've lost before!
k-yuuri: you're viktor nikiforov
v-nikiforov: i am. :) 3
k-yuuri: yeah. so. good luck. :)
v-nikiforov: no hearts for me?
k-yuuri: …
k-yuuri: 3
"Why are you still on your dumb phone!?" Yuri Plisetsky tried to grab it from him, and Viktor held it over his head, which caused him to fight Viktor over it until Yakov took both of their phones for the whole flight, and left Yuri glaring cross-armed out the window and Viktor switching between reading and sleeping.
He didn't have much time on his phone before the competition, but he smiled when he saw the messages from Yuuri before his free skate, laughing at the picture he'd attached of himself and a man who must be Phichit, sitting on the floor of their apartment, Phichit's hamsters (who Viktor had gotten many pictures of before) placed on their laps.
k-yuuri: phichit and i have a livestream going, good luck! 3
k-yuuri: phichit also wants you to know that he forced me to put that heart on that message which isn't true but he claims it is and won't share the snacks until i tell you
v-nikiforov: well, thank you to you and phichit! 3
v-nikiforov: (the heart can be for phichit, but this skate is for you 3)
k-yuuri: viktor!
He turned his phone off after that and smiled as he stepped out onto the ice, waving to the crowds of people who were cheering him on. He got gold, and he grinned as he held the medal up, taking a picture of it later to post to Instagram, sending a copy of the same picture to Yuuri.
v-nikiforov: all because of you ! 33
k-yuuri: this is far from your first gold medal, viktor
v-nikiforov: it's my first that's just for you 3
v-nikiforov: and i should hope that you dedicate your first to me.
Yuuri didn't answer, but Viktor didn't care, because he was almost immediately on his way back to Russia, anyway, and the next set of qualifiers was only a week after that. Neither he nor Yuuri were in the next one, so not many texts were exchanged while they were busy training (though, during the competition while they were both watching, they did trade a few messages about their competition. Which mostly meant Viktor trying to calm Yuuri's nerves).
Yuuri's first qualifier was the next, and Viktor made sure to send him plenty of messages before it, assuring him that he'd be fine, as well as making sure that Yakov absolutely let them watch this during their practice time. Yes, technically, they could just watch it back later, but it was vital to Viktor to watch it in the actual time.
k-yuuri: um well
k-yuuri: this is for you. 3
v-nikiforov: yuuri! 3 3 i'm watching! you can do it :) i can't wait!
And, really, Yuuri was an impressive skater. It was true that he wasn't the best, but he got bronze in his first qualifier, but this was also his first time in the senior division in such a major competition circuit, so he was doing beyond how most people would expect him to. Viktor was still positive that Yuuri was going to make the Finals. He'd seemed disappointed in his medal, almost, and Viktor was shocked, because Katsuki Yuuri was truly amazing. Seriously. He was going to make the Grand Prix Final.
The other qualifiers went the same way in terms of their conversations. For Viktor's other qualifier, Yuuri and Phichit were at the rink they trained at, and Yuuri sent a picture of the group of skaters watching the competition, both for the short and free programs. Viktor got gold, and again dedicated it to Yuuri, who tried to deny that he deserved it.
For Yuuri's other qualifier Viktor missed the short program for practice. For the free program, though, Viktor was at home, and he should probably have already gone to sleep, but he needed to watch the competition. He sent a picture of Makkachin curled at the foot of his bed and the tv in front of them playing the competition (posting something similar onto his Instagram), and smiled when Yuuri only sent back a heart (and smiled even more when he saw Yuuri on the tv hand off his phone to his coach on the side of the rink before stepping onto the ice). Yuuri skated better than ever, and that wasn't even just Viktor's opinion, because the judges awarded him with a well-deserved silver medal that he just seemed shocked to be holding.
v-nikiforov: not quite gold, but it will do! yuuri, i'm so proud of you ! 3333 you're going to make the finals
k-yuuri: there's still another qualifier, viktor. my scores are on the low end, if someone does better than expected, i'm not going to be there
v-nikiforov: well, then, i'll just have to buy you a ticket.
k-yuuri: you don't need to do that!
v-nikiforov: i know i don't.
v-nikiforov: because you'll be there.
And, after one more grueling week where Viktor and Yuuri could only sit and wait and train (well, Viktor knew that he was in the Finals, but it was still awful with Yuuri growing more and more anxious as he spoke of the competitors left), it was confirmed. Yuuri was going to the Grand Prix Final.
k-yuuri: holyshit
k-yuuri: VIKTOR HOLY SHIT
k-yuuri: i did it i'm going to the finals i did it holy shit
v-nikiforov: i'm so proud of you, yuuri! 33333
k-yuuri: i have to go to bed now but i just had to make sure that you knew even though of course you know because you're going too so you'd obviously want to check your competition but i just wow
v-nikiforov: sleep well, yuuri! good job :) :) 3
k-yuuri: thank you. have a good day. 3
Which meant that now Viktor couldn't just have half-formed coffee plans, because he was going to meet Katsuki Yuuri. He'd learned his lesson going to Yakov for advice when he asked him about why Phichit would doubt who he was, and he wouldn't go to Yakov in the first place when it came to relationship advice, so he had two people he had to talk to.
The first was Georgi. Georgi was in a relationship that seemed to be going pretty well, so he could at least ask some of his questions to Georgi.
"Georgi!" Viktor ran up to him after practice the next day, grinning when the other Russian immediately stopped to face him, raising his eyebrows. "I have important questions."
"About?" Georgi smiled, sitting down to take off his skates, and Viktor sat down beside him, leaning against the wall behind the bench, staring out onto the ice.
"I've been sort of dating someone for the past few months, and I need advice. I'm meeting them for the first time in Sochi – "
"You've been dating them already but you're meeting them for the first time?" Georgi seemed confused, and after a moment Viktor realized what he needed to clarify.
"Online dating!" He grinned, turning to Georgi. "I need to figure out how to meet him."
"When I asked Anya out, I offered her coffee," Georgi offered as advice, and Viktor grinned.
"I've already asked him if he likes coffee! And he said yes, that's perfect, thank you!" Viktor grinned at Georgi, grabbing his bag and leaving the rink.
After he'd left, he realized that he got over-excited and the very simple plan of 'coffee' was not enough, and he was glad that he had another person to talk to.
Christophe Giacometti. He and Chris had been friends for years now, getting used to competing with each other every season, and getting along well. After a few quick texts, he and Chris arranged a time to meet up online so that Chris could answer all of Viktor's questions.
"Chris!" Viktor shouted as soon as Skype had loaded, and his friend didn't even seem shocked by Viktor's immediate over-excitement. "I'm meeting the love of my life at the Grand Prix Final and I don't know what to do when I see him!"
That did bring surprise to Chris's face, and he was silent for a few minutes before finally asking, "Do you know who the love of your life is? Why are you meeting them at the Final?"
"Katsuki Yuuri, the new Japanese skater," Viktor explained, and was cut off by Chris.
"Oh, I had a qualifier with him! Damn, he's gonna be good in a year or two. I mean, he is good, but give him another year or so of proper training and he could knock us all out of the water." But that was the less important point for Chris, clearly, because he added, "Why is Yuuri the love of your life?"
"We met on an online dating app and we've been talking for months, and Chris, he's perfect, and I've already asked him and likes coffee and I talked to Georgi, and Georgi said that coffee would be a good first date if I wanted to, but I needed more advice." Viktor's words came all at once, matched with an overexcited grin.
"So… you've been online dating Yuuri and want to take him on a first date?" Chris clarified before nodding. "You can do dinner. Get him coffee before practice one day, and then invite him to dinner. That way you're already casually showing him you're into him and then also make sure he knows you want to date him."
"That's perfect!" Viktor didn't even need other advice – Chris had given him everything that he needed.
"You're really into Yuuri, aren't you?" Chris was smiling, and Viktor leaned back into his bed, using the pillows to keep his head propped up enough to still be able to see Chris.
"I am. I love him, Chris. And I think his roommate approves of me now that he knows who I am – "
"Knows who you are?"
"He thought that I was someone pretending to be me and I had him call me so he wouldn't."
"Okay. Continue."
"And he's definitely also in love with me, and I can't wait to meet him."
"Well, I've gotta get to dinner, so I'll see you at the Final. Good luck with this Yuuri thing." Chris laughed, hanging up and Viktor smiled.
Both he and Yuuri were busy with training, and could only have short conversations until they were getting ready to leave for the Final, and Viktor was boarding the plane for Sochi when he got a message from Yuuri.
k-yuuri: um, viktor, can i talk to you about something?
v-nikiforov: of course! :)
v-nikiforov: i might not be able to check for a few hours because i'm about to leave for sochi but i'll look when i get there! :) 333
And after he'd arrived in Sochi for the Grand Prix Final and settled into his hotel room, Viktor Nikiforov was finally allowed to look at his phone again, and was excited to see what Yuuri might have said to him. After all, they were finally in the same place, maybe he'd want to meet, or he'd finally want a phone call, or maybe –
k-yuuri: after the final, let's end this.
v-nikiforov hadn't responded to Yuuri's messages.
It had been hours. Yes, they'd made up the excuse that they had to catch their ride to Sochi, which made sense with the idea that they were pretending to be Viktor, but… considering when they'd said that they left, and the fact that Viktor would be coming simply from another part of Russia, and the rest of this story had been so well researched and times had been perfected, shouldn't they be answering by now? It seemed like it wasn't a coincidence that they'd somehow just not responded this time.
The messages had been urgent enough, Yuuri knew that much. He had wanted to make sure that v-nikiforov knew what he wanted.
But v-nikiforov hadn't answered, and Yuuri felt his heart sinking with every passing minute that his phone stayed silent. Yes, he knew that they'd just been having fun, pretending that v-nikiforov was Viktor, but Yuuri was about to spend days in the same place as Viktor, and then skate against him in competition, so whoever v-nikiforov was, they had to know that this had to end, and now was the right time to do it. They had to understand that, right? They had to understand that Yuuri wanted to separate the two. If he was going to come to know the real Viktor, then he wanted to also know the real v-nikiforov.
Maybe he'd be in love with them, maybe not. After all the time they'd spent messaging each other back and forth (even under the façade of them being Viktor), Yuuri found it hard to believe that he wouldn't at least like them. And, he'd been nothing but himself toward them, so he just had to hope that they liked him, too. If the way they acted as Viktor was any indication, he was sure that they did. And then, if Yuuri he did, he could invite them to a competition, and…
Yuuri was getting ahead of himself. v-nikiforov hadn't even responded to his messages, so he really shouldn't be planning them meeting and falling in love (for real) already. Not that that's what he was doing.
Fuck it, who did he think he was kidding? That's absolutely what he was doing. He wanted to meet the real v-nikiforov, and to have the same relationship he did with their Viktor. He'd admitted he loved them to Phichit, he'd basically admitted it to v-nikiforov, there was no going back now. Katsuki Yuuri was in love with a catfish pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov, and he was not ashamed of it (maybe a little embarrassed, but not enough to stop).
Now, he just wanted to know who they really were, and why they weren't answering. Maybe they were embarrassed, Yuuri had considered, that they'd been caught. Except, why would anyone catfish a competitive figure skater as another competitive figure skater? They had to know that he was completely aware from the beginning that they weren't actually Viktor Nikiforov, right?
Maybe, he'd considered about an hour ago, they thought that he was catfishing them, too. That this 'Yuuri Katuski' was actually some random person online and they didn't want to reveal their identity to him. Except, Yuuri was definitely not famous enough for that yet, considering this was his first major competition, and why would they even catfish as him? Plus, if he was also a catfish, why would he be asking for their identity? Wouldn't that sort of ruin his joke as well?
His last guess, the one that he was dwelling on now was the one that scared Yuuri the most: Maybe they just didn't want it to end.
And it wasn't like Yuuri was ending the whole relationship. He just wanted to know who they really are, because he wasn't in love with Viktor Nikiforov. He loved the creative, kind person who ran v-nikiforov, and he wanted to become friends with them, to really know who they were. Maybe they didn't want him to know who they were.
The idea of actually knowing had anxiety eating at him, though. He'd let himself be knowingly catfished for way too long now, and he supposed these were the repercussions he had to face for doing this. Maybe they'd never talk to him again. Maybe it was just their idea of Viktor that was in love of them.
Yuuri didn't want to think about how much a thought like that made his heart break.
v-nikiforov continued not to respond, and Yuuri stared at his phone quietly, not wanting to open the app, not wanting to see the messages he'd sent. He'd thought he'd explained it well enough, that 'Viktor' should know, that he didn't want to abandon all of this. He could find no logical explanation for why they couldn't answer him before they went to bed that night, but…
Apparently not, since they weren't responding. He gave it another two hours, holding his phone in his hands, refusing to open the app before they answered (afraid that he'd send some other message that would make it worse, if it was bad. He wished he knew). No messages came, and a glance at the clock showed Yuuri that he was awake way later than he should be, so he set his phone off to the side and pulled the covers over his head.
Yuuri fell asleep in a pit of anxiety and worry, wondering if he should have let the game persist a little longer (at least not mention it until the end of the Finals). He'd wanted to ask before the competition began, but he'd decided that it would be better to wait until after.
He woke from a fitful sleep to messages from v-nikiforov, and he stared at them in confusion on his screen:
v-nikiforov: what!?
v-nikiforov: yuuri? why aren't you answering?
v-nikiforov: why the hell would you decide this BEFORE THE FINAL, YUURI
v-nikiforov: why would you send this and then just disappear for god's sake yuuri
v-nikiforov: i don't understand at all would you please explain yourself to me
v-nikiforov: are you ignoring me?
v-nikiforov: yuuri?
Why was v-nikiforov so angry? There were no emojis, no exclamation points, no nothing. It was just plain text, so uncharacteristic for v-nikiforov that Yuuri felt nervous about it. Yeah, sure, Yuuri had decided to end their little game of catfish, but v-nikiforov's messages sounded upset and worried, and Yuuri sighed. Yeah. So they had just wanted this for the game. Yuuri opened the app up and stared at his own messages from the night before.
k-yuuri: after the final, let's end this
k-yuuri: oh, god, i'm sorry, i could have said that better [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: i just mean you're amazing, and i don't want to have to see you as just viktor nikiforov [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: i've looked up to viktor for a long time but i want to separate you from him [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: it's just weird now, i guess, since i'm going to be competing against him, but i also know you? [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: like i'm not angry you pretended to be viktor or anything, i sort of loved it. i just also want to know who you are, you know? :) [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: i hope you don't mind that i want to wait until after the finals to know, though. [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: i just already have so much on my plate this weekend and i don't want to overshadow either with the other [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: this is just really important to me [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: both knowing you and competing in this [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: so. yeah. i'll talk to you later. :) [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
k-yuuri: have a nice night 3 'good luck in the finals', haha 3 [ERROR: MESSAGE NOT SENT]
Yuuri sat frozen in shock, looking down at his phone in absolutely complete horror. Only his first message had sent. His first message, which he'd realized in retrospect sounded like he was breaking off any connection to v-nikiforov, was the only one that had sent. v-nikiforov had only read the first message. Yuuri tapped against the resend button the other messages, but his phone continued not to do it and he could only stare down in the screen in horror.
v-nikiforov: why wait for after the final?
v-nikiforov: good luck, yuuri. see you around.
v-nikiforov: i suppose we'll talk after the finals, if you really want to
v-nikiforov: i'm busy until then.
v-nikiforov's messages came in before Yuuri could get his to send, and then 'Viktor''s icon turned grey, indicating that he'd gone offline. Yuuri stared at the phone (fuck, right, he and Viktor were in the same time zone. Of course v-nikiforov would be messaging him at the same time as he was up right now), unsure what to do.
k-yuuri: i'm sorry my messages didn't send i don't know maybe the wifi in the hotel fucked up or something shit i'm sorry
k-yuuri: please message me back i just meant i wanted you to stop pretending to be viktor
But he got no more messages from v-nikiforov, and he had to put his phone down, because he had to get ready, because he couldn't let this distract him from the Grand Prix Final. Just because his online… boyfriend (?) who had been pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov hadn't gotten all of Yuuri's messages and probably had thought that Yuuri had broken up with him didn't mean that he could not go to practice.
Plus, he was pretty sure that telling that story to anyone might kill him in embarrassment, especially his coach, so he decided that that was definitely not something that he had to mention.
Practice went awful. It was his anxiety, he knew (both for the competition and because of the whole v-nikiforov situation), but he barely landed a single jump, and kept making dumb mistakes with his step sequences, feeling like an idiot just for being there.
And, as if his day needed a reason to be worse, he was pretty sure that he was being ignored by Viktor Nikiforov.
Well, at least, after Viktor had first walked in.
Because, when Viktor had first walked in, he'd looked directly at Yuuri, holding two cups of coffee and talking to his coach, glaring at Yuuri before smiling when he turned to face Christophe Giacometti, handing over the coffee, and saying something loudly in English, that Yuuri was pretty sure he heard as, "I thought I'd give you coffee since I didn't have anyone else here to give it to! My best friend here! No one else I'd rather give this coffee! Or any coffee. No one else here needs normal coffee from me!"
Except that sounded incredibly passive aggressive and Yuuri had no idea who he could possibly be talking to in that sort of tone of voice. Sure, he'd never seen Viktor outside of interviews, but that seemed like a strange way to start a competition, probably isolating himself from at least one of the other competitors. Another of the competitors was giving him a strange look, so apparently Yuuri wasn't alone. That didn't stop Viktor from loudly proclaiming, "Oh! And I'll show you pictures of Makkachin, because no one else has seen them yet!" And Yuuri just blinked, because why was Viktor so aggressive about someone not wanting to see pictures of his dog?
Sure, Yuuri appreciated Makkachin more than the average person (especially over the past few months with v-nikiforov), but just because no one else had seen the pictures didn't mean that Viktor had to announce it to the whole rink. That didn't matter, though, because Yuuri had to put on his skates and get ready to go out.
Chris and Viktor continued to talk (much quieter now), and Yuuri was nearly positive that he could feel them glancing in his direction every so often. He refused to look in their directions, stepping out onto the ice as soon as he could, looking to Celestino, and desperately trying to keep his attention from other skaters.
Sure, it was probably his imagination, but after he stopped talking to Chris, Viktor Nikiforov didn't look in his direction for the entire practice (well, except for once, when Yuuri could have sworn a scowl passed over his face, immediately turning away, looking hurt). He was probably projecting his feelings of accidentally hurting v-nikiforov onto the man they were pretending to be, but Yuuri felt even worse when he saw Viktor smiling, completely friendly, to any other skater that went past him, and not even seeming to notice Yuuri.
He had to remind himself that he'd never seen Viktor in this context before, though. Viktor had competed with all of the rest of the skaters here. Maybe they'd already grown friendly, seeing each other in qualifiers (or, in the case of skaters like Christophe Giacometti, in years of competitions together before this). There was no reason that the real Viktor Nikiforov should be paying any attention to Yuuri. Maybe he just didn't like to meet new competitors during practice, maybe he just talked to them outside of the rink, like, at the hotel, or if they ran into each other at a meal or something.
Honestly, Yuuri wasn't really worried about Viktor ignoring him.
Amazingly, in what could probably be described as the shock of the century, Yuuri didn't need to be Viktor Nikiforov's friend. Honestly, he could never talk to Viktor Nikiforov the entire time that he was here if it meant that v-nikiforov would message him back, and would tell him that they understood, and that they could legitimately talk after the Grand Prix was over.
It looked like Yuuri wasn't going to talk to Viktor or v-nikiforov, though, because through the day of practice was exactly the same: v-nikiforov's icon stayed heartbreakingly grey, and Viktor Nikiforov wouldn't look in his direction a single time, even when they were forced to stand next to each other when they were getting off of the ice.
At least Viktor hadn't started practice as passive aggressively, that day. He'd just shown up, put on his skates, and waited on his phone, like everyone else. Yuuri breathed out in relief, looking down at his own phone, where he had his conversation up with v-nikiforov, trying to imagine what else to say. He'd just deleted the messages that started this mess – they still weren't sending, and he'd explained the mistake in later messages.
He didn't know why he hadn't dropped the conversation entirely yet.
k-yuuri: the competition is coming up!
k-yuuri: it's probably dumb to even ask it of you, but i hope you're watching
k-yuuri: i also hope you read these soon and you're not just gone forever or something
k-yuuri: i'll still be skating for you :)
And then, he just sighed, looking at the icon for v-nikiforov, which was still greyscale, just as it had been for the past days. And, yet, here Yuuri was, still trying so hard to just make this happen.
He set his phone back down, starting to tug on his own skates when he noticed Viktor standing up, a sour look on his face while he showed something to Chris. Chris started to laugh, and Viktor glared at him (not like he'd glared at Yuuri, but playfully, clearly between friends), sitting down beside him. And then he met Yuuri's eyes and just smirked, like he was trying to show Yuuri something, and Yuuri stared at him in horror, trying to imagine what he could have possibly done to set Viktor Nikiforov off like that.
Oh, god, did he somehow find out that Yuuri had been dating someone pretending him for weeks? Yuuri's face flushed red, and he looked down at his skates, biting onto his lip. He heard Viktor in the distance make a disappointed noise and then go back to just talking to Chris, and Yuuri wanted to scream in frustration.
And then it got worse. You see, Yuuri had been practicing like normal, finally getting a few decent jumps in, when he caught Viktor Nikiforov's eye again. Expecting the same kind of look Viktor had been giving him so far, he had immediately gone to look away, but Viktor had smiled.
Viktor Nikiforov smiled at him.
But, then, his face contorted into some sort of upset annoyed look. It was worse than the ones so far, so much worse. With this single face, Viktor looked like Yuuri had destroyed everything he had ever loved, and Yuuri didn't even know why. All he knew was that Yuuri was seventy-five percent sure he had hallucinated that fucking face, and he needed to get an outside opinion on this whole situation.
To put it simply, Yuuri was going to go crazy. He was anxious enough about the competition itself, but he'd always been nervous about competitions. This season, he'd been talked through all of them by v-nikiforov. He'd been sent pictures of Makkachin, and reassuring messages, and anything else that he could possibly need. This season, he'd had a…
Look, he didn't know what v-nikiforov had been to him. It seemed ridiculous to call someone whose real name you didn't even know your boyfriend (especially since, for all Yuuri knew, v-nikiforov could be a girl), but that's what he'd felt like. He didn't know how he could fall in love with someone he didn't know, but he had, and it sucked.
Anyway. He'd been anxious enough about the competitions alone, but now he had the added anxiety of v-nikiforov refusing to talk to him (his messages hadn't even been read, which meant that they were definitely ignoring him, and he hoped it was just until after the Final, like Yuuri had originally said. And now, he also had the real life actual Viktor Nikiforov giving him all sorts of mixed signals about god fucking knows what, but what Yuuri at least definitely knew was that for some ridiculous reason, it seemed like Viktor Nikiforov hated him.
And he just wanted to know why.
He had a day left before the competition when he finally called Phichit, unable to keep this to himself any more. Plus, he sort of felt like he was going to cry about the v-nikiforov situation in general, and Phichit could probably be helpful with that. And, he'd promised to call Phichit before the competition (because Phichit was also expecting Yuuri to be nervous about that, and Phichit was a good friend who planned to be ready to console Yuuri's panics). Which was probably why Phichit picked up on the first ring of the call. "Phichit," Yuuri gasped out when he got back to the hotel, curled up under a blanket in the bed.
"Isn't it like one a.m. over there? Why are you awake, Yuuri?" His friend interrupted him before Yuuri could say anything else, and he just clenched the edge of his blanket tightly, trying to decide what exactly to say.
"I fucked up. Or, I guess, the hotel wifi fucked up for me, but now v-nikiforov won't message me back because I was going to ask who they were but only my first message sent and they must have thought I was breaking up with them or something because I said that we should end it," The words came out in a rush.
"You told v-nikiforov you were breaking up with him!?"
"Not on purpose! Phichit, I was trying to tell them I wanted to know who they were, but I was an idiot, and I didn't check to make sure all of the messages sent, and now they hate me, so they'll probably never message me again because they haven't been on since they messaged me back to basically tell me they hate me and now Viktor Nikiforov hates me – "
At that, Phichit cut Yuuri off. "Wait, slow down. Viktor Nikiforov hates you? Why? Did he say something?"
"No. He just keeps… looking at me, like I kicked his dog or stole his favorite shirt, or something. I didn't even interact with him before he started treating me like I only existed as a nuisance." Yuuri fell backward onto his bed, covering his face with his arm, and Phichit was silent for so long that Yuuri thought he might have fallen asleep (before remember that it was still the afternoon for Phichit).
"Shit." Phichit said only that, and Yuuri groaned, because that wasn't helpful, Phichit. Not that he really expected his friend to have the answers to the universe, but at least he could try to solve one of these problems, right? Yuuri could pretty much deduce 'shit' on his own. "Let me think on it, I'll text you in a little bit, okay?"
"Okay." Yuuri wanted answers now, but it made sense that Phichit didn't have any. It's not like he was ever catfished by someone pretending to be their idol and then accidentally broke up with them only to find out that their actual idol hated them. "So, um, the actual competition starts tomorrow and I think I might puke."
At that, Phichit let out a sigh of relief, and even though Yuuri had heard his speeches a thousand times, he laid on the bed, listening to Phichit babble on and on and do everything he'd learned to help calm down Yuuri's anxiety. Honestly, Phichit was the best friend Yuuri could ask for. And he knew that his friend would help him find a solution for the v-nikiforov situation, as well. He didn't think he could fix whatever was wrong with the actual Viktor Nikiforov.
Phichit had been by his side this whole ride with v-nikiforov, though, and he knew only as much as Yuuri knew about this whole disaster, so getting another opinion on it all was a good idea.
He fell asleep in the middle of Phichit telling a story about the hamsters in Yuuri's bed. Usually, he'd put up a fight about his friend letting their (because he'd given up on insisting the hamsters were just Phichit's, since they lived in the apartment with both of them) pets run around in his bed unsupervised, but it was just good to hear that things were normal in Detroit.
He woke up a few hours later to his phone buzzing, indicating that he had texts from Phichit.
from phichit: i think you should call viktor
from phichit: i mean viktor nikiforov
from phichit: i mean v-nikiforov, whatever, you knew what i meant
from phichit: his phone number's on his profile on the app
Oh. Yuuri didn't know how he'd never thought of that one. Probably because he'd never really wanted to call v-nikiforov; it had never really been an option. There had been that boundary of pretending that v-nikiforov was Viktor, and even though they both knew they weren't, it was easier to just pretend like he was at that point. Maybe he should have kept it that way, but it was too late now. v-nikiforov shouldn't even have a phone number on their profile to begin with – if you were going to catfish someone, a phone call wasn't really an option.
But he opened up the app (v-nikiforov's icon was still grey), and saw on his profile, just as Phichit had said, a phone number. Yuuri stared at it for a long time, swallowing down his nerves, and looking at the clock.
It was definitely too late for tonight, and the competition started tomorrow, but…
to phichit: are you sure about this?
from phichit: yuuri you're competing tomorrow why the hell are you awake
to phichit: i didn't put my phone on silent i was asleep before this i swear
from phichit: i hope you were you need to get some sleep so you can beat everyone tomorrow!
from phichit: as for the v-nikiforov issue?
from phichit: positive.
to phichit: i'll call them after i skate tomorrow.
And with that, Yuuri turned off his phone, setting it off to the side and curling up under his blankets. Tomorrow, he'd skate for v-nikiforov, and then, once he was back in the safety of his hotel room, he'd call and find out who they were. He'd originally wanted to wait until after the Finals – but he also had originally warned them of the right thing. He'd wanted to tell them before the Finals what he was asking after it was over, but that was clearly not an option. Now, he just wanted everything out in the open as soon as possible.
This was probably a terrible plan.
He wondered if they'd even pick up.
Then again, it wasn't like they would have been able to specifically block Yuuri's number, they didn't know what it was (unless they'd had the same idea of going to Yuuri's profile and picking it off and specifically putting it into their phone for the sake of blocking him, but that seemed like a level of dedication to ignoring him that hopefully no one would go). They'd just be getting a call from a random number that they couldn't place, and he had to hope that maybe they weren't someone who ignored every call that they got in fear of spam.
He was going to compete in the Grand Prix Final tomorrow.
He was going to talk to v-nikiforov tomorrow.
It was going to be a busy day.
When Yuuri broke up with him, Viktor did the only thing that logically made sense – he deleted the app that he'd met Yuuri on. He'd logged on the morning after he'd gotten that message ("Let's end this", Viktor read it again and again, trying to imagine what Yuuri could possibly mean), but that was all that was there, so he…
Decided he couldn't deal with it and deleted the app.
