I just love the idea of a protective little Yuri, okay? Warnings for language and hinted homophobia Obviously, I don't own any rights to Yuri on Ice. Enjoy!

Yuri really wished he was anywhere else but here right now. He could just about cope with going to the mall on weekends, surrounded by screaming children and their equally loud parents. But, having to go with the two lovebirds being sappy constantly was starting to become more than he could handle.

"Cheer up, Yurio!" Victor nudged him, sounding more cheerful than he had any right to be.

"Easy for you to say, old man," Yuri muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. They continued walking, Yuuri and Victor occasionally stopping to look in certain shop windows. Yuri slipped into his own world, shuffling along behind them and offering the odd 'yeah' and 'uh-huh' when required. He was quite sure he almost managed to fall asleep upright until the voice of a passer-by caught his attention. It wasn't a voice he recognised nor was it particularly loud or unique-sounding. It was the words themselves that caused Yuri to look up.

"Look at those two, disgusting,"

Yuri's whole body tensed and he glanced up to see Victor and Yuuri's reactions. Luckily, neither of them seemed to have heard the voice and were continuing their lovey-dovey conversation. Yuri breathed a sigh of relief, but his relaxation was short lived. A few moments later, the voice spoke again. But this time it was louder, more confident, and pointedly in their direction.

"Fuck off, no one wants to be looking at this shit around here!"

This time, Victor and Yuuri slowed to a stop. Victor looked over in the direction of the voice, placing an arm protectively around Yuuri- who seemed to be doing his best to shrink in on himself.

"Excuse me?" Victor asked in a low tone, staring over at the group of teenage boys the voice had come from.

"You heard what I said," one of the boys stepped forward, puffing his chest out slightly "get the fuck out of here,"

"I hardly think that will be necessary," Victor stood his ground, staring the boy in the eyes as he approached.

"Oh I think it will be, especially after I'm finished with you-" the boy was cut off as Yuri's fist slammed into the side of his face. The boy yelped and stumbled backwards, clutching the side of his jaw where Yuri had struck the hardest.

"What the fuck?!" he mumbled rather pathetically.

"I recommend you and your buddies leave now," Yuri said calmly, carefully placing himself in front of Victor and Yuuri. Suddenly, the boy's arm dropped to his side and his hands curled into fists.

"Or what? What you gonna do, you little punk?" the boy glared at him, clenching his fists. Unfazed, Yuri reached up and swung for his face again. This time, he was prepared; the boy caught Yuri's hand with ease. But before he even got a chance to smirk, Yuri gracefully twisted round and gave a swift kick between the boy's legs. He let go of Yuri's hand instantly and fell to his knees, whimpering.

"Like I said, piss off," Yuri glared down at him. The boy all but crawled away, back to his group of friends. Two of them helped him to his feet before turning back to glance at Yuri. He stood completely still, arms crossed in front of his chest. Mumbling amongst themselves, they shuffled off reluctantly. Yuri stood and watched them until he was sure that they weren't coming back any time soon. He then turned back to Victor and Yuuri, who were both looking at him with a strange expression on their faces.

"What?" he asked, suddenly feeling a little awkward under their gaze.

"Thank you," Yuuri smiled, finally stepping out from behind Victor's shoulders.

"Yes, thank you. You didn't have to do that just for us," Victor took Yuuri's hand, keeping him close as he smiled down at Yuri.

"Well, ya'know... they were being annoying anyway," Yuri rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Quite unexpectedly, Yuuri stepped forward and pulled Yuri into a tight hug. Yuri instantly froze, completely not used to sudden displays of affection being directed towards him, especially in public. And he was certainly not used to feeling like he wanted to return said affection. Hesitently, he lifted his arms and gently wrapped them around Yuuri. After a moment, he felt another arm wrap around his shoulders as Victor pulled the two of them to his chest. They stayed there for a moment, probably longer than was really necessary, just holding each other.

"I care about you guys..." Yuri whispered, hiding his face so the other two couldn't see the blush forming on his cheeks.

"We know, we care about you too," Victor smiled and gave him a small squeeze before letting go. The three of them stepped back and, for the first time in quite a while, they all smiled at each other.

"So, ice cream?" Yuuri eventually asked and Yuri's face instantly lit up. So, they headed down towards the ice cream shop down the end of the mall, all chatting happily to each other. From that moment onwards, Yuri was always a little more involved in whatever Victor and Yuuri dragged him along to do with them. He'd never admit it, of course, but it turned out that he did enjoy spending time with them afterall.