And so he went on with training, trying to prove to Yuuri that he didn't need this random out of nowhere breakup as a distraction, but after every night of practice, he went back to Chris's room, curled up on his friend's bed, and begged to know why Yuuri wouldn't talk to him. Yuuri looked scared, not upset. Not that Viktor really wanted to upset Yuuri he just…
He wanted to show him what he was missing. Here he was, competing at the Grand Prix Final for his first time in the senior division with Viktor Nikiforov, and he could have Viktor. They could have gotten coffee (Chris said the "normal coffee" that Yuuri had requested was gross, he hadn't even appreciated it). They could have gone out to dinner, and Viktor could have kissed him, and told him he loved him, and they could have lived happily ever after, like the princes in a fairy tale. Sure, most fairy tales didn't have two ice skating princes, but Yuuri and Viktor's would. And it would be the best damn fairy tale out there.
Except that it wasn't going to happen, because Yuuri had broken up with him. It didn't make any sense to Viktor, he didn't know what he had done to Yuuri. They had both seemed so happy, so excited for the competition, and then suddenly Yuuri had sent that, and he didn't even know what else they could do. He just had to… hope for the best? Hope Yuuri would ask for him back?
He woke up the morning of the competition sort of annoyed with himself, but there was nothing he could do right then. Yakov had his phone (he didn't like Viktor checking it before competitions, and Viktor had only gotten away with it so far in the series because he'd made Yuuri his excuse, and begged Yakov. Literally begged. He'd cried a little). He got ready slowly, watching himself in the mirror.
He didn't really want to compete. It was far too late to drop out of the competition, especially without giving Yakov a heart attack, but he… sort of wanted to. He sort of just wanted to watch Yuuri compete, and to beg for his forgiveness for whatever he had done. Viktor packed his bag, carefully putting in his skates and his costume, looking at himself in the mirror.
He looked... tired, and old. He looked like he'd had a long season, and like someone should be taking over for him soon. His hair fell limply into his face where it was not quite dry from his shower that morning, and Viktor sat down on the edge of his bed, dragging his comb through his bangs again and again in frustration until they were all the way dry.
Apparently, this was where he was. Getting angry with his hair because his boyfriend had broken up with him over the Internet. Viktor shook his head, smiling into the mirror, forcing smile after smile until he was ready, throwing his bag over his shoulder, and opening the door to see Yakov, about to knock and wake him up.
"Let's go! Don't want to be late for warm-ups!" Viktor grinned, sliding past his coach and walking down the hallway, smiling at everyone they passed, in case they happened to take a picture of the four time (hopefully soon to be five time) world champion on his way to his next competition.
The trip to the rink took the same amount of time as always – Viktor pausing for a few moments, for a few autographs and to answer some quick questions, but soon enough he was changed over into his clothes for the competition, tracksuit thrown on as well, stretching out so that he could get ready to get onto the ice. Yakov was saying something to him, but he was ignoring him.
Not that his eyes were only on Yuuri Katsuki, or anything, but his eyes were only on Yuuri Katsuki. Yuuri wasn't looking in his direction, in his own world, headphones plugged in and eyes shut as he seemed to run through his routines on land. Viktor stared at him for a long few moments, incredibly distracted, before he was able to tear his eyes away and finish stretching, taking his practice (both off and on the ice) carefully, but making sure to do just enough tricks and legitimate practice that no one would think that he wasn't taking this seriously. Just because he was Viktor Nikiforov didn't meant that he could slack off in practice.
He ignored the competitor skating before himself, an eighteen year old from Canada, who was arrogant, but not a bad skater. Viktor had ignored him in practice, even though he was pretty sure that he had a qualifier with him. He kept stretching, though, sliding off his jacket when it came to be his turn, grinning at Yakov, and chancing a glance at Yuuri.
Yuuri still wasn't looking in his direction, and Viktor turned away again with a dejected sigh. "I'm skating for you, Katsuki Yuuri," He muttered under his breath, inaudible to anyone other than himself. See, Viktor had sort of been imagining a good luck kiss at the Grand Prix Final, when he finally got to meet Yuuri? Or at least a hug, or something? Just some acknowledgement from Yuuri that the best season of Viktor's life had been just for him?
Instead, he got ignored, and walked out onto the ice with a fake smile plastered on his face. Guess he'd just have to win Yuuri back with his skating, after all. Viktor skated his program to the best of his ability, panting when he finished but flashing a bright smile to the cameras. When he came off of the ice, Yakov patted his back before giving him corrections.
Even with what felt like a perfect program, always with the corrections. Viktor tried to listen, but he was also squinting toward the seats where the other competitors might be seated, trying to catch a glimpse of Yuuri. The loud cheers broke him out of his stare, though, and he turned his eyes to the scoreboard where he saw – oh. Another world record.
Oh, wait, no, sorry. That was supposed to be surprised. Excited. Another world record! Viktor Nikiforov had blown the expectations of the skating world once again! Amazing! Viktor smiled and waved, blowing kisses to his fans until he and Yakov stepped out of the kiss and cry, feeling exhausted. Of course, he wouldn't be left alone for long after a skate like that.
"Viktor!" Someone in the press was shouting his name, and he tore his eyes away from the ice (Yuuri wasn't skating yet, he could still watch Yuuri's skate). He walked toward them, plastering on a fake smile and flipping his bangs from his eyes. "Your short program was better than we've seen it so far this season! It's already destroyed your previous record, and if you skate anything like that for your free skate, you're sure to medal again, not that it was any question before."
"Thank you," Viktor laughed along with them, eyeing the ice again (something that was acceptable because he should be watching his competition, right?). Yuuri was going on soon, and Viktor wasn't going to miss the first time that he saw Yuuri skate in person, even in these circumstances. Who cared that they were sort of broken up? Yuuri's skating was inspiring, and Viktor wanted to see him.
"Is there something new inspiring your skating that is allowing your programs to continuously blow each other out of the water?"
Oh, how Viktor wished he could answer 'Yes, Katsuki Yuuri is the love of my life and I am skating completely dedicated to him but he won't talk to me, well, he wants to break up with me, and he makes my heart have literal physical pain so this is my way of getting back at him', but instead he just smiled at them again. "Aha, I must have just practiced it well. Skating for all my fans, as always." He paused, biting his lip before winking at the camera. "And, well, this season? I'm also skating for someone special."
"Someone special!?" The press immediately started clambering for more answers, and he could hear Yakov raising his voice about him answering that way, but when he looked at the ice again, the skater was stepping off, and he flashed a smile toward the press.
Viktor brought his finger to his lips to indicate silence. "Shh, wouldn't want to reveal my secrets would I? Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to go watch Katsuki skate. It's his first time here, and I like to see all of my competition in person!" Or, at least, that was his excuse while he blew a kiss to the press and then squirmed past Yakov, rushing up to his seat, and pressing himself against the edge so he had a perfect view of the ice.
Yuuri was almost visibly shaking when he stepped out onto the ice, and Viktor's heart almost stopped when he realized this was the first competition this season that he hadn't cheered him on when before he'd stepped out onto the ice. It was the first time this competition circuit that he hadn't sent him at least ten good luck messages, and stayed up all night calming his anxiety.
Viktor stood in shock, his hands coming up to his mouth, but he knew, that couldn't affect Yuuri that much, right? Yuuri had had so much talent before Viktor had ever stepped into his life, their breakup wouldn't hurt his skating, right? Especially since Yuuri had initiated it, so he had to know that he'd be going into this without Viktor's good luck.
Nonetheless, the Russian pushed himself against the barrier and cupped his hands against his mouth as he heard the first few seconds of Yuuri's music. "Yuuri! Davai!" Look, okay, so passive aggression hadn't worked the days before, so it was time to try another technique – cheering Yuuri on. Making him know that Viktor still cared.
Maybe Yuuri would want to be his friend, even if he didn't want to date him (which would still be sad, but better than nothing). He had just said let's end 'this'. 'This' could be anything. It could be just dating online, but that seemed unlikely. Maybe he meant that he wanted to end any questioning they had. Maybe it meant that he wanted to kiss Viktor. Of course, Viktor knew that it probably meant that he wanted to end their relationship, but did that mean they couldn't be friends?
Maybe that was why Yuuri had looked so confused! He'd still wanted to be Viktor's friend, and Viktor had just blown him off.
He couldn't tear his eyes off of Yuuri's skate while the other man was out on the ice. He didn't seem to have personally reacted to Viktor's encouragement (which made sense, since he was probably overwhelmed by the amount of yelling at the rink), but he did still skate so well, and Viktor was loving it. Yuuri deserved all of this praise and more.
When he stopped skating, Viktor stood in shock, staring at him. There was a reason they were calling him Japan's Ace. Even having only seen him skate in person once, Viktor knew that it was unbelievable. That Yuuri Katsuki was going to be his competition next season, if not this season. Hell, he hadn't landed one of his jumps, but if he had, he'd probably be close to Viktor's record from a year ago, nearly catching up to his score from this year. If he skated like that, or better in his free skate?
At the very least, Viktor was convinced that Yuuri was going to medal. After he stepped off of the ice, and the next skater stepped on, Viktor leaned back down against his seat, pulling his phone out. He'd gotten it back from Yakov after his short program, and had been forced to promise that he would hand it back to his coach before he went to bed that night, so he wouldn't have it the day of his free skate. He didn't know why Yakov was so stern on the rule, but it probably wasn't a terrible thing. Especially since all Viktor currently would be doing on his phone was pining for Yuuri.
Speaking of Yuuri, Viktor really wished that he knew anything more about him since he'd broken up with him. Of course, he'd deleted the app, so Yuuri might have been trying to give him his reasons why since then, but Yuuri had said that he didn't want to talk about it until after the Final was over, so Viktor wasn't going to. He ignored all of the news stories about his "mysterious answer", smiling slightly to himself. Maybe Yuuri would say something about him and they'd piece the stories together.
No, there was a much more interesting notification on his phone. He hadn't checked his email since the night before, since Yakov didn't like him on his phone for any reason right before competition, but sent at 3 a.m. was an email notification from Phichit Chulanont.
Yuuri's roommate.
Yuuri's roommate was emailing him even though Yuuri had broken up with him, and Viktor stared at the notification for a long moment, because Phichit had simply titled the email with exclamation points, trying to get Viktor's attention. He glanced at the ice for a moment before shrugging, leaning back in his seat and opening up the notification.
The email read:
Viktor,
This is Phichit Chulanont again, and please I hope you get this in time I fucked up and I think you ought to know what's going on.
Yuuri doesn't know who you are.
As in, I mean, Yuuri thinks that v-nikiforov is someone pretending to be you, and I know that I should have told him, but i figured that the two of you should find out yourselves, but now i regret it because apparently his WiFi fucked over his chances.
Um.
I'm sorry?
Good luck with the Grand Prix, you're my top pick for silver (because Yuuri is always my top pick for gold, sorry) :)
Seriously, though, I don't know what's happening now, but you should probably work with him to fix it. Preferably not by freaking him out enough that he messes up the Final. So, yeah. Sorry. Shit.
Good luck,
Phichit
He stared at the email for a long time before staring blankly at the ice, where the last skater had just started to skate, which he should have noticed with the cheers of the audience, but he sat frozen with his phone in his hand, because Yuuri didn't know who he was.
"Let's end this". Did he mean let's end pretending to be Viktor Nikiforov? Why hadn't Phichit told him!? Viktor stared out onto the ice before opening a new email.
Phichit,
This is Viktor Nikiforov, which you know, and I thought that Yuuri knew. Yuuri broke up with me, saying that he wanted to end whatever was happening between us after the Final, but I assumed that he meant that he wanted to end our relationship, because I thought he KNEW WHO I WAS.
You didn't tell him? I assumed either he had never doubted, or that you had to tell him, so I never mentioned it! I didn't think I had to! And now he probably hates me :(
I might have… been a little… passive aggressive at practice. I was trying to catch his attention, assuming that he knew who I was.
I just got off of the ice for my short program, and Yuuri has finished his as well. He skated beautifully, but I'm afraid I'll have to dispute your pick for gold – no matter how much I love Yuuri, I'd still like that medal for myself. Maybe next year!
Do you happen to know how Yuuri is going to be trying to get in contact? I'd like to know so I don't do anything wrong, after all I've done to him this week in misunderstanding.
Thank you.
Oh, and, by the way.
Next time that you think that your friend is fake dating someone who happens to be the real person, I'd suggest you tell them to avoid something like this. And I don't mean Yuuri. I certainly hope that Yuuri dates no one else. 3
I meant the last bit because I want to be the only person who ever dates Yuuri. If you didn't understand. I hope you did.
Thank you,
Viktor Nikiforov
As soon as he had finished the email, Viktor put his phone away, smiling as he leaned forward to watch Chris take the ice. His friend had really been doing well this season, and Viktor laughed as he watched him skate. He was enjoying himself, clearly, and that was what this was supposed to be about. He caught Chris's eye at the end of his skate, throwing his friend a kiss and pretending to swoon while Chris burst into laughter on the ice, and Viktor smiled to himself, walking down from where he was sitting and finding Yakov.
They sat through a gruelingly long press conference, where Viktor refused to say anything more about his 'special someone', and instead focused on the logistics of how he'd win, and whether or not he thought he'd break another record the next day (A question he answered with, "Why not!").
They finally drove back to the hotel, and Yakov reminded Viktor that his phone was his after Viktor returned from dinner, which was fine. Viktor laid back in his bed, closing his eyes and waiting for his phone to ring, expecting a call from Chris. Of course they weren't celebrating yet, and they weren't really allowed to go out and do much, but they still had to eat, and Viktor preferred to go with his friend. He wondered if Chris knew Yuuri well enough to invite him along.
He started to pick up his phone to beg Chris to invite Yuuri when he realized it was ringing with an unfamiliar number. Viktor squinted at the number for a few seconds, but he couldn't place it. Wondering if it was maybe Phichit's, and Yuuri's roommate was calling to give him more information, Viktor picked up.
"Hello? This is Viktor Nikiforov."
From the other end of the call, he heard a shocked gasp and a rush of shocked Japanese, followed in English by, "Shit I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, holy shit."
"Yuuri!?" It had to be, right? It had to be Yuuri. Phichit had said that he was going to try to contact him, was this that? Was this Yuuri reaching out to him and trying to get Viktor to answer? Yuuri didn't answer, and Viktor blinked, repeating his name before realizing what had happened.
Probably-Yuuri had hung up on him.
Viktor stared down at his phone, wondering if it was okay to call Yuuri back, and instead he was met with a notification of a new email, sent only a few minutes ago, probably not long before the call had started.
It was from Phichit.
V –
Shit, I hope I'm not too late. He's going to call, probably as soon as he gets back to his hotel.. *** is his phone number. Please don't call him first, let him call, he doesn't know that I know or anything, obviously, um. Haha. Sorry again! Good luck!
- P
Sure enough, Viktor looked, and the phone number in the email matched the one that had just called, and Viktor stared down at his phone in shock. Yuuri had just hung up on him? Why would he bother calling if he was just going to hang up? Surely, he wanted to talk to Viktor, and he wanted to –
Oh. It was probably because he found out that Viktor was really, truly Viktor Nikiforov. Now, of course, Viktor had never met himself, but he knew that for fans of skating, that was a big moment, and he understood that. He understood that it could be overwhelming, and he valued every fan who ever shared the experience with him.
But Yuuri had hung up on him.
Viktor paused long enough to redownload the app, letting everything load before signing in, immediately opening up his conversation with Yuuri (his only conversation). He stared at the messages, a hand coming to cover his mouth. Oh, Yuuri. Even after Viktor had yelled at him and ignored him, he'd still been cheering him on, sending him messages after practice each day. He'd wanted to know who v-nikiforov really was, not to lose him.
v-nikiforov: i deleted the app, i'm sorry :)
v-nikiforov: i'm going to call you back? 3
v-nikiforov: please pick up! i'd love to finally talk to you :)
And immediately after he'd sent the messages, he knew what he had to do. Look, Phichit had said not to call Yuuri first, but since Yuuri had already called, and hung up on him, that meant that it was Viktor's turn, right? He was allowed to call back and make things better?
That was the logic that he was going to use, because he needed to talk to Yuuri. He didn't know if Yuuri would see his messages and he wanted to make sure that he worked this all out as quickly as possible, he didn't want to ruin Yuuri's chance at skating, and he desperately wanted to take Yuuri out to lunch and coffee. And maybe kiss him, if Yuuri would still want that.
He really hoped Yuuri would still want that.
He dialed the number.
"Yuuri! This is v-nikiforov, who you might have realized was Viktor Nikiforov. I don't know why you didn't pick up this time, but I am sorry! I spoke to Phichit, a few weeks ago, and I thought that you knew that I was me!" He didn't feel bad throwing Phichit under a bus. Phichit should have told Yuuri who Viktor was, or at the very least mentioned to Viktor that he hadn't told Yuuri. But, he hadn't, and he'd made this harder and scarier for the two of them, so Viktor was going to be angry with Phichit, rightfully so. "You have my phone number now, and I'll see you soon for the free skates, as well! Good luck, by the way! I was cheering you on today, but I doubt you could hear me. You skated beautifully, and landed your triple axels unbelievably well, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay for your next skate as well!"
Viktor's message was definitely getting too long, and he sighed. "Please just call me back? Maybe after our free skates we can go out for coffee? Chris didn't appreciate your coffee during practice, so I'd like to take someone who would appreciate it, and who deserves it much more than Chris does." Viktor smiled to himself, holding his phone to his ear.
"It's good to finally call you. Take care! Sleep well and eat well! I know you get anxious before competitions, and taking your skate today as example, clearly you don't need me to say anything, but I'd still just like to make sure that I tell you! You're unbelievable, and not in the way that you think you are. I think, soon, you're going to be my most legitimate competition. I'm excited! I'll have to be quitting soon, probably, getting older. It would be good if you were the one that took my spot." Viktor laughed to himself, hesitating before finishing his call.
"Please call me back. I love you."
Maybe he should have mentioned that Yakov would have his phone for the rest of the night.
Yuuri Katsuki was in love with Viktor Nikiforov.
Not v-nikiforov, the clever catfish who was pretending to be Viktor, but the real life actual Viktor Nikiforov. Viktor had been glaring at him because Viktor was the one who hadn't gotten all of the texts. Viktor Nikiforov didn't hate him for no reason, Viktor Nikiforov hated him because, unless he'd seen Yuuri's follow up messages, Viktor Nikiforov thought he had broken up with him.
He'd been online dating Viktor Nikiforov.
He'd cried about his anxiety deep into the night with Viktor Nikiforov, while Viktor gave him answers and calmed him down, and reassured him that he was amazing. Viktor Nikiforov had told him that he was a good ice skater, that he was legitimately excited to see him come to the Grand Prix Final.
For the past few months, Viktor Nikiforov had been sending him a heart every night before he went to bed.
Viktor was calling him back. Yuuri stared down at his phone and threw it onto the bed, rushing into the bathroom and closing the door, leaning back against it, listening to the light sounds of his phone buzzing until it stopped. He waited another minute, two, three, to make sure that Viktor wouldn't call again, and as he opened the bathroom door to return to his phone, he saw a blinking light that indicated that Viktor Nikiforov had left him a voicemail.
Yuuri picked up his phone, stared at the notification, and immediately dialed Phichit's number, his hands shaking.
"Yuuri! Good job skating today, I told you you'd be able to do it!" It sounded like Phichit had more to say, but Yuuri couldn't listen to it, cutting his friend off right there.
"v-nikiforov is Viktor Nikiforov. Really, legitimately, not catfishing Viktor Nikiforov. I just was on the phone with Viktor Nikiforov. Phichit, Viktor Nikiforov just left me a voicemail." How many times could Yuuri say his name before it started to sound real? "I just hung up on Viktor Nikiforov."
"Oh." Phichit didn't sound surprised, or excited, or worried, but… guilty. "Have you listened to the voicemail yet?" Phichit was ignoring Yuuri's main crisis, and Yuuri blinked in surprise, because he was surprisingly not anxious about the voicemail. Whatever Viktor said in it, it was too late to make him take it back now. The crisis here was that the man that Yuuri was unreasonably in love with from only talking in the Internet was really Viktor Nikiforov.
"Not yet. I called you as soon as I saw he'd left it. Phichit, he's Viktor."
And Phichit was quiet for a long moment, and Yuuri wondered what he could possibly be considering saying, but finally, he spoke again, "I know."
And Yuuri's world came crashing down (even more) in confusion, because… he knew? "What do you mean? Did you call him after I accidentally broke up with him? When did you find out?"
"I…" Phichit was hesitating again, and Yuuri felt his heart dropping down in his chest, terrified for what his friend was going to say. Phichit knew that he was dating Viktor Nikiforov, and had said nothing. That was… He could have saved Yuuri so much trouble. Had he known that he was really dating Viktor Nikiforov, he wouldn't have accidentally broken up with him, Viktor wouldn't have hated him, he wouldn't have hung up on him, he would have –
Holy shit, would Yuuri have kissed Viktor Nikiforov? Look, it had been a few months since Yuuri's obsession had been at the force that it was when he was growing up (and, you know, basically since forever since then), but he had just found out that he had been accidentally for real dating Viktor Nikiforov, and he was allowed to have a little bit of a freak out about that.
Did Viktor still want him? It had dawned on Yuuri that he was the one that Viktor had been so passive aggressive toward during those first few days of Practice, so Viktor probably wanted nothing to do with him, if that was any indication, in which case it didn't matter that he was in love with Viktor.
He was in love with Viktor. God, it wasn't a past thing, he still was in love with Viktor. Even learning that v-nikiforov was actually Viktor, he couldn't give up on it. That wasn't good. Sure, Viktor had known that Yuuri was Yuuri all along, but actually seeing Yuuri, being near him? Why would he want anything to do with him, he was just –
"Earth to Yuuri?" Phichit had apparently been talking, and Yuuri stumbled through an apology, his face heating up even though Phichit couldn't see it. "You alright over there? Anxious about the competition or Viktor?"
"Both," Yuuri said miserably. "And… when did you find out v-nikiforov was Viktor?"
"Please don't be angry!" And just that statement was enough for Yuuri to know, really. He sighed quietly as Phichit continued, "Like a week after you first messaged him, I called because I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't get hurt or something, and I found out, obviously, that he was Viktor –"
"You didn't tell me then!? Phichit, you knew, you told me to ask him who he was, you knew that he was Viktor!" And Yuuri was panicking, and he knew that he shouldn't be, and he should be talking to Celestino, should be getting something to eat, should be going to bed.
Should be listening to Viktor's voicemail.
"I didn't want to freak you out!"
"So you didn't tell me that he was Viktor!?"
"I didn't know how to tell you!" Phichit did sound genuinely guilty, and Yuuri fell quiet again, sighing quietly.
"I… wish you told me earlier. But I don't care, i guess. I know now. And I'm sure something else would have happened." He didn't want Phichit to feel guilty, not really. He… well, he doubted he'd ever be in a similar position, but he could imagine why it would be hard to tell them the truth. Earlier, when Yuuri was first realizing how much he loved v-nikiforov, if he'd been told that he was actually talking to Viktor Nikiforov, he probably would have deleted the app.
Now, he was definitely in way too far for that to even be an option. It was terrifying to know the truth, but he was still in love, and that was… weird. That he was really truly in love with Viktor Nikiforov, who actually knew who he was. That was something that Yuuri never would have imaged a possibility even only a few days ago.
And now…
"Did you say you hung up on him?" Phichit spoke again, and Yuuri felt his cheeks heat up, playing with the edge of his shirt.
"Well, I wasn't – he answered the phone, and it was him, and i was just expecting some random person, I don't know, but… not him, so I panicked, and freaked out a little, and hung up on him. That's why he left the voicemail." Yuuri laughed awkwardly at his mistake, but Phichit still only seemed excited.
"Listen to it, Yuuri! I've gotta go to class, and you have to…" Phichit paused, and Yuuri laughed, saving him from trying to convert the time zone.
"Eat dinner and sleep. I'll be fine, Phichit. Cheer for me tomorrow?" Even though he knew that answer, the reassurance out loud was so important to him.
"Of course we are! I called Celestino earlier to convince him to let the rest of us have the day off, so we're gonna stream it and watch it at the rink," Phichit spoke excitedly, and Yuuri smiled, a little jealous that he wasn't there with them, but also… they were watching him in an international competition.
"I'll do my best, then." He wouldn't disappoint them.
"And?" Phichit prompted, and Yuuri sighed, but smiled nonetheless. Before he'd left for the Grand Prix, his friend had drilled the response in his head because he was 'tired of Yuuri selling himself short'.
"And even if I come in sixth, it's better than anything I've done before, and I should still be proud, and…" Yuuri trailed off, not remembering whatever else it was that he was supposed to promise Phichit.
"And I'm still a better ice skater than my best friend. Oh, and new addition! And I'm still going to make up with Viktor Nikiforov and be his boyfriend and live happily ever after and get married and have – "
"Phichit!" Yuuri cut off, his face turning red again, burying his hands against it. "I'm hanging up now. Bye, I'll text you before the competition tomorrow."
"We'll be cheering for you! Good luck, Yuuri!" Phichit cheered before hanging up, and Yuuri looked down at his phone again.
Where he still had a voicemail from Viktor Nikiforov.
Yuuri set his phone down and got dressed to go eat with Celestino. It wasn't that he was ignoring the voicemail, he just wanted to… leave it for when he had enough time to process it (read: listen to it at least four times and then probably call Viktor back). He didn't have that time before dinner, so it made sense that he would push it off until after they were done.
By the time they were done with dinner, it was almost time for him to go to bed, but he knew that he had to, at the very least, listen to Viktor's phone call. So, once Celestino was done giving him his pep talk and was out of his room, Yuuri pulled his phone into his lap, looked down at it, and pressed play on the voicemail.
Immediately, he heard Viktor's voice, and he didn't process it the first time through, because Viktor Nikiforov had really called him back, had wanted to talk to him. And he didn't sound angry, which was even more amazing. He just genuinely had wanted to talk to Yuuri and Yuuri couldn't even believe it.
The second time he played it, he actually listened.
He was glad that he'd spoken to Phichit first, because hearing that Phichit already knew from Viktor probably would have made him angrier than hearing it from his friend himself. His face was bright red by the time that Viktor got around to praising him, and he didn't think that he was breathing him. Viktor went out of his way to tell him that he'd been cheering for him, and for telling him all that had gone well with his skate, and Yuuri felt tears in his eyes again, because Viktor Nikiforov was so much more than anyone ever deserved, apparently.
Holy shit. Voicemail Viktor definitely asked him on a date. Yuuri covered his hands with his mouth. Yes. Yes, a thousand times over, of course he would get coffee with Viktor after his free skate. That meant that Viktor wanted him, and coffee sounded like a date, and Yuuri couldn't breathe. He was going to die before he ever even made it to the date, so he didn't have to worry about humiliating himself during it.
Hearing v-nikiforov's normal reassurances in Viktor's voice was enough to actually send Yuuri to tears, holding his phone close to himself as he let himself sob, feeling so much calmer than he had before he'd started the phone call. Viktor viewed him as legitimate competition, but still wanted him to do well, and was giving him all of the same advice that he needed to keep himself calm and excited for the competition. It did hurt a little to have the reminder that Viktor might not be in competition much longer, but at least Yuuri was breathing again. Viktor's care was legitimate and sweet, and he didn't need to have a panic attack.
Until: "Please call me back. I love you."
Not only did Yuuri's breathing stop, but his heart stopped. Viktor Nikiforov just out loud admitted to loving him. It was completely different from just being able to flip through his conversations with v-nikiforov and know that they were from Viktor, smiling at all of the hearts that he sent.
Viktor Nikiforov was in love with him.
Yuuri immediately closed out of the voicemail, dialing Viktor's number and holding the phone close to his ear, his hands shaking as he waited and waited and waited and – voicemail.
He tried again.
Three times he tried until someone finally picked up, and Yuuri breathed out in relief. "Viktor, it's Yuuri, I just listened to your voicemail and – "
"Viktor isn't here right now." Yuuri choked on whatever words might come next, because even not knowing him well, that thickly accented English was recognizable for someone who had had as severe a Viktor Nikiforov obsession as Yuuri had. His cheeks flashed bright red.
"Ah, Coach… Mr… Feltsman. I'm sorry. I was just trying to call Viktor back, he'd called me, and asked me for me to call him back, which is why I did, and, um – " Why now, of all times, on the phone with Viktor's terrifying looking coach, was Yuuri's English failing him? His face heated up again, and he covered his face with his hands, as if Yakov could see how horrible he was blushing.
"Talk to him after the competition. I have his phone before it so he is not distracted." Yakov answered, and before Yuuri could stutter out another apology, he'd hung up, and Yuuri stared down at his phone.
Why hadn't Viktor said anything!?
That was maybe the most terrifying minute of Yuuri's life, because without seeing Yakov there in front of him, he was even more terrified of the man. How on earth did Viktor train with him? He must be used to him, after all of the years that they had been working together, but Yuuri had spoken to him on the phone for less than a minute and felt like he was being criticized at every moment.
It also meant that he couldn't call Viktor back tonight, and Yuuri sighed, laying back on his bed and staring up at the ceiling before pulling up the app, smiling a little at Viktor's messages.
k-yuuri: i don't know when yakov gives you back your phone but i tried to call
k-yuuri: i also would have liked to know that by 'call me back' you meant not while yakov has your phone
k-yuuri: it's fine, though.
k-yuuri: good luck tomorrow :) not that you of all people need it 3
And that was all that he could do that night (other than listen to the voicemail again, which, okay, fine, he did), so Yuuri set his phone onto the charger, turned over in his bed, and went to sleep.
When he woke up, he saw that he had a few missed calls from his sister, but he didn't call her back, because usually he'd talk to her much earlier in the day, and he didn't want even a pep talk before he went to the rink. He put his phone into his pocket, nonetheless, in case he wasn't able to get hold of Viktor while they were there (and because he owed Phichit a text to say that he was ready for this).
He left early to go to his warmup with Celestino, tuning out his coach's words of encouragement as he just let himself breathe, sending a quick text to Phichit. Viktor was already there when they arrived, and other than a bright smile and a wave in his direction, there was no communication between the two of them before the competition.
Which meant that it felt like way too little time before he had to skate. Yuuri had to go before Viktor today, and he was shaking when he stepped out onto the ice. He stood in his starting pose, waiting for his music, and glanced up to where the other skaters sat, a smile spreading over his face when he saw Viktor waving wildly and clearly shouting something at him.
It was surreal, but for the first time this season, he was skating for Viktor Nikiforov. Yuuri let the music take him away as he skated, trying not to think about anything else going on in his life, and he let the ice take him away. He stumbled in the landing of his quads, but other than that, he… even he had to admit, it was a relatively good program.
Yuuri was still shaking when he stepped off of the ice.
Celestino grinned at him when he stepped off, immediately pouring praise onto him as he led him over to the kiss and cry, letting Yuuri sag against in him exhaustion while they waited for his scores. When they were announced, it got very loud, and Yuuri stared at the scoreboard in shock.
Supposing no one other than Viktor broke any world records, Yuuri had just given himself a chance of medaling in his first ever Grand Prix Final. He sat completely still, gaping at the scoreboard, and could hear Celestino cheering beside him, when he finally looked up and waved happily toward everyone there. Holy shit.
He went and sat quietly for the rest of the skaters, trying to zone most of them out, but… Viktor.
Viktor, who he found out earlier had mentioned that he was skating this season for "someone special", and Yuuri realized this was himself. Viktor, who had won gold on this program so many times already, and had dedicated every one to Yuuri. Viktor, whose program was called Stay Close to Me, and who skated like it was meant to speak to someone.
Like it was meant to speak to Yuuri.
Yuuri was just lucky that he wasn't in tears by the time that Viktor finished skating. There was no way that he wouldn't win gold, and as he finished, he blew a kiss right in his direction, which Yuuri laughed at, leaning forward to watch the remaining skaters.
And when all was said and done? Of course Viktor took gold, and Yuuri had no problem with that. Even Yuuri had never seen that program skated so well, it was beyond beautiful, and Yuuri didn't know if Viktor could ever skate it better. Christophe Giacometti took silver, and seemed very proud of it, even as he and Viktor shoved each other around in the hallway. Yuuri took bronze.
Bronze.
He had medaled at his first ever Grand Prix Final. And he wasn't upset to lose to Viktor and Chris, of all people. In fact, he was just shocked he medaled in the first place. He wasn't sure he'd ever stop shaking from it, and no one had even handed him his medal yet.
He stepped back out onto the ice with a wide smile on his face, joining Chris and Viktor to claim his medal, holding it close to himself in awe, and seeing Viktor look at him proudly. Viktor Nikiforov was proud of him, because Viktor Nikiforov was in love with him. Honestly, he didn't think that he would ever be over that. It was unreal.
When he stepped off of the ice, he went over to Celestino, who handed his phone so that he could take a picture of his medal with shaking hands to send to Phichit and his family. There was another missed call from his sister from during the competition, which was strong, because Mari should know that Yuuri didn't usually have his phone while he was on the ice, or while he was competing in general, because he liked for Celestino to hold onto it.
Yuuri slipped into the room with the rest of the skaters, where most were gone, but one was staring at the screen. One with silver hair, and a red jacket wrapped tightly around his body, and a gold medal around his neck.
"Viktor?" He couldn't raise his voice above a whisper, standing in front of his idol and the man that he'd fallen in love with, even though Yuuri hadn't even known. His hands were shaking, and when Viktor finally made eye contact, Yuuri felt tears prick in his eyes, which was unreasonable, and he tried desperately to rub them away.
"Um." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sweaty even in front of a fucking ice rink. "Congratulations?" He covered his eyes with how awkward he knew that he must sound, and Viktor started laughing, and Yuuri's heart dropped.
Even after the voicemail he'd left, Viktor didn't want anything to do with him. Here he was, unknowingly dedicating his season to Viktor, just like every other, and when he finally got a medal, it didn't matter to him. It made sense, really, because why would Viktor want Yuuri, seeing how he was just being awkward in front of his idol and the love of his life, and then tears were starting to fall, and he looked more ridiculous and –
"Thank you!" His laughter was genuine and pure and beautiful, and Viktor Nikiforov – Viktor fucking Nikiforov was smiling at him like he was his whole world. It wasn't laughter of making fun of him, he was… happy. Viktor Nikiforov was laughing because he was so happy to finally have a conversation with Yuuri. "I was just about to look for you! You did so well, Yuuri! Your first Grand Prix Final, and you got bronze! It's unbelievable, and I knew you could do it, all along! Just like I said, you're real competition, for me and for everyone here! I'm excited to see you again at Worlds! I'm glad you're here!"
And then, in a shocking turn of events, Viktor had his arms around Yuuri. Viktor was hugging Yuuri. Here he thought he'd gotten over his heart attack about accidentally dating Viktor Nikiforov, but here he was, in Viktor's arms, and he didn't know if he could breathe, so he did the only logical thing that he could, and stood there totally still, waiting for Viktor to pull away.
When Viktor did, his smile seemed to have faded a little, but it was still there as he looked up at Yuuri. "So, I was wondering – "
Yuuri's phone began to buzz, and he looked down at it in confusion. Mari was calling again. It was nearly three in the morning in Hasetsu, so she really should be asleep right now, why was she calling Yuuri, again? She'd already texted that he'd done well in the competition, and texted him good luck earlier. He felt bad for not answering the call last night, but… What could be so serious that she'd call again? He'd already missed four calls from her…
He realized he'd zoned out something Viktor was saying, and his phone had stopped ringing, and his heart started beating faster with anxiety, clenching his phone tighter in his hand. "I – you – we – " He paused for a moment, trying to catch his breath, but all of the worst situations of what might be happening at home flashed through his head, and he couldn't breathe. "Message me later, I'm sorry, I have to take this!"
He looked at Viktor, who was v-nikiforov, who was really truly Viktor Nikiforov, and he just stared, because he was leaving Viktor Nikiforov, who probably wanted to take him on a date or something, and more tears fell, pushing past. "It's my sister. I'm sorry. I – I'll talk to you later. Tomorrow, I guess? I'll see you tomorrow. Or you can text me. I'm sorry." Yuuri promised, waving at Viktor before running off, calling his sister back.
"Yuuri?" Mari sounded worried when she picked up, and Yuuri wished he'd gotten further away from the crowds at the tone of her voice. This was not a congratulatory call. "I'm sorry it took so long to get to you, you wouldn't pick up, and I didn't want to just text you, because this isn't really something that I should text," She was babbling, and Yuuri stood frozen where he was, because was she crying?
"What happened, Mari?" He was almost scared to ask, sliding down a wall and pressing his phone against his ear, his hands shaking.
"Vicchan," She finally gasped out, and Yuuri felt his world stop.
"Yuuri, I'm sorry," Mari whispered into the phone, but Yuuri could feel himself spiraling out of control already, a gasping breath escaping his mouth, standing up to shakily escape from the room where anyone could see him and instead disappearing into a bathroom, curling himself up in one of the stalls to listen to his sister talking.
"What happened?" Of course she hadn't even confirmed that Vicchan was dead, but why else would she have called? Another sob wracked his body as he thought about it. He hadn't seen his puppy in five years, and now he wouldn't see him again, because he'd been at a competition. What if one of her calls before this, he was still alive? What if –
"It was peaceful, Yuuri. I'm so sorry." She repeated, and Yuuri cried harder, because it was confirmed, and he didn't know what else to do about it but cry. Mari stayed quiet while she let him, and Yuuri eventually stopped, holding onto his phone.
"I… I'm… I'll talk to you later." He hung up immediately after he'd spoken, staring at the phone in his hands, trying to calm himself down enough to go to Celestino.
He had tried to cover up the fact of what had happened, the fact that he was suffering so much, but he was sure that Celestino could see right through it. He knew Yuuri, and he knew that this wasn't what someone who had just won a bronze medal was supposed to look like.
Yuuri looked like someone who had come in last place, and, honestly, he felt like it too. He felt miserable, and he just wanted to go back to his hotel room and curl up in his bed and pretend like he never had to leave his bed again (a small, traitorous part of his mind supplied that maybe he'd feel even better if Viktor was there to take care of him, but he didn't dare let that thought be anything more than a dream).
Instead, he had to go to a press conference, because he had won the bronze medal. He was a champion. He sure as fuck didn't feel like it. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was probably sticking up at a terrible angle, and even ten minutes in front of a sink had done nothing to fix what he looked like. He just... didn't know what else to do.
Vicchan. All of this time, he'd been skating, not even thinking of his dog. It had been five years since he really saw him, and that hurt Yuuri. Viktor had seen pictures of that dog, but he'd sent them because Mari had sent them to him.
It sort of made sense now, why she hadn't sent him a picture of Vicchan before the competition. He hadn't noticed at the time, but his sister liked to text him pictures of his family and friends with his puppy before he went onto the ice, because she knew how much Vicchan meant to him. They always cheered Yuuri up, because seeing his dog with his family was always a nice feeling.
But... Vicchan was gone. Yuuri looked at Celestino, who did a double take at the look of the man and pulled him off to the side, even though there were reporters coming toward him. "Do you want me to tell them you don't feel well?"
"No." Yuuri clenched his fists at his side, looking up at his coach. "I'm fine, let's just get this thing over with."
"Do you want to talk, Yuuri?" Celestino looked genuinely worried for him, and even though it was irrational, that made Yuuri even angrier, shoving past his coach.
"No, I don't want to talk. I'm fine." And then he felt the tears leaking from his eyes, and he turned his head away from his coach, but he knew that Celestino had already seen them.
"Alright…" It was clear Celestino was still concerned, and Yuuri turned from him, walking up to where he knew that he was needed, wrapping his Team Japan jacket tight around himself as he tried to make the tears stop. He would be fine. It was just a press conference.
He was not fine. He was ushered inside and sat down next to Viktor Nikiforov, who, of course, immediately noticed the tears on his face, and was probably confused. After all, Yuuri had just left him to go talk to his sister, and now he was sitting there trying not to cry.
The cameras weren't on yet, and Viktor leaned over, cutting off whatever he was laughing about with Chris, tapping Yuuri's hand lightly before whispering, "Are you okay?"
And for some reason, Viktor asking him this just made him more upset, and he pulled his hand away from him, wrapping it tightly around the microphone in front of him and trying to ignore that someone else was even sitting next to him.
By the time the cameras had turned on, at least Yuuri wasn't crying. They spoke to Viktor and Chris most, and Viktor somehow directed a few of their questions toward Yuuri away from him, which let Yuuri finally settle a little and process what was happening.
Viktor probably didn't even know what he was doing, but he was still protecting Yuuri. Just like v-nikiforov would have been the first person that Yuuri texted about this, and he would have soothed Yuuri in the same way. And here Yuuri thought he couldn't fall more in love with v-nikiforov. Knowing he was actually Viktor Nikiforov only made him… better. He let out a much calmer breath, looking up so that he was actually able to see the people asking their questions, letting his hands rest against the table.
"Viktor," Someone was asking, "How do you feel about having someone new rising up as competition? Giacometti has been competition for you for a few years already, but Katsuki's come basically out of nowhere and gotten near to breaking your record from a year back. Nervous about it?"
Viktor laughed excitedly, and the only reason Yuuri didn't panic about that is because he knew Viktor, and he'd already misjudged his laughter only a short time ago (it felt like years ago at this point, though, after the news about Vicchan). "I'm excited! Yuuri's an amazing competitor, and it's good to have someone so new and talented on the ice! And with Yuri Pliestsky joining the senior division next season, we've got two amazing Yuris to try to beat what I've done! I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed to see either of them crush one of my records!"
And Yuuri's heart sang a little, staring at Viktor, because he really, genuinely had that much faith in him. He pressed a hand over his mouth, trying to think of what to say, before finally just leaning forward toward the microphone. "Thank you. I hope to be an adequate competitor."
"I have no doubt you will be." And when Viktor's eyes met his, Yuuri could only stare back, forgetting about Vicchan and everything else for a long moment. Holy shit. This was Viktor Nikiforov, and he… clearly was still interested in Yuuri.
He was going to pass out.
"And your plans for next season?"
Viktor stayed silent this time, looking toward Yuuri instead, who saw the slightest hint of panic in Viktor's eyes at the question, and he blinked in surprise. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see!" Viktor finally answered, flashing that bright smile he always used (that Yuuri realized more and more by the second looked fake) to them, and the press conference wrapped up shortly after that.
Yuuri made it back to the hotel without starting to cry again, forcing smiles for the press, but Celestino made up some excuse about him being tired, and Yuuri happily let him, because he just wanted to get out of there and to get somewhere where he could curl up and not think about anything else. He hadn't told his coach what had happened, but he'd obviously looked bad enough that he didn't need to give Celestino any details.
He called Phichit. And when Phichit picked up, Yuuri couldn't say anything except start to sob, before Phichit even gave a confused greeting. "Yuuri? What's happening? Did something happen with Viktor? You looked great in competition today –"
"Vicchan died." Yuuri gasped out, and Phichit fell silent.
"Holy shit, Yuuri. What do you need?" Phichit didn't know what to do, that's always what he said when he didn't know what to do, but Yuuri was okay with that. He didn't need Phichit to do anything.
"Just… stay there?" He finally whispered, pulling his legs up to his chest, and he heard Phichit hum in agreement, letting Yuuri just sit there and sob for nearly fifteen minutes, just letting everything out that he was trying to hide for all of the press conference.
"You know," Yuuri said finally, wiping his tears away, "I also didn't go on a date with Viktor today. He wanted to get coffee." He laughed, a little hysterically, "I stood up Viktor Nikiforov, Phichit. And I don't think he hates me."
"Why would he hate you?" Phichit asked, probably glad that Yuuri wasn't crying any more.
"Because we've barely talked even though I know who he is now, and he hugged me, and then I ran away and came back to the press conference looking like I'd died and come back to life, but only just barely. I ran away from him, Phichit." Yuuri groaned after he'd spoken, and Phichit was silent, which definitely meant that Viktor hated him.
Even though he'd shown no indication of that in the press conference.
"Viktor doesn't hate you." Yuuri rolled his eyes, because how would Phichit know. He'd spoken to Viktor one time, and probably not for that long.
Actually, wait, you know what? Yuuri had no idea how often Phichit had talked to Viktor. Was he in constant contact with him? If they'd talked more than once, Yuuri would probably be angrier. He'd have to ask him when he got back to Detroit.
… Back to Detroit.
"Phichit?"
"Yeah? What's up?" Phichit sounded confused with his change in tone, and Yuuri pulled at a loose string on the shirt he'd changed into, tears in his eyes again.
"I'm going back to Japan at the end of this year. I was gone too long, Vicchan died, and I haven't seen him for five years, and what if I could have stopped it and what if – "
"Yuuri, you would have been here whether you were in Detroit or Japan. You know that." Phichit interrupted.
"What if I could have caught on before that? Mari did say that he used to whine in front of my door, for so long!" Yuuri was crying again, and Phichit sighed audibly.
"Yuuri, listen to me. I know I can't convince you otherwise, but it's good you did this. I know you miss Vicchan, and home, and it'd be… good for you to go back. I'll miss you, but you're graduating anyway, right? It'll be fine, I'll see you at competitions or something, right?"
"Yeah," Yuuri mumbled softly. "I just… I could have stopped this."
"I don't think you could have." Phichit assured before Yuuri heard him shout out in Thai, and the rustle of sheets. "Shit, I'm late to class, Yuuri! I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay." Yuuri started to remove the phone from his ear, but Phichit was speaking again.
"Seriously, though, Yuuri, nice job. Bronze is amazing, can't wait to see it! Have fun with the exhibition and stuff! Make Viktor love you!"
"Phichit!"
"Hey, I saw the press conference. His eyes were on you, Yuuri. The whole time. In a good way! He clearly cares about you!" Yuuri smiled a little at the thought, wondering if he should watch it. He usually would have by now, but…
"I'll talk to you later, Phichit. Bye." Yuuri hung up, setting his phone down, but still feeling miserable.
When he got off the phone with Phichit, he texted Celestino that he could go out to dinner with the coaches or something, pretending that he had plans. But that meant that he was alone with himself again. Alone to think about the fact that Vicchan was gone, alone to think about the fact that he'd stood up Viktor Nikiforov, and then ignored him as much as he could during the press conference.
Abandoning Viktor meant that he'd skipped their potential coffee date that he'd mentioned, and that only made Yuuri want to cry more, because he had been looking forward to it. He wanted to call Viktor and explain what had happened, explain that he didn't want to go out, or do anything, but… It wasn't like he could or wanted to avoid Viktor forever, but he couldn't talk to him right now. Not after that.
And maybe Viktor wouldn't want him, since he kept abandoning him when they had plans or things they actually wanted to do. It wasn't fair that this kept happening to them, but apparently that was the way of their life.
k-yuuri: i can't call tonight i'm sorry
k-yuuri: we'll talk at practice for the exhibition i guess?
He looked down in a little bit of shock when he saw that v-nikiforov was typing, and wiped his hand against his eyes so he'd be able to read more clearly when Viktor's message came through.
v-nikiforov: why don't you want to talk? are you okay? 3
He deliberated for a long time what he wanted to say back, but he decided on the truth.
k-yuuri: no.
And Yuuri didn't really want to admit it to Viktor, but v-nikiforov had been the one that he had been talking to for so long, the one who he would have messaged about this. That didn't have to change because he knew who he was. He felt more tears running down his face, looking at the screen as it flashed on and off saying that Viktor was typing before he realized that the other man was calling.
Even though Yuuri had told Viktor that he didn't want to talk that night, Viktor was currently calling his phone, and Yuuri just watched the phone ring and ring until it turned off. And then Viktor called again, and Yuuri felt the smallest smile quirk on the corners of his lips, because this meant that he was worried about him. Viktor wasn't going to give up until Yuuri answered his call and he made sure that he was alright, and it touched Yuuri's heart deeply to know that.
And because of this, despite his better judgement, Yuuri picked up, and before he could even get in a greeting, Viktor was speaking, "What room are you in?"
"Viktor?" He was coming to him? No! Yuuri looked like a mess
"I already asked Yakov to ask Celestino what hotel you were in, but I need your room number, Yuuri, or I'm knocking on every door until I find you. I have food! Or, well, not yet. But I'll get food on my way over." Viktor sounded concerned, but also genuinely like he wanted to see Yuuri, even in this state, and Yuuri felt another sob escape him, and a gasp of concern from Viktor on the other end of the call.
"Yuuri? What's wrong? I didn't think to ask because I was worried that you didn't want to call me, but... are you crying?" And it only took Yuuri a second of reminding himself that this was v-nikiforov to open up with the truth.
"My sister called because my dog died."
He heard Viktor gasp, and then he was silent for a long moment, as if thinking of what to say. "We still have to skate for the exhibition tomorrow, or I'd be offering to take you to St. Petersburg to meet Makkachin. Too far away to be back in time for the exhibition, though. I'd skip, but you can't."
And Yuuri felt a smile on his face, at the idea of Viktor Nikiforov not showing up for such an important (and fun) thing because he wanted Yuuri to meet his dog so that he'd feel better from the death of his own. "Maybe another time."
"Absolutely another time. You'd love Makkachin. Much bigger than your dog was, but that's okay. She's very sweet, and I'm sure that she'd love you. You'll have to come meet her sometime, yeah?" Viktor was basically demanding that Yuuri meet his dog, and Yuuri smiled to himself.
"Okay, some time. Viktor, are you sure that you want to come over here? I'm… I doubt you want to see me right now." Yuuri was still wrapped tightly in the blanket that he'd wrapped himself in when he'd returned, and he heard Viktor scoff on the other line.
"Of course I'm coming over. I don't mind how you look, you just lost your dog, you're allowed to look the worst you ever had. You need me right now, Yuuri. You'd be texting me on the app right now, wouldn't you? If I wasn't already on the phone?" And Yuuri knew that Viktor was right, and somehow that reassurance was enough to calm his tears a little more. Viktor added. "I found Celestino in the hallway and he told me where you are. He looked confused, though."
"You should be celebrating or something." Yuuri posed a weak reason for Viktor not to come over, and he heard Viktor simply laugh.
"So should you. This is my celebration. Finally meeting my Katsuki Yuuri. Well, meeting you in person. And more than just in passing. And I'll have food. I'll make sure to bring you the best, I came down here a little while ago for something Yakov wanted me to do, an exhibition, and there was this restaurant a few blocks down from here that I think you'd like." Viktor was babbling, and it was clear that he'd gone outside by the noises surrounding him, so apparently Yuuri wasn't going to get away without Viktor coming over.
But… that was okay. Viktor wanted to comfort him, and Yuuri knew that he needed food, he really did. After a few moments of (near) silence, Yuuri spoke up again, "How do you know what kind of food I'd like in Russia?" Yuuri wanted to distract himself, and Viktor was the perfect distraction, even if he seemed distracted himself, every so often yelling out a greeting to someone on the streets, or pausing to say something to someone who must be talking to him.
"We've talked about food before, and I paid attention! Of course, you said you didn't know many Russian foods, so I can't be completely sure what you'd like, but I'll get a few that I do, and we'll go from there, okay?" And Yuuri could almost hear the heart that Viktor added after so many of his sentences, even spoken, and he smiled to himself.
"Okay." He stayed silent for the rest of the call, listening to Viktor ordering their food, speaking fluid Russian to whoever he was talking to, pausing and laughing and holding conversation with some people that were clearly congratulating him on his recent victory.
And then, only a little while later, there was a knock on his door, and Yuuri shifted the blanket some so that he was able to stand up. "That's you?"
"That's me! Good, I have the right room! Come get me, please? My hands are full of food. And, I guess, I couldn't get into your room anyway, since I don't have a key…" Viktor trailed off, clearly pondering this.
"I'm coming," Yuuri laughed, hanging up the phone call and standing up. He kept the blanket draped over his shoulders, looking at himself in the mirror. This… wasn't what he wanted to look like the first time that met Viktor Nikiforov. His cheeks were tear-stained and his eyes bloodshot, it was pretty obvious that he'd been crying.
Nonetheless, this was… This was v-nikiforov, not just Viktor, and Yuuri knew that. This wasn't the slightly mysterious world champion figure skater alone, this was also the sweet man that Yuuri had been in love with for months now.
He opened the door and Viktor grinned widely at him, as though he wasn't looking at a man who had been crying the last few hours. He also hadn't been lying when he said that his hands were full of food. Viktor was holding at least three bags. "I would have gotten coffee, too, but I figured we should save that for another time!" Viktor smiled widely, pushing his way him with a laugh.
Yuuri stared at him in confusion for a moment, not entirely understanding what was so important about coffee, but not questioning it. Instead, he focused on the food in Viktor's hands. "You do know there are only two of us, right?" Yuuri let him in before closing the door, walking back over to his bed and curling up while Viktor walked after him, setting their food down and then himself sitting on the opposite end of Yuuri.
"I wanted to make sure that you had plenty of choices in case you didn't like something! And we can't eat too much because of the exhibition, but I figured that we might as well have a little extra. You deserve it. And I'm here for you." Viktor handed off one of the bags of food, which Yuuri opened to look at everything inside.
They ate in near silence, because Yuuri didn't want to talk about anything while they were eating, and apparently Viktor wasn't going to push it.
Finally, Yuuri spoke again, "Did you see my messages I sent the first day here?"
"The ones saying that you didn't want to break up with me?" Viktor confirmed, taking a large bite of whatever it was he was eating before nodding. "And I was glad to see them. I'd prefer not to break up with you as well, if we can avoid it."
And Yuuri blinked at him in surprise with his wording, setting down the food to look at him. "So… if… then… Are we… dating?" His voice was quiet, because he couldn't quite believe that he was dating Viktor Nikiforov, but the word had that giant grin on Viktor's face again, so Yuuri hoped that meant that he'd guessed right.
"I hope so! I'd post a picture of us to my Instagram, but I'm sure you don't want a picture right now. You don't look bad, but you do look like you've been crying." With his words, Viktor leaned forward to wipe a tear from Yuuri's cheek, and Yuuri felt his hands trembling.
He was dating Viktor Nikiforov, who was treating him like his boyfriend that he legitimately loved and cared about, and Yuuri wasn't sure that life had ever been this good before.
Viktor looked at him for a very long time, clearly contemplating something, before, finally, asking, "Can I sit next to you?"
As in, Viktor asked for permission to move from the end of his bed to next to Yuuri. Yuuri stared at him for a moment, confused on why he would even ask, before nodding, and Viktor immediately rushed over, sitting right at Yuuri's side, his food in his lap. Their thighs were touching, and their shoulders, and that calmed Yuuri unbelievably, and he found himself leaning just slightly into Viktor, focusing on his food.
"Thank you," He murmured after a moment, and it was Viktor's turn to look at him in confusion. "For… I don't know, being here? I mean… you've just been… I've really liked getting to know you. Especially now that I know that it's you," Yuuri said to his boyfriend, Viktor Nikiforov.
And that sentence was about enough to make Yuuri cry tears of a whole different sort than before. This wasn't real.
Viktor beamed, setting his arm around Yuuri and holding him close to him once he gave the permission of leaning against Viktor. "Of course! I'm glad you know I'm me, too! I thought Phichit must have told you, but clearly not," Wow, okay, so, apparently Viktor was bitter, and Yuuri found himself again questioning how long he and Phichit had been in correspondence, "But that's okay now!"
And then Viktor pulled out his phone, and started to show him all of the pictures of Makkachin he'd recently taken (apparently the ones that he'd shown Chris, and more), and Yuuri leaned his head against his shoulder, just soaking in the warmth and comfort that Viktor was giving him.
He woke up to Viktor Nikiforov shaking his shoulder slightly, looking down at him in concern. Yuuri's cheeks flushed red, shocked that he'd managed to fall asleep in the middle of Viktor Nikiforov talking to him and showing him pictures of his dog (but also not, because the day had been exhausting – physically, and emotionally).
"I need to go back to my room, Yakov just called me because it's getting late and we need to go to practice tomorrow. I'll see you then?" Viktor asked, and Yuuri nodded.
"I… Thank you for coming over. And for bringing dinner." Dinner which, of course, they hadn't eaten all of, but oh well.
Then, Viktor moved from his side, and Yuuri sighed, leaning back against the headboard of the bed instead, his eyes half-lidded and exhausted. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Viktor announced happily before leaving the room.
Yuuri was almost asleep when he got a message.
v-nikiforov: thank you for letting me come over and i'm sorry about your dog but i am happy you're doing better 3
v-nikiforov: i'll see you tomorrow!
v-nikiforov: wow, that's so exciting to say! seeing you tomorrow. wow. 3
v-nikiforov: sleep well, get plenty of rest! 3
k-yuuri: goodnight, viktor. thank you
v-nikiforov: … and?
k-yuuri: 3
v-nikiforov: yay! goodnight, yuuri! 3
Yuuri slept surprisingly well, despite the news that he'd had that day, and he was happy for that, because usually he'd be up all night thinking about it. It didn't mean he fell asleep immediately – he took hours after Viktor left to fall asleep, but… he slept. And that was more than he thought would happen.
He got ready early in the morning and met Celestino, still quiet, but finally telling his coach what had happened (not mentioning that he wanted to go back to Japan, which meant dropping his coach, and doing god knows what next). Celestino looked at him sadly, and offered his condolences, made sure that Yuuri was okay. Yuuri was… doing fine.
He just wanted to get the exhibition and the banquet over with. He just wanted to go home. But first he had to get through this.
When he showed up for practice for the exhibition, Viktor rushed forward, shoved a bouquet of roses into his arms, before throwing his arms around him, and then –
And then –
And then Viktor kissed him.
That hadn't been part of the plan, not exactly. The plan was to bring Yuuri flowers to practice for their exhibitions and invite him on a date to go get coffee, and that was where he was going to kiss him. It was going to be a sweet first kiss, and Yuuri was going to love it.
Instead, Viktor got impatient and kissed Yuuri as soon as he saw him, causing them both to topple backwards when Yuuri slipped, caught off guard by the sudden armful of Viktor, and Viktor didn't have time to recover before they were on the ground, their lips still met. Yuuri stared up at him with wide eyes, and Viktor stayed frozen in place, wondering what he was going to say.
"I… um… good morning, Viktor." Yuuri's cheeks were bright red, and Viktor paused before realizing that he was still on top of him, quickly standing up and offering Yuuri his hand as well, ignoring the slight chatter behind them (Yakov calling his name, Chris's whistling catcalls… Celestino was quiet, and Viktor didn't want to turn and see his face).
"Good morning! I – Sorry for knocking you over." Viktor watched his feet, and Yuuri started to laugh. And at first it was just quiet, disbelieving laughter, his boyfriend still on the ground, and looking like he wasn't going to get up. Then Yuuri stood and wrapped his arms around Viktor, still laughing hysterically.
"You bring me roses and then kiss me so hard I fall over and then you apologize for making me fall over, and – " And Yuuri started laughing again, burying his head against Viktor's shoulder, just shaking, while Viktor stood in confusion.
"I was… well… I meant to kiss you later, too. I didn't know if you'd want to, because, you know, and I just wanted to make sure, it was supposed to be – " At this point, Viktor could hear Chris laughing behind them as well, and he just stood there, with his arms full of Yuuri, who didn't seem like he wanted to let go.
"You could have had better timing," Yuuri murmured, finally pulling his head from Viktor's neck, looking up at him with shining eyes. "I… I still liked it, though. I just – don't… know… what comes next. Or what I want, I'm sorry, I - " His cheeks turned red again, and Viktor smiled.
"Don't apologize!" Even though the idea that Yuuri might not want to date him right now hurt, he understood. They had the rest of the season, and he had just lost his dog, so Viktor didn't didn't know how he would feel in a situation like that, and he knew that Yuuri had some sort of anxiety, so this had to be hard for him and –
And Yuuri kissed his cheek, burying his face into his shoulder as he held onto him. "I just… No matter what, you'll still talk to me, right? I…" He looked embarrassed, and Viktor was so confused, pulling away to look down at him more closely, which just caused Yuuri to direct his sight directly to his feet instead. "I… I really like you. And I'd like to date. At least for a while."
And Viktor beamed. "Of course! I don't know if I could go a day without talking to you, you nearly broke my heart when the WiFi broke up with me!" Viktor exclaimed, and Yuuri laughed softly, slowly pulling away from him.
"Well, I need to… practice. We can go to lunch later?" Yuuri offered, looking up to make eye contact, and Viktor's heart melted, wishing he could find the careless courage he had a few days ago when he admitted to Yuuri that he loved him over the phone. But that was an accident, and he didn't want to scare Yuuri when Yuuri had so much going on in his life.
Even though Viktor really wanted to scream to the world just how in love he was with this man. Seriously, Viktor didn't know what his life was before Yuuri came into it, and he didn't ever want to have a life without him. Even if they dated now and it fell apart, Viktor would cling to Katsuki Yuuri.
Well, and his heart would be destroyed. He was happy that Yuuri was giving him a chance, of actually dating him, because Viktor was in love with him. Who knew that you could fall in love with someone on the Internet who didn't think you were really you so hard, but Viktor had. And it was bad circumstances when Yuuri found out that he was him, because if that hadn't happened, he was sure that this kiss could have happened in much different circumstances.
Right. The kiss. Yuuri had walked away from him to put on his skates, clenching the roses tightly while he talked with his coach, and Viktor smiled to himself, sitting down on a bench and tuning Yakov out as he picked up his own skates, tying them tightly on and finally looking up at his coach, who was looking at him with an odd look in his eyes. "Vitya, who is that boy?"
"Yakov, you don't know the new bronze medalist? Katsuki Yuuri, the most gorgeous skater on the ice?" Viktor shook his head, handing off his skate guards, grinning at his coach. "Shame on you!"
"You know what I mean, Vitya. Don't play smart with me." Yakov narrowed his eyes at Viktor, and this time he sobered up with a more genuine smile. Yakov was asking why he had kissed Yuuri.
"Remember months ago when Phichit Chulanont called me because his roommate thought that I was faking as myself on the Internet with the boy that I was talking to?" Viktor skated out onto the ice, practicing his figures easily while talking to Yakov in Russian, because his coach understood it better and it made it easier for no one to overhear them. He'd tell Chris all of this later anyway, and Yuuri already knew.
"That's the boy?" Yakov gestured to Yuuri, who looked startled to be pointed at, just having gotten onto the ice (Viktor noted with a smile that he'd made his coach hold onto the bouquet so the flowers wouldn't get squashed while Yuuri was skating).
"Yeah," Viktor said softly, watching Yuuri begin his on-ice warmups, getting focused and in his right mindset, and Viktor sighed softly. "That's him. Yakov, how early is too early for a marriage proposal?"
Yakov started to respond before his words stuttered to a stop, "Vitya!" And Viktor rolled his eyes, not letting the conversation drop. "Are you even dating the boy?"
"Of course I am! But he needs time, Yakov. His dog died, and he wants to finish the season, so he has to 'think about it', after the next few days. But we'll be dating this afternoon, because I'm going to lunch with him. We are going on a date after this, Yakov." Yakov rolled his eyes, but he was happy for Viktor. Viktor was sure about that. He wasn't going to let the love of his life (which he was sure that Yuuri was) fall out of his grasp, not now that he had actually met him.
"Then you should give him his space. Marriage, Vitya? With a boy you met on the Internet?" Yakov shook his head. "Use your brain, boy," He demanded, and that was apparently the end of that conversation. "Now practice. Your jumps are always sloppy in your exhibition – "
"They always are, and I told you that I wanted that to look like – "
"I don't care about your 'creative vision', Vitya! You get that in here, but you have to skate like you have any knowledge of the sport not like you're a hockey player that got thrown onto the wrong skates and is trying to – "
"Alright, alright!" Viktor laughed gleefully, because that meant that Yakov was not angry with him for kissing Yuuri today, and was just going to be his coach. Which meant that Viktor didn't actually have to listen to him.
Practice went smoothly, and Viktor smiled as he stepped off of the ice, because you know what came next? Lunch with Yuuri! Yuuri had invited him to lunch! Viktor stripped off his skates and went quickly showered in the locker room, throwing his bag over his shoulder, walking out to the lobby where he saw Yuuri already standing, the roses in his arms as he talked to Chris, who seemed to be having a very animated conversation with him.
And then Yuuri grinned up at him, waving as he walked over, and Viktor walked to them, leaning against the wall as he listened to them. "So, Viktor, Yuuri just invited me to lunch with the two of you. A winner's get together, eh?" He winked at him, and Viktor blinked once. Twice. Three times? How many times could you blink before it was unacceptable and you had to speak again?
"Sounds good!" He forced a grin onto his face, because what? Sure, it made sense that Chris could come with them since they weren't dating, and Chris was friends with both of them, but Viktor had just… been looking forward to lunch alone with Yuuri.
Maybe Yuuri didn't want him to think it was a date.
Oh. Yuuri was trying to tell Viktor that he wasn't ready to date him by inviting Chris, wasn't he? Viktor smiled anyway, walking by their side.
"You should pick, since you can actually read the signs, Vitya," Chris suggested, and Viktor nodded, before he heard Yuuri laugh, a noise he tried to bury into the roses. "What's funny?"
"Don't let him order the food, then." Yuuri stammered out with a giggle, and Viktor's heart shined to see Yuuri so genuinely happy (even if at his expense). "Last night, he came over after Mari called about Vicchan – " (Vicchan? And Yuuri had told Chris about his dog? How well did Yuuri know Chris? Should Viktor be jealous?) "and he brought dinner. And he brought enough to feed at least six people. It's a good thing we're here for another few days for the exhibitions and the banquet, because my fridge in my hotel room is full of leftovers."
And Chris burst out laughing. "Vitya! What made you buy so much?"
"I wanted to make sure I had something Yuuri liked! He needed comfort food." Viktor, of course, had to defend his honor. He couldn't just let Chris and Yuuri team up against him.
"It was very sweet. But probably too much food, Viktor." Yuuri smiled at him, walking close by his side, close enough that their arms brushed every few steps that they took.
For god's sake, Katsuki, did you want to date or not!?
"Then next time I'll get less," Viktor said decisively, and Yuuri smiled to himself, nodding his head. And, watching closely, Viktor noticed him mouth, 'Next time'.
Wow. Okay, so, Yuuri definitely wanted to date him. How did he make sure that they actually dated? Viktor watched the signs as they walked slowly (because they were the three Grand Prix Final medalists who had literally won a day ago, they were stopped for a few autographs and pictures). "Was the food good last night?' Viktor had to narrow down his options on where to take them to
"It was." Yuuri was watching the signs as they walked, and Viktor smiled, his eyes trained on the other man. He was so adorable. Wow. Viktor was so in love with that man.
"Good! Then we can get something else today, so you two can get the full Russian experience! It may be a while before you're back!" He grinned back at them, bouncing forward and finding the restaurant that he wanted to take them to, putting himself on the path to that.
"If we're back," Yuuri murmured, and Viktor's heart broke, seeing Yuuri staring wistfully away from them.
Did he not want to come back? Did he just not think that he was going to get to Russia? Maybe he expected Viktor to move to Detroit with him, that would be okay with him! He just... needed to know what they were going to do next. He had no idea what was going on. "We're here!" He turned around to gesture to the restaurant, and Chris and Yuuri smiled, following him in and letting him request their table.
"What should we get?" Chris asked, but Yuuri was surely wondering too, since the menu was in Cyrillic and he knew that neither of them could read it.
"I'll order for you. Chris, we've eaten here before, and you got the pirozhki, which was good, I know that you liked it. I'll get some of that for you two again, and maybe pick something else out for you to try. What did you like best last night, Yuuri?"
"The borscht was good," Yuuri murmured, and Viktor smiled, nodding his head as he compiled their order in his head.
"Vitya," Chris spoke up again, looking at him, "Within reason."
"I'm always reasonable!" Viktor exclaimed, and Yuuri's laugh was so loud and surprising that he actually choked on it. Viktor wished that he could be more insulted by it, but, well…
"Vitya, you bought me coffee because you were bitter about something Yuuri didn't do, and then were passive aggressive toward him, and then promptly bought him way too much food, a bouquet of roses, and kissed him so hard you knocked both of you to the ground. Not exactly subtle." Chris laughed, and Viktor was about to respond when their waiter came by and he was distracted by ordering their food.
Viktor ordered a reasonable amount of food, and they ate in relative peace, Chris letting them tell their story of what happened online, laughing the whole time that he had Yuuri's perspective, because he found it ridiculous that he couldn't tell it was Viktor. Honestly, Viktor did too. He did nothing to hide the fact that he was actually himself, but apparently it was too hard for Yuuri.
"It's not like I'd ever met Viktor before!" Yuuri argued back to both of them, and Viktor laughed. Other than that, lunch went smoothly.
They walked back to Yuuri's hotel together, Chris having stopped off to go buy something for his boyfriend, who had stayed back at the hotel for practice. They got back to the hotel, and stood in front of each other for a few moments before Yuuri smiled at him, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you at the exhibition, then?" He said, starting to walk away, but pausing when Viktor didn't move.
"You kissed me," Viktor whispered, his fingers coming up to trace the spot on his cheek.
Yuuri looked at him with a face more confused than anything Viktor had ever seen, and Viktor stared right back at him, because what was going on? "We're dating, aren't we? Didn't we say that yesterday? I'm sorry, did I misspeak, I didn't mean to – I just, I thought that we were, and you and – "
"Don't apologize!" Viktor exclaimed, shaking his head. "Don't. It's fine, don't worry. I was just… didn't you say you needed time?"
"I wasn't breaking up with you! I just meant… well, I'll be finishing school, and you're in Russia, so we needed to figure out what we were going to do other than that, and I'm sorry, oh, god." Yuuri buried his face in his hands, groaning in what sounded like pain, and Viktor laughed softly.
"Yuuri, take a breath. I don't mind. I'm glad we're dating. And we can still talk on line, we did well that way already, didn't we?" Viktor smiled, and Yuuri nodded, smiling at him.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Viktor. Thank you for the good day. It was good to… do something." Which Viktor knew meant 'not think about his dog', and he nodded, smiling at Yuuri.
"It was. Sleep well, okay? Make sure you're rested, the world's going to be watching tomorrow. And I'm excited to see what you can do!" Viktor winked, walking from Yuuri up to his room.
v-nikiforov: goodnight, yuuri 3 sleep well, i'll see you tomorrow! don't think about it too hard, or about anything else 3 you'll be great. i had a great day 33333
k-yuuri: goodnight, viktor.
k-yuuri: thank you
k-yuuri: 3
Without prompting, Yuuri had sent him back a heart, and Viktor grinned at his phone for a long time before he finally set it aside to go to sleep, waking up late when Yakov pounded on his door to get him up for his exhibition.
Viktor and Yakov walked to the rink together, a wide grin on Viktor's face as he walked along. He had a boyfriend, and it was Katuski Yuuri, the boy he'd been obsessed with for months now. How exciting was that?
Yuuri waved at him when he showed up to the rink, but was too focused with his coach to pay him too much attention, and that was okay. Viktor stood with Yakov, letting him give him instructions, but it really didn't matter today, and Yakov knew that. Exhibitions were fun. Viktor's was to some American pop song which Yakov had found ridiculous but hadn't stopped him from doing because it didn't need to be a good program. He also let Viktor choreograph himself completely, leading to the most fun Viktor actually had with a program, and a fan favorite every time he performed it.
Soon enough, it was time to perform, and Viktor stayed back, watching the other skaters. Yuuri's was a very sweet program to a traditional Japanese song that he admitted was a song he used to dance with his mother with in the kitchen of their family home when he was younger, early on in the season. He looked upset doing it, though, and Viktor wondered if it had anything to do with his dog, Vicchan.
Right. Vicchan. He meant to ask Yuuri if that was his dog's name, because it was sweet, and Yuuri had never told him his dog's name. It sounded a little like his name, but that was definitely a coincidence, right? Yuuri definitely wouldn't name his dog after him (not that Viktor would complain if he had).
And then Yuuri fell.
It wasn't a big fall, mind you, but enough to get rid of his momentum, and when he stepped off of the ice, Viktor saw the tears falling from his eyes, the frustration clear on his face. He had to finish applying the glitter (everywhere), because he'd gotten too distracted watching, so he missed Yuuri when he walked out to go sit around to watch the other programs.
Chris's skate was something unsurprisingly over-sexual and Viktor smiled while watching his friend, adjusting his sleeves for his costume. He stepped out onto the ice to the screams and announcers, easily dancing through his program. It was different from his other programs, and he had a feeling that without Yuuri it wouldn't be nearly as successful. But, after meeting Yuuri, much more fun was put into the program, and Viktor's extremely glittery costume felt fun and exciting.
Speaking of the glitter, Viktor might have gone a little overboard today. He had won, and he had a new boyfriend, and things were falling together in his life, and he'd gotten excited, so he spread the glitter into his hair as well, shining all over. He was excited to go back onto the ice, to skate like he actually cared about it again. His exhibition was his favorite part of every season.
It felt like something that he wanted other people to see on the ice. That wasn't everything he did any more. After this, he had to finish this season, and then what? He could skate again, of course, but what could he even do at this point? He'd landed a quad flip, and he was worried he was too old to try any other new quads.
But he didn't want to just quit, especially now that he found his inspiration again in Yuuri. He wanted to do something on the ice, but he didn't know how to make this season exciting again. He'd find a way, but… it was hard. There was nothing that Viktor wanted to do with the rest of his life. He wanted to have a life based on skating, but he… he was running out of things to do with that.
It was fine, though, he was fine.
He powered through the rest of his exhibition, landing the finishing jump with a wide smile and his arms up, letting the applause ring out around him, glitter falling into his eyes from his hair. God. The glitter was never going to come out of his hair. That was probably a mistake, he didn't do that usually. But he liked it, and he was going to deal with it.
If he went to the banquet with a little bit of glitter in his hair, who was going to stop him? He was Viktor Nikiforov. He stepped off of the ice, waving with big grin on his face. He put his skate guards on and walked back into the backroom, where Yuuri was standing, fiddling with the laces of his skates that were already in his lip.
"Yuuri?" Viktor walked over to him, and Yuuri looked up in surprise, laughing a little when he saw the glitter that was sort of dripping from Viktor at this point.
"I'm fine. I just… I'm fine." He forced a smile, Viktor knew it was force, and Viktor narrowed his eyes at him. He walked forward and kissed his forehead, which Yuuri shoved him away after. "You'll get glitter in my hair, Viktor!"
"Then everyone will know, won't they? All sorts of speculation – " Yuuri cut him off with a kiss, and Viktor grinned. "Talk to me?" Viktor requested when he pulled away, still worried by the look on Yuuri's face.
"I just… have a lot to think about, with my dog, and everything. I'll be fine." Yuuri shoved him again. "Go shower. You need to be presentable in a few hours."
Viktor figured Yuuri would wait for him, but he was gone when he came back out of the showers (mostly glitter-free), and Viktor walked back to his hotel entirely alone. He'd see him at the banquet, anyway.
Yuuri wasn't at the banquet yet when Viktor got there, and Viktor didn't think anything of it, because Yakov always made them get there unreasonably early. He talked with the sponsors and other people there instead, fake smiles for everyone, while he panicked more and more about his plans for next season. Why hadn't he thought about this yet? Would Yakov kill him if he told him what he was thinking?
He took a deep breath, focusing back in on his conversation, which he got lost in for a few hours, every so often glancing toward the door to see if Yuuri had come in yet, and Viktor sighed to himself each time, because he couldn't see the other man. He just hoped he hadn't seen him.
"Dance off!" Viktor spun around, his mouth falling open when he saw a very disheveled Yuuri pointing at Yuri Plisetsky, who had been standing at Yakov's side, talking to a sponsor. "You, me. Right now. Over there!" He gestured vaguely in a more open direction before stalking off that way.
Yakov tried to tell Yuri no, but it was too late, because he followed Yuuri immediately, and Viktor stared, grabbing his phone as he watched the two of them.
And then Chris got the pole, and Viktor felt his heart stop when Yuuri took his pants off, having to sit down while he watched Yuuri and Chris. He was going to die. No need to plan for next season if he died.
But then Yuuri came toward him (with his pants back on, unfortunately). Immediately, Yuuri leaned in and kissed him, a little sloppy, and definitely more drunk than he thought that he was. "Come visit me, okay? If you want to, I guess. You probably don't. I'm a mess, and don't even deserve the medal that I won, and you're Viktor Nikiforov. Haha, maybe you could coach me, 'cause you're like the best. Is there a rule that boyfriends can't coach their boyfriends?" He suggested, his arms getting thrown around Viktor's neck, a very drunk giggle escaping his mouth after he had.
"You deserve your gold medal, and more – " Viktor started, but Yuuri leaned up, pressing their lips together again before pulling away, looking him right in the eyes, his brown eyes shining and actually drawing Viktor's attention away from that god-awful tie.
Why was Yuuri so drunk? Viktor should probably just stop him and take him back to his hotel room and let him sleep it off and text him to make sure that he was okay. That was probably the proper plan of action in this situation. It was not to just hold onto Yuuri and let him do whatever he wanted.
His next words definitely kept his attention fixed and made up his mind, for the banquet and for next season.
"I love you."
Yuuri came back from the Grand Prix Final hungover, but looking pretty happy. Phichit was sitting on his bed when Yuuri walked into the room, collapsing back onto Phichit's bed with an exhausted sigh. "I kissed Viktor," he whispered to himself, and Phichit choked on the water he'd been trying to drink, looking down at him.
"No 'hi Phichit, nice to see you, say hi to your brand new Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, I've got great news to tell you'?" Phichit demanded, and Yuuri looked at his friend with an unamused face. Phichit laughed.
"Just be excited about this, Phichit. I'm hungover and tired," Yuuri whined, looking up at Phichit with a begging look, and Phichit laughed at him, holding up his hands in defeat and laying down next to Yuuri so they could maintain better eye contact. Because he was legitimately excited for his friend.
"You kissed Viktor? Yuuri, when? How many times? Was it mutual? I'm sorry for not telling you he was actually Viktor, I forgot, and figured you'd figured it out and – " Phichit was cut off by Yuuri laughing, and rubbing his hand against his temples.
"Too many questions, Phichit," Yuuri laughed. "I… He kissed me first. It was before the exhibitions, when we were getting ready to practice. He brought me roses, because of Vicchan, and he… kissed me." Yuuri blushed, burying his face with his hands. "He kissed me so hard he knocked me to the ground, Phichit."
"Oh my god." Look, Phichit knew that his friend had been online dating Viktor Nikiforov for a long time, but this? This was even better. Viktor Nikiforov had gotten so excited about dating his best friend that he had knocked Yuuri to the ground with their kiss. "More details, Yuuri! Did you kiss him back? Why are you so hungover? Let me see your medal!" And then he paused, his eyes widening. "First? Yuuri, did you kiss him more than once!?"
Yuuri groaned, but laughed still. "I should have demanded Celestino schedule our flight for when you'd be asleep – "
"I would have stayed up to make sure to keep you up all night – " Phichit teased.
Yuuri laughed, "I wouldn't have told you when the flight was!"
"Yuuri! So mean! Answer my questions, please!" Phichit begged, grabbing onto his friend's arm, and Yuuri shook him off with another laugh, climbing out of bed and setting down his suitcase to pull out his medal, holding it almost reverently in his hands. His best friend. A bronze medalist in a big international skating competition. Phichit was so proud.
Yuuri walked over and handed it to Phichit, who took it excitedly. "Selfie?" He asked first, since Yuuri looked a little bit like Hell warmed over, but Yuuri only laughed and nodded, leaning into Phichit's side with a wide smile. Phichit held up the medal, putting his arm around Yuuri happily. He'd post it on Instagram later (when other people were actually awake). "Yuuri, this is so cool," Phichit said, turning the medal over in his hands while Yuuri rested at his side.
"Yeah… yeah, it was exciting," He turned red.
"I'll be it was!" Phichit laughed, knocking against Yuuri, who grinned again. He knew that he had Phichit distracted, that was definitely what that look meant. Knew that he could get away with telling him nothing at the moment.
"I'm going to go shower, Phichit. I'll tell you my stories tomorrow," Yuuri promised, stepping out of bed, getting into the shower.
When he came back out, he settled into Phichit's bed immediately, laying by his side.
"Phichit?" Yuuri spoke softly, clearly not even sure if Phichit was awake, and he turned to face him, raising his eyebrows. "Do… I made up my mind. After Finals, I'm moving back to Japan. I've just… I don't want to… This season is my last, I think. I did well this season, and I've got Viktor, I guess, if he still wants me – "
"If he still wants you?" Phichit demanded. He'd listen to Yuuri's tearful decision in a minute, because that was absolutely something he needed elaboration on. The Viktor Nikiforov that Phichit had come to sort of know was head over heels in love with Yuuri and absolutely would not drop him over whatever Yuuri was anxious about.
"I got drunk at the banquet, because I was thinking about Vicchan, and anxious about all this, and I… don't know what I did? Viktor hasn't messaged me back today, and Sochi's in Russia, so it's not like getting back to St. Petersburg would have taken all day, and last time I screwed up, he deleted the app, but I have his phone number too, and I tried actually texting him and I just – what if I did something awful? You know I'm a bad drunk," Yuuri finished somberly, looking at Phichit with wide, worried eyes, and Phichit's heart broke a little for his friend.
There was a reason that Yuuri didn't go to parties with him any more. Apparently, the habit came from his dad, but wherever it came from, it was hilarious. Around Viktor Nikiforov, who Yuuri was now dating?
Phichit didn't know whether to fear the worst or the best. Instead, he just wrapped Yuuri up tighter in his arms and kissed his forehead, in a comforting way that he'd been doing since they got close. "I doubt you did anything that dumb, Yuuri. You've been head over heels about v-nikiforov, and obsessed with Viktor as a skater. What's the worst you could have done?"
Which, he realized right after, was the wrong thing to say, because Yuuri stayed silent, obviously all of the worst things going through his head, so Phichit got an idea. "Let's call him." He decided, rolling over to grab Yuuri's phone, and Yuuri's eyes went wide.
"Phichit, no, he's – " Yuuri grabbed at the phone, but Phichit held it over his head.
"It's not too late or too early, Yuuri! Come on, he'll pick up, and you'll get an answer one way or another, so you stop worrying over what could be nothing," Phichit said, but he did wait for Yuuri to nod before he actually called.
He was a good friend.
He dialed Viktor's number (whether Yuuri or Viktor had put it in Yuuri's phone, Phichit didn't know, but what he did know was that the contact was listed as 'Vikto 3'), turning the phone on speakerphone and setting it between them. It rang only once before a sleepy voice picked up.
"Yuuri!" He was excited immediately, and Phichit gave Yuuri a look, which Yuuri completely ignored.
"You're on speakerphone with me and Phichit, Viktor," Yuuri said instead, and Phichit grinned.
"Hi, Viktor!" He called out, and Viktor laughed.
"Hi! It's late, isn't it? Why are you awake? I was going to text you but I fell asleep when I got home, and Yakov lets me have a day off after competitions, so I was asleep for most of the day, I just woke up to eat, I'm sorry!" He added immediately, and Phichit gave Yuuri another look.
"You're fine. I was just… I just got back, and Phichit and I were talking – " Yuuri turned red, and Phichit started laughing.
"He was worried you didn't want to date him any more because you weren't texting him back," Phichit said, and Yuuri smacked his arm in annoyance, leaning forward.
"Anyway, you can go back to sleeping and eating and Phichit and I will – " But Viktor cut him off.
"I would never not want to date you, Yuuri!" He exclaimed, and even through the phone, Phichit could imagine the look on his face. Really, Viktor Nikiforov away from the press was like a whole different person. "Don't worry! I just don't always have my phone, because Yakov likes to keep it away from me so I actually focus, but I wouldn't ever want to not date you," Viktor promised, and Phichit grinned at how sappy he was.
And how sappily Yuuri was smiling. "Thank you, Viktor. Go sleep. I'll talk to you later? Without Phichit?" Yuuri eyed Phichit, who held his hands up. Like he was at fault here.
"Sounds good! Goodnight! I love you!" Viktor said, so casually that Phichit figured that was something that they'd covered before, but Yuuri's eyes grew wide, and a hand flew to his mouth. He didn't say long enough for Viktor to prompt, "Yuuri?"
Phichit looked at him, wondering how his friend was going to respond, and Yuuri slowly removed his hand from his mouth, his eyes shining. "Sorry! Sorry. I… Love you too. Goodnight, Viktor!" He quickly pressed the off button, holding his phone against his heart.
"Yuuri, was that – " Phichit didn't have to finish, Yuuri's face said everything.
"He'd said it before, I guess, when he called me, when the WiFi broke up with him for me," It was almost sad Phichit knew exactly what that meant, "But… I... holy shit, Phichit."
Phichit looked at Yuuri and realized that he was crying. He was legitimately crying because Viktor Nikiforov had just told him he loved him for the kind-of-first time. "And you said it back!" He exclaimed out loud, and Yuuri grinned at him, burying his face against his friend's chest with an excited laugh.
His best friend was marrying Viktor Nikiforov.
Oops. Haha. Slip of the mind.
His best friend was in love with Viktor Nikiforov.
No, screw that.
His best friend was marrying Viktor Nikiforov.
"I can't believe this," Yuuri whispered, and Phichit started laughing again.
"Tell me all your stories tomorrow. You should sleep. My best friend, in love. With Viktor Nikiforov. Not that that's really anything new, but now it's not just your posters, and he loves you back and – " Phichit shoved him slightly and Yuuri pressed his hand over his mouth to cut him off, laughing. The two finally settled down a few minutes later, Yuuri curled up against Phichit comfortably as they drifted to sleep.
The next day, Phichit did get to hear all of Yuuri's stories, and he was shocked to hear how incredibly extra Viktor Nikiforov was.
Yuuri was at the rink more often than usual now that he was a Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and Phichit went with him, practicing his own routines even though his season was pretty much over.
It was a few days before Nationals for Yuuri that he came back to their apartment and just collapsed on their couch. "Call Celestino, tell him I'm never moving again," Yuuri spoke into the couch cushions, and Phichit looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't think Celestino would like that very much," Phichit answered cheerfully, walking over to the couch and shoving Yuuri into a sitting position, letting him fall against him. Yuuri yawned loudly.
"I told Viktor I'd call him tonight, but it's…" He squinted at his watch for a long time, and Phichit laughed to himself, looking at how badly Yuuri was struggling. "Still four hours before he'll even potentially be awake, so I'm going to nap. Wake me up when my phone rings." He patted Phichit's shoulder before disappearing back into his bedroom, leaving his phone on the bedside table.
Which was a perfect time for Phichit to pick it up and take a selfie, posting it onto Yuuri's Instagram with a grin before turning on a movie, waiting for Viktor to call.
It was exactly 2 a.m. when Viktor called, and Phichit picked up, "Wait a second, I've gotta go wake Yuuri up," He said.
"He's asleep?" Phichit brought the phone with him, since he figured Yuuri would just escape back into his bedroom anyway.
"Long day at practice. The plane leaves for Nationals tomorrow," Phichit explained for Yuuri, turning on the light in his friend's room, leaning down to Yuuri, shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Yuuri, Viktor's on the phone," He said softly, and Yuuri blinked his eyes open slowly, wincing when he realized that he'd forgotten to take off his glasses, and Phichit grinned at him, handing down the phone.
"Make sure you get some sleep!" He called over his shoulder, walking back out of the room, and Yuuri's cheeks were red.
As he closed the door, he heard Yuuri murmur, "Good morning, Viktor." And then to laugh about something that Viktor had said. Phichit smiled to himself, closing the door behind him.
Yuuri left for Nationals the next day, and Phichit tried to stream it, but it was hard to get one that didn't crash every five minutes, between the awful campus WiFi and the quality of streams available to him. He did get to watch proudly as his friend took away a gold medal, and he laughed at the pictures posted on Instagram.
Every single picture Phichit saw, Viktor Nikiforov commented about how proud he was and how much he couldn't wait to see Yuuri at Worlds.
Yuuri stayed in Japan for a week after Nationals, which was something that he'd done every year he'd made it to the competition, pre-arranged with his professors, just like all of his competitions. He always came back from Japan looking so much better rested, though, so Phichit didn't blame him. If he had an excuse to go back to Thailand every year, he would absolutely take it.
Yuuri came back that week later, looking exhausted, but still happy. He smiled at Phichit when he came in and laid down in his bed, immediately getting to work on his homework.
Celestino seemed pleased with how well Yuuri was doing, and didn't seem to mind that so much of it was because of Viktor Nikiforov. Especially when Yuuri stepped off of the podium at Four Continents clenching a silver medal tight in his hands, and a promise that he was going with Japan to Worlds.
Yuuri was not at their apartment at all while he was getting ready for Worlds, and Phichit understood it, excited for him. When Yuuri was there, he was on the phone, either with Mari, making plans for when he went home (something that was creeping far too near to them), or with Viktor, adorably happy and promising him that they could hang out at Worlds a few times.
Yuuri left for Worlds, and Phichit lived vicariously through him as all of the best skaters of the year posted picture after picture on Instagram. Three quarters of Viktor Nikiforov's pictures were of Yuuri, but neither of them mentioned that they were dating during the competition.
The competition was hard, and Phichit didn't know if his friend was going to medal. Obviously, Viktor came in first, and then Christophe Giacometti. Yuuri was beat out for bronze by a fraction of a point by Otabek Altin, but there were still pictures of him trying to give Viktor his gold medal back, his cheeks bright red.
That was when the rumors started, that maybe Yuuri and Viktor were closer than anyone had imagined they would be. After all, who would have guessed that Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov were dating? If Phichit wasn't right up in the middle of it, he would not have expected it. The rumors died down when everyone started to leave the competition, but it was a soft debate in the figure skating fandom online.
Yuuri came back from Worlds on a rush, and with a hickey on his chest that he tried to hide but was instantly visible to Phichit, who immediately started to laugh at it.
There wasn't much time for fun, though, because after Worlds came Finals. Yuuri had missed so many classes in the past few months that he was swamped with work, and rarely at their apartment, making meeting after meeting with each one of his professors to ensure that he'd have the right material memorized for his grades to not suffer. He was graduating this year, after all, and he couldn't mess all of that up because he'd had a good skating season.
Yuuri always turned his phone off during Finals, so Phichit was unsurprised to see it sitting on a counter untouched for multiple days in a row, and he left it there, because it wasn't like he really had time to deal with it either.
Finals finally ended, and Yuuri was graduating and packing up to leave their apartment, to move back to Japan. He was busy nonstop, and Phichit couldn't keep track of what he was doing any more.
It was the week after Finals that it finally happened. Yuuri's stuff was all packed up, and most of it was on its way back to Japan, while Yuuri himself was there for another day before his flight. The day of his flight, Phichit woke up early for Celestino to drive himself and Yuuri to the airport, but only Phichit accompanied him inside.
"Phichit?" Yuuri said quietly, his hands on his last suitcase, not looking up at him, and Phichit could see the tears dripping down his face, onto the ground.
Phichit rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Yuuri immediately, who fell right into him, and the two were a crying mess in the airport, holding onto each other like one of them was dead. Maybe they were. Phichit held tight to Yuuri, finally gasping out, "You have to visit me! If you're quitting skating, I won't even get to see you at competitions, so you have to come see me – "
"Phichit, I'm not just going to forget you exist, it's going to be okay – "
"No, Yuuri, you can't just come for Viktor, either. Yeah, I'll be at the Grand Prix with him, but don't just come for your boyfriend. You have to come for me, too," Phichit demanded, glad to hear his friend laugh after he had, nodding his head.
"I promise, Phichit. I have to go," He added after a second, prying himself out of Phichit's arms.
Phichit demanded a tearful selfie, and posted it to Instagram and Twitter, even though both of them were absolute disasters, hugging Yuuri one more time. "Thank you," Yuuri whispered into the hug, and Phichit blinked, looking at him. "You're a good friend."
"Yuuri!" Phichit cried all over again, clinging to him. "Don't say that!"
"Why not?" Yuuri pulled away from Phichit once more, whose lip quivered as he finally let Yuuri go, watching him walk back toward the gate.
"It sounds like goodbye," Phichit whispered, and Yuuri smiled sadly, raising a hand in a wave before disappearing into the crowds of people.
Phichit went back to their apartment alone.
It was weird, living without Yuuri. Yuuri and Phichit had shared equal responsibilities in their apartment, and Phichit didn't bother moving to a different one, which meant that he was in a big empty place on his own. He'd closed Yuuri's door when he moved out, but it was even weirder since it was both summer from classes and off-season for skating, which meant that Phichit was at the apartment more than usual already. So being there alone was even weirder.
It had been nearly a week since Yuuri had left him that something actually happened. He'd gotten back from the grocery store, and managed to actually put everything away, and so was sitting on the couch, his phone in his hand. He was scrolling through Instagram, clicking like on a few of the pictures there, but mostly just searching to see if Yuuri had posted anything.
Unsurprisingly, he hadn't. As much as Phichit loved Yuuri, he knew that he was practically invisible online, and it made it really hard to stalk him when Phichit missed him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw Viktor's picture, though. He was at an airport, somewhere, his hands raised in excited wave. The picture was captioned in Russian, and Google Translate told him that it simply said 'excited for my trip'. The season was over, so maybe he was vacationing or something.
He shrugged, scrolling past it and moving on down his feed, smiling at the small updates he did get for Yuuri – his friend at home's triplets sometimes posted pictures of Yuuri in Hasetsu, helping his parents out with the hot springs or at the rink (even though Yuuri had claimed that he quit, Phichit knew that he'd never stay far from the ice), or things like that.
There was a knock on the door, and Phichit looked up from his phone in confusion. The apartment had no RAs, and his neighbors hadn't talked to him when Yuuri was here, so he didn't know why they'd suddenly talk to him now, so he didn't know who it could possibly be. He walked over to the door, cracking it open and staring in disbelief at who was in the hallway.
"Phichit, good! I'm here to surprise Yuuri!" Viktor Nikiforov grinned at him, and Phichit choked, taking a step backward into the room, looking at him. Viktor Nikiforov was standing in the hallway outside of his apartment, one hand on a suitcase and the other holding onto a leash, where Makkachin was sitting by his side, tail wagging wildly. If it wasn't for what he'd just said, Phichit would be excited about this. Instead, he was a little horrified. He tried to think of what to say, but he…
"Yuuri moved back to Japan," He couldn't filter his words, and Viktor stared at him in disbelief, his hands tighter on his suitcase as he took a step forward.
"This… He moved back to Japan? But Celestino trains him here, and after Worlds, he should have come back here, and he lives with you and – " Viktor looked horrified, his face dropping in misery, because Yuuri wasn't there, and now what was he supposed to do?
"Wouldn't Yuuri have told you he was back in Japan? He went back after Finals, he dropped Celestino after Worlds as his coach, saying that he – "
"We haven't talked much. He hasn't answered me in three weeks," Viktor said pathetically, not making eye contact. "I was coming to surprise him, and offer to... It's not important. Do you know somewhere I can stay until I can book a return flight to Russia?" Viktor forced a smile onto his face, but Phichit didn't let his earlier statement drop.
"You can stay here. Yuuri's old room is empty," Phichit offered, but he focused in on the other part of Viktor's words instead, "Offer to what, Viktor?"
"Offer to… move in with him," Viktor started, but Phichit didn't dare speak, because it was clear that Viktor had more to say, "And to coach him."
Phichit stared, his eyes widening more than before, holding tightly onto his door. "Viktor, Yuuri decided that this season was his last season because he didn't think he could do any better, and that's why he went back to Japan after he finished classes, so he could work at his parents' business, since he figured that was all that he could do any more, after this season. I figured he'd told you but apparently not," Phichit's words were coming a million a minute, his eyes wide as he grabbed onto Viktor's sleeve, but Viktor was looking down at his phone that had just buzzed.
A soft gasp escaped his mouth, and Phichit watched him in confusion before his own phone started to go off, and he looked down at it, his eyes widening as he saw Viktor click the link, the familiar tones of Stammi Vicino coming in through the small speakers on his phone. Phichit watched as Viktor Nikiforov was nearly reduced to tears in his hallway as he watched a video of his best friend skating the hardest routine so far in figure skating history.
Viktor sat down on the ground as he restarted the video, pulling Makkachin into his lap with a shocked look on his face, and Phichit wished that he could send Yuuri a picture of this, of Viktor Nikiforov so in awe of him skating his program. Like, seriously. This was beyond Yuuri's wildest dreams, and he couldn't see it.
Viktor started the video for the third time and there were legitimate tears in his eyes, a hand covering his mouth, looking up to Phichit with new resolve in his eyes. He started the video the fourth time and stood up.
"I need your computer," He demanded, walking into the apartment, and Phichit immediately moved out of his away. Phichit closed the door behind them, rushing after Viktor, who was now standing in the main room of their apartment, with the still bare walls from where Yuuri had taken all of his posters down when he'd left.
"Why?" Phichit was walking back into his room to get his computer anyway, praying to all of the computer gods that hopefully he hadn't been watching strange videos or doing something weird before he went to get it. That was his main hope. He breathed out, bringing it out to Viktor, who was now sitting at their living room table, waiting.
Phichit opened the laptop, logging into it and sliding it toward Viktor. Viktor immediately started to type, his eyes fixed on the screen with resolve as an airport website loaded.
"I need to go to Japan."
He typed things into the website for a few more moments while Phichit processed the fact that Viktor Nikiforov was sitting approximately where the cardboard standup of Viktor Nikiforov had been before Phichit moved it into Yuuri's room so that part of the house was a little less lonely (shit, he offered Yuuri's room to Viktor, he should move that so he didn't humiliate his friend).
"Phichit, I need your help," Viktor had looked up from the computer, still very focused, but also now with a very confused look on his face, and Phichit raised his eyebrows, sitting in the seat beside him.
"What's up?" He asked, and Viktor tapped his fingers against the table for a few seconds before looking a him, and genuinely asking the most hilarious thing that Phichit had ever heard (at least, hilarious in the situation that he was currently in).
"Where in Japan does Yuuri live?"
Yuuri knew what he'd done.
He hadn't meant to, of course, why on earth would he mean to just… stop talking to Viktor Nikiforov, who was his boyfriend, and loved him, and was supporting him? It had gotten stressful, though. First, there were finals, and Yuuri had messaged Viktor before finals that he'd probably disappear for a week or two with that, and that had been fine. Viktor had called that night before Yuuri turned off his phone, and the two talked for a few hours before Yuuri was falling asleep over the phone, sighing and wishing Viktor goodnight (even though it hadn't really been night for Viktor, the sentiment was still there).
And then he went dark for finals. Finals, where he spent most of his free time locked up in his room, if he was even home during them. Meeting after meeting, a more stressful finals season than ever since Yuuri had made it so far and actually done well with his skating. But he'd passed all of his classes, and so he had graduated.
Thinking back on it, he probably should have picked up his phone then, turned it on, just messaged Viktor to tell him that he was fine, but going to be busy for a few more weeks, so don't worry if you don't hear anything from him. It would have been nice to hear Viktor's voice, even if just for a few minutes. Instead, he got so stressed out about packing everything he owned to go back to Japan that he didn't turn his phone on for that process either.
And now, three weeks later, he was home, and he realized that he had accidentally been dark from Viktor for two weeks longer than he'd meant to. The logical first action would have been to immediately message Viktor, and apologize, and talk to him for hours and hours until he felt better about himself, but Yuuri's thoughts didn't scream 'logical'. They screamed 'you accidentally didn't talk to your boyfriend for three weeks you have to make it up to him'.
But his mind was also screaming 'you have to tell your boyfriend, the figure skating living legend, that you're quitting skating forever because you don't think that you can do any better and you're worried that he won't love you if you don't skate'. Somewhere, deep in Yuuri's mind, he was screaming at himself that Viktor loved him as v-nikiforov far before he even knew that Yuuri was a skater, but that was different.
What if Viktor preferred it that way? Sure, he'd been more than happy to spend time with Yuuri at Worlds, but that had been his boyfriend, a figure skater. And, sure, he'd been more than happy to spend more time with Yuuri online, but that was all different. Yuuri and Viktor had considered visiting each other during the off season, so that they could spend more time together, play around while they didn't have to worry about the next season.
How was Yuuri supposed to tell Viktor Nikiforov that he was quitting at twenty-three?
So, fast forward a few days, and Yuuri's at the Ice Castle, skating Viktor's program, something they'd been laughing about together in Viktor's hotel room a late night after Worlds had ended (even though he knew that he had to get back to his classes, he'd stayed an extra day, to have more time with Viktor. One more day wasn't going to kill him). His plan was to skate it until he had it perfect, and then get Yuuko to help him set up a camera to Skype with Viktor to show him. He'd have to tell her that he was dating Viktor Nikiforov, but that was a step he could take at a later time.
Skating Viktor's program seemed like a weird way to admit what was happening, but… Yuuri was lost with Celestino, staying in America would have done him no good. Yuuri was lost with skating, he had nothing left to skate for. Skating this last program for Viktor gave a conclusion to his career, but it wasn't just that – it was begging. Stay close to me, even when I've stopped what we both love. Stay close to me, even though it's hard and I panicked and stopped talking for you for nearly 3 weeks. Stay close to me, and don't let go.
The plan was not that Yuuko's triplets would record the program, and certainly not that they'd post it online. By the time Yuuri found out, it was too late. He walked downstairs to Yuuko bursting into the area. "Yuuri, thank god! I tried to call you, but you didn't pick up – "
"My phone's been turned off since finals," Yuuri responded immediately, walking over to get dressed for his shift at the hot springs, and Yuuko stared at him.
"Yuuri, Axel, Lutz, and Loop posted your skate on YouTube, and it's gone viral. I'm so sorry, I didn't think they were doing it, or I would have stopped them, I know there was something you wanted to tell me, but Viktor Nikiforov tweeted a video of it – " He froze at those words, staring at her.
"Viktor retweeted it?" Yuuri's cheeks were red, scrambling back. "I have to go get my phone! Yuuko, I'm sorry! Tell Mari I'll pick up a shift on a different day, because I have to go – " He ran upstairs, as fast as his feet would take him, panic overwhelming him.
When he turned on his phone, he had over 100 messages from v-nikiforov, 50 texts from Viktor, nearly 100 from Phichit, and eight missed calls from Phichit (along with other assorted notifications). Why had Phichit called him eight times?
He called Phichit first, his hands shaking as he sank down onto the ground. As soon as it stopped ringing, he started speaking, "I made a mistake! Phichit, I didn't want to tell Viktor that I was quitting skating, so I wasn't talking to him – "
"I know – "
"And now Yuuko's triplets posted that video of me skating to Stammi Vicino, and Viktor saw it, and he's probably pissed, because that was his program, and it wasn't like I was talking to him or asked him permission, even though he was my boyfriend – "
"Yuuri, I – "
"And I should have just told him, but I ignored him for three weeks, between finals and moving home, and then panicking about telling him that I quit – "
"I already told him – "
"I don't know what to do and – " Yuuri final froze in his frantic speech, pausing long enough to process Phichit's interruptions, blinking once, twice, three times. "You… told him?"
"I was trying to call you before he showed up, but you weren't picking up your phone. Yuuri, he came to Detroit to surprise you, and you weren't here, clearly. He saw that video, and got on the first plane to Japan. If all was on schedule, he should be there – "
There was suddenly commotion downstairs, including Yuuko screaming his name, and excited chatter. And then a familiar laugh, and a voice he knew far better than he ever dreamed of speaking to his family in English, and a little bit of stumbling Japanese.
"Now?" Yuuri whispered, staring at the door, his heart beating out his chest as he clung to his phone.
"Now," Phichit confirmed, and Yuuri gasped softly, waiting for the noise to die down, but it was getting louder.
"Phichit, what do I do?" Yuuri whispered, sitting against his door so that no one could barge in without knocking. Not that he was expecting that, but he also wasn't expecting… all of this.
"You go talk to your boyfriend and work this out! Yuuri, Viktor Nikiforov is not only your figure skating idol and crush since you were like twelve, he's also your boyfriend and quite clearly the love of your life. Go make sure that he knows it," Phichit demanded, and Yuuri's cheeks lit up, but slowly nodded.
"I'll… go talk to him," Yuuri promised, standing up, and breathing a few times to try to get calm before he went down into the madness that was going on below him. He could do this. He could go to his boyfriend and talk through everything that had happened. Viktor had already seen him begging, now Yuuri just had to do it in person.
"Good! Tell me how it goes. And talk to me more often, don't you dare turn your phone off for three weeks again. Thank god Viktor still wants you, you know?" Phichit said, and Yuuri's heart stopped again.
"Not helping, Phichit," He hissed, and Phichit apologized a few times before they hung up.
Now to go talk to Viktor.
Yuuri set his phone back on his bed, looking at himself in his mirror. It was a good thing he'd been getting ready for his shift when Yuuko found him, because that meant that he was already dressed and acceptable looking, and not like he'd been lying in bed for days, trying to figure out what to do about everything that was going on in his life.
After a few more breaths, he opened his door, and walked downstairs, where his mother had already made Viktor sit down, and was fixing him dinner. Yuuko was sitting with Viktor, chatting at him a mile a minute, and Yuuri stared at the scene, of Viktor already so comfortable with his friends and family, and his heart seized up a little bit.
Viktor wouldn't leave him because he quit skating.
Yuuri walked into the room, and Viktor immediately looked up at the footsteps, his face lighting up and wrapping his arms around him. "Yuuri! I was starting to worry that you weren't here, either! Your mother offered to make us lunch, said it was your favorite. Kats… katsudon?" Viktor guessed the word, and Yuuri smiled at him, nodding.
"It is. Is Yuuko eating with us?" Yuuri slowly drew away from Viktor's octopus hug, and saw his childhood friend staring at him with wide eyes as he went and carelessly sat beside his long time idol and crush at his family home. Wow. This was crazy. Viktor Nikiforov was in his family home.
"If you don't mind," Yuuko said, and Yuuri nodded, so she smiled. "I was telling Viktor about Axel, Lutz, and Loop." She grinned, and Yuuri rolled his eyes, laughing some.
"They're a handful, but they're good kids. Is Nishigori at home watching them?" He asked, wishing he could lean into Viktor, but he didn't know where they stood (despite the giant hug), and he also didn't know if this was how he wanted to casually tell his friends and family that he was dating Viktor Nikiforov.
"He is. I had to run over to make sure that you heard about the video, but basically as soon as you ran upstairs, Viktor came bursting in with Makkachin, asking where you were. It's crazy," She laughed, and Yuuri nodded, before blinking in excitement.
"With Makkachin?" He questioned, all other thoughts forgotten for now, because Viktor had not only come all the way to Japan, he'd come all the way to Japan and brought his poodle.
Viktor nodded, leaning away from the table and calling out for her. The giant poodle came bounding in, and Yuuri's eyes widened, looking at Viktor. "This is my Makkachin. It's about time you two met," Viktor said, smiling, shooing Makkachin toward Yuuri, who immediately petted her, watching Viktor with a small smile.
"You two seem comfortable," Yuuko noted, and Yuuri's cheeks lit up, but he didn't know how to answer, so he let Viktor handle the comment.
"We've been talking since before the Grand Prix Final. I told Yuuri that he should meet Makkachin, after he told me what had happened to his poodle, so I'm glad he finally gets to meet her." Viktor smiled at them, and Yuuri swallowed, knowing he couldn't hold it in.
"Please don't tell your daughters," Yuuri started, not making eye contact, but leaning more into Viktor, who made a shocked noise before immediately wrapping his arm around Yuuri's waist, startling a shocked sound from Yuuko, as well. "But… Viktor and I have… we…" Yuuri gestured between them, cheeks flaming. "We're dating, as long as he's not angry at me for not talking to him for three weeks."
"I'm not! I want to know why, but I still want to date you," Viktor said happily, and Yuuri buried his face into Viktor's shoulder, not wanting to see his friend's shocked face that she must be making.
After a moment of silence, she made an excited noise, and Yuuri looked up, laughing at her grin. "I can't believe this! How did you two meet? Tell me everything, Yuuri!"
"We met online," Yuuri laughed, paying more attention to Makkachin than anything else, but glad to have gotten that off of his chest. "But I didn't think he was him, but then… well, we both qualified for the Grand Prix, so we found out?" Yuuri smiled shyly.
"I kissed him before the exhibition after the Finals," Viktor added proudly, and Yuuko squealed, demanding more details as Hiroko brought out their lunch.
Viktor happily told Yuuko the story of their relationship over lunch (after every bite, Viktor made another excited noise, telling Yuuri how delicious the food was), and Yuuri let them talk, eventually leaning away from Viktor to just softly rub Makkachin and zone out their conversation, watching them. To see Viktor Nikiforov so natural with his closest friend was all that Yuuri didn't know he needed. It was comforting, knowing how much he was okay with this.
After lunch, Yuuko went back home (with many promises to tell no one), and Yuuri glanced at Viktor, rubbing his toe into the ground. "We should probably talk?"
"I'd like to," Viktor agreed, and Yuuri nodded, breathing out slowly. If he could stay calm through this, and explain himself, he still had Viktor.
"Where are you staying while you're here?" Yuuri asked him, cleaning up the bowls to make it easier for his family before turning to him again.
"Here, if there's room!" Viktor grinned at his own words and Yuuri blinked a few times before nodding.
"Let me go check with my parents." He carried the bowls into the kitchen, glancing back to make sure that Viktor had stayed behind before walking up to his mom, setting the dishes into the sink.
"Is there a spare room for a little while?" He asked, trying to be casual, but he knew that his cheeks were already red.
"Is your friend staying here?" His mother smiled knowingly, and Yuuri nodded.
"If there's an extra room."
"I think the ballroom's open. Get Mari to help you clean it up," She said, and Yuuri nodded, smiling at her before starting to walk out.
"Yuuri." He paused, turning back to look at his mother. "You'll talk to me more about your Vicchan?"
He blushed red but nodded his head, rushing from the room after he had, grabbing his sister along the way.
On the way upstairs, he blurted out, "I'm dating Viktor Nikiforov and that's why he's here."
Mari started laughing, patting Yuuri on the back. "Phichit and I had that figured out far before you did, Yuuri. Don't worry about it. He's staying in a separate room?" She questioned, and he turned redder, nodding his head.
"I… haven't spoken to him in three weeks. And this is only the third time we've actually met, so it would be weird for me to offer him my room," Yuuri murmured, and Mari smiled at him.
The two made quick progress of the room, getting it nice and clean before Yuuri went back downstairs, only to learn that Viktor had gone outside to play with Makkachin in the snow.
"Viktor!" Yuuri called out, smiling at him. "Your room's ready, if you want to move your stuff in!"
They carried far more boxes than seemed possible for one person to be travelling with. "Not all of it's in from Detroit yet," Viktor said as he flopped down onto his bed, and Yuuri stared at him, trying to imagine that he was kidding. He wasn't. Viktor sat up and patted the bed beside him. "We need to talk now?" He asked, and Yuuri nodded.
"I… I'm sorry," Yuuri said softly, not making eye contact as he sat down. "I didn't know how to tell you, that I was considering leaving skating, and that I'd already dropped Celestino, and I was busy moving, so I forgot to even tell you that after finals I'd still be quiet, and I messed it up again, and I don't know why you still want me."
"Yuuri," Viktor said, and Yuuri looked up at him, a concerned look on his face. "I wouldn't not want you because you're not skating. But you should keep skating, because if you can do so well with my program, I can't imagine what you'd do with some better coaching," He seemed to have more to say, but he didn't say it.
"I didn't talk to you for three weeks," Yuuri whispered, keeping his eyes on him.
"I didn't like that," Viktor said, and Yuuri started to look away, but Viktor grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him, "But I want you to be happy. Are you happy?"
"I'm happy with you," Yuuri answered, and Viktor shook his head.
"Are you happy here?" He asked again, and Yuuri slowly nodded. "Do you want me here?" He nodded again. "Then talk to me about that. Don't stop talking to me because you're panicking about something, okay? Don't tell me details, but let me know where you are. I don't want to lose you."
"I don't either," Yuuri whispered, leaning in hesitantly to wrap Viktor in a hug, and Viktor immediately wrapped him up as well.
"I love you," Viktor said confidently, like nothing had gone wrong.
"I love you too," He whispered in response, and Viktor kissed him, softly, letting Yuuri melt into it.
Yuuri went to his own room and curled up under his blanket, smiling to himself and closing his eyes, ready to fall asleep. And then his phone lit up, and he squinted at it in confusion, before laughing at the message.
v-nikiforov: i know you're only a room away and i already said it but
v-nikiforov: goodnight, yuuri 3
k-yuuri: goodnight, viktor 3
They spent the next day exploring Hasetsu together, Viktor posting picture after picture of the two of them in front of everything that they were doing, as well of plenty of him alone, or of Makkachin on the beach. Yuuri was shocked that he could even take that many pictures.
It was after dinner that Yuuri rested his head against Viktor's shoulder tiredly, stretching out before yawning. "Do you want to go to my room for tonight?" He asked, before blinking. "I mean, to sleep. I – "
Viktor laughed, nodding to Yuuri. "I'd love to see your room! You grew up here, right? So it's your room from when you were a child?" Viktor said excitedly, and Yuuri nodded his head.
"It's not much, but it's… comfortable. And you can… spend the night, if you want?" He suggested, his cheeks red, but Viktor was immediately agreeing, so Yuuri lead Viktor Nikiforov to his bedroom.
"Yuuri!" Viktor gasped, a laugh escaping his mouth after he had, spinning around his room. "Were you a fan of me?"
Yuuri sat frozen in spot and looked at Viktor with a blank look. And then it dawned on him – the posters. He hadn't taken the posters of his childhood idol and boyfriend before inviting said boyfriend into his bedroom. "Out!" Yuuri immediately shouted, shoving Viktor out of his room, and Viktor made a shocked noise when Yuuri slammed the door shut in his face, before making quick work of his posters, shoving them all under his bed, even though the damage was already done.
Nearly fine minutes later, Viktor made a pouty noise from the other side of the door and asked, "Can I come in yet?"
Yuuri breathed out a heavy breath, finally opening the door for him and nodding his head. "I'm sorry, it's humiliating, I should have taken those down first, but I didn't think about it, because I didn't think you'd be here, and definitely not here and – "
Viktor kissed him, and Yuuri didn't care at all that that just seemed to be his method of shutting him up, because he sealed his own lips over Viktor's, kissing him for a long time before they pulled away from each other. "So this means I still get to sleep in here tonight?" Viktor teased, and Yuuri turned red but shrugged.
"It's smaller than your room, but if you want to…" He waved a hand noncommittally through his room, and Viktor's face once again lit up, nodding his head.
"I do!" He exclaimed, kissing Yuuri again.
They finally settled down into bed (after telling story after story of what they'd missed when Yuuri had been silent, and more about their childhoods, and every other question under the sun that Viktor seemed to have), arms around each other. Yuuri was tiredly leaning into Viktor, ready to fall asleep.
But before he could close his eyes, Viktor spoke up. "Yuuri," Viktor whispered, his lips ghosting against Yuuri's, not quite touching, so they could still have what sounded like an important conversation. "Do you still want me to be your coach?"
"Still?" Yuuri stared at Viktor, leaning up on his arms so that he could look him in the eyes (which proved distracting, but at least he was able to still focus on the conversation).
"Well, I mean, since you quite Celestino, and seemed pretty set on quitting skating, I wasn't sure if you still wanted it, but I wanted to give it a try, if you did, because I think that I've learned enough about you and know enough from Yakov that I could do a good job, but I understand, because I didn't originally want to skate this season, either, and – " Yuuri leaned down to kiss him, cutting him off, but still confused.
"Viktor, be quiet for a minute," Yuuri laughed softly, resting his head against his chest. "I'm not confused about you wanting to be my coach," Well, he was, but that wasn't his main point. "I mean… still? I've never asked you before, Viktor." Sure, Yuuri'd dreamt of it, mostly before he'd actually met Viktor. Viktor Nikiforov as his coach seemed amazing, something out of a dream. If Viktor was his coach, it seemed unlikely that he wouldn't learn something.
"You asked me at the banquet?" Viktor said, his voice clearly confused, but also… disappointment? Fear?
"I… did? Viktor, I don't remember anything except waking up with a hangover the next day, I figured that Celestino must have dragged me away or something," Yuuri gasped, his eyes wide. "What did I do?"
Viktor immediately rolled over to grab his phone, opening an album before shoving it toward Yuuri, who flipped through the pictures with wide eyes. He made it to the last one, clearly not taken by Viktor, of Yuuri half dressed, his arms around Viktor's neck, their lips met together.
"Yuuri, you told me you loved me at the banquet," Viktor gasped, and Yuuri's eyes widened, looking at him.
"I… don't remember."
"Did you mean it?"
"Of course I did?" Yuuri stared at him, blinking in shock that he'd even ask that question. "Viktor, I've told you it time and time again after that. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. Even if… drunk." Yuuri couldn't believe that the first time he told Viktor Nikiforov (his boyfriend, and Phichit proclaimed love of his life) that he loved him was when he was so drunk that he couldn't remember anything about the night.
"I love you too," Viktor said, nodding his head after a moment, like he had to confirm that with Yuuri too. Then, he got quiet again, and looked at Yuuri with a softer look before asking for a second time, "Do you want me to be your coach?"
At this, Yuuri had to pause, had to really think about what Viktor was asking. To ask him to be his coach was to ask him to quit skating, potentially permanently, with how old that Viktor was. He'd be stealing Viktor away from the sport.
"I… if you want to, I'd like to try, for at least a season?" Yuuri finally whispered back, and Viktor's face lit up, kissing him deeply, holding him close to him.
"I'll be the best coach you've ever had," He promised, kissing Yuuri again and again with a laugh. "I love you. Now you can't forget to talk to me for weeks, because I'll be right here. We'll train together, and work to make sure that you're in good shape again, because you're adorable, but it would be easier to skate if you lost some weight, and trained hard for a few weeks, and I have a program that you can use, probably, we'll have to pick it for sure, and then we'll – "
Yuuri started laughing, burying his head against Viktor's chest. "Yuuri?" Viktor questioned, cutting off his ramblings to look at him. "Are you okay?"
"I just... you're so excited. I thought you'd be upset you were quitting. Or… you didn't actually want to do it, you just were because I was asking, or something," Yuuri murmured.
"Yuuri, I would drop everything for you," Viktor whispered, and Yuuri's anxiety screamed at him that that was bad and he should worry about it, but Viktor immediately continued, "But I'm not. I don't want to skate. I have nothing left to skate for. I've done my time. Now I want to see what you can do."
And so they began training. Every morning, they'd wake up early and go on a run together with Makkachin. Viktor monitored his diet, and ate worse than Yuuri, but tried to stay at least a little in solidarity with him (at least once a day). They went to Minako's studio together, where she worked with Yuuri while Viktor watched, his eyes wide, clapping every time that they finished even the simplest routine.
They spent weeks off the ice, because Viktor didn't want Yuuri stressing himself out on the ice, but Viktor went to the rink every day, supposedly choreographing the perfect program for Yuuri. He was beyond excited about it, and Yuuri was excited to see whatever it was that Viktor was going to come up with.
Finally, after weeks, they ran to the rink instead of around town, Viktor telling Yuuri that he was ready to finally go onto the ice and see the program that they had planned. They ran together, side by side, but Yuuri kept earbuds in, and Viktor didn't mind. It helped him focus on their task at hand.
When they got to the rink, there was a crowd around it, and Yuuri stayed close to Viktor, slowly taking out his earbuds as they walked in. Everyone was shouting about how Viktor Nikiforov was really there with Yuuri, and he was glad that Yuuko stepped out to usher him into the building.
Not in time, though.
"Hey, asshole!" An angry Russian voice burst through the crowd, and Yuuri glanced behind him in shock, while Viktor squinted in his direction.
"Yura?" Viktor asked, and that seemed to be right, because the boy (clad in far more leopard print than Yuuri realized could fit in one outfit) stomped forward right in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded, jabbing a finger into Viktor's chest, and Viktor removed it, almost looking bored, like he was used to this.
"I'm coaching Yuuri! His skating inspired me, so I decided that it was a good decision to – " Viktor was cut off, though, by a scoffing noise.
"You seriously ran all the way to Japan to play coach for your boyfriend!?" Yura (Yuri Plisetsky, Yuuri recognized him now, the Russian rising star, who everyone thought might have a chance of beating Viktor, if Viktor skated another season) shouted.
Well, that was one way to announce that he was dating Viktor Nikiforov to the rest of his friends and family…
And the whole world.
"Why are you here, Yura?" Viktor had sat them both down at the Ice Castle and ordered food for all of them, an arm slung around Yuuri's shoulders, as if to say 'I'm not going to make you and Yuri compete in a rigged skating competition to win my affections'. Though, he hoped Yuuri understood that was nothing he would ever do. After all, Yuuri Katsuki was the Love of His Life, so why would he jeopardize that for Yuri Plisetsky?
The younger Russian skater was important to him, but that importance was nothing compared to the skater who he'd flown to Detroit and then immediately to Japan for, because they'd fallen in love over a dating app.
"You promised, though I should've known you'd forget," Yuri spat, in Russian.
"Speak in English. It's good for practicing, and Yuuri can't understand you," Viktor suggested, mostly just so Yuuri didn't think they'd be telling secrets about him when they spoke another language. They were supposed to be learning to communicate, so an angry Russian conversation seemed like… not the best way to do that.
"You promised me that if I won juniors without quads, you'd choreograph me a program. That's now, Vitya, and you ran off to Russia for your dumb dating app boy." Yuri fixed Yuuri with a look that would probably kill a lesser being. Viktor sighed.
Yeah, he'd forgotten.
"I'm sorry," Viktor started, and Yuri rolled his eyes with a frustrated noise.
"I knew it! I knew you'd forget! You just ran off here and got distracted by him, and now you're not going to do it!" Yuri glared at him, turning his head away from Viktor, clearly frustrated.
"No, I never said that – "
"Good. Then come back to Russia and let's do this, Vitya!" Yuri exclaimed.
"I can't just go back to Russia! I'm coaching Yuuri here," Viktor started to explain. Really, he didn't know why Yuri was arguing so hard for this.
"You promised me – " Yuri started again, and Viktor felt Yuuri tense underneath his arm, so he had to do something about this argument, to ensure that Yuuri didn't try to get him to leave, and Yuri wasn't eternally pissed at him.
But he couldn't just go back to Russia! He didn't have any reason to be there, and he was coaching Yuuri, which he definitely couldn't do in Russia. Yakov was probably pissed at him for running off to Detroit, and then Japan, so there was no way that he was going to give him and Yuuri rink time just because Yuri had wanted him to come back to coach him.
Which was a problem in itself.
Viktor frowned. "I can't coach both of you, Yura, not this year. And Yakov would kill me if I tried to coach you. He's a good coach, he will get you far. If you still want me to coach you, I will, but not for a few years."
"I don't want you to coach me," Yuri spat, rolling his eyes. "Yakov's good at coaching, and you'd be too distracted by your boyfriend to get anything done. I just want you to choreograph my program, like you promised." He crossed his arms over his chest, fixing both Viktor and Yuuri with another glare, and Viktor nodded slowly, taking a few bites of his food.
"I was working on two versions of a program for next season, for myself. I was going to work on one version with Yuuri for his short program, but I guess I can help you with the other for yours, if you want. How long are you here?" Viktor asked.
"A week, unless Yakov manages to change my flight and find an earlier one." Yuri smirked, but had lit up with Viktor's words. "You have a program I can use?"
"As long as you can do it. I was choreographing it to be pretty complicated… I can cut a few jumps for you, I'd have to for Yuuri anyway, since neither of you can do all of the jumps I can!" Viktor said cheerfully, going back to his food.
"I'll be able to by the end of the season. It's a good thing you're retired, old man, because you'd get crushed." Yuri had dug back into his food, stuffing his cheeks with it.
Viktor laughed, "I'm sure I would be. Between you and Yuuri? It would be fun to have competition worth competing against. I'll call Yakov tonight and tell him you're coming back in a week, and we'll get your program choreographed. We can record a few times, so Yakov will know what it's supposed to look like!"
"And me?" Yuuri was picking at his food at Viktor's side, and Viktor wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him in close. "I haven't forgotten you. We'll work on yours too. The programs are very similar, I didn't mean for both to be used. If we develop them more, we'll be able to differentiate them more. They're about love, Eros, and Agape. I wanted you to do Eros, sexual love." Viktor looked at Yuuri. "It would fit you well, be something completely different than before."
"Sexual love," Yuuri repeated, raising his eyebrows, and Viktor laughed, kissing him while Yuri made a gagging noise in the background.
"What's Agape?" he snapped, breaking up their moment, and Viktor smiled.
"Unconditional love. It's a strong form of love, a kind of love for everyone. The program is sweeter, but just as difficult. It would be hard for a first program, but I think that you could do it," Viktor said.
Yuri frowned, squinting at Viktor. "It better not be some shitty cheesy crap. I'm going to be a real competitor, Vitya," Yuri said, and Viktor shook his head.
"Trust me, I know. You're going to be hard competition for everyone, despite your age. The program isn't me going easy on you, Yura," he promised, and Yuri nodded, apparently finally pleased, digging into his food again.
After dinner, Viktor walked outside to call Yakov, listening to him yell while he explained that he had Yuri, and he'd already talked him out of staying in Japan. He still got yelled at for running to Japan himself, but that was expected. But, Yakov seemed to have calmed down at least a little bit when he promised he was just helping Yuri choreograph his program and then sending him right back to Russia – no more than a week.
He hung up when Yakov started to yell at him again about leaving.
The next day, the three of them went to the rink, Yuri and Yuuri walking ahead of him, talking about something. Viktor let them talk, because this was going to be a much easier week if they got along with each other. Every so often, they'd glance back at him and laugh about something, and Viktor just raised his eyebrows. Clearly, they were talking about him, but… what could they be saying that could be that bad, honestly?
When they got to the rink, there were a few press people there, but Viktor made sure Yuuri and Yuri just walked past them, going straight inside.
He set the music up and waited for the two to put on their skates. "Like I said," he started once they walked in, "Eros and Agape. Greek virtues of love. Yuuri, this is Eros." He played the music for a few seconds, and smiled as he saw Yuuri focus in on it. "And, Yura, this is Agape."
"Viktor, that's boring," Yuri cut in while he played the sample of the music. "You told me you weren't giving me some stupid boring program."
"The music isn't boring," Viktor defended, but then added, "And even if it was, who's to say the program would be, too? Watch closely, Yura."
Viktor restarted the Agape track, skating through the motions he had planned quickly, improvising where he hadn't gotten that far yet, or needed to cut something out to better fit Yuri's skill set. They'd have to play with the jump sequences a little, but it should be a good program for the younger skater.
"I guess it could be worse." Which Viktor knew was approval from the younger skater, so he grinned.
"And Yuuri, watch closely," Viktor called out, starting up the Eros track. This program he knew wasn't ready for Yuuri yet. He'd have to increase the difficulty of the step sequences quite a bit. Viktor wasn't bad at step sequences, he just put a lot more focus into his jumps. Yuuri could jump well, but if he got anxious in competition and messed any of them up, Viktor wanted a strong step sequence to back him up, because they were eternally gorgeous when from Yuuri.
"That's… pretty difficult, Vitya," Yuuri's voice was clearly nervous, and Viktor clapped his hands together, smiling brightly.
"Then it's a good thing we've got all season to practice! We're going to focus on Yura this week, since he has to leave in a week, and I want him to learn as much of this choreography as he can before he has to go back to Yakov. Yuuri, can you work on figuring out some new step sequences for the routine? I want you to use your strengths, and I'll help with jumps!" Viktor skated forward to kiss Yuuri, who rolled his eyes, shoving him away (but not angrily).
"Not on the ice, Vitya," he scolded, but nodded with the instructions, skating off to the other side of the rink, getting to work right away. Viktor watched him for a few moments before turning back to Yuri.
"Alright. Let's see your jumps."
They trained like this for the entire week, filming both Yuri and Viktor doing the Agape choreography so Yakov would have something to work with, and Viktor burnt the track onto a CD for him so he had the music back in Russia, as well.
"Good luck," Viktor caught Yuri saying to Yuuri as he was leaving for the airport, and he bit his lip to hold back a smile. "Unless you go up against me. Then I'm going to crush you so hard that you cry."
Yuuri laughed and wrapped him in a hug that Yuri squirmed out of. "You're welcome back here whenever! At least, whenever Yakov lets you. Please don't be like Viktor and come here without your coach's permission again." Yuuri grinned at Yuri, who started to laugh and nodded his head.
"Bye, old man!" He called to Viktor in way of a nice goodbye like he gave Yuuri, and Viktor rolled his eyes, waving to him as Mari led him to the train and he left.
"Now we can finally focus on you." Viktor took Yuuri's hand, leading him back to the rink for practice. They worked on Eros for a few days, but they'd figured most of that out when Yuri had been in Hasetsu, so there were other things that they had to figure out.
Other things being… "What were you thinking for your free program? I want you to pick the music, Yuuri," Viktor asked at the rink after a few days, sitting down with Yuuri while they were discussing the jumps that were going to make his programs strongest, and which they were going to have to work toward making stronger for this season.
"Well, if my short program is about us, I think my long program to be about… me?" Yuuri said, frowning at the papers in front of them. "Something to… show who I am, and how I've grown. This might still be my last season, even though I thought last season was. I want it to… show who I was, and how much I loved this."
"Yuuri, that's a perfect idea." Viktor smiled, grabbing a paper down and writing down some of what he was saying. "What were you thinking for music?" Yuuri's frown seemed to increase, and Viktor blinked, trying to figure out what that meant. "We could always commission something. I have people I could talk to, if you had an idea of what you wanted it to sound like – "
"When I was in Detroit," Yuuri cut in, "I knew this girl, who did some compositions. She composed a piece for me, but it was kind of… flat." Yuuri shrugged. "I… we could maybe talk to her, and see if she might do it? It was good, it just wasn't… enough. I think it will be this time."
"I believe you, Yuuri. Can I hear the old version?" Viktor asked, and Yuuri nodded, grabbing his laptop and pulling up a file, playing the song for Viktor. Viktor rested his head on Yuuri's shoulder, repeating the file a few times before nodding. "That's a good start. If she'll work with that, I think this could be good, Yuuri."
Yuuri smiled, nodding his head and pulling up an email. Viktor helped him compose exactly what to say to her, and then they laid down in bed together, arms around each other, falling asleep after not long.
It took a few days for the music to be ready, and as soon as it was, they started to work on a program. Yuuri pushed himself to make it as complicated as he could, and Viktor made sure that he kept it within Yuuri's skill level. He was so talented, though, and they could do so much with this program as long as they did it right.
Yuuri on Ice, he chose to name the program, and it was perfect, really. Viktor smiled as he set it off to the side after the practice.
They focused hard on Yuuri's programs for the next few months, but then qualifiers were rolling around, and they were on a plane to China before they really knew what was happening. Yuuri fell asleep against Viktor's shoulder, and Viktor smiled as he watched him sleep, eventually falling asleep himself.
Yuuri needed a theme. Yuuri claimed that he had a theme, but he refused to tell Viktor until he had a press conference for it. Viktor let him get away with it, because at least he had been thinking about it, and he beyond trusted Yuuri to pick something good. They had focused so much on his programs, anyway, and they were both gorgeous, and going to be the most amazing things that Yuuri had ever skated, but… the theme.
Viktor finally learned the theme when Yuuri went on TV to announce it, and he squinted at the Japanese characters on the board. Love? Is that what it said? He started to turn to Mari, but she was staring at something that Yuuri was saying, and he looked at the screen again.
Yuuri had said his name, he knew that much. "Mari," he whispered, "What is he saying?"
Viktor knew enough Japanese to get him through living in Hasetsu, but he was still learning, and Yuuri was saying a lot of unfamiliar words (Viktor had learned basic vocabulary and skating terms), and his name, again and again.
"I think you're his theme," Mari answered, raising her eyebrows at her brother on TV. "Or, well, he said it's love, but… he means you."
Love.
Viktor, of course, knew that Yuuri loved him, but this was the first time that they'd had time to really think about that. Since Viktor had moved to Hasetsu to coach Yuuri, they had been getting much closer and much better at talking to each other. A lot less room for miscommunication when you sleep in the same bed every night and can't hold a grudge any more. They had to talk it through, and it had been frustrating, but they were learning.
Plus, Viktor got to kiss Yuuri every night and tell him he loved him aloud instead of having to just type it and hope that it conveyed all of the emotions that he had for Yuuri. That was a pretty amazing consequence of living together.
Viktor picked Yuuri up from the train, letting him slump into his side. "Love?" Viktor said softly, and Yuuri smiled up at him, shrugging.
"It seemed right, didn't it? Now that we're… here, together? And Eros already had love built into it, and Yuuri on Ice… I mean, that's all it is, isn't it? Love. My love, for the ice, and for my family, and for you?" Yuuri explained shyly, looking down at their joined hands.
"Yuuri, I think it's perfect," Viktor answered, and Yuuri lit up in a grin, kissing him softly as they went back home.
The qualifiers started after not much longer. The Cup of China had a lot of new competitors that Viktor didn't know, but Yuuri was excited to see Phichit there. He smiled at Yuuri's side as they got dinner with Phichit, leaning into him and letting Yuuri and Phichit discuss something about Detroit, which they seemed happy to do for hours.
"Phichit," Viktor finally broke into their conversation, and Yuuri looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you for telling me where in Japan Yuuri was. It almost makes up for when you didn't tell me that Yuuri didn't know who I was." Viktor smiled.
"Vitya," Yuuri said, rolling his eyes. "That's not Phichit's fault. It's mine. Let it go." He leaned up to kiss Viktor, and that was a pretty good way to convince him to relax.
Fine, he'd let the Phichit thing go. He'd let Yuuri's problems with miscommunication go before, so… it was time to let Phichit's go too. They were dating now, and Viktor and Yuuri both very clearly knew who each other were, and got to kiss each other every night, so.
All's well that ends well.
(Phichit wasn't going to be invited to coffee.)
The competition wasn't anything that they didn't expect. Yuuri crushed in his short program, easily making first place. His anxiety ramped up with the unfamiliar position, but Viktor laid with him and calmed him down and assured him that they knew what they were doing – letting him cry into his shoulder until he relaxed a little.
He was still on edge the next day, but he looked determined. Viktor tried to ask him if he was ready before he went onto the ice, but Yuuri just smiled at him, telling him to watch the program.
Viktor wouldn't dream of not watching (both as coach and as boyfriend), but it was an interesting command, which only increased his shock at the end of the program.
Yuuri… had… done a quad flip.
He'd landed a quad flip, even if a little shakily. Viktor's heart was in his throat as he stood at the barrier, gripping it tightly. His mind went blank when Yuuri's program ended, and the crowd started to scream. His mind was screaming. No, more than that. His heart was screaming. Viktor gasped out a few times before rushing forward, barely processing his thoughts as he pushed past the gate, into Yuuri.
And they fall onto the ice, their lips meeting in a messy kiss. Yuuri gasped out, but then was kissing him back, putting his arms around Viktor's neck, his heart still pounding rapidly from the exertion of the competition.
"Please be my coach forever," Yuuri whispered against his lips, kissing him again and again. They should really get off of the ice, they should. Viktor knew that. Somewhere, somehow, Viktor remembered that they were supposed to get off of the ice. Instead, he kept kissing Yuuri. "Please be my coach until I retire."
"I wouldn't want anything else," Viktor answered, kissing him one more time before helping him off of the ice, the crowd still screaming as Viktor put his arm around Yuuri's waist. Their relationship had been public knowledge all season, but this was the first time they'd kissed in front of everyone, still. Viktor could still barely think about the fact that Yuuri had just done that.
"I did it for you," Yuuri whispered as they walked to the kiss and cry. "You keep surprising me, again and again. I wanted to finally surprise you as much as you've surprised me."
"Yuuri," Viktor said, feeling like he was going to faint. "I love you so much. I am so proud of you landing that, and you did it for me? I'm surprised, Yuuri. I'm so, so surprised. I didn't expect that. You were beautiful. You landed it… so well. It needs a little bit of work, but by your next event, you'll be landing it like a pro, and no one will be able to beat you for gold," Viktor knew he was babbling as they sat, kissing Yuuri again as Yuuri laughed, resting against his side.
"I hope so. I just… wanted to do something I knew you would appreciate. I'm glad you did," Yuuri said, smiling happily. Viktor kept his arm around Yuuri, watching for his score to be announced.
And when it was…
Yuuri's breath left in a quick burst, staring at the numbers on the screen. "Vitya," he whispered, because Viktor knew what it meant, too. He jumped up and cheered loudly.
It wasn't a world record, not yet, but it was so close, and Yuuri had gold for this competition, there was no way that he didn't. Phichit had gotten a silver beneath him, but with this score? Yuuri had gotten an undoubtable gold. Viktor wrapped him up in a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you," Viktor laughed, kissing him again and again.
They went back to Hasetsu with a gold medal around Yuuri's neck, and a wide smile on both of their faces. His family had already made katsudon when they arrived, and Viktor laughed, sitting down and draping Yuuri's medal over his neck as they ate.
They didn't stay in Hasetsu for long, though, since soon enough they were off to Russia for the Rostelecom Cup. Viktor was not entirely excited to see Yakov again, but he was excited to see Yuri. He wouldn't be too available to hang out with them, he knew, since he stayed with his grandpa still when they had competitions in Russia, but maybe at least for a few hours.
And if not that, then they'd get to see him perform Agape again, and that had improved so much that Viktor couldn't wait to see it how it was supposed to look. Especially if Nikolai was able to come, and Yuri would have someone so important to him to skate for? This could be the best skate that Yuri had ever done.
It was good, so good that he managed to place ahead of Yuuri with his short program. Viktor smiled as he saw the high score, but he knew that Yuuri could beat it with his free skate the next day.
It was after the competition that things started to go downhill. They had just gotten out of the kiss and cry when Yuuri had gotten a call from home, so Viktor let him take it, watching the next competitor. It was probably just his family congratulating him on his medal anyway, so Viktor didn't need to be there. Yuuri would come back and stand with him when he was done talking with his family.
After he was done, they'd watch the rest of the competitors, pick something to eat, and go back to their hotel. Maybe they'd see if Yuri and Yakov wanted to eat with them. He did want to try to catch up to Yakov, to make sure that he didn't hate him forever, and he wanted to talk to Yuri about how much he'd improved.
He also had to make a plan for the next few days, anyway. Yuuri's short program had been almost flawless, but Yuri Plisetsky was already so much better than he had been at the beginning of the season, and Jean-Jacques Leroy and the rest of the competitors were also strong. He'd have to do better tomorrow to make sure that he medaled and made the finals. Especially since his competition knew that he'd been working on the quad flip, they wouldn't be pulling any punches – they'd all be fighting their hardest to do something to outscore that.
Viktor ran through the program in his head, trying to think of ways to ensure Yuuri's high score without pushing him too far, watching the other skaters finish off as he did so. He had a day to think about it, and there was a chance that Yuuri wouldn't need to change anything, anyway. He was already doing so well…
It had been a long time since Yuuri had taken the phone call. Viktor frowned, looking down at his watch. Usually, his family only called for a short time, since they had such different time zones. Maybe it was Mari, so they were able to stay up for a little longer talking? If it was, though, usually Yuuri would just call her back when they were at the hotel, not while they were in the middle of a crowded and loud ice rink.
Viktor didn't want to question it that much, though, because if Yuuri was on the phone for this long, it must be an important call, but…
"Vitya!" Yuuri was rushing toward him, his phone down now, and he looked panicked. Viktor immediately focused all of his attention onto him, letting him catch his breath and start talking again. "It was Mari, she called – Makkachin – " He gasped out a breath, and Viktor put his hands on his shoulders, even if they were shaking. Mari would only call about Makkachin if it was something serious. "Makkachin is at the vet, she got into some food that she shouldn't, you have to go back, you have to go to her, you have to –"
"Yuuri, you have to breathe," Viktor tried to calm Yuuri down, but it only added to the panicked expression on Yuuri's face. Viktor was kind of freaking out as well, because… Makkachin at the vet, and Yuuri responding like this? It didn't sit well with him. At all. He swallowed, looking at Yuuri in worry. "Take a deep breath, Yuuri, and explain slower."
Yuuri wrapped his arms around Viktor, calming himself down with a few breaths before starting over. "Mari just called. Makkachin ate some steamed buns, and she's at the vet. They don't know how she's going to be, and you have to go home," he ended with a sure look in his eyes, clinging to the front of Viktor's shirt.
"I can't just go home, Yuuri! We have a competition still – "
"I have a competition still!" Yuuri fought back, glaring at him.
"I'm your coach!" Viktor snapped, even though he didn't mean to, but it didn't seem to phase Yuuri at all, since he just glared.
"I can do a competition without my coach. I know my routine, and the warmups that you would give me, so there's no reason that you have to be here – "
"You can't just compete without a coach!"
Yuuri was starting to make an argument back when Viktor caught sight of Yakov walking past, and his eyes widened. "Stay here," he said to Yuuri, rushing to Yakov and grabbing onto his shirt. "I need your help, please. Makkachin's at the vet, in Japan, and Yuuri wants me to go back, but he needs a coach. Please, for one day," Viktor begged, looking pleadingly at Yakov, who eyed him warily, and then looked at Yuuri, who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"One day. And I'm not ignoring Yura for him," Yakov offered, and Viktor wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Thank you," he whispered, holding onto Yakov for a minute before dashing back to Yuuri, explaining the situation. Yuuri frowned, but nodded, taking Viktor's hand.
"Let's go get you a ticket and pack your suitcase." They walked back to the hotel and Yuuri sat on the bed while Viktor packed his things into a bag.
Yuuri found him a plane ticket, booking it and calling Mari, speaking in rapid Japanese to his sister as he explained what they were doing. Viktor walked over to Yuuri and sat next to him, waiting until he'd hung up on Mari before leaning in to kiss him. "I love you. If you need anything, Yakov will help you, or call me. i don't care what time it is, I'll answer for you. I'm still your coach. And you'll do great, Yuuri. I'm cheering for you, no matter what. You just need to get through the competition, and you'll be in the finals. We're so close."
Yuuri kissed him back, nodding his head. "I know. I'll… it'll be okay. I guess. I know my warmups, and I know my routine. Just… watch me?"
"i wouldn't dream of not watching you," Viktor promised, kissing him more deeply. "I love you so much. You're so talented and beautiful and amazing."
"i love you too. Take care of Makkachin. I'll see you soon." Yuuri pulled away from Viktor. "You need to get to the airport to make your flight. I'll do my best. I'll be skating for you."
"I know you will." Viktor grinned, reluctantly leaving Yuuri's arms and grabbing his suitcase, dragging it out of the hotel room to hail a cab.
Viktor could barely sit still for the plane ride back to Japan. Of course he'd wanted to go back to Makkachin, but leaving Yuuri in the middle of a competition was a terrifying decision. What if Yuuri freaked out? Or needed him, for some reason? Of course Yakov was going to be able to coach him just fine, but he was Yuuri's coach. He had obligations to Yuuri, and those had been compromised because of how much Yuuri cared about him, and the fact that he wanted him to bet there for his dog.
Yuuri would be fine, though. Way before Viktor ever became his coach, he was an amazing skater. He just had to stay focused, and he'd be fine. Viktor was sitting in panic the entire plane ride, and Mari was there to help him get back to Hasetsu when he got off of the plane.
"Vet hasn't called about Makkachin yet. When we brought her in yesterday, they said she'd probably be fine and we really didn't need to worry, but you know how Yuuri is," she explained as she helped him carry his luggage, sitting next to him on their train back to the Hot Springs. "He was freaking out, since this is so much like what happened with Vicchan. Makes sense, I guess. I didn't even know if we should call him, but just in case she wasn't okay…" Mari shrugged, and Viktor nodded.
"Thank you for calling. I wish I was there with him, but… I am glad that he was okay with me coming back for Makkachin," Viktor responded. Once they got back to the Hot Springs, he went off to his room, sitting on his bed and texting Yuuri, who answered a few of his texts before he had to leave to go back to practice.
He also texted Yakov to beg that he really do anything that Yuuri needed. This was such a weird situation, and he hated being so far away from Yuuri.
He laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and luckily managed to fall asleep after a little while. In the morning, he helped Mari with a few simple chores around the Hot Springs, but the vet still hadn't called about Makkachin, and he was starting to get antsy. He just wanted to know that she was okay so that he could focus all of his time on Yuuri.
He needed to get his mind off of Makkachin. Yes, he had Yuuri now, but for so long, Makkachin had been his only companion, and if she… wasn't okay…
Yeah, he had to leave. He told Mari that he was going into town and grabbed his coat, wrapping one of Yuuri's spare scarves around his neck (because it smelled like Yuuri, not because Viktor didn't have his own). He relaxed slowly as he walked through the shops of Hasetsu, picking up a few small things – souvenirs for friends, a new pair of gloves, and…
It was Yuuri's birthday the next day, he knew that. He was frustrated, because they weren't going to be able to be together for it, since Makkachin had ate that bun. Viktor was all of the way in Japan, and Yuuri was in Russia, exactly the opposite of where they should be. He had never really been one to celebrate birthdays, but… he wanted something for Yuuri.
Something good, something that Yuuri would cherish and remember. Little toys and the promise of katsudon didn't seem to be enough. They weren't together, but he wanted something that showed how much he appreciated Yuuri. As his student, as his friend, as his boyfriend…
He'd walked past the jewelry store when he first walked into town, but as he was starting to head back to the Hot Springs, he stopped again, looking at the store. He didn't need anything but… something was drawing him in. Viktor walked into the store, smiling at the shopkeeper and greeting him politely in Japanese, walking through the store before he realized what he wanted. What had dragged him in here.
A display of rings was glinting at him in the light – silver and gold and gems of every color. Viktor walked over to them, leaning down so he was able to see more into the display, and his breath caught when he realized what he was thinking.
What if he… bought one for Yuuri? He didn't need to propose right now, of course, but… So he had it, so he was ready whenever he wanted to. Viktor stared at the display for a little while longer, and then one caught his eye.
It was simple, gold. A pattern was engraved on it, stars or… snowflakes. Little, tiny snowflakes, surrounding the inside of the ring. Viktor breathed out. It was… it had to be the one. He stood up, calling out for the shop owner, and pointing out the one he wanted, doing his best to explain that he wanted to buy it.
He paid for it and walked out of the store, a ring box in his pocket.
Okay. That was fine. That was… fine. He wanted to marry Yuuri. That wasn't really surprising, was it? He'd let Yuuri get away with weeks of not talking to him because of how much he loved him. It had been long enough now that… He wasn't really worried about that happening again, but they'd been so awful at communicating for the first few months of their relationship, and Viktor wanted to marry Yuuri?
It was fine. He'd wait, at least until the end of the season. After Worlds, or maybe in the off-season. After they were out of the stress of their first season as coach and student, after it had been a little longer since they'd known each other. It would have been over a year at that point, in person, at least. Almost two if they counted all of the time that they spent flirting online.
That was perfect.
They'd get engaged in the offseason, before all of the events started to pick up again, and then they could get married when that season ended. Take things sort of slow, even if nothing about their relationship had been slow. Viktor wanted this to be perfect.
He wanted nothing more than Yuuri in his life for forever, so making sure that he proposed to Yuuri at the perfect moment was one of the most important things that he could think of.
It couldn't be his birthday present, though, because proposing to Yuuri on his birthday… well, wasn't possible, since he wasn't even here. Viktor could just make sure that Hiroko gave him katsudon on the day that they got back, and he made a few more stops before he went back to the Hot Springs.
He had no idea what to get Yuuri now that he had the perfect gift for the future. He picked up a few toys for Makkachin, he could always give those to Yuuri as well, claim it was a gift from both of them. That would be a good gift, as long as Makkachin was okay. Yuuri loved the dog, and Viktor knew that he'd love to spoil her and play with more toys with her.
He ended up calling Mari and asking what gaming console Yuuri had, and what games he wanted, picking up a few for him. He knew that Yuuri liked gaming, even if he hadn't had as much time as he might have liked to play his games since this season started. As an afterthought, he grabbed a bag of sweets for Yuuri, buying all of it.
Viktor went back to the Hot Springs, helping Mari out with what he could, trying to keep himself busy as they waited for the vet for call and for Yuuri to start skating. Finally, the vet called, and Makkachin was going to be okay.
He wanted to call Yuuri before his program, but he knew that Yuuri didn't often check his phone before he skated, so he chose to text him instead.
v-nikiforov: good luck today, yuuri! remember, just tell yakov if you need anything, he really will help you!
v-nikiforov: i'm sorry i can't be there :( but i know that you'll still do good, so skate your best!
v-nikiforov: i also know you probably won't see these until after you skate :( but makkachin is okay! the vet was able to help her, and she'll be recovered and home by the time that i get you at the airport!
v-nikiforov: i love you, good luck
v-nikiforov: and happy birthday. i wish we were together to celebrate :( i guess we'll celebrate when you get back!
v-nikiforov: katsudon, no matter how you do.
v-nikiforov: i love you. do your best.
Yuuri got bronze, and barely. He looked distracted, and frustrated with every jump that he landed, and it hurt Viktor to see him like that. After doing so well with his free program in China, seeing him struggling so much, because he wasn't there, and because Makkachin was potentially in danger, it hurt Viktor to watch. Still, he didn't dare tear his eyes away from the stream, immediately texting Yuuri when he was done.
v-nikiforov: don't be hard on yourself. i know you already are, but you were amazing, yuuri. that's still one of the most difficult programs ever skated, and you skated it distracted and worried, and it was still beautiful. we'll have to work on jumps again, but you've done it! we're going to the finals, yuuri 3
v-nikiforov: as your coach, i do have some critiques of the program that we'll have to go over when you're back to hasetsu, but as your boyfriend/friend, it was amazing, and i'm proud of you. i'm also proud of you as your coach. you did it!
v-nikiforov: i love you 33 good job.
It was late in Japan, but Viktor wanted to stay up until Yuuri texted him back. He pulled up a game on his phone, playing it quietly until he saw the other app ping, and he grinned, opening up the message from Yuuri.
k-yuuri: thank you, vitya
k-yuuri: i'm glad that makkachin's okay. i couldn't stop thinking about her, and vicchan when i was skating and i know it messed me up i could have done so much better.
v-nikiforov: yuuri. last year, your dog died, and you almost gave up your career over how much it hurt you, and how badly you thought you did because of it. no one blames you for being worried about makkachin. you still skated better than so many people. so what, jj and yuri beat you – they're strong competitors. you can beat them but you weren't at your top form there.
v-nikiforov: don't be so uselessly hard on yourself when you did well.
k-yuuri: i guess so. love you too.
v-nikiforov: good! have a good birthday, see you tomorrow! love you 333
k-yuuri: i can't wait to be home. love you too. give makkachin a hug for me, and tell my family i said hi.
Yuuri sent him a picture of some pirozhki that Yuri's grandpa had apparently made for them a few hours later, and Viktor smiled, rolling over onto his side in the bed and falling asleep.
The next morning, he got ready to go the airport early, taking Makkachin with him since he knew that Yuuri would want to see her and confirm that she was okay (just like Viktor had). Once he reached the airport, he sat on a bench, pulling out his phone and running a hand through Makkachin's fur to keep her sitting still.
So when she barked and jumped up, running to the glass, Viktor looked up, eyes wide when he saw Yuuri. He immediately ran to meet him, nearly falling over with the speed and force that Yuuri launched him into his arms with. Viktor laughed, pulling Yuuri close to him and in to a soft kiss, which Yuuri deepened, holding onto Viktor.
"Please stay with me until I retire. And after that. My coach, my boyfriend. Please just… stay with me. Please don't ever leave," Yuuri begged, holding tightly onto Viktor's coat, pulling him in for another coat. "We're still a mess, but I never want to miss you like that again, Vitya. Please." Yuuri buried his face in Viktor's neck and…
Well, Viktor didn't think before he spoke next.
"Marry me," Viktor whispered when he stepped away from the kiss, his eyes wide. "No matter what, whether I'm your coach or not, I want to be here for you. Marry me."
It was definitely too early, but everything in their relationship had been too early. They hadn't even really known who each other were until months into the relationship, so a little over a year in was probably too quick to get married, but Viktor knew it was the right thing to do. He'd never wanted anyone else as much as he'd wanted Yuuri.
"Vitya," Yuuri whispered, his eyes wide, and Viktor just hoped that he understood. He understood everything that Viktor was feeling, and wanted this as much as Viktor did. Wanted so… desperately to be Yuuri's, for now and for forever. He wanted nothing else in his life than Yuuri. Even with all of their miscommunication, this was still the most right thing that he'd ever done.
"Yuuri, please," Viktor mumbled, ignoring Makkachin pawing at their feet, clearly trying to figure out why the two of them hadn't paid her any attention even though she was right at their feet, waiting to be loved. They'd have time for Makkachin after Yuuri answered him. Makkachin was safe, and that was what was important – he loved her, but he needed Yuuri's answer.
"I.. Okay." Yuuri then shook his head, pulling Viktor into another kiss, his hands cupping the sides of his face as he kissed deeply, his fingers tangling into the longest parts of his hair, holding him close. "Yes. I want to marry you. It's… yes."
Viktor grinned widely, kissing Yuuri again, laughing when Makkachin whined again. "Someone wants you to pay more attention to her than to me." He pulled away from the kiss, leaning onto the ground and tugging Makkachin into his lap, smiling when Yuuri sat down next to them, wrapping his arms around Makkachin's neck before scratching at her head.
"I missed you too," he cooed, giving her another big hug before standing up, reaching out to take Viktor's hand. "Ready to go home?"
They got back to the Hot Springs, and Viktor left Yuuri alone to go unpack his bags into his room. He went into his own room instead, rooting through the drawer until he found the ring that he'd picked out. Yuuri's actual present was on top of it.
Viktor laughed, grabbing the wrapped package and the ring box and walking to Yuuri's room, knocking on the door before walking in. Yuuri had torn down the posters, but it was still homely and friendly – still Yuuri's childhood room. It was a comfortable place. Viktor sat on Yuuri's bed as he watched him put away everything from his case methodically.
"I got you a present. Because I wasn't going to give you the ring until after we finished the season, but then I just… proposed," Viktor laughed, looking to Yuuri, who paused in his cleaning and stared at Viktor.
"You… bought a ring already?" Yuuri then blushed, walking over to sit next to him, kissing him. "I thought that was a spur of the moment thing, Vitya. I didn't think you'd actually thought it through. I mean, I still wanted to marry you, I just thought that the first time that you'd thought of it was at the airport and – "
Viktor kissed Yuuri as he scrambled to straighten his words out, and Yuuri laughed when he pulled away, his eyes drifting down to the ring box, which made Viktor grin excitedly. "I bought a ring! Here, you get it now, since I proposed!" Viktor opened the box, pulling the ring out slowly so that Yuuri could see the detailing. Yuuri watched him with wide eyes as the ring was slid onto his finger, and Viktor held onto Yuuri's hand, turning it from side to side. This was real. They were getting married.
"We're getting married," Yuuri whispered after nearly an entire minute of silently staring at the ring on his finger. Viktor laughed gleefully, kissing him deeply.
"You get your real present too!" he exclaimed, pressing the wrapped parcel into Yuuri's hands. Yuuri laughed and opened it, grinning excitedly at the contents. "I asked Mari what you liked, since you never really mentioned details when we were talking on the app. I hope she was right."
"Vitya, this is perfect," Yuuri laughed, hugging Viktor. "I'm going to finish unpacking. Go help mom with dinner?"
"You get katsudon!" Viktor jumped up from the bed, rolling his eyes as Yuuri immediately started to try to fight it. "You didn't win completely, but it's your birthday. A treat. We can only have it tonight, though, because we need to start training for the final tomorrow. I love you." He leaned down to meet their lips together, lingering there.
"I love you too. Go, Vitya," Yuuri said, shoving Viktor lightly as they pulled away.
Viktor bounded downstairs, going into the kitchen to ask Hiroko to help cooking. She immediately agreed, and the two of them worked on dinner until Yuuri came downstairs. No one mentioned the ring – Viktor didn't know if they noticed it. In hindsight, he probably should have asked the Katuskis to marry Yuuri, but it was still going to be a while until their wedding.
Oh, wow, when were they going to get married? That was something that they had to consider, of course. They couldn't get married right away, because they had to finish off the season, but… what about after the season? Right after? A little bit of time off? Too much time off, and the next season already started.
They should probably have a honeymoon, which meant that they couldn't wait too long until their wedding.
Oh.
It was obvious, wasn't it?
"When you win gold," Viktor whispered that night, lifting Yuuri's hand so that the ring glinted in the little bit of moonlight that was coming in through their window.
"What?" Yuuri wasn't following, or maybe was too tired to follow. Viktor leaned over to kiss Yuuri, melting into his fiancé when Yuuri kissed him back.
"That's when we'll get married. We'll get married after the Grand Prix Final, when you win gold." It seemed like the perfect time. After all of their hard training and months of practice, how could Yuuri not win gold? After all, he'd done so well last year, and was blowing through his qualifiers. He probably would have taken a higher medal at Rostelecom if he hadn't been so worried about Makkachin, and if he'd had a proper coach.
"Viktor, I might not take gold at the final," Yuuri mumbled worriedly, not denying the timing of their wedding, but… the fact that he might not win.
Viktor rolled overtop of Yuuri, kissing him deeply before responding, "Then I suppose after your gold at Nationals. Worlds? Maybe you can just borrow one of my golds and we'll get married after you hold that." Viktor kept kissing him between words, and Yuuri laughed, swatting him away. "If you don't win gold, that doesn't cancel our wedding. We're going to get married, Yuuri. You're going to give me something round and gold."
Viktor brought Yuuri's ring to his lips and kissed it to accentuate his point. A ring. Viktor really, really wanted a ring. Wanted to be Yuuri's just as much as Yuuri was his, visibly. The only thing he regretted about proposing when he did was that he didn't have a ring to show that he was Yuuri's, too.
"Phichit," Yuuri whispered, trying very hard to keep his voice down. Viktor wasn't in the room at the moment, but he could return at any moment, and he had no doubt that his friend would freak out, so it seemed better that he freaked out when Viktor wasn't there. "Um… when I got back to Hasetsu, after Rostelecom, Viktor proposed to me."
"Holy shit." The volume of Phichit's voice made the laptop's speaker crackle, and Yuuri's cheeks went red. "I told you that would happen! Well, I didn't tell you, but I knew it! I knew it! Right from the start, when you found out it was actually Viktor, I knew that you two were going to get married!"
Yuuri laughed, burying his face in his hands, and the camera must have caught his ring, because Phichit made an excited noise. "Oh, yeah. And he'd been thinking about it, and he bought me a ring." Yuuri held his hand up, laughing when Phichit inquired him to turn it to the side to see the details.
"Yuuri, that's so cool. You're getting married! And to Viktor Nikiforov, no less! Now, if you get the gold, your life goals will basically be complete."
"Well, I've got a fair bit of competition, I don't know." Yuuri sighed, leaning back and pulling his laptop with him. "I mean, with Yuri and JJ and Chris and – "
"Me," Phichit piped up.
"You were implied, Phichit. You know I view you as equal competition. I just… Viktor wants to get married when I win gold. And he said that wasn't set in stone, but… I want to." Yuuri stared at the ceiling.
"To?" Phichit had to know what Yuuri was talking about, didn't he?
"To win gold, for Viktor. And to get married, one gold medalist to another," Yuuri said firmly.
"Yuuri, I am never going to cheer against myself, not even for you, but you've got a good chance. If nothing else, you are going to blow Viktor away, and he'll have no choice but to marry you, there and then on the ice. With or without a gold medal," Phichit assured, and Yuuri smiled. Yeah. He knew that. Viktor clearly wanted to marry him. Really and truly, wanted to marry Yuuri.
"Thank you, Phichit. I've got to go so me and Viktor can finish packing. I'll see you in Barcelona!" Yuuri said, waving a hand to wave.
"Bye, Yuuri! Have fun with your fiancé!" Phichit laughed, turning off the webcam and signing off. Yuuri did the same, setting his laptop aside and starting to pack up for the Grand Prix Final.
Yuuri slept most of the plane ride to Barcelona, but was still somehow exhausted when they got there, so he let Viktor go hang out with Chris for the day while he wrapped himself up in their bed and just napped. He probably should have spent some time with Phichit, but he had time for that. They were going to be here for a few days.
Viktor got back around time for dinner and woke Yuuri up so they could eat, spending the rest of the night cuddled in bed together and watching whatever they could find on the tv. Neither of them really understood what was happening, but it was just as well because most of that time was actually spent with them making out and Viktor assuring Yuuri again and again that he was going to do well in the competition.
They fell asleep easily that night, and went to the rink to practice the next morning. Viktor stayed focused on him the whole time, and Yuuri found himself actually relaxing a little despite the intense pressure that was going to come from the competition in the following days. For now, it was Viktor, coaching Yuuri, and believing in him. Yuuri could deal with that.
"What do you want to do with the rest of the day?" Viktor offered him a hand to help him off of the ice and Yuuri chewed on his lip. What would keep him in this good a mood? He wanted to stay as relaxed as he could since he knew that his anxiety was sure to hit him at any moment with how big this competition was.
"Can we just go sightseeing?" Something simple, a day out with Viktor. Viktor smiled widely, clearly liking that idea, and after stopping by their hotel for a quick exchange of clothes, they were out on the Barcelona streets.
They spent most of the day shopping, and Yuuri was happy to do so, because Viktor's birthday was coming up and he had… no idea what to do about that. After all that Viktor had done for Yuuri's birthday? And for Yuuri that entire year?
How was he supposed to give him something with as much worth as what Viktor had given him?
He let Viktor take the lead, dragging him through store after store and making small purchases – souvenirs for Yuuri's family and friends in Hasetsu. Viktor was more than excited to help him pick out little trinkets for everyone.
Yuuri walked by Viktor's side, resting his head on his shoulder. The whole season as his coach, making him have the best season of his life. Getting engaged to his longtime idol who turned out to be the love of his life.
And his birthday was coming up and Yuuri had no idea what to do. He peered through all of the shop fronts, frowning. He'd get Viktor a ring, he knew that Viktor wanted one, but… it felt like something would be lacking with that gift. He wasn't just going to propose again to his fiancé.
His eyes were drawn toward the jewelry store again, and he chewed on his lip. Maybe he'd still get Viktor a ring, and save it until after the Grand Prix. But that didn't fix Viktor's birthday.
"Are you hungry?" Viktor asked after a while of silent walking, and Yuuri looked up at him, shrugging. It would give him a little more time to think.
"Sure," Yuuri answered, smiling at Viktor. "You can pick something out for me?"
Viktor nodded, kissing him. "Go find a bench or somewhere to sit." Yuuri nodded his head, pulling away from him and sitting on a bench, waiting, pulling out his phone.
So he couldn't get Viktor an engagement ring…
What about a wedding ring? They wouldn't have the proper witnesses or anything, but he was sure that Viktor wouldn't be opposed to getting married twice. Something informal, that would count for nothing except for them, but he knew that it would mean so much to Viktor. He looked to his fiancé, who was still waiting in line for food, and stood up, walking into the jewelry store. There were a lot of rings, but immediately one caught his eye and he pointed it out, handing over his card to pay.
By the time he came out, Viktor was ordering their food, and Yuuri shoved the ring into his pocket, sitting back on the bench, trying to act like he hadn't moved.
He could get married to Viktor today. Fake-married, maybe, but wasn't that how this had all started? A relationship where Yuuri didn't even think Viktor was really Viktor. If he wasn't opposed to meeting Yuuri twice, he wouldn't be opposed to marrying Yuuri twice, surely.
Viktor came back with their food, chatting excitedly about what he'd gotten, and Yuuri just ate, trying not to panic so much that he wouldn't give Viktor the ring. This was fine. They were fine. They finished eating, and Yuuri walked with Viktor, pausing for a moment when they'd started back toward the hotel.
"Hey, Vitya?" Yuuri mumbled, hands in his pockets, waiting until Viktor looked at him questioningly. "Um… it wouldn't be official or anything, since it's so last minute, and no one's really here. I mean I guess we could call Chris and Phichit but I don't really want to right now I'd prefer to just – " Yuuri swallowed, forcing himself to breathe and ask his actual question. "Do you want to marry me? Right now? I was… trying to figure out what to get you for your birthday and…" Yuuri pulled the ring out of his pocket nervously.
Viktor looked down at it, and then back at Yuuri, his eyes wide. "You want to marry me right now?"
"I mean, it wouldn't be a real wedding, but... the sentiment is real, I guess. We can fill out the papers and stuff when we go home, and have another ceremony because I know my parents and the Nishigoris and Minako and Phichit would be angry if they didn't get to come to my wedding but… I want to marry you now." Yuuri then paused, scratching at his neck awkwardly. "And I know you don't celebrate your birthday, especially not this early, and usually not Christmas either, but… this was my best idea of what I could do for that, too."
"i want it," Viktor answered, kissing Yuuri. "I want to marry you, right now. We don't need a big ceremony, we can get married again, in Hasetsu. And in St. Petersburg. We can have as many weddings as we want!" Viktor kissed Yuuri again, his eyes wide. "But I absolutely want to get married right now."
Yuuri smiled at him, nodding his head and taking the ring out of the box. "Then I guess I'll just… give this to you?"
"Say something too, Yuuri! It's just another engagement if you slide the ring on my finger. Tell me how much you love me," Viktor was sort of teasing, but he also probably did want to hear just how much Yuuri actually loved him – and Yuuri was more than willing to share.
"Thank you," Yuuri murmured, sliding the ring onto Viktor's fingers, his own trembling some. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, Vitya. Through the app, as my coach, everything. I don't know where I'd be if I'd never found out who you really were. I'm… I'm really glad I have you. And I'm glad this means we have each other forever." Yuuri looked up at Viktor, his eyes shining a little.
Viktor smiled back at him, resting his fingers over Yuuri's engagement ring instead of replacing it with a new one. "I'm glad I have you too. I'd always thought it was you, so I had a different experience, but I'm glad we're here now. We've learned to talk to each other and to really have each other. And now I get to marry the love of my life, on the streets of Barcelona, before he skates his best competition ever." Viktor leaned forward to kiss Yuuri, and Yuuri kissed him back. "I love you."
"I love you too." Yuuri smiled, looking down at their hands joined together, rings glinting on both of them now. "I know this doesn't really count but… I'm glad I married you," Yuuri mumbled, wrapping his arms tight around Viktor. Viktor laughed, holding him close to himself.
"I say it counts. I just married the love of my life on the streets of Barcelona. We can have a more official wedding later, but all I needed was a ring and you to tell me you loved me. I would have settled for just you telling me you loved me," Viktor answered, kissing Yuuri again and again as Yuuri started to laugh, shoving him away some.
"We need to go back to the hotel, Vitya. I need to skate tomorrow." Yuuri still kissed him again, letting Viktor deepen it and drag it on for longer. "I love you." He finally pulled away, settling for just wrapping his arm around Viktor's waist, pressing himself up against his side.
"I can't wait to see you skate tomorrow. You're going to do so well." Viktor put his arm around Yuuri's waist, walking back to the hotel arm in arm.
They fell asleep almost as soon as they got back to the hotel, exhausted from their day out sightseeing, wrapped up with each other. Yuuri woke up first, wiggling free from Viktor so he could get into the shower and throw on clothes he could wear to the rink, putting his skates and costume into his bag. Viktor walked out of the bathroom not long after Yuuri, dressed in an amazingly fit suit.
"You ready to go get a gold medal?" Viktor asked, taking the bag and leaning down to kiss him. Yuuri kissed him back, pulling away after a few seconds.
"I'm ready to skate. We'll see if I win." Yuuri pulled on his shoes and Viktor rolled his eyes.
"You'll win something, Yuuri. Maybe not gold, but don't act like you're not going to win. You deserve to be here, and you're going to blow them all away. You won bronze last year, Yuuri, and it was your first time. Don't doubt yourself so much." Viktor said, taking his hand and leading him to the rink.
Viktor had a lot of faith in Yuuri, as boyfriend and as coach, and Yuuri just had to try to make it worth his time. He had to skate the best that he could this time, and he had to prove to Viktor that this season was worth it. He knew that Viktor had wanted to coach him, and didn't regret spending this much time with him, but he still felt like... he had to prove himself. He had to perform.
They got to the rink in plenty of time and Yuuri stayed quietly by Viktor's side, warming up and going through his program in his head, trying to stay focused on the situation in front of him. He had to make Viktor proud.
"Yuuri," Viktor whispered as he stepped off of the ice from warm-ups, touching his arm to make him focus on him. Yuuri looked up to meet Viktor's eyes, and Viktor smiled down at him. "Stop worrying. You know your program so well, you just need to go out there and skate it like you mean it. Skate it for me." Viktor kissed Yuuri, and Yuuri breathed out, nodding his head.
Thinking about Viktor on the ice was nothing, he'd been doing that this entire season. Thinking about Viktor now, his husband, someone he loved more than he ever loved?
He skated through the program, nearly forgetting the crowd as he slid into his final position, staring right at Viktor, who was grinning widely at him.
His score was high. It would need to be higher, though. It may have him first for the day (they'd see after a few more people skated), but it wasn't going to carry his weight through the competition. It was, however, high enough that interviewers immediately swept him away, wanting to know all about his thoughts and plans for the rest of the season and the competition.
After a little while, he said a final thank you to the interviewer, stepping away and looking over to… where was Viktor?
Yuuri panicked for a second before moving up to where the rest of the competitors were, seeing Viktor up there, completely enthralled in the competition. He moved to put an arm around Yuuri's side when Yuuri sat down, but he was still staring down at the ice, an expression Yuuri didn't recognize on his face.
He didn't like it. He looked upset, somehow. He didn't want Viktor to not be happy with what he was doing, and the look on his face made Yuuri think that he was somehow… disappointed.
When they went back to the hotel, Yuuri showered first, changing into clothes to sleep in and sitting on the edge of the pushed together beds, the blanket wrapped over his shoulders. While Viktor was in the shower, he pulled out his phone, flipping through Instagram, but as soon as the water shut off, he set his phone aside, breathing out.
"Viktor?" Yuuri mumbled, looking up as he came out of the shower, wrapping himself tighter in the blanket he was sitting in. It was now or never, and he couldn't just keep sitting on this. He had to tell Viktor. "Can we talk?"
Viktor walked over to the bed, kissing Yuuri's forehead. Yuuri lifted the blanket so Viktor could cuddle under it, and Viktor did, wrapping his arms around Yuuri. "What's wrong?"
"I… are you okay? You looked upset at the competition today. Or… forlorn, or something… You didn't look like yourself. And you disappeared, I just…" Yuuri shrugged, looking away from Viktor. He didn't want to think about the fact that Viktor was somehow unhappy with something that was happening. Whether he hadn't skated well enough or something else had happened or…
"You don't want to do this any more," Yuuri whispered, finally realizing what was happening. It made sense, all the times that Viktor stared at the other skaters, the way that he drifted away during the competition today. "You want to skate next season, you don't want to coach. You miss it."
Viktor had wasted one of the last years that he was going to be a good competitor coaching Yuuri, of course he didn't want to do it anymore. He wanted to go back to the sport, probably, one last year as the best skater in the world. He knew when Viktor had first agreed to coach him, he'd explicitly told him that he didn't want to skate any more, but that might have changed. Maybe he found he'd found a new inspiration.
And Yuuri wanted him to skate again, of course he did. He wanted Viktor to be happy, and wanted him to do what made him happy, but that would bring Viktor back to Russia, with Yuuri in Japan, trying to find a new coach, or asking Minako to help him for just one more season.
"Of course I miss it," Viktor answered, looking at Yuuri, and Yuuri's heart sank. Viktor was going back to Russia. Maybe he could just retire, and go back with him? But after such a good season, he didn't want to quit, not with the Olympics coming up next season, not when he was finally doing so well. He knew Viktor had no responsibility to coach him, but… It was still a terrible thought. He blinked tears out of his eyes, and squirmed away from Viktor, leaving the blanket with him and standing up, tugging at the edge of his t-shirt.
"You want to skate again?" Yuuri looked at Viktor, trying to skate away all of the negative thoughts. He couldn't jump to conclusions, they were trying so hard to communicate but… It was hard. It was so hard.
"I was thinking about it," Viktor responded, and Yuuri felt the first tear fall from his eyes. He was probably jumping to conclusions, but Viktor was leaving. To go back to Russia. Yakov wouldn't just coach him. Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri, and Yuuri blinked before burying his face against Viktor's chest. "Why are you crying, zolotse? Do you not want me to skate?"
"You'd have to go back to Russia. Yakov wouldn't coach me, no Russian coach would. And I couldn't just ask Minako to go to Russia, and she's probably my only option, and I don't want to stop skating yet, and – " Viktor tilted Yuuri's head up to kiss him to cut off the ramblings and Yuuri felt more tears falling, like that confirmed it or something. That Viktor had to leave.
"Yuuri, take a deep breath," Viktor murmured, guiding Yuuri to sit back down and wrapping the blanket around them again. "I'm not going to stop coaching you if I skate again. I want you to succeed, no matter what. I can still coach you. It will be hard, but I can. There's free time at the rink. We'll have to work around when Yakov has the rink reserved for us, but we could do it."
Viktor… had just – oh. Viktor still wanted to coach him, Viktor wanted him to come to Russia with him, and they could skate together. Wait – "You… I'd move to Russia with you?"
"I'd like to stay in Hasetsu, but Yakov would never go to Japan. We could move back to Hasetsu after I retire," Viktor assured him, and Yuuri's eyes widened. "And of course there's place for you in my apartment. Makkachin would love to have two people to wake up in the morning."
Yuuri stared at Viktor for a long moment before starting to laugh, wrapping his arms around him again. "I thought you were going to back alone," Yuuri whispered, keeping himself pressed close against Viktor. "I'm sorry. I know you said we need to talk things through and not jump to conclusions, it's just… hard."
"Hey," Viktor said, tilting Yuuri's head up to look at him. "We did talk. You asked me what was wrong, even if you jumped to conclusions. You didn't sit on this for the entire competition and get anxious about it. I'd like for you to trust me enough to know that I love you and would never spring on you that I was leaving, but this was better than last year, Yuuri. This was so much better." Viktor leaned in to kiss Yuuri, and Yuuri kissed him back, nodding his head.
"You have to talk to me too, you know," Yuuri mumbled. "I trust you, and I'm trying to talk to you more about it, but… how long have you been thinking about going back to skating?"
"I… not long, I promise. I mean, all season I've considered it, but I only started seriously considering it on the plane here." Viktor shrugged, and Yuuri sighed.
"Do you think we're ever going to learn?"
"Yuuri, this time last year, you were sitting in a hotel a few miles away from me not even knowing you really knew me. We're married now, and that wouldn't have happened if we were still like we were last year. We're already learning. It's gonna take a while." Viktor kissed him again, and Yuuri smiled. "We'll have plenty of time to learn how to talk to each other when we start living together, all the time. Can't avoid it when we share a small apartment in Russia," Viktor teased, and Yuuri laughed.
"Thank you, Vitya," Yuuri kissed him once more, pulling away. "Go put on some clothes to sleep in. Big day tomorrow," he murmured, and Viktor nodded.
"Go ahead and lie down. I'll be over in a few moments," Viktor said, standing up and walking over to his bag, pulling out clothes to sleep in. Yuuri shifted underneath the blankets so he could lie down, smiling when he felt Viktor's arms around him.
"I love you," Yuuri murmured into the pillow, and he felt Viktor smile against his neck.
"I love you too," he answered easily, leaning against Yuuri's back as they both started to drift to sleep.
Yuuri was nearly asleep when he felt Viktor's lips moving, and he blinked a few times to try to wake up enough to hear his words. "Do you maybe want to go get coffee?" Viktor asked, his voice almost silent, though Yuuri couldn't understand what was so important about the question. Getting coffee was a normal thing to do, especially with your boyfriend. Or… well, husband. "Tomorrow, after the competition. Let's get coffee. No matter who wins."
Yuuri raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. For some reason, coffee really mattered to Viktor, so he'd ask him to coffee after he was done skating. If it would make Viktor happy, why not? Yuuri managed to fall asleep quickly after that, waking up with Viktor's arms still wrapped around him. Viktor kissed his neck softly as he opened his eyes and Yuuri smiled.
"Ready to go skate?" Viktor said, sitting up and stretching out his body. "Let's go get something to eat and get over there." Viktor rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly and Yuuri smiled, sitting up and resting against him for a minute.
"I guess so," Yuuri mumbled, though he'd be comfortable leaning on Viktor for a while longer instead of facing the pressure of the competition.
"You're going to do so well." Viktor kissed him. "No matter what you get in competition, I'm proud of you, Yuuri. We've done so much this season, and there's so many seasons to come. Just… show me the skating you'd be most proud for me to see. I don't care if you get first or if you get last. I just want to see you really enjoy yourself," Viktor said, and Yuuri couldn't help but smile. Viktor was… such an amazing person.
"Thank you. Let's get ready." Yuuri stood up, changing into his warmup clothes and carefully packing his bag to be ready to go for the competition. Viktor came up beside him, taking his hand and grinning as they walked out of the hotel, hand in hand.
They made it to the rink after getting a quick bite to eat, and Yuuri was just doing his best to keep breathing. He held tightly onto Viktor's hand until they got to the rink, sliding his skates on and warming up silently, chewing on his lip. This was his last chance to prove who he was going to be to the skating world this year. He'd already done so well, but this was his last chance to be… better.
He'd just have to skate like he did last year – for v-nikiforov. Because, really, that's what he'd been doing all season. v-nikiforov may have another name for Yuuri now, but that's still who Viktor was. Viktor was still the person who gave him so much support and faith last season, the one that brought him to this point. Yuuri had married v-nikiforov now – so skate for him.
Skate for everything they'd done. It felt like ages since he had first talked to v-nikiforov, and somehow even longer since he hadn't realized that he was Viktor. But now he had Viktor, and they loved each other, and this had to prove that. This program had to prove how far he'd come from last year.
Yuuri stepped out onto the ice, took in a deep breath, and started to skate. He skated for everyone he knew and loved, tracing steps he knew well, and making sure that he went into each one of his jumps strong. This was him – this was Yuuri in a program, and he had to make it count. This was his last chance to.
He landed his quad flip without stumbling and finished the program with his arm outstretched to Viktor, tears pooling in his eyes. He skated off the ice and immediately launched himself into Viktor's arms, hugging him tightly before walking toward the kiss and cry, pressing against Viktor as they waited for his program to be scored.
Yuuri stared at the scores, his heart stopping momentarily when the numbers flashed across the screen. Viktor had stood up, cheering loudly. Yuuri rose slowly, his eyes wide, but a smile starting to come across his face, especially as Viktor took his hand and raised it high into the air, turning to kiss him. He'd beaten the world record. He had beaten Viktor's world record, and he didn't think he'd ever seen Viktor happier.
Yuri still had to skate, but… it would take another world record to get past Yuuri's total score at this point. No matter what, Yuuri had made the podium. He wrapped Viktor in a tight hug, unable to hold back his slightly hysteric laughter. He couldn't believe they'd done it. "Let's go watch Yuri skate," he murmured after another second, calming down and just wrapping Viktor in a tight hug.
Viktor nodded, a bright grin still on his face as he tugged Yuuri up to their seats. Viktor kissed him a few more times before they were settled enough to watch Yuri, but Yuuri didn't really mind. He held onto Viktor's hands as he stared down at the ice. Yuri had gotten so much better over the season, but… He still had a lot of growing to do.
His score came in a fraction of a point below Yuuri's.
Yuuri had won gold.
He heard Phichit and Viktor cheering loudly beside him but barely even processed their screams, just staring at the scores. He'd… won a gold medal at the Grand Prix Final. Viktor had gotten what he wanted, even if not quite in the right order. A wedding, and a gold medal. Yuuri finally turned to face him, and Viktor immediately pulled him into a deep kiss, which had Yuuri laughing. "Let's go get your medal," he said excitedly, tugging on Yuuri's hands.
It felt like only a few seconds until they were ready with the medals, standing on the podium with Yuri and Chris below him. Yuri had pulled off a well-deserved silver, with Chris at bronze, though he claimed with his last season, he was going to fix that. Even though he was competing against Yuuri, Viktor, and Yuri, Yuuri didn't doubt that – Chris had to come off the next season with a gold medal.
Yuuri smiled for the pictures, watching Viktor talking with some others off the ice and just leaning over the barrier, waiting for him to get off. He held the medal up in disbelief and excitement. It was real. He had a real gold medal, in his hands, that he'd earned. His ring glinted in the light of some of the cameras, but he didn't care. He was just shocked Viktor hadn't announced it to everyone yet.
He stepped off of the podium, walking back to the edge of the ice and taking his skate guards with a kiss from Viktor, and another thousand congratulations. Yuuri laughed, kissing Viktor back a few times before pulling away to slide his guards on, stepping off of the ice.
"Yuuri!" Phichit shouted, rushing over to him as soon as he'd stepped away from Viktor. Viktor laughed and waved him forward, walking over to the other skaters and their coaches. Phichit immediately wrapped him up in a hug, laughing excitedly. "I can't believe it! You won gold! Congratulations!" Phichit pulled away to look at the medal before hugging Yuuri again, laughing again.
"Thank you," Yuuri laughed, hugging Phichit back. "I can't believe it either. I… I wasn't expecting this at all. I know I've been doing well, but…" Yuuri touched the smooth, cold metal of the gold, grinning happily.
"You've always been good enough for a gold medal, Yuuri, and you know it. And now you just can't deny it any more," Phichit teased. "Do you want to come get food? Me and Chris and some of the others were planning on going to celebrate tonight," Phichit asked, leaning away a little so he could meet Yuuri's eyes. Yuuri chewed on his lip, thinking about it before shaking his head.
"Maybe tomorrow, before the exhibition?" Yuuri said, hugging Phichit back and glancing behind him at Viktor, who was talking to Chris. "I have plans to go get coffee with my husband," Yuuri answered, speaking a little louder so that he was sure that Viktor would hear him. He ignored Phichit's excited questioning of the word 'husband', instead clutching his gold medal tight in his hand and walking to Viktor, who was beaming at him with a little bit of shock in his eyes. Yuuri put the medal over his husband's head, who then wrapped him up in a tight hug.
Viktor let the mumbles erupt about Yuuri calling him his husband as he kissed him deeply, laughing as he spun him around in his arms. "I'm going to take my gold medalist husband on a coffee date?"
"I thought your gold medalist husband was taking you on a coffee date," Yuuri answered, kissing him back and holding him close, not even seeming to care about the camera flashes behind them. Viktor was sure that they would be every news headline tomorrow for who knows how many reasons, but one of them was incredibly important. And that one was still sitting around Viktor's neck.
He pulled the medal off, pressing his lips to it before sliding it back over Yuuri's head, taking Yuuri's hand to softly kiss his ring. "Now there's two important golds for me to kiss." Viktor leaned in to kiss Yuuri again, lingering on that kiss. "And the most important isn't gold at all."
"Vitya," Yuuri whined, embarrassed, which only convinced Viktor to kiss him again and again until both of them were laughing and holding onto each other. "Stop! Do you want to get coffee or not?"
"Who says this has to interfere with coffee?" Viktor questioned, mostly just to see the smile on Yuuri's face when he swatted him away, laughing.
"Come on, Vitya." Yuuri tugged him forward, leading both of them back to their hotel room to get changed into more comfortable clothes before looking up the nearest coffee shop that was still open. It turned out to be a small café a few blocks away from their hotel, so they decided to walk there.
They ordered their coffee and Yuuri stepped closer to him, letting Viktor wrap his arms around him while they waited for the coffees to be made. He hadn't listened to what Yuuri had ordered until he stepped up to grab it, and Viktor looked at the cup to try to figure out what kind of coffee he would buy Yuuri if he ever decided to surprise him with it. The lack of markings on the cup made it impossible to hold back a small burst of laughter, staring at his husband.
Normal coffee. Yuuri had ordered normal coffee. Coffee with nothing in it. Viktor covered his mouth, but not before another laugh broke through, his eyes shining with held back laughter. He couldn't believe it.
"What?" Yuuri frowned, picking up his cup from the counter and holding it firmly between both of his hands. "What's so funny?"
"You actually meant it," Viktor whispered, more laughter escaping his mouth. "Normal coffee. You just like normal coffee."
"I mean…" Yuuri shrugged, and Viktor realized that it probably made no sense, because why would he remember a detail like that, especially from back when he didn't even know it was really Viktor? They called Viktor's name, and he stepped forward to take his coffee before looking at Yuuri again.
"When we were texting!" Viktor explained finally, grabbing his own cup and leading Yuuri to the table. "I was trying to ask you on a date, to get you coffee, and I needed to know what you like. And you said normal. And it was the strangest description of coffee I had ever gotten, but it was… it was just what you liked. You like plain, normal coffee."
"Is that a problem?" Yuuri still looked sort of confused.
"No. It's perfect." Viktor leaned in to kiss him softly before walking through the small café to find them a booth. People clearly recognized them, especially after Yuuri had just become a gold medalist, but they were leaving them alone, for which Viktor was incredibly grateful. He set his coffee down in front of him as he slid into the booth.
"Yuuri?" Viktor asked once they had sat down, sitting across from each other in a small booth in the shop. It was a perfect date, and Viktor was glad that he was finally getting it. After all of this time, it was just him and Yuuri Katsuki in a coffee shop, with Yuuri drinking his bland, normal coffee, and Viktor drinking his own.
It was everything that he had wanted. Yuuri looked up at Viktor's questioning tone, pulling his attention from his coffee and instead focusing it on Viktor. "What is it?"
"How did you know to ask me on a coffee date after you won?" Viktor questioned. Coffee seemed like such an insignificant thing, but it was so important to him. It was supposed to be their first date, it was something that had made him so frustrated the first time he'd met Yuuri, it was something that had stood between them for this long, and now it was finally happening. It wasn't Viktor getting angry and having to give Chris Yuuri's coffee, it wasn't Viktor getting blown off (for very legitimate reasons). Really, truly, finally, it was just Yuuri and Viktor on a date to get coffee.
"Um…" Yuuri looked embarrassed with his explanation, his cheeks tinting a little red. "You probably thought I was asleep, after we fought? But you said you wanted… this. You wanted coffee. Something normal, I guess?" Yuuri looked up at him, as if questioning if he was correct, and Viktor just smiled, leaning across the booth to kiss him deeply.
"This is everything, Yuuri. Why didn't you tell me you could hear me?" He didn't care, he just… he'd had no idea. He would have explained himself more to Yuuri then, if he had known that Yuuri was still awake.
"I just didn't want to upset you! It… that was a bad night, and the last thing I needed to do was upset you because I'd heard you breaking down. So I figured… coffee was a good idea. Plus, there was that thing with Chris last year, with the coffee, and last year, when Vicchan died, we didn't get this, so I just… thought it was a good way to end the season."
Yuuri had no idea how much this meant to Viktor, and he still hit all of Viktor's reasons right on the head. Viktor smiled widely at him, taking a small sip of his coffee to force himself to think before he said something ridiculous and impulsive. Even though, well, ridiculous and impulsive kind of defined their relationship. Everything that they had ever done was ridiculous and impulsive, Viktor didn't know what else he could say now.
"I love you," was what he decided to say, and he kept repeating it until Yuuri leaned over in the booth to kiss him, laughing his response.
"I love you too, Vitya. Now drink your coffee. We've got another long day tomorrow. I was…" Yuuri looked down at his cup, swallowing. "You brought your Stammi Vicino costume, right?"
"I did." They'd had them custom made at the beginning of the season, Viktor's slightly different from the original costume, to complement Yuuri's better. They were gorgeous costumes, but the idea of a pair skate had mostly been a joke. He still brought it to every competition, just in case it might be the one where they took their silly practice time lifting each other to the next level and actually performed Yuuri's exhibition as a pair skate.
"I was just thinking… I mean… Everyone already knows we're married," Yuuri started, and Viktor's breath caught. They were going to do it? They were going to skate Yuuri's exhibition together, as a team? As coach and student, but also as husbands, and as friends? "We might as well go out there together. I couldn't have done this without you."
Viktor immediately nodded his head, unable to speak for a few seconds, caught just as amazingly off-guard as he was when they had gotten married. He wished that he knew more of what was happening in Yuuri's head constantly, but… This was so much more than he expected of tomorrow. "I'd love to," Viktor whispered, and then he started to think. "It'll be a surprise! I can wear my track suit over it, no one will question it. I can wait out until you're finished with the solo part, and step onto the ice, and –"
"Vitya," Yuuri was laughing that amazing laugh when he was just so happy, and Viktor cut off to smile at him. Yuuri nodded his head. "It will be amazing."
They left the coffee shop not long after that, hand in hand (as Viktor hoped that they would do most things from now on). It didn't take long for Yuuri to fall asleep, even before Viktor made it over to the bed, and he smiled at his husband, straightening up the rest of the hotel room and making sure that Yuuri's costumes and medal were put away properly before climbing into bed with him, falling asleep not long after he had his arms around him.
They woke up early the next day to get in to practice for the exhibition. Yuuri was the only one on the ice, but Viktor also stretched, careful to make sure that he'd be plenty warmed up for later. He would be fine, he was ready to blow the world away with their history changing program. It was just an exhibition, but it was beyond what anyone had ever done before.
The rest of the performers were warming up and performing while Viktor stood by Yuuri's side, finishing his stretches in the back room. Viktor saw Yuuri tugging at his costume and walked over, waiting until he lifted his hands before straightening it out himself, leaning in to kiss him softly. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. The world already knows how much I love you." Viktor placed his hand against Yuuri's cheek as he spoke, looking his husband in the eyes with a small smile. Yuuri shook his head, breathing out.
"I want to. I want them to see us. No more doubts. You're my husband, and I love you," Yuuri said in one of those rare moments of full and utter confidence that had Viktor swooning.
"Then go out there. I'll see you soon." Viktor kissed him one more time before stepping to the side, hiding out while he let Yuuri begin the program alone. They'd joked about it the whole time that he had been coaching Yuuri, but it was about to become a reality. He was about to step out onto the ice with Yuuri, and they were going to announce their love, without saying a single word (more than what Yuuri said already).
After the skate had ended, Viktor held Yuuri in his arms, both of them laughing and shaking as the press came up to them. Viktor leaned over Yuuri's shoulder to answer some of the questions, which immediately became about him. Yuuri took charge.
"We're moving to Russia together. Back to Viktor's apartment, or anywhere, but in St. Petersburg. He's already talked to Yakov, and he's going to skate another season." Yuuri smiled up at him proudly, and Viktor couldn't help but smile back, the first time he'd been excited about the next season in a long time.
"And you, Skater Katsuki?" One of the reporters asked, and Viktor took charge for this one, beaming.
"You think I'd miss the chance to coach and skate against my husband? He'll also be competing next season, and I'll remain his coach. And I don't plan on going easy against him." Viktor smirked down at Yuuri, who grinned right back.
"Neither do I," he said before wrapping Viktor up in a hug, laughing and tugging him along as the reporters left them alone to go talk to someone else. They changed clothes quickly and went back up to their room, laying together for a little while.
"It's almost time for the banquet," Yuuri murmured after a little while, half-dressed in the right clothes, but half of his clothes still hung up. "This is already so different from last year…"
"It is. Last year, I still barely knew who you were. Look at us now!" Viktor held his ring up in clear sight for Yuuri before climbing off of the bed, starting to change into his own suit.
"Last year was… not good, Vitya. Let's not have a repeat of that." Yuuri looked up at him, as if making eye contact would make him promise. And Viktor knew what Yuuri meant, but a banquet like last year's… well, it wasn't the worst suggestion that he had heard.
"Are you telling me not to let you get drunk and not to let Chris bring out the pole again?" Viktor asked teasingly, and Yuuri shoved his shoulder, his cheeks red like they were every time that Viktor mentioned the banquet from last year.
"That's definitely the last thing that I want at this banquet, Vitya." Yuuri warned, tying his tie around his neck. Viktor smiled at him, walking over to straighten his tie, smiling when Yuuri immediately did the same.
"Ready to go face the people, Grand Prix Gold Medalist Yuuri Katsuki?" Viktor questioned, offering Yuuri one of his hands, which Yuuri immediately took, smiling at the title.
Viktor didn't expect that he was going to be able to spend the whole banquet with Yuuri, but he didn't expect how quickly he would be whisked away by sponsors and friends. They'd barely walked in before sponsors were pulling them in opposite directions. Yuuri, at least, broke free of the sponsors pretty quickly, and made his way back to Viktor, standing with him for a little while, just resting his head against his side and humbly accepting all of the congratulations for the medal that he'd won.
After a while, he started to be tugged off by Phichit, and Viktor sighed. "Go ahead. I'm going to go find Chris." He leaned down to kiss Yuuri lightly, and looked up to immediately see his friend, raising his hand in a wave before walking over, leaning against the table Chris was at.
"So where are you two going after this? Have exciting plans?" Chris asked, standing beside him as Yuuri walked off to talk with Phichit and Celestino, laughing and gesturing animatedly with his friend.
Viktor raised his eyebrows at his friend, turning his eyes from Yuuri and standing facing Chris instead, taking a sip of his champagne. "Like a honeymoon?" he asked, inciting Chris to nod in affirmation. Viktor shrugged. "We haven't talked about it. Getting married was a very… quick decision for us. It just happened."
"And you didn't even invite me!" Chris teased, but Viktor shrugged his shoulders more seriously, his eyes lingering on Yuuri again.
"I think I'm going to ask him again. Our wedding was so spur of the moment and unofficial here… I want something more. I want us to go to Hasetsu, and let his friends and family plan us a good wedding. I want them to see it, and to invite you, and Phichit, and everyone else. I want to really marry him, Chris. I'd marry him a thousand times." The words spilled out of Viktor's mouth without much control to them, but he didn't care, because they were all the truth.
"I was wondering where it came from. I knew you two got together last year, but marriage?" Chris raised his eyebrows, and Viktor nodded, shrugging his shoulders.
"We'd been talking for so long and so… it felt right, when he got the rings. I wouldn't want anything else. I don't want anyone else. Who knew it really was that quick. Love." Viktor was smiling again, unable to help himself, even when he wasn't looking at Yuuri. "I love him so much."
"I know you do. Now why don't you go get him before he fills himself up on champagne and appetizers and get in a few dances," Chris said, shoving Viktor off toward Yuuri, and Viktor immediately agreed, walking up to Yuuri.
Yuuri turned around when he felt Viktor's hands on his waist and smiled, wrapping his arms around him. "Thank you, Vitya."
"Thank you?" Viktor questioned. "For what?"
"For everything. This is… the best year. I got to skate, and really well, and I got to do this, and I got a gold medal, and I got you," he was babbling, and Viktor smiled, even as he removed the glass from Yuuri's hand, meeting his complaints with a soft kiss.
"I think you told me to keep you sober. How about a dance?" Viktor offered his hand, setting the champagne on a table. Yuuri took his hands, walking out with him. They danced to music that didn't entirely fit their dance, but they danced nonetheless.
And as much as Viktor had loved the dancing of last year, he didn't think it could equal this dancing in any way. He kept his arms lightly around Yuuri, and Yuuri's head on his shoulder. He had a thousand years of last year's banquet, but he hoped that he got at least one from this one. A picture of him and Yuuri, right where they belonged. In each other's arms, holding onto each other and dancing.
They only stayed for a few minutes longer before they decided to go back up to their room, exhausted from such a long day, and a long week. A long season, a long year. It had just been long. But in the best kind of way, where Viktor didn't want it to end. And it wasn't going to. He got Yuuri forever now. Another season of skating, and who knows what else. But him and Yuuri, that was a constant that he got for the rest of his life.
He fell asleep wrapped in Yuuri's arms, and they flew back to Hasetsu the next day.
It wasn't long before they had to start getting ready for Yuuri's next competition, and Viktor started trying to throw together programs for his own competition. He'd had ideas, of course, but he had given those ideas away to Yuuri and Yuri, so now he had to make something new.
At least his sleepless nights listening to song after song were spent with someone. Yuuri laid in bed with him, though he only stayed awake half of the time, listening to all of the songs and giving input on them.
Viktor managed to get his programs together in time, and they were good, good enough for a reentry into the sport that he loved so much. The problem with returning in time for Russian nationals was… well…
"We need to leave for the airport soon," Yuuri mumbled, though he made no move to let go of Viktor. Because Russian and Japanese nationals were only a day apart from each other, Viktor had to go back to Russia without Yuuri, and neither of them were doing too well with that. He just wanted to hold onto Yuuri for a little bit longer, and make sure that he'd make it through his competition with minimal anxiety.
"I know," Viktor murmured, slowly letting go of his husband and kissing him softly. "It's only for a few days, though. And then we'll be –"
"Still preparing for different competitions. We don't get to compete together until Worlds," Yuuri cut him off, though he also let go, standing up to pull on his shoes. "This is stupid. Russia and Japan should compete more often."
"It'll be fine, Yuuri," Viktor laughed. He grabbed onto his suitcase handle, tugging it along and reaching out for Yuuri's hand. He didn't let go until they were at the airport.
He got back to St. Petersburg early in the morning, and Yakov picked him up from the airport, letting Viktor stay quiet and half asleep in the car ride back to his apartment. He thanked Yakov as he got out of the car and climbed up to his apartment, Makkachin by his side. They both fell asleep in Viktor's bed easily, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
And when he woke up, he was alone. He wanted to be with Yuuri, or at least call Yuuri, but that wasn't really probable, with what time it was in Japan, so he changed clothes and quickly made his way to practice. Yakov had enough criticism to take up an entire season, which Viktor supposed was what he missed.
The day before the competition, he laid in his bed restlessly, staring up at the ceiling. He could call Yuuri. He could just hear his voice for a few seconds, and that would make things better, it would settle him back into their present.
But they were back to the beginning, with a terrible time difference, and too many miles between them.
Viktor had signed up for the dating app looking for something new. He wanted someone who didn't know him as Viktor Nikiforov, the world champion figure skater, but Viktor Nikiforov, the man who took too many pictures of his dog and could cook a great variety of meals but still managed to burn his food half the time. The man who went to practice early in the mornings still half-asleep because he had been up all night watching videos of dogs on the Internet. The man who loved his sport more than anything else, but wanted something more. Something outside of the sport, something new, and exciting.
He got that, somehow, in the form of another figure skater.
Yuuri Katsuki was not what Viktor wanted when he signed up for the app.
That didn't mean he regretted it – quite the opposite.
Yuuri knew Viktor, the skater. Yuuri looked up to Viktor the skater and was able to show Viktor the person exactly where he had to improve on being a person. Before they'd met in person, Yuuri had been teaching Viktor so much about himself and about love, and Viktor would never for a second regret clicking on the profile of the cute Japanese figure skater with the tiny poodle.
That's all it had taken, hilariously. One of the pictures on Yuuri's profile had been him holding Vicchan, his skates in the background of the image. All it had taken Viktor to give in and talk to another figure skater when that was the opposite of what he was looking for was a dog.
He stood up from his stretches, taking his phone as he walked over to the benches, tying on his skates and then waiting for Yakov to come out. He flipped through his phone for a little bit, but there was nothing new, with all of them preparing for their own competitions, turning off Instagram again with a sigh. Yuuri would be in bed right now, hopefully asleep so Viktor couldn't call him, or skype him. He needed to make sure that he gave him all of the love that he deserved, though.
Viktor smiled softly, opening up the app that he hadn't touched in so long, still signed in. He ignored all of the profiles on the main page, all of his likes and messages, and went straight to a single conversation. The only conversation on this app that had ever mattered.
If they were back to the beginning, there was only one way to talk to Yuuri. Even if he didn't answer now, Viktor knew that he would later.
v-nikiforov: good luck tomorrow! yakov will have my phone, so i won't be able to message you again, but you're going to do so well! i can't wait to see you skate 33
v-nikiforov: sleep well! i love you 3
k-yuuri: goodnight, viktor. sleep well.
v-nikiforov: and?
k-yuuri: i'm glad you're not a catfish
k-yuuri: but i think i'd still love you if you were 